Today I had 1 very good experience and 1 very horrible experience.

Horrible. Cafe Asian curry tofu. First time I’ve been out to eat here and South Grand has them by miles. The fried tofu was mostly breading and tasteless.  The sauce was great but that was it, just tasteless tofu in sauce and tear-apart chopsticks. Shame over-priced yuppy lunch spot, shaaaame.

Good: Didn’t have much left over, but in a cup the size of a large bottle of Tylenol I consumed an Amouz-bouche (thanks Top Chef) consisting of smashed potatoes, with seitan, stuffing and gravy. Thanksgiving in a cup!

Other than that I stared at a computer screen all day and wished for 5:30.

It came

Stats

• Miles Traveled: 6.4 and a shattered metro card
• Laundry Status: Last sweater!
• Colorful Comment: “We shouldn’t call it Thanksgiving, just some random day in November on which we happen to have a turkey.”
• Meals: Breakfast shake – corn muffin, sad excuse for tofu – edamame, tofurky sandwich – kale chips – Thanksgiving in a cup – Newman-O’s

ST. LOUIS CITY AND COUNTY:

KULLMANN, KLEIN & DIONEDA

ATTORNEYS AT LAW – SERVING ST. LOUIS:

Bacon Street, Baden Avenue, Bellerive Boulevard, Jamieson Avenue, Belmont Street, Benton Terrace, Blair, Bonita Avenue, Boyle Avenue, Broadway, Carondelet, Buena Vista Avenue, Harney Street, Hall Street, Halls Ferry Circle Road, Hampshire Drive, Hampton Village Drive,  Highland Park Drive, Helm Drive, Hempstead Street, Hewitt Avenue, Hi Pointe Place, Tucker Boulevard, Hoehn Street, Oleatha Avenue, Holt Avenue, Hornsby Avenue, Oak Street, Odell Street, O’Fallen Street, Olive Street, Keokuk Street, Orchid Avenue, Osceola, Kay Court, Kentucky Avenue, Knapp Street, Randall Street, Korte Place, Red Bud Avenue, Railroad Avenue, Rivertrail Court, Ranken Avenue, Ridge Avenue, River Bluff Place, Robert Avenue, DeKalb Street, Rowan Avenue, Ruth Drive, Daggett Avenue, Dahlia Avenue, Dakota Street, Dale Avenue, Deer Street, Del Monte Court, Delmar Boulevard, Dempsey Avenue, Des Peres Avenue, Dock Street, Dolan Place, Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, Dressell Avenue, Dugan Avenue, Duke Street, Valley Drive, Van Buren Street, Vandeventer, Vermont Avenue, Vera Avenue, Victoria Avenue, Villa Avenue Ville Court, Virginia Avenue, Wabada Place, Wabash Avenue, Wade Avenue, Wall Street, Walnut, Washington Avenue, Water Street, Watson Road, Weber Drive, Weil Avenue, Wells Avenue, West Eighteenth Street, West Iowa Avenue, West Pine Boulevard, West Labadie Avenue, Wharf Street, Wilcox Avenue, Wilson Avenue, Winona Avenue, Wise Avenue, Wyatt Place, Wydown Boulevard, Cherokee, Sacramento Avenue, Salena Avenue, San Bonita Avenue, San Juan Avenue, Sarah Street, Scott Avenue, Scranton avenue, Second Street, Seventh Street, Shaw Avenue, Shaw Place, Sherry Avenue, Short Street, Sixth Street, Soulard Street, South Dakota Street, South Drive Tower Grove Park, South Euclid, South Fourteenth Street, South Grand, South Newstead Avenue, South Nineth Street, Skinker Boulevard, South Thirteenth Street, South Utah Place, South Vandeventer, Spring Avenue, Spruce Street, Swan Avenue, St. Charles Street, St. Louis Avenue, Stratford Avenue, Summit Drive, Tower Grove Park, Forest Park Parkway, Bonhomme

Gary Kullmann, Andrew Klein and Steve Dioneda, Attorneys At Law

KULLMANN, KLEIN AND DIONEDA, ATTORNEYS

PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF FAMILIES IN ST. LOUIS.   

AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CLAIMS, WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS, SPEEDING TICKETS, DUI AND DWI, MOVING VIOLATIONS, CITATIONS, DRIVER’S LICENSE REVOCATION – SUSPENSION, WILLS AND TRUSTS, SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY, ON-THE-JOB INJURIES, INJURED VICTIMS OF AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS, PEDESTRIAN CROSSING ACCIDENTS, BICYCLISTS STRUCK BY A RECKLESS DRIVER, JET SKI ACCIDENTS, DOG BITES

(314) 772-0000

web site:  www.kkdpc.com              

…where even the flies match the decor.

#1 – Mangia Italiano (10/4/2008)

It seemed fitting that the first stop on this winding road of drunkenness be my default drinking venue. An ex-girlfriend first introduced me to the South Grand watering hole as a great place for inexpensive and decent Italian food. Shortly thereafter, she reintroduced it as a great place to drink until 3am. Sadly, the girl and I didn’t pan out. Mangia and I, however, have enjoyed a very successful run.

The reasons to love this place are many. First of all, it’s exactly one and one half blocks from my apartment. The comfort of knowing that you don’t have to drive and that your bed and several bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch are so close makes for a much more relaxed evening, one free of designated drivers and all other boundaries for alcohol consumption.

There are no televisions, so the business conducted at Mangia is the right business: drinking, talking, drinking, talking shit, screaming over loud music, drinking, gawking at absurdly cute girls with glasses and tattoos, gawking at not-cute girls making out with each other while unironically wearing leather pants, paying tab, leaving.

It’s always insanely hot and loud in Mangia, so unless it’s the middle of July, leaving is in itself a beautiful experience – stumbling out of the sweltering, smokey cave and into the cool night where you can breathe easy and the empty streets are quiet enough that you can really concentrate on the incessant ringing in your ears.

This most recent visit reminded me of a rule I needed to make about this whole “100 Bars” thing: One must not get drunk at every single bar. I will die. I am thirty-one now – not a geezer by any means – and I just don’t bounce back like I used to. In fairness to myself, this time wasn’t really my fault. A former coworker of mine – let’s call her “Laura,” because it’s her name – this “Laura” lured me into drunkenness by claiming that she liked a shot known as a Sandanista. To some, the most diabolical concoction known to mankind. To me, sweet nectar of…sweetness. When a pretty blond girl tells you she likes a masculine shot such as this, and then says “Let’s have some,” what choice do you really have?

At any rate, number one is in the books, and I guess it’s kind of uninspiring, with it being Mangia and all. This weekend will probably include #2, and it’s another stretch. This one is a whole TWO blocks from my apartment. But you gotta crawl before you can walk, and since I am deep in the relatively safe womb of of my neighborhood, I end up crawling a lot. There’s a whole “birth-of-the-journey” analogy I’m trying to make here, but it is clearly escaping me. And I haven’t even had any Sandanistas.

So it’s work and more work followed by intermittent periods of despair and/or ecstasy, give or take a few degrees of intensity–but really, that’s pretty accurate to my temperament.

It will be nice when someday I actually get to focus on the work of music rather than the admin that must exist to support it. I can always tell when I’m in a sort of “season” of “office work”. I can’t really sleep well, nor can I take in a good book or short story or write many songs–it’s just research, e-mailing, follow-up and adding up the bills. My best crack at taking in any sort of art or inspiration is a good film or getting loaded down at Mangia after a rehearsal… Living behind South Grand has several advantages.

The most ridiculous part of this month has been that not only have I received the biggest pay-out from music ever, but I’ve PAID more than ever in expenses, which, after everything has been said and done, leaves us with only slightly more than usual… spending money to spend it–or make it or something… Strings, gear-maintenance, paying a band (gladly), SOUND-SYSTEM, GAS, REHEARSAL SPACE. After all this, we’re ahead with money to put in the bank thank god, but looking at more shows on the road I certainly don’t have to wonder where atleast some of that moolah will have to be spent… And so it goes.

The bottom line is that I have to suck it up, stick it out and work my ass off now and in the future. No one can tell me that it was a cop-out to nix the day-job for music–as if the life of a working musician is one of sleeping until the sun is warm and thinking about butterflies all day strumming a guitar. I would’ve lost my ass a long time ago if I tried to live the so-called rock ‘n roll myth.

Even after the aforementioned moments of despair when I believe that nothing is happening, the truth is that many things have been set in motion and it’s simply a matter of patience and quite honestly keeping myself busy and distracted until the ball is thrown back in my court.

For right now, the “distractions” go something like this:

“Dear [record label and/or booking/managment agency],

My name is Caleb Travers. I am great. You can tell because of my flashy press-kit complete with quotes from people who think so. Enclosed is my record that I sort of don’t even sound like or play anymore save for 3 songs. Also enclosed is a recording with a new band I have with a super-bad-ass guitar player. We like Tom Petty and hope you hear the potential so we can single-handedly bring back non-ironic masculine rock music. Give me some [money/support/publicity].”

•••

I saw my friend Ben Bedford and his lovely lady Kari on Saturday. He played the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market–which I will play in August. Ironically, they were going to my home town of Paducah, KY latter that day!

Even more ironically, I will be be playing my very own home-town of Paducah, Kentucky in 2 days. Better yet, the show comes with a guarantee. Paid to play my hometown. I like. They can give me the key to the city while they’re at it…

❦

After sampling the new Thai place on S. Grand we went to Erato tonight. Aimee planned our trip to New York, and I played to an empty room. We met quite the character named Joe. He was about 40-50ish, well dressed, luggage beside his barstool, and an iPhone loaded with pictures of his family and a load of time to kill. He seemed like the kind of guy who really knew how to read people, someone who had something special up his sleeve. Secretly, I was hoping he thought I was as special as he might have led me to believe he thought I was and would reveal his identity as a talent scout who had come out to see me, and me only. Turns out he was just a nice drunk guy in a bar with a plane to catch. Aren’t we all…

I worked like way too hard on my corny demo today. Oh well, it’s the best damn demo I could muster. In the midst of everything, I was getting a tremendous amount of other things done, (not that working on my art–even if the end result is a failure–needs any justification whatever) like getting a tentative band lineup hammered out for the 2 “really big shows” coming up in June and July–that’s a huge load off. On to more demos, working on the new songs I wrote this weekend, and the endless cycle of shameless promotional self-whoring…

tomorrow, that is… sleep now…

sleep…

sleeeeeep…

*sigh*

…and now we say “goodnight”.

]]> http://hwy61.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/need-a-website/ Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:47:53 +0000 Matthew http://hwy61.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/need-a-website/

As seen in a median driving along South Grand near Compton Hill in early January 2008. 

Leave your best reply to the query “Need a Website?” in the comments, and we’ll pick our favorite with a link to a website of their choice.  Check back for the winning entry in a post on Sunday, when we’ll close off contest entries.  Have Fun!

Pussy Galore, Flicking the Bean, Dixie Normous, Porky Pig in Leather, Halle Berry, The Pink Panther…they may sound like an array of movie characters and sexual innuendos but they are also the names of martinis on the menu at Absolutli Goosed.

J and I arrived at the martini bar at about 8:30pm, 30 minutes earlier than his coworkers were scheduled to arrive.  Absolutli Goosed is in the South Grand district near Tower Grove Park, nestled amongst other quaint little shops adorned in white stringed lights.  It was raining, but we lucked out with parking right outside the front door.

I ordered a martini called Coffee and Donuts.  It was a creamy blend of coffee and mocha with caramel on the rim.  It was quite tastey.  J had a reddish looking raspberry or apple thingy.  At 9:15, his friends had still not arrived.  I followed my Coffee and Donuts with a Mint Cookies and Cream martini topped with crushed Oreos.  It tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream.  That was my last drink of the night since I was going to be driving us home.

J’s 2nd choice was something called a Limey Bastard, another creamy martini with a hint of lime.  By now, one of his friends had arrived and helped herself to the Grey Goose martinis.  J’s 3rd martini was an Appletini with something called 99 Apples in it.  I took a sip.  It was quite tastey, but I enjoyed a plain coke from a plastic cup and munched on chips and salsa.

While still waiting for 2 more friends to arrive, I ordered spinach dip served with some crunchy lil chip pieces that tasted like toasted pita bread.  They were quite good.  Finally, his last 2 friends arrived, a lovely coworker and her boyfriend.  I had another coke.  J had two more of his Appletinis.  Laughter and good conversation filled the air.

Absolutli Goosed is a gay friendly red roomed martini bar where you can dress up or dress down, spend the entire evening there like we did, or its a great place to start with happy hour before moving on to a dance club.  The wait staff is pleasant and knowledgable, and great at making suggestions if you find the humorous menu to be too overwhelming.  Hip music is drowned out in the background.  They have tables to sit at or you can belly up to the bar.  The bathrooms are spacious and clean, and overall the atmosphere of this place is awesome!  They even have outdoor seating for the summertime. We’d been there before at least over a year ago, but had such a great time last night that we will definitely make an effort to go back soon.

J and I had not been out in quite some time, so it was a nice evening out for us.  I look forward to doing it again soon.

Last Friday(?) afternoon I checked out this new shop on South Grand called Grand Digs which is on the west side of the street. Rodney, the owner, says the concept is “Pottery Barn for people who don’t want to look like everyone else”. Other than being closed on Tuesdays, their hours are 12-8ish daily and if you haven’t been, you MUST check them out!!

Architectural elements separate the store into sections, couches and other comfortable seating are present to encourage patrons to relax, stay a while and explore what this cozy shop offers. Nearly everything in the shop is for sale too: antiques and estate sale finds are nestled between modern finds; custom-designed bric-a-brac and purses, kitchen and dining wear and other unique elements to be found, all at a terribly inexpensive price. I’ve visited a few times since its recent opening and I’ve gotten more bang for my buck, as the expression goes, than many other shops around town.

If I sound partial, I am! Last Wednesday I got to help my new friend out at the shop and got a NICE discount on some purchases. I got this lovely evening bag (custom-designed), a wrought-iron candle stick that’s a good two feet in height or so, and this oldish shelf which goes perfect as a headboard. Loverly!