Give Thanks, Damnit!

I have been MIA on my little blog for a few days now. If anybody out there in cyberland gives a shit, I truly apologize. Life has been very hectic lately, but in a good way. I've nailed down the CD Release Party for next year, I'm getting a band together, I'm getting ready for my show in NYC on Jan. 3, I've got a new website I'm trying desperately to have up by Dec. 2, I almost met the challenge of NanoWriMo and I've met a fabulous boy who makes me smile inside everytime I'm with him. So, all and all, as usual, I have a hell of a lot to be thankful for. Still haven't found a house yet, but it's all good.

I'm a little bummed I'm not going to win that NaNoWriMo challenge, but it made me realize I can still write. That's good cuz I was beginning to wonder. I'll probably finish the book sometime in December, it will be more like a novella than a novel though. I'm currently at 22,000 words and I have a fan who's dying for me to finish it. Thanks, BL! That means the world to a writer to know someone actually enjoys what they're writing. Same thing for music too. When someone says they love my music, it makes all this other bullshit I have to go through to get it out there worth it.

So, there you go. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I promise to be a better blogger starting next week. But I'm off for the next four days. Hallelujah!

Luv, the big fat turkey!

Paris Hilton - The Material Girl

So, I was at Central on Monday night, as usual, and they were having Tia-oke, as usual. 4 those who don't know, Tia-oke is this gay bar Central Station's version of karoake - it's hosted by a really scary drag queen named Tia Chambers and you can win a lot of money. Tia, honey, if you're reading this, I say scary drag queen with nuthin' but love! Muah! Anyhoo, I noticed it was really packed! Then I found out why - Paris Hilton was to make an appearance. Apparently, she was in Baltimore filming her stupid "reality" show "The Simple Life". Well, the skinny heiress did make an appearance and after declaring her love for us homosexuals, she attempted to sing Madonna. First "Dress You Up" and then she got on a pool table and started dancing (or should I say gryating like a snake charmer) and trying to sing "Material Girl". Ok, first off, she can't sing. You could barely hear her, her voice was so soft it barely registerd above a whisper. It was so bad, Tia the scary drag queen with the raspy dragon voice had to help her out. (God, I hope Tia doesn't read this cuz I'm gonna get my ass chewed out if she does. She likes embarrassing her patrons.) Secondly, if she can't even do karoake, how the hell does she plan to release a CD? Is she serious? Must be somebody else singing on that record or she has a LOT of production help. Anyway, it will be funny to see what, if anything, they put on TV from that night. I wish I would have been drunk. I would have enjoyed it more. Instead I was thinking heavily about a boy I'd recently met, hoping he would call ...

He didn't.

The Name "SATURN"

When I first started this whole musical escapade for myself, I consulted a lawyer about my name to see if I could actually use it. He said there was no way "Saturn the music artist" could be confused with "Saturn the car company" or "Saturn the planet" or "Saturn the video game." I also asked if I should trademark it, to which he replied that only if there a reasonable number of people in a region who knew who I was. I had to be recognizable. Well, I'm working on that. But today I read this article about all these bands that have to change their names once they've hit success because of legal entanglements. (This comes from melodynelson.com via spinme.com):

I can think of a few bands this year who had had to change their names because of legal reasons (if the name is already owned by someone else)... Death from Above 1979 is one of them, Dios Malos (used be to just Dios), and i'm sure there are a lot more. Oh yeah and The Postal Service who are in the middle settling things right now with the real US Postal Service, i find this case particularly hilarious. It also made me think of british cases like Verve who became The Verve, and Suede who are known in the US as London Suede. For some reason, it seems like lately, there have been more of these cases... well, to keep with the trend, yesterday local band The Sons of Sound received a notice from the lawyer of this place saying that the name SONS OF SOUND is trademarked and that they must "cease and desist" the use of the name... ouch, kinda sucks! So in the next few days, the band will find a new name, new domain name, will re-print all the CDs and basically be born again. I actually proposed to them to be The Sons of Sound in french: Les Fils du Son, but that didn't go over well... how about The Sons of a Bitch??? I kinda like it! Ok not really. Anyway, when they settle on a new name, i'll post it here.
On the brigtht side, if lawyers come knocking at your door, it means that the word is spreading about the band, huh?

Well, u know what, if I get so big that a lawyer comes knocking on my door with a cease and desist order from somewhere, I can always change my name to an unpronouncable symbol. Something tells me that lawyer I talked 2 might have had shit 4 brains and maybe I should get a second opinion. Any thoughts?

WTF DAY!

I hereby dub Tuesdays WTF day. 4 those who don't know what WTF means, WTF! (what the fuck) As part of my daily browsing I often find myself reading Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird. When I was in high school, it always offered such an enlightened look at the people that make up this fair country, especially in the red states. :-) And today, it's no different. Just take a look at some things that have been happening around our country.

New Hampshire Moms Gone Wild
Police in Sandown, N.H., charged Suzanne Viviani, 47, with threatening her daughter (age 22) with a knife held to her head because the daughter had snatched cocaine out of Suzanne's bra during a confrontation in August. (The two women reconciled and were booked into the same jail cell.) And in October, 40 miles away in Belmont, N.H., police charged Jacqueline Weiner, 36, with assault after her husband, Steven, held Jacqueline's 10-year-old son down while she stabbed him repeatedly in the arm with a kitchen knife because the boy and his brother had destroyed Jacqueline's favorite toy animal. [Union Leader (Manchester), 8-17-04] [Laconia Citizen, 10-7-04]

In September, the Oakland (Calif.) police suspended their successful traffic safety program of random drunk-driving checkpoints because they had received too many complaints from illegal aliens, who were being arrested not because they were driving drunk but because, as illegals, they lack driver's licenses. [Oakland Tribune, 9-26-04]

More Scenes of the Surreal
(1) Joseph Manuel Augusto, 37, and Andres S. Diaz, 52, chased each other around a Burger King in Stratford, Conn., in July after Augusto had become enraged that Diaz had occupied the men's room too long; Augusto was flailing at Diaz with a small pocket knife, and Diaz at Augusto with a straw dispenser. (2) Attorneys for the city of Monte Sereno, Calif. (pop. 3,400), said in October they would proceed with the civil and criminal cases against defiant residents Joe and Darla Padgett over the Padgetts' 2-feet-too-high fence (and illegal chopping down of a tree), which has so far cost the modestly budgeted city $170,000 to prosecute, with no end in sight. [New Haven Register, 7-20-04] [San Jose Mercury News, 10-12-04]

In an October decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit voted, 8-7, not only to affirm Paul Gregory House's 1986 rape-murder conviction but also to keep him on Tennessee's death row, despite subsequent knowledge that the prosecutor's primary evidence was faulty. The eight judges accepted the conviction, even though the rape evidence was based, nearly archaically, on a match of blood "type" in semen found on the victim; much more sophisticated DNA testing later showed that the semen was not from House but from the victim's estranged husband (who, it was subsequently learned, allegedly "confessed" the crime to three witnesses, evidence that was too belatedly offered to satisfy the majority judges). [New York Times, 10-7-04]

Now perhaps you understand why I dub it WTF Day, because who in their right mind can read that stuff and NOT go WTF!?

When she called me common I thought it meant I had common sense. I was wrong.

Ta commoners!

No More Drama

And what do I mean by no more drama? I wanna be like Mary J. Blige and adopt that as my attitude about everything. This weekend there was much drama 2 be had. Thankfully, like Ms. Gaynor, I survived. Some personal things I'll write about on this blog, but most things I won't and unfortunately this "drama" falls under that category. Let's just say it was family related.

On a good note though, just when I was getting sick and tired of the Baltimore gay scene (4 the umpteenth time) and seeing the same faces in the same cliques singing the same songs (I REALLY need a change of scenery!), I ran into a hopeless stranger, a "straight" one no less, that wanted to see what it was like on the "other" side. I was more than happy 2 oblige! Call me the joker come Sunday morning cuz I had a friggin ridiculous smile on my face. See, Baltimore still has some surprises.

I had brunch at Helen's Gardens Sunday with a couple of friends. We then walked along the water and just randomly went where our feet took us. As I was looking at the skyline & admiring the vastness of the water, it struck me that Baltimore really does have it's charm. I guess that's why they call it Charm City. It's not always charming, that's 4 sure, but every now and again something beautiful about this city will catch U off guard. I don't know how much longer I'll remain in this city(I've said that every year for the past 4 years!), but there's still a lot of things to discover and enjoy while I'm here.

Keep the drama 4 yo' mama!

Flight of Words

What do I mean by Flight of Words? Several things:

1. It's what happened to me last night at Buzzer when I was introduced to "Dan". Holy hell he's beautiful and when introduced I can barely string 2 words together! Why does that always happen to me? I suddenly lose all wit and charm around new guys that I'm severely attracted to. And in his case, I only see him once in a blue moon so I REALLY missed a chance there. Yowsers.

2. Flight of words - in that they fleed from me once again in my "novel". Another day and not a single word written. I could start to seriously doubt my ability to complete this challenge but I remain optimistic. I just don't know when I'll find the time. Maybe I'll have to start getting up at 4 am and write for an hour each morning. Yeah, right!

3. I didn't win the Mustang last night. In fact, nobody did. But stupid me when I was talking to the Ford representative kept going on and on about how much Ford cars suck and how I would NEVER EVER buy another one ... but I'd take one 4 free! He must have thought I was an idiot. The good news is that I had my drinks, my "Saturn cocktails", and I'm just fine this morning. So now I know without a doubt that me and appletinis don't mix!

"intimidated by pretty boys and puckers!"

ps: one of the questions on buzzer last night was "Name a gay cocktail." How did I not get appletini considering I just got blitzed on em the night before. We lost so bad we set a record in the history of severe losses, I'm sure of it!

I'm Becoming a Novelist!

Yeah, write! (get the pun?) Anyhoo, the National Novel Writing Month challenge officially began on November 1. I figured out that if I am to succeed at this, I have to write 1,667 words per day! Well, I'm already off to a bad start ... a really bad start. I didn't write any words yesterday and only about 1,000 the day before. But worse than that is the fact I don't have a clue what I'm writing about. I don't have a plot, I don't have a direction or an idea, just very general things. But that's the wonderful thing about this contest. Normally, this "book" would never get written cuz I'd spend too much time worrying about how crappy it is instead of just letting it "flow". So, all I have to do is sit down and write whatever comes into my head and if the end product is pure shit, it's all good. I've never been able to say that before. I tell ya, it's very releasing! And exciting too! So, if u want to keep up with my pure shit, bookmark or blogmark this LINK now. I don't even have a name for it yet and usually I come up with titles first. That's how backwards this all is. Cool!

ps. Bush won. I'm very saddened by this.

Ta!

The Morning After

2 apple martinis later and it's time 4 me to go to work. Ugh! My head is throbbing, my computer seems to be shouting at me, my neck feels like it had a major work out and I feel as if could pass out at any moment. Apparently, me and apple martini's don't mix. I need to stop going out drinking on weeknights. I am headed back 2 Central tonight though to play Buzzer. Hey, they're giving away a free mustang! What did you expect?

And do we have a new president? I hope so. I hope it's not the same D.A. we've had for the last four years, but I'm afeard it is.

Ooooh, I hurt!

Secretly hung-over and trying not to act like it.

Janet Jackson inks deal with Chingy's Manager

Show one little tit (ok, maybe not so little) and all of a sudden people don't wanna buy your music anymore. Must be what she was thinking when her last album "Damita Jo" bombed. Personally, I think it was a solid album - definitely not her best, but take off about 4 songs and it's a really good album. Who knew that a tit could do so much damage? Well, looks like she's hired Wright Crear management to come in and do some boob control and get her back on track. I'm a little wary here because they manage Chingy and my girl Janet is even doing a duet with him on his new album. Ewww. Please, say it ain't so. In any case, I hope they get her back on track cuz I have not had my Janet Jackson concert fix in a loooong time and I am definitely fiendin'.

Incidently, Madonna never had issues selling music when she bared all. I guess that's because Madge doesn't apologize. In her words:

"I'm not your b*tch, don't hang your sh*t on me!"