-Days of Future Past-

Suffered through tragedy... revive.. wasted years...

Forsaken...

(from Left: ME; Ebony Duncan; Burton C. Bell)




Fear Factory has a new album on its' way: stay tuned!

"Tella You Love Her With Alla Your Heart!"

Cristina Scabbia, of the Italian metal band Lacuna Coil, outside Irving Plaza in NYC, following the concert on September 23rd; with a friend of mine.




He spoke with her in Italian; I don't know what he said, but I can guess: "Would you like to waste the rest of your life with a bald attorney from the Bronx? I'll let you drive my IROC!" Something like that.

They make a nice couple, though.

Click photos to enlarge

HYSTERIA

DEF LEPPARD/POISON/CHEAP TRICK
Comcast Center
(formerly Tweeter Center; formerly the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts)
Mansfield, Massachusetts
June 30, 2009

More pix from the show last night.. (click to enlarge):

Your Tour Ends Here...

(click photo to enlarge)

Ten years since I saw 'em last and twenty since I first saw them, Poison still kicks ass and brings a fun show. (Left to right: C.C. DeVille; Bret Michaels; Bobby Dall; Rikki Rokkett on drums, slightly obscured

LAW & ORDER: SJU

Officials to Combat Sex Abuse among Jewish in Brooklyn

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Brooklyn district attorney is expected to announce the creation of a team of prosecutors, counselors and religious leaders who will work to combat sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Officials say that the district attorney's office is handling 19 cases in Borough Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Flatbush. Sex Crimes Bureau Chief Rhonnie Jaus says it's the most cases she's ever seen involving the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The newly formed team will visit yeshivas and synagogues under the initia tive that Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes is scheduled to announce on Wednesday. His office also plans to open a hot line and host meetings with victims.



LAW & ORDER: SJU
Assorted Openings From Season 1

S. 1; Ep 1.

1st Detective (Hollander): What have we got?

Patrolman: Middle-aged man, multiple stab wounds in the back. But that's about all we know, 'cuz I don't think we're supposed to touch him. He's like a rabbi or something.

2nd Detective (Siegel): Hassid.

1st Detective (Hollander): What's that in his hand?

2nd Detective (Siegel): A bag from the deli.. let's see (puts on latex gloves, examines contents): pastrami sandwich, pickle... can of seltzer. Looks like he went out for a nosh.

1st Detective (Hollander) : Guess he should have ordered in. .


S. 1; Ep 2.

Hollander: Oy, what a waste of beauty.

Siegel: Rachel Ellen Hirsch, 24 of Kew Gardens. Single gunshot wound to the head. Possibly something small like a .22 or a .38.

Hollander: Attempted rape? Possible mugging?

Siegel: No sign of a struggle and there's cash in her purse.

Hollander: And she's a long way from Kew Gardens. What were you doing in Washington Heights, Rachel?

Siegel: Well, this is the main campus of Yeshiva University.

Hollander: Wilf campus is only for men; if she was studying at Yeshiva she'd be at the Stern campus in Murray HIll.

Siegel: Visiting a boyfriend maybe?

Hollander: Well, she's wearing a sheitel... but curiously there's no wedding ring on her hand.

Siegel: (pauses) You think she was having an affair - and the husband found out?

Hollander: Well I don't think she was up here selling cosmetics.

Siegel: Huh?

Hollander: (sighs) Avon... the sin of lustfulness? Double-entendre. Do you even go to Synagogue anymore?

Siegel: It's been a while. I really need to atone...

Hollander: That's what she said.


S. 1; Ep. 3

Hollander: Well, well, well... Arnie Schechter - and wife, it seems.

Siegel: You know the victims?

Hollander: You don't recognize them? He's the guy who just swindled his clients out of billions in the world's most malicious ponzi scheme! What happened?

Siegel: Double-homicide; multiple gunshot wounds from an automatic weapon. There's shell casings everywhere.

Hollander: He had a grand jury hearing tomorrow.

Siegel: Maybe somebody didn't want him to testify. One of his clients?

Hollander: Everybody wanted this guy dead. I can't believe you don't know who this is!

Siegel: I've been distracted... I've been seeing someone.

Hollander: Not the shiksa from the D.A.'s office?

Siegel: (sheepishly) Yes.

Hollander: Damn it! (shakes head; looks over at bodies) We better call for backup and seal off a ten-block radius.

Siegel: What for? You think the killer is nearby?

Hollander: No, but if your mother finds out you're gonna be worse off than them (gestures to bodies, walks out of frame).


S 1; Ep 4

Hollander: This is a helluva way to spend Pesach. What's this?

Siegel: Male, late fifties. Looks like he was on his way to Synagogue and then - bang, bang - blunt force trauma t o the head.

Hollander: Any witnesses?

Siegel: None so far. Listen, if you want to get back to Seder, I got this.

Hollander: Why? Aren't you anxious to get back to Seder, too?

Siegel: Um... not so much. I'm seeing Christi tonight.

Hollander: I don't believe you. You're supposed to be with your family, suffering. Like the rest of us. Does this girl even know she'd have to convert to marry you?

Siegel: Whoa, whoa! Who said anything about marriage?

Hollander: It's a chande!

Siegel: Look - we're Jews. It's not like I'm going to Hell. You just die and that's it.

Hollander: (looks at body) Tell that to his family.


S. 1; Ep 5

Siegel: So I broke it off with Christi.

Hollander: I'm glad to hear that.

Siegel: I'm not going to see her anymore.

Hollander: It's for the best. So what do we have today?

Siegel: Uh... this is Rabbi Mendelsohn. Beaten to death... with scrolls.

Hollander: Creepy, Which ones?

Siegel: (looks at notebook) The scrolls were from Song of Songs and The Book of Esther.

Hollander: Sounds like someone was trying to send a message.

Siegel: Maybe, I don't know. All I know is that I'm not seeing Christi and I'm miserable.

Hollander: You'll get over it.

Siegel: Will I? Why do I have to suffer... just because I'm Jewish?

Hollander: You want the answer to that? (Gestures with thumb toward body) Ask him.

MY MOM REVIEWS THE BEST METAL CDS OF 2008

Metallica
"Death Magnetic"
Warner Bros.
September 2008

Is this the band that wore all the make-up? My son used to love that band; he had posters of them all over the walls of his bedroom. He also used to have posters of girls in bikinis, which I made him take down of course. Very offensive. He was always a precocious child: he got sent home from school once for wearing a tee shirt that said "Wrap Your Ass In Fiberglass!" I have no idea where he got that and I was not happy about it! I don't even want to know what that meant. Anyway, I know he used to like this Metallica. But he hasn't liked them for a long time, so I'm guessing this album isn't very good. He came back for the holidays and didn't mention it. When he comes home for the holidays he just goes out and parties with his friends and uses my house like a drop-off center. Blasting his music and running up the water bill. 40 years old and he still needs to shower this long? I don't know where I went wrong.

1 star (Out of Five).

AC/DC
"Black Ice"
Sony
October 2008

It's been difficult being a single mother, raising a boy on my own. When he got into AC/DC, some of the other mothers on the block expressed concern. "Devil's music!" they said. Well, I don't know; but when he was home over Thanksgiving, that's all I heard let me tell you. "Rock And Roll Train" over and over. Of course I liked The Rolling Stones a little bit when I was a teenybopper. And Peter, Paul & Mary; and the Kingston Trio. Oh, and Arlo Guthrie. I asked him to drive me to the outlets to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving but that was all I heard, AC/DC. I'm half deaf from the car ride. And would he let me buy him some clothes? No. And why not? Can't a mother buy her son some clothes? All he wears is black! At least if he'd gone to law school he could afford some decent shoes. He did treat me to lunch on Saturday, which was nice. He's a good boy, even if he likes this dreadful music. But still - get a haircut already!

5 Stars

Guns N' Roses
"Chinese Democracy"
Geffen
November 2008

I'm not getting him anything for Christmas. Every Christmas he comes home and complains about everything. He just wants to run around and act like a teenager. Is it too much to take out the trash for his old mother? And if I have to hear about how bad everything in this town is, he can just stay in New York! I can't help it if the pizza here isn't like New York pizza! And he won't eat the Chinese food, because it's too this and it's too that. It's never good enough. Spoiled brat son-of-a-bitch! This is his father's fault. If I'd been a man, I would have clobbered him ages ago and taught him some manners. And now it's "the new Guns N'Roses isn't this and it isn't that"... well, I liked it. Very nice piano and some pretty songs. Of course he can't possibly like it if his old mom likes it, right? "Street Of Dreams" is going to be a very big song if you ask me. Catchy, but sad. Like a Barry Manilow.

3 1/2 Stars

Machine Head
"The Blackening" (Digipack reissue)
RoadRunner Records
Summer 2008

I had to bang on the door to the bathroom to get him to turn down that awful noise. And enough with the shower! This isn't New York City, mister! You can't shower like that-they charge me for water here! And whatever the hell it is you're listening to, please, for the love of God, turn it off. All that screaming and nonsense: enough is enough! I don't care if it's "the best metal record to come out in years!" You wouldn't know that by me, I'll tell you. And I'll tell you something else: if you're going to bring your girlfriend up here and go to the beach every day, then you can damn well do some laundry! Look, you're dragging sand in all over the place from the foyer to the kitchen! You're wouldn't even get the propane tank refilled for the grill until his girlfriend said she wanted him to. She's got his number; I like that girl! Make him tow the line! This house is a mess and does he even lift a finger to help his poor sainted mother? No. I'll bet if Machine Head was coming over he'd help clean up! I'll bet that Machine Head doesn't treat their poor mothers like he does! "Clenching The Fists Of Dissent!" - my ass! I'll give you a blackening, mister!

No Stars Because my miserable son and his bands don't deserve them!

ROCK AND ROLL CAGE MATCH

A collection of essays by 30 different writers (mostly rock critics) discussing the merits of music rivalries (i.e. "Whitney Vs. Mariah;" "Blur Vs. Oasis;" "Van Halen Vs. Van Hagar").

I'm in it. Buy it. Read it.

NA NAH, NA NA NAH NA...

They didn't play "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" (which features the best sing-a-long coda of any song since "Hey Jude" - i.e., "Na Nah Na Na Nah Na, Na Na Na-Na Nah Na" rinse/repeat) and that kinda pissed me off/bummed me out... but I had a helluva good time and I won't apologize for it.

Reviewed for the magnificent bastards at The Hollywood Reporter: click

Photo courtesy Evelyn Duncan