The Weblog Of Dr. Dot Stein
Super busy- still have to submit the December Penthouse Forum "Calling Dr. Dot" sex column and I have 418 unread emails, yikes!! AND I am late to massage Flogging Molly an hour drive away. omfg.
gotta run
x
ps. It's over 90 degrees F today in NYC (same as yesterday)
On the actual flyer it has my phone numbers on it, but I colored over it for the net, too many folks calling my number to chat, I am too busy to discuss the weather unfortunately
You likey?
Going mad here trying to pack for my trip to NYC. I will be there a few months, not even sure how long this time. I do NOT want to leave Berlin. I love it here now. How crazy is that? I always do things ass backwards, ugh!!
Anyhow, I interviewed Joe Jackson for the Exberliner magazine, the English magazine for Germany; same one I have been writing my sex column for since it began 6 years ago. Joe is very private and I was surprised he agreed to do the interview at all and NOW, I am proud to say, it is the cover story and his picture takes up the whole cover of the September issue. Guess I will only be able to see it online as I am leaving to NYC in a few days.
Recently I have had many friends pass through Berlin and I showed them around a bit, as much as I could. First, Norm, my buddy from San Diego and bassist for the band Hard Echo came to Berlin-
then Tina, Robin, John and Shirley who are ALL into Frank Zappa as much as I am, came this past Monday, and they brought two friends along with them as well (they all went to the Zappanale , the same Zappa festival I went to last summer). I sadly didn't make it this year, but will be there next summer, hopefully. They passed through Berlin and we all went out and explored and quoted Zappa all night, wicked fun!!
Here are some pics..
Hard Echo in the house!! ^ (Norm is the Blonde and "Prince Harry" is on the right 🙂
Standard tourist spot, the bombed "blue church" on the Ku'Damm ^
 Tina and I at Potsdamer Platz ^ |
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Robin and I ^ at same tourist trap (gasp, pieces of the WALL! oh my my) |
Robin, Shirley, Tina and John a the Brandenburger Tor (gate) ^
John, from Chicago, is a massive Zappa fan and knows Cynthia Plaster-Caster personally (hoping I can get a good deal on the Jimi Hendrix cock replica (below) 
Raising ^ HELL in Murry's Irish pub at 1am (they had to be at airport by 5am, YIKES!)
Looking forward to going back home to NYC, to see Jasmine and then up to CT for my class reunion and THEN to Boston to visit friends, family and loved ones and my DAWGY Frankie is in CT waiting for me too, but I am truly gutted to leave Berlin. This time its really hard because I know Jasmine will be studying for 4 years in NYC, so coming back to Berlin won't be so urgent. I know people all over the world, but I have more real friends in Berlin than anywhere else. It takes YEARS to earn someone's friendship here in Berlin, but once you do, you can trust them with your house keys, bank card, child, everything. My heart is truly torn in two (Berlin/NYC). Funny thing is, Joe Jackson is in the same boat. He too loves Berlin and NYC and he too, can't decide. So we both go on, living in both places. It's great knowing someone else in the same boat. sigh.
I have to go pack
x
Dr. Dot
It's the official live debut of what many music fans suspect could be the most exciting power trio in years– Keneally • Minnemann • Beller.
What if the word "supergroup" wasn't defined by the fame and egos of its members, but by the quality of the music they make? While Mike Keneally, Marco Minnemann and Bryan Beller dare to redefine that misused cliché, they're also happily retooling the expectations of their audience.
Mike Keneally (guitar, keyboard, vocals), Marco Minnemann (drums) and Bryan Beller (bass) may not be household names, but they need no introduction among the tens of thousands who relish intense, exploratory live performances and musicianship so advanced it that seems somehow irrelevant in the face of their near-telepathic cohesion.
The three share an addiction to musical adventure, otherworldly chops and talent (tempered by refreshing humility), and a sly sense of humor. Now it's time to tour, they've decided, because playing together is always challenging, fun and unpredictable for them– no two performances are ever alike.
Keneally • Minnemann • Beller
Sunday July 20 2008
Channel Twelve 25
172 East Main Street
El Cajon, CA 92020
Showtime: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: $15.00
All ages welcome!
KMB will be shooting a live concert video at the show to promote their planned European tour in 2009!
Mike, Marco and Bryan will also be playing concerts and clinics in and around Austria's Outreach Festival in late July and early August:
Friday, July 25
Heavy Metal Miles
Franz Hackl (trumpet), Adam Holzman (keyboards), Mike Keneally (guitar), Bryan Beller (bass), Marco Minnemann (drums)
Cafe Museum
Bräugasse 17
94032 Passau, Germany
Showtime 8:00 p.m.
Admission Free!
Info: 49 (0) 851 966 68 88
Sunday, July 27
Clinics with Mike, Marco and Bryan
Outreach Festival
Tennishalle Schwaz
6130 Schwaz, Austria
9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Info: 43 (0) 664 330 31 81
Friday, August 1
Raul de Souza Quartet
Mike Keneally (guitar), Marco Minnemann (drums), Bryan Beller (bass), Raoul de Souza (trombone)
Cafe Museum
Bräugasse 17
94032 Passau, Germany
Showtime 8:00 p.m.
Admission Free!
Info: 49 (0) 851 966 68 88
Saturday, August 2
Raul de Souza Quartet
Mike Keneally (guitar), Marco Minnemann (drums), Bryan Beller (bass), Raoul de Souza (trombone)
Outreach Festival
Tennishalle Schwaz
6130 Schwaz, Austria
Showtime 9:45 p.m.
Info: 43 (0) 664 330 31 81
Sunday, August 3
Outreach Orchestra
Franz Hackl und Lew Soloff (trumpet), Mike Keneally (guitar), Thomas Kugi (saxophone), John Clark (French horn), Gene Pritsker (guitar/rap), Dave Taylor (bass trombone), Bryan Beller (bass), John Sass (tuba), Marco Minnemann (drums), Adam Holzmann (keyboards)
Outreach Festival
Tennishalle Schwaz
6130 Schwaz, Austria
Showtime 9:00 p.m.
Info: 43 (0) 664 330 31 81
Stanley Zappa just emailed this video (below) to me. Funny to see Frank’s brother Carl in there.. he looks like Frank, just bigger. I would love it if they all went on tour and played music for us all to enjoy. Carl could be the MC or whatever. You can never have enough Zappa's around.
Check out this cool interview with Carl, click HERE to read it.
And now the video:
ps. Stanley looks hot 
Click HERE to see full story:
"For more information on … artworks currently in the collection or to sign up to receive e-mail notifications on upcoming art projects, please contact Kim Domanski at 410-752-8632 or email
kdomanski@promotionandarts.com "
"Let me tell you one great thing about America, that everbody in Europe could be jealous of. For the land mass that we have Vs. the land mass of the European part of the world, you have more hatred per square foot, from country to country, than exists anywhere in the United States. The idea of the ethnic pride, and the grudges that go back thousands of years, that will keep this part of the world a disaster area for centuries yet to come, is something that we will not experience in the States. And I'm happy to be from there, rather than from here(Europe), because over here(again, Europe) you have to choose. You get to be English, or you get to be French, or Polish, or whatever it is, but you,ya know, you have to say, "We're the best," and you live your life thinking that you're the best, and the guy next door is a poot-head, and you have to conduct your business that way, and its the business of hate.
There's no cooperation, and there's no standardization, and you can insulate yourself and think that what you're doing in your country is really terrific, but it's not. Ultimately, it Bites. And in the Unites States, weird as it is, there is always the possibility that something good could happen all the way across the country, there is a national feeling there among a large number of people. Even though the guy from Vermont might have totally different tastes than, politics and everything else, from the guy in Texas, but they are still Americans, and they're happy to be that way. You don't hear people saying, "I am a European and proud to be that way." You hear them say, "I'm French, and the rest of you guys go die."-Frank Zappa (Music Box, 1984)
I have a monster blog coming up… lots of pics to crop and info to write.. but for now, check out this article in the news:
Imagine an Elvis Presley tribute show being shut down by a cease-and-desist order.
Imagine any of the hundreds of Beatles tribute bands being threatened with lawsuits.
That's what's going on in the Frank Zappa fan community now, and it raises the question of when a tribute stops being a tribute and starts being thievery of the artist in question.
The 12th annual Midwest Elvis Presley Impersonators Competition runs tonight and Saturday at the Springfield Hilton. (The event traditionally sells out, but as of Thursday morning a number of tickets were still available for tonight's show only. check out www.pietalent.com if you're interested.)
These shows – similar ones take place all around the country and lead to a national showdown among Elvis impersonators – are enjoyed by thousands. Of course, many more Elvis impersonators perform all around the world.
In the past few months, a Presley tribute act (Al Hull) and a Beatles tribute act (British Export) have played to paying crowds at Decatur's Lincoln Square Theatre. American English played Decatur Celebration's Show Stage in August, and Rain – a Beatles tribute band that aficionado Kevin Breheny says is the best he's ever seen – plays the Rosebud Theatre in Effingham on Feb. 26.
The Presley and Beatles estates are judicious about guarding their copyrights. That's one reason Beatles tribute acts work hard to wiggle their way around using the band's name.
But even those estates realize that the best way to keep the act's name alive is to have the music performed in front of people. As long as the music remains alive, the performers (and the value of their images and music) remain alive.
Frank Zappa died 14 years ago, just short of his 54th birthday. While it might be hard to believe for those who know Zappa for "Valley Girl" and "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," his 60-plus albums represent a valuable canon to a pocket of fans (certainly considerably smaller than Presley's or The Beatles').
That music has also launched about a dozen tribute bands that play both here and in Europe. In addition, Zappa Plays Zappa, a group headed by Frank's son Dweezil, has conducted a pair of tours of the United States, recently toured Australia and is planning shows in Japan this month.
The problem is, Zappa Plays Zappa is the only group authorized by the Zappa Family Trust, the group that controls Frank Zappa's estate. And the trust spent much of December sending out cease-and-desist letters to blogs, to tribute bands and to a European memorial concert that's been going on since 1990 (one that Frank Zappa endorsed during his life).
The trust's cease-and-desist case – which has altered but not shut down any blogs, and which failed to stop at least two tribute band performances it was designed to halt – seems to rest on the interesting yet dubious assertion that, quoting the letter from trust lawyers posted on the Web site of tribute band Bogus Pomp:
" ¦ (ASCAP) licenses ¦ limit the grant of rights to nondramatic performances ¦ Many works by Frank Zappa are inherently dramatic in nature."
Carried to a logical extreme, any band that performs a tribute to another band in some "dramatic" form is performing against the law. Isn't any performance on a stage "dramatic" by definition?
In the past 10 years in Decatur, we've seen tribute bands perform sets of songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eagles, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Rod Stewart and Faces, The Beach Boys and others. Did anyone seeing them think they were seeing the real thing? Did anyone seeing them feel they reflected negatively on the original performer and have their feelings about the original performers affected as a result?
The law certainly has its place in the entertainment industry. Unreliable acts and unscrupulous promoters and venue owners need to have their feet held to the fire.
But lawyers are out of place when they begin to affect the art, and the audience's enjoyment of same.
Frank Zappa said it best during his lifetime:
"If you're a musician, play my music. If you're not a musician, play my music."
Tim Cain can be reached at timcain@herald-review.com or 421-6908.
Click HERE to see article online
Frank at sound check, by Dr. Dot ^
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Pic's I took of Frank during sound check 1988 tour ^
Some pics were taken with my 35 mm camera and some, like this one above, with my disc camera, so the quality is crappy 🙁
Frank had us ^ dance on stage during Packard Goose in yellow aprons he handed out (and signed) and announced us as the Long Island Dance Ensemble. I still have the apron and will scan it in once I get back to Berlin where I have it safely packed away..
Click HERE to read more about that ^
Cover of the 1988 itinerary ^ I got my own copy as I was a fixture on the tour, healing with my wicked hands
You can see some of Frank's hand writing throughout the book. I didn't scan in every page…if there is a demand for it, I will, but sigh, lotta work lol
You can see where Frank wrote Dweezil's name in, as he joined him on stage in Long Island.. ^ OOoh what a night.. 🙂
Me, in my hippie phase, with Dweezil (still wearing yellow apron). SCHWING! God he is gorgeous.
