IT'S A LIVING… BUT IT'S NOT A LIFE #10.7
The Nocturnal J Church and Honey Bear Records Newsletter
August 2002 - Work, Rest, Play, Die
WHEN IT RAINS…
Okay, if you are sick of hearing about my ever-existential life, just
skip this whole thing. But for those who care and those who've asked…
Yup, Monday night was the benefit show for Honey Bear Records to make
up some money for the fire. I was all psyched up for it but had developed
what I thought was an ear infection over the weekend. To be safe, I went
to the People's Community Clinic to get it checked out earlier in the
day.
Needless to say, it was much worse than I had thought. As a heart patient,
they first took my blood pressure. The average person's rate is around
100 over 70. Somehow, my blood pressure had soared to 220 over 190. In
case you are wondering, that's the area where most people would get either
a stroke or an aneurysm.
So, sort of repeating the situation a few years ago at the Haight Street
Free Clinic, I was rushed to the nearest emergency room, which happened
to be across the freeway at St. Davis. After spending hours in the ER
while they tried to bring my blood pressure down, it was determined that
I would have to spend at least one night in the hospital as I wasn't really
responding to the medication.
After my blood pressure started to get at least somewhat normal, they
decided to finally give my ears a check and see what they could do. After
a quick look, the ER doctor decided that there might be a more serious
problem with my ears. It looked as if I had a growth that could have been
a tumor.
Anyway, there wasn't anything they could do at the time, which by then
was midnight (my appointment at the PCC was at 3:45). So, I slept in my
insanely expensive hospital room once again thinking of death and the
irony of it all.
Of course, judging by the light heartedness of it all, you may have
surmised that it was not a tumor of any sort. Unfortunately, it is a serious
enough blockage that I need to see a specialist this week and until then,
I'm pretty much deaf.
So, I don't really know why my heart went out of control again. It could
be some of the stuff I was taking for the ear infection. It could have
been my old medication running out. The Doctor said it would very easily
be from all the stress and anxiety over having our house burn down. Either
way, I'm on new medication as of today.
That's twice in the last five years I've had to hear a Doctor at a clinic
tell me "you should be dead in your condition." Did I mention
I'm rediscovering existentialism?
Endnote: As I write this a few days later, I found out that my near
death experienced was only one tragedy on the night of the benefit. After
the show, the Rise loaded up their gear only to have their truck stolen
with everything inside lost. FUCK! Looks like they lost over $20,000 in
gear. This is a fucked up situation. If you can help in anyway, get in
touch with their singer Cory
NEW SHIT FINALLY
Two new CDs are finally out on the label. J Church's Palestine
CD is out and DFI's CD is also out. Here's a little info…
Palestine is a collection of demos and random recordings
mostly from 1997 that were supposed to be for our follow-up to Drama
Of Alienation. For one reason or another, that never happened
(we spent almost that whole year on the road and didn't get around to
doing a proper LP) and after the implosion of that line-up and my subsequent
hospitalization, those songs were scrapped. I've gone back to check them
out and found that I really like them a lot. I even like the rough recording
quite a bit. There are some guffaws and some roughness. But I like it
and thought it would be a shame to let these songs vanish forever. Besides,
it's as good a time as any to put out a J Church record as a benefit for
the label.
None of the songs on Palestine ever got recorded in
a proper studio and this collection is really the only place to hear these
songs.
DFI is the solo project of Dave Didonato, who I'm also starting to play
music with here in Austin. This is actually his fourth full length though
the first that wasn't entirely self-released. Dave is a genius and a brilliant
guitarist. His arrangements are crazy. Me and other people that are familiar
with DFI have described it as combining the Fucking Champs, Ween, Orthrelm
and Fantomas.
Both titles are $10 ppd. each from me. You can send check, money order
or Pay Pal. Checks and M.O.s should be made out to Lance Hahn and NOT
Honey Bear Records.
Spread the word on these releases. I'm doing all of the promo myself,
so I can use all the help I can get. Incidentally, if there is a cool
radio station or show in your area, lemme know. I've also kinda sucked
especially with radio.
WEBSITE
Yeah, yeah. I know the Honey Bear site is down. I've been so busy I really
haven't been able to deal with it. I'm pretty broke too, as you can imagine.
So, the domain name expired and I just renewed it. I'm thinking of splitting
Gisol as it seems like they don't know what the hell they're doing anyway.
I'll get it going soon and I'll have it updated with current info and
a huge, dark void where all the mail-order once was.
VIDEOS AND STUFF?
Anyone out there got any live J Church on video, cassette or otherwise?
Thinking of putting together some sort of multi-media live thing as another
fundraiser for the label. Lemme know.
ODDS AND ENDS
You probably already know that David Hayes is has got a newsletter going
for Very Small now. It's David, so it's surely worth reading. Here
is how you join…
A SAD END TO THE WORLD SERIES
Yup, the Giants just lost Game 7 and I couldn't even bring myself to
watch. After the heartbreaking loss in Game 6, I knew it was over. I could
just feel it. What can I say?
Despite my total heartbreak, I have to admit that I do like the Angels
despite their evil corporate connections (it's really hard to think of
those things when it comes to any pro sports). So, I guess I'm a little
glad for them. I just can't believe it had to come at the loss of my Giants.
Having said all that, I have to admit that it was one of the worst World
Series I've ever seen. Just from the standpoint of being a baseball fan,
I really don't think that either team was ever really at the top of their
game for more than two or three innings. I loved watching the Giants put
up 16 runs in Game 5. But jeez, this whole series was about pitching that
went from mediocre to fucking lousy.
It's probably unlikely that either team will be back in the World Series
next year. But it would be nice.
Honey Bear Records - 1730 E. Oltorf #135 - Austin, TX 78741
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