March 2, 2008 First Entry of the New Year, “New Year and New Orleans”
2/8/2008 in a swamp in Louisiana with a new friend aboard an airboat with Shelly, Too Dark Mark, and an Aussie named James as well as our guide.
So time flies when you’re busy at work. Boy Howdy, is that an understatement.
When I left off in December I thought things would slow down enough to catch up on these updates, but I barely have time to post news, I sure haven’t had enough time to write about what you’re truly has been up to. When the rest of the economy seems to have slowed down my work load has never been more overwhelming. I didn’t even have time to get sick, which ended up happening and I missed a day of work to go to the medical center. The diagnosis, I had severe bronchitis, and the swollen lympnodes in my neck we later found out were serously infected. But that really only slowed me down for a day.
So lets backtrack shall we…….
The trip to New Glarus was incredible. Shelly and I had a great time. I can’t think of a better birthday, other than last year which was fun, but this was more than just fun, it had romance and adventure, good food, great booze, and loads of fun with the locals. I had some of the best beer in my life and we went somewhere where we knew nobody and ended up making some good friends that we maintain contact with. We were blessed the night of our arrival with a huge snow storm that made an already beautiful village that much more…authentic, being it is considered America’s Little Switzerland. We spent a lot of time in the hotel, in the pubs, and shopping. There are some great treasures to purchase in New Glarus. And we came home with more than a few tokens of our visit. The Landhaus Chateau was incredible. It had a hot tub that could accommodate 5 good friends, they dropped off cheeses, and sausage and locally brewed beer to our room while we were out. This place is nothing short of perfect.We took a quick liking to the Belgium Red and the Raspberry Tart concoctions.
The following week was my companies Christmas party, the first one I had been to where we could bring spouses and significant others. I had intended on staying but for an hour. I wanted to meet ever dates and wives, maybe have a bite to eat and split. Last year I was much too intoxicated, I intended not to do so again. I didn’t the entire time in Vegas with my coworkers where saw a good many of them become inebriated. And I decided it was more fun to watch than to partake. However, after dinner Shelly and the CE’s wife hit it off and spent the rest of the evening and till the end of the party chatting. So I composed myself and waited, when it was over dove up to Ranalli’s where we had met, had an anniversary drink and came home. It was another good weekend.
I spent a lot of the time Christmas shopping, got called to do a film fest or two at last minute. Just after the whole Crispin Glover weekend, Rusty had Clive Barker in. We did that, had Jeff in for a weekend, and for New Years a party with a few friends. Chris and Julie came by train to spend an extended weekend, and we had lots of food and a keg on the porch which Chris and I managed to finish BEFORE New Years Eve, and then our fiends. Mike N, and my friend from the building I work in, Tanya, and Chris and Julie were here. Everything was pretty much perfect till Mike got too drunk, pissed off Chris, started a scuffle and I had to take Mike out of the building and send him home. I hated to do it, but he was too fucked up. I had two bottles of Whiskey. It was for him and Chris. Though it was in my wine bar, as gifts, I didn’t partake. I haven’t drank whiskey since May 2007. I may never again, at least till they tap that keg in about a decade of Makers Mark that has my name engraved in it. I think it’s in about 8 years more of less a couple months. If I happen to be in Chicago this will be one of the last things I do before moving to the southwest. I dread to picture the day I have to pack all that I have acquired since moving into this massive flat by then. I have completely furnished the living room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, deck, office, backoffice and most of Shelly’s room. On top of that I have invested in art and other collectibles from my travels and online. And on top of that, though my music collection has not grown since I have found not much worth listening to that is new, my DVD collection and book collection continues to grow weekly. I even had to buy an all region DVD player so I could play very rare European DVD’s mainly the Russ Meyer Collection of complete works (minus “”Beyond The valley of the Dolls”). A 12 disc DVD box set featuring 18 uplifting classics from the incomparable Russ Meyer!
In Sept. of 2007 I booked a trip to New Orleans from Feb 7-11. Right at the peak of Chicago winter. I wanted to go somewhere warm and take Shelly. I thought maybe Bisbee AZ, and then maybe Florida and the beaches, but then had the grand idea to do NOLA. There would be no rock n roll. No clubbing, just what I wanted to do when I went before Katrina to the Voodoo Music Fest, when I got extremely drunk because I was so unhappy under the conditions I was going under. My good friend Too Dark Mark suggested the Iberville Suites. It turned out to be a good idea. Actually a perfect idea. The accomadations and ammenities of this place which is partof the Ritz Carlton in the French Quarter was well worth it, and we got a hell of a deal by purchasing a vacation package.
I wanted to do the things I never got to do before and revisit a few places I only tapped into, like the best Bloody Marys’ in my world, Pat O’Brien’s, some voodoo stores, shop for Sambo’s and Mammies, go on an airboat swamp tour and eat boiled crawfish where you pinch the tails and suck the heads!
It seemed like forever, but the second week of Febuary was finally here. In the past 6 months I had gone from working for 3 industries to 4, upon my return there would be five. When I left, there were a lot of projects in the works and if I had not booked this trip so far in advance and requested the time off when I did, I fear I may not have been able to go. I had been pushing myself too hard. My whole life had become work, eat and sleep. I was working well, sleeping was not good and as I later found out the night sweats that kept me up were due to the infected lympnodes. And my diet was poor. I was taking 1/2 of my lunch break time and eating order out in my office. And when I got home I often opted for order out, pizza or something from the Mexican restaurant I am so fond of on the corner. In fact since my vacation last May right after I decided myself it’d be in my best interest to stop drinking whiskey, the switch to beer wasn’t so healthy in the long run. Instead of biking like I used to I spent most of the time at work, and then the evenings packing up the 1 bedroom apartment had for the last 2 years. Yes, there was a lot, a lot that I did not have when I moved into the 2nd floor apartment. In fact it was too full now and it was time to move whether or not Shelly was in my life. Yes, I would dearly miss my landlady who became a good friend to me. But thanks to her, I got an apartment on the same street, in fact the same block, only over 3x as big. So in this time since most of the kitchen was packed up or being packed up we ate out and ordered in a lot. And sleep was also valuable to me, if not necessary for me to perform at my peak to work. So my diet of order in or eating out and lack of exercise was a foe indeed.
The Monday before we were to head on our trip south I found myself in the medical center. My boss had even commented that I hadn’t looked well lately. And I hadn’t been feeling well for a couple months because I pushed myself so hard at work, plus wasn’t getting any good and solid sleep. I had my diagnosis, and it took to days to get all of the medicine but as we left Thursday morning in a limo to Midway, I wasn’t at 100% yet.
Why do I have these things you might ask yourself. Easy answer, the taboo of it. I’m not supposed to collect such artifacts thus I shall. And as most of my collectibles these are not easy to find friends. And online they fetch quite a price. In New Orleans, they are everywhere and unbelievably inexpensive. I won’t say or use the word cheap. My Mother if anything she taught me long before she passed away, was to never use the word “cheap” instead say, “affordable” or “inexpensive”. The only other things I really learned from her other than drinking were table manners. And the latter paid off well later in life as I would enter many circles I never, at least my Father Figure told me would never accept me because of my long hair and manner of my attireof being clad in black.
When I finally unpacked my Sambo’s, what I had at the time were not many really, maybe a dozen. It was Dec 2005 and was in my new kitchen, which is hat sold me on the apartment, that and a landlady all too willing to give me the keys that night is what attracted me to the apartment. They were dusty and boxed that way for a couple years. So I put them in the dishwasher not knowing what the extremely hot rinse would do. When I opened the dishwasher I found that the red and black paints had washed off them so I put them under the sink for over a year till I finally found someone willing to paint them back for me. That someone was Shelly. And they look better than they did when I bought them the first time. Tom Tretter told me upon them washing white that it was Karma. And he offered to repaint them but I’d have to ship them to LA. I’m happy that I waited.
We were shopping on Decatur when we came upon a couple really cool clothing store. Shelly needed something to wear, and I told her she could have ANYTHING she wanted, and I meant it. I actually found a Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters shirt and I found a little something for Buck Satan himself as well. We shopped at Kulture Vulture and a killer place called Roadkill where the people were great. They were friendly and helpful, and Shelly tried on a lot of clothes, and whenever anyone heard her baggage was lost they’d assure us we’d get it back that night. Everyone but ourselves were convinced of that.
We finally found Coops, a place I had wanted to eat again for over 4 years. Too Dark brought me there the day before I left the last time. It’s true New Orleans. As laid back as it is, it was also very busy because as opposed to the last time I went, it as very crowded and they had taken alligator off of the menu. Then as our food was being served Shelly was outside on the phone trying to reach the airlines. She was on hold and only able to leave messages. Myself not being able to enjoy my dinner partially in part to the stress of her lost baggage and the fact that the place was so corded and a bit loud for my current tastes, I had Shelly come in, we had a few bites and took it to go. It was not the atmosphere that I remembered and it was getting night and the streets were getting busy. Needless to say we didn’t return to Coops, but we did stop into Daiquiri’s, and a few more shoppes on our way back to the room. When we got there they hadn’t heard from the airlines and it was getting late, by our standards. Funny thing is these days I go to bed to try to sleep at the same time that I used to go to work.
So I was about to blow and I called the airlines office at the Airport and bitched in my commanding manner into their voice mail. And so we changed and departed for the House of Blues. I felt better knowing that my message would have been taken more serious due to it’s tone. Now it was time to explore New Orleans House of Blues Foundation Room.
The Foundation Room’s are by far my favorite places in the entire world to drink and socialize. And it’s very private meaning not just anyone can go. The first F Room I went to was here in Chicago when MK ULTRA and MK ULTRASOUND the radio show were my full time jobs. That was 9 years back. I’ve enjoyed it ever since. Chicago’s F Room is very strict. Even with the headline act you don’ get in if you have a hat or do not have sleeves. Shorts are also not permitted. The singer of KMFDM was thrown out and had to go to his dressing room and come back with a jacket for a place he sold out 2 nights in a row with his band and to a party I was hosting in one of the privates rooms in his bands honor. The decor at the HOB Chicago is almost all African style art, save for the images of the faces of Blues Legends that are bronzed and line the entire venue. The main room where the bands play have art and a banner preaching Peace and Love. The staff at the House of Blues is 95% black and they take no bullshit. If al of your credentials are not in order you’re not getting past the lobby, and this is even moreso in our Foundation Room. The House of Blues in Chicago is a building that is entirely the House of Blues. it is it’s own property. Until a year ago or so they had their own hotel which has since changed ownership and it’s name. It is a beautiful structure and absolutely the best place I’ve ever seen any concert. The room is made for sound. And I have been in the production room which is an entire entity in and of itself behind the stage that very few people are privileged to see. And as I said they have a no bullshit additude and they are very strict.
The Foundation Room in Las Vegas is atop the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. It has a world famous deck at the very top hat faces and overlooks the entire Las Vegas strip. The dining room there unlike the dining room in Chicago and from what I learned about the one in NOLA is not separated from the mainroom. But as a window view of the Las Vegas strip. It is Very Vegas and the clientele is a little more rich and upscale than rock n roll. Chicago has a selected mix of both rock n roll and high roller types there to impress their friends, business people or dates.
The Foundation Room in New Orleans is almost a photonegative of the sister room in Chicago. First of all the entrance to the entire facility is along Decatur and looks like any other business on the uneven sidewalks of the street which was just around the corner from our hotel. We got inside and saw the man at the podium. I told him our names and that we were guests of the manager in Chicago. There was some sort of glitch and we weren’t on the list the first night of our visit. This may have been that we originally planned to not be in the quarter or our hotel on Thursday but in Baton Rouge with Mark and his wife. But the weekend before we were to leave Mark called with bad news. While he was playing a show with his band Nadja, his Mrs. who he had been having marital issues with had everything in the house packed up and moved by the time he got home. It was like a Country & Western song, she took the truck, the kids the dog and left him.
This a week before the trip. So I called the hotel the Sunday night before to make a reservation. It’d be full price, and very expensive but I was willing to shell it out. By some stroke of luck the booking manager was out and I was to call the next day. Something told me to call Expedia, and I did. Expedia put me on hold and I had my card ready to book the room. When the lady got on she had reserved us and extra night and somehow due to our package deal, the total was a refund of $19! Holy HELL, not only was the room free but I got $19 back for adding another night. I was ecstatic!
Needless to say I will use Expedia.com from here forward.
So at the podium I was a bit embarrassed and the man called upstairs, and nothing, so I offered to call Chicago,. he politely said no problem opened the elevator for us, turned the key that allowed us to get into the Foundation Room and voila’ we were in and seated at the bar. I did call Brett and she looked into it, made a call and assured me everything was taken care of, something fell through the cracks. In Chicago if this would have been the case we’d have been SOL. Even though they know me very well by now, upstairs and downstairs, unless you are on the sheet, you ARE NOT ANY UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES getting in. Already things were going to well and the lost luggage was but a minor inconvenience.
We met Kevin the bartender first. This guy was fucking great. Friendly and funny, all while very polite. We met the chef, a lady named Erica and Shelly struck up a friendship with her sister who was at the bar, Heidi. I was in awe, the staff save for the podium guy and the barback were Caucasian. The decor was more voodoo or images of the devil. I was wishing so badly any of it were for sale. There is a big naked lady sculpture on the way to the men’s room and on the way to the ladies room a sculpture of a nude man with a huge erect penis. The people that came in were unlike the people Chicago, they were rock n roll porn types. A couple guys came in and I met them. They were promoters with the Penthouse Club down the street and were begging us to go. Shelly wasn’t interested at all, and myself I was so comfortable and having so much fun taking to Kevin and the other people there that it was of no interest to me either. But this didn’t seem to stop them from trying. They were offering to buy us drinks and take care of the high dollar cover and get us into the private club. I was just friendly had a conversation with them till the one gentleman who Shelly referred to as the Black Greg Minor met up with a blonde girl. And it was funny to think about it because this guy was the black version of my friend Greg right down to his attire and cowboy hat. So ironic. It was a total, like I said, photo negative of Chicago. I was like Bizzarro World. Only I was still myself. A new tamer version, but I was AZ.
Everyone was talking about the Van Halen show. Which was the following night. I had already told Mark when he expressed interest in going, and I do know Eddies girlfriend fairly well, that this wasn’t a rock n roll trip. This was our vacation and I wasn’t doing the club thing. I do that less in Chicago as it is and that’s enough for me. I had 20 years of it, I’m done. And bedsides, Hell I barely remember the last time I was so smashed. There were laces we wanted to go but it was just so loud. I have in the last few years become annoyed by those surrounding and opt for the more mellow sit and talk, and actually hear the other person type of atmosphere, and this place suited us fine. I bring this up because it was that Kevin was gong the next night and this would be the last I’d see him till he either visited Chicago or we return next year. Which we will. It would also lead to a little distraction on our second night, but we’re 24 hours from that right now.
After a couple hours my phone buzzed, it was the airlines, I gave it to Shelly. They had her bags and would get them to the hotel. We left and were pretty well mixed by this point and went to the bar at the Ritz Carlton where we met a couple who were there celebrating their 40th Anniversary. We chatted had some drinks and retired to our room. I crashed. Shelly awoke at 4AM to a knock at the door. It was 4 AM and it was her baggage.
I woke early put on the news, showered and changed. We were both hungry but the continental breakfast didn’t offer eggs and eggs we wanted so we took a walk. On the advice of a laborer who had a more distinguished taste we went to the Holiday Inn. OMFG, it was amazing! They had a buffet and a cook to make your eggs to order. This and a couple Bloodys and we were right as rain. Next stop, Daiquiri’s and more Bloody’s. Still the best and from here on I’d order with extra green beans. A few stops to buy Hot sauces with images of Satan and a quick stop at the Hustler Store.
Upon my return my friend and co-worker Paul commented, “What could YOU possibly need from the Hustler Store?” an understandable question. My reply some T-shirts, and bathrobe the best I’ve ever bought and it’s only equal was the comfort of the robe at The Biltmore in Scottsdale, AZ, and a really nice sweatshirt w/ hood and a zipper and pockets.
We had a 12 noon-ish pickup with a shuttle to the swamp tour. Too Dark and his Australian co-worker for Presonus Sound, James was with him and they had a room on the same floor at the companies expenses. They would join us on the tour, but since they didn’t have a reservation, had to take a different shuttle, which I called and arranged for. We’d be on the same airboat, but they were to get there after us. As irony would have it, they got there before us because we had to wait about 20 min in a parking lot for the last 2. They were all booked on one of the big slow boats, too big and slow to go where I wanted. We the four of us shared an airboat to ourselves, it was to be another perfect day.
Too Dark Mark had on a full black suit, his trademark, and he doesn’t break character, EVER. I had shorts, a bandana and a Buck Satan shirt with a long sleeved T under it. I wanted comfort and sun and warm air. I was about to get that and a whole lot more!
Pass the gator with James
I was filming when he took the airboat on a thrill swing, I was covered in swamp juice
Too Dark Mark and James Biddle and our Tour Guide
That one ova thar is gittin ahwawy
Look at that girl
Our tour guide putting the gator back
Shelly’s got the gator
Un-natural, though I’d love to see the offspring
Looks like lunch
The Sonic Council
The Sonic Council
Shelly Monday morning on the Mississipps Riverwalk
Shelly at Pat O’s
AZ at Pat O’s
5 pounds of crwfish, one of the reasons we travelled to NOLA