Is looking MIGHTY fine now-a-days.
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Foreigner in NYC
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
No, I am not a Foreigner in NYC, I mean the Rock Group FOREIGNER played in NYC last night at Gotham Hall..well, it wasn't open to the public, it was a private show and luckily for me the band invited me and my girlfriend Brooke to come and watch. The night BEFORE was also AMAZING. I don't even know where to start anymore, I have so much to write I am feeling rather swamped. I still haven't even finished my France, Rome and Florence blog yet! YIKES!!!!!! Freaking out here!!
Let me jump back to this past December to my first Foreigner blog (click HERE to read it) so you can get a feel of how much this band has been growing on me. Some of my friends wind me up telling me "enough with the FOREIGNER already!!!". ha ha. But I surely don't have to remind anyone that good old fashioned rock and roll bands are far and few in between and this band is not only amazing in concert, they are also fun as FUCK to hang out with; even the managers and crew are a blast to be around. Sigh. I have had NO sleep at all since Monday; since Foreigner rolled into town. Ha ha.
My pal Tom Gimbel , rythm guitarist, sax player and backing vocals had some free time, as did the drummer, Brian Tichy and their tour manager assistant Eric so we all went to Arlene's Groceries for some LIVE karaoke. It was so surreal, I am still smirking about it right now as I type. I signed up to sing Back in Black and Brian stepped in and took to the drums (you see, this is live karaoke, as in you don't sing to a tiny TV, you actually sing lead vocals with a KICK ASS band. They have this every Monday night at Arlene's ).
The guitarist ^ of the karaoke band is out of this world good. He's from Northern Ireland and has a very charming accent by the way (not that it matters, I'm just sayin')
I was kinda nervous about having a stand in drummer, I mean, did he even KNOW Back in Black? There were no rehearsals or anything but what the hell, he seemed overly confident, so we went for it. HOLY FUCKING SHIT can this guy play drums. Sigh. It sounded like we had all jammed together for years. He beats the shit out of the drums and the MC even said "that is the loudest fucking drummer I have ever heard in my life" heh heh. It was PERFECT.
Then Tom came on stage, took the mic (audience was now aware of the fact the Foreigner was in the HOUSE) and Tom sang "Hot Blooded" with Brian on drums again. The crowd was creaming their jeans. It was fantastic. I have videos of all this, and will post them ASAP. Again, I am swamped as FUCK. The house drummer was "not amused" at Brian playing two songs, but things got even worse after Brian chugged a few drinks and got antsy, like musicians do (the want to be on stage playing, NOT watching) so Brian went on stage again (without an invite ha ha) with some Mexican dude he made friends with and the dude sang "living on a prayer" by Bon Jovi and Brian, once again, tore it UP! He was PERFECT. I was swooning over his ability to just jump in on any song and NAIL IT. Improv at it's BEST!
Tour manager/assistant Eric acts as baby sitter/buddy while out with the band ^
;
Tom and Brooke ^
The band were all impressed that Brooke is an Opera singer. She is also a karaoke DJ on the side. When she sings rock and roll, it's like butter. The girl has amazing PIPES! (her "lungs" are pretty impressive too 😉
Mick ^ founder of the band, is really polite, friendly, calm…great guy!
Tom told us we had to dress REALLY nice as it was a Black Tie affair. He saw us and said "oh Lord! Lay low until the band starts and the lights are low, so all the wives (not wives of the band, wives of the rich business men there) don't freak out. Most of them were wearing what appeared to be prom dresses. ugh.
Jeff the Bass player is SUPER cool and is usually the one needing massage the most.
Info about Jeff:
Jeff Pilson (born in Lake Forest, Illinois, USA) is an American bass guitarist specializing in the heavy metal music genre.
He was a member of popular 1980s heavy metal bands Dokken and Dio. He currently has his own progressive metal group called War and Peace, which was formed in 1993, releasing two albums: 1993's War and Peace and 2004's The Walls Have Eyes. He also works with his ex-Dokken bandmate, guitarist George Lynch in a two-member group called Lynch/Pilson.
He also played in the band Wild Horses (not to be confused with the British band of the same name).
Although he is a renowned primarily for his work as a bass guitarist, Pilson also plays guitar and keyboards.
He played a member of the band Steel Dragon in the 2001 film Rock Star as well as playing on the film's soundtrack.
Pilson is currently the bass player for seventies rock band Foreigner.
Tom in action ^
As I said, Tom told us that since it was a DELL computer private corporate show, for 400 people tops, we should lay low and let the ol' corporate, rich wives shine. We did….for MOST of the night. During "I want to know what love is" we couldn't take it anymore and slinked onto the dance floor, slowly moving towards the stage. There was A LOT of lighting in the place and it was a small hall, so the band could see EVERYONE on the dance floor. Brooke and I slow danced, DIRECTLY in front of the stage, grinding into eachother, squeezing each others buttocks but never cracking a smile. We gazed into each others eyes and ignored the whole room on purpose just to wind the band up. It was so fucking funny distracting the band with our loving slow dance (have you seen the film The Wedding singer? When Drew Barrymore slow dances with the young boy who grabs her butt the whole time?) – well that's what we were doing. It was hysterical. The band naturally told us ALL about it after, saying how hard it was to concentrate lol. I thought they would be mad at us, but we were tired of behaving for so long. heh heh.
Kelly ^ has a slight resemblance to Steven Tyler but I have never told him so. Rock stars hate being compared to other artist.
Don't know why Brian has that look on his face. He must be tired from the night before- too much karaoke!
Ahhhhhh, lovin' life
Isn't Brooke cute?
Uh, never seen a white bike like that before. Had to mount it.
After the show we all went to an Irish pub near their hotel as the Hotel Bar was lame as fuck and closed early. It's NYC, the place that "never sleeps"? I don't think so. Berlin never sleeps. NYC naps.
Apparently Brooke makes me sweat ^
Eric got the karaoke bug too and sang some Chris Isaak for us.
Brooke and Mike Bluestein Foreigner keyboardist ^ has a hell of a resume'
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May 17th, 2008 (look how long it takes me to blog now a days)
Over the two days we hung with the band, they grew to LOVE my driving (and my JBL speakers/sound system) in my car. Some of them preferred to have me drive them to and from rather than hired vans. HEH! My stereo by the way, was louder than the gig. The band was tight as FUCK but the acoustics in that hall are crap. Lots of echo…so the band had to keep it down a bit. But I doubt they cared, corporate gigs (DELL) always pay well 😉
If the band is heading your way, you should try to catch their show. I have seen over 3,000 shows and they are one of the tightest bands live, ever.
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Thu 05/15/08 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre
Fri 05/16/08 Westbury, NY North Fork Theatre At Westbury
Thu 05/22/08 Visalia, CA Visalia Fox Theatre
Fri 05/23/08 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center For The Arts
Sat 05/24/08 Stateline, NV Harrah's Tahoe
Sun 05/25/08 Stateline, NV Harrah's Tahoe
Fri 05/30/08 Torrington, CT Warner Theatre appearing with Bryan Adams
Tue 07/15/08 Augusta, ME Augusta Civic Center
Fri 07/18/08 Portsmouth, VA Ntelos Wireless Pavilion
Sat 07/19/08 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Sun 07/20/08 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amph. At Encore Park
Tue 07/22/08 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Mem. Arena
Thu 07/24/08 Selma, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Fri 07/25/08 The Woodlands, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Sat 07/26/08 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Centre appearing at "Alhambra Summer Jubilee"
Sat 08/02/08 Alhambra, CA Downtown South Second Street
Fri 08/22/08 Detroit, MI Renaissance Center
Fri 08/29/08 Woodstock, VA Shenandoah County Fair
Sat 08/30/08 Atlantic City, NJ Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort
Wed 09/17/08 Livermore, CA The Concerts At Wente Vineyards
Fri 09/19/08 Saratoga, CA The Mountain Winery
Sat 09/20/08 Primm, NV Star of the Desert Arena
Whaling Scandal exposed!!
We've said for a long time that Japan's so-called research program is actually commercial whaling in a flimsy disguise. But today, we have the evidence in our hands.
After a four-month long undercover investigation, Greenpeace exposed evidence of widespread embezzlement of whale meat occurring right under the noses of the public officials who run the whaling program.
The best cuts of whale meat, used to make whale bacon, are smuggled into crew cabins, preserved in salt, and then shipped home in boxes marked "cardboard" or "salted stuff" to be sold on the black market. Greenpeace intercepted one such box — worth up to $3,000.
Greenpeace has evidence that more than a ton of whale meat was snuck from the whaling ship this year alone. One of our sources claims to have heard a crew member boast of building a house on the proceeds from his illegal take.
And, after all of this, we're still supposed to believe that the hunt is all in the name of scientific research to help the whales? Come on! Nobody is buying that line anymore.
TAKE ACTION NOW! < click to sign petition
Now is the time to rock the boat in Japan. The whaling program has been an embarrassment to Japan's Foreign Affairs department all year. Your letters helped cancel the humpback hunt – and now in the spotlight of this scandal, it's time to cancel the rest.
Take action and send a message to the Prime Minister asking him to end whaling for good! We need your help to put an end to "research" whaling once and for all.
For the whales
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One night stand leftovers
How to have fun in shops that never close
Swamped
Having fun in NYC, but by that I mean, having fun working. I am so swamped I feel I will never get around to doing my France and Italy blog and now I have another Foreigner (the rock group) blog to do. LOTS going on. Penthouse Forum are so on the ball compared to the last news paper I wrote for here in NYC. They pay promptly, answer my emails promptly (and politely) and even sent me a dozen copies of the May 2008 issue that I am on the cover of. I opened it and found the BEST intro ever. My column feels at home. Love it! I scanned it in:
I massaged Kim Raver ( of the shows "24" and "Lipstick Jungle") again tonight- non stop massage for three hours. Wonderful lady. She can take as much pain as I can during a massage. Extreme deep tissue the whole time. Tough woman I tell ya. Funny how the women seem to be able to take more pain/pressure during the massage than men (apart from Harry Connick Junior who seems to be made of steel). My fingers are actually aching as I type this, THAT'S how strong the pressure was. Going to sleep it off
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Florence, Italy by Dr. Dot
I am so mad busy, I have to build this massive Italy blogs bit by bit. The videos take the most time, so here is the Florence video.. will upload pics and text later. I fly to NYC in a couple days, so the mad rush has begun. I will be back in Berlin, however, early June, for KISS!! They are so fun and I LOVE Gene's "family jewels" show which I get from iTunes. Sounds odd, but I behave a lot like Gene and share a lot of the same views he has. Work-o-holic who frowns upon the idea of Marriage. Go Gene! Anyhow, here's the vid..
The owner of the La Residenza del Proconsolo hotel asked to pose with me. He is as sweet as his hotel. AMAZING service and gorgeous rooms.
Help End A Bear Poaching Plague
America’s bears are facing a poaching plague. Increasing demand for traditional medicines using bear parts like gallbladders is fueling a lucrative black market — and poachers are targeting bears in the U.S.
Representatives Raul Grijalva (AZ) and John Campbell (CA) have introduced legislation that will help bears by banning the trade in gallbladders at the federal level. The Bear Protection Act will end a patchwork of state laws that create an enforcement nightmare and allows the illegal killing of bears to continue.
Tell your Representative to become a cosponsor of the Bear Protection Act today:
Click HERE please
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Dr. Dot the cover girl of Penthouse Forum May issue 2008
It hit newsstands two days ago, yet I can't find one.. my friends who are looking for a copy in the city say it's too dirty for normal magazine shops yet not dirty enough for dirty magazine shops..lol.. I am proud to have my column called "Calling Dr. Dot" (a nod to the Kiss song Calling Dr. Love) in Penthouse Forum. They do it the right way. Introducing their new columnist with a cover story and all 
yay! I know some will snicker and make comments like "that is so unethical to be a massage therapist AND *gasp* write about sex" oh fucking well. Your little secrets come out while you are at the hairdresser, and your BIG secrets come out during a massage. I got good at giving love advice over the years, due to all of my experiences and hearing other peoples experiences (hell, watching my Mother while growing up taught me enough to be a qualified sex therapist lol).
Anyhow, I am super proud to have my column in Penthouse Forum. Hope you pick up a copy and let me know what you think.. here is the cover so you can find it
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Monte Carlo and France (links to video material)
This ^ is the first part of the video material I filmed while recently in Monte Carlo and France. And this is Part 2:
