And... Go.

In addition to the aforementioned James Brown Memorial Dance Party on Saturday night, there's more DJ insanity scheduled for the next couple weeks in Charlottesville... As it stands: Saturday is the Soul Brother #1 tribute (in place of our annual pre-NYE shindig). Sunday I'm spinning all night at a New Year's party (details on request). Then, January 5th I'm the DJ for a big-ass throwdown at Live Arts . Mark your datebooks now... More fun and excitement TBA. Stay Tuned... -PAR

On Saturday night at the Tea House in Charlottesville, we're throwing a dance party... ---------- "WHY IS THAT, LADIES?" - A Dance Party Tribute To James Brown. With DJ J. Pinkerton and DJ Hummingbird Feeder. At the Twisted Branch Tea Bazzar on the Downtown Mall. 9PM-2AM. No cover, donations welcome. ---------- So yeah. I'm spinning (as DJ J. Pinkerton), my buddy James is also (as DJ Hummingbird Feeder). Because the passing of James Brown is something to be noted. If not for him, 99% of dance music would not be. So show up, say hey, and bust a move to commemorate the Hardest Warking Man In Show Business. -PAR

The holiday insanity is upon us, and I'm finally finding a moment to get back to my little corner of the internets. So. I'm gonna be in New York thru Christmas, then heading down to Charlottesville on the 27th. Will be in town thru January 12th or so, working on various projects and being my usual ne'er-do-well self. On December 29th, we're throwing our annual pre-new-year's Hot Hot Dance Party. (Location TBA.) January 5th, I'm DJing at Live Arts for a big-ass volunteer appreciation / year in review shindig. It's free, and it's a great space and great people. January 12th, "Thom Pain" opens at Live Arts . I'm designing the lights and sound, and it will be awesome. Great show, great director, and my first work designing at Live Arts since I moved out of Chville. There's more stuff afoot too, but I'll get to that later. -PAR

Heading to Charlottesville in a few hours... Gonna be hangin' around for a week. DJing an old pal's wedding tomorrow, spinning a gig at Rapture with some friends on Tuesday, then another gig on Thursday. In between, doing the sit around, catch up with people, drink coffee, and generally be a slacker thing. Back to NYC on the 13th. Yeah. -PAR

I'm talking to a friend the other day about the long and storied career of the Wu-Tang Clan . And about the members of said hip-hop ensemble who have had, to put it bluntly, underwhelming careers. To say nothing of the innumerable side projects that the Wu have sponsored, lent variations on their logo to, or been loosely affiliated with. And we hypothesized that U-God should've just been spun off years ago to captain his own, lesser chapter of the Wu elsewhere. Like the West Coast, no, not even... The Great Lakes Wu-Tang! [If you happen not to be a comic book geek and a hip-hop fanatic, background on why this is funny can be found here and here .] -PAR

Spotted this taped to a phone booth on Avenue A. -PAR

Snapshots from the remainder of the time spent on the West Coast. As ever, you can click on any of 'em to embiggen. I'm now back in NYC, and slowly getting myself up to speed again... Vacation over. Back to work, and life, and gigs, and all the rest. -PAR

Snapshots of the first few days in Santa Cruz... Family, wandering the coastline, generally goofing around. More to follow. -PAR

Get to California. Spent a day in Berkeley, record shopping, lunching at Intermezzo (DUDE), then partying with friends all evening. Then, down to Santa Cruz. More pics to follow. -PAR