Intentions

I fully intended to make a post about how January went. It was going to be a January in Review type post. Then the inauguration happened and I got thoroughly depressed. I want to say that I'm out of the that funk but I can't. Severely bummed. There's so much work to be done. I'm so proud to have friends who go out and protest any chance they get. Who make art and music and are defiant. They are resisting and I wish I could be right next to them. Work life didn't really help at all as most of my co-workers are young white women who are uncomfortably happy with life right now. I'm thankful that I get to be on the team with the only people of color in the store. There's definitely some comradery back there. So, that is pretty much my year so far.

I decided to start a new blog. I named it after my pop zine and I'm probably going to abandon this one. I'll be posting about music, upcoming events, past events. It's basically going to be the same old same old as this blog. I don't know why I feel the need to do this, but I'm doing it. I'll probably be back to bitch and complain mostly. Separate the negative from the positive. Anyway, here's the link: Pansy Pop.

Lazy Bones is semi-retired. Later!

Four Years Later...

No, I'm not making any dang resolutions this year. No way, no how. I'm only here because I saw that a friend started a new blog to separate her business life from her personal. It inspired me and reminded me that "oh yeah, I have a blog too....?" I guess it's nice to have. Though, I hadn't felt a need to document anything here anymore. However, looking back at old posts has me kind of missing this. Reading old entries about our friends and adventures has me feeling a renewed sense of appreciation for what I have and how far I've gotten.

I have a driving permit. I have one! I thought that would never happen, but here I am with a driving permit. So very much has changed and I didn't document one bit of it. It kind of bums me out. I suppose you can count the few Instagram pics I take now and then, but they're definitely not enough. Living in the moment is something I try very hard to do. I'm not always successful because I'm spending too much time looking for the right filter or trying to take a shot/video that's not all blurry or with my finger on the lense. It always turns out that I'm not happy with what I shot and post nothing at all and missed a great performance or something really funny or cool happened and I was too busy looking at my phone.

So, maybe I'll use this as a place to store memories. Both, precious and wretched. I don't know, maybe even start writing about music again? Who knows! The next 4 years are going to be from what I can tell, nightmarish. I'm going to need a place to put stuff. Good and bad. I loathe posting anything personal on Facebook and Tumblr is so Tumblr. Whatevs, I just want a nice quiet place to put my thoughts and it might as well be this blog. I'm not saying that I'm back, but I'm sure glad I have something to come back to.

(Photo above was taken on Christmas Eve. That's Garfield and he's sitting on little baby Jesus. He looked like an angel)

Charlotte Richardson Andrews: YELLOW HAIR, FAR AWAY STARE: an interview with ind...

Charlotte Richardson Andrews: YELLOW HAIR, FAR AWAY STARE: an interview with ind...: In the early Noughties, when I was a wide-eyed babydyke and falling in love with every girl I met, I discovered Jamie Babbit’s 1999 cult ...

This is just so wonderfully done. It also reminds me of a conversation I had last night with my bandmate/lifemate. We found out that one of our newest acquaintances was only 17. We were attending a decent sized music festival in the older part of town called the Fulton Mall. It was a huge success and there were a lot of people there to watch some of Fresno's more famous bands. The conversation was about how he felt we are just getting way to old for this. He continued to explain that he didn't want to be a thirty something "dude" trying to act young by playing in bands that no one cares about. I'll be honest, it kind of stung. Are we really too old for this? I asked "What are we SUPPOSED to do?? Settle down with children? (OUT OF THE QUESTION!) Buy a house? With what money?? Work mundane low paying jobs until we die!?!" So when I happened upon this interview with the wonderful Rose Melberg, I couldn't help but feel relieved. She's currently CURRENTLY in 7 bands. Seven bands!! She is my hero and I love her and will continue to admire her forever and ever. I CAN keep doing this and fuck anyone who talks shit. I'm going to keep making music and if my partner wants to quit, that's just fine, but I'm going to carry on doing what I love to do. Now if I can only get over my severe laziness....

Oh brother.

Well well well. Looks like I've found my way back to this lonely little blog of mine. I'm not even sorry this time around. I just don't have the will to keep this going sometimes. I'm busy! Kind of. Look, I MUST spend an hour (or sometimes more) on Tumblr and other social media sites. That's just what I do with my spare time. I'm not even thinking about ways to update here. I suppose I should just delete this blog all together, but I kind of like knowing that it's around. So around it will stay and rarely it will be updated. So here's an update.

The Mr. and I found a nice little apartment. It's a quad-plex and we live in the very back above the garage. It's been 3 months now and I'm really happy with it. I do however miss his family. We lived with them for many years and I really got used to a loud household. I also got used to cooking large quantities. So our meals have been weird. I miss our little nephew terribly. He's lived with us since he was two years old. He just turned nine last month and I completely forgot to call him for his birthday. I felt wretched and called him a few days later. I kind of wish I hadn't because he couldn't understand why we weren't living with him anymore. I asked him to give the phone to grandma because I was about to lose my shit and go into ugly cry. Other than the separation pains, everything else has been pretty cool. The dryer from the laundromat we used in the neighborhood melted my underwear. It was awful, but an excuse to go out right away and buy new ones! I really love where we live and it's so much closer to the places we find ourselves a lot these days. Work still sucks, but I've got to keep working if I want nice things. I'm still working two jobs.

It really started to wear me out. Working two jobs and playing in a band was getting hard. So we decided we're not going to be playing very often anymore. Few and far between is the way we're doing it these days. Our last show was a real bust and we all went home feeling extremely shitty. The sad truth is nobody wants to see us anymore and we've over stayed our welcome here. We're going to work on recording and booking shows outside of Fresno. Not so much touring, but taking our shit on the road. So much has happened since we started and we've met so many wonderful people. Said people started some brilliant bands and some have already broken up or are moving to another state soon. It's only been a few months! We just need a little break from "the scene" or whatever it is. We're going to go out and support. Support the venues, promoters and bands. We've even entertained the idea of moving to Portland or northern California. I think we belong up north. No, I KNOW we belong up north. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I wish I had the time/patience to sit here and write about all the crazy shit that's happened these last few months. Fuck that, I wish I could remember half of it! I'm going to make an effort to maybe write it all down in a diary of some sort. Then I can type it up on here or something. Because there has definitely been some craziness that's gone down. Yes, that's just what I'll do. I have a lot of free time when I'm using the public transportation system. I'll get myself a little notebook and write as I wait for the bus. Sounds like a plan! Next time there will be photos too. I've taken a lot of photos. I will however end this with a video of our dear friend Taylor aka Control Noodle doing a cover of one of my favorite Hunx & His Punx songs. Taylor is one of the many talented friends/musicians that has moved out of Fresno and you should really check his stuff out. We were all very sad when he left, but we are all so very happy for him and we will miss him dearly.

"It's just crew shit"

So yeah, this is totally happening tonight and I'm losing my mind with happiness. If you aren't familiar with 924 Gilman Street in Berkley, CA, it's basically the place where bands like Green Day, AFI, Operation Ivy and countless other rad bands have played. It's legendary! And we're gonna play there with our south valley soul mates Tyrannosaurus Zebra. It's insane and I just can't help but feel overwhelmed by the love we've received from our friends in the local music community. The fact that said friends are traveling to catch this is incredible. I'm not even really sure what else to type. Words escape me and all I can do is feel. I feel good, good about everything.

Meh.

Too depressed/lazy to update. Lot's of stupid stuff happening. Whatevs. February needs to stop acting like a dick and be over already. That is all. If March is just a pinch better than February, I will be pleased.

It's Monday.

And this is happening on Friday!

Yay! I'm really excited about this one. Actually, I'm excited about all of our shows. Even the ones that we don't belong on, and I by that I mean the ones that seem like really hardcore punk lineups and then us. They are interesting but fun in the end.

I'm also really excited about the new button designs by Missy Kulik! We finally ran out and I requested another batch. They are mega rad. I can't wait to show pictures of them. Ralee from Tyrannosaurus Zebra asked about a demo or something and we realized we had nothing to hand out. So, we decided to take the In The Garage tracks from our bandcamp and just put them on a cd already. It was fun making the covers with my handy dandy markers. I've already printed out about 20 more sleeves. They should be ready for this coming Fridays show. I found it shocking how fast they disappeared out of my hands. I didn't really think anyone would want them.

Also in the works: Possible pro recordings, a trip up north with Tyrannosaurus Zebra!, and new songs.

Personal life? Got demoted at my job and losing hours at my second job. I suppose it's been kind of depressing, but I can't seem to dwell on it. There is just too much to be worried about to be dwelling on that alone. Still have yet to find a new apartment. That's going to be fun... NOT! So I guess there is good stuff going on, but there is also bad stuff. Oh well. I suppose that's all for now. If I feel the need to update yet again, I suppose I will.

Hellooooo 2012

I was hoping to make an entry before 2011 ended, but alas, laziness won. It's alright, because it's not like I had loads to write about anyway. I enjoy reading other peoples year in review thingys, not writing them myself. But wasn't 2011 pretty rad? I thought it was. I don't care what the naysayers say (?). I was able to accomplish so much, especially for such a lazy girl like myself. I'm just glad the band thing is really working out. I get the feeling that this year is going to be amazing, because we are going to make it so. Honestly, it's just another year and it is not a big deal. It's just another year.

Last night we watched wrestling and played wii bowling. It was fun and there were margaritas a plenty. I hope everyone had as much fun as we did. The menudo wasn't very good, luckily there were some frozen pizzas to make up for it. I honestly don't know what more I can type right about now. So, I shall end this with a couple of pictures and maybe a video.

Found this little guy at the C.A.F.E. Infoshop show. Reminds me of Wash from Firefly.

Loki crashed out on the table.

Cabin Fire at the Bel-Tower. They happen to be super nice dudes.

Our nephew Armando helping with the Christmas tree decorating. That was a lot of fun.

Our Christmas cookies looking oh so pretty AND delicious.

Loki and Little Magic. Aren't they precious?

This is Cabin Fire. Definitely harder than my little pop heart is used to, but they were so nice and I'm glad to have me them. We'll be playing another show together soon. Also, video was taken from behind the band as you can see. I was affraid of getting stomped on by the dudes who wanted to pit.

Let's make 2012 mega rad. Okay? Later!

A bit discombobulated and long overdue.

Well well. It's been a crazy few weeks. November was the most exciting month I've had all year. We've had so many shows and I am having the hardest time trying to remember it all. It seems the only posts I've had lately are band related. All my pictures are from shows! It's also starting to look like December is going to be pretty rad as well.

Thanksgiving was lovely and I found myself quite bored with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I used to LOVE watching it, but it's just gotten so lame. I worked Black Friday and it wasn't bad at all.

I think Loki had a good Thanksgiving too.

We have another show tomorrow. I'm not expecting a very big turn out as it is a Monday and it's cold out. However, I may be wrong on this. For you see, we will be playing with Fatty Cakes again and she can bring a crowd. I can understand why too, she's adorable and seems like a blast to be around. Restaurnaut and The P.I.T.T.S. will also be there. The headliner is Heavy Flow from Santa Barbara with members from bands like Watercolor Paintings (I'm so excited!!!) and Backpack. We weren't sure if we belonged on this bill, but it's just so fun to play. How could we resist another visit to the Bel-Tower? We're going to be there again later this week for a show on Friday. I hope they aren't sick of us. We also got booked for a show on Thursday at Audi's Olympic. I've invited all the people who are afraid to go to the punk venues to this one.

Other than all this band stuff, life hasn't really changed. Still have two jobs. My sewing skills have improved and I have managed to make two new dresses. One is a classic shirt dress with a gathered skirt in black muslin. It's so comfy and I wish I could wear it everyday. The other is a navy blue sailor dress also with a gathered skirt (I love gathered skirts, they minimize my hips). I wore it to work and everyone kept calling me Sailor Emelia. I didn't mind it one bit! I can't wait until I have enough money to buy really nice fabric. My wish list this year mostly consists of fabric, buttons and other notions.

Also, it's been decided that we'll be moving sometime in the next few months. Which is great, because I was not looking forward to packing or apartment searching. It's just so exhausting, and we also manage to lose something in the move.

I'll end this with a couple of videos from the last show we did. Teenage Sweater (Oakland) and All Your Sisterz (recently re-located to Oakland) were two super nice guys. Both of their sets were electro based, but they were both very good. I bought a kick ass shirt from All Your Sisterz. During his set, a random guy came in and joined in on the music. Though it was hilarious, he didn't really ruin the set. It was a pretty memorable night. Al Bundy (sincerely like these guys and their drummer is beastly!) also played and had a guest singer with a Pearl Jam request (also hilarious) and of course, our dear friend Maximo played as well. So here's some vidz.

Al Bundy

Maximo Garcia (real name Garth)

All Your Sisterz

Teenage Sweater

Two Currents also played, but I think Mas forgot to upload it onto Youtube. Wish I had some video of us, but alas. There is none. Ah well. Here are some links to the bands!

Teenage Sweater
All Your Sisterz
Two Currents
Al Bundy
I'd link Maximo, but he only has his personal Fb page. :/

Later gators!

Shit happens.

Hey hey hey! How's everyone doing? Well I hope. So the weekend has passed and boy, have I got an entry for you. The Nov 17th and Nov 19th shows are in the books and we are moving onward to the Nov 29th show with Street Eaters. I AM STOKED! Alright, I suppose I should do a recap on the shows passed.

Where shall I begin? Well this show was at The Bel-Tower and the headliner was Carol Bui. I wasn't sure what to expect from this show, but it turned out fun and I felt good about it at the nights end. Our old (new) friend Restaurnaut was supposed to go first, but he had forgotten a certain effect pedal at home and had to run out to get it. This obviously caused the show to start late. So his pal Danny Lango filled in for him. Danny had some great songs and we really enjoyed them. Mas took some video.



He was lovely and seemed super excited to have a chance to play some songs. Nick (Restaurnaut) arrived and got the show rolling. He seemed to experience technical difficulties again, but the show went on and he got a great response from the crowd.

Next up was the highly anticipated performance from Fatty Cakes (real name Amber Fargano). It seemed like she drew quite the crowd and most of the people in attendance were actually there to see her. She was truly adorable and had the sweetest personality with songs to match. I really liked her set. I cannot wait to hear more from this lovely lady. Here is some more video courtesy of my dude:



We were asked in the middle of Amber's set if we could go on last. This, I will admit, was a bit of a bummer and kind of took me out of the fun. We of course agreed and waited. We never leave early anyway, we stick around until the very end. It's just fun that way. I don't blame Carol Bui for wanting to go on next, the show started late and I'm sure she didn't want people to leave and play to an empty house (happens all the time). So yeah, she went on and put on a fantastic show. There wasn't a band and she had to use her iPod, but she was so sweet and she danced at the end of her set. It was very nice. I think Mas was pretty bummed because he forgot to get some video. Oh well. She dedicated a few songs to an organization called HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) which is a worthy organization worth recognition for what they do. If you'd like to find out more about them and/or donate just head over to their web site. I'll link them along with the band links at the bottom. The Bel-Tower is actually located on a street called Belmont, and this particular street has a reputation for being a prostitution hot zone. So I'm really glad there were people representing HIPS there.

A brass band called Passion Bucket went up before us. A few of their members had to work early the next morning, when I heard this I immediately knew (or so I thought) that EVERYONE was going to leave after their set. This made me so very sad, but the more I thought about it, the less sad I got. If everyone did in fact leave, we would still be playing for our friends and the Bel-Tower staffers (whom have become really good friends/supporters). So it wasn't so bad. I didn't catch the whole Passion Bucket show because we had to set up a little. Again, no video. Sorry. They did well and there was a lot of dancing. Always nice to see. So they finished and just as we were rolling in our equipment, it seemed like the whole room cleared out with the other band. Ouch.

As I was setting up my bass and amp, I made small talk with the sound guy Omar and he said some really nice things about us and Tyrannosaurus Zebra that really made my night. I was glad to be playing again. Thanks Omar! We played, and guess what? The people stayed! It was awesome and they danced!! My goodness, I was relieved. After we packed up and almost everyone left, we stuck around to shoot the shit with a few of the Bel-Tower guys (Omar, Maximo, and Neat). They agreed that they would find a way to get to Visalia so that they could catch our Velouria Records show. We love these guys. It was a good night. Even though I made a lot of mistakes and forgot some lyrics. Shit happens.

And that would be the theme for the next show. Shit happens. But first! The day in between shows. I worked a double shift (going job to job). After work, we went to catch Maximo's gig at the Starline. Had a pint and let him know we came out to support him. Here's a video!




Alright, I'll try to keep this show short because it kind of sucked. Basically,our drummer got lost and didn't get to play with us. We were both pretty upset about it and I mostly just felt disappointed and embarassed. Werebear went on and played and we waited and waited. The record store closed at 8 and we started at 7:35. We played with just bass, guitar and vocals. Our Bel-Tower homies made good on their word and showed up early too. Anyway, it was awkward when he did arrive halfway into our set. Afterwords, we talked a little and went to get some pizza and beer with Wearbear. Our drummer went elsewhere with his friends. It's been kind of weird, but we practice tomorrow and the show for the 29th is still a go. Not to mention we added another on the 2nd of December. Now I'm just hoping for the best. Here is a picture that Ricky from Werebear took. It came out really good and I love that Bruce Springsteen is in the background. That's all for now. Goodnight!

LINKS:

Carol Bui
Fatty Cakes
Passion Bucket
Restaurnaut
Danny Lango
Werebear
and
HIPS

One down, three to go.

Last night was our first of four shows for this month and it took place in a basement. I'm going to try and keep this short. We met a lot new and really nice people.

The first band we met was Elephant Rifle and they were way nice guys. They also put on a loud and fun show. Then of course we ran into the fine fellows of Tyrannosaurus Zebra who also asked if they could use my bass amp "Big Barda". To which I gladly gave my consent. They really are a great band and their bassist is very good. After I went inside to scope out the basement we were about to play in, I met Maximo. He too was very nice and had what appeared to be a broken foot. I felt bad for him most of the evening as he had to remain seated for all of the other acts. Poor guy. We ended up waiting a good hour for the show to really get started. Maximo was first, then another local act Al Bundy went next. They were super loud and the drummer was a beast. Their songs were only a few seconds long and reminded me of Crash and the Boys (yes, from Scott Pilgrim). The drummers hitting was so thunderous his whole drum kit fell apart.

We were up after and thanks to a very stoned fellow, we managed to have a nice crowed around us. He encouraged everyone to get close and dance, thank you for that kind sir, whomever you are. I didn't catch his name. We all made a few mistakes, but overall we had fun and that's pretty much why we do it. I gave out a few more buttons to those kind enough to come over and talk to me and made some more valley connections with other bands. Hopefully we'll be playing a whole lot more and from the looks of it, with really nice people. A lot of girls were in attendance and that really made me happy. I hope they decide to start bands too. I felt super bad for the band Our Lady because the lead singer/guitarists amp totally gave out on him. He borrowed Mas's and even after that, his guitar would NOT stay in tune. After he switched guitars, the entire power pad just gave out. It was a real bummer and I was really looking forward to seeing them play as they looked like a super fun band. I bought a cd from them and I also bought an Elephant Rifle tee. The show went well passed midnight and we had to leave in the middle of Boom Boom Kids set. Mas wasn't feeling to well and neither was I. The bands were great and the atmosphere was pleasing. I'd play there again, but maybe bring a very muscular man or woman to carry our amps down the stairs.

Next show is this Thursday and I hope it's a rad one. We'll be in a much more familiar environment with a lot more familiar faces. Stoked!

Busy. So very busy.

Where or where to begin??

Seriously, I have no idea where to begin. So I guess I'll just list band news and get to other stuff after that. We have shows n' shows n' more shows! Here's the list of events and some flyers.

First:

This is to take place in a basement therefore making it a basement show therefore making it most excellent. BoomBoom Kid (Alls the way from Argentina!), Elephant Rifle (experimental hardcore from Reno, NV), Our Lady (folk punx from Illinois), XIX (Bakersfield, CA punx), Tyrannosaurus Zebra (Visalia, CA folk punx), and Maximo Garcia (local acoustics) will also be in attendance. I'm hoping for a lovely evening. Show starts at 7 p.m.

Second:

This time around we'll be playing with Carol Bui (guitar and drums with "middle eastern flair" outta Washington), Fatty Cakes (described as "weird girl fun times"), Passion Bucket, our homeboy Restaurnaut" (ukulele n'stuff) and possibly more! Again, show starts at 7. This ought to be a good one and I'm really looking forward to the other bands.

Third:

This is the one mentioned in the previous post. We'll be playing with Werebear in Visalia at Velouria Records. We're really happy to be playing with them as they are really nice people and it's been lovely getting to know them here and there. I hope there is somewhat of a crowd. This one, I fear, may be a smaller turn out. I hope Visalia shows up because I don't really know anyone who's going to drive down to see us. Which reminds me, I need to make better friends around here. Or friends who have similar interests and are somewhat supportive I should say. Anyway, it's gonna be fun and I hope people show up to join in on said fun.

And last, but not least!

We'll be playing another show (there is not a yet a flyer for this one) on the 29th with
Street Eaters, Landlord, Tyrannosaurus Zebra, and Maximo Garcia (again). This one I am mega stoked for. It's gonna be a doozy and I can't wait!

We have been so lucky to have played with such lovely people our first two shows, and I can only hope that our luck continues well into the future. Feeling pretty good about life right now.

And just as I type that, I remember that we have to start looking for an apartment soon. I cannot even begin to express how much I loath the moving process. To know that I'm going to have to be doing it all over again in the next few weeks makes me sick to my stomach. I'll try to cheer myself up by thinking about all the cool happenings from the band every time all the other icky stuff in my life starts to creep into consciousness. Being a responsible adult can sometimes be a drag. Sometimes. Anyway, other cool stuff has happened the past few weeks. Like, we went to see Matt and Kim for free at a suicide prevention festival. It was pretty awesome. Alright, that is all for now. I leave you now with a picture of my cat lounging around in the sun. We thought he was dead, but he was just sleeping. He is so spoiled.

Mark Your Calendars!

That's right! Sci-Fi Caper has another show booked. Yay. This time it's a "road gig!" as Tenacious D would say. We're driving up to Visalia to play at Velouria Records with our Orosi homies, Werebear on November 19th. Show starts at 6! So be there, because we still have some way cool buttons (designed by Missy Kulik) to give away. I'm pretty excited and will now be counting the days most impatiently. There is not a flyer just yet, but rest assured as soon as there is, I will be posting it up here on ye old blog. Here's the link to the event page. LINK

In other news, Mas's newest obsession seems to be Ancient Aliens, which is streaming on Netflix now. I watched a couple of episodes and I can see why he's watched it obsessively. It's pretty kick ass. He also got a head start on The Walking Dead, which I REFUSE to watch alone and he's going to have to re-watch with me. Because I'm a wussy. :|

In sad news, found out Mikey Welsh died yesterday. I didn't really know much about him except for the fact he was a bassist for Weezer and an amazing painter. He was bassist for Weezer when they made their triumphant return and this is what made him really special in my life. I was there when Weezer had their first show back at the Warped Tour. It took place at Fresno State and not only was I there, but so was Mas. Except, we weren't there together. In fact, I went all alone and he with his friends. I used to do that a lot when I was a kid, go places alone. The movies, rock shows, etc. Anyway, it was a very special show and I remember being so happy that Weezer was back. It was awesome and something I'll never forget, and Mas remembers it too. We probably crossed paths and didn't even know it. Anyway, that is why Mikey has a special place in my young heart. I also managed to get him to sign my shirt. So, thanks for that Mikey.

Oh yeah! More band news. There is a possibility of a Sci-Fi Caper music video. Crazy, right!?! Pretty exciting news. The guy interested in making it is Enrique Meza, and his stuff is legit. So I know we would be in good hands. I just hope we don't have to be in it. Because I have NOT been treating myself very well and need to do a little exercise. Alright, A LOT of exercise. ^.^

That's enough news for now. I leave you with the first track off of Veronica Falls self-titled first full length release. Gotta love Slumberland Records y'all. It's been on repeat as of late. It's wonderful and I recommend you give it a listen.

Later gators!

FuSE Fresno

This past weekend Mas and I attended the 4th annual Fresno Urban Sound Experience Festival or FuSE Fest for all you hip cats. It was a two day music festival that took place in Downtown Fresno California and we found ourselves hopping from venue to venue to catch various local acts. All genres and all ages. It was really nice and felt good to get out and about in my own city. I've lived here my whole life, (not true, spent 5 years in Mendota) but I've also lived a pretty sheltered life. Either I was too young, too broke, or just too shy to go out. Anyway, here are a couple of snapshots I got with my phone.

A Werebear watching Wearbear

Brother Luke & The Comrades

College Kids

Irie Sun

It'll Grow Back

AZAZEL! (the lead guitarist was knighting fans with his ax! Though I was not one of the fortunate souls.

Niilo Smeds

BruNo dA uNo

Restaurnaut

I mostly enjoyed watching Azazel, College Kids and the Sunburns. Also, Restaurnaut put on a very lovely show in the Fulton55 cafe. Werebear was fun to watch too, especially on day one (they played both days), because they had a dude dressed as a bear. Overall, we had a great time. Though, I wish there would have been a better turn out and it would have been nice to be one of the acts on the bills. Oh well, maybe next year? Anyhow, we took turns using our iPod to take some clips of the bands we were able to catch. Mas put together a really good video of our experience. Have a looksie won't ya?



And instead of linking every band in all the paragraphs, here is a list of links instead. K? ^.^

Werebear
Brother Luke & The Comrades
College Kids
Irie Sun
It'll Grow Back
Azazel
Niilo Smeds
Restaurnaut

Peace out. Be back later with other stuff.

Yeah, it's Monday.

It is indeed Monday and here I am again with another marvelous day off of work. However, it seems I have been crippled by the internet from getting anything done around here. For example: dusting (need to do this regularly so that my allergies don't get too bad), vacuuming, laundry (ugh) and other things that aren't really that important but I really wanted to do. No, instead I have laid in bed while the sheets were at wash and watched Suckerpunch (a very disappointing Zack Snyder flick), listened to new music ( Mikal Cronin, .ICEAGE and Slow Animal), and did a rough sketch of a banner for another blog. At least the sheets and blankets are washed and the carpet has been vacuumed.

Found myself drinking Arbor Mist and eating pizza two nights in a row. And I'm not sorry for it :| Slept like a baby.

Oh yeah! Toni from work, made some Menudo and brought the whole alterations staff a bowl! It was SO yummy. There are many perks to working for and with old alterations ladies, but the food is the best. Lupe brings Tamales, because her daughter owns a Tamale restaurant called Casa De Tamales. There are these Blueberry tamales that are to die for. Toni brings all sorts of dishes and I especially loves when she brings obscure Mexican candies. Like the chocolate covered Mazapan that we can't find ANYWHERE. She said they are only in Mexico. What is up with that?!

I suppose I can talk about what I did this past Friday! We drove to a small farming town called Orosi to see the annual Spanspek Music and Arts festival! It was a pretty good time. I'll just show a few pictures since I gave them all away for another article on a different blog. We got to see a lot of the Valleys biggest bands, but that wasn't my favorite part of the experience. I loved the arts and crafts mostly. There was a girl making some pretty cute charms that reminded me of Sophie and Toffee. I bought the Rainbow Cake with Sprinkles keychain for myself and the Taco charm necklace for my dude. She has a facebook page for her crafts called Dark Heartz. Check her out!

Oh man, there was this kick ass painting of Carl Sagan done by a Visalia artist named Jeremy Woodard. You can see a much better picture of it in his facebook photos here. My camera couldn't capture it's awesomeness. I asked if it was for sale, but forogot to ask how much (I'm a dummy).

We saw Tyrannosaurus Zebra and again they had pretty devoted fans show up. They are getting a pretty steady following around here and it's because these kids really love them. There were two that just took up the floor and danced their little hearts out. It was pretty entertaining to watch and the lead singer accidentally hit a girl with his show as he flung it off with a kick. The video I took of them came out so bad and the sound is just awful I won't even bother posting it. Here is another pic instead!

We sat down while Tokyo Death March played because my feet were killing me.

All in all it was a pretty fun festival and I look forward to next year. I hope I have something artsy to showcase by that time! Or maybe Sci-Fi Caper will play! One can only hope. Anyhow that's all for now, later gators!

Day Off

This is the first "real" day off I've had in a long time and when I wasn't at one of my two jobs, I was at practice. My calendar has been jam packed for weeks now. Needless to say, sleeping in was blissful.

So I suppose I should go over what happened at the show. I wish I had more pictures and videos to share. Alas, I don't have a camera and my ipod AND phone weren't really able to capture any good images. We arrived early only to find the show had been postponed about an hour or so. No biggie, we got to meet Eric of Fishboy and Googolplexia.

Friends and family started to show up and soon we were shuffling in to catch Restaurnaut's set. He's a transplant from Arkansas and now lives in Clovis. He played a lovely set of songs on his ukulele, and aside from the "technical" difficulties with the sound, it was an overall good performance. He seems like a really nice guy and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him around town.

We went up next and I can't really remember what happened after that. I saw people and they all seemed happy so I suppose we did good. Tyrannosaurus Zebra were up next. We had seen them a few weeks back when Bass Drum of Death were in Visalia. So we knew what to expect and they did not disappoint. Everyone was really into it. They also had some fans who had t-shirts and everything! So jealous!

Unfortunately, the crowd started to thin and most of our friends and family started to leave. When Googolplexia performed, it was a pretty small crowd, but he was so entertaining and funny. I was really looking forward to his performance, he plays a ukulele and accordian. After that, Fishboy decided it'd be best if we moved to the back room and I was able to take some video. The lighting was a lot brighter and it was really fun.



We were so pleased with all the bands. They were all super sweet and kind people. We bought a t-shirt from Fishboy and he gave us a free download. Score! So far, we have been so lucky as a band to have played with such awesome people and we owe a lot to Samantha of the Bel-Tower. If it wasn't for her, we'd have no shows. At all. Because I have no idea how to be in a band and get exposure. Seriously. I've got the bug now, and I want to keep playing. So I guess I'm going to have to figure this whole being in a band thing out. That's all for now, later gators!

Tonight is the night.

Our first show with our new drummer is tonight! I'm pretty stoked and even though I have a huge nasty pimple, I am for the most part unphased. Anyway, I got up kind of early today and have now spent the past hour surfing the net. Figured, why not put a post on the old blog. I did upload a few pictures so I suppose I can share those here.

Work life has been pretty busy. I'm still working two jobs and it's starting to get worrisome. It irritates me to no end having to re-arrange my schedule every week. Especially when bosses are uncooperative. Fortunately I work with many lovely people who are always willing to pick up or swap shifts with me. I've always enjoyed my job at the bridal shop, but this new job at a certain department store, has turned out surprisingly enjoyable. Though, one of my favorite co-workers has relocated for college, I'm sure I'm still going to enjoy working there. So, yeah that's whats going on in my work life. Stressed, but happy I'm working.

Although, all this working has prevented us from practicing. I think we are going to be alright. I'm feeling super confident, but Mas is stressing the heck out. He just got a new guitar and is having a hard time finding the right sound with his pedals. He was up all night, and I felt so bad for him. It's a good thing I'm not the guitarist, because we'd probably sound like shit. I hope many pictures are taken, I'd love to see what everyone else is seeing.

Alright, let's get to some pictures. These are some pics that were on my phone. I found the majority of them consisted of my cat Loki. He loves the camera and really hams it up when I start taking his picture.

Also, this past month we took our nephew Armando to his first wrestling show. It was only a house show, but it was really sweet to watch him take it all in.

Here is some poor quality vid of his experience.



Well, that's all for now. I hope I'll have some good video or photos from the show tonight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have laundry to do and maybe one last mini practice. Later gators!

Band news, again.

So this past Thursday we decided to finally record a few songs during practice. We've had 5 practices with our new drummer Jorge and felt that it was about time to share the new sound. Jorge's drumming brings a whole new dynamic to the band's sound and we are so excited that he is apart of Sci-Fi Caper now. It's only 18 days until the show with Fishboy, Tyrannosaurus Zebra and Restaurnaut. It's sounding really good and I can't wait! So here is the flyer and if you want to hear the lo-fi recording of practice, you can head to our bandcamp or Soundcloud. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Later gators <3

I'm not sure, but I might be kinda scared.

So Sci-Fi Caper's first show is on Saturday and I've got to say, I'm starting get a little bit of nerves now. At first I was super duper excited! Now, I'm starting to realize I'm a pretty terrible keyboard player (haha!) and I haven't been practicing as much as I should have been. :|

Atleast I'm not sick and my voice is close to normal now. I'm not trying to sweat it too much and I'm getting closer to confidence as the days go by. I know it's gonna be an awesome show because that is what I am going to make of it. So, here is the flyer:

Isn't it just nifty!? I love it ^.^ So if you are in the Fresno area on the 2nd please come by and have a good time. I know I will!

Here is some linkage for the venue: the Bel-Tower

June

It's been an awful long time since my last entry here, and oh so much has happened. I hardly know where to begin!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here before, but my cat Cloud had gone missing. We still have not been able to find him and no one has seen him. It's been months now. I don't think he's been hurt or anything. I honestly believe he has been catnapped, he was after all a very handsome cat. I am being totally serious, and maybe it's just denial, but I really do believe that someone has trapped him in their house and he can't escape. I just want to believe that he's ok. The house had been so sad and even Little Magic seemed forlorn. Well, about a week ago, my dude's brother adopted a little kitten and brought him to live with us. He's adorable as kittens always are, but I still can't stop thinking about my Cloudy. Every time I come home from work or come home from the grocery, I keep expecting him to pop out of the bushes. Sometimes we'd come home and he'd be sitting on the roof meowing and expecting us to pet him. I miss him and I hope he comes home, eventually.

So this is Loki getting to know Magic. Magic doesn't seem to mind him much. Loki is super fascinated by Magics tail. I guess it's nice to have a kitten around. When I see him, I can't help but smile and play with him. I took some video of him playing this morning. I used to have videos of Magic when he was a pup, but I didn't save them properly and now they are gone forever. So, I'm going to try and take as many photos and videos of Loki now while he's still small and playful.

Also during the last couple of months, we commissioned the lovely, Missy Kulik from Rancho Cocoa, to make us some Sci-Fi Caper buttons. They came out soooooo cute and we can't wait to be able to hand them out. Missy is so awesome and we love her cute works of art. She has an etsy store and you should totally go buy something. I personally like the mini note pads. I'm a list maker and I love paper, so I fully plan to buy the guitar girl notepad! (although, I'm too broke for stuff I want at the moment :|) Thanks again Missy and Raoul!

In other band news, we got booked for our first show in about three weeks. Needless to say, I am super excited and can't wait! Sadly though, I'm sick and my voice is all hoarse now. :( Yup, I can't even talk at this point, so I'm sipping as much tea and honey as I can. I won't let this prevent me from practicing though. I still have to get my keyboard playing down. Especially since our first gig is going to be on a bill with Calvin Johnson!! WHUTTT!? I know! Calvin Johnson is the founder of K Records and has played in bands like Beat Happening and The Halo Benders! When I told Sam about it, he thought I was lying haha. It's craziness. The bill so far is Calvin Johnson, Joey Casio (also from K records) and us. I think the girl who booked us, Samantha, is still looking for local acts too. As soon as she sends us the flyer I'll put it up. This also means we'll finally be able to give some of the buttons Missy made for us away. Yay! Well folks, I think this all I'm capable of writing at the moment. I'll be back with more updates. I'm sure of it.

Later gators!