My Oh My #3.

Last night was devastatingly bad. We showed up at Elwood's apparently without any prior knowledge on how to play musical instruments. I haven't played drums in a while and it was painful....to listen to. I'm not gonna go into it 'cause i'll sound like a whiner 49er. I took a pain killer and I woke up groggy....but with no pain!

Today was so busy at work, I didn't pee 'til I got home. Friday, i'm playing with the Drunkandsilly Gayboys at O'Hara's. Saturday, I had a gig at Elwood's with the usual suspects until Chuck called me up with our yearly Xmas party gig that he forgot all aboot (Canadian). So I called my trusty back-up and got released from Elwood's duty. But i'll be there Sunday. I haven't had a full-gig weekend in awhile so it ought to be interesting....to somebody.

Wwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Kris gave me one of my Xmas prezzies early 'cause Johanna saw it and she can't keep a secret yet. Not that she gave it away. We just figured she'd let the cat out of the bag eventually.

Tracking The Beard #1.

For a few weeks now, i've been growing my beard. I used to hear the expression "growing my beard for winter" when I lived in Denver and I always thought that was a cool idea. Even though we don't get winter weather conditions here, I thought it would be cool to adopt the idea anyway. So far, it's coming in a lot whiter than it did last time. Then again, last time Jojo was 1. It's gonna take awhile to grow it long enough to cover the holes.

Today is my first gig since i've been back from my trips. I'm gonna be at Elwood's for the first time in about a month or so. I'm sure i'm gonna be real rusty and achy afterward. Getting old sucks! I got this old snare drum from Harry Johnson's estate and I really like the tone of it. I've been playing it for a while. It has no name on it and the parts are really cheap. Everytime I bring it to a gig, it snaps a rod and I have to use another one but today I modified it with sturdier parts so hopefully that won't happen again.

It's been real nice being home the last 4 days. I've spent all my time with my family and I haven't had to do much running around. Friday, we bought "HELP!" and watched it. Kris talked me out of buying the deluxe edition which is real expensive. I didn't really want all the special crap that came with it so we did the right thing. There is so much cool stuff coming out for the holiday season music wise. I got my Amazon wish list workin'.

I'm In A New York Plate Of Rind.

I got back on Monday night after my flight was delayed for an hour or so. I miss New York but i'm glad to be back with my family who I missed very much. The trip started early Saturday morning. By mistake (or accident) I ended up being on the same plane with two of the Thursday's Children. I brought along Bob Spitz's Beatles book and i read that on the plane. I'm an avid beatlereader and I've been avoiding this one 'cause the some of the picture credits are wrong. If these were wrong, how could the book be right? Well, I was mistaken. It's a really good book...so far. Anyway, my uncle met me at the airport and we went back to his place on 93rd in Manhattan. We stayed long enough to drop things off and we walked Central Park.

When we got to the outside of the Dakota where John was murdered, I got a weird chill and I felt very sad. We continued on through Strawberry Fields and decided to have lunch at the Boathouse. We were eating outside when I noticed my cold uticaria flaring up. It was pretty cold and I forgot my gloves and hat back at the apartment. When we got back, I took a benedryl and fought being tired the rest of the night. The next day, I dragged my uncle to the Village to see some music sites. We got to Electric Lady Studios, The Cafe Wha, and a few other cool spots. I bought a mono "Beatles' '65" at Bleeker Bob's and we had some great pizza. We also hit Ground Zero. We got back to the apartment and I ran back out with my uncle's girlfriend, Lynn. We ended up going to 30 Rockefeller Plaza and Times Square before it was time to get back for the gig.

We ended up being later than I expected 'cause we waited for my uncle Rick and aunt Carol to show up and we all took the subway. We made it to the Parkside Lounge and I was disappointed to see hardly anyone there. We didn't play for too many people but we played well. The club's snare drum was broken so the guy on after us lent me his...Thanks! Next day, I had to leave. When I woke up, they were working on the hot water pipes in my uncle's building so I couldn't have a shower. P.U.! I'm leaving out a bunch of stuff but nothing really important. Tonight, I had an Eat rehearsal after not having one for two weeks. It was hard blowing the dust off but we warmed up eventually. Tomorrow is Turkey Day but most importantly....NO WORK!!!! I do have a lot of stuff to do and i have to find some time to make Kris realize we desperately need the special edition of HELP! on DVD. Happy Thanksgiving!

I Didn't Seee Robert Ulrich...

but I did see Vince Neil. He's quite short. Vacation is over and that's ok. If you haven't figured it out (or read Kris' blog), we went to Las Vegas. It was like I expected. I'm not a big drinker or a gambler so there wasn't much for me there...except sore feet and a complete emptying of the wallet. Actually, there was something. The Love show at the Mirage. That was an emotional experience seeing the Beatles' music being interpreted in such a way. The next day, we went to the gift shop and I couldn't pick out anything to buy 'cause I wanted it all.

I should probably start from the beginning. Kris' stepfather gave us a ride to the airport where we found out our flight was cancelled. Spirit eventually got us on a Delta flight and we got there a little early. We were pretty exhausted when we got there and I think we just walked around a bit, ate alot and went to bed. The next day was our anniversary (Happy Anniversary!) and we went to a few casinos and walked around. We had lunch at an Irish pub at New York New York. We saw Love that night and that was awesome. We went to the Revolution Lounge and left when I found out it would be 20 bucks for me to get in (ladies free!). See ya! Went back to the Beatles gift shop and it was too crowded. Next morning, we had breakfast at the Bellagio and that was good. Did some more walking around and I think by that point we were already tired of Vegas. You all should read my wife's blog on this 'cause it's much better. I'm sure i'm leaving out a bunch of stuff. What i'll always remember was how well we got along and how we enjoyed each other's company on this trip. I love you, babe!

Today, I went back to work. Tonight, I watched an old Popeye cartoon with Jojo and she dug it. I'm so glad we have similar taste. She likes all the cartoons I grew up with like Bugs Bunny and all the Looney Toons. I gotta really listen close to the Thursday's Child material tonight. We have a last rehearsal tomorrow night and I don't want to fuck it up. I'm gonna be a real nervous wreck at the gig. I really hope this stuff sinks in so I don't embarrass them.

Fuck You. Bye!

I'm outta here 'til Tuesday for a small vacation for our 7th Anniversary. My, how time flies! It's gonna be nice to beat it out of here for a while. Where we're going is supposed to be a little chilly at night so that'll be nice. Last night, I saw Keith at the Funkabilly show and that was swell. I'm having slight issues with my lawn and the Homo-wners Association wrote me a letter saying they'd fine me if I didn't get on it. I didn't get on it but I asked for an extension and i've yet to hear back from them. I mentioned this problem to my Dad. Big mistake. This morning he shows up in my driveway ready to dig my lawn up. He called a landscaping service and he was gonna wait around 'til they got there to give him an estimate. I didn't have time to hang around and I certainly did not want to leave him with my key so I explained my situation and eventually order was restored. I escaped sure death yet again listeners! Kris was chomping at the bit to put a foot in his ass and that would not be good. Once a rift is opened, it'll never go away. Hope y'all have a good weekend! See ya Tuesday!

I'm Pissing Myself.

I WANT TO SHOOT THE WHOLE DAY DOWN!

I'm home for lunch and I gotta keep it short 'cause work is way too busy. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH Shi.......rt. Photos from yesterday courtesy of Karen Wideen. We was LOUD! I'm glad she cut the bald off me. I actually have a mohawk in that picture. Am I always cross-eyed when i drum? All the time?

Sock It To Me, JB!

I feel good! I just got off the phone with Keith and talking to him reminded me of how important friends are. This week has been a blur. I had my first rehearsal with thursday's child and it went rather well. I still have about 5 more songs to learn in a short amount of time. The gig is only about two weeks away. I suppose we'll just have to see what happens. The Eat rehearsals are going better than expected. Kenny is out of town this week so i'll have a week off there. Friday, we did a leukemia walk in WPB for our friend Bongo and that was cool. We raised a shitpile of money and Johanna had a great time.

Last night, I played the Ashtray (Poorhouse) in downtown Ft. Rockerdale with Joel DaSilva and that was interesting as usual. Unbeknownst to me, there was big rock concert going on at the end of the street so parking was fooked. I found a place a few blocks away for 20 bucks. There goes my food/soda money. Playing was OK. I wore my earplugs so I can hear pretty well today. Tonight, I played with Charlie Pickett at Nova University for a film festival and that went OK. Of course, we were way loud but that didn't seem to bother anyone. Rick rode up with me and we listened to some WFMU programs on the way. Karen archived some of my Teenage Fanclub/Tom Waits videos on to DVD so I have those...Thanks! On the way home, I played Rick "Winter" and he really liked it so I lent him Grand Prix and Songs From Northern Britain...We could have another TFC convert on our hands. He mentioned possibly covering one of their songs in the Dillengers.

I'm so overwhelmed with the projects i've taken on but part of the reason I feel so good is 'cause i'm able to do these things. Instead of bottling in my emotions, I get to let them out on the guitar or some drums. Even a bad gig is better than say....cleaning a toilet! I'm a real lucky guy! Thank you, music gods!

P.S. I just got in the mail RhinoHandmade's Aretha Live in Philly 1972 and it is the shizzle.