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September 30, 2005

WOW - WHAT A NIGHT!!

The 12 hour day that we pulled yesterday was just amazing!! The Key Club was just packed with people, and everyone pulled out the stops to provide maximum rock and roll, and generate some much needed cash for the people down in the Gulf Coast. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen - BC Ethic, Indie 103.1, The Key Club, Nine.Com, our own fantastic team at Bolthouse, and of course, everyone that came out, bought a ticket or a shirt, won an auction, and got into the spirit. You all made it another night to remember.

The day was long - very long!! Dave and I arrived at noon, and ran over the songs a couple of times. Then we soundchecked for four hours, until 6.00pm. At which point we had a meeting about a few things. Then at 7pm, we had a crazy live CFR broadcast from the club. I have NO IDEA what that must have sounded like, as we had no monitors, no headphones, and the room was full of people getting drunk!! But we got through it, and moved on to a few bits and pieces of press. At sometime around 9.30pm, our good friends Camp Teddy hit the stage and did Mark Bolan's Get It On. These kids completely pulled it off. They sounded great - so great in fact, that Dave, Matt and I jumped onstage and did some impromptu backing vocals!! Respec' to Alec and the boys for warming it up before we came on. Hope you all had a great time.

Everyone knows there are fires burning in So Cal because of the heat we are getting right now. And from the moment we hit the stage, I knew it was going to be a hot, sweaty affair!! And of course, I had chosen to wear a suit!! The jacket lasted about three songs, before the heat and the sweat made it feel like I was gonna pass out!! The list of guests last night went on forever. Terri Nunn, Jerry Cantrell, Steve Jones, Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard), Ty Taylor, Billy Duffy, John5, Rob Zombie, Brandon Boyd and Mickey Einziger (Incubus), AJ Popoff, (Lit) Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow), Rex Brown (Pantera), Mark McGrath, Cherie Curry (The Runaways) ....... all on the same stage. Absolutely fantastic. We played a bunch of the usual stuff, but threw in Cherry Bomb and Lets Go Crazy to keep us on our toes!! I know we all had a great time, and thanks again to everyone who came out and made it a great night.

After the show, I came home and started to watch this weeks episode of Lost (by the way, the shark was attracted by Sawyer's blood) but I fell asleep while it was on, so I'll watch the rest today. NOBODY spoil it for me!! I have a meeting or two today - one of which is with our new Guru Girl Allison, so watch out people. Billy will be armed with enough information about how this blog works to be REALLY dangerous!! Suddenly, things will look weird, posts will go missing, and I will be on the phone to Allison screaming .."What have I done??? I've broken it!!" No - seriously, I will be finding out how certain things work, so that between us, we can keep the site looking fresh, with some MP3's and video, and she will also be starting work on an all-new Camp Freddy site next. We are getting there people!!

OK - Enough blogging for me. Camp Freddy radio will be live again on Saturday and I believe Dave will be with us. Always good radio when that guy is on there. He brings a smile to everything he does, and for that I am truly greatful. I am off to sift through a million digi pics of last nights show, and see if there is anything decent in there. Mucho thanks to our boy, Todd Newman, for manning the cameras and fighting to document such crazy shows. I shall now .......... sign off.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 08:28 AM | Comments (16)

September 28, 2005

TECHNOLOGY SUCKS (BUT I STILL NEED MORE!!)

In the last week, I have gradually dug a huge hole for myself (out of choice, no less) and jumped in headfirst. I am talking about the amount of technology in my life and my insane decision to change it all at once. First of all, the decision to completely tear down all my internet stuff and rebuild on a different server in the same week as a Camp Freddy show was not, perhaps, the brightest decision in the world. This meant that emails went missing, blogs looked weird, and suddenly I realized that I just didnt know enough about what I was doing. On top of this, I have had the Camp Freddy video drive go down. I have a bunch of drives dedicated to different stuff, all rackmounted in my studio, and all of a sudden, the one that contains every piece of Camp Freddy video footage just decided to make some weird noises. So that involves buying a new drive and taking both to the Drive Doctors, paying serious money, and hoping they can rescue the files from the dead drive. Was it backed up? No.

I then decide (without too much thought) that my cellphone needs to be upgraded. I spend an hour on the phone convincing my cellphone company to send me the latest Treo 650. They finally agree, and I feel like I have won a small victory for the common people. Until the handset arrives. I send my old Treo back, start using the 650 ..... and discover that no one can hear me when I speak on it!! "Hello?......Hello? ...... can you hear me? ......If you can hear me, call me back on my land line...."
Oh yeah - and the bedroom Tivo stopped recording shit for no apparent reason.

Not a great week so far!! But the irony is that with all this techno stuff finding a life of its own (and not the life it was intended for) I still find myself thinking about how much more I could incorporate into my life!! "If I just buy that new piece of studio gear, then my life will be complete".....There HAS to be a lesson in all this somewhere. But I am just not willing to learn it right now!!

Welcome to UncleCreepy - hope you have some fun around here. And Dave, the link didn't work for me. Maybe I have to adjust the blog and allow html in the posts. I'll check it out. Ylais - I was in Camden around the early 90's, and yes ... I probably know the guy you mention!
I am continuing to work on the blog - font colors, archive posts, size of columns etc. Shouldn't be too much longer and we'll start to get some content in here. The photo galleries should be first. And then maybe we'll get King Mob TV going - some streaming video would be nice, right?

Its ALL about the show tomorrow. It will be a long day, but a very worthwhile one. I look forward to getting back onstage and playing - but today will be final phone calls, emails, etc. Except that the emails are down and the cellphone doesnt work. GREAT!!!!!

See you guys soon.

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 03:15 PM | Comments (35)

September 27, 2005

BUGS AND GLITCHES

Hi people. I kinda like the new look around here. Its cleaner than the old place and I have plans ..... LOTS of plans!! Still working out the creases for now. At the moment, I have to approve every comment before its visible, and I dont want to do that. I believe if you are gonna have a site and a blog, people should have the freedom of speech to comment however they want. Unless it gets personal or hurtful, EVERY comment should be left up there. But I cant figure out how to turn that feature off!! Yet another thing on the list for Guru Allison!! And there are little things like the banner is not centered, the archive posts all look weird, with a white background etc. But I know how the end result will be, so just hang in there. Its a lot of new information for me to take in, and I am trying my best to figure shit out!!!

The picture galleries should be up soon - and I have spoken to Allison about getting some mp3's and bits of streaming video up here as well. The chat seems to still work, which is a miracle. Perhaps that is because Karen is in charge of that bit and I have nothing to do with it!! Eventually we will have a store up here as well, selling CF shirts, blog shirts, some baseball hats etc. All big plans ....... right now, how the HELL do I switch that underlining thing off when you hover over a link!?!?!?

OK - the build up to the Key Club show is officially overwhelming me now. How does the timeline look? When is a good time to do the press? Are we still doing the radio show, and if so, what time? How do you squeeze 40 friends onto a guest list that is full already? Do you want a Marshall JCM2000 or a 900? Can my girlfriends cousins babysitter get into the show? ........ aaarrgghh - PISS OFF!!!!
It really does get busy on the week of a show, but the moment the day arrives, I switch my phone off, dont check the emails, and go and have a great time playing music. And this time, we are raising a good deal of money for a really good cause. Thanks to all of you lot who helped out with the auction, and everyone who bought tickets. It will be a killer show, I promise.

So thats it from me for now. My Tivo is packed full of stuff I havent had time to watch. This weekend will be a 'sit in bed and watch it all' weekend. mmmm ....... cant wait!
Have a great day, be patient with me on this blog, and see some of you on Thursday. Till then -

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 03:22 PM | Comments (12)

September 26, 2005

FEELING MY WAY AROUND

Thanks to the help and support of my new Internet Guru, Allison, it seems that some changes are taking place around here. I am posting this on Sunday afternoon, just to see how the new stuff works. Last nights radio show was so much fun. Billy Duffy kept me company while we played a whole range of music, from Gary Glitter all the way through Punk and Gothic, touched on the Seattle Alice In Chains thing, and then onwards through to some choice Velvet Revolver. Stories of seeing the Sex Pistols back in the day, running battles on Weston Super Mare pier and How To Name A Hurricane were all topics of a highly entertaining show. At least, it was highly entertaining for us!! Hope you all enjoyed it!

I'm pretty much head into this site stuff, and please be patient as I want to do things slowly, and understand as we go. Phase one is to get this blog looking how I want it, get the photo galleries up, get some regular posts happening, and make sure that all the links work fine. Phase two is to migrate the Camp Freddy site over and get that happening - a new look, and definately updated more frequently. Phase three will be to get my other business sites built and online. And THEN ...... then I will come back to this site and the Freddy site and start to build. Webcasts, streaming video, chats, message boards .... even some merch pages. Lots I want to do, but one thing at a time. As long as this site seems self sufficient, I will be happy with that for now.

First of all, a big thank you to all the LOST geeks who have been sending me websites, theories and opinions about the Island and the people on it. I love all that shit, and will be pouring over it all later tonight. And also, MASSIVE respec' to Jay, who sent me the Cult live Nirvana track that I was bleating about not having on the radio last night! Now I have it, so I'll stop whining.

Simon - King Mob Music is my music company that deals with all things unrelated to performance. Music for TV, Film, publishing etc. Its just a name to encompass anything that isn't 'Band' related.

I'm gonna bow out for now, as I want to mess about with other areas of this site. But I wanted you lot to know that I am totally into this new site thing. I wanna make it all really cool. So patience please .... I will be posting more frequently, and constantly tweaking things. Back soon - thanks for everything.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 12:06 AM | Comments (16)

September 22, 2005

WWW.BILLYMORRISON.NET

Ok - here's the deal. I am waaaaay deep into the most bizarre territory I have ever been in. The world of DNS sub zones, smtp protocols, html, ...... aaarrgggh!! But the idea is that eventually, there will be a new suite of sites, dealing with the many facets of what it is I do. (Yes, I actually do work from time to time!!) Because of my inept ability at all this, it will move slowly!! But VIVE ALLISON, who is guiding me through the whole thing. Right now, my emails and sites are mostly down, as we begin the transfer process. But the first step is to start connecting to this blog through www.billymorrison.net. That will be your gateway - and you can do that now. So start doing that, and once its all been transfered over, this typepad address will no longer be valid. DONT ask what circus diablo is, because I dont know yet!! It will be the home for something once I figure out what!

So - www.billymorrison.net - will slowly evolve into an interesting mix of blogs, downloads, chat rooms, video and audio, and will be host to all things Morrison, including the Camp Freddy site, which will be updated WAY more frequently. My intentions are good - my execution is poor!! Bear with me people ....

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 02:38 PM | Comments (8)

September 21, 2005

JD GETS FOUND, WE GET LOST!

I'm back!! And today is a special day for two reasons. One - Mr JD Fortune starts his new life as lead singer for INXS. And Two ..... the new season of LOST starts tonight!!!!! Well done to JD - Jen and I went down to the taping yesterday morning (at an ungodly 8.30am) and saw Mig, Marty and JD do their final songs. And I have to tell you that Migs Bohemian Rhapsody was just amazing. But JD is obviously the guy that fits what INXS were looking for, and he's the guy who steps into the Rock and Roll Circus. Huge congratulations to everyone who took part in that show, a big thank you to Dave and Kerry for allowing Jen and I to watch some of the tapings, and much respect to Mr Fortune, who got the job and just changed his life forever. Have fun mate, and enjoy every moment.

LOST, baby!! The second season starts tonight. Whats in the bunker? Who (or what) lives in the jungle? Where's the kid been taken to? Will Hurley lose weight finally? Why is there a polar bear on a tropical island? And what happens to all that Heroin that they found? These are the questions that keep me up at night!! I'm sure the 'cliffhanger' endings will continue to drive me mad, but I cant wait to delve back into the HD world of that strange island. If you havent seen the first season yet ......, er ...... well.....I have nothing to say to you! You fucked up! Get the DVD box set now, tivo the first few episodes of season two, and get through that box set double quick!!

Kate - Yeah. You heard correctly. That pair of CF Key Club tickets went for $1100. And while we are on the subject of the auction, I need anyone who hasn't yet been contacted to email me (by clicking the link on the left of this blog) and I will personally make sure that it is taken care of.

Simon - I am in the process of finding out about your pledge (which was very cool of you, by the way!) I will let you know.

Jay - I know you are starved for info! And everything is moving in the right direction. When its all ready to go, you will be the first to know. I am trying to get new websites sorted out (which isnt easy as I need all the old ones taken down/moved and I am in the process of changing server, and redoing this blog. The address will change, and eventually, everything (Camp Freddy, King Mob Music and 'anything else' I am involved with will all be available at www.billymorrison.net. BUT - this is gonna take a bit of time. I dont have a lot of free time to devote to it all. It will get done, and when that happens, I will be able to be clearer about what I've gotten myself into!

Bobbi - Check YOUR emails!! I have to learn to check that email account more often. Just took a break from typing this to check the hotmail account and spent 30 minutes replying to emails that were two weeks old!! Ooops .... sorry guys!

OK, so whats on the menu for me today? A couple of business meetings, a little mix work in the studio on a track I'm doing for that movie, Tripping Forward. Pilates this afternoon. A few phone calls about getting all this website stuff sorted out. And season premier of Lost tonight. Seems like a good day. I'm gonna load up on Starbucks and get started. Thank you all for your support and patience. See you back here soon. By the way, our very own Tina created todays pic - and I have to say ....."Big UP and MASSIVE respec' to her!!" Its awesome. Thank you Tina.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 08:42 AM | Comments (16)

September 17, 2005

TV ADDICTION

Oh my God!! The weekend is on us again. Where does the time go? Its an all new CFR with Dave and myself today, and I cant wait to get in there with him. I've missed him recently cos he's been so tied up with the Rock Star show. And talking of which, I have been right about the final three all along. Marty, Mig and JD. And the winner is ....... ? My vote is still with Mig. I think he is the safest choice for that band. But it will all be revealed next week. And of course, next week, the second series of Lost begins. So excited for that!! I have turned into a Lost geek. What else is on my Tivo right now? I have just programmed Invasion, cos I think that might be fun, and Extras, the new series by the guys who did The Office, starts soon. I think those guys are hilarious. Did anyone get into The Office? If you did, and liked it, then watch Extras. Should be good. Oh yeah - and I have got myself into Rome. Its so cool - looks amazing in HD and features tons of sex and violence. What about the storyline? Well, yeah, thats good too, and the acting is great, but dont forget about the sex and violence!! Look where my TV addiction has brought me ......

OK, so whats been going on? Well, there has been a few cool events that I've been too recently (due to it being Emmy week). The 'Beauty Buffet' is always a fun time. Basically, a PR company takes over a huge 'Hollywood Hills' type mansion, and fills it with manufacturers and companies and invite people along to get a bunch of free shit!! I mean, where else but Hollywood would this kind of thing take place? On friday, I went over to the latest 'Buffet' and hung out for a couple of hours. And by the time I left, the car was loaded with bags!! All kinds of shit, from jeans to poker chips ...... not a bad way to spend a friday afternoon! And then, last night was the US Weekly party. Now if anyone wants to feel insecure, just go along to a magazine party like that! Everyone was under 20 years old and RIDICULOUSLY beautiful!! Its like they all came from another planet. The planet of tall, leggy, chiselled features and size 24 waist models!! It was a fun night, and the highlight was probably the arrival of Donald Trump. Yes, the man has an annoying mouth, even in person!! Another fabulous evening in LA LA Land. I dont know how I stand it!!!

I'm dying to let you guys know what I've been up to with the music recently, but I still cant say too much. The songs are finished and we'll play them for a few people next week and see what the reaction is ........ we just wanna not get too public with the whole thing just yet. When Doheny came out so early on and then bashed heads with the business for 18 months, it wasn't pretty. So thats why we aren't naming this thing just yet, or talking about it online. But it doesn't stop me from being excited. Fingers crossed with this one, boys and girls.

I am also working on some music for that movie I did earlier this year. They changed the title from Actor, to 'Tripping Forward' and I am working on a couple of tracks for the soundtrack. Hopefully it will get a decent release next year and you can go check it out. Oh yeah, and talking of soundtracks, that reality show, Being Bonaduce, aired last week. And they have re-edited it all, and dont have any theme music!!! This business is so bizarre - I got paid to do a theme, they liked it, cut picture to the track, and then decided to run it without it! Makes no difference to me. I still worked on a bunch of the cues that appear during the shows, and they changed the credits (apparently) to reflect this. Either way, you should check the show out. It is VERY disturbing!

Kim: I think that I get involved in enough charity/humanitarian work already! I would estimate that a third of everything I do is for some kind of benefit or charity. Will that continue? Of course. I am an ex-junkie that should, by rights, be dead. So I try to accept as much charity work as I can.

Will: Nice idea about doing a song with CF. Maybe next time - we already have the Camp Teddy boys doing a song at The Key Club. And by the way, those Adidas are funky!

Marra: I feel you. The whole Ebay/Craigs List/ making money on our tickets does suck. But there is nothing we can do. We have brought another sponsor in for this show (nine.com) who are going to match, dollar for dollar, what we raise. So we have done everything we can to raise as much money from this show as possible. If people wanna hike the ticket price up on Ebay, then thats up to them. But just remember Karma, people.

Simon: ....er.....the answer is no. No I dont watch cricket. I cannot imagine watching cricket!! Not really a sports person, me. Unless its The Raiders.

Jezzi: What does 'all outs in Free' mean? You lost me, girl!!!

I will check up on the status of all the auctions and pledges when I am at the station later today. Please let me know if you pledged and still havent been contacted, or if you won, and haven't sent your money off yet. Thanks again to all of you who participated in last weeks telethon. It was a crazy day and we are proud to have been involved. I am off to get into my day, but thanks for hanging out this week. I didnt post because ..... well ...... I lost track of time!! I hope you all continue to visit. Take care this weekend and have a great couple of days.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 09:19 AM | Comments (20)

September 11, 2005

THE CURE FOR THE BLUES

As some of you said in your posts, the cure for the 'general malaise syndrome' is absolutely to go and do a selfless act. Do something to be of service, and the Universe will respond. I wake up this morning feeling like we actually made a difference yesterday. The whole Indie 103.1 Marathon has raised over $60,000 so far, with all the top dollar items, like The Beatles lyrics and Ozzy's glasses still to come. They all went onto ebay to raise as much as we could for The American Red Cross. But with the auctions and pledges, we are already over $60k. That is just amazing. Thank you to all of you who were listening and bidding. I know that a lot of you and the 6767'ers were helping out. Simon called in from Australia and pledged $100. Nancy bought Duffy's jeans. Kate won the Sunset Strip Ticket package. Erics Dad was pushing hard for the weekend with Sorum in Vegas (and although he didn't win it, he made sure that the winner paid $2600 for the pleasure! And the winner turns out to be our very own Bobbi-O!! Dude, you are in for one hell of a ride, my friend. That Sorum character knows how to roll!!! Enjoy - and thank you.) It really was an incredible show, and we were all sad that Dave was unable to be there. I feel that we might do a small, mini Freddy auction next week, to add to the grand total, and to bring Dave into the fold. We'll see what happens.

Its been a great weekend so far. I attended a Celebrity Poker Party on Friday night, at one of the sickest mansions I have ever seen!! Cantrell was playing, along with a few other friends, and the whole party was just insane. Games everywhere, models walking around in lingerie, remote controlled powerboat racing in the enormous swimming pool. Craziness of the highest order!! I also have a copy of the last Star Wars movie on DVD (no names mentioned, but thank you very much! You know who you are!!) so I watched that as well. And the strange funk that had enveloped me for a few days there seems to have lifted, and its life as we know it again! If ever you needed proof that the Universe takes note of your behaviour, then last nights CFR was it for me. Put out the good, be nice, do stuff for others, and you will be taken care of - try it. You might like it.

That whole idea I had of wrapping up the week, doing a caption photo etc?........Forget it!! I am shattered. Gonna enjoy the new lease of life I have, and take my wife to lunch. (After Pilates, of course!!) Have a great Sunday, put some goodness back into this world, and I'll see you all next week. Thank you again for an incredible day of radio.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 08:02 AM | Comments (22)

September 10, 2005

SPECIAL CFR TODAY

You guys fucking rock!!! Whatever is going on with me right now had a nice ten minute hiatus while I was reading all your advice/support/suggestions/. It's just part of the game, I suppose. It will pass, and I carry on regardless. But thank you for all the posts.

CFR today will be Matt Sorum and myself (as Dave is unable to make it this week) and I will be on air for an extra two hours, from 4pm - 6pm, because Indie are running a 40 hour live radio marathon, to raise money for the Gulf Coast Disaster. So I will be doing an extra two hour stint to help out. Billy Duffy will be joining me at 5pm for an hour, and I have Buck Cherry coming in as well for a little bit. The whole point of this marathon is to raise money, and we will have a lot of cool stuff to auction. Basically, get your wallets out, stand by the telephone, and call in and bid on something you want. The radio station is pulling out all the stops to try and help these people and we should all do the same. And besides, we have great stuff to auction.

I'll do a whole post tomorrow, answer and reply to all your posts, do a caption photo (cos they make me smile!!) and generally catch up on the week. For now, its all about raising money for charity. So I am off to make a playlist, and get my shit together for four hours on the radio. Bring on the coffee!!!

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 08:17 AM | Comments (31)

September 09, 2005

THE DARK SIDE

Its been a strange week for me. I have had bits of days where I just haven't wanted to do anything, despite having every toy and every technological brain numbing device known to man. And then a few hours later, I have been driving like a lunatic to another meeting, or working out, or watching my hand write amazing lyrics as if it was disconnected from my body (stream of consciousness stuff). Then its been back to moping around, listening to the voices in my head. Weird stuff. Not sure what's going on. Its too early to tell how I feel today (and there's not enough caffeine in my system either yet!). All I know is that I have a busy day ahead. 8.30am workout for an hour an a half, and then I am off and running. I wonder if everyone has weeks like that? I mean, good stuff surrounds me, and yet I just wanna turn the phones off, and crawl into a dark corner somewhere.

Anyway, the news is that The Key Club show sold out already. We didn't expect it to do that as quickly as it did (no ads or radio promo have even run yet!). Not sure if we'll move it to a bigger venue or what, but I am sure there will be phone calls about it all today. What I do know is that the BC Ethic guys have designed an awesome event shirt that will be $20 on the night of the show. Again, all the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Fund, so please .... bring a few extra $$$$ with you and buy a shirt. It looks great, it will be limited to this event only, and you will be helping us raise some much needed funds for the people of the Gulf Coast.

RIP Jordis. But funnily enough, I agree with Dave. I wasn't as upset for her as I thought I would be, because she is obviously going to walk straight into a deal, and an amazing solo career. She has all the qualities required for full Rock Stardom. The look, the voice, the attitude ...... I am a huge fan, and cannot wait to hear what she does now. Massive Respec' Jordis. The world loves you. My smart money is still on Mig, although Marty and Suzie have been slaying it recently. Wish You Were Here and Bohemian Rhapsody were just incredible. Good luck to the remaining four ......
And new seasons on TV are just around the corner. Prime Tivo material would be Lost (I LOVE that show - just watching the first season reruns and cannot wait to get to the season finale!!), Extras (the new series by the guy that created the UK show, The Office), and anything that Mark Burnett does after Rock Star. Hmmmm, could a certain Mr Navarro's Television addiction be rubbing off on me?

OK -
Kate: VERY excited about Emily Rose, although as I doubt Jen will want to see it, I might have to wait a few days and go see it next week sometime when she isn't around. Scariest movie? Well, the original Exorcist, The Others, The Ring (only the first one) and believe it or not, Ghost Ship all had the hairs standing up on my neck. I love a good horror movie!!

Jay: Yep, thats the show. Breaking Bonaduce. It's VERY intense, but I know Danny and he allowed a period of his life to be filmed when he was very volatile and he is in a fantastic place these days. There is some discussion about the theme tune, as they changed the title sequence, so who knows if mine will end up being used. If not, I'll see if I can post the original sequence here.

I am gonna get my ass in gear and try and combat the 'dark side' that has been moving in on me this week. So I am outta here. Keep your eyes on this site and 6767.com for any news about the benefit show, cos thats where it will appear first! Have a great weekend everyone, and see you soon.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 08:03 AM | Comments (20)

September 06, 2005

THE THREE DAY WEEKEND

I think all weekends should be three days long. It really does make a difference. I woke up this morning feeling relaxed and ready to work. I spent three days just kinda chilling out, doing a few things I needed to do - like changing lightswitches and doorknobs in the newly painted hallway and bathroom!! I never actually did that before, and locked myself in the bathroom at one point! I am certainly not the worlds greatest handyman, and have always been a big fan of 'The Men'...... as in, 'Lets get the men to come in and do that'. But for some reson, I figured it would be a challenge to do it myself. Five minutes into changing the doorknob in the bathroom, and I decided to shut the door to see if it would close, without actually putting the new handles on the door. I then stared at the door, trying to work out what I had just done, and trying to understand how I was now going to open the door and let myself out!! One screwdriver and a misspent youth later, and I had jiggled the lock and popped it open. Next time, I'll call "The Men"!!

Also played through 7 levels of the new Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory PS2 game. I am SO addicted!! I am on the last level, and I might just have to get it finished today. I do have a couple of lunchtime meetings, but I figure I can get in a few hours of gaming this evening. It just has to be done - I cant concentrate until Sam Fisher has saved the world from World War 3 ...... again!

Went to see The Brothers Grimm with Jen yesterday. I liked it - I mean, its not Macbeth, or some artsy French Subtitled, beautifully shot film about tomato growers in the Loire Valley. But its fun!! And anyone who reads this regularly knows that I am all about a good action movie, a really scary horror, or something that takes me out of my head. I dont want to have to think when I watch a movie .... and Matt Damon provides that luxury in Brothers Grimm. A fairy story with monsters and curses. With tons of special effects. Perfect!!

Danielle: Yes, I received your pic for the Rogues Gallery - and its up. Welcome to the Cast Of Characters! Anyone else fancy putting a face to the name?

Simon: Well, I cant say that Matt is the most technologically inspired of us all! So in all reality, I cant see him maintaining a Blog - he doesnt even use a laptop! But if he wants to do one, I'm sure Dave and I can help him.

Rach: Squirrels and Bunnies. Its all about the squirrels and bunnies!! Oh yeah, and tattooed, loud, raw, angry, obnoxious rock and roll as well!

Nick: Of course I remember you!! Anyone who walks that far sticks in my memory!! Thanks for the info.

Jay: ABSOLUTELY the best mash up ever!!! The same fucking song!!! Hilarious - thank you for the link. I'll play it to Duffy.

OK - Pilates this morning, with some cardio beforehand. I HATE how doing cardio makes me feel during it. But love the way it makes me feel afterwards. Its so weird. I spend 30 minutes with my head telling me to stop, that I'm tired, that my legs hurt, that I cant make it. And as soon as I stop, I wanna do another half an hour!! So I gotta go. Have a great week, and thank you for continually being a part of this little world here. Hope to see some of you at the Freddy show later in the month, and I'll be back here soon.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 07:19 AM | Comments (15)

September 04, 2005

PUNK ROCK PARTY

First of all, I have to say that CFR last night was a blast. Dave, Matt and myself did the show (available to hear at 6767.com, as always) and although sometimes, three people can be hard work, last night it worked. I never thought I would be doing a radio show, let alone enjoying it!! But we continue to show up every week and it continues to be fun. Who knew?

So after the radio show, Jen and I drove down to Malibu, to attend a very royal occasion. Mr Steve Jones' 50th Birthday Party. Now the first bizarre thing is that when I was about 12 years old, I went to see The Great Rock And Roll Swindle in the movie theatre in London. I hung on every line, every song, every nuance of that movie. I had watched The Sex Pistols build up, and destroy themselves, in a short 18 month period. Had you said to me then, that I would be invited to Steve's 50th birthday, I would have laughed!! Not only because I wouldn't have thought I would ever be invited, but also because I didnt think he would reach that age!! But sure enough, life had its own plan, and we drove up to a beautiful ranch in the Malibu hills, to be greeted by two English Guardsmen. (Actually, one was Swedish, the other was American, and they were smoking cigarettes and chatting!! Not a perfect replica of the real deal, but we'll overlook that, shall we?!!) The party was so much fun. Paul Cook (drummer of the Pistols) had flown over from the UK for the occasion, and a bunch of Steve's friends turned up to wish the guy a happy birthday. Lots of Union Jack flags, a lot of people in costume (Steve was dressed like UK comedian, Tommy Cooper) - a whole bunch of punk clothes (I busted out a black parachute shirt for the occasion) and some great music from DJ Kelly Cole. Thank you Richard and Laurie for hosting the party, and thank you to Steve for actually reaching the big 5.0. and inviting us. Good Times.

Nothing going on today really. I have three more levels of Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory to complete, so of course, that is of the highest priority. I have a cardio/pilates session today too. I need it after relapsing heavily on English chocolate last night! The bill for the Key Club show seems to have taken on a life of its own, and is taking care of itself now! People just keep calling and saying they'll do the show. If you have tickets, be prepared for a long set!! And we are changing up our set list for sure. Its safe to say a few usual songs will sneak in (gotta do the Led Zep and the Iggy, right?) but as we spoke about last night on CFR, expect a little Maiden, a little Adam And The Antz ..... who knows, maybe even a little Prince!!

Dave and I were talking about blogs yesterday, and discussing the 'Well, I woke up this morning....' type of blog, and I have to say that I fall into that category. I have been involved with a project for a little while now, and while its not a National Secret or anything, the people involved have agreed to keep it on the D/L until things are a little more solid and we actually have something to talk about. So its frustrating for me. As you can probably tell!! Dying to get it out there and move on. But I respect our decision, so for now, you have to know that making music is my primary concern, and I have been doing just that. This business is so crazy sometimes, and I suppose its best just to do the work and leave the results up to the bigger picture. All I have to say is that if we come up with a riff thats HALF as good as that Panic Channel one last night (that Dave played on the show) we'll all have huge grins!!!

Alright - I'm gone. Have a great weekend and give someone you dont know a smile. Its amazing what that can do for your day.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 09:14 AM | Comments (15)

September 02, 2005

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR PIMPIN'!!

The three day weekend is looming, the painters will have finished the hallway and the closets by the end of today, and I will have done all the stuff I needed to do this week. Plus the new Vivienne Westwood boots arrived. They are sick! Do I have the balls to wear them? Of course!!! There's nothing like new shoes and three days to rock them in!! This is a nice feeling! I can have three days of doing nothing (well, CFR doesnt count cos its fun!) so it has to be a movie. Any suggestions? I know the new Exorcism movie is right up my street, but I don't think Jen will buy it!! What else is out there right now? Anyone seen The Cave?

OK, so we are getting to work on the Key Club show now. I'll be putting the bill together over the next couple of weeks and doing all the logistical stuff that we do. I love when CF does a proper show. I look forward to seeing some of you there, and of course, we are having Camp Teddy do a song that night as well. Apparently their whole band is coming, so it seems we will get the 'non-unplugged' version. Exciting stuff. We will be giving away a few tickets and tee shirts in the days leading up to the show so if you can, keep listening to Indie 103.1 for details.

Bonita: I fall into the 'only child, so its ALL about me' category!! It explains a lot of things!!

Kate and Wendy: I have no idea about the clubs camera policy, but I advise you to be a little sneaky anyway. We dont care, but a clubs policy is a clubs policy. Better to sneak one in and get pics, than openly declare a camera and have them take it off you.

QQQ: Wow. Flying in from Reno, huh? We better make sure we give you a good night then!! Hope you enjoy the show.

Jay: Yeah, I did catch Ty's closing comments. And I have to say it was a little trippy. He has smiled throughout the whole series, but when he lost, he became somewhat bitter, and played the race card. Not sure how I feel about that. Somehow, in that instance, I think he was a little upset, and some paranoia crept in, although who knows. Did the rest of the world vote him into the bottom three because he was black? What do you think?

Dimemax: Lets just clear this up now. We are NOT doing Vanity Fair this year. We have donated a signed guitar for the Step Up Charity, but we will not be playing the show. The one we are doing in October is a party for Grey Goose Vodka and the Sundance TV channel. And I think that will be our only show for that month. Regarding Nov and Dec - who knows?!!

Simon: Did I get that right? Do you listen from Australia? Is that possible? Well, even if I have that wrong, we hope you get through and have a chat with us on Saturday.

I'm gonna get out of here and inspect the painting that they did yesterday. And steel myself for their return!!! So have a great weekend - enjoy the rest, and I'll try and get back here during the next three days. Prayers continue for the people of New Orleans and surrounding areas. They need help. Lets hope they get it. Until next time.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 07:43 AM | Comments (18)

September 01, 2005

NEW ORLEANS

I dont have the words to express my utter disbelief at what has happened in the southern states over the last few days. The city of New Orleans (one of my favourite places in America and home to quite a few friends) has literally been wiped out. The force of nature and the resulting chaos that has ensued is being hailed as the single worst natural disaster ever to have hit the USA. The shots on the news of the water and the damage and the looting just leave me stunned. I beg all of you to spare a few minutes each day and put these poor people in your prayers. Camp Freddy will be making the Key Club show on Thursday 29th September a charity show, with all the proceeds being donated to the American Red Cross New Orleans disaster fund. Tickets will be priced at $15 (I know some of you already have the $10 ticket. We changed the price when we decided to make this a benefit as every dollar counts. Fear not - those of you who got in early will have the opportunity to donate an extra few bucks if you choose. But it will not be mandatory). We have already sold a lot of tickets for this show and the ads haven't run yet. So its a good sign. I think it will be a great night, and it will sell out, so get your tickets and do something to help.

Having said all that, I don't really feel like trying to be funny, and typing a whole bunch of 'whats going on with Billy' shit. So I will leave it there for today. ALL questions answered tomorrow.

Peace

Billy

Posted by vivelerock at 07:30 AM | Comments (8)