Strange Exchange

A Gentleman Caller/Faith Kleppinger Tour Recapped

2006-07-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

There are simply no verbs, nouns, adjectives or adverbs that adequately sum up my feelings about the weeklong trip I just took with Gentleman Caller or my fellow travelers but I'd like to try.

To Woonsocket, RI and our lovely host Matt: thank you for your wonderful hospitality, playing your beautiful songs, whipping out banjos, cowbells and mandolins for crowd participation durning GC's set... tolerating our ecstatic drunken brawls, taking us to one of the best restaurant's I've ever eaten and then to the beach where we all wore long pants. Hope we can come back.

To Faith Kleppinger: there are so many things I need to say thank you for, that I made a list and I know it's still missing things... thank you for masterfully orchestrating what simply was maybe the most fun week I've ever had in my life. Thank you for weeding through all our scheduling conflicts, fighting with club owners, playing your amazing music, always standing in the front and singing along to our songs, introducing us to your lovely family, for the jam sessions with your dad that you instigated, for paying our toll, for giving us all the money in Pennsylvania, for bringing the amazing Judson Henry, for sending us home with hugs and bags of fruit, for being the ultimate hostess, for reminding me just how fun it can be to just play music ("PERFORMANCE??!! WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT 'PERFORMANCE'?!!"), for taking the brawling brothers from Boston to New York, for letting us use your amp, your tuner, your guitar chord, for making us breakfast, for writing everything down, for taking pictures, for being a forever member of our tribe-- you have always and will always feel like family to me.

To Judson Henry (AKA Go Go MacheTEE): Thank you for your unbelievably surprising wit and hilarity... I don't think I'll ever forget our bigfoot discussion. Having you along with your patience, tolerance, easy-going nature, doing so much of the dirty work without a complaint, loaning cigarettes and lighters that never get returned, never batting an eye, for being totally unique, for being a forever member of our tribe...

To Tony Whitlock (AKA Hotdog): Thank you for simply being the funniest son of a bitch on the planet. You made me laugh so fucking hard every 10 minutes of the trip and you were a big part of the constant joy I felt out there. I knew my instincts were right on when I insisted on cramming 6 people into a 5 person space. It was so worth it. Sorry we never played Mexico.

To Josh Bennett (AKA Josh Benet Ramsey): Thanks for being solid, in tune, constantly hilarious, often poignant, hassle-free, and for being in this band. having your best friend in your band is a pretty terrific feeling... i simply feel safer when you are around (except for the times when you are punching me in the back of the neck in somebody's yard). You and your sailboat have become an important part of this band's chemistry, both on and off the court.

To Chris Kupersmith: Thank you for being one of the best singers i've ever heard. For playing your songs and letting me mess with the arrangement, for being a voice of reason and compassion, for also being the administer of chaos and random attacks when you least expect it, for driving us through NYC traffic, for being such a gentle, thoughtful and talented soul.

To Freda Love: Thank you for being the warmest, most open-hearted, lovely, amiable, adaptable, secretly fucking hilarious, insightful, soothing... with a backbeat that has become the heart of my songs. I don't know how we're going to make it without you.

To Jim Robinson (AKA Mr. Fancy): Thank you for ALWAYS being ready to go for it. For always speaking up, getting us moving in a direction, being unswaying and trustworthy, for being our energy on stage every night, for your fearlessness, your hilarious wit, your outgoing spirit. For getting us a van, giving me some of your cheetohs and never complaining about anything.

What a powerful and unique connection I feel toward each one of you. I love you.

Meatball Killer

War Drum Organ Swell

2006-06-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

Your legs behind the pulpit
The banjo, trembling and floating
I wished into you like an ocean
I wished into you like an ocean
The spirit blew open the shutters
The preacher he was a fire-breathing vulture
I glanced over at my mother
Her empty eyes made me shudder
War drum, organ swell and the choir is singing
Your dress swinging low and the bells ringing
Crossed up on the highway to redemption
the bones of our family that no one ever mentions
So much for good intentions
So much for good intentions
War drum, organ swell and the choir is singing
Your dress swinging low and bells ringing
The unforgotten church, well it's still standing
and the kids, they still have eyes

oops!

2006-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

sorry all of you who've been commenting! i accidentally enabled the moderation feature, and didn't realize it. I just thought no one was out there. Anyway, I fixed it.

Harps, Heat, etc.

2006-06-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

1. I'm listening exclusively to Joanna Newsom right now. She's something new. Something borrowed. Something so so so blue. She's sort of Bjork playing folk music with the Harp as her main instrument. It's absurd, painful, gorgeous... I probably won't listen to anything else for a month.

2. Just got back from the gulf of Mexico with my family. Collectively, we survived pink eye, bronchitis, PMS, allergic reactions to shellfish and something similar to dysentery and we actually had a brilliant time. We saved a crab from harm and sent him back to the ocean then turned around and ate crab cakes from Picolo's in Grayton Beach which is the best restaurant in the universe. Mason took suicidal leaps into the pool onto my head (and Terra's too). My dad and I drank beer and stared at the ocean for hours while listening to hits from the 70's.

3. I'm really excited about a recording project this weekend with Richard and Andy from Margot and the Nuclear So & So's and the lovely Freda Love.

4. Supporters of the current administration continue to confound the shit out of me.

MUCH GENTLEMAN CALLER NEWS!

2006-05-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

So Gentleman Caller has a new record out called UNTIL WE ARE MISSING.

It's for sale here

We are having TWO CD release shows this Friday in Indianapolis:

SHOW #1:

Who: Gentleman Caller (acoustic show)
Where: Luna Records, 5202 N. College, Indianapolis
When: Friday, May 5th
What time: 7 p.m.
How Much: Free.

SHOW #2:

Who: Gentleman Caller, The Mysteries of Life, Chris Kupersmith
Where: Radio Radio, Indianapolis
When: Friday, May 5th
What time: 10 p.m.
How Much: $8
What do I get for free: THE NEW GENTLEMAN CALLER CD, UNTIL WE ARE MISSING

We are also filming a video with Bearded Man Films for one of the songs. We need extras. You have to wear funeral attire. If you wanna come play with us in an old church, let me know- we'd love to have you.

Had It

2006-04-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Rubberneckers, Busybodies and Magpies-

All 7 of YOU... I could name YOU but won't bother... YOU don't know me. YOU've barely, if ever, spoken to me. Please remember that when YOU are talking about me as if my life were a PG-13 Romantic Comedy/Tragedy for YOU to fast-forward through while eating popcorn. Crunch crunch crunch like billy goats with dead eyes.

You know what makes better conversation than fucking gossip, innuendo and scandal? NEW IDEAS!

Thanks!

Kenny Childers

Monday Morning, You Look Like Shit.

2006-04-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

Why are SO many blogs dedicated to a bunch of insiders uniting around things they hate?

THE REASON HIS EYES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL

out in the hallway of this academic shopping mall
crooked hats and wounded animals drag
fucking with the janitor who paints
with catcalls and mumbles and the great IGNORE
a barely moving slow-death army
their indifferent cannons
fixed on beating hearts
the brushes and paint
the clever red fox eats garbage and trots across sidewalks like he's dancing
he knows he is trapped
why do you think his eyes are so beautiful?

Quills

2006-03-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

I can't split myself in two and neither can you
here comes the wind so let's twist
until we're dry on the line
Quills shoot out of the porcupine
The thread of the lights
And the thick of your smile and the way you don’t bend
When you’re walking
I heard the picture talk loud like a bomb
I heard an old lady eating popcorn

curtains

2006-03-22T13:51:00.000-08:00

I sat down and read the words and saw the pictures and thought hard about what to write but came up empty and death has a way of interfering with the grass and the leaves and the coffee and the people you love I can’t stand the thought of wondering when the next curtain call will come and how it will affect me

Alarm

2006-03-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Get up, get going
Move, move, move
Empty your cabinets
Start a fire, start over
Before you are mummified
With no look on your face
In front of a Toyota commercial
In front of a Lenny Kravitz video
Burn your magazines and clothes!
Wake up! (alarm sounds)

My brain is scattershot. I'm your spring break host.

2006-03-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

From my mouth the demons
with a head full of wasps

Spring break week is really quiet here on campus. Everything looks clean. Gentleman Caller just got our records in and they are beautiful. I feel inspired by their existence. Enough about me... well nearly.

1) The Oscars are silly. Meaningless.
2) Boy George has a transcendent voice.
3) So does Lindsay Buckingham... particularly on TROUBLE.
4) So does Neko Case

Gentleman Caller Video

2006-03-02T08:55:00.001-08:00

Who we were last night:

I GOT NO RELIGION

Thanks for the video Ned!!

Revelations

2006-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

1) Loudon Wainwright III wrote some amazing songs... the songs of his that I love are the songs that sound like they were written right after he totally gives up, drops all pretenses... Hollywood Hopeful is particularly haunting: "well I never did see so many TV stars and I never did see so many rented cars and I never did see so many desperate eyes and I never did hear so many bold-faced lies... I am a full-fledged grown-up adult, I'm trying to make a dent, trying to get a result and I'm holed up in a Hollywood Hotel suite, tequila to drink and avacado to eat..."

2) Writer's block can be shaken. All you have to do is allow yourself to see the way you really are and get miserable.

3) No one moves like Bryan Ferry.

4) The website I listed below (pupae) could change someone's life. Or at least explain it.

5) Smoking cigarettes isn't so much inviting death as acknowledging it.

6) Sky-diving might feel like love.

7) I don't ever want to have conversations about these topics: curtains, love seats, bed sheets, spoons, forks, cutlery, and I don't care if I ever hear the word "decor" again. This shit is not why we are alive people.

8) If you want to see an honest face, look at a dog.

Something to See

2006-02-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

Go here:

http://www.pupae.com/

Follow it through.

The Perfect Line

2006-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

This song by Walker Kong means a lot to me today:

In a long room by a lonesome beach
The cresting surf broke for 15 weeks
Let's have the morning pass us by
Outside the window there's graffiti on
the barriers of the train station
Let's have the morning pass us by
In a collection from the library
There's a book of type from the 18th century
Let's have the mid-day pass us by
On a wall in New York City
All the echos of a California breeze
Let's have the mid-day pass us by
'cause if we let it pass us by
we might capture the perfect line
and if we make the perfect line
we are free to die without regret
In a museum on the edge of town
Bars of soap and paintings clustered all around
Let's have the evening pass us by
Off in the distance a banjo plays
Aura Lee and Cripple Creek in 'A'
Let's have the evening pass us by
Let's have the evening pass us by

Separate yourself from empty ambitions and the silent scream of the world around you- do what you love. That's what I'm thinking today.

Saddle Up A Buzz Buzz

2006-01-31T06:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Dr. Phil:

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed after very little sleep and I saw your face and I'm pretty sure I went batshit and I imagined a pack of coyotes interrupting you with THE CRAMPS as the soundtrack:

fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scoot, from her big tall heels on her big tall boots...she said 'saddle up a buzz buzz' tarzan drove a stingray through a fiberglass jungle, swung from high tension wires and yelled down at the humble 'hey...saddle up a buzz buzz' rabid rat fink caught an eighty foot wave, hit the bonzai pipeline and rode it straight to the grave, screamin 'saddle up a buzz buzz'

I swim for exercise. I wear goggles but you'll never catch me in a swim cap. I like the way sharpies smell. I'm in a songwriting funk. I want to remodel. I want to go back to sleep. I do not take very good care of vehicles. I like hats. I do not look good in them.

Thoughts on Cynicism

2006-01-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

I am a cynic. I have always been a cynic. I don't want to be a cynic anymore.

I want my default to be "yes" instead of "no."

When I look at something/someone/somewhere new, I instinctively look for disappointment. I don't want to do this anymore.

I don't.

Happy MLK Jr. day -

All the Good News

2006-01-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

They found Mama in front of a t.v.
In Cincinnati, unburied and glued
She'd planned on returning to the town of her childhood
To be near her family or feel something new
But she never got up, no she never got going
and no neighbor noticed that she never moved
It wasn't until the old Kenmore stopped working
and the smell of her body came from her one-room
The police were called and the cabinets were emptied
The neighbors were questioned and the mayor was too
They found an old picture of Mary Anne dancing
In the blue-eyed company of her long-dead groom
On a trip to Montgomery the lovers they held fast
They kissed in the darkness and took off their shoes
They swam in Trout River
Bought gas station trinkets
They ate bags of popcorn in a motel room
Well this world gets so damned ugly
and we get so damned confused
and we get so damned distracted from all the good news

Brokeback Mountain

2006-01-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

One of the most moving, understated, and heartbreaking love stories I've ever seen on a screen. The cinematography is so out of this world... it really captures what the northwest FEELS like. Heath Ledger gives such a quiet, detail-oriented performance... the last expression we see on his face has absolutely stuck... and the writing is so razor-sharp... lines like these deliver serious knock out blows because they feel so exactly REAL: "As far as marriage goes, we could do it over the phone" and "...if you can't fix it, you gotta stand it" -- to watch the characters' hearts break so slowly, over and over, is tough but worth it.

The Oolitic Pentecostal Church

2006-01-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

When I was a boy
I sat behind the pulpit
Next to the banjo
As the spirit would move
I looked at the preacher
A fire-breathing dragon
My eyes were as wide
As a shotgun wound
He stormed back to front
He wept and he shouted
He pointed his finger
And danced like a clown
He beat on the bible
Like it was a war drum
Nobody wandered
And no one was found
He said God was angry
He said he was coming
So I looked to the back door
For an escape route
I looked to my mother
Who looked to the preacher
Her eyes were as empty
As mine were confused
Back in those days
I was scared of my shadow
I felt naked in service
I felt ugly and doomed
The holy ghost
He made my neck shiver
He scared me shitless
As the organ swell grew
Well the Oolitic church
I believe it’s still standing
And the children have eyes
Just like they used to
Well the preacher’s still stomping
And the lord is still coming
And the choir is still singing
A step out of tune

Happy 2006

2006-01-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

I spent 2005 in constant motion. I rang the new year in playing a lovely show at Radio Radio w/ both Gentleman Caller and Brando (along with Pravada, Marmoset and The Basic Ultra Lights). It was a blurry, gorgeous night filled with microphone shenanigans, nakedness, friendly wrestling matches amongst friends, some drunken sincerity, angry cab drivers, shot after shot after shot, and I'm still in the long, slow recovery.

Welcome to the jungle 2006. I didn't change. You did. So bring it on.

MURDER BALL

2005-12-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the lovely Faith Kleppinger who sent me two documentaries this past week!! Terra and I watched Murderball last night and it was unbelievably powerful. For those who do not know, it is a documentary about a wheelchair rugby team and their players and their quest for a Paralympic Gold Medal- amazing back stories told on many of the players- how they ended up paralyzed and the effects on their passions, relationships, sexuality, etc. It takes a mostly non-sentimental approach, which makes it all the more heartbreaking and inspiring. It truly is the most grounding thing I have seen in a long time. I agree with Faith that watching this once a month in order to stop taking things for granted and stop seeing the glass as half-empty is a good idea. Let me know if you wanna borrow it. It'll make you cry, but they won't be tears of pity.

The New Project

2005-11-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

So, I'm getting really excited to start a new musical side project with Richard Edwards (from Margot and the Nuclear So & So's). We're going to start working maybe even this week, and hope to have a record recorded by the first of the year. Getting to work with people as talented as Richard is makes me feel so lucky to be alive. Mark my words: this will be a gorgeous record. We're looking for a name for our project, so please let me know if you have any ideas. Whoever nominates the winning band name will be featured in a song title on the record.

PHOTO BY JEFF BEDEL (jeffbedel.com)

Walk me on down to the graveyard baby...

2005-11-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend was unbelievable. The Musical Family Tree shows nearly killed me, but what a beautiful way to die. Today the following things hurt: my back, my head, my neck, my eyes, my knees, my gray matter, 3 of my toes, my elbow and wrist and my throat. I've lost my voice and many many brain cells and I have to say it was totally worth it.

Getting to stand up on stage w/ Pat, Chuck and Erik again and hear those thrashing cymbals and feel totally freaking invincible for an hour or so was more than magical. Standing on stage and seeing a sea of the most wonderful friends and feel the love come screaming back from a special time... jesus. Seeing Ned, Jim, Josh, Daniel, Terra, Kandi, Tony, Jeb, Freda, etc... a roomful screaming along w/ songs I couldn't remember the words to while thrashing around and flipping me off and pushing each other around in a total fit of ecstacy and release... I won't forget Saturday ever. or fully remember it.

Thanks to Ned for taking the pictures. I stole this one from him!

Feel the Fingers Shaking Down the Sand of the Hour Glass

2005-11-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

STRANDED AT THE DRIVE-IN will be reuniting for a show this Saturday at 2nd Story. It'll be the 4th and final show of the Musical Family Tree showcase weekend. All of the shows are going to be fantastic. I'm bursting w/ excitement for the Stranded show. I loved playing w/ those guys so much, and I feel very fortunate to still be in contact w/ all of them. We are going to TEAR it up. We plan to hurt the audience. Hurt them so good. Also appearing through out the weekend will be The Gizmos, Marty Green, The United States Three, Antenna, Sugarfreak, The Mysteries of Life and Uvula, among others. Oh, it is going to get ugly.

THE MACHINIST

2005-11-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

Holy shit, has everyone out there seen this movie? I can't believe I haven't heard more talk about it. Very Hitchcock with incredible Hitchcockesque soundtrack and incredible acting. Not to mention the physical transformation that Christian Bale went through for the part. Your skin will crawl for the entire 2.5 hours. If you like that sort of thing.

Another for my boy

2005-11-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

To My Kid (for future reference)-

3 years ago today I was watching you through the window in your oxygen box, counting your desperate too-quick breaths and your heartbeats, staring at the machine numbers, trying to swallow the thickest fear I've ever known - reaching out into the unknown, learning to pray to it, threatening it, promising revenge if you didn't make it. I had never known that level of unconditional and desperate love before. Anyway, you fought it off, kicked it's ass and never slowed down. Some days I take it all for granted, but not today. I am crazy about you and I'm the luckiest son of a bitch alive and I'm sure sorry if I ever forget that.

your name is wild...

2005-10-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

"and i say now to you so what
the useless fade in time
you chose me to read you no lies
hooray for the day..."

Mason's birthday is this weekend. He'll be 3 years old. In this world where everything seems to matter a little bit too much, I hope he can stay young and never take life to seriously.

I love you my boy.

Red Tide

2005-10-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the pleasant heat of the Florida panhandle. San Destin to be exact. The sunsets were amazing every night. We stayed rent-free in a sweet condo right on the beach courtesy of the Krothe family. Red tide nearly choked us in Grayton Beach, but Piccolo's serves the most exquisite seafood on the planet, bar none. The crab cakes are to die for. And they do something freaky to their mashed potatoes... they are unexplainable and I imagine there is not a tequila hangover they could not cure.

pictures courtesy of Josh Bennett-

The Night Worm

2005-10-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

The night worm crawls over your mind
You can feel it slide
You will wake up and break like a line
You’re a bee
You’re so quiet
You crawl over my blood like a dragonfly
I’m that worm drying up in the light
On a bridge in the country
Our bodies rose up like balloons
To the classical music
The violins ran out of room
But I’m on the road to recovery
Everyone is somebody’s fool
It’s not new
And since we’re already shaking
We could dance to this tune
A waitress with a spyglass for eyes
She is keeping time
To a song that reminds me of you
She looks up
I look up
The coffee cups lined up on the bar look cold
And I know I’m a long way from our home
On a flight going nowhere
I saw your name scratched on the moon
As the plane flew too shallow
And the passengers swooned
On the way to recovery
As our fuselage cracked
and engines blew
I heard the pilot singing
And it sounded like you

Letters to the Editor

2005-10-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

So I've been inspired by Gigi's police blotter posts that she's been saving up over the years and decided to start posting my favorite letters to the editor that I've been saving. Some of the weirdest shit you'll ever read. We live in a very strange place.

Here's the first (from The Herald Times, 9/6/02 - names omitted):

The answer to 'why?'

To the editor:

In a local grocery store Tuesday I complimented a lady for wearing a dress, lovely flower-patterned full-length cloth apparel. Perhaps you ask why? Glad you asked!

In the summer of 1937 I met my mother, or did she meet me? She was a petite tough lady, Irish by birth. My father left home in the early years of World War II never to return and Mom got tougher. She had three jobs, played for dances seven nights a week, worked in a warehouse and pumped gas during the day. In all venues due to necessity she wore pants (slacks). That was our early city life.

After the war, we moved to the country, raised chickens, a garden, picked fruit, played for dances, Mom wore pants by necessity. In fact I saw Mom once in a dress in 18 years.

Recently I've noticed many women of all ages in pants. Hard to tell the girls from the boys including Sunday services. Some unload trucks, work on roads, stock shelves, farm, dunk a basketball, box, etc.

My mother got a major hernia and I got a major hernia. Somehow, as a man, I thought I should get the hernia, not Mom.

More credit should be given to women at home raising children. We (men) should open doors for women and some men get off their rear ends and work for a living. Jesus can help.

Maybe these women could wear dresses on Tuesday.

A brief essay on the glass being half-empty today

2005-10-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sleep is Canadian. It's mysterious and far. My back feels like a paper sack full of rusty tools. Whenever my phone rings my heart dies. I'm an overly dramatic prick. Escape is not a surplus store. How many price-tags removed does it take to fill up all that emptiness? I have nothing to say about the news.

And another thing

2005-10-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

anybody out there that writes songs or stories or poems or letters to the dead... tell me something... do you ever feel like you've been writing about the same 5 events your whole life- just with different paint jobs slapped on them? I do. It's fucking maddening... I'd like to write about something different... a song about the contents of the Titanic or the skyjacker who disappeared in the wilderness or the periodic table of elements or maybe a tribute to Kris Noveselic just because I like how tall he is and that he played barefoot in front of millions of metal heads or maybe a song about the complicated history of the violin... but no, I'm stuck in my head.

As Frank Black once said: "Well I'm still around. But who wants to listen to my voice in your prison?"

Disaster Starts

2005-10-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

Stop that kiss
I've got a problem with this
and you've got your bridges to burn
So who is it now?
Who's gone and let you down
and who's gonna get you out?
Disaster starts with our open arms
and settles in our broken hearts
You're wearing my shirt
You're lighting my matches
and you're stealing all my words
Let's fake our deaths
Let's burn all the documents
and jump from the funeral car

shining

2005-09-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to Bill Cameron for keeping the good shit coming. As he put it "Here's a nice trailer for a heartwarming-looking film starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. Judging from this trailer, it looks like the feel-good film of the year!!"

There Is Movement Here in this Heart

2005-09-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

There is movement here in this heart
The aftermath of the spark
So when you’re lying down like you’re dying
Think of me as I am
Afraid and constantly trying
To get this jacket off
It’s covered in this sad old world
And the nightmares of this war
I looked out from a car that was flying
A beggar climbed from his tomb
He washed with the waves
Back into his grave
You’re alone kid, go back to your room
I jumped from the car in mid-city
A break in the clouds let me through
The sky was a lake
And the kids were afraid
Nameless, contagious and doomed
Well honey you’ve been on the phone
You’ve missed all the words I’ve been singing
And the trembling kids sitting in their own shit
Well good luck ‘cause there’s nobody coming
There is movement here in this heart
The aftermath of the spark
So when you’re lying down like you’re dying
Think of me as I am

If you ever want to feel like an old bastard...

2005-09-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Do these things in the same month:

1) See a doctor about the arthritis you've developed in your arm.
2) Re-finance your home.
3) Get schooled on the basketball court by a kid that was born the same year you got drunk for the first time.
4) Realize your LITTLE sister is getting ready to turn 28.

She Doesn't Exist Anymore

2005-09-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

I am fixated fixated fixated on a song called SHE DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE by Robyn Hitchcock. I have literally listened to it about 40 times since this time yesterday. I do this with songs occasionally, and it drives me batshit because I always end up RUINING the song forever by listening to it too many times. Does everyone do this?

Sometimes I ring you and put down the phone... I once wore a hole in your dress... I even tried voodoo outside of your home but these days I just couldn't care less... she doesn't exist anymore...

SPELLBOUND

2005-09-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

So, whoever out there hasn't checked out SPELLBOUND- a documentary about the 1999 spelling bee- you need to go do it right now. It profiles 8 contenders and their journey to the nationals. It is fantastically engaging- I think I cried twice- both to do with the Mexican family's tale. I found myself endeared to them, as well as the Pennsylvania girl and her family (the Edith Bunker-esque mother and the rough bar-tender father) and totally creeped out by the California parents who hire spelling and foreign language tutors to give their kids a leg up. The level of obsessiveness the kids bring to the table is so enthralling. It's a great 1.5 hour ride, and you won't look away.

Check it out.

Tapping the Strategic Reserves of Outrage

2005-09-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

Man, I thought I had been wrung dry of outrage.

Hey George Bush! You are a dim bulb and a bad man and I hate seeing you at your press conferences wearing your "everyman" buttom up short sleeved shirt and your herky-jerky nod and your face had to pass through Barbara's vagina you god damn twit. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Hey Dick Cheney! Seriously, GO FUCK YOURSELF seriously. Seriously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously.

Jesus god dammit.

People who continue to defend this administration make me sick.

Katrina

2005-09-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've been reading accounts of the situation in NOLA. The situation is continuing to deteriorate. The buses and the boats are not coming. People have no water for their children. People are dying in the street and their bodies are staying there. It is quickly desolving into total chaos.

Stop arguing politics for 5 minutes and donate some money so children do not continue to die of thirst in sweltering heat.

http://www.redcross.org/

Make-out Music/Sex and Song

2005-08-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

I recently had a conversation about sex and music, and what makes "sexy" music. It got me thinking about the relationship certain songs have to my loins, so I went through my collection to look for my perfect MAKE-OUT soundtrack. I discovered that the "sexiness" of songs are often more about the time and place that I heard them or loved them than about how perv-y they are... songs from the 80's mostly... during that "awakening" period of my teens... middle school dances... parties in barns... girls in sweaters... fall weather... and "Come On Eileen" was on the radio... when ROMANCE was this unbelievably HEAVY thing... slow dancing... a magical and painful time. Anyway, here's a list of songs that make me feel like making out:

1) MICHELE by The Beatles - Geez, that melody and the verses in French...
2) CALL ME by Blondie - Part of this probably has to do w/ a crush on Debbie Harry... but those words come in loud and clear: "Anytime anyplace anywhere anyway
Anytime anyplace anywhere any day, anyway" - plus, more French!
3) EVERYTHING I OWN by Bread - God, this is such a bleeding heart grandiose chorus, and I love the lead-in line "Nobody else could ever know the part of me that can't let go..." Another song tied to the ever-mysterious past.
4) LOVESONG and JUST LIKE HEAVEN by The Cure - Turn the lights out, listen to these songs and tell me they don't make you want to wear eye make up, smoke clove cigarettes and swap spit!
5) COME ON EILEEN by Dexy's Midnight Runners - I'm pretty sure this is just my own twisted trip but Jesus! "we are far too young and clever! tu ra lu ra tu ra lu rye ay!."
6) I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW by Tommy James- As someone who was raised in a pretty conservative/religious house (my mom was hard-core jean-skirt wearing pentecostal when I was growing up), I could relate to this song and used to sing it into the mirror with my dad's stringless bass guitar that I'd steal from under the bed and imagine myself running through trees holding swatch watched hands with Heather Anderson...
7) RIGHT DOWN THE LINE by Gerry Rafferty- I can't explain this one.
8) THE LOVE YOU SAVE by Joe Tex - More of an adult discovery. "The love that you save today may very well be your own..." - man, that's some quiver-sexy singing.
9) WHEN DOVES CRY by Prince - Prince is a bit creepy with his assless pants, but man, you can't argue with this song. "Animals strike curious poses- they feel the heat- the heat between me and you - how can you just leave me standing alone in a world that's so cold- maybe I'm just like my father- too bold..." - He's just all over the map- it's so real-life weird...
10) THESE DAYS by Nico - Another adult discovery. It's really all about the sound of her voice.
11) YOUNG FASHIONED WAYS by Muddy Waters - "if my hair is turning grey I know you think the way I feel... There may be snow upon the mountain but there is fire down under the hill." God damn the delivery is so fearless- so confident. Enough said.
12) HAZY SHADE OF WINTER by The Bangles - Totally tied to my lifelong crush on Jamie Gertz who was in the movie Less Than Zero- the soundtrack of which contains this song.
13) WILD HORSES by The Sundays - The glassy-eyed vocals on this song make me keel over in a good kind of agony.
14) THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT by The Smiths - "And if a double-decker bus crashes into us- to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die- and if a 10-ton truck kills the both of us, to die by your side, well the pleasure, the privelege is mine..." - eye contact with Jamie Gertz spinning around slowly on a merry-go-round at night - her in red lipstick and green sweater, me in a tuxedo shirt and jean jacket and with the kiss...

Lucky

2005-08-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have a fantastic child. He's almost 3 years old. He's an up-tempo kid- his shins are always bruised and his face sometimes too. He smiles at me in the rear-view mirror of my car in the morning and I can't believe how lucky I am or how much I love him. He counts stairs, is shy at first around strangers, and is refreshingly honest, even when it gets him into trouble. He doesn't say "hi" or "bye" unless he wants to, and that's fine with me. He's got beautiful blue-grey eyes with a hint of brown around his pupils. He smiles at me in the morning even when he's tired. He always wants candy and gets ticked when he can't have it. He's almost never sad, though he usually gets mad at least a couple of times a day-- but he gets over it quickly. It makes me feel good that he's never sad. He hates to brush his teeth. His favorite stories to hear before he goes to bed have monsters in them. He always says "good night" and "I love you too" before he falls asleep. Some days, he has so much energy that his stir-craziness drives me bananas. He usually gets a couple of time-outs on these days... which doesn't seem to bother him nearly enough! He tries to wink sometimes. Sometimes he sings with me. He has a serious mischevious streak. He'll throw water on you when you're not looking and sometimes he teases the cat. He's currently obsessed with kids' games on the computer. He navigates extremely well with a mouse and keyboard. He can't really pronounce the letter 'f'. He has an extremely loving support system. When we go to the park, there is usually an army with us. My mom, dad, Kandi, Jason, etc. They come just to see him. They go out of their way to see him at least 3 times a week. He loves them back. He loves to chase and to be chased. There is nothing I love more than being outside with him and seeing his eyes SING with delight as he looks at me over his shoulder and wonders if I'm going to catch him. I have a fantastic child, fantastic family and fantastic friends. I am super lucky.

Yacht Rock

2005-08-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT SARA?!??! SMILE?!?!?"

"AND FUCK YOU CETERA!"

Ever wonder what the back-story could be to the Michael McDonald/Kenny Loggins hit "What a Fool Believes"? Me too.

check it:
http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=152

Thanks to Bill Cameron for sharing this!

Crocodile Blood!

2005-08-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!
Crocodile Blood!

Costomer Service

2005-08-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hello?
Yes,
we're two rattlesnakes facing off
while the mongoose strikes a pose
and the belt-maker takes practice swings
there's just too much of the god damned world in our embrace
and there's not enough wall space for all the party pictures
The female heart is a mineshaft
You'll go mad in the dark
You'll die of thirst
and the worms will crawl over your bones
Have a nice day!

2005-08-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to the GC show at the Crazy Horse. Especially all those that came down from Indy: Richard, Andy, Emily, Gary, Chris, Tina- I love you all. Thanks to Ned for bringing us some drumsticks. Ned, you are a prince.

Here's the truth about me today:

1) When I close my eyes to blink, it takes actual thought to make them open again. I'm tuckered out from a couple nights of Mason coughing in my face. He manages to sleep through it somehow. When I close my eyes, I swear, I can hear fucking angels singing or maybe it's Annie Lennox.
2) I love ABBA. Perhaps it's the exhaustion, but "S.O.S." nearly moved me to tears this morning. Particularly the line "SO WHEN YOU'RE NEAR ME DARLING, CAN'T YOU HEAR ME? S.O.S.!" It hit home. That's right dickwads! ABBA speaks to me! ABBA speaks to me and Iron and Wine does NOT! Ha hah hahahahahahahahah.
3) On my desk at work I have the following: 7 pictures of Mason, 1 picture of Terra, 1 autographed picture of Mr. T, 1 picture of Clint Eastwood, a mess, 2 coffee cups, scissors, a glue stick, a telephone, notes to myself, measuring tape, programming books that I've never read, rubber bands, Clinic's "Winchester Cathedral", gum, a coffee club card with no holes punched out.

Bang Bang Bang

2005-08-03T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's official: Gentleman Caller have a new record out. It's called Mascara Lines.

I recently saw WEDDING CRASHERS... twice. Holy holy shit is it ever funny. If you don't laugh at this movie you have an enormous ramrod up your ass and that's all I have to say about it. If you don't laugh at this movie please don't ever talk to me again.

I'm listening obsessively to Dressy Bessy's new record, ELECTRIFIED. It's a big earful of delicious melody over simple arrangements and without any fancy tricks. Music isn't about reinventing the wheel. If you don't agree with that, you're wrong. You probably didn't think Wedding Crashers was funny. Let's face it: you are probably an asshole.

So I injured the muscles and nerves in my neck acting like a dipshit while playing the guitar during a Brando practice. I have now lost some of the feeling in my left arm. It's awesome!

Right now I'm listening to the song JONATHAN FISK by Spoon and I'm getting ready to jump through your computer screen and kiss you on the mouth. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Everything All At Once

2005-08-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've been a busy man since I last posted.

Went fishing in Missouri. Saw a lot of snakes. Mason caught his first fish and rowed his first boat. It was a good place to practice not being such a nervous parent. It was good to see my grandma again. Even if she did almost beat up a waitress. And a fish.

Played the Midwest Music Summit w/ both Brando and Gentleman Caller. Got to see (and play with) Dressy Bessy again. I love love love them. Their new record, Electrified, makes me want to eat popsicles and french a stranger. I gave Tammy (singer) a song I wrote called Downtown in the Dark which is about driving around with Terra listening to their first record. When we got ready to leave the club, they were all in their van blasting it!! It was so cute. Gentleman Caller also got to play with Hitchhike, a band from Austin, and they were fantastic. They make deep grooves and were incredibly nice folks. The Brando show was unbelievably weird. We played in the lobby of the Hyatt in downtown Indianapolis. Here's some sample dialogue:

DEREK (on stage to asshole sound guy): "Can I get some more keyboards for my monitor?"
ASSHOLE SOUND GUY: (dryly) "Yes. You have 10 minutes."
DEREK (into the microphone): "Great! 10 minutes to not hear the keyboard.... I'm just kidding."
KENNY (into the mic): "Yeah he's just kidding, but in a dick way."

I also invited people to visit the lovely giftshop after every song.

KENNY:

A Summer Hijacked

2005-07-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

I walked from my car through a side door and saw people kissing with their eyes closed this morning. I felt sad. I went to my cubicle, logged onto dictionary.com and looked up the definition for "void." Only the young die all at once, I'll tell you that much.

It's been raining a lot in B-town the last couple of days. My windshield wipers need fixing. Most headlights seem too bright. Especially when it's raining.

Fuck it.

The Crown Of Love

2005-07-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

From Crown of Love by The Arcade Fire:

they say it fades if you let it, love was made to forget it. i carved
your name across my eyelids, you pray for rain i pray for blindness.
if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love is not upon me.
if you still want me, please forgive me, because the spark is not within me.
i snuffed it out before my mom walked in my bedroom.
the only thing that you keep changin' is your name. my love keeps
growin' still the same, just like cancer, and you won't give me a
straight answer!
if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love has fallen from me.
if you still want me, please forgive me, because your hands are not upon me.
i shrugged them off before my mom walked in my bedroom.
the pains of love, and they keep growin', in my heart there's flowers
growin' on the grave of our old love, since you gave me a straight
answer.
if you still want me, please forgive me, the crown of love is not upon me.
if you still want me, please forgive me, because the spark is not within me.
it's not within me.
it's not within me.
you gotta be the one. you gotta be the way. your name is the only
word, the only word that i can say!

And another song saves my mind...

2005-06-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

As trite as it sounds THANK GOD for great songs. They drag me out of seemingly bottemless holes of disenchantment, self-loathing and straight depression over and over again.

Thanks for this one Ray Davies. If I'm nuts, you were too:

20th Century Man

This is the age of machinery,
A mechanical nightmare,
The wonderful world of technology,
Napalm hydrogen bombs biological warfare,

This is the twentieth century,
But too much aggravation
It’s the age of insanity,
What has become of the green pleasant fields of jerusalem.

Ain’t got no ambition, I’m just disillusioned
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here.
My mama said she can’t understand me
She can’t see my motivation
Just give me some security,
I’m a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century.

You keep all your smart modern writers
Give me william shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I’ll take rembrandt, titian, da vinci and gainsborough,

Girl we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t want to die here.

I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy got no liberty
Cos the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me.

Don’t wanna get myself shot down
By some trigger happy policeman,
Gotta keep a hold on my sanity
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna die here.

My mama says she can’t understand me
She can’t see my motivation
Ain’t got no security,
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here.

This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
This is the edge of insanity
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here.

Day Care Chronicles Part V

2005-06-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today Mason DID NOT CRY when I dropped him off. And this is the best day I've had in two weeks.

Day Care Chronicles Part IV

2005-06-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today continued to be an improvement- There was worry, but no crying until we actually pulled up to Kid's View. The whole thing is getting a little easier for both of us I think- I'm definitely starting to numb to the process. And Mason, while not psyched about going, seems at least resigned to it at this point.

The Day Care Chronicles Part III

2005-06-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a slight improvement!

He was not hysterical all the way there. He cried slightly a couple of times, but didn't start bawling until we got there, and didn't freak out as bad as last time. I also did better. I used more of a tough love approach (and by that I mean I didn't cry with him this time), and maybe that helped him keep it together.

I figured out another trick today too, for my own sanity. I dropped him off a half-hour early, and then drove to a spot overlooking the playground so I could watch him from afar for a while. He wasn't exactly himself (i.e. careening from one side of the park to the other), but he wasn't crying either. He was just swinging.

Might get through this yet!

The Day Care Chronicles Part II

2005-06-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Mason's 2nd Day...

Well, it was worse than the first. Mason freaked the moment going to Day Care was mentioned. He cried his eyes out all morning, barely able to catch his breath. In an attempt at bargaining, he kept saying "I want to go take a nap with my blankets..." (normally he's hard to get to lay down at nap time). He cried throughout the 15-minute drive to Kid's View and insisted on holding my hand. When we got there, he latched onto me and wouldn't let go. I finally had to pry him away and hand him to Lisa, one of the pre-school teachers, and he threw what may have been his first kicker-fit ever.

This is definitely the most upset I've ever seen him, which I guess, in a way, is not a terrible thing-- it does sort of make me feel good to see that he's generally a happy kid and feels pretty secure at home. Still, getting through this is really tough. At least today I knew how hard it would be.

One thing I've learned as a parent-- there's no easy way around transitions, whether it be starting day care, getting them to sleep in their own bed, beginning a disciplinary plan, etc. You must go through it without wavering.

And it's really fucking hard.

Day Care/Pre-School

2005-06-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

I just dropped off my 2.5-year old for his first day of Day Care/Pre-School. We researched and found a place we really liked.

And I've never felt like such a shitty parent.

When I left he was screaming for me and saying he wanted to go home. I sat in my car and cried.

Ugh. It's taking all my willpower not to leave work and go pick him up right now.

Twitchy Twitch

2005-06-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

So I went to Indy on Wednesday to put the finishing touches on a song and print the mixes for the new Gentleman Caller record, and well, I'll sum it up w/ this quote:

(UPON THE THE DEVASTATING NEWS THAT ALL BUT ONE GC MIX HAD DISAPPEARED)
Kenny: "Well, at least we've manually edited things for mixing if we have to do it again."
Tony (w/ sad resignation): "Is that sarcasm?"
Kenny: "No, I don't have the energy for sarcasm. My soul is gone. That's where I keep my sarcasm."

So there's that.

On the way to work today, I saw this guy I have seen around town for at least 6 or 7 years. I see him all the time. He looks hard- sort of weary- like he lives outside. He's always walking. His black dog is always walking right next to him. He doesn't have a leash. He and the dog are always in lock step w/ gazes fixed diliberately on the other side. I've NEVER seen he and the dog interact w/ each other. I've never seen either of them look to the left or to the right. I've never seen the dog stop to sniff or piss, or any of that dogs ALWAYS do. Sometimes I wonder if they are ghosts. Anyway, I'm pretty fascinated by them.

Lyrics killing me today (from "NO GALORE" by Faith Kleppinger):

"And here’s the tally, and it’s a tab for two
And it’s in front of you
This is no world war
No little Texas where the calls would not go through
Down on Capitol View, kids still carry on like you’d expect them to
It’s just a good old fashioned broken heart
A good old fashioned broken heart"

Chicago Wedding

2005-06-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a really fun trip to Chicago- saw our friends Rob and Crystal get hitched, and it was truly moving. Seeing Rob's eyes at the moment he saw Crystal walking toward him was a nice reintroduction to those things that truly matter. And it's got nothing to do w/ money, jobs, or any of that crap. It made me immediately miss my boy who spent the night w/ his grandma. In fact, I suddenly wanted everyone that I loved in the same room. After the vows, we ate asparagus and danced to Outkast, The Modern Lovers and solved a Rick Springfield mystery. Erik T was an awesome and tolerant host as always.

The drive home from Chicago was AWFUL, however. Tornadoes, overturned semis, dead-stop traffic, etc. It took 6.5 hours to make it home. Terrible way to spend a hangover. But we fared better than the overturned semis so I shouldn't complain.

Listening: "All My Life" by Echo and The Bunnymen (God, I'm a sucker for this gorgeous sap- I miss Molly Ringwald)
Watching: paint peel
Reading: "Knight: My Story" (what an asshole he is)

ALL OVER THE MAP

2005-06-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

I'm tired all the time these days. I realize exhaustion comes w/ the territory of being a parent, but I get 6-8 hours of sleep most nights... I stopped eating meat around the same time I became a parent (2.5 years ago) and sometimes I wonder if it's related to a lack of protein. Who knows?

On the good side of things, my wife Terra PASSED her X-ray exam!!! Two years of sacrifice and tears for her, and I'm quite proud. Put her in a loving headlock next time you see her.

Listening: "TROUBLES" by The Beta Band ("too many troubles, too many troubles, I don't know how we live so long...")
Watching: SIX FEET UNDER the 3rd Season (this show keeps getting better)
Reading: THE TRANSITION GAME by Jon Wertheim (incredible insight into the sociology/culture of Indiana High School basketball)

Kenny's Top Ten Songs for June 1st

2005-06-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

1. Mark Lanegan- "I Hit the City"
2. The Raveonettes- "Red Tan"
3. Derek Richey- "The Threat of Goodbyes"
4. Mark Lanegan- "Strange Religion"
5. Archer Avenue- "Jolene, We Almost Never Met"
6. Spoon- "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"
7. The Beta Band- "Troubles"
8. Joe Tex- "The Love You Save"
9. Pravada- "Judi"
10. T Rex- "Chariots of Silk"

Alternative Lifestyle

2005-05-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

40-something man in store to me: "I think sometimes girls want to date guys that smell bad because they are bored. They want an alternative lifestyle. I never understand that."

A Strange Exchange

2005-05-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I need a focus to this blog. I'm no good at blogging regularly- I don't feel like I've got all that much to say in this form- so I'm going to just post exchanges overheard in the office, the hallways, the street outside, etc. It's voyeuristic and creepy, sure, but it'll amuse me.

Here's my first:

Gentleman In Cap: "I got a new leg to day."
other Gentleman In Cap: "ha ha ha, me too."

Gentleman Calling

2005-04-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Let me just tell you this world: there is nobody out there, and I mean NOBODY who has a better group of musicians and people to play with than I do. Gentleman Caller recorded up in Indy at Queensize w/ Tony W. engineering, and it was fantastic. Finishing the songs up last night, I was just downright PSYCHED to be in this band with these people. I hope to do it again soon. Wonderful wonderful wonderful.

I learned from my good friend Faith Kleppinger that no good quote should go unnoticed or be forgotten, so I've stolen another one of her ideas and decided to put them on a website.

Some notable ones:

Derek (after Tony adjusted an keyboard sound): "What did you do to my keboard?!"
Tony: "It's my keyboard."
Derek (sarcastically): "That's the best comeback I've ever heard."
Tony: "It's not a comeback."

In the studio Chris K. started to develop a habit of getting mad at himself for playing a part wrong and then violently strumming some chord or bending a string that would turn out to be a GREAT addition to the song. Along this subject line, the following exchange ensued:
Chris: "Anger is what seperates me from Toad the Wet Sprocket."
Kenny: "Anger and shoes."

Derek: "You only throw confetti when you're at the parade." (a profound non-sequiter)

Kenny: "I want to make sure and get the vocal sound right. Otherwise, there's no reason to record."
Tony: "Try telling that to an instrumental band."
Chris: "I'd like to say that to an instrumental band."

More on Marla

2005-04-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

Granted I'm naturally suspicious these days, but Marla's death sure does seem awfully convenient for the current administration and the Pentagon. The Pentagon supposedly does not keep a body count for the dead civilians in Iraq, but there is reason to believe that is not necessarily true and that Marla may have obtained access to those numbers. Apparently she was encouraging the Pentagon to publish those numbers (which make it difficult to avoid accountability). See http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/21/1418206 and download the audio or video segment.

Rockin' and Rollin' and Whatnot

2005-04-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

My rockandroll chamber pop band, GENTLEMAN CALLER will be playing this Saturday, April 23rd at Radio Radio in Indianapolis. Also on the bill is Margot and the Nuclear So & So's (featuring my new favorite songwriter, Richard Edwards).

I'm also very excited, because we will spend the weekend in Indy recording. Musically, I am most at home in the studio, and simply can't wait. To get to concentrate on making songs for 2 days with 5 of the coolest people on the planet (Freda, Jim, Derek, Chris and Tony) makes me feel pretty lucky. I'm also ready for a couple of days cutting loose.

Marla Ruzicka

2005-04-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

Marla Ruzicka was a humanitarian working to help victims of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was killed in a car bombing in Baghdad this past Saturday. Her death is tragic, but her story is pretty inspiring: http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/marla.html and http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1230-08.htm

Her life seems like it was a work of art.

Blog Test

2005-04-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

check, 1, 2, 3--- testing.

I spend enough time reading other people's blogs, I figured I might as well start my own.

This feels funny.