Labor Day Weekend

I have a tradition of spending my last weekend of the summer on the beach taking it easy and today I went out to Fire Island. I always try to squeeze the last drops of summer out before school starts with some relaxation and reading. This year's end of the summer book is David Sedaris's "When You Are Engulfed In Flames". It seemed appropriate to beginning another school year and it hasn't disappointed.

Back on Ludlow Street

Last night I took a stroll through hipster heaven also known in Manhattan as Ludlow Street. It was a regular haunt for me during my college days and there has been quite a bit of redecoration since but the spirit is pretty much the same. While there I had to grab a bite at the all-time classic- Katz's Deli. It didn't take long for me to remembered why it has remained so popular for so many years- The pastrami sandwich and knish were beyond fantastic with a Dr. Brown's Root Beer. It made me understand how Meg Ryan pulled off that great acting scene in Katz's years ago in "When Harry Met Sally".

San Francisco MOMA redecoration

I heard yesterday that the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will be taking down the enormous Sol Lewitt paintings including "Archs in Four Directions" (pictured above) that have adorned the lobby area next week. It's sad to see the iconic paintings leaving after so long (they went up in 2000 as part of a Lewitt retrospective).

Dave Brubeck at Brookhaven Amphitheater 8.22.2008

Last night I had the chance to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet perform live right down the road from my house at the Brookhaven Amphitheater. Brubeck is one of my all-time favorite jazz musicians and it was amazing finally getting a chance to see him play. Sure he's 88 years old now and needed to be helped onstage but the moment he began to play he sounded as good as he did on all those classics albums. The musical vibrancy of the old foursome made me wonder if they had gone swimming in the pool from Cocoon with Wilford Brimley and Hume Cronyn before the show.

The concert covered a range of material from special compositions Brubeck created for the Catholic Church based on ancient hymns to jazz classics such as "One Day My Prince Will Come" and of course their always famous "Take Five". Bobby Militello blew the crowd away on alto sax showing off his own virtuoso qualities while keeping true to Paul Desmond's classic sound sparring sonically with the unique bass sound of Michael Moore and Randy Jones on drums. Brubeck is a classic- I've always loved his experimentation with time signatures and musical styles and he put on an incredible show that will not be forgotten.

Fresh Art Show Preview

Sunday is the last big Fresh art show of the summer at Painters Gallery and Restaurant in Brookhaven and here's a short preview of the new pixilated film I'll be showing. There are a huge number of cool local artists and musicians so come stop by and check it out!

Slightly Stoopid at Roseland 8.20.2008

Last night I stopped by Roseland for an excellent reggae-rock show featuring one of my favorite band's Slightly Stoopid. The band was joined by Hawaiian reggae trio Pepper and dub stars Sly and Robbie as part of the Summer Tailgate Tour. The show was packed tight with a crowd of young teens and more than a handful of drama as people were thrown (and dragged) out throughout the show.

The opening band Pepper reminded immediately of Sublime (without the hip-hop element) and impressed me with a couple of great tracks and unstoppable energy. After an hour long set Slightly Stoopid took the stage and brought their A game to town mixing up classics like "Ese Loco" and a few tracks off their new album Slightly Not Stoned Enough To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid.

It was great to see the Ocean Beach crew in New York and they seemed like they were having a great time as they jammed mixing it up with sounds from punk rock and blues to dub and ska. It was a classic show and from the looks of the young crowd a sound that will keep growing. Check out my full review of Pepper on Short & Sweet NYC.

Reggie and the Full Effect "J Train" music video

Here's the final cut of the "J Train" music video by Reggie and the Full Effect that I had worked on a while back. I think the video is pretty sweet and has some sweet production value- it also helps that I really like to song too. I have to give some props to my buddy, director John Carlucci, for pulling out another great video. Reggie and the boys will be back on Long Island for one of their final shows soon at The Crazy Donkey on September 10th- definitely check them out!