2000/10/28, by Andy News coming soon! Check back often! 2001/02/02, by Andy Arthur Ettinger Named OpRocks Attorney! Arthur Ettinger, an attorney who practises in Manhattan, has been named Counsel for Andy and Leslie. Arthur, a friend of Andy's for years, is a great addition to the OpRocks Team. To email Arthur: arthur@opportunityrocks.com 2001/02/10, by Andy Elissa Epstein Elissa Epstein, friend and law school classmate of Andy, is a businesswoman, philanthropist, and political activist in New York City. To contact Elissa: elissa@opportunityrocks.com 2001/02/22, by Andy Andy and Leslie to Be Profiled in NY Times March 4th! There is going to be a profile of Andy and Leslie in the March 4th issue of the Sunday New York Times Arts and Leisure section. Ed Ward, the internationally renown writer, came to New York in late October. He met with Andy and Leslie in Manhattan, Andy at home on LI, and Steve Young at MediaRecording in Merrick. He also spoke to Paul Nelson, the first A&R person to try to sign Andy and Leslie as a team. 2001/02/23, by Andy Andy and Leslie to Attend SXSW Andy and Leslie will be attending the SXSW Conference in Austin Texas. They will be there on March 15th,16th, and 17th, and look forward to meeting everyone. 2001/03/09, by Andy Joel Hudesman Named Marketing Director We are proud to announce that Joel Hudesman, who has been honored by the United States Small Business Administration as Marketer of the Year, is now the Marketing Director for Opportunity Rocks. His extensive marketing background, which includes high tech marketing and the marketing of his own successful inventions make him an invaluable addition to the Oprocks Team. Email Joel at: joel@opportunityrocks.com 2001/05/14, by Andy Thom Jurek/Allmusic.com Thanks! Thom Jurek, an accomplished writer whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Musician, and Spin, has written a great review of Somewhere Near Pop Heaven for the Allmusic.com website. Not only did Thom give us five out of five stars, but he wrote an incredibly gracious (and we immodestly think perceptive) review of our cds. It means a lot to us and we will always appreciate it. We also want to thank Allmusic.com for running the review, and especially for linking it to our website. 2001/12/20, by Andy Happy New Year! First Leslie and I want to thank everyone who's given us great reviews, bought the cds, or just given us encouragement and support this year. I also want to thank everyone for their good wishes. It's true that on Thanksgiving the ladder dropped, followed by me. I'm healing well and quickly. My favorite part was when all my neighbors saw me motionless on my lawn and waved and yelled Happy Thanksgiving, because they assumed That's just Andy playing with the kids next door. I've started writing songs with Bruce Malament. Bruce and I played on the same Little League team. He's had a huge success this year with his song The Light, and we hope to place the songs we write together on sound/tracks. Leslie and I are also getting ready to record new stuff. I just keep writing news songs, and when I can hear the cd take shape inside my head, it will be time.. HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2002/04/07, by Andy Bruce Malament, Andy's Soundtrack Agent I have been x/rayed more times than a suspicous piece of luggage, but I'm happy to announce that I'm walking fine and only have one more set of x/rays to go. I'm also happy to announce that my friend Bruce Malament is going to act as my Agent to place songs on film soundtracks in Los Angeles. Bruce has just finished co/writing,arranging, and producing a cd called State of My Heart with, and for, his friend Brian Breeze Cayolle. They'll be performing songs from the cd at the New Orleans Jazzfest. 2002/05/04, by Andy Chaos Chaos is the name of a new song, and happily not the current state of Andyland. A lot of new songs have been pouring out lately, and I've been pouring them onto cassette before I forget the melodies. I'm starting to hear the sound of a new album, and I think I'm going to call it Modern Maturity. 2002/05/05, by Andy Modern Maturity My latest x/rays show that I'm healing well. To celebrate I've been working on a lot of songs for the album I think I'm going to call Modern Maturity. I am starting to hear the arrangments and production of the songs while I take my walks, and that's always a good sign. 2002/05/06, by Andy Big Summary:Cds, Times, AMG, New Stuff! Although the X/Ray this morning shows that I continue to improve, the reason for this report is that somehow I have messed up the News section. I will now bring everyone up to date. In the Fall of 1999 I decided to digitize all our old songs, so we wouldn't lose them to decaying tape. With the help of Elissa Epstein, Steve Young, Bob Mack, Paul Socolow, and everyone else we've worked with, Leslie and I compiled a 2cd retrospective called Somewhere Near Pop Heaven. Ed Ward wrote a much appreciated cover story about us that appeared in the 3/4/2001 Arts and Leisure section of the Sunday New York Times. This was followed by a very gracious commentary on the story by Dave Marsh at the 2001 SXSW Festival in Austin. Thom Jurek had read the Times story, and gave us an incredibly wonderful five star review on Allmusic.com. This review is about to appear in libraries everywhere in the AMG Guide. My friend Arthur Ettinger is working with me as our Attorney, and my friend Joel Hudesman is our Marketing Director. My Little League team/mate Bruce Malament is now a very successful Los Angeles musician. Bruce and I are writing together, and he is acting as my sound/track agent. I have been writing a LOT of new songs, and I can hear the beginnings of an album that I think I'm going to call Modern Maturity. Thanks to everyone who has bought the Somewhere Near Pop Heaven cds and given us support and encouragement.