Friday, October 03, 2003 at 11:35:10 (EDT)
Been good to know ya This is it, folks. The day we've been waiting for since August 8. Tonight, the kittens graduate. What I will miss about the kittens: curling up on my lap or next to me when I sleep amusing little games involving string and the scratching post the way they sort of hop straight up into the air sometimes when they try to intimidate Mr. Bones by fluffing up and walking sideways sleeping on my shoes   What I won't miss so much: despite all the cats I own, I seem to be allergic to the kittens a litterbox three feet from my bed constant attacking of my shins shredding my record jackets rooting through my garbage waking me up in the morning by knocking my water glass onto the bed pouncing on the sheets when there is any movement whatsoever the all-night kitten wrestling that invariably ends with at least two cats racing across the bed and trampling me in the process. Also I'm looking forward to the day when my own cats can hang out in this room again without fear of Pinky reprisal or unwanted kitten attention. Poor little Decatur has been living like a stray for the last month. I had to trick her into coming back inside, since we're soon to be heading to Cleveland. Oh, and the show last night was lovely. I'd never heard Nad Navillus (and I still don't get the name), but they prove you can still take a guitar-bass-drums setup and make music that doesn't sound like anybody else. Plus the bass guy plays a stand-up bass. See them tonight around 9 at the Knitting Factory. I may go, although I shouldn't stay out too late for fear of what happened last time I went out the night before I went on a trip. Farewell, kittens. Abby, what are ya gonna call 'em? You know, "Jimmy" isn't a bad name for a cat. Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Thursday, October 02, 2003 at 11:57:16 (EDT)
You only get one shot Several weeks ago I got a bunch of forms from my staffing service. As with most material aside from my paycheck, I ignored it. Turns out, the forms were related to the company's health insurance plan. They changed providers, so everyone was supposed to send in the myriad forms by some certain date. Which of course, I didn't do. So in my usual half-assed way, I contacted the benefits department to see what I could do. I assumed that I could still send in the forms and my coverage would pick up where it left off. Not so. I have to wait until the next enrollment period ... one year from now. Doesn't this sound a little fucked up? How can there be only one moment in an entire calendar year in which employees can sign up for health insurance? What if you get hired in October? Does that mean you have to be extra careful you don't get hit by a bus for the next 365 days? Then again, the only health coverage I've had in the past 3 years is dental. I know, I know, somebody's gonna drop an anvil on my head one of these days, and then where will I be? But it's apparently out of my hands at this point. Add one more reason to why we should have socialized medicine in this country: So form-phobics like myself still get covered even if they miss the deadline. I'm thinking of sending the forms in anyway and seeing if they accept them. I've done it before. Big companies rarely have their shit together to make any self-imposed deadlines, so everybody's forms are probably still sitting in a stack somewhere, waiting for some intern to process them. If I send mine in, they'll just get filed away and like magic, I can get my wisdom teeth taken out. I call this "surfing the bureaucracy." Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Wednesday, October 01, 2003 at 14:13:45 (EDT)
Feels like the first time I knew it. They've been reading my blog.       Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Wednesday, October 01, 2003 at 13:02:58 (EDT)
I'm the man with the dogs October is upon us, so I wanna list out some of the finer point of the next few weeks: This weekend M and I are heading to Cleveland. Initially we were going to see Papa M at the Grog Shop, since the guy scheduled no shows in NYC. Well, he did at one point have a show at the Knitting Factory, but that listing has since disappeared. Unfortunately, the listing for the Cleveland show has also disappeared, so now we're mostly going to visit some old pals from The Heart of it All. We're gonna check out Mogwai at the Beachland Ballroom, too. Saturday, October 25: At noon, the Fort Greene Pups organization is holding its annual Dog Costume Contest! If you live in the neighborhood, you should stop by, with or without a dog. Nothing spells fun like a bunch of dogs wearing ill-fitting costumes. And to sweeten the deal this year, the organizers have seen fit to have yours truly emcee the affair! I'll be announcing the dogs and generally making fun of them, their owners and myself. Then I have to jet from the park to St. Louis, where I'll be spending the weekend celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday. I can't tell you what a treat it will be to hang out with a bunch of my neurotic relatives while we cater to the whims of an erratic old lady. Should be fun! And of course, it is Rocktober so there are many shows I gotta see. First up is the Nad Navillus/Parker Paul shows in the next couple of days. They're playing Sin-é on Thursday night and the Knitting Factory on Friday. These guys are up from Ohio, and feature Citizen Keith on drums. Should be good stuff, enough to tide me over until Keith's main outfit, Orchestraville, gets a chance to come here. Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Tuesday, September 30, 2003 at 13:15:20 (EDT)
Pinky's a model and she's looking good And now, Jimmy Legs Productions is proud to present: The Many Moods of Pinky.         Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Tuesday, September 30, 2003 at 00:10:19 (EDT)
HAW HAW HAW HAW .... Peek A Boo! You know how some bands say they're going on at a certain time, but it turns out they're actually playing several hours later? Well, when Stupid says they're playing at a certain time, get there like a half-hour earlier. Twice now I've nearly missed their set because they end up going on sooner than I think they will. School of Rock Lesson One: Stupid rocks. I arrived at the fabled Hard Rock Cafe right at 9, only to find Stupid already well into their playlist. My first thought upon entering said cafe of hard rock? Not, "What a wonderful testament to the power of Rock," not "What a lovely venue for a band to play." No, my first thought was, "Damn, this reminds me of the Bilgewater restaurant in Hedwig & the Angry Inch." No matter how many denim vests belonging to Alanis Morrisette they hang on the walls, the place is a Denny's without the Grad Slam. I suspect a few cornfed Midwesterners headed for the hills when the bands started up. However, some stayed and actually seemed to enjoy the proceedings. So Stupid rocked the house, and the sound was actually pretty good, which must have come as a relief to a band not in the practice of performing in this kind of paean to the last vestiges of the Baby Boom's rock cred. As this was a promotion for School of Rock, I had assumed Jack Black and Joan Cusack would be on hand to judge the bands. I was wrong. The judges were the children from the cast, who were apparently not important enough for the guy from Q104 to announce their last names. By the time Stupid played, many of the children had toddled off to bed, leaving only two to assume the awesome responsibility of declaring the winner. It was pretty much decided that the event was fixed. The band to play after Stupid was a signed act, who had just come off a Canadian tour. Plus they were reportedly pals of the deejay guy. So it seemed like a lost cause. Despite the odds against this scrappy lil' band from Brooklyn (the only band actually hailing from New York City present), the wisdom of children prevailed. Stupid took top honors in this oft-maligned discipline of competitive banding. It's a good thing, too, since from reading Stupid's Diary, I'm pretty sure Dana would have gone totally postal had the results come back any less laudatory. They won 1000 bucks and, I dunno, maybe some T-shirts or something. But they also were asked to perform at the Hard Rock's larger Battle of the Bands tournament next month, whose grand prize is something like $25K, as well as the envy of their peers. Now I can say I knew them when. These children have been scarred for life Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Monday, September 29, 2003 at 19:49:56 (EDT)
Old Friends How terribly strange to be Seventy ... Snooty New Yorkers Some guy caught a jellyfish, the most fearsome creature of the sea. They took over my chair; now if only I could get them to do my work. This is what Abby can look forward to. Posted By Jimmy Legs
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	Monday, September 29, 2003 at 16:51:08 (EDT)
For Those About To Rock, We Salute You with Overpriced Junk Don't forget, Stupid is playing the Battle of the Bands at the Hard Rock Cafe tonight. What the hell is a Hard Rock Cafe, anyway? Of course I know the ubiquitous T-shirts, but I always thought they were just a chain of theme restaurants like those Dick Clark joints. Apparently they have live music, too. At least tonight. I have been able to find absolutely no corroborating information about this event, other than what I read on the Stupid diary page (which I recently rebuilt, thank you very much). This could all be an elaborate plot to trick them into buying jalapeno poppers and embarrassing, rock-themed cocktails like "Riders on the Storm." Then again, the show is free so I'm going. Stupid allegedly goes on at 9. Posted By Jimmy Legs
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