It’s been a very active year for me as a photographer and lifestyle blogger when it comes to the stuff that I have been sharing with the world on my PiercingKen blog. Longtime readers will recall how I launched this little space on the Internet to have an area to showcase my other photography and ideas that fell too far outside of my music journalist adventures that we present on PiercingMetal.com and that leads me to this posting. What I decided to do was offer up a list of the “Top Five” most read blogs on the website. This is by no means a lining out of the most active writings for the calendar year itself but instead the most visited items that have been done since we launched the site. I felt that this would be a little cooler and if we end up with the same thing when 2012 closes its book, I will figure out something different to share with you. Doing something like this lets the newer readers enjoy some of the trinkets and possibly share with their own friends as new “discoveries”. The list is numbered as most popular in order of their visits. #1 is the obvious highest of the batch.
Looking at the list myself I had to smile a little bit as I recalled the circumstances that made them become blog as well. It strengthens my creative resolve and finds me super excited for the stuff that I will chance upon in 2012 and share with you all over here. Thanks for reading, commenting, liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter. I appreciate it all.
I’ve mentioned in a few of my narratives how I was once a little more active musically than I find myself able to be today and just this past weekend while cleaning around some of my packed away gear I discovered this unexpected surprise. The first and second set list of tunes that was performed by my Ramones tribute band “The Ramoniacs” during one of our gigs. I just had to share it with you and I hope you like it.
The Ramoniacs was a three-piece unit that featured Scott Koblish on guitar and vocals, John Conroy on bass and vocals and myself on drums and backing vocals. The initial premise was to do a lot of Ramones for people and as you can see by the pair of nineteen song per set lists that is exactly what we did. To my knowledge there are not any photos of the group in action, but be aware we were not a tribute in the sense where we dressed like them anyway. Scott did bring a wig to one show and we took turns wearing it and for one set at a show I attempted to wear a motorcycle jacket. That was not too easy.
We only did about a handful of gigs before disbanding and parting ways but our set was an interesting one to say the least. It was about 90% Ramones covers from across their entire catalog and there was a heavy emphasis on the classics. The other 10% was used for a few originals and songs we liked and did as if The Ramones had offered them up in the first place. We had no official logo or band photograph for gigs and that actually kind of surprises me when I think about it. I don’t recall that any photographs even exist from the live performances. Like all bands there were some fun times and there were also some harrowing ones. That’s music life for you. I’m still in touch with Scott today thanks to the likes of Facebook and he is currently drawing “O.M.A.C.” for DC Comics. Be sure to check it out. If I find any other stuff about the band in my archeological digs I will be sure to share it with you here.
Many thanks to SkeletonPete for taking these two photos and putting them together. The set list was a double sided card. Maybe I should laminate this.
Hey everyone, nice to see that you are finally awake and have gotten a start with your day on this brand new 2012. Did you have a fun New Year’s Eve with a cast of characters one can only imagine in the funny papers or did you just chill out in a calmer setting and raise a glass when the bells brought us into the new one? Whatever the case may be I hope it was a great one. I’m starting off the New Year 2012 with a visual from a little celebrity who is on an up and coming rise of his own. Yes, the Red Solo Cup. I caught up with him around lunch time when I found him just chilling out on a neighbor’s porch reflecting upon his night, his very popular theme song and how he will be approaching adventures of his own in the New Year. He didn’t seem to mind my snapping a photo of him, but he insisted that the exact location not be disclosed and of course no autographs were permitted. Hey, to each their own right?
Don’t feel bad if you were not aware of his now popular song, as he seems to be a forgiving sort, and will not be holding any grudges in the New Year. The song was done by Toby Keith and its a Country number of course. It’s a quirky little bit of melodic fun so I have embedded the video from a YouTube.com channel for your enjoyment. It speaks to the value of the Red Solo Cup family and if you have ever been at a BBQ, Tail Gate Hang, or some kind of band function you are very familiar with their benefits. Enjoy.
From the secreted think tank of the PiercingKen offices, I wish you and your families a very amazing 2012. Stay tuned for more.
Is it just me or was that a very fast year? I know I cannot be wrong in this because a lot of people felt as if they blinked and shazam, here we are a the end of another one. One of my friends said that this is the sign of getting old – the whole time moving quickly. These are people I don’t need to hear from LOL. Anyways, so this was clearly a year of good and bad. In some cases good and absolutely terrible which is unfortunate. We found births and deaths and the whole circle of life going on from the beginning of 2011 until its close. Of course I am not here to get all preachy but I will say let’s continue to strive to celebrate the moments that we have together since we can.
I am here to share some images that reflect the whole New Year’s Eve spirit in some sense and you readers might be surprised to learn that I shot these few photos back in March of 2011. I was on my way to a show (a usual occurrence to me) and as I glanced up at one of the buildings in Times Square I realized it was the one with the famous ball drop.
My guess is that they were dismantling the ball or testing it for issues even though the New Year was already three months deep. It was interesting to see being the case so out came the trusty snappy camera and some shots were snared.
As a card carrying New Yorker, I sometimes find the visitors to the city surprised about my lack of interest in being in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. and I’ve not gone once. It looks like fun, but I am in enough crowds at popular shows and the idea of several hundred thousand people right on top of me is just not appealing.
I don’t begrudge those who love it, as I know several people who will cancel everything in order to be there, but its not my deal. I realize I don’t sound like much fun by saying this but trust me I still am more often than I am not. It was cool to see “the ball” being giving the once over. It was a very quick occurrence as well, so I was lucky to get the few clear images that I did.
I would venture to guess that I was down around Grand Central Station when I shot these and that just shows how good some of the zoom lenses are on these point and shoot cameras. Barring this next shot of course as it flashed bright and I could not get the focus to be right on target. Oh well.
These next two managed to do the trick. Loved the bluish light on the ball and felt that at least by seeing this live in an approximate region to the larger festivities when they would normally take place that I was good to go. Now there is no need to really be there unless I want to take shots of millions of pieces of confetti after standing in place for 14 hours.
If you are one of those folks who heads up there I hope you have fun and I shall speak to you afterwards. Try not to mass text people because apparently their replies are also en masse to the recipients. Let those who impact your life in a positive fashion receive a text all their own. It takes only a moment to do.
That being said…..Goodbye 2011, and welcome Mr. 2012. Happy New Year Everybody. I hope that it’s an amazing one with more good memories and positivity than anything otherwise. Be the best person you can to each other while you can do so. Live life outside of Facebook and Twitter but be sure to come visit us from time to time on this little blog because we love having you drop by. I thank you all for the attention you have given my music and regular life adventuring.
A couple of days ago I posted a blog with some quick photos of a scenic view I had while on a family gathering. We had all convened at a Spanish/Portuguese restaurant called Villa Verde and it is located in Wayne, NJ. Anyways, I am one who sometimes considers himself a foodie and while not someone with a upper echelon palate I like what I like, and Spanish cuisine is one of them.
After seeing how the Foodspotting website worked with its members taking pics of food and sharing it with the member community, I figured I would practice for my own submissions by taking photos of the fine far being offered up here at Villa Verde. Starting us off here is a plate of mussels. They were very tasty but my only problem with mussels is how the actual mussel is so very small. You end up eating a bunch of them if your really hungry I will say that much.
Next on the table were some amazing chorizos and I did a number on these since I don’t get to eat them all that often.
Some stuffed mushrooms. I liked but did not love these. I am still kind of amazed at how I even eat mushrooms now considering for many years I avoided them like the plague. Not sure why but I do use them a lot nowadays. Hmm, that makes me think that a nice chorizo and portabello mushroom dish might be nice to make. If I do it, I will post the recipe here in my cooking with Ken section.
Here is a pretty standard but still tasty fried calamari. Don’t get me wrong as they did a fine job of it but I have been spoiled to this kind of cuisine ever since I went to my now favorite Vietnamese restaurant Nha Trang and sampled their crispy squid in garlic. OK, I am hungry just writing that down.
The baked clams were a popular hit at the table and as you see I could not even get my photo fast enough without someone snaring one of the plates occupants. They did a nice job on the clams for sure.
I saw these shrimp listed as “Riojasm Shrimp” and I am sorry that I do not know what that means. I guess its the way they prepare them. As a shrimp lover there are really no ways you can offer me shrimp and not have it appease my appetite. Suffice it to say there was a lot of seafood going on at the place. Never a bad thing unless you are allergic to the stuff. Oh in this shot you can see the bread as well, and I believe they made this in house. I love bread. LOVE it.
This was a simple plate of yellow rice. It was nice to have this on the table as well. I usually order this kind of rice with black beans when I order Mexican food but this was not a Mexican restaurant of course.
One of the folks at my table had ordered salmon as their entree so I snapped a photo of this for you to see. As you might notice it comes with a veggie medley and some in house prepared potato chips. I’ve seen this at a few places of late and I enjoy it if they do it properly.
I ordered the Filet Mignon simply because it was Filet Mignon. I’m not going to pass that up. It was good.
Cake. What else should I say?
More Cake 🙂
This is flan. That’s a tasty caramel custard for dessert.
Check them out if you are ever in Wayne, NJ or close enough to visit them. I liked it enough and should I be in the region you know I will be heading there for sure to enjoy more tasty goodness. If you want to check out my Foodspotting please click HERE or read some Yelps click HERE.
