Long time, no blog…so here are the highlights!

Hey gang,

Once again, it has taken me far too long to update my blog, so I’ll try my best to get you caught up and keep it short and interesting…tall order!

Here are some highlights since my last blog…in no particular order.

• I had my in-laws come to visit us here in England, which was awesome.
• My car, the Red Rover, finally died on me…we had to scrap her, sad times.
• We got a new car, The Blue Mini, and she has taken us on some exciting adventures!
• Jenell and I had our 1 year anniversary!
• We took a 10 day road trip in our new car (The Blue Mini) all around different parts of the UK and Europe…we drove all over the UK and through parts of France, Belgium, and Amsterdam.
• We were able to make one of Jenell’s dream come true…to be able to stand in a GIANT field of flowers as far as the eye can see.
• I had my 34th birthday.
• I got a couple of awesome new tattoos.
• I’m still the shittiest football/soccer player in all the land.
• I survived the May 21st, 2011 Judgement Day…I’m a badass.
• I had dinner at the world famous Fat Duck.
• I’ve seen Damien Dempsey, Mumford and Sons, Arcade Fire, and Weezer in concert.
• I got an iPad 2…YAY!
• Jenell and I went back to Los Angeles for a quick family visit and a friend’s wedding.
• I’ve seen a few crappy movies and a few decent movies…which I will blog about soon enough in my ‘Big Dumb Movie Reviews’ blog.
• One of our most beloved family dogs, Mercedes Gabra, passed away.
• I finally learned how to get around on the tubes and trains of London without having to ask for help…from everone!
• We found out that we will be moving back to Los Angeles on August 3rd.
• Jack Daniels and I have remained close friends.
• Did I mention I got an iPad 2???
• I joined Google+…this is only interesting for the other geeks out there.
• Jenell’s invented the Sunshine Cupcakes…which are officially known as the best cupcakes in England, and soon to be America!!

There are a few other highlights I’ve neglected to mention, some I’ve purposely left out so I can hopefully tell you all in person…and some I’ve just forgotten about.
So, I hope that gives you a good idea of what the last 6 months have been like for me and what has really amounted to the best year of mine and Jenell’s lives.

I know I keep promising that I will keep up with more blog updates, but who am I kidding…I think we all know that it could be a little while before write another one.
Why can’t I just commit damn it?!
I can at least promise you this, I have a feeling my blogs (few and far between) are going to get a lot more interesting and I will make sure to give you all the juicy details whenever those times come (few and far between) that I decide to sit down and write these damn blogs.

Did I mention that I got a new iPad 2…YAY!!!

Here are some pictures from some of the highlights I mentioned above, please enjoy…and as always…LOVE YA, MEAN IT!

That’s The Smile of Someone Who is Truly Happy!

Doing The Happy Dance in Holland

Love Birds

The Red Rover – R.I.P….she will be missed.

The Fat Duck Menu

Enjoying a drink or two at The Fat Duck

Oh how I love you Jack Daniels…

The Infamous Sunshine Cupcakes…eat up!

Jenell…Right Where She Wants To Be At That Very Moment

At Windsor Castle With The In-Laws

Good Food With Family

Jenell and that one dude…

A Special Little Place in Edinburgh

The Worst Athlete In All The Land…J-Gabz!

The Roman Baths…in the town of Bath

J-Gab’s Big Dumb Movie Review #2 – Black Swan

Ok, I’m gonna come right out and say it…I really didn’t like this movie at all. I give it 1 out of 5 stars.
I know most people that read this will probably disagree, but I need to stick by my initial thoughts on this film…and I think it was complete shit. Ok, now that I got that out of the way I shall commence with my review.

Black Swan is basically about a ballet dancer that wins the lead role in “Swan Lake” and I guess she is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan, but she slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like the evil twin sister of the White Swan, the Black Swan! It follows the story of Nina, a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mom who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When the ballet director decides to replace his prima ballerina for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily, who impresses the director as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

The movie was directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis…as well as some other people that weren’t hot chicks making out, so I dont really care to remember who they are. Let me start by saying that the turbulent wacky love story that occurs between Natalie and Mila might be one of the very few reasons you might want to check this movie out when it comes out on cable.

This movie is simply trying to coax a horror-thriller out of the world of ballet doesn’t begin to work for the director, Darren Aronofsky. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his work, he has done masterpieces like “Requiem For a Dream” and “The Wrestler”…and I’d also like to add that he is directing the new ‘Wolverine’ movie. YAY!

Basically, at some point, this horror-movie shock turns a little silly. It’s very cool to see a filmmaker taking leaps and chances – but one also has to admit when those efforts inspire laughter instead of chills. Aronofsky grabs you by the lapels, thrills you with the tension he creates – but when it comes to the big reveals, you’re either giggling at what he shows you or already way ahead of him…I dozed off a couple of times, I must admit.

“Black Swan” is a love-it-or-hate-it movie. Put me in the (sort of) hate-it column. My slight qualification here is because this movie about an increasingly unhinged ballerina gets points for being unlike anything else that’s out there. But being different isn’t the same thing as being good.

I suppose I can understand why this movie is getting some sort of Oscar-buzz. The acting is very good. Natalie Portman is usually fairly awesome in almost everything she does (except Star Wars) and Mila Kunis is surprisingly decent. So, maybe it deserves some kind of Oscar nod for the high level quality of acting in this film…but…the movie SUCKS! I will not understand this movie getting any other sort of Best Movie or Best Director nomination. Its an almost bigger crime than nominating ‘The Social Network’ for any sort of Oscar! By the way, I actually really liked ‘The Social Network’ but there is no way in hell that movie deserves any recognition from the Academy.

Anyways, if you haven’t seen Black Swan yet, then I would recommend saving your money for some of the other better films that are out right now…by “other films” I mean ANY other film would be better than this piece of crap.

Ok, thanks for reading my Big Dumb Movie Review…I think most of you will thank me for this one!

Luv ya, mean it!

Black Swan - LAME!

As usual…it has been WAY too long.

Ok, ok…no excuses this time. I have basically been neglecting my blog for a few months now. Not because I’ve been too busy, but just because I simply kinda forgot. I’ve just been enjoying my time here in England and I knew I’d eventually get back to my blog at some point. So, here I am!

Let me try and get you caught up on the last few months. I haven’t written a blog since August, so I’ll try and focus on the highlights, otherwise this thing could go on forever!

For starters, Jenell and I have been taking full advantage of the luxury of living in Europe…we traveled!

• Scotland – we spent a weekend in Edinburgh and took a little trip into Loch Ness to search for Nessie! We met a guy in Loch Ness that claims to have seen Nessie a bunch of times and showed us some pictures on his cellphone of what might have been Nessie’s backside??? Very convincing stuff!
• Paris - a small group of friends all took the Eurostar Train into Paris for the weekend and had a full blown tourist experience! It’s safe to say that we did EVERYTHING there is to do in Paris in just a matter of two days. Let me start by saying, I ate some of the greatest food I’ve ever eaten in my life…these french people do not fuck around when it comes to eating! Whilst enjoying the culinary spoils that Paris had to offer, we also managed to visit all the must-see tourist spots in one jam-packed Sunday. Here is just a preview of my weekend in Paris…

1. Eiffel Tower
2. Notre Dame (We actually got to sit in during a Sunday morning mass…amazing!)
3. The Louvre (We even found a secret entrance to the museum that got us right into the main room to view the Mona Lisa…everyone had to wait over 4 hours in line, we didn’t have to wait at
   all!!)
4. Napoleon’s Tomb
5. Arc de Triomphe
   
6. Tour of the River Seine

…and some other stuff I’m sure I’m forgetting. See some pics at the bottom of this post.

• Amsterdam – Yep, Jenell and I went to Amsterdam…but if I told what we did I would probably have to kill you.
• The Philippines – This obviously doesn’t count as European travel, but I thought I would include it on my list anyways. I went out there for a little business trip to visit an affiliate that my company does a lot of work with. Spent a lot of time working on a fun new project, but I was also able to attend their annual Christmas Party, which was a blast! I partied it up Philippino-style and I ate something called Balut.

So, in the midst of all the traveling and mis-adventures I’ve also been experiencing much of what England has to offer…which mainly consists of great pubs, great liquor, shitty food, and picturesque
locations. England is definitely one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever seen. Lately it’s been snowing quite a bit, which can be annoying when trying to get around, but it is so beautiful to see.
The nice thing is, since Jenell and I opted not to go back to Los Angeles for Christmas this year, it looks like we are going to have our first real white Christmas!
We also spent Thanksgiving here in England…which, as you can imagine, was a pretty quiet one. Our first time spending Thanksgiving away from our family, it was kinda weird…but we made it our own special day. Since no one here celebrates or gives a shit about Thanksgiving, Jenell and I had our own little feast. She cooked up a storm and made massive quantities of turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a bunch of other stuff. It was as if we were feeding an army, but this army only had 2 people…and those 2 people ate almost everything! It was a great Thanksgiving…

Aside from that, we have been just living the regular day-to-day life. I go to work every day, I go home and we usually make dinner, if the weather is decent we might go out with friends over the weekend…otherwise we just stay in and chill out in our very well heated flat. I obsessively watch cooking shows and crappy reality tv…and I love it!
I can easily say that being here for the last few months has been the ultimate stress relief for me. As much as I miss all my friends and family VERY MUCH back in Los Angeles, it has been very nice not having some of those distractions that I love so much around me. I must admit I’m not spending as much time writing music as I had hoped and I’m starting to feel like my creative void needs to be filled before I go a little crazy. I’m so used to writing about all the negative things going on around me, so now that everything is so great in my life, it’s kinda tough to write music the way I normally do. I might have to start writing cheesy mushy love songs soon…Jenell would love that, haha!
By the way…my band’s album has been released and you can now buy it on iTunes: OUT OF GREY

Now for the long-awaited Vinnie the Pug update: As some of you know, Vinnie could not come with me to the UK because of the strict regulations bringing animals overseas. So, I had to leave him with my best friend and his incredible wife. They have been fostering my little Vinnie for me while I’m here in England. That being said, some of you might also know that right after I left for the UK Vinnie began having some serious medical issues. The first thing that happens about 1 hour before I’m about to get on the plane for England is, I get a call from my best friend letting me know that Vinnie has ulcers in BOTH of his eyes…and could potentially go blind. So, we went forward with all the necessary treatments and 3 months later he was good as new! Thanks to my great friend for meticulously making sure that Vinnie received all of his meds and eyedrops and more meds multiple times a day. Needless to say, it cost me a fortune and I felt horrible for leaving this burden with my friend, but they were so great about it.
Just when we all thought we could rest, Vinnie then develops some sort of parasite…which means more meds and more work for my friends taking care of him.
Once this was all over, we finally thought we could move one with our lives without having to worry about Vinnie anymore…WE WERE WRONG!
Apparently Vinnie had some seriously fucked up teeth…which could have been my fault for the way I tended to spoil him, hee hee. So, now Vinnie needs to go to the doggie-dentist. His teeth were not in good shape and he had to have some of them pulled…not 2 teeth, not 3 teeth, not even 5 teeth…10 TEETH had to be pulled! This poor dog has been through it all in the last 5 months, but I think we finally have it all under control thanks to my wonderful friends back home. My dog could have been a fat-blind-parasitic-toothless freak if it wasn’t for all the help I had back at home.

My next item of business is the matter of UK voltage and how it doesn’t like my top-notch American made electronics! To date I have blown up an Xbox 360, my Mac Mini, a brand new printer, a clothes iron, an electric razor, and a couple of other things I can’t remember at the moment. I don’t understand why the hell they bother selling the US/UK power converters if they wont fucking work! Ok, that’s all I will say for now…but just know that I could say more if really wanted to!

You know the term “When in Rome, do as the Romans do…” ? I alway try to follow that mantra anytime I visit new places because I think it’s important to try new things and experience what the culture around you has to offer. That being said, I tried playing football (soccer) with a bunch of the guys from my UK office for a few weeks…ugh. For those of you that know me, you probably know that I’m not an ideal specimen of athleticism. I can run, but not fast…I can jump, but not high…I can kick a ball, but not straight…and I can even use words like “breakaway” or “dribble” or “turnover“, but I have no idea what they mean. So, you can imagine my experiences playing soccer/football with my british friends was slightly intimidating and, at times, a little embarrassing. I even went so far as to buy all the soccer gear…I bought some killer shoes and chin pads and everything! I almost looked the part…ALMOST.
Anyways, I haven’t totally given up on it yet. I’m going to give it another good try after the snow clears. Wish me luck!

Well I guess that sums it up for now. I know I’ve missed a lot of things and I’ll try to get to them all at some point, so for now I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned for more updates if you care to hear about it. As usual, there is much to discuss…and I do plan to start doing this whole blogging thing a bit more regularly at some point soon.
It’s on my list of things to focus on for the new year. Happy Holidays…and as always…LUV YA, MEAN IT!!

Click on an image below to see it in full size…

My head is almost as big as the Eiffel Tower..WTF?!

This was a good day...

Sunday Morning Mass at Notre Dame.

Joey playing football...hilarious!

I Know It’s Been Awhile…but I can explain!!

Ok, I know it’s been over 2 months since my last blog, but I can explain…really!

Let’s see…where do I start??

1. I got married on April 24th…only 5 days after my birthday…and that was the best birthday gift ever!
2. Spent a few days away from work and computers to settle into married life…and I enjoyed every minute of it!
3. Took a 10 day business trip to England.
4. Finished recording an album with my band.
5. Moved to a new office from Sherman Oaks to Westwood…which means I spent most of my days in traffic!
6. Spent most of May and all of June preparing for my big move.
7. My wife and I moved to England in the beginning of July!!
8. Spent most of July getting settled into our new home…buying furniture, building furniture (from Ikea), exploring our surroundings, and going to work each day at my UK office.
   

So, as you can see I’ve been a bit preoccupied these last couple of months. I know there was definitely time in the middle of all this to sit and write some blogs, but to be honest it was the last thing on my mind. Plus, I have a feeling no one really cares if I’m a little behind on my blogging schedule.

Now I’m here in England and I think I’m finally all settled. I’ve got everything I need here…my wife, good friends, a good job, good music, great neighborhood, and a nice home.

Of course there are a few negatives moving to another country…
For starters, I miss my dog Vinnie terribly. I couldn’t bring him with me because it was just so damn expensive to bring an animal to another country, plus the UK has some crazy rules about bringing dogs over here. Thank goodness for my best man and my greatest friend, Dan, he offered to foster Vinnie while I’m away. So, I know that he is in good hands and will be very well taken care of.
The other negatives about being in the UK are fairly obvious…
I do really miss my family, my friends, my band, and every once in awhile I miss my favorite local bar.
This is all a small price to pay for this awesome experience and opportunity of being here in England.

You can see some pics that we took of the town we live in here: Pics of Marlow – click here!
It really is a beautiful place and I would like to encourage ALL OF YOU to come and visit us sometime!

Anyways, I guess that’s it for now…
I’ve actually got a few other blogs I’ve started and never finished that I may post shortly, but you can definitely expect plenty of new ones very soon. We have a lot to catch up on!
————————————————————————————————————

Coming soon in my next GabraNation blogs…

• Vinnie could have potentially gone blind
• Joey blows shit up in his new home because UK power outlets don’t like American electronics
• More iPhone 4 and iPad discussions
• Joey get’s his ass kicked trying to play soccer (us Brits like to call it football) with some British friends from my office.
• Jenell (Joey’s wife) has been cooking up a storm!!
• Joey’s Big Dumb Movie Review of…Inception and Kick-Ass

STAY TUNED!

First Class to England Bitches!

It’s My Birthday Blog!

Hey all,

It’s been a little over a week since my last blog…and A LOT  has been going on. There might be way too much to discuss in just this one blog, but I’ll try to cover as much ground as I can.

First of all…today is my birthday! I turned 33 today and I’m feeling pretty awesome. So many people have reached out to wish me a Happy Birthday. Days like today are a good reminder that people really care about you and still think about you from time to time. I don’ care for big gifts anymore, I just want to be healthy, happy, and around everyone that I love…and so far I’m right on track!

OK, enough with the mushy shit…
The last week and a half has been a big compilation of fun, stress, anger, and more fun. Let me just start by saying that trying to plan a wedding while balancing one of the most eventful months I’ve had in a while is really, really tough!
My wedding day is coming up on April 24th…which is really exciting and a bit stressful all at the same time.
While I’m dealing with all the wedding stuff I’ve also had an insane bachelor party, a birthday party, a potentially sick dog, an album to record, very late nights and very early mornings, and my job is consuming my life…and did I mention I’m trying to plan a wedding?!! That’s just scratching the surface…but I’ll save that for another blog.

Now keep in mind, out of all this stuff going on there really isn’t much to complain about…except that there isn’t enough time to juggle it all. Thank goodness for my fiance being so patient and tolerant with me while I’m out there spreading myself thin and trying to do everything all at once. Those of you who know me know that I don’t do very well when I have nothing to do, I need to constantly be working or mentally-stimulated in some way…and the month of April has made sure to give me an abundance of work and stimulation!

So, let’s start with the bachelor party…IT WAS GREAT…and that’s all I’ll say about that.

Next…allow me to introduce you to Vinnie, my 10 year old baby-boy. The coolest, fattest, most lovable pug on the entire planet!
My little pug-dog, Vinnie, had been showing some increasing signs of doggie diabetes. Naturally I went online to investigate this a bit further and I got myself completely worked up about it to the point where I was already thinking of how I needed to prepare myself if the worst had happened. So, I took him to the vet and explained everything to him that we had been experiencing and he agreed that it sounded a lot like diabetes…my heart sank. I had Vinnie since he was six weeks old and he had been with me through ALL my worst and best of days.
So, the vet went ahead and tested him for diabetes and a bunch of other possible diseases he might have had.
They were gone for about 45 minutes…the suspense was killing me!! Finally, the vet comes back to break the news.
It turns out Vinnie is TOTALLY HEALTHY!! I tried my best to play it cool in front of the vet when he told me the great news, but I was literally about to explode from joy and relief that my dog was not sick.
The vet proceeded to tell me that Vinnie is just simply old and fat. His symptoms really weren’t that big of a deal and I just need to make sure to keep him on a strict diet. Basically, I freaked out over nothing…which is typical of me.

Then there was the weekend before last…
My band, Out of Grey, is finally trying finish up the recording of our album…so we spent the weekend in the studio finishing up our last 3 songs. This was a lot of fun mainly because we just recruited a new bass player and a new drummer…and they are fantastic. These guys are two old friends of mine that I have had the pleasure of playing music with over the last 10 or 15 years. They are great friends and even better musicians…so needless to say, the recordings are amazing! I’ll be sure to post them up here as soon as the mixes are finished.

Onto my birthday celebration!
Last Friday night, my fiance threw together a nice little party for me at the coolest place on earth…Medieval Times!
OK, maybe it’s not the coolest place, but I love it. My sister and I both have many fond memories of going there when we were younger…and probably even more memories of going when we were older. I just can’t get sick of that place!
Anyways, a group of about 10 of my closest friends joined me at Medieval Times for an evening of drinking, eating with our hands, and knights jousting to win the love of the fair princess. This obviously opened my internal flood-gates to becoming as obnoxious as I could possibly be and in turn offending most of the men, women, and children that were sitting around us…fuck ‘em…it’s my birthday, I do what I want!

So, those were some of the major points of interest that occurred over the last 10 days or so…I’m leaving out a lot of other stuff as I can sense you are probably getting pretty bored already.

This week is going to be a big week for me. Seeing as how my wedding is coming up in about 5 days, there is lot of prep-work I need to do to get ready for the big day. I also have to go to San Francisco this week for a big conference, which doesn’t help make my schedule any easier to work with. So, basically I’ve only got about 3 days to get my shit together for wedding. Wish me luck!!

OK, thanks for letting me rant about my life…and I promise for those of you that actually care to read my blog, I will be sure to keep up with it more often so I don’t bore you with too many stories all at one time.
I’ve got a lot on my mind and this is the best place for me to put it out there…so stay tuned!

Luv ya, mean it!

J-Gab’s Big Dumb Movie Review #1 – The Blind Side

I give it 3 out of 5 Stars…the movie was not that bad.

The story of Michael ‘Big Mike’ Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.

I’d say the movie was done fairly well and is full of some extremely tender moments…which suck you in right from the start of the movie. This might just be me, but I find it a little difficult to invest myself too much into a biographical movie like this one when we all already know how it’s going to end. I guess that’s always the difficult part about watching or reading any true stories.

Sandra Bullock was good, but I’m not sure that she was Oscar-worthy. She played the well-to-do white Texan hardass, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who takes ‘Big Mike’ into her family and under her wing and helps him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher’s presence in the Touhys’ lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own.

Blah, blah, blah…and they all lived happily ever after. You get the idea.

Quinton Aaron, the actor that played ‘Big Mike’ did a superb job for his first major role in a film. He has a gift for milking a moment for all it’s worth and tugging at your heartstrings every time he opened his mouth to say something.

I must admit that even though most of us already know the ending of the movie, there were moments that I could’t help but feel so sad that this kid had to go through so many terrible things in his young life. Then reality set in and I remembered…he’s fucking multi-millionaire pro athlete now and he doesn’t need our sympathy!

Simply put, I thought the movie was pretty good…but I’m glad I waited to watch it at home.

Thanks for reading my first Big Dumb Movie Review!

Luv ya, mean it!

What a Weekend!

Well guys, I must say…I had one of those weekends that I so desperately needed.
Things have been so busy and crazy with my life at work and my life at home that I’ve been having a hard time getting the best out of my weekends these last couple of months.
This weekend was definitely the exception…

It all started at around noon on Friday. I got to spend the day with my favorite girl in the world and we took care of a lot of things we needed to take care of for our big day. This was a huge load off because both our lives have been a bit on the frantic side lately.

Later that evening we met up with some friends for dinner at a new sushi place…and this is where the night really started to take off! We enjoyed a wonderful meal with our friends and obviously had a few drinks, which led us to the decision of going to a local bar for even more drinks…naturally. We all left the sushi place and shortly after we arrived at one of the coolest little dive bars I’ve been to in awhile. On the outside the place looked pretty nasty…almost ghetto-ish. On the inside it is a really nice and slightly swanky little dive bar. We hung out there for a bit then decided to go to our friends house just up the street for a couple of more drinks. I made sure to get myself the famous ‘club dog’ from the guy outside the bar selling hot dogs from a little make-shift wagon.
We ended up back at our friends house where we spent the rest of the evening doing some of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world…we drank, we laughed, we listened to great music, we danced, we played Wii Bowling (I won), and we messed around with coconut flavored numbing cream…I’ll tell you about the numbing cream another time.

So, that was just Friday…

Saturday was a big day for me. I got up early that morning (with a raging hangover) and struggled with the idea of getting myself a brand new shiny iPad. So, I decided to go ahead and get started with my day and if I had time I’d stop at the Apple store and see if could get one without waiting in the long line. I finally ended up at the Apple store and sure enough there was a line that went back as far as the eye could see. So, I had basically given up on the idea of buying the iPad when I noticed a glitch in the system. The guy who was guarding the entrance to the Apple store was an idiot and I decided to capitalize on his shortcomings as a protector of the iPad. It was pretty easy actually…I just snuck right in when he wasn’t looking. So, needless to say, I was approached by an Apple salesman and instructed him to give me any iPad they had available since I heard they were starting to run out. It just so happens…I got the last one!! I know I should feel bad for the people that I cut in front off, but I am currently typing this blog from my new iPad at this very moment…and I can’t seem to wipe this evil grin off my face.
So, obviously I spent the rest of my day obsessing over my new toy and I finally had to put it down so I could head out for the night.
That evening my band had a big gig at the Viper Room in Hollywood. We had just inducted to new members into our band and it was our first gig with the new guys.
The show was great! Tons of people showed up, my band sounded great, and the after-party was a blast…there are pictures all over Facebook to prove it, haha!

So, that was my Saturday…

Sunday, as you all know, was Easter. This day was just simply great. I had the pleasure of spending Easter with my fiancé’s family and it was such a nice day. Through the years my family never really made a big deal on the holidays…sometimes we wouldn’t even bother to get together.
So, it’s alway fun for me to be a part of a big family situation (even when it’s not my own) and celebrate the holidays. This Easter was no exception…
My fiancé’s family is Italian, which means they like to eat…and they like to eat big!
We had a fantastic lunch which shortly after led to me going into a deep food-coma.
Thank goodness I had my trusty iPad by my side to comfort me during these difficult times.
The day went on to be a pretty awesome normal family day on Easter. Good food, good company, Easter eg hunts, playing games, and other fun stuff. In my little world I feel so lucky to be able to have these ‘normal’ days with such great people…I never really got that very often when I was younger.

So, as you can see, I had an amazing and eventful weekend. The last couple of months have just been exhausting and this weekend recharged me in a strange way…even though I spent most of it drinking and playing with friends.

I hope all of you had a good weekend and a great Easter…stay tuned, there is more to come this week!

Luv ya, mean it!

I went to an awesome place called La Descarga tonight…

I know this isn’t officially the next blog that I promised to write about, but I went to a place tonight that I needed to tell you all about!

An old high school friend of mine had a little birthday party tonight and I had the pleasure of going to a really interesting place called La Descarga in a cool little spot in Hollywood to celebrate with her and her friends.

This place is basically your typical “hard to get into” type of Hollywood hot spot. It’s a Cuban inspired type of establishment with authentic live music, good bartenders, stiff drinks, and little bit if the old Hollywood exclusive vibe.

The first thing I noticed when I got there was how impossibly hard to find this place was. There was a very well-hidden entrance and a door guy standing at the front making sure that only the cream of the crop were allowed to enter.

Now keep in mind that I am by no means the “cream of the crop”…I just happened to be with a group of people that had a little Hollywood muscle, so we were able to get in fairly easily. I also think that they like to make it seem as if it’s hard to get into, but it’s probably just a front to make the place seem much more exclusive than they actually are.

So, once we got through the main entrance, we were lead up to a big flight of stairs where we were greeted by a friendly hostess who was sitting alone in a room that resembled something like a small old rundown bedroom in a New York City apartment from back in the 60′s or 70′s. There was a faint sound of cool old Cubano jams playing that appeared to be coming from another room.

Now here is where things get interesting…

After the hostess so kindly greeted us, she directed us towards an small old closet that was cleverly placed in a part of the room where you really wouldn’t notice unless someone pointed it out to you. So we followed the hostess…

She then opened closet, which was populated with a bunch clothes hanging from the closet rack…big surprise!
She proceeded to shove all the hanging clothes over to one side only to reveal a hidden stairway that lead down to the coolest looking little Cuban bar/restaurant I’ve ever seen. To be fair, I’ve never seen a real Cuban bar/restaurant before.

She lead us down the stairway into the bar and I instantly felt like I traveled back in time to an old Havana nightclub. It was as if we were back in the days when Carlos “Patato” Valdes was a considered a god of the Cuban music scene in the 50′s and 60′s…too perfect.

Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed with the little ‘closet magic trick’ that was performed for us when we arrived. Not only was the magic closet a special little treat, but the live band was fucking amazing! These guys were conveniently placed on a perch that was cleverly set up above us on what was meant to appear like an apartment balcony and a cool little stage for some old cubano jazz musicians to throw down some sweet jams.

Rumor has it they also have a great caberet show on the weekends…sounds fun!

Obviously, this type if environment is the type of environment that screams for a thirst-quenching libation. So, I did what any red-blooded pseudo-cubano boy would have done and ordered up an big fat double Jack Daniels on the rocks. As the musicians continued to play their music, the Jack Daniels starting tasting better and better…or maybe it was the Jack Daniels that made the music sound better? Who cares?!

I didn’t stay too long as I had to try and be a responsible adult and get home at a reasonable hour so I could be up early enough for work the next day…lame. The short amount of time I did spend at La Descarga was a very cool experience…and it didn’t hurt that I was with a great group of people.

Anyways, I think you get the idea…

There is something really exciting about discovering a cool little place like La Descarga in a town that I thought I knew better than any other place on this planet.

So, if any of you happen to be making a trip to the Hollywood area I would highly recommend you look up this little gem of an establishment if you have a chance.

That’s about all I have to say for now…

Stay tuned for my next blog where I’m still planning to offer my two pennies on things like libraries, Lady Gaga, and other dumb stuff.

Luv ya, mean it!

Hello Everyone! This is my first blog…EVER! Allow me to introduce myself.

OK, so I’ve finally decided to jump on the ‘Blogwagon’ and take it upon myself to create my own podium where I can tell stories, express my opinions, rant, rave, and talk shit about whatever I want.

I might even decide to do reviews of music, movies, television, and games…who knows?!

I wouldn’t dare assume that anyone could possibly care about what I think or say in this blog, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like you to read it from time to time…or maybe even offer your own thoughts pertaining to anything I’ve chosen to write about or discuss.

The plain fact is, I have A LOT to say and I’ve rarely taken the opportunity to say all the things I’ve wanted to say…except for when I’ve had a very heavy night of drinking, then I become the poster child for verbal diarrhea.
Aside from my drunken tirades I do have a lot to say and this is going to the place where I do just that…SAY THINGS!

So, let me start by giving a short introduction to myself…
My name is Joey Gabra. I’m 32 years old. I’ll be turning 33 next month on April 19th, 2010. I like to play killer music and I like to listen to killer music. I have a strange obsession with Jack Daniels, my iPhone, Spongebob Squarepants, eating celery, and Podcasts.
That’s about it for now. I just wanted to give you all fair warning…

Stay tuned for my next blog where I will discuss how crazy 2010 has been for me so far and my extreme distaste for Lady Gaga, libraries, and hippies.

Love ya, mean it!

I like to rock!