Life has been pretty laid-back since returning from NYC. Well, as laid-back as you can get with a three-month old baby. Friday night I played poker with the boys and had a very poor showing considering how well things went for me in Atlantic City. No biggie, you can't win all of the time. Friday I also had the first session with my personal trainer. My gym is running a special, 5 sessions for $100 so I figured "why not?" Of course I've been sore ever since. Yesterday I had a gig with a great vibes player Nick Mancini. The performance was part of a benefit happening all weekend long for the Pasadena Jazz Institute which is a really, really nice club in, well, Pasadena. The gig didn't pay since it was a benefit but I think I got a show for the Lower Level out of it. That will be pretty sweet if it happens.

Today we went to some friends for a cookout. I made the Macaroni and Cheese I made for Easter but souped it up Mexican-style (with bell peppers, adobo sauce, jalapenos, etc.) since they were grilling up tacos. Before leaving for the cookout I watched a bit of the Indy 500, disappointing finish. I hope to take Milo to the race one day.

Not much on tap for tomorrow (besides another session with my trainer, ouch!). Hope everyone has a good holiday.

(If you care about the Sopranos and haven't seen the past couple of episodes, stop reading.)


I don't watch many TV shows regularly. At the moment I'm only watching Sopranos, and when I'm on the road it's hard to catch the new episodes on Sunday night because I'm usually working. So I missed three episodes while I was on tour. After I missed the first week I said to myself I'll just wait until I get home and watch all three of them back to back on On Demand.

So the second week of the tour we're in Connecticut. Late Sunday night I get in the elevator after the gig to head to dinner with guys. The elevator stops at a floor and two couples walk in. One of them says:

"Let's go play roulette like Tony."

I see what's quickly going to happen so I immediately say, "I didn't catch tonight's episode so please don't say any more"
One of the guys says, "That's okay, you didn't miss much."
Right after that one of the ladies says:

"Well Chrissy died."

Now, if you don't know the show let me just tell you that this was big BIG news about one of the original and main characters getting killed. I was FURIOUS. The lady grabbed her mouth and said "shoot, I always do stuff like that."

How rude. What an idiot. I mean I'm waiting for weeks to watch these episodes and this lady spoils it for me.

Funny thing is on my way home from NYC there were two guys sitting next two me at our gate at the airport. One turns to the other and says, "Did you watch Sopranos last night?" I quickly covered my ears. The guys says, "Thanks for doing that man, I won't say any more." Crisis avoided.

So I'm all caught up now. Even though one of the episodes was spoiled for me the series is really getting good. I can't wait to see how it all ends.

New York was fun. Milo and Carrie had a good time, we'll put up some pictures on the baby blog soon. Mostly we saw friends and walked around the city. I got more than one funny look when I talked about bringing my infant son to NYC but everything really worked out nicely. Even with all of the noise and people and smallish hotel room Milo really took to Manhattan. Maybe he'll go to school at NYU.

So I'm at the airport headed home finally. Carrie and Milo flew out a few hours earlier (they are flying in to Burbank Airport which is much more convenient than LAX where my destination is). The next few months are really light as far as touring work with Tyrell and I couldn't be happier about it. I think this is the longest stretch of time off of the road I will have had in over a year and a half. I'm really looking forward to practicing a lot, writing and recording some music, and working back in to the local music scene in L.A. It's time for some more direction as far as my music is concerned. Plus I'll have a lot of time to spend with my boy. I don't think I've had much time to step back, reflect, and take stock of things since he was born.

Two weeks until the Milo World Tour continues in Indianapolis and Chicago. They boy's going to be a road warrior like his old man in no time.

New Top Five up. Go dig it.

With Milo and Carrie here there is no getting drunk until dawn, no seeing music I couldn't see anywhere else, no riding the subway with my iPod on traveling all over the five Burroughs to see friends, no shopping for CDs or clothes at my favorite spots, etc.

This time NYC is all about the baby as most things are these days. And that is a-okay with me!

(I should say that I managed to sneak in to a club the other night and see a fantastic guitarist Johnathan Kreisburg playing in a trio with bassist Matt Penman. There were twelve people in the club and they were all digging the music. Only in NYC.)

Here I am once again in NYC. We just rolled in about 30 min. ago. We are staying near the Village this time so the neighborhood is much cooler than what we are used to. The hotel is fine, and there was even a crib waiting in my room since mommy had called ahead and ordered one.

The rest of the run in Connecticut was nice. The Mohegan Sun is probably the nicest casino in the country and they treat the band really well there. The shows were well-attended too.

So I have the night off. I'm going to hang with some friends and ready the city for Milo's East Coast debut tomorrow.

We're sitting in the train station in Philly waiting to travel to New London, Connecticut. I know I've said it before but I love riding the train, I have some episodes of The Wire to watch (thanks Cousin Kathy). The rest of the gig in AC was cool but we are all glad to be leaving (even if I did clean up on the poker tables).

New Top Five up, go dig it.

I have been playing a whole lot of cards since we've been here in Atlantic City. A lot. A couple of nights ago I played a midnight tournament at the Taj and came in 5th place out of 115 players (got back to my room at 5 AM). I'm up in the regular game I've been playing here at our hotel too. Needless to say I'm up quite a bit. I can finally say I'm a decent poker player. Since this poker fad got so huge a few years ago I've heard a lot of guys tell me how good they are and even how they want to be a pro player. That's jive. Being a pro player would be so incredibly hard and anyone who tells you he's good is full of it. I mean, why would you want a stranger to know you are good? So they'll be intimidated and NOT want to play you? I just want to be a profitable player so I can play 'for free' which I'm on my way to doing.

Other than that AC is fine. The shows have been going well and the weather has been pretty good. Two more nights then we leave for Connecticut.

Five years ago on my birthday I was on the road with Mistah Tyrell in Atlantic City. I'd been telling everyone it was my 26th birthday but no one seemed to give a rat's ass. Then at the show that night Steve stopped, sang happy birthday, brought out a cake, and gave me a Peyton Manning jersey. It was really pretty nice. A security guard backstage asked me how old I was, when I told him "26" he said "you have your whole life in front of you." I was glad to hear this since I was at that moment officially in my late-twenties.

Five years later and here I am, it Atlantic City on the road with Mistah Tyrell. When I first realized this coincidence I had a fleeting thought of "wow, the same place five years later?" It briefly made me feel like I hadn't accomplished much since then. But of course that's not the case. But considering this and considering the fact that I'm officially in my early-thirties, indulge my aging ego and allow me to toot my own horn and list some accomplishments I'm most proud of since my last birthday in Atlantic City to help me put "31" in perspective:

-toured the country from Hawaii to New England and all points in between
-toured the entire world throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia
-was on my first major label record release
-bought a house
-added the adorable yet lazy Murphy Medeiros to the family
-made my first record and actually sold a few
-held successful Record Release shows in Indy and Hollywood for said record
-received an Alumni Award from my alma mater
-never screwed up bad enough for my wife to leave me
-and of course, my masterpiece, my magnum opus,Milo Walker

Okay so I've done quite a bit over the past few years. I should keep this in mind instead of bumming out from the ugly Atlantic City boardwalk and ocean and missing my boy so much.

So I think I'll go to the Taj tonight with some of the boys and watch the De La Hoya fight. $30 just to watch the fight but hey, it's my birthday.

I dig Boston. I remember back when I was at BSU and hadn't really been anywhere Jason would always talk about how great Boston was after visiting his cousins there. It is a great place. We're playing at this pretty renowned jazz club Regattabar in Harvard Square. Of all the places we've played in Boston this one is in the coolest location. Harvard Square is pretty cool, I've decided that if Milo isn't going to be an artist or athlete he can be an academic and go to Harvard. Shouldn't be that hard, HA! I'm also surprised by the number of transients around here. Granted there are homeless people everywhere but it's an odd juxtaposition to see them around Harvard.

I also got to have lunch with the esteemed Dr. Patrick Eaton yesterday. He performed minor surgery on a lady in the restaurant who somehow got a mussel shell lodged in her arm. Dr. Eaton removed it with a warm butter knife, a clam shucker, and a bottle of Balsamic Vinegar McGuyver-style. Nice job Doc!

Its been really beautiful here in Boston, I have to enjoy it while I can because the next stop is Atlantic City which I don't think has ever been referred to as 'beautiful'.

Today I leave for a 17-day trip to the east coast. Boston, Atlantic City, Connecticut, and NYC. Luckily the Milo World Tour continues at the end of the trip and the rest of the family is meeting me in New York. I'm looking forward to that, I think we'll have a lot of fun with Milo in the city.