The Village Voice!!!

I am uber pleased to direct your attention to the Village Voice's Website for

Uncle LD's High Bias(podcast),

which includes a little track called
"Well Formed Man",
from my upcoming album, 'Sirens of Brooklyn.'

Thank you Uncle LD for including the track,
Track#4 on the album, btw.

Yipeee!!!

lyrics

There ain't nothin' better
than a well formed man,
when God didn't skimp on the time
he spent molding that clay in his hands.

There ain't nothin' better than a man with thoughts,
the kind that's aware that the head below his waist
ain't the only one he's got.

I've met so many men beyond repair.
I try to reach inside,
but there's nothing there.

Must I dig deeper?

Village Voice Podcast

I have some very exciting news to share.

High Bias by Uncle LD is a new Podcast on the Village Voice's website
hosted by
LD Beghtol.

Tune in this week to hear a song from my upcoming album, The Sirens of Brooklyn.
I won't tell you which one. You'll have to listen to find out.

Marlboro Man is #11

Marlboro Man made it's debut on
Sirius OutQ's Hot 20 List
two weeks ago at #20

This week, I am so excited to announce
that it has climbed to
#11.

The song is also being played on Last Call with Jeremy Hovies.

Show Your support!
Email a request for the song to be played.

Sirius OutQ is channel 106 on Sirius Sattelite Radio.

blah blah blah my visit home

This weekend,

I went home to Oklahoma to surprise my mother for her 50th birthday.

I became a cog in an elaborate plan to take a woman by surprise
who does not really like surprises so much and who
can tell when there is a scheme brewing,
long before you've even put the water on to boil.

So, my father bought my mother a red convertible as her gift.

My mother was distracted all day at a day spa where she had every flake of dry skin sluffed off and every fingernail, toe nail trimmed buffed, and polished. I was later told by my sister, that this day was one of the most stressful days she had ever experience, trying to keep my mother busy and unaware of the secret birthday plans. I only added to my poor sister's stress when I called her from the Minneapolis airport to find out who was going to pick me up when my plane landed. She of course handed the phone to my mother. I sang her happy birthday as overhead flight announcements bled into the phone.

When my mother hung up, she told my sister that I was in an airport or a train station. I have been known to take off on a whim, whether it's a trip to Scotland or California or Montreal. My mother didn't realize that I was on my way to see her, luckily. She thought that I was blowing off her birthday to jet set. haha.

I landed in Oklahoma and was picked up by my brother-in-law, Chris and driven to an undisclosed location where I sat in my mother's new car, awaiting my marching orders.

My mother, fresh from her multiple face and body treatments was escorted into the house where her friends and coworkers waited to jump out and yell "happy birthday." At that point, I was down the road, sitting in the convertible awaiting the word to bring the car around front. So, I received the call and drove the car into the driveway and then proceeded to hide behind my father's car.

My mother came out screaming and running towards the car, at which point I ran up behind her. She turned around and started screaming so loud that I think I may have permanent hearing damage. I was also seriously worried that she might have a heart attack. haha. Well, not funny, but seriously, she was that surprised.

All in all it was a great weekend. It was good to see the family and to joyride with the top down.

Climbing the Charts

Marlboro Man made it's debut on
Sirius OutQ's Hot 20 List
last week at #20

I'm pleased to announce that this week,
the song has climbed 6 slots to
the #14 position.

The song is also being played on Last Call with Jeremy Hovies.

Show Your support!
Email a request for the song to be played.

Sirius OutQ is channel 106 on Sirius Sattelite Radio.

A crumb to tide you over

My debut album was originally scheduled for release in June, but due to a few circumstances beyond my control
( I blame George Bush because everyone can get behind that)
It has been pushed back for a November release.

I feel bad about saying the cake was going to be ready, to have you sitting there on the sofa waiting with your empty plate, tapping your fork.

So, I've decided to throw some crumbs of sorts without giving so much away that I ruin your appetite.

in the next 24 hours a working version of the title track 'The Sirens of Brooklyn' will be up on myspace for you to preview. This is not the completed version, so think of it as a demo.

I also encourage you, if you wish to purchase the album when it is released to sign up for my e-list on myspace to be notified when the album is available for purchase.

I hope you enjoy this song, which has never been played live, written less than a month ago, about a very true life experience.

To You:
You know who you are, because there is no getting around the fact that this song is written about you. I hold no anger or malice, and I was apprehensive about putting this song on the album because I didn't want you to be mad at me. I promise that I will never reveal your name.

This song will be angry at you forever so that I don't have to be.

I still have my eyebrows

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to Brooklyn to celebrate my birthday.
There's nothing like a grilled hotdog under a mulberry tree. I'm sad to say though that one of my favorite t-shirts is now ruined from all the berries, but I'll always have the memories.

such as...

Telling John"don't be afraid of the grill"

(cut to us getting close and him flinging a match onto the coals)

When the fire shot five feet up into the air, it was like Vietnam. John and I simultaneously dove backward, away from the flame. I am thrilled to announce that I still have my eyebrows.

Photo used with the kind permission of Carrie Thomas

Another Year Older

Today is my birthday, and I find myself turning 28. I have reached that point where birthdays are only as signifigant as their distance from 30. It's one more birthday before the big 3-0 and one more birthday as a guy in his 20's.

I have some sort of mental note that I should have accomplished more in my life at this point. I best get busy.

Marlboro Man is # 20

on Sirius OutQ's Hot 20.
You can listen to the Hot 20 on Sirius Satellite Radio
(channel 106)

Saturdays and Sundays 4-6pm (est.)

hosted by Jeremy Hovies.

You can also show your support by sending an email requesting
Marlboro Man, which is in rotation on Sirius OutQ's 'Last Call' as well.

Flying not Dying

Jeremy Hovies, Host of 'Last Call' on Sirius Satellite Radio's
OUTQ(channel 106) has a little thing called" fly or die Friday."

Listeners vote to decide if a song gets put into rotation or thrown in the dust bin.

I am so excited to announce that my song, 'Marlboro Man' was put through the gauntlet and has been given its wings!! Thank you to the listeners of 'Last Call' and to Jeremy Hovies!!!

You can send an email requesting that the song be played!! :)




Last Call with Jeremy Hovies Tuesday-Saturday
1am est-7am est
Sirius Satellite Radio- Channel 106
Available Nationwide.

Photography used with the kind permission of
Carrie Thomas

The Coney Island Tragedy

A cold wind blowing through Brooklyn today carried with it the smell of hotdogs.
If you listened hard enough you would also find that it carried the sounds of the craziest wooden rollercoaster ever.
The rollercoaster, in case you don't know, is called 'The Cyclone.'

At first site you wouldn't think it could scare your socks off, let alone your pants. Let me just say that it will take your shirt, your loose change, and quite possibly your soul.

I set out to ride this beast today with the lovely Carrie Thomas in tow. She brought her camera and we were also determined to take some glamour shots down on the pier. Unfortunately her camera battery suddenly went low and she couldn't continue shooting.

We went to two different stores in search of 3 volt batteries. I've never even seen a 3 volt battery, and I'm not quite convinced that they exist. The shopkeepers looked at us bewildered when we enquired about them. They too seemed not to have heard of these special batteries.

We decided to give up and head back to the boardwalk. I looked over at the cyclone to take in a voyeuristic glimpse at the people screaming and flailing. What I saw was quite shocking. Oh my god, quite shocking indeed. The coaster was stuck at the top of the first big climb and they were evacuating people and walking them down the tracks.

Carrie and I ran to get a closer look until we were standing under the great white beast gazing up as one by one the passengers of this doomed coaster ride were carefully taken down the tracks to safety. We are afterall ambulance chasers by nature. Carrie fussed with her camera trying to get a shot. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a picture of the woman in the hot pink jump suit that was two sizes too small, uneasily wobbling her way down, gravity and the crowd below just begging for a mis-step.

So, the tragedy at Coney Island is this.

We went to take photos. It didn't happen.
We went to ride the cyclone. It didn't happen.
The biggest tragedy of all is that it was Carrie's first time on the Island of Coney and she didn't get to have a hotdog. Instead she had to settle for a sad piece of pepperoni that the wind whipped into her face, covering her in grease and cheese. The even sadder part is that when I said goodbye to her, I think there was still a bit of sauce on her forehead and I didn't say anything.

Apparently I'm going to burn in hell.

Well, I often display a photo from the lovely Carrie Thomas, but this blog will remain without photo in memory of those who lost their ride on the cyclone.

Like a child

I wish at times that I could look at the world with the eyes of a child.

New York is a city where one is constantly stimulated visually, sonicly, physically. The brain can't handle all this input, so a part of it is always short circuited. The result for me, is that it often takes a lot to excite me.

Yet, get me away from New York and I become spastic,climbing trees and running up mountains. I wonder if being away from New York for a long period of time will reroute my circuitry so that when I return, I will climb buildings and run up the avenues.

I live in a cultural center with boundless possibility and yet I generally only see the art of my friends/collaborators.
When I first moved here, I would go to every new museum exhibit and every gallery opening or performance art piece.

I was in Washington DC over Memorial Day Weekend and there in Dupont circle was a tiny girl in a sundress dancing, as a street performer sang a U2 cover. I envied her. She didn't care what anyone thought or if she was dancing the correct way. It was just the music and her soul connecting. I wish to see the world through the eyes of a child and sing and dance as if no one is watching.

Photography used with the kind permission of Carrie Thomas.

A whole lot of crazy

Someone who I consider rather crazy once said that the craziest thing you can ever say is
"I'm not crazy."

Saner words never fell from his mouth.

I've recently had to battle with a recurring theme in my life, perspective.
How do you know when you are right and someone else is wrong? Who is crazy and who is sane?...you or them?

I generally find that there is no black or white. Life is overwhelmingly grey. Neither of us is right or wrong and both of us are a bit of both.

I think the true test when faced with conflict is how you handle it. Do you try to dive into the situation and constructively solve it or do you drag the other person into your emotional tar pit, trying to find as many things you can to hurt and discredit their emotions and purpose in life?

Are you letting the wound fester or are you reaching for the rubbing alcohol?
It stings a little, I know.

My choice is to realize that I am not perfect. I make many decisions based on emotions and hope for the best. I also do my best to seek resolution in times of conflict. I do not have a problem with admitting fault when it is appropriate.

I don't want to open someone's hood and start hacking away at the machinery to see how much I can damage them. I want to look them in the eye and solve the problem. Unfortunately, We don't always get that opportunity.

So... Perspective. I recently had the thought that I could gain more perspective if I removed anything that might alter my perception of the world. So, I have given up caffeine and alcohol as some sort of test. I will let you know if I have some grand revelation. Maybe I'll discover that I am indeed crazy.

Fish Out of Water

I have always been a fish out of water,
flapping madly for wetness.

His Name is Cosmo

I would like to take this moment to congratulate my friend,
Laura Terruso, whose short film 'His Name is Cosmo' makes its NewFest premiere this weekend.

I encourage you all to go check it out. You only have two chances to see it, so I suggest you run, not walk to get your tickets.


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