The last country on our whirlwind Asia tour was Singapore. Singapore is actually a City-State; city, county, state, and country all rolled into one. English is the primary language and most folks are of Chinese dissent.

You've probably heard stories regarding all of the strict laws on littering in Singapore. Well, they are all true. Talk about Big Brother! For your first littering offense you are immediately fined $200 (there are plain-clothes cops walking around everywhere), by your fourth offense you are fined $800 with 8 hours of community service cleaning up. While cleaning you have to wear a shirt that says "I am a litterbug" and a camera crew comes and films you and puts you on Singapore television. You are allowed to chew gum, but not buy or sell it.

There is no buying or selling of porn. While on the internet in my hotel I tried going to Facebook and instead got a page saying "This website is not permitted by the IT department. Your computer's internet history is being tracked. No porn surfing allowed. Such actions will be referred to the management." Can you believe that? But oddly enough prostitution is legal.

Then there is the caning. Punishment for breaking some laws is a caning across your back. The cane is dipped in horse urine and shards of broken glass. The cane strikes you horizontally across the back, the last cane strikes you on the butt so every time you sit down the wound opens again. It is said that the cane markings never heal properly.

But for carrying drugs of any kind? Death by hanging.

I guess you can say they get results. Singapore is a very clean place and we had a lot of fun there.




I woke up in Singapore at 5 AM Sunday morning, flew seven hours to Tokyo, layover for an hour, then flew 10 hours back home to L.A. and arrived at 11 AM Sunday morning. My Sunday is going to last like 40 hrs. I had a fantastic time on my trip but it's always good to be home.

After sleeping for a mere 4 hours Wednesday night we left Tokyo for Seoul early in the morning for a performance that Thursday evening. Groggy and tired we finally made it to the hotel in the afternoon only to be told that we had to head directly to the venue where we would stay until the concert was over. Why in the world would we asked to do that?

Well, I'm sure you've all heard about the protests in South Korea regarding the importation of American beef, they started last weekend and as it turns out, the protesters weren't finished protesting and in fact were staging the next demonstration directly in front of our hotel. So for the rest of the day the hotel wouldn't be a place we would want to drive in and out of for obvious reasons.

After the sound check we walk outside of the theater for some air and find riot police gathering outside getting ready for the evening's big to-do. Trippy right? I wanted to take some more pictures but I didn't want to push my luck either. I doubt they would've minded but why risk it?

So we are all wasted, dead-tired. The concert promoter tells us there might not be many people in attendance due to the fact that all of the roads and parking lots are closed because of the demonstration. It was shaping up to be one bad gig, but as is turns out we had the best show of the entire tour. The people who were there were yelling and dancing and so enthusiastic, it felt like a rock show. I had so much fun playing for them, it made the chaos of the day worthwhile.

But things really got interesting once we left. The riot police from above were now in full motion, running to their various spots around the city like platoons of soldiers. All of the roads were barricaded with police buses and cops with shields. Our drivers were getting more and more frustrated and it became apparent that they didn't know how to get us back to the hotel, every time we thought they had found a new path the road was blocked. Eventually they found a road that would take us there but the traffic was gridlocked. In the end a trip that took us 10 minutes before the gig took about 2 hours afterwards. But we arrived safe and sound. I got to my room and saw that the time was nearing 1 AM and there was a 6 AM lobby call in front of me. Yikes.

More pictures from what little I saw of South Korea:




This pic is right in front of our hotel, it was being set up Korea's Memorial Day celebrations in addition to the demonstration.

I'm in Singapore now, almost home!

The rest of my time in Tokyo was good. I have some interesting news regarding Japan but I'll wait until I get home to blog about it. My last day there I went to the fantastic Mori Art Museum which is on the 53rd floor of Roppungi tower, there was a fantastic collection on winner's of Britain's Turner Prize that included the infamous Mother and Child Divided by Damien Hirst.

Here are some final pics from Tokyo:

Barak!

One step closer to a better future!

What can I say about Tokyo? I love this place. The food, the people, the hospitality, I could go on and on. Gyms and Spas are very popular in Asia so yesterday I worked out/swam/steamed before souncheck, there is no better way to get rid of the airplane funk that overcomes your body after so much traveling. We opened at the Blue Note last night and the crowds were great. Today I walked around the streets of Tokyo, the weather has really been great.

This sign says "bass players are to be treated as royalty" ... or something like that.

Saturday night we went to a sushi place, I ordered crab miso and that's exactly what I got-this furry guy floating in soup.

I made short work of the crab. And the sushi. And the beer.

The streets of Roppongi an area of Tokyo popular for its night clubs.

Gimme dat Ramen! Lunch today was Ramen soup with egg, seaweed paper, and pork. It was fantastic. Japan and Europe are really different culturally when it comes to food. In Spain, Italy, or France you better have a good hour or so to spare when you are having a meal. In Japan food carts, noodle shops where you stand to eat, and food on the go are normal things. In this Ramen shop you pay for your food at a machine near the front door, the machine ejected a receipt that you give to a worker who makes your food. This saves time I guess. The best part is the food is better than anything you'd get at McDonald's.

Our time in Manila was short and sweet. Manila is such a crazy place, its hard to explain. It is dirty, polluted, destitute and poor yet Phillipinos are some of the warmest, kindest people you'll ever meet. And the traffic! The traffic is worse there than anywhere in the world I would venture to say, nobody obeys lanes, signs, turn signals, anything. Driving around is a free-for-all and can make you pretty nervous the first time you experience it.

The show went really well, the audience loved it. Romantic music is really big here, they new all of the old songs and went crazy over the new Bacharach stuff, hopefully we'll be coming back regularly.

The pool at our hotel.

The view from my room.

Traffic!

The band and concert promoters.

11 hrs. from LAX to Tokyo, 1.5 hrs. layover, 5.5 hrs. from Tokyo to Manila ... a day of travel like that can really test your patience. But I am here in Manila safe and sound. Last night after finally arriving at the hotel I ordered a sandwich, took a bath, had a glass of wine and a Vicodin and woke up this morning feeling like a million dollars. I'm hoping I'm all caught up with my jet-lag, I'll find out soon enough.

Manila is great (this is my second time here), the people are warm and friendly, most folks speak English. The hotel is quite nice and I had a fantastic breakfast here this morning.

Basketball is quite popular in The Phillipenes so luckily the Lakers are on right now. I'm going to get back to the game, soundcheck in a few hours.

Tomorrow morning I leave for a tour for the Phillipenes, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. I'm pretty excited about the trip, not so excited about the flights. I leave L.A. at 1:20 PM tomorrow and land in Manila at 9:55 PM on Thursday. Yikes! Thank goodness for the PSP.

It's a fairly quick tour as we'll be visiting all of these countries in the span of about 10 days. Luckily we are in Tokyo for four nights so there will be some time to relax and see the sights then.

... for a gallon of Unleaded Plus at the local gas station I like. This should be illegal. In fact, I think it is.

How's that war coming along?

I haven't really said anything about this yet because I wanted to wait until there was something up on their official site, I am officially a Dean artist. Dean is a guitar company that my buddy Josh works for, they sent me two basses back in February that I've been playing with Tyrell ever since. They are nice instruments with a great feel to them.

Here is the Dean homepage, my picture is about halfway down the page. Click on the photo to go to my Artist page.

So let's look at the other side of the coin, the following is a video on YouTube that has skyrocketed to the most viewed clip of the day.



I'm trying to look at this objectively. In my prior post there was an article written without any source citation at all, it was pointed out to me that this was okay because it was an editorial. The preceding video is also editorial yet you see McCain speaking in his own words in interviews and debates yet context could be argued for a couple of the clips. The claims seem to be backed up.

Which editorial piece is more credible?

Is it better to have a good, persuasive yet "flowery" (still not too sure what that means) speaker or one who seems to have been caught in double-talk?

As it becomes more and more apparent that Obama will be our Democratic nominee for the presidency we are starting to see the ignorance, fear and outright racism that I feel will follow him throughout the rest of his campaign. Here's a clip from the Daily Show from people in West Virginia explaining why they didn't vote for him:



Muslim? The OTHER race? *whew* Funny, most people think we've moved past all this yet there are still some that cling to these ignorant beliefs. But perhaps even worse than those interviews is the following email forward I received from a family member a few weeks ago:


**********
FW: What a Black Columnist has to say about Obama.

Ken Blackwell - Columnist for the New York Sun



It's an amazing time to be alive in America. We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first front-running freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.

We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender. Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics.

The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him. Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts.

Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs Clinton. Never in my life have I seen a presidential frontrunner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost.

Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant. Mr Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America. But let's look at the more defined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial "beauty."

Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong II, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists - something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk.

Next, consider economic policy. For all its faults, our health care system is the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clinton as well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on "the rich." How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs? Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck.

Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, "All praise and glory to God!" but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have "hijacked" - hijacked - Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is moving in that direction. In Illinois, he refused to vote against a statewide ban - ban - on all handguns in the state These are radical left, Hollywood, and San Francisco values, not Middle America values.

The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of "bringing America together" means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs.

But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and - yes - they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton.

It's time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts, let's first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president in a nuclear age during a global civilizational war.

Subject: Kind of scary, wouldn't you think? Remember--God is good, and is in time, on time, every time. According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Is it OBAMA?? I STRONGLY URGE each one of you to repost this as many times as you can! Each opportunity that you have to send it to a friend or media outlet...do it! If you think I am crazy..I'm sorry but I refuse to take a chance on the "unknown" candidate.
**********



Words cannot begin to describe how awful this hate-fueled rhetoric is but I will give it a shot. First off, it proclaims that this article is written by a black person. I figure this is for one of two reasons; either the author of the email thinks black people are always correct in their political assessments or it is a racist attempt to establish credibility: "see! even the other blacks thinks he's evil!" There is no link to the original article, no date stated when or if it was ever published. Then it proceeds to make outlandish statements about Obama's foreign and domestic policy without one source citation, quote or link. It also attempts to induce fear (a typical right-wing tactic) by using oh-so scary catch phrases like "he wants to raise taxes!" and "he's hijacking Christianity!" My favorite part is where he talks about "Hollywood and San Fransisco values". As though the entire state of California is devoid of morality and is merely Satan's playground.

And the email builds to a smashing climax inferring that Obama is the Anti-Christ. Wow.

The most disturbing part of this email is that a lot of people will read it and believe it despite the fact that every word could be complete fabrication. You don't need facts, all you near is hate and the ability to install fear in people. I'd like to think that this is the last we'll see of such rhetoric but I fear that it is only the beginning and if Obama wins the nomination we will be subjected to this type of ignorance for months.

Out of 120 people, 90 were petitioned to a jury and I was not one of them so I got to leave the courthouse around 3:45. Earlier in the week serving on a jury was kind of attractive to me but warm, sunny Friday afternoons can change your attitude about stuff like that real quick like. I was happy to be sent home.

Did anyone catch the season finale of The Office last night? Was that great or what?

After calling the courthouse every day this week and being told I didn't need to show up for jury duty I thought I was going to get off Scott free. But when I called last night to check for today, the last day of my required availability, I of course was told to come to the courthouse.

So here I am. Let's see if I have to serve.

You know in L.A. there are a lot of restaurants that hang signed pictures of celebrities who have patronized their place. In typical L.A. fashion at the Van Nuys Courthouse there are faux movie posters with pictures of actors on the wall saying "JURY SERVICE starring Jamie Lee Curtis. She performed Jury Service, have you?"

UPDATE:
Lunch break. One case went to trial but I didn't get called to petition. One case has plead and another won't trial until next week so there is one case left on the docket, if it pleads we go home.

From slammin' Cootie Brown drummer turned puppeteer (jeez, that sentence is enough to let you know you're in for some funny stuff). Think the Muppets meet Cheech and Chong. And dig the background music.


Happy 420 Day from The Bong - Watch more free videos

I've been summoned for jury duty again. Actually when I first received the notice it told me to report on May 5th, but I of course changed that because the last place I wanted to spend my birthday was at the Van Nuys Courthouse.

The next couple of weeks are wide open as far as my schedule goes so I won't mind serving if I have to. I'm all about civic duty. I'm actually hoping I get a case (but a short one of course).

I saw Iron Man yesterday before my Cinco de Lyman birthday celebration. I must say we have a new contender for best super hero movie. It is just fantastic. Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges do a terrific job, super hero movies often devolve into a bit of camp but Downey and Bridges never resort to melodrama. And how hot is Gwyneth Paltrow? She hasn't been this hot since Great Expectations over 10 years ago. There is a lot of action and a good story that keeps you engaged. Downey is funny and the scenes with he and Gwyneth really pop. So go see it.

The Problem With Hero Movies
As I've often said before I'm not a tremendous fan of comic book super hero movies. This may seem odd to you especially if you know what a comic book nut I am. I've been collecting comic books for most of my life, you would think the recent glut of comic movies would excite me to no end. That's not the case.

Here's the problem, every comic book movie you see is simply about the hero's origin, if there is a sequel then all you see is the origin of the villains (often intertwined with further telling of the origin of the hero). The only fascinating story that movie makers can focus on is the origin of the characters. Why? They don't want to alienate movie-goers who know nothing about comics. And that is the rub. Comic books are a serial genre, a constant story of a hero's adventures and battles. Character origins are only one tiny part of their stories. So when we see adaptations of comic books we're only getting a small piece of the storytelling heroes are capable of.

Handling this is what makes movies like Iron Man and Spider Man so good. Spider Man in particular incorporated the origin story with incredible pacing so the narrative kept moving along but you were never bogged down with a lack of action. Iron Man works in the same way although his back story was changed quite a bit to accommodate the film.

Marvel, DC, and Super Hero philosphy
Have you noticed that most comic book movies made these days come from comic book publisher Marvel? Spidey, Iron Man, Hulk, Daredevil, X-Men, Ghost Rider, Punisher, etc. all come from the Marvel stable. The only movies we've seen from DC heroes are Superman and Batman. Why is that? Are there more Marvel heroes? Certainly not, DC has much more history on its side and decades with of characters. Are Marvel heroes stronger characters? Not necessarily, the iconography of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman alone refutes that. What's the difference?

Well the DC characters are all Classic super heroes, God-like and mythological driven to goodness by their innate desire to help people; Wonder Woman, queen of the Amazons, Aquaman, king of the seas, Superman, the invincible being from another planet, Martian Manhunter, all powerful Martian from a forgotten race.

On the other hand Marvel characters are Romantic super heroes, real people often with tortured pasts who have felt driven to help people by circumstance, Spidey becomes a hero after his uncle dies due to his own selfishness, the Hulk is tortured by a dual personality and can only become powerful when overcome with rage, Daredevil the blind lawyer whose father was a criminal, and on and on and on.

So naturally when you consider what I was saying before regarding movies focusing on origins its easy to see why Marvel super heroes are adapted more often. Their back stories are more human and emotive and there is more to work with thematically.

The Notable Exception

The major exception to the Classic DC hero v.s. the Romantic Marvel hero is, of course, Batman. And this is what makes Batman the greatest super hero character of all time. He is both Classic and Romantic at the same time; classically he is always cool and in control of the situation, he can convincingly fly through space with Super Man fighting super villains from different planets then bust a street criminal on the streets of Gotham City. There is nothing that happens in his city that he does not know, he is a god of the streets knowing the names of nearly every criminal in Gotham. But at the same time his soul is tortured by the death of his parents, he is aloof from his friends and can never keep a long-lasting romantic relationship.

It is no wonder that two of the best comic book movies have been Batman and Batman Begins.


These are the kind of things that goes through a comic book geek's head after watching something like Iron Man. Maybe you won't wax philosophical after seeing it but I'm sure you will find it as kickass as I did.

If ya' don't know May 5th marks my 32nd birthday.

Wow. That's old. Seriously. Please, spare me from the "you're still young, wait until you're my age!" talk. 32 moves you into an entirely different demographic. But I'm not trying to have a pity-party or anything, it's just a realistic observation. Dinner at 4 PM with sugar-free green jello for dessert while watching re-runs of Matlock and Murder She Wrote is all I have to look forward to.

I kid, I kid. Happy Birthday to me.

What did I ask my lovely wife for for my birthday? Nothing. You see I'm ashamed to admit what a bonehead I've been over the past few weeks but now its time to come clean. Firstly I left my Valentine's Day gift, a fantastic PSP, on a plane at the Atlanta airport. I was hopeful I'd get it back as I knew the flight # and seat where I had left it but that was nothing buy blind optimism. After a week I knew it wasn't coming back. Secondly I ran over my iPod with my car. I was loading my luggage into the back of my ride and forgot my briefcase. I put the car into reverse, gassed it, and heard a loud *CRACK*. I feared my laptop was crushed but luckily it was spared. But I certainly killed my iPod.

So after some savvy eBay-ing I have another PSP (with a bunch of cool games) and I bought myself another iPod earlier in the week (160 GB Video Classic, an upgrade over my first generation 30 GB Video ... sweet ...) so that is all the birthday presents I need. Nay, that is all the birthday I deserve.

So for the first time in a few years I am home for my birthday. We are having Cinco de Mayo happy hour at a nice Mexican place with some friends to celebrate.

31 had its peaks and valleys but was a gas overall. Let's hope 32 is even better.

Thursday I left for Fort Scott, Kansas a small town outside of Kansas City where we are treated like royalty. Businessman Jim Smith has renovated a theater in downtown Ft. Scott where we've played three times in the last couple of years. The gig Friday night was a lot of fun and it was great seeing all of our fans there again. Saturday we flew on Mr. Smith's private jet to our next gig. Let me say that private jets are THE way to travel, thanks Jim! The gig in Atlanta that night was a good one but I was pretty excited to leave there and get back to Indiana.

I surprised my mom for her 60th birthday on Sunday. She was shocked and quite happy to see me. We had a good time Sun. at my cousin Eric's and it was great seeing all of my relatives again (including Cousin Kathy). I hung out with mom for a few days before flying home last night.

I'm back in LA for the rest of the month.

I was at the mall with Milo and Carrie yesterday. Milo and I were in the kid's play area while Carrie was shopping. A little 6-year-old girl came up to us and started playing with Milo, hugging him, and talking to me. She was a cute, talkative girl. We were having a good time when she blind-sided me with the following conversation:

6-year-old girl: I had to have a vinegar bath.

Me: You did? Why is that?

6-year-old girl: For my vagina because I pee too much!

What does one do while trapped in an elevator for 41 hrs.? Watch the following clip to find out. It elapses security camera footage of man trapped for nearly two days:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators/?yrail

I'd go insane if it were me.

Leaving for Kansas City and Hotlanta tomorrow.

My week of poker was pretty rough. I was grinding it out on the $2-$4 tables for most of the week (this is where you can only bet and raise in increments of $2 or $4, known as Limit Hold-Em). Playing at such low betting limits can really test your patience, not only is most of your competition either new or poor players, but they never fold and will try to catch cards on you. If you're not as lucky as someone you are playing against you can lose money fast and might as well be at the slot machine.

I entered a tournament on Wed. night and had a rough time of it there as well.

Thurs. night we (the band and I) were hanging out at the hotel bar and met a young poker pro from Philly. He had a pregnant wife at home and would drive down to AC two or three days a week to play cards. He said on a good week he cleared a grand or so and on a bad week he broke even. Not too shabby. He explained that the No-Limit Hold 'Em game was a much better one to play in than the $2-$4 game.

So Friday night I gave it a shot and wound up being involved in the biggest single pot I've ever been involved in.

Proceed carefully lest you think me a degenerate gambler! Some poker knowledge needed as well:

I buy in to the No-Limit game for $100. I play extremely tight (only putting my money in with great starting cards) and after 30 min. or so I'm down $40. I get dealt two 6s in late position. There were about 3 callers in front of me, all of who limped in (meaning they called for the minimum $2 with nobody raising the pot). I called with my 66 even though its a fairly strong hand. On the flop comes 9 3 6. I had flopped three sixes, three of a kind is a very powerful hand. The action checks around to me and I bet $10. Two people call me. I'm wondering what they have, I figure somebody has the 9 but if he did, why wouldn't he bet? Maybe his 9 is very weak and he doesn't have a kicker. The other person I figure is trying to draw to a straight as there is no flush possibilities on the board. The turn card comes and is a King. The first to act bets out a big $40, the other person folds and the action is to me. Had he just made his King? The only hands I would worry about would be two 9's or two Kings, both would make a higher three of a kind than I had. But he had either hand he would've raised pre-flop to protect these very strong cards. I figure I was good and I moved all-in with the rest of my money. All of it.

I turn over my 6s and the other guy rolls his eyes. He turns over K3 for two pair. The only card he could draw on the river to beat me would be another King. A Jack comes and I take the pot. I count my chips and I've just won around $200. One one hand of poker.

I play for a little while longer and take down another small pot but I had to get up early the next morning so I took my winnings and left. I came home just about even from where I started.

Free poker, not bad.

My week in Atlantic City was pretty uneventful. Besides playing a bunch of poker I basically walked up and down the boardwalk during the day and put down a few with the boys at night. (Fun trivia fact: did you know all of the properties in Monopoly were named after streets in Atlantic City? True!). The crowds were okay but in casinos like this most of the audience are comped and all the casino really cares about is making sure the show is no longer than 65 min. so they can get everyone back out to the slot machines.

But my return home was a killer. We played a show Friday night and I got to sleep around 1 AM only to wake up 3.5 hrs. later to make our 5 AM bus. We needed to get back to LA as quickly as possible and the earliest flight we could get was out of JFK airport in Brooklyn which is about 2.5 hrs. from Atlantic City. So we drive to the airport and check in in time for our 9 AM flight back home. (And who do I run in to at JFK? Carrie's friends from England, is that one mutha' of a coincidence or what?). We land at LAX at 1 PM, I drive to my office to pick up my bass and change then head to the Universal City Hilton for a 3 PM soundcheck. The show is at 8:30 PM and I finally head home after that. I've been recovering ever since.

Now I have three days of rest before heading to Kansas City and Atlanta on Thurs.

I'm sure you've all heard about this crazy beating that happened in Florida last week where eight girls ganged-up on one poor girl and gave her a concussion amongst other injuries. The morons giving the beating videotaped the incident so they could post it online thereby giving the police all of the evidence they need to convict them.

You've probably seen short edited clips on the news but there is a new video on YouTube that shows what went on in the house before the beating occurred. If you haven't seen it you should check it out, it really does shed some new light on the entire matter.

Atlantic City.

Yep.

I've played poker for over 5 hrs. and am up a whopping $15. I'm going to turn pro soon.

I had a really odd gig last night. A piano player friend of mine called me to play a birthday party for this drummer, she wasn't really sure of the details. After exiting the freeway and getting closer to the gig it didn't take long to realize I was in an Asian neighborhood. I figured out from all of the Asian characters on business signs that it was either Chinese or Tawainese (well, that and the drummer's last name was Chen).

I arrived at the venue and met Mr. Chen and his friends. I don't know if you've ever been in an Asian place of business here in the U.S. but they all seem to have a similar vibe; gaudy decor, white Christmas lights, black tile in the bathroom, and the smell of some sort of cleaner that must be exclusive to Asian businesses. I quickly realized that my pianist friend and I would be the 'ringers' for a jam session in honor of Mr. Chen's birthday. It wasn't going to be the type of jazz gig we expected.

So we started playing, I don't know how to say this without sounding mean but they were pretty bad and pretty hard to play with. Everyone was super nice so the gig wasn't a total drag but boy oh boy, that's the first time I've played contemporary Christian worship songs in Korean. I was trying to not laugh the whole time, not because of their musicianship but because of the absurdity of the situation.

All in all I had a pretty good time.

Tax time didn't turn out to be so bad. Sure we owe but not as much as we have in years past. There was a brief moment of panic when the accountant asked for our babysitter's social security number (to write off daycare expenses) and neither Carrie or I was sure that she had one. WHOA! But everything was cool and on the up-and-up.

I have some time off this week to catch up on some reading and watch Mr. Milo. And Carrie has a friend from England in town who we're going to spend some time with. I better get all of the fun I can in before I leave for a week in Atlantic City next Saturday where the only (and I mean ONLY) fun to be had is poker and booze.

Even though I arrived back in L.A. on Sunday I haven't felt like the tour was over until today. Tuesday I drove to Palm Springs for another gig with Tyrell then drove back yesterday to do a gig with a great local drummer and pianist at a local jazz club.
It is good to be back. I was prepared for Milo to be stand-offish with me at first but both in FL and home he gave me a big hug and really made me feel missed. It's really unbelievable to watch him walk (even though he's more of a handful these days).

Taxes
Getting back home after a long tour means being thrust back in to a life you've abandoned while you were gone. At the moment this means taxes. It is SUCH A DRAG doing my taxes. If I were smart and organized I'd have a computer program that I'd update throughout the year but I'm so good at procrastinating why not wait until April and pour over forms and receipts at the last possible moment? This is what I'm faced with today. Since my income is untaxed I've owed as much as $6,000 in the past. Last year I was able to get my untaxed federal income down to $0, let's hope I can do it again.

Books
Last year I didn't read so much as I was in a sleep-deprived fog for most of the year and anytime I picked up a book I immediately fell asleep, a trait I picked up from my grandmother. But this year I've been reading quite a bit. I read Choke by Chuck Pahlaniuk (author of Fight Club) because there is a movie coming out soon. The book was good (not as good as others of his I've read) and I have no clue how its going to translate.

Afterwards I unknowingly (subconsciously?) devoured two books set in (and on some levels about) Las Vegas. I didn't realize the connection until after I had finished them. The fist is without a doubt the best book about poker I've ever read The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time. It chronicles the story of Andy Beal a Texas billionaire who wants to play the best poker players in the world at the highest stakes. What results is a coalition of lifelong poker pros battling Beal one at a time wagering literally millions of dollars PER HAND. All of the tournament poker on TV is child's play compared to the poker played here. A fantastic read.

The second was the debut novel by Joe McGuiness Jr. The Delivery Man. McGuiness is a disciple of Brett Easton Ellis and this novel is direct ape of Less Than Zero complete with a detached narrative of horrific debauchery and italicized flashbacks. Its about a group of youngsters who start a prostitution ring with high school girls and is a dark and fascinating read. (I know there are a lot Ellis haters out there including my seestah-in-law, here is a great story an interview with him.)

After ripping through all of these short books I picked up Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets a book by David Simon that begat the TV programs Homicide: Life on the streets and The Wire. Since The Wire is over I have to get my Simon fix somewhere.

Back to the taxes. Wish me luck.

fly fly drive gig drive gig drive gig fly fly gig drive gig drive drive gig fly drive gig fly fly drive drive gig drive gig fly fly home

Tomorrow morning we finally leave the state of Florida. We have one more gig before heading home in South Carolina. You don't have to be a geography wiz to know that the two states aren't that far apart from each other, but for whatever reason we have an 11-hour travel day tomorrow (drive to Ft. Lauderdale airport, fly to Atlanta, connect to Augusta, drive to Newberry aka B.F.E.) but its the home-stretch and I'll be home soon.

I found this piece of web-art this morning.

I find it fascinating. Your thoughts?

Milo and Carrie left Florida yesterday. We had a really good time and I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures on the baby blog soon. I'm sad they are gone but it will be less than a week before I'm home.

We went to Downtown Disney yesterday before they left. We had planned on hitting Disney World but because of our schedule that didn't work out. Downtown Disney is a collection of restaurants and shops and I must admit, I don't get it. The trip started badly when we payed over $50 for two sandwiches and a kids meal at one of the restaurants. As we walked around all I saw was shop after shop after shop jam-packed with Disney crap. It's like Disney has figured out how to make buying souvenirs the actual attraction of the place. The only thing you can do in Downtown Disney besides eat is look at and buy junk. I imagine a conversation between a Disney tourist after arriving home and a friend going like this:

"Check out this Mickey Mouse shot glass and Goofy wind chime I got as a souvenir of our time at Disney."

"So what did you do while you were there?"

"Ummm ... I bought this shot glass and wind chime."

You can probably find all of the junk they sell at your local Disney store or online, there must be some attraction to buying the stuff at Disney. At lunch we noticed a man and his daughter wearing some sort of medal, on the ribbon around there necks were pins of all shapes and sizes denoting different rides and Disney characters. After leaving lunch we noticed an entire shop devoted to this; The Pin Trader. It's like this medal and pins are some sort of badge of honor proving you've survived the difficult concrete terrain, navigated the throngs of tourists, and left enough room on your credit card to finally travel home. I imagine this guy arriving at the next family get-together in Iowa, setting his green bean and tuna casserole down on the washer and dryer-turned buffet table, walking in to the living room, throwing his medal and pins down and the coffee table and proclaiming:

"Disney '08! ... Got'r done!"

Got'r done indeed.

When Milo was three months old I took him to Las Vegas to stay at a Casino amidst a crowd of degenerate gamblers and alcoholics. This week at age one I've taken him to Dayton Beach during Spring Break amidst a crowd of sex-crazed teenagers and alcoholics.

Please send your Daddy of the Year votes this way

I was presented with a problem over the weekend. The Boss had hooked up tickets to see the Yankees Spring Training game in Tampa which was also the destination for our next gig. These weren't any ol' tickets, these were the Steinbrenner's box seats. But to make it to the game on time we would have to fly instead of driving with the band, this would mean buying a $100 plane ticket. It seemed like a bit much but after a short deliberation I decided to buy the ticket and go.

This turned out to be the right idea for two reasons. First, it took the band over 6 hours to drive from Palm Beach to Tampa because of bad directions, a speeding ticket, and a hungover band member who had to make vomit stops. Second, these were the best seats any baseball fan could ever hope for. Not only did we have access to the free food buffet which included made-to-order omelettes, prime rib sandwiches, brownies, etc., and of course hot dogs and the like, but the only person sitting in front of me was Yankees manager Joe Girardi. We were right next to the Yankee dugout and I could see right in the entire game. It was pretty amazing.

Now let me say if you remember a baseball post of mine last summer you know I'm not a Yankees fan, but nobody can deny they are one of the premier and most storied sports organizations in the entire world.

A picture from my seat.


Baseball legend Yogi Berra was in attendance to throw out the first pitch.


Jason Giambi playing pitch-and-catch before the game.


Alex Rodgriguez, the best player in baseball.


"Hey Joe! Move to the side a bit, you're blocking my view!"

Yankees beat the Indians in the bottom of the 9th. Got to see two great pitchers, CC Sabathia vs Chin Meng Wang.

We went back to see the Yankees play the Red Sox the next day. We didn't have the great seats we did the day before but they were still good. The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is one of the best in sports and there were a lot of folks out to see the game.


David "Big Papi" Oriz, my favorite AL player.

It's been a great couple of weeks seeing baseball games. A few years from now I'll bring Milo down to Spring Training, we can scout the different teams and decide what position he wants to play.

I'm sure you are all familiar with Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the high-priced prostitute in the middle of the Gov. Spitzer scandal. It seems like the case has brought her some fame and career oppurtunities. If you check out her MySpace page you'll find a bunch of well-wishes from her friends in the Comments sections giving support with words such as "keep your beautiful chin up", "you're going to be rich and famous ... you're on your way", "do you know how proud I am of you?", and "turn the negative into a positive."

The moral of the story here is become famous. It doesn't matter how or why, just become famous.

It's spring training time in Florida and we couldn't resist catching the Dodgers on our day off. Dodgertown (L.A.'s training facilities) has been in Vero Beach for the past 50+ years and this summer the Dodgers will be leaving for their new spring home in Arizona. Me, our trumpeter Matt, and Mistah Tyrell headed up to Vero Sunday morning to see the Dodgers play the World Champion Boston Red Sox. Steve actually news new Dodger Manager Joe Torre (who until last year was the Yankees' skipper) but failed to get a hold of him before the game. When we got to Dodgertown we learned that the game was sold out and attendance records for Vero Beach were being broken that day. Yikes! We ended up scalping tickets and I'm too embarrassed to tell you how much we paid for them especially since after entering the park we discovered we were sitting on the back outfield lawn. Despite everything we still had a good time and caught the last inning from behind home plate and the Dodgers beat the Sox.





Steve got a call from Joe Torre on the way back to our hotel, he apologized for missing Steve's call and invited us to the game the next day to watch the Dodgers play the Orioles. Sweet! We had fun Sunday in Vero but we were really looking forward to being guests of the clubs on Monday.

The next day we had the hookup, after arriving at Ft. Lauderdale Stadium we snatched up our on-field media passes and hurried out to the diamond to watch batting practice. We then learned we were sitting in the owner's box with hot dogs and frozen lemonades on the house. Not too shabby and the Dodgers beat the tar out of the Orioles.

If you're thinking to yourself "is that Tony Orlando?" the answer is yes. Tony actually went to high school with Joe Torre and as it turns out is an old friend of Steve's. He's a really nice guy and it was fun watching the game with him and his band. (please, no "where's Dawn?" jokes, I heard enough of them during the game)


Here's the man, Matt and I with Joe Torre.


Former NBA coach and TNT basketball analyst Mike Fratello also sat in the owners box with us.


A couple of our boys in blue.


The only way to spend spring training.


It was a phenomenal couple of days, maybe we'll get the same hook up at Dodgers Stadium this summer. The Dodgers have a lot of great young talent and have a great shot at going deep in the playoffs. It'll be a fantastic summer of baseball.

For only the second time in history a muslim has been elected to Congress.

The district he represents? Indianapolis, Indiana.

Way to look past religious differences Hoosiers!

A few weeks ago I watched a stand-up special by comedian Doug Stanhope. He came out in a Libertarian T-Shirt and I thought "this should be interesting." And it was, he spoke a lot about drugs and smoking and the like but then went on a diatribe about immigration that was not only hilarious but spot-on as well.

After a little poking around I found this bit of his online although it was from a special on British TV. This clip is even better because it splices in interviews with him discussing his stance. Dig:


I love when he's talking about the types of jobs that illegal immigrants actually take. Poor people can never catch a break in this country. If you're a poor citizen you're told it's your own fault your poor, you've had the same opportunity to succeed as everyone else, and you shouldn't be on welfare even though millions of unskilled jobs in this country pay a poverty-level wage. If you're an illegal immigrant you're told you can't have any of our jobs that pay below the poverty level. Man, who the heck is going to sweep the floors, clean motel rooms, or serve food in this country?

It reminded me of Nickel And Dimed a book I read a couple of years ago; one that really opened my mind to the plight of the working poor and made me more aware of the similar environment I grew up in. It's a fantastic read and I highly recommend it.

**********

Week 1 in Florida is officially over and there are two days off ahead of me. I'm headed to Vero Beach tomorrow to watch the Dodgers' Spring Training. I can't wait. Hopefully there will be much pool lounging if the weather gets a little warmer, out of nowhere this chilly wind blew in today. I thought Indiana weather was psychotic but Florida just might be worse. Blistering heat one second, torrential down poor for ten minutes, gray and humid the next second, etc.

If you didn't hear, Milo took his first steps this week. I predicted I would miss this milestone last month and I really hate being right.

Florida is cool so far. We are in Palm Beach for the next two weeks, our hotel reminds me of a European hotel in that its got a seemingly hip look but its really not as nice as it appears. We aren't staying at the Colony Hotel (where we are playing) which is fine with me as there really isn't much to do in Palm Beach, West Palm has a little more going on.

The legendary Keely Smith was at the gig opening night. She's come to see us quite a bit. If you don't know her, she sang with Louis Prima for years. She's fantastic, here's a performance from over 40 years ago:

Cool, right?

And on a totally unrelated note, how great does this movie look?

The past two days haven't been nearly enough time for me to get ready for this tour. It's midnight and a car will be here in 7.5 hrs. to pick me up.

While I'll be gone for a month it will only be two weeks until I see Milo and Carrie again as they are flying out to see me. I'm hoping we can make the trip to Disneyworld while they are there.

Here's to hoping for low humidity and intelligent conversation with the locals ... HA!

We had a gig last night in the Great Northwest, Seattle to be accurate. For the first time in my experience the city wasn't gray, drab and rainy, it was a very beautiful day. We played a benefit for cancer that Mistah Tyrell helped start last year in memory of his wife Stephanie. Specifically the proceeds go to benefit Katie Couric's colon cancer foundation. It was a pretty fun gig, Chris Botti played with us as well.

Tonight I got the final mixes to my gone-and-almost-forgotten Bossa Nova band demo. It sounds fantastic and I'm really excited about the band. Hopefully this summer I can put a lot of attention toward it.

I have only two days left before heading to Florida for four straight weeks--YIKES!

Are you familiar with the FOX tv show The Moment of Truth?

Any wonder this girl and her husband are now separated? I find it so ironic that FOX is the bastion of conservative, moral right-wing news while at the same time airing crap like this.

This makes cold #3 this winter and if you include food poisoning and mysterious crock-pot-beef-stew-induced stomach bugs it has been a pretty ill few months.

This is why we need a bigger house, so we can quarantine the sicky.

I noticed a few weeks ago that jazz guitar god Pat Metheny was scheduled to give a concert at the Wiltern Theater this evening. This peaked my interest not only because Metheny is phenomenal and I'd love to see him love but because his bassist of late has been none other than the brilliant Christian McBride whom I regularly gush about on this very blog. As you may recall I actually know Christian and helped him out for his performance with James Brown a couple of years ago. So I emailed him and subtly mentioned that I'd like to go to the show but I never heard back from him (he's not so great about emailing sometimes).

I still wanted to go to the show so my buddy Jeff and I decided we'd check it out. Well, tickets were upwards of $60 and seeing as how this is my son's birthday week I really didn't feel like dropping that much bread. I spoke to Jeff earlier this afternoon and we agreed that it was a bit much and we would go another time.

Then lo and behold I get a voicemail from Christian saying he'd like to leave me a couple of tickets for the show.

Hot Damn! I called Jeff up and we made a plan. When we got to the show we not only had tickets waiting for us, we had tickets to the After Party as well. The show was amazing, Metheny is just fantastic live. His guitar gets such an amazing a pure tone. And Christian is of course the most formidable bassist on the planet and he proves it time and time again when I see him live. Ironically the highly-regarded actor Don Cheadle was sitting a couple of seats down from us. While I wasn't sure if he had attended the Oscars earlier in the afternoon after the show I shook his hand and said to him "Don Cheadle knows where the real shit in Hollywood is tonight!" He just smiled. I'm not sure he heard me.

The After Party wasn't much of a party. Drummer Antonio Sanchez (who lit up some crazy drum solos) and Metheny came in chit-chatting with the folks. I finally see Christian and he gives me a big hug and thanks me for coming. After talking to a few more people he says to me "come back to the VIP area, I got something to show you." So we head back to his dressing room where a mutual drummer friend from L.A. is hanging out with none other than Don Cheadle. Christian shows us this James Brown video on his MacBook (James in 1968 dancing his ass off). Afterwards me and Christian talk football for a few minutes. Don Cheadle said goodbye and I left not long after. Jeff and I had come with another friend of his and they were next door at Denny's waiting for me.

It's been a great night and great weekend.


p.s.
How about the Oscars giving all the love to No Country? I love it.

I've been to Aspen and back since last post. Gorgeous place but that altitude does not suit me well. Every time I'm up in the mountains I am constantly tired with an aching headache. But the gig was pretty good despite the lack of energy and lack of sleep as we flew in, soundchecked, and performed in the same day. This morning was another early one, as soon as I landed I headed straight to Costco to begin buying things for Milo's big party. I hate Costco. Not the place you want to shop if you're in a hurry. After a stop at yet another grocery store, picking up Milo from the 'sitter's, and gassing up the CR-V I'm finally home and I've finally stopped moving. But only for a second as Milo needs to eat soon.

Wish us luck for a dry birthday party tomorrow.

Its Oscar time folks. When I was at Western Michigan a friend of mine would have Oscar parties with a $20 pool, those were some of the best times I ever had watching the show; how else are you going to have such a rooting interest in Dame Judi Dench? And at what other point in your life do you get to lament "damn, Shakespere in Love really f***ed me over"? Good times. But with no action on the ceremony I don't much care to watch the show ... boy is it ever dull. Even though the Oscars have shut down the most convenient freeway exits to Hollywood, I'm not going to hold a grudge. While I doubt I'll watch them (unless I'm on house arrest with Carrie on Sunday night) I will make some picks.

Now whenever somebody asks me "what movie is going to win the Oscar" and I answer "X movie will" they inevitably retort "what? X movie sucks!" to which I have to reply "yeah moron, but you didn't ask what the best movie was, you asked what was going to win."

So I'm going to answer both questions with my picks, in bold will be the pick that I think is most deserving (if I don't like any of the nominees then I'll add my own nominee at the end). My predicted winner will be in italics Sometimes the pick will be both bold and italicized. Got it? Here we go:

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Bet the house on this one. You guys remember Gangs of New York when DDL acted circles around Leonardo? Leonardo was so out of his league next to this guy I felt that my performance as Juror #6 in Ben Davis High School's production of Seven Angry Men was better than Leo's and I only had one line. Well, DDL is even better in this flick and lucky for us the silent kid from Little Miss Sunshine did a better job co-starring with him than Leo did.

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

Katherine Heigl, Knocked Up-I know I'm in the minority here but I thought Page was trying way too hard with her performance of Juno. Heigl was much more believable as a pregnant woman battling bad timing. Christie won the Globe so I'm predicting her.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

The perfect Coen bros. villain: a cold and vicious sociopath with a hilariously absurd haircut.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Something tells me the Academy is going to pull one of those shockers and give a sentimental award to Dee, but Blachett is so good in this flick you never once question why she is playing the role of Bob Dylan.

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman, Juno
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I LOVED Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Schnabel deserves to win for it, but I think the Coens had a much more difficult script to tackle and they really nailed both the narrative and figurative aspects of the story.

BEST PICTURE
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Long, boring, epic, war-time period piece? Check, check, check, and check. The Oscars love to give this award to crap like Atonement. Where's the nomination for Diving Bell? Personally I can't pick between No Country and There Will Be Blood, both are brilliant movies that will be rememberd for a long, long time. Hopefully I'm wrong and the Academy will show some sack by giving the Oscars to one of them.

There you go. For the first time in a long time I really like this list of nominees and think it captures what was actually good this past year quite well. What are your picks?

I feel like I've been in a daze for the past week. During our run at Catalina's I haven't been getting to bed until 1 or so but I seem to be waking up with Milo in the morning. While I've been able to get back to bed after he goes to Betty's, there's something about getting your sleep interrupted that leaves you tired for the rest of the day.

The gig was really good this week, the shows were packed which always helps. Brooke Burns was at the show last night, I'm pretty sure she's the hottest celeb who's seen us. Driving back from the Hollywood I noticed that the city had already begun preparing for the Oscars, there were bleachers being put up on Hollywood and Highland in front of the Kodak Theater. I thought to myself "gotta remember not to take the Highland exit in to Hollywood for the rest of the week." It's funny, instead of worrying about traffic because of the 500 or a parade or something I'm remembering to avoid the Hollywood traffic during Oscar time.

Typically I love the rain in L.A., all the smog and clouds are washed away making the sky bright and blue, you can see all of the mountains that surround you and the weather is nice and cool. But I'm fearing the rain that is in the forecast next weekend as Saturday our big first birthday party for Milo at a local park. The Evites have gone out and it looks like we're going to have a pretty fun time if we aren't rained out.

I just watched the new episode of The Wire today ... just, wow ...

I'm ashamed to admit this but I need to confess, I've watched not one but two MTV marathons of America's Next Top Model. Even though I firmly believe that MTV airing this show represents an all-time low for a once edgy and important network, there is something about watching pretty girls pose, fight, and cry that is irresistible. I hate myself for it.

And as a follow-up to my Sixteen Candles post, Molly Ringwald is turning 40 today. That will make you feel old!

How kick-ass is my wife? I'll tell you; she is most kick-ass. For V-Day she got me this PSP Entertainment Pack that not only came with a PSP but with a cool game and Family Guy episodes as well. While I'm a huge nerd who loves video games, I'm always a couple of years behind the latest thing (which actually works well for me as the game system and its games are usually cheaper then). When the PSP came out two (or so) years ago I was still playing with my GameBoy Advance. I took my GBA on the last tour and I really didn't have much fun with it. Recently I'd been seriously considering buying either an XBox360 or PS3, but its hard for my to justify spending the money on one when I don't have a High Def television (a major selling point of both the XBox360 and PS3 as they both are capable of playing HD/BlueRay DVDs).

So Carrie cured my gaming jones with the perfect Valentine's Day gift. The PSP is awesome; movies, web browser, photos, videos, music and games. It is unreal how fantastic the graphics are. It will really help time fly when I'm on a plane (get it? ... *groan*).

While my V-Day gift was great, the day itself was unfortunately uncelebrated. We started another run at Catalina's in Hollywood; I had a rehearsal in the morning with a big band in town, a sound check all day long, and two sets this evening, didn't see the family much at all.

This guy proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of our second set tonight. Steve gave him the mic, he got down on his knees and proceeded to pop. She said 'yes' (good thing too, talk about a set-killer!). It was very sweet.

I hope you had a romantic and exciting Valentine's Day.

Boy, is Google clever or what?

There's a highly addictive game they've created called Google Image Labeler, whenever you image search on Google each picture is labeled with different words that will identify the image when you search for it. So basically, every internet photo should be labeled to make it easier to search for them.

When you play Google Image Labeler you are automatically partnered with someone and each of you are presented with the same image. You keep entering simple words to describe the picture until you both come up with the same word, then you move to the next image. Points are awarded for each label and you see how many labels you can match within two minutes.

It really is a lot of fun.

So basically, Google has made up a game so you will do free work for them. Pretty smart. How can I do that?

I was cruising iTunes yesterday and to my surprise I discovered a new record with the one and only Christian McBride on it, it's Pat Metheny's new disc. Christian's been playing with his trio for a while now and I thought they'd never record, but here it is. It is fantastic, really. You'll love it. The tunes are great, the drummer Antonio Sanchez (who I've seen with Danilo Perez on more than one occasion) is amazing. I can't say enough about this record.

I saw There Will Be Blood last week. Believe all the hype you've heard it is a landmark film with an astonishing performance by Danie Day-Lewis. The score was particularly moving. I'm not a big score fan and I think this might be the first one I've ever purchased. It was written by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood and it is a fantastic accomplishment. There are some classical themes set against a modern orchestral palate. It is an integral part of the movie.

What have you been listening to lately?

scha·den·freu·de-Pronunciation[shahd-n-froi-duh]–noun

Satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.







Man, I'm enjoying this way too much. I gotta cut it out.

In work-related news I started a two-week run at Catalina's with Mistah Tyrell tonight. Catalina's is our home base and its usually a pretty good time. I'm playing more and more electric bass during the show which is a lot of fun for me.

Milo has been sick so the past few days have been rough sleep-wise. It looks like he is over the worst of it though.

Today (Superbowl Sunday) was shaping up to be a pretty blah day. I was planning to go to Vegas this weekend but those plans fell through. Then Carrie, Milo and I were going to go to a BBQ at some friends' house, but Milo got sick on Friday and was still running a slight fever today. I was stuck at home (I did not have permission to join my friends at our usual football hangout bar) with no jalapeno poppers, Buffalo Wings, or beer and a strong suspicion that the football team I hate more than any other would finish their perfect season and celebrate like the bunch of poor sportsmen they are.

What happened then? The most exciting Superbowl I've ever seen. I've never been happier for a team not named The Colts. And the New England Patriots' perfect season was ended by another QB named Manning--that's Poetic Justice folks. I'm telling you, sports provides some of the best dramatic narratives around.

Congrats Giants, thanks for giving a home-bound father a terrific game. After ordering a pizza and playing with my son it proved to be the 2nd most memorable Superbowl I've ever experienced.

I watched Pretty in Pink this morning, great movie. Molly Ringwald never really was the prettiest girl, but there's something about her that is really hot. Anyway, I hadn't seen it in years and was reminded of how great it was.

This got me thinking back to the Reagan years and how all of our GOP Candidates are harping on how they can get us back to the "good ol' days" of the Reagan years. To which I say, "how in the hell were the Reagan years great?!" He taxed the hell out of the middle class, unemployment sky-rocketed, the divide between rich and poor grew and as soon as he left the country dropped right in to a recession. As my father-in-law said, he did more to hurt the Working Man than anyone.

Now as you might be able to tell, there's nothing I hate more than classism. I grew up in government-subsidized housing, I knew my fair share of poor folks growing up and let me tell you, there's no way I would call any of them and less of a person compared to the vast amounts of rich people I've met through my career. The thought that somehow more money equals more character, more wisdom, more ambition, or more happiness sickens me.

If you want an example of how bad this class divide was during the Reagan years you need look no further than Pretty in Pink. Blaine has money and rich friends, Andie is poor and has weirdo friends, they can't get together because of it ... you know the rest of the story. If you can recall the tone of the movie, it's pretty serious. This isn't a rich kid/poor kid after-school special. There are very clear and cruel socio-economic boundaries for these kids that are obeyed without question. The scene where Andie is screaming to Blaine "You're ashamed to bee seen with me!" is pretty moving. It's a stark reflection of American society in the 80's.

Somewhere in the 90's this all changed (and I think getting a Dem in the White House had something to do with it ...). These days rap music is the voice of the youth and even though many rap artists sport diamonds and gold make no doubt about it, rap was born in the ghettos. Rap artists surround themselves with friends from "the 'hood" and attempt to "keep it real" as much as possible. The social class they came from is celebrated, not ignored. Even the ultimate example of rich societal celebrity, Paris Hilton, has been linked with rapper 50 Cent. Duckie and Paris? Could happen!

Hopefully things won't go back to the "good ol'" Reagan years. But I guess we'll find out soon enough.

"His name is Blaine? That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"