Tag: family

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“Hanging out on second avenue eating chicken vindaloo”

Having inner turmoil more than ever lately. For example I went to sleep at 1PM today, as in, instead of going to bed at 6 or 7 am as I usually do, it's now getting to be noon or later. Then I have to sleep until 7 or 8pm to make any sense. It's not a deep sleep either, I can hear myself thinking of things I have to do, emails I have yet to answer, calls I still need to return.

I am pleased my massage team is getting more and more popular amongst touring bands- today we helped out Cold War Kids in Amsterdam, Elbow in Amsterdam and one of the Flogging Molly entourage, also in Amsterdam, as well as Dozens of other touring bands, I am literally drowning in work, but very often, one of my Dot Bots will report back and say she only made 45 euros backstage (1 euro per minute of massage) or some, sadly even say, they went there, set up, and the bands bus broke down and didn't arrive in time to get massages. One cheeky band even had Dot Bot come backstage, do the standard "one free back rub for management at each gig" then left a note on her table when she was washing hands that "no one else will have time for a massage, but you are more than welcome to watch show and hang out and party after". Pffft!!!!! 

Then I have yet another ex Dot Bot (fired for being a traitor) busy trying to build a competitive massage team, naturally using my methods, contacts, even rules (she mistakenly tried to hire some of my current Dot Bots that aren't online yet and naturally they all sent me her emails which had MY contract with her heading on them) my rules, my instructions, everything. This bitch has been so busy recently turning her female production manager friends against me, and when they meet a Dot Bot on tour, like at a recent Danzig show, rips my Dot Bots face off, all out of fear of competition. What a backstabbing business this is. I started massaging rock stars back in 1982, I am pretty sure I am the first one to do so. Naturally, competition is expected, but being lied to and stabbed in the back from what I thought were loyal people, is sickening. UGH!!

 

If I dare leave the house for a while to go eat, work out, jog or god forbid, have some fun at karaoke once a month, I only come home to be punished by the now 800+ emails waiting for me to answer. Emails from people from all over the world wanting to join my massage/chiropractic team, emails from people asking love/sex/relationship advice, emails from the small amount of real friends I still have, emails from band managers, musicians themselves, relatives, omg, it never ends. I used to have hours to blog, write for my books, watch the occasional movie, but not anymore. I wanted to go to Thailand over Christmas, but I doubt that will ever happen. I got so far behind just from being in Boston for those two weeks- I STILL haven't even wrote my Boston blog (or even the full Rock am Ring blog from the summer).  This isn't because I am sitting around on the sofa watching TV. It's because I am so swamped, so overwhelmed I don't even have time to wank anymore. I guess I am a work-o-holic. Better than being into drugs or alcohol, for sure, but it still affects the people around me (when I DO see other people). I keep hoping for the day that my massage team is in place, solid, and stays that way, but it changes every day. Some get pregnant, move to a place that would have no chance for massage work, quit because their man is too jealous of their contact with rock stars, get fierd for being a traitor or just find any old reason to quit ("job at the spa is too much now, I can't take anymore work") so then the task of finding an AMAZING replacement begins; auditions, interviews, loads of emails back and forth, etc. omg. 

 

Ok, now I am done venting for now, the headache one gets for not receiving their daily green tee at the same time every day is pounding away so I have to get this last bit out before I sign off.

 

Thursday night I had dinner with Jasmine on 2nd ave, lower east side, where I have eaten Indian food for years, even as far back as when I was dating Joey Ramone (1983, 84, 85). I am pretty sure it is the same place Joey sings about in the song way below. Anyways, I had tried to invite Arturo to come eat with us, but he never answered his phone (found out later he is in Mexico for a couple weeks). 

 Arturo and I a few years ago ^  at the Niagra bar

Notice Arty left Marky's name out of the symbol ^

 

 

Anyways, Jasmine and I decided to go eat alone anyways, without Arturo. Sitting there starving, I was shocked/happy/surprised to see Marky Ramone and a friend walk in. I said "MARKY! Long time no see!" and he was like "Dr. Dot! What the hell!? ha ha". Anyways, I don't know why, I guess because of the commotion I said "funny you are here now, as I had been trying to reach Arty all night to ask him to come here too" and he snapped "NOT on good terms with Arty right now Dot!" he went on to explain all the gory details, the typical arguing that goes on when certain band members die and they other surviving members and associates feel the need to fight over what belongs to whom, etc. The same exact SHIT is going on with the Zappa family. So fucking sad how everyone can't just get along. sigh. 

Taken Thursday night over Indian Food ^  "on the avenue"

 

Thing is, Arturo invented the Ramones logo years ago, he is their art director, friend, lighting director, etc, since the very beginning, and by the way, Marky is not even their original drummer, Tommy is.  Sigh, I just try to stay neutral, I am extremely close to Arturo, he is like family to Jasmine and I, so naturally I felt uncomfy hearing his rants. I just grinned and bared it and changed the subject. The food, as always, was amazing and I felt Joey's presence that night. Not only was it strange I was wearing a Ramones shirt (just randomly threw it on) but Mark comes in and joins us, then Jasmine and I strolled Greenwich Village together and stopped to read RAMONES in cement, that someone obviously spent a lot of time on when it was wet. It was like every hour the Ramones were in our face, on our tongues, it was eery/fun/sad/strange. I was like, "HI JOEY!!! I can feel you! Miss you!"

 

 "Hanging out on Second Avenue Eating chicken vindaloo
I just want to be with you I just want to have something to do
Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight
Wait-Now Wait-Now

Hanging out all by myself Cause I don't want to be with anybody else
I just want to be with you I just want to have something to do Tonight"

The Ramones


One last imagine, totally unrelated, but I had to share it:

x

 

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Steve Vai tears up NJ

This just in:


My family (Dad's side) down in Georgia just called and they said they won #1 place in the corn bread competition and 10th place (out of 300 hundred applicants) in the annual Stone Mountain Chili Cook off!!!!!!!

Lisa is down there with them raising hell and they are so ecstatic they took a giant trophy for their corn bread! They call themselves the Killer Bee's Chili team and they compete every year at this Chili Cook off down there. I think I will join them next year, sounds fun. They told me there were several cover bands playing at the all weekend festival, a Hendrix cover band called VooDoo was the best (my Dad said).

From left to right ^ My Dad's sister, Aunt Caron, her son JC, Aunt Nancy (Dad's other sister + favorite Auntie ), Allyson my Dad's wife of over 25 years, My DAD :), Melissa (Aunt Caron's daughter + my niece) + the girl Kneeling is Chantel a friend of Melissa's who helps them every year at the cook off. 

 

So congrats to the whole Fam Damily for their cooking talents 🙂

Last night, the 28th, was 10 days after my tonsillectomy and even though I probably should have just stayed home and rested, I couldn't resist the call of the wild and went to  the Steve Vai show at the Starland Ballroom, in Sayerville, NJ, my favorite venue in the world. I used to work at like 2 concerts a week there and know the whole staff. This place is SO FUN to go to, I love eveyone there, the cook, the bar backs, the roadies, managers, they just all rock.

Everyone always hangs out in the kitchen and cracks jokes. I warned everyone that I would be coming but couldn't speak loud or much thanks to a hurt throat but that plan went out the window, I simply  had to speak and catch up with my old friends. One friend in particular was in dire need of some tender loving care. Two weeks ago, Pauls wife of one year gave birth to their first child, a baby boy.
The wife died 4 days later due to complications from her c-section. So he is beyond gutted. I couldn't massage last night because my Doctor said you can't workout or work for at least a month after a tonsillectomy but I brought one of my best massage assistants with me, Koree, to be there to massage anyone who needed it at the Steve Vai show and so I treated Paul to 30 minutes of massage from Koree, who has hands of steel, like butter, I love her. Paul LOVED his massage and felt a little better, the
poor guy 🙁

 

Paul is a massive Dead head and always has the Dead or solo Garcia playing in the kitchen, even during shows. He just cranks his stereo up louder to drown out whatever act is on stage lol

 Nick is a fucking NUT ^  I love him madly. He makes everyone who enters the Starland Ballroom howl with laughter. 

  < I know a few people with that tattoo

It was great to see the "mad fiddler" again, Ann Marie ^  I am just kidding, she is a violinist..

When Steve introduced the band on stage, he mentioned how he "stole her from Jethro Tull" with a sharp laugh. It is true, I asked her. She was touring with Jethro Tull and then auditioned for Steve Vai and instead of doing the next leg of the Jethro Tull tour, she joined Steve on the road and the rest is history. This woman is so talented and gorgeous, it's hard to take your eyes off her when she is on stage. She challenges Steve during the show, her violin, his guitar, it is amazing to see and hear, absolutely mad!

The Bass master, Bryan brought his parents and introduced them to me. He looks just like his Mom. The NJ native was beaming all night but you could tell backstage that he was missing his cutie Kira Small, who is on tour with her band at the moment. 

Zack is young fresh guitar blood. Read about him by clicking HERE 

Steve is giving this 20 year old guitar genius a chance to shine by letting him open for him at every show and even invites him on stage every night for a number or two. Frank Zappa did the same for Steve when he was 20, plucked him fresh out of the Berkley School of Music. So I guess Steve is keeping the faith and sharing his spot light with Zack as Frank did for him. What a man Steve is. Zack showed me all the movies he has made on his lap top and I am pretty sure he will end up a movie director one day, as he is amazing at it.

Speaking of Lap tops, everyone on Steve's tour except for Bryan Beller uses an Apple. I feel so old fashioned using a PC still. I have to get a Mac I guess to keep up with the times. Steve said PC's are crap compared to  Apples and he said Blackberry's are junk compared to the iPhone. Why oh WHY did I just order a new version of the Blackberry (the Curve). I wish I hadn't now that I have seen how fucking cool the iPhone is. Oh well, maybe I will just give my Curve to Jasmine and get a freakin' iPhone next. 

 I got to spend a lot of one on one time with Steve before and after the show, yay. He showed me his iPhone for about 20 minutes and it made me loathe my Blackberry with a vengeance. He showed me how you can type in any address and zoom in on it with the satellite and we found my house and saw it on his phone! He is indeed Mr. Gadget. Love the pic he gave me ^ I think I will have it framed in silver and wear it as a necklace charm. 

We talked a lot about Frank Zappa and his music and his son Julian, who is currently in Massage school, inspiring to be a member of my massage team. That would soooooo rock, having a Vai on our team. I have yet to meet Mrs. Vai, maybe next time. I hear from everyone that she is as sweet as Steve is.

Steve has a great sense of humor. Somehow we got to talking about my sex column and I told him about the time a woman wrote in asking for advice about how to hide her farts on long weekends at home with her man. Steve said "Farts are like God's joke on us". He fucking cracks me up. I ordered a fart machine and had it shipped to my pal Christin's house, who will see him up in Boston in a few days… she will give it to him for me. I can't wait to hear how he reacts.

  Steve trying the Bite Method on me ^ ?

His famous guitars  ^

 During the show, as I said before, Steve introduced the band and directly after, he said "Special thanks to my friend Dr. Dot for coming out tonight to make us feel good, give a hand to Dr. Dot everybody" and he pointed at me on the side of the stage (I was next to the sound/monitor man Roger). Oh my God, I was NOT expecting that and blushed ten shades of red. 

Steve is by far my favorite client, there is no other artist that sweet. He is the absolute fucking bomb and that show last night was brilliant. It was PERFECT.

After the show I was soooooooooooo hungry, it has been 10 days since I've had a real meal and I couldn't take it anymore and nibbled on a tiny piece of pizza; chewed it REALLY good and got it down. That tasted so good I ate the whole thing. It took me about 30 minutes to chew it all, but I got it down and man it felt good. SO it looks like I am pretty much healed now. I still have a sore throat but I am on the road to recovery 🙂

 

Steve Vai leftovers ^  🙂

 


 We were talking about my Tonsillectomy and he told me about his when he was 6 years old. He said the first thing he asked for when he woke up was Potato Chips. He said his Mom called the Doctor and said "Doc, he wants Potato chips!!" and the Doc replied "Aaaah, then give him Potato chips"
LMFAO!!!!!!!! So he got Potato chips. This is one tough cookie.

Steve noticed I was finally eating and offered me his left over pasta which Paul, the cook whipped up especially for him. Whole wheat Ziti Pasta with bits of Tofu  and red & green peppers and zucchini  coated in a Balsamic Vinegar sauce. I am in fact eating Steve Vai's left overs as I type this and man are they yummy. Heh heh. He ate most of the Tofu though..dam him! heh heh

x

 < random video bits ( Video leftovers)