the year was nineteen ninety

it was a more simpler time. when the first president bush sent us to iraq it was fucked up but no americans died. except those who shot each other on accident or smashed their helicopters against the ground.

saddam was still in power with his rape rooms but we were all its cool its cool. iraqis had the right to vote – they had the right to vote for anyone named saddam hussein. and again it was all good cuz even though these were the days of imbeciles youd also get voted out after a while.

like i say, they were simpler times.

didnt matter what radio station you listened to there was always something good on. they even tried to ruin it with pearl jam and stone temple fuckups but it just ended up sounding pretty decent no matter what they threw at us.

gasoline was ninety nine cents a gallon, girls would blow you on the first date without thinkng twice about it, and if you had a computer with a 40 MB hard drive you were so far ahead of the game it was retarded. i remember asking my roommate what the hell are we going to do with 40 megs – fly to the moon?

matt welch and i were 16 years old and we were allowed into ucsb early because we destroyed all over their standardized tests. me, i also had an incredible letter of recommendation from the mayor of my town and welch had pictures of the former chancellor with his nanny. we were set.

part of our scholarship was an agreement that we would give back to the community. of course we thought that it meant that we would either do some male modeling or supervise the amount of sunscreen that the coeds were using on the beach. when we were presented with the option of coaching 9 and 10 year old kids baseball, welch and i jumped at the chance.

with visions of undefeated seasons and decades of dynasties we scoffed at the santa barbara little league officials who told us that we were getting the worst team and considered it a minor challenge.

when we lost our first game 79-2 we understood what we were up against.

i had one kid hunting for strawberries in right field, i had one kid in the early stages of gang warfare at third base, and i had one adorable little chubby cheeked angel pissing his pants in the batters box.

1990. it was a season i will never forget. when my college girlfriend jeanine posted this picture to her buzznet page yesterday and i did the math and realized as welchie did that all these kids were either college grads by now or dead or in iraq it really brought home the olde saying that time really does fly.

it does my friends so do something memorable every spring.

the corvids

 

fought down

scrubjay records

ken layne gave me credit for writing the first review of the new corvids record a few weeks ago. but that wasn’t a proper review. this is the proper review, cuz this record deserves a proper review, and since im the least trustworthy reviewer of this record since i live in kens former apartment and type to you from the very closet that he typed from not long ago, im obviously biased, influenced, and i hear things in this cd that bring up deep personal memories and secret smiles.

one of my x girlfriends sings on my favorite song on the disc, the bass player used to be my business partner, the rhythm guitarist and i coached a little league team together, the drummer is in my favorite band, and the german lead guitarist still has his futon in my closet.

so when i say this is the best record of the year, you might not want to run over to the link to get it, you should probably walk.

me, i like the rock music. i like a little country tossed in there. i like creepy rollicking tunes and slow sad ones.

i like hearing a little tom petty mixed with springsteens nebraska. nick cave, gimme shelter, and blood and chocolate. and laynes baritone and humor definitely hearken back the days of country dick montana and the beat farmers, and i also hear some lone justice in there, peter case.

i hear what beck shoulda been going for instead of bowing to the false idols who bow to gordon lightfoot.

layne sounds drunk, sounds like hes been smoking cigarettes, sounds like hes playing real music with real friends.

sounds like something paul westerberg would like to put together if he didn’t have to constantly live up to the ideal of a genius.

sounds like the happiest harmonica ive heard in a long long long long time.

now the cute story that people should be talking about in the blogosphere is that this is a band of two mighty political bloggers: ken layne and matt welch, the brains behind la examiner, the blog that inspired former los angeles mayor richard riordan to start a newspaper that would compete with the la times.

riordan was this close to hiring ken and matt, but eventually decided that he would rather die rich than great.

on bass and drums are jeff solomon and steve coulter, respectively, members of rock group tsar.

solomon and welch wrote and edited at the daily nexus at uc santa barbara. coulter didn’t attend ucsb, but often visited to be with his friends and play in bands in isla vista. at the time he dated laura crane who a few years ago married ken.

that’s not laura who ken is kissing in the picture above, that’s kim who is now dating os, who sings with jeanine on the tune “worried.”

os dated jeanine in prauge after she and i broke up.

is it cool? os hosts the busblog doesn’t he? of course it’s cool.

axel is from germany, then he moved to london. he told me that country music makes him laugh. hes the secret weapon of this band. he plays like a ringer. he plays like the guy the georgia satellites were trying to play like and i betcha axel aint never of the damn georgia satellites and hes an inch away from sounding like j mascis and im not sure if hes heard of him neither.

this record will start making you want to talk like tom sawyer.

its what friends sound like who have great voices, great stories, great songs, and drink great wines.

and the scary thing is, if these people and a couple more just wanted to get together and sing and record, they could put together probably eight more of these cds.

do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

it’s the first one.

you’re in for a good time.

listen to a sample or five + just go on and get it + scrubjay records

probably the coolest thing i have ever been a part of

marrying bonnie and charlie

dearly beloved,

we are gathered here in the presence of Love to join this man and this woman into Holy matrimony.

The Good Book considers the act of marriage as mirroring that to the relationship that God has with humankind.

There will be ups and downs, highs and lows, good days and bad days, but He has promised to always be there for us, just like a commited married couple will always be there for each other.

for ever and ever.

and ever.

and ever.

and ever

and

ever

Charlie and Bonnie met in an idyllic penisula, a paradise of earthly delights and kindred spirits.

anyone who was present in santa barbara and particularilly at the Daily Nexus can bear witness that something magical buzzed through the air at that time.

so it’s not suprising that along with all the breakthroughs and miracles that bonnie and charlie experienced, they were also blessed with friendships that have lasted to this very day,

and a love that will go on

forever.

todays ceremony is simply an extension of a romance that has already spanned time, dimension, country codes, and hairstyles.

it’s a stepping stone on a long journey that these two have walked together for more than a decade.

Some of you might not know that their very first date thirteen years ago looked a lot like today: all their friends were around them, everyone was dressed up, a band of well dressed gentlemen were about to play original music, there might have been a bottle of wine somewhere

the-first-dance--large-msg-17361-3or two.

Bonnie looked a little different in that she had purple red rocker hair,

and Charlie was sporting a bowl hair cut

very nicely.

And like today, there was some more of that magic buzzing around, except this afternoon we understand why.

its cuz a new stepping stone is being laid down today

right before our eyes.

in thinking about what to say this afternoon, I thought about all the best rock songs with the word love in it.

Let my love open the door

all you need is love

cant help falling in love with you

but none of those lyrics seemed totally right when describing this union.

The best sort of love is the one that has always been there,

that has stood the test of time,

that’s there when the sun comes up

and when the sun goes down.

you look at it and it just looks right,

it sounds right,

is right.

it’s something deeper than could be expressed in a music video

or written down on a folder during homeroom.

It’s a complete journey, but a special one,

for the best ones have a romantic and improbable beginning,

a spectacular and beautiful middle

and no end.

do you charlie, take bonnie to be your lawfully wedded wife

to have and to hold

in sickness and in heath

to love and to cherish

for richer or poorer

in bad times and good

till death do you part?

and bonnie?

do you take charlie to be your lawfully wedded husband

to have and to hold

in sickness and in heath

to love and to cherish

for richer or poorer

in bad times and good

till death do you part?

I have these rings,

symbols of your commitment to each other.

Charlie please take this ring and place it on Bonnies finger

Bonnie please take this ring and place it on Charlies finger.

and now on behalf of the friends and family who have come here

from around the world

I pronounce you man and wife.

pictures + more pictures + photo by mc brown

greg and molli’s baby boy is due

ghostbusters any minute now and if they were different people i would love to get them this Military Forward Command Post (available for just $44 at kbtoys, jcpenny and etoys) which looks like what i would have done to my sister’s Barbie Dream House if i had a little creativity, some markers, and a few stray bic lighters.

ah, kids. they have it all these days. ecstacy, two channels of nickelodian, free internet porn, mp3s, britney and christina showing off their bodies, Carrotop.

who would have ever thought that we would be looking back at the 80s as a time when life was so much simpler?

i can truly remember only having 75 tv channels. when i have kids theyre going to hear that and laugh me right out of the space pod.

right before i went to college, my mom helped me buy a $1,500 apple computer that had 128k of memory.

this blog takes up about 70k all by itself!

blogging was tougher back then. especially since all the modems were being hoarded by the military who were spending thousands to comminucate at 2400 Baud.

ah, hindsight. my friend. my love. my advesary.

i was thinking on the bus that i should really lie and have an About section and pretend that i am white, 21 years old, and i drive a BMW. but then i would out myself with these old fables of yesteryear.

anyhow, lets keep our fingers crossed for mr. greg and ms. molli as they await their lil bundle of joy.

if the world seems a little brighter and warmer today it’s because someone very special is on the way, and its not santa.

this carpal is ridiculous

all i wanted to do this weekend was draw up a little proposal and throw down a sweet little photo essay about greg’s art opening.

but my home computer set up is killing me so right now im gonna get driven to best buy where i can find a proper chair and maybe that will solve all my problems. lets hope so.

i sorta deserve this pain that im in right now, at greg’s art opening i feel like i made a faux pas with my bro dan, i feel like i embarrased the best drummer of all, and i feel horrible that my camera has a really hard time taking good pictures of beautiful people.

so at best buy we’re gonna see if theyre gonna make good on their satisfaction guarantee for the cameras. if they do then you’ll see a much higher quality photo essay for your ass.

since the month of august is over, i am happy to say that we have raised $695 from the thermometer.

my mom’s blahblahblah birthday is this month in aruba, her birthplace, and airfare there is $675, so basically you good people flowed me airfare and a few round of drinks, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. i really wouldnt have been able to go without you.

my sister scored us a few rooms at a local resort that is a no-name place but swears to have an Internet conference room where i can upload pics and update my blog, so thats what i plan on doing.

also, my brother in law who flies all around the world has a ton of frequent flier miles and can bump me up to first class, so in a way you guys got me round trip first class tickets for my summer vacation/early birthday/mom’s birthday/new neice celebration fiesta.

and for that i will be eternally grateful.

for those of you who wanted to give but tuned in too late, or were holding out to give to a better, more deserving person, you might want to direct your attentions to kat, who could use some flowage.

now i’m off to hide in an airconditioned movie palace as its starting to get hot in hollywood.

xoxoxox

tony

finally got my pictures back from my floppy disks

it was a killer wedding that ken and laura threw in baja, mexico. totally beautiful, tons of friends, great food, good tunes, good times, great dancing. charlie definately won the best dancer award with brendon a close second.

greg took some amazing pictures (like the one on the right), as did kens’ sister ronda as did the fabulous emmanuelle, whos website is only looking better each day. And wait, Ben and Marketa posted pics too!

after going to all these weddings, i say everyone oughtta get hitched soon. and when you do, head on over to baja and get it done right there on the edge of the world, invite all the kids, eat some lobster, and boogie.

tune in tomorrow when you will see what happened the next day, when Chris and i decided to journey even further south, to the magical and curious lands of Ensenada, birthplace of the fish taco and and drugstores that will sell you anything, pretty much, even without a prescription!

Meanwhile we should all ponder why i chose to only get three hours sleep each night that i hafta work. i got plenty of sleep when i was not expected in the office. maybe it had to do with the fact that i chose to answer the phone at four a.m. if i dont answer it at 4 pm. why would i do it at 4 am? cuz im dumb. if theres one thing you should take to your heart about me it’s that: dumb as a can of paint. thats me. second place at kissin contests and iq of two. hi.

heres a photo essay of the ceremony