pain is nothing but a by-product of beauty

My first time in Washington State! We will be staying at a house that will host an indie-horror film shoot tomorrow. We get to play, in costume, for the flick and play a song that we wrote for it.
I'm so stoked!

I'm staying at a place right now where someone who is crashing on the couch has a broken arm in a cast and is on some serious pain killer-spouting stoned gold action.

A great quote- " I'm harvesting my hair so I can provide real human hair mustaches to my ladyfriends", as he holds up a bag to prove his point. Awesome..

Yesterday, I found myself sitting beside Dylan in a old café in Lawrence, Kansas complete with fieldstone walls, Civil-War-era wall clock, saloon seating and Phish playing on the hi-fi. WTF? The band Quiet Bears have accompanied us on the last couple of dates, and will play with us tonight at a bar called Replay. This town rocks, but not as hard (sorry, Lawrence) as Manhattan, Kansas did last night. Our show was at an indie bookshop as part of a city-wide festival that included all 12 bars on the main strip and about 3000 Kansas state college students roaming the streets. It was nice to see such good behavior from the ladies in contrast to the ‘Boys Gone Wild’ bacchanal that poured out of the bars and pounded the pavement like we did until 3am. We’re talking Military Police in uniform watching over the throngs here, folks. For all-out entropy it beat even our Spring Break Panama City adventure. An awesome dude named Billy put us up after treating us to 4 huge pizza pies outside on the deck. (random comment from a passerby who saw us munching mounds of crusty goodness- ‘You’re pimped for life bros!’)

OK, highlights up to now- driving through Kansas past cow-dotted prairie;
Playing in Johnny and Bambi’s (AKA Quiet Bears) crowded attic after hearing Mose Giganticus sing Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto through a vocoder;
Writing and then recording a tune with Dylan that is part of a program to give six million African kids laptops, with our song included- I’m stoked to think that millions of people on a different continent will potentially hear something I’ve had a hand in writing! ;
Playing a very cool basement show in Milwaukee with a band called the Candeliers- we partied like it was 1899! I just needed my bowler hat and antique-cigarette holder to complete the old tyme feelings. The upright bass player was dead-on the whole time- those guys ruled!
The cool pinball bar we played at last night had tables shaped like pinball flippers;

More to come soon- we pick up Emily from the airport in Denver today, making us a five-piece again. She’s bringing her camera so I’ll have pictures to post from here on in, finally!

Tonight we play in Denver and then it's off to the great Pacific Northwest.

Just getting up after my loft show in a condemned building last night- at least a hundred people in a huge 5000 square foot space dotted with homemade light fixtures, big windows and one of the resident's hobbies: stuffed-animal pillows made of colorful leather.

A week from today I will be on the road again, this time for a month and a half, this time to go around the whole country. I'm so stoked to get to play in places like New Orleans and a festival in San Francisco.

When I get back we do music for a silent film that will be performed in different venues around the northeast.

Now I'm off to do a radio show at UNH (my fifth this week!) and then play at a theater in my hometown.

If only it would stay warm here... oh wait- I'm not going to be here for very long

Portland and Eugene were great, as expected. Had a great talk with the U of O folks re. majors and financing. I might even get living expenses!

I am now in my second week of touring- had a house party in Gainesville last night, and being in Panama City now, things might go toward the crazy this evening.

Slow computers everywhere mean I will write more and upload pics later.

Beach time.

I will be touring to Florida in March playing bass with my friends Tigersaw!

This ramble of afro-beat and soul will see me playing all down the eastern coast for three weeks in support of the new disc 'Tigers on Fire' on the Kimchee label.

I should tour the west coast in May with them as well- glad I'm used to being mobile!

There will be posts from the road- new and interesting are key phrases here.

Cheerio-

Since I need to be out anyway, and I missed visiting U of O in September because I didn't buy a bus ticket before they were sold out, I will be visiting my wonderful future home of Oregon in February.

So much to catch up on- too many interesting things to relate in one post... must update soon...
music- writing- travel- graphic novel- new website....

Another successful year of pit-roasting the turkey in the ground...
I had hoped for a more 'dry' run this time around as last year the cold rain came in horizontally off the water like ninja stars...
The rain ninjas were at it again, driving water like last year but I managed to light the fire and keep it lit for three hours...
Turkey goes in and gets buried (all nestled in cheesecloth and brown paper for that non-crunchy taste) and cooks for another three hours.

The sage and juniper berry herbs came in handy and it came out of the ground tasty and fall off the bone tendah!

Entertaining pictures of the process will be forthcoming but here is the view I have (sans sun) for my Thanksgiving (and other home) adventures.





After Turkey day I had my last Vermont camping excursion of the year. Soo fun, as it was a balmy 65 degrees up in the north country. Next time around, my Vermont adventures will include more indoor sassy-ness. Can't wait...

I went 10 pin bowling last night (those are the big balls), as part of a birthday party for my friend Dave.

Bowling is such retarded fun, and since Borat was sold out for me here as it was for Mister-Punchy there, I went to have some whimsy and over-priced beers.

My favorite move was probably my 'superman' technique of diving at the lane and throwing the ball in mid-air towards the pins... This was a questionable technique at best, which accounted for my low standing at game's midpoint. So, realizing that my rolls veered always to the right and into the gutter, I started in the neighboring player's area (they graciously allowed me to poach on their territory for a minute), yelled 'You got a date with Yay-suus Wednesday!' and curved off toward my lane to roll the ball serious-like right down the middle into three strikes in a row.

I came in second by game's end, I'll have you know...

There will be photographic evidence of this tomfoolery posted shortly... I was also trading shirts with the other guys to create an ever-changing league feel.

The place had a cotton candy machine that I tried to fire up, but the mix box was empty...

An upcoming post will focus on the music discussions I had that night that were way more interesting than the above...

Ahhh, There's nothing like New York to help you get over someone.


The post-Halloween-Come-As-Your-Favorite-80's-Horror-Movie-Character party helped to this end immensely. Such loveliness in costume. I am a lucky man to have found new and real inspiration.. Kindness and fun are easy to find, if you open your eyes to see. My eyes were closed to the warning signs.

My Portland purchased flight suit came in handy as a Michael Myers costume, warm as I walked through the park under a miracle of red leaves and toward the halo of sun around the buildings in front of me. Such moments are a gift, and, like a heart offered to someone else, should not be given or taken lightly. The late-autumn envelopes me, and I feel great.

The multi-floor party was amazing, with great recording the next day with friends.

I bought Final Fantasy XII. I can't wait to get this little hottie home. Fantasy and Sci Fi cheer me; killing things with death moves me, especially when using a two-handed sword!

Other blogs and a music website soon.... This LJ will not be neglected any more...

Peak Experience
This one was written for my One and Only.



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My clock taunted '5am'. Unable to sleep, I got up and went to the window to view the dawn's progress. I passed my acoustic guitar on the way over and grabbed it, sat down facing the glass, and thought of you as I strummed a melody that I hoped would be my parachute into morning.

My fingers settled on a jazz chord first, a complex huddle of notes that seemed transfixed inward, like a clique of friends too enamored of each other to say hi to the next table at lunch. My thumb pulsed this as I watched a pale blue cloud separate itself from the gray background. Ahhh, sunrise in action, taken from the top.

This first chord slipped up a half step and the idea of 'Pyramid Song' materialized in my head as the early AM tones created themselves in the sky above me for my enjoyment. A boss nova Pyramid Song was now purring from my guitar, my voice humming the melody, and my mind going between the picture of you I had just put up on my computer desktop and the crayola box blossoming before me.

I thought of you beside me, watching the morning, and this image gladdened my playing. I lifted the tune to a brighter tempo, singing the words in a crooner style for some levity, and in thinking back I remembered a stretch where there was no concept of myself. No nagging complex huddle of thoughts intruding on the now; no 'out there' and 'in here'. Just a beautiful morning that I sung in, with you at my side.

At that time I had the same feeling of being completely in the moment, fitting in to my skin and you and everything around me just right- I felt at home. It made me realize how the right music is such an important part of our peak experiences- the times when we feel the most alive, the most 'ourselves'.
The right music amplifies this experience, brings it to a higher, more distinct pitch. It also helps embed the experience with sharper edges in our minds, creating a specific spot in our lives where it grows and enriches us further, time and again.