Hello all. Johnny is in New York City this weekend so it’s up to me to let you all know that season two of The Lair, starring Mr. Hazzard, will premiere this Friday September 5th on the Here! network. If you get that channel you should check it out.
To all of the people that have hounded me about doing another dance video over the past two years - it didn’t help. We are always thinking about a new dance video to do. I love to dance, that was never the problem, and Boy Wonder does most of the work so it really comes down to getting a location. And thanks to the nice people that he works with we were able to use a studio for just that purpose.
The lucky Hazzardites on my membership site got a sneak peek at this clip last week and now it’s time to let it loose. Oh yeah, the line in the chorus that goes “Can’t Touch The Ground” sounds exactly like “Can’t Just Sit Around” so I figured the particularly appropriate mondegreen would be an ideal title for this post. So without further delay please enjoy my latest video, Rain Down Love (alternate title: Campy Capers With Crappy Chroma Key).
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For a very long time that doesn’t really need to be defined here, I have been talking about making custom shirts to sell. And then there would be no mention for a while, and it would crop up again until finally I was forbidden from mentioning anything about it until I was ready to back up my statement with the goods.
That time has come.
After many trials and tribulations there is a batch of custom Hazzardized shirts available for purchase in the Johnny Hazzard Shop. Most of the shirts were individually customized by yours truly in the relative serenity of my stylishly appointed sitting room. And they can be further treated in a similar fashion if you so desire. Each shirt features a lovely Johnny Hazzard label I had made some time back so you get the full effect with any shirt you chose.
Due to the extremely unpredictable nature of Hazzardization no two shirts are alike and when this batch is gone I will make another similarly distinctive one to take its place. There will be no monotony on my watch!
There is a page on the shop dedicated to the items currently available that will reflect changes in the near future. You may access it directly by clicking here.
Thank you and good afternoon.
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to visit Philadelphia for their 14th Gay and Lesbian Film Festival courtesy of our friends at TLA.
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The C1R Triple Threat
In addition to some quality time with the Boss Lady and Blake Riley I got to hang with some Channel 1 VIPs that we do not get to see very often. There were many highlights during the weekend in the city of Brotherly Love, but there were three in particular that I would love to share with you.
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Stoia
First, a while back I was sent an e mail from a young girl titled “Ode to Johnny.” Her name is Stoia, she works for Digital Playground and she’s gorgeous. It was most complimentary and flattering. Well lo and behold she is from Philly and TLA took this opportunity not to only have us meet but create a mini movie to document the entire ordeal from her writing the ode to our long awaited meeting. The movie was shot in black and white with a fifties motif. In the final scene we sharing a milkshake in front of a vintage soda shop; it was the best milkshake EVER!
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Blake and me off the grid.
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C1R Mastermind
Rob Novinger
Saturday evening we had the chance to schmooze and booze at a club called Pure. This was the chance for us all to hang out and be ourselves with no cameras, pens or other obligatory what have you. We were Free to Be. Early in the evening Chi Chi was scheduled to speak at an event that coincided with the Film Festival, but was geared more to, well, porn. As the limo pulled up to the theatre the first voice I heard was that of our lovely Hazzard Ahead contributor and my biggest fan on the East coast, RitaPHL! She was bright-eyed and looking very sharp with her new do! She later informed me that it had been two years to the day since we met in Bean Town when she and her husband Jim were on holiday being served by yours truly at Aquitaine. It was wonderful to see her.
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Our editor at Channel 1 created a video montage of Chi Chi, Blake and me that was played before she went on and it was sooooo amazing. I asked them for a copy and I’m hoping to have it soon to feature here - I promise! After Chi Chi’s talk we opened the floor up to Q&A. My number one fan raised her hand and asked if I could sign her B-Rude original T shirt. It features my mug and pecs splattered on the front with “Blow my Speakers” as the caption. I gladly signed the shirt and was amazed that she was able to snag one. After Rita walked away Chi Chi turned green with envy that Rita was able to get her hands on one. At the end we were passing out our latest picture book “Smut” and I made sure my girl got one! Enjoy it Rita! And thank you so much for all the effort you went through to get there!
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Rita’s new signed B-Rude shirt.
Before our night out I managed to bug everyone with my digital video camera. Since there is some mild nudity and some appearances by folks that would rather not be featured I am including just a small piece here. The full version will be on Hazzard Central in a few days time. Enjoy!
Give it a minute. Then Full Screen It Baby!
I love traveling to the East Coast (especially on someone else’s dime) thanks Eric and thanks Philly!.
Last week I stumbled across a rather catchy remix of Nobody’s Diary by Yazoo on my musical travels. The hook of the song was criminally missing, but as soon as the vocal kicked in I was reminded just how dear that song used to be to me. This led to a bit of a revival of Yazoo hits for me and yesterday a friend I met very recently called to inform me that he had an extra ticket to the Yazoo show at the Orpheum Theatre downtown. Coincidence? Who cares?! Cut to me ditching work early on a production day so I could see two people perform that recorded their last album in separate rooms so they didn’t have to see each other.
When you only have two albums under your belt a ninety minute concert pretty much guarantees play of your entire catalog; especially when it runs to two hours. There were several moments when I literally did not know what to do with myself. I couldn’t scream loud enough or dance hard enough to justify the experience of hearing this music performed live after twenty years of unabashed worship on dancefloors the world over. This was the ideal concert experience for me. There were no tourists. Every person there sang along and acted as though they were holding court in their private shrine at home. It was terrific.
Afterwards I visited a few fan sites and found samples of the remixes that were whipped up to commemorate this reunion tour. For your listening pleasure I clumsily assembled the clip below that features the original version of Nobody’s Diary mixed into the new Koishii & Hush Remix that finally elevates this song to the anthem status it so richly deserves. Enjoy!
