And... Go.

Dance Party in Charlottesville was a bit of a success, it seems. A couple hundred people, music rocking 'til 4, an awesome opening set from my man Meffle, and a nice little work-out for my DJing skills. Aside from a couple minor setbacks (like blowing up the sound system and having to put the party on hold while we got a new amp), very little to complain about. Another awesome production from the posse. Thanks due to Bill (pictured above in the bowler), Jules, Kevin , benjones , and (as ever) all the peeps that came out to rock with us. Let's do this again soon, shall we? -PAR

We will play music. You will dance. Awesome will happen. Yep, it's time for an old-school Ch'ville dance party. Located at the artspace in Belmont, directly across the Belmont Bridge from Downtown. The corner of Graves and Avon (across from Spudnuts). Begins at nine (or so), goes until we can't go no longer. Your hosts: Patrick A. Reed (behind the decks), Dr. William Hunt behind the bar. Special opening DJ set from Mr. Brian Meffle. And you're cordially invited. -PAR

In keeping with seasonal tradition , I hereby present this year's dosage of GIANT GLOWING INFLATABLE ELF RUMP. (Now with free delivery!) Happy holidays. -PAR

I've finally figured out my holiday plans. Taking the bus to Charlottesville on December 23rd, arriving around 11:30 PM. Returning to NYC sometime on the 29th. In the meantime, I plan to run around and see all my old friends. Spend time with the family. Drop by all the old haunts. Attempt to do my part to deplete Virginia's burgeoning alcohol supplies. Oh, and on the 26th, we're throwing an awesome old-school dance party. (Details available soon.) -PAR

My boy James Ford. Demonstrating the street style of the future, throwing up his best B-Boy Stance on Avenue A. -PAR

There's this fantastic weekly party here in NYC called " Hot Fuckin' Pink ". It's held every Friday night, at Scenic on Avenue B. Two floors of DJs, music ranging from crazy electro to awesome old new wave to insane R&B to just flat out rock and roll. It's a bunch of people out to have a good time, dancing, drinking, generally making merry. And this Friday, December 2nd, is my debut DJ appearance there. Hot DAMN. Drop by if you can, not just for me, but because the joint will be on fire. It's a great party, I'm psyched to be a part of it, and I'm looking forward to bringin' the noise. -PAR

Assuming you for some life-threatening reason can't make it to the HOT HOT dance party tonight, it's looking like my next unmissable NYC gig will be December 2nd. More details as soon as it's confirmed. Watch this space. -PAR

November 22nd. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Dance party in NYC. It will be incredible. -PAR

It was my birthday. I went to Cheap Shots. I got served a PITCHER of Tanqueray & Tonic (seen above). The next afternoon, I had the third hangover of my life thus far. Ah well. Such is the price of the rockstar lifestyle. -PAR

By complete coincidence, not only was yesterday the tenth birthday of The Mudhouse in Charlottesville (one of my fave hangouts in the ol' small town)... It was also the first anniversary of Cheap Shots, my dive bar of choice here in New York. Ideaspace works in mysterious ways. Anyway. To Katie and Steven and Tim and the rest of my pals at th' Cheap... Glad to have you around. Here's to you kids. -PAR

Today, October 13th, The Mudhouse turned ten years old. So, to John and Lynelle, and all the employees who've passed thru their doors- Thanks. You make Charlottesville (and the world) rock just a bit more. -PAR

I'm gonna break here from my normal style of posting here. Normally this space is just pictures of my life and whatever words I throw together, but I'm pausing that for a moment. Because I feel the need to note that Jerry Juhl passed away on Monday. Now that's probably not a name that many of you are familiar with, but Jerry Juhl was the man who, along with Jim Henson and Frank Oz, was primarily responsible for The Muppets as we know them. Starting in the early 60s, and continuing through Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, Fraggle Rock, and plenty of other film and TV projects and appearances, he was the #1 writer for all things Muppet. And, as absurd as it seems, he made you believe that these characters were real breathing beings. Actual people with emotions and feelings and personality quirks, unpredicable, sometimes absurd, occasionally even inspirational. I was lucky enough to meet th...

So, finally a day off from work. It's time to assemble a posse and visit parts of the city I've never seen before. Grab Will and Chris Lamb , and walk down to Chinatown. Go food shopping at the crazycheap asian markets. Wander around, getting lost, taking pictures. Head down a side street, looking to get dinner at whatever restaurant seems interesting. Stop to stare at the eels and fish and giant crabs in the tanks in the window. And then, because it's a beautiful night, we walk the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and back. Just one more evening in the big city. Always something new to do, somewhere new to explore. You'd have to really work at it to ever get bored here. -PAR

A truck delivering beverages to a Chinese Food joint on Avenue A. 'Nuff said. -PAR

It'd been a while since I'd been able to get out to a show. So yesterday I took the evening off and caught the 2 train up to the Bronx, heading to the final old-school jumpoff of the summer at Crotona Park . A beautiful summer evening, cool weather (for a change), funky beats, lots of people out to have a good time. A typical assortment of hip-hop pioneers onstage and throughout the crowd. Then, back to Manhattan. Getting off the subway in Times Square and walking the rest of the way home, just becuase it was so nice out. Ah, summer in the city. -PAR

As I noted earlier , I'm DJing at the Apocalypse Lounge every Monday night with my buddy Anna Bond. We were there last week for the first time, just testing it out and getting the feel of the place. Now it's time to do it right. Tomorrow night, we set it off in style. Anyhow. It's not a dance party, it's not a big throwdown, it's a chill weeknight hang-out with good music. Expect to hear punk, indie, 50s R&B, shoegazer, 60s garage rock, britpop, new wave, old soul tunes, maybe even some classic hip-hop. And whatever else we feel like. Cheap drinks, no cover charge, two people spinning tunes just for you. It all goes down at 189 E. 3rd Street (between Avenues A & B), every Monday night, 10PM until last call. Think of it as a really awesome weekly radio show. Only with cool folks hanging out. And air-conditioning. And booze. How can you resist that? -PAR

Being the first day of summer, margaritas were in order. So, grab the benjones, and head off to Greenwich Village. Sit on a patio. Watch the girls stroll by. Consume chips and salsa, and get slowly tilted on tequila. And then, home. Pull music, while sobering up. And head to Pianos to DJ. Somewhere around 3:30 in the morning, having kept people dancing and enjoying themselves all night, finally break down the equipment, pack everything back up, and head home. The dance party was a success. More to come. Summer kicks off in fine style. -PAR

The ghettoflyer for tonight's party. Welcome to summertime. -PAR

Well, as expected, Lucas the Dumpling Man scored an easy victory over the upstart that moved into the neighborhood . The dumpleganger has changed his logo to the much less derivative image shown below, and altered the menu to offer a more typical selection of chinese-style-food (not just the dumplings). Huzzah! The path is now clear for the next step in Dumpling Man's masterplan to rule NYC... -PAR

Pictures of the swing thru California. Amazingly decadent sushi extravaganza in San Francisco, hanging out in Stockton, riding the rails south to Los Angeles, wandering the streets of Pasadena. Fun and excitement and weighty discussions and catching up with friends and family obligations and losing my fool head... In all a mostly wonderful, hugely surreal visit. (As ever, clicking on the pics makes 'em get bigger.) -PAR