Purple Shirt of the Week: A Good Cause

What's better than wearing Purple? Wearing purple for a good cause! My friend TravelingAnn called me yesterday to tell me that it was "Wear Purple for Alzheimers Day"!

But then I got really busy before i could get to my computer, so I forgot. Don't know what that says, but I'm guessing it's not good.

Unfortunately I don't have any of those rock star drugs that make you really cool and a role model to small children, because then I could blame my memory slips on them. Nope. 100% natural dumba$$ here.

So, let's see here....I got a couple of blog contributions this week, but they're on my other computer, so let's go with something from the unposted archives...how about a pair of gloves that TravelingAnn herself made!

So mark your calendars: 354 days from now, September 21, it's "Wear Purple for Alzheimers Day". Don't forget!

Purple Shirt of the Week: End of Summer

I've received a few submissions from my lovely Purple readers this week, but opted for this one. Why? Last weekend was Labor Day Weekend, the end of the summer season. Short story - went to a party, and later in the evening they pulled out a bottle of Three Olives Vodka: Purple. Not only was purple the name, and purple on the label's design, but it was tinted purple as well. This is my friend Johnny with his prize. Sadly, I did not get to taste any because I was driving home in a little while (there's a PSA for you, folks! Party as stupid as you want to, but be safe! Andrew WK would approve...) and the bottle was gone by the end of the night. <Sigh>

Purple Shirt of the Week: News Brief

Not feeling particularly uppity or clever today to accompany today's Purple Shirt (which look, it's an actual shirt! Thanks Kim!), i decided to plug in "Purple" into Google News.

(No, there is not a photo of purple briefs...get your mind out of the gutter.)

Rapper Ti arrested, along with his ever-so-classy wife Tiny, for drug charges, including evidence they've been hitting the cough syrup again...or purple drank, as it is known (aka sizzup). In addition to giving the color a bad name and exhibiting boring choices in illegal substances (cough syrup as a base? the bad breath and aftertaste alone...), he deserves to have his mic taken away from him and is a poster child of why you should stay in school. Learn to speak English, jerk, especially if your profession is to write lyrics. "Drink" is a noun. "Drank" is the past tense of a verb. It's not cute. It's as dumb as making up a word.

(Speaking of dumb and hip hop culture - watched a news report a while ago on Ghost Riding, where kids leave the car on idle to roll down the street, get out, and dance on the hood or next to the car, then jump back in the car, unless they've hit something or get run over, at which point i guess the game is paused. Anyway, the kids in the report referred to themselves as "going dumb", a term that is endlessly amusing to me. I'm sure that Charles Darwin is someone they've never met in their history class, so making a pun here would be over their heads.)

RIM now offers a Blackberry called Purple (but apparently only in the UK on the O2 network): http://www.bestcontractmobilephonedeals.co.uk/blackberry-8520-purple-deals.aspx

In other purple news, Katy Perry has made it onto the Hot-or-Not poll, thanks to her purple-streaked hair. I don't know if the blueberry wig ever made it into such a poll, but here it is, folks! And it looks like she's winning!

http://www.stylebistro.com/Hot+or+Not/articles/lKg7BOUl9Ve/Hot+Not+Katy+Perry+Purple+Blue+Highlights

Purple Shirt of the Week: Elvis has entered the building

I'm a big fan of the show Austin City Limits. Even the artists I'm
not crazy about I'll watch, because there is something about the
intimate nature of the show, even though I'm watching a recording of
it, that just offers a little bit more insight into an artist. Here's
a classy rocker guy I saw wearing a classy purple chapeau.

It seems that some genres of rock just breed some artists more easily
that will grow old gracefully. After all, rock and roll, at it's
heart, celebrates youth and vitality. It is easy to make rock and
roll grandpa jokes about the Rolling Stones, because their songs, by
and large, are really only appropriate coming out of the mouths of
bands much younger than them. And come on, Charlie Watts starred on
HBO as the Cryptkeeper. (See what I mean?) Do you really want to SEE
the Beach Boys sing about Barbara Ann and fast cars? Though, to be
fair, it's probably now more like a group of men at the nursing home
reminiscing about their singing group and the girls back around the
Great War. Maybe this is why Robert Plant didn't reunite with Zep
long term. Is it more appropriate for a man his age to be singing
Black Dog or Living Loving Maid, or to be singing Killing the Blues
with Alison Krauss?

Love him or hate him, I don't think you'll ever get people pointing
fingers at someone like Leonard Cohen saying "hang it up". The man
just oozes class. He's 74 years old this year, and has done just as
many drugs and drank as many Red Needle tequilas as any other man
who's been on stage since the '60s. But the man can WEAR a suit. And
still tours heavier than bands a quarter his age. (Of course, one has
to when their business partner steals all of their money...)

Saw Elvis Costello a few years ago. While he did not wear this purple
hat (and I wish he had), he was still a spitfire on stage for an hour,
all by himself. But at no point did it seem questionable for a 55
year old man to do what he was doing.

So, while one can debate that growing old in the rock and roll world
can yield questions bordering on ageism, you can't deny that some are
taking the high road and removing themselves from the equation. Or
rather, didn't write themselves into a corner when they were younger.

Purple Shirt of the Week: the strength of Samson

Last week TtW played at a few Girl Scout camps. Enroute there and
back, we had a couple of meetings with the good folks at Samson
Technologies, who make a variety of music gear, some of which we
currently use. That's why we were there - one of my wireless units had
died a few shows before and we played the poor musician card and got
them to repair it for free. Which was good, because otherwise I was up
the creek.

We were going to visit them last time we were in Long Island, NY but http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=10962828&blogId=538046646
happened.

Our man Fritz was super nice to us and took care of us with no
problem. This was the entrance to their corporate headquarters. Can
you see why we want to work with them more??

Purple Shirt of the Week: Hanging on the Telephone

So the last date of the Talking to Malls tour found us back at the same mall we started at, and due to our brakes snapping into pieces, it was not by choice (see the blog post on how we almost died). On the upside, we had done a signing at that mall at BestBuy Mobile (Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, NY) back in May; and afterwards they gave Nat a new phone (a Droid). Well, we were planning on stopping at BestBuy Mobile anyway that day so Laura could get a phone and Nat a charger, so since we had no where else we could go...

They gave me a new case for my iPhone for free, since mine shattered outside the Toads Place show a week or two before. Really nice guys over there. Tell Hector, Nicole or Ed that Talking to Walls sent ya.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Adventures of a Traveling Man

So between the band and the day job, I've been on the road now more
than ever. Which means I post less, but I get to see more.

So here are two Purple photos from the month of June. First off, my
friend Ann sent me a photo, after asking "Isn't it cool that the hotel
rooms are purple?" and I said "They are? mine's not!"

One can only assume they're updating the hotel and hadn't gotten to my
room yet. Because olive is not Purple. I called hotel management to
complain. Told them to pick up the pace, and yes, I would graciously
accept them moving me to the properly-colored room. And sure enough,
a bellhop showed up to my room, and took my luggage. But he must have
been confused, because he dumped it all on the curb...

A few weeks later, I was once again traveling and saw this tower in
downtown Denver. It's right in the center of town. Big Purple
clocktower, looking over the whole city. I knew I was home.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Feet!!!

We've been referencing the "Shoes" viral YouTube video in the van a lot lately. ("those shoes suck. These shoes rule. These shoes cost $300. Let's get them!")

This is not a photo of purple shoes, but the feet inside. Because it's what's inside that matters.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Hot Topic

Talking to Walls has played a lot of malls and Hot Topics in the past few months. We met a new friend Crystal at the last mall of the tour, in Trumbull, CT. Fantastic purpleage!

Purple Shirt of the Week: Dear Aliza, Dear Aliza

So yesterday morning we left for the next leg of the tour, starting in
DC. M4's girlfriend came by to wish us farewell, and had an awesome
purple shirt and so here it is!

Purple Shirt of the Week: Tour Girl Laura

Haven't blogged lately because I was hell bent on using a couple of photos but couldn't send from my camera.

But here we are, backstage before the first show of the summer tour. This is our tour manager Laura. She has purple highlights in her hair and purple sunglasses. You can see why she fits in.

Purple Shirt of the Week

No fear, we have plenty more purple shirts to share, but I'm pal-ing
around this week it my purple friend Ellen and her neice Meg and it
seemed like a good time to blog.

I'm sick and tired, so no clever banter here.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Jake's Shoe

I started this whole blog as a goof for my friend Ellen. Recently her
son got a new pair of purple shoes and he wanted a photo sent over.
Since I'll be seeing her in a few hours for our annual handbasket ride
through hell, I thought I would post it!

You go, Jake. And happy birthday.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Zombies Ate My Baby!

So, TtW was on the road all last week, beginning with some old
fashioned Nat & Brian at malls shows, and culminating with the 5 shows
in 24 hours run over Memorial Day weekend.

Hence, I did not get to post until now.

However, there was a new fan at the Hot Topic in Waterford, CT that
had a "must share" shirt.

And I have nothing else to say on this matter, the shirt does it all.

Oh, while it's hard to see in the pic, they made our sign purple. did
someone tip them off?

Purple Shirt of the Week: Getting Back to Shirts

Getting back to purple shirts....So this is a photo that I think might
be from last year. Now that the weather is nice again, my friends and
I at work take walks at lunch. This is @travellingann, and she rocks
out the purple with all the rest of them! She has also stitched some
of the items that have been highlighted in this blog in months past.

OK, that's all i have right now, but i wanted to get a post in before
that enforcer lady Angela i wrote about a few months ago sees me
slacking off and sends me down the river in concrete shoes.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Ahead of his time

Now, everyone knows that the great Alex P. Keaton of Family Ties was a
genius ahead of his time, fully understanding the implications of free
market and enterprise, in ways that the rest of us can barely fathom.

But he was also a fashion icon before this blog ever launched, from
what I saw on TV the other day.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Happy Cinco de Mayo

Following on the heels of yesterday's "May the Fourth (be with You)", today is Cinco de Mayo, which, as our drummer @daskroop explained, celebrates the day that St. Patrick drove the French out of Mexico. Which is why it is known as the Mexican St. Patrick's Day.

See, learning here on the blog. Called multitasking.

Here's my friend Emily. She's awesome. While this photo was taken the other day and NOT on Cinco de Mayo, it was taken in TJ's kitchen, where I am headed to now to feast on guacamole and sip of the sacramental sangria.

Purple Shirt of the Week: OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/bieber-hat-thief-returns-prized-possession-3498646

This was the news headline in my RSS feed this morning.

Someone stole Justin Beiber's prized purple Yankees hat in New Zealand.

What are kids doing these days?

Listening to crap, apparently.

Listen parents, it has now been scientifically proven: letting your kids listen to this drivel will lead them into a life of crime. No good can come of this.

Well, actually, i guess the more parents try to mold their children's listening interests, the more the kids dig in. So i suggest some reverse psychology. Crank this teenybopper up in your mini van and sing at the top of your lungs. To their friends. And to the crossing guard at school. Make sure everyone sees you.

Probably, your kids will not think you're cool. But don't worry, they already think that. but it might drive them away from it. And sure, this program will be painful to execute. But raising children means investing in some pain anyway, so you already signed up for it. Whether it will be on par with childbirth or not...well, I have no plans/factory options to find out these pains. Let me know how it turns out.

Oh, make sure that you steal your kid's copy of the album, or torrent it from the Internet. Because buying it will only encourage the record company even more. They already said "Hey, we made a lot of money off this little kid in 2009 with his album My World. Let's crank another one out in 2010 just like it and just call it My World 2.0!"

I wish i was making this stuff up, people. Sadly, life is often like that - more bizarre than your imagination can invent.

I was watching La Bamba, the 80s movie about a 50s star, the other day. Remember when teen idols had real talent, not just a team of writers and autotune?

I mean, yeah, it was also easy to mock Hanson back in the day. But it was pretty obvious listening to the songs that, despite producers descending upon those brothers like vultures on a dead skunk, the core writing was, well, by a bunch of kids. Who have gone on to become respected songwriters, as amusing as that might seem in hindsight.

I now know more about Justin Beiber than I ever wanted to. Why? Because I didn't want to know anything in the first place. Oh wait, you meant "why do i know anything/so much?" because this kid is wrecking havoc at mall appearances around the world. and talking to walls will soon be wrecking havoc at mall appearances around the tri-state area in the Northeastern US. So, really, we're looking at how his security team handles the mobs.

Or, we're trying to figure out who's doing the mall circuit so we know who to make jokes about. because the tiffany jokes are going to fall flat most likely. At least until we do our big tour opener at the Meriden Westfield Mall July Fourth Weekend.

Up to you to decide what's been warranting this research into Justin Beiber.

But the fact remains, the kid's favorite hat is a purple yankee hat. It would be better if it were the Mets, Red Sox, or, well, anything else - even the Royals - but hey, when a kid from Canada jumps on the bandwagon of American Baseball, he doesn't know any better.

And a purple red sox hat would just be weird. But still and all, Master B, we salute you in your color choice.

Purple shirt of te week: in under the wire

So now that the blog has been back on schedule, I don't want to fall
off - especially with that mafia enforcer on my case that I showed a
picture a few weeks back. So I'd better post now rather than go into
hiding.

I've been trying to stay away from the computer since Friday night (or
had no choice, as I was the lighting designer for a dance show Friday
night. and yes, there was a lot of my favorite light gel color, Lee
161, a purple so deep it's dark and needs a lot of lights to see it,
and is so dark not only does it look like black light, but the 3,000
watt lamps burn through it if you use them for too long!), so luckily
I received a submission from someone for the blog and can write this
on my phone.

This comes to us from my friend Lanita, a blogger who has been
covering the band when we are in the NYC area (hence the name quirkyNYchick.com
) who shares my affinity for bad 80's hair metal. She submitted some
purple chucks a year ago. Sadly, they met an untimely end, when she
took a trip to Italy and decided it would be fun to stomp grapes at a
winery (it looked like fun when Lucille Ball did it on I Love Lucy,
even if Lanita was not being presented with an old world nemesis at
whom she would have to throw fistfulls of grapes.) sadly, she forgot
to take her shoes off, and while that would seem to make them even
MORE purple, it also meant forever after she was damned to leave
stains on her carpeting when she got back home. Stainmaster carpet
bedamned. Ao these are her new sets of chucks.

Look none of this email is making any sense, but considering that it
is after 1am and I had an early day and late nights all the last few
days, we will just say it didn't happen, ok?

Let's just marvel at these kicks...

Purple Shirt of the Week: A night on the town

Hail, dear readers!

(What the hail, dear brian...)

So now that I'm back on the blogging kick, I realized how many photos
have been submitted that I just haven't gotten to. But fret not, I
shall whittle away at the list here each week. No one will be turned
away! A chicken in every pot and a purple shirt in every closet!

Here is a photo that was submitted a long time ago by a friend from
the scene who is a devoted reader. How devoted? I think you can tell
for yourself. Who said grad school was all boring and no fun?

Purple Shirt of the Week: Midweek Special

What a lovely Spring we're having in the Northeast! I thought of you
all today as i looked out at my garden(s). All the colors are very
vivid, and so I took some pictures to share. And look, even the weeds
growing in my lawn are Purple!

Tune in Friday for something truly fabulous!

Purple Shirt of the Week: Taking Names

Oh yeah, the Purple blog is back on schedule! And here meet the
Enforcer!
She's a bad-a## criminal mastermind who's done time in Rikers after a
cop looked at her the wrong way. She'll be keeping me on schedule and
on my toes about this blog getting out there every week like it used
to be.

So if i miss a week, it's because I'M missing. Don't send the dogs to
find me, because this dawg's gonna have me buried in concrete.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Catching up

I realize that the world has shuddered to a halt. Heads of state couldn't make treaties, children cried in the streets, the government couldn't pass unemployment and healthcare bills, and Velvet Revolver hasn't found a new singer. My apologies. It's all my fault, as I hadn't written the Purple Blog in a month.

So to get back into things, we're gonna post a bunch this week (he says...) since I have finally gotten all my photos together that have been taken and submitted over my travels in the past month or so. I know you've all been waiting breathlessly for me to come off the road and post, but, as His Most Holy Mulleted Steve Perry once sang, "Loving a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be".

So let's get some more road photos, shall we? So far the spring tour season has brought us a new fan with the right ensemble and a gentlemen's club in PA. Let's skip ahead a week or two to Boston, where we met someone with the MOST AWESOME NAME IN THE WORLD. Purple fans, please meet Larissa Purple.

You read that right.

Cool, huh?

Caught her not wearing purple, but really, does she need to? She's already built-in awesome.

A few days later we played our big St. Patrick's Day Stomp & Shatter extravaganza at home in Bridgeport. A friend of mine took a photo of their purple walls, not only for the blog, but because it had the most gorgeous decoration ever seen on a venue's wall.

So tune in later this week at an unspecified time and day for another installment of the blog!

Purple Shirt of the Week: Bowling

Look at this! Two posts in a week! Actually, it's only because
something purple happened today and I'm killing some time on the train
ride home from speaking at the Intercollegiate Radio Conference. So
why not take the opportunity.

Today I was bowling at a benefit for a women's crisis center. I've
done the event a few times over the years. Every year they have a
different color theme and give out tshirts. Can you believe the luck
this year?!

(Disclaimer: The purple ball I am hoisting was not mine. I'm a
weakling who bowls a great game out of the gate and quickly fades
after the 5th or 6th frame. That one was way too heavy and I would
have been sore as hell. Only wookies could use balls that heavy. Warms
them up before they rip your arms out of your sockets. )

Another summer piece in our collection

I just keep finding more photos, of unposted fashions. Here we find a
nice summer blouse modeled by friend Michele. It's a Versace
original, with accompanying pants from the summer 2009 line. This
photo was taken during the Annual Norwalk Fashion Walk in June.

What will this year's Walk reveal? We'll know soon enough!

Purple Shirt of the Week: Got Nothin

So while Talking to Walls was on the road last weekend, M5 was manning
the camera. He got some great shots, like the one of a restaraunt
called "Yummy Yummy".

He also got this shot of an establishment outside of Philly in
Essington (I think). I thought, this must be the Mecca of all that is
purple! We would have gone inside, except something told me that the
people working there wouldn't be wearing purple... Or that taking
pictures would be frowned upon.

I've seen your signs, Essington. You dirty, dirty town. You amuse me
greatly.

Purple Shirt of the Week: One from the Road

So I just got home from the tour this week, and our newest fan Diana
from MD had a fantastic double-purple ensemble to share! Couldn't
make a post on friday because my phone batteries died beyond dead.
but worked out since we met Diana at last night's show.

i have nothing to witty to share because i'm really tired. i will say
that when we left the club that night we couldn't use the bathroom
because there was a drug deal going down there. and as we were
leaving there was a barely-clothed young lady in a loud drunken
argument in the parking lot. As i was walking around to start the
van, i said to the rest of the band "wow, that girl isn't wearing any
pants!" and then closed the door to the van (and it has no windows)
much to their protests inside. :) good times.

but Diana and her friend Jer were two of the truely awesome people
that we met that night that really helped make the show special. add
purple? perfect!

Ok, time for food and bed.

Purple Shirt of the Week: mnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnms

Sorry I missed posting, dear readers. I was either without Internet
or in an airplane or asleep.

Went to a reception Thursday night. there were these cool-looking
purple things being served in martini glasses. looked like tiny
grapes or olives. found out they were purple M&Ms made of white, dark
and milk chocolate. Yum. Taste the purple!

Purple Shirt of the Week: Return to actual shirts

There haven't been enough actual shirts on this blog lately, so I
cornered my friend Kurt, whom I'm in TX with this week. (Interesting
side note: he's a drummer who grew up with our drummer Krupa...)

Purple Shirt of the Week: Special Double Issue

So, at last post (which admittedly was over a week ago), I shared with you, dear universe, the guitar strings that I got from Aurora Strings, whom Talking to Walls had just gotten an endorsement deal with. As I was writing that, I was trying to place when that meeting happened. My FRIEND Kate (you'll understand in a moment) pointed out that the meeting was on the morning of her wedding, for which I was the best man. Of course!

Let me regal you with my intrigue and sneakery.

Piture it...Newtown, CT...2009...the wind is blowing as the threat of rain darkens the sky...

Dress rehearsal at the chapel, and there's some goofing around on the altar, to break tension or, in my case, because I think I'm the most amusing person I know. The pivotal point here is my FRIEND the bride saying "I just have to try not to lose it up here" - crying messes up makeup and all, you know? And being the object of attention of the photographer for the day...

So I devise a plan - why not wear purple dress socks with my tux? Obviously, because what would any other self-respecting individual do? So the next night, I show up appropriately dressed, taking care that my socks wouldn't show in normal circumstances - standing, walking the aisle - the parts I wanted to photograph well and be seen by all, and disguise my assassin-like wit. Luckily, the groom, whom I've known since second grade, is used to my being completely inappropriate. I texted a photo of my stunning fashion sense over to the maid of honor and my FRIEND the bride, who were in the makeup and photo session, getting ready. I then posted the photo on Twitter, which feeds my Facebook, something about "helping my friend the bride laugh instead of cry on the altar" or something like that. You know, be able to look down and have something lightly absurd to distract her as I show a little ankle.

All I know is 20 minutes after posting that, my girlfriend gets a phone call from an old friend of hers, chewing her out for not telling her that we were getting married and very upset. And 20 minutes after that conversation, I was getting chewed out in the back of the church by GF for posting it on Facebook and her having to talk down her angry friend...

Good times.

Since it's been a while since the last post, I'll share more.

Here is a post-wedding photo of the bride and a friend of theirs, as we celebrate birthdays (husband, his sister and & I all have birthdays within like 2 weeks). so we go to his parents house and eat Dad's homemade pizza. One of the best traditions I partake in.

Purple Shirt of the Week: Strings (not threads)

So once again we diverge from shirts, blouses and tops (and clothing
in general) to bring you something else purple. This time it's guitar
strings!

Why? Because they're made by Aurora Strings, the guitar string
company that just endorsed Talking to Walls as of yesterday morning!
Last summer while on tour, we learned of this company and their
unusual string coating method (I'll spare you the boring-to-anyone-but-
a-guitarist details). A few months ago, in a Discovery Channel-worthy
moment, Nat and I were invited over to their factory to see how their
strings were made. We met with their guys, they gave us some samples,
and we gave them some CDs.

Long story short, both parties liked what they heard, and that brings
us to yesterday morning's email exchange that added Talking to Walls
to their roster of artists (alongside our friends Mike Falzone and the
Peppermint Trick) and added Aurora Strings to our list of endorsements
next to Godin Guitars and Spectraflex Cables. It was a nice email
chat over breakfast, you know?

Anyway, this was one of the sets they gave me. They make more normal-
colored strings too of course, but I said "no, I think I'll grab
those..." What else was I supposed to do?

Purple Shirt of the Week: Losing Eddie Vedder

This has nothing to do with this week's post, but seemed worthy to share at some point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Purple

I remember this as a child.

Every night, week, or whatever it was, I would watch Mister Roger's Neighborhood. The trolley, king and queen were regular characters on my family's television. So was Sherlock, but I don't remember if he was in the Land of Make Believe or on Magic Garden. X the Owl and Sherlock both seemed to own similar, centrally-located properties on both of those programs.

Anyway, I remember these human-sized Purple Pandas that used to talk to Mr. Rogers. (I thought that, along with the Koala, that these creatures must be friendly in real life as well, if not purple. Nope, they'll rip your arms our of your socket like a losing Wookie. Well, the pandas will, not sure about the koala. might just lose your face. But, as is often the case, I digress...)

Apparently the Purple Pandas were real, at least in the "what they put on TV is real" sort of way. I forgot about there being a whole planet.

Oooh, i just thought of a tie-in! Much like these characters were on my TV all the time as a child, years later the band that brought you "Alive" and "Elderly woman behind the counter in a small town" also became regulars on my TV. Along with their rock and roll chaos, they also brought with them flannel from the Northwest. In one form or another, the flannel stayed, at least on the edge, in society, while Pearl Jam completely went off the map, musically and figuratively. Well, they're back with an impossibly amazing album, and you know what? Eddie Vedder still has his amazing voice. And the hair. And the goatee. And the same wardrobe. Sorry Ed, I bought this shirt a few years ago, but as I clean out my closet and make a big bag of stuff for donating, I realize I've moved on from the flannel.

And yes, those are my drapes behind me.