Cry Cry Cry

Being surrounded by friends and family was the salve that dulled the pain of turning 37 last month ...or something. Or maybe it was the awesome gifts Valery showered upon my undeserving self, like an assortment of vintage wind-up Hopping Horrors (complete with box), a marimba record featuring an overly festive (fellow) Mexican and a carved bird reminiscent of those feathered fellows fashioned by Couroc?

As if my senses weren't overloaded enough, Valery also delivered Mike Markesich's exhaustive TeenBeat Mayhem!, a rumored tome many years in the making, and a release highly anticipated by fans of raw n' primitive 60s recordings. Make sure to secure yourself a copy today!

Last but not least, my pals Mike and Damian were swell enough to hook me up with a triply stamped copy of the first Victims single and a clean copy of the third Eyes 45, respectively. Seeing as how I already owned the Victims, I sold my previous copy to a buddy (thanks again, Trey!) and directed the funds toward a tasty example of Jerry Lott's epic, Love Me, on Dot. A Happy Birthday to me, indeed!

And before I forget, many thanks to Tim, Cristina, Kevin, Amye, Susan and Corey for making it out for an impromptu birthday dinner (and thanks again for the LP, too, Tim—I suck!).