Liner Note #6

Okay, C. had her say last time. My turn now. I have no politics or history to regale you with. Just COOL STUFF.

See The Runaways movie. I was totally blown away by how Kristin Stewart IS Joan Jett. Holy crap. And I mean not just looks like her, sounds like her, but plays the fucking guitar like her. Yeah, of course that’s what I would notice.

The closest I’ve come to having a crush on a woman ever was on Joan Jett. So you could kind of say my world turned upside down when she eventually came out as a lesbian, except of course that was the inside-out backwards world finally being righted. If anything, I’m a bigger fan now than before. Fuck yeah. I’m such a fanboy I’m following her on Twitter, even.

The Runaways should have been as big as the Sex Pistols. I guess two things really got in their way. 1) anti-female discrimination in the music biz, 2) Cherie Currie didn’t actually die of a drug overdose. Harsh but true, bwana.

This reminds me. If you’re ever in Cleveland, check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s much cooler than I expected it to be. I thought it would be like “ohhh, look at Elvis’s crotch stains,” but actually it’s kind of a museum about the real history of social movements in the modern United States. What reminded me of it is that when the museum inducted the Sex Pistols, they got back a scrawled handwritten reply that said something like “Fuck You and Your Establishment.” Which was fitting. They have lots of cool stuff of the Ramones though, like handwritten letters between the Ramones (in NYC) and the Damned (in the UK) about crashing on each other’s couches while on overseas tour. Can’t make that kind of shit up.

Coolest guitar I’ve seen this week: the Gakken Mini-Guitar. I want. There’s a site selling it for $60 here. Check out this guy using it with a repeater loop:

OK, and I said no history, but I had to make a shout-out here to a restaurant that is still open after all these years, an all-you-can-eat Korean & Japanese buffet that is right next to Berklee Performance Center and two blocks from the Tower Records where I worked, on Mass. Ave in Boston. It’s called Arirang House, and it was the first place I ever ate sushi, and it’s STILL THERE. I wandered by there after a concert at Berklee the other night and it hasn’t changed at all. OK, the price has gone up marginally (I think it’s $12 now), but it’s still a bargain. Those words, ALL YOU CAN EAT, really encouraged me to try a lot of weird-ass shit from the buffet there, but it was all tasty and even somewhat healthy, at least according to Michelle, who is under the impression that Korean & Japanese food is better for you overall than most other kinds. (She’s probably right.) I didn’t actually have the urge to eat there again, mind you, but it was nice to see it was still there (and still packed with budget-conscious students from local colleges and music schools).

[UPDATE: Sad to report that at some point in 2011-2012, Arirang House finally closed its doors. I think that whole block was taken over by Berklee.]

OK, we now return you to the regularly scheduled recounting of my life. Oh, speaking of which, thank you to all the donors who really wanted a closer look at “that night.” Cele really thought I was going to have trouble telling the details. And I admit, I did give her shit about whoring me out, but only because I knew she’d flip. She forgets as a rock musician I’m pretty much a whore anyway and so I’m way more used to that than she realizes. And let’s face it, I’d rather discuss my private life with an appreciative and understanding audience than play, I dunno, “Copacabana”? (I’m trying to think of the worst cover song I ever had to play for money… that might have been it. Or maybe I’ve blocked the worst out of my memory.) Anyway, thanks. The tips are very much appreciated. And don’t feel like you have to give a huge chunk. A draft beer’s only like $3, you know?

By the way, she’s still got it:

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