The Naughty Bear

I know what you are all going to ask, and yes i'm doing just fine. COME ON, as you may know, now has a different bass player, heretofore to be referred to by her name, RACHEL. And we are now called GIRL HARBOR. We played our first show on July 6th at the always-free Luna Lounge, and it was a rousing debut. We all played superbly, and i even got to play maracas on a song. An overall success, except for Luna only paying us $50, the bastards. Don't they know how much our fans drink? I played a coupla other shows recently. Well, the TRIS McCALL show at Maxwell's from which the photo was taken was over two weeks ago now, so all i remember is us playing really well in front of an mostly-full house, and these two really trashy Jersey girls sitting at the bar before the show, looking hilariously out-of-place. Jersey City's Kevin Dailey and i had great fun cracking jokes at their expense, but, after about 6 glasses of wine and no food, i was very seriously entertaining the notion of hitting on them. I guess that's what booze is for, eh? Alas, by the time we had finished our set, my little angels had left, probably to go to Bahama Mama's, and i sorta lost interest in the whole night at that point. That and my free Maxwell's burger was woefully underdone, tartar if you will. But, anyway, the whole bunch of us is playing again at Northsix in Williamsburg on August 23rd, which has neither free burgers nor trashy Jersey girls, but should prove to be just as fun. Especially if you are caught in the bathroom with Zach. I also played my first (and last?) show with MARGARITA y U.C.E. at Tonic last night. For those of you who haven't seen Margarita, she sings cover songs in Spanish and has an amazing, hypnotic voice. The show was wonderful, in spite of/because of Margartia's bout with vertigo-inducing ear infection, and her yellow flip-flops, and bassist/co-vocalist Jimmy Spoiler's impromptu invention of new Spanish words. We played two (2) Nancy Sinatra songs, and i got to play really, really quiet for a change. An amazingly good-sounding videotape of this show exists, for anyone wishing to witness/listen to it.

The aforementioned Rachel

I also know what you are going to ask, and yes, Robin and i are getting along splendidly. We are still excellent friends. Thanks to everyone who has asked and who has listened and who has said nice things. It means a lot, and we both appreciate it. We are doing well.

I recently made my world debut as a DJ, thanx to my old pal Martin and the Anthology Film Archives annual Garage Sale and Barbecue. Rain sadly moved the event indoors, and due to the copious amounts of DJ talent on hand, Martin and mine's collective act, DJ RECORD COLLECTION, only had about a half-hour to do our thing. That translates into roughly 4 prog-rock songs. I played "Knife-Edge" by ELP, to the collective chagrin to pretty much everyone. Myself included. Oh well, it was fun to hang out in the camera room of the theater, and i know i'd gladly DJ again, so if you know of anything, parties/weddings/etc., give us a call. Especially if you like prog-rock.

Martin, DJ RECORD COLLECTION's better half,
spins a little something from the 2nd Roxy Music record.

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I instead decided to check out the free Biz Markie/Doug E. Fresh old-school extravaganza at the Central Park Summer Stage. At least that was the plan until i arrived and saw at least 1000 people waiting in line to get into the tiny venue. "Screw this" i thought, and went to a grassy section nearby and listened to "the jams" in the distance while falling asleep under a tree. I could think of worse things. Biz Markie, for his part, was reportedly quite drunk in the parking lot, visibly bitched out his road crew, then went on stage and forgot most of the words to his songs.

I also decided this is the year i finally go out on my roof to watch the fireworks. Seeing as how i live 1 block from the E. River, where they're launched from, i have no idea why i'd never done this before. Anyway, it looked kinda like the photo below, only darker and with fireworks and smoke everywhere. It was pretty kick ass.

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The LOST FISH flyer, outside the Turkey's Nest in Williamsburg. It's gone now.

So, i quickly and inspiredly went to work and made the "Lost Fish" flyer you see there. The descriptions beneath read: Last seen 6-30-01 Missing a fin Answers to "Shawn Bradley" We miss him!! Some of you might recognize 888 913 4098 as being Mishka's pager number. Anyway, i went to Kinko's and made 50 copies to post around the Villiages and Williamsburg. While there, a French kid came up expressing interest in my flyer. Apparently he travels often, and one of his favorite things to is to take down lost pet flyers, save them, then repost them in different cities. He said he was going to China soon, so i gave him a couple of flyers for him to hang. So, i spent the next 5 hours or so walking around NYC on a beautiful sunny day, hanging up my "Lost Fish" flyer in all of my favorite record stores and eateries. An odd persuit for a 30 year old, sure, but i was having fun. One such stop was "Rocks in Your Head", one of those decent but overpriced NYC record stores, located in this case in Soho. I asked if i could post a flyer, and the guy at the counter asked to see it. He looked at it and sneered. "What's this for?" he asked. I just shrugged and said "i really can't answer that." So he informed me i couldn't post my flyer. He obviously doesn't care about fish. So, i decided i'm not shopping there anymore, not that i ever did in the first place.

One of the last places i posted a flyer was at the building where GIRL HARBOR and The CANDY DARLINGS (among many other bands) practice. The flyer was up for about a week when ZACHARY DARLING informed me that someone had written on it "My fish just died! This isn't funny!" Oh yes it is ...

Shawn Bradley, incidentally, is a 7' 6" Mormon guy who used to play center for the New Jersey Nets.

Hey, since i got you and all, i'd like to show you something Dan Clowes would appreciate. Now, as you know, i'm not normally one to make any sort of perverse or Freudian interpretations of things like this, but does anyone else notice the Onan-ic overtones on my box of Nature's Path Honey'd Corn Flakes?

"Organically Sweetened?!"

You know what i don't get? Badminton. Do you know anyone who plays Badminton? And, yes, that's how it's spelled - i was surprised too. Anyway, while i was in Central Park, i watched an attractive college-aged couple play badminton for at least an hour. No net or anything, just back and forth, back and forth. Maybe they were practicing for the "big game." No, i wasn't watching the *whole time*, but still. And then last weekend, on a cloudy, rather depressing Sunday, i saw a young married Polish couple volleying on my street, and they were at it for a while too. Shouldn't these people be kissing or talking or something? Badminton? To think, i couldn't even get Robin to throw a f*ckin' frisbee.

To learn more about the International Badminton Foundations policy against drug use, click here.