The dead on drumming

The reason that I like Live/Dead so much is that it is the absolute pinnacle of the Deads two- drummer years. I usually prefer the years where it was just Bill the Drummer (pre 1968, 1970-1974) because it was straight forward rock (a little jazzy sometimes maybe) drumming. But when Mickey came back after the break in 1975 they had this brilliant idea (sarcasm) to orchestrate the drum parts. Like, Bill would do the snare on the two and four while Mickey would do the tom fills. I don’t think it worked most the time and sounded incredibly lame. This went on for the last 20 years of the Deads career! Don’t get me wrong, Mickey Hart is an incredible drummer + musician, but doing the same drums-space every night, when the obviously weren’t creating anything new or having fun anymore (and only because the fans expected it) was just sad.

Live/Dead on the other hand finds the rhythm devils at there absolute best. They complement each other perfectly, and there is so much great snare work (especially on ‘the Eleven’) And at the beginning of ‘Dark Star’ when it is just Bill on the kit and Mickey is playing that percussion thingy...you know the part? Absolutely fucking brilliant my friends.
So there you go. Everyone should go out and buy this cd. Or itune it if that’s your bag.
Ps. From now on this blog is gonna be 30% The Grateful Dead, 70% lifes little foibles.

JB

what I awoke to...

Unidentified Drunk Girl #1: Haley, one thing I know, Haley…Haley put the phone down Haley, listen to me! Sometimes boys just walk away Haley. And you know, Haley, just forget about them, like you know? Haley?

Unidentified Drunk Girl #2(Haley?) Whatever, I’m calling him (cell phone) ‘Hi is Damian there? Thanks…Damian? Yeah, this is Haley. I hate you. Fuck off’

I jumped up in bed not know who Haley was or why there were two drunk-ass girls (kyle) in my apt. yelling there fucking heads off about boys @ 2.30 in the effin morning. So I busted outta my room in sweatpants and was like ‘what-in-the-god-dammed-fuck is going on out here?’ Kyle was just sittin there glassy eyed while these two girls (turns out one I knew) were having there way with my apartment. Needless to say, I was pissed, took a piss, turned up the heat, and tried to get back to sleep. I’m sure I’ll get some half-assed apology from Kyle today, but at least once a week I get woken up (is woken a word?) by some drunk assholes.

jb

I like to try to make myself a nice dinner at least once a week. Tonight I had baked stuffed salmon with saute'd summer squash + zucchini+ green beans. Also a Budweiser and a Molson Canadian. The only thing missing was a bread of some kind. And maybe someone to eat with.

Later, fudge (maybe)

JB

The after Xmas post

I hope everybody had a great holiday time with friends + family + lovers + pets + etc. I myself made out with some great gifts: Muppets dvd (anyone wanna watch?) Trivial Pursuit pop culture 2 (anyone wanna play?) also some money and great food.

I think I have a new favorite cd, Live/Dead
The Eleven just blows my mind, and what can I say about Dark Star that hasn’t already been shouted at the moon during countless acid trips?
Don’t say anything, Tanner

Well, hows about NYE? Me thinks the Narthex and Mushrooms sound like the way to go.

JB

Monday night @ synagogue

todd and sara home
after christmas blues
johnn walker red @ molson
white cheez its
too much of the shins
sara paul freakin'
jared+ed+tanner+kyle+jb
tomorrow breakfast at the cluse
taking another day off
complete tales of the macabre
tanner got me a gift?
back at home kyle trying to get with jamie
i'm sure he will
she's real cute

Tanner...

I got you a sweet gift; two hints

1. ' yrae rdth g indimano puecno'
2. it's thick

jb

le duo speaks easy

At the risk of sounding redundant, vulpes, tonight is movie night. I am going to be renting said movie this afternoon after work + returning bottles + tiding up apt. + taking care of my shoulder-broken roommate.

Marnie+Jess’ Christmas/solstice dinner party was awesome and low key and just perfect. Frank almost smoked us out along with the salmon. My sweater still smells like burnt tea. But he is an artist, and the food was delicious beyond compare. Do yourselves a favor and eat at smokejacks.


I heard Greg is gone on an extended holiday break slash tour. So good luck and happy holidays everyone and I’ll see y’all when you get back!!

JB

wierd

i had a dream last night that i shaved off my beard. i woke up in a panic.

david lettermans been trying to bed me for years... finally, some justice.

MOVIE IDEAS!!!

jb

Couple things...

1. I'm planning a little movie night Thursday 8ish at JBs house 12 clarke st #1. I'm thinking something music related, maybe experimental freaky-deaky. So if anyone wants to bring something over or has any suggestions, please tell me. I'll bring beer, you bring whatever.

2. I don't know if it was the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale or the fact that this was Mikes first practice since July, but as soon as he picked up the guitar and the beers were opened, we rocked it out like old school nest material percussion laden fucking trumpet violin jumble of pure fucking fall-of-2004- nest material god damn right I tell ya. Man, I love this band and everyone in it and monday nights and school breaks and Michelle letting Mike skip out early on the radio show.

Well, I gots to get to bed. see ya Thursday!

JB

Party in the 'Burgh

Stew I made that no one ate for alburgh xmas party oh five

3 cans black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
4 potatoes
4 carrots
2 green peppers
1 onion
lots of garlic
¼ cup veggie broth (is this the same as veggie stock I’m not sure)
2 cups water
salt pepper cumin thyme

yummy yummy yum.

Quite some time Saturday I spent on this stew. My good ‘ol friend Jere came over and he and Kyle serenaded me with Beatles classics.

Fri. night I got to hang out with ‘old Marnie’ that’s the Marnie that’s wasted and kept beating the crap outta me with a move she called ‘the tsunami’ then she passed out on my disgusting floor clutching my pant leg. Lush face.

Alburgh Xmas party was fun as always. Got to hang out with the Blair side of my family. Lots of fried cheese and football. A few racist jokes and wrestling matches. Picking on my brother about being the ‘northeast correctional facility table tennis champ’ everyone excited because his girlfriend is having a baby. My mom crushed because she was not invited. Same ol shit. But Mike Yun is back this week, and my friend Lindsay too, and I’m excited as hell to hang out with them.

jB

Friday, 7.56am

I have had so much fun at the SeaMonster potluck lately.
When I first started going, I didnt really know anyone so I kept to myself and observed.
Now I'm starting to get my feet wet and have conversations with people.
Mandy and I are movie buddies, and Greg gave me a great Dead Dvd live @ the giza pyramids*
I think my deviled eggs went over pretty good. Its one of the two or three things I make well.
I left my plate over at gaylord+meagans though.
Tonight I'm gonna take it easy finish off l-rocques bottle of wine MAYBE go to the honky tonk xmas at metrognome.
Tommorow I'm gonna attempt to make a black bean stew. Something like what ben+angela brought last night only with potatoes. Maybe theirs had potatoes I dunno.

*Greg, after the awesome egypt-music thing, instead of going into a horrible 'promised land' I think they should have played either 'terrapin station' or 'wharf rat'

jb

L-Rock

Fuck you Mike for telling me my blog is boring. I gots shit to do- I dont just sit around drink wine and watch porn valley. who cares how the red sox are doing? who cares if ted turner lost a billion dollars over three years? phaw...

one of my favorite web sites. New Advent.org the catholic encyclopedia. now i cant seem to link. man i dont know shit about this blog...there we GO. anyway, you can read all about your fav catholic peeps, such as francis of assisi or saint john the baptist. I call him 'the precursor', but we're on a nickname basis so back off.

just got my hands on a copy of the complete columbia recordings 55-61 miles davis + john coltrane. so good. plus i won a pure pop raffle for a signed lithograph mike gordon/ leo kottke. gonna ebay that sonnabitch.

night night, JB

Hump Day

I bought my brother Gordie saw-horses for Christmas.
I got my Mom tickets to see Dark Star Orchestra.
I still need to get my Dad something.
Kyle I usually try to get a book or cd or something.
Sometimes Tanner and I exchange gifts, and sometimes we don't. He's gotten me some really good gifts lately, and the last thing I remember getting him was Cheap Trick Live @ Budokan on cassette I bought at a lawn sale.

Remember, Todd and Tanner are having a little get together tonight @ the Sin-A-Gog (105 Hyde St.) dont know if I'll go because it's starting kinda late (for me) but I bet it will be a fun time. Also, tommorow Gaylord and CDOA play 'nutcracker, sweet' at the Metronome. Everyone should go.

JB

New Nest Material for the New Year!

Marnie: Violin, perc., vocals
Brian: Trumpet, flugelhorn, perc.
Tanner: Keyboards, guitar, perc.
Todd: Guitar, bullhorn, vocals, perc.
Ben: Guitar, perc., drums
JB: Drums, perc.
Sarah(NYC): Trombone, perc.
Mike(MI): Guitar, everything (you know Mike)
Gaylord: Bass

We had a little band meeting last night and decided that after our shows in Jan. (1.6 Langdon St. Café, Montpelier- 1.9 Half Lounge, Burlington) we would take a break from playing out and concentrate on getting real solid with each other again. The two new members seem to be working out great. Brian is really good on his horns and Marnie is just all-around awesome.

Drew Cameron came in last night and took a bunch of funny/awesome pics of us all for the new Green Door Studio website. I doubt they’re up yet, but check back in the coming weeks.

See ya, JB

He's not a TAME lion*

* Why did I think Walt Disney Co. could come even close to the epic movie I have playing in my head?


JB

Mark 8:12

'And with a sigh that came straight from the heart he said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? I tell you solemnly, no sign shall be given to this generation."'

that explains it!

JB

Walking home up church st. tonight there was a guy in front of uncommon ground with an electric guitar playing 'fee' by phish. I was like, whoa...fee its fucking ten degrees out! at least go to radio bean!

Michelle, 'x-rayted' barely ended up on top of 'flower power' 56-55.

JB

blah

So, Cody might not be coming home this week after all. The Army keeps fucking with him...they send him from Redstone arsenal, Alabama to some psyche ward in Georgia back and forth back and forth. Now he needs this Sgt. to sign this form, and this guy to jerk this other guy off...and it's really pissing ME off. I talked to him on the phone last night and he sounded fucking horrible.

on a lighter note, Marnie has a balaphone and I spent all night playing it and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Did anyone in the 90's have a sexier voice than Beth Gibbons?

Good luck Tanner and Todd with moving in day!

JB

Word of the Day

CHIFFOROBE

Last Night...

Brian and his trumpet sounded awesome. Just what Nest Material needed- a little shot in the arm. I just hope we dont sound too much like this

Well, busy week.. not much time to practice. Tanner and Todd got a new apt they move in Thursday. But I hope we all get a chance to get together (with Brian AND Marnie) and put a great new set together for our show 1.6.06 in Montpelier

see ya!

JB

my weekend

I went and saw a great little free jazz show tonight @ The Flynn Space w/Kyle. The oliver Lake Trio featuring Mary Redhouse and Pheeroan akLaff. It was basically sax drum duets a la Interstellar Space with Native American flute/vocals from Ms. Redhouse. Great Show akLaff kicks a lot of akAss on the drums.

sat. i went to pearls and saw ryan power trio and swale. ryan sounded great as usual, he played some keyboards witch fit nicely with his music. and then the trio had no drums but marnies friend tyler (middle eight + monoprix) on up-right bass. Swale was Swale as usual.

tanner todd and i then went to a party on rose st. i dont really remember much except watching 'annie' and passing out on the couch and waking up with a hangover. so i slept to 3:30, that doesnt make me lazy!

well, my brother comes home for the holidays from the army on friday, and i am releived and excited and so worried about him... an army of one my ass!

JB

Hate to Sound Like a Hippy...

but I just heard a fucking sweet after midnight> eleanor rigby (instrumental) >after midnight by The Jerry Garcia Band 2/28/1980..

fuck yeah

Nest Material-Sara=?

So Sara is gone, and now there are four of the original Nesters left. I wish her all the luck and I'm sure she'll do great and have fun and be awesome. And i'm gonna go down someday and see her and my other NY friends and do all the things i've been meaning to for years.

I ran into SP and Toby at radio bean this morning, she said that the memorial for her father will be 12/10/05 in richmond at 2pm in some church or other-- i'll be going if anyone wants to ride w/ me.

they also invited me to play with them on the 23rd @ the bean.. they're doing a night of christmas carols- toby said 'we're gonna have to do them like wicked indie man' whatever that means. but i live to play so i'm in. well, have to enjoy my day off so i'll see ya

JB

Pop Music

some great lyrics I heard on the way back from Alburgh

'cause like a picture she was laying there
moonlight dancing off her hair
she woke up and took me by the hand
she's gonna love me in my chevy van
and that all right with me


and everything here is so clear you can see it
and everything here is so near you can feel it
and its real, so real, so real, so real, so real

grazing in the grass is a gas, baby can you dig it?

Sunday Doldrums (aka Sunday Morning Coming Down)

I get the worst feelings on Sundays- its like a depression wrapped around a wierd embarrased empty feeling like I forgot something or someone and have just wasted everything. did i spend too much money this weekend? did i sleep or sit on my ass too much? am i wasting my entire life? what the fuck am i doing? but usually it gets better and i try to have a nice dinner and read or something. i just read tanners christmas post and it didnt help. to me the depressive/pathetic aspects of the holiday season way out weigh the hanging out w/ friends/family/being nice crap. i can (and try to) do that all year. but it seems its shoved in my face worse and worse every year. yes i know its christmas. no i'm not excited. no i didnt go shopping. no i have no tree. leave me the f alone.

but i had just enough bottle return money so that kyle and i could get a pizza six pack and chips and come back to my apt and hang out with todd and sara and todd, jr (bryan) and tan and everyone i love (well, not everyone but a big chunk)

JB

High School High

Went to metronome last night to see local burlington band extravaganza 'benefit for cooley high' I was there from Buffalo Springsteen to Swale. Mostly the super popular hybrid of indie/country rock with a sweet cover of 'the sloop john b' thrown in for good measure. My favorite band of the night was 'fire the cannons' I think Johnny Aquadora is my favorite local drummer because of the excitement and rock-starness he brings. Plus he's got thoes awesome old-school fills that would sound lame anywhere else.

today:

laundry
return bottles
lunch with tanner
call todd and sarah


JB

SeaMonster Thankgiving

Well, I ended up @ Gaylord & Meagans for thanksgiving seamonster style after my mother canceled hers because of bad weather. I was kinda glad- I didn't feel like driving all the way and putting up with all that stress anyway. i felt like a dick showing up without anything, but for the second time sarah had me covered. Thanks Sarah! the spread of food was awesome and they had veggie alternatives for everything except turkey. we somehow fit 15 people around the table although once you sat down, you weren't gittin up. and then greg and mandy showed up for desert with mandys entire family in tow. all in all a great day-my first thanksgiving without family-but my family is spread so thin these days that it doesn't feel like anything anymore. i dont know if its the age i am but holidays dont do it for me. i used to get excited to see everyone and eat & drink, but now i'm all like who the fuck cares. maybe i need a woman or a kid or a man or something. any ideas? well, fuck all i'm out

JB

Blog

Hi! This is a blog I just set up. I have no blog knowledge or pics or really anything to say but my friend Tanner said he'd help me. So soon I will have a real, functioning blog.

JB