Hey Soul Mates,be sure to check out this week's LA Weekly. They always list the "Picks Of The Week" for upcoming club dates and concerts. Our show next Thursday is one of them. There is a nice write-up of our co-headliners and good friends Pillow of Wrongness (who asked us on the bill). If you look closely enough, you'll find that we got 3 mentions throughout the paper. The best advertising.
Click the Title above and check out the preview. Who knows? Maybe next time, they'll be writing about RHS!
That's the goal.
Love, Power, Peace
and watch out for the April Fools...
Il Papa
Hey Soul Mates,I'm not Catholic, though I went to a Jesuit college. I had never given much credence to the Papacy. Never attended Mass. But, I must say, one of the biggest thrills of '04 for me was seeing the Pope in person at St. Peter's Cathedral in Italy. John Paul II is so close to the end it seems. I do have a lot more respect for him now. The mass I attended was pretty special and it had the atmosphere of a rock concert. The Pope is held in very high esteem by his followers; that was fervor! When the Pope entered the Cathedral, the room became electric: a swirl of awe and the clicks of a thousand cameras. I nearly got a good picture of him as he rolled past, no thanks to the arm-in-the-way.
On the dais, he spoke in a fairly clear voice and mentioned Psalm 61 (which had been part of his larger Sunday Mass teaching). His blessing washed over the crowd and everyone, including myself, was moved. It was a truly extraordinary experience seeing the Pope beneath Michelangelo's illuminated altar. He was only there for 6 minutes or so, but the brevity only adds to the inspiration of the occasion.
In preparing for my trip to the Vatican I did a little research. John Paul II, in his pre-papacy life, was active in the Polish underground during the second world war. He was an actor and playwright, too. That was new information for me. I don't always agree with organized religious thought, but I do appreciate this Pope as a human being and as one who has strived for humanity's good. I just read that John Paul is in a coma after heart failure. He won't be around much longer; thought it was best to recognize now. I've heard his possible replacement may be a Nigerian, Austrian or Honduran bishop or cardinal. That will be an interesting process to follow. The next time in Rome, I'll be seeing a new Pope. Seeing the current one, however, was something else!
God Bless you, JP2.
Love, Power, Peace to you all.Photos of Pope John Paul II by Me, 2004.
Uncomfortable Silence Is Good TV
Hey Soul Mates,
I have a new favorite TV show: The Office. And it is hysterical. I'm sure the British production has an even drier sense of humor, but the American version is done well. There's no laugh track, no music. Just one camera. The dialogue is delivered well, specifically the malapropisms of the office boss, Michael (played by the relentlessly tactless Steve Carell). But the silences and takes are devastating. Tonight's episode focused on diversity in the workplace. The lone Asian-Indian employee had virtually no lines, but she stole the show with her reactions to her co-workers' and boss' off-the-wall comments. Priceless. Bryan and I talked about how painful those silent spots were. But they are funny as anything.
I'm still a bit under the weather, so I'm writing earlier in the evening than usual. Bryan actually came over to watch a little of the concert footage from our last show (and get a copy of the new demos). Thanks to Patrick & Rob for filming and editing. It looks really nice: 2 cameras! Hopefully, we'll get some of it up on the website for you to see soon. Bryan also played me a new tune he wrote; very jazzy. We've got new material for days...
Have a good week, all.
Love, Power, Peace
A House Less Crowded
Hey Soul Mates,just a note of condolence to the family of drummer Paul Hester from Crowded House. Paul was an amazing drummer for a brilliant pop group. I saw Crowded House once at the WOMAD festival in '93. They were amazing and had a really vivacious stage presence. During the act, they even built a human pyramid. "Don't Dream It's Over" ranks as one of the great singles of all time. His talent will be missed.
Love, Power, Peace
For Blog's Sake
Hey Soul Mates,just checking in with you on a busy Easter Sunday. I'm back from rehearsal. Thanks for driving, Bry.
We had a productive couple of hours packed in today. First we gathered here at my place for a session of playing through brand new material. We've got around 8 or 9 new songs; we managed to get through 3. Here's a scoop! 2 of them have titles: Next July & Everything My Heart Desires. Basically, Bryan and myself play guitars and Doug taps along. We demoed these songs to minidisc (sorry, no bootlegs, yet). They are still in rough stages. The arrangements and melodies are almost 100% now. Time to flesh out or flush out the words. I've mentioned this before, but I work towards a break-through. At that point lyrics come gushing out, til then, there are a lot of scratch vocals sung over the songs.
Then we drove over to the studio to rehearse with our full electric gear. That's always fun and challenging. Even though we play at the same place every week, the room never sounds the same twice. Having selected our set list for our upcoming show, we ran down the numbers and then worked a little on a newer song. The room was a little off tonight. Something in the power supply, I think. We did our best to cut through the dullness. Of course, by the end of the night, we'd built up a pretty good bit of steam. We spent a lot of time on A Talent For Loving, which we debuted at our last show. I'm still working out the kinks and I'm glad to get to play it several times in a row.
Well, that's Sunday. Have a great week everyone.
Love, Power, Peace.
