THIS IS NOT CUTE ANYMORE

I've been asking myself lately- "Why do I have 22 keys on the key chain that I carry around everyday??"



I've always had a janitor style key ring and it was funny for a while but when you start to acquire back problems due to the weight it gets a little less funny.

Let the purging begin!



In the above section of the ring is a key to an EX-boyfriend's EX-car, two keys to the house that my parents sold a year ago and a key to an old Chevy Cavalier that hasn't been around since the Clinton administration. That's only a slight exaggeration. Begone with you!



In this section are two work keys and I have no idea what the rest are. Old practice space keys maybe?




No clue about any of these. In the garbage they go!




Ahh! So much better. I got rid of 11 out of 22 keys. It feels like total freedom.

SPELLING BEE

I hate it when people spell "rock" R-A-W-K. Grrrr... Man, that really fries my cheese.

Case in point - this review of My Morning Jacket's latest release "Evil Urges":

The well-mannered fellows we fell in love with on My Morning Jacket's early efforts probably don't mix with the would-be rawkers who appear on Evil Urges. Although he shares the mic for the first time in the band's history, Jim James' stratospheric falsetto even sounds foreign -- first with a Prince-ly libido on the aptly named "Highly Suspicious" and then adding to the macho, wanking two-fer of "Aluminum Park" and "Remnants." Those who miss the sleepy days should advance to "Look At You" or the nerdly horndog verse of "Librarian."
- Nate Cavalieri

CHECK THIS OUT

Today marks the debut of the new column that I am writing for Eight Million Stories. The column is called On the Beat and it is about any and all aspects of the NYC music scene. It will run on the 3rd Friday of every month. Check out my first installment!

EIGHT MILLION STORIES!

MYSPACE DEMOS #5

Last week Jeff, Wyatt and I got together to demo out some of our new songs. This is one of those demos - sort of. I didn't like the version of it that I recorded that night so I recorded it again on my iRiver. It's called "Say You Knew Me When" and I'm including it here because it probably won't end up being a Bel Air song. It's a little on the too-personal side for a band song. The first time I played it for Jeff he said that it sounded like a "crazy person song" and I will never let him live it down!! NEVER! The lyrics are, in places, a bit trite but, what can I say? I had a some pretty stereotypical teenage years. Imagine this three chord wonder with some melodic lines over the instrumental parts. I was trying to go for a low-key Neutral Milk Hotel thing here.

ONE MONTH TILL SHOWTIME

Just a quick reminder that Bel Air's CD release party is exactly ONE MONTH from today!

Please put this in you calendar, blackberry, rolodex now!

FRIDAY JULY 11th at SPIKE HILL 9pm with AMITY FRONT. Free CDs to all that attend!

I'm putting the poster in here even though I know blogger is going to be annoying and crop it. Click on it to see the full version.

WEATHER

Last night my good pal Mark and I went to see Hamlet at the Delacourte Theater in Central Park.

You know the part when the Players show up and then Hamlet does that "What's Hecuba to Him or He to Hecuba" monologue? Well, that part usually does not include a tornado. I don't think that's what old Bill had in mind when he penned that scene. Nevertheless, that's what happened last night. First, the wind started. And, it was LOUD. Then leaves and branches started swirling into the theater, through the audience and onto the stage. People started getting up. Lots of people were leaving. All the while Hamlet is dutifully doing his monologue, so into it, playing off of nature. You could tell he was loving the drama of it all. Mark and I started worrying about the lights that were hung directly behind us. Are they secure enough for a tornado or are we soon to be decapitated? Then, as soon as Hamlet finished his monologue and the next scene started we here "Actors. Actors please leave the stage for safety" over the PA. Everyone was instructed to leave the theater.

Mark and I decided to wait it out a little to see if they would continue the show after the storm. We waited a few minutes and then decided that if we were going to wait we might as well have some wine. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we paid for our wine they announced that the show was cancelled for the evening. It put me in the mind of the time that I went to see Big Top PeeWee with my best friend, Midge. We bought popcorn, coke, and twizzlers and then, because we were the only ones in the theater, they cancelled the movie. They waited until we AFTER we had stocked up on concessions to tell us that there would be no movie. It's exactly that kind of sketchy practice that drove the Panorama Theater right out of business.

So anyhooz, we saw all of the build up and none of the blood. Were going to try to get tickets for tonight's show so that we can see the end. What does this have to do with Bel Air? Absolutely nothing.

SEEN IN BROOKLYN

BEL AIR GOES PSYCHADELIC???

I've never been a Pink Floyd fan. Sure, I listened to the classic rock station (96WCMF) growing up so I know all of their hits but I never bought any of their stuff or anything. So when "Pink Floyd Live in Pompeii" was next on the Netflix cue I wasn't really that excited. But I should've been!! After watching about 2 hours of this 3 hour epic I am wondering why nobody ever told me how much of a BABE David Gilmore was back in the day!!





Beyond my boycraziness, though, this is an awesome movie. I was so inspired by it that now I think Bel Air should go all kinds of psychadelic and get a gong and stuff.

SATURDAY!

Come to the Country Happy Hour and K+M on Saturday from 5 - 9! If you haven't been yet you should come because it is really fun! Jeff and I will be spinning new stuff from Alberta Cross and Chatham County Line and much, much more...

NY, NY

The line for Starbucks was out the door this morning at around 9:15. Unbelievable. In response to this I made the odd decision of going to Brooklyn Bagel and Deli across the street to get coffee. I really wanted a place to sit and read the paper more than coffee because I was early for a 9:30 meeting. But, you know, you can't sit for free unless you're at a bus stop. So I get a coffee and go upstairs to the seating area. It's hot up there. There are a bunch of kids sitting around who clearly have no intention of making it to school. One of the kids is nervously bouncing his feet on the floor so hard that I am vibrating. This is not the way to start the day. If only there was another Starbucks in the neighborhood. Kidding.