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Aaron's Journal
May. 20th, 2006
04:10 pm - deadjournal
Perhaps you’ve read the writing on the wall: infrequent entries, uninspired text… oh yeah, and that part where I wrote “I'll probably kill this Livejournal and turn it into a zine.” Today, my humble Livejournal turns two years old, and I will write in it no more! Worry not, scenester_bangs fans. I’ll make it up to you with a timeless analog blog to keep you company while you’re on the can.
Twenty or so classic entries will comprise Pagan Pages #3. All your favorites will be there: Moustache Aaron, Sleazix, Sexy Baby… the list goes on. Of course, not all entries translate so well to zinedom. There will be no hyperlinks, creatively titled images, or hosted mp3s. And if you think I’m going to bother including any of your comments, you’re deluding yourself. With one little zine, I will do my best to capture the essence of my LJ’s existence. All of the writing will be unedited, so that the outdated inside jokes, grammatical/spelling errors, and historical inaccuracies can live on till the end of time. (Yes, I’m that lazy.)
For all of my stalkers out there, you can still keep tabs on what I’m doing at http://www.chocolatecoveredrecords.com. Information on all of my future zines, shows, and records should be accessible there. (hopefully my stupid record label will last longer than this Livejournal.) And, as always, you can write me at scenesterbangs at gmail.com.
May. 15th, 2006
11:15 am - My week in retrospect
Wednesday: Participated in the second Oakland Tetris Tournament at the Stork Club. Lost to Blaustein.
Thursday: Saw the Pets at the Stork Club.
Friday: Thought about seeing the Militant Children's Hour at the Stork Club, but just stayed in.
Saturday: Witnessed the BG/Gris Gris live recording at the Stork Club.
Sunday: The Mothballs played a show... guess where??
May. 3rd, 2006
11:31 am - the end is near!
New tour diary is "at the printers," new Pagan Pages is closer to completion than ever before! Whatever that means. Also, I'm playing some shows:
May 4th, the Mothballs at thee Parkside
with the Guilty Hearts and the Neins
May 5th, the Makes Nice at the Ivy Room
with Dreamdate and the Husbands
Soon, I'll probably have a new on-line venue with which to plug all of this stuff, and then I'll probably kill this Livejournal and turn it into a zine, and then a bunch of bands will put out full-lengths, and then everything will be rad. Rad.
Apr. 14th, 2006
02:37 pm - gone tourin'
The Mothballs are leaving for our northwest venture in a few hours, so I'll continue to not update my Livejournal. When I return, it'll be a race to see whether Pagan Pages #2 or the new tour diary comes out first.
Apr. 4th, 2006
02:15 pm - I'm going pro!
Some random dude was looking for info on the mysterious Riffenbacker on-line... and I was the only resource he found! He gave me a few bucks for information and a few pictures. That's awesome in so many ways.
A lonely stack of Pagan Pages #1 will sit on Hellen Jo's table after she sells out of all her stuff at the Alternative Press Expo this weekend.
Oh yeah, I'm also going on a tour of the northwest with the Mothballs, April 14-22.
Hell of pro, dude.
Mar. 21st, 2006
04:22 pm - commemorative virtual 45!
Here’s a couple tunes to commemorate my Stork Club residency this month.
Side A: The Jack London Squares - Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba
It may be stupid to cover this song, but it was fun. Plus, unlike most covers, we only played it a few times so we didn’t end up ruining the song for ourselves. JLS, RIP.
Side B: The Mothballs - Woman
Remember when Aaron used to sing lead on a song for the Mothballs, before Carlos’ six-stringed ineptitude silenced him? Probably not, but here it is anyway.
Mar. 20th, 2006
03:56 pm - plugola
This weekend should be pretty exciting. Not only am I going on a mini-tour with the Makes Nice, I’m also turning 23. This, of course, means I’ll have to spend my birthday away from my family and most of my friends, but it’s alright: all I really want for my birthday is zine submissions from a few people who know who they are. And, also, to maybe see Steve Science. That would be rad.
March, 23 2006 at Alex's Bar
2913 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA 90801
Cost: $5
with the Husbands, the Valley Arena, and the Lovekill
March, 24 2006 at Ken Club
4079 Adams Ave., San Diego, CA 92116
with the Husbands and the Sultans
March, 25 2006 at The Scene
806 East Colorado Blvd., Glendale, CA 91201
Cost: $7
with the Husbands, the Guilty Hearts, and the Dark Skies
Mar. 2nd, 2006
03:07 pm
As reported earlier, the Jack London Squares are breaking up. Ryan’s going back to school, and feels that music is a distraction. Elbert and I might form another band, but if so, it will be significantly different. Or, at least, have a different name. We moved out of our moldy metal box practice space and had our final rehearsal in the loft of an auto shop in preparation for the show tomorrow. It was fun.
For a variety of reasons, I don’t expect many people to come to the Stork tomorrow. For the go-out-in-a-blaze-of-pretentious-glory effect, we might set up and start playing at 9:30 and do every song we know (and maybe even some songs we don’t know). In any event, there will be a Riffenbacker and a double-kick pedal involved, so it will be good times even if nobody’s there. A fitting end.
I invested a lot of money and songs in JLS. I even started a record label in hopes of releasing our LP. Although we still recorded most everything, the recordings will have to settle for the all-too-familiar CD-R/MPfree format. But let’s face it, even if we had continued to play out, it would’ve been hard to get rid of all those records. On the bright side, with minimal effort and less than a year of existence in the public sphere, the Jack London Squares got a mini-write-up in the Guardian, caught the attention of Jake Thomas as evident here and here, and played our Brent’s TV cover for John Denery and Chris Imlay.
Umm, yeah, so, that’s it. Come to the show tomorrow. Or don’t.
Mar. 1st, 2006
02:20 pm - It's March!
This month, I'm having an "Accidental Residency" at Oakland's jewel, the Stork Club, located at 2440 Telegraph Ave. All shows are 21+, 10pmish, $5 (I should hope).
Friday, March 3rd
The Jack London Squares play their last show (more about that later)
Also playing: the Sweet Nothings, Farce, Jadies Lantern.
I think we go on first. I dunno.
Thursday, March 9th
The Mothballs attempt to draw a crowd for the International Playboys, on tour from Missoula.
Saturday, March 18th
The Makes Nice open for Honey Hush and SLA.
The few remaining copies of Pagan Pages #1 will be available at all shows. Hopefully I'll be able to get rid of them, because I've started lay-out for the second issue.
Feb. 28th, 2006
01:20 pm - i played a show... how novel!
Last Saturday night (it was a busy day), the Makes Nice played at El Rio with a bunch of hip bands (the Pets, Top Ten, the Time Flys). We put on our poppiest set yet, despite the fact we were all pretty angry.
Jack was angry ‘cause he brought a different kit than he usually uses, and one of his floor tom legs crapped out. Josh was angry ‘cause he brought a different amp then he usually uses, and it wasn’t loud enough. I was angry for a variety of reasons: I was fighting off illness, I spilled my drink, and when I went to check my microphone, the lights flickered while an electric shock sent my head flying back a full foot. When asked if the mics had ground lifts, the sound guy said “No… come on, guys, let’s get this thing going!” I felt like punching him in the face. Luckily, Carlos gave us bandanas to tie around the mics so I only experienced mild shocks during the set.
The crowd was big, but also very hip, so it was hard to gauge whether or not people liked us. Of course, in the end it’s about quality, not quantity, and when Russell Quan likes you enough to buy your demo, you’ve essentially gone rocknroll platinum!
Feb. 27th, 2006
11:27 pm - Bocce Ball Hi-jinx!
Last Saturday, the Nods of Recognition invited a few of us over for a game of Bocce Ball. I’m somewhat familiar with the game thanks to JJ, so I was thrilled to attend and discover that Eric actually has a designated Bocce zone in his front yard. However, they played a little differently than us. First of all, the balls were a lot bigger and heavier. They called the “jackball” a “polino,” and you didn’t get points for hitting it. And, the game was played with two teams, whereby the winning team would get a point for each ball that was closer to the polino than the rival teams closest ball. Luckily, they retained the JJ custom of the “12-16 ounce counterweight,” otherwise I would have been completely lost.
Since we played in Eric’s front yard, we got to meet a lot of the neighbors, most notably a 5-year-old named Keith. At first he was lovable and helpful, fetching balls and beers for all the players. Eventually, his desire to join the game himself, even though we were in the middle of a fierce competition, became an annoyance. Kate tried to bribe him away with snacks, listing off food to see if anything struck his fancy. He declined bread and cookies, but when she mentioned cheese, his ears perked up. “Cheese?” That’s when Eric broke the news that he didn’t actually have any cheese. However, Keith’s desire for cheese would not wane so easily. He began loudly whining, even looking in Yea-Ming’s pockets for a slice or two (That’s probably the first place I’d look, too, Keith).
Keith’s frustration with the lack of cheese and not being able to play came to a head during the last round of the game. The final ball was cast, and a few people ran forward to see if the winning team got enough points to take the game. Keith ran with them, too, but he swiped away the polino before they could measure the distances. Jonathan kept a finger where the ball was while everyone else tried to get the ball from Keith. Anna created a lovely hoop with her arms to try and entice Keith to throw the ball back to its proper place. As everyone yelled for Keith to throw the ball, I was somewhat worried it would hit Anna in the head. What we should have worried about, of course, is what actually happened: Keith threw the ball, it went over the fence, and smashed the windshield of the neighbor’s truck.
Everyone laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation, while Keith started bawling. Everyone assured him he wouldn’t get in trouble. Kate decided to take on the duty of telling the neighbor. “He held his temples with one hand and said ‘Fuck’ fifty times… that means it’s cool, right?” The Nods, being the awesome people that they are, offered to pay for a new windshield. And in the end, of course, my team won. Hooray!
Feb. 18th, 2006
01:07 pm - classic show entry
I’m sure it’s happened before, but I can’t remember the last solid rocknroll show I’ve seen at thee Parkside. Luckily, such a show was booked last night, and thanks to recent thirty-something Michael Gregory, I was on the list!
Betsy and the Teen Takeover started things off with a fun, sloppy set. The birthday boy put forth great effort in spite of his illness. Mothball analogies were thrown around.
Thee Fine Lines, on tour from Missouri, were great. Nonstop rocknroll frenzy. It was great that they had a larger crowd than the last time they were here. I was honored that the Kearby brothers remembered me. They are nice fellows. Bassist Trista was replaced long ago, of course, but she was there in spirit. Or, at least, on some of the records in the mobile record store that is Thee Fine Line’s merch table. In an effort to spread the love of my Tetris winnings, I picked up a split 7” featuring Trixie and the Merch Girls. It’s good.
Finally, I caught what was supposedly the last performance of the Del Lames, since August is moving to Portland tomorrow. It’s not really such a sad thing, since the remaining members will probably start a band that’s essentially the same, and I’ll probably see August just as often as I see him now. At any rate, I’m glad I got to see their last show. They’ve really developed.
It was one of those evenings that made me wonder… why are three-band bills where I enjoy all the groups so rare?
Feb. 16th, 2006
11:15 am - i am the tetris master!
You want to know what makes me the Tetris Master? A glass that says “Tetris Master” on it! Well, perhaps that raises more questions than it answers.
Last night, the Stork Club hosted a Tetris Tournament, with Greg and Oscar providing the soundtrack. I think this was probably conceived among a few people who wanted to con the east bay out of a few dollars whilst competing amongst themselves. I mean, there couldn’t be anyone else out there who still plays such archaic video games with a rival expertise… or could there?
I played pretty well on my first try, but I failed to beat the current top score, which was somewhere around a quarter million. I knew I could do better, and the top score wasn’t getting any higher. After a healthy dose of whining, I convinced Pepito to sponsor my second attempt. I tried to keep calm as my score climbed all the way to 326,525!
I was in first place, but the battle wasn’t over yet: two of the best players there each had a remaining turn. Apparently , the pressure was too much for them, because my score stayed on top. I couldn’t contain myself, I yelled and climbed on top of a bar stool and blew everyone kisses. I may have made a few enemies, but I won all of the entry dollars (which I split with Pepito) and a shot of tequila from this! (my apologies, it's difficult to photograph...)
Feb. 9th, 2006
08:29 pm - stupid rant #3
( Now I’d like to address an object that all of us academics hold quite dear… )
Feb. 8th, 2006
03:45 pm - stupid rant #2
( Aaron attempts to not make an ass of himself a second time (unsuccessfully) )
Feb. 7th, 2006
Feb. 2nd, 2006
12:53 pm - ribaldry, rock, and roll!
Betsy and the Teen Takeover… GONE WILD! (at the fabric house)
Dreamdate, playing to a “select” crowd at Studio Z.
The Makes Nice, playing to a “less select” crowd at the Bottom of the Hill.
At Traci’s birthday party, drunken hours were spent photographing a passed-out Daniel in compromising positions with stuffed animals… this was the only one suitable for public viewing.
Feb. 1st, 2006
10:59 pm - hey little girl, i wanna be your merch boy
Hey, idiot! You should come to the Ivy Room this Saturday. Hand me money, then I will hand you a spiffy Dreamdate single, hot off the presses! Pink vinyl, dude. Also available on CD-R for the technologically-advanced folks. I'll also have a few copies of Pagan Pages #1.
It seems like all I use my LJ for these days is plugging. Once the website's up and running, maybe I'll actually start telling stories again.
Jan. 26th, 2006
10:18 am - blog depression
Many (none) have asked me, "Aaron, what will you do now that you've conquered San Francisco?"
Good question! I was thinking about killing the men, raping the women, and eating the babies... y'know, standard fare, really.
Jan. 15th, 2006
09:04 pm - Aaron conquers San Francisco
Wednesday, Jan. 18th - 9pm - $5 (or maybe less?)
Kool Teen - Dreamdate - The Jack London Squares
@ Studio Z - 314 11th Street, SF
Friday, Jan. 20th - 10pm - $8
Harold Ray Live in Concert - The Husbands - The Makes Nice
@ the Bottom of the Hill - 1233 17th Street, SF
Wednesday, Jan. 25th - 9pm - $5
Inspector Double Negative and the Equal Positives - The Mothballs - The Late Night Dates
@ the Rickshaw Stop - 155 Fell Street, SF
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