The independent Bar: Home At Last

Been a while since we've been out clubbing. In fact we don't even have what I consider to be a proper club here on the Gold Coast any more. Ah but in Orlando there is an amazing space, the independent Bar. http://www.independentbar.net/
It was like old times. New Wave on the main dance floor and industrial in the basement. AND IT WAS FREAKIN GREAT. 50 cent well drinks until midnight on Sundays. OMG the vodka and cranberry flowed. I found the perfect truth on the dance floor, that moment when the music, the lights, the gyrating bodies,and yes the liquor all come together in a cosmic convergence unseen since the Big Bang. The neat thing about clubbers is that it doesn't matter how old you are or how you look, everyone is there for the party, and that is another great freedom. I lost 15 years in an instant. Danced like a fool. Wish I was back in O-Town so I could go back this weekend. WOW!!!!

Home, Home again................

Just flew in from Florida and boy are my arms tired............Anyway gotta go get some sleep, but I promise a recap of my two favorite bars in O-Town and why I love the Westchester County Airport..........

Mini Vacation...

Off to the Sunshine state for a little R and R and a little RockStar: SuperNova detox. I'm thinking of moving to the Orlando area next year so I'll do a little scouting, sit by the pool and drink many adult beverages. Then it's Hi Hi Ho and back to work I go...........

RockStar:SuperNova Sept. 13, 2006 IT'S OVER

So were do I get a refund on my summer? I dunno, I think that if you look up anticlimactic you would see a picture of the RS/SN logo. To me it was no real surprise who won, but it still kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. The people who did not win should go on to sell many albums and live happy, productive lives. The winner, along with the band, may be on the short (pun intended) road to burn out city.

First up was to eliminate one of the remaining four Rockers. This time they went with the bottom two and Magni, Lukas,and Toby were told to stand. Lukas got to sit down.

Magni: Lead off with Jimi Hendix's "Fire". He put his heart and soul into it, but it was clear that his time was short. Hail to the Ice Man, great vocals, great guitar player (in another blog I read, it was thought that Gilby was jealous of Magni's playing) and a great personality. Had he won I would have bought tickets to see SuperNova.

Toby: He did Billy Idol's "White Wedding". He had the crowd with him but to me he seemed a little tight. He also guessed correctly that he was already in the final three.

So Magni was sent packing leaving Lukas, Dilana, and Toby. They each performed a favorite cover song from earlier in the show:

Lukas: "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve. OK, I will give you that Lukas did a great job on this song, much better than the first time he did it.

Dilana: "Zombie" by the Cranberries. She was back in familiar territory, back at the top and singing with confidence.

Toby: "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers. Toby was also in a comfort zone with this song.

So the next Rocker to go, after being told how great he was, and a whole bunch of other positive stuff, was Toby. A shockwave went through the audience as young girls hearts were broken. Maybe Toby was too cute for this band of aging grizzled veterans. Had Toby won I would have bought tickets for a show....

This left Dilana and Lukas standing on the stage and gave us the best line of the night when Dave Navarro said it looked like a goth wedding. Good Call Dave! There was much talk and internet rumor that SuperNova might take two singers but that was not to be. Lukas Rossi was named the lead singer of SuperNova, not a huge surprise, but somehow much like a Cheese Doodle, no nutritional value and it leaves your hands a yellow mess. I wish them luck but IMHO, just one SuperNova album and done....

SuperNova then did a couple of songs "Be YourSelf"and "It's All Love" to close the evening. And what did we learn gentle reader?

1) In order to win a RockStar competition you must be a homeless Canadian.

2) The best Rocker doesn't win

3) Now I have nothing to do on Tuesday and Wednesday nights

Damn You Mark Burnett Productions, Damn You!

RockStar:SuperNova Sept. 12, 2006

Just 4 Rockers left. A chance to let the music speak. A chance to let the fans vote and their voice be heard. Or so I thought. SuperNova and Dave Navarro stayed out of the way with one glaring exectption in a comment by Tommy Lee, which IMHO killed the chances of someone I had hoped would win. Paula Abdul was in the house but Tommy had Simon's spirit tonight.....

Ok we started the night off with an encore by one of the rockers who had been previously voted off. Ryan Star got the nod and he did his original song "Back Of Your Car" . Great job and Ryan got a new Honda for his efforts. Now down to business.

Toby Rand was up first and he did "Karma Police" by Radiohead. This was the old Toby to me, because he started slow and finished strong. No Worries Mate. He then did his song "Throw It Away" and he asked Magni to play guitar with him. Toby even wrote his trademark "EVS" on the back of Magni's head with a marker...LOL.

Lukas Rossi was next and his cover song was "Fix You" by Coldplay. Both of Lukas' performances were all about sucking up to Jason Newstead. He did his original song "Head Spin" acoustic, so he could sing slow and open his throat and enunciate his lyrics. He did the same with the Coldplay song. I liked "Head Spin" better as a rocking loud song, but SuperNova ate up both of his performances. Lukas is back in the no fault zone.

Dilana did "Roxanne" by the Police as her cover. She had Toby, Lukas, Magni, and Ryan doing backing vocals. This was as strong as her vocals have been in a few weeks and her leg has healed up a bit and she looked more relaxed. I also like her original "Super Soul" better this time around. One little nit to pick, at the end of 'Roxanne' she pronounced it Rox-anna. Just a nit. I guess Dilana is back but IMHO the damage was done a few weeks ago.

Ah and now Magni. He tore up the theater with his cover of Deep Purple's 'Hush'. He just tore it up! Then he did his original "When The Time Comes". I like it, it had a very grungy feel to it and it rocked: LOUD. But Tommy Lee had a problem with it. He said it wasn't memorable when compared to the other rockers originals. Number one: SuperNova didn't give any of the other rockers one bad word tonight. It appeared to me that they were staying out of the way and letting the music do the talking, which is as it should be. But not for poor Magni. Second, I remember Magni's song, in fact I like it. I liked it better than Dilana's and I think it is on par with Lukas'. Only Toby's song was better, IMHO. So now poor Magni has Tommy Lee's judgment hanging over his head and it showed in the early voting.

SuperNova will be playing near us. I will go to see two of the rockers, I will not pay a dime to see the other two. Tomorrow night it all goes down. Will the best rocker win????????

I Wonder If He Will Dig A Hole For Mr. Rabbitt???

G
Mike Mole
Age: 23
Date of birth: October 12, 1982
Place of Birth: Orleans, Ont., Canada
Country: CAN
HT: 6-0 WT: 196
Shoots/Catches: L
NHL Seasons: 0

Quick, we need to make a contract offer to Elmer Fudd

Boston Bruins
Northeast Division - Eastern Conference

C
Wacey Rabbit
Age: 19
Date of birth: November 16, 1986
Place of Birth: Lethbridge, Alta., Canada
Country: CAN
HT: 5-9 WT: 169
Shoots/Catches: L
NHL Seasons: 0-R
Drafted by Boston in 2005 (5/154).

I Knew It. My G.D. Cat is a Republican

Pollster Pleads Guilty to Making Up Results
AP
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Sept. 7) - The owner of DataUSA Inc., a company that conducted political polls for the campaigns of President Bush, Sen. Joe Lieberman and other candidates, pleaded guilty to fraud for making up survey and poll results.
Tracy Costin pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Costin, 46, faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when she is sentenced Nov. 30.

As part of her plea agreement, Costin agreed to repay $82,732 to the unidentified clients for 11 jobs between June 2002 and May 2004. DataUSA is now known as Viewpoint USA.

According to a federal indictment, Costin told employees to alter poll data, and managers at the company told employees to "talk to cats and dogs" when instructing them to fabricate the surveys.

RockStar:SuperNova Sept. 6, 2006

The Elimination Show.

First up tonight was the lads from SuperNova taking the stage with Magni to sing a brand new song called "It's All Love". The Ice Man did a fine job and now that everyone has had a chance to sing with band (more on that later) I'm going to rank, IMHO of course, on how the Rockers fared with SuperNova. To my mind I've broken the four performances into two distinct groups. Those who have it, with Toby getting a slight nod over Magni, and those who don't, Dilana and Lukas. I could see Toby fronting SuperNova. I could see Magni fronting SuperNova. I cannot see Lukas as the front man and I can no longer see Dilana fronting the band either. But what do I know?

Next up was the encore and as I predicted Toby got the nod with "Throw It Away". He gave some respect to the late Steve Irwin and then he tore it up just like last night. Toby also got a new Honda for his efforts. Hey, didn't they give away three cars last season?

And now the bottom three. All five Rockers hit the bottom three at some point during the voting. Magni and Toby got to sit down leaving:

Storm: "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. One of the highlites of RockStar last year was when Marty Casey did this song. I was crying. Tonight Storm's version got Jason to weeping. Hey, it's just that kind of a song. Storm brought out a softer gentler side and really nailed it.

Dilana: "I Want You To Want Me' by Cheap Trick. She really punked this out, but at times her performance reminded me of Zayra. It was like she was begging the lads and the audience. Of course Dilana still has some credit left at the old bank.....

Lukas: "HeadSpin" by Lukas Rossi. It was a good move to pull out his original song from last night. (T.G. he didn't do anymore Bon Jovi!). To me Lukas' enunciation of the lyrics is becoming problematic for me. What him say?........

In the end Tommy Lee couldn't bring himself to drop the TommyHawk and he gave the honor to Jason, whom no one likes anyway. This was by far the toughest choice of the series, but having said that I must say WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???!!!! Jason dropped the TommyHawk on Storm Large. A true shocker. IMHO putting aside all the drama at the mansion, I feel that Dilana's performances have been on a steady decline and she has been resting on her laurels for a little too long. Yes, she tore her calf muscle and it's very gutsy that she gets up on stage. However this decline started before her accident. I felt it was her time to go, and I would have relished the chance to see Stormy perform at least one song with SuperNova. Could Stormy or even Dilana have won? I think that right now it's between Toby And Magni. I'll give the nod of the bobblehead to Toby, but keep in mind I picked Marty last year. Good Luck to all....

My Top Three going into the final week:

3)Lukas

2)Magni

1)Toby (best original song, best performance with SuperNova, that's tough mate!)

RockStar:SuperNova Sept. 5, 2006

The Performance show. Tonight each Rocker did a cover song and an original song. With only one week remaining this was a make or break type of show....

Dilana: She tore a calf muscle in rehearsal and was carried onto the stage. Her cover song was "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who. She admitted in the set piece that she didn't know the entire song and it showed in her performance. Her original song was called "Super Soul". She is a Psycho ain't she? Gilby hit the nail on the head when he said that her lyrics are too straight forward and show no imaginantion. Like the Titanic the once mighty Dilana has hit an ice berg....

Magni: The Ice Man covered "Back in the USSR" by the Beatles. A very serviceable cover. His original, "When The Time Comes" featured powerful vocals and heavy music, about what you would expect from Iceland. I'm stuck on this thought about Magni, the song could have come from the Live catalogue....


Storm: She rocked out on "Suffragette City" by David Bowie and was joined onstage by Dave Navarro. But the best was yet to come with her original song 'Lady Like'. The one problem is that this is really an "R" rated song and sounds even better without the censored lyrics. (Look it up on Storm's MySpace page). The lads in SuperNova ate this up....

Lukas: Oi! His cover of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" was awful, IMHO. Like the sainted wife said 'I know the words to that song and I have no idea what he is singing'. Fortunately for Lukas his original song "Headspin" made everyone, including SuperNova, forget the Bon Jovi faux pas. Lukas did a great power ballad, something that may fit very nicely into the SuperNova catalog.

Toby: After a serviceable rendition of "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, Toby tore the house down with his original song "Throw It Away". He was excellent. Here is one thought: Where was Toby last year? He would have been a perfect fit with INXS.

Prediction Time:

encore; Toby "Throw It Away"

SuperNova: Magni or Storm. I lean towards Storm but I really want to see Magni.

Bottom Three: (No Shame):

Dilana

Lukas

Storm

bye bye: (Shocker?!!) Dilana

Being a little bit Green

I think by now we all want to do good by Mother Earth. It doesn't mean you have to give up your lifestyle, stopping eating meat, or hugging every single tree. Here are a few small things that I do that I feel good about. If all of us did small things, the combined total would be a very big thing:

1) Always try to recycle. It can be easy to dispose of something in the regular trash can, I do it myself from time to time, but take a moment and take a close look. Sometimes am item belongs in the recycling bin. Sometimes you have to make an extra effort. For example in my town they won't pick up old phone books curbside, they have to be either brought to the town dump or the phone company puts a bin out. People, it is worth the effort to get as much material as possible into the recycling stream.

2) Bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store. The plastic bags are made from petroleum products. Yes, most supermarkets do accept used bags for recycling, but I can't tell you how many times I had forgot to bring the pile to the market with me. Now I shop with a couple of canvas bags and three large mesh bags made out of recycled soda bottles. Everything is easier to carry into the house and I don't have to worry about the bag or the handle breaking.

3) Plan the most efficient route for you errands. Along with shopping lists, list your destinations and figure out the best route so you can use less gasoline. It really works!

4) Use an alternate method to get to work. Leave the car at home when it is possible. Car pools, the bus, the train, subway, walking (you know who you are) and my personal favorite the bike are ways to get to work. I have shed weight from my body and added it to my wallet in terms of the miles I have ridden on my bike as opposed to using the car. A rough estimate? I figure I've saved at least $200 since April 1.

Just try it. These things work for me and if we all do them we can make a difference.