Favorite Things

So I’ve been thinking about moving. Or going on the road for awhile, getting away from the same old, same old.

Then I realized that I’m way more attached to my stuff than I used to be. When I was younger I used to get pack up my guitar, twenty bucks, and hit the road with my thumb in the air to catch a ride. Doesn’t sound all that fun to me now because I need my stuff.

I’d have a hard time living without:
The Internet- man, what did vampires ever do without it? Email, downloading songs, Myspace… I can spend hours online.

Computer- obvious, I guess, given the Internet comment above, but I could get access to the Internet at public places. But I want my own computer with all my games and music software.

My guitar- okay, that hasn’t changed much in forty years.

Cell phone- None of these “reading minds” vampire crap for me. Just call my cell.

Lava lamp- Even with kick ass technology, nothing’s ever going to be groovier than a lava lamp.

Picture of Jenny- She was my mortal girlfriend back in the day. She’s a real estate agent and a grandmother now in St. Louis.

The rest I guess I could take or leave, but I do really like my ACDC t-shirt, my DVD collection, and my Saints jersey. It wouldn’t make me happy to lose any of those.

What can’t you all live without?

Dave

The Quiet Impaler

I guess that's how the other guys would label me. I am the quiet one. Seems to me that when you open your mouth too much, you just create a heap of trouble. I learned that lesson the hard way. After all, it was my own big mouth and cocky attitude that got me where I am today.

So I've learned over my many, many years to just sit back and let others talk themselves in and out of messes and around in circles. It's safer to sit quietly in the background. Don't get me wrong--I will speak my piece when it's necessary, but otherwise, I just sit and watch. You learn a hell of a lot more by listening.

That's something I wish I'd know back when I was alive. Things would have gone much differently if I'd had the sense to pay attention rather than charge in. I could have protected those I'd sworn to protect. I could have done my job...

Ah, hell, see where rambling on gets you? Right back to saying too much.

Yeah, I'm the quiet one. It's the safest way to be. I mean don't you wish there were times when you could have just shut your mouth? Don't you wish there were things you'd never said?

Days Off

Not having to go to work is usually a good thing, right? I mean, we all wait for our days off, count down to them, think they disappear too fast, and drag our asses back in when the work week starts up again.

But lately, I haven’t been looking forward to those free days because it seems like I don’t have anything to do but sleep. And I’ve got how many days off ahead of me? An eternity worth. Being a vampire is a forever gig and I’m bored already. At least when I’m playing in the band I’m killing time, hanging with the guys, watching people, doing something. Not to mention I need the cash. Not every vampire is independently wealthy with no freakin’ explanation for how he got that way. I don’t need to pay for food, but I do like a roof over my head and a new t-shirt every now and then.

Maybe I need a hobby since I’m about to OD on cartoons and decorating shows. Or a girlfriend. But the last time I went there it didn’t end all that great considering she almost decapitated me. Literally. That doesn’t say good things about my taste in women and I’m not exactly ready to dive back in with the sharks in skirts.

So if you had about a thousand years of life ahead of you and a skinny bank account, what would you want to do on your days off?

Dave, bored on Bourbon

Undead at Christmas

You know, as a vampire, I gotta tell you, Christmas ain't one of my favorite holidays.

I'm sure that doesn't come as a complete surprise to you all. But still it needs to be said. Not because we vampires are the soulless undead who despise and fear everything holy. That's not how vampires are--well, some of them are--but it's not a mandatory trait. In fact, I know several quite devout vamps. I came from a very religious family myself.

I dislike... (I won't go so far as to say hate--but give me another century or so, then get back to me on that one) I dislike Christmas because it's so damned commercial. It's true. When I was a kid, Christmas was magical. I remember going to Grant Park with my older brother, Jimmy, to see the lighting of the Christmas tree. Even if we had a couple hits that day, we'd get them done and be there in time to see those beautiful lights come on and fill the air with holiday cheer. And we always went to the candlelight mass on Christmas Eve. Well, except for the year when Dad had to go whack a no-good named Stinky Vic. But even then, Mom had us all to church on Christmas Day. She also gave Dad a good talking to--and Dad never missed a mass again.

Not the mention from December 24th to the New Year, we'd put off roughing up some no-good who'd, say, stiffed our father on a deal. Or didn't make good on a debt. (well, with the exception of Stinky Vic--but that was really an unusual circumstance, which I will tell you about at a later date.) And if they had kids, we'd even give them couple days before Christmas Eve. No kids should spend their holiday visiting Pop in the hospital.

Back then, it was about the generosity of spirit and kindness and good will to others. And it was about family. Most importantly about family. My mother, Rosaleen, would make a huge dinner. My whole family would gather and we'd share stories of Christmases back in the homeland. My uncle Declan would play his fiddle and we'd sing old Christmas songs. And of course there were gifts. But I cared more about my family and being with them.

Now, it's about the stuff. The goods. What great and expensive toys will be waiting under the tree in the morning.

And that ain't right. It makes me sad. Which is why, now I actually choose to work. To be with my makeshift musical family. I worked Christmas with the band. We didn't go to mass or sing Christmas songs, but we did drink a lot.

Speaking of which, we are also working New Year's...well, some of us.
Come check us out if you happen to be around.

Here is the place and a list of times...*

Fat Catz
438 Bourbon Street
New Orleans, LA

Friday 29th at 8 pm
Saturday 30th at 8 pm
Sunday 31st at 8 pm


Come on by and get impaled. We dare you.

*These dates and the location are real, and Paul a.k.a. Johnny will be playing.

The Naming Of A Band

Do you know how hard it is to get five guys to agree on a name for a band? It’s damn hard, especially when every guy is a couple of centuries old. You start to feel like you’re always right when you’ve got the kind of life experience we do.

The Impalers is working for us now. It’s a good name. Don’t even get me started on the last one we had… and I’m not going to point fingers, but a certain someone who knows who he is- and who can’t hold his liquor - thought it was brilliant. He was wrong. The Suckers is a crap name. It sucks, like the name says. Plain and simple. And the fact that we went on the road like that and played a gig in Vegas, for the President of the Vampire Nation, of all freaking people, (see Erin McCarthy’s High Stakes) was just rough.

But I’m over it. Really. And we’re back on Bourbon St., which is cool. With a better name.

So does a bad or annoying band name turn you off? Or is it just all about the music?

You can be honest. I don’t bite. During the day.

Drake

after dark...

...the boys in the band come out to play.

Come play with us at www.vampireband.com.