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pigs in zen - last jesse show - other stuff

nothing got done on the album in the last week and a half. i'm not worried about it.
my checking account went nutty on me this week. i'm not worried about that either.

i went thursday night to see aaron/cordova at workplay. good set. nice and short. not a hint of emo anywhere. it was all very earnest rock. well. then again, aaron was wearing heavy eyeliner and played a cover by the cure. 4/5ths of long story short came out... fun times all around.

friday i did some errands after work, grabbed my gear and headed to workplay for the soundcheck for jesse's show. huge thunderstorm. from behind me... in the car, i swear i saw lightning hit a tree.

as i tread deeper into this 4th decade of mine, i get more and more zen everyday. it takes quite a bit to get me rattled at all. it takes an incredible amount to keep me rattled for more than 10mins.

during soundcheck i broke a bass string... greg from through the sparks was cool enough to let me borrow his bass for our soundcheck. we chatted for a few mins about smoking cessation and the joys of both being 30. cool guy. he owns an ex girlfriend of mine.

bailey brothers raped me of my cash to do a rush 30min set-up job on my bass. fuckers. i'll never go back again. that and guyton and lindsay moved to denver. bailey brothers can blow me. i spent three times what i made at the show.

ahh... the show. it went suprisingly well. nice big crowd. the bar was packed. the venue looked very lively. i went home for a while after sound check... i was in a foul mood after leaving bailey brothers and almost getting into a fight with a crackhead. i took a nap and felt better. however... i missed the first band.

i got to see most of through the sparks, and took some digital photos of their set. they are so fucking good, it astounds me. they are by far the best band in town. especially live. and nobody writes songs like them.

jody is starting to come into his own. he seemed very much like a comfortable frontman. i enjoy watching them all interact with their instruments. thomas mimikakis is a force of nature.

the long story short girls came out once again, all looking lovely... ashby and christine were there as well. ashby rocked the vest and suit. quite fetching. christine was dressed for the rapture.

i was taken back at how much the crowd liked us. we got a fucking encore. damn. the transitions were great. the sound was great. i played like shit, but i was deliberately "cool" about not moving around on stage as much as i usually do. it was good. i actually looked like a bass player for once. a friend of mine came to the show, wrote me a note... said hey for a second, then left. i found it rather amusing.

afterword, the girls showed me their press kit. very nice. the cd looks killer. speaking of cd's... thomas from through the sparks gave me the european release version of their previous band, stateside's album. the one i did the cover for. paper digipack. veyy very sexy and french. the packaging was excellent. much better than the american release.

the four lss girls, aaron, and his drummer shane got some late night food and talked about hansen until about 3am. my car stalled for a moment. overall a nice night.

i slept a lot saturday... talked to the natural one for a while... went to jennifer and jason's wedding... huge. beautiful. amazing. beautiful couple. the reception was at the birmingham museum of art. i estimate the wedding cost about 50 thousand dollars. you have no idea. i walked around the museum and took photos of 14th century paintings while getting blitzed on strawberry lager. i took some video of ashby and christine doing some serious footwork on the dancefloor.

i came home with the intention of going back out, but nothing really panned out and i was tired from sleeping and eating all day. i chatted with aaron and isbelle for a few hours. i started to bore myself. i used 80's cock rock as a farce prop at one point.

i was awakened sunday, as i have grown accustomed - by ai... we talked for a while... i got dressed and went to oxford to see long story short rehearse. they are incredibly gifted.

they are as good at dream pop as through the sparks are at ambient americana. or the ashes are at lit-rock. truly gifted people. i gave them numerous suggestions about improving their live show and arrangements. their musical work ethic is what every band's should be.

we smoked from the hookah pipe and listened to carol king and fleetwood mac. these kids were born in the mid and late 80's, but as musicians, they are old souls. an entire family of gifted multi instrumentalists and singers... all made for each other. it's serendipity times five. to be so good, they are very humble.

brilliant.

talked there and back with ai... she's so hyper sometimes. i find it amusing that she lets so much of her subconscious out when she's talking. she is either unaware, or unaware that i am aware.

i did yard work after getting back... part of which involved unloading 1,000 pounds of rock from the back of a truck. yes . one half ton. spoke once again with ai...

i am eternally amused. i can't help myself. i think i'm going to make career of it. this week, perhaps... ashby and i will record some acoustic guitars. i dunno where all these tracks go. honestly. at this point...

... i think we are just feeding a hole.

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