Nerd.

To anyone who ever doubted that their friend Mo Shafeek was a nerd...



and to anyone who is worried they have to deal with me talking about it all the time from now on, rest easy: I have accepted my fate as the only person on earth who loves these films.

We can finally move on now.

and for a real life update... I'm writing a novel. Fun huh? I'm two chapters in. Wish me luck.

My sincerest apologies.

Not to any of you. Or even to myself. I want to make a formal apology to the Wachowski Brothers.

Yes. Those Wachowski Brothers. I think one of them is a woman now, so, maybe I should refer to them as the Wachowski Siblings.

I once did this thing where I bashed your films. Specifically the two sequels to your wonderfully accessible film Sci-Fi blockbuster: 'The Matrix'

Up until two weeks ago I had all but forgotten what that movie series represented to myself, and most of the movie going public. It was one of the more perfect examples of how to drive your franchise into the ground. I thought the second one was okay in all, in concept alone, but that third one? Man, what the hell were you thinking?

That subway scene?
That weird dialogue at the end.
Seriously?

So, I stumbled upon this box set at my favorite used record store, and there it was in all of it's glory. For twenty bucks, a ten disc special edition, advanced treatment for this trilogy, it's mythology, and it's animated short films.

Who the hell would ever buy this?

Much like the philosophy that now haunts me, I could not let it rest idly by. I had to know why there was ever a market for such a tragic trilogy. I opened the pages of the 40 page booklet inside of this set and read the special features and the foreword by the creators.

To summarize they apologize not for the films, but for the lack of commentary on this box set, saying that they would prefer their insight not to become the true dogma of the films, so instead they invited philosophers who dug the films, and critics who hated the films to have their own commentary each on each of the films, to allow for people to decide for themselves.

Huh?

Yeah, that's what i'm thinking.

Okay, so you make this movie series that everyone universally thinks stuttered to completion by it's third and final act and you invite philosophers who thought it was rad to match wits with the general public. That's pretty ballsy.

I had to know why.

So, a week later after a awful mistake on my end with the second address field on the Netflix sign up screen (who would think that working for an online web-store would allow for people to make such careless a mistake as not including their apartment number... 2B by the way) The Matrix Reloaded arrived in my mail box.

I brewed some tea, ate some dinner and turned off all the lights and said "Okay, let's see what you got"

Ahem...

So, needless to say from the tone of this, I went back the next day to buy that box set, but it was gone. And now I am ordering it from Amazon for far more than I could've paid.

I wish I could have experienced this with someone else, but I know I could not. It was a journey I had to go on alone.

But I apologize, Andy and Larry.

I will try to right my wrongs. I will tell anyone who asks my opinions, how I really feel now:

That you made one of the most philosophically entertaining movie I never gave the chance to inspire me.

I hope this finds you well.

Your biggest fan (again)

Mo Shafeek

P.S. I'm so so so so so so sorry I ever doubted you.

A Weekend In The City

I don't usually condone things like this. I have plans after work to specifically deviate from my normal routine of boxed rice-o-roni and facebooking to go into the city to BUY three CDs of artists that deserve my support (Bayside - Shudder, Jenny Lewis - Acid Tounge, etc.) but I feel I need to clear the name of a great band who put out a brilliant disc two years ago.

I said I would discuss the bloc party show, and I will, soon, but it was brilliant. So brilliant that all the attendees that I knew were all like "what happened to them?" "I heard their last disc wasn't very good... or, I didn't even know they had a new disc...:


Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City

This disc is one of my favorites. The lyrics and song writing are so well crafted, and I don't know why the masses panned it.

Catch up. Have a listen. If you don't like it, don't buy it. But if you do, they have a NEW disc coming out at the end of October called Intimacy, which I think is brilliant, if not a bit less accessible than their previous efforts. Cheers.

The Mars Volta @ Hammerstein Ballroom

Whenever i'm having a great time I tend to not document it. Part of the reason why there is little to no documentation of my last year of touring. Either way, here's a quick re-cap, since I woke up too early this morning and have a few minutes to spare.

Last wednesday I was invited to see the Mars Volta. I've never seen them, and my buddy Aric works for Universal (their ex-label) so he got a pair of free tickets, so I said why the hell not. I don't know if you've ever seen them, but I had no idea there was this super-hispanic-pride thing going on with this band. I know they sing in spanish sometimes, and that should have warned me, but the people in front of us had a Gigantic flag they were waving at the end of every song (if you've seen the mars volta you know that means every twenty-thirty minutes)

Very rarely do I get inspired by any sort of fashion icon. I never see an ad or a mannequin and thing, man, that could be me. But have you ever seen Cedric and Omar? I know I was in the mezzanine, but from that distance they looked like the coolest mother-fuckers I've ever seen. Maybe it's the hispanic fiber of my being, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I could create a strange punk-rocker-salsa-dancer aesthetic in my life. But, these feelings quickly subsided, as I entered my almost completely white world.

I like to post set lists for bands, but I couldn't even begin to figure that one out. I think they only played like seven songs (i'm being serious) and played for like 2 hours. It was amazing, but you kinda just have to go with it and no concentrate on waiting to see if they'll play your favorites (they didn't)

This took longer than I thought. I have to go to work. Next Up my experience at the free Bloc Party concert @ Roseland Ballroom.

Super-Amazing...

Sometimes at work customers ask us to draw something cute on their invoice... a job best left to someone with a steadier hand. But, regardless, I have become resident 'Doodlebugger'

I have so far drawn Miley Cyrus, A Jonas Brother, a giraffe, an owl, and a myriad of other not so interesting things...

But I rather enjoyed this one... I took a few liberties with her request.

click the photo to see it in all of it's glory... and for those who can't read the blurry text she asked me to draw her a "super amazing pair of green high heels"

Ode to TX

I got a bittersweet text from a good buddy of mine, informing me that she was hosting a party tomorrow, with free drinks... and that we should drink them because she was going back to Paris pretty soon. I've gone months without seeing Texas, but it's always pretty lame when she leaves. This is my ode to her existence in my life for the last few months... Read her blog. She leads a far more interesting life than I do... and she's reeeeeally pretty.

Mason Dixon

I've never regularly attended a place as often as I have been at Mason Dixon, every tuesday night. It's nothing out of the ordinary, and it isn't even some huge party, just friends cheap drinks, and bull riding.

The meganddias were in town between shows on their headlining tour (their first U.S. tour since I quit touring five months ago) and I took them down with reasonable expectations. I'm glad it ended up being the fantastic time that it did. Suejean (edit) was out in NYC for the first time in years (as a resident) and I exposed everyone to the dirty skeletons in our closets. She threatened my life, and told me that I'm doomed to be haunted by asians. I think she's right, but I wouldn't dare admit it to her face.

Tuesday the 19th of August.

Today started off pretty gnarly.

I got sick to my stomach early on in the day, attempting to communicate with my ex-girlfriend. I sent her a birthday present last week, and she liked it, so of course I had to pester her to the point of embarrassment. Lesson learned.

Work was rougher than usual, and this week is going to be pretty crazy, but the silver lining was that I got to see my good friends / ex touring partners Meg & Dia today. Not only did I get to hear some of the new disc (amazing) but I got to enjoy their company for the better part of a whole NYC evening, which consisted of Dinner, drinks, and bull riding. I took it for granted because, i'm so used to seeing their faces everyday, that saying goodbye to them is slightly surreal. Chances are I won't see any of them until next year (except maybe Nick and Carlo if they come out for my birthday!) so, here's to the biggest relief of the day... something i've been rep-ing hard for the last few days: I love my friends. They are scattered across this odd shaped continent, but they make me who I am, and I would do anything for them, even when I don't tour manage them anymore (see, tomorrow, how is meg getting back to chestnut ridge, ny)

Hung out with Suejean (edit), she's back in town. Happy seven year anniversary, Suej. Here's a photo of the good times.

APW

This all actually happened.

I scored the number of the girl who loved the heart pin on my man bag. But she never called me back. :(

Other than that, good times.

Official.

As of 7:35PM today I officially have...

1) an apartment.

2) hot water.

3) gas (oh, grow up)

4) a bed.

5) a closet.

6) the internet.

7) a record player

8) all of my CDs alphabetized.

9) all of my DVDs back in their cases, and in alphabetical order.

and it only took four months.

it's good to be back.

X

Mulder and Skully ended up being lovers. While it should give nerds like me hope that some day even we can find love, honestly, it was quite a cop-out. To end a series having two completely plutonic characters end up together, out of the blue. Scrubs is going to do that shit with JD and Elliot, and it's going to piss me off.

I saw The X-Files: I Want To Believe this afternoon, after hearing not-so-positive things about it. I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it, or are on the fence, but it's on par with a good X-Files episode. Was it worth making into a summer-movie? Probably not. It's pretty low-budge. Not in a quality sense, but in a stakes, and in production reality. I don't see this movie costing anymore than 30 million to make. Much different than it's predecessor.

I was thinking, wouldn't be great if the entertainment industry didn't rely so heavily on big releases, and people like Chris Carter could just make a new episode of the X-Files once a year on Halloween or something? It would always have huge ratings. And rather than give the media chance to spit on your small-scale summer movie, they could praise your high-budget holiday special? I'd be there every year.

Oh... On the way out of the theatre the kid walking in front of me was wearing this...

I couldn't resist being a creep and photographing him while his mother guided him hand-in-hand down the busy manhattan streets. I don't know what "Mo Smells Red" means, but the Truth Is Out There.

Marathon Matt

My brother ran a half marathon this morning. It's a tremendous accomplishment. You can read all about his inspiring video-gamer-to-athlete story on his blog.

Warped Tour 2008

I miss Warped Tour. Anyone who's ever been on it will tell you that's a very hard thing to admit... but I guess not a hard thing to act on, seeing as so many people I know have done several rounds of it.

I went with my buddy Jonathan, who also currently plays bass in Meg & Dia, the most recent band I used to tour manage. We didn't go to see any bands really... Not in the conventional sense. Just to see some old friends. New York is a tough market to live in, knowing that your friendship and admiration can amount to nothing when you're competing with labels and managers. So we aimed low, and didn't attempt to commandeer any attention than we usually take up. 

We did watch one band, just because we kind of ended up in the right place at the right time. The Oreska Band was on the last leg of the tour last year and became Jonathan and my guilty pleasure. Jonathan even went as far as to ask their bass player to hang out with us one day. They are only fluent in Japanese, so he had to ask her out through their translator. She said "yes," according to the translation, but she never showed. Bitch.

I present to you only a minute of All Girl / All Japanese / All Ska. If you end up at warped tour, I would highly suggest checking them out, before they end up on the Disney Channel. That's all I'm saying.

Darkness.

I've seen every movie this summer. Even The Happening (yuck.) Only two have been worth reviewing. I wrote a review for The Dark Knight for my job. I blog there too every wednesday. It should be posted soon. But, they made me amend it. The Un-abridged version will be up here shortly. I loved it, duh. No question there.

Oh, in completely unrelated news, in case you cared, the owners of Drive Thru Records had their houses Foreclosed. Also, their star band Hellogoodbye is dropping them as management, and suing them. I'm not one to wish poorly on others, but... seeing as how I hung out with some of their victims tonight, and I'm tipsy, I can't help but say Karma is a bitch.

Proof!

If you go to Michelle Branch's Sugar Bar Blog you can read about how excited I made her, when I sent her those neat little cupcake stands. Yeah... that's right. Me. 

I should've left her a little hand drawn note like Amanda Goss, the cupcake lady did, inside of the box, then she would've loved me. 

Woulda / Shoulda / Coulda....

Some Serious Shit...

I heard about this, when my boss was considering buying some for the holiday season. He couldn't order them, sadly. Apparently they are hard to get, and now I know why. Apparently only a thousand are being made. Of all the things to buy me, to earn my love INSTANTLY, and FOREVER... 

Just putting it out there.

August 1st, 2008

I finally have an apartment.

72 Scholes St. Brooklyn, NY.

I don't move in for two weeks, making it a little over four months since i've been home from tour. Making it almost 14 months since i've unpacked. 

I'm celebrating by going to see the RX bandits at High Line Ballroom. Who wants to go?

Spirit Room

Last week I got to send a package to Michelle Branch.

For anyone who knows anything about me, you know how big of a deal that is.

She ordered three cupcake stands for the bakery she is opening in Nashville.

I packed it extra nicely for her. If only I had a written a love note like Preston from Can't Hardly Wait. Fate finally allowed me to convince her to leave her husband and run away with me and I blew it.

Oh, well. I'll just have to settle for her next record coming out this summer.

Cold Open

I'm having a hard time telling a straight forward narrative these days. I think that's been my problem with updating any sort of journal. This is what they call a Cold Open. No theme-song. No recap. Any past information will come in the form of a flashback.

 I left work yesterday with every intention of going back to the apartment I'm crashing at to shower, and prepare myself a quick dinner.

 At work (www.fredflare.com) I don't eat very much. It's partially a time-management thing, but mostly it's a money-management thing. New York City is awfully expensive, as most can imagine. I find it easier on my wallet to resist eating out for lunch everyday and conditioning myself to enjoy a constant stream of Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches. But that leaves me starving by 7PM when I approach the apartment. So when I arrived to little more than a dial tone on the video phone, I convinced myself it was a sign I was meant to try my luck uptown at Madison Square Garden at the Sold Out Coldplay concert.

For those that didn't know, Coldplay put out a new record last week. In support they announced a string of free shows across several countries: London, Barcelona, New York, and a few others. Some sort of website contest that was announced in the beginning of May. Tickets sold out in minutes, I'm sure, and I was left scouring Craigslist for a kind soul who didn't' know what to do with their extra pair of Free tickets... That said, tickets were being placed up by scalpers for as high as $2,000 a pair. Talk about a profit. With this in mind, and nothing in my stomach I ascended to midtown.

After well over an hour of making awkward eye contact with any single person in a crowd, I was ready to give up when my placement next to an awkward Texan with a sign asking for tickets ended up working in my favor. 

"are you a cop?" asked a samaritan.

"no... absolutely not" said the awkward texan.

In retrospect, the samaritan who wanted to give away his two extra tickets was, kind of ignorant to think that he was going to get arrested for not making a profit off of his free tickets, but I digress...

The awkward texan and I shared our excitement and quick introductions before finding our seats in the nosebleeds. He bought four beers and popcorn, and I bought a really expensive pizza-like-substance to fill my stomach finally. As I sat there next to a person I just met, in my work clothes I smiled for the first time in a while.

Set List:

Life In Technicolor

Violet Hill

Clocks

In My Place

Viva La Vida

Chinese Sleep Chant

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

42

Trouble

Square One

Lost!

Strawberry Swing

Yellow

Fix You

Lovers In Japan

The production design was unlike anything I've ever seen for a one off. I'm still searching for photos of the huge orbs that hung from the ceiling, or the laser light show.