AndyLand

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Playing Music and Gear

2009-08-31T02:27:00.002-05:00

Welcome back. It's been way too long.

First- playing music. I have been playing pretty regularly with a few different bands. Thanks to all who have made it out to see us.

I've been playing bass with "The Father" and it's been a blast. We play great cover songs and even update the sound of some of the older ones that make it really fun.

Also on bass, I have played a few shows with "The Entertainment Resistance" recently, and would like to play more often with them. I'm still working on our CD and I hope it will be done soon.

On guitar I've been playing with "The Royal Guard". We are going to Europe, September 23 - October 3, playing all over Estonia. We had a blast last year and can't wait to see everyone again.

I'm not sure what I can say about this next project, but I can say I will be playing drums, it's with a friend I've been playing with for 15 years and it's METAL!

Second- gear, gear and gear. I haven't really been into gear since I was in college, but somehow I'm back. I've been trying out some new guitar gear, and I think I'm gonna change my whole set up. For you gear-heads out there, my guitar rig as of now, consist of a Boss preamp, T.C. Electronic G-Major, Crate Power Block and the Behringer FCB-1010 MIDI Foot Controller. I like this rig but I'm not able to bring it to Estonia, which is not fun. So my friend Richie Castellano showed me the T.C. Electronic NOVA System. He's been using it on the road with Blue Oyster Cult. I played with it, and I like it a lot. It would pretty much replace my whole rig except the Crate Power Block. That seems pretty cool. So hopefully I'll play some shows, so I can buy it before I go to Europe.
I also like the new Steve Morse Music Man guitar.

Thanks for stopping by.
-Andy

one down....one to go

2009-01-09T16:03:00.002-05:00

So I am finally here. The Royal Guard cd is mixed and mastered. or so i think. I've been working really hard in this. Not only did i play guitar and sing on it, but i engineered, mixed and produced it. We were looking for some people and places we could do this and the easiest way was to bring my laptop, gear and mics into band members basements, living rooms and bedrooms. And so it was recorded, but then we went to Estonia. Then thanksgiving. Then my speakers blew. Then the christmas. Then new years. And now I'm done.

Next up is The Entertainment Resistance cd. I'm playing bass and singing on this one. And mixing and producing. This project is almost done, and we want it to sound a little less polished and more raw, so it shouldn't take too long.

So that's the update for now.
later.
-Andy

a month later

2008-10-31T10:22:00.001-05:00

so i't been a month since i got back from europe and i haven't blogged about it yet. So... Estonia was awesome. I went out there with my friend Todd and our band The Royal Guard. I posted some pics on myspace from our stay. We visited many places throughout the country. We worked with V:NL, youth organization and did a little tour around the country. It was great. We went into the schools during the day, and played a few songs during classroom changes, and invited them to the free concert in the evening. The crowds were great. The concerts were so much fun. We can't wait to go back, and we are starting to talk about going back next year.
See you soon.
-Andy

Food for thought?

2008-09-28T12:53:00.001-05:00

When we eat, we say beef, pork, chicken and fish. Why don't we say, would you like cow, pig, chicken or fish?
-Andy

New York. Europe. Mixing and Shaking.

2008-08-20T09:58:00.003-05:00

This saturday The Entertainment Resistance is playing in NYC at The Annex. We go on at 8pm. 21+.

I'm going to Europe at the end of September, with my friend Todd. The band is called, The Royal Guard. We are playing a festival and a few concerts. Also whilst there, we will be doing a TV spot and a few radio interviews. We're flying into Sweden but we'll mainly be in Estonia.

So i am currently mixing both bands debut albums. Both bands offer different sound and I can't wait to just play this stuff for people. Hope you enjoy what you hear.
See you soon.
-Andy

theentertainmentresistance. com
myspace.com/theroyalguard

let me catch my breath

2008-06-10T00:03:00.001-05:00

The past few weeks.
After returning from my little vacation in Rhode Island I have gone straight into a very heavy recording schedule. I was in long island last week recording drums, bass and guitars for the Todd CD. We were recording from noon 'till 4am for almost 5 days straight. Then I came back to work a 15 hour day on friday and then we started doing guitar tracks for The Entertainment Resistance CD on saturday and sunday. Then back to LI on monday to start vocal tracks. This week I am working on tuesday and wednesday, then on thursday i'll be at Pratt with Insane-o-Rama for a show and tell on making movies for film students. Then friday, saturday and sunday i will be home working on my vocals for the Todd CD. Then back to LI on monday to record more vocals with Todd.
In conclusion, for all those people that think being a musician means waking up at noon and getting high and drunk, it's not. It's hard work and I hope you will enjoy what I have been slaving over for the past few weeks.
I need a vacation.
-Andy

Punk Rock Yoga

2008-05-28T01:29:00.006-05:00

OK. So in Rhode Island, myself, Brandi, Chrissy and Michelle went on this cliff walk trail, some parts paved and others not, that went around this big harbor. Of course when venturing on this sort of expedition, one would dress accordingly in black, stretchy jeans and a black CBGB's shirt, right? Oh, you mean your supposed to wear cargo shorts and boots. Well if I wore that I wouldn't have been able to come up with, what I simply call.....'PUNK ROCK YOGA'

*please don't judge my form. i really don't know what i'm doing. but i had to do it. just look at that scenery.
Photos by Brandi. Yoga coaching by Chrissy.

-Andy

Q & Andy

2008-05-28T00:35:00.003-05:00

Q:What are ya doing?

A: I have just come back from a great little vacation in Rhode Island.

And now that I'm back it's back to work. Before I left for vacation, The Entertainment Resistance, went into the studio to record our first full length album. We did basics at the Magic Shop in manhattan. Now we just gotta do some vocals and some solos and such, mix and print.
I am also recording with my friend Todd's band. We did some drum tracks so far and we will be doing some guitar and vocals this week. My friend Todd has a few albums under his name, and right now we are not sure if this CD will be under his name or if we're gonna make it a band CD. We do need to get it done quick because we are going to Estonia in the fall. Todd's wife is from there and we have been invited to go there to participate in some festivals.
So basically it's gonna be a busy summer.
-Andy

Shhhhhh....

2008-03-21T03:31:00.002-05:00

It's 3 am and I am awake. There is nothing strange about that. I am usually up around this time. The strange part is that i was actually trying to fall asleep. And I was until my yorkshire terrier, Franklin started barking. But it was an unusual barking cadence. Silence. Then a low growl. Then a single "ARF!" What is he barking at? I can usually hear a sound that he would be responding to, trucks, wind or rain. But what is it? As I slowly tune out the sound of the ticking clock near me, yes some people still own clocks that tick, I can very faintly hear a very quiet, as to mean far off, single bark, at which Franklin responds. How can he hear that? No wait, how can I hear that?! After all it is actually softer that the tick, tock, tick that is closer to me. Last night as I tried very hard to fall asleep all I heard was the ringing in my ears from rocking with my band and being in a noisy bar for 5 hours.
Franklin has calmed down. And yes, if you know me I don't call him Frank or Frankie, 'cause his name is Franklin. Sometimes I simply refer to him as dog. What? Is that wrong? People sometimes refer to me as man. Hey man. Hey guy.
Now I start to hear some noises. My ears are very attuned to my surroundings now. As I lay, trying to sleep, I hear a garbage can being dragged up and down the block. Perhaps someone digging through the receptacles looking for bottles and cans for deposit. My curiosity has forced me up. Oh, it's just all the garbage cans on my block rolling around from the wind. That's all. End of story. Or is that the beginning of the story? Perhaps the first dog was barking at the garbage cans rolling around, which then arose my dog from it's slumber to start chatting with that dog, so I would start listening to every sound around me that would in fact lead back to the wind blown garbage can which started the whole thing. Which then inspired me to share this seemingly boring story with the whole world, the very words you are reading right now.
As I look to head back to bed, I am reminded that I will be woke up by Franklin, the dog, again. Why? Cause tomorrow he is going to the groomers. He doesn't go out often, so anytime someone tries to put his leash on him, he barks like crazy. Mostly for the excitement of the chance to go outside. It's a really fast repeating, high pitched bark. The kind that will wake you right up.
Good night.
for a little bit.
-Andy

Awarding Art

2008-03-13T22:34:00.003-05:00

I don't even know where to start. I've been slacking on this blog thing. I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I have a lot to say, or maybe I don't. The truth is that i have a few unfinished blogs that i have not posted. One about the golden globes, and a general award show season wrap-up. But who really cares about my opinion? Well maybe that's the point. You can read here about my opinion and then agree or disagree. So here we go.

Award Show Season Wrap-up.

First I would like to say that I hate award shows, but if you want to have a conversation with someone you should at least know what is going on. It's very hard for me to watch these shows for a few reasons. First, everything I like never wins. Second, you can't award art. Movies, music and performance is all opinion. If someone can run faster than you - they win. That's it. So how can you award art. You can't. but they do.

I was happy this year that a lot of the people that won, I respected and liked. Finally the right people are winning. But still you have people that don't really deserve the acknowledgement.

Golden Globes. Whatever. No writers and lame show with lame people giving their opinions.

Grammy's. I am very pleased that Herbbie Hancock won album of the year. I have been a fan of his for a long time, and am very happy that he is getting the acknowledgement for changing the world of jazz, from being this decrepit fossil of a history lesson, to an evolving life form, that moves forward with time.
Does anyone else find Amy Winehouse boring? Why am I supposed to like her music? 'Cause it has a retro-'60's-soul vibe? If you want to listen to retro '60's soul, listen to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings!!
And I'm happy, Flight of the Conchords won best comedy album. yay!

Oscar's. My 2 favorite movies of the year were 'No Country for Old Men' and 'There Will Be Blood'. So I was happy about the outcome of these awards.

In other news.........

The Entertainment Resistance is rehearsing like crazy. We are getting ready to start recording. We are also playing on wednesday, the 19th at the Cargo Cafe, in staten island NY. And joining us will be Bess Rogers, starting at 10pm. So come on down.

I think that's enough for now. See ya soon.
-Andy

My missing keys...

2008-01-29T23:36:00.001-05:00

The original line-up of HIT ME WITH IT has returned!!!

I have to figure out where all my keyboard gear is!!!

Here's the info:

This Saturday, February 2
10:30 PM

Flannery's Bar
205 West 14th Street
New York, NY

The original lineup is:

Jason Spoor - Lead Vocals
Richie Castellano - Guitars/Vocals
Chris Kuffner - Bass/Vocals
(me) Andy Ascolese - Keyboards/Vocals
Jared Apuzzo - Drums/Vocals

-Andy

MP3's

2008-01-03T17:17:00.001-05:00

MP3's....Ahh what a phrase. Remember when you used to have to buy a whole album just to get the song you liked? An then fast-forwarding the cassette to get to that song. side-note: fast-forwarding a cassette was an art form....anyway... It's funny how great it is to download what you want. I remember someone called me up once to learn a song, and before the conversation was over I downloaded the song and got the lyrics. What a wonderful world it is.
But what a sad state we are in. It's this damn MTV generation. You can't listen to the same band for more than one song. Is it the bands fault, for making an album of twelve versions of the same song? Maybe. Or is it just the way we listen to music now-a-days. Either way, what happened to the album?
Remember when you used to have to buy a whole album just to get the song you liked? Wow, I sound like a broken record. That phrase is obsolete... After you would listen to the song you liked, you would listen to the rest of the album and like it. So now we have all these people only listening to a few songs of a release. I call it release because it's not a CD or cassette or album or download but rather all of the above.
So now I start to think of my own wrong doing. I do own a couple of singles. But you can't call them singles really, more like stray tracks. And the thing is, I have turned around and have purchased the whole release. And there are great songs that I like now, that I didn't like when listening to the 30 second clips.
I hate it when I browse through some ones iPod and they have a band I like or a classic album and only have like two of the songs.
Now wait...I totally understand. A lot of albums have 'skip tracks' but that's what you do. You skip them. Oh, it's to much trouble to go into your bag and hit the skip. It's not like you have to fast-forward it. And those skip tracks are there for a reason. Once your sick of the songs you like, you start to listen to the skip ones and start to like them. The sad thing is we don't listen to albums, we listen to playlist.
Well, I guess the whole system is breaking down. The next thing we'll do, is start cutting out boring scenes from movies we like. That actually doesn't sound that far off. What was I saying?....oh yeah... buy complete albums.. 'cause I might come and browse your iPod and yell, I mean explain to you what amazing music you are missing out on.

-Andy

What's wrong with me????

2007-12-06T02:25:00.001-05:00

I just went outside and started decorating my house. That's not too weird. But the weird part is that it's 26 degrees and it's 2 am. What's wrong with me? Why do I operate from noon 'till 4 am? I am definitely a night owl. I can stay up all night watching movies, writing songs...bloging.... why? Maybe it's my punk side... you know... anti-establishment... don't do what the machine tells you to do... your supposed to do things between 8am-10pm. I don't know.
I guess that's just the way I am. It's the chaos and the non-normality that I live on. Oh yeah! It couldn't feel any better.
-Andy

Sweet,sweet chaos!!!

yeah!!!

2007-11-20T20:07:00.000-05:00

I just got even happier right now!!! A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on!!! I love all the Charlie Brown specials. Even at 26 years old. Of course I'm a big fan of the music. Those Vince Guaraldi songs are great!
OK. I'm gonna watch now.
-Andy

yawn...

2007-11-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

I am tired. We had to get the broadcast facility I've been wiring up and running, ahead of schedule. So I spent 120 hours there in one week. I was able to sneak home to sleep a couple of hours but the last couple of days, I worked through the night. I went to work on Sunday at 10am and didn't return home until 6am Wednesday. Right now I am mixing a show in a mobile truck. Luckily audio has a separate room in the truck, so I can nap and blog. Well the good part of working this much is that I'll have some money so I can help finance my new band, The Entertainment Resistance, new CD project.

I'm really looking forward to recording. It looks like we are going to record on analogue. Yep. That means tape. Even though our world is so digital, analogue recording is still preferred. For music at least. The coolest part about this project is that we have a great team of people working with us. So far we got Omar to produce, Frank to engineer, and Anthony for web design. We also got a few photographers. I'm really looking forward to this whole thing. I think we should do a behind the scenes movie thing and/or a video blog about the making of the project.

I've been thinking about doing a video blog for this, but I like writing. If not for any other reason but for the fact that it is a good exercise. I always liked free writing in english class. Just an empty paper and a pen. Just writing whatever. A journal-like entry or a short story. And that's how I look at this thing. Except it's an empty screen and a keyboard. Actually I have a couple of entries that I have hand written. I should scan and post them. Maybe..
-Andy

Time Machine.

2007-11-02T22:14:00.001-05:00

Time machine.
Forget about making millions, the best use for a time machine is the ability to oversleep. You can go to bed at 3am, wake up at 6am and sleep for 14 hours!!! Think about it ;)
-Andy

New Orleans '07

2007-11-02T21:59:00.001-05:00

I am now on a plane heading home to new york, from new orleans. The trip was great. I am a foodie and new orleans is a great place for great food. That whole southern / french thing is great. I had some great po-boys, gumbo, red beans and rice, oysters, crawfish, etoufettee, jambalya, cajun meats and beniets. All of the places we went to were great. I did have a few dishes that weren't spectacular, but still good.
The other great thing about new orleans is the music. When your walking down a street and you hear the classic new orleans brass sound, as you would in a movie, you might stop and think this is the best place for music. But it's not. Living in New York we have the whole street / subway musician thing,too. And I have heard amazing music comming from those subway platforms. People playing everything from Caribbean music to Mozart. But in new orleans i was not impressed with the musicianship as much as I thought I would be. I was prepared to hear non stop amazing creole swing, but I mainly heard the same ten jazz standards that every jazz musician plays all over the country. Although when I heard the tuba, clarinet and banjo start to play, everything started to get right. All the bars have bands playing. Some of the rock bands were lame. Well most of them were lame. The other half of the bar scene consisted of rhythm and blues bands. They were all great. Most had horn sections and really put on a show. We did happen to stumble upon a New Orleans wedding, which was awesome. The bride and groom walking the streets with a New Orleans, creole swing band behind. And then all the guest.
The french quarter is beautiful. The buildings, with their balconies stretching over the sidewalk, with gas lanterns hanging underneath, might bring one to paint a picture, as do many local artist do. There is a lot of art happening here. The antiques shops and courtyards reminiscent of english gardens hide in-between buildings on these small streets. One might get lost in these small streets and forget of the large hotels and casinos casting shadows on this old world area. And that's were the confusion comes in.
Upon my arrival, I looked out the window over New Orleans, and I can see the swamps and marshes that are iconic of this place. But once on the ground and driving on interstate 10 it just looks like any other place in the mid-west. Just flat plains. With the sight of a small group of skyscrapers in the distance I feel like I'm in California now. Canal street is a palm tree lined street, that has trollies rolling down the center. Where am I? I think it's call New Orleans.

****Warning Personal Thoughts Ahead******

I went to New Orleans with a great group of people. Frank, Brandi, Marc, Chrissy, Helena, Chrissy and Kelly to be exact. Over the past few years I have vacationed with different groups of friends, and there is something about this group that works really well. I know it sounds cliché, but I have the best friends in the world.
-Andy

WARNING!!! PERSONAL BLOG AHEAD

2007-10-18T21:10:00.001-05:00

I've always kept everything on my website and myspace very professional. All blogs are not that personal. I've always felt that I would use the internet as a tool to promote myself professionally. So I usually talk about music, film, food and other activities. But maybe I should try writing something personal. I consider myself an open book, so why am I so closed in print.

*****WARNING!!! PERSONAL BLOG AHEAD*****

Well, I am working. And when I say working, it means I am not doing what I love. The only reason I work is to make ends meet. Well I guess the problem is that my ends never meet. Right now i am building a 4 stage broadcast facility. I guess it's better than working at best buy. The things is, I'm good at it. I can totally make a career doing it. But I don't want to do that. I can't. But I am working for a friends company. And that's really the only time I work. If a friend has a business, I'll work for them when they need me. But that's it. I need to be free. So I can work on my real passion. Music. I don't care what it is, performing, recording, scoring, creating, recreating. The sad part is, that over the past few years I have been working more and playing less. I freak out when I realize this. It almost scares me. I'm just glad that I have a good enough head on my shoulders that I don't fall into depression or drugs. I mean, I feel great. I guess that is one off my amazing traits. That I don't get upset when things don't go as I planed. Well, even though I have worked a lot for the past couple of years, I can also look back at know that apparently I DID have time for my passion projects. 2005 I worked for a construction company, but I did play with a band, worked on a film, and released an CD. whoa... 2006 Worked 7 months at 2 wiring facilities,but I scored and edited a full length feature film. And now 2007, worked a lot, but scored another film and began a new band. So i guess I have been able to do both. But what will happen in 2008? Not sure yet. I'm hoping to release a CD with the new band, maybe a CD of my own, maybe start work on another film, and try not to work at all. I know some people aren't so astonished by the things I've been doing. It's the way it goes here in New York. The starving artist don't starve anymore. They work for a little and then play for a little. That's just the way it is.

Well some more person stuff. I've been single for a while. Once again, I guess I'm lucky that i don't get depressed about it. I am also lucky that I have really great friends. It's almost like I don't need anyone else. I'm not really sure what I want in a relationship, but I think I know who I am, now. If that makes any sense. I'm not even sure if I have time for a relationship. Just in case anyone was wondering, I like: blondes or brunettes or redheads. I like em' tall or short. Good or bad. Smart or dumb. etc... HAHAHA....

I need a haircut. I've been growing my hair out for a while now, but I need to get it styled and cut. And I need to get it done right. I think I need to just go and get a $100 haircut by some great stylist. Maybe $200. I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas????

I'll be in New Orleans, for halloween. I am looking forward to it, very much.

Well all the variables are a little crazy, but hey, that's life. And either way it goes, I know I'm gonna be alright. Although, my 10 year high school reunion will be in 2 years, and I hope I'll have a better story to tell. But if not, I think I'm doing pretty good. I am at such a great point in my life, and have been here for a while, that I don't what to be doing anything else. Man, that sounds like a slogan for some resort.

-Andy

mmmm....

2007-10-16T21:58:00.001-05:00

I highly recommend the Orange Scone at Au Bon Pain!!!
-Andy

Fall (Retraction)

2007-09-25T22:30:00.001-05:00

Well, I never thought I would have to write a retraction to a blog but of course after my ode to autumn, our weather is now in the 80's. So I guess I will have to wait a little longer to wear my hats, scarves and gloves.
-Andy

Saturday

2007-09-25T15:30:00.000-05:00

Fall

2007-09-16T23:09:00.001-05:00

I love autumn in New York. Now that the weather is changing, and the air is crisp and cool, I'm happy we are starting fall. This might not sound very manly but i enjoy cold weather accessories. Jackets, scarves, gloves and hats are fun. And if you don't have fun with that stuff then your just missing out. I have a bunch of different jackets and I probably own more scarves that the average man should, but what's wrong with that. I'm allowed... you know... 'cause... I'm a musician... entertainer... and.. we're allowed to have a lot of useless clothing. And believe me... I do have a lot of useless clothes.
Don't forget to bundle up kids!
-Andy

August wrap-up.

2007-09-03T23:49:00.000-05:00

August wrap-up.

August 1st. The Police at Madison Square Garden.
The Police were great. The sounded better than ever, and they played all the songs that I wanted to hear. I’m glad I was able to see them live.

August 6th. Muse at Madison Square Garden.
Muse is incredible. They just came out and blew me away, from first note to last. They are truly an amazing band with amazing songs.

August 12th. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at McCarren Park Pool.
This was a cool thing. The McCarren Park Pool used to be a huge public pool in Brooklyn. Now it’s a huge empty pool with a huge stage next to it. It’s a very cool venue. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were great. This event totally had the whole indie vibe going on, with Brooklyn Brewery not Bud, local street food, and with a line up of bands that no one has heard of.

August 14-16th. Camping/Mountain Biking.
I went camping again. This time it was scaled down a little bit. No generators, xboxs, etc. We also had a chance to do some mountain biking. The trails were ok. Not that great, but we were happy with the 9 mile ride to the beach.

Pink Eye.
I’ve been scoring a new movie, Pink Eye, with Marc and Frank. The score is awesome. It’s that last piece of the puzzle that makes a horror movie scary.

Movies

Superbad
Superbad was super-good.

Halloween
Rob Zombie’s Halloween was surprisingly good. The first half was Rob Zombie’s take on Michaels psyche, and the second was a nice homage to Carpenters original.

Disturbia
Disturbia was a cool movie. The first half just kept building for the explosive second half.

Perfume: The story of a murderer.
This was a cool movie. It had a cool story and an interesting ending. But it needed to be a little more condensed.

Blades of Glory
I’m gonna try to state all the flaws in this movie, but the bottom line is that I laughed throughout. So, I guess it was good then.

Ode to an eight-dollar bagel

I was in midtown manhattan early one Saturday moring, and I found myself drawn towards the Dunkin Donuts sign, and then became aware of the bagel store that was next door. As I walked inside, my eyes were drawn to the salmon in the display counter. As I waited to be helped I was planning on getting my usual, onion bagel with lox-spread. But then the European guy in front of me ordered a bagel with cream cheese and lox. The only reason I know that’s what he ordered and that he was from somewhere in Europe, is because he had to say it three times so the shop clerk could understand his broken English. Then the clerk had to ask him three more times if he wanted the NOVA lox. That conversation ended with a walk down to the end of the counter to point it out. So now I have to make a quick decision. Why do I get lox-spread anyway? Well, the local places don’t always have the fresh lox. It’s usually packaged. So I usually get spread made with the packaged stuff. But now, I can see the whole fish. I’ve had the fresh stuff before, and the packaged lox isn’t that bad. So why would not get this now? So I ordered an onion bagel with cream cheese and NOVA lox.
(Nova or Nova Scotia salmon, sometimes called Nova lox, is cured with a milder brine and then cold smoked. The name dates from a time when much of the salmon in New York City came from Nova Scotia. Today, however, the name refers to the milder brining, as compared to regular lox, and the fish may come from other waters or even be raised on farms).
As I waited for my breakfast I looked at the menu board. The regular lox was was 7 dollars, and the Nova was 8. I thought to myself, what’s one more dollar, and man this better be good.
So, how was it? It was delicious. The fresh bagel and the Nova just melted in my mouth. Definitely worth the eight dollars.

-Andy

Camping

2007-07-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

I went camping for an extended weekend with Clinton, Cliff, John H., Justin, John L., Rob V. and Rob B. It was great. A couple of highlights were; fire, air mattress’, fans, generators, coffee, espresso, Xbox 360, Fire, rafting, cannoning, volleyball, FIRE, curry chicken, skunk, steak, FIRE!, sand burgers, FIRE!!!, Wal-Mart, FIRE!!!! And RAIN!!!

Pictures to follow.

-Andy

The Entertainment Resistance

2007-07-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

The Entertainment Resistance.
The Entertainment Resistance is a trio from NYC. The Entertainment Resistance specializes in catchy Low-fi Pop with lyrical fervour.
The mission of The Entertainment Resistance is to provide entertainment at any cost with no rules and without sacrificing our beliefs.The Entertainment Resistance is a brand new band, comprised of the musical stylings of me, Damian and Johnny Spo. You can't check us out at: http://www.myspace.com/theentertainmentresistance

Join The Resistance!!!

-Andy

Food, Movies, TV and Biking

2007-07-16T00:27:00.000-05:00

Soooo… so much to say. First, why can’t I find decent greek food on staten island. There are a couple of places here but they all stink. A new place opened and it looked like it would rescue me from all the mediocre greek places here. This place was even worst than the other ones. Well I’m not totally sure yet. I just had take-out. But the restaurant looked nice. Basically the take-out stuff tasted like left-overs. But they did have a great taramasalata.

Movies.
I’ve seen the pretty much all the summer blockbusters. Knocked Up was good. Spiderman 3 was bad. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was bad. Die Hard was good. Transformers was good. Harry Potter was good.

Flight of the Conchords.
Where do I start. First I am a fan of musical comedy. All the way from Victor Borge to the Smothers Brothers, Allen Sherman to Spinal Tap, Tenacious D to Flight of the Conchords. Although, I am not a fan of comedians that just write joke songs. Let me explain. I don’t like the comedians that write songs that every line is a joke. With the people I mentioned, the song isn’t always the joke, they are the joke and punch line. The two exceptions to that for me, is Allen Sherman and Weird Al. They were the great parody writers. Come on, you don’t like “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”? So then, Flight of the Conchords continue to bring forth musical comedy with their show on HBO. Wait a second, that how Tenacious D started. The show is about 2 guys from New Zealand,(the joke starts there) that are living in New York, and have a folk band, with the original line-up of Bret, Jemaine, the 2 of them. The best part about the band is that they never really play a gig, well except at the worlds fair thing but that was just Jemaine with the tape. So usually they just break into song in the middle of the plot. They went for a more R&B, Soul, Electronic thing, than the Tenacious D acoustic metal. It works on all levels. The characters are great with their funny New Zealand accents, and the songs are great, talking about girls, monkeys, robots, cutlery, underpants, synthesizers, food, tape, kabobs, tea-parties, etcs… Check it out, but you should watch it with friends.

Hitting the Trails.
As you can see from my myspace pictures that I’ve been hitting the trails. Mountain biking is great. It’s great to get away from paved roads and cars and just be surrounded by trees and dirt. Check out the pics if you didn’t already. And if anyone knows of any cool trails around here, tell me.

-Andy

Falling Ants

2007-06-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

For some reason, during the warm months, my basement gets these flying ants. We can’t really figure how to get rid of them. We’ve tried some stuff, but they come back. It’s no big deal. They’re really small, and they die after a day or two. The funny part is when I’m sitting in my basement, like I am now, and they fly around the light fixtures, and they get a little too close, they fall to the ground, or to my head, or my computer screen. But the best is when they hit a string on my acoustic guitar, or bounce off a drum. That’s just funny. LOL.

2 weeks ago I went to Rode Island, with Frank, Brandi, Marc, Chrissy, George, Helena, Chrissy, Michelle and Kelly. It was a great time. A couple of highlights… fried clams at Flo’s, cinnamon basil gelato, chowder, clams, (wow that’s a lot of food stuff), running by the water at sunset, mowing the lawn without shirt(sorry ladies no pics), ukulele in backyard and car ride, unable to find a open dunkin donuts at midnight, and last but not least….. SKYDIVING!!!! Brandi, Kelly and I did it to celebrate Kelly’s birthday.

I’ve wanted to go skydiving for some time now. I wanted to do it last year but was unable to get it together. When Brandi ask if I wanted to go, it was an unhesitant YES! I’m still not sure why I couldn’t wait to do it. Of course the first time you jump, you have to go tandem. That means you’re strapped to some guy that does everything and your just there for the ride. So I got suited up and hopped into this tiny plane. After a very nice 15 minute scenic ride, up to 10,000 feet, the guy strapped me up and opened the door, told me to put my left foot out and onto the step, the he said your right and I don’t think my foot touched the step and we were in the air. Flying to the ground at 140 mph. I say flying ‘cause the falling sensation only last a second. (bing)))(By the way a flying ant just hit my drum)) Flying to the ground at 140mph is very loud and windy. After a 40 second freefall, at 5,000 feet I get a tap on my shoulder, to remind me to be prepared for the insane jolt of the chute opening. Then a peaceful, silent, beautiful, floating experience for the next 5 minuets until we touch down in a grassy field. The whole experience was very surreal. You don’t feel like your falling, it doesn’t feel like a roller coaster. It’s amazing. I am addicted. I want to jump off of everything. I want to get my license so I don’t have to go tandem. And when it’s not tandem it’s much cheaper.

Richie and I auditioned bass players, and we found one. Once we start rehearsing, we’ll start to book some gigs, and then all of you can experience 2 Part Invention LIVE!!!

I saw the movie Paprika. Ah named after one of my favorite spices. It’s an animated Japanese movie about a dream-recording device and all that would happen if this type of technology existed. This movie intrigued me mainly ‘cause in the trailer, one quote said that ‘this is proof that Japanese animators are looking to the future, while the Americans animators are stuck in the sandbox.’ ….Yeah. What’s up Americans? Another penguin movie. Surfing penguins. What’s the matter with you?... Sorry. Back to Paprika. The director that did Tokyo Godfathers, which is critically acclaimed, did this movie. So far this sound great. Right? Well it was good, but not great. It was very dreamy which I guess it was supposed to be, and that element worked great. It just didn’t seem like it was going anywhere, and the end didn’t really sum it up either. I might have dozed off too. But all in all it is good.

I love going to see movies in the small theaters in the city. (flap))(another flying ant fell onto my laptop)) One main reason…Coffee. I’m not a coffee fanatic, but I really only drink coffee, tea, espresso, iced-tea, water, seltzer, orangina, Goji, wine, gin, scotch and sometimes beer. Regular movie theaters only have soda… and water… and frozen coke(which I usually drink, but they’re usually out of it, anyway). So as I walk into the Angelika or Sunshine theaters, I am happy that I can have a coffee and dried fruit and nuts. The artsy theater crowd that these places have are just fun also.

-Andy

HF

2007-05-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah... HOT FUZZ was AWESOME. Especially the last 20 minutes.
-Andy

5 boro bike tour

2007-05-16T19:16:00.000-05:00

May 6th. The 5 boro Bike Tour. I started my day with only four hours of sleep. Yeay. I also started my day without allergy medication. Yeay again. At 6:30 am I drove to my friend Nim’s house in brooklyn. We rode our bikes down to Dunkin' Donuts for a healthy pre-ride breakfast. After that we jumped on the D train to get into manhattan. Two years ago I did the ride from staten island, but I had to wait for the ferry, in the rain for 2 hours! I didn't want to do that so the train was a good call. So we got off the train at Grand St. and stop to buy a bunch of bananas. They give out bananas, oranges and water along the route but sometimes they run out, so we brought our own stash. Heading down canal st. we saw the bike tour going up 6th ave. Not wanting to join yet, we headed up west broadway. A couple of other riders joined us up to west 4th. On the train Nim realized he didn't take his allergy medicine either, so after joining the tour we stopped a couple of blocks into it, to get some Claritin D in Duane Read. After we took our meds, I headed into Starbuck next door for a pit stop, and grabbed a cold double shot on the way out. Now were ready. Nope! Nim was cold and had to put his long sleeve shirt back on. So there we were on w8th., missed the start, and not really caring about this thing. Now a painful ride uptown. This part is not fun.Not physically painful... There are way too many riders, riding way too slow, making me mad. And it was at this point that I remembered, why I didn't do this last year. We got too frustrated so we cut across town to broadway and made our own route. A couple of other people followed us, but it looked like they were not from NY ’cause they were freaking out. I actually felt safer riding with the cars than on the closed off streets with the other cyclist. Then into central park. Also, not fun. It's seems like most of these people got there bikes the day before. Constant gear shifting, all you hear is clicking, and me yelling, "STOP SHIFTING!! JUST PEDAL!!!!" The second half of the ride is alot better, 'cause I guess I passed most of the slow riders. We took our time during the second half. We stopped to stretch, toilet and banana. 3 1/2 hours of actual pedaling time for the 40-mile trip. I felt the same way I did last time I did it. It's fun to pass all the people with their fancy cycling outfits, and yelling at all the slow riders, but it's just not worth it. This is a very cool event, for the fact that you can ride your bike on many roads and bridges that you can't usually ride on. And that people come from all over to ride through the five boro's of the greatest city in the world. I guess I’m just lucky that I call it home.
-Andy

NYC

2007-05-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

So as I take another sip from my latte, I cannot stop hearing the voice-over, monologue in my head, describing every moment. Like a bad episode of Sex and the City, I can't help but wonder why I am feeling this way. Maybe it's happening because I am sitting in a Starbucks drinking a grande latte and blogging on my new MacBook Pro. Yep. You heard me. I am now one of those low-life’s who think they look so cool on their laptops, being all trendy. The question is, why am I doing it? No! The question is, why are we all doing it? Why are people in New York City doing it?
New York has been a trend-setting city from the beginning. Why are we taking trends from Seattle, of all places? New Yorkers aren't supposed to order lattes. In New York you go to the smelly, disgusting bodega, on the corner and get a smelly disgusting cup of coffee, which taste great, grab the paper all for under $1, and sit on a graffiti-ed bench, or what was once a bench. In New York, you set the trends. In New York, you call people out for copying trends. I'm sure next time I see some of the readers of this blog I will be called out. But why should I care.
What is a trend, and what makes someone so trendy? Unfortunately, some people may call me trendy. The thing with New York is that sometimes you can't help but follow the trendy fashions and activities. I went to The New School, not as trendy as NYU, but not far off. When being in Manhattan every day, it's hard to not be trendy. The first day of school I remember wearing kakis and a flannel-like, button-down shirt. Upon looking around the orientation room, I felt like I was from the mid-west. People looked at me weird, when I said I was from New York. So maybe it's not just following trend. Maybe it's just dressing the part. Look like the place your from. But I'm a New Yorker, and we don't feel pressure to fit in. In New York anything goes. Only In New York! Does that saying carry any weight anymore? I think so. I am constantly saying that to my out-of-town friends. People always comment that I don't have a New York accent. I've been here all my life and I just don't talk that way. But the crazy thing is that a lot of people are not originally from here. Do people bring the trends? This starbucks thing. Who brought this with them? Maybe it’s just the corporate world, gently turning every major city into the same place. The time square area disgusts me, as it does many natives. I'm not that old to know the seedy part of it, but it affects me the same.
In New York you want to be in the 'in' crowd. Not so much the celebrity thing, but doing things that makes this city the greatest in the world. Catching the greatest art and music. Just being there. So you can say, "oh yeah, I was there. It's around the corner of my friends place." It's about knowing the great, secret dive bar. And where the best falafel is. And not caring about where DeNiro lives, 'cause you'll bump into him at the bodega getting coffee.
Back to me.
Why am I doing this? Proudly displaying my Apple logo in Starbucks. Maybe it's the fact that I have the latest and greatest technology, and I want to show it off. That's the New York way. Maybe I DO want to fit into a category of people that they base TV shows, movies and commercials about. What am I supposed to do? Most of my clothes are black, a 45 minute commute is fast, I eat dinner at nine o’clock, I don’t go to a club before 11:30, I go to sleep in the am, I’ll gladly pay 6 dollars for a beer and I go to the movies alone. I know 14 different way to get from point A to B, depending on where point B is and what time of day, what local subway to avoid and what side of the street I should enter the subway. I know what street vender to stay away from. And what sidewalk to avoid and where and when to cross the street. Maybe I’m doing all of this because I am just a New Yorker. And this is part of it. If I wasn’t in starbucks with my MacBook Pro I would still be trendy. Just the fact that I live in NYC means I’m trendy. Well, not as trendy as the people that live in Williamsburg. Why do people move here? It’s because we’re trendy. New York City is the greatest city in the world. Best food, art, music, sports, shops, nightlife, architecture, schools and jobs.
So, here I am in Starbucks drinking my trendy drink, wearing my trendy jacket, typing away on my trendy laptop, with my trendy messenger bag at my feet, just trying to figure out why. And the answer I guess is, Why Not? I am a New Yorker. And this is what I do. This is my life. And whatever you call me, ‘trendy’, ‘poser’, low-life’, ‘yuppie’, 'hipster', ‘metrosexual’, ‘dufus’, ‘wannabe’, whatever you say, I say: "I'M FROM NEW YORK, AND I SET THE TRENDS!!!"
-Andy

The Good, The Bad and The Disappointing

2007-04-24T17:13:00.000-05:00

Netflix.

I started doing netflix. So far it's great. The delivery at home thing is cool, but the cooler thing is the selection. When I usually go to the store to rent movies, i only look at the new release wall. Netflix has the new release wall, but it has all the old classic and just ones i haven't seen in a while. And they have a cool ratings thing. You rate movies and gives you some suggestions.

THE GOOD:

A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints is about guy that lived a tough childhood, left his neighborhood only to return 20 years later, to visit his sick father.This movie was really good. It was intense and dramatic. They played around with non-linear edits and placed subtitles in some places even though everything was in English. I'm surprised it didn't get more public attention.

I give this, a 4 star netflix rating.

THE T.V. SET

The T.V. Set is a movie about a T.V. writer who is trying to get his pilot off the ground. Unfortunately, he is fighting the station the whole way. From choosing actors to plot changes. The movie was good. but nothing great. It was good for a few laughs, and kept you interested.

It's a netflix 3 star rating.

GRIND HOUSE

Grind House is an unbelievable movie. A double feature, by 2 great directors. Robert Rodriquez's Planet Terror is a pretty cool zombie flick. Quintin Tarentino's Death Proof was about a guy stalking girls and murder and then girls revenge. Upon first viewing, I felt that Robert Rodriquez's Planet Terror was the better of the 2. But the second time I left the theater I was loving Quintin Tarentino's Death Proof. The music from Planet Terror was great. The title song is awesome, as you can hear on my myspace page, and the score was a great throwback to John Carpenter.
I highly recommend seeing this in the theaters, not just for the big screen but for the theater experience.

I'll give it a 5 star netflix rating.

THE BAD:

RUNNING WITH SICCORS

Running With Siccors is the screen adaptation based on a New York Time best selling memoir. A boy who never really went to school to stay at home with his mother only to be adopted by his mothers unorthodox psychiatrist. From the trailers of this movie I thought it would be a kind of I Heart Huckabee's/ Eternal Sunshine, but it wasn't. It was intense at points, but that's it.

This one gets a netflix 2 star rating.

The Disappointing:

SMOKIN' ACES

The story involved a Vegas magician, the mob and a crazy bunch of hit men. Sound good right. Well it could have been. This movie had so much potential. It was great for the first 20 minutes and then just lost steam. This movie needed to take a much more crazy and chaotic approach.

Another 2 star rating.

-Andy

Bike. Movie. Food.

2007-04-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

Bike.

My bike odometer read 65 miles at the end of last week.

Movie.

I saw Children of Men on DVD. It was really great. The story was cool. The cinematography was incredible. Great action. Great Music. An all around great film.

Food.

Those of you that know me, you know that I'm kind of a foodie. I'm not really into fast food, although I'll eat a BK stacker, those are great. The other thing I don't like is chain restaurants. Crapplebee's, Chile's, TGIF, etc.... I was recently at a Charlie Browns Steakhouse. And I got Filet Mignon with onions and blue cheese. Sounds good, but it wasn't. How do you mess up, Filet Mignon at a steakhouse? I don't know but, they did. It was dry, it was over seasoned (which is the problem with the chain places)and just not enjoyable.
Sorry for my rant.
Anyway, right now I'm making some Cuban black beans. I got 'em in the crock pot now for 8 hours. Slow cooked foods are great. I love the slow roasted chicken stuff, Shawarma and of course Chrissy's smoked ribs!!!

-Andy

Factory Girl

2007-03-29T19:35:00.000-05:00

I saw "Factory Girl" on Tuesday night. It's the movie about Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol. It was very cool. It was the classic story of a girl caught in the world of a tortured genius.
Today I rode my bike with my friend Mike. We did about 30 miles. Going down the south shore of Staten Island and back.
That's it for now.
-Andy

Sunday, Monday & Today.

2007-03-27T14:43:00.000-05:00

Sunday my friend Damian and I went to the city to see 'the host'. It's a Korean movie, "on par with Jaws" one review said, and it was. It was really cool. Not as good as Jaws but good. Then we went to Chinatown. We were looking at some Kung-Fu gear. After that we went to Ten Ren Tea Company. I love this place. I bought way too much tea.

Monday I had a meeting in the city at 179th street and Fort Washington. I rode my bike up there. It was great. I first had to ride down to the ferry. That took about 20 minutes. Then a quick ferry ride and I was off, all the way uptown. It was great. The west side highway bike path goes all the way up there. That took me about an hour. After my meeting I rode down Fort Washington down to Broadway, to 108th st into Central Park. Through the Park down 57th st to the West Side Highway bike path, and down to the ferry.According to my bike computer, I rode 35 miles. It was good practice for the 42 mile 5 Boro Bike Tour I will be doing in May.

Today I made some fresh green tea iced-tea, and hummus. Then I went outside to clean up my garden and turn the soil. This year I'm gonna do vegetables in the garden box and do herbs on the terrace. mmm fresh tomatoes!!!!

-Andy

New Music & 5.1

2007-03-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

If anyone reads this and if anyone cares and if anyone checks out my myspace page I've been listening to some cool new bands.

1st. The Sounds. They're from Sweden. pop, retro 80's, new wave, indie stuff.
2nd. The Fratellis. They're from the U.K. pop, indie, iPod commercials.
3rd. Mika. He's from the U.K. pop, freddy wannabe.

Why, is all the music I like, coming from Europe??? I don't understand.Whatever.

I just picked up some cool music in 5.1 That's right. SSUUUURRRRRROOUUNDD SSOOOUUNND!.!.!!..!

The Beach Boys
Pet Sounds. This in one of my favorite albums! And now I can listen to it in 5.1
I was not too impressed with the surround mix. It just makes the album huge, which is great, but I think they could have done more, surround things.

The Beatles
Love
This is basically the soundtrack for the Cirque De Sole/Beatles thing.
This is AMAZING. They took the great Beatle tracks chopped them up, mix them around, overlapped, underlapped, and crosslapped into a truly amazing masterpiece. A big reason it works is because George Martin did it. Starting off with an a capella version of Because into a mix of Get Back over the classic drum solo in Abey Road is just brilliant. They had fun with the 5.1 stuff. I felt like the strings were crawling over my shoulders in I am the Walrus. Throughout the 78 minutes, the surprises just kept coming. I even got teary-eyed a couple of times.

5.1 surround sound is truly the future of music. The problem is that is not gonna happen. I can't remember the last time I sat still for an hour to listen to music. This iPod generation has no time to sit and listen. But if you do have the time, do it.

-Andy

What did you do yesterday????

2007-03-11T13:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I washed my mom's car, washed my car, bar-b-q'd a turkey, made hummus, did an 8 mile bike ride, watched Babel and went to a bar to see a Rush tribute band.

-Andy

VBS.TV & 300

2007-03-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

Hey,
I came across an awesome website yesterday http://www.vbs.tv/ . I think it's done by the people from Vice magazine. I can best describe the site as underground journalism. Videos of people going to some really cool places. There's a lot of crazy things going on in the world and it's even more crazy when you don't have CNN credentials. I really only got to watch the news videos and the travel stuff. When I'm done typing this, I'll go and check the music section.

300. Midnight show.
I'm not gonna do a whole review but I will say, it was really great. The fight scenes were incredible. Story was great. The pace was spot on. 2 hour actions movie sometime lack the build up of tension and have a lack of emotion but this movie delivered both. This is the best movie I've seen since The Departed. Now, I wanna check it out in IMAX;)

-Andy

A Real Blog;)

2007-03-08T16:11:00.000-05:00

Yeah so that whole myspace blog thing is a joke.... so here's a real one.

Today seemed like it was going in slow motion. So, as I was staring at the green tea, teabag hanging from my finger I thought, I should finally set up a real blog so I can share this incredibly dull moment with the world!!! So here I am.
I read an article from New York Magazine about this whole blog thing, and it inspired me. I have had my website for about 3 years now and I have tried to keep it very formal. The whole blog thing always seemed a little to personal, but this article changed my view of it. Blogging will document my life on this planet. Just the fact that our generation now has it's history documented so articulately, is pretty cool. The older generations memories fade away. And sometime the photo itself can't bring the mind to recall the whole story.

....So here it is. A open, public view, into my world.

WELCOME TO ANDYLAND!!!

-Andy