I've always had a soft spot for a good Heavy Metal guitar slinger, and "Fast" Eddie Clarke was definitely one of the best. His recent and sudden passing is the final nail in the Motörhead coffin, as that marks the end of the most popular and productive lineup with the 3 seminal members of the mythical band that are responsible for everything you hear in the musical world today. Everything. Who would've thought that The Beatles would of outlived Motörhead? THere's no justice in this world I tells ya. Who'd win in a fight - Lemmy or God? Trick question - Lemmy is God! hahaha Being back in Long Beach last week and seeing the ol' Arena there reminds me of when I first saw Mr. "Fast" Eddie Clarke play in 1980 when Motörhead opened for Ozzy Osbourne there on the Blizzard Of Ozz Tour. Yes, I got there early, if only to figure out how I was gonna get close to the stage to see Ozzy, but I did see Motörhead play, with no idea who they were, and they were LOUD and distorted and angry and just, better. I was an immediate fan. "Fast" Eddie Clarke stood there on that stage just cranking out one legendary riff after another with the grace of a true Englishman, eyes on fire and teeth grinding away, warping the brains and musical fortitude of all us punters in the place, and none of us were ever the same after. Every time I saw him play after that, at basically every sized club in the L.A. area growing up as a kid, he was just, it. Lemmy was the voice but "Fast" Eddie Clarke was the sound. He didn't look or play like your ordinary guitar god, but man, he sure was as loud as they were! He wasn't the most dexterous player ever, but those magic hands of his took part in creating some of the most extraordinary, hard hitting, unique, music that will live on in infamy - even when he was in Fastway! ha ha ha Oh go easy "Fast" Eddie Clarke. God only knows you deserve the rest as much as anybody else does. Stay Free. The Motörhead reunion everyone wanted to see is now complete. Rock on. 

'Why do I live in Vegas again? LOL

I climbed back on the horse I rode in on and made the trek to California this past weekend to play a few gigs with Headnoise, the only band I'm officially in. The rest of the bands I play for I'm just filling in... ha ha ha Both gigs were in Long Beach, one at Fern's Cocktails, a cool neighborhood spot that's just getting back going with doing live gigs again, and the other was at the Blacklight District Lounge, where the Water Street Werewolf warned me not to get shocked by the mics there. Like I'm a singer! Pfffttt!! I spent my days in CA at the beach just hanging out grubbing and sitting on the rocks and watching the ships go out to sea and my nights were spent at the bars hanging out with friends and checking out bands. Saw a couple worth mentioning too. Carsex were the sound and essence of The Bronx, back when they were good and not fat and stupid and singing in mariachi uniforms like a bunch of racist asshats. They rocked the fuck out of Fern's. Their sound was brooooootaaaalll and the singer was a crazy eyed maniac who climbed on top of everything and crawled on anything that didn't move. And sometimes he even sang into the mic. ;) I didn't make it to Holè Molè directly across the street after the gig, because I didn't wanna get beat up over some late night tacos. I didn't buy any of the "black" that was being offered by everyone walking around on the streets, tempting as it was, but instead just grabbed a sandwich and chips from a gas station before calling it a night.

​The next night at the Blacklight District Lounge, just down the street from Fern's, I saw 2 bands worth mentioning before I had to split to drive back to NV. Dirty Hammer were the essence of that classic HB Punk sound, a sound perfectly encapsulated by bands like China White, The Simpletones, Vicious Circle, you name it. Such an entertaining band to watch and their songs were stuck in my head for hours after the gig. On the sidewalk in front of the bar the singer of Dirty Hammer told me crazy tales of rare test pressings given to him by bands and legendary backyard gigs that he had no business attending at such a young age... heh heh Until We Die are always good everytime I see them. They always play before or after us, so I never get a chance to take pics but I always listen to them play. They sound like The Bronx too, but with a more creepy crawl metallic Black Flag slant to them. They're loud as fuck with a great guitarist that looks like Cousin It when he's playing on stage... ha ha ha Fun weekend. Thanks to Lorren for the hospitality, Preston for hanging out and not selling me any black, all the Headnoise crew and family, Luis who knew all the crazy Vegas locals like Zack, Godispatrick, and Zaffo... hahaha, the crazy girl I was hanging out with at the beach ("shocking"), and the homeless guy who cleaned my windows while I filled up for the ride home. Among other nuggets of life's wisdom he shared with me, he told me he was once part of Kool Moe Dee's crew back in the days before he got all cracked out and homeless, and remembered Kool Moe Dee playing the Long Beach Arena (I believed him, I think I was there at that gig), and he told me the fall from Grace was quick and to watch my step, or I'd end up like him if I wasn't careful. I tripped out on why he said that to me, at this particular juncture in my life, but it hit hard. Signs if you believe in that sort of thing. I shook his hand and I gave him a few bucks for the effort before making the trek from the sea to the desert to get back Home. I had things to do and people and animals waiting for me...

Gone but never forgotten. </3

​It came up in my memories on Facebook and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Has it been a year already? Fuuuuuuuuck. That's crazy. I'm out here in California playing gigs with Headnoise at some of the same places he played, and having fun doing what he loved to do, playing gigs, and it was only a short time ago that we lost this loving, gregarious, soul of a human being. Truly one of God's most joking angels, that's for sure. There's not a day that his music isn't played on something around me, and every time it comes on, I miss him more and more and fucking more. I look at the pictures I have of him and just smile and laugh, remembering all the good times we shared. I cry a lot when I think of him too. Not out of sadness, just because he was much too young to go. Waaaayyy too young. I miss you Gabby. This worlds a much worse place without you. 

Mi compa Pete, drummer extraordinaire from the band Unfair Fight, texted me recently and asked me if I liked the package he sent me. What package?, I asked him, and he told me that he had sent the new Unfair Fight album, False Walls, to me in the mail and that it had been delivered a few weeks before Christmas. What? Really? I replied, and told him stuff was getting stolen from my porch around that time (like everyone else in Vegas) and that I never received the album. Bummer, he said. It was hand numbered 138 too. Now I was pissed. Now I wanted that record and I wanted it NOW!! I asked the neighbors if they might of seen who took it, or even if it might of accidentally got delivered to their house by mistake, but had no luck with that endeavor. Cue to a few days later when my friend stops by after New Years to chit chat, telling me he has something for me, and sure enough, he walked into my house with the missing Unfair Fight album in his hands! How did you get this??? I told him, and he said he was driving by my house one day and saw the record on my porch lying directly in the sun, and he didn't want it to melt or warp, so he pulled into my driveway, grabbed the record, and took it home and forgot about it... ha ha ha ha Talk about a Christmas miracle! So I am now the proud owner of copy #138 out of 250 of Unfair Fight new album False Walls. I'm sure it will be worth a lot of money to whomever gets my records after I'm dead... LOL

This perfectly surmises my New Year's Eve experience... ha ha ha Friends, loved ones, fireworks, booze, drugs, and The Three Stooges all night long... lol It was a good way to bring in the new year, with the always optimistic outlook of "this year is going to be better than last year' permeating the air, and maybe this year it will be true, who knows? All I know is that after the way my year ended, and with all the cool crazy people coming into my life right now, I'm thinking this year is going to be... interesting, to say the least... heh heh