Goodbye HI, Hello CS
New Denominations Are Here!
March 1st at 12 am, I was drunk out of my mind, dancing the night away. It was The BNote Second Series launch party at Gallery 788. We had dj's, free food, free drinks, new local currency denominations, local artwork hung up, and an open tab next store at De Kleine Duivel. This was a very proud moment for me considering I wasn't sure if The BNote would have ever made it past the first series. After lots of devotion and determination it happened. I put my heart into making the local currency relevant again. Since my time back in Baltimore, I recruited several new businesses to accept, distributed supplies to older businesses, I wrote an article in The Charles Villager about it, was interviewed and put on the front cover of The Daily Record, and helped get The BNote on LED Baltimore. We had a superb turnout with lots of gracious supporters.
Goodbye HI, Hello CS
Concluding my time at the Baltimore hostel, July 1st being my last day. I have decided to make the absolute best out of every moment I can there. I've been there since December 2013, after moving back to Baltimore from LA. It's been an astonishing learning experience and is a place I will always cherish and love. I'm relinquishing my duties at Hosteling International Baltimore to start a new journey in life by moving to Denver, CO to pursue new endeavors.
My first shift of May was unexpected and exciting. The hostel was completely booked out by a group. As I thought it would be an ordinary shift. A Scottish guy walks in claiming to have reservations with us for the evening. He shows me his booking confirmation through one of the third party websites travelers book through to stay with us. I explained to him the third party company made a mistake and didn't check our availability before sending him a confirmation. The Scottish guy seemed distressed and unsure what to do next. I felt sympathy for him, knowing if I was in his shoes I would feel the same way. I offered him to stay at my apartment for free. I knew it was the right thing to do. After all, I've Couch Surfered plenty of times and it's time to return the favor.
Muray was his name. He explored the Inner Harbor as I worked the rest of my shift. Once I got off him and I circulated to my neighborhood in Station North. I introduced him to my place and Bailey. I showed him the murals of my neighborhood, the go to bars and restaurants, and Graffiti Alley. Muray and I had dinner at Xs (my favorite restaurant). This is where he had his first Natty Boh, he was pleasantly satisfied with the Baltimore beverage. We ordered sushi and a $1 bottle of sake. It was a thrilling experience for the Scottish man. I than took him over to the best bar in Baltimore The Brewer's Art. He was also very enthused about it as well. We got to know each other as he explained he was on a 3 week holiday trip across country heading to California to explore American culture. While we were enjoying our local craft brews. Kim arrived to the bar to meet our guest for the next two nights. We all hit it off all.
Kim and I had plans for the evening in advance to see Santigold live at Sound Stage. We split up and gave Muray our spare key. We went over to the show and it was fantastic. Santigold live is super legit. She had projections of items you can buy at a 99 Cent store as it's the theme of her new album entitled "99 Cents". She had a backup band and as well as dancers. It was solid time, we got out late and headed back home. We thought Muray was sound asleep already. The next morning we discovered he was out late meeting new friends at The Crown. It was dope he got to explore the inner Baltimore culture so well. Kim and I both worked that day, as he roamed the city. Later that evening he bought us a pizza and some Bohs. Kim and I once again had plans to go to the first WTMD's First Thursday's In The Park featuring Ra Ra Riot. We all went over showing him Canton Park and the local vendors surrounding the concert. It was a fun time, Ra Ra Riot performed and played a great set. We all headed back and called it a night.
The next day was a huge day. It was Muray's last day in Baltimore. It was also the same day we were hosting our first house show/party. We showed him Hampden as well as The Jones Falls and other cool stuff. The time came where he had to catch his bus and say our goodbyes. It was great meeting him and a fun experience for all of us hanging out. He was very grateful and headed out for his bus. Immediately afterwards Kim and I started getting ready for our house show. We bought food and drinks, set things up, and the guest started to arrive to the Lord Dog House.
The bands arrived, set up their gear, and started playing, It was Val Tambien, Slam & Wallace, Pelvis Presley, A Band Called Forever, and Them Aniamls. Everyone did great, it was an awesome show. Some memorable highlights was Slam & Wallace doing a game show performance during their set, me (Pelvis Presley) getting crowd surfered while playing guitar and singing in the mic, and Them Animals playing with my life sized cardboard cutout of Bill Clinton. It was such a rad time and an awesome week/end. The CS experience and shows turned out great.
SHOWS
I've been fortunate to play a couple of other shows this month as well. I got to play The Crown this month opening for a band called Homebody from Denver as well as playing with local friends Slam & Wallace. I've always wanted to play The Crown. This was something I definitely needed to do before moving away from Baltimore again. I'm happy it finally happened. The show had a lot of great friends come out and see us play. Homebody set was absolutely incredible. I've never heard music like that before except for this other band from Denver I discovered while I had the Mercedes back in December 2011. I heard them on Sirus Radio this band was called Gauntlet Hair. After Homebody's set I mentioned to them they had a similar sound to that band. The vocalist told me, that's funny because he actually lives with them. I was very shocked and it was quite a coincidence. The whole show was excellent. I'm glad I got to be a part of it. I also opened a show at The Annex. It was a friends show/party as well. It was a week after my house gig. It had a great turnout. I played with awesome musicians, it was a good time.
We Are Scientists are my favorite band. It is no secret how much I enjoy them. I got to see them at Rock'n Roll Hotel this month, as they were touring their new album Heltzer Seltzer. We walked inside and upstairs. We immediately ran into the lead vocalist Keith (a person I've previously hung out with and been drunk with a couple of times). He greeted us, we briefly caught up. He had to finish setting up so we went on the balcony for drink. By surprise it turned out it was "bear night". I never experienced this type of night before; but I noticed everyone was enjoying themselves and that's all that matters. We walked next store to H Street Country Club. It was a barcade/mini golf hangout. We had a couple of drinks and walked back to the venue. We went upstairs to see Chris the backing vocalist/bass player. As soon as he saw me he said "James Lane, what's up? Good seeing you".... Can you imagine, how happy that makes?!? We talked and caught up for over an hour. Keith came back half way through out conversation and we talked and joked around. I showed them my The Price Is Right video. They laughed it off, Keith kept called me BNote guy and told me The BNotes I gave him are sitting on his living room table. They played their set and it was a fantastic show. We had a couple more drinks. I got pretty drunk by the end of it. We ran into Keith's recently married wife. She remembered my girlfriend and I which was very thrilling as well. We said our goodbyes to them and went home.
Miscellaneous
I went to the Orioles game and decided to have a couple of drinks across the street from the stadium. I didn't want to pay the ridiculous over priced fees for one can of beer. A news reporter was walking around looking to interview people for a segment. She came over to me and explained it was about Natty Boh's and other local beers not being sold as often anymore at the stadium. You can watch the video down below. It's pretty entertaining!
http://www.abc2news.com/sports/baseball/orioles/without-natty-boh-fans-hoping-for-local-brews-inside-camden-yards
Mother's Day this year I got the pleasure of taking my aunt and grandmother out to Paper Moon. They have never experienced a restaurant like this before. It was a great time and very nice I got to show them new things especially outside of Dundalk which is where they live. It was also a week before my aunt had to get a heart catheterization in which I accompanied her. It was a long and strenuous day. We had to be at the hospital at 6am and didn't get finished everything till 7pm. It all went well and she's in the best health she can be in right now.
Lastly, The Strokes came out with a new EP which I'm beyond thrilled about. It sounds so good, I've been listening to it a lot. I highly recommend taking a listen to it. I'm a big fan of theirs. I'm also heavily influenced by them.
Thanks for reading my blog!
March 1st at 12 am, I was drunk out of my mind, dancing the night away. It was The BNote Second Series launch party at Gallery 788. We had dj's, free food, free drinks, new local currency denominations, local artwork hung up, and an open tab next store at De Kleine Duivel. This was a very proud moment for me considering I wasn't sure if The BNote would have ever made it past the first series. After lots of devotion and determination it happened. I put my heart into making the local currency relevant again. Since my time back in Baltimore, I recruited several new businesses to accept, distributed supplies to older businesses, I wrote an article in The Charles Villager about it, was interviewed and put on the front cover of The Daily Record, and helped get The BNote on LED Baltimore. We had a superb turnout with lots of gracious supporters.
Goodbye HI, Hello CS
Concluding my time at the Baltimore hostel, July 1st being my last day. I have decided to make the absolute best out of every moment I can there. I've been there since December 2013, after moving back to Baltimore from LA. It's been an astonishing learning experience and is a place I will always cherish and love. I'm relinquishing my duties at Hosteling International Baltimore to start a new journey in life by moving to Denver, CO to pursue new endeavors.
Muray was his name. He explored the Inner Harbor as I worked the rest of my shift. Once I got off him and I circulated to my neighborhood in Station North. I introduced him to my place and Bailey. I showed him the murals of my neighborhood, the go to bars and restaurants, and Graffiti Alley. Muray and I had dinner at Xs (my favorite restaurant). This is where he had his first Natty Boh, he was pleasantly satisfied with the Baltimore beverage. We ordered sushi and a $1 bottle of sake. It was a thrilling experience for the Scottish man. I than took him over to the best bar in Baltimore The Brewer's Art. He was also very enthused about it as well. We got to know each other as he explained he was on a 3 week holiday trip across country heading to California to explore American culture. While we were enjoying our local craft brews. Kim arrived to the bar to meet our guest for the next two nights. We all hit it off all.
The next day was a huge day. It was Muray's last day in Baltimore. It was also the same day we were hosting our first house show/party. We showed him Hampden as well as The Jones Falls and other cool stuff. The time came where he had to catch his bus and say our goodbyes. It was great meeting him and a fun experience for all of us hanging out. He was very grateful and headed out for his bus. Immediately afterwards Kim and I started getting ready for our house show. We bought food and drinks, set things up, and the guest started to arrive to the Lord Dog House.The bands arrived, set up their gear, and started playing, It was Val Tambien, Slam & Wallace, Pelvis Presley, A Band Called Forever, and Them Aniamls. Everyone did great, it was an awesome show. Some memorable highlights was Slam & Wallace doing a game show performance during their set, me (Pelvis Presley) getting crowd surfered while playing guitar and singing in the mic, and Them Animals playing with my life sized cardboard cutout of Bill Clinton. It was such a rad time and an awesome week/end. The CS experience and shows turned out great.
SHOWS
I've been fortunate to play a couple of other shows this month as well. I got to play The Crown this month opening for a band called Homebody from Denver as well as playing with local friends Slam & Wallace. I've always wanted to play The Crown. This was something I definitely needed to do before moving away from Baltimore again. I'm happy it finally happened. The show had a lot of great friends come out and see us play. Homebody set was absolutely incredible. I've never heard music like that before except for this other band from Denver I discovered while I had the Mercedes back in December 2011. I heard them on Sirus Radio this band was called Gauntlet Hair. After Homebody's set I mentioned to them they had a similar sound to that band. The vocalist told me, that's funny because he actually lives with them. I was very shocked and it was quite a coincidence. The whole show was excellent. I'm glad I got to be a part of it. I also opened a show at The Annex. It was a friends show/party as well. It was a week after my house gig. It had a great turnout. I played with awesome musicians, it was a good time.
We Are Scientists are my favorite band. It is no secret how much I enjoy them. I got to see them at Rock'n Roll Hotel this month, as they were touring their new album Heltzer Seltzer. We walked inside and upstairs. We immediately ran into the lead vocalist Keith (a person I've previously hung out with and been drunk with a couple of times). He greeted us, we briefly caught up. He had to finish setting up so we went on the balcony for drink. By surprise it turned out it was "bear night". I never experienced this type of night before; but I noticed everyone was enjoying themselves and that's all that matters. We walked next store to H Street Country Club. It was a barcade/mini golf hangout. We had a couple of drinks and walked back to the venue. We went upstairs to see Chris the backing vocalist/bass player. As soon as he saw me he said "James Lane, what's up? Good seeing you".... Can you imagine, how happy that makes?!? We talked and caught up for over an hour. Keith came back half way through out conversation and we talked and joked around. I showed them my The Price Is Right video. They laughed it off, Keith kept called me BNote guy and told me The BNotes I gave him are sitting on his living room table. They played their set and it was a fantastic show. We had a couple more drinks. I got pretty drunk by the end of it. We ran into Keith's recently married wife. She remembered my girlfriend and I which was very thrilling as well. We said our goodbyes to them and went home.Miscellaneous
I went to the Orioles game and decided to have a couple of drinks across the street from the stadium. I didn't want to pay the ridiculous over priced fees for one can of beer. A news reporter was walking around looking to interview people for a segment. She came over to me and explained it was about Natty Boh's and other local beers not being sold as often anymore at the stadium. You can watch the video down below. It's pretty entertaining!
http://www.abc2news.com/sports/baseball/orioles/without-natty-boh-fans-hoping-for-local-brews-inside-camden-yards
Mother's Day this year I got the pleasure of taking my aunt and grandmother out to Paper Moon. They have never experienced a restaurant like this before. It was a great time and very nice I got to show them new things especially outside of Dundalk which is where they live. It was also a week before my aunt had to get a heart catheterization in which I accompanied her. It was a long and strenuous day. We had to be at the hospital at 6am and didn't get finished everything till 7pm. It all went well and she's in the best health she can be in right now.Lastly, The Strokes came out with a new EP which I'm beyond thrilled about. It sounds so good, I've been listening to it a lot. I highly recommend taking a listen to it. I'm a big fan of theirs. I'm also heavily influenced by them.
Thanks for reading my blog!
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