The Floor Improv Night : The Virgin Commercial

The Floor takes to the skies!!

This commercial will be run exclusively on Virgin Airlines. The music is by Walter Davis (music director/sax). The Floor Improv Night is Monday, Jan 17 at King-King (6555 Hollywood Blvd).

pictured : Sascha, me, Carolina & Walter

The Floor Improv Night is the third Monday of the month (subject to change)

In February and March there will be 2 Improv Nights.

For details check The Floor website OR check out The Floor Facebook page.

Happy New Year to Carolina, Sascha, Walter and The Floor familia.

Vintage Trouble Hit The Strip Club

Girls! Girls! Girls!

I'd never been to Crazy Girls before, but the band Vintage Trouble was playing there, so I thought I would check it out. It's a bikini bar (not a strip club) which means the dancing girls are covered — barely covered — but covered. They danced while the band played and we made it "rain" $1 bills.

Here's some pix from the night.

Special shout out to Dede!!

Much love to "troublemakers" Anjali & Jenn.

Special thanks to the band - Ty Taylor, Richard Danielson, Rick Barrio Dill, Nalle Colt & Charlie Brumbly. Vintage Trouble play every Tuesday night at Harvelle's in Santa Monica. Their first album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions is available on iTunes and Amazon.

...and to Catherina from the alley behind Harvelle's : "on wheels, i roll"

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AUDACIOUS.

(a cliché in horizontal poetry)

The return of the lack

The beginning of the end

The truth in the light of day

The secrets in the dark of night

The silly

The snorted

The audacity you've shown me

The childlike version of your story

your glory

Your beauty

Love gone wrong

but still on

(at least in song)

Get it in writing

Or it doesn't exist

Ha! So you think

You don't stink

Like I do

While I stew

While I jerk

While I smile

While I work

While I die

While I fly

While I question

And wonder why.

You can't always get what u want.

You can't always know when you're acting like a jerk-ass.

You can't help who you are

And what you do

We're all animals

Sharing the sun

Missing opportunities

Frustrated rhythms

Among yet alone

No real place to go home.

Still I exist

Still I smile

Still I find time

To get on the grind

To party and joke

To complain and be quiet

Enjoy the dark and the moody.

Enjoy?

"Enjoy" she said.

The Love Parade

Nix x2.

Nick and Nick.

Two guys in their 20s with long hair.

One a musician, the other a fan.

There really isn't much more to the story than that. We met a time or two - exchanged a postcard once - and ultimately he fell to underground obscurity. One hit wonderism. But I was there to begin with.

Nick Laird-Clowes and myself at Texas Records, Santa Monica

It was Valentine's Day*. I went to Tower Records in Sherman Oaks - his band - The Dream Academy - was behind a table while a decent sized crowd waited in line for the band's autographs. Pushing kids along and keeping things moving was a woman I had met several times in different settings, all related to the music industry. She was a VP of marketing or something at Warner Bros.

Kate St. John & Nick Laird-Clowes @ Tower Records, Sherman Oaks (WB exec Cat Lincoln behind Nick)

It was pouring rain that night.

The water was coming up over the curb on Ventura Blvd because the streets were so flooded. I chose this night to venture out with my Mom's Nikon camera from the 70s and attempted to figure out the dials and stuff and take pictures. I never quite got the hang of it. None of the pictures came out - except the one above.

Cover art for The Love Parade single

Dream Academy were Nick Laird-Clowes - vocals/guitar, Kate St. John - oboe and Gilbert Gabriel - keys. Their first album was produced by David Gilmour.

Their first single "Life in a Northern Town" was a worldwide success charting at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Chart. The song also made #15 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up single, "The Love Parade" reached #36 on the US Billboard Chart and #68 on the UK Chart.

*It was this night I would meet my ex-wife (unfortunately).

That's a whole 'nother story.

Love Parade lyrics:

Look out your window any day

from June to September the love parade's

out on the street where you live and you know

it's just a matter of time before it takes over

They've been married for so many years

now a young love seranade blows sweet nothing in her ear

they're lonely together, when they're not apart

it feels like she's holding on to someone else in the dark.

Oh the love parade is on

even against all odds

it'll go on forever

the love parade

only matinee shows

the love parade.

But if he could put himself into a different skin

he'd be worrying about what he's let himself in for

hanging in the air apparent

a point of view almost transparent

So you sold your soul for a pocket full of sweet talk

forget-me-not kisses at the end of a slow walk

and when it's done you put your world back on

'cause she's otherwise engaged married to someone

Oh the love parade goes on

even when you're gone

it'll go on forever

the love parade

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how did you know you would save me tonight?

it was close, and i christened you keeper of my sanity.

even when others - faced with consequence -

turned away; clicked off; left me alone.

the journey out seemed long and impossible;

then you called-

then you appeared -

with phantom tea and cookies and no complaints;

just friendly staff;

and wiped away the toys and tears

with soft talk and loud music.

The Floor #31 : Hipstamatic Shots

I took some Hipstamatic™ shots to accompany the photo album posted on Facebook [click here]. The Floor #31 kicked off with a performance by Magnolia Memoir - a jazz/rock/pop group featuring the vocals of Mela Lee.

Magnolia Memoir's Mela Lee

Walter Davis is the Music Director/Saxophone player at The Floor. But you probably already knew that. He keeps his band tight and leads 'em through 2 sets of heavy dance/jazz/afro-cuban/funk which keep the people spinning on their heads and jumping around like kinetic popcorn - electric slippin and slidin' til the power's switched off.

Bjørn Fleuren - bass guitar

Maus - the best bartender in L.A. (@ King-King)

The incomparable Walter Davis on saxophone

Bjørn at the bar

Magnolia Memoir

Dancer Angel Jenkins

Magnolia Memoir's Gordon Bash on bass & Toby Karlin on sax

Dancer Kelsey McCowan

Magnolia Memoir's Gordon Bash on bass & Matt Lucich on drums

Magnolia Memoir's bassist Gordon Bash and guitarist Aron Forbes

Musician and old friend Alex Gordon

Maus!!

guitarist Tetsuya Moriguchi & keyboardist Eric Parker
The fabulous Vakisha & the awesome DJ Uniek

Maus and Alex Gordon

Me with Vakisha

drummer Asa Watkins & tapdance mistress Sarah Reich

Magnolia Memoir's keyboardist and vibraphonist Alexander Burke pictured here with DJ Uniek who spins the hot hits and the hip-hop and entertains in tandem with his group The Club Bullies.

guitarist Fuzzbee and keyboardist Eric Parker

The super-baaadddd Gabriella

Breakfast Club : Dorthea and Peter at iHop after the fact.

Happy New Year to the Floor Familia. See you all in January.

Today Is Carolina's Birthday

Carolina used to dance at Harvelle's every Tuesday as part of Bongo Fury - an amazing nu-skool burlesque triumph that was my sole impetus for coming to Harvelle's many years ago. While Bongo Fury no longer exists as it did - I made some amazing friends : Walter Davis, Asa Watkins, Bjorn Fleuren, Victor Orlando, Toledo Diamond, Adrian Govind and of course Carolina Cerisola.

Happy Birthday Carolina!!

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i'm leaking from every pore it seems these days

nothing a chilled glass of medicine couldn't fix

'til i'm waxed and dabbed and confessed out my soul

i lay in my bloody naked bed stripped to it's texture

slathered in thick sweat suffocating.

The Floor : Monday

THE FLOOR

Monday Dec 13 9pm

6555 Hollywood Blvd.

Esperanza : Video Collaborationwith K.G. Superstar

K.G. Superstar put this video together. Clocking in at 1:11 - Mr. Superstar took my poem, (Esperanza) created the visuals and wrote the music. Nice work K.G.!

Esperanza can be read here [Esperanza]

Special thanks to Kavion Griffith for hooking me up!!

*LOVE*