10 MARCH 2008



Oh, Davy. Why can't you GO AWAY?

And I mean that in the most sincere, caring way. Just go away for a while. Have some 'me time'. At the very least, [stop talking to the press]. Especially when you say things like this: "I can't be responsible for Peter, Mike and Micky and their behavior. I'm not saying they have bad behavior, but it just takes one occasion where somebody has something to say and everybody gets blamed. I can't be responsible for Peter's mouth or Mike's mouth or Micky's mouth. They have to be able to feel the same way about me. So I'd rather do it myself."

He also mentions that he can hit notes that Elton John and Paul McCartney can't hit anymore, and how the Monkees are better than Hendrix, Joplin, etc. because at least the Monkees are all alive.

Did you also hear that [he got sued] for 75,000 dollars because he told a company that he was allowed to sing "I'm a Believer" in a commercial, even though he never asked permission and does not own the copyright. Whoops. Apparently over 30 years in the music biz hasn't taught him that much.

Whoever is his publicist/pr person/manager needs to muzzle him.

I don't update this site as much as I used to, mainly because I'm very busy with work, but also because I've run out of resources to add to the site. There's only so many old teen magazines you can buy, and I definitely will not pay the ridiculous ebay prices for them. Also, I'm running out of ideas of new and exciting glimpses into the Monkees phenomenon.

I am however, very inspired by the [Vincent Van Gogh Gogh Forums] here at Psycho Jello. And yes, this is a blatant plug. The forums have only been around for a year and already, we have over 100 members. If you aren't satisfied with the non-updates here, the forums are fairly busy with new posts almost every day. Obviously we talk about all aspects of the Monkees (including their personal lives, naughty behavior, which Monkee is annoying us at the moment, weirdo fans, and more), but we also talk about other music, culture, the 60s, and life in general. We also have the coolest, funniest members and a very open-minded environment for Monkees fans of all kinds.

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18 JANUARY 2008



Today I added [17 photos] to the Photo Gallery. I've also been slowly adding pictures to the wives & girlfriends gallery that somehow went missing after I switched webhosts. It's a very boring process that consists of visiting archive.org and seeing if any of my pictures are miraculously still floating around on the internet. Some of them are, surprisingly.

I saw "I'm Not There" this week, and in one of the party scenes the Monkees' song "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" is played. That was probably my favorite part of the movie. I'm such a nerd. I love random Monkees moments in pop culture, however.

I'm going to write an episode review of "Monkees Race Again", which is my least favorite Monkees episode of all time. I like writing negative reviews, what can I say. I think one of my favorite things I've written for Psycho Jello is my 33 1/3 Un-Tribute, if you want to know the truth.

I listened to the first six Monkees albums about a month or so ago. It had been years since I had listened to most of them, and I decided that Headquarters is seriously a genius record. Sometimes you forget how good it really is.

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13 NOVEMBER 2007

I finally decided to change the layout a little bit. Hurrah! However, my free copy of photoshop ended, so who knows when there will be another layout change. Whoops. I'll try to keep things interesting even without flashy new graphics. Or if someone knows where I could get a copy of photoshop for free, let me know!

Anyway, I've been editing some of the current content, checking my grammar, adding and deleting some really snarky comments, and generally making the site a bit more polished. I also added a section from my old Beatles website, The Beatles Domain, called Monkees and Beatles. I saw the entire content copied on another website and decided that I might as well bring back the original.
I also resurrected the Lewis and Clarke Expedition biography from the Stand-Ins site. I used to be totally obsessed with the L&C Expedition and I even have the one album they made for Colgems in 1967. Definitely try and check out their bio.





I found this tribute to Phyllis Nesmith on YouTube that's set to "You Just May Be The One" and uses photos found on Psycho Jello. It's super cute. Phyllis still has a lot of fans out there, including me, although lately I've been more into Samantha (especially her music career!). Interestingly enough, the most popular section of this website is the Wives & Girlfriends section. Which wife/girlfriend is your favorite?

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26 SEPTEMBER 2007



The new layout will be up soon. I'm also going to add new content, new photos, update some old sections (finally the Stand-Ins section will be up and running again), and of course, fun fun and more fun.

A lot of my time lately has been spent on my personal blog, which some of you know about already. I try and update it much more regularly than this site and it focuses on all of my interests in life; music, fashion, popular culture, books, politics, the 60s. I'm glad people are starting to support it and visit it on a regular basis, and I love all of the comments! Feel free to check it out sometime.

I'm a big fan of blogs and personal sites. Beth's personal site is being updated again, which is great. Kari's new blog is awesome. I really enjoy Jezebel and Gawker. Although the Monkees are fine and dandy, it is nice to have a wide variety of interests.

But back to the Monkees, I have many more episode snappies and Samantha Dolenz photos to add to the site, and someone is sending me old magazine articles, so there's a lot to look forward to.

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11 SEPTEMBER 2007



note: here's my nonsensical monkees related rant of the moment...

Wow, did anyone see Britney Spears ruin what's left of her career at the VMAs on Sunday night? I don't think we've witnessed a final nail in the coffin like that in a really long time. It's interesting to see the rise and fall of her career, and compare it to the rise and fall of the Monkees' career(s).
The Monkees' initial run was obviously much briefer than Brit's (wayyyy more musical competition back in the 1960s of course), but they never really had an obvious personal or professional meltdown the way she has. I hear a lot of people say "oh, give her a break....she's so young...this is all she knows...she's been performing since she was a child." And yes, she has. She's also obviously not a very intelligent woman. But you know what, there are many "child stars" that somehow managed to enter adulthood and parenthood without showing their private parts, and without going out every single night during a custody battle, and not creating "art" for years, and driving around with an infant in their lap in the front seat on the interstate. Davy and Micky, for example, both began their show biz careers very young (younger than Britney, in Micky's case). Both were became young fathers right when their careers were dwindling, much like her. They somehow managed to keep their shit together. We continued to see them getting work, acting, performing, trying to remain relevant. Obviously the Monkees, much like Spears and many other teen idols, have had their battles with substance abuse. But unlike Spears, they all reached a point where they knew it was time to take control of their own lives and GET BETTER. For themselves. For their children.

I've been thinking about The Monkees' downfall of 1968-70 and it wasn't remotely spectacular or as embarassing as Ms. Spears'. I mean yeah, the "Changes" album was an abomination of bad taste, but at least they were responsible (and smart enough) to ride out their contract and get shit taken care of. Same withn 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, and that horrible tour of Mexico in 1969. At least the Monkees completed all of their obligations and tried to be professionals.
The Monkees' merely faded out of teen idoldom, whereas Britney seems to cling to this image that was created for her when she was nineteen years old without doing any of the necessary work.
Part of the reason why the Monkees continue to be successful for younger generations is because they represent a really great era in music and pop culture. They represent youth and energy and fun. We never had to see overweight Davy prance around onstage, or Peter wandering around wasted without pants, or Micky stumbling out of the Troubador wasted with Harry Nilsson. We were spared from all of these negative images of our idols. That's why they continue to bring in fans; because in all of our minds, they are the young, rebellious, fun-loving guys who will always be stuck in the 1967 versions of themselves. We remember them at their peak.
Part of me feels bad for Britney Spears because she will probably not be remembered as such. I really fear that she will be remembered in the same way as Anna Nicole Smith and Elvis in his later "Fat Elvis" period. All of her hard work as a teenager has turned her into a shadow of the former self. Luckily the Monkees' were able to evolve and move on from teen idoldom. I hope Britney can do the same.


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