Tha Big Four-Oh

New Song

I'm really too busy lately to've been working on this... But whatever. I'm trying to get enough recorded material together to put an album-length collection up on Bandcamp. Should be able to do it pretty soon, I think!

Last week we got to see our friend Jenny and her still pretty new little boy, Percy. They were in town on their way from Toronto to PEI. We got salads and soup from Pete's Frootique and took them to the park, because the sun was actually out and you could sit down for awhile without shivering. Very nice.

Also had a brunch on Saturday with our Dartmouth friends Ron & Kristina. It was back to rainy and miserable that day, but the brunch was still also very nice.

I've been finishing off some logo work for a couple of new clients, and I think I'll show you some of it when it's done. I'd like to do a little post about the process of logo creation, 'cause I think it's kind of interesting to see all the stages of stuff that gets discarded and/or refined along the way.

Anyway, blah blah blah... I gotta get some sleep now because the tunnel that is my visual field is quickly getting smaller. Zzzzz!

Summer...

... as of 2:16 p.m. ADT! Time for cottages and sitting outside!

Entertaining the Masses

My friend Matt sent me a couple of photos from the solo set I did at Local Jo a couple of weeks ago. Apparently there's some video footage too, which I haven't seen yet.

Interesting detail: the occupied chair in the first picture is empty in the second...

Happy Birthday, Sweet Beet!

Hope your day is filled with wonderful things.

Great Weekend

I guess I neglected to mention it, but the solo show I did on Friday went pretty well. No real technical problems to speak of, despite the fact that earlier in the day it had looked like pretty much everything that could possibly go wrong was going to. I'd recorded drum and keyboard parts and put them on my iPod to play along with on electric guitar, which was supposed to be a way of making myself feel like I wasn't alone up there. But of course that adds a whole new set of potential glitches, such as the iPod skipping the first couple of beats of each song for some ridiculous reason. Then my "amp" (actually just a reel-to-reel tape recorder from the sixties) wouldn't turn on, the mixes didn't sound right, I couldn't seem to sing loud enough without a microphone, etc., etc. It was looking bleak for awhile there during the day, but everything worked out just fine at the coffee shop. The audience was small but kind, Matt played a great set, and the whole evening was just overall pleasant.

Then, as you know, there was the record fair the next day. And Saturday night I went to a "Northern Soul Dance Night" at this weird little club that's a Chinese restaurant in the daytime. A bunch of scooter-loving, mod-clothing-wearing guys (including my old friend Henri) who know their stuff when it comes to 60's soul and British culture spun records, while about 15 faces had a great time shaking a slim-fit-trousered leg. Fun!

And yesterday was the second Sunday of the softball season. Another great day for it, and we won again, which means we haven't lost a game yet. This without having our usual stellar shortstop, Vinny, who's out with an accidentally messed-up eye and impending fatherhood.

Finally, birthday wishes to our sweet li'l nephew Bennett, who turns six today. You'll be getting a little something in the mail soon, pending decent postal service.

Record Fair!

Today there was a big record fair at the Forum. Lots of music nerds with huge collections of vinyl sold their wares to lots of other music nerds with huge collections of vinyl. Very nice music nerds, on both sides of the bins. It was a lot of fun, and of course we spent too much money. But I managed to get, among everything else, these two really fantastic records that are pretty hard to find, at least around here. The Coltrane one I've actually been looking for for over 20 years now, since the first time I heard it on New Year's Eve day, 1989, and it completely blew my mind. Crazy and cerebral and spiritual in the purest sense of the word. Alice Coltrane plays harp all over it and conducts a string orchestra. Also featuring Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, and Elvin Jones. I know, right? Why is this stuff so hard to come by? Below is a sample — one of the four long tracks that comprise the album.

Five Minute Blog Break

Sooooo busy over here. Trying to prepare for this show coming up on Friday, and birthdays, plus working out crazy relationship issues, planning trips, scrounging for money... But everything's OK. I started feeling bad about that last post being the most recent thing on here, like I'm still just sitting here fuming at mysterious, unknown people and their abstract problems. Played the first softball games of the season on Sunday, against a brand new team, and won both of them after being down 5-0 by the third inning. And I've got some new clients. And the leaves are all out and yesterday was sunny and warm for the first time in I don't know how long. If I can just remember to sleep sometimes, everything'll be great.

OK, back to work!