Back to Texas!

So my oldest brother (i have 3) is getting married this Saturday in Corsicana, Texas. It's going to be hot, humid, and a blast! This will be the first wedding i've attended since i got married to Jillian about a year and a half ago. It will be great to go to a wedding and just relax.

What's also exciting, is that my sister is going to be in town for the wedding. This will be the first time in over 10 years that all of the Morrow siblings will be together, and copious amounts of alcohol will be involved. The craziness will either remind us why we never get together, or make us wish that we got together more often, and i'm pretty sure it will be the latter. My family is not known for reunions and gatherings, but when i do hang out with them, it's never less than a fantastic, and disturbing trip down memory lane. can't wait to see you guys.

The other plus side of going back to texas? QUESO?!! and more specifically, TRUDY'S in Austin!!

We're going to visit our new nephew (not pictured above-i don't know who that kid is, but it may as well be me divin in), Kalen and while we'll have a great time with the little tyke, it will serve as a reminder why we are waiting a few more years before we start trying to have one of our own.

A little band update now: Bikini is in the process of trying to find a way to finance the final 5-6 songs we need to record to put out our own LP. Any ideas would be fantastic. Cris (lead guitarist) thought it would be a good idea to have a Bikini Science "Bikini Carwash" with our various lady friends lending their efforts to support us. With the money that is made, we're going to go into an actual studio and fork over the money to have the mix sound a little more like us, and hopefully not as "clean" and produced sounding.

Mustard had a great practice last night and we will probably be doing a show this summer some time and finalizing our first recordings for your listening pleasure. For those of you that haven't seen a Mustard show, you're in for a treat. The music is pretty much on the opposite emotional spectrum from Bikini. It's light, happy, and groove-tastic. And plus, i don't play any instruments, so you get to see me in all my Jagger-Tyler-Stipes-Morrison glory. Not that i sound or could even begin to compare to those guys, but you get the idea.

The last week has been pretty crazy. Between BBQ's, band shows, other band's shows, practice, and work, i've had almost no time to do anything. I'm hoping this trip back home will be relaxing, rejuvenating, and reaffirming my reasons for being in L.A. (everyone needs that from time to time). See you folks next week.

Band of the Week
Radars to the Sky

I caught the final night of their April Residency at The Echo and also got to see The Western States Motel who feature the bass stylings of none other than Yosuke Kitazawa. You can check out a review of the show and some pictures at Mouse's Blog

If ever a sign there was

I'm broke. You're broke. Everyone is broke. Guess who's not broke? (wait for it)....the oil companies. Consumer confidence is SUPER low. My wife and I now longer go shopping once a week. We no longer eat out 2-3 times a week. We're fortunate (or perhaps the restaurants we eat at are) if we're able to eat out 2-3 times a month. We spend money only on gas, food, and the occasional night out. I used to make and/or get phone calls from friends every weekend asking me what was going on. That has significantly dwindled. it's every few weeks now. Some friends that live in this city i haven't seen in months.

That said, do i think we're in a recession? YES! Of course!! I'm tired of the people who are on the fence about this. We are in a goddamn recession and everyone is feeling it. When the deciding factor between going out with friends or staying in, is whether or not i've got enough gas, we're in a recession. When houses are Sofa King cheap, and yet no one is buying them, we're in a recession!

If you EVER needed proof, read this. It was posted on the LBN-Elert:

LBN-COMMENTARY By PETER BART: Economists are citing some dire portents of a recession these days, but they've missed one indicator I find especially disturbing: The porn business has suddenly gone flaccid. The drop in porn rentals and sales is worrisome on several fronts: Till now, porn has been a recession-proof business. Further, with the country already in a dispirited mood, the fact that porn has gone limp may indicate a true plunge in consumer confidence. DVD porn is down between 10% and 30%, depending on which nook and cranny of the business you scrutinize. Joy King, executive vice president of Wicked Pictures, and a smart analyst of the business, says the smallest drop-off is in "couples-friendly porn" -- films that embrace something of a storyline. Women account for roughly half of this audience, making their purchases in lingerie boutiques and toy stores (no, not kiddie toys).

On a good note.

My band Bikini Science just had another song (Manifesto) added to the critics board on Red Fizz. Check it out here and leave comments and suggestions.

I'd be happier about this, but i'm still pissed about the previous blog. ARG!!

Goodbye Scene, I knew you when.

So, as i'm sure most of you are aware, The Scene Bar is my favorite bar in Los Angeles. Not just because it's only three blocks from my house, not just because they have cheap drinks, not just because they only charge $5 bucks for shows, but mainly because every night i've gone there i've had a good time and listened to great music. I've even gone there on nights when i didn't have anything better to do and found myself witness to a great show.

The bar is a haven for hipsters, but is not hipster exclusive *cough Spaceland*. I enjoy being there and love the atmosphere. Plus the sound system is fantastic. Then today, i check out Classical Geek Theatre, and see this:




Now mind you, i'm not one to be upset at a visual of the female form, but for those of you that have been to this bar, would you EVER excpect to see people like this drinking there, let alone working there?!

This is beyond upsetting. Is nothing sacred anymore? Girls dressed like this are only going to attract one kind of patron: douchebags. The scene will no longer be the joyful place i remember. I swear to Christ, if this turns into another one of those hair band venues like the sunset strip has so many of (the reason most of us NEVER go there), i'm gonna scream and bitch till i'm blue in the face.

*Ugh. If it's not broke, don't fix it. I understand renovating the bar, updating it a little, but this visual makes me want to barf.

Band of the week:
Joe Purdy

This guy's song was on a car commerical. really catchy folk. i like it.

Last Night

Last night was interesting to say the least. It started with a pretty typical band rehearsal. We played for a couple of hours then proceeded to take a break. While we were standing outside we noticed a couple of ladies dressed very *gasp* scankily a few doors down. This is not typical. We've been practicing at this space for almost a year now and we've seen all the people that rehearse there or are in that area at night. These ladies clearly did not belong.





Not two minutes after that we saw a gray nissan pull up and proposition the "ladies." He drove off with no luck. Guess they charged to much. After a few minutes the ladies walked up to the street and then we didn't see them. We forgot all about them until a small pickup pulled into the parking lot and the "ladies" appeared again trying to get the driver to use them for their services. He stayed for sometime talking to them and then finally drove off. As soon as he was out of the parking lot a Police Cruiser sped from out of nowhere and took off after him. Turns out the ladies were undercover cops and it was all a setup to get some guy to solicit a prostitute, er "lady."

The whole experience was quite bizarre. And i suspect we will see those ladies again.

After all of that, i went to see Jillian at Shooters and had a strange moment with a guy i still haven't figured out how i know. His face is so familiar, and he said he'd met me before too but neither of us could place when or where. Ugh, that's frustrating.

Since there was a free show at the Scene i decided to go there on my way home. i caught the tail end of The Natural Disasters, and the complete set of The Monolators. The main reason i wanted to go was because it was sponsored by Classical Geek Theatre and I'd been meaning to see The Monolators for some time given the amount of times I've seen their name around town.

The Natural Disasters were great for the two songs i heard. They're a two piece (drums and guitar) that create quite a full sound. They played an original and then a Springsteen cover afterward. I usually frown upon covers of artists that i hold so highly, but they actually did a great job. It was just a straight forward, simple, stripped down rock song.

After them The Monolators took to the stage. I've heard a lot about these guys over the last few months so my expectations were pretty high. At first they had pretty typical Silverlake band written all over them. They have one girl in the band(drummer) who is married to the lead singer (radars to the sky anyone?) and the lead singer is skinny and awkward. They also have an overzealous bass player and a nerdy rhythm guitar player who is too nervous to get off the side wall. BUT THEY WERE GREAT!!

The lead singer's vox reminded me a John Darnielle from the mountain goats if he had a more electric sound, and he looked kind of like jason Schwartzman meets Adrien Brody. And he sang and performed with such great enthusiasm that it reminded me of why I was in a band. It was inspiring to say the least.

The only part of the show that left me a little uneasy was the bass player who was extremely drunk by the time their set started and seemed to get more belligerent as the set progressed. He purposefully slammed his guitar into the plastic sheeting covering the fluorescent lights. After their set he walked over the plastic sheeting (now on the floor) and knocked his bass guitar case into a table shattering two beer bottles on the floor. But i guess that's rock and roll, right?

The Monolators - We Fell Dead

Adventures in Glendale or How I went to Whole Foods and Learned to hate the Dijon Mustard.

So Jillian and I went to Whole Foods on Sunday, mainly for me to get some of this supplement called Co Q10, because it apparently promotes Healthy Gums(see previous Post). While there we decided to purchse a couple of tasty fresh wraps and eat them there. We both asked for Dijon mustard. I haven't had Dijon mustard in some time and didn't recall it being so frickin hot. I mean at times i felt like i'd asked for wasabi on my wrap.

Spicy mustard aside, as we sat together eating our wraps and sweating buckets, Jillian said, "You know what's funny, i've never seen a celebrity in Glendale." To which i responded, "Yeah, that IS funny. I wonder why?" Is Glendale just not that exciting? To be honest, that's seems logical. There are few things to do other than go to The Scene or The Glendale Galleria. Not two seconds after this exchange, i looked to my right at the checkout line there, noticed the guy in line, and turned back to Jillian and said, "Well there's Joel McHale."



Jillian looked at him, then glanced back at me, and we both died laughing. I mean, we've been living in Glendale for almost a year now, never seen a celebrity, and the moment we realize that, we see one. What are the odds?!!
To add to that, the next day, Jillian was filming with the Post Show guys and one of them (not sure who, i wasn't there) mused to her, "You know you married Joel McHale?"

This isn't the first time i've been compared to The Soup-miester. A few people at work have commetned that i would be quite good at his job. And i think i would, i'm a goofy, lanky, bitingly sarcastic bastard as well. Ha!
So yeah, if any of you hear of an opening at the Soup, you call them and give them my info, i'll talk the shit out of that soup.

Band of the week
Patient Patient
These guys were recommended to me by The Monthlies.

"Do'h"

So yesterday i got a call from the dentist's office reminding me of my scheduled visit today @ 8:30am, ugh. The good news, my teeth are fantastic. I don't have any problems with any of them, and after the successful removal of ALL my wisdom teeth (in one day), the wounds healed amazingly well.

The bad news: my gums are in bad shape. apparently after 26 years of poor hygiene (duh) and 5 years of off and on smoking, you may as well call me this guy:


Yikes. If you are unfamiliar with this early Simpsons character, his name is "Bleeding Gums Murphy."

The only differences between he and i at this point are: 1)i'm 3 dimensional, 2)i have five fingers per hand, and 3)i can't play sax worth a damn. Given those factors working AGAINST me, i think it's high time i took an active approach to fixing my dental problems.

But hold on, how did this start? well i guess from a young age i never really cared about the importance of a healthy mouth. My mother was too busy with her own problems to worry about whether or not i had brushed my teeth the entire time i was in the bathroom. Maybe she figured a vegetarian diet was enough to keep me healthy and strong. Only now am i beginning to realize that being a vegetarian doesn't mean you're healthy. You have to be even more careful which foods you eat in order to ensure a that you receive all the nutrients necessary.

So now i've got to be an *sigh* ADULT and figure out the best way to tackle this. i think i'll start by hitting Whole Foods and seeing what kind of dietary supplements they have that might promote healthy gums. and i've got to floss twice a day, or my dentist will slap me on the wrist and my teeth will fall out.

I hate having to fess up to my own inadequacies.

On a lighter note, my band, Bikini Science has a show tonight at the Studio Suite to all those interested. It's free and it's our new drummer's first show. I asked Mr. Murphy (above) if he'd be interested in playing along for a song or two at the show, but he said, "Nah man, I'm dead. Didn't you ever watch the Simpsons?"

See you there!

Nerdcore and Spaceland

MC Frontalot
So yesterday my boss gave me a CD by the so called, "Inventor of Nerdcore," MC Frontalot. I listened to the CD on my way home from work and then on my way to work this morning. I've listened to my fair share of Hip-hop over the years, Blackstar is probably one of my favorite albums. And when it comes to white-man Hip-hop, i've listened to every Beastie Boys song(obviously) as well as Eminem and Chris Glover. Given all this, i figured i would know kind of what to expect. Boy was i wrong.

Here is the video for "Bizarro Genius Baby." I've pasted the lyrics underneath so that you can read while you listen. I recommend doing that first, then just watching the video for what it is, AWESOME.



Bizarro Genius Baby
I had a dream that I fathered a bizarro genius baby.She’s out the womb like, “Dood, why’d I get expatriated?”Debated at one month the finer points of a diaper,devised a device composed of a hose and a windshield wiper.Grew riper in intellect as the months passed, wore a dunce cap ironically,got fussy once and she summoned me not sonicallybut through a series of editorials that she authored,entitled: “Is MC Frontalot One Of The Worst Fathers?”Oxford, Stanford, Harvard called, she didn’t call them back.“Tuition & Housing? I’m holding out for a tenure track.”Distracted by her first birthday party, I hardly noticed she’d brought peace to the middle east or at least a cease-fire with the POTUS. And no dust had settled when she’d disproved Fermat by finding A^3 + B^3 that = C^3 and her sadness at throwing the field into disarray got assuaged by a brand new rattle and a mint parfait.

Bizarro genius baby: at first I was elated, but eventually I grew concerned.Bizarro genius baby: you prove my genes are Grade A, but what of when tables turn?

She had to settle for the Fields Medal but didn’t settle well, all the while cursing the indiscretions of Madame Nobel, and so well tuckered out was she at this point that she napped, arose with a whole symphony composed in Bb. “See dad?” Yes dear, it’ll go with the other ones on the fridge, in between the two Puccinis you translated & abridged, just above ‘I love you dad’ in macaroni/glitterand the 37 villanelles to mom (but I ain’t bitter). And no quitter was she neither when the time it came to walk: built an exoskeleton out of gelatin and chalkwhich allowed her to run thirty miles an hour ‘round the yard. You think that parenting your normal little children is hard? I got scarred, scared, scampered at by holographic artifacts that she projected on the scene with a machine that automatically discerns your worst concerns & makes them visible. She deemed it risible. Her glee was indivisible from all emanations that the baby would make. I had to become less hilarious for all of our sakes. I made mistakes, I’ll admit it. Dropped the kid on her head, destroyed the part of her that thought of evil. Or so she said! Now I bred this thing out myself in part —she quoted “reap what you sow;” I had to take it to heart. I sought to restart: I said, “Girl, you’ll be a woman. Can’t be dabbling and dilettantin’ all the time, I’m assuming. Got to pick a theme and focus the beam of your brain power.” Her face became overcome with an insane glower and then it remained sour. She said, “Oh, I have. Though the UI that you gave me was buggy I finally found me the nav. And I’m dialing in a career path I think you’ll like. Began when I played with an 808 and it ends with a mic.” I didn’t need her to elaborate at all. She was already wearing the glasses, mic in the palm. She planned to become a nerdcore rapper just like me so I shipped her to Singapore, sold her baby ass to Nike.

I like this guy. And i think Nerdcore is the perfect name for this genre. You couldn't have pegged it better.

Johnathan Rice
Went to Spaceland last night to see a friend of a friend play the drums for Johnathan Rice. (because he spells his name that way, people constantly spell mine wrong, ARGH!!)

Needless to say, i wanted to not like him for a few reasons. His band took WAY too long to set up, he wore a tie-dyed t-shirt, and his lead guitarist was definitely too cool for school. But alas, i liked it. i mean i only heard one song, and i liked it. And then after listening to more of his stuff this morning, i like him more. He's sort of a Pete Yorn/Bright Eyes hybrid. Here's the video for the first song i heard, "We're All Stuck"



I must confess, at a certain point i realized that if i had continued on my trek as a solo artist it's very possible i would've ended up sounding very simliar to this. Maybe that's one of the reasons i like it, i don't know. But he's got an April resendency at Spaceland on Monday nights and it's free, so if you get the chance i recommend it, if you can handle the hipsters.

Another April Monday resendency is at The Echo and it's for one of my favorite L.A. bands Radars to the Sky. I'll be there next week for sure.

Okay

As promised, the band of the week:

The Follow

I like these guys because it reminds me of when bands used to have a singer that sang like he had a pair of balls. it's also very nineties influenced. i like them.

Ahh, the Bar-B-Q

So it is without a doubt i was WASTED Saturday night. Those of you who were there, thanks for humoring me. Apparently i decided to give an impromptu sermon, and i have no memory of this. Somewhere between the irish car bomb and all the beer, my brain decided to take a break for an hour. In no particular order, because i don't remember, here are some of the more telling images of the sermon:















So yeah, apparently this happened between 12 and 1am. i have no recollection of it. Only these haunting images of how big of an ass i can make of myself.

The interesting part is that i remember the very end of the night quite vividly. i remember Trevor doing his typical, "i'm tired of socializing so i'm going to put in a movie," move. I believe it was Dogma, and it had been on for quite a while. i came in the room at the Shit Demon part.

All in all, the night was a success. I counted somewhere between 150-175 beers that were drank. copious amounts of liquor consumed, and plenty of egos (mine) destroyed. There were approx. 40-50 people present throughout the night. To those of you that were there- thank you so much for coming out, and for those of you that weren't, you were missed.

We're on Star 98.7's Playlist

Check it out. We're 290 of about 400.

The Post Show Craziness

The boys are at it again. Though this one was filmed *ahem* in November, it's finally up!!! I think it took some time to get the blood effects just right. Check out Jillian and Sarah in all their "ditsy-girl" glory.

First Blog

WELCOME TO MY BLOG. yay!!!

First, a few things about how this bloggy thing will work:

-capitalizing the letter 'i' takes to much time, so i won't do it.
-i spell things wrong often. so if you're into that too, let's hang.
-i will write about things that happen to me or funny interesting things i have read.
-i will write about music and movies.
-i'll probably throw in tidbits about my two bands (see below)
-i will not write about religion or politics, because i don't know anything about either.

On to the blog:

You ask: What has been happening lately, Jon?

I respond: So nice to know people really care.

You reply: Shut up and just answer the question.

I respond: Love you, too. As a matter of fact, one of the bands that i am in, Bikini Science, was recenlty featured on L.A.'s Star 98.7. We've got a new drummer that's working out quite nicely, and we're writing lots of new material with not enough time to practice it all. We've played my favorite bar in L.A.-The Scene. My wife is almost SAG, and working alot more. My oldest brother is getting married, and my best friend is probably going to be moving to L.A. soon.

So what hasn't happened, Jon?

Since you're so kind to ask, I have not yet won the lottery. I have not figured out how to pay the IRS the $1700 dollars i owe them. i have not been able to go see all the bands i want to because of that fact. I have not figured out how to make a kick ass tomatillo salsa like i said i would. Nor have i finished my "Music Theory for Dummies," because i'm too busy writing music (IRONY! thy name is...IRONY!). I have not played another show with Mustard for the Fight! and would LOVE to. I have not yet made it to Disney World. I've lived here 3 years now and STILL have not made it to Disney World.

Band of the week:

Army Navy