Troy Johnson v. Ken Leighton

From Blurt:

For the first time in three years, the SDMAs were not emceed by Troy Johnson, music editor of City Beat (a major sponsor of the event). Hellman said he decided to use an offstage announcer instead of an emcee this year. Hellman said he did not know why Johnson didn't show up.

Last week it was announced in a press release that Johnson "...sold his first book to New York City's Arcade Publishing." Set for release next June, the book, titled Family Outing, is about being raised by a lesbian mother.

"Back then, there was little to no degree of 'cool' associated with homos," Johnson is quoted as saying in the press release. "Judging by what I heard from the media and even family members, it was hard not to believe I was being raised by a woman who had gotten caught in the psychological wood-chipper and come out a pervert. There was a time when I actually thought my mother might want to give me a hand job."

Troy Johnson Comment:

Posted by Troy Johnson on 09/26/07 @ 6:58 pm

Way to speculate on why I wasn't at the SDMAs without attempting to contact me, Ken. Also, way to not include the information from one source who I know told you, "There's no conspiracy, he's just on a real short deadline with his book." Of course, if you actually tried to contact me or include that information about the book deadline, your story wouldn't sound so conspiratorially BLURT-ish. Your aversion of the truth is so consistent that it's almost impressive. However, I appreciate the press on the book. I even admire the skillful editing of the quote. It adds, in Reader parlance, "juiciness."


Ha HA! That's great. CLASSIC. Drama. Sorry how can you NOT appreciate that Blurt item.

Cincinnati Octoberfest: Crowd

Crowd Scene, originally uploaded by catdirtrecords.

The Cincinnati October Fest was a fucking blast. Like one hundred thousand people in the streets and all the beer you could drink and buy (for $3 a cup! woo!). CDW & I were buying four at a time and just kind of drank our way down the street. The funniest part about the experience is we had no idea that we had booked a hotel here the weekend of "America's Largest Octoberfest"(fact!).

Total attendance for the two day event tops 500K. Everyone was in a good mood, and they booked tons of "omp ah" bands to keep people going. Nothing like hearing a roaming om-pah band lead the street crowd in a "brown eye girl" sing-a-long. People were into it. All told the fest stretched five blocks, with plenty of tents and food and merch and drunk Cincinnatians, almost all of them of the white variety. Cincy is a very white/black equation- didn't see a single asian and maybe one latino the whole time we were there (two days).

Mind you, this was the same saturday that we "Rode the Bourbon Trail", so it was quite a one-two punch. A really good time all around.

Bardstown

Bardstown, originally uploaded by catdirtrecords.

Bardstown Kentucky is the center piece of the western half of the "Bourbon Trail." The building in the center is the county Court House and there is a "round about" that encircles it. The Key out of here is to find the parkway to the east or follow the road back towards Jim Beam or Louisville (west). The Parkway leading east is quite nice and somewhat incongruous- you can take it direct to Lexington or Frankfort, mass or menos.

Fifty on Their Heels in Mexicali 10/13!!!

Fifty on Their Heels in Mexicali 10/13!!!, originally uploaded by catdirtrecords.

Yee haw we're going back to 'Cali. Mexicali that is. With our homies in Rakwerz- you know the ones that let Fifty play at 400 AM in Las Vegas. Yeah. Blake Miller. Lipstick Terror. Whatever. See you there!!!!

Riding the "Bourbon Trail"

Bourbon Barrels Aging, originally uploaded by catdirtrecords.

The unquestioned highlight of the Cat Dirt Expeditionary Force to Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky was the afternoon we spent along Kentucky's "Bourbon Trail." The Bourbon Trail is an attempt to do for Kentucky Bourbon country (a strand that stretches roughly from south of Louisvillle east back to the Lexington/Frankfort areas) what the wineries in Northern California did for Napa Valley. We hit the Western Half of the Bourbon Trail- Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Makers Mark.

I've been to my share of spirit producing regions: Napa Valley, the Rhine River Valley and my share of alcohol producing plants: Guinness, Heineken, Coors and I have to say that, objectively speaking, the Bourbon Trail was pretty rad. Mostly because a) Northern Kentucky is a lot "cooler" then Northern California and b) it's bourbon not wine. Bourbon is def the cooler beverage, and coolness and snobbery are two things I care very deeply about.

The highlight within the highlight was getting into a Bourbon Warehouse. That smell! Yum! You can see the interior above. You can see the photo set on flickr. And Yelp. Will someone pay me to yelp for a living?