Monthly Archives: November 2008

I Am Somebody!….

Rock Gods of Acht is now available on Amazon.com -

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Gods-Acht-Diane-Hatz/dp/1435717686/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227162701&sr=8-1

I am somebody!!!!!

More to come soon – the book is also up on other sites.  Please go to Amazon and leave a review!!!

Eat Well Guided Tour of America 2007

Last year, I was lucky enough to travel cross country on a biodiesel tour bus for 40 days to celebrate and promote local food – all by eating pies.  Lots and lots of pies.  Along the way, we met up with Curt Ellis from the excellent movie King Corn – below is a clip from his visit with us.

You can read about the tour in our Tour Journal on the Sustainable Table website - http://www.sustainabletable.org/roadtrip/archives.php 

I’m pooped from working so long today – if I ever get the energy, I’ll write more about my experiences on the trip.  Until then, there are dozens of entries in our Tour Journal.

Diane Hears The Who

Boston TD Bank Who show

Boston TD Bank Who show

I can’t believe that I’ve been listening to, seeing, and into The Who for 30 YEARS!!!!  And, to top that off, they did a mini-tour here in the States a couple weeks ago – and I went to three of the shows!

It started on Friday, October 24th.  I took the day off from work and got the train up to Boston, where they played at the TD Bank North Center.  (Whoever sold all the stadiums in the country to corporations?!…)  I’m really lucky – I used to publish a fanzine on The Who called The Relay, and the band has been really good to me over the years, so I got backstage passes for myself and my friend (and another long-time Who fan) Melinda. 

We found our seats (Melinda scored 4th row – this was one of the few times I didn’t get tickets through the band) and then decided to go backstage to see if anything was going on.  No one knew anything about backstage – what was happening, where we should be, etc.  So, we end up in the Band Hospitality room with two other people – a gentleman named Rich and his son Anders.  And that was it!  I just started laughing.  Years ago, there would be loads of people hanging out everywhere backstage, and this time it was the four of us in the band room.  Mind you, The Who had their own dressing rooms down the hall.

Pete and Roger rocking out

Pete and Roger rocking out

But the four of us hung out back there, had a few beers, said hello as Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr’s son and the drummer), Simon Townshend (Pete’s brother and guitarist) and a couple other people popped into the room.  But it felt a little Spinal Tap-like – not in a bad way, but in a really funny way.  I felt like - and then there were Two.  Not just the Who gone to Two (with only Pete and Roger left) but the fans going down to Two too….

The show was phenomenal – it still amazes me that The Who are still so amazing and Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are in their 60s.  And, for me, it’s such a great way to celebrate my life and all the crazy things I’ve done.  To still be able to see The Who 30 years later, to look out around the audience and see that everyone around me was also spreading, going grey, and starting to age, was such a beautiful thing.  I felt like I fit in – I was home with my family, and we are all growing old together. Continue reading

Dancing in the Streets!

1st Ave-St. Marks - minutes after Obama was projected winner

1st Ave-St. Marks - minutes after Obama was projected winner

So, as I’m sure everyone in the world knows, Barack Obama will be our next president – yeah!!! 

As over 130 million people did on Tuesday, I went and voted here in NYC.  I found it odd and rather funny that besides the presidential candidates, I don’t think there were any other people on the ballots except for Democrats.  Like, no one ran against the Democrats in my district because it’s so staunchly liberal.  Yeah!….

The evening started over my friend and neighbor’s Chesley’s (who conveniently lives across the hall) – about 10 people got together to snack, chat and listen to the returns.  (Chesley doesn’t own a television.)  I, on the other hand, left mine on and popped back every so often to see the results (TV seemed to be a bit quicker than the Internet, mainly because we kept forgetting to refresh the screen….).  I got rather obsessed with the large iPhone wall that CNN had.  And what’s up with the hologram interviews – I forget what station that was on – but are we all turning into Star Trek?

But how exciting were the results?  Obama just kept racking up the electoral votes.  We went out around 10 – 10:30 to the Tile Bar – a bar right at 7th Street and 1st Avenue (like outside our door…).  Unfortunately, the TV there was really small, but it seemed like the second the polls closed on the west coast, the stations projected Obama as the winner. 

Deena, Diane, Chesley and Dan banging pots in celebration (and true East Village style!)

Deena, Diane, Chesley and Dan banging pots in celebration (and true East Village style!)

All of a sudden, all around outside, all we could hear was cheering.  Cheering, screaming and applauding was coming from windows, rooftops, opened windows in cars.  The entire East Village erupted in screams.  As we looked over at 7th street, we saw one lone man walking proudly down the street, banging on a pot.  I’d never heard of this until I moved to New York, but on New Year’s people tend to bang pots and pans out their window.  But, tonight, it was all about Obama.  Continue reading