September weekend.....

September is in full swing and after the melancholy that I was feeling a bit last week it was high time that I went out and did the things I enjoy doing. Remember, we're only on this ride once, better make the best of it!

I spent some time at the art table last week. Finished the painting of a Lhasa (maybe a bearded collie - I had taken the photo so long ago!) on Thursday night. Then J came home with the news that Gut is moving their rehearsal space out of Denby Street and possibly getting a space down in Southie! Oh NO! J & I were fortunate enough to go down to Denby (walking distance from the Allston SkyBox) and not only listen to some great metal by Gut but also got to know a slew of great musicians down there.. Dr. Enemy, Planetoid to name a few. Alas, it is the end of an era for us but the music won't stop. And it may be better that we cut down on our cocktail intake during the week :)

Lhasa in Black and White

5"x7" watercolor

This painting didn't take too long to do but I really pushed it over the edge and was able to bring it back. There's a fine line between done and overdone. This may fall into the category of overdone. When I'm not working on commissions, I tend to use things that I normally wouldn't use and in this case it was one big round watercolor brush that holds a TON of watercolor. I had done my "paint lines" in his ear. (I also find that I prefer to paint these types of dogs for the brushstroke mimicking the long hair.) I took the big brush, dipped into some grey tone and went over the ear. Because there was so much water in the brush, not only did the paper begin to warp a little bit but it made my "paint lines" into one grey mash mess. Oh crap. What do I do in these situations???? Walk away. Far away. So I did. Picked up a book on Hopper and started looking at his paintings.... Then went back to the painting, did a dry test with my finger and then went back over the grey mess with more "paint lines". Well, not as dramatic as I hoped I stopped painting after that and considered this work to be done.

Thank God it's Friday rolled around and J, T and I went to go check out Planetoid!! They're SO MUCH FUN!! They also played with Prospect Hill (God, they were awful!) and Onyx (they were fun but in a nostalgia kind of way)

Planetoid

I highly recommend these guys if you like what I like to call GrooveRock or GrooveMetal. Hard enough for the boys to rock, groovy enough for the girls to dance! Their shtick is that they are Time Travelers from outer space and they're here to over come the planet with their music. Yes, they just might succeed! LOL check out the Myspace page for more info http://www.myspace.com/planetoidmusic

Saturday, J, S,R & myself went down to the Guru Room in Plymouth. http://www.reverbnation.com/venue/thegururoom Yes, Plymouth. If you don't know, this is a 45 minute ride to the South Shore and is a townie kind of town. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think people should move out and experience somethings out of their 15 square miles of comfort. (Both mentally and physically). But we were down to support our friend P who was filling in as the drummer for the Kristian Montgomery project. http://www.myspace.com/kristianmontgomery Thank dog S drove because I needed beers to get through this. It wasn't that bad, just kinda boring. I mean, I like a music that's going to shake me up a bit. Edgy, hard, groovy, spacey..... this had none of that. I'd say they were like an REM on a bad day. Kris is a good singer and the band played well (especially my friend P - but I'm biased) but it had nothing to it. And the Guru room? WTF? The water tasted like rust! And they had this big LCD screen in the back that kept showing a loop of the same 10 pictures of a different band and drunk girls. Shut that sh*t off. It's distracting and doesn't help the band that's currently playing. Oh and speaking of drunk girls, the Guru room was full of 'em! You can dress them up, but you can't take them out LOL

And then it was Sunday

Sunday are horseback riding days and I like to go to Chrislar farms up in Rowley MA. http://www.chrislar.com/index.html I swear to God, riding is better than therapy. There's something about horses, getting dirty, riding them and being in control. If you've ever thought about riding and you live on or around the North shore, give them a call. Let them know you heard about them from me :)

This week is J's big bday!! Happy Birthday to my main man!! We're headed up to Vermont on Thursday after watching the triple bill of Deftones, Mastodon and Alice In Chains. So a short work week for me and it's going to be a hell of a good time - Yee Haw!