Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero II
The Gizmonauts (featuring Grant on drums) rocked Boston & Providence. On to Windham, a sell-out performance every year... Tune in to 97.9 WRIP to hear our New Year's Eve show...

The Mark Twain House

In all of my years, growing up outside of Hartford, we had never visited the Mark Twain House. So this time, at The Wife's urging, we did. It was spectacular. Gorgeous and educational. Had a good tour and learned several facts including that Mark Twain paid the tuition for the first African-American graduate of Yale Law School. Also, when Ulysses S. Grant fell ill with throat cancer, Twain suggested he publish his memoirs which became the bestseller to that point, allowing Twain to present Grant with the largest royalty check to date of $245,000 - thereby saving Grant's family from destitution. More photos here.

Christmas in Connecticut

Opened presents with the Stubbses and then drove up to Connecticut. Had a nice time with the family, a nice dinner, and the Polish traditional "Oplatek" or Christmas wafer.

"I'm going away tonight."

May The Godfather of Soul rest in peace... A true legend, an American musical treasure and an innovator that most contemporary artists owe a great debt - The Hardest Working Man in Show Business has gone away...

Thanks for the music, James...

Merry Christmas

From us to you... Merry Christmas and best wishes for a very Happy New Year.

Impromptu Christmas Party

Had a few friends over for an impromptu Christmas party. Matt & Sean, JD, Bailey, Laurie, Lynne & Mark + fried food from Ziggi'z and lots of Christmas cheer. Then went out with JD karaoke-ing to the wee hours. A very Idol Christmas indeed...

A Chorus Line

Went to see "A Chorus Line" last night with Mr. & Mrs. Stubbs & Grant - their Christmas gift to us. A delightful evening even though I had to miss dinner due to a meeting and Charity thought the show lacked a little "oomph" compared to the version she saw when she was 8. But she still sang along to every song and Grant got extremely excited during the finale. Went to B. Smith's for a post-theater drink and enjoyed their enthusiastic attention and hospitality, with the waiter and manager noting our Playbills and coming to the table singing numbers from the show.

Musical Snobbery

The Wife (aka "Bride of Guzilla" or "Charzilla" in her own right) often accuses me of musical snobbery. While I would love to defend this as merely good-natured wifely ribbing, I have come to accept that a degree of this is true. But it's not entirely my fault. In fact, I maintain that if the bands I chastise or refuse to listen to were better, we wouldn't have this problem.

Musical taste is an intensely personal thing, to be sure. But there is a lot of empirically bad music out there. From the insidiously evil "My Humps" from the offensively manufactured Black Eyed Peas to the whiny collegiate Alt+Rock that people mistake for genius of a Coldplay, bad music seems to prevail.

And that's where the Internets really shine...

Firstly, it is now possible for smaller, lesser known bands to get their music out there and found via Myspace or equivalents, and there is a lot of great music available. Why, just look at Galactic. ("In my correct opinion" - a great band.)

Secondly, it is possible for people sitting in Peoria to now access truly World Music. (See Fela Kuti & Hugh Masekela.) And it becomes possible for similar artists to now get a global following where they had historically been working in obscurity & poverty.

But also, the faceless creative multitudes -- YOU -- awarded Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" can strike back in amusing ways.

Take prototypical "rock band" Nickelback for example... Now I admit getting sucked in to the wild popularity of 2001's omnipresent "How You Remind Me" -- how could you not when it was heard every 46 seconds? But I was not going to be fooled again by this band who took their name from their shared experience of working at a Starbucks and often giving customers change of a "nickel back." (this should have been warning enough) And that is where I applaud whoever the faceless genius was that exposed them for the talentless frauds they are:

By clicking here you can play their 2001 hit out of your left computer speaker, and their more recent hit "Someday" (2003) out of your right speaker. And quickly realize THEY ARE THE SAME SONG. Truly appalling. And I commend this person for illustrating this.

Well done, whoever you are. This is why YOU are Time Magazine's "Person of the Year." And Nickelback is not.

Bring back musical snobbery...

Cheese

My brother Chris sent me this video. Not sure exactly its provenance, but it appears we were at a rest stop. Always a good sign. Everyone likes cheese.

Lee & Grant

The 2 Coolest Guys in the Room
Originally uploaded by LTG.

Lee & Grant... Civil War generals? No, just two brothers-in-law rocking out late night at Stubbs Fest.

Annual Holiday Stubbstravaganza

Annual Holiday Stubbstravaganza
Originally uploaded by LTG.

A very Stubbs Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Boys' Night Out in Windham

Boys' Night Out in Windham
Originally uploaded by LTG.

Matt's Going Away Party

Matt's Going Away Party
Originally uploaded by LTG.

Mr. Stubbs & I drove up to Pathfinder to visit Grant & go to Matt's going-away party. Pizza, soda, cake & a fond farewell as Matt is returning to Seattle...

Dinner with Sallie Ann & Pres

Had dinner with leading New Orleans vodou priestess Sallie Ann Glassman, her boyfriend Pres Kabacoff, her brother and Matt & Sean at Piccolo. A great dinner and great conversation about the fate & future of New Orleans.

HAPPY SINATRA DAY!

Happy Sinatra Day to one and all... Celebrated annually in our household with the holy triumvirate of Italian food, Jack Daniels & the music of The Man himself, we wish many tidings of Frank upon you & your family this year. Ring-a-ding-ding baby...

TONCHAN!

all hail, Chikage "Tonchan" Kuroda was born on December 11, 2006. Mom Hiroko, Dad Renfield and "The God Daughter of The Guzilla" are all doing very well. Check out photos here.

Japanamerica!

Roland & LTG

Hosted the launch party for Roland Kelts' exceptional "Japanamerica" at The Cutting Room in New York City, featuring the music of Gaijin-a-go-go. Truly an epic evening... Photos!