Guess who has their diving certificate now? Yes peeps! I am now a certified diver and so excited about it... I won't stop bothering friends and family about it! lolol. I can't even begin to explain how amazing it was to be on the bottom of the ocean at 60 feet below the rough seas, gliding through vegetation and schools of fish. There was a downed airplane there... a small commuter plane. You can swim into the cockpit. I did it! I swam through canals of coral. It was wild. The serenity of the sea and just freely breathing down there replaces any fears. Safety and control are most important. Once you master those skills, you can truly enjoy the massive eco system beneath the surface. I am now in the hunt of diving sites and intend to dive pretty much every time I hit a coast. Catalina Island in Cali.... NJ shore.... wherever! FUN FUN FUN!
So, I had a couple of interesting experiences last night in Milwaukee. The gig was great. Mantra Lounge is really nice and James A is great. Had a really nice time... played with Brian from High Caliber/Funk Monkeys. It was fun. I always love the midewest. Then at his loft/studio afterwards, I listened to some tunes and bootlegs he had worked on. Pretty cool. This guy.... I'll say guy, you can call him what you want, was with his girl and I guess he needed attention and to feel powerful in front of others.... so Mr. elastic wristband with the skull cap on... yea, might be a lil image conscious, eh? ... Pulls out his D*CK and slaps his gf in the face with it. Then he grabs her boobs and she says "No...." I was like about to jump up and squash this pussy. What a wackjob toolbag, honestly. Big man... showoing off. It really was quite embarassing for her and he should really be ashamed. Man, if I had a few drinks in me, I would have started calling him names for being such a chauvenistic kok. Anyway, let's all take a moment to laugh at this guy. Yep. Laugh it up. :)
Next was more moving. My cab driver to the hotel was from Eastern Africa. I asked him where and he said Somalia. Somalia?! Woh. I said "Isn't there a real genocide problem there right now.... and female castration..." "Yea," he said. "That's why I left." I said "Did you move here with your parents?" "NO. They passed." "Oh," I said. Then we talked more about the warlords and how scary it was living there. Then he told me that they murdered his parents when he was a little boy. He fled to Kenya and one of his relatives in America found out and sent for him. He has lived in the US for 13 years. He apparently has the names of the warlords who killed his family and he is going back very soon to kill them. "Can you go ther eand get away with something like that?" I asked. "Sure. They don't know what I look like so it will be easy for me. I will just go and shoot shoot shoot. That will be done. Then I will come back here. I like it in America."
Wow, right? YOu know what? I would do the exact same thing if I went thru what he went thru. I just hope he doesnt get caught but he assured me he wouldn't because there is killing all of the time. No one ever did anything when they killed his parents and no one will do anything when more people die. This time it will be his family's killers.
"Good luck on your mission, man. Go do it and be safe. One life on this earth, man," I said as I woke right up at 4 something am with my sore throat.... whining little bitch. My parents were not killed by druglords. I had a fever and some throat/sinus infection. This man was on a mission earning money to return to his homeland to kill these people who ruined his life and effectively saved/changed it forever. POWERFUL STUFF!
Well, it's raining here. SURPRISE! Yes, I left 92 degree sunny weather... but not so easily. I misread my itin a few days ago and thought my flight was 4:50 when it was 4:20. Next, couldn't print out the boarding pass on the home comp.... web site was having trouble. Good times. So, sped to the airport. Traffic? Of course! Lack of parking? Of course! Get inside near the security check.... ready to use the kiosk as I only have carry on baggage.... OUT OF ORDER! OOOFFFFF CCCCCOOOOUUUURRRRSSSSEEEE! So, I trot downstairs and check in with the machine downstairs. Less than 30 mins before take off.... Too late to check in? OF COURSE! Speak to an agent... the two ladies are very busy chatting with each other and seem irritated that I am in need of their attention. Too bad.... for me, that is. "OOh, you are going to gate C29. You may not make it...It's far from here.... bla bla bla." I'll make it. I'll run. Carry on only," I exclaimed. As I grabbed the pass from them and ran for the security I realized... NO PHONE! It's in the car! YAY! So, I run...no I sprint to the car... look for the car in garage B, 4th floor. WRONG FLOOR SPACE CADET!~ Wow! Good times, indeed. So< i run down the up ramp for cars hoping not to encounter oncoming traffic.... Locate my car, grab my phone, Run to the stairs, up to the elevator on the 4th floor, where my bags are sitting (illegally....shhhh). Take the elevator.... run down to security B. Guess what? Guess when the TSA guys decide to make jokes and take their time and do the most thorough searches? WHEN YOU ARE IN A RUSH, of course! Now I have 9 minutes till my flight takes off and I have to run to terminal C and then to the end to gate C 29. Well, looking like a fugitive running from border police, I sprint to the gate. I board just in time and sit down, pouring with sweat. Good times, yet again. The flight attendant asks me if I am OK.... I'm sure she had to as I looked like a sweating freak! :) I assured her I was fine and just a lil hot from the jog... she brought me a stack of paper towels and two bottles of water. My hero! :) So, flying first class, I slowly cooled off and enjoyed the fine service as I ingested 5 bottles of water, a coffee with Bailey's, and a chicken caesar salad. Good times. Here I am typing to you... as the GAMEWORKS across the street from my hotel calls my name. DONT DO IT! I'm trying not to but I might have to partake in a lil gaming and mexican food before this very anticipated Tuesday gig. Good times! :)
So many things to tell you about this past weekend. Where to begin? Hmm. Well, firstly, interesting how popular blogs are, eh? Many movie stars have them. Read them. Sometimes they are funny! Its neat to get into other people’s lives. So, I invite you into mine! J
First I did the favor style gig in Bangor, Maine. I had to fly to Portland, rent a car, and drive up. Funny story. I left for the airport without getting any extra money so I left my home with $20. Yep. Twenty dollars. Well, to start, a taxi from my house to the airport costs $25. So, after Old City Taxi driver #51 agreed to await my check for the $4.20 plus tip I am sending, I gladly swiped my Visa for an airport snack. In Portland, onto the bus I went to the Enterprise Rentacar spot where I picked up my brand new Mailbu in hideous renta-car red. Yipee! Next, I got onto 95 North heading toward Bangor. Too bad the highway is a toll road up there. I scraped up 60 cents and asked the woman at the toll booth if there were any more tolls ahead. “Sure are! $1 and $1.50.” Ouch, I thought. I have 3 cents. She was kind enough to give me my sixty cents back so I could exit the toll road at the next exit and get onto the smaller road, Route 1. Turns out that was a good time. Yes, it took me many hours to get up there but thanks to the credit cards, I was able to get a cool pair of G Series shoes at the Kenneth Cole outlet and a Ben & Jerry’s waffle cone. Yum yum! So, I managed to make it up the coast of New England on not one penny cash. It was a beautiful drive, indeed.
Detroit. What a city! Let’s first discuss how dilapidated it is. The Ramada, only the best for the big stars like me, was excellent! Now, I’m not really a hotel snob. I stayed at a Holiday Inn the night before in Maine. This Ramada was exceptionally ghetto, though, with two out of six working elevators… and it was the Rave Hotel for the festival. That, however, is what makes it so much fun! I actually enjoyed it, although the wall of my shower was falling apart and pieces fell into the shower while I bathed, the one time, to be safe. J I mean… let’s talk about convenient. The club we all played in, we being Terry Mullan, Angel Alanix, Phantom 45, Paul Anthony, Woody McBride and I, was on the first floor of the hotel. Sweet! So, moving backwards in time, the gig was a real blast….. the party was called OLD SCHOOL and it had that vibe with all of the DJ’s on the same bill. Before the gig, I napped… The reason? I was so full from our Greek dinner in Greektown, right next to the casino. We took the people mover, the automated monorail. That was good times. Before that? Well, I enjoyed the festival. The techno downstairs was storming and it was fun meeting up with all of my peers like the WMC. I hung out with Dietrich and Tony Rhor, Christian Smith, Adam X, John Selway, and of course Terry. There were also a slew of promoters and party peoples from all over the place so it was cool meeting up with all of them. Most of the Mid-West represents out there.
The night before, I stayed in my cozy room till about 2:30 before rolling to a true Detroit fire trap dungeon kind of party. Techno in a vacant and condemned building, the way it should be. Tommie Sunshine, John Selway, Traxx and I enjoyed Dan Bell’s set as long as we could before the kicked up dust and threat of entrapment overpowered us. I believe I was the first to leave at around 5:45. Yea buddy! Not much sleep at the Detroit festival, much like Miami for WMC. This past weekend was definitely a good one. The best line of the weekend? Getting the tour of the club with a few other DJ’s and hearing one of the club maintenance guys describe this little corner that could be construed as a secret hideaway during the night for some club goiers…. “This is where the homeless people keep sneaking into the building to piss and shit. I cleaned it up. Maybe I will block it off for tonight.” Needless to say, as I passed that very spot at 6 am as I toured through the club, I noticed a large group of people inside that very crevice. Hope they had their Vick’s Vapor Rub on to disguise the smell. J
