A rainy night in New York

The rain didn't stop us from enjoying the Dutchess County Fair last night, whose crowd was pleasantly light because of the weather. By hell or high water, we were going to eat veggie tempura and sausages & peppers and buy dozens of tickets to ride the rides. I haven't been that nauseous in a long time, and not only because of the fried food but because of the very looooong rides whose repetitive motion always bothered me as a child and now is practically unbearable to the adult me.

I also fed a llama and a camel from my hand which was nauseating in a completely different way.

Worst of all was a new ride for me, the Cliff Hanger which mimicks hang gliding but lasts forever and just goes in circles. But fortunately, by the time we went on that ride, we'd already enjoyed the Zero Gravity (formerly known to me as the Round-Up), 1000 Nachts (formerly known to Mike as the Rainbow) and swing rides as well as my staple, bumper cars.

After the Cliff Hanger I ran right over to Bob Maxwell's Walk-A-Way Sundae stand to experience the magical healing powers of square vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate and peanuts on a cone. Cures a sick tummy every time.

The drizzle also did not deter us from dipping into the hot tub when we got back to Mike's house. Somehow it only feels right when the weather is chilly and gloomy like yesterday, and it's pitch black out.

The quick trip was a bit exhausting but we managed to get up in time today to drive to Cold Spring and grab a meal at Cold Spring Depot, the haunted old train station that's been converted into a restaurant. I'm pretty sure we sat in the exact spot where the woman who haunts the station was originally murdered. I felt a little nauseous there, too.

And now back home to NYC where I have to try to explain to people what things are like Upstate.

Christmas in August

Yes, that's me right in the front, second from left in the pic

Last night I went out to the Audio Magick studio in West Babylon (that's Long Island, yo) to sing backup vocals for the new Twisted Sister Christmas album.

Of course I wasn't hand-picked for the gig. In fact, the invitation had nothing to do with whatever talent I may or may not have. But fortunately working in the music industry has its perks, and one of them happens to be a bizarre opportunity such as this, when a band needs a lot of voices and free labor.

Being the Christmas music afficionado that I am, it was hard for me to stand back and not music direct the whole thing ("no, you're going too slow!"), but actually Mark and Jay Jay did a great job corralling us and making the whole night really fun, despite our hunger and the hot temperature of the small studio.

We didn't get to meet Dee, but we sang "Deck the Halls," "Silver Bells," "Let It Snow," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and their take on "The Twelve Days of Christmas" called "Heavy Metal Christmas." Look for my name in the liner notes - Twisted Christmas comes out later this year on Razor & Tie. A proud moment for my recording debut.

Did I mention I love Long Island?

[Edited on 5/21/16 8:52 p.m. PT to fix broken links and photos]