DJ Triniton has her set this Thurs 6 Dec 07 from 9:30-11:30pm at Chapel Bar. She’s been my long-time friend and I’ve watched her growth (and helped a little) as a DJ. She spins dirty-dirty-dwerty house w/ a little old school hip-hop, electro, and breaks thrown in. Its, literally, a school night for her so she’s got the earlier slot. You can still get home and get enough sleep to make it to work, or school, on Friday! So go to Chapel tomorrow. GO! Get a seasonal drink by the good-looking bartenders, and groove it out…drink it out.

Also, The Glitch Mob continues to slay it as they produce music, grow, and demonstrate they’ve got their shit together. They’ve got talent, some good management in the crew, and have a can-do collaborative attitude to match. I support them in every way I can. Yes, they performed at one of my shows in Seattle.

BORETA
“BUBBLIN’ IN THE CUT / LOBEGRINDER”
Digital Single

Release Date: December 4, 2007
Catalog: GMU-002
Label: Glitch Mob Unlimited / Alpha Pup

* Last week, “Bubblin’ In The Cut / Lobegrinder” was the #2 Most Added Record to CMJ Hip-Hop and the #4 Most Added to CMJ RPM (Electronic)
* Boreta’s first release on Glitch Mob Unlimited
* If you’re feeling edIT and Ooah, you will LOVE these tracks!

Cop it now on iTunes and Addictech

((( available as iPhone ringtone and DRM-free iTunes Plus download )))

Special Note: This release is the second in an infinite series of digital-only singles on the newly-minted Glitch Mob Unlimited label. If you want to get the word out, you can grab this Glitch Mob code and repost it from alphapupdigital.com/boreta.html

I’ve got my new jellyfish tattoo. Its on my left arm, elbow, shoulder, scapula, and chest. Yes…its large. Its a jellyfish designed and inked by Jeff Cornell of Hidden Hand Tattoo on MySpace (or Hidden Hand Tattoo website) in Seattle, Washington.

Jeff did my first tattoo, the tree on my right arm. I knew I wanted a tattoo and thought about what it would be for years. Long time ago I wanted a musical note but it evolved into a tree and then into a specific symbol of a tree and not a specific tree. I had scoured Seattle, looking at dozens of portfolios until I found Jeff. We consulted, I brought in pictures, he sketched, I tweaked, he sketched, then inked. I love it; the tree not the six hours of pain.

So then came the thought, “Do I get another?” Yes! So what would it be? I wanted to have another tree but not a tree. So I though about the ocean. Trees are in forests. There are forests of seaweed. So I decided to get seaweed on my arm. Again I researched online and in the Seattle library. In the library, I found a 20th century scientific book that was specifically on Pacific Northwest seaweed. I found a couple of images in there that were good. Then, I found two books from the 19th and 18th century.

Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Natural Curiosities: The Complete Plates in Colour, 1734-1765 is filled with illustrations of plants, sea shells, insects, coral, and more. He was an Amsterdam pharmacist and collected all kinds of curiosities from around the world. So much that his collection and later the book he published from illustrations he commissioned of his collection became world known and is one of the 18th century’s greatest natural history achievements. Some of the animals illustrated are now extinct. I was in illustration wonderland. I particularly love the coral.

Then I found Ernst Haeckel’s “Kunstformen der Natur” aka Art Forms in Nature published in sections from 1899 to 1904. Its a stellar book filled with sea creatures, microscopic animals, plants, and a few land animals. There is so much in this book that I like, its hard to not want the book printed all over my body.

But one image stuck with me. The Discomedusae. The jellyfish. I decided that I wanted a jellyfish inspired by these illustrations but for it to be Jeff Cornell’s original artwork. Jeff’s extremely talented and I trust in him. When I was in Seattle earlier this year, I consulted with him, left references for him to noodle on and sketch, and made an appointment for October 4th. An all day appointment.

I grabbed another cup of Vivace coffee, a bagel, and hopped a taxi to his Fremont studio. We tweaked his sketch some and he made a transfer to a stencil. The first, second, and third transfer of the stencil to my arm weren’t quiet right. Number four was the magic one. And then the pain began.

We went for about eight hours with a lunch break and a few shorter ones. A combination of pain and the length of time in pain was a lot; more than the tree tattoo he put on my left arm. He’s a very skilled artist; the pain is just a temporary pain and part of the experience. I could see that we wouldn’t finish it all in one day. There’s a lot of detail and its just big. I’ve got another 6-8 hours of work to go and have made an appointment for his first available full day which is in Jan. I’m extremely happy with how it looks, how it is healing, and the whole experience. Jeff is good and in demand!

I landed in Seattle Tuesday October 2nd for a brief trip to get a tattoo. My friend Maryam picked me up at the airport in her love-filled Beetle. She immediately jumped out of the car, we hugged, she tossed me the car keys, and dashed inside for the loo. So I circled the airport a few times and picked her back up. I drove into Seattle (I love driving) while we gabbed and called Kelly to join us for dinner. Kelly, my ex, was tired from an early day at work and passed. So, Maryam and I headed to go get some pizza at Maryam’s fav new pizza joint.

Its right next to Baltic Room on Pine St. We put in our order and walked over to see Jeff, the owner of the bar The Chapel. Maryam and I both know Jeff and all three of us had a good time sitting and catching up. Oops, we forgot the pizza and ran over. Its was GOOOD! Maryam dropped me off at Kelly’s who was still up. He was the fantastic host he always is and gave me the good bed. We chatted a bit but both of us were tired and we went to bed.

On Wednesday, I rented a pickup truck, did some errands, had my first of many cups of Vivace coffee (the best coffee in the world), and worked some more on my home. Its on the market to sell. Anyone want my amazing home in Madison Heights with 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, an urban grotto, high ceilings, big bedrooms, and next to a city park?

Then Wednesday night, I got together with most of my card playing friends to play games. I’ve missed them and the fun we have together since moving to NYC so I really appreciate it and value that time that we have together when I visit. We invited a few more people and decided to play A-Z rather than cards. In one corner, Kelle and Trinity were getting liquor questions and doing pretty well. In another corner, Brian and I got sports questions and just muttered. Brian and I know a whole lot about liquor and barely know the Chicago Bears are in Chicago. Trinity is a coach for multiple sports and Kelle was a tomboy. Luckily, Kelly didn’t get the literature and stage oriented questions because he has been an actor and writer for years. Somewhere along the way, Jessica said we shouldn’t razz the players. The heck with that I said. “He canna he canna he canna he cannot swiiing batta” and from then on it was heckling and lots of fun!

I called my friend, Heath, today to hear of his skydive this past weekend. He loved it. I heard the excitement in his voice and it reminded me of when I jumped from a plane in the late 90s with Scott Daniels, Brian Gorr, and other Seattle friends.

It was for someone’s birthday; I think Scott’s. We headed out to western washington; across the water west of Seattle. Once there we took the training class and waited a long time. It was a busy day and lots of jumpers were queued up. While we were waiting, we went to a local store to goof off. I grabbed two Furby toys. (I’ve had fun with them ever since. My house cleaner would position them in different places or holding different things. Sometimes, I would accidentally knock them and they would spring to life talking or playing games together.)

It was finally my time to go up in the plane. It was the pilot and pairs of instructor/novices. There was no door on the plane. I was strapped on to the front of my instructor and as we got closer to our jump location, he pulled me in tight. Super tight. As in we-move-as-one-body tight. I asked him how we jump. He smiled and said, “We fall out of the plane.”

That didn’t make any sense to me.

“Huh?”, I said. He said, “We will rock back and forth at the edge of where there should be a door; 1-2-3 and we would just roll and fall out.

And we did.

We were rolling head over foot, spinning around in all directions. One second I see the group, the next I see the plane getting smaller and smaller. And then it hits me. There is nothing holding me up. There is no ground for me to quickly land on my feet. I’m free falling through the air thousands of feet up. I LOVE IT!

The instructor, still strapped tight to my back, stopped us from spinning and we were falling face first. If the chutes failed, which is very unlikely, I would likely die hitting the ground at terminal velocity (120 mph) by bouncing. Bouncing is when you hit the ground so hard that your bones break and you become more…umm…gelatinous and bounce back in the air.

I wasn’t thinking that then. Instead, I was just enthralled with the swooshing sound of the air as we fell through it, the freefall feeling, and the ground getting closer. It is one-of-a-kind and amazing. Very freeing. Eventually, he opened the chute and I was bored.

Later, I went to the gym, took some urban shots, saw a “Doggie In the Window”, met friends for a few drinks, and made a new friend who is 6′7.5″ tall. Wow!

The Decibel guys back in Seattle have been hyping their lineup for months now. Here’s my advice. Sean Horton and Jerry Abstract are two of the key guys; friends for a long time. I think both from near Detroit. They love techno and if from Detroit that makes sense. The technology for laptop music became affordable several years back and they leaped into it. So they are both laptop laptop techno oriented.

The first few years of the Decibel Festival were influenced by this. Nothing wrong with that, it was natural for them. But something that an attendee should keep in mind. They are not neutral curators, instead biased performers with a good knowledge base about electronic music. You will continue to see a strong influence of that music style as well as performances by them or their close friends in the festival even this year.

I do praise for pulling the festival together. No one else was going to do it as the public Seattle electronic scene has been sputtering near death since 2001. Once the stock market bubble crashed and people didn’t have extra money anymore, the audience didn’t go out as much. Artists didn’t have as much money to buy equipment. Bars didn’t experiment or pay performers. And unfortunately, that event six years ago has still seriously dampened the scene in Seattle.

However, Seattle loves festivals. It makes people think they are getting a good “bang for their buck”. They’ll take off their Teva sandals, dust off their tennis shoes, and go to a bar to hear a fest-i-val! Weeee. Sometimes, festivals like Decibel pay off; sometimes not. In this case, they bring in artists rarely seen in the town of Seattle. They bring the couch potatoes out to listen to music that is not played on MTV, VH1, or commercial radio. They bring a glimmer of light.

The Decibel Festival lineup is available. Look it over. After hearing about their lineup announcements for months, here are my picks and cautions.

• Henry DB Art Gallery opening. Its electronic music in a modern art gallery. What’s not to love for $10. Lusine is performing and you can see “COLORFIELD VARIATIONS”.
• DB opening part/death of party w/ Diplo, Switch, and Simian Mobile Disco. $17 is pushing it.
• Beyond bookings/ NYC showcase. I’ve heard Wolf + Lamb in New York. Mostly minimal laptop tech, but its ok. Not worth the $20 though.
• Future Funk Showcase. Its got another live set by Jacob London. I love these guys and deserve support. Its worth the $12. DJ Heather is also performing but she’s not my fav anymore.
• Sunday headfuk showcase/db finale has Chris De Luca of Funkstörung and Shitkatatpult’s Phon.o. I like both Funkstorung and Phon.o and recommend checking out their collaboration/batter here. The PR says, “…with a spirited live set of glitched out accapellas, booty bass and the filthiest break beats you’re likely to ever hear.” I’d pay the $20 just to hear what mayhem they might create
• Claude VonStroke is performing at the Mothership Label Showcase for $20. I think too much money but if you like his sound, check it out.

All videos of the dances in my latest show “4 Seasons” are online. Choreography by Kristin Von Claret.

Today, Kristen and I went to Trinity’s birthday party. She decided to go to a fun place with good wings. HOOTERS! So I grabbed my HOOTERS! shirt from Alabama and off we went.

I looooove Trinity and am going to miss being frequently around her smile and genuinely great soul. Her paramour, Meredith was there making me laugh and…of course…girls in tight shirts and shorts.

We decided to go to Re-Bar tonight. I have such good memories of Re-Bar over the years. Sunday night being a great way to end the weekend. West coast house music rules here. Brian Lyons is the main DJ and he was up for a visit from LA where he lives now. Wesley Holmes was also performing. I grabbed a few pics of Susan-Char, Trinity, Meredith, and Kelly.

Well…this morning, I sold my Mini. It was kinda sad to see it go, but I just won’t need a car over the summer in NYC. A nice woman from across the water purchased it and was “all smiles” when she saw it and later drove away in her new Mini.

Its the shedding of many large material items. The car was the first one. There could be more to come. Its a big change for me but I think a good one. Complacent. Comfortable. Reasonable. Those are all words that I don’t want to have around me right now in my life. I’ve lived an exceedingly comfortable life here in Seattle for a decade. Enough of that.

Last night, I went to hear Puyan spin his first time at Trinity nightclub. He’s committed. Haha. Maryam, Nima, and sew more people were also there. Puyan kicked ass with a house set.