Holy Crap! That 4.4 Quake Hit Hard!

Quake Info

A 4.4 quake just hit at 4:04 am. And boy did it hit hard for a 'little' quake.

It didn't last more than about 3 seconds, but it hit harder than any other quake I've felt in the 5 years that I've lived here. Here being the top, [4th] floor of a 40 year old apartment/condo complex. The kind with soft-story construction. i.e. parking garage for the bottom level. The same kind that pancaked in the Northridge quake.

This quake was just 5 or 6 miles from here, which is why it felt like something huge slammed into the side of the building. Small stuff was falling over, around me, in the living room. [Yeah, I was still awake at that hour.]

Quakes usually don't phase me, much. But with this one's wallop, my heart was pounding for a few minutes. Especially, after the devastating quakes Chile and Haiti went through in the past few weeks.

Ring of Fire, baby. It'll burn, burn, burn... someday.

I'm going to change my shorts, now.

Shake 'n' Bake 5.0 Style [downgraded to 4.5]

Info on this quake

For the latest quake info - 3.0 or stronger

My daughter and I just felt a very brief 5.0 [downgraded to 4.5] earthquake. It was centered about 2 miles from San Bernardino - about 48 miles East of where we are.

No damage, as most 5.0 quakes do little unless you're near to the epicenter. I hope they're OK in San Bernardino.

Funniest Response to a Lawsuit You'll Read All Day

LOS ANGELES – "Two and a Half Men" has spawned one major lawsuit.

Warner Bros. Television sued CBS in Los Angeles on Wednesday, claiming it is owed nearly $70 million for producing and licensing the hit sitcom.

Chris Ender, CBS' senior vice president of communications, issued a season-themed statement: "Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas."


Link to article

Rock 'n' Roll !!! [aka: Shake 'n' Bake!!!]

5.4 on the Richter Scale + On the top floor of a 40 year old apartment building = Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/index.html for recent earthquake info. Preliminary data indicates it was about 8 miles underground in Chino Hills. That's only 25 miles from here.

Seemed like it lasted for a very long 10-15 seconds. Trust me, it really does feel like a long time when you're in it. If you don't agree, then you've never been in one that was 5.0 or stronger.

I've lived all over the the States, and to my friends and family from the Midwest that say they'd rather deal with a tornado vs. an earthquake... you can have 'em! I've only been through a couple tornado warnings/watches, but while an earthquake affects millions at the same time, it usually does little to no damage. But a tornado... they absolutely rip buildings and lives to pieces when they hit populated areas. I'll stick with the earthquakes, thankyouverymuch.

WTF?

Hi.

It Takes The Police To Make Me Blog, Again

It's been 13 months since I've posted here. Nice.

I'm going to the Hollywood Bowl to see The Police and Elvis Costello & The Imposters, tonight. Parking is going to suck giant donkey balls, but the show should be great.

Elvis Costello will probably play a kick-ass 40 minute set. It'll be my first time seeing him play live.

I saw the Police last summer at their Dodger Stadium gig, with the Foo Fighters and Fiction Plane [Sting, Jr's band]

Tonight's setlist will most likely be:

Bring On The Night
Message In A Bottle
Walking On The Moon
Demolition Man
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Can't Stand Losing You [with regatta de blanc in middle]

Encore[s]

Roxanne
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

This is good to know, as I can plan a bathroom/merch/beer run, which I'll do during Wrapped Around Your Finger, since I don't care for that song.

Loves me some Regatta de Blanc, 'cause they rock on that one.

Youtube some Can't Stand Losing You to see what I mean.

Hippest Youtube Video Ever

Seriously. This version of "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MG's on "Shindig" is just swingin'!!!

Next show: Sat. May-12th @ The Regal Inn, L.B.

Criminal Sex Monkey are confirmed to play May 12th at The Regal Inn, on Carson in L.B.

It's neither regal, nor an inn. Apparently, it's a biker bar. So, leave yer Member's Only jackets at home, Skippy.

*****
Under the "Linkage" section to the right, I've added a link to photo albums for each of the Criminal Sex Monkey shows, along with links to our video clips and to a myspace page. Click 'n' enjoy!

Criminal Sex Monkey Went In The Studio...

New CSM logo by Chris Fry

Just a heads up for ya... Criminal Sex Monkey recorded four songs on March 3rd.

It'll take about a week for Black Star Productions to mix down. Then we'll have some mp3's for final approval, before we can start making discs to get into the hands of some booking managers, as well as our wonderfully supportive groupies & friends.

An actual Criminal Sex Monkey 'demo' disc/EP will exist. Holy crap.

And get this: it sounds pretty damn good. As in, when we heard our first take played back, raw, without any tweaking... we said 'holy shit!', is that us!?!

We did all the instruments at the same time, just like a live show and we only took 2-4 takes for each track. Then we did the vox. In only 1-2 takes, each. [Oh yeah. We're pros, now.]

Much, much credit goes to the guys at Black Star Productions, Jim and Anthony. [Great musicians as well.] So much thanks for their guidance, and especially for their time.

I'll be creating a specific CSM myspace band page to try and extract the band stuff from my personal myspace page.

Thanks for listening! - Edwood

The Police are Coming!

Okay... being a music freak of the '80s, I of course, am completely out of my mind with the thought of finally getting to see The Police, live. I've always regretted not seeing them when I was 16 and the Synchronicity album was huge.

So, I recorded the opening segment of the Grammy's on Sunday and was only disappointed that they played just one song. [Greedy, I know.]

Any reports I've read after the fact, have the opening announcement of, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are the Police, and we're back!" credited to Sting. WTF?!!!?

The second I heard it, I was thinking that's got to be Andy saying that! 'Cause it sure wasn't Stewart's voice, and it sure wasn't Sting's voice. So, why then, are all these "journalists" attributing it to Sting? [Because he's the "leader" of the band, dumbass."]

Does anyone have a idea on this??? Has anyone recorded and viewed the intro a handful of times?

UPDATE: okay... my senses must've been way off due to my 101+ fever from the flu. After a few more listens... it does sound like Sting. Doh. [Hangs head in shame.]

Next Show: Sat. Feb. 10th @ Swenson's - LBC

CSM band logo by Chris Fry

NEXT SHOW: Criminal Sex Monkey 8pm @ Casa de Swenson if you need last minute plans for this Sat. Nite!

The next Criminal Sex Monkey hap'nin' will be for guitarist/bassist's Eric's going away party & for band artist/sound man, Chris Fry's b-day party.

We'll be partying at drummer/vocalist Mike's house, again. It's on Stevely, if you recall from any of our other shows. Look for the Red Door. Contact me if you need the exact address, or if you want to be added to the evite. I'm not gonna blanket the evite with all your email addresses.

Next show: Sat. Dec-30th @ Tracy's Bar & Grill, L.B.

Scope out the cool Lego Rocker with a half stack!

That's right, Criminal Sex Monkey is a garage band no more!

The next show is set for Saturday, December 30th at Tracy's Bar & Grill in Long Beach.

Everyone is welcome! Contact me for specifics.

Under the "Linkage" section to the right, I've added a link to photo albums for each of the Criminal Sex Monkey shows, along with links to our video clips and to a myspace page. Click 'n' enjoy!

Next show: Sat. 9/30 - Long Beach

Trevor joining us for "Rob Religion"















I think I can play drums, too. [What a dumbass.]

This post is for the crickets I hear when I come to this website.

The next Criminal Sex Monkey show has been set for 8pm on Saturday, Sept 30th. It'll be at the drummer, Mike's, house on Stevely near CSULB, again.

This'll be our 6th show. [Cool.]

Everyone is welcome! Contact me for specifics.

Under the "Linkage" section to the right, I've added a link to photo albums for each of the Criminal Sex Monkey shows, along with links to our video clips and to a myspace page. Click 'n' enjoy!

Next show: Sunday Sept 3rd - Westwood

Jammin' in Westwood

UPDATE: Slideshow

Here's the update: It's a private party. Mike, the drummer, sent out the email invite based on the bday guy's wishes -

Any, and all, women are invited. [Cool!]

Guys... if you didn't get the email... see you at the next show! [Sorry.]

Party starts at 5:30pm, band plays 6-7pm.
Bring beverage-type fun; the rest is provided.
Contact me for directions, info, or general naughtiness.
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For the one or two of you that stumble across this site...

An update! [Nice, huh?]

Just confirmed today: Sun. 9/3, Criminal Sex Monkey will be playing a party, up the 405, in Westwood. [Specific time, and the address, are forthcoming.]

It'll be a shortened show... only about an hour.

Apparently, the masses have spoken, and 1.5-2 hours of CSM is too much.

This just came to mind... is this a private party or is everyone welcome???

I'll update this entry when I get the specific time and location.

Video Clips of the Band Uploaded

I finally culled some more video clips from our last 3 shows.
[Heh. Yeah, outta 4 total.]

Click link for more Criminal Sex Monkey Videos

Edz Dragnet

Next show: 4th o'July - Long Beach

This Carlo Robelli put a lump on my head at the May 6th show, but I got my revenge!!!

Not that anyone is looking at this, [those that would, prolly have already been to myspace] but my band, Criminal Sex Monkey, is set to play our friend's BBQ on the Fourth of July. Everyone should already have plans, though. Even just to veg and watch TV. I would.

We have another show confirmed, out in BFE [aka: Rialto]. The date is TBD, though. Go figure.

Oh, BTW, I'm in a band. You can quit laughing, now. Really. Thanks. Appreciate it.

Always been a huge music freak, but never was good enough on guitar to play in even a shitty garage band. Well, now I am good enough... for a shitty garage band.

So, Mike, Rob and I started a band in the summer of '05. I played bass, just because that's what we needed. [Mike on drums & vocals, and Rob on guitar & vocals.] We have been searching for a bass player, so that I could be the lead guitarist [no vocals]. We may have found one, but it's not set in stone. We'll see. I'm just glad to be able to play some guitar for a change. And, as of last week, I'm now gonna be singing lead on a couple songs. [ holy crap ]

Trivia in case we get HUGE: Band name for 1st show was Medical Bitch Monkey, but Mike recalled it incorrectly for the evite as Criminal Sex Monkey... which we used for the 2nd show. It stuck. A logo has been informally commissioned, as well. [Wow, it's almost like... a real "band".]

We play mostly 90's KROQ music, but throw in some 60's rock, punk, a handful of originals, and even a little "Bust A Move" by Young MC.

circa May 06, 2006 [Mike steps out front and Trevor sits in on drums.]

Los Amigos H.S. 20th Class Reunion

It's been 20 years. So, last week, a nice-casual, wedding reception-styled, reunion was set up for the classes of 1980-1986, since my class alone wouldn't have been able to pull it off for an acceptable price per person by itself. Hence, my older sister, Angela ['81] was there, as well. Cool, but kinda strange.

Outta the 450 or so people, about 50 were from my class. Most were from '80-'81, it seemed. Hell, the classes of '80, '81 & '82 were long gone before I was even a freshman, so I knew exactly two of them. My sister and her friend next door, Tanza. [Oh, and Joe McGinley's brother, Frank, too.]

Was a very good time. Great to see old friends. Ed Enzmann stands out. I'll be emailing him very soon, so that it won't be 2016 before we speak again.

Was also great to see Joe McGinley, Vince & Chris Bonham, Mike Gonzales and his wife, Amanda [formerly: Devine.], among many others. Too many to name. Party ended at 1:30am, but I stayed 'til about 3:30am with about a hundred others in the hotel, to keep it going. [The last left around 4:30am, I heard.]

And of course, my long-time friends, Jason & Holly Reed, and Gary Gonzales were there. Always great to see them. I love 'em.

So, as I said, it was a good time. But I can't help wondering that it would've been even better with just the class of '86. The 10 yr reunion was fantastic 'cause we all knew each other. And not so much dancing, we mostly just talked and caught up. [Then again, now at this age, most have kids and a night out of dancing is a rare treat.]

Here's to old friends, long-lost friends, & life-long friends. I'm a lucky guy.

Long time, no blog.

It's 'bout damn time I updated this blog, huh?

When Mike, the drummer in Criminal Sex Monkey, went to China on business for four months [!], he started a myspace page and blog to keep everyone Stateside up to date.

So, I created a page to be able to leave him comments... and that's where my miniscule time allocation for posting entries has gone.

We'll see how this progresses. Again.

Thank you. Please drive thru.

Up and At 'Em

This entry started life as a comment I was posting at JSDC. [I'm starving for a long overdue lunch, so I'm not gonna make it a hyperlink, right now.]
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I just woke up a half hour ago. [It's 5:22pm PDT]

I CLEARLY suck at the "up and at 'em" that I should be taking on.

Would be great if 12 hours in bed [yep, hit the sack at 5am] yielded about 12 hours of sleep, but... had trouble falling asleep, so I read a finacial book by Ron Insana for 40 mins. Slept for about 6 hours, then off an on for about the next 5. The last 3 spent mostly daydreaming. Not about being obscenely wealthy so I could continue my lazy-ass ways. But...

about how we could revamp our gov't with an equally viable third party [Libertarian] to shake up the Asses and Dumbos; switch to a consumption tax, instead of income; make it irresistable to Big Oil to convert their business primarily to hyrdogen so we could say a BIG "FUCK YOU" to the middle east, and everybody on all sides that bitch about America's reasons for being over there. [esp. Iraq]; how it's been shown that if we'd just hold gov't spending to current dollar amounts for a handful of years we'd SERIOUSLY whittle down the deficit and that if a President & Congress that could miraculously agree to hold spending, not decrease or... y'know, then holy shit Batman!, they'd look like friggin' geniuses!!; then with all the increased revenue from the consumption tax we could work on Medicare, Soc. Security, etc... and that was my fruitful 3 hour daydream.

What a waste of time.
Thinking about how much better things could be.

Or maybe it wasn't.
Or maybe it won't be.

Sounds like life...

The thing that I've been avoiding,
by staying in bed for too long.

Tennis, Anyone???

They must've known we were coming.