Category Archives: Humor
Predatory Lending … but with cute stickers!
It’s started. The unsolicited offers to my just turned 18, High School attending son.
Who could resist? Teens can choose from an adorable kitten sticker or how about a fun “I’m Fine How Are You?”one?
All for the low, low APR of 29.9%. But, wait! Act now and the first year is 0% APR! So you can rack up a nice bill before it changes depending on the market!
Ah – those video games you don’t have the money for right now? Don’t worry … charge it!
You’re 18 – you are now legally able to spend more than you can pay back.
Fingerhut will be stalking him next no doubt. Is Colombia House still around? Guess I’ll know when he gets a shipment of 6 CDs for a penny … with only 6 more to buy.
Get off our kids!
Spinfarm – Interview with Adam. GMO free
Move over Cameron Crowe – I’m going to interview a rocker.
Before we start, can I just say, Almost Famous (based on his experiences touring with rock bands) has one of my favorite movie scenes of all times … ah yes, the Tiny Dancer bus scene.
Of course I can say that – because this is my blog. And having said that – you should know that I don’t make a habit of interviewing bands, but, like, omg guys, I totally know the drummer. And singer. Okay, we were married. For 10 years, but only together for about 6 months.
The 10 year thing – probably a REALLY good thing, because before I quit drinking, the only reason I didn’t wake up not knowing where I was with a shiny new rock on my left hand was because I was legally married. Phew!
He is happily married with children now and throughout the years, we’ve managed to drift in and out of each others lives and stay friends.
As pathetic as I am maintaining romantic relationships, I do seem to have a knack of being a great ‘friend who’s an ex.’
Adam (AKA: mOji from the SANE days) who seriously rocks vocals and drums, is joined by Mr. X on guitar and Brendon Ghiringhelli on Bass.
(“On guitar” What does that mean? If I had a nice guitar, nobody better be ‘on’ it. Get off my guitar. Now I’m on a Spinal Tap tangent in my head and in Nigels guitar room)
But I digress (as usual)
Spinfarm headed into the recording studio last year and the result was the End Of The World Soundtrack.
You’ll see why on the cover. Those wacky Mayans – they inspire you know?
I asked Adam if I could interview him, and he graciously penciled me in. (I’m typing this intro while waiting for the diva to IM me to do the actual interview … musicians. Pfft. You know how they are.) I jest. He’s busy being a great dad, husband to his beautiful wife and working hard.
Let’s enjoy the music video for the first track from Spinfarm’s CD while we wait.
I responded to my first viewing with ‘”I feel sorry for the dog at the end” 😦 (what every musician wants to hear from someone who just viewed their artistic effort huh?) but was assured that Henry was not left behind and even has his own Facebook page.
What follows is a back and forth interview between myself and my ‘ex who’s a friend’ about rocking out and about making a CD and other ‘stuff’.
There shall be shenanigans and I’m gonna make him name drop, because he’s not only a very talented musician, but a huge fan himself and has had the rare opportunity to jam with some note worthy people.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
Me: My first rock interview, I’m a little nervous. May I call you mOji or Adam or do you go by Rock God these days?
Adam: Adam. LOL
Me: I recall, a little band called Rooster Stew. Now you’re in Spinfarm. I see a rural pattern …
Adam: Interesting … My current guitarist named the band Spinfarm, but I can see your point
Me: When I google Spinfarm, it wants to correct me to ‘spin farming’. I’m afraid to click. What’s the skinny on the name?
Adam: I’m actually not 100% sure myself … lol. My guitarist likes to say Home Grown sounds with No GMO’s
Me: GMO’s?
Adam: Genetically Modified Organisms
Me: :-O I’m glad you have none of those. They’d make the music odd
Adam: Indeed … Our music is pure and from the soul. So I’ve been told
Me: Your songs always have been. We’ll just cut to the chase. I’ve given my readers some background – we have a brief history lol. I had the honor of hearing Pantomime Circus live … a lot. Are you proud of the CD version?
Adam: Yes I am. I always thought the lyrics were some of my best. But I thought the music was lacking. What my guitarist came up with and the way we build the song finally does it justice IMO
Me: I really like it – but I’m partial to the solo version. You recorded with Charlie McGovern … how amazing was it to be in the studio??
Adam: It was. Charlie is a long time childhood friend, prior band member and an amazing producer and engineer with an amazing resume. We were tight and well prepared and turned out all the music for all 10 songs in 5 hours. I did all the vocals the following day in one take.
Me: I was so excited for you. You’ve NEVER given up on your music. Hey – let’s play a game. No cheating. I’m going to throw something random (lol) at you and you give me the first words that come to mind K?
Adam: OK … shoot
Me: Boondox
Adam: China Town
Me: Peacemaker
Adam: 45
Me: lol, I knew I’d left that off. Electric Chair
Adam: Straight Jacket
Me: Pantomime Circus
Adam: Ghost Town
Me: Sunset Serenade
Adam: Spaghetti Western
Me: Take your Toll
Adam: Hmmm … Don wrote and sang that one. But I think Vampires
Me: Like Edward Cullen or Vincent Price?
Adam: Vincent Price
Me: K. Higher Low
Adam: Hmmm … Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Me: Nice! Loaded
Adam: Dive Bar
Me: and um … Satan Jam
Adam: That’s a song that our guitarist relatives used to play back in the 70’s. It’s an Ode to …
Me: Okay, phew! Then there’s a bonus track that’s a secret – I’ll be buying my copy and will then know the secret, but can we have a hint?
Adam: Baba O’Reily by The Who … lol
Me: OMG! I LOVE the version you guys do. Seriously well done.
Adam: Thank you 🙂
Me: I just sounded 14. Jeez.
Adam: TEEN BEAT flashbacks
Me: LOL. You know my entire room was plastered in hair band posters
Adam: Indeed my Crue loving friend
Me: Speaking of other artists – I was saying you’re not only a rocker, but a huge fan. You’ve had the opportunity to jam with some pretty amazing artists. Name drop please.
Adam: Love/Hate, LA Guns, Junkyard, Rhino Bucket, Blue Oyster Cult, David Lee Roth, Tesla
Me: Did David have his farm bib pant things on? That would have been apropos
Adam: He was actually wearing a Popeye type sailor suit … but badass as always.
Me: LMAO! He was my first concert. I wore a sweater and heels. Yeah … I didn’t know how to ‘concert’ then. So, when you’re playing arenas, what’s going to be in your rider? No brown M & M’s?
Adam: Hmmm … Beef Jerky, Atomic Fire Balls, lotsa Double Bubble gum and Mt Dew
Me: I knew there would be gum. 😉 What happened to fruit stripe?? Have you abandoned the zebra?
Adam: Flavor doesn’t last as long as Double Bubble. lol. But, not Zebra the band. lol
Me: True, very true. Okay, serious question. How DO you keep time on drums and sing??
Adam: As I tell my step daughter (who plays drums) Practice Practice Practice. Seriously, lots of practicing thru the years
Me: Why do you close your eyes when you sing, but have them open when you’re drumming w/out having to do a vocal?
Adam: Actually, I’ve been told recently that I do the WHITE EYES thing while I’m singing and drumming too. lol … it’s quite odd. But I disappear into the music
Me: LOL! I know those eyes. You do tend to do an early Eddie Vedder when you’re at the mic.
Adam: One of my influences
Me: I know – do you still cover Pearl Jam?
Adam: Not in Spinfarm, But I did do this a few months ago solo
The only cover we do is the Who song in Spinfarm
Me: I was going to ask if you were still doing any solo things as mOji
Adam: Just as Adam. mOji is my old Santa Cruz moniker from my days with SANE
Me: I still have the lunch box somewhere
Adam: Nice
Me: You have a lot going on this Summer – lots of gigs
Adam: Yes, we’re excited
Me: did you create all the fliers? They’re really good
Adam: Yes, I create all the fliers – book all the shows … But I really enjoy it. Connecting the dots. AND the fliers I do with ancient programs, no photoshop here
Me: Too much talent for one person Atom
Adam: LOL
Me: Dream tour … who’s on it with you?
Adam: Hmmm … lets see. Pearl Jam, Love/Hate, Janes Addiction and Ace Frehley
Me: Nice! I’d go. Can the Gin Blossoms and Dave Matthews come too?
Adam: On my acoustic solo tour lol
Me: Yes! Hey … Atom?
Adam: Yes
Me: Where’s your gum?
Adam: Right here —->
Me: lol. Did you want to add anything? Say something mind blowing?
Adam: Beware the lollipop of mediocrity – lick once and you’ll suck forever
Me: And on that … we have a wrap.
Fantasy Frog
I’m a leaper.
A leaper with an active imagination. A fantasy frog?
When I posted my Happy Birthday to Nicholas a day before his birthday, I shared it on my Facebook wall and a dear friend of mine, Brian, replied to my comment ‘Because I can never wait’ with “that is SO you”. It is. 🙂
I love that I have friends who know me that well, and it got me to thinking. Is that particular facet of mine a good thing?
It is now.
Probably not so much when I was still drinking. LOL
From piercing my nose, tattoos and marriages, I’ve jumped right in, feet first with abandon.
I do have a child like impatience – I can barely contain myself when I’ve found the perfect gift for someone. I still count down an upcoming event in ‘sleeps’. 3 more sleeps, 2 more sleeps, 1 more sleep – you get it.
Then there’s my over active imagination.
A guy makes appreciative eye contact with me and we’ve already broken up by the time he looks away. I’ve flashed through courting, our wedding and I’m fine tuning my break up speech to give the poor unsuspecting cashier/random stranger.
“It just would never have worked out” is probably not an appropriate response to ‘thank you for shopping with us.’
I crack myself up.
I love that I do those things now. I’m not as impulsive. I think things through – ask myself ‘what is the right thing to do here?’
I can’t turn it off though! My mind is ALWAYS running.
Probably this is a good thing for someone who loves to write. I try not to question it anymore – just temper it with common sense.
Oh, and shockingly, I’m writing this at the laundromat – and a Gin Blossoms song has just come on – don’t think for one minute after meeting Robin Wilson last year and getting a hug and a kiss he didn’t fall madly in love with me. I had to let him down easy – in my head. 😉 It just wouldn’t have worked out.
Lazy Sunday after a night with CHUPACABRA! :-O
Guess where I am. 3 guesses. Okay, here’s a teeny tiny clue.
Lazy lazy day so far. Woke up at what I thought was 8:20 am. Which confused me as I usually don’t sleep in, no matter what time I go to sleep. I wished with vehemence that my dog was capable of making a pot of coffee. She was still busy snoring too – so there was no teaching a young dog a trick.
I gave up on the coffee fairy and took the plunge out of the warmth of my blankets. Clocks in the living room and kitchen said 7:20. What the heck? Either my time zone savvy alarm clock got confused or someone was messin’ with me.
I went to bed late last night too! I swear, I try to milk every last moment out of the weekends. I’ve described it in the past as a tired toddler refusing to go to bed. Even though they’re tired.
I told a friend, ‘hey! When we became ‘grown ups’ we were supposed to stay up as late as we wanted! Pffft. Too tired to stay up so late. No fair.
So I was watching the SyFy channel and got sucked into a stupid B movie that, since I’d invested some time watching, wasn’t about to STOP watching until I knew how it ended.
The cinematic masterpiece was Chupacabra vs the Alamo. Which doesn’t really make sense since … oh, *spoiler alert* the chupacabra wasn’t actually battling against The Alamo, they just happened to end the movie at that location.
Screen shot of the star of the movie.
Yes ladies and gentleman, that IS in fact the one, the only … Erik Estrada.
And now … brace yourself for a screen shot of THE ‘Chupacabra’.
Almost peed my pants laughing at that picture. Oh, it might not look threatening in that photo (like, not at ALL), but the CGI guys must have had their budget increased mid-way through and shocked us with shots like this:
Scary, scary! Then things got a little nostalgic … Aw. Wouldn’t have been complete without a couple few scenes of Ponch on a motorcycle. (Oh, and he was a cop. I love when actors stretch themselves in a role)
Enough bagging on a man who is still working. besides, no one made me watch it. Got to admit, I love low-budget films. SyFy channel rocks.
So, now I’m at the laundromat and in between writing this epic, poignant post – switched the laundry from the washers to the dryers. Ah yes, I can multi-task. From literary genius, to domestic goddess. Snort.
I was out of ‘lives’ in my Candy Crush game when I left the house, my son encouraged me out of my lazy stupor by pointing out that when I got here, I’d have lives. I retorted, ‘lets face it, if I’m headed to the laundromat and looking forward to playing Candy Crush whilst there … I don’t have a life” He agreed. LOL!
But I do. I have an important obligation to fill you in on the little things. Who else is going to tell you about an Erik Estrada movie they just watched? Hmmm? Who will?
You’re welcome.
Musings from the laundromat
I should have named my blog that. ‘Musings from the laundromat’.
There’s something about being here that affords me the ability to declutter my mind and exhale. I wonder, if someone said, “Hey, I have a washer and dryer you can have” if I would take them up on it?
Yeah, I totally would – but I don’t hate being here.
Usually there’s music playing in here, but not today. It’s vewy, vewy, quiet. We’re rabbit hunting. Shhhhh.
And a cart rumbling by breaks the silence. To my right is an older couple. The man is reading and as I glanced over, I caught the eye of the woman. I smiled. I’m not sure if she smiled back or if she was trying to get a piece of food out of her molar. Her mouth moved and there’s fast food in front of her – hard to tell.
They’re actually sitting at my table of preference. Hmph! I’m under a rainbow clothed umbrella at an absurd little round table for four. Like something you would see at an amusement park food court.
Fun fun fun! Woooo! Watch the dryers tumble from your fun 4 red seated table.
Actually, from here I have a view of the bathrooms and the back door.
My table is open …. right this way. Now I can show you the amusement park table.
My keyboard keeps locking up on me. Obviously in between the woooo! And my table being vacated, time passed. That time lapse would be me trying to get my ipad’s blue tooth keyboard to respond to me.
And the post was so thrilling! Can’t believe my train of thought was derailed.
Okay. So let’s muse.
Its Saint Patricks day today, I’m going to make fajitas. And, since I don’t drink, there will be no green beer or Irish Whiskey. Not entirely sure why Americans celebrate St. Patricks day? I mean, unless that’s your ancestry.
I’m from the United Kingdom and wouldn’t be able to tell you much about the day. I think there were snakes and a guy named Patrick drove them out? How did that translate to green beer?
Reminds me of a joke I tell my friend Mario every year (he taught it to me, but it’s our ‘thing’ we do)
Q: Why do Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo?
A: Because they can’t pronounce dias y seis de Septiembre
Love it. And yes, I know America is a melting pot, but for all intents and purposes I’m referring to non-Irish Americans and non-Hispanic Americans.
Just cracks me up. Any excuse for a party. Because I don’t buy the diversity of culture acceptance crap. I’d love that to be true. But then I picture a sloppy drunk blonde on a bar wearing a collection of green beads, her stomach wet from a body shot and yelling “I’m here to honor the Irish and their rich history! Yeah baby!”
And that hope dies.
Then in my imagination, she falls off the bar. Ha!
Would be great though, wouldn’t it? If everyone was so accepting and tolerant of one another and celebrated heritages not their own.
The only green thing I hope to see today is fall out from that CME. I do hope for green skies. Seeing an aurora is on my bucket list.
What happens when you cross everything off your list?! Oof! I guess go to the laundromat, clear your cluttered head and start a new one eh?
Well, my dryer has 6 minutes left on it – so I will thank you for keeping me company during my outing.
And if you are going to party today, be safe, have fun and watch out for snakes and falling blondes.
Soup out.
Debauchery Soup 