Gary Numan at Vintage Vinyl, 10-28-13

Gary Numan (photo by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta)

Tonight was amazing!

I drove over to Vintage Vinyl around 5:30 in anticipation of Gary Numan’s in-store performance.

It was so cool, I waited outside (gorgeous NJ day) and met some very nice people. Gary Numan and his band performed for about 45 minutes, then his fans were able to meet him and get his autograph.

Most of the fun was waiting on line. I met three new girlfriends and we talked so much about music, music, music!

Then the magical moment of meeting music icon Gary Numan. He was so very nice.

A fun night had by all!

Gary Numan and me

Ran into my friend John!

With my new friends!

Only Women Bleed, and Bleed and Bleed (Review of Carrie – 2013)

As I blogged earlier this year, I am a huge “Carrie” fan. (Check out my blog from April, “Carrie On!” https://maryannemistretta.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/carrie-on/)

I read the book by Stephen King (before the original movie came out in 1976) and saw all the movies. Loved each and every one, including the newest release, “Carrie.” I saw it last night and was major impressed.

Sometimes we purists don’t like our originals to be tainted, but with modern twists it’s proven that you can perfect perfection.

Chloe Grace Moretz plays a perfect 21st Century Carrie. She’s sweet, smart, and best of all — empowered. She sasses her religious fanatic mom Margaret White, played brilliantly by Julianne Moore, she’s on to her bully classmates questioning their motives and she grows as a person throughout the movie. Not to mention, she’s absolutely precious, so you truly feel sorry for all she deals with.

A bully is always a bully, but in this modern version of Carrie they take it to the next tragic level of harassment with Smart Phone uploads. “Carrie” also illustrates the truth in that teachers are not always perfect, parents will often defend their little darlings no matter how wrong they are, and as annoying as text messaging is — there is tenderness in a few simple words, as we learn that Tommy Ross, played by Ansel Elgort is sincere in pursuing a friendship with Carrie by taking her to the prom (what you never really learned in the original, as you always second guessed — something I always hated about the original) and double kudos in showing via text message, even though Tommy Ross thinks Carrie is beautiful, he is still loyal to his girlfriend — a special sweet brief moment that makes the “good guys” (Carrie, Tommy and Sue Snell, played by Gabriella Wilde) all the more endearing.

Oh, and there’s plenty of gore and blood — menstruation blood, blood from knife wounds and of course pig blood (but it’s noted that no animals were harmed during this motion picture).

And of all the Carries, Chloe Grace Moretz does not go down without a fight — a big one … in fact, so big she’s almost Godzilla-like in the final scenes — as the audience cheers her on! Carrie is definitely an iconic hero in this flick.

I highly recommend — especially to bullies because telekinesis is more common than you would think. So beware of who you pick on, there’s a little “Carrie” in all of us! Or at least there should be.

Hypnotherapy Works!

Me with good friend and hypnotherapist, Scott Lea

I was heading up north today for my uncle’s funeral (which was truly a beautiful service) and on the way over I stopped at the Vitamin Shoppe in Little Falls to support my good friend Scott Lea who had a table set up.

Almost 10 years ago, I used Scott’s services because I was a mess — I was obsessed with health! Then I got on this kick where I was constantly worrying about my teeth. I thought they hurt every day and kept going to the dentist only to find nothing was wrong with my teeth. Weird, right?!

After a few sessions of hypnotherapy with Scott, my teeth stopped hurting — it was all my imagination! It was stress and being obsessed with my health that was doing me in. Stress is the worst thing for a person. You can eat all the organic food in the world, but if you’re not at peace with yourself, it’s not doing you an ounce of good!

Then two summers ago, I had a bit of a relapse, the health obsession started up again — this time with my eyes! I went to three different eye doctors to find nothing wrong (except that I’m near-sighted which is corrected with glasses or contact lenses, otherwise my eyes are healthy). I went to Scott again, and while this time it took a little longer to stop worrying, but I eventually did by using the subliminal CDs that Scott recorded for me.

Now I can honestly say I am worry free — and have been for quite some time.

Since relaxing and not stressing over health, I’ve become a much happier person — and now truly healthier!

It’s such a great feeling to get through the day without worrying about anything — not health, not people, not growing old, not my career — NOTHING! I just LIVE, happy, every day — and that is how life should be! (Note: The only time I was sad was when my 19-year-old cat died, and that’s understandable, obviously.)

If anyone is interested in Scott’s services, please check out his website: http://manageme07.wix.com/asc 

There are over 200 known uses for hypnotherapy, some include: stop smoking, stress, pain control, insomnia, anxiety, phobias, weight loss, drug addiction, and eating disorders.

An Excellent Week!

Happy me today!

This week was simply amazing on so many levels.

Monday, started off with a big bang. Monday is the day I usually book all my musicians, then once that’s out of the way, I spend the rest of the week writing. Well this Monday, I got my musicians more bookings than I have in a very long time.  It was bizarre how it just snowballed.

And lately, my thing is public speaking, which I love. I booked myself several public speaking engagements on Monday too, so there’s a lot to look forward to in the very near future.

Today I had my second health lecture at Mt. Arlington Senior Living. The first time I spoke to the seniors a month ago it was on basic health facts: positives of not smoking, positives of getting a good night’s sleep, etc. They enjoyed that and invited me back, so today’s topic was “The Benefits of Walking.” They really liked that too so now I’ll be coming back in November.

When I came back from the lecture, I surprised two of my former clients who I’m very fond of and that was just awesome.

And out of the blue, an old client came back with a special short project, that was fun and different.

I’m loving the October weather so much and look forward to an amazing weekend. Tomorrow I’m going to see one of my friends for support. He’s a hypnotherapist and will be at a Vitamin Shoppe. Sad that a funeral follows, but my cousins said they’ll be excited to see me.

Last night watched “House of Wax” starring Vincent Price with my husband. October is just great, because the driving is so pretty when you’re out and about, but also great staying in snuggling weather too! It’s always a win-win.

Also, a great shout out to Marie, who I met here on WordPress: http://mariefriddle.com/

I had a very nice moment with Marie because we follow each other on Pinterest and she just happened to see that someone hacked my page and put up some “get thin quick” scams — which I totally don’t believe in!

I was happy she took the time to reach out to me to let me know — but truly touched that she knew I wasn’t the kind of person to promote a scam.

In this day and age so many people want excuses to be mad at others. They’ll be condescending and mean to each other to make themselves look good (or so they think!). I once had a bad experience when someone hacked my Yahoo account and was asking all of my contacts for money — and someone was stupid enough to think that it really was ME asking for money! But that just goes to show how negative people are. That person was just looking for an excuse not to talk to me anymore so psyched herself into believing something false and sadly, I never heard from her since! (Her loss — totally!)

So, that said, when someone does something special for you — it really makes you grateful and super happy because people aren’t always so nice. Therefore I don’t ever take good people for granted. Thank you, Marie for being the icing on my cake this week! You’re an inspiration 🙂

Stay tuned, some really fun things will be happening — especially this upcoming Monday night!

How to Draw Your Pet

Original photograph

My drawing (time: 1.5 hours)

Michael Malzone is another friend I reconnected with on Face Book. He has a wonderful art workshop in Pompton Plains, New Jersey (http://www.creatorsworkshop.com/). I spent the afternoon taking a class on “How to Draw Your Pet.”

This was the first art class I ever took since grammar school, so I think I did pretty good for a first try. I was in a class with one other adult and the rest were kids.

I had such a fun time. Michael is an excellent teacher with a great sense of humor. If anyone is in the area, I highly recommend his classes. His techniques make art pretty easy. Today we used the “grid” method. Great artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci have used this fun method.

“Mr. Mike” and one of his masterpieces!

Me, Michael, and young art students

Site Stats are BOOMING!

Go me!

I just received another notification that my site stats are booming!

I checked my stats to see what article caught everyone’s attention as the notification said I was getting as many as 50 hits per hour!

Turned out, my popular article was my re-post of something I had published online a few years ago, “Vinegar Worth Bragg-ing About” — in regard to the benefits of Bragg’s vinegar: https://maryannemistretta.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/vinegar-worth-bragg-ing-about/

But how are people finding this link? I remembered a Face Book friend linked to it, but at the time no one seemed interested, as there were no “likes.” So I went to my stat page and low and behold, this article is making it’s way around Pinterest! I was so thrilled that a stranger found my article and liked it enough to pin it!

So, this is another one of oh so many moments I can say, “I’ve arrived!”

CBGB (Could Be Good But…) Movie

Me and Emily from All the Pretty Horses at CBGBs in 2004

When I heard they were making a movie about CBGBs I was excited. I missed the 1970s heyday, as I was too young, but did catch another generation of bands there in later days (from the 1980s to 2000s) — one of them being Jayne County who is on the soundtrack for the movie.

I’m not a musician, but one night I had the pleasure of being on the CBGB stage. It was for a battle of the bands. I was a journalist and suggested that Father Divine, from Montclair, enter the contest as I recently reviewed their CD for Aquarian Arts Weekly and also did a write-up in Montclair Times. They were great — and they won the contest.

I was seated at a table of celebrity judges: John Holmstrom, founder of Punk Magazine, plus-size model Mia Tyler and musician/producer, Genya Raven. When the emcee was too drunk to continue his job, it was Genya who suggested I emcee! It was a thrill to be on the famous CBGB stage.

So, that’s my little CBGB story. I’m no one famous. I wasn’t at CBGBs during it’s heyday. And even when I was old enough to go to night clubs and see bands legitimately, I was more of a Max’s Kansas (again, tail end, not heyday), Peppermint Lounge and Ritz kinda gal.

STILL — I’m all jazzed for the movie because A. the soundtrack and B. my very good friend John Holmstrom has a major role in the film, he’s played by Josh Zuckerman.

When my husband told me the movie was playing in South Orange, I was so happy! We set up a “date night” mid-week (last night) and decided to go after voting. I washed my hair and was all set for DATE NIGHT! And CBGBs!

Everything was running smooth as silk. We voted quickly, got to the theatre (which was in a lovely artsy area near Seton Hall University) and parked with no problem. It was a gorgeous night in October.

CBGB movie at 7:30

We’re here! Going to see CBGB’s movie — yeah!

We went inside and it was just us — and another couple. The entire theatre was EMPTY.

My husband made a joke that we were at a private showing. I took advantage running up and down the aisles, jumping in front of the screen and taking photos.

Then the movie started. It looked amazing. Excellent cinematography. Then I saw my friend John Holmstrom’s name and I screamed, “YAY!”

Then …. it dawned on us …. there was NO SOUND!

My husband and the other woman in the audience went to complain to management. The answer they got was, “We’re working on it.”

Nothing happened. They just couldn’t get the sound working.

Now, my husband is very tech savvy, and the other guy in the audience worked as a cameraman for CBS. Both offered to try to get the sound going, but the management wouldn’t have it. “We can’t just let people go back there.”

Since it was a DVD, not film, the woman had a genius idea. She wanted to BORROW the DVD, leave her license there, and then have Dennis and I over their house for wine and a movie! How sweet is that? I was in shock of the kindness of strangers. But the management said, “No.”

The other couple said they were dying to see the movie because they were big CBGB goers back in the day. And the guy had a cousin who was in The Shirts. They seemed so cool and it would have been so much fun to hang out with potential new friends. But it wasn’t happening …

So, this was the only night it was playing in our area. Otherwise we’d have to drive to NYC, which is out of the question due to being actively busy both socially and business, so there are major time constraints.  (We could do it on a Sunday, but hey, it’s October, my favorite month of the year and I don’t want to be cooped up in a movie theatre in the afternoon).

We got a refund and tickets for a future movie. I’m totally bummed because “CBGB” is the only movie out I wanted to see. I’m not a movie person. The last movie I saw was “Frankenweenie” — a year ago!

“That really looked like it was going to be a good movie,” my husband Dennis said as we walked out.

So, I guess we will wait until the DVD comes out. Which means it will probably be a great movie because everything I ever had to wait for in my life was well worth waiting for!

UPDATED SIDE NOTE: I just realized Village Voice used the same headline I did in an earlier article about the movie! This was strictly coincidence.

When Our Idols Fall

Peter Murphy, Godfather of God

(Photo swiped from Google Search)

By now everyone has read the news, Peter Murphy pleads guilty to meth possession in hit and run, three years probation: http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2013/10/14/peter-murphy-peads-guilty-meth-probation/

Nothing new for someone famous, this happens all the time … but the problem with this certain circumstance is this is PETER MURPHY!

For those who don’t know who Peter Murphy is, he was the lead singer in Bauhaus, the dark wave band popular in the early 1980s, partially due to their appearance in “The Hunger” starring David Bowie, Catherine Denevue and Susan Sarandon.

After Bauhaus, Peter Murphy had several solo albums, many with inspiring spiritual messages. It’s was Peter Murphy’s song “Socrates the Python” that made me seek out the philosophical works of George Gurdjieff, which was considered underground in the mid-1980s — only friends from California “got it” and I had to walk around with brown paper bags over my Gurdjieff books or people would have thought I was satanic or brain-washed.

Peter Murphy’s was my salvation. It was his music that made me strive to be a better person and it was a spiritual awakening when my friend Vinnie took me to see him perform live at Town Hall in the early 1990s. When he sang, “The Light Pours Out of Me” and the light guy had a stream of light piercing through Murphy’s eyes as Murphy peered slightly above the eye level of the audience. He looked like a modern day Jesus Christ; it was the ultimate moment in stage show theatrics.

It wasn’t until over 10 years later when I had the opportunity to interview Peter Murphy for an online newspaper. We spoke on the phone for almost a half hour. Murphy was a kind man and true gentleman. He spoke lovingly of his family and perked up when I mentioned that like him I was into the work of Gurdjieff. That is when he mentioned Gurdjief groups in NYC. We also spoke of his work with Dali’s Car, a joint effort with my favorite bassist, the late Mick Karn.

A month later he was performing at the Birch Hill Niteclub in New Jersey. Murphy told me to introduce myself, so I did after the show. It was a nice, warm, spring night. Murphy was in a van — not a limo — greeting fans. He was so approachable. I walked right up to him, mentioned our conversation about Gurdjieff and he remember me right away.

On such a high, I stayed outside with friends, watching other fans meet the gothic bat man. Everyone walked away with a smile on their faces. Peter Murphy had such a positive effect on his fans. Girls and guys alike were happy and glowing after meeting him.

Murphy stayed until he met and shook hands with every fan that was outside in the Birch Hill parking lot. Then when his van pulled away, he actually looked out the window and waved to us!

So how does someone go wrong? What makes a man who has it all so weak? Who am I to say? I am nobody to judge, but like so many other fans, I am disappointed and in shock.

I wish nothing but the best for Peter Murphy. I hope whatever it is that is so lacking in his life gets fixed and that he may go back to leading an inspiring life and making great music.

C’mon Peter Murphy, we’re all rooting for you!

Lovin’ Sundays!

Love station wagons!

My husband and I just took a nice, leisurely day to enjoy the October weather, some old cars, Thai lunch and record shopping. The car show was in Basking Ridge, not too many there, but sweet nevertheless.

As is — no restoration on this one!

Remember the old ashtrays? And manual windows?

I’m always making friends

More friends!

My hubby, Dennis

Happy Belated Birthday to My Friend Ed!

Me and my friend Ed

My birthday is August 19. Ed’s is the next day. But life gets so busy, sometimes it takes a long time before you can get together to CELEBRATE! We finally were able to get together today.

Ed wanted to go here: http://mikesmediterranean.com/menu.html

We had a great time. I had a tabouli salad and we shared cacik (cucumber with garlic, mint and yogurt). And I topped it off with a Turkish coffee. The waitress mistakenly brought Ed one, so I had two!

I’ve been friends with Ed a very, very long time. We met at the Dirt Club in New Jersey (a new wave/rock ‘n’ roll nightclub)in the mid-1980s and then later started hanging out after a D-Generation show at Connections in New Jersey in the early 1990s. Had so much fun over the years and never lost touch.

In our younger day we always went to see bands like The Muffs and local bands like Everlounge. Ed has great taste in music. Nowadays we always make time for lunches and Ed is always welcome in our home during our Christmas holiday celebration.

Thanks Ed for so many years of fun and friendship!