November 4, 2008 Cleveland

Well it’s the night before what may be the last gig of the Stained Bliss World Tour. There is still a potential gig but right now there is no date or venue for it so this could be it. Odd it would all come to an end the night of the presidential election. Tomorrow’s show at he Spider could be a victory party or it may be time to start grinding your teeth for another 4-8 years. Obama seems like a good person for the job, not just the better or the lesser of 2 evils, he actually seems like he will be good at this (providing no one assassinates him). It’s really hard to say until he is in the position doing it but he strikes me as someone who wants the job because its an important job and needs to be done right. It doesn’t just seem like he looks at it like a trophy. That is the impression I get of McCain. It’s like he just wants to be President. I mean no one in their right mind truly believe Palin is fit to be running the country if McCain goes down. Seriously, she’s the best choice out of all the Republicans? Supposedly he wanted Lieberman, gotta wonder what type of a decision maker he is if he didn’t take the guy he wanted. I have to say out of the Republicans he used to be one I could tolerate, then he got the Republican nomination. His campaign was bad, mean, and most offensively— Dishonest! If he truly loved his country he would have beat George W. Bush in 2000 and spare the nation the hell it’s been through. Thinking of that makes me uneasy because while even Karl Rove has predicted a decisive victory I have to say until it is in the bag I will always have the image of the 2000 Selection of Bush. I mean that was a huge decision. Even at the time it seemed huge in the sense that the courts had never decided the outcome of an election before but now looking at the havoc he has wrought over the last 8 years it is just a tragedy of major proportions. At the time Gore didn’t seem that hot but if you speculate what the country would be like if he had been in office. Damn... We wouldn’t be in Iraq shit we might not even be in Afghanistan because Gore would have been aware of all "red lights and alarms and the chatter etc" that were going off in the National Security community so September 11 might not have even happened. Who knows? Biden said Obama would be tested and he might be. They certainly tested Bush and he failed miserably. Ug. One can hope can’t one???

So the tours last show is tomorrow night. At least there won’t be a hurricane causing it to be canceled. I’m looking forward to it. J. Kinslow sent me off for some R&R the last week of October. That was good. I got a lot of hiking and even swimming in.  Plus I got away with my guitar and laptop.   It got me into a performing frame of mind. I spent some time at the Maumee Bar Resort over towards Toledo. It was beautiful. The fall colors were gorgeous and I saw deer and bald eagles and beavers and all sorts of beautiful flora and fauna. I could live like that all the time. The nice thing about having the month off from the tour is that I could work on material both for the studio and live. I’m going to try some new things out tomorrow and hopefully they will work out and sound good. We will see. Tomorrow is a new day...

November 6, 2008 Cleveland

So if this is the end of the Stained Bliss 2008 World Tour it was a pretty good end. The Spider, while not packed (it was a Wednesday night in Cleveland afterall) there was a nice array of folks who were there and they were listening. It was fun. I tried a few songs with new arrangements and with a new Looping Peddle I tried some stuff out with that so there was that sense of adventure that I find so alluring in making music. To just go somewhere and do what people completely expect you to do is really not the point. While I am not going to say that I know what the point of music is I do believe that it has something to do with exploring, creating and looking for what is different and yet, in the case of music, sounds good too (now what the meaning of ‘good’ is, is a conversation for another time). Perhaps that is why while I don’t dismiss cover songs I can’t get into it when the point of covering a song is to sound like who ever did it originally. I don’t do many covers but that is partly because I am too lazy to learn any. It has always been easier to write my own then learn someone else’s. On the other hand I don’t know if Frank Sinatra ever wrote a song in his life ( he may have I really just am ignorant on the topic.. I know others wrote a lot of his material) but he was an original. That is the important thing I suppose. Be creative, be original. Do it because it is what you need to express. Granted in most cases no one in the world will give a crap about it and your ego may get bruised and damaged if you let it but do it because it is good for you. If you can do it because you need to then it won’t matter as much what others think. Do it without expectation after all if you’ve no expectations how can you be disappointed!!! (a twist on the Buddhist’s quest to be free of desire perhaps) Feed your soul and spirit. It can be cathartic and therapeutic. Anyway it was fun a really fun night. I think at one point early on I mentioned that I found it pleasing that Obama had been elected. 2 gentleman who had prior to that been listening and attentive got up and walked out, one of them leaving a half finished drink. I got the impression they were not in agreement with my view on the election. Then again perhaps they were 2lovers who’s passion had risen to the point where they had to go where they could be alone. Or perhaps it was all just a coincidence that they left after I mentioned Obama’s victory.

Speaking of which Barack Obama is the President elect of the United States. Pretty cool. The first African American ever to hold the position. It is nice to know that the people who elected George W. Bush to office .*  Were able to go "Whoa..... we really F%#ked up didn’t we" and correct course. It is clear to me that this country lived through the worst presidency of modern times (modern being defined as since I have been alive... oh say 20 years...right). Just yesterday I heard that he has the lowest approval rating of any president SINCE POLLING BEGAN!!!!!!!!!!  (Even worse than Tricky Dick, both are crooks as far as I am concerned)  That is a pretty bad approval rating.

So now Obama gets to try and make sense out of the mess that Bush has left. And boy has he left a mess. He basically has to do the exact opposite of what Bush did. Bush came in with a surplus and turned it into the biggest deficit ever. Obama must get us out of the red. Bush inherited a thriving economy. Obama gets an devastated economy. Bush got a country at peace. Obama gets a country engaged in 2 wars (and if Cheney has his way a third before inauguration...I’m lookin’ at you Iran). Bush gutted the environment the best he could. Hopefully Obama will reverse that course. Hopefully Obama will put real scientists into positions that require scientific knowledge and experience. People who don’t believe that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs, or if they do at least have real scientific data to prove their point.(which I doubt they can muster). It’s been almost surreal living in this country at times over the last 8 years. The whole run up to the war and the blatant lies that were used to justify it. The way the (liberal?) press was totally neutered and either incompetent or afraid to do their job. In one case reporting news directly as it was given to them by the White House (I believe it was Judith Miller... of the New York Times). Who would have thought that in America that we would live in a country that tortures in secret prisons, puts their own citizens under surveillance, who would have thought that a president could be allowed to by pass congress with signing statements? I mean it’s the President signing a statement that says "I don’t have to obey this law because I said I don’t have to obey this law". How messed up is that. I remember egging on some Republicans upon hearing them talk about fearing Obama becoming President. I couldn’t resist adding "You probably should be afraid because with the Patriot Act and signing statements all the things that Bush insisted he could do now Obama will be able to do." They had no response. There was a reason that people on the left and the right objected to the assault on our constitution. I think it was McCain who pointed out that there isn’t always going to be a Republican president. I mean we are basically living an Orwellian world of endless war. Most people don’t realize but the president can declare anyone an enemy combatant and they are screwed. They can then be locked away indefinitely. This includes American citizens. Oh but it can’t happen here....

I know I go on and on. Perhaps now with Obama as President I can quit grinding my teeth. It will be hard because he has a hell of a job in front of him. In my lifetime no President has taken over a country in such a mess. I wish him well and I wish us all well. **

* (I’ll hold off on a discussion on whether or not he was really elected... oh if you get a chance to see this years Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" there is a great scene at the beginning where homer is being eaten by a voting machine that was rigged to change Obama votes to votes for McCain and as he is being dragged into the machine he yells "this isn’t suppose to happen in America, maybe Ohio, but not America..." or something to that effect.)

** I still haven’t ruled out an attempt by the Bush administration to create an incident on par with September 11 and then use that to declare Marshall law. He’s got until January 20, 2009. I mean if they went to all the trouble they did to start the Iraq war what’s the problem with a little more death and destruction just to hang on to power. I hope I am wrong. I think I am but.....

September 13 Chicago

Well despite what I expected last night turned out pretty good. Not a huge audience but then again this is Cleveland and despite it’s being the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame location it really doesn’t give a rats ass about local original music. So given that and some other factors I was expecting to be playing to a small crowd. Now it wasn’t huge but it was enough for it to be fun. The people there were listening.  There were folks there who probably didn’t come because I was playing and yet they were engaged. One extremely astute gentlemen called my music "creative genius". Now keep in mind this is a coffee shop so he probably wasn’t drunk. There were other people who showed up who I wasn’t expecting including the cute women who serves me my coffee on the way to work most days of the week. I’m impressed someone would return to the place they work jut to hear lil ol’ me( aw shucks). The early closing time was kind of nice afterward my friend Wanda (not her real name but for the sake of the blog that is what I will refer to her as) went back to my place and had martini’s. OK She had a couple sips while I had martini’s and we talked and listened to music. It was a good night. Still I had to get up and out because Lisa Sue and I were heading to Houston to play the Texas Tea Party on Sunday. It was a pretty cool festival involving some of the areas best talent and some other acts from around the country (such as yours truly). No huge names like the festival that was supposed to be in Melbourne but still it seemed to be a good event. Unfortunately its seems like a deja vu all over again as Hurricane Ike is hitting Houston and we are now stuck in Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Damn... it doesn’t look good. We checked before taking off and the promoter said the Festival was still happening, that they were going to move it to an indoor venue. Unfortunately the flights are all cancelled into Houston and now that we have safely landed in Chicago we get word via J. Kinslow that the festival is cancelled. He is making arrangements for us to fly back to Cleveland on Sunday. If I had know I could have gotten a hold of my brother who lives here and we could have taken in the town and perhaps gone to Andy’s for some afternoon jazz or Shaw’s for some seafood or that really good hole in the wall Mexican place that is within walking distance of his apartment (I mean really friggin’ good!!!). Plus he could’ve met Lisa Sue. Alas we are stuck in this Hilton Hotel and have to eat at the hotels restaurant , Andiamo. It’s a place that specializes in Italian and vegetarian cuisine which is good. That is what both Linda Sue and myself like so that suits us. I have to admit I was surprised J. Kinslow sprung for the Hilton. There’s a pool which I will take advantage of later. After dinner probably.  It sucks to be in Chicago without being able to take advantage of this fine city. Alas. I’ll be here in a few weeks to visit my brother and take in an Ani DiFranco show. That will be fun. We will probably hit the Jazz Showcase on the Sunday and take in a few martini’s then. For now all I can say is that for a guy from the Midwest I sure am being messed with by hurricanes this year. Beats being stuck at the Atlanta airport anyway.

So it’s after dinner. It was good. I stayed with the vegetarian cuisine while Linda Sue had some type of veggie, chicken and pasta toss thing with Parmesan cheese and we split a bottle of pretty good Pinot Noir. OK we didn’t split it, she had a glass and I drank the rest. Afterwards I went for a swim and that was good. The water felt fantastic. I love just being immersed in the water. It’s a good pool. While I would prefer to have been in Houston playing music this has actually turned out to be OK. Again I wish I’d had the time to let my bro know and we could’ve hit the town. I did call him but I just got his answering machine so he may well have had plans. Lisa Sue went out for a walk. She just wanted to get some air and I am obviously sitting at the computer back in my room. We are sharing a room. No separate rooms this time. That’s OK Linda Sue and I have been friends for so long it’s 2^nd nature to be around each other. I think she went for a walk to give me some space. She is like that. Very considerate. Plus she well may have wanted to shop at some of the places in the airport. Who knows. She has J. Kinslow’s credit card When she gets back I may see if she wants to go down to one of the hotel’s bars. There was a place, I think it was called the Gaslight, or something like that, maybe she’d want to grab a beer or wine or even something stiffer. Who knows. It’s still relatively early. Our flight tomorrow doesn’t leave until around noon. I think it’s like 12:20. Lisa Sue has the itinerary. Anyway if she doesn’t return soon I may head out for a walk. Perhaps she just wants to get away from me? That wouldn’t surprise me. I always wonder if I could somehow meet myself would I like myself??? You know everyone (me especially) is pretty full of themselves and you think everything you do is the right way on some level so if suddenly I were able to meet John Kinslow Ignatius Joseph McGrail would I like him????? I hope so but ya never know. The door is opening, It must me Ms. Dannon. It is. Later!

September 14, 2008 Cleveland

Well I am back home. I guess Houston and Galveston got whacked pretty hard. Maybe I’ll be invited back to next years Texas Tea Party. It seemed like a fun thing. No superstars but a lot of really good local and regional and independent folks. They even paid enough where we probably would’ve broken even. Linda Sue wasn’t part of the budget she was just going to get out of town. It was a vacation for her (although she did have J. Kinslow’s credit card hmmmm............). It's too bad that Ike decided to drop in when he did. 

Even though it’s a short flight I am tired. All the standing in lines and airport air and the boredom and the carrying bags and the 12 beers. It wears you out. Now I am home and I think a nap is in store. All I need do is lay on my couch and soon a small furry animal will curl up on my chest and I will be off to sleepzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........................

September 11, 2008 Cleveland

OK. It’s that day and I have a gig tomorrow at the Arabica. What do I write about? Well both I suppose. How does one write something today and not mention it’s the 7^th anniversary of the attacks of September 11. Indeed everything has changed. We have less freedom (score one for Osama), our economy is struggling or worse which was one of the things Bin Laden had said he was going to do. Bring us down economically. I read most of his manifesto (best to know what the enemy is thinking don’t you think?) and that was one of the ways he was going to hit us. (Score two for Osama). The fact that he hasn’t been apprehended yet, almost but we had to abandon him so we could go to Iraq (score 3 Osama). Bush was able to use the attacks as fodder to scare the general public into re-electing him ( Score 1 Bush---and we won’t even go into whether or not he was actually re-elected because of the vote counting, especially here in Ohio was peculiar, plus the fact that his first term one could say he was selected not elected thus pasting re- on the front of elected could be construed as a misnomer...but we won’t bother with those tidbits for the sake of this entry). Afghanistan is heating up, tonight’s news said it was a bloodier month for the U.S. than Iraq was and one of the bloodiest since the war started. (Score 4 Osama). Am I making this a political thing. No, and that is not to say it isn’t a political thing, just that I am not the one making it that way. Bush did that. I have to hand it to him. It was a shrewd, if not cynical, cold and callous, thing to do. I mean he managed to get re-elected based on the idea that he could keep us safer even though he was in charge on September 11, 2001 and failed to keep us safe then. I don’t get it. Are the American people really that stupid. I hope not. Especially with another election facing us and a Bush acolyte wanting the post. It has been 7 years. I fear where the country is headed. How many out there are aware of the way protesters were dealt with in St. Paul during the Republican Convention? I read where at one point the police had a representative from the Organic Consumers Association in his sight and threatened to shoot if he didn’t obey. The friggin' Organic Consumers Association for God’s sake. I mean what’s he gonna do throw an organic pumpkin filled with explosives. People, both peacefuly protesting citizens and the press to were being locked up. How many of you heard much about that. I saw nothing in the mainstream media about it. Wonder why? Perhaps because the mainstream media is owned by 4 companies. That’s right 4 companies. It’s not a monopoly but it’s a small enough group where they can control the message and when profit is their mission the truth falls by the wayside. I mean the Republicans will make it easier to make money than the Democrats so of course it’s a logical conclusion that they aren’t going to cover it. Darkness looms ahead folks and it really makes me sick. It leaves me scared. 7 years later this is what has happened. (Score 5  Osama)

So, having said that happy little bit I have a show tomorrow at the Arabica on E. 185^th. Jay and Chris were going to join me but circumstance beyond my (and their) control has nix that. It’s disappointing for sure because I enjoy playing with those guys and hanging with them but I am a solo act for the most part. I am used to doing this alone. I have some new tunes I am looking to test out and some new equipment which I hope to employ. It should still be fun. As long as no teenage kids come in and sit next to the stage and talk at the top of their lungs. It’s nights like that when I wish I’d brought a gun*. You see I’d only have to shoot one of them and the others would shut up. Unfortunately I only have a B.B. pistol and that would take too long. The show is only 2 hours long. To fill a teenager with copper to the point of silencing him would probably take much longer.  I don't mind teenagers just noisy ones who have no regard for anyone else other than themselves.  Some very good friends of mine are teens and they are very good listeners.  I suppose if adults did the same I might want to fill them with copper too!*

* I am just kidding about shooting someone. I don’t believe in violence is an answer to anything, certainly not an obnoxious audience.

September 5, 2008 Cleveland

It’s the morning of the Brother Bean show. I’ve had my oatmeal, toast, coffee and read some of Bukowski’s "Hollywood". It’s a little after ten. The sky’s are cloudy and there is a nice breeze. We could get some rain. Hopefully I won’t have an entire drive in the rain. If it doesn’t rain it’ll be a perfect day for a nice drive. It’s not as hot as it’s been the last couple days so I won’t be roasting in the Tourcivic. I’m going to take either Route 6 or 322 to the PA border and then go south around Pymatuning. It’s not the route mapquest listed as fastest but it’s shorter and probably more scenic. After all, these trips on the road are for the adventure as much as for the show. If I can break even then I figure it’s a successful trip. Even if I don’t break even I still don’t consider it a failure. Actually on second look it looks like there is a road that traverses the reservoir. So perhaps that will be the way to go. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to meeting Gwen and her husband Bruce. I’ve stayed in some contact with Gwen via Myspace and she seems real friendly. It’s a small town but she seems to have a good thing going from a musical standpoint Nothing like that ever occurred in my hometown when I was growing up. I didn’t see my first live concert until I was a freshman in college. I remember always being fascinated just by seeing a stage with instruments set up. Even if it was just a high school dance with a live band. Or even going past the music store in the Fashion Square Mall (that’s in Saginaw Michigan). This should be fun. I’ve been befriended by some others on Myspace from the area so I hope to meet them too. I even have a couple new tunes to try out. Hopefully I won’t screw them up. We will see.

Seneca 5:00ish PM

September 1,

It’s the morning of the Peace Show. I’m tired. Didn’t sleep well last night. One of those nights where you wake at 4 in the morning and then toss for a few hours. I’d have slept in until nine or ten if I didn’t have to get downtown by eleven. Oatmeal and a bagel are my breakfast along with the usual quantity of coffee, what would I do without coffee? So the day looks excellent. The weather has cooperated all weekend long. There was a bit of rain Friday night but now it is gorgeous and has been for the last 3 days. We play at noon so it probably won’t even be hot when we take the stage. We will do the same set as last weekend. I may have to do a tune solo to boot although I haven’t really given that much thought. Probably Fallen Angel or perhaps All Stays The Same with Chris and Jay on backing vocals. We briefly went over that a couple weeks ago. Didn’t need the extra song last weekend. Regis is doing the sound. That’s good. I’ve always gotten a good sound when he’s been at the helm. The only problem with the show today is that I have to go back to work tomorrow. Ug. People shouldn’t have to work. There are so many other more interesting things to do in life. Money, things, it’s what drives us to work. Sure it’s good to eat and drink a certain amount but most of what we have we don’t need. Do I need a laptop, do I need a drip coffee maker, do I need a studio? Not really. I do need music. Making it, listening to it I do believe these things are essential however one guitar would allow me to do that. One gets used to it and it starts to become a need so you are afraid of doing without. Guilty as charged. We consume an awful lot in this ocuntry. Shit the budget just to make war and have the tools of making war is so ridiculously huge. I read somewhere that we spend more on arms than the rest of NATO combined. If that’s true we are either really wasteful or really really chicken. Either choice doesn’t sit well with me. Then again I also read that someone claimed prior to the 2004 election that Bush would win because no president has ever been removed while at war. If Bush knew that little tidbit it might be part of the explanation as to why he started a war (although there are others OIL, CHENEY, OIL) . One would think the American people wouldn’t be so stupid as to send the man who started the war back to the oval office. I mean he was also the dude in charge when we got hit on September 11^th. Yet he used the threat of a terrorist attack, which his administration failed to deter, to get re-elected. Now he continues wreaking havoc and mayhem on this country and its people and its economy. I just don’t get what people are thinking. Are they really that dumb. I hope 8 years has woken them up a little. Now given all that I will be playing a Peace Show this afternoon. It’s the least I can do and hopefully it is the last Peace Show we need to have.

6:00 PM

Man, was that fun... We played well, the audience seemed to dig it and it was all for the cause of Peace. I can’t ask for anything more than that. What a great event. Sure as we cut into "One by One" planes were roaring over us but it was not going to daunt us. We just cranked it out best we could and challenged their din with our own beautiful noise. In the end all they could do was fly over and make a lot of noise while we were able to reach people and spread the message of peace just a little further than it had been at the beginning of the set. Perhaps it’s a small thing. But a lot of times you gotta take baby steps to eventually achieve a greater goal. I mean if you look at the history of the Peace Show the first was only 3 hours long and drew only a hundred or so but today there were over the course of the day thousands who passed through and were offered the message of peace. How anyone could turn that down I have no idea. I remember the first time I played at the Peace Show it was with The Kind Revolution and that was the 4^th annual one in 2005. The audience had already grown from the first however back then you still got a lot of people coming to or from the air show who would taunt or try and mock us and our message of peace. Well this year I saw none of that. I guess after 8 years of Bush and his war making you kind of got to just shut up and keep walking because you just don’t have a pot to piss in. At this point it is so clear that Bush was wrong to go into Iraq and that all his lame excuses for doing so were lies and obfuscation. The Peace crowd was right about Iraq. War is a horrible thing. Sometimes war is justifiable. But when you attack a country that has not attacked you or anyone else for that matter you are completely wrong and I see no way of arguing in favor of that.

Back before the war I remember being in Trinity Lutheran church on Euclid Avenue listening to variious speakers prior to a march against the war and they announced that in London there were over a million people assembled in protest against the war and that in Rome there were over a million people assembled in protest against the war. It made the hair on my arms stand on end. There were several hundred in that church that day but we were not alone. Across the planet people had risen up to protest the march to war that the Bush administration was orchestrating. We then got up and proceeded to march down Euclid Avenue in 8 degree weather. It was cold, incredibly cold, and yet I would do it all over again even knowing we didn’t stop the war. To anyone not blinded by the Bush administrations bullshit it was so damn obvious that they just wanted to go to war. Indeed Cheney has since said that they would have done so even if they’d known there were no WMD(which I am pretty sure they knew). Think about it George Tenet said it was a slam dunk but then afterward the Bushies said they got bad intelligence. My question is if the information was so bad why did Bush give Tenet, the man with the bad intelligence, the medal of freedom which is the highest civilian honor. You don’t reward someone who has screwed up. You reward someone for doing exactly what you wanted. So there you have it... pretty obvious if you can think independently.

So today we celebrated peace. How can anyone say that is a bad thing. There are probably those out there but they are wrong. It was an honor to take part in this celebration. Everyone sounded good. A guy named Zach wowed them as he went wandering off with his wireless guitar wandering as far as the corner of 9^th and Euclid, Mike Rotman, the Waterband and of course Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, the grandson of Pete Seeger. He was quite excellent carrying on in the tradition of his grandfather. He had flown in from Minneapolis where he was protesting at the Republican National Convention and he was headed back there from the Peace Show. He played banjo, 12 string guitar and sang in both English and Spanish. Outstanding. I’d go see him again any day. So it was a good day. A good cause and a good time. Chris and Jay rocked. I can’t say how much I appreciate their efforts on my songs. And lastly I have to send out kudos to Tim Smith who organized this and has been the mastermind behind all these Peace Shows. Talking to him you can tell it is a monumental effort, you can tell there have got to be times where he might want to quit and yet he doesn’t quit rather he has done this year after year with greater success each year. Well done I say to Tim and all the volunteers who make this happen. Well Done!

August 30, 2008 Cleveland

No Melbourne popped up but I did have a brief performance for a school of deaf kids at a facility in upstate New York. They seemed to like it. I didn’t put it on schedule because it wasn’t open to the public plus it came up rather quickly. It was in the Chataqua area near Sherman, New York. A few hours there and then a few back. Pretty country to drive through. Now I am back in Cleveland getting ready for the 2008 Peace Show at the Free Stamp. This should be fun. I played at it back in 2004 or 2005 with The Kind Revolution. That was a good day. The lineup also included Burning Sage, Jim Volk, Susan Weber and Monet’s Orbit, the Jimiller band and some others whom I can’t remember. Since I’ve been back I have been hearing the jets warming up over head although this years practice runs don’t seem quite as noisy as some years past. The actual air show should be in full flower at this point. This morning it is quiet. It is a nice day. There is wetness on the ground from an overnight rain and the humidity is high. It feels good outside ad the humidity makes it smell good too. I don’t play until Monday so I have today and tomorrow to do whatever I please which is one of the ways I like to live my life. Serendipitously whenever possible. I, of course, need to practice and do that sort of stuff but I never think of that as something I have to do as much as something I want to do. It’s making music which is what we musicians are here for. We have to do what we have to do in order to facilitate the ability to make music. All too often that means having a day job and doing that so one can indulge in one’s life’s work. The other option is try and make a living playing music. That isn’t something I would want to do while living here in Cleveland. Cleveland has some good points but supporting the musicians is not really one of them. Some cities supposedly do this. New York is suppose to be a good music city but then you have to pay a lot more just to stay alive so I’m not so sure that you can make a good living there playing music, original music I am speaking of. Alas. I can’t worry about it to much life is too short. So I will practice. I also want to work on some new stuff and hopefully have that prepared for my show in Seneca, Pennsylvania on September 5th. I am looking forward to that. It’s a tiny little town south of Erie. It may be smaller than my home town, but it seems like a vibrant place for music. Then of course I have to figure out where to have the annual miniature golf tournament. I think this is the 15th year we have had it. That is usually a fun time. We have set the date for the 20th of September although the venue has not been chosen yet.

August 24

It’s early. I got my coffee and read for a bit. Soon I have to head down to the festival area and drop off some equipment. Mainly the amp.. As they are closing the road off we won’t be able to get near the stage later. Chris is going to be dropping the drums off around this time too. It’s hot. Hopefully the rain will stay away until well after the event is over...hopefully. I feel good. I’m tired. Probably stayed up too late last night but what can you do. It was too hot to go to bed. It’s too hot right now. The house didn’t cool down much over night. I am perspiring just typing this. Ug. Oh well. I fill you in later when its over.

Well its later. It’s over. I am exhausted. Being out in the hot sun all day really can drain a man. Tack on to that a performance and boom you are the walking dead. It was good though. It sounded good and I got a good response from the folks I talked to after. There were probably 500-1000 people at the Walk and Roll and I would say, having been there through most of the acts, we had the biggest crowd there. It was the b est the three of us have ever played. It was fun. It would be nice to get used to playing in that format. Because we only do it intermittently I never really get comfortable playing with other musicians. I am very comfortable playing alone because I do it all the time. We play next on Labor Day at the Peace Show at the Free Stamp. This should be fun. We are the opening act which has the advantages of getting your equipment in but I would prefer to play later. Not so many people will be there right at noon (which is when I think we are scheduled to go on) Still it’s a show dedicated to Peace. I’m not going to complain its an honor to be able to take part. It’s a great cause. More on that later. Today was good. I am tired and I am home and I think a Martini is in store. I grabbed a burrito from Chili Peppers on the way up 185^th. It has since disappeared (the burrito not Chili Peppers). It was good. I had a small glass of vino with it. It too was good. I was hoping they had their Tortilla soup but they didn’t. One burrito may not be enough to get me through until tomorrow. My cat is glad I am back. She is sitting looking at me as I type this out. The sound was excellent. Ritchie’s sound company is the best I have ever had to deal with. He kicks ass. You get a good stage mix. The guys he hires are always cool and friendly and accommodating. And it always sounds good!

One disturbing thing occurred prior to playing. I was talking to Jay and Pete MacDonald of the Waxwings when a little kid who was fishing in the pond near the stage (thus the title the Pond Stage) Held his fishing rod out and there was a frog that had bit his hook and he was holding it up and the frog was hanging with his arms and legs spread. When I looked at him the kid lowered it to the ground and asked "Can anyone get the hook out of the frogs mouth." Jay, Pete and I looked and first suggested cutting the line, but it was the kids only hook and he didn’t want to lose it (plus the frog would still have a hook in his mouth) . So Pete reached down and managed to get the hook out. (Yay Pete, kudos to you!) The frog sat surprisingly still as he did this, apparently he realized he was getting help. Then he put the frog by the edge of the pond and at first the frog just sat there, perhaps a little in shock from all that had transpired. Then Pete put his hand down and nudged the frog from behind and he jumped in and hopefully lives a full and rich life from here on out. The image of the frog dangling was hard to take though. At first I thought the kid was playing with it, torturing it if you will (unless you subscribe to the George W. Bush interrogation manual then it’s got a different name) but when our eyes met that was when he asked if someone could get it off the hook. I think he just didn’t know what to do. Then again the cynic might think he was torturing it until an adult saw him. I mean he had no idea that I wasn’t a real adult. I looked like one from a distance. So he assumed I was one.

Speaking of the Waxwings, they were excellent. I really enjoyed them. 2 brothers and 2 sisters (and one of the sisters is marrying one of the brothers), playing ‘old timey music’ as they called it in Oh Brother Where art Thou. Vicki Chew did the expected, which is to sound fabulous. What a voice she has. Good songs and a great voice, how can you go wrong? She was accompanied by Dave Huddleston on bass. A very talented dude, sings, plays a bunch of stuff. People like that make me kind of sick (it’s cuz I am jealous. ) With any luck I will learn to play the guitar really good, if I keep practicing. The belly dancers were... interesting. They belly danced as we were setting up for their set. It was a fun day. I am tired. I’m glad I got another show with Chris and Jay. I am glad I got another show in Cleveland before I hit the road again. (Unless another Melbourne fiasco comes along. Gators in the streets... )

August 13 Cleveland

     Got a sudden chance to play a festival in Melbourne, Florida. I think it’s the Deep Seafest or something like that. I was in Melbourne a few years back and it was a nice stretch of beach with a good seafood place. Now the festival had a cancellation and someone who knows Ms. Dannon suggested my name and we were in. Supposedly there are some big names playing... Dylan (Biff), You Too! And Arnie DiFranco. We gotta rush though, the festival is on the 17^th. We have tickets for a flight on the 16^th. It’s just going to be me and J. Kinslow going. I’m looking forward to it but I am a little worried because I am going to have to give up my guitar to the baggage brutes. It makes me kind of anxious. I hate traveling by plane. I am looking forward to playing. This is the biggest festival I have played so far this year. Having good head liners is soo important I realize I am on the less famous side of groups like U2 or the Dave Matthews band or whomever so it’s good to get in front of their audience and perhaps it will grow mine. Who knows. That’s how its suppose to be.

August 15

Tomorrow we leave. I am hearing reports of Hurricane Fay in the Carribean. Just my luck it’ll probably hit just as we are flying in. I hope not. I am totally packed and ready to go. One bag with both clothes and effects for the guitar and then my guitar which we have been able to weasel a ride up in the attendants area. Goody that makes me feel a little more relaxed about this. I’ll be able to concentrate on the music. Tonight I am just going to sit back and relax and play with the cat. I won’t be gone that long though so she’ll be ok. I’ll get Hal (not his real name) to watch Erin. Anyway I think I am going to make dinner. Salad Nicoise or something close to it. I don’t have any boiled red skins so it really won’t be Nicoise. I think I’ve the rest of the ingredients. Maybe a glass of Pinot Noir to boot. I just bought a bottle of ‘earth friendly’ stuff so hopefully it’s worth the price of the bottle (which wasn’t that much... it doesn’t have to be that good to live up to it’s price.)

August 16 Atlanta

I am presently sitting in the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta. It’s maddening. Hurricane Fay has been hitting the coast of Florida and they aren’t letting my plane fly in. We were going to go to Miami and then drive north to Melbourne but they cancelled the flight. J. Kinslow is off trying to get a hold of the promoter. He wants to know if the festival is even going to go on. It’s an outdoor event and even without the high winds there is a ton of rain. This sucks. I’m sitting in one of those bars that are along the concourses on the way out to our gate. I hate airports they drive me crazy. Maybe its Florida or perhaps Melbourne. The last time I was traveling to Melbourne I ended up on a plane where the attendant popped the inflatable emergency ramp and we couldn’t fly. They had no replacement part and the plane couldn’t fly without the ramp by law. It was maddening. It was the first time I had ever been put up in a hotel by an airline and had to eat on their vouchers. Their vouchers didn’t even total up to one of the entree’s on the menu of the restaurant I had to eat at. I went elsewhere. It was an Italian place, a chain Italian place. I can’t remember of the top of my head. It wasn’t Olive Garde or Buco DiPeppo, I’d get it if it were a multiple....Carrabba’s that’s it! It wasn’t bad, nice waitress very friendly and attentive. She was pregnant I remember so I gave her a big tip. She had a child coming it was the least I could do. It’s an ugly job but someone has to do it (having babies not waitressing). So life in the airport is just smashing. I wonder how J. Kinslow is doing. I wonder if the festival is cancelled. I am guessing it is. I mean if we can’t fly in it certainly can’t be conducive to playing music out of doors. Damn. I was really looking forward to this.

It’s later. I am now looking out the window in the loading area. I am not getting ready to load its just a place that I could plug my computers power cord in and do this. My battery was getting weak and I need to run on direct power. We aren’t going any where soon and the festival has been canceled. What a waste. I could have stayed in Cleveland and gotten more rehearsals in with Jay and Chris. Alas. As it is we will practice Tuesday and Thursday and then the Walk and Roll. A slight twist there, we are headlining it!!! It went from almost not even doing it and heading to my home town West Branch for some golf and some R&R and family time, to headlining the entire event. The whirlwind world of entertainment. I really don’t think I qualify as entertainment. Art perhaps (small A) but entertainment isn’t really my goal. I think it’s communication although so often I am at a loss as to what it is I am trying to communicate. Feelings perhaps. I remember reading an essay by Leo Tolstoy years ago when I was at John Carroll. It was for an Aesthetics philosophy course. Dr. Pugh taught it. The gist of Tolstoy’s essay was that music is the communication of feelings. It wasn’t a language per se but it was communicating that which couldn’t be put into words. That’s the best I can do to summarize it 25 + years later.( I loaned the book to another student and they never returned it... bastards.  I don't loan things now.  I know better..) I remember reading an interview with jazz guitarist John McLaughlin where he said for him music was ‘the face of God’. Now I am not sure about that. I’ve not seen God so I don’t know what his face looks like (it’s like when people see Jesus’ face on a piece of toast... how do they know it’s Jesus’ face, we have no pictures of Jesus! Maybe it’s someone else. Maybe it’s Fred Swanson or Josh Lewis or someone else whose name I don’t presently feel like making up.) Despite all this I can see how one would connect music with the very basic questions of God and existence. I’ve have often espoused that music is as essential as air or water. I get a lot of funny looks when I say this but none the less it is something I feel. I think if I were denied all music, and I mean all music... no whistling or singing and obviously no going to see bands or playing recorded music... You were denied even the ability to silently think of a tune (although I don't know how that would be done...)  Under those circumstance I think I would die. Perhaps from madness ot perhaps it is an essential physical substance. There is something in music that, for the musician, comes from one’s very soul and for the listener touches the depths of one’s soul. That is about as specific as I can get. But me a beer sometime and maybe I will get more specific for you (buy me 3 beers and you’ll be telling me to shut up.). Anyway the Atlanta airport sucks. I’m going to head back to the concourse bar... I need more than just electric power.

Well I am sitting in a room at the Westin Inn which is right here at the airport. J. Kinslow got his own room and I get this one to myself. We both like our privacy so this works out. We can’t get out of Atlanta until eleven in the morning. It is later. I turned the tv on briefly but it was just an annoying noise so I turned it out and grabbed the laptop. It’s a nice place here. Way better than the Travelodge in Jackson. (Never again). We ate at Palio’s, the hotels restaurant. Pretty good. I had a pasta dish with lots of veggie’s, garlic, and spices and of course olive oil with a heavy sprinkling of grated Parmesan. The glass of Cabernet was particularly tasty. Now I am alone in the hotel room, It’s nice. J. Kinslow has OK’d me using room service. He knows I probably won’t but I know he wants to use it so he didn’t want to seem exclusive, I guess although I am not sure why right now is different from the rest of the time. None the less I dig having this room to myself. I should order a cocktail from the bar just to use room service. Nah, I’m not really in the mood. I think I’ll climb in bed and drift off to sleep while watching TV. I don’t have cable at home so this is a treat, sort of, I actually find myself switching through lots of channels for a long time and sometimes I never settle on a particular channel before I turn it off and turn the lights off. I wish I could open the windows. It’s not possible. I will have to use the AC. Too bad there is such a good breeze tonight, the winds got to be at least 15mph, I could probably get away with just the window being open. I'm up on the 6th floor so it should be brezzy at this level, it's only in the upper 70's outside. Alas... AC it is.

August 17 Cleveland

Well I am back in town. It's Sunday night and I have to get up in the morning. This was a tiring waste of time. Oh well. Time to turn my focus toward the Walk and Roll. We’ve 2 rehearsals this week. I am looking forward to it. There will be a song I have never played before live. I wrote and recorded it and it ended up on Stained Bliss but I have yet to play it live. It isn’t something I can play solo it needs a band. This event I will have a band with me. That is cool, I get to hear some of my stuff in a more fleshed out manner. Playing solo is fun but it is lacking in a lot of ways. As someone who likes to arrange music playing solo is the total antithesis of that.  It does challenge you to make a good arrangement with just a voice and guitar... and in some instances some effects.. It has it’s charms. At least when it’s a good night. Then again all music has its charms when it’s a good night. And when it’s a hideous night it sucks and you want to take a automatic weapon to the audience for not having the intelligence to listen and appreciate you. You left the weapon at home though so you just continue to play and be ignored. You get used to it. Sort of... not really...!

August 23 Cleveland

The rehearsals went well this week. Tomorrow is the Walk and Roll Festival. I am calling it a 'festival' because 'event' doesn’t sound grand enough. I want to headline a Festival, not just an event. It should be fun. I spent today working on some of the stuff for the show and then goofing around with the guitar. I put new strings on my electric for the first time in a looong time. (Seriously no one should ever go that long wo/changing one’s strings) It sounded good so I ended up jamming with my new looping pedal. I hope to use that more live as I get more familiar. Anyway I will fill you in on how the show went. Tomorrow probably. Although maybe not until Monday.  At least the Florida fiasco is over.  Last I'd heard there were gators swimming in the streets of Melbourne.

August 8 Cleveland

     It’s morning. Coffee steams the toast is buttered. It seems like its going to be a fine day. There is a crispness in the air that I was hoping for. I remember years back a friend of mine was in town from Arizona and we’d been at a party the previous night down in the Tremont area and it was ridiculously hot and humid. She was leaving the next morning and I was on vacation. A storm blew through and it got cool and crispy with blue skies and huge puffy clouds floating overhead. The road called me and I went on a long drive with nowhere as the destination. I remember heading up into Michigan that day and it was just such a joy to be alone going nowhere in particular with no one to deal with. The day was similar to today. Of course today I am heading to somewhere (Jackson) and I do have a purpose. Still I was hoping for a day like today and I got it. Hopefully that is a good sign.

Jackson

Well I am at the Travelodge here in Jackson. It’s about three thirty and I just ate a pretty good tuna Panini from a sandwich joint across from the Jackson Coffee Co (JCC). The hotel is...let’s just say it’s not a luxury hotel. Through a screw up with Expedia I ended up with a smoking room. Luckily it doesn’t smell like a smoking room. However there is what appears to be unburned pipe tobacco on the floor and there is a nice spot where one of the previous guest put a hot iron on the carpet. The furniture is banged and dinged, which is odd because on Expedia it said the rooms were all new. Clearly not the case.. It I have experienced this hotel chain before. Last summer while traveling across the country with 2 friends we stayed at one in Walla Walla Washington. It worked well enough for the 3 of us and was not the worst place we stayed while traveling. We did have one of the best meals just up the street from there and had 3 glasses of wine that were procured from the catering section of the same restaurant. You can see them at Vital Mines Website on the far right side there are pictures from the "Finding America Trip" (www.vitalmines.com). Sadly only one of the 3 still remains unbroken. It has been left in my possession to protect and use accordingly. Travelodge’s are cheap rooms nothing more nothing less. J. Kinslow won’t spring for anything unless it draw attention (i.e. Bonham and his TV throwing escapades) thus I need to keep my costs down. Breaking even is a goal. There is a pool though I probably won’t have time to check it out. There is also a lounge. Not sure if that’ll come in handy or not. It’s possible my friend Desiree will show up for the show. It’s also possible some family will attend. I hope so but I have no information indicating they are. They do know about it. There is also a chance that a friend from high school who lives in the southern Michigan area will show up. I’ll call her Beth (in case she objects to having her name on this... thus the name Desiree too!) It’d be nice if Beth showed up. We had played guitars together way back when I first started to play and write music. I even wrote some music for some lyrics she had given me. We will see....

Check out is at 11 A.M. so that will inhibit my exploratory urges in the morning. We’ll have to see what time I wake up and get moving. I don’t want to leave the car around with lots of equipment showing in it. Then again what is the risk in Jackson Michigan on a Saturday morning. Who knows. I’m looking forward to playing. I hope the throat doesn’t bother me too much. It has been problematic at times. We’ll just have to see how it all turns out. Well I am going to lay down for a bit and rest. I’ll head in around 5:30ish I stopped at the JCC to see when I could start setting up and they said pretty much any time. I hope to be setting up by 6. Show is at 7. Later....

Cheers to playing the first road gig I ever booked. It went ok. Nothing spectacular. The people who were there listened. I appreciate that. It wasn’t a big crowd. One of the people I was talking to on the break said that it was probably smaller than normal. The place was on the second floor so I could play all the sensitive songs I wanted without a frappacino steaming noisily in the background. I sold 2 CD’s to boot. (Wo hoo if I can do this another .5 million times I’ll have it made) I may have broken even on this trip. Wow imagine that. Didn’t lose money. Of course to do so I have to stay at this Travelodge. Perhaps Travelodge is going to find a place in my travel history. Maybe Travelodge will hold some symbolic meaning. Maybe Travelodge are just cheap places to stay. I think I also stayed at one in Eureka California. That wasn’t so bad cuz there was a really cool natural food store across the street. It was like Wild Oats (yes I know they are now all Whole Foods but this place was like Wild Oats.... that is it had a Wild Oats vibe). I ‘d have been back to this lovely hotel sooner except a guy named Frank was talking to me when I was trying to tear down. I hate that. I didn’t want to be rude but its hard to concentrate on tearing down and trying to make sure you don’t forget anything while you are being talked to because you are genuinely trying to listen. You are genuinely trying to both and thus you do neither very well. The attractive blonde women who worked there realized he was keeping me from my task at hand and politely shooed him away. Then I was torn down a quickly. In fact the attractive blonde (not to be confused with the attractive brunette) stated "wow that was quick" I explained my dilemma and she understood. The 2 women working there were really nice. I felt bad because I was tearing down and they were just sitting there waiting. I thought I was suppose to play 7-10 but they actually close at ten. I probably could have torn down at nine thirty. Alas. It was fun. It was fun setting up with 2 guitars. I had never done that before, correction I did that once with my classical but it was then that I realized that it had a pickup that buzzed. That’s a guitar I need to get out and play more often

So now it is later and (11:00ish) I am at the Travelodge and there is a party going on outside my room. It’s people my age and older but leaning towards the older crowd. Perhaps a family gathering with cousins and uncles and aunts etc. They sure laugh a lot. It’s like they’re drunk. I am pretty sure they aren’t thinking "People might be asleep" It doesn’t bother me. I have the window open and am enjoying the night air coming in. (Beats the AC) It’s cool but not that cool. I could stand out there in the shorts and tee shirt that I have on. I stopped on the way to the gig and picked up a bottle of Jamesons. You can buy booze at a drug store in Michigan. It’s a beautiful state. Jackson is certainly more interesting to me than Fort Wayne. I’m not sure why. Not to say I would take a vacation here (although the women at the JCC were attractive!) But I will go down town on the morrow and perhaps get breakfast. For some reason I don’t think I am going to want to food made at this place. I was kind of leery of even using the ice machine. But alcohol is being poured over the ice so that should kill bacteria. I was talking to a guy working on the environmental controls were I work a few weeks back and he was saying how almost no one cleans out the filters on ice machines and the bins the ice is in. This is the restaurant type where you lift the lid and scoop your ice. The ice here falls into your bucket. Not sure if that is a better but that is what is mixing with my Irish whiskey. No one I postulated as possible shows showed. No family or Beth or Desiree.... alas. Of the 3 I thought Desiree but she has let me down. I am almost crushed by it. But nay I shan’t allow an other to be the designator of my happiness.  Oh Desiree why have you forsaken me??? 

Now I am at the Travelodge sipping Jamesons and digesting a Subway veggie delite foot long, though I only ate half. I will take the rest to eat while I drive tomorrow ( that was true at the time I wrote this but before the cock crowed the other half was gone). So the drive tomorrow is not rushed. Other than wanting to get back to my cat I’ve no reason to rush. J. Kinslow won’t pay a second night at a hotel, he won’t even pay for this quality room I have. Ms. Dannon has said she would try to use her influence to get him to ante up but he remains firm. She doesn’t realize just who she is dealing with sometimes I think. J. Kinslow is going to do what he wants. He will fund what he feels is worthy and make others donate their services to him on other occasions. He gives the Headwhiz Consort a lot. I won’t argue. Babakar is my friend and I wouldn’t deny him for my sake. He would do no less for me. Often while I’ve been out here on the road my thoughts shift to Babakar and the Consort. I wonder where he is and how Amadou is. I had an e-mail from him recently but he didn’t say where he was sending it from . He seemed well but he was brief. I wonder how the other members of the Consort are doing. Barney was in town recently and we sat in my back yard and grilled some food and enjoyed a nip or two of scotch. He had to get back to New York the next day though. He had rehearsals with the Shards. The others I’ve not talked to in a while, except Art and he seemed miffed about something. Kept asking me if I needed any Lambeg drum on my next album. He said he’d been practicing soloing on it. Found it to be very cathartic. That’s Art for you.

So I am at this Travelodge in Jackson Michigan. The city is better than the hotel. I tell you more about it after I wander downtown tomorrow morning. I left stuff in the trunk, not guitars. I could leave them there while wandering but I would still have the guitars visible in the back seat. I’ll probably, unless I get up late, go down town before checking out and then hit the hotel, which is by I-94 get my stuff and check out, and then hit the freeway and head home. There is a possibility to stop at the Ottawa Wildlife Refuge but you still have the dilemma of the guitars. If I did stop I wouldn’t go on a long hike I would just float near where the car is. It’s beautiful there. It’s just that it's more likely for people to be near where everyone parks. People are lazy and don’t want to hike way out. If I didn’t have the cars I could possibly see doing the entire 5 mile trail. I’ve had some wonderful moments at Ottawa. Ask me about being bombarded by a red winged blackbird some time (Alfred Hitchcock was in the forefront of my mind at the time). or seeing a bald eagle or watching a beaver. I guess it all comes down to when I get up. Downtown Jackson is only about ten minutes. I could go down wander for an hour and easily get back by the eleven o’clock check out. Anyway I think I have said all I can say for the evening, Pehrpas more on the morrow!

August 9. 2008

So I get up and go down to the breakfast room and there is a big tv on (Of course, people would have to talk to each other without the boob tube thank God that isn’t allowed to happen) and I hear mention of the American (athletes?) being attacked. I get in on the conversation at a point where its wrapping up. I figure I’ll grab a couple coffees and go back to the room and check the TV out figuring there will be more but after a half hour the main story is John Edwards affairs. Is this a beautiful country or what. I also catch a story about Bush telling the Russians to use peaceful means in the freshly sprouted conflict involving Georgia. Bush saying to use peace that is one crock of dung. The man who has started 2 wars and may start a third before his terms over (remember November 5^th, it’s the day after the election but more importantly I am at the Barking Spider that night, weird things often occur when I am at the Spider... that’s November 5^th. The election will be over so he won’t hurt McCain because he will either have won or lost by then). Oh and the breakfast bar here is one of the lamest I have ever seen. I go to get an apple juice and some almost clear liquid comes out. It seems like dirty toilet water. So I settle for a couple cups of Joe to take back to the room and decide to eat downtown Jackson. Any way It looks like a gorgeous day again. The weather has been splendid. (Editor’s Note: John didn’t find a breakfast place to eat at in downtown Jackson. So he didn’t eat anything and went to the JCC for a cup of good Joe and then wandered about... he said it was a blissful experience)

Cleveland

It’s about 7 now and I am back. My return trip was very good. I took I-127 south out of Jackson and crossed the state line and then headed east on US-20. An excellent choice as one’s favorite waiter might say in hopes of buttering you up for a bigger tip. The big freeways suck. I-94 and US 23 and I-280 and the Turnpike all suck. Driving on these other roads through beautiful farm country was just so much better. It makes it easier to drive.  Yes its slower but it doesn't grate on me as much. I had to go through parts of Toledo to get over to Route 2 which took me up by the lake past the Ottawa Wildlife Refuge.  I stopped in for about a half an hour and took some photo's and just enjoyed standing breathing the air,  watching the flora and fauna.  It was just too glorious of a day not to stop when it was right there.  An excellent choice! Leaving there I drove across Sandusky Bay and then it merges with I-90. At that point driving ceased to be enjoyable and my only thought was to get back. Which I did and then I proceeded to crash for a much longer nap than I planned. I awoke around six thirty. 3 hours... I must’ve needed it. It’s good to be back and the drive and weather couldn’t have been better. I have come to the conclusion that I need to get a new CD player in my car. It keeps cutting out in the middle of songs. Nothing more annoying than really grooving on a piece of music only to have it start jumping around or having the sound disappear altogether. The Tourcivic (my 11 year old Honda which got over 39 mpg on the first tank... damn good girl) needs this done to it. Get the cheapest combo of CD player/installation available. I don’t need nothing fancy just something that will play CD’s. Plus I will get it so I can load it from the drivers seat. Mine is presently a six CD changer in the trunk. Boy is that the stupidest idea I ever heard (except perhaps invading Iraq, or bombing Iran, or voting for Bush or voting for Bush the second time when ya really should have known better or... oh forget it I could go on. It’s almost over hopefully the darkness will lift with the removal of Bush). Anyway I’m back and the next 2 stops on the Stained Bliss World Tour are once again here in Cleveland. The Walk n Roll and the Peace Show at the Free Stamp. Hopefully the latter need only to be done this one more time. I don’t see it happening but it’d be nice to dream. What is life after all without one’s dreams... Cheers!

August 5, 2008 Cleveland

Tomorrow is the Spider. I’m glad that Ms. Dannon was able to book a Spider gig before the Jackson show. I can test some things out in a comfortable and familiar setting. She’s really on the ball that women. Sometimes I think that Mind Fry would fall apart without her. So I rehearsed tonight. I did end up going and picking up a monitor to take with me to Michigan. It’s a Berringer powered monitor. It sounded good. If I have any complaint its that its almost as heavy as my PA speaker which I was hoping to avoid. (The guy at Sam Ash said it ate the lighter and more expensive Fender monitor alive so that made me feel good that he’d actually recommend the cheaper unit! ) Ultimately it will make it easier to sing. The Firefly in Fort Wayne had a nice setup but they didn’t have monitors. I may try some new tunes out tomorrow. I have one called "Local100 (There Was Power In A Union)" which is a take on the Billy Bragg tune "There Is Power In A Union" (which might be a traditional and not a Bragg original but I don’t feel like getting up and checking). I call it Local 100 cuz that is my union and they suck big time. Unions have done a hell of a lot for the American worker (no child labor, 40 work week to name just a few) so I don’t want to diss them across the board but when your union raises its dues 5% and only gets you a 2% raise that pretty f%@ked up, if you will excuse the colloquial phraseology. I also have one called "I’m Gone" which I will play and I hope I can remember the lyrics. Luckily at the Spider I don’t mind using a cheat sheet. Usually once I have a cheat sheet in place I don’t have to reference it. If it’s not there you are going to forget the lyrics. You just start thinking about forgetting the lyrics and worrying that you are going to forget the lyrics and then of course you do forget the lyrics. It’s really best if you just don’t think and go out there and just do it ( no NIKE did not pay me to say that... if they did I wouldn’t have... ) and then things usually go fine. I’m also looking forward to testing out the new Wechter. It has a 3 pickup system and at Waterloo I only used one because of the set up. There is a tiny microphone inside the body that you have to connect with an mic cable instead of the usual 1/4" jack. So I’ll be using both my piezo and the mic simultaneously at the Spider. That should be fun. Definitely sounded good at the rehearsal tonight. You are wondering about the 3^rd pickup... well it’s a single coil pickup (kind of like a Fender Strat for you non-guitar types) and they inherently have a hum or buzz (thus the invention of the humbucker pickup) I talked to Abe Wechter (who owns the company that made the guitar) and he said they are going to be getting a humbucker for them in the not too distant future so then I’ll be able to use all 3 at once. It’s pretty cool actually. Anyway I am probably talking to much guitar tech for ya’ll. It’s exciting to get to try this though. Well I’m in need of sleep. Tomorrow the Spider and then the world ha ha ha....or at least Jackson. I had a friend named Charlie who used to live there with his mom when he wasn’t living in West Branch with his Grandmother (my home town for those who don’t know me well enough to know my history). Ask me about him sometime...

August 7 Cleveland

It’s morning. I’m sipping my second cup of joe. (Don’t expect me to write, think, breathe or anything else practically without my coffee) Next to water and Guinness it’s probably life’s most precious liquid I might even rank it above Guinness.... water you need to make both so that’s a no brainer). It went well last night. The throat felt rough but it held up well enough. Got a good response. There was some event over at the Wade Oval that had people down in the University Circle area for the night. This meant that at least for the first set it was well attended. I did my best to drag the first set on knowing the place was gonna clear out once I took a break. Someday I will just take not take a break and see how long folks hang on. Once you give them that chance to leave they take. Last night I noticed a couple people were starting to leave which is why I took the break when I did. I can’t blame them. It’s a Wednesday night and people got to work in the morning. This isn’t New York where the work day starts later and the night never ends. It’s Cleveland, a dirty stinking post industrial rust belt city where folks got to get up and drag their ass’s to their jobs and make their living. It’s a dying town. Just this week a Forbes poll came out and Cleveland was in the top 10 of the fastest shrinking cities. In fact Ohio had 4 of the top 10. Dayton, Youngstown and Toledo were the other 3. Only my home state of Michigan had more than one with Detroit and Flint. Something about the Midwest folks must not like. Perhaps it’s the weather, perhaps it’s the unemployment rate who knows? You can see it all over the place if you drive around this city. Go down East 185^th and check how many empty store fronts there are, drive through Slavic Village, go over to the Clark-West 25^th area or head south on East 55^th. We are indeed a dying town. Tack that on to some of the other accolades Cleveland has received in recent years (poorest city in America, fattest city in America...) And you can see why folks are dying not to stay here. Me I can be a miserable ornery curmudgeon pretty much anywhere and if nothing else Cleveland is cheaper to live in and I have the lake just up the street. Then again that brings to mind yet another accolade we have recently acquired. 2 of the worst beaches in the country in terms of pollution, are just up the street. That’s right Euclid Beach and the Villa Angela beach (although while I am familiar with Euclid Beach the area by Villa Angels is actually just a bunch of big rocks to prevent the lake from dissolving the shore, by erosion not chemicals... I think... not really what I would call a beach.) So while it is nice to go and check out sunsets from its shore I don’t actually immerse myself in the water. It’s too bad. Dipping into the formlessness of water is a beautiful refreshing thing. It can cleanse the spirit and the soul. Then again if it burns your shorts off I suppose its not that good of a thing. If you have a boat you can take it out past the sludge line that is near the shore and then swim. I don’t have a boat unfortunately.

So now that I’ve ripped Cleveland a new one let me say the show was fun. Afterwards I talked to Bill Lestock who had been there the whole evening. Bill is one of the most talented musicians in this fair city. He plays everything (I’m not exaggerating... guitar, fiddle, drums, bass, mandolin) and what he doesn’t play is probably just cuz he hasn’t tried. Some folks are like that. I struggle by best I can to be a decent guitarist... It was good talking to him. Sometimes I skedaddle too fast after gigs and don’t mingle. I forget you can learn a lot by talking to folks and listening to what they have to say. You think as a writer I would do that more often. You always hear about writers who hang in bars and stuff like that... then again those probably aren’t the good writers. You do have to actually put the instrument or pen or computer in your hand to get things done. Still love them or hate them people can be a very interesting species. I still haven’t decided how I fell about the species. Most of the time I quote the Little Drummer Boy (from the Christmas special that is done with the figures like the Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer special with Burl Ives as the voice of the snowman) which is "I hate people... ALL people" but when I quote that I am usually being humorous... usually. People taken individually can be wonderful caring generous beings but when I look at the species as a whole it leaves me less optimistic. World hunger is unnecessary, war is a complete abject failure, pollution is something that is primarily caused by greed. These things are not required and yet they exist and thus when I step back from the species my view is a bit on the dismal side... Alas, tomorrow the Jackson Coffee Company.

August 2, 2006 Cleveland

I wake up and I am disoriented. Must’ve been up late last night, possibly drinking, maybe not. I look around and think "This hotel is a dump" when I realize I am at home. There is the Arts Fest today. Doing it with my friend Jay. I scratch my head and get out of bed. My cat Erin doesn’t move. She stays laying there unless I get in the shower right away, then she knows I am going to work and gets up to see me off, but I’m not. I go and make coffee and she is happy to stay sleeping. She’ll eventually join me in the kitchen but it’s her weekend too so she is going to sleep in. I go to the kitchen and instinctually put the coffee on and then do the dishes from last night. I’m a slob but I do my dishes everyday. Not sure why I take care of that while the rest of the place looks like hell. I make some toast and when the coffee is done I pour a cup and read this months National Geographic. It's suppose to be a nice day. Although it was suppose to rain last night and didn’t so what do the weather psychics know? Hopefully the rain that didn’t come doesn’t come during our set. That’d suck. Alas the nice thing about being on the road and having the road take you through your home town is that you can live like you aren’t on the road. I’ll practice a bit and get a bike ride in before the show. We don’t go on until five this afternoon it’s only a little after 9 right now.

Correction, I just looked outside and while it generally appears dry my front mat is wet and there are some spots where it is still wet, we must have got the rain predicted, good... hopefully it has moved on and today’s festival will be sunny and nice!

     It’s later. The show went well. It was a nice set up. The sculpture garden was in the shade. That’s a problem with street fairs is that they often are out in the blazing sun. It was still hard to see the LED’s on my effects. I played the entire acoustic portion of my set with a slight amount of delay. There were no monitors so I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Alas. Gigs like that are always interesting. You have to set up rather quickly so things don’t get checked and the chance for error is increased. What can you do. Got paid for it though. I like that. No CD sales though. Ya never know though. Someone in Fort Wayne recently purchased a CD from CD Baby about a week after I played there. So there is always hope. And what is hope? Nothing but the chance to be disillusioned heh heh heh... what can I say. My electric guitar sound was bothering me though. From where I stood it sounded like it was being played in a Quonset hut. Just didn’t like the tone I was hearing. I debuted the new Wechter guitar. Without monitors it was difficult to know what it sounded like but it felt real good. That’s a plus. Sadly I can’t say that for my throat and voice. Again it was bothering me. I only played 4 freakin’ songs and it was not doing things the way I wanted them to. Ug... So then I sat and listened to Katie Daly’s band. It was her doing spoken word stuff with 2 guitarists who added some vocals singing. It was pretty good. She’s a nice way with words. I remember doing a show called "A Night Of Ferocious Noise" or something like that. It was an anti-war thing. She did a spoken bit about George Bush running off to the circus in France. Used a French accent the whole time. That was really good ! I screwed up a fair amount playing. I didn’t decide what to play until I was actually on stage. I had it narrowed down to about 5 or 6 tunes. I should have set it in stone before. It made a difference. I had to sing the same verse in "Sons Of Abraham" twice cuz I forgot the first verse. Ug. I just hate that. "Fallen Angel" was probably my best song although playing "Cold Today" on electric with the distortion cranked was cool. That was the first time I played it live the way it was on the CD. Always a treat. This show makes me want to go get a powered monitor to take to Jackson with me. Just so I can hear myself. It makes it easier to sing. Well over all I guess I am happy with the show but I can’t say I’m giddy about any of it.... I like it when I play shows and am giddy afterwards.   Those are really good performances.  Alas what can one do....

July 24, 2008 Cleveland

I’m getting things ready. Not as much to pack. I only got to play 2 songs so the equipment needed is minimal. Judging by the video’s on JTV site of past performances I am expecting them to just stick a mic on the guitar and voice. That’s good. I am taking the old Alvarez. It has served me well over the years. Plus in a situation where the guitar is just getting mic’d the Alvarez has a better sound. Plus it has new strings and the Wechter doesn’t. It sat in the showroom of Sweetwater since June 10^th... over a month. I suspect the new Wechter will take over most live duties from now on. Its easier to play and the pickups are more diverse. Still the 2 guitars seemed to get along ok so far. No cat fights here. The gig bag is packed and I am almost done packing the backpack with clothes and sundries (no not undies... although they are packed.) Obviously the laptop isn’t packed but pretty much everything else is. This is an easy pack. It’s reassuring to know that as long as I have my guitar I can do it. While my capo’s are packed if I forgot them I still could do 2 songs. Barring last minute adjustments I am going to do "One by One" first and "Don’t Make Me Stay" second. Bart interviews me between the songs according to Karen Hawley (who I assume is Bart’s wife, though it could be his sister as there is a 3^rd Hawley listed on the staff... a son perhaps??.). I am looking forward to it. Afterward I will head to Ann Arbor and hang out for the night. Like I said after Fort Wayne, some cities have appeal some don’t. Ann Arbor does Fort Wayne didn’t, and probably still doesn’t. I wonder if I were touring through Cleveland and didn’t live there if I would find it alluring. Ya never know. When I was at Cleveland State I always dug walking down to the Old Arcade and hanging out. People watching (ok mainly babe watching but sometimes it was non-female humans........... occasionally) sipping coffee, waiting for the time to blow off my next class because I was having too much fun. I might just find Cleveburg something worth exploring. But right now I have some pasta cooking and some broccoli and garlic waiting to be steamed and then tossed with the pasta and basil and pepper and Parmesan cheese and then eaten with a glass of Cabernet and I will explore this culinary adventure first before exploring the state to our north. I feel good.

July 25, 2008 Jackson

I did it! It was fun. I was really nervous and my throat felt dry and rough but it was fun. I almost didn’t make any mistakes. (If you saw it can you find it???) Everyone was really nice. I wasn’t sure what to expect never having done something like that. I could see where performers could get moved in and out like cattle but it wasn’t at all like that. I came in they let me warm up and then during commercials they checked the sound. I didn’t totally botch Bart’s interview but I never like the way I respond in those. I remember being interviewed on John Carroll station and it was just awkward. All in all it was a very good experience. I wonder if I looked cute or not. Anyone reading this was I pretty? Would chicks dig me from the way I looked??? If so then its proof positive that being on TV makes you more desirable.... ( I suspect I didn’t look cute!).

So Now I’m at the Microtel waiting for a friend to show up who lives up this way. We will call her Desiree (I don’t like to put peoples names on the web, they may not be comfortable.) We will eat dinner and probably knock back a Martini or two. One bad thing, the room is a smoking room, (which I knew but its what was available for less than a hundred bucks... seriously) and unlike some smoking rooms you can tell here. Alas, I am off to swim. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee

It’s post swim. Desiree ought to be here soon the swim was excellent. Did it and then a nap. I am tired from all the driving and nervous energy spent with the TV show. It’s good tired. I am looking forward to a good meal in downtown Ann Arbor. This is a fine city and I enjoy just walking around in it. In the morning I will go downtown and wander by myself. Solitude. It is something I always crave practically. It is hard to explain to other people. If they have similar leaning they understand otherwise so often I get this look like I just suggested we walk into the police station nude or something. To be free from restraint and able to wander and do what one wishes, to follow ones whim is something that is special. There are drawbacks of course as there are with any path one takes but in the long run I know that the solitary path is more likely to make me happy. I’ve had people express envy of my ways as their choice of paths keeps them preoccupied with the lives of others. There’s is a selfless path. I cannot claim such selflessness. I am indeed selfish. Perhaps it is why I perform solo because I am too selfish to consider others ideas when they play my music. I don’t know. Perhaps in the future I will find a less selfish path. Probably not, I am too selfish to do so. One can only wonder at this point. Of my desire for solitude however I do not wonder. It is six thirty. Desiree will soon be late.

July 26, 2008 Ann Arbor

Dinner last night was at a joint called ZanzibzarDesiree and I both had an awesome fish stew. Salmon, scallops, some type of shellfish, (which I gave to Desiree) shrimp and spinach in a curry broth. Plus they make a good martini (with habenaro’s in them... I ate one of mine... later I burped and the curtains in the hotel caught fire... they’re going to bill my credit card for the damage). It’s early and my head is clear not having a day of driving or chlorine or gin in it. Yesterday was fun. It seemed like a lot of effort for a couple songs but I got some golf in and a good meal and now I am in one of my favorite cities in the country with time on my hands. I will head downtown in a bit. Desiree and I managed to go on line last night after dinner and catch some of the rebroadcast at 11. The wi fi kept cutting out but I was able to hear most of "One By One" some of "Don’t Make Me Stay" and most of the between song interview with Bart. I‘m not a good interview. Like I said yesterday everyone there was extremely friendly and made me feel at ease. That’s not always easy with a head case like myself. I don’t get at ease around humans all that easily. Perhaps that’s not a good thing for an "entertainer" (I prefer the word ‘artist’ without the snotty uppity connotation sometime attached to it) to be, but it’s the hand I have been dealt. Would I choose to be this way? Who knows. There are things I like about it and then there are times where I have to deal with humans and I just don’t do a very good job at it. Alas ... So I’m going to go downtown this morning and just hang. I may stick around long enough to get a good lunch at Raja Rani’s. It’s an Indian cuisine joint I’ve been to before and its pretty damn tasty. Then again there are a few other places to I could eat at. Either way I want to hit the road and get back to the offices of Mind Fry before the end o f the day and file my travel report with J. Kinslow and turn in my receipts for reimbursement and all that (J. Kinslow will reimburse me for alcohol but not food and shelter or gas..... heck he will even replace a TV set if I want to chuck one out the window ala John Bonham!  It's good PR he says). A quick note on the Microtel breakfast... adequate. Small bowl of Cheerio’s (that’s what we used to call "donuts" in high school, You know when you are in a frozen parking lot and you spin your car round and round and round until a cop comes and busts you... or something like that.) A bagel that came out of a plastic bag which I then toasted and then coffee with caffeine in it. The coffee downstairs n the lobby is better than the stuff that came with the coffee maker in the room. It’s one of those deals where the coffee is encased in a filter pack and you can’t make it stronger or weaker. You have to take it as it is. I often carry my own coffee but I am trying to simplify my packing requirements. The less I take the less I can forget when I am leaving a place. I mean suppose this World Tour takes me to Saigon or Dakar or Charleston West Virginia and I forget something. It would be a lot more difficult to track the lost item and get it returned to me safe and sound ya know. Simplify man!!!!!

The world tour takes me to my home city for a couple gigs. This is good. Being out driving all the time can get old. I’ve seen a lot of Western Ohio these past few weeks and I am going to be seeing it more in the near future. Sometimes it just seems like that dotted line goes on and on. Ya wake up and you don’t know what city you’re in you’re not really sure where you are going. Everything looks the same... Speed limit 55, Speed Limit 70, Controlled by radar, Exit Only that’s my favorite one. It sounds so ominous. You can ONLY leave you cannot enter ha ha ha like some evil force is throwing you out and there is nothing you can do about it....... Or something like that. It’d be nicer if it was cooler. Sometimes the sun comes blasting through the moon roof and it’s like I am in an oven. The wind created by the cars movement is not enough to stave off the incessant rays of the sun. If it was a convertible it would be enough... trust me on this one.

But for now I settle in and prepare to conquer Cleveland. This Saturday I play the Waterloo Arts Festival. I am not totally sure of what time I play but it is later in the day and it may involve a ‘song writer in the round’ set up my good friends Jay Bentoff and Cindy MacKay. And then the following Wednesday it’s the good ol’ Barking Spider. Venue of Venues. Starting place for so many. Martin’s cool. He will give folks a chance. I don’t know many other places that offer so many opportunities for free live music. It is alwasy fun if not well attended. Week nights with a starting time of ten p.m. makes the draw difficult. At least for us ol’folk. It’s not my last gig there this year. I play again in November. I’ll have a day of rest and then its back to Jackson for the concert that I did the Bart Hawley show to promote. That should be fun. I checked out the room and the P.A. and it’s a good set up. I’ll take the same set up that I took to Fort Wayne but I will probably take 2 guitars. Maybe even a guitar stand. I never take guitar stands but then I never could take 2 acoustics to a gig. If I am playing one the other needs a place to rest and it makes the stage area look cool when you have gear about. Gives the impression that you are serious.

July 17. 2008 Cleveland

So it’s the night before the big world tour starts. Soon I will be out on the road. Such a classic thing. The Road! So many people have romanticized about it. Kerouac, Steinbeck, Jackson Browne, Spinal Tap, Ray McNeice to name a few. Now I can do it too. It took the whole night to get the bus, er, Civic ready to be loaded in the morning. I am really hoping there are hordes of groupies out there wanting to make it with an aging folk musician, I mean why not? Hef has bunnies galore and he’s way older than I am (granted I’m not stinking rich... stinking on occasions, especially after bike rides on 90 degree days, but not rich). I suppose there are few things like taking some young thing back to the Red Roof Inn and, well you know... the rest... watching TV, having a nip of scotch and then telling her to go home when its time for bed. I really hope she has her own car cuz at that point I’m not driving her. I have to get up in the morning. There is the next stop on this wonderful journey I am about to start. In all seriousness, ok in some seriousness, I am eager. Who knows what will happen in Fort Wayne. Did you know it’s the home of John Chapman. (Not John David Chapman... just John Chapman) Who is he you ask??? He is known also as Johnny Appleseed and just as he spread his apple seeds I hope to spread my musical seed so one day it will be growing in Fort Wayne but also in the future it will cross the entire nation and eventually the world, and all will know of the music of John McGrail. One can hope can’t one? I realize hope is just an opportunity to be disillusioned and disappointed but what the heck without hope one is a dead soul. So I have hope and I have optimism and if nothing else I get to take a road trip and play my music for some folks and have some fun. Who else out there can claim anything that exciting this weekend??? Well it is late and I must get ready for sleep. Tomorrow a new adventure awaits me. I hope I can sleep ( one more Dewars and I don’t think that will be a problem). Peace and good night.

So I made it without a hitch. The drive was warm but nice. With the sunroof open and the windows down there was a good breeze so it never got unbearably hot. Driving across western Ohio is a flat drive. I had been warned that it was a boring one. I have to disagree. Not that it is flat, that’s inarguable, but not boring. There is good to be found everywhere. Flat open areas while they may seem boring give one a view of the sky that is wide and expansive. This I appreciate. Perhaps my upbringing in northern Michigan in an area that is also relatively flat has conditioned me. Perhaps it tugs at my roots and I long for the simpler time of childhood. Who knows. It was none the less a good drive. Getting into Fort Wayne I of course got lost but fortune smiled on me as I got lost pretty much where I was suppose to go. I kept heading west on a Indiana route 930 which wasn’t on the map I had. But it crossed Anthony Blvd. Of course this had to be the same as North Anthony Blvd. that the Firefly is located on. My next dilemma was whether to turn left or right. Turning right seemed to be north to me (which usually means its south) and in this case I chose correctly. I when I crossed the Maumee River I knew I was headed n the right direction although I did not really understand how I got to where I was. I found the Firefly and Cyndi Demarree, the owner was there and was exceptionally welcoming and friendly. We chatted a bit and I left some equipment there and then it was off to my Red Roof Inn. This is where the happy tale goes dark. I’ve always appreciated these Inns, They’ve always been clean and reasonably priced. Well I pull in and all over there place are sign advertising a price lower than what I had gotten. OK I can handle that but the condition of the place is not the usual Red Roof standard and I am dismayed. I start fearing that it may be one of those places you might find in a David Lynch film or something like that. I check in and enter my room. It’s warm and the AC isn’t on. Also I turn it on and notice that they ask me to conserve energy when I am not in the room by turning the AC to low. Well the low is the only setting so I guess I will conserve energy the entire time I am here. I’m tired and want to rest up so I shrug this off eat a sandwich, shower, type this and now I will nap.

1 scotch poured at the RRI. Its between eleven and eleven thirty. The moon is full. The coffee shop wasn’t’. I got 40 bucks out of it and 2 sales. I also got free tea water and tea. It was ok but it is not worth the drive. Ya gotta do it to find out. I mean if they responded wildly I would definitely come back but unless I’m gonna be in the area there really isn’t any point. I’m trying to be disappointed but I’m not. I knew going in to this that was the odds of it being a good room (and the room was good, I liked the way they had the sound pumped throughout the inside of the place). The girl behind the counter was a cutie and there was a couple that came in and they were listening closely and responded even to my witty commentary.  A guy came up after I played "Don’t Make Me Stay" and said he used to be a Jesuit. I was on stage so I forgot to ask him why he wasn’t one anymore. That was probably a discussion to have over this scotch that I am drinking. He said he really liked the song and asked if my uncle had passed. He was sorry and thought my Uncle John would have liked it. Would I do this again. Only if circumstance changed. Would I do it if I didn’t know the outcome, yes, yes I would. And it would make me feel the way I do right now. Which isn’t bad. It does make me think that trying to play live music and have people who didn’t come to hear you actually give a shit is a crazy idea. There were listeners, don’t get me wrong but it was a bad omen when after the opener (One by One) no one clapped. (Eventaully the staff caught on that they should clap if no one else did) There was the spastic kid on my right who bounced and  rocked all the way through it. He did the same during "Don’t make Me Stay", " Weighs On My Mind","If I Only Could" etc. "Do Not Stand In My Way" threw him a bit cuz its an odd meter. He stopped and looked briefly at me. Then,best I could analyzewhile playing an odd metered song, he started rocking in 1/4 time. That’s exaclty what I would have done if I were in his shoes. He also was drawing with ink crayons. At one point he was getting so wound up (I thnk it was "All Our Fallen Tears") his dad, who was one of the computer people went over to his table and scolded him and the kid calmed down. Shit he was reacting more than anyone else. Let him rock. In Cleveland at least the computer people quit typing and clap and then boom right back to the keyboard, ya know they were listening. Not the Fort Wayne Computer People. Cyndi was very nice, I will say that.

All this makes me ask "Why do music. Why not be a prostitute."  I mean this gig was being a whore. Why am I not more bitter? Probably because it was something I had never done before and now I have done it, probably because I was expecting it given the nature of coffee house gigs, probably because I needed to get out of Cleveland really really bad. Next week is Jackson and the Bart Hawley show. 2 songs and then I’m out of there, It wll be my TV debut as a performer although this past year I was interviewed down at Talkies Coffee shop in Ohio City on the study that said women are smarter than men. Or something like that. I had my maroon knit cap on. I think I leaned towards women being smarter. But being dismissive of both sex’s intelligence.

It’s a full moon. Its just outside my room. I can stand in the hall outside my door ( a hall that is really a outdoor walkway). There is a nice wide railing that I can rest my scotch on (oh by the way I’m on #2 now). It’s a nice moon. There are some wispy clouds that gently border it.  They compliment the view without affecting the fullness of the moon.  It floats up over the neon glare of the titty club next door (a.k.a. gentlemen’s clubs). This area I am in has a fair amount of titty clubs. I came up Coliseum Blvd. and right after I went by this mall/shopping complex there was a stretch of adult entertainment places, including Hooters. The area the Red Roof Inn is in ain’t that savory but I think I am safe enough in my room (famous last words eh????) Anyway I had enough of thinking. See ya in the morning

Rose at 7 thirty. Stayed up until one or so sipping scotch and staring at the full moon outside my room. It was beautiful.  Now its about 9 and I ate over at the Liberty Diner across the way. Usual fair eggs, toast home fries and coffee. I’m gonna try to get out to Sweetwater relatively early cuz I’d like to hit the road earlier than I was initially planning. Can’t say Fort Wayne has mesmerized me. There is nothing I have seen that makes me want to come back. The area the hotel is in is kinda scuzzy and there are a ton of chain establishments in a big shopping complex east of here. Nothing personal it just doesn’t have much appeal. I’d rather be in Cleveland (what an insult!).   Still I’ve the drive home which can be less direct. I wasn’t rushing yesterday but I wasn’t dawdling either. Today we, if I so desire, will dawdle. I will take a drive through the downtown area before I go. I don’t want to have to leave the car anywhere with my stuff in it for too long, at least out of sight. Sure its smaller than Cleveburg but there are still criminals. There are a potential 252,000 people who just might want to break in to my car and steal my stuff or the car itself (and thus the stuff). I ate too much for breakfast and now I’m sluggish. The coffee from the lobby isn’t very good. The Liberty’s coffee wasn’t that good either (it was adequate). I probably should have gone to the Firefly but that was in the other direction. I could walk to the Liberty. A stroll across Goshen Road and I was there.  It's a 24 hour joint on Fridays and Saturdays.  Wish I had realized that last night. Wouldn't have eaten the 2 tubes of bean paste I got from Taco Bell. Bleah, did not hit the spot at all. Check out is at noon. That’s good I don’t have to rush. I’ll be out before that though. As soon as breakfast wears off. Later.

It’s about 7:15. It’s good to be here. Fort Wayne was not a place that really grabs you. I have been in towns where there is just something about them that makes you want to linger and check them out, Ann Arbor comes to mind, but the city named after General "Mad" Anthony Wayne (no relation to Bruce discovered... so far) is not such a city. I mean it can claim that it is the home of Johnny Appleseed and the first garbage disposal, which was originally called the electric pig ! ( How cool is that for a name. )  But I really didn’t see much that I found alluring. I might have gone to their Art Museum but I didn’t want to leave my equipment in the car. I did go out to Sweetwater but they only had one of the guitars that I was hoping to check out... so I bought it. That’s correct I am the proud owner of a new Wecther Pathfinder weeeeee!!. It was kind of dangerous to do because the room you are in testing the guitar out is such a good sounding room and of course they have a sweet sounding acoustic amp waiting for you to plug into. I took that into account mentally but who knows what subconscious effect it had on my decision making. I am happy though. Of course you think I’d be spending the rest of the night playing but I’m too zonked from driving. It was warm. Luckily there were clouds for a good portion of the return drive that kept the sun from beating down directly. I didn’t take the route I took to get there. The home route was a little slower and longer. It took Indiana route 930 until it split and then traveled a road that cut between where US24 and US 30 and headed due east. When it hit Ohio it was Ohio 613 and I took that into Fostoria where I stopped and got gas. This allowed me to calculate my mpg’s and my eleven year old Civic managed to get a whopping 41 mpg on the first tank of gas. I was impressed I thought it had tailed off to around 32 (it used to get 35-38 pretty consistently. Not sure what caused the uptick. Don’t much care, the drive was nice. Lots of corn. Really... LOTS of corn. At one point I clocked a stretch of over 3 straight miles where there was a wall of corn growing on one side of the road or the other and quite often both. That was cool you felt like Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars where he is flying in these thin caverns just below the surface on some planet while being attacked except that no one was firing at me, except perhaps the suns ray gun. Then again I had a cloud force shield up to help protect me. In Fostoria and got on to Ohio 18 which then led to US 224 which I rode until I hit Route 4 then I headed north. At this point it’s approaching 3 in the afternoon and I realize I want to get home. My cat is missing me and vice versa. I was going to stop somewhere and get a beer and a sandwich or something but by the time I found a place to do so (not a lot of beer and sandwich joints amongst the cornfields) I was about an hour from home and the road was wearing me. I could see where if you did this, even with a ridiculous financial gain, it could get tiring. It would beat going to work for the city, or in a coal mine or pumping gas, or flipping burgers or being an NBA star, ok, maybe not an NBA star... then again if you are making LeBron dough it just might. So now I am home and the first leg of the tour has ended. Next week Jackson Michigan to appear on the Bart Hawley show. Look out Hollywood this is the first step before I give up on music and land on the silver screen (although they really aren’t silver, LCD probably these days) Peace.

The 2007 Mind Fry Person Of The Year is... 

Karli DeChant

This young lady grabbed the award from the potential grasp of one Dan McCafferty.  Mr. McCafferty had everything he needed to take home his second consecutive award except for one small problem...  he didn't show up, which if you follow this award presentation you know is one of the stipulations for winning the prize.  As Ms. DeChant is too young to be in a bar at that hour it is allowed that a parent or legal guardian could accept the award for her.  Indeed her father, who finished 3rd, was present to accept the award.  We congratulate Ms. DeChant for this maginificent achievement and for keeping John from taking the trophy home himself.  The following is the order of the top finishers:

1. Karli