We've been in Iraq five years now, longer than both the Civil War and World War II.

In our history, only the Vietnam War lasted longer.

There is a lot of legitimate debate over how and when we should best end this. And even more debate over whether or not this fight should ever have begun.

When you are fighting something as amorphous as terrorism, how do you even know when the war is over?

I am glad however that there is NOT much debate over whether or not we should honor and respect our troops. They have a tough job to do, and for the most part they do it admirably.

My dear friend Ian Rhett wrote a song a few years ago, dedicated to his sister who is serving in the Marines. The song, and the video to go with it, are powerfully moving.

To mark the fifth anniversary of this conflict, I'd like to encourage everyone to listen to this song and watch the video here.

No matter what your stance on the war, you will be moved. And if you are moved, please share this.

Ian's description of the song:

"Semper Fi" is the Marine Corps motto, and means "Always Faithful".
"(I Know Why You're) Semper Fi" is a song inspired by my sister, an active duty Marine. I'm a musician committed to generating kindness and inspiring peace and I'm also profoundly grateful for the commitment to serve demonstrated by my sister and her military community.

The goal of the video is to create a middle ground in a deeply divided national dialogue about the war - to respectfully acknowledge the sacrifice and dedication of the men and women fighting on our behalf, and to ask aloud, "When does the time for peace finally arrive?"

Supporting the troops doesn't mean giving the government a blank check of public support. In my opinion, supporting the troops means not only acknowledging their commitment, but also taking responsibility for speaking out to their civilian leadership on their behalf by exercising the rights for which they and their predecessors fought. Their job is to follow orders, and they do it better than anyone else on the planet. Our job as citizens is to hold our government accountable. To be silent, in my opinion, is to dishonor both freedom and the sacrifices made in its pursuit.

I am amazed and delighted at the incredible responses I got to my post last week about finding a musical instrument to dive into.

Based upon all the great feedback - my current "short list" is as follows... Guitar, electric bass, tribal flute, penny whistle, harmonica, electric violin, or ukulele. I think for now I will need to rule out a theremin or laser harp. *grin*

A lot of people suggested flute or penny whistle type instruments. I tend to have a strong preference for deep rich sounds, so the thought of anything shrill was an initial turnoff. But there seems to be low-toned flutes to be found. I guess I need some pointers on where to look (and listen) further to check these out.

I have been considering the tradeoffs to be made, and I would appreciate advice on how I might best balance the following considerations:

Acoustic / Amplified / Silent: I love the idea of being able to close my eyes and play into headphones, so an instrument that has a "silent" mode has a lot of appeal. I also like the option of being able to just grab and play acoustically, with no fuss or setup. And finally - playing around with tweaking sounds and distortions and effects appeals to my inner geek. How to best balance these three different desires is an interesting question... Thoughts?

Cost: I really can't afford to spend a lot on gear just to get started. I'd like to find something cheap to start with, and then I can invest more as my skills evolve and my interests solidify. What is the sweet spot of price vs quality for getting started on various instruments?

Learning Curve: Theory doesn't really scare me - but memorization does. I am the type of person who will happily read a manual cover-to-cover, but I hate repetition and memorization. This is something I know I am going to struggle against in learning any instrument - but ideally I'd like to focus on something that puts less emphasis on repetition and memorization.... Which instruments are better here?

Portability: This is actually a major factor. We may be living in a large house for the moment, but before long Cherie and I will be back on the road and living in a 16' trailer towed by a small Jeep. We already have two small drums on board, and not a lot additional of space to devote to musical toys. Anything much larger than a guitar is certainly an impossibility.

Geekability: I am a geek, and I'd love to be able to do geekly things with music creation. Live looping and sampling is something that (in theory) really turns me on, and I think I'd like to eventually explore this. What instruments lend themselves best to this sort of experimentation? What are the best ways to get started?

Girl-Compatibility: My partner serolynne notes: "Since my particular artistic expression is body movement to music, I have no real suggestions for you.. but it would be majorly awesome for you to pick up something to play that we can then work into me doing fire/LED poi dancing as you make live music." Indeed - it would be great to find an instrument that she can fire dance along to. *grin*


ferlonda advised this: "Make mistakes, get your callouses going, make friends with whatever instrument you pick up and see if it's a long term friendship, love affair or one night stand and have a good time doing it."

I love the one night stand analogy. Now I just need to figure out where to go and what lines to use to pick up a hot flute and some sexy strings for some experimental canoodling... *grin*

I've always wanted to be able to express myself with music.

Twice in my life I've clicked into a magic place where my brain is out of the way and the music is flowing through me. Once was late night at a music festival, scat singing with a bunch of (literal!) clowns. The other time was drumming with some close friends around a fire, and suddenly finding myself flowing into the lead.

I've gotten partway there a few other times while drumming in groups, but only for moments at a time. And never on my own.

I'd like to learn to play some instrument (any instrument!) well enough that I can create music alone, and can comfortably and unashamedly join in with others. I want to find a way that I can consistently reach inside of myself to let the artist inside spill out.

But what instrument? How do I decide? How do I get started?

Thoughts, suggestions, and advice are much appreciated.

Here are my current thoughts...

Guitar: I remember being told by my music teacher in middle school that I would never be very good with a guitar because I have thick fingers. Does that really matter? Am I doomed? A guitar does seem like a pretty universally versatile instrument - and they are fairly portable. How should I get started learning? How long will it take to get my head out of the way? Should I find an instructor? Is there a good way to learn on my own? What are the various styles? Where should I start?

The upcoming teaching tool / game "Guitar Rising" looks to be pretty cool (see the video above). You play along learning real songs, but unlike the Playstation hit Guitar Hero - in Guitar Rising you actually use a real guitar interfaced with you computer. Hmmm... That appeals to my inner geek and my inner gamer.

I do think I'm more drawn more towards playing bass. I like slow intense grooves more than fast shredding. I don't think I want to learn an instrument that is focused on speed. Slow and deliberate is more my calling. I think.

Keyboards: I don't think so. Too much multi-tasking. And it seems like there is a gigantic learning curve to reach the place where I can get my head out of the way and just play, expressing myself in the moment.

Drums: Though Neal Peart is one of my musical heros, I can't ever imagine myself behind a drum set. I however do have a hand drum, and I love playing in drum circles. I would like to take my mostly-self-taught novice skills to a higher level. But drums to me always feel like an accompaniment. I can't see myself jamming alone with a drum. I think therefore that drums will always fall short of what I am looking for.

Singing: Uhm, no. Despite my one foray into scat singing, I just don't think I have vocal expression in me...

Horns: I love a big brassy horn section in a band, but I've never really felt much calling to play any brass or woodwind instrument. Maybe a Didgeridoo... Or a harmonica. Hmmm...

Strings: There are a lot of very cool string instruments out there. I love bluegrass, and banjo. And I've always been blown away by mandolin players - Nickel Creek floored me live. And watching Jake Shimabukuro wail on his ukulele always leaves my jaw on the floor. Watch this and be amazed:

A mandolin or a ukulele would be small and easily portable. But the focus on speed and precision scares me.

There is something about the electric violin however that calls to me. I have only seen electric violin live a few times, and there is something magical about it. I love the sound, power, soulfulness, and the uniqueness. This video is amazing:

I love the way that he layers tracks down live in this video.
How hard is it to learn to play an electric violin? Where can I get started?

Beat Boxing: I've seen Kid Beyond perform a few times. Uhm, wow. A microphone, a laptop, and some foot pedals, and this is what you get:

Could I learn to do this? Amazing.
But Kid Beyond may just be a freak of nature - I'm not sure he has human vocal chords...

Sampling / Live Looping: I've always been drawn to live looping's mixture of geekery and art. I was first exposed to this via a Keller Williams concert. I love the idea of laying down tracks in the moment. I've seen beautiful music created with nothing but a laptop and software - taking ambient noises and creating something incredible.

Hmmm... How could I get started exploring this? And will there be enough "performance" aspect to get my head out of the way? I do love how this can be combined with just about anything else on this list though...

DJ Spinning: I never really appreciated the artistry that goes into DJ sets until my mind was blown open watching Loren Bassnectar at Burning Man a few years ago. There is a mix geekery, composition, advanced planning, and live performance that really intrigues me here. Hmmm....

Other Stuff: I love the unusual. And I love technology. Combine the two and you get things like this:

Wow. I want one. How cool would it be to play a laser harp? Or as Engadget says: "A harp made from frickin' laser beams!"

Or maybe a Theremin. Or a fire organ. Or Blue Man style mondo-percussion. Or something else bizarre and unique. I've even seen a Wii controller turned into a musical instrument.


My Problem: What to pick? Where to get started? What to buy?
Thoughts? Advice? Wisdom? All insights are appreciated. If you play an instrument - I'd love to hear about it, and how you got started.

[BTW: In case you couldn't tell, I am an MBTI P-type personality. I start off overwhelmed with possibilities - now help me narrow my focus!]

I rarely (ever?) post memes, but I saw this in cortneyofeden's journal and it looked fun. It feels particularly timely since I've been playing around in iTunes tweaking playlists tonight.

Instructions: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how embarrassing the responses might be.

How many songs total: 11,025 (44.10 GB)
How many hours or days of music: 31.7 days (a month uninterrupted!)

Most recently played: "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette
Most played: "Taste It All" by Christopher Bingham. (72 plays)
Completing the Top 10 most played... "Meteor Shower" by Joules Graves (66), "Catch My Disease" by Ben Lee (64), "The Art of Driving" by Black Box Recorder (62), "Into The Dark" by Ben Lee (61), "Just Because" by Gaia Consort (61), "A Beautiful Morning" by The Young Rascals (60), "Question" by The Moody Blues (59), "Walk Between the Raindrops" by James McMurtry (58), and "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls (57).

The most played Rush song is "Kid Gloves" at #13 with 55 plays.

Most recently added: Ignoring daily NPR podcasts, the most recent song added is last week's iTunes freebie: "Esta Noche" by Pedro Capo.

Sort by song title...
First Song: "Aberystwyth" by My Friend the Chocolate Cake
Last Song: 2112 by Rush (studio version and three different live versions!)

Sort by time...
Shortest Song: "Who's Knocking On The Wall?" by They Might Be Giants (4 seconds).
Longest Song: "Thick As A Brick" by Jethro Tull (43 minutes)

Sort by album...
First album: Abbey Road by The Beatles
Last album: 2112 by Rush

First song that comes up on Shuffle: "Urgent" by Foreigner

Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death - 29
Life - 322
Love - 463 (1.2 days of non-stop love!)
Hate – 33
You - 961
Sex – 40

I love peaking into other people's music collections, so if you are interested in sharing - please post this into your own journal.

I just got an email letting me know that tour dates have been announced for the 2008 Snakes & Arrows Live Tour!

Rush will be back on the road and passing through Florida in just a few months !

April 13th - Ft. Lauderdale
April 15th - Orlando
July 22nd - Atlanta (the last day of the tour)

The Orlando show is all but a certainty for us, and perhaps one of the others. Anyone in FL interested in joining us?

Fan pre-sale tickets for some shows go on sale tomorrow, but not the FL ones. As soon as they do, I am excited at the possibility of jumping early and trying to get seats as close to the front as possible. I haven't seen Rush perform up close since college.

*bounce*

Even though we already saw the first leg of this tour back in August in San Francisco, Rush is the only band that I could imagine wanting to see play multiple times on one tour, or even on consecutive nights. In fact, I remember doing just that to see the first two nights of the Counterparts tour in 1994. Pensacola one night, New Orleans the next.

I am such a fan... :-)

There is something magic about watching a performer blow away an audience - doubly so if the audience is completely caught by surprise.

A friend forwarded my dad this video clip yesterday - the first appearance on Britain's Got Talent by eventual winner Paul Potts. This show is the UK equivalent of American Idol, with the same Simon Cowell as judge.

Watch this and be blown away:

What an amazing performance. And to think he was a cellphone salesman!

Yesterday was the UK debut of the iPhone. I find it exceedingly amusing that instead of selling iPhones yesterday, Paul was being shown off around an Irish bar in downtown St. Louis with this video being played ON my iPhone. My dad must have shown the clip to dozens of people while we were out last night - going up to random strangers to ask "do you know Paul Potts?"

It was a fun night out on the town indeed!

Feeling run down and frustrated today. Annoyed with my broken Mac, long todo lists, and fighting off some mild illness that had Cherie on her ass yesterday. *grumble*

Nothing significantly wrong... Just feeling sort of overcast.

My mental radio tuned to Rush for some uplift:

How It Is
from Vapor Trails (2002)

Here's a little trap
That sometimes catches everyone
When today's as far as we can see
Faith in bright tomorrows
Giving way to resignation
That's how it is
How it's going to be

It's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
Or feel the day has possibilities
Frozen in the moment...
The lack of imagination
Between how it is and how it ought to be

Here's a little trap
That sometimes trips up everyone
When we tire of our own company
Sometimes we're the last to see beyond the day's frustrations
That's how it is
How it's going to be

It's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
I feel the day is all uncertainty
Burning in the moment
Trapped by the desperation
Between how it is and how it ought to be

Foot upon the stair
Shoulder to the wheel
You can't tell yourself not to care
You can't tell yourself how to feel
That's how it is
Another cloudy day

In roughly 24hrs Rush will be hitting the stage at the Concord Pavilion.
I can't wait - I need the inspiration!

So serolynne and I have decided to stop "rushing" around for a bit, and we've accepted an offer to spend two weeks house/cat-sitting for some friends in San Leandro August 3rd - 17th.

And that means we will be in town for my all-time-uber-favorite band!!! Rush is passing through the Bay Area the following dates:

Aug 1 - Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View
Aug 3 - Concord Pavilion

We are considering going to at least one of the shows - probably getting lawn seats for aprox $30.

Anyone interested in joining us?

If there is interest, I may make a pilgrimage to the box office to try and avoid some of the outrageous TicketBastard fees. Let me know ASAP if you'd like me to pick any up. A large group rocking out on the lawn together would be a blast.

And the new Rush album, Snakes & Arrows? Mmmm, good!
I don't think there is any other band that has continued to crank out such amazing music (and lyrics) over such an incredibly long career. And they just keep doing it.

Here's the leadoff track from the new album:

Far Cry - Click through here to rush.com to hear the full song.

Pariah dogs and wandering madmen
Barking at strangers and speaking in tongues
The ebb and flow of tidal fortune
Electrical changes are charging up the young

It’s a far cry from the world we thought we’d inherit
It’s a far cry from the way we thought we’d share it
You can almost feel the current flowing
You can almost see the circuits blowing

One day I feel I’m on top of the world
And the next it’s falling in on me
I can get back on
I can get back on
One day I Feel I’m ahead of the wheel
And the next it’s rolling over me
I can get back on
I can get back on

Whirlwind life of faith and betrayal
Rise in anger, fall back and repeat
Slow degrees on the dark horizon
Full moon rising, lays silver at your feet

It’s a far cry from the world we thought we’d inherit
It’s a far cry from the way we thought we’d share it
You can almost feel the current flowing
You can almost see the circuits blowing

One day I feel I’m on top of the world
And the next it’s falling in on me
I can get back on
I can get back on
One day I Feel I’m ahead of the wheel
And the next it’s rolling over me
I can get back on
I can get back on

It’s a far cry from the world we thought we’d inherit
You can almost see the circle growing
You can almost feel the planets glowing

One day I feel I’m on top of the world
And the next it’s falling in on me
I can get back on
I can get back on
One day I Feel I’m ahead of the wheel
And the next it’s rolling over me
I can get back on
I can get back on

One day I fly through a crack in the sky
And the next it’s falling in on me
I can get back on
I can get back on

Oh oh oh I can get back on I can get back on

That soaring guitar riff - wow. Dangerous while driving, listening to this song easily tacks 10-15mph onto your current speed. But then, that's Rush. *grin*

Go here: Savenetradio.org

Without an immediate intervention from congress, most US-based Internet radio stations are about the be hit with a bill that will bankrupt them and forever put them out of business. This sucks.

Most of my new music discoveries come via Pandora, and I love listening to the uber-awesome Radio Paradise whenever I am working online. Both of them teeter on the eve of bankruptcy due to a ruling (and now a denied appeal) by the Copyright Royalty Board that will charge Internet radio stations vastly more than over-the-air or satellite stations pay to play the same music.

The Copyright Royalty Board is basing its rates for streaming music primarily on how much Yahoo was willing to pay to acquire Broadcast.com ($5.7 billion dollars!) at the height of the dot.com mania. Never mind that the founder of Broadcast.com (Mark Cuban) has confessed that "the Yahoo / RIAA deal I worked on, if it resembles the deal the CARP ruling was built on, was designed so that there would be less competition, and so that small webcasters who needed to live off of a "percentage-of-revenue" to survive, couldn't."

Read more details from Mark Cuban's perspective here.

To make things even worse, the new royalty rates are retroactive back through 2006, hitting these online stations with a huge overdue bill that none of them will be able to survive.

Pandora will be hit particularly hard. The new rules mandate a $500 minimum royalty charge to be paid per "station". Pandora lets you create your own channels customized to your personal tastes - I have nearly two dozen set up myself. In other words, Pandora may owe OVER $10,000 for having let me listen to music!!! Insane!

It only takes a minute to send a letter to your congress-folk via Savenetradio.org. Go there now!

And enjoy Paradise while it lasts...

The dike is starting to burst, and I saw it coming.

As I posted about here, on February 6th Steve Jobs sent an "open letter" to the music industry calling for an end to DRM.

I was excited at the time, particularly because I suspected Apple had the next few moves in the chess game already rigged and ready to go in its favor.

I chatted about my theories with my old boss Michael Mace at the time:

Chris: My conspiracy theory: rumor has it that EMI is about to open up a lot of its catalog without DRM. Apple has been working with EMI and Apple records on the Beatles deal. When EMI announces their catalog going DRM free (including the Beatles), Apple will roll out a new DRM-free option for iTunes.
Mike: SO maybe Jobs said what he did so he could look like a prophet when the deal he knows is coming actually goes through. That would be very Steve-like.
Chris: Exactly. Apple then ends up with the best position to be in. iPod users remain locked to iTunes. And users of other devices can now shop on iTunes also, becoming Apple customers.

I wake up this morning to find that my prediction was dead on. From the Apple press release:

“We are going to give iTunes customers a choice—the current versions of our songs for the same 99 cent price, or new DRM-free versions of the same songs with even higher audio quality and the security of interoperability for just 30 cents more,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think our customers are going to love this, and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year.”

“EMI and iTunes are once again teaming up to move the digital music industry forward by giving music fans higher quality audio that is virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings, with no usage restrictions on the music they love from their favorite artists,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group.

This is a brilliant move. Apple is raising the price on individual DRM-free tracks (the existing locked 99-cent versions will remain available too), but they are doubling the bitrate to also offer superior sound quality for that extra 30-cents. Even better, while DRM-free singles cost a bit more - entire albums remain priced the same at $9.99.

I am thrilled to see the end of DRM - at least from EMI. And now that one of the major labels (and the Beatles!) has broken ranks to embrace open music, the other major record labels will feel immense pressure to reverse course.

For me personally, this is probably going to vastly increase the amount of music that I buy. Now that I am nomadic I hate dealing with physical CD's more than ever, but I have been really hesitant to buy much music online because of DRM lock-in issues. Because of this, I've hardly bought any music of any sort this past year. Come mid-May - I expect I'll have a lot less resistance towards expanding my music collection.

Nice job Steve. Now, how about removing the DRM from Pixar and Disney movies too while you are at it? *grin*

serolynne, Fritz, and I watched the Blue Man Group's The Complex live concert DVD tonight over dinner. It was overall pretty good, but this one song totally stole the show.

The energy and intensity of I Feel Love featuring special guests Venus Hum had Cherie and I rocking out all over the living room listening to it a dozen times over. What an awesome song!

And what an uber-cool light up dress she is wearing too. And how totally perfect for Burning Man! Cherie is already scouring the net trying to figure out how to make something similar. *grin*

Yesterday Apple posted an essay from Steve Jobs on the state of DRM. And despite having a near monopoly on online music sales with the iTunes Store and iPod locked together via Apple's FairPaly DRM technology - Steve is calling for a DRM-free future.

The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.

Wow.

It is great to hear Apple and Steve taking such a strong stance for openness. Steve Jobs is once again demonstrating his mastery of PR, flipping the debate about Apple having locked the iPod and iTunes together so that now the music industry gets to be the bad guy.

This snippet from the Business Week article sums things up well:

Regardless of what direction the industry takes now, Apple can now claim the moral high ground. "He may be counting (on the idea) that the labels will still not give up on DRM," says Kohn, who's now CEO of RoyaltyShare, which processes royalties on digital tracks. That lets him "play the hero to consumers." Or if the labels do drop DRM, then Apple can claim credit, rather than be blamed, says Kohn. "It's a PR ploy, and he'll come out ahead either way."

But - actions speak louder than words. Apple could start to embrace DRM-free content today, without waiting for the big-four music labels to come around. Even major bands like Barenaked Ladies are willing to give it a go, not to mention the TONS of independent music from lesser known artists out there already available without DRM.

BoingBoing has a nice rundown of some of the other online responses, including links to some artists who have been trying to get Apple to sell their music DRM-free for years.

And what about movies, Steve? You have a lot of sway over Pixar, and even Disney. How about releasing the Pixar movie catalog online without DRM restrictions?

Now that would be an impressive move indeed.

You clearly are willing to throw down the gauntlet, but how willing are you to pick it up?

Are you game?

I am so far behind in blogging my adventures. Much more soon, I promise...

But first, a quick poll:

Anyone interested in going to the Earthdance Festival Sept 15th - 17th? It is a big camping / music festival being held 3hrs north of SF in a redwood grove.

Should be much fun - camping and great music. Ani DiFranco, Ozomatli, Kid Beyond, and dozens of other artists I have never heard of will be performing.

I just got back from the SolFest in Hopland (what a great time!), and I heard lots of good things there about EarthDance so I am interested in checking it out.

Anyone want to go camp with me?

Meanwhile, I am headed out the door to Burning Man. I hope to get online once or twice from the playa, but you never know...

This past Monday night Jeannie and I got dressed up and drove down to Seattle to see the Wet Spots in concert, at a club ironically enough called The Wet Spot. (Steve had other plans and we could not talk him into joining us...)

What a fun night!

The Wet Spots are a "musical sex comedy duo" that have gained some fame and notoriety lately thanks to the hilarious widely shared Internet music-video "Do You Take It?" that has been making the rounds the past few months.

Cass King has a sultry lounge singers voice and playful spirit that is extremely engaging. Her partner John Woods provided the guitar and additional vocals. Both of them were a joy to watch perform. By the time intermission rolled around, I had a well developed crush on Cass - she is amazing.

The style of The Wet Spots music ranges from swanky lounge to silly sing-alongs. But the one common theme is that all the songs have something to do with sex. If you ever wanted to sing along with a room full of folks about porcupine masturbation - the Wet Spots are for you. Other great songs explore the horrors of toe sucking, or the ponderings of "Bi-Curious George." Hilarious!

The Wet Spots songs were intermixed with performances by The Von Foxies - an awesome Seattle burlesque troupe. In particular I loved the Seattle strip-tease that started off with yuppie cell phones and Starbucks, and ended up several layers of flannel later with dancers wearing sequined waffle-fabric long-underware stockings held up by garters. Brilliant!

SF Folk - the Wet Spots are coming on July 21st! Don't miss the show - it is a great time. The rest of the summer tour schedule is here.

Rating: 5 stars!

*argh*

My first camping disaster.

I at last had the mobile office humming tonight. Two laptops on the table in front of me. Files spread out all around me, everything organized and efficient and in its place as I cranked away on my taxes.

Dinner run - Taco Bell. Came back, started to eat.

Decided I wanted to listen to some TPN Rock (awesome podcast - check it out) as I ate. Pulled laptop forward, got the music going, pushed it back, and.... *splash*

Giant super-gulp sized Taco Bell Mountain Dew tips over and floods the table. And the floor. And the bench seat across from me. And it even spreads down into the storage area inside the bench.

It was EVERYWHERE!

I scrambled to try and dam (and damn) the flood and get the papers and electronics clear - but it was nearly impossible in such tight quarters.

I spent the last hour cleaning up, mopping up, and dabbing Dew off of old bank statements. Hopefully things will not be too sticky in the AM. *ick*

Now I am sitting back down to my cold food.

*grumble*

Ewan - I blame you for this mess!

It could have been worse - it just stated misting outside. If it had been misting an hour ago, I wouldn't have been able to throw the seat cushions outside to dry for a bit while I mopped up. That would have been a real disaster!

This is going to be an amazing concert.

Ian and David are both dear friends of mine, and their music is both heartfelt and totally ROCKS.

I would love to see a crowd turning out to support these two amazing men.

Who is up for going with me? Spread the word - everyone is invited!



Ian's Announcement:

* * * * * A Short Story and a Big Show * * * * * * * *

On the morning of 9/11/01, Ian Rhett began a two year soul-searching journey to find his life's true purpose, and he found it on New Year's Eve 2003 - to become a songwriter and performer. His first recording, "(Didn't Know I Was) Unamerican" was released on the Internet July 4, 2004 and has been heard by nearly a million people as friends pass it on to friends, and so on and so on... He's performed for the Kucinich campaign at the Democratic National Convention, and for the Kerry Campaign in Florida in the last days of the election.

On Friday, March 24, Ian will perform to a sold out crowd at the historic Broadway Studios (formerly Girabaldi's Boxing ring!) and debut his next single, "Missing", a song and internet project for raising awareness and money for missing persons, inspired by members of our community who have dealt (or are dealing) with the sudden disappearance of a loved one.

Ian shares the stage with Shakiban, celebrating the release of his latest album, "Za".

Friday, March 24, 2006 - doors 8p / show 9p
Broadway Studios, 435 Broadway, North Beach, SF
$16.50 online, $20 advance
http://www.ianrhett.com/tickets.html

"(Didn't Know I Was) Unamerican" video:
http://www.sharedvoice.org/unamerican/

Please feel free to (be) forward!

* * * And now back to your regularly scheduled life * * *

Friday night cortneyofeden and I went to see the Victor Wooten Band at the Fillmore.

I knew of Victor Wooten from his work as a Flecktone, playing in Bella Fleck's band. When Cortney mentioned she was going to this concert, I was excited to go along and check out his solo work.

Cortney is a big fan - at dinner at the Thai restaurant next to the Fillmore, her eyes got wide as saucers as we were seated at a table next to Victor. It was cute to watch her get all bouncy about being so close to him.

The concert was a blast - Victor Wooten is probably one of the most amazing bass players ever, and it seemed like half the audience was made up a bassists and other musicians who came to be schooled by the king.

And that was actually the biggest downside of the show. Victor Wooten is a musician's musician - and a lot of the concert consisted of showing off for other musicians and bassists. Afterwards it was amusing to listen to some fanboys raving about how "that was so SICK when he did X..." as we walked back to the car.

But even if I wasn't able to fully appreciate how "SICK" Victor was on the bass, I could appreciate watching a passionate master working his art - and he was indeed great.

The Victor Wooten Band was great too - I particularly loved Victor's brother jamming on a Thermanin. Wow.

This concert was great fun - thank you Cortney for inviting me along!!

Rating: 4 stars!

Some random LJ comments about Geocaching with cortneyofeden lead to an IM chat about weekend plans, which lead to Cortney inviting me to join her and her husband Ethan going to see Japanese Ukulele maestro Jake Shimabukuro playing at the Hotel Utah in SF on Sunday afternoon. After hearing her rave reviews and learning that he stole the show from Bella Fleck and the Flecktones while on tour last year - how could I say no.

Further LJ comment threads extended the plans so that Cortney and Ethan would come up early to watch the Steelers game. And then the two of them and Rebekah and I would go see Jake play.

Cortney wrote about the day and the concert here.

All I can say is WOW!

Jake is amazing.

No singing. No band. Just him rocking out on the Ukulele like you can't even imagine. His playing was beautiful and precise, and he ROCKED the packed house.

There were times when his hand was moving so fast that literally all you could see was a blur. It is amazing he could play that fast and that precisely. His energy and enthusiasm lit up the whole room.

I am a huge Jake fan now. *grin*

What a fun day. I love when random events converge in such a cool way. Thank you Cortney!!!!

Rating: 5 stars!!!!

The iPod just fed me this song again - I've probably listened to it a few dozen times recently, and every time I love it more. Blues Traveler songs have a way of sneaking up on me like that. I've had this CD for years, but until recently this song never really hit me. Now it blows me out of the water every time I hear it. Conquer Me was another Blues Traveler song that snuck up on me like that and ended up a favorite.

The lyrics alone don't do this song justice. The way the music builds - the hunger and emotion and pain and fear and love in John Popper's voice... You really need to hear this to appreciate it.

*wow*

What an amazing artist.

( Blues Treaveler - Yours )

Last week Wednesday (11/9) I went and saw U2 in concert, thanks to the good fortune that had a single ticket land in my lap in trade for two backpacks I was selling on Craigslist.

For a ticket with a $186 dollar face value, I expected an amazing seat - and when I arrived at the Oakland Arena I was actually underwhelmed and disappointed.  I was straight back from the stage, true - but in the very back row of the lower level.  And the Oakland Arena is an ugly and oppressive concrete monstrosity of a building.  The roof seems to angle DOWN over the main floor - making the ceiling seem even lower than it is.  It was an awful venue for a concert.  Or a sporting event.  Such ugly buildings should be torn down ASAP, me thinks...

Beers were $8/each.  U2 t-shirts cost $35-$50. $50 for a T-SHIRT?!??  Food was sky high too.  Yuck.

The stage set up was small and plain...  Not what I expected from U2.  There was a circular catwalk that looped out around half the audience on the arena floor, but other than that it was a disappointingly simple setup.  The arena setup had seats behind the band too, so there was not even any sort of backdrop.  This was a FAR cry from the amazing setup when I last saw U2 in 1992 - where they had a stage that filled Bush Stadium in St. Louis from one side to the other with towering stacks of giant televisions, cars mounted on giant boom cranes, and so much more.  This simple setup seemed more suited for a no-name band.  Not U2.

The opening act was Damien Marley...  Decent reggae music, but nothing much to write home about.  I want to know what's up with the guy whos only job for the entire 45 minute set was to jump around stage waving a Jamaican flag - doing nothing else at all.  Weird.  Stupid.

During the break before U2 came on, I was amused to count SIX Treos in use just in the seats in front of me.

And then the lights went down....  And U2 came on....

And WOW!

A curtain of light descended behind the stage as the band started to play "City of Blinding Lights" - and all my doubts about an underwhelming setup vanished in a moment of sheer technological artistry and magic.  The wall of light was made up of thousands of balls, each an individually controlled pixel.  It was as if the band was wrapped up inside the most beautiful transparent jumbotron ever.  It was so beautiful - the rush of light and music and energy - I was overwhelmed and moved to tears.  The plain looking stage danced with lights pulsing and racing in circles embedded within the catwalk.  It was perhaps the most beautiful concert light show I have ever seen.  Made even more so by the simplicity of it all.  No massive walls of effects, or things blowing up.  Just simply magic.

I didn't sit down until the end of the third encore.

What an amazing band.  What an amazing show.

I complained in my Blues Traveler concert review that the rest of the band just wasn't up to the caliber of John Popper's lead.  U2 has the biggest leads that there could possibly be in the form of Bono and The Edge, but paying attention to Larry Mullen on drums and and Adam Clayton on bass - they are GRANITE.  So amazingly rock solid.  They are not in your face forefront players, but their playing is amazing.  There couldn't be a better foundation at all for Bono and The Edge to build upon.

The Edge on lead guitar?  Uhm...  There is no one else like him.  He plays each and every note as if it was the most important one he has ever played - like the greatest blues musicians.  But he does it with an electric rock energy that is like no one else.  He is amazing to see live.

And Bono?  He was made for arena or stadium size crowds.  He has the raw force of personality (not to mention such an incredible voice) that he can make the biggest venue come alive and catch fire.  He radiates passion that you can feel all the way up to the rafters.

It was a breathtaking show - and I feel honored to have had a chance to see it.

One fun anecdote...  Rather than lighters, the new thing seems to be holding up glowing cell phone screens during the quiet song - and at one point Bono actually called on the audience to do just that.  Imagine ten thousand twinkling white stars filling the arena - it was beautiful.  He then asked everyone to text message a certain number to support the One campaign for human rights.  Shortly after, the names of everyone who did so started scrolling across the screens.  A cool bit of technological magic mixed live into the concert....   :-)

In summary -- if you have a chance to go see U2, do it.  You will be telling stories about seeing U2 live to your grandkids.  Few other bands will have that sort of staying power.  This is one of them.  And it was worth every cent.  (well, every backpack...)  *grin*