Hollyrock and Roll Reunion

how do i explain a random, playful, 5-person conversation facebook thread balloons into an event that would reunite me with a decades old past? how do i explain how this impromptu notion wound up with its own web site, media attention, five live bands, thousands in raffle prizes, (netting 8 thousand for charity!) and turn out hundreds of former classmates whose smiling faces and sweet embraces took me RIGHT BACK back to those coming of age ties that bind us forver? how do i describe a 30-year walk back in time that felt timeless? how do i explain why it's been a week and i am still high as a kite about it all? not sure i really can. but i will try.

as you can imagine, this requires a backstory.


so, you remember the flintstones. no i am serious. the cartoon. the stone age family? recall that their word for hollywood was hollyrock (you remember everything was "rock" oriented). well...apparently, way back in the mid 70's in east brunswick, nj, some guys who went to my future high school were partaking of the kind bud and their restless, creative adolescent minds came up with the idea of dubbing their school hollyrock high. the idea took off to the point that those words ended up ON THE SCHOOL in spray paint overnight and lo and behold a tradition was born as a new year would pass:

so this became a prank that was pulled off successfully for about 6 years. back then, not many of us even knew the origin of hollyrock, it just was. and we really did rock. we really really did. we had the good fortune of WNEW, WPLJ, WPIX (Jim Kerr's Sunday AM show anyone?) the Rutgers station...we cut our rockin' teeth on the most progressive,the most intelligent, the PUREST music on the planet. we were fed sets that included pink floyd, bruce, xtc, lou reed and patti smith while other kids across the country got stale top 40 and over-produced deejay shit. not us. not east brunswick! we ROCKED -- ALL OF US ROCKED. our population 48,000 central-jersey bedroom district of NYC was also a place that produced national merit scholars who followed grateful dead shows, children of fortune 500 execs who sold nickel bags of columbian gold, a girls' basketball team that blasted "exile on main street" on a boom box at practice, the world's first ever computer nerds who sneaked off to frank zappa or clash shows, an art teacher who played abbey road to "inspire" the water color assignment. no matter who you were, where you were, what you did best, what you did worst -- you simply ROCKED. so when a coupla guys decided on hollyrock, who could argue? we were raised on the flintstones AND we rocked. it just worked.

ok, fast forward 30 years. remember the facebook thread? the random playful thread on facebook came to life? well...the anticipation of the event was almost as exciting as BEING there, as those of us who had reconnected via facebook chatted about how great it was going to be to see each other after nearly 3 decades. here we were in our middle age, finding ourselves through others -- and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on and so on. in fact, some of us who were virtual strangers to each other in our youth were now virtually CONNECTED! we marveled over each others' accomplishments, complemented our classmates' gorgeous and growing families, supported each other in our daily trials and tribulations. best friends, acquaintances, crushes, teammates, band members, neighbors, friends of siblings, admirers, etc -- no matter what we meant to each other THEN, we were together again, NOW. and the anticipation of "consummating" that new connection was palpable - even via pixels on our laptops! we talked about what we would wear, when we'd arrive, where we were staying, planned a pre- and an after party and just kept chatting about how great the night was going to be. but none us us had any idea.

the big day arrived. and as simply as i can put it, it was as IF someone had simply called me and said "party at the elks tonight: harold got a bunch of bands together". we showed up, one by one -- some of us at a pre-dinner, others straight to the venue. the weather was perfect. the energy was vibrant and the past met the future as if they'd never parted ways.

we danced, we sang, we kissed and hugged and screamed as we recognized our former classmates, in some cases as "former" as elementary school! granted, some people took longer to recognize than others, but the feeling of innocence and wondering what our futures would hold came rushing back in those smiling face and sweet embraces.

and on this night, the future was magical.

1981, representing (more pix to come!)

onslaught of job offers via email...sight unseen!

My Gmail email account has been infested with so-called "job offers" over the last few months. Most of them require me to have nothing more than a bank account (!!!!) and are written in an english-as-a- second-language-dialect ... but i receieved by far the best one today. i particularly love the grammar, syntax and punctuation. oh and that they are paying 60k to be a secret shopper (if you have ever worked in retail, you know what this is...it's people who get paid to pretend to be shoppers and rat you out if service was sub-par). LOL. enjoy

************************

Hello.

"Conceal Shopping" is know-how that cut down current annual facility maintenance spend and reduce corporate risk thus company executives can be sure there is no gap between promised quality and it's actual delivery.

We evaluate companie's customer service to find out how they are handling their services in relation to their customers. Our agent act like usual customer; thereby we always get the actual information regarding customer service performance.

Detailed report is a result of agentТs evaluation.

Report must contain:

1. How long does it take to get served?
2. Staff politeness and professionalism.
3. Staff ability to deal with difficult clients (rude clients).
4. Your own opinion.

Remuneration: $1.400 every week OR $5.000 every month.

You must:

1. Be adult.
2. Have full internet access.
3. Be USA resident.
4. To explain well in written and oral forms.

Please fill and forward us following information to quadrennialvanadiume@gmail.comFull name; address; city; age; state; zip code; occupation; phone number.

Thank you.

my little easter bunny

Tea Party Insanity: BURN THE BOOKS!

there is a very scary movement afoot.  these neanderthals (and their women) are organizing what they call "tea parties" across the country on 4/15 -- tax day.  their mission is vague, but they are pissed off about something.  they'll tell you they are a grassroots operation, but are heavily underwritten by defense contractors, the bone-chilling Heritage Foundation, the RNC, CPAC, Aetna & Prudential (to name a few).  they are NOT the smartest people on the planet.  watch the video.  if you can stomach it.  click here for the story.

jersey girl in houston

this was taken at bruce's 4/9 show in houston...5/18 can't get to DC quickly enough!

is it a sign from god?

fun with church signs! check it out!

do you pray?

we became fast friends from the minute i met her. i can't tell you exactly when, or where it was, but i can tell you that our first conversation was about the barbican centre in london, where another friend of mine had been in a long-running play. she had been there (i had not) and she said she'd kept a framed watercolor rendering of it from her travels. indeed that water color memory would adorn her future kitchen wall, right above the sink as i recall.

every time i ran into her or was a guest in her home, our conversation was lively and filled with laughter. while other friends were off discussing politics or current events, we'd been there and done that. she and i would rather discuss the beverly hillbillies -- intellectually. in fact, she had the entire beverly hillbillies catalogue on VHS, prominently displayed among her many books, dictionaries and other erudite pursuits in print. there was no pedantry with this one. not one iota. and not only was she one of the most intelligent people you could ever meet, she was a master imitator. she entertained me hours on end (mostly to the chagrin of everyone else around us) with her pitch perfect accents and colloquial impressions. she always had a great book open, reading it and simlultaneously participating in the social musings around her - without missing a beat. she was equal parts laundress and yard girl at her home, and neither chore was ever left undone. and she'd point that out to you the minute you walked in, if you didn't bring it up first.

she never - EVER - lowered herself to petty gossip which swirled about our circle(s) and would cut anyone off from conversation who did (me included - many times). she had no interest in pomp, circumstance, glitz nor glamour. more than anything else i loved about her, she appreciated my appreciation of life's little things. not too many people actually "get" that. she did. she really did. and she knew i did, too. celebrating the little things, in the littlest of ways, is a precious connection. our friendship was that, without a doubt. but mainly, we shared laughter, friendship's unbreakable bond. when you can laugh together, about anything and everything, you can get through anything -- all the raw deals and disappointments that come with interpersonal relationships -- ALL are overcome if you can laugh about yourselves, with yourselves, by yourselves.

the thing is? nobody's laughing any more. this amazing person who means so much to me, whose friendship i cherished for many years, is losing a battle with alcohol. in fact, i am not even sure she is fighting it anymore. the disease has perhaps conquered her.

today is her birthday. and today, i need a favor from you. do you pray? would you say a prayer for my friend? chant? light a candle for her? wherever your spiritual leanings lie, please ask for her to heal.

i know you don't know her. but that is why she needs whatever energy you can put out there. NO one knows her anymore. and she is missed.

jeanne is walking 40 miles for a cure!

40 miles in TWO DAYS!!! my friend jeanne is putting one foot in front of the other to find a cure for breast cancer. the statistics are alarming. and jeanne has been personally affected by this killer. she wants to raise 1,800.00 and is almost there. your tax deductible donation, small or large, helps jeanne reach her goal and helps all of us find a cure! when women are healthy, we're ALL healthy. if you aren't walking, you can still participate:

support jeanne's walk here. (enter JEANNE HIX in the participant's name space provided).

beth orton - galaxy of emptiness

this may be my favorite vocalist ever.
well, she's in my top 100 :)
and this may just be my favorite song ever.
well, it's in my top 100 :)


i remember being at a get-together 1999, 2000(ish) in houston. and over the laughter, the exchanges, the partaking of food, i could hear a hauntingly gentle voice deliver searing poetry over passionate arrangements coming from the stereo. just barely. i tuned everyone and everything out and was left breathless and curious. of course, i interrupted the whole vibe of the setting to ask the hostess who it was. she was delighted, and told me it was


beth orton.


i'd never heard of her. the gracious hostess said "hang on a minute" and left the room. she emerged with a newly burned CD and had written Beth Orton in sharpie on it. understand,
this burning of .mp3's from one disc to another was a very new consumer technology at that time so HOW COOL. the album was Trailer Park. what a wonderful discovery. if you have not discovered beth orton yet, go. do it.

when it comes to pinot noir, oregon got it right

click here for more about the amazing A to Z pinot noir

thank you mother nature and japan!

so the wind was wild last night and this morning.  the fear around here was that the cherry blossoms would be blown away.  most survived the torrent, and the tidal basin, though windy still, was spectacular.  you can see more from my bike ride to the blossoms by clicking the link below:

see more cherry blossoms '09 here.

here we go again

so my blog was deleted in a blogspot.com spam-o-rama. spam? come on. come to find out, i had more than one vistitor (from the ensuing uproar!) - so the politicking, the commuter anecdotes, the pictures, the rants, the videos, all the cool stuff i steal from jim cutler's blog, the rambling streams of un- and conscious - are back. just in time for the teenage hearing test. but that will come. for now, let's catch up!

what has been happening since the end of november? oh girl...

~my work contract got extended
~i saw all the oscar noms and then some (what a great year for FILM!)
~reconnected with my entire high school, jr, high and elementary school (shout out to EB, NJ)
~went out on the most innocently sweet of limbs and was told to FUCK OFF. and cried. for like 5 days. still working that out. and trying to accept the fact that my little redskins pic is gone forever.
~designed and delivered an education association's federal guide for its first ever web presence
~went to my first ever "high tea"

~saw bruce springsteen, U2, and stevie wonder all in one show.  
~watched (along with a couple million others) barak obama get sworn into office

~saw the robert frank "americans" exhibit, which was particularly thrilling since his images adorn one of my fave albums: exile on main street

~started running 6.2 again

~paid my taxes

~won a trivia contest - shout out GARY HOFFMAN - and will get 2 tix 2 a broadway show or the NYC U2 show (have to choose, maybe you can help me)
~oh. and i got my blog back.