PORTFOLIO JOB OF THE WEEK!

NEAT!

I have Portfolio.com's Job of the Week this week:

Crowd Control

by Andrea Chalupa Sep 28 2008

Sarah Lewitinn commands the mood of hundreds of party-goers as her alter ego, Ultragrrrl.

Photograph courtesy of: D.J. Ultragrrrl

Job Title: Disc Jockey
Employers: Clubs, promoters, and individuals.
Openings: Promote skills on MySpace or a personal website, then get a booking agent.
Salary Cap: High seven figures for celebrity D.J.'s
Number of Jobs: About 100,000

Read more...

THE SKY IS FALLING

I guess you could say I...

TOLD
YOU
SO

My original post from August 9, 2007:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEP

So while trying to find articles to explain to a friend of mine exactly what's about to happen in our economy and how a ton of people are going to end up without jobs in wallstreet and then eventually all over america resulting in a crazy recession and an impending economic turmoil, i found this article that I literally thought was from The Onion:

Johnson & Johnson Sues Red Cross Over Symbol

And, in case you were wondering what's going on with the economy, you can read the following bleak article:

Mortgage Defaults Growing

"More than 2 million hybrid adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) come up for reset this fall - peaking in October with more than $50 billion due.

Borrowers who took out hybrid ARMs in 2004 and 2005 to secure low "teaser" rates for the first two or three years of the loan may see their monthly mortgage payments climb by 35 percent or more.

Foreclosures could explode, which would hurt everyone on the food chain: Borrowers lose their homes; lenders lose their payments; local governments lose tax base; and neighborhoods lose resiliency.

The already poor performance of many mortgage loans will worsen substantially through the rest of the year, according to an analysis in late July by Moody's Economy.com."\

And the comments a bunch of readers left me as a result:

Which post apocolyptic setting would you prefer Waterwold and Mad Max?
strapp | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | Homepage | 08.09.07 - 5:49 pm | #

Gravatar Sarah - you're overstating things just a bit. Or actually a lot. The debt markets (and specifically the sub-primes) are fucked, but it's not gonna lead to massive Wall Street layoffs and panic in the street style economic collapse.

But yeah, fuck Johnson & Johnson.
john b. | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.09.07 - 6:46 pm | #

Gravatar like you know about microfinance.
othello | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 1:02 am | #

Gravatar John B: Are you not following any of this? It's not about "the subprime market". It's about all the funds that bought securitized subprime loans underestimating the credit risks involved. For instance, Bear Stearns had to liquidate a couple of funds because of this, and they got pennies on the dollar for those loans. Losses were in the gazillions. The German government bailed out some funds a couple of weeks ago. Then, this morning, BNP Paribas stopped withdrawal from some funds because they weren't sure how to value them given the underestimated credit risks (you use risk to discount the value of loans; the higher the risk, the higher the discount). This sent the markets all over the world tanking. As I write this, Asian markets are freaking out. Sure, the Dow hit record highs a coule of weeks ago. But now it's tanking as reality set in.

Okay, so how does this cause layoffs on Wall Street? Simple: Fund PnLs aren't what they were because, after you've revalued all the crap on your books, your profits aren't what they seemed. So, they'll fire people to keep profits relatively stable. The first to go will be kids fresh out of school making $200k (Yeah, that's right. First year analysts -- the ones who aren't even 23 yet -- are making six figure base salaries plus six figure bonuses). But then come funds getting closed down. Plus, you have private equity funds starting to buckle, what with a potential change of tax status and lackluster results as of late (Shwarzman, bless his heart, that guy cashed out on top).

Meanwhile, who has money in all these funds? Pension funds from teachers, factory workers, cops, etc. The regular folks. Everyone's gonna get doubly screwed: They'll lose their house and their pension funds will take a hit. Othello, this is macrofinance now, not microfinance (don't even get me started on THAT commnt).

Just as an example, watch this video of the guy I called "boss" for several years. I have to warn you, it gets pretty loud:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SWksEJQEYVU

He used to do that all the time in meetings but it's kinda neat that everyone else gets to see it in action now. More importantly, how adorable is Erin Burnett in all of this?
Lawrence | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 2:23 am | #

Gravatar Sarah, your absolutely right. Plus that's just the tip of the pencil. Were going to be the worlds newest communist county soon enough. Canada looking real good right now
Ray Burnz | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | 08.10.07 - 2:49 am | #

Gravatar i know that i'm the last person that's probably qualified to talk about this stuff, but with a brother like mine, family in real estate, and inklings of how the trickle down is effecting even me, i'm educating myself and taking notice and begging my out of work friends to take whatever job comes their way.
sarah | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | Homepage | 08.10.07 - 3:33 am | #

Gravatar Okay, now John B's comment officially infuriates me. It's something straight out of the idiotic Treasury Department's mouth, which still hasn't figured out what's going. The Fed just threw $19 billion into the economy this morning (the ECB threw in $200 billion into Europe) but it's not going to work. General markets are still going down and financial stocks are taking a hit. John, I gotta ask: What on earth are basing your comment on? And if you seriously believe this, why aren't you in the markets right now buying up financial stocks? C'mon, are you kidding or were you just shooting off without knowing what you're talking about?
Lawrence | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 9:22 am | #

Gravatar http://www.dealbreaker.com/2007/ ...reads_to_hi.php
Anonymous | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 10:07 am | #

Gravatar Lawrence,

First, as a sometimes reader of this blog, I'm honored to finally be on the receiving end of one of your pompous, know it all rants. I'm glad I "officially" infuriate you.

I am aware of what's going on, and am probably following almost as closely as you. I certainly didn't think a quick one-off comment simply noting that I thought Sarah's "the sky is falling" take on things was a bit off the mark. Obviously the markets are taking a hit, and obviously the funds investing in sub-primes are in trouble. Will this lead to some layoffs? Probably. Will it lead to the collapse of the economy and "[result] in a crazy recession and an impending economic turmoil?" No, I don't think it will.

I'll remember next time I make a quick comment on a blog that the Comment Police and Sgt. Lawrence are waiting to attack misinformation at every turn. But seriously, good for you for being so smart, and getting officially infuriated over a comment on your sister's blog. Really. You're an impressive dude.
John B. | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 10:16 am | #

Gravatar What infuriated me was that it was as if it were written by Paulson himself. Seriously, how could I NOT be pissed? What's worse is that you still can't see this problem: it's not far-off to see this kick the economy in the shins given that a large part of what's been pushing it has been this asset inflation (read: over-priced real estate) and easy credit. Those are collapsing. Combine that with inflated commodity prices and you got a real stinker on your hands.

Mind you, she said recession and not depression. This can definitely cause a recession, especially if we pretend it's not a big deal.

Also, I said your comments infuriated me, not you yourself. And, yes, I'm a pompous know-it-all because, well, I know everything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out how we'll get out of this mess.
Lawrence | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 10:37 am | #

Gravatar I know so many people who got screwed on unfixed mortage rates or having their property values jumping in the last two quarters. I can't wait for $5 subway rides. When that happens I'm changing my name to Manuel and becoming a Thahitian Towel Boy. Lawrence, yeah those bonuses are unbelieveable but I have couple friends working for JP so I know they're real.
strapp | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | Homepage | 08.10.07 - 11:39 am | #

Gravatar Dear Lawrence,

I can see the problem. But thank you for your insights into the wonderful world of finance. Please let me know when we'll be out of this mess. Until then, I'll be running around midtown and downtown on alternating days, tearing out my hear and screaming about how the US economy is on the brink of collapse.
John B. | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 12:17 pm | #

Gravatar wait, so does mean your trust fund is going to get damaged??

bout time to hope some new scrolls show up.

mime is money.
o hai! | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 1:30 pm | #

Gravatar lawrence,
it's their own fault. they knew the mess they were getting into with these mortgages...they were letting people get these mortgages with no proof of income. wall st had this coming and everyone knew it.
so was cramer an ahole or a good guy..cant believe how big he has become
jim | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 3:48 pm | #

Gravatar http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/19/...prime/ index.htm
neil | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 3:53 pm | #

Gravatar I agree that this is the product of two-fold stupidity: first from the predatory practices of the lenders (who loaned on the buyer's ability to pay teaser rates instead of what it actually was long-term) and second from the morons pricing the mortgage-backed securities with ridiculously low default assumptions because, well, they assumed that if people can pay teaser rates, they can pay the long-term rates, too. I'm not sure anything done today by the Fed is going to solve any problems and I don't think Treasury has a clue, either. It's just gonna mean we're all going to have to suffer this one, MAYBE learn our lessons, and after a couple of quarters of shake-out, come out of this thanks to another bubble

As for Cramer, I actually got along with him nicely. I think the mistake some people would make with him is that they were so afraid of his reactions that they never told him the truth. Naturally, he'd flip out when he'd catch it and fly off the handle. I personally thought he was a great guy and fun to be around; we flew up to Boston one time and the guy cracked me up the entire time. I don't always agree with him but he's really smart.

O hai: you're wrong. I stole all her trust fund money.
Lawrence | Edit comment Delete comment | 08.10.07 - 6:00 pm | #

Gravatar God, i wish that i had the trust fund everyone accuses me of having. not sure how many trustfunders have refugee families that lost everything, or had their house forclosed on...
sarah | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | Homepage | 08.10.07 - 7:14 pm | #

Gravatar we're all missing the big picture here...

mcr got a new siq vid comin out.
shane Human | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | 08.10.07 - 9:53 pm | #

Gravatar Here's a NYC-centric bubble blog.
mitchell porter | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | 08.11.07 - 12:27 am | #

Gravatar oh how i love living in Canada.
yes we are probably a close second behind the states in our debt. But i doubt this will happen, you don't see as many petty fights going to court.

although...fucking conrad black.
Lindsey | Edit comment Delete comment | Email | 08.11.07 - 3:58 am | #

And now for the obligatory cute baby animal photos to make you feel better about yourself:






I'm so smartypants/psychic.

SEXY TIMES INNERPARTYSYSTEM VIDEO

By the way, the girl in this clip is Stoya, whom i guess is kind of a famous now: Stoya's myspace.

In this video, which was shot in InnerPartySystem's basement, Stoya (the star) is getting eaten out by her boyfriend.

From what i understand, Stoya wanted to do porn and so this was her first video... after Penta, the director, shot this in IPS's basement she went away and became some big porn star. she's even starring in this huge production porn that's a remake of Pirates of the Carribean:

END OF SUMMER MIX CD

I created a mix CD to celebrate the end of Summer and wanting to hold onto it with your little fingers because summers should never end! They're wonderful for romances, adventures, and being lazy. I hope you all enjoy this mix.

Download it Here.

U.S. Royalty - Every Summer
Santogold - Lights Out
Melanie Fiona - Give It To Me Right
The Killers - Human
The Whip - Trash
Placebo - English Summer Rain
Kings of Leon - Closer
Dan Black - HYPNTZ
UH HUH HER - Not A Love Song
Kordan - Fantasy Nation
Anthony Green - Dear Child (I've Been Dying To Reach You) (Good Old War Version)
Blur - Look Inside America
The Verve - Love Is Noise
Middle Distance Runner - The Sun and Earth
The Mary Onettes - Lost

Check out Dan Black's video for "HYPNTZ" (omg, he is gorgeous):

INNERPARTYSYSTEM VIDEO REMIX

this was done by the Eclectic Method.

also IPS will be on Steven's Untitled Rock Show tonight!

DUFFY IN SIMS

I found this video for Duffy's song "Rockferry":


I dont know if it's the official video for the States or just the UK one... but here's a SIMS version of it:

THIS IS FANTASTIC

Brandon Flowers and the Killers from Mars:

THIS IS FUCKING FANTASTIC.

THIS BLOG

I think I'm gonna post mixes once a week from now on, so subscribe, bookmark or become a fan (whatever that new button is on the side) so you know when i post a new mix. They're gonna include new songs, old songs, and shit like that... but since I'm uploading them via yousendit, the amount of time you can download those things is limited to a week or something.

DOWNLOAD MY MIXTAPE.

I made a mixtape thingy for some work related thing, and I really love it. it's inspired by the book Twilight... you know, cos i'm 15 years old.

download mix here

1. Band of Horses - The Funeral
2. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
3. Beirut - Hallelujah
4. Cocteau Twins - Lorelei
5. The Decemberists - We Both Go Down Together
6. Dan Black - These Things Take Time
7. Duffy - Rockferry
8. Alexis Fox - Love is For Pussies
9. Echo and the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
10 . Interpol - Take You on a Cruise
11. Glasvegas - Geraldine
12. The Oohlas - All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
13. Radiohead - Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was
14. The Smiths - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
15. Bjork - Hyperballad
16. Why? - Close to Me
17. Ben Kweller - Today
18. InnerPartySystem - Die Tonight, Live Forever

ARETHA FRANKLIN AND ERYKAH BADU!!!!

is anyone else going to the 98.7 KissFM Liberty R&B Jazz Fest in NYC at liberty state park? Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu and the O'Jays are playing.

here's who is playing (or click here: http://www.987kissfm.com/rbjazzfest08/):

Saturday, September 13th 12 - 10 pm
Performances by Aretha Franklin• Erykah Badu • Leela James • Kem • Euge Groove • Bobby Caldwell • The Jeff Foxx Band • Jean Baylor

Sunday, September 14th 12 - 8 pm
Performances by The O'Jays • Kool and the Gang • Roy Ayers • Brian Culbertson • Gil Parris • Soul Generation • Elisabeth Withers

tickets: http://www.987kissfm.com/rbjazzfest08/tickets.htm

ANTHONY GREEN AND SAOSIN AND CIRCA SURVIVE

Ok, if i have this correctly:
Anthony Green used to sing in Saosin and left to start Circa Survive and then decided to do a side project under his own name...

Last night, super late at night when Steven's Untitled Rock Show played on my TV as I slept, I was woken up by the Anthony Green song "Dear Child." Too tired to listen to the song again or to properly wake up, I hit record on my DVR. This morning I watched the video 3 times before leaving the house and then 10 times today and then my friend Ben sent me this video which is the singer of Saosin singing with Anthony Green on "Dear Child" at a recent show. They look like they're having SO MUCH FUN:

WIN TICKETS TO SEE CHIEF TONIGHT!

http://www.nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=1923



Are you in NYC tonight? Want two tickets to see Chief? Pay attention.

Spacey Tracy's favorite band is playing tonight in New York City, and if you want two tickets to see them, do this:

Email freebiefriday@gmail.com (yes, we know it's actually Wednesday) with the subject line Chief, along with your full name, email, and phone number.

We'll pick one of you to get two tickets to see the band (yes, Chief) and you'll get a night of indie rock happiness, totally last minute.

Awesome, right?
FARAN KRENTCIL

www.chieftheband.com

OH THE OOHLAS

The Oohlas have posted two new songs on their MySpace page!!!

One is called "Toni and Di" and features Carina Round.

The other is called "Take Me Home."

Ollie and Carina fell in love like a year or so ago... the song they did together is so fucking good.

I think their Bauhaus cover of "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" is possibly better than the original.

THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUCKING AWESOME

Cheeky B*stard, Thursday August 28
US ROYALTY RECORD RELEASE PARTY
LUIZA OF CSS DJS
US ROYALTY AND BAND OF THIEVES PLAY LIVE

We've got a nice little indie rock line up for you this week, as we are hosting the Record Release Party for one of the most exciting emerging bands around: U.S. Royalty.
The lovely and talented Luiza of Brazilian indie-electro-rock outfit CSS will be DJing plus...
US Royalty will be performing live, along with the excellent Band of Thieves. Ooh Yeah!

Lucky Beer Open Bar 10pm-11pm

Free with RSVP - email Event@GBH.tv with your name and number of guests.

Hiro Ballroom: 371 W16th St. at 9th Ave
Doors 10pm. 21+ w/I.D.

THE VERVE ALBUM IS OUT NOW

The Verve album, Forth, is out TODAY!!!!

HORAY!!!!

CLICK HERE TO BUY IT.




UK:

• Deluxe Boxset: A deluxe boxset will be available solely from The Verve's Official Store. This version will consist of a double heavyweight gatefold LP vinyl (containing two bonus tracks not on the CD version of the album), limited edition CD & DVD edition of the album, and an exclusive memorabilia tour book.

• CD & DVD Package: Available from play.com for £8.95 Delivered: A special CD and DVD package, featuring an exclusive band documentary and live footage from The Verve's headlining appearance at Coachella in May 2008, packaged in a case bound tour book.

• Heavyweight LP: Available exclusively from The Verve's Official Store: LP includes 2 tracks not featured on the CD or CD/DVD albums.

• Original CD Album: You can also buy the standard CD album FROM The Verve's Official Store.

• Digital Download:
Itunes: If you pre-order the album from itunes you'll receive 'Judas' as soon as you place your order, as well as exclusive live versions of 'Lucky Man' live from Coachella 2008 and 'A New Decade' live from Glastonbury 2008.
7 Digital: Album Of The Week: 'Forth' is available at a special price of £5 until the end of next week.

US:

• Original CD Album: Available from Amazon for $7.99.

• Digital Download:Available for $9.99 from itunes, people buying from here will receive a bonus track ‘Mama Soul’ and an exclusive documentary feature.

THE VERVE PICTURE SPAM





::can now die happy that the verve have a new album out::

BAHAHAHAH

My friend Brian Montuori, who is also an incredible artist, sent this over to me the other day because it looks exactly like him. He suggested that I share it with his doppelganger Alex Shenitsky... but I thought I'd share it with the world as well. This dude in this photo looks so much like Brian. Less so like Alex, but funny none-the-less:

I GUESS THIS IS GROWING UP

I think a huge part of adulthood is the ability to admit and face your faults. Sometimes those faults are so hidden in the back of your subconscious, that they have a hard time coming to the surface. I think that's been happening to me lately. It simply took some sort of friendly reminder of conversations in the past, advice given in the past, and warnings given in the past. Admitting to yourself that you messed up is half the battle. Having the opportunity to admit to someone else that you really fucked up is the other half. I think that deep down inside I knew that, and that's why I was in such a funk for so long.

Human relationships are hard. I like the ones I have with animals.

Last night was the weekly Hanger Bar party, which I had to DJ alone since Karen has fucked off to the UK to visit friends and enjoy some festivals. I have some pretty awesome friends that decided to keep me company since I'm thinking about taking some time off from my Friday gig to enjoy the last days of summer without major obligations. Jordan Silver came. He's newly unemployed after giving up his amazing job at Tom Brown to become a poet. Writing that sentence is probably as weird as reading it. Peter Gaston came after spending the entire day at home working since the interwebs at his office went down. Nicole Smith came with her roommate for her last friday in NYC (so sad!!!!). Brian Battjer came. He's usually the voice of reason in my life and was the only person to help me get over my dog Maxine's death a few years back. Once again he came through. I love having him in my life.

I DJed a bit of 90s music -- as per usual -- but threw in a lot of modern tracks, which I have been slightly reluctant to play out. An adorable boy came over to celebrate my 90s selection and asked if I would play a Sugar Ray song. I know, I know, they're pretty fucking awful, but this boy was adorable and so I couldn't resist. He ended up pulling a pen from a book in his bag and jotted his number on one of my cd cases. "I'm here til tuesday... then I leave for Paris for 4 months. Please call me, I'd love to hang out with you." I asked him to include his name with his number and he was off. The week before a cute boy gave me his number and it was later revealed that he too would be leaving 4 days later for an extended period of time. Peter suggested that I make this a weekly occurrence: boys excitingly giving me their number... but only if they are here for like 4 more days. It's like traveling around the world, but without leaving the island.

Today I went to some outdoor electronic music thing called the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, with my friend Heather and Gurj... and Monkey! It was this cool thing by the Gawanus Canal in Carroll Gardens with electronic music (duh), delish mexican food, drinks, and your obligatory Brooklyn family or seven. Monkey was a huge hit and she nommed on corn on the cob like the cutest little alien dog that she is.

I'm off to the movies now with Brian, Meredith, Matt and Elle. We're going to see Topic Thunder or whatever it's called with Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. in black face. Matt and I were on the Weekly Riff on FUSE yesterday and the movie was one of the topics. I'm excited to see if it's actually any good. It's also nice to have Matt back in my life.

In case you missed the Weekly Riff last night, you can see something right here.

THIS EVENING

NEW INNERPARTYSYSTEM VIDEO

If you made a music video to capture the past ten years of my life, it would look like this:

STOLEN TRANSMISSION FOR THE WIN

For those of you wondering what's going on with Stolen Transmission, please click on the image below.

MY NAME IS GERALDINE, I AM YOUR SOCIAL WORKER

I'm obsessed, obsessed, obsessed with this song called "Geraldine" by Glasvegas.

The video is RIGHT HERE.

Here's an acoustic version:


The lyrics have been really speaking to me. I don't really know how to address a recent event in my life, but this song does it better than I could ever imagine someone doing it who doesnt know me:

when your sparkle evades your soul
i`ll be at your side to console
when your standing on the window ledge
i`ll talk you back from the edge
i will turn your tide
be your shepard and your guide
when your lost in the deep and darkest place around
may my words walk you home safe and sound
when you say that im no good and you feel like walking
i need to make sure you know thats just the prescription talking
when your feet decide to walk you on the wayward side
up upon the stairs and down the downward slide
i will turn your tide
do all that i can to heal you inside
i`ll be the angel on your shoulder
my name is geraldine, im your social worker


i see you need me
i know you do

I've been going out so much lately. I am really trying to get back to my old self that people who have been reading this blog say they miss. I miss her too, you know. I feel like i'm back at zero or closer to zero -- which is where I was when I started this blog which i used to document my adventures.

I spent the past two and a half years working incredibly hard on two things. By the end of the second year, one of those things started killing me inside. I would come home miserable and crying because I felt like things were beyond repair. When a plug was pulled I rejoiced. My life felt like it was given a second chance. Another aspect of my life was given a chance to be evaluated. Sometimes we evaluate the progress on things differently than people involved, but either way, that other thing in my life is over and now I'm back to being this little jewish girl living in her lower east side apartment, scamming after boys and falling in love with bands. The blockage has left the brain/heart.

I recently spent two days in Killers land with Karen. She and I needed a return to 2004 desperately. We went to see them at Highline Ballroom, which was a secret show I think, and my buddy Ryan Pardey (aka the Captain ... for fans of Sawdust) and his new band Halloween town, were opening. Ryan had given me the heads up about his band warning that I might not really like them... or i might LOVE THEM. I'm typically a supportive friend and am generally just happy to see people I know get on stage and perform in front of a group of people.

I forget how he described them to me, but I would describe them as being some what Grandaddy-ish. Less spacey and more to the point though. Anyway, at first I stood as close to the stage as I could get -- which happened to be next to a bunch of buddies I went to high school with in Tenafly. Karen stood behind me and we cheered our friend on in support. I wasn't a fan off the bat, but I thought they were good. I turned to Karen and said "They're not bad!" She shrugged her shoulders and nodded. By the time they played a song that might be called "I Miss My Wife," the entire audience was hushed, staring up onto the stage with their mouths hanging open.

Ryan is a brooding type of guy. He's over six feet, has red hair and a red beard and intense eyes. That's him on the left:


I eventually turned to Karen and said "Holy shit, they're fucking awesome." Something had suddenly connected with the band, Ryan, and the audience to this cosmic fantastic second. It was one of those revealing moments that I forgot existed. Finally, I saw Ryan as this wonderful performer -- the guy he kept on telling me he was -- and not just as the sweet dude I hang out with every few months and text with occasionally. Up on stage he was slowly transforming himself from awkwardness to Ian Curtis embodying frontdude (turns out he watched Control about three times that week).

I ended up rounding up my girls and forcing them on a road trip to the Foxwoods to see the band play. We managed to run down to the front of the stage and sing and dance to all the songs we love so dear. At one point Brandon waved at us -- not sure how he didnt laugh his ass off since we definitely looked dumb as fuck. Mark told us he tried not to look at us cos it would throw him off. After the show in the dressing room I told Brandon how I really needed to get back to 2004 and he thought it was crazy that I was nostalgic for that specific year. But things were just so much easier then, weren't they?

Here's Karen's photos from the foxwoods.

YAY! PARTY TONIGHT!

Ollie Stone sent that image to me. It's pretty epic.

THE COUNT *WAS* JEWISH

BATMAN THOUGHTS

I thought the movie was good, but I saw it just after going through something very personal, so I was in a darker place than most people seeing the movie.

Here's my thoughts... and there's no spoiler:

1. I disliked Christian Bale as Batman's VOICE. His performance was great, but his voice really threw me off totally. I also didn't feel like his character was developed enough. I guess it was really well developed in the first movie, so there's no need to tread on it, but some background would've been nice.

2. The depth of the Joker's psychosis really wasn't explored enough. Sure, he's got no real motives other than destruction, which makes him the ultimate socio/psychopath. However, I really think that his character would've truly benefited from having a hopelessly devoted sidekick or girlfriend. Someone who would do absolutely anything for him, and loved him and was just 100% trapped in his spell. Someone who the Joker would ultimately sacrifice, showing how deeply fucked up he really is. Killing a bunch of people you don't know and don't care about is easy in theory. Regular people do it every day. But killing someone that shows nothing but forgiving, non-judgmental, and hopeless devotion to you is truly the act of someone extremely fucked up. Like, killing the family dog -- it takes someone of a different caliber to do something as messed up like that, but those people exist. With any socio/psychopath, you have people that follow them and are devoted to them. That's what allows them to have power. It's almost impossible to understand their magnetism, but showing it, explaining it, would've really given Heath Ledger's role a lot more substance.

ERRRREYBOOOODY ROCK UR BODAYYYY

HEAR ME ON THE RADIO!

I'm gonna be on Matt Pinfield's show on 101.9FM Thursday morning at 8am in NYC. You can stream live: http://www.1019rxp.com/

I'm so fucking excited. I think i'm gonna be on the show ever week.

PARTY TONIGHT!

The Hanger Bar is on 3rd between Ave B & Ave C.
Tonight (Friday).
11pm - 4am.
All 90s music.

MARY-KATE AND ASHLEY

THANKS to JennyPenny and Andrew Borin for this.

"LOVE IS NOISE" VIDEO BY THE VERVE

Oh my goodness.

When I was 17 years old, I had a photo of Richard Ashcroft that I ripped from some magazine pasted onto my bedroom wall. Each night, before bed, I would look at Dicky Ash and wish him a goodnight before closing my eyes.

11 years later, and I would still do that.

Here's the band's new video.

The Verve - Love Is Noise


I wish it had those philipino prisoners in it instead.

IS BRIAN MOLKO MY LUKE SKYWALKER?

I sent my mom this picture of Brian Molko from Placebo and said "Look! it's like if I had a twin or if you had a kid between me and Lawrence!" My friends had always teased me that Brian and I looked almost identical, and even once when I met him pre-phone interview at a party he said "It's nice that I'll be able to put a face to the voice," to which my friend replied "You could put your own name to the voice! You guys look like twins!" Then someone at their label kinda freaked out when they saw me and him standing in the same sight line.

My Mom called me just now and was asking about him, what does he sing, do i like the band... and goes "is he egyptian jew? where is he from?" I told her Luxembourg and she said she had a doctor friend that was an Egyptian Jew with the last name Molko from Luxembourg.

So I kinda freaked out. What if I have been lusting after someone I'm related to for the past 10 years?! Oh my God. I told her I had a meeting and had to get off the phone to prevent hyperventilating.

I wikipedia'ed the name Molko and found that it was derived from the name Molcho, which is in fact, a Sephardic last name.

If anyone reading this is friends/in contact with Brian, could you please direct him to this posting? Thanks!

For reference, here's a picture of me from last year. I'm on the left:

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

I found a disc called "photos 2004" on my bookshelf and found these incredible gems taken summer2004ish.

You'll find photos of the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Killers, Green Day, Guided by Voices, Idlewild, Five O'Clock Heroes and tons of just silly times.

A little tip I gave to a new younger friend that I'll pass along to anyone else: never get depressed and drink yourself to happiness like I did. 6 Beers a Night = 20lbs extra baggage (more to love) and a pufffffffy face. At least just drink vodka sodas. less carbs.

FRIDAY NIGHT 90S PLAYLIST

Here's a section of what I played last night at the Hanger Bar. It's not my entire set, but only from when I remembered to start writing down what I was playing:

Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
Today - Smashing Pumpkins
Doll Parts - Hole
Bullet with Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins
Molly's Lips - Nirvana
1979 - Smashing Pumpkins
Debaser - Pixies
Somebody to Shove - Soul Asylum
36 degrees - Placebo
Laid - James
Movin' On Up - Primal Scream
Disco 2000 - Pulp
Breed - Nirvana
Trickster - Radiohead
Stay Away - Nirvana
To the One I Love - REM
What's the Story Morning Glory - Oasis
Hum - Sheila Divine
Loser - Beck
In the Meantime - Spacehog
Song 2 - Blur
I Wanna Be Adored - Stone Roses
Love Me - Cardigans
Trash - Suede
Violet - Hole
Sorry Again - Velocity Girl
Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
Waiting Room - Fugazi
Semi-Charmed Kind of Life - Third Eye Blind
When I Argue I See Shapes - Idlewild
Here and Now - Letters to Cleo
Stay - Lisa Loeb
Closing Time - Semisonic

* Thrid Eye Blind was played by request.
* If you never heard "Hum" by Sheila Divine, you MUST! It's so perfect.
* I know that Fugazi's "Waiting Room" was from 1989, but I stuck it in my playlist anyway.

NYC Kittens Need a Home!

My friend Elhaam rescued a mommy cat and her four kittens from a shelter about 7 weeks ago and she's looking for a home for them.

Read about them HERE

If you're intersted in adopting the kittens, you can reach out to Elhaam via her MySpace: myspace.com/elhaamlovesyou

THIS VIDEO IS A TRIP

REMEMBER ORCHARD BAR CIRCA 2005?

OK, so Karen and I have been doing the Hanger Bar for Stolen Transmission for a while, and it was kinda dead for a while. Well, not totally dead because it's been filled with our buddies and shit, but then... for the past few weeks, shit has been picking up. The dance floor has been like the Orchard Bar dance floor was when we did Stolen Transmission there with Ed, Dan, Mark, Josh and Eben. (by the way, they all got jobs which is why they're not at Hanger with us now... so sad)

TONS of making out
TONS of mayhem
TONS of dancing

But like it was with Orchard Bar, it's all done in a low-key way where you can hide and you can get away with being there with your friends and nobody will even know. Seriously, I can count on both hands how many times people were there, but I had no clue, but like, then they send me pictures and I'm like WTF? I don't know how that's possible, but it's been happening.

OK, and then remember at Orchard Bar when we'd DJ stuff like Harvey Danger and other 90s stuff and everyone would semi-freakout? Well, we finally took that as a hint and decided that we should be playing ONLY 90S MUSIC. That means you WONT hear MIA. you WONT hear the Ting Tings. you WONT even hear Joy Division. If you wanna hear those things, Trash does their party around the corner filled with tons of very fashionable PYTs. Our party is the anit-fashion....just like the 90s.

So put on your favorite doc martins, your favorite slip dress, your favorite converse, yoru favorite ripped jeans. Don't bother washing your hair, you'll sweat anyway... and washing your hair was so lame in the 90s.

See you tomorrow night, I hope. Oh, and add the party on MySpace.

SHE'S JUST BEING LOVELEIGH

Below is why I love the Misshapes:

ANIMAL LOVERS!

Become my friend on ZooToo... which is a social network for animal lovers that gives a portion of their ad money to animal shelters and stuff.

ZOMG! BRAD WALSH IS ON TV!!!

He is gonna be in the audience during Bravo's! A-List Awards thing.... he's even in the commercials! Mah frienz r so famuz.

BRAD WALSH'S BDAY!

I'm hosting this shindig with a few others:

THIS LOOKS LIKE FUN

I'm DJing this tomorrow:


And going to this tonight:

THE FUTUREHEADS' ALBUM IS OUT!

The Futureheads' newest album, This Is Not the World, is out NOW in the states! HORAY! The album was self-released by the band, and really fucking incredible. You can buy it on iTunes by CLICKING HERE

A WORLD OF PERFECTION!

There is so much amazingly perfect and wonderful things about this dress/hair combo of Lily Allen's, it's not even funny. I really hope she keeps her hair pink.

As Brad Walsh pointed out, Lily Allen has turned into Ollie.

I AM LOVING THIS:

PARTY TOMORROW NIGHT

GREAT NEWS FOR EAST VILLAGE WOMEN

Luis Garcia-Ponce, the man who attacked several of my female friends (which I wrote about here) in the East Village last summer, has finally pled guilty. In a couple weeks, he'll be sentenced to twelve years in prison for eight separate counts of sexual assault. The district attorney tells me he'll likely serve about ten of those twelve years, which is good enough for me. Following his sentence, his name will be added to the national sex offenders registry and he will be subject to deportation.

I WOULD LIKE TO MEET THESE CREATURES

Nick Snow (who is celebrating his graduation tonight at the Annex at 10pm, come down!) sent me this incredlbe link.

Go to the link, but here's a preview of what you will find...

PICTURES OF THESE GUYS:





I CANT FUCKING TAKE IT.

Why are they the most incredible looking things on earth?

I mean, their only real competition is Monkey:

(photo by my brother Lawrence.

IT'S FUN TO DO BAD THINGS

I have been seeing this clip on my new favorite TV show, Attack of the Show, and it's fucking incredible. This kid is amazing. I think he's HeyKerri's future husband:

WEEZER IS FINE BY ME

I love this video so fucking much:





and while you're on youtube... i finally figured out that the song "home" by great northern is in this nissan commercial. duh:

NIGHMARE OF YOU ARE ON TOUR!!!

The Bang Tour Has Started!

Nightmare Of You's tour with Paper Rival and Edison Glass has started! You can follow Nightmare of You on their tour adventures via twitter by adding them at twitter.com/nightmareofyou or by texting "follow nightmareofyou" to 40404.

Here are the dates:

May 15 2008 8:00P Middle East Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 16 2008 6:00P Webster Underground Hartford, Connecticut
May 17 2008 8:00P Xtreme Wheels Buffalo, New York
May 18 2008 8:00P Magic Stick Detroit, Michigan
May 20 2008 8:00P The Basement Columbus, Ohio
May 21 2008 8:00P Subterranean Chicago, Illinois
May 22 2008 6:30P Mojoes Rock House Tinley Park, Illinois
May 23 2008 6:00P Main Street Cafe Kansas City, Missouri
May 24 2008 8:00P The Marquis Theater Denver, Colorado
May 25 2008 7:00P Solid Ground Salt Lake City, Utah
May 27 2008 8:00P CHOP SUEY Seattle, Washington
May 29 2008 8:00P Downtown Brew San Luis Obispo, California
May 30 2008 8:00P Knitting Factory - LA Hollywood, California
May 31 2008 8:00P Chain Reaction Anaheim, California
Jun 1 2008 7:00P SOMA - Sidestage San Diego, California
Jun 3 2008 8:00P The Clubhouse Tempe, Arizona
Jun 4 2008 7:00P Club Congress Tucson, Arizona
Jun 5 2008 8:00P Rock Bottom San Antonio, Texas
Jun 6 2008 7:00P The Prophet Bar Dallas, Texas
Jun 7 2008 9:00P Stubb’s BBQ Austin, Texas
Jun 9 2008 8:00P The Conservatory Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jun 10 2008 6:30P Crush Lounge Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jun 11 2008 7:00P 2 Cents Plain St Louis, Missouri
Jun 13 2008 7:00P Fireman’s Hall North Caldwell, New Jersey
Jun 14 2008 8:00P Blender Theatre At Gramercy New York, New York

DEDICATED TO JASON CASTRO

HE SHALL BE MINE!

Once a week I have to head into NJ for meetings with a company I consult
for called <a href="http://www.zootoo.com"
target="_blank">zootoo.com</a>. Its a wonderful company that's created a
socially aware social network with aims of helping animal shelters and
celebtrating the great things about pets. It's also a great resource for
pet owners on health care for their pets, where to find groomers, and
meet ups.

On my first trip top the bus at Port Authority, I felt the back of my
dress being lifted. I thought my dress got caught up in my bag or
something and fixed it, only to realize that the young man behind me had
been lifting my dress and taking a photo of my goods with his
cameraphone. I tried to swing at him, I yelled at him, nobody did
anything. I went to get him but he disappeared and so I went to find a
cop. There were none. I yelled out for one, and still nada. I think I
wrote about that before.

Each week I see this perv and each week I let him know I'm onto him.
Weather it's a glare, an accidental shove, or a random crazy scream at
him, he knows I know who he is.

As luck would have it, this week I spotted him within 10 feet of 5 cops.
I made eye contact with him, he tried to hide, I told the cop what
happened and we chased afterhim... but he disappeared!

I will be back, same time same place tomorrow but I will have my video
camera to document the perv for everyone to see.

The game of cat and mouse is going to end. The mouse shall be the
victor!

I NEED WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS

As some of you might know, I have a new blog called AlmacksDanceHall.com that is a NYC show and nightlife based blog.

My editor wants there to be like 3 show reviews A DAY!

I, obviously, cant do this alone. So I'm trying to find people who are writers and photographers to help out. I'm looking for people who are energetic and excited about music and live shows. I want a personal and enthusiastic touch to the reviews. For instance, my brother wrote a love letter to the drummer of the Raveonettes.... that was personal and a fun read. I dont need this site to be the next pitchfork or brooklynvegan because those sites already exist. i'm looking for a site that reflects the experience of going to a show -- the people you meet, the songs you dance to, the puke you spit up at the end of the night... I'm looking for people to give me their personal diaries from the night.

If you want to write or take live photos for the site, please write me at: sarah@stolentransmission.com

Almacks will pay for your show tickets, cab ride, drinks, and an OK fee for your work as well as credit. I need reliable people who can turn things in either the same night or next day.

Please send me your writing clips (even if it's just a blog posting) and/or photos you've taken at live shows.

FIND ME. DRINK FREE!

Tonight Cartel are playing at the Blender Theater with I Am the Avalanche and afterwards I'm djing their afterparty!:



ALSO...

if you go RIGHT OVER HERE, you will find out how to win a pair of floor seat tickets at Jay-Z's show at MSG in NYC. OMG!

DUKE SPIRITED AWAY

Duke Spirit are so so s so fucking good!

In 2005 I went to Miami with the Misshapes and a bunch of friends for
Winter Music Conference and had to watch the boy I was in love with fall
in love with another girl right in front of my face -- almost throwing
it in my face -- and oh my god did it kill me. (Sorry if you're reading
this, btw, and know who you are... no hard feelings now, obviously!!!!)

Anyway, I think I killed everyone's mood on each drive from my parent's
condo in Hallendale to South Beach because I insisted on listening to
their EP over and over again to help me get through the heartbreak. It
was so fucking good and perfect.

Ollie Oohlas got into them about 2 yrs ago and kept on bugging me to get
back into them too. She had befriended the band and they stil remained
magical to her.

On Tuesday I got to see them at Bowery Ballroom and I swear to God, it
was like a time warp to the happiest years of my life as being a music
fan seeing shows and loving life.

The most magical time of the night was during "Sovereign" (which is
somewhere on my youtube.com/sarahlewitinn page). A disco ball spun
around over Leila's head as the entire room slowdanced with her. It was
fucking unreal. I wish I could go back to that moment every day and I
keep watching the footage on my camera whenever I'm out and needing
inspiration. Right now I'm in love and happy with almost every aspect of
my life, and so when I listen to that song it doesn't soothe a broken
heart... instead it feeds a happy soul. I keep wanting to do spins and
slow dance with an imaginary partner as I sit around listening to the
song.

Another test

Is this working
sent via sidekick

SING ME TO SLEEP

I saw Duke Spirit the other day at Bowery Ballroom, and fuck, am i in love. Seriously... i can't believe how fucking unbelievably that band is and Neptune is going to be one of my top ten favorite albums of the year. I really think that they could be the next Verve. Leila just has that Richard Ashcroft-ness to her that I can't really understand.

I wrote this pretty extensive love letter to her on AlmacksDanceHall that i think you should read.

Anyway... check out this video for "Sovereign"... incase you happened to see me on the subway today while I was listening to my ipod, i was listening to this song. It took everything in me to no do pirouettes in and out of the subway cars. God, this band is just fucking blissssss! OK, if they're not the next Verve, they could be the next Interpol! Either one I'd be happy with.

FIERCE TRANNY, A HOT MESS IN VEGAS

I'm going to Vegas tomorrow (FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE!?) with Brad Walsh, Christian Siriano, Geneva Valentine and Melissa Beck (from the Real World New Orleans!).

Yes, it'll be reality showtastic.

Even more so because Christian is JUDGING the Miss USA pageant and Tao is throwing him a party on Saturday and he was allowed to invite 15 friends, so that's how I'm going! Everything will be paid for and the Kardashians will be there so my ass might explode in jealousy.

Check out this video of me filming Brad as he's photographing me to test out lighting:


I am just really really really hoping to run into K.Fed there. If that happens, i will be so happy.

Also, i am giving away A PAIR OF 2-DAY PASSES on my new blog, AlmacksDanceHall.com.
Have you entered to win tickets to Coachella yet? No? You're a stupid idiot because you can win a free pair of 3-day passes just for signing up for this site by clicking here. Did I forget to mention that PRINCE HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN ADDED TO THE ROSTER?

i will say this much... not that many people have signed up for the tickets, so you have a pretty fucking incredible chance of winning.

Also, while I wont be at ST tomorrow at the Hanger Bar, you still should go for a very special STOLEN TRANSMISSION: ST GIVES BACK:

HOUSE OF WTF?

ALMACK'S DANCE HALL

Incase you didnt know, I'm blogger (and i guess editor) of AlmacksDanceHall.com - a live music and new update rock blog.

I do daily updates with show reviews and this feature i dubbed "red bull and adderall" ... which is just basically an afternoon news breif.

anyway, yesterday i was so fucking upset when i missed a show by a band called Drink Up Buttercup. I really think that they could be huge this year... or if not huge at least blog-loved. total blog rock. haha.

anyway, my buddy meridith valiando caught them and wrote this review about the show. maybe i'll see you at the next one!

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL LETTERS UNIT

CALL THAT NUMBER!

Decoy Music posted a disturbing Innerpartysystem TV interview. It appears to be a public access show. There's a number that flashes on screen: 646-510-0317. Call it.

Seriously, call it.

CLUB NME!!!!

If you're 18+ and love to dance and wish you were old enough to go to a fun party in NYC where there was great indie rock dance music and a pretty amazing photographer taking photos to post on your myspace/facebook/buzznet/bebo, then this is your jam: