September 28, 2007 by PT Rothschild.

THE JENN GRINELS SHOW & CD REVIEW

One of the rare moments occurs when you hear and see someone so fetching to the ear that the experience stands out, in and of itself. On Thursday night down at Cuppy’s, aka Java Jo’z, Jenn Grinels provided the audience such a moment. Hailing from San Diego, Jenn brought the coffee shop to a halt with her stunning vocals and original songs, although she did throw in a cover or two, and even these were done in a very original fashion. Jenn’s voice has a ‘torch song’ soulfulness to it that perfectly conveys the ‘lost in love’ lyrics that she writes. She is very polished in vocal delivery and though she has a very strong voice, she doesn’t overpower the mike. She ‘wowed’ the room and Jeremiah from Panda Media and I were right there to find out info on this extraordinary new discovery as soon as she packed up her guitar. The good news is that Jenn has agreed to roll back up here and sing for the next drum circle at Javas on October 9. Stay tuned for more details on this upcoming show.

Recently the IE Weekly did an article on the growing DIY phenomena that is rewriting the whole mainstream record industry. Jenn Grinels’ CD ‘Little Words’ shows just how much fun the DIY approach can be without the ‘suits’ looking over your shoulder determining this and that. The cover has an proletarian look to it that is professionally done. Inside the original artwork and hand written notes remind one of a bootleg, but then again this belies the professional intent with which this well crafted and very well mastered CD was done. I was loving the CD before I ever listened to it. Listening to it certainly didn’t diminish my expectations either. Jenn’s voice really has to be heard to be believed. It’s jazzy in its pacing, soulful in its delivery, heartfelt in its sensuous tone, and the poetic timing of the words speaks volumes. This is a singer that you know will be discovered, and soon I hope. Jenn is getting ready to embark on a west coast tour but if the drum circle night is her next appearance at Javas, I urge everyone reading these words who lives locally to be there for two reasons. Jenn puts on a heck of a show and really commands the stage when she is on it. The other reason is to pick up a copy of her CD and listen to her voice, which is head and shoulders above most singers you hear, signed or unsigned. As one North County Times reporter put it, she is one of the top singers on a very short list in San Diego, or anywhere else for that matter, and these old ears have heard a ton or two of songbirds over the years. It will be interesting to see how the future unfolds for this soon-to-be legendary singer.

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September 28, 2007 by PT Rothschild.

HILLARY & OBAMA WAFFLE ON ‘WAR’, NOT SO WITH RON PAUL


As most of the Democratic and Republican hopefuls for 2008 waffle on the invasion of Iraq, calling it a ‘war’, Republican Ron Paul was not budged in his denoucement of this illegal ‘war’ by calling this sow’s ear a silk purse. Sign up now to support the only candidate willing to tell the truth. Go to http://www.ronpaul2008.com/ and join the Rebel alliance. See archive story for Ron Paul’s eye opening voting record.

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September 27, 2007 by PT Rothschild.

THE LATEST GRIND AROUND TOWN

Murrieta, CA – For those who wander off the Starbucks caffeine carpet, the ones who aren’t ‘sheeple’, a new roast is being brewed up in the form of being outside the can, as coffee doesn’t come in a box. At Cuppy’s, aka Java Jo’z, this past Tuesday, the word having gone out, promoted successfully by Ivan Promotions, that a drum circle would be held at the coffeehouse scene spot. As Johnny the owner readied the sound check, the first pickup truck pulled into the parking lot with a set of various types of drums showing from the truck bed. As the front patio crew sat in the cooling evening air, more cars and trucks arrived, along with people carrying (drum) sticks, metal bowls, and silver spoons. Before long the steady sound of people drumming on different surfaces and textures accompanied by Sean’s mini keyboards and Kaven’s dancing inside the coffee shop hit a groove. Johnny smiled at the crowd turnout on such short notice. All said, it was quite a night! The next Cuppy’s drum circle is set for Oct. 9^th in approximately two weeks as the Tuesday night slots get revamped.


Meanwhile across town at Bill Gould’s own coffee shop, Cloud 9, Peter Surowski is reinventing the chess club he had operated in his wife’s bookstore (now defunct) which was open to any and all chess players around the valley. This will be a ‘loose knit group of whoever shows up’ says Peter, and is an all ages event to be staged on Sundays to a modern jazz soundtrack in the background. “[The club] is just a bunch of people who love the game,” he said. “You can play chess against a computer all day, and that’s fine, but you’re only getting half of the games value. There’s value to interacting with other people.” The first meeting is set for Oct. 7^th and a match-up between Captain Tuesday and Aaron Householder, a six-year-old who won the Western States Chess Championship in his age group in March would surely pack the place if such a bout could be arranged. Where’s Don King when you really need him? For more info on this and the upcoming art show to be held there soon, please see bill@cloud9coffeecompany.com or call (951) 698-4386. Cloud 9 Coffee is located 25395 Madison Avenue in Murrieta, at the corner of Murrieta Hot Springs Road.

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September 26, 2007 by PT Rothschild.

(My friend Kurt takes a sports road trip back east almost every year. This is his sports report, continued from the last stop- Ed.)

SATURDAY – JULY 28^th


We drove to Cooperstown, NY for our National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum visit (about 4 hours, 238 miles). It was Induction Ceremony weekend for the 2007 Hall of Fame Class. It was a zoo; over 70,000 people were expected to invade this small town over the weekend. The town was not organized and ready for such an influx, not even close. In most other years the crowds were not as large, but this year was different because two very popular players were being inducted on Sunday – Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr. There were fans wearing Orioles jerseys all over the place. We saw Cal Ripken, who was encircled by 8-10 layers of fans, and Ozzie Smith (signing autographs). We saw crazed fans lining the outskirts of a Cooperstown golf course; they were waiting to see glimpses of baseball HOFamers playing golf the day before the ceremony. Whatever. There were many HOF’ers signing autographs inside of buildings, including Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Harmon Killebrew, etc., who we didn’t see. Although not that famous, I saw “The” Babe Ruth look-a-like, decked out in Yankee pinstripes wearing jersey #3 with round face and round belly and round, rosy nose, and the straight-legged walk that the Babe had. He was just exiting the downtown VFW tavern. Sorry, but that could have been the highlight.

The line to get into the HOF museum was long, and was moving slow because only a limited number of people could be inside the building (fire code), and we found out the museum was going to close early for pre-induction rituals at the Hall. So we gave up hope (we had toured the museum in prior years). Well, at least we could go into the gift shop of the museum and get some “parting” gifts, we thought. No such luck there, either – 2 hour wait (and we didn’t – wait, that is). We walked around town and shopped at several retail stores sporting baseball memorabilia, souvenirs, and garb. The 2PM New York-Penn League baseball game at Doubleday Field was free, and that must have been incentive for visitors to fill the stadium by noon or so. We didn’t go to that, either. It rained. The Red Carpet arrivals of HOF players at about 7:30PM was just too far into the evening to risk being disappointed one more time, so we left the little berg of Cooperstown with a nasty taste in our mouths and drove to Albany, NY (about 1.5 hours, 85 miles) for overnight stop-over on way to Boston.

SUNDAY – JULY 29^th

We drove to SPRINGFIELD, MA (about 1.5 hours; 93 miles). Arrived a bit early, and waited for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to open (10AM-5PM). The museum included a display of all players inducted, information on the origin of the game (here), and many film clips and displays covering all levels of basketball – high school, college, WNBA, and NBA. One display featured Iowa girls’ basketball and had pictures of (for you true Iowa roundball fans) Lynne Lorenzen of Ventura, and for you baby boomers and young senior citizens – Denise Long and her nemesis Jeanette Olson from Everly. Also quite favorably presented were the Harlem Globetrotters (a great theater movie) and of course all of the Boston Celtics’ heroes and heroics including Bob Cousy (film clips) and so many others and their Celtic records and all of that (we’re in
Massachusetts, so we’ll go with the flow). It wasn’t really that biased. There was a basketball court in the museum, and a 3-on-3 tourney for male youngsters was going on while we toured the exhibits, so we watched a bit of that as well. For our first time visit, we enjoyed the experience and of course stayed until closing. Then we drove to Boston (about 1.7 hours, 97 miles) and settled into our motel, Comfort Inn Boston, 900 William T. Morrissey Blvd, Dorchester, MA about 5 miles south of downtown Boston (1.5 miles to T, free shuttle from motel).


to be continued…

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September 24, 2007 by PT Rothschild.

LA’S NEIGHBORHOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL 9/29/07 GRINDS SEASON WITH A BANG


You’ve been to OzFest, Warped Tour, Coachella, and recently Rocked The Bells, but if you’re not sk8ing to Exposition Park (3911 South Figueroa Street, LA) for the Neighborhood Music Festival being promoted at all Active Ride Shops from Westwood to Valencia, including Riverside, Lake Elsinore, and Temecula, along with Blends, Pooh Bah, Turntable Lab, Electric Chair, and Brooklyn Projects, among others, you’re going to miss out on the last BIG festival of the season. Presented by DIM MAK and STAKE Productions, this music fest is so big that a call was put out to a PR firm in the Big Apple to pull it all together. This all ages, last blowout of the season, set to run from 3PM to 2AM is a must for all followers of new Indy music in the biggest market for Indy music, Los Angeles. Scheduled to appear are: The Faint, Mickey Avalon, Spank Rock, DJ AM, Crystal Castles, A-Trak, Steve Aoki, Kid Sister, Flosstradamus, Shit Disco, Amanda Blank, Santo Gold, Arron Lacrate, Guns ‘N’ Bombs, Them Jeans, Royal Rumble, Young Americans, Funeral Party, Brother Reade, Andre Legacy, Dirt Nasty, Lucky I Am, Squeak E Clean, DJ S!N, Desert Eagles, Chad Muska, and the rip-roaring antics of Stretch Armstrong!! Ticket info can be had at www.neighborhoodmusicfest.com . Stay tuned here for the festival review.

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