I'm in the JetBlue Terminal of JFK waiting for my flight back home where I will stay through the holidays. The apartment situation was never resolved, when I asked for different accommodations for my wife and baby's visit it was made apparent to me that that was not an option either. Since I'm not going to spend Christmas away from them and I won't even consider bringing them to that apartment I've decided to go home. Don't freak out. I talked with my boss and it appears that we're both on the same page although I don't think either of us are happy with the situation. I'll be joining the band in Los Cabos, Mexico for a private next weekend.

But I'm quite relieved to be headed home. The stress of staying in that apartment was getting to me. I took some pictures of the water damage, mold and mouse droppings, they're quite funny actually. The last few weeks haven't been totally bleak. The shows went really well and I saw some great music in the city including trumpeter Roy Hargrove at the Village Vanguard and organ player Sam Yahel at the Jazz Standard. I also had a little jam session with two old friends of mine who are both rather accomplished NY jazz musicians these days. It was a blast. And I made it to my favorite soul-food restaurant Ruthie's as well.

If I've never mentioned this, I love JetBlue. Not only do they have free WiFi at their terminals and Direct TV on the plane but the fee to change a ticket is only $10 and you can cancel your flight at any time and the money used to buy the ticket is refunded as credit towards a later flight. Not to mention the fact they fly to Burbank which is less than 20 min. from our home.

Now if we could only get them to fly to Indy ...

So sorry I haven't been online much (if you recall there was no internet at the apt.; no cable either ... and no furniture ... and no extra towels or bed linens ... and no ...) if you've been waiting on a email from me thanks for your patience. I'll be 'around' a lot more now.

Friday

Noon-woke up with every intention to see 'No Country for Old Men', instead I get a call from my old friend Koop who is a comics dealer. He had a booth at a convention in Midtown that day and invited me out. I went to the con, had lunch with another friend of mine, and geeked out on comics for the rest of the day.

6 PM-Got to the gig early, played Madden with the keyboard player. Did the gig. Uneventful.

12:30 AM-Headed out to a bar nearby the Carlyle to have a beer and watch Hawaii football with previously mentioned keyboard player (they have a really good team this year by the way).

3:30 AM-Go to another bar called American Trash. My friend and I had been there once before and a random girl had come up and kissed him out of nowhere. Didn't happen this time.

4:30 AM-Get back to the apt. to find our guitarist practicing and listening to Carole King's Tapestry. We then listen and compare her version of "You've Got A Friend" to James Taylor's. Taylor wins because of the vocal harmonies.

6:00 AM-Head to bed.

Saturday

2:00 PM-Wake up and have a bowl of cereal. Play Nintendo and veg out.

7:00 PM-Go to work, play the gig.

12:30 AM-I decide to take the train to the airport for my trip back LA. Sure the train may take longer but I have time to kill and it's about $45 cheaper than a cab.

2:00 AM-Meet some of the other guys at our hangout the Kinsale Tavern. I drink Cokes and hang out as I'm planning on staying up until I leave.

3:00 AM-Grab a tuna sandwich and head home to get my stuff.

Sunday

4:00 AM-Jump on the 6 train only to find out that the E train which is to take me to JFK isn't running. I frustratingly hail a cab out both cab and subway fares.

4:45 AM-Arrive at terminal 6 of JFK. I'm pretty familiar with it. I know after you walk out of security there is a Dunkin Donuts to the right with a line of at least 30 people, a sports bar straight ahead that you can get bacon and eggs at for $20, and I know to stay away from the Chinese place on the left. I get a coffee and donut and wait for the plane to board.

6:00 AM-Board the plane. Take and Ambien. Sleep.

9:45 AM PST-We are informed by our pilot that there is too much fog in Burbank to land. Instead we will be landing in Long Beach (about 45 min sout of Burbank) where we will refuel. Once we land we are given the option of leaving the plane or waiting on the runway for the fog to clear up in Burbank and flying back. I'm off of that plane faster than you can say "flight rage".

Noon-Carrie finally arrives and picks me up.

1:00 PM-After three weeks our family is finally reunited. Milo is much bigger and has so much energy squirming around and playing with everything. But he remains the most beautiful baby around. Carrie and I take a nap while grandma Penny watches him.
We have a nice dinner at a local restaurant and are in bed not long after.

Colts win, yay.

The apartment situation hasn't improved at all but I must say I'm dealing with it quite well. The thing is, when you're in New York the city is your home and all you really need is a place to sleep, dig? So I've been out and about doing New York things to get out of the apartment during the down-time. The Grishams (our Superfans) have taken me out to lunch the past couple of days including this afternoon at the fantastic Carnegie Deli. Best cheesecake ever. We also took a nice walk through Central Park, the weather was really nice today and the sky was clear and blue which was good since it has been gray and rainy all week.

Our days off this week aren't really days off since we have to play a private party at the Carlyle tomorrow night (during the Colts game of course, perfect).

Only one more week of work before I get to go home and see Carrie and the baby. I can't wait. There's a whole mess of in-laws at our place at the moment.

I'm hearing holiday music all over the place.

-still living in the shit apt., progress on finding a new place is slow
-feeling 100% after the food poisoning, life is a little easier for sure
-the Colts lost, BOOOOOOO!
-been going out getting back in the New York groove
-saw American Gangster today


and thatsallfuhnow

... this is pretty cool:

Steve Tyrell: Bacharach and Beyond
(Cafe Carlyle; 90 capacity; $130 top)
By STEVEN SUSKIN
Presented in-house. Musical director/piano, Quinn Johnson. Opened, reviewed Oct. 30, 2007. Runs through Dec. 31.

Band: Jon Allen, Lew Soloff, Lou Marini, Lyman Medieros, Steve Cotter, Kevin Winard; singers: Darryl Tookes, La Tanya Hall.

Fans of the big band sound can find it at the Carlyle, for an extended engagement from Halloween through New Year's Eve. Steve Tyrell, backed by eight musicians and two singers, fills the recently renovated Madison Avenue nitery with an hour's worth of swinging music; not exactly "Bacharach and Beyond" as credited, but more properly Bacharach and before.

Tyrell is a fine example of the band singer, circa today. He's neither Tony Bennett nor Harry Connick Jr. But he's a good singer, and he knows the music. After 30 or so years in the business -- he was director of promotions at Scepter Records, back in the days when Bacharach & David were turning out hit after hit -- he turned to performing, breaking through with his crooning in the "Father of the Bride" movies.
Program is split between Bacharach & David ("The Look of Love," "Walk on By," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head") and a clutch of older favorites ("It Had to Be You," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Give Me the Simple Life").

This is a fine collection; Tyrell knows songs and how to pick them. The patrons at the opening set knew them too; people at every other table were singing along, silently (and politely) mouthing the words. The singer was relaxed and cool in his black velvet jacket; at one point flirting so veraciously with a willowy miss he almost fell off the stage. The arrangements -- uncredited here, except for the Quincy Jones/Sinatra chart version of "Fly Me to the Moon" -- are mostly solid.
Tyrell's two-month engagement comes at a stiff tariff ($130 plus dinner). But simply put, there aren't many places in Manhattan where you'll find such a large musical sound in such a small room, with roughly one performer per eight seats.

As a bonus, opening nighters were treated to Patti Austin joining Tyrell for "Say a Little Prayer for Me." Credit should be shared with Tyrell's fine band, led by Quinn Johnson on piano. Flavorful solos abound, including several from Lyman Medieros on bass, Lew Soloff on trumpet and Lou Marini on sax and flute.

The apartment in NYC sucks. It's really bad. On top of being terribly uncomfortable with no furniture, no cable, and no internet there are roaches and the neighborhood is a drag. The powers that be are working on finding another place but it's going to be a few days before that happens.

And I got food poisoning Tuesday night. I spent the whole night vomiting up bad mussels. I've only had one meal since and have been really tired and weak.

I guess things can only get better.