Flamingo at World Cafe Live

Please excuse the lame photo; as I wrote yesterday, my son has failed to furnish me with actual pics of his band, Flamingo, and now I'm contributorily negligent because I left my camera home last night.

Anyway...

The show at World Cafe Live was pretty damn impressive last night. I didn't realize it, but it was billed as Paul Green School of Rock Music Presents: Infinien, 722, and Flamingo. All three bands contain Rock School students/alumnae and/or teachers. I knew this would be happening -- it was just a matter of time. And needless to say, the place was PACKED! I'm serious, they played upstairs at World Cafe, which is usually not the place for headliners (they play downstairs d'oh) but let me tell you, the bar, and every single table was taken. These bands could easily have sold out the "big room". Opening was Infinien, who is described as follows:

Infinien combines eclectic and seemingly disparate musical personalities into a visionary, unified sound that defies genre. The music of Infinien has evolved from simple musical collaborations between roommates into something much greater than the sum of its parts. On vocals and keyboards is Chrissie Loftus, who formally co- fronted Trace Fury, a local experimental neo-classical jazz pop group. Matthew Hollenberg is a progressive guitarist who currently plays in experimental metal band Cleric and death metal-punk band Cetus. Justin Carney is a professional jazz musician and plays acoustic upright and electric basses. On drums is Tom Cullen, who has played in death metal-Latin group Heinous Anus and jazz punk band Jazz Crimes.
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It was interesting for me to see Matt Hollenberg play guitar in this band. I met Matt when he was 16 or 17 and one of Paul's first premier students. I guess he's around 22 now. When I knew him, he would come to our house and have my daughter record his band and he was into really heavy metal. In fact, he toured with either Ozzie or the Warped Tour...I can't remember...in any event, last night was a whole new showcase for his amazing talent because he was playing jazz/rock and it was AWESOME.

Funny story about Matt and his metal days. Julie used to record his head banger band at our house. I have a small place and Matt and his band came in with Marshall stack amps. His lead singer was...err...interesting (okay, think lots of off key screaming). So having experienced this a couple of times, I decided to go to the beach for a few hours while they were recording. Imagine my consternation (ha) when I returned home and saw three police cars parked outside my house.

"Oh god," I thought. "I can see this already. They are under 21; they're drinking and doing drugs, a neighbor called the police, and I'm going to be the one who lands in jail."

Ha ha. Not true. I was thinking of my own youth. Yeah, a neighbor did call the police, but when the police came, they made fun of the neighbors and really got into the music. My kids invited them in for cookies! One of the cops was dancing! I walked in, expecting the worst, and the police gave me a high five!
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Next band up was 722, made up of all University of Arts grads, one of whom is Nero, a guitar teacher at Rock School. They are an extremely interesting band...they remind me of an old Philly group, Johnny's Dance Band, with a female singer who did harmonies with the guys and did very energetic, power pop rock. Actually, it was more like Johnny's Dance Band meets the B-52s last night because 722 is also punk, but then they surprised me by doing a quiet song which was almost jazzy, too. So they were a hell of a lot of fun to watch. They were the headliners, but get this -- they didn't want to go on last because last time they headlined and Flamingo opened for them, Flamingo filled the house and when 722 came on, everyone left. (Not on purpose or not because the music was bad; that's just the way it is. People go to see their friends, then split to party). Anyway, check this band out if you can; they are very, very cool and you can find their website here
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Finally, Flamingo took the stage. They get more sophisticated and more confident with every show. Last night they were truly incredible. Once again, I was amazed at the crowd -- everyone stayed -- the audience included Rock School teachers, former students, current students, and local musicians who'd heard the buzz on the street.
They did a lot of new material last night and there were a couple major highlights: They coaxed former Rock School All-Star Allie Hauptman out of retirement to play a few tunes on the keyboards and for their finale, invited Brian Purcell, a Rock School All-Star who plays bass but studied violin for years, to play said violin. Dan Nitz, Flamingo's bass player, played a bit of his original instrument, the trumpet, and even crazier, they did one cover -- a Flaming Lips tune, which Julia sang with Eric, who came out from behind his drum set to play acoustic guitar.

Haffie and Matt were their usual awesome selves on guitar, but when Julia picked up her guitar and did a solo, you could hear the crowd do a collective gasp; it was that good.

I had the chills.

So, in spite of MTV, rap, and idiot big business corporations, original and creative music lives and thrives in Philadelphia!

I love my kids...I love my kids...I love my kids...must not have stroke...must remember...I love my kids...

So anyone who reads this blog or knows me is aware of how much I love Eric and Julie. But holy shit, they are both going to give me a stroke one of these days.

Let us begin with Julie, who is vacationing with her boyfriend and his family in Hilton Head, S.C. Julie realizes she has a gig with her band on Saturday evening and therefore, it would not be a good idea to wait until Saturday afternoon to take a 3 hour flight home just in time to play bass for four hours. I've been telling her since last week: Julie, please change your flight ASAP. It's not easy to do this during the busy summer vacation period.

I have to laugh. (So I don't cry). I came downstairs to the following three...yes, three...emails from her this morning. Now before you read this, you may not consider the below to be "politically correct" but fuck that. I am no racist and don't have to explain myself or what I think is funny to anyone.

Mom:
PLEASE HELP ME!!! I'm in tears right now trying to get hold of travelocity... the phones in the house don't allow long distance service, so I've had to use my (and others) cellphone(s). I keep calling and getting to the very last step... right when I think it's going great, I hear the fatal two beeps and I'm disconnected. I even tried Steve's brother-in-law's phone (he has the same one as Eva). I just can't get through and I'm hyperventilating. Please Please Please call the evil company before work tomorrow morning: my trip ID is xxxx and my Confirmation code is XXXX (all letters, it's an o not a zero). My reservation has already been split from the Nicolazzis. I want to change my flight from Savannah to Hilton Head, SC. The flight I want is US Airways Express xxx on Friday, July 15. It departs Hilton Head at xxx AM and has one stop in Charlotte. The flight out of Charlotte is xxx. If I can't get that, then I'll take a xxx AM (flight xxx to Charlotte, and #xxx to Philly - all US Express). I'm so sorry I couldn't do this - this is one of the most frustrating things I've ever had to do. The calls were all so easy - I could understand the agents and everything. It would've been done an hour ago if this stupid island had better service. You'd think Republicans would've put towers all over this place. No, wouldn't want to destroy the golf courses... GAAAHHHH!!!

***********

This is followed by another e-mail, minutes later:

Mom:
i was even all proud of myself when i was calling... I foolishly thought that i was being a normal adult, that I was actually going to accomplish something, instead of having you do it (cry). call me if i have to keep trying - the good news is from the first call, I gathered that it shouldn't cost more than $130 and that changing the departure city was fine.

love you***
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Followed by yet another e-mail a few hours later, in which I foolishly thought I might not have to spend my early morning writing time on the phone with Travelocity:

Mom:
Absolutely ridiculous... that's all I can say. I figured - hey why not more frustration... JT figured out how to call long distance from the house phone, so I immediately ran into the media room and called. Thirty minutes later, Abreu in the finals of the home run derby. I frantically ran into the other room to look for the other phone so I could watch it. No luck, so I figured it was the evil Travelocity knowing I was on long distance and putting me on hold (before on the cell phones I got direct service). I hung up, and was cheered up as I watched Abreu slaughter Rodriguez in the derby. I was about to go to bed, but looked at Eva's phone on the counter: call travelocity... c'mon Julie, don't give up. I must be stupid because, oh yes, I called again. I didn't want to waste any time, so I hooked up the ear piece, brushed my teeth and did crunches to the lovely muzak. At about 24 minutes in, I figured "oh to hell with them" and reached for the end button, when suddenly I heard ringing. SUCCESS! This time, the agent was a lovely Indian lady who knew nothing except that there were no seats out of Savannah on July 14 or 15th (no really? I knew that hours earlier), and that I COULD NOT change departure cities (contrary to what the lovely Shawn told me earlier). She was so kind to put me on hold several times and was generous enough to connect me to someone from US Airways. I was getting all ready to speak to the wonderful Susan from the airline as the Indian woman gently left me with a goodnight into an unsettling, yet undoubtedly temporary silence. But the silence stretched on and on, and I was wondering where my Susan was. I longed to hear even the travelocity lady's broken english. Hello? Hello? Susan?! ANYTHING! ANYTHING!!!

I can't even cry anymore. It was too funny to even be upset. I say, tomorrow morning book the freakin's $254 7:15 AM flight outta Hilton Head before it's too late.

love,
julie

ps - feel free to make a short story out of this... someone will benefit i'm sure...
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Well, all I can say is, I did not benefit. I poured myself a cup of coffee at 5:00 a.m. this morning which has now grown icy cold. I have been on the phone with Travelocity for the past hour and a half. Here's my email to Julie just now:

Dear Julie:

Wtf? Does Shawn never sleep? Because yes, I got him. I don't understand a fucking word he says. I've been on the phone with him since 5:10 a.m. I think I am making progress but i'm not sure. I will let you know....
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Oh my god, I'm going to kill myself...my blood pressure must be through the roof, but finally, SUCCESS! My latest email to Julie...and if she isn't on this flight, I am officially disowning her:

Dear Julie:

I could not get the flight you want - it's full. This is the only one I could get, and I grabbed it. So you're leaving Hilton Head at xxx a.m. on Friday. I'm sorry it's so early; they were booked on every other flight.
Your confirmation number XXXX

I may have just lost what's left of my mind. Why the f*** would you hire people to answer phones who can't speak English? Can you please explain that to me? Because you want to know the worst, ironic thing about this whole mess? I WENT THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING YESTERDAY ON THE PHONE WITH SOMEONE FROM INDIA WHEN I TRIED TO GET YOUR LOAN PAYMENT AT SALLIE MAE TRANSFERRED TO THE RIGHT LOAN! I SPENT MY WHOLE FREAKING LUNCH HOUR TRYING TO GET THAT SORTED OUT...WHICH I FINALLY DID. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Love, Mom
P.S. I watched the first part of the Home Run Derby where Abreau got 24 homeruns and was completely freaked out. I'm so glad you got to see it!!!! It felt weird not watching it with you*
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So you know what's going to happen, right? She's going to wake up, get my email, and say I CAN'T WAKE UP IN TIME FOR A FLIGHT THAT EARLY.

And you know what I'll say? Oh. I won't be saying anything. I'll be in the hospital, hooked up to life support.

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Now let us speak of Eric, who has a gig with his band Flamingo tonight at World Cafe Live.

Eric, I said to him at least three times last night before I went to bed. Please email me info on the show and some photos of Flamingo so that I can post it in my blog today and possibly get you some more people to come see the show.

"Okay, Mom, no problem. Don't know if any pics of the band are on line yet, though."

"Well, then, just get me a pic of a Flamingo or your logo...anything. Just send me something I can post; as well as an overview of your show since I know you have new material and you mentioned something to me that you may be doing some acoustic stuff and some covers and that you will not just be playing drums, you'll be playing mandolin, guitar, and piano as well." (Note: I had no idea my son even played piano. He's one of those incredibly musically gifted kids who can pick up any instrument; in fact, he told me he might take up sax)

"No problem, Mom. I'll email it to you as soon as I'm done talking to my friends."

"Alright. I'm going to bed now. Are you sure you'll take care of this?"

"I promise, Mom."
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Ahem. Needless to say, my AOL mailbox only contained the three emails from Julie this morning.

Soooo....all I can say is, Eric and Flamingo, World Cafe tonight, they are the last band to play so they'll probably go on around 10:00 p.m. (yes, yes, another late night on a work day; just call me the law office zombie), and here is the link for more info and to buy tickets: World Cafe Live

Chris Opperman (and Eric Slick) at the Lion's Den in New York City

Jordan Shapiro - keys, Jeff Paitchell on guitar, Eric Slick on drums, and Chris Opperman on keyboards

Eric looking unusually serious

Jeff on guitar, Dave Johnsen on bass, Chris on keyboards, Dr. Dot doing vocals (and oh man, please go check out her website; what a character), Andre Cholmondeley on guitar, and Eric of course hidden in the back on drums



So. What can I say about the show at the Lion's Den Saturday night? It was incredible; I'm on a two day high from it; the music was awesome and I saw my son reach new levels (and I didn't think it was possible for Eric to be even better than he already is); Chris Opperman is an INSANE keyboard player, which is probably why he plays with Steve Vai and was voted LA's best keyboard player EVER, 2005. Jordan Shapiro on synth was fucking amazing; Dave Johnsen on bass guitar is so good it's scary -- right up there with my daughter Julie (ha!) -- and Jeff Paitchell and Andre Cholmondeley on guitars were fucking thrilling. They were classical, they were jazz, they were pure rock and roll. I still feel a little speechless from what I saw and heard. Best news is it's going to lead to future gigs for Eric -- Chris said he's coming back to NYC in a few months and wants Eric to tour with him for a week or so. How freaking cool is that!

I also dug the Lion's Den but must admit I felt a little old in the audience; I'm guessing since it's in the Village it's a hang-out for NYU students but the cool thing is, they got the music and really, really loved it so maybe there is hope for the future after all. People were pointing at Eric and the rest of the band members and clapping and dancing -- it was amazing.

The other really cool thing that happened is that Paul showed up and it was his birthday! He brought along Rock School kids now in their own bands -- Jeremy Blessing and Dom Malandro of Atlas and Gina Randazzo of Toxic Box. So Eric was really touched and surprised by their appearance; he didn't even go on until well after 10:00 p.m. and they stayed for most of the show which ended after midnight. Before he left, Paul said to me "Tell Eric he is really kicking ass tonight!"

Oh man, did I have a teary eyed mother moment. Because again, I know Eric was up on that stage and able to play that difficult, difficult music because of his Zappa training with Paul and all of the confidence instilled in him courtesy of his seven years at Rock School.

And now tomorrow I get to see Eric with his band, Flamingo, performing at World Cafe Live.

Ah, I'm digging life right now. If only I didn't have to go to work today...

Happy Birthday Paul!

Happy Birthday Paul!

No, not Paul McCartney, I'm way too cool to like him...

Happy Birthday Paul Green, Uberlord of the Paul Green School of Rock Music!

This just in...The Cream are Coming ...The Cream are Coming!

The Cream Reunion tour is coming to New York City October 23-25, 2005.

I am so fucking there!

Happy Friday!

So, Happy Friday and let me first dispense with some writing news.

Yes, it's true, I will appear in what will probably be the November issue of Playgirl Magazine along with my fellow Phaze authors. They will do a feature on us, because we actually write erotica with intelligent dialogue, plot, and characters and they'll also include certain excerpts of our novels. In other words, we write clit lit, not porn. So yep, that's very, very cool.

But other than Three Days in New York City and the 3/4 of the way written sequel, Another Bite of the Apple, my erotica days are most likely over; I prefer writing humor and creative non fiction. My other novel in progress is a "creative memoir". Oh. Looks like I won't be leaving erotica world after all. Ha.

No seriously, I prefer writing humor these days, and in that regard, I am ecstatic to announce that I have a short story, Fly Casting, which will appear shortly in the very hip and oh so cool NYC magazine, Opium and of course I will post the link again when my story is published.

I love Opium. When I subbed something to them before and was rejected (sob), the fiction editor, Will Layman, wrote to me and said something on the order of "We're not taking this but please send us more. You're sick and we like that."

Yep, he got that right.

But back to Three Days in New York City, I was interviewed recently by Kim Atchue Cusella on behalf of Romance Junkies and I am really psyched by the final result. Kim asked some interesting and unusual questions. So in case this blog hasn't revealed enough about my insane life, here's the link.

In other news, Eric is in full rehearsal mode for his gig with Chris Opperman at the Lion's Den in New York City tomorrow night and I cannot wait! He's playing with the big boys as I've previously posted -- Steve Vai's keyboardist, members of Project Object, the Frank Zappa cover band, all of whom are pretty heavy hitters musically. I asked Eric how he felt during rehearsal and he smiled and said "I was the only one who knew all the songs." (I think that means he knew the songs because he listens to music non stop; I don't think it means he was the only musician who could play them all perfectly, but with Eric, who knows?). Anyway, I am really excited. While you know I am Rock School's biggest fan and supporter, Eric is graduating and this is his first gig totally exclusive of the school because even his bands Flamingo and Abel are made up of Rock School kids. I think it's important this year for him to experience everything musically he can because his EVIL MOTHER says this is his year to really try and make his mark in the music world; otherwise EVIL MOTHER is going to hold him to the deal we made, i.e., he goes back to college in September of 2006.

Julie is off globe trotting again tomorrow -- she accompanies her boyfriend Matt and his family for a week in Hilton Head. She really makes out. She went on vacation with them to Costa Rica a few months ago; then she (and Matt) get to go with me to the beach in Ocean City for two weeks in September.

And finally, this entry wouldn't be complete if it didn't include some Rock School news. The film premiered in Canada this week and here are some links to some pretty cool reviews:

Here, here, and here.

Have an awesome weekend!

In case I haven't mentioned it lately, Bush is a fucking moron opportunist...

Bush is already trying to profit from the disaster today in London. Here's his speech to the American public:

The contrast between what we've seen on the TV screens here, what's taking place in London and what's taking place here [at G8 summit] is incredibly vivid to me.

On the one hand you've got people here who are working to alleviate poverty and to help rid the world of the pandemic of Aids. They're working on ways to have a clean environment and on the other hand you have people killing innocent people.

The contrast couldn't be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty and those who kill.

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Fuck you. Can't you just say you're saddened by the tragic events?

And double fuck you. What about all the lives lost in Iraq?

And triple fuck you. What about what you are doing to the environment? Single handedly ruining the efforts of thousands of people over the past two decades to end global warming, etc. with your stupid fucking oil company/corporate allegiance.
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Sorry Rock School kids/parents. But this is how I feel and as much as I love to talk music and writing, I am paralyzed with grief today for my good friends in London and for all of us, really. To read the words of that sociopathic fascist hypocrite just sent me over the edge.

Back to the real world...continued

That's a smoke surounded Matt Rothstein on bass during his last Rock School regular season show

So. I survived Live 8 and the July 4 Elton John concert/fireworks display, both of which were held right down the street from my house this weekend. I think I fed about 50 of my kids' friends over the course of the holiday; at one point I walked downstairs during the Pink Floyd reunion and there were like 12 kids crowded around my computer and another 20 in front of the TV. The barbecue went on all day and night; then yesterday I had the same crew over for tacos. Got to meet Eric's new girlfriend, Carolyn (gorgeous, sweet, and everything a Mom could want for her son) and also her equally lovely parents, who stopped by on their way to the fireworks and because there was a jam session going on my living room at the time, we just sat on my front step and chatted which was very cool though of course I would have loved to have cracked open a couple bottles of wine (they drove down, though...not a good idea and it was also extremely hot).

Back to the real world yet again. In case you are an Eric Slick groupie, get a load of his schedule for the rest of the month:

This week - practice in upstate New Jersey for his show in New York City Saturday night on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights.

Practice during the day all week for his upcoming gig with his new project, Abel. Okay, Abel is a tentative name and subject to change but I love it; that's the name of the Rock School bus driver during the infamous summer tour of 2004...however, knowing Eric et al I fully expect to come home today and find out they have a different name. It's comprised of Eric on drums, Julie on bass, Louie Graff on lead guitar, and Madison Flego on guitar and vocals. They are really, really good.

Somehow, Eric also has practice all this week and next week for his upcoming gig with Flamingo.

So, here is the gig list:

July 9 - Lion's Den in NYC with Chris Opperman and members of Project Object;
July 12 - gig with "Flamingo" at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia;
July 16 - all evening gig with "Abel" at Rembrandts' Restaurant in Philadelphia for their Bastille Day celebration
July 22 - All-Star gig at Downingtown Rock School
July 23 - All-Star gig at Bergen County, NJ Rock School
July 24 - All-Star gig courtesy of RocksOff in NYC - a boat cruise which travels around the Statue of Liberty;
July 31 - All-Star gig at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD (major venue - I'll post a link and more info on that later);
August 3-8 - All-Stars perform at Zappanale in Bad Doberan, East Germany
August 13 - Eric's final All-Star performance ever with Rock School - he "graduates" - it's a Pink Floyd show at World Cafe Live...two shows...a very sad moment as six other mainstays and close friends of Rock School will graduate as well.

And this list is subject to many more additions. How awesome is that?!
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So speaking of Rock School, both my travels with the All-Stars and this blog has put me in touch with some very interesting celebrities and even better, fellow writers across the world. When we got home from Seattle after the great Eddie Vedder and Ann Wilson experience, I read about the kids' performance on a website www.twofeetthick.com hosted by a fantastic writer, LeAnn Mercer, which is "Pearl Jam for the Impassioned Fan" and it was so well written and so terrific I posted it here. Well, how freaking cool is this, LeAnn saw it, and sent me the following emails:

Hi Robin (and Eric and Julie!),

My name is LeAnn Mercer; I wrote a review of the Rock School Jam performance in Seattle with Ed Vedder and Ann Wilson. It was written for the website, twofeetthick.com, and Eric was kind enough to compliment me when he posted the review and webpage link in your blog a couple of weeks ago. I just got 'caught up' on your blog today...I've been meaning to email you ever since I saw the show here in Seattle, but seeing MY name on YOUR webpage prompted me to do it today!

I really enjoy reading your blog, Robin! I can understand your 'post partum' issues and think that the DVD will do very well -- I know there are a ton of Pearl Jam fans out there who wanted to see the movie but don't live in an area where it was screened in a theatre, so hopefully they'll get a chance soon with a DVD release. Several friends and I went to see it during the Seattle Film Festival when it made it's commercial debut at the Uptown Theater -- we loved the movie! It feels like a very honest portrayal of the school and the students, and the educational process of rock music is an amazing thing that the kids get to experience.

I have to admit though -- as much as I loved the movie, the live performance I saw at Neumo's was even better. (I saw the live show a few days before the movie, so maybe that contributes to my bias.) I was amazed at the broad range of songs performed, and really proud to see so many young women up there on equal footing with the guys. Of course, being a huge Pearl Jam fan myself (and a Heart fan, too), Ed's appearance was a nice bonus but I genuinely was there to see the kids, and they did not disappoint. Your own two offspring were really inspirational -- they're talented and seem very comfortable onstage; it was a joy to see them perform.

Take care, and please tell Julie and Eric 'congratulations' on all of their accomplishments. The future of rock and roll is in good hands.

LeAnn Mercer
Seattle WA
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Naturally, I wrote back to her, and thanked her profusely, asked her permission to post her email in my blog, and told her I'd send her a Rock School soundtrack, etc. Also told her about Live 8 and how disappointing it was after being at Live Aid. Here's her response:

Robin,
Everything I wrote in my original email was from the heart; please feel free to post any part of it in your blog. : )

I've had a hard time getting excited about Live 8. I remember the first one...back in the days of VCRs...I taped the whole freaking thing and had to run home in the middle of a friend's BBQ to change tapes, haha. Today I'm tivo-ing it; not so much to save it, but so I can give it a head start and then fast forward through all the...crap. It's hard to fault a cause that seems to be of the best intentions, but the corporate aspect makes me gag.

And it offends me that Rock School wasn't offered a spot to play in the Philly lineup! It's a sad oversight. A couple of months before the Rock School Jam show, I attended a benefit show for the Northwest School, which is a private school in Seattle that focuses on the arts 'ahead' of humanities and science. Stone Gossard is a graduate and Pearl Jam has supported the school with numerous fund raising efforts. At the benefit, in between sets by Ann & Nancy Wilson, Bill Frisell, Pearl Jam, and the Presidents of the United States of America, kids from the school performed. In contrast to Rock School, it was a much more mixed bag of ability and appeal, but it was so cool to see those kids have the opportunity to perform in front of a hometown full house in the Paramount Theater. I think I was expecting a similar experience at Rock School Jam, and I was severely blown away by the level of musicianship those kids showed. There were a lot of great moments, but I really remember being stunned by their cover of "Pigs" -- I remember thinking, "Those are HIGH SCHOOL kids playing a fucking Pink Floyd cover that sounds AS GOOD AS PINK FLOYD." Before the show, some friends and I had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant across the street and when we came out, we heard the band soundchecking Corduroy -- and I remember exchanging looks because of how impressed we were. So...I guess my point is, it's Philly's loss not to hold them up as representation of the 2005 version of The Sound of Philadelphia. ; ) Is my age showing? Or did everyone have a little 45 rpm record of MFSB by TSOP?!

I would love any Rock School swag you'd like to send my way...

You're also going to have to eventually share that photo of you with Eddie, too, you know...I can't believe it's not on your blog YET. ; )

It was great to see you in my email box this morning. thanks for such a quick and delightful reply!

take care,
LeAnn
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So that kind of made my weekend though I admit, my weekend rocked. I love having all the kids over; when they jammed it was amazing, we stuffed our faces with great food for three straight days; and now it's time to be groupie Mom again and follow Eric all over the universe this month.

Ah, life is good.

Oh yeah, my story is up at Slowtrains Literary Journal and guess what, my novel Three Days in New York City and I are going to be in Playgirl Magazine in November. More on that later...hahahaha...I guess it deserves its own special post, huh.

Rock School Post Partum Syndrome - one month after partying with Eddie Vedder, Jon Anderson, Alice Cooper, Stewart Copeland, and Ann Wilson

Julie Slick on stage in Seattle

So it's approximately one month after the debut of Rock School; the documentary is leaving the Ritz Five in Philadelphia after tonight's screening and while it just opened last week in a few cities and will be debuting overseas next month, it will be on DVD sooner than later where I think it's going to be a hit...in fact, I read an interesting article how DVDs are much bigger business and bigger profit makers than movies in theaters so hopefully the advertising that Rock School did not get this time around will be rectified for the DVD and it will in fact get the wide audience it deserves.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't depressed these days. Rock School the movie was in the making over two years -- probably almost three years -- and I have true post partum syndrome now that it's over. I mean, come on, a month ago I was in Hollywood chatting with Jon Anderson after he played Heart of the Sunrise with Julie and Eric at the L.A. Knitting Factory and he put his arm around me and told me how great they are -- I even have a pic of it which I may post if I have a few drinks (meaning, I look absolutely horrific in this photo -- like a deer caught in the headlights with a shit eating grin on my face)...I stood in shock while my kids played with Stewart Copeland, Alice Cooper, Ann Wilson, and Eddie Vedder...and my god, I had freaking pizza with Eddie Vedder (also have a pic with his arm around me, too, again, too awful for words -- I think I need a chinectomy, i.e., for someone who hovers between a size ten and twelve, I have about seventeen chins in that photo but I know me, one night while knocking back a few, I won't be able to resist posting it)and anyway, it's been back to the real world bigtime for me and I don't like it.

Daughter Julie is happy, though. Her boyfriend Matt is back from his two week adventure in New Mexico though I have to admit, I enjoyed having her to myself. We had some awesome times together (ha ha - as usual, I clobbered her in Scrabble but she's a great player as well so we're thinking of becoming a team and challenging others to play us at Mugshots, a local coffeehouse which has Wednesday night Scrabble tournaments. I'm not bragging, I used to play tournament Scrabble and trust me, no one is going to beat the two of us. I just hope money is involved or at least free coffee!). We also had some incredible meals out, the best of which was dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, Lolita, at 13th and Sansom. It had to be the absolute best Mexican meal I've ever had in my life - I'd eaten there before with a fellow writer, Miriam Kotzin, and was blown away but the dinner I had with Julie was even better. They have a knocked out salad made with green apples, butter fish which has been chargrilled, fancy lettuce, and a dressing which tasted of vanilla beans but very subtle. I can't even describe how amazing it is. It's a BYOB and their big thing is they have these huge pitchers of fresh fruit juices so you bring a big bottle of tequila and enjoy. For dessert we had chocolate tres leches cake - oh my god, and I wonder why I have seventeen chins. Tres Leches cake is three milk cake - so this was chocolate cake soaked in heavy cream, milk, and sweetened condensed milk. They topped it off with homemade whipped cream and rich chocolate chunks. Lolita is now one of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia.

Eric has so much stuff going on I can't even keep track of it. Gigs with both of his bands, gigs exclusive of his bands, two very interesting gigs at the end of the month I can't announce yet but of course will shortly as soon as they are confirmed; then he leaves for Germany with his father for Zappanale 16 where he'll perform along with the Rock School All-Stars as the festival's headliner doing a night of Pink Floyd and a night of Zappa. I am sooo jealous I'm not going to Germany again but I think it's important for Eric and his dad to go together though it's the first time EVER that Gary will get on a plane because he's terrified to fly. This is a big man who normally is afraid of nothing -- he goes along with the kids on the world's most heinous amusement rides -- when they were younger and he took them I couldn't even go and watch because I'm one of those people who throw up after a trip on the Merry-Go-Round and wouldn't even dream of anything as wild as a Ferris Wheel let alone those roller coasters of death. He is also a man who, when his jeep was stolen and by some weird twist of fate he pulled up next to it at a traffic light, chased the very very scarey criminal through West Philadelphia in his new jeep with no cell phone and no weapon other than his hands. I told Eric he has to take a pic of his dad's face at take-off; I'm imagining a version of "The Scream".

And in other news, we have Live 8 here on Saturday which is literally right down the street from my house. Now if this was the original line-up that I saw in 1985 here, I'd be so excited I wouldn't be able to control myself but the Philadelphia cast is so horrible I doubt I'll even watch it on TV. I mean, we have fucking Josh Groban, Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi, and P. Diddy. Somebody please kill me now. However, I did tell the kids that I'll have an open house here for anyone who wants to stop by for a burger - I'll probably barbecue all day and have all kinds of munchies so you don't have to give the City of Philadelphia $20.00 for a crappy hotdog and warm Pepsi.

Sigh...just thinking about Live Aid 1985 makes me depressed. I was three months pregnant with Julie and in the bathroom every five seconds either throwing up or peeing. First time in my young life back then I went to a rock concert and couldn't get high. Ha. It was the hottest day ever and the promoters got the brilliant idea about midway through the show to turn high powered hoses on everyone. Now I was thrilled, it felt wonderful, but all the people laying out lines of coke on mirrors all around me (hey, it was 1985!) almost had heart attacks and not from the drug. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of dope ruined that day. Oh the humanity! But oh my god, the show. There will never be a line-up in Philadelphia like that again:

Bernard Watson
Joan Baez
The Hooters
The Four Tops
Billy Ocean
Ozzy Osbourne
Run Dmc
Rick Springfield
Crosby Stills and Nash
Judas Priest
Bryan Adams
The Beach Boys
George Thorogood and the Destroyers/Bo Diddley/Albert Collins
Simply Minds
The Pretenders
Santanna and Pat Metheny
Ashford and Simpson and Teddy Pendergrass
Madonna
Tom Petty
Kenny Logins
The Cars
Neil Young
The Power Station (Robert Palmer's super group)
The Thomson Twins
Eric Clapton
Phil Collins
Plant, Page and Jones
Duran Duran
Patti La Belle
Hall & Oates/Eddie Kendricks/David Ruffin
Mick Jagger and Tina Turner
Bob Dylan/Keith Richard/Ron Wood

Bernard Watson is an interesting story. He showed up at Live Aid with a guitar - he was a local singer/songwriter and said "Put me on stage, please" and so the organizers said, what the fuck, and let him open the show.

That could never happen in today's corporate climate. Our line up is not only an MTV disgrace, how the hell could they exclude Rock School? Rock School has given this city more publicity and fame and our lovely Mayor, who by the way was voted the worst mayor in the entire United States by Time Magazine, doesn't even acknowledge their presence. I mean, if you take the suburban branches into consideration, we have maybe 500 kids from the area who are accomplished rock and rollers, had a documentary made about them which has played all over the country and is now scheduled for international release; made a soundtrack with some of the original Live Aid performers -- kids who play major venues all over the city and have had press everywhere from the New York Times to the London Observer...and they can't get an invitation to play in their own city? Oh well, who cares. Who the fuck wants to play with P-Diddy and Dave Matthews. These kids have played with Stewart Copeland and Eddie Vedder, etc.

But I did read the City is proud to announce that Pepsi has paid them $65,000 for the rights to be the exclusive drink supplier for the concert...
************
Hey, I just did get some good news. Got an email that a story of mine was accepted for the summer edition of Slow Trains Literary Journal and it will be published this Friday. Yay! I have started really writing again now that all the distractions are over; editing my novel on The Tour which no longer focuses on the tour at all; finishing up the sequel to Three Days in NYC; and simultaneously writing two short stories.

So life is good in that regard. Oh, one funny story about that. I know I'm always moaning that I want to quit my job so I can write full time but in reality, my kids and I have a high life style which we enjoy so unless Hollywood buys Three Days or my new novel gets a huge advance, I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon. Yesterday at work, my boss wasn't in and he called, asking me to look on his desk for a file. I go in his office and see a legal tablet with notes which are obviously for a conversation and something catches my eye. It says "I know you haven't been happy; I've heard you want a break; this is something I have to do; I know it's not fair but I'm taking Theresa on; the two of you can alternate; I know I talked to you about this before and we'll re-evaluate it again next year...etc."

Naturally, this had to do with me. I know there's a paralegal/legal secretary named Theresa who is very, very good and while I thought she was happy in her present job; I know she moves around a lot and her name comes up frequently when the firm with whom we share space is looking for help. So my stomach plummetted, because I have a lot of expenses coming up; I want to redo my upstairs entirely; I have plans to buy french doors for my living room; I have a two week vacation at the beach planned in September; Julie's college tuition which always includes extras for me to pay....oh my god, I went into shock. So I sat at my desk paralyzed for an hour, thinking about my options. Working part-time would be amazing; it would allow me to write and have a consistently clean house. But it would also mean my salary would be cut in half at the worst possible time. Could I afford it? Then I started thinking about how difficult the work is now and if I were making half of my salary, would I still want to deal with it or would I rather just go temp somewhere and make the same money without any stress? Plus, and this is the worst aspect, I've worked at my job for decades and my computer contains a lot of highly personal stuff (well, a lot of my short stories and things I work on during my lunch hour and before work, etc.) and my desk is a mess, also stuffed with my private belongings. It would literally take me two months to clear my hard drive and clean up my "mess". The idea of sharing my workspace with another woman sent my blood running cold.

Anyway, after almost giving myself a stroke, my boss strolls in and I decide to immediately confront him with this so that he couldn't hit me with it first. I notice he covered up the legal tablet with files as soon as he walked in and then got on the phone. I sat there and sweated for another hour until he was free. I walk in his office and blurt out "Is there something you want to tell me?"

He stares at me like I'm crazy.

"Look, Craig, I never snoop on your desk but you sent me in here and I saw the notes on the tablet."

"What tablet, Robin? What are you talking about?"

"The one on your desk under all of those files!"

He digs it out and starts laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"This is about hockey. Theresa is my assistant hockey coach. I am putting her in to share duties with another one of the moms because she has more time and energy."

Oh my god. I was so mortified and worse, I also let him see my fear about being downsized. I let him see it BIG TIME.

I even made him feel my hands, which were like giant frozen ice blocks, and trust me, neither Craig nor I are touchy feely and for me to do that, I was out of my head with paranoia.

Anyway, to his credit, he laughed and ripped the paper up in shreds, saying he talked to the other mom who coaches about Theresa last night; she was upset, and that he was tearing it up because this whole thing already caused him enough angst with her (Craig is really a nice guy; it's not his fault the legal business is so crappy these days) and that he didn't need me upset, too.

So that was yesterday.

But hey, I have a story about to be published in Slow Trains! Hahahahaha - sorry to repeat it again, but Slow Trains Literary Journal is a top tier lit publication and I'm feeling a lot less sorry for myself all of a sudden.

From the lips of keyboardist Chris Opperman: Eric Slick - 19 year old drum phenom!

Sorry, I know I just posted this pic from Guitarmageddon but I love it and I'm still waiting for the Guitarmageddon info so no sense letting the photo go to waste...

Anyway, as I previously broadcasted, my son Eric, who is 18, not 19 (arghh...please don't make him grow up any faster, Chris), has a gig in NYC at the Lion's Den on July 9 with members of Project Object and Chris Opperman, Steve Vai's keyboardist.

Here is what we received from Chris' mailing list today, and how cool is this!

Sent: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 3:05:58 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject: [Chris Opperman] Oppy Takes Manhattan Saturday, July 9th
[Chris Opperman Mailing List - Monday, June 27th, 2005]
Episode #41: Oppy Takes Manhattan
Order now at http://www.oppymusic.com/.
Mailing list entires archived at http://www.united-mutations.com/.

* Oppy @ The Lion's Den in NYC, Saturday, July 9th @ 9:30 PM
* "Beyond the Foggy Highway" Preview on MySpace
* Belgian Review of "Concepts of Non-linear Time"

* Oppy @ The Lion's Den in NYC, Saturday, July 9th @ 9:30 PM

Opperman will be making his debut New York City performance in front of over 100 of his biggest fans on July 9th with the debut of the East Coast version of his band SPECIAL OPPS featuring several members of legendary Frank Zappa cover band Project/Object as well as a graduate from Paul Green's School of Rock (http://www.schoolofrock.com/). They will be performing a long set consisting of fan favorites from all of Opperman's albums including the upcoming SPECIAL OPPS studio album as well as selected compositions by two of Opperman's mentors, Steve Vai and Mike Keneally.

The band will feature Chris Opperman on piano, Andre' Cholmondeley on electric guitar, Jeff Paitchell (from Opperman's hometown of Clifton, NJ) on guitar, Jordan "J-Ro" Shapiro on keyboards, Dave Johnsen on bass guitar, and 19 year-old phenom Eric Slick on drums.

"I realize that some of you have been waiting 7 years for this concert and that some of you are traveling long distances and planning your vacations around this event. I just want you to know that the band and myself are just as excited about this concert and this music as you are and that we are going to have one hell of a music party. It is an honor and a privilege to finally be able to bring this music home and we will all be playing like we've never played before. Get ready to have a great time!"

To order your tickets, go to http://www.cegmusic.musictoday.com/LionsDen/calendar.aspx. The show is 18+ and tickets are $10 each.

* "Beyond the Foggy Highway" Preview on MySpace

Last week, mastering engineer Scott Chatfield burned the final master for Opperman's fourth album, "Beyond the Foggy Highway." Also, local LA artist T.J. Moore completed two paintings for the artwork. Once the graphic design phase is completed and the mechanical licenses are signed, the album will be sent to the manufacturing plant and will be showing up in your mailboxes! Currently, there is an exclusive preview up on MySpace.com at www.myspace.com/chrisopperman which features 4 of the compositions on the album. At 65 minutes, it clocks in as Opperman's longest effort to date and includes 17 songs which feature all of his Los Angeles ensembles from 2002-2004.

The album can be pre-ordered from http://www.oppymusic.com/. All pre-orders will be individually signed and numbered and will include a unique one-of-a-kind sketch on the CD face by Chris Opperman.

* Belgian Review of "Concepts of Non-linear Time"

by Peter Van Laarhoven of Vosselaar, Belgium for United Mutations

"Concepts of Non-linear Time" is Chris Opperman's latest album. Or as the liner notes say: "This album is dedicated to everyone who has player or performed my music in the past, present and future."

This is one great album. It's contemporary, modern music, combining very fine compositions with superb playing. If you are familiar with Opperman's previous albums, you will probably be glad to hear that the grand piano still is the main instrument on this album. Chris' playing is astonishing. Just listen to "The Saddle Ranch" where he (and Mike Keneally) will take you for a rodeo ride, using various rhythmic and melodic elements. Beautiful.

My favourite tracks are "The Walls are Coming Down" and "Dora's Aura," both featuring excellent vibraphone work by Ben Adams. Mini-Moog fans on the other hand (and who isn't one) will be glad to hear that Marc Ziegenhagen is also present. He does some rather psychedlic things on "Reviving Aeris." Highly recommended.