julzfinley.com

Whirlwind...

Wed, 28 May 2008 03:28:26 GMT

I haven't had a chance to write anything in this blog for awhile now. I don't like to start things and leave them hanging either, but I've been far too busy to think straight.

So I moved into my new place on May 1st. I really love it, but there's stuff that needed repairs that have been difficult to get done. Mainly the fact that every fixture in the place is pretty much the original stuff, so finding parts is pretty much not happening (and if so, everything needs to be special ordered). Also, unpacking all of my crap and going to work daily is a chore in itself. How can I balance that one out without being exhausted?

I also had to travel back to Rome for my grandma's funeral... that was heartbreaking. She lived a good life though, and was an elegant lady/classy broad up until her last breath.

Its weird that her obituary is on line. Its really kind of depersonalizing. This is too depressing to talk about.

I also photographed X and the Detroit Cobras at the House of Blues in Cleveland:

Which was a pretty good show... but I've been so distracted that I couldn't get into it. I also could not shoot a good angle of Exene... it just wasn't happening!

I also did an interview with Trztn (Tristan Bechet) of Services. That will be up online at Popshifter very soon.

I am also in the midst of possibly adopting this dog named Buster.

however... this guy isn't too keen on it!

Other than all of that... I should be photographing Firewater this evening at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland.

-julz

Prague Travelblog 2

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:19:50 GMT

Continued from part 1.

Day 1 basically ended with watching some bad TV and drinking some beer called Kozel Dark (which was AWESOME!) I also drank Pilsner Urquell and I thought it sucked compared to Kozel, and it was much cheaper.

Day 2.

Had my free breakfast at the hotel (and it was actually really good, and it was all you can eat! Sweet!)

So what was 1st on our agenda? Walking along Na Prikope aimlessly.

But where we were heading was to for a few hours ... The Museum of Communism!

It was definitely an eye-opening historical experience.

After that, we hit the Easter Markets:

And I ate some fucking AWESOME snack called ’Pikle’. It was like funnel-cake but shaped like french fries, and covered with cinnamon and sugar.

After that... we headed to the Alfons Mucha Museum:

And that is when we finally connected with the lovely Greta Pistaceci.

Greta, Jim and I all had to do what our natural instincts tell us to do... and that is to find the closest place that sells music (however, we are angled in the business across the street, which is one of many pubs in Prague).

The rest of the day consisted with alot of random walking:

But not without stopping at the most AWESOME store in the world known as Bankrot. Bankrot is a trashy cut-rate store that sells crap, it also apparently means "Bankrupt".

In another blog I will post a video of a product I purchased there that has to be seen ’in-action’ to be believed... its BEYOND trash!

So after all that walking... we decided to eat Chinese food (hahaha!)

and I drank this:

Which blows away that shit that American dirtbags drink called Budweiser. Budvar is nothing like that bullshit!

After that, we walked around some more...

and called it a night.

Part 3 coming soon...

Prague Travelblog 1

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:17:24 GMT

Alright... since I’ve been getting asked rather regularly about my trip to Prague, I decided to write up a blog about my journey.

Anyhow, Prague was lovely. (no shit, sherlock!)

After going through the airport/passport entry, etc... Jim and I made our way to the Cedaz Minibus Service. That was a cheap and efficient way to get from the airport to the middle of Prague (which was less than a 5 minute walk to our hotel). The only problem was, Jim and I had no sleep in over 24 hours, so the ride to Námestí Republiky was a blur of bumps and swerves over cobbled streets. I was too tired to even make sense of my surroundings, but this is the first vision I really looked at when arriving:

Beautiful, isn’t it?

So the hotel wasn’t far from here, except that it was about 8:30am, and we couldn’t check in until 2pm (its the gray building in the middle).

They let us dump off our luggage, and we could come back later. So wandering around Prague with no sleep in kinda sad since I was so tired, I couldn’t even make sense of my surroundings. I was aware enough to feel hunger. So was my first meal in Prague a Czech meal?? Nope! We found an Italian cafe a few paces down from the hotel that had FABULOUS pizza! Not once when I planned my trip to Prague did pizza ever pop in my head, but it did once we walked by. The currency conversion didn’t even register in our heads, we were too tired and hungry to care. So over this lovely meal, I drank carbonated Mattoni water, and Jim drank Budvar (Czech Budweiser). After that, we decided to try the best liquor EVER known as Becherovka.

It is an herbal liquor that tastes like Act Cinnamon flavored mouthwash, and clove cigarettes. Its awesome!

So day 1 was pretty much eating and then back to the hotel where we crashed for most of the day because the exhaustion was severe. The hotel was awesome too. Big, clean, comfortable, free breakfast, and central to everything, so getting around on foot was the best option!

Anyhow, after recharging from a long nap and a good shower, this is what I observed:

there is an emphasis on architectural preservation. Just look at the amazing Municpal House:

Very beautiful architecture, but utilized even if it is an H&M, but they don’t tear stuff down just to rebuild some ugly Walmart box or something.

The trams were ingenius, and this US large cities should take note on efficiency like that.

The emphasis on pedestrian traffic was also a nice thing with lots of dog walking (and disposable poop bag dispensers on every street).

The only big autos I saw were for business only (which is the way it should be).

Lots of Skodas (and if I ever did drive, I’d want one of those since they are small & cheap looking).

Ok, this wraps up the getting my feet wet section of Prague... there’s more to come.

Totally sucky!

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:20:42 GMT

The weather is awful in Cleveland. I haven't been able to leave my apt. I have things to do before I go to Prague, so this avalanche isn't helping.

I've got cabin fever!

Talk about a lack of confidence!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:16:34 GMT

I snapped this photo on my cell phone yesterday on my way home from work.

This company obviously doesn't have a whole lot of pride:

Time to pack it in!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:36:17 GMT

I was looking at a local concert listing, and I unfortunately noticed that Christian Death are playing here in next few months. I had a good laugh at their expense!

What the fuck?

Why are they still a band?

Whats the point?

Yuck!

Gene Loves Jezebel also played here last week... I don't know which asshole brother was hosting it... I skipped out on that one as well.

The Breeders are playing here soon too... BIG DEAL! (pun intended!)

The Saints also played here a few months ago... which I heard was awful (and this is from Saints fans that were completely siked about going!)

Oh and how could I forget... The NY Dolls played here last week as well... I didn't bother with that either. I understand why they did the Meltdown thing a few years ago... but why continue when there are only 2 original members still alive? Its not really the NY Dolls with a bunch of young dudes in it... its more like going to see the David Johanson Group (which would be more appropriate, I think). I know David Johanson does put on stellar performances, but... the other members were just as important to the band's bravado.

Oh and supposedly The Cure is playing here in June or something... no thanks!

Now don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that older bands shouldn't tour... but if they don't have anything new to promote, or if the band is just 1 original member with hired hands (Foetus and NIN are exempt from this because what it boils down to is just 1 member anyway), then its clearly for profit only, no to mention, completely out of shape! Sad and boring, really! There are plenty of old rockers who by all means, still put on a great show, and are legends in their spare time... but the reason it may work for 1 band and not the other, really comes down to shelf life. Was it only good for like 5 minutes of your life... or will it always be fabulous, no matter what? A good parallel for this ideology would be, for example:

Lets say that 2 concerts are coming to your area... and you can only afford 1 show. Your choices are: The Psychedelic Furs... or Einsturzende Neubauten. Lets also say, you liked these 2 bands equally as much at one time (neither outshined the other in your world). So who would you go see? Well... the Furs haven't done shit in ages, let alone its clearly a quick buck for them... and Neubauten has been continuously evolving (and not trying to hold onto their youth... growing old gracefully... creating relevant music... doing it their own way). What would be more interesting??? The answer is clearly obvious in this case. However, that also depends on you, the fan as well. Are you stuck in the ice age, or are you forward thinking? Do you wanna wait to hear the few 'hits' (stuck in a vacuum), or are you genuinely interested in seeing how the creative process continues (using the vacuum as an instrument)?? For me (not just based on my taste, but what wouldn't bore the shit out of me), Neubauten would be the clear candidate... but for some people, they are happier with regurgitation, I guess.

-julz

Time for a blog

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:10:40 GMT

I had just written a nice entry in this stupid blog, only for it to disappear without a trace!

FIGURES!!!

Anyhow, hello... welcome to my blog... I'm doing this to keep my website more current since I rarely have time for updates. This is more instant and portable, even though blogs for the most part, pretty much suck.

For your viewing pleasure, here's a recent photo I took of Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of the Hives:

-julz