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I have it from reliable sources that Mr. Berz, after serving the last few years in an Upstate New York penetentiary, has decided to devote the remainder of his days on this orb to serving the Lord Almighty. That’s right! He is currently in Seminary studying to become a Catholic Priest. I hear that he regrets the fact that as a Catholic Priest, he will no longer be allowed to be alone with his young son. As such, at the kind behest of Michael Jackson, the younger Mr. Berz will be staying at the Neverland Ranch until further notice.
-anon-
Yo! Those old stories are all pure bullshit. If Murph or Lou wanted to wear earplugs they could have simply dragged themselves down to the local pharmacy and bought some. I mean, we’re talking about adults here, albeit young adults. That’s akin to one passenger in a vehicle who personally decided on not wearing his or her seat belt and subsequently becoming injured in an accident, blaming a fellow passenger in the same vehicle for personally deciding to wear his or her seat belt, thus not being seriously injured. Whatever happened to individual responsibility? I say wear the plugs, but don’t blame anyone if you choose not to. Everyone knows J’s reputation. Act accordingly.
-g-
Howdy,
Thank you all so much for your kind words for me and my family. (I’m still getting used to that one!) It’s been a while since I’ve had time to check out the site here. Jeremiah, and all of you other Dad’s & Mom’s out there, know exactly what I mean. Elliott is about six and a half months old now, so he’s really starting to become his "own little man." It is really amazing to witness and contribute significantly to the formation of another person’s identity and personality, starting from scratch. What a trip! He needs EVERYTHING from US, yet is incapable of actually asking for anything. (I do believe that "asking" thing does kick in fairly early, so I’m enjoying the status quo while it lasts!) It is tiring for certain, and at times, very difficult. I describe Elliott as an alarm clock that you can’t set, and has no snooze button. Sounds like fun, eh? Well believe it or not, becoming a Dad IS A BLAST!!! Nothing warms my soul as much a big smile from my son when I walk in the door. He’ll laugh for eons if I put on, say, Van Halen II and do the air guitar finger moves in front of him. What a prize. We feel like the luckiest people alive to be blessed with such a wonderful and healthy young lad!May you all have a most Wonderful New Year!
Love,
-Elliott, Gimili & George-
p.s. For anyone who gives a rat’s ass, check the Official Elliott Bonham Berz website for an updated and ongoing view of the Little Man, and his social romps!
Here is the link to the site:Enjoy!
"I’ll never understand the American Health Care System, there has to be a better way." – Voodoo Girl –
Hey Voodoo Girl, I couldn’t agree with you more. Our health care system is completely broken, and no one even talks about fixing it. Christ, the Clinton’s (especially Hillary), and I’m no fan of them or many other politcians, were nearly publicly lynched when they attempted to address the issue in the early days of Clinton’s first administration. Now with George W and his cast of yo-yos running the show in Washington, I don’t think that there’s any hope that anything will improve in the foreseeable future. I note that you’re from Canada, and although I understand that the "single payer" system that you have up there is less than perfect, it is far better than what passes muster south of your border. My friends in the UK constantly complain about their National Health. I always have to remind them that at least they can go to a doctor or hospital, get the medication(s) that they need, and not have to worry about whether or not the bill will affect your ability to pay your next months rent on time! In large American cities such as New York, where I reside, the disparity between the health care facilities available to the monied and the poor is appalling. The poor, however, at least have access to health care via various government programs available to those citizens who are truly destitute. It’s those people who have jobs where their employers do not provide affordable health insurance, and the self-employed (such as myself) that truly get screwed. We have to pick up 100% of the cost of our health care all on our own. In fact, I have a close friend who was recently informed that she only has two to three years left to live due to advanced metastatic breast cancer. Rather than being able to fully concentrate on her well being and happiness in what amounts to the final years of her all too brief life, she is now concentrating her energies on finding a bankruptcy attorney. So much for "The Greatest Nation On Earth!"
-George-
Hey y’all,
It is true that I suffered a neurological injury to my left arm not long ago. I’ll briefly capsulize what occurred. On the last date of my most recent European jaunt with Evan Dando, which was the Leeds Festival on August 23rd, I had stayed up all night toping with some English friends of mine. Being already incredibly sleep deprived, due in part to being in the midst of the most unusual European heat wave this summer, and said lands distinct lack of air condtioning, suffice it to say that by the time I boarded my flight home to New York I was thoroughly wiped out. Frustrated at my inabililty to fall asleep on the airplane I stupidly continued imbibing the free cocktails offered on the journey across the Atlantic. Needless to say that by the time I got off of the plane at JFK I was well in the bag. After the taxi ride home I bid a not so fond adieu to the person that my girlfriend had arranged to watch our loft (as she was Upstate working on a film shoot.) Looking at the clock I realized that it was only 7:30PM and I thought to myself that if I fell asleep at this time that I would just be screwing myself with the jet lag issue. Thus, in my infinite wisdom I decided that my best course of action was to try and stay awake until at least midnite, or so. Unfortunately my stupidity with regards to my disgusting over consumption of alcohol got the better of me, and I fell asleep on my couch with my left arm crumpled under my torso, and awoke some 14 hours later. Upon waking up my left arm was completely numb, but I thought nothing of it as I was certain that it would go away as is commonplace when one sleeps awkwardy on a limb for a short while. But this was no short while, and after about an hour I began to panic as I still couldn’t move my left hand. When the condition showed no sign of improvement 24 hours later, I went to the emergency room. The ER doctor informed me that I had sustained what is known as a crush injury to my radial nerve. He then made feel even more like a moron when he informed me that this injury is common among homeless people who pass out on sidewalks from booze or heroin. He then added the real stinger when he said that I probably wouldn’t be playing drums for at least nine months. This really freaked me out, as I was scheduled to be on tour again in less than two weeks. A few days later I consulted one of the leading neurologists in the country at Lenox Hill Hospital, who echoed the initial prognosis of the ER physician. I figured that I was totally screwed. as this is the doctor that treats the guys who play for the Jets and Giants when they end up in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. Man did I ever feel like an idiot for being so cavalier with my livelihood!
Fortunately I took the advice of a good friend and sought out an accupuncturist. I figured that the Chinese have been practicing medicine for a hell of a lot longer than we have in Western Civilization, so there must be something to it. All that I have to say is GOD BLESS Dr. Lixin Sha! That woman is nothing short of a miracle worker, as one treatment with her showed marked improvement within a couple of days. Never mind the fact that she only charged me $75 for a one hour treatment, whereas Mr. Top Neurologist charged me $500 for ten minutes of his precious time. Being one of the myriad Americans with no health insurance, his bad news cost me half a months rent for nothing. To make a long story short, one more visit with Dr. Sha had me on tour, ON TIME! Granted, I was nowhere near 100 percent, but I was able to pull it off. I also must extend a big fat thank you to Evan and the boys for their encouragement and patience in allowing me to work through my convalescence while on the road. I must also thank my lovely girlfriend, Gimili, for her constant support, as well as being my shoulder to cry on. It wasn’t easy, and at times it was painfully frustrating, but after about three weeks into the tour I was back to my normal self. In fact, the whole experience has made the level of joy and satisfaction that I get from playing the drums even greater than ever. It may sound trite, but sometimes you really don’t appreciate what you have until it’s threatened to be snatched away from you. Also, I don’t think that I’ll be over indulging in alcohol anytime in the near (or distant) future. Finally, thanks to you all for even giving a crap that we do what we do. You rock!-George-
Gotta admit, keen observation on someone´s part. Our first rehersal was soundcheck at our first show in Cork, Ireland. Seeing as Glasgow was only three shows later, there may have still been some rough edges. Actually, I was still relying on my notebook for some of the tunes, but the shadows were really bad, and I couldn´t see it very well. Oh well! As I´m writing this from Barcelona, I can assure you that the notebook was chucked prior to the two London shows. It all has come together rather nicely. Bergara, in the Basque region of Spain, was great yesterday. It was about 98F outside, and abunch of us climned this lovely green hill to get to the abandoned castle up at the top. We were able to get inside and sample some of the local jazz tobacco there. Now I know why Hendrix wrote Spanish Castle Magic!!! As great as it´s been on this side of the pond, I can´t wait to get back to good ol´NYC for a couple of days, prior to heading out on as US tour. Take care yawl!
Hey ya’ll. Been out of touch for a little while, but as it turns out you are aware that I’ve been busy. This tour has been going really well thus far. I’m diggin’ all of the other fellows in the band. Let’s just say that Chris Brokaw rules! It’s so fun at soundcheck. Today (Frankfurt) we were busting out Hendrix, Zeppelin and the Stooges. The man is a human jukebox! As for den Buck’s comments, it was a bummer that Amsterdam didn’t turn out to be a band show, but there are worse towns to have an unexpected night off in, if you catch my drift. Let’s just say that the Dutch have it right with regards to their policies on certain issues. As for the Juliana rumors, as of this posting that has been confirmed. Oh well, gotta go. Thanks for the support.
Hey to all you folks DownUnder,
I don’t mean to burst any bubbles, but I’m fairly certain that the tour of which you’re speaking of is a J solo affair. That is to say, I haven’t heard anything about it from J, and if we (that is, the band) were coming along I think that we would have to be getting our work visas in order by now. As for the issue of Watt, he has been replaced by Matt Hunter on bass for the most recent tour that we’ve just completed. I understand that people love Watt, but all of the feedback that I’ve received indicates that Matt has more than adequately filled his shoes. (And sweaty ones, they are!)-George-
Toshi,
Sorry to hear that you’re not feeling well. The flu definitely sucks! I’m glad that you dug the Tokyo shows, however. As you know, it’s not everyday that we get to do shows in Japan. It seems as if we make it over there every two years or so. That is one reason that we like to make it count when we are there. Also, as J pointed out, the fans in Japan are very well informed, and they seem to care about the music. As a performer, what more could you ask for?
As for the point that Flying Cloud made, it’s extremely disturbing to not know if the audience is experiencing the same horror that you are hearing through the monitors. In these cases you have to place your trust in your soundman. More often than not, the crownd isn’t hearing what’s going on with the stage monitors. By all accounts, our soundguy on this tour, Ajay Saggar, did an incredible job. We did three shows in the NYC area, and one in Boston. Thus, as most of our friends live in these two cities, we got plenty of feedback from people who have seen Dino/ the Fog countless times over the past eighteen years. The consensus was that Ajay was doing us right on the mixing board. Thanks, Ajay!
As for future dates, we are going to be making up the snow-canceled show in Philadelphia, at the end of April. We might be doing a New York show, or two around the same time. That’s all for now.-George-
Hey folks,
Just a quick word on the earplugs issue. We all wear them. If we didn’t, I’m sure that our hearing would be even more toasted as the result of nightly pummelings for weeks at a time. It is important to keep in mind that earplugs don’t eliminate hearing damage, but certainly go along way towards reducing permanent impairment. J and Matt prefer the thick foam earplugs. I personally prefer the "fancy" plugs that you get from a doctor. They pour a mold of your ears, and you can choose the decibel cut that you want. I obviously went for a larger reduction, but even so, the sound quality was remarkably good. Unlike the foam plugs, these provide an even decibel cut across the sonic spectrum. They cost around $110 per pair, and you should be able to get them at any ear doctor. Here in NYC I refer people to the NY Eye and Ear Infirmary, on E. 14th St. I know that they’re pricey, but I’m sure that most folks, as I have, have spent money on more foolish things.Hey Toshi,
I’m pretty sure that I know who you are. This should seal it… thanks for the charms that you gave us. As I am writing this from home, our travel was indeed safe. As for the shows that you mentioned, I would agree, at least from our perspective, that the Shibuya show was a good one. The stage sounded great, and the crowd was certainly enthusiastic. The Liquid Room was cool, as well, but my memory of it is less acute due the jet lag finally wielding it’s cruel hand. In fact, all the shows in Japan were cool. The only negative was some unruly monitors at the Fukuoka show. It made it really hard for us to hear each other. I don’t how many of ya’ll play in bands, or whatever, but shitty monitors are far worse than no monitors at all. There was a wierd bass drum rumble type feedback, along with some wierd high end thing. The worst part was that the frequencies were totally unsympathetic, creating a truly strange and distracting effect. Hopefully it wasn’t coming through the front of house, as I know that you guys pay big money to see foreign artists in Japan. To all the other folks out there, these fans in Japan have to pay 6,500 to 7,000 yen to see these shows. That’s roughly $55 to $60 dollars at the current exchange rate. Believe me, we are aware of that. Unfortunately, there’s not much that we can do about it. Hopefully you enjoyed it (as it seems that you have.)Thanks,
-George-
Hey there, it wasn’t a guitar, it was J’s fist. It is well documented. Check out the Sonic Youth video for "Teenage Riot", and you can see it for yourselves.
Hey everyone out there. First I’d like to thank J for having our roving tweak-show along for the weekend. It was a truly great time for us. It had been a while since we had played a real rock show. It felt great to shake off the rust and play MY drums for a change. I’d also like to thank Artie Smith for loaning us a couple of amps and one sweet Gibson ES-355. It’s not every day that someone lets you borrow their $8,000 guitar for a weekend. Props! Last and not least, I’d like to thank everyone that came out to the shows. I hope that most of you enjoyed what we hung out there. I realize that not everyone is going to like any given band, but I felt that you all were at the very least, respectful. Hopefully some of you even liked it. I do know that you all were treated to Mr. Mascis in fine form. He really did deliver the goods. Thanks J!
-George-
P.S. I don’t wanna forget to thank Jeremiah and everyone else at FreakScene.net for their support and enthusiasm. It was great that you put the tunes up and really promoted our involvement with the shows. You guys (and gals) ROCK! <img>
Hey folks, That show in Spain is NOT happening as it turns out. J said that he may do it acoustic, but it’s definitely not going to be a Fog show. Also, in regards to the Sea of Cortez dates, we will not be playing with the expanded line-up in Brooklyn, either. It’s just going to be a five piece for all three shows. There just wasn’t enough time to pull it all together, as I’ve been really busy lately, with a lot of projects. Sorry. <img> <img> <img>
