Category: music

The story of how I met Greg

The story of how I met Greg and the rest of Hepcat:

It starts the way so many stories of my 20s begin, with me doing something in the spur of the moment that I as an older person cannot believe that I did and of course was encouraged by my good friend Cam. Cam was the bass player in one of my favorite bands turned best friends, Go Jimmy Go, from the island of Oahu.  Go Jimmy Go were friends of friends, and I had gotten pretty tight with them, tight enough in fact that as they were touring through the Bay Area one week in 2004, Cam said to me, “jump in the RV and come with us.”  They were playing Berkeley one night, and then hitting the road immediately after the show to head to Southern California to play with our idols, Hepcat at the Glasshouse in Pomona. The catch was, they would be leaving directly from SoCal to Utah the day after the Pomona gig, and I had to be back to work on Monday.  I somehow came up with the gonads to say “fuck it” and take Cameron up on his offer, and to this day, I know I made the right decision.

That was how I ended up in Pomona, California, selling T-shirts and CDs for my friends for the first time, all the while sneaking peeks around a corner to a backstage area, because back there was where we had stashed some beer as there wasn’t any drinking at the venue but also that was where Hepcat was doing a photoshoot.  I can’t lie; I was a little star struck, which was a little weird because at that point, a not insignificant number of my very good friends were in bands. Heck, the guys who were like family to me were opening the show.  But around the third or fourth time I snuck a look back there, I had been caught.  That was the first time that Greg Lee winked at me. Greg was one of those rare folks who could wink at you without being creepy.  I knew that he knew what I was doing.  And I knew that he knew that I knew that he knew.  It was a very endearing way to make an acquaintance. 

Fast forward to the end of the night, the gig was over, but the night was young and so were we.  To my utter disbelief, we were hanging out with Hepcat outside the club and someone suggested we go to a Blues club that was open later, and we all went over together.  That was how I found myself sitting across from Greg with a drink and I was mesmerized.  I hope I don’t sound like I had a crush; he was stunningly good looking and charming, but that wasn’t it.  He was just so warm and engaging and I was more than a little bit befuddled about why someone with so much talent would want to talk to the “merch girl” of the opening band, but he never made me feel like that.  We had a really nice evening.  I don’t remember every detail of the conversation, but that night and that conversation with Greg sas a huge part of me letting go of the imposter syndrome I had while hanging around my more successful musician friends, because at the end of the day, we all loved music and had so much to talk about; we were a part of the same community. 

I saw Greg several other times throughout the years, and it was always great to see him, to hear him sing, and trade a few words.  It was never much more than “good to see you; hope to see you again soon.”  I wish it had been more.  I wish we could have been friends.  Regardless, I’ll miss him. 

CSGL – 30 Days of Summer

I think I’ve mentioned before that I have a narrator.   This voice in my head that tells me what’s happening to me, usually in real time.  (Is it just me?)   Most frequently the voice mimics Jane Austen.    One too many re-treads through Mansfield Park, I think, did me in.    However, the voice does shift from time to time from different influences.   A book I’m reading, a song I like, or a movie I’m watching.   Or, perhaps, the kinds of movies I’ve been watching.

Being as I am spoiled digital rotten, I have a Netflix account with a full DVD and Instant Watch queue.   Lately I’ve been trying to make my way through all the films that were nominated for Oscars that I never did get around to actually going out and seeing.   Also, I’ve sort of become obsessed with documentaries, because you have no idea how much stuff I don’t know.

So, I’ve been sitting here over the last few weeks – and by sitting here, I of course mean laying in my bed – watching lots of poignant shit.   All the while with this Object of Crush in my head  and all the ups, downs, and intrigues of a single girl’s life with single girl friends, and the well-intentioned but off-base remarks from male buds swimming in my overactive imagination.   Well, wouldn’t you know it, but that voice in my head, well it’s a mix of some sort of indie movie heroine and, well, Morgan Spurlock…you know, the guy from Super Size Me, except this is more like his television series 30 Days.

And it’s like there’s a hidden camera crew following me around for a month while I trip, stumble, start, sprint through my life, which though very mundane and not a very good plot for a movie, is somehow being turned into the next best thing since (500) Days of Summer.  (Similar sort of soundtrack, actually.)

But are you ready for the twist?   (There’s got to be a twist, right?)   In my indie-movie-life-documentary, my role….well, I’m certainly too clumsy to be the hip ingenue, aren’t I?    It’s like the bumbling sidekick suddenly became the focus of the film.

It’s totally whacky and zany.   It sure as shit ain’t gonna win an Oscar.   But maybe, just maybe, it could be a darling at Cannes.

Probably not though, I mean, shit the only thing that happens in this movie is the lead character lies in bed on a Tuesday night, while her friends are out bowling, and types on a laptop about the voice she hears in her head saying something like “For the Next 30 Days, PeggyLuWho will toil under the burden of infatuation and anxiety, lose sleep, write more numerous and self-deprecating, naval gazing blogs than she has in the last two years, while trying to keep up with the endless adventures of best mates.  Will she find true love and everlasting frienship?    Will she listen to Regina Spektor or The Shins or Vampire Weekend on her iPod tonight?”

Why does this all sound so much more lovely when it’s happening in my head than it does in black and white on my macbook screen?

Trying New Things

Today I went and did something I swore I would never do.  I went to a record sale.  That’s right, vinyl people.

Now the reason why I wouldn’t do this before, is two-fold.   First off, I have spent the last six years of my life trying to de-clutter and make my life smaller.   Vinyl seems like the kind of thing to collect, and I don’t want to collect much of anything.   I have been loaning out books with the thought that I am fully OK with not getting them back.

And for music, I have started downloading albums instead of buying CDs, because my CD collection weighs too much.     My entire music collection is housed on the same hard-drives that I write my blog on.  I can grab this laptop, my passport, my credit card, and a few photo albums and be gone in an instant….if I was so inclined to do that.

The other part of the reason why I haven’t ever gotten into vinyl was just that I sort of feel like I missed a boat somewhere along the line.   My parents were never big music fans.  Growing up, I think there were all of 25 albums in the house.   And less than a dozen 8-tracks.   In contrast, I have 376 albums on my computer.   So, I think a lot of people who collect vinyl are people whose parents had cool collections.   I’ve heard lots of my friends talk about inheriting their folks’ records.   I just never was introduced to it, and I never had an in.

However, at work, there’s a ton of my friends who are collectors.   And they’re all at work talking about their new finds.   Truthfully, most of them try to discourage anyone else from picking up the habit.

Now, I don’t know that I’m going to become a record collector.   The whole experience was kind of intimidating, to be perfectly honest.   I don’t know anything about records, or what any of them are worth.   I don’t really have any idea what kind of cool stuff is out there and what’s random and rare.    So, today I was just hoping something would hop out at me that I must have.   That didn’t happen.   But it’s an interesting new thing that I’m checking out, and you never know what might happen.  I could get totally swept up in this.

But there’s something to the flipside…. I hear something on Pandora, and I want to check out, I look on Amazon, and hear more of it, and if I want it real bad, I can download it and have it in my collection in moments.   I guess i’ve become spoiled in that regard.  If there was something that I wanted on vinyl, best case scenario, I’d order it and have it shipped to me.   I guess I’m just spoiled.   Spoiled digital rotten.

Just sayin’

CSGL – Waking Up In Last Nights Makeup

I just got up about an hour and a half ago, with full shadow, liner, and mascara.   (Seriously, if you have issues with shadow wearing off or creasing, try Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion and also their eye-liner doesn’t budge.  OK – enough with the unsolicited cosmetics commercial.)  I tumbled straight into bed this morning sometime around 3:30 – exhausted, sticky, sore, and passed out.   So, as you can see, last night was epic.

Hepcat, one of the most amazing bands I know, played at Slim’s in San Francisco last night.   Despite the fact that they didn’t play my favorite song (again) their set was still beautiful and reminded me, as it always does, what love feels like.   There’s just simply no way for me to feel like there is anything wrong with the world while I’m dancing at a Hepcat show.  And boy did I dance.   And dance.   And dance.   Surrounded by so many of my friends and favorite people, such enthralling harmonies, heart stopping horn work, and a crazy laid back grove, how could I not.  Thankfully I had the right shoes on, and apparently the right make-up, as well.

Then we of course had to stop by Crepes-a-go-go.    It’s like the icing on the cake of a great show at Slim’s.   A handheld tomato, cheddar, avocado crepe at 1:00 in the morning is just the thing to set you right after hours of good times.    But the night didn’t end with my crepe.   We then made our way down the block to Ooh-La-La, a sixties DJ dance night.   More dancing!  We were also joined at the club by some of the members of Hepcat, and got to spend some more time with them.   I also ran into a friend who I  hadn’t seen in quite some time, and he did not recognize me – me and my silly ever changing hair color.  We danced until the music got weird, too psychedelic to really groove to.   Then we took what seemed like another hour to say goodbye to everyone.  Many hugs all around, before limping back to my car for the ride home.

We all made it home safe, and then I collapsed.

That was an amazing night, and I felt very happy to be there, to be dancing, to hug everyone, and to just be living my sometimes crazy little life.

Just sayin’.

Favorite Pandora Station of the Moment – Dec 5

PLW’s Rockin’ Women Radio Pandora Station of the Day!

Getting back into my blogging habits, and trying to post these more regularly.   This station started out as a Go-Gos station.  It’s mostly pop punk with female vocals, with a side of Cyndi Lauper.   As with all Pandora stations, it’s a work in progress.  I’ve been focusing a lot of attention on this over the last couple of days, and I feel like I’ve got it moving in the right direction.   

 

The Only Thing Missing From My Life

It has been way, way, way too long.

 

 

The only thing better than seeing your favorite band is seeing your favorite band that happens to be comprised of some of your favorite people.    That’s what I have when I get to see Go Jimmy Go play.   

What sucks is that they are far away in Honolulu, and they haven’t been touring in California for almost two years.

I miss Go Jimmy Go.  I miss my friends.   They’re due to have a new album next year, and I hope that means they’re going to be back to the mainland soon.

Searching . . .

Fun with Stats!   I get a bunch of info from WordPress about who is reading my blog, what other sites are linked to my blog, where people clicked through from to arrive at my blog, etc.   But the most interesting stats are usually what people entered into a search engine, like Google, that landed them at my blog.

For example, a while back I wrote about scientists finding a new species of rat in the rain forest.   Ever since then, lots of people have entered ‘rats’ into their search engine, and somewhere in the results, there’s been a link to my blog, and a lot of people have clicked on that link.

Today, this showed up:

So . . . you’re looking for the top secret location of The Phenomenauts’ Command Center, are ya?

Well guess who’s not gonna tell?

Happy hunting, though.  Really.