my snowy house

miss betty from across the street

took this pretty picture

about a month ago

my little

bungalow

tucked under the icy sycamore...

pop-pop the drug dealer

philip j. schnitzer circa 1930s

(aka 'pinky to his pals in asbury park, n.j.)

this is the 'little pop-pop'; my favorite of my two grandfathers. the other one, my dad's father, we called 'the big pop-pop' because he was fat.

my pop-pop was an eastside tenement jew who started out life selling rags on the streets of new york city. then he met these two guys, jack and charlie. they became fast-friends and went into the business of running liquor from canada to the u.s. during prohibition.

soon after, jack & charlie opened this cool little place that eventually became the "21" club.

jack & charlie gave pop-pop the exclusive rights to sell their "21" brands of liquor in new jersey. i'm sure that was something right out of the sopranos. at the time we lived near my grandparents in south orange, new jersey. my father moved us away to maryland because the constant flow of black limos pulling up and down my grandfather's street freaked him out.

now i'm moving; moving to california and i'm selling almost everything of value--(frankly, i'm sick of lugging half of this shit around from place to place).

one thing that's not making the trip this time is a little sterling silver christening cup the "21" club engraved upon the occasion of my birth.

below the engraved famous "21" iron gate are the words jack & charlie's "21" and my name underneath that -- niki lee albert, june 9, 1959 8 Lbs. 1 oz.

after some soul-searching i realized that i had dropped the last name, definitely knew when my birthday was and was tired of polishing the god damn thing when it tarnished.

thanks pop-pop for going out their on the edge to save enough money from your slap-ya-on-the-back liquor days to give me this house and my life. i still miss you even though it's been 29 years.

love, niki...

my life today

that's about it...

thanks dan rodricks

(he's got my back...)

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/rodricks/blog/2008/02/niki_lee_hates_the_word.html

i'm moving to los angeles...

PINHEAD VACATION

the troubadour, l.a. -- 2-04-08


"you're like one of those pigs that goes out and finds truffles," my friend mary kate commented regarding my trip to california from maryland to watch 3 semi-secret shows of the east bay punk band pinhead gunpowder.



hey, when you're a fan you're plugged in--



i had the most outrageous time: from getting scratched in the head by a rabid green day-hater to paying a some homeless dude $5, three doughnuts and a coke to keep an eye on my sweet p.t. rental...




not to mention the shows~

YEA!! (IT'S OVER)

writers guild founding member dorothy parker

comrade in arms

this is molly--

um...molly with billie joe armstrong

outside of the troubador in los angeles last monday night

she was 1st in line at 11 a.m. for
a p.m. pinhead gunpowder show --
and she was there with her cool mom, holly

molly and i met up again in berkely...
she called me in my hotel room at 10 a.m.
saying she was already in line outside
924 gilman street waiting for the pinhead gunpowder
show later in the afternoon -- this time she was
with her dad, chris, also very cool

by the way, billie joe armstrong is one of the members
of pinhead gunpowder...

molly and i were the first line of defense
against the 300+ crushing crowd that was
slamming us into the stage of the packed, black,
graffitti covered room that night

perhaps it's one of those 'you had to be there'
moments...but guess what? we were...there

destroying the myth: you can go home again

PINHEAD GUNPOWDER--924 GILMAN STREET BERKLEY, CA. -- FEB. 10, 2008

tickets: $6 at the door...cash only

PINHEAD GUNPOWDER

she's thought about not understood--she's achin to be
(i have my tickets for both shows!~)

January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968

he was 39 years-old on april 4, 1968...
39

ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES...EVER

i'm not sure how, but it happened one night can

be viewed for free on netflix

so if you got it, watch it

the writing, acting and directing

are timeless and clark gable is really, really handsome

(even if it is 1934)

it's one of the greatest screwball romantic

comedies ever produced...now scram, see~                                                                                                                           

SIRIUS & XM...WHY NO MERGER?

the merger of XM & Sirius

is being held up by

FEAR

FEAR of the big radio corporations losing money

and

FEAR of the TRUTH

the TRUTH is scarier...what if

we find out exactly why we're in IRAQ

what if we find out that we never

had an exit plan; that we're in IRAQ forever

we don't have osama because

i don't think there's any oil in afghanistan

otherwise we'd be bombing the shit out of them

OIL BABY, OIL -- it's what it's all about

OIL, you say niki, well then we

the people will benefit from

being where the OIL is, right?

wrong...gas companies are posting

record setting earnings this financial quarter

and strangely we the people are still paying

rising prices at the pump

i say this:

use less gas--

question authority--

and, say a little prayer for all

the soldiers fighting for our right

to drive our cars, fly our planes, get

our supplies -- you know, life~

THE WRITERS STRIKE

my great-grand uncle was once

president and chairman-of-the-board of

paramount pictures

it's true

barney balaban held not only

those positions, but he also pioneered

the idea of the 'air-conditioned' movie theater.

(and he owned an original copy of the bill of rights)

i used to revere him--

now, i'm embarrassed.

he did save paramount from bankruptcy, but

according to one of my heroes, frank capra,

barney balaban was not totally to blame for:

"starting hollywood's grand downward

glide, for he was a real-estate man hostage

to real-estate logic"

perspective -- it's what's for linner~                     

HOLLYWOOD AND ITS WRITERS

dorothy parker
founding member of the writers guild

i'm working on my green day movie and

someone says, 'this is a perfect opportunity to

take advantage of the movie business because

all the 'other writers' will be striking'

how silly--

i have to back my fellow writers in their

stand against getting shoddy compensation

for creating some of the greatest

works of our culture

anyone who thinks the words that

pout out of angelina jolie's lips are created

by ms. jolie is very, let's say misguided

in hollywood writers need actors and actors need writers

sort of like a fry cook needs a waitress

as much as a waitress needs a fry cook

their compensation, however...most times...miles apart

pick your jobs carefully--BUT ALWAYS

MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE JUSTLY COMPENSATED

STAY STRONG FELLOW WRITERS

'WHAT WOULD DOROTHY PARKER DO?' 

um, ok~

dorothy parker...redux

about 6 years or so ago, i started working on a play about the genius of dorothy parker...i'll cut to the chase and say, lest anyone thinks i don't get it, 'dorothy parker was one of the greatest, most versatile writers of the 20th century'

and guess what?

she never graduated junior high school or whatever society has decided to name that period in our young lives when we felt fairly good about ourselves -- that gentle feeling that transmuted into hate due to the onset of puberty...and brainwashing

thanks to everyone who came out last week to see me perform in my, well, what some may call irreverent, (read truthful),view of mrs. parker

and, while i'm ranting -- it is not disrepectful to generously use the words fuck and shit in my piece as those were two of parker's favorite words--

she was who she was because she, that's who she was--for god's sake just look at the woman...she was a partier to beat all

if you want to see someone all dolled-up in 1920's garb and put on some sanctimonious bullshit about mrs. parker, be my guest -- only remember to tell the audience that what you're doing is saving them and yourself from the truth...

fuck! i feel so relieved~                                                                           

          

what i did with my summer vacation...MONEY

instead of gathering funds to flee the shriveled streets of baltimore this hot, rainless summer, i charged $800 to purchase storyboard software.

what is a storyboard, you may ask. a storyboard is the way to put a written movie script into little pictures that outline the entire screenplay. this is so someone can visually see your idea of a film before it is even made. this particular software, which is pretty fantastic, is for people who can't draw. it's all cut-and-paste and color, if you dare!

if you're over 45, think coloform characters on your computer; THEY DON'T FUCKING BEND!!! (like vaginaless barbie and dickless ken).

but, i learned a whole new skill.

i say this, it's not what you do with your summer vaction, it's all where you go~                                                                                           

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

the catonsville '59'

our fair town has had its share of activists...today that honor is shared by 59 kids from the city that brought you the catonsville 9


these compassionate teenagers spent months planning a trip to descend on the southern coast of mississippi to rebuild homes flattened by katrina


thank you--

mark

kyle

and gino


and thank you everyone
who made the trip possible--what a nice miracle

you are the greatest!

http://wjz.com/seenon/local_story_182141645.html

love,
miss niki