Rhythmism.com

mike you really need to post pics.

this is one of my all time favorite cities.
the walk on the palais is incomparrable.
women in floor lenght furs stepping out of half a million dollar auto's clutching a little dog and strolling on a palm tree'd beach...
NICE. Yes. NICE is a great resteraunt that looks out to the beach...an ENGLISH CHEF? Yeah. prepares an obscene meal with intermezzo's galour. it's like 10 courses

go up into the mountains and check out the view from there.
try to go to Monaco bitch......

oh! i have to get rich soon and just leave for the French Riveria......
Dirty. Rotten. Scoundral.

Someone's been watching Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous again.

Glad you are having a good time. SOOO jealous. And I want lots of pics and stories when you get back!

I am sooooo glad you added this! this is a huge pet peave of mine. honestly, all big girls should wear a bra. and not just a bra, but a really good bra. nothing ruins an outfit more than a pair of big floopy boobies, imo. please see pictures of prego Britney for example.

Perhaps William Gibson is right and your "mortal soul is leagues behindyou, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought you there, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can't move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage." Hope you get yours in time to have fun...

My mom's there right now. Lucky wench. BTW if you run into Natalie Portman please tell her that I will gladly be her servant for the rest of her life. I'm so digging her new shaved head.....

ok, i'm in lausanne, switzerland and i was ready to post another bit of my trip but this shining reject of a hotel doesn't have high speed internet in the rooms, won't connect to my laptop in the business center, and has the french keyboard.

it's really the last bit which is the kicker.

i have to shift to use numbers and periods???

the 'm' is where the semi-colon should be?? maybe this is why the french are known to be ineffectual.

five star hotel my ass.

just for fun, here's what a sample writing would look like on this keyboard:

the auick brozn fox ju,ps over the lqwy dog:

i hqd q pretty long story to tell you thqt i zrote zhile i zqs on the plqne; but itùll hqve to zqit until to,orroz:

bitch, post some pics!

sound like you're having a great time. Lausanne is a beautiful, the whole Lake Geneva area is amazing.

post pics!

today is a hell of a day. i fly back to cannes at 11:10pm out of JFK.

i have about 3 hours of office work to do in jersey. i have to get a haircut, find a freaking "elegant gold and creme" outfit for thursday, a new pair of shoes, and pack for a trip of 12 days.

i am going to:

Cannes
San Francisco
Chicago
Bangkok
Jersey Shore

in that order, and no, i'm not at all pleased about that last one. . . after something like 16-20 hours in airports and on planes, i will be doing a party at Club XS. (Nothing against the club or the promoters, but I'm sure my tolerance for what i'm going to have to deal with will be nil.)

on the lighter side, i have 7 days off. i haven't had this much time on my hands since. . . oh, January 2004. i'm not kidding.

on the heavier side, i went to tony luke's on 42nd and 9th ave and had a roast pork italian hoagie, and god damn that was good. i'm gonna miss that when i go to the land of cured pork.

why did this get moved to globalism?

i have 45 minutes to pack my life for 12 days and 3 continents.

then JFK.

then drinks on the flight.

then sleeeeep.

(btw- i found the outfit. i like it, but it's all about the shades. . . pics to come.)

thanks for the call "EX FRIEND"

So, how's the trip? Can't wait to see the pics...imagining a sea of "creme & gold"

i'm off to the ball!

i'll send my regards from rhythmism to naomi campbell!!

u see...

this is how it goes. just back to my hotel room and i have about 10-15 minutes before the car is supposed to come and take me to the airport.

i'm drunk.

i stink.

i shouldn't be posting, but i am. booya.



i was on a boat. i didn't have dinner. i drank champagne and vodka all nite long.

nice.
nice.
nice.

thank god i have a litre of water. and two and a half hours to my flight.

see you on the west side.

~m

all right.

16 hours of flying and one day later and i've made it to San Francisco and i've brought the weather from Cannes with me.

it's an absolute beautiful day and i've visited the farmer's market at the port and had a wonderful breakfast.

i arrived last night around 11:30pm, went out to Bambuddha to have some food and drinks and met with friends. . . fixed their sound system (work never ends). . . saw Kevin who used to run the door at DT's Be Yourself at Vinyl/Arc.

he was serving me. i got a big kick out of it. i'm sure he spit in my food.

today we have a Giants game, some fireworks, a Burning Man fundraiser, and afterhours at the EndUp to keep me busy.

i slept like a log on a bed for the first time in 3 nights. so i feel pretty up to it.

all this and i still haven't received any phone calls from the boss-man. so it really IS a vacation after all. . . so far.

btw - this entire forum / article / bloggy thing has operated under the assumption that everyone knows what i do. i realize that may not be the fact.

i'll elaborate in a longer post later. for now, i gotta get off the net and enjoy my day. it's the only weekend off i've had since January and i plan on enjoying it to the fullest.

Aww you saw Kevin!! Nice.. truly a small world after all.

Haven't seen you in a dog's age.. glad to hear you're well.

i went to the Cubs game last night with Steve (nyc420).

there's nothing quite like Wrigley Field. . . there's really only two other "classic" ballparks that are on it's level: Boston's Fenway Park and NY's Yankee Stadium.

the Cubs were playing the Houston Astros, and it was a historic series because it was the first in Chicago history that took place entirely at night.

i know this doesn't sound very major, but for Chicago, it was huge.

Wrigley Field is in the middle of the North Side of Chicago. . . a very affluent community who's board holds a lot of reach.

imagine a ball park in the middle of Chelsea or Park Slope and you're beginning to get the picture.

the Cubs were always relegated to having day games because of this. the fear is that with more night games will come more drunken brawls and crime in a neighborhood that wants to keep it's property values high. (god knows there's nothing like drunken white college students taking a piss on your perfectly molded front lawn!!)

i could be wrong, but i think the Cubs only play something like 20-30 home night games per year. when you think about it, so what, right? but delve deeper into it and you'll find that most every other team has the majority of it's games at night.

imagine coming back from a road trip out west where you ended a game at 9 or 10pm Western time. then you get on a plane to come back to a home game which is going to start at 1pm.

jet lag city.

i can understand why the Cubs have sucked for so long. . . having to perform after a sub-par rest with an ever changing schedule ruins your mojo.

but this series was supposed to be different. what was the score at the end of the night? Astros 5, Chicago 1.

sigh.

on a lighter note, Steve and I drank shitloads of beer. ate salted peanuts and hot dogs. . . oggled the lovely Cubbie ladies. . . and generally continued drinking into the very late night.

i met up with one of my college friends at a bar nearby and told old stories and caught up on gossip.

i also played the jukebox:

dusty springfield - son of a preacher man
weezer - say it ain't so
red hot chili peppers - suck my kiss
prince - 7
journey - lovin', touchin', squeezin'
deee-lite - groove is in the heart
REM - it's the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine)
parliament - flashlight
tom petty - here comes my girl

thx to steve for the couch to pass out on, and his dvr for endless entertainment. . .

speaking of a MAJOR mind scramble. . .

i'm in Tokyo's Narita Airport right now, waiting for my connecting flight to Bangkok. the flight was 12 1/2 hours long, and i slept in 1 1/2 hour intervals.

they fed me 3 times.

i ate once.

i drank two jack and cokes, one sapporo, and at least one litre of water.

my ipod battery is dead. (thank god for backups.)

i'm reading 'The Tipping Point' by Malcolm Gladwell and am already halfway thru it. i have to save the other half for the return flight.

it's 5:20pm Friday. i think i arrive 11pm in Bangkok.

that's a total of 20 flying hours. 2 hours layover.

i leave Bangkok at 6:45am Sunday.

that's 31 hours in Bangkok. then back to Jersey.

31 hours of time on the ground, 40 hours of flight time.

you do the math.

I love this thread.

Tipping Point is a cool book...and nice Chitown stories... that will be me sitting at Wrigley with Steve soon!

Noisey - any chance you will you be in SE Asia again in July?

Safe travels, my friend.

Naomi Campbell’s 23rd Birthday Party: Part ??*

Last year Erick was invited to Naomi’s Bday party. She appeared in his music video for “Break Down the Doors” with the Audio Bullys, and she’d asked him to spin at her party in St. Tropez. He happily accepted . . . and that made me happy, because wherever Erick spins, I’m not far behind.

I really don’t remember much about that party. The reasoning? Open bar.

For a party of several hundred, there was only one bar and four bartenders. Guests were throwing around 50 Euro tips like they were Kleenex just to get the attention of the bar staff.

I’m obviously not bankrolled like that, so I had to do my best to get attention at the bar –or- make friends with the thick money-clipped clientele. . . I planned on drinking heavily that night.

I’d started out with champagne, with J&B on the rocks to sip.

Cirque du Soliel was performing inside what could only be described as a giant, see-through penis on a dock. I kid you not. There was a contortionist and some lady hanging from scarves inside. It was very French-Canadian, but I wasn’t going to delve into the meaning behind it. . . I was there to drink, schmooze, and meet some ladies that, until that point, were out of my grasp.

Once Erick went on, he uttered the magic words, “Mike, you don’t have to work tonight. Have fun.”

With that, I made a mad dash back to the bar and my memory faded with each passing second after that.

I do know that I met Adrien Brody (dressed as some lanky druid) and started in with the tequila shooters.

I do know that I was jolly enough to grab every available girl from the dancefloor and bring them to the makeshift dj booth.

I do know that I started cavorting with a fine group of young phillies, and had porn star dreams circling my head (much like a cartoon wolf after getting nailed by a frying pan) near the end of the party.

I also know that I lost my camera in a drunken haze once the party ended.

I remember calling a good friend early that morning after everyone had left the party, leaving me to clean up the equipment I set up for Erick’s show. It was a bitter call. . . with no ladies left, a massive hangover ready to hit me, and a flight less than 5 hours away, I needed to vent.

It was not well received to say the least.

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged out the car by my armpits with my luggage strewn across departures terminal in Nice. I packed? How did I get to the car? Who's sweater vest was this?

My brain felt like pancake batter . . . everything was nine feet away, and every step sent shivers through my body. The thought of food made me sick, and the line through passport control gave me the impression that we were all waiting for government cheese.

I purchased two bottles of water, got on the plane, and vowed that next year would be different.

to be continued. . .







* i have no idea how old she is, i figure women stop aging at 23, every bday after that is a sequel.

i'm sorry, but i just had to. . .

Bangkok; oriental city –
But the city don’t know what the city has kept;
The crem de la crem of the chess world in a show with everything, but Yul Brynner.
Time flies -
Doesn’t seem a minute since the Tyrolean spa had the chess-boards in it.
All change –
Don’t you know that when you play at this level, it’s no ordinary venue:
It’s Iceland, or the Phillipines, or Hastings, or… or this place!
One night in Bangkok, and the world’s your oyster!
The bars are temples, but the bills ain’t free.
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister!
And, if you’re lucky, then the god’s a she.
I can feel an angel slidin’ up to me.
One town’s very like another one –
Your head’s down over your pieces, brother.
It’s a drag – it’s a bore to be lookin’ at the board, not lookin’ at the city.
Whaddaya mean?
You’ve seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town…
************
Get tied!
You’re talkin’ to a tourist whose every move’s among the purest.
I get my kicks above the waistline, Sunshine.
One night in Bangkok make a hard man humble!
Not much between despair and ecstasy.
One night in Bangkok, and the tough guys tumble!
Can’t be too careful with your company.
I can feel the devil walkin’ next to me.

Siam’s
Goanna be the witness to the ultimate test of cerebral fitness.
This grips me more than would a muddy old river or reclining Buddah.
Thank God I’m only watching the game – controlling it.
I don’t see you guys waging the kind of mate I’m contemplating.
I’d let you watch - I would invite you,
But the queens we use would not excite you.
So you’d better go back to your bars, your temples
…Your ‘massage’ parlors…
One night in Bangkok, and the world’s your oyster!
The bars are temples, but the bills ain’t free.
You’ll find a god in every golden cloister!
A little fresh, a little history.
I can feel an angel slidin’ up to me.
One night in Bangkok make a hard man humble!
Not much between despair and ecstasy.
One night in Bangkok, and the tough guys tumble!
Can’t be too careful with your company.
I can feel the devil walkin’ next to me.




and one more thing. . . i'm staying at the Sukhothai Hotel.

here's my room #. . .



i'm sorry, i'm staying in the suk-ho-thai hotel and they give me the Baby Carrot suite??

the world moves in mysterious ways. . .

im'ma hit da pool.

respek.

quality

i have 20 minutes to pack and get to my car.

20 more hours of flight time, to end up. . . at the jersey shore.

i didn't get to see ANY of bangkok, unless you consider "seeing" it the drive from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to the venue.

the gig was fine.

i've inherited another bag from erick. . . making my bag total 4.

i need to shower and eat.

i need a drink.

SUCK!!!!!

Back in Tokyo, and I am in absolute pain. My appetite is non-existant. I only sleep in hour-and-a-half sessions.

I've started drooling all over myself whilst I sleep. . . I can only imagine the translucent line of drool extending from the corner of my mouth to the sleeve of my left arm . . . when air filtration system comes on, it bows and flexes in the breeze. It may be oddly hypnotic but completely bizarre. Isn't flying chic?

I've spent the entire lifetime of most cocooning insects on flights this week. . . don't believe me? Check this out:

Mar 17 - JFK to Nice, France
Mar 20 - Nice to JFK, JFK to San Francisco
Mar 23 - SF to Chicago
Mar 26 - Chicago to Tokyo, Tokyo to Bangkok
Mar 29 - Bangkok to Tokyo, Tokyo to JFK

how many times can one man watch "In Good Company" without acquiring something that resembles a nervous tick? i fear the first time "That '70's Show" is on in my viscinity because i am just going to snap.

and i've become a total emotional wreck. any sort of sentimental dreck they put on the video screen and i'm a teary-eyed bastard. . . "Finding Neverland?" forgetaboutit. "Spanglish?" gire la fuente. "The Incredibles?" THE INCREDIBLES FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!!

that's not even considering the phsyical changes i'm going though. at a certain point you start to believe that the free radicals in airplanes will start to change your facial features. . . case in point. . .

healthy mike. . .



free radical mike. . .



this ain't a pretty picture.

this is when the rough part really starts.

it is 5am, and i am siting in front of the computer, just clicking away. . . not really looking for anything. . . when i should be cleaning my room, preparing for my last week in NYC. . . paying bills. . . tending to my body hair. . .

but instead, i'm listening to Bloc Party and re-organizing my music collection.

why?

(not a rhetorical question. . . more of a plea for help.)

You know it girl! Can't wait to have you in town.

Mike, damn good times bro. I hardly remember watching the game cause I was so into all the great stories you had. Was good to see that you made it off to Toyko on time the next morning. Have a great time in Ibiza, and hit me up again next time you're in Chitown.