Let's go Jets!

Today's game determines if the Jets enter the Superbowl (it's a big deal because they're the Mets/Islanders of football)! They'll be against the Indianapolis Colts... I HOPE THEY WIN!
Yes, my team of choice is the Pittsburgh Steelers; but they're not in the runnings anymore.... so being a NEWYORKER (insert obnoxious accent here) I (along with the state of New York) will be rooting for our Jets! :)

Tuesday starts a new semester... and judging by my textbooks: I won't have time for blogging anytime soon. My Art History class required not one or two books or the astounding four... but 12 textbooks. I'm starting to try to get ahead on the readings, because APPARENTLY I have a lot of work to do this semester just for this one class.

The other classes aren't so bad. My evolution class required one textbook, and I'm taking two African Literature classes so that's what all those small novels on the right hand side are for. Those are easy, though.  If I had to, I could read one or two of those over a weekend. No sweat. I'm just worried about the stupid art class that required 12 textbooks and ate all of my money.

Yeah, textbooks are expensive.... that lovely shelf of books ran me $600+. For one semester. WHOO.

Anyways, Jesse's band (HAZMATBAY) may be touring come March or April; So to make sure that I can visit him every weekend (not weekdays because I'm in school) I'm trying to get a little bit ahead on my art readings, because I know those are the ones that are going to be the pain in the ass. So far I have Tuesday night's homework done... so on Tuesday I plan to get Thursday night's homework done... and next weekend I plan to get ahead as much as possible so that come March-April, I'll be able to go for the weekends and visit Jesse on tour.
Hazmat officially moves into their studio this Wednesday, which is exciting. There's a dog at the studio, the owners dog, named Phil/Fil. (I'm not sure of the spelling, but Fil is a possibility because the studio owner is in the music industry and may have named his dog after The Fillmore venue. Just speculating... I don't know that) And Jesse's already 80% moved in, so we'll be able to chill as the rest of the band moves in. I also laid out the beautiful blankets I bought for the girls. The embroidery came out great. And I'm sure they'll be useful because that room gets cold when the other people using other studio rooms leaves the door to outside open. (We're the room adjacent to the outside door... it may get drafty)

45 days until I get to go with Jesse and meet my bff & her brother in VEGAS for 311 Day!! :) I'm so excited!!! :D I'm currently in the process of saving for the trip. It's going to be so much fun!! <3 The only thing we have planned for definite is a trip to the aquarium to see the overhead shark tank of awesomeness. Oh, and the 311 concert... which I thought was a given.

Sublime got their name back. Finally, and legally! So they probably plan on going on tour sooooon, which is great because they deserve it after 15 or so years of not being able to play. They reserved their Myspace pages, and Facebook pages as Sublime with Rome, because that's what they'll be calling themselves. I thought it was nice that they are continuing to list Bradley Nowell as a member in addition to calling themselves Sublime with Rome, as they're honoring the death of their friend and former band mate. It's exciting. Also, with this name they'll also be able to take proceeds of their merch/tour money and put it towards the rumored "Bradley's House" : a rehab facility for teenagers. :)

A Nice Tribute.

Last night was 1/2 of KROQ Radio's "Almost Acoustic Christmas". Jesse and I heard talk of this show for a while being that it was Sublime/"Sublime"/that band that Bud and Eric are in's second bigbig show in a while (first one was the Smokeout Festival). They opened with "Date Rape" and continued to play without ever announcing themselves.


Rome Ramierez, the "new singer" of Sublime had announced that the candles on the stage were there for Bradley. Who died 14 years ago of a heroin overdose.

Photo from KROQ. If you look next to Rome's left knee, you can see the candles on Bud's riser to honor Bradley.

Another photo from KROQ, this one is much better at showing the eight candles for Bradley.

The L.A. Times did an article of last night's show, saying that Rome did a great job filling in for Bradley, and

"...filled Nowell's role ably. He's a fine guitarist and played soulful turns on chill-bro anthems like "Badfish" and "Santeria." He nailed Nowell's vocal inflections to the point that if you were in the beer line when the set began, you'd be forgiven for wondering whether Tupac and Elvis might also be in the building."

 The L.A. Times had also said that "The surprise guest at Saturday night's opening installment of KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas passed away in 1996." Which made me think that they were in reference to Bradley Nowell, who passed on May 25, 1996... I think that's what they're talking about... but I'm not entirely sure. I wasn't there, I was (unfortunately) in New York.

"Indeed, much of the first night of Almost Acoustic Christmas -- the second, featuring Muse, Vampire Weekend and Phoenix, is tonight -- stoked the flames of Nowell's contributions to a Southern California rock culture in which punk is the indigenous pop music and the '90s still loom large for today's artists."

I think this is a great start for Sublime/"Sublime"/that band with Bud and Eric to get back into playing the shows that they were never able to play due to Bradley's untimely death. They are going about all of this very respectfully, after waiting 14 years to tour on their Self Titled album, and are paying great tribute to their fallen friend, and band mate.


The Orange County Register wrote,

"Regardless, while acknowledging Nowell’s spirit with eight memorial candles lining Gaugh’s drum riser, Sublime-not-Sublime momentarily stole Saturday’s five-hour show by chugging through nine songs in 30 minutes, including every KROQ staple (“Wrong Way,” “Santeria,” “Doin’ Time,” “What I Got” to close) as well as the L.A. riots-inspired “April 29, 1992 (Miami)” and the group’s cover of the Toyes’ “Smoke Two Joints."

Tonight's lineup for KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas includes: 311, Slightly Stoopid, and Phoenix... Damn, I wish I live in California.

Hawaii?

I miss my Hei Matau. Bret best be taking good care of it... Maybe it's in Hawaii right now. I'm certainly not... Lucky necklace. I am here, in New York, dogsitting Bosley for my neighbor. He's cute. He follows me around everywhere. I love it.

Going to 311 Day in March. :)

Booked the hotel a few weeks ago, and got the tickets on Saturday. All that's left is an airplane to get us to Vegas. Yeah, 311Day isn't in New Orleans (N'Orleans?) this time.. there was a poopy medical convention planned for that week, so 311 couldn't guarantee any hotels to be blocked out for their fans to stay in. It's a dumb situation, but! I get to go to Vegas, now! :D So, that line on my 101 in 1,001 must be changed from "Go to 311 Day in New Orleans" to "Go to 311 Day in Vegas" because my 1,001 days will be over by next 311 day. And and and: Moon and Dave are going tooooo! <3>

Bret told us he might be able to get us to meet the band on 311 day. It'd be sick.

Jesse, too, has a link to 311...

Are you ready for it?... Here it comes...

He is now proudly endorsed by DIAMOND AMPLIFIERS!

That's right. You know... 311's guitar player... that guy, Tim Mahoney. Welllll if you look at his INTENSE-ASS rig, you'll see that it features all things: DIAMOND AMPS. YES. Jesse and Tim Mahoney are now co-endorsees. THATS FUCKING RIGHT!

I'm so proud. Also- same day- somebody in the Netherlands made a fan page on their version of Myspace for Hazmat Bay. An endorsement AND an out-of-country fan page?! In one day?!@ FUCK YEAH.

Tomorrow night is the celebration of good things that happened this week. I love it! BTW, as of this morning, I'm mostly debt-free. (Aside from school loans) Good stuff.

Was invited to Hawaii or Puerto Rico on Tuesday. Ashley invited us to pick where we wanted to go, and we'd go this winter. BUT we're saving up for 311Day in Vegas so we can't go this winter. Re-scheduled for next winter. Boo-yeah. I lean towards Hawaii... even though we can't stay with Pepper... they sort of live in California now.

Much bullshit has been going on, on the Sublime battle.

In a nutshell:

Bud&Eric- let's play again! :D

Nowell family- no!

Silverback Mgmt- How the Hell did I get dragged into this?

Court order- no!

Bud&Eric- ohh man. D:

So there's like 100x more drama than mentioned above... but that's the jist of it.

That's it. Stony Brook is evil. REAL fucking difficult. Work sucks, but hey, it's money that will get us to Vegas, + Christmas shopping.

I'm done.

We Blew Out of this Town

So, Jesse, Erik, and I are headed west this week. Jesse and I are leaving on Wednesday afternoon, the moment I get out of work, and Erik's meeting us there on Thursday.

Jesse and Erik will be playing a show with Del Mar, featuring Bud Gaugh of SUBLIME, on Thursday night, and then we're headed straight to LA. :)

So I figured I won't have much time to blog (heh... this sentence is so lame) until I get back from the wild,wild west... so I'll do it now, while I have the time.

Last night, Hazmat Bay played at Mc. Z's Pub, which is a nice little bar. I thought they played well.. they did two sets with a half hour intermission in between. It was fun, Megan came with us and it was cool to hang out with Megan and Kim. :)

On Wednesday, Hazmat Bay played at Ollie's Point, and opened up for "Soul To Squeeze" a RHCP tribute, that was sub-par. But the bar was beautiful, and was all about reggae music, which I enjoyed infinitely. That was the first time I was in the bar since it was Molly Bloom's II : a good old shit hole. I was very excited about how it came out, and the owner is terribly awesome. They played after Maui Waui and the Good Vibrations, which was a very fun band. I enjoyed their performance. They go well with Hazmat Bay. Both bands were incredibly energetic, and it was a lot of fun. Moon came down with Sean and her cousin Dean, which was awesome, I really appreciated her coming down and showing support :D. HMB played an intense cover of Santeria (by SUBLIME) where Geoff took the lead on trumpet. It was awesome to hear the crowd scream the words to the Geoff. A very, very good show :)

So now, I am going to start packing and charging batteries and get ready for my superlong flight to San Jose, CA. WEST COAST: I'm coming for you! (And totally not excited about the fact that the day I'll be over jetlag will be the day I come home, and have to get used to it again in NY)

PEACE.

Feathers are ruffled.

Last night, SUBLIME "re-united"... which is pretty much an impossible task being that Bradley's kinda sorta dead. Brad was replaced by this Rome fellow, and Bud and Eric are going on as if Brad comes at a dime a dozen. SUBLIME isn't SUBLIME without Bradley-- he was the creative mastermind behind the band, it's his lyrics, and mostly his songs. He was SUBLIME. I think what ruffles my feathers even more is that Bud Gaugh (drummer) had even admitted it in an interview with Randomville on July 1, 2008:

"BG: It would be “selfish” to move on & keep trekking like Brad is easily replaceable. Additionally, we’re respecting his wishes by not looking for a fill-in. Sublime was Brad, Eric, and myself, not Eric, me, and Joe-fucking-blow. After all, is it really Queen without Freddy Mercury? C’mon. "


But I guess the royalty checks stopped coming in, and they REALLY needed to replace Brad without replacing the band name, too.

Don't get me wrong: Rome does a good job with Bud and Eric... but he's not Brad, and they're not SUBLIME.