Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola

What These Vegans Eat: January 2012

2012-02-20T15:53:00.000-05:00

Untitled Document

	WHY WHAT THESE VEGANS EAT? I'm tired of people asking me what Mike and I eat. Would an omnivore have an easy time answering this question? Mostly, we eat vegetables/grains/legumes/fruit. I cook everything I can in my trusty cast-iron pan. I tend to lean towards stick-to-your-ribs one pot meals that come together in about a half an hour. We're trying to be good and eat more salad. Once a week, I'm going to post about all of the dinners I made the week previous-hopefully it will clear up any lingering questions. I haven't been keeping up as well as I would have liked, BUT here's a smattering of January!
	Chickpea and swiss chard sandwich! and a side of mujaddara (lentils and brown rice cooked together)
	the picture is terrible because I forgot to put it on the plate and photo it BUT buffalo tofu! all I did was open the package, cut it up, then breaded it straight (just with breadcrumbs) from the package using it's own wetness. then I cooked it for about 1/2 hour by itself, then flipped them and poured hot sauce all of them and baked for about five more minutes. easy and delicious. I made them again soon after with panko and they were extra crunchy.
	I bought a cast iron crepe pan so I made the savory chickpea crepes from the Candle Cafe cookbook again. the filling was a tofu scramble with fresh lentils and collard greens.
	veggie chili (sweet potato, black beans, corn, etc) with skillet corn bread!
	Quinoa with a curry of black eyed peas, sweet potatoes, tofu, chard!
	Vegan Yum Yum donuts! These cook up quick in the convection oven, and it makes six, so there's a tiny bit of built in portion control.
	PIZZA! with roasted kale, tofu scramble, red onions, avacado
	Meatball sub: iggys bread, fake meatballs from Trader Joes, pizza sauce, and daiya mozzarella, cooked up in the toaster oven.
	Broccoli polenta (from Veganomicon) and mashed potatoes with a pinto bean gravy!
	Scalloped potatoes (also from Veganomicon) - so yummy.
	Cashew sauces have been all the rage in the vegan community and while I've been able to enjoy them MJE cannot due to his nut allergy - so I was excited when the PPK posted this recipe for a sunflower cheesy pasta sauce. My food processor didn't smooth the seeds out as much as I would have liked but the sauce was still delicious (despite the kind of gross photo!) Recipe.
	Mustache Mug! with waffles! these were banana from Veganomicon (I guess I've been cooking from that a lot recently!)
	These are banana split brownies - they are my favorite brownie recipe (from Vegan with a Vengeance) - and they are a delicious way to use up 4-5 brownies if they are starting to go bad on your counter!

A Tree Falls in Somerville (on our house...well almost) - videos of the aftermath

2012-02-12T16:14:00.000-05:00

We woke up to a crazy sound today! We had thought that maybe a car drove into our front porch area. Instead, a tree had been partially knocked over by the wind. It hit our porch overhang causing minor damage, smashed a car parked out in front of our house, ripped our neighbor's power line/bar off their house, and dented our wrought-iron gating. Luckily, no one was injured and there was no major damage to any houses.

Amazingly, the city had the whole thing cleared in about 2 hours. Pretty impressive, particularly for a Sunday. I can't imagine all those people that had trees go through their roofs during the recent hurricane and tornadoes. We are thankful not to have any serious damage or injuries on hand here.

Some video showing the initial ordeal:

Tree Removal:

DNFMOMD: Sleepover Shows video session!

2012-02-09T23:13:00.001-05:00

Sleepover Shows (one of our favorite video sessions blogs) found us in our natural habitat, hanging out with Rover, and caught a couple of acoustic numbers from us, including the worldwide debut of our new song "Episode 15: The Girl Who Was Death." We were joined by the incredible Susannah Plaster (who is in The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library) on viola on "Episode 1: Arrival" and "Episode 12: Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling." Sleepover Shows just celebrated their 100th show (see our blog post here with past collaborations) - we are thrilled to be their 101! Flesh and bone by the telephone, here are the videos (and be sure to check Sleepover Shows' site for the write-up!)

"Episode 1: Arrival" featuring Susannah Plaster on viola:

"Episode 12: Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" featuring Susannah Plaster on viola

"Episode 15: The Girl Who Was Death" (from SoSs: "This song is so new that the band had just finished writing and rehearsing it when we arrived")

HUGE Congrats to Sleepover Shows on their 100th Show!

2012-02-06T12:58:00.001-05:00

We just wanted to pass along a huge congratulations to our friends at Sleepover Shows for hitting their 100th show today with the awesome Deer Tick!

In addition to this fine 100th session, they've put out a ton of awesome sets including (and there are so many more great ones!): OK Go, Wye Oak, Pearl and the Beard, The Seedy Seeds, Cloud Cult, Frightened Rabbit, David Wax Museum, Walter Sickert and the ARmy of BRoken TOys, Kingsley Flood, and The Low Anthem.

We've had the amazing pleasure of working with them a few times as well:

http://sleepovershows.com/occupy-boston-music-and-protest

http://sleepovershows.com/michaeljepsteinmemoriallibrary

http://sleepovershows.com/holidays2011

...and coming soon, a session with Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling!

UPDATE 2-9-12: The full DNFMOMD Session has arrived

Wiretap Wednesday: February 1, 2012 - featuring J. Krafty - FULL VIDEO PLAYLIST

2012-01-31T22:50:00.000-05:00

February 1 is the very first installment on Wiretap Wednesday!! This page ( http://bit.ly/wiretapwed ) will be the location of the livestream and time listings for performing acts.

The amazing J-Krafty is our feature performer this month!

Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Ave.
Somerville, MA

All Ages! Free! (Logistical Details)

7:00 PM - Sign up (in person only) / social time.
7:30 PM - Open stage begins
8:30 PM - Feature performer
9:00 PM - Open stage resumes
10:00 PM - End of open stage / Curfew

Also, connect with us on Facebook.


Schedule (Approximate):	Act	Title	Artist URL	Video URL
7:30:00	Introduction / Rules
7:35:00	Nick Zaino	I Hate Love	http://nickzaino.bandcamp.com	http://youtu.be/ciO7u0HozOg
7:40:00	Catherine Capozzi	don't dive in the sink	axemunkee.bandcamp.com	http://youtu.be/8-kwNwldm1k
7:45:00	Brendan Boogie		brendanboogie.com	VIDEO REDACTED
7:50:00	Linnea Herzog	"Like That," "The Benches"	foamcore.bandcamp.com	http://youtu.be/m9YO0CKuZFI
7:55:00	Lainey SchoolTree	u unfriended me :(	www.laineyschooltree.com	http://youtu.be/krppxMvb6Dg
8:00:00	Keith Cooper	Freedom's Confines	keithcoopermusic.bandcamp.com	http://youtu.be/ruJA8P_VOlY
8:05:00	Em Dia	Medea		VIDEO REDACTED
8:10:00	Ian Fitzgerald		www.ianfitzgerald.com	http://youtu.be/jGoDlSWGc-8
8:15:00	J. Krafty	feature!	craftygangsta.com	http://youtu.be/5O2Y_fjMo5w
8:20:00	J. Krafty	feature!	bigfootlikestheladies.com	http://youtu.be/oppMVDP0S-I
8:25:00	J. Krafty	feature!		http://youtu.be/ctk6FtCVXjg
9:00:00	J. Krafty	feature!		http://youtu.be/wR7QF-R1kOA
9:05:00	J. Krafty	feature!		http://youtu.be/oQdVQ1sIguM
9:10:00	J. Krafty	feature!		http://youtu.be/jlUgj81AK8M
9:15:00	walnut	love is in your face/don't get it confused I'm just a friendly dude		http://youtu.be/-NgIKhMCGH4
9:20:00	Leesa Coyne		http://www.facebook.com/norsrock	http://youtu.be/kEdiVLLnRr8
9:25:00	Chris Mulvey		http://www.muycansado.com/news.php	http://youtu.be/rn2iJfvsNaM
9:30:00	Nick Zaino			http://youtu.be/tMhasQTR62M
9:35:00	Catherine Capozzi			http://youtu.be/ko93-ya2nMw
9:40:00	Brendan Boogie with Leesa			http://youtu.be/QpOxgS3qV9Y
9:43:00	Lainey SchoolTree			http://youtu.be/UElvW4Dblws
9:51:00	Kieth Cooper			http://youtu.be/FQ9wPAofNss
9:54:00	Ian Fitzgerald			http://youtu.be/92WLD0Pj4y0
9:56:00	walnut			http://youtu.be/kaB_cPLLzg8
10	Leesa Coyne			http://youtu.be/V9u43aR9AzM

Wiretap Wed FULL PLAYLIST!:

DNFMOMD: 2012 Covers Record!

2012-01-31T15:13:00.000-05:00

For 2012, we've decided to release one cover song a month. This is an exciting project as it will enable us to collaborate with lots of friends (expect A LOT of duets!) and will keep us moving while Sophia finishes writing the last 6 songs in The Prisoner series. -Songs 1-5 are on The New Number 2, songs 6-11 are on Questions Are a Burden to Others-

We begin this series with our cover of Cover Me by Bruce Springsteen:

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://music.donotforsake.com/track/cover-me-bruce-springsteen"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Cover Me (Bruce Springsteen) by Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;
This song was recorded at the same time as Questions Are a Burden to Others with Mike Quinn at The Moontower in Q Division, Somerville MA

Sophia's note: I've always interpreted this song as about two spies (and lovers) under heavy fire - hence why I've always liked it so much!

Check back monthly to see what new surprises we have in store!

DNFMOMD: Monday night free at ZuZu, Cambridge MA

2012-01-29T16:36:00.002-05:00

ah Monday night Rock 'n' Roll! We're playing a free show at Zuzu (Cambridge, MA) - starts at 10PM, and is a pretty awesome night of music:

Mon 1/30/12 - Zuzu! 21+ 10pm Free!
Night of the Living DeadHead:
Jeremy Dubs Presents: Speak! (out on The Bureau - Frank Black’s new label! http://thebureaurecords.com/)
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling
Thunderhole
http://zuzubar.com/

Jeremy Dubs Presents: Speak!
Speak! is a conversation assembling works of Harry Nilsson: some he wrote, some that he covered by other artists, and some new ones that he inspired. Separated by the limitations of time and space, Nilsson and Dubs had yet to engage in any projects together. Upon listening to "I'll Be Home" for the first time, a haunting song that Randy Newman wrote and Nilsson sang, Jeremy heard this comforting voice express a knowledge of a joy that is ever-present within us. A happiness of spirit that is bigger than life, but not invincible. He immediately needed to share this feeling with everyone he knew. The delicate arrangement of analogue synth, horns, strings, and multi-textured voices are utilized to describe this delicate place. Our memories and dreams travel through time and risk being lost. Speak! invites its listeners to this nostalgic vulnerable state where their innermost feelings of joy reside, and to communicate what they find along the way.

Here's an awesome music video for Jeremy Dubs' cover of a Yoko Ono song, Listen the Snow is Falling:

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling:
http://donotforsake.com/
Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling is a female-fronted duo of drums/vocals and bass. The band name and songs are all inspired by the '60s cult spy-fi TV show The Prisoner. Sophia is getting stitches out of her hand in the morning and rocking at night, should be an interesting show.
&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://music.donotforsake.com/album/questions-are-a-burden-to-others"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Questions Are a Burden to Others by Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Thunderhole:
ROCK of the Experimental kind

How Much Do You Need to Operate a Band? $100,000 to ramp an indie band to success...perhaps true, but not in the form of the unbelievably poorly conceived article on TIME

2012-01-27T16:12:00.001-05:00

The TIME article, "Want to Be a Rock Star? You'll Need $100,000" has been making the rounds recently and repeatedly infuriating me. Why? Well, it's both horrific in its accuracy and its inaccuracy. The problem is, these stupid kids in some terrible band that, because of the stupidity of this article, I now have a permanent vendetta against, haven't even the slightest clue what they are talking about.

The first issue is they include nonsense in the count: singing lessons, "lost" wages from playing music and not working, and living in NYC are absolutely NOT expenses associated with starting a band. I am actually insulted that the editor(s) at TIME didn't trash this article long before it hit the net. I am usually completely behind their fine reporting (okay, I'm a little biased on that one...).

The thing is, you can EASILY spend $100,000 on a band - even in a year - in an attempt to break it. I've been reluctant in the past to disclose all my band finances, mostly to protect people I've worked with and their working rates, etc., but let me give you all a general breakdown from my ACTUAL experience, not some inexperienced kids who got their manager to connect them with someone at TIME and let them write an article that is based on nonsense.

While not anywhere around $100k, here's my count on one solid year of hard work at dirt cheap prices in the realm of what I am doing. This is what I would call the MINIMUM you can get by spending without replacing these functions with volunteers or band members. Can you spend less? Sure. Can you spend less and make serious headway? I don't think it's easy.

Silly Stuff

Let's first get the silly stuff out of the way. Rehearsal Spaces cost money to rent. Instruments cost money to buy. Accessories hit you harder than you'd think (cables, sticks, cases, etc.). Even if you have nice gear, it's pretty easy to spend $1000 a year on upkeep/accessories for a serious band. I'm not going to break it all down, but we'll call it $1000. Practice space rent, if you need a space and you share it, can maybe be squeezed out for $2000 a year if you coordinate it all well. Web hosting costs a little. Other small things pop up.

Silly stuff total = $4000

Recording - assuming one record per year

You want to make a record the right way? It takes a lot of hours. If you work with people that are relatively cheap and you're relatively rehearsed, you can probably burn through drum tracking in a single 10-hour day. Guitars, bass, vocals, if you're really ready and really good, can all be turned out in another four 10-hour days or so. Mixing 10 songs? Five 10-hour sessions. In my opinion and experience, this is an ambitious and rapid track. Nonetheless, best case, we're looking at 100 hours of work. If you get an album done in 100 studio hours, you are my hero! Let's call it 100 anyway. At dirt cheap studio rates, you're looking at $35/hour for a total of $3500. That's the dirt cheap minimum! We've sometimes pulled off Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling 6-song EPs in this range. I've never pulled off a full-length in a studio for anywhere close to this.

Mastering? You can spend $100 or you can spend $10,000. Realistically, I think you would need to spend no less than $1500 to do it really right, but it all depends on the material, etc. Most of our records cost more than $1500 to master, but we've also done a few for less.

This is all again, a remarkably low number for making a quality record. It's easy to spend $10-$20k (or more) to do it right! I am just giving a corner-cutting estimate.

Duplication...you still have to make damn CDs...$2000

Recording total = $7000

Photography and Design

You need a band photo shoot. You need it to be done well. Again, there is a huge range. You can spend nothing or you can spend $5000. It's fair to say $500. Can you work with people who will do it for less? Depends on the complexity of the shoot, whether you are asking a photographer to also be an art director and develop ideas, etc. If you want someone to develop ideas, help dress you, etc., please don't spend less than $500! Design work for your album? Spend at least another $500

Photography = $1000

Music Video

Tomorrow is today! Everyone expects that you will have video content. In fact, we've come around to doing as many video projects as humanly possible. Like all things, video budgets can range wildly from $200 for a video that we shot ourselves (with a few thousand dollars worth of video gear we bought or borrowed) or several thousand dollars from the band budget for a video that took two years to make with a director that not only worked for free, but paid for half of the video! If you want to make a good video with pros and, again, want someone to develop a concept, do art direction, coordinate locations, extras, props, etc., you are easily looking at $5000. That's a low number and that's for ONE video, not for the 10 you should be making for your full-length record.

Music video = $5000

Promotion

Promo is perhaps the trickiest one to consider. You can really tailor promo to your budget. You can spend no money or a million dollars. Realistically, for an indie band that is going to get any level of success, you are looking at no less than $5000 for press, $2000 for radio, plus another $3000 in mailing expenses.

Yes, that's more than your record cost to make. Wow, sounds super expensive? Not even a little. Most bigger bands spend WAY more. There are packages that cost $20000 JUST to promote an appearance at SXSW. You want to be a SXSW buzz band? I hope you have $20k+ earmarked just for that.

Yes, that's right, Promotion total = $10000

Merch
T-shirts, postcards, hats, shoelaces, whatever. Expect to lose $1000.

Merch total = $1000

Tour
There are rumors that bands break even touring, but I've never met one that does. If you are lucky and you can get a booking agent and get good shows, you might not lose too much. Most bands can't afford to tour extensively. Most shorter tours lose more money. Even our Neutral Uke Hotel tours, which sell out shows virtually every night, end up losing money. New band? Want to tour? Expect to lose $1000 a week. Want to tour for 3 weeks a year?

Tour total = $3000

Grand total for one year of band operations at bargain basement prices = $31,000

If you really do it right, you spend an extra $10k recording, another $10k on videos, and probably another $10k on promo.

I can't afford that, let alone hiring the radio or press publicist that costs $20,000 more than that, but has a friend at Rolling Stone, etc. So, what do I do? I am finding ways to perform a lot of these tasks myself. Curious? Well now, some actual numbers from my bands. I am not spending as much as I would need to in order to "break" these bands. Why? I don't have the money to blow. I still think this might be helpful to people to provide a frame of reference. I've learned that it's easier to cut costs to "make" more money than to actually directly earn more money on music.

First of all, the range is huge. The first record by The Motion Sick - when there was no band - required a lot of producer work and studio time. I did a ton of promo and radio work on my own - I had no publicist at the time. It was all delivered at a discount and the record/band still lost me a solid $60,000 over that first year or two from recording, promo, operations, etc. That is including what I recouped from a decent number sold. That was the most I spent on a record and it was primarily because I didn't have systems in place to work efficiently.

For our second album, we won a contest to get free recording and my bandmate Matt Girard did a ton of tracking and extra work on his own, but this time I hired (good quality, but relatively cheaper tier) radio and press publicity. We paid to have a really pro photo shoot and pro post work done. On this record, after recouping a pretty decent amount - some via sales, some via licensing, etc., I only lost $25,000 (still recouping some here, but will undoubtedly never break even).

For The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library's debut, I took a different approach. I knew with 9 members and guests, we'd be talking about countless studio hours. By my math, we'd be looking at no less than $10,000 in a cheaper studio for tracking the songs ONLY. So, I decided to step up and do what I had wanted to do for years. I spent about $5000 on recording gear and, with the exception of drums, which we tracked in one day at Q Division, I tracked the remainder of the record at home. By my count, I'd just saved five grand AND I now had a studio I could use for all future recordings. We got a grant from the Passim Iguana Music Fund for $2000, which helped offset a decent portion of the mixing and mastering costs. As you can imagine, ten songs with 40+ tracks each takes a bit of time to mix still! The great news: making this record and pushing through this band - doing press and radio promo, mailing, etc. with my streamlined budget methods, has only resulted in me being about $7000 in the hole after the first year.

Sophia would have to provide whatever details she wants regarding Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, but even with rapid recording and a lot of volunteer assistance, our desire to do good audio and video work has put us a bit in the hole. We've never directly hired any radio or PR for this band - Sophia does it all herself - so those costs are kept down, but no doubt, we're still talking about losing 5 figures over the course of the band's life. (Sophia's Note: each EP has cost about $2000 to record, add another $1000 for duplication of The New Number 2. Also, we did hire a PR company to do TV Promotion for our music video for Episode 1: Arrival - an 8 week TV-only campaign cost $3000, of which $1000 was just dubbing the video into various formats/tapes to deliver to studios. An unknown band on tour for 10 days, that had to rent a van - we lost $2000 on that tour.)

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://music.donotforsake.com/album/questions-are-a-burden-to-others"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Questions Are a Burden to Others by Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Darling Pet Munkee is a side project that is a little more laid back and just for fun. I tracked, mixed, and mastered our entire record myself. We are doing print-on-demand duplication. I shot and edited a music video at virtually no cost (which has more views than most expensive videos at the moment!). Total loss - for supplies, outfits, etc. = $800

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dpm-music.donotforsake.com/album/glows-in-the-dark"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Glows in the Dark! by Darling Pet Munkee&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

A Brief History of Flight Teaser Trailer and private premiere at Cloud Club

2012-01-26T14:46:00.000-05:00

Because we don't like to behave sensibly, we at The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library decided to shoot a short film (about 24 minutes) over a single weekend. We'll be premiering the final product to the public some time in later 2012, but a rough cut was premiered this past weekend at a private Cloud Club event. We performed the music to accompany the film live (see videos below), which was a great challenge, but we had a blast doing it! Huge thanks to Mali for having us!

First, here's a little teaser trailer for A Brief History of Flight

Some photos from the night:

Source: http://instagr.am/p/jecel/

More photos:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150487865616220&set=a.10150262979121220.328340.517081219&type=1

http://lockerz.com/s/176629099

http://twitpic.com/8a6thr

http://twitpic.com/8a6u0z

https://twitter.com/#!/KrisPC00/status/160951700851671040/photo/1

Videos courtesy of Karmic Photography!

Darling Pet Munkee CD Release (Jan. 14, 2012) Recap!!!

2012-01-26T12:05:00.001-05:00

A huge thanks friends for making our Darling Pet Munkee CD Release show a huge success!!! A tremendous thanks to all the bands, all in attendance, and to our burlesque accompaniment organized by Porcelain Dalya, featuring Strawberry-Cream Pie, Margaret, Tara Emory, and Samantha Bryan!!!

We had a blast and we look forward to doing it again someday! Some photos and videos of the night below...

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dpm-music.donotforsake.com/album/glows-in-the-dark"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Glows in the Dark! by Darling Pet Munkee&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Exploit Boston photos: http://www.exploitboston.com/event-recaps/concert-photos-darling-pet-munkee-gozu-and-the-downbeat-5-at-radio/

Eric Michael Cohen's photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.345420562153926.97667.100000579554073&type=1

The Motion Sick's "Grace Kelly" now available for play in Rock Band!

2012-01-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

We had previously unveiled "30 Lives" for Rock Band and I even gave a go at singing it (spoiler: I got a 96% on Expert on my first try, 99% on my 2nd try, and 100% on my third).

Now, we're thrilled to announce the availability of "Grace Kelly" for Rock Band 3 on XBox!

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Full-Song-Grace-Kelly/00000000-0000-4080-8000-0db745410914?cid=SLink
RELEASE DATE: 1/25/2012

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://music.themotionsick.com/track/grace-kelly"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Grace Kelly by The Motion Sick&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

What These Vegans Eat: Week of 01/16/2012

2012-01-25T01:43:00.000-05:00

WHY WHAT THESE VEGANS EAT? I'm tired of people asking me what Mike and I eat. Would an omnivore have an easy time answering this question? Mostly, we eat vegetables/grains/legumes/fruit. I cook everything I can in my trusty cast-iron pan. I tend to lean towards stick-to-your-ribs one pot meals that come together in about a half an hour. We're trying to be good and eat more salad. Once a week, I'm going to post about all of the dinners I made the week previous-hopefully it will clear up any lingering questions.

This I based on a dish I had at Yoma in Allston, the coconut tofu (incidentally, they make their "tofu" out of chickpea flour - which is extra silky and delicious compared to soy tofu). My dish: sweet potato, kale, chickpeas, tofu, tomato cooked with curry powder, onions, garlic, coconut milk.

with the leftover coconut milk I made tapioca pudding - just followed the instructions on the tapioca box.

peanut noodles (curry powder, soy sauce, peanut butter, rice vinegar, srirchra) with green pepper, edamame beans, sweet potato

banana waffle! made from the recipe in Vegan With a Vengeance - I omitted the walnuts.

Swiss Chard with pinto beans and sweet potato (boiled up with Better than Bullion) and a side of quinoa

Carrot ginger soup! 5 carrots, one sweet potato, celery, garlic, onion, large chunk of fresh chopped ginger, pureed served with a sandwich of tempeh bacon, tomato, and avacado.

What These Vegans Eat: Week of 01/02/2012

2012-01-25T01:15:00.001-05:00

Warm Spinach Potato Salad from Dreena Burton - I omitted the pine nuts but was still tasty.

Pizza! my crust never quite rose properly but ended up pretty good as a thin crust. I made the veggeroni from Fat Free Vegan and used it throughout the week. Best attempt I've had making seitan yet - sliced it up super thin in the food processor.

sandwich with home made veggeroni, daiya cheddar, avacado on an iggy's baguette.

A half eaten chickpea fritter from Clover - we've been ending up there a fair amount late at night as it's one of the only places to grab something delicious right up until midnight every night!

this week's box from Boston Organics

Marinated Tofu Sandwich - a little messy but pretty good and in the bowl: pureed broccolli and carrot soup!

chickpea savory crepe from the Candle 79 cookbook, made with chickpea flour - was an awesome wrap for veggie scramble (kale, chickpeas, tomato, celery flash cooked with some bullion.)

Parlour Bells - "Heavy Dream (Hurricane Mix)" (by Michael J. Epstein) and the Winter Rock Formal II

2012-01-24T01:21:00.001-05:00

As part of the Parlour Bells Heavy Dream Remix Project, I made this "Hurricane Mix" to help everyone dance safely through the 2011 hurricane season. The remix project got an official boost coming into 2012 and this mix got a little airplay on Boston Accents on WFNX this past weekend!

We've got this song shaking with extra (upper-body-only) wiggling in preparation for this year's Winter Rock Formal! While we won't be performing music at the show, we'll be involved in other capacities!

THIS SIDE OF PARADISE: THE WINTER ROCK FORMAL II

Radio
379-381 Somerville Ave, Union Square
FEATURING: Gene Dante and the Future Starlets, Parlour Bells, Eddie Japan, Broken Wings (Featuring Sarah Rabdau & Peter Moore)
PLUS: Cocktail Lounge Dance Party with DJ Dave Duncan
Prom Fab Photo Booth with Michael & Sophia (that's us)
The "Bandlywed Game" & More!
Doors 8pm
21+
CREATIVE FORMAL WEAR WELCOME!

Sophia and I had a blast last year helping out with organizing the Winter Rock Formal photo booth and we're back at it again...you also just might recognize a couple of the Bandlywed Game contestants!

Photo slideshow from last year by Rachel Leah Blumenthal:

I've had the pleasure of also collaborating with members of the band in various capacities previously!

Parlour Bells singer Glenn di Benedetto, has collaborated with Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling on the "First We Take Manhattan" music video and a "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" cover due officially out soon. Glenn is also one of the Special Friends, a group you'll be hearing a lot more from in the near future!

I played with guitarist Nate Leavitt in The Positronic Rays for One Night Band.

Bassist Brendan Boogie once ran against me in the Rock Primary and also shares the world record for most colleges busked in one day with me.

I also worked with keyboardist Magen Tracy (and Brendan and Nate) to perform a series of covers live with dancers from BalletRox for the very first Out of the Box show. (This collaboration led to this past year's BalletRox collaboration with The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library.)

Drummer Brandon Erdos is a swell dude, but I've never collaborated with him...at least not yet.

Darling Pet Munkee wins...Dumbest Band (Name) of the Week on WMBR's Breakfast of Champions

2012-01-12T22:21:00.003-05:00

Darling Pet Munkee wishes to thank the Academy...and remind you to come see our CD release on 1/14 at Radio!!!

The Dolphinspiracy/Dolphinocalypse Part IIa (of IV): 2012: The Dolphins Are Among Us!!!

2012-01-11T04:28:00.005-05:00

Part IIa - The Dolphins Are Among Us!!!

In Part I of our series, we examined the proof that dolphins will attempt (and most likely succeed) a complete takover over Earth by the end of 2012. We will do everything we can to educate you to fight them, but first some bad news. Before we answer questions like "Where did these dolphins originate and how much have they infiltrated our society?" we must examine first which influential world leaders, entertainers, and athletes are actually dolphins in disguise. While I realize it is extremely upsetting to find out that we are being manipulated from within, it is important that you know the truth. These dolphins are so sinister that they have chewed at the very fabric of human society and culture to ensure that their takeover occurs with nearly no flipper casualties.

Watch the trailer for the upcoming documentary about The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library's struggle against the second front of dolphin attacks - the space front!

Part II contains a lot more than just this shocking pictorial expose, but we thought we had better warn you to be on the lookout for these dolphins disguised as humans. Do not be fooled!

Darling Pet Munkee: Day Three of "Genuine Soil From Dracula's Castle" music video shoot!!!

2012-01-10T00:37:00.000-05:00

While our first music video, "X-Ray Specs," was scooting past the 20,000-view mark in just a few weeks, we were busy finishing the third and final shooting day for our second video - "Genuine Soil From Dracula's Castle" - directed by Chelsea Spear.

Come see our CD release on 1/14 at Radio!!!

Previous Shoots: Day 1 - Day 2

What These Vegans Eat: Week of 12/26

2012-01-09T19:02:00.003-05:00

Sophia and Michael's 2011 in Review - DNFMOMD, MJEML, Darling Pet Munkee, Space Balloons, The Motion Sick, and more...

2012-01-09T08:21:00.000-05:00

2011 was a really amazing year for us on all musical fronts; we released more music and videos than ever before, and we've put ourselves in a position for 2012 that should allow us to be in a constant state of creation/release. This is naturally very exciting for us.

First, here are all of the 2011 "best of the year" lists we made:

DNFMOMD: TIME: #6 Most Creative Video, Ryan's Smashing Life Best Artists, To Eleven #10 Best Albums, Joe Renken has a Blog- #5 and #4 Best Show, Boston Band Crush Al Polk Top 30 Songs, Eric Roberts (GM of WMWM) - #2 best live bands, TJ's Top Albums #3, Crappy Indie Music Blog Best EPs, Joel Simches and T Max's Top 10 Lists in the Noise

MJEML: Music.Defined. #1 Show of the year (with Neutral Uke Hotel/Golden Bloom), Allston Pudding - Boston's finest, To Eleven #3 Best Albums, Music.Defined. #22 Top Tracks, Boston Band Crush Al Polk Top 30 Songs, TooMuchRock #6 Best Albums, TooMuchRock #25 Best Song, 1001 Covers #13 Best Cover, Cover Me #49 Best Cover, Green Light Go Best Albums of 2011 (Janelle, Kelly), Indie Rock Cafe Best Songs, A Plague of Angels Best Songs of 2011, MassMic.org 2011 Album Picks, Francis DiMenno and T Max's Top 10 Lists in the Noise, #3 on Top 10 Albums by Paul (SongGuy)

Darling Pet Munkee: The B's Knees Radio Best Songs, Boston Band Crush Al Polk Top 30 Songs

MJE and SC: Boston Band Crush Sexiest Four-Eyed Rockers #10 MJE #2 SC

Let's break 2011 down by band:

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling: 2011 was a huge year for DNFMOMD. In April, we were semi-finalists in the legendary Rock 'n' Roll Rumble. In May, we released our second EP, Questions Are a Burden to Others, at The Middle East Downstairs. After a sneak preview in March at BUFF and a full world premiere in April at Portmeiricon, in June, we publicly released our music video for "Episode 1: Arrival" - a shot-for-shot remake of the opening titles to the cult '60s TV Show The Prisoner - that video has received tremendous response - including a premiere at Magnet, and coverage in The Daily Wh.at, Topless Robot, MTV Latin America, and most recently received notice from TIME Magazine - which named it No. 6 in Top Ten Creative Videos of 2011! The video is closing in on 60,000 combined views (of the original cut and the cut with the box of The Prisoner running in the corner at the same time). Full press summary here.

In July, we released a music video for our cover of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan," which has over 15K views! In July, we also released a cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" with our Manhattan director, Glenn di Benedetto (also of the band Parlour Bells). In August, we played a show for Sophia's birthday where we were joined for the first time on stage by friends as the VILLAGE BAND- we had viola from Susannah Plaster (of MJEML), TeeJay/Meff/JoJo/Edrie from The ARmy of BRoken TOys on drums/mandolin/ukulele/and various wonders, J. Krafty on saw, Linnea Herzog on tenor recorder, and Harry Dulaney on trombone. We're still editing sound/video from that show together - but it was a great birthday present.

September brought us to NYC and Philly for great shows. In November, we played Projektfest - where we were joined by Porcelain Dalya for burlesque on our song "Episode 11: It's Your Funeral" - (video) and were a feature interview in The Noise. We closed out December by playing a benefit at The Regent Theatre with Big Dipper, The Vivs, Tanya Donelly and Bill Janovitz, and more...

2012 will bring more videos, the completion of our 17-song Prisoner series, and some other collaborative surprises!!!

We already posted a summary of the first year in the life of MJEML, which covers all of this in more detail.

2011 was the first full year of The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library. In February, we had our CD Release for Volume One at The Middle East Down sell out a month in advance! In April, we went on an amazing 10-day tour with Neutral Uke Hotel and Golden Bloom - the Chicago show even made a best-of-the-year list! We were also lucky enough to record Laundromatinee and Daytrotter (DT coming soon) sets on that tour. In June, we debuted "Faith in Free," a piece written for collaboration with BalletRox at the Strand theater with full ballet choreography. The studio version will be released early in 2012.

Here again is the blog post that details everyone's thoughts on the first year of the band for more info/detail!

We'll be spending most of 2012 battling dolphins...

Darling Pet Munkee - was originally a one-off (go here for the story of how it happened) recording project combination of Cathy Capozzi of Axemunkee and Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling. We had so much fun that we decided to do another casual writing session. We set aside a weekend in July and spent all of Saturday writing new songs - 6 that day (and the one prior) - and then spent Sunday recording them. The result is a forthcoming (release January 14 at Radio - previewed by the Boston Phoenix) collection of 7 songs about items sold in the back of comic books of yore (go to the website to read stories about each item!). In December, we released our self-produced/directed/edited video for our song, "X-Ray Specs" - it made a splash on Boing Boing and in under a month already has nearly 20,000 views!

In 2012, we plan to release a video for each of the 7 songs, including "Genuine Soil From Dracula's Castle," which we have been shooting in pieces for a few months!

Space Balloons is our music project for kids that was created as part of a TV pilot for Worried All the Time, created by Rob Potylo of Quiet Desperation fame (here's a music video from the show for "If You Want a Mustache") - though it seems the pilot hasn't panned out - we are full-steam ahead with sharing the cultural mission of our characters from Balloononia. With fellow Balloononian, J. Krafty, we had a busy year writing and recording songs that will have a full release in 2012. You can listen to some on our bandcamp page. We were featured in the Boston Herald as Kindie Rock and took some space-tastic photos. We are also working on some top-secret accompanying video work for the band!

In 2011, we laid some groundwork for our own sitcom web/tv show called Special Friends (starring Glenn di Benedetto, Richard Bouchard, Agent Bishop, and us) - we got as far as releasing the theme song/opening titles and some teasers, but we've shot a lot of footage and expect to release a bunch of full episodes this year!

While The Motion Sick hasn't been playing - our last show and The Girls of The Motion Sick tribute was in Sept. 2010 - all has not come to a screeching halt. Just before the start of 2011, the Daytrotter session for Neutral Uke Hotel/The Motion Sick/Golden Bloom was released with Mike performing two TMS songs with Shawn and Josh of GB. The year 2011 gave us the "opportunity" to see our songs mysteriously included in strange fetish videos (and another), racing videos, a movie about Rock, Paper, Scissors, the TV show "Bad Girls Club," the TV show "Chris and John to the Rescue," the TV show "History Detectives," and available for play in Rock Band. With some luck, you might even hear some new TMS music in 2012!!!

Other Affairs!

Sophia's Rock Beat had a very busy year - the 2011 recap details the 98 local shows, 170 local bands, 249 individual sets we videoed as well as the bands we saw the most. Sophia also covered our trip to SXSW11 in two parts - the shows and the panels.

We also became somewhat regular hosts (typically the 5th Wednesday of the month) of On The Town with Mikey Dee - the weekly local rock radio show on WMFO featuring a live band in studio. This has been a really fun way for us to share our favorite recordings by many amazing local bands. Here's a link to all of our playlists so far.

Sophia's Glasses Secrets REVEALED!

2012-01-06T16:58:00.001-05:00

Recently, I've been fielding lots of questions from advice seekers on how/where I find my glasses. So, I will now reveal all of my secrets - a run down of tips from my experience finding glasses, after a few years of great trial and error.

First, my signature eyeglasses (which just won #2 on a Boston Band Crush sexiest four-eyed-rockers list) are vintage and I bought them on eBay. When searching for vintage eyeglasses on eBay, it's important to include the words "new old stock" or "NOS" - this basically just means that the frames have been sitting in some warehouse or old optometrist's garage just waiting for your face. Most importantly, no one has been fitted for or worn the frames before, which in my experience means that you'll get a much less used up/fragile product.

Here is my typical eBay search: "NOS vintage cat eye glasses." You can get vintage frames a lot cheaper if you don't care about them being NOS, but I think it's important. Expect to pay anywhere from $20-$100+ for frames. I try to control myself and not spend more than $50 ever on frames that I can't try on first - most of my collection I've gotten in the $20-$40 range, but there are some beauties that tend to start at $95. I've also heard that you can find fun frames on Etsy, and you can always search second-hand/vintage stores for the perfect pair. I'm told that Fabulous Fanny's in NYC is a wonderland of vintage frames. Most of the frames that I have purchased don't fit my face well, as they tend to run small.

Once you have your frames, you'll need to get your prescription lenses put in. In the past, I've taken mine to Lenscrafters - they will tell you that there's a possibility that the frames will break during their process, but as far as I can tell, that's just their way of saying that they are not responsible should any damage happen (seems unlikely). A friend of mine recently said that she found Eye Q Optical in Harvard Square (a local business) to be much cheaper than what Lenscrafters quoted her and she recommended going there. I agree - support the local business. Expect to pay in the vicinity of $100+ to have your lenses put in.

Michael gets his glasses by directly ordering prescription glasses online - the site he uses most is: zennioptical.com. This site is great because you can get glasses with your prescription already in, shipped directly to you in 2-3 weeks for around $15! They have a ton of trendy styles. My white sunglasses are from Zenni, and I love them. There are numerous other options besides Zenni and the site GlassyEyes reviews a lot of the online retailers - it is a great resource if you want to go this economical route. Of course, you do need to know your prescription, including pupillary distance (often omitted from prescription sheets), to do this.

Laws pertaining to provision of prescriptions:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/janqtr/16cfr456.2.htm
http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/2006/11/eyeglass-prescription-law-here-is.html

Finally, there are a bunch of boutique eyeglass places popping up like Tortoise and Blonde (recently sponsored a Pearl and the Beard tour, which is how I found out about them). They have some great styles, and they offer a home try on - they send you 5 pairs to try on at home, and you send back the ones that don't work out for you. That is pretty customer-friendly on their part.

Have more questions? Feel free to email me: sophia@donotforsake.com

MJEML: PROJECT A.M.Y.L.E.E. Part 1 - Cancer Killing Epstein Medical Library

2012-01-06T05:52:00.003-05:00

Michael J. Epstein vs. Eric Michael Cohen of Cancer Killing Gemini

2012 is the year of The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library's "Amylee" - the first track of our debut Volume One. In 2012, the song will be receiving extensive remix, video, and reinterpretation treatment. The true story of “Amylee” will also be revealed.

In addition to the live video sessions recorded for My Old Kentucky Blog’s Laundromatinee Sessions and Sleepover Shows, 2012 will see the release of a Daytrotter Session audio recording, a documentary music video (outlining more about how we're using "Amylee" to save the Earth from dolphin invasion ), a dance remix, a cover by MJEML’s oft-tourmates Golden Bloom, and some surprising reinterpretations of the acoustic indie song.

This rethink “Amylee” project kicks off with an electro-rock reconditioning by the band Cancer Killing Gemini resulting in the Cancer Killing Epstein Medical Library “Amylee (Remix)” - debuted as the:

Coincidence or conspiracy that our feature is running
the same week as the "Unsexiest Men of 2011" poll?

Boston Phoenix MP3 of the Week (download the song there for free)!

CKG mastermind Eric Michael Cohen says of the project:

“When approaching a remix, the first thing I want to be sure I can do is bring something new to the table. Taking a pop song and making it a dance song is nothing new, but blending Michael's folk ensemble into our modern rock / electronic aesthetic held some interest for me. “Amylee” was a perfect candidate for remixing or covering: a clean, simple, vocal-centric and memorable song.

Originally I thought it would stay pretty much “in the box” (drum machines, software synthesizers etc) but once I got started, it seemed obvious that the live band should get involved. Enter Chuck, Max, Frank and Andrew from Cancer Killing Gemini, bringing octave fuzz guitars, an old Juno 106 and Rhodes Mark I, 4-piece drums and vintage SVT bass tones. In a few hours this gentle song about outer space became big, brash and ugly.

While Cancer Killing Gemini and The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library approach music from different ends of the spectrum, both share a focus on songwriting over riffwriting. That's probably what initially attracted me to this song. I enjoyed working with Michael, the person and the musician. Hopefully someday there will be a bill where our two mismatched bands can share the same stage.”

Wiretap Wednesday Open Stage (1st Wed. of Every Month) at the Arts at the Armory Cafe hosted by Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein

2012-01-05T01:03:00.000-05:00

The first Wednesday of every month at 7 PM, Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein host The Arts at the Armory Café Wiretap Wednesday Open Stage. Performers (up to 20 per night) are invited to sign up and share their best short work (5 minutes or shorter including setup) and have video live-streamed and archived on the Internet. Each month will also include a featured artist playing a 25-minute set.

7:00 PM - Sign up (in person only) / social time.
7:30 PM - Open stage begins
8:30 PM - Feature performer
9:00 PM - Open stage resumes
10:00 PM - End of open stage / Curfew

Logistical Details:
Performers will sign up from 7:00 - 7:30 PM. The list order will be randomized and posted at 7:30 PM. Each performer will take the stage and a 5-minute timer will be set. Performers will be cut off if they exceed the 5-minute time limit (including setup) to ensure that at least 20 performers (maximum allowed to sign up) will fit prior to curfew. At 8:30 PM, a pre-booked feature performer will play a 25-minute set. Video of each performer will be posted and will remain available for at least 7 days. After 7 days, performers may request removal of their performance from the public archive. Visit http://bit.ly/wiretapwed or Contact Sophia Cacciola at Sophia@donotforsake.com for more information.

Upcoming Dates / Features:
2/1 - TBA
3/7 - TBA
4/4 - TBA

Sophia's Rock Beat: Camera Information

2012-01-04T15:05:00.000-05:00

Camera information for the curious! For the past year I've been using a

Zoom Q3HD for my Sophia's Rock Beat videos (here's the full list of videos I took last year). It's a compact video camera with a focus on great audio. Fairly intuitive to use. Some tricks for dark night-clubs - try setting it on "concert lighting" or even "night lighting" to improve the picture. Those are my secrets, go forth and conquer.

The Dolphinspiracy/Dolphinocalypse Part I (of IV): 2012: The End of Humanity

2012-01-02T07:50:00.000-05:00

The Dolphinspiracy/Dolphinocalypse Part I (of IV): 2012: The End of Humanity?

Ecco the Dolphin is an example of the dolphins
infiltrating human society and forcing us to portrary
them as "defenders of the future" and creature that
can save us. Notice that most popular video games are
M games. Dolphin games are E. That is, they are designed to
be played by everyone in order to brainwash the most
vulnerable people - OUR CHILDREN!!!

Scientists all agree that the world is due for great change in 2012 as predicted by the end of the Mayan Calendar. Some believe in Armageddon, others the Judgment Day and rapture. Some even believe that the Mayan calendar’s end simply marks the transition of humanity to the “Aquarian Age,” (video below) where we will become more like dolphins. The Aquarian believers are closer to the truth, but it's obvious, if you look at the facts, that this transition will not be a peaceful one and will indeed be one through which humans shall not survive.

Very few people understand how dangerous and subversive dolphins actually are and those that figure out their nefarious plots don't often live long to tell the tale. The world was given a firm message when the dolphins eliminated Douglas Adams on May 11, 2001. (Notice that if you add the day and year that Adams died at the fins of the dolphins, you get 2012!) Adams was only age 49 and suffered from a heart attack. In reality, his heart was stopped by sonar waves because he knew too much! He tried repeatedly to warn us, but it was no use!

Ancient alien visitor skull

By now, nearly everyone is familiar with tales of aliens visiting ancient civilizations and providing them with technology. The most common image of alien visitors to the Mayans is the oddly shaped skulls. While this is clear evidence that aliens did visit the Mayans, this skull is quite dissimilar in shape to modern humans.
However, when compared with the modern dolphin, an alien creature that adapted to live underwater to stay at controlling distance, but in hiding from humanity, the resemblance becomes much clearer. We know for a fact that dolphins and whales used to live on land.

Modern dolphin skull

Dolphins have done everything they can to infiltrate humanity to create a sense that dolphins are safe and friendly. After inventing television as a mind-control device, the dolphins observed its effects on humans before creating their first major attack, Flipper.

The Mayan glyph Eb, which represents a
space-traveling dolphin corresponds to
the number 12!

Not only was the show about a dolphin helping people, but virtually every statistic related to the show is a sign of the impending attack. Flipper first aired on 9/19/1964. If you add up all of the digits of that first air date, you will notice that 9 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 6 + 4 = 39 and 3 + 9 = 12! (notice that 2012 is the next year ending in 12 after 1964). The show aired for 88 episodes - double infinity! A warning that the dolphins intend to rule Earth forever. The show's run ended on 4/15/1967 - a seemingly innocuous date until you examine it as a difference from the original air date: 9 - 4 = 5, 19 - 15 = 4, 1967 - 1964 = 3 and 5 + 4 + 3 = 12!

The show's rights are owned by Orion Pictures. The solar system of the Orion constellation's star Betelgeuse is believed to be the home of the dolphin creatures that originally visited the Mayans and helped structure the Mayan calendar to point to their takeover of the planet. H.P. Lovecraft wrote regularly of the dolphins working with the elder gods of Betelgeuse in his stories:

And upon dolphins' backs was balanced a vast crenelate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss… Then hoary Nodens reached forth a wizened hand and helped Olney and his host into the vast shell.
—H. P. Lovecraft, "The Strange High House in the Mist"
The arrogance of the dolphins grew with time and later versions of Flipper included more blatant ties to Mayan culture.

The 1999 series Flipper and Lopaka portrays a dolphin
befriending a Polynesian boy. It is obvious that this
boy is intended to be Mayan! The dolphin is even the
prince of "Quetzo" - an obviously Mayan name and
a nickname of Quetzalcoatl (or to Mayans, more commonly
Kukulcan) - the feathered serpent!!
What do fins look like?!??! Feathers!

It's not merely a single show celebrating dolphins that we've been hit with. Here are some of the many cultural examples of dolphin worship...

In this depiction, the light shines on the dolphin, but the child
is left in darkness to foreshadow the coming age.

Notice that even though this dolphin is intended to be friendly,
threatening red swelling appears around it.

This dolphin is shown conquering our sun and blocking
its life-giving energy from reaching humanity.

These dolphins travel left (the evil direction), but upward
toward heaven. This is symbolic of the evil takeover of
all that is holy to us.

When humans get close to dolphins, they become filled with evil.
Look at his eyes!

This comic book was propaganda to ensure that
when the dolphins come on land, children
will recognize them as friendly and helpful
and not resist their attacks.

It is very rare that there is public acknowledgment of the true dangers of dolphins, but it has happened.

A couple of websites even explore the dolphin threat:

http://www.anti-dolphin.org/

http://www.antidolphinleague.co.uk/

In fairness, not all dolphins are evil and some have even taken to trying to preserve humanity by mating with humans. See the much maligned (by humans and dolphins alike): http://www.sexwork.com/family/dolphins1.html and

http://gawker.com/5843358/

One woman even married a dolphin:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/woman-marries-dolphin/2006/01/01/1136050339590.html

Soon after, the dolphin died under mysterious circumstances: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3264387,00.html

Dolphins evolve and adapt quickly. They can shapeshift
and transform to be more human-like. It's rare that a dolphin
is caught in the act, but this one is pictured here
changing its skin tone to be more human-like.

In summary, the dolphins have worked tirelessly for millennia to generate a sense of care and respect among humans so that they can brainwash us into allowing a takeover without having to lose any of their own in conflict. They have pitted humanity against itself and have themselves adapted from their original alien form to live primarily underwater so that when we destroy each other in nuclear war, the dolphins will remain unharmed. They control our media. They manipulate our minds. Even the word dolphin means "womb" - our mothers, our rulers. We know dolphins as sea creatures, but they were once land dwellers and space travelers. Although we think they are now isolated to the waters, not all those that you believe to be human are what they appear to be (more on that next time).

Before we go, a warning. You might be inclined to kill or harm dolphins as a result of this new information, but the fact is, they do not operate on the same plane of existence as humans. Killing them the way you might another Earth creature simply makes them more powerful and knowledgeable. In fact, dolphin killing may be the reason why we are so doomed when the dolphins do rise up. They are far too powerful! So whatever you do, do not attempt to harm a dolphin!

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library has been unable to reveal until now that our main purpose has been to write songs to help prevent (or at least delay) the dolphin invasion of 2012. We have been doing secret testing in Japan under the codename "Amylee" to see if our music could be used as dolphin-repellent. It's too risky and controversial to do these tests in private, so they have been conducted publicly during live shows. In the video below, notice the dolphin that jumps from the tank has a small transducer attached near its dorsal fin (very visible in the thumbnail for the video). We will provide further simulation video of this project in the very near future. Filmmaker Dan St. Germain has been documenting our battle on the secondary front - space.

This attachment is playing the song "Amylee" repeatedly - not at an uncomfortable level - to the dolphin via blubber vibrational transduction. The codename "Amylee" is derived from Evanescence singer Amy Lee as we are using evanescent sound waves - "Denoting a field or wave that extends into a region where it cannot propagate and whose amplitude therefore decreases with distance" - waves that are not noticeable to those in the proximity of the dolphin - to protect humanity from the dolphin threat. In part IV of this series, we will provide technical detail on the production and propagation of these waves.

Once the waves are applied, notice what happens! The dolphin tries to escape and actually moves to land to run away before realizing that it cannot reveal its ability to walk on land in such a public forum...again why we must make these tests in a public forum.

Upcoming parts in the four-part series on the dolphinspiracy and the dolphinocalypse.

Part II - The Dolphins Are Among Us - where did these dolphins originate and how much have they infiltrated our society? Which world leaders are actually dolphins in disguise?

Part III - Dolphin Prophecies - Ancient symbols and predictions of the dolphin age. The mystery of Atlantis solved!

Part IV - Dolphin Dangers and Dolphin Physiology - Controlling calls! Deadly sonar! How will the dolphin takeover transpire? Do we have any hope for stopping them? Can we save humanity?

Documentary about MJEML's war against The Dolphinspiracy/Dolphinocalypse coming soon...

2012-01-01T06:15:00.000-05:00

We've already warned you that the dolphins are rising up against humanity! The remaining 3 parts in our shocking series about the connection between the Mayan-prophecized end of humanity in 2012 and the impending dolphin attack will be revealed soon. In the meantime, we have some tremendously exciting news!

World-renowned documentary filmmaker Dan St. Germain has tirelessly tracked The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library's battle against the second front of dolphin attack - outer space. As the dolphin takeover in 2012 will probably be impossible to stop before the end of the year, this documentary film is coming soon! Here's a teaser for it (as premiered by the Boston Phoenix)!