The Shapes of Things

Awhile back I read an article about Tom Stoppard and his play, "Rock & Roll." He mentioned that at one point he considered writing about Syd Barrett, the great, lost frontman of early Pink Floyd. It kind of spurred my interest in Barrett too. So I ordered up a copy of "Crazy Diamond Syd Barrett & the Dawn of Pink Floyd." It's a very good bio of a baffling person. Barrett was a charismatic dude, an artist and musician, very witty, literate and experimental. After bursting on the scene with the first Floyd disc, "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn," Barrett totally spun out. He had a breakdown, no one was sure if it was the drugs, over-indulgence of mind altering substances, or just plain "mental illness" (whatever that is) that did him in.

Barrett, unlike Hendrix, and Brian Jones, did not check out of this earthly realm too soon, but instead retreated to his mother's house and lived a long reclusive existence, pretty much disassociating himself from his earlier persona. Syd was not his given name, it was actually Roger, and when fans would track him down and say "Hi Syd," he'd reply, "Syd's not here."

Anyway, it's one of those strange, artistic deaths, one wonders if Barrett was just too sensitive, too precious for this world, or was he just a drug casualty who burned out, and really, was turning away from music, fame and fortune the best thing for Roger Barrett in the long run?

Was the great promise of his early work an over-hyped chimera, or a just a glimmer a hint of great things to come that never did? That's sort of the mystery of the man. There's a cult built up around the "Crazy Diamond," and some people compare him to Rimbaud and Van Gogh - although, Syd kept both ears firmly attached until the end.

Barrett died July 7, 2006. At his funeral, a passage from one of Roger's favorite children's books "The Little Grey Men," was read. I'm thinking it's a useful instruction and well, a good epitaph for us all...

"The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colours, lights and shades; these I saw. Look ye also while life lasts."

And you know, even if Roger stopped the writing and singing...I don't think he ever stopped seeing, and maybe there's eloquence in the silence too.

Love All Around

Our band, WWSP (minus our dazzling bass player Sara), played the Elbo Room last night. We were the openers on a 5 band bill. Maybe it was because of the holidays or because it was a Saturday, or maybe the stars just aligned, but many of our friends and family came out to see us. It was such a rewarding experience. I thought we put on a really tight, high-energy set (even though at one point I stepped on my guitar cable and unplugged in the middle of a song - which actually added to the drama, and our great drummer Sanjay filled the resulting sonic void with some great drum and cymbal work).

We stayed out quite late, in fact, we stayed for the whole show watched all the other bands too. It was all so exhilarating. I should be exhausted, but no, I'm fired up today, listening to Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible." Check out this cool link! At first listen the new disc didn't bowl me over, like their first disc "Funeral," did, but on repeated listens, it is really starting to grow on me. I really love that band. I love ours too.

How Many Millionaires Can Dance on the Head of a Pin?

Wow. Back to politics for a moment. Check out this post from Lambert. I found it linked by Paul Krugman. Succintly explains how Americans have bought into the Billionaires game for the last 30 years or so. It has always been amazing to me how these elite rich folk have successfully glorified themselves, (a small, powerful, group that control the corporations and the political parties) and demonized the rest of us, the poor, the disenfranchised, the average working stiffs, anyone who isn't in the millionaires or billionaires club, and/or anyone who isn't lionizing them and wanting to be just like them. I mean don't we all want to learn all the great knowledge Donald fucking Trump can teach us? Certainly he has some secrets about hair-care that he can impart to us!

I mean, I guess we all want to be a millionaires, or billionaires, how many of us want to be on welfare or unemployment, how many of us feel solidarity with the dude asking for change on the corner? I for one, have always felt empathy for the "have nots," my motto has always been, "there but for the grace of god go I." I almost always want to bet on the underdog. I guess it kind of came out of the tradition of my family, working people, Democrats, FDR was a saint. Working stiffs, always striving for more, but just getting by really. And well, there's something noble about that too. And I don't think it's fucking class envy, but I have always been suspicious of the elite money. You know they wouldn't be where they are if it wasn't for all the "common folk" who bought their fucking products or services or whatever. They wouldn't fucking be rich, if it wasn't for all the other people in the world who did their jobs or bought their shit, or paid their taxes so we could even have a country to make profits in.

Solidarity!

Anyway, it's a great post. I do think our politics have been driving economics and it really should be the other way around. We have gone off the rails, and as per some enlightened friends I know, maybe it really will have to get even worse before it can get better, but I'm hoping we can use the 2008 election to start some kind of change of consciousness. So which millionaire running for office is gonna look out for the little guy? Who knows? I mean, "why a duck?" Krugman's analysis of Obama's rhetoric seems spot on. We do need a fucking fighter. Someone ready to go to the mat. Lambert gives it all context. Brilliant.

"I must above all things love myself..." - Nick Cave

Good consumers that we are, the Lovely Carla and I purchased a couple of music discs for Christmas. I think it was more of a Winter Solstice celebration really, because, come on, that whole virgin birth thing with the Immaculate Conception, the farm animals in the little manger, and the three wise guys bullshit, just sort of leaves me stone cold sober.

I came across Nick Cave's band Grinderman and their disc called, surprise, surprise, "Grinderman." There's a picture of a monkey on the cover, a little organ grinder type monkey. It's a perfect image to introduce you to the music on the little spinning disc. I'm thinking Nick is projecting himself onto that monkey, and in fact, I think he's projecting for all of us. We are all like that little organ grinder monkey, dancing to nature's unforgiving tune!

Here's a live version of Cave's "No Pussy Blues." All in all, it's a funny, raging little ditty. It's got a good beat, you can probably dance to it too! You know how to dance don't you...?

Robert and the Blue Glow

All the buzz was about the Led Zep reunion. And from the clips on YouTube it sure looked like Page, Plant, Jones and the newest version of Bonham did an admirable job of playing rock gods. But then the news came that Plant was not planning on touring with the rest of the boys anytime soon. Instead, he was going out on the road with the bluegrass fiddler, Alison Krauss.

Sort of baffling, until you actually hear their collaboration together on their superb new disc, "Raising Sand." It's a really unlikely and totally captivating melding of talents. T-Bone Burnett produced, he was the man responsible for putting the "O Brother Where Art Thou" disc together. T-Bone has assembled a great band to back the two vocalists. It's a disc of covers. And there's not a false note. From the first listen, I was totally knocked out. So, as Plant himself writes, "Gratitude to T-Bone and the Blue Glow (Krauss) who steered an old dog to new tricks."

The world clamors for Zep, and instead Plant goes on the road with the girl. Now in my book that is so cool!

Visionary

Julien Schnabel is an inspiring, visionary artist. His latest film is so beautiful, so powerful, so devastating. I mean that in the best way possible.

Seeing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,""is an indelible experience. Words fail me. It's the best example of what film can do to us. The imagery washes over you and you ask yourself, "what is a life?"

"This Car Available"

Hey, well, check it out, the little band that the Lovely Carla and I started, WWSP, has finally entered the world of digital downloads. Our new release, "This Car Available," can now be purchased over at I've also added a permanent link on the right for future reference. We've been working on these songs for the last year or so, writing and recording them in our little home studio. It has been a labor of love.

"This Car Available" is made up of thirteen songs. The album represents a rewarding and unique collaboration, and a melding of minds. It's been a real blast to make these sounds. This is just a first step for us. We've been working with two other musicians, Sara on bass and Sanjay on drums and we are honing a unique live sound. We've done a number of shows in and around Chicago, playing some great rooms like Uncommon Ground, the Elbo Room, the Red Line Tap, Sylvies, the Skylark. And we plan on booking many more shows in the coming new year.

We hope to have a CD release party in early 2008. Anyway, it's kind of cool to be out in the ether, on iTunes with all those other great artists from Elvis to Elvis! One small step for a human, one great step for a band!

"I awakened to the cry that the people / have the power to redeem / the work of fools" - Patti Smith

I was dreaming in my dreaming too...

A Corporation has No Soul

One of our big problems is that many of us have signed our lives over to corporations, directly and indirectly. The purpose of setting up a corporation is to "limit liability" for the individuals who start the thing. As we all know people working together in groups can do amazing things, but when these groups become huge, multi-national entities, it is hard to hold them accountable to anything. Their core purpose is to maximize profits at all costs. That's the beauty of capitalism. This is not necessarily a soulful way to live, or to run an organization, or anything else really. In fact, its kind of a dead, zombie-like existence, a soulless way of life that goes on even as the people come and go. The people, the "worker bees," kind of adopt a "hive mentality" focusing on their little job, never looking at the bigger implications of what they do, and what the entity does with all their expended energy. The investors, the shareholders count their pennies and are happy they can buy all the shit they really don't need.

So we feed these mega-beasts and the beasts devour everything in their path. For instance, all the remaining resources on the planet will be devoured, if these corporate beasts are given enough time. We have built an extreme group of national and multi-national Terminators, large, killer-robot-like entities that make all kinds of things, some cool, some stupid, all of it probably not so necessary, but anyway it's the stuff we can never get enough of, and well, if we choke the planet with this stuff, drown ourselves in mountains of this stuff, hopefully we will be stupidly and happily sated, but probably not.

So, yeah, a corporation has no soul. Even the ones telling us they do, even the ones with the great and cool ad campaigns that show us how enlightened and brilliant they are, and even the ones with the cool logos that everyone wants on their shoes and pants, and shirts, and well, maybe some of us will even start tattooing ourselves with those same logos and well, it probably makes us less human and more zombie-like and maybe that's really the goal anyway. We can't live forever, but our corporate Terminators can, or that's maybe our secret wish, but the zombie needs to live off the living right? So maybe it all just comes to a halt and then the big creaking hulks all over the planet slowly disintegrate back into the soil, because of course, "rust never sleeps."

"The system sucks..."

I must admit, I've burned a lot of brain cells thinking about the Presidential election slated for November 2008. Not one vote has been cast and already I've vacillated and flip-flopped between the three main Democratic contenders. Partly because they are all good candidates and their policy positions aren't really all that different. But there are differences between them and their approaches are instuctive. I do think this will be a major realignment election, it should bode well for progressives - we really should go for the "whole hog."

My first intuitive choice was Obama, but Clinton and Edwards have at times endeared themselves to me. When everyone was attacking Hilary, for being a woman, having cleavage, being married to the Big Dog, I started to root for her. Now that she and the Big Dog have started attacking Obama, they have kind of gone down on the "sunnyjimmy politico-meter." Lately John Edwards has impressed me with his attacks on the great corporate beast that is sucking the blood out of the country. Obama is still the only one who was against the Iraq war from the beginning. That holds a lot of weight for me.

This post below by Atrios, over at Eschaton seems to sum up the campaign so far in a very concise manner. I think he's nailed it. Looking at it this way, I'd say I'd put myself in the Edwards camp. I do think we need to fight like hell to destroy the system. It's that bad! Having a smart lawyer who made his fortune fighting the corporate beast is a solid credential to bring to the table.

Here's Atrios:

Shorter Candidates

Obama: The system sucks, but I'm so awesome that it'll melt away before me.

Edwards: The system sucks, and we're gonna have to fight like hell to destroy it.

Clinton: The system sucks, and I know how to work within it more than anyone.

-Atrios 18:58

UPDATE: Paul Krugman's column in the NY Times today seems to also recognize that 2008 could be a great moment for progressive politics, but to accomplish anything we will need a real fighter to take on the entrenched corporate interests in health care (and elsewhere) to make any headway. It's kind of a slam against Obama's "big table" approach. Probably another good reason to support Edwards. I mean, one wonders how aggressively Clinton, who is taking loads of big bucks from these same interests, will take on her own big bucks donors when it's time for a little reform?!

UPDATE #2: Okay, as per Brian Beutler, via Ezra Klien, via Matt Yglesias check this out, this is how John Edwards would tackle health care reform. He'd challenge Congress to offer average Americans the same health care benefits that Congress itself receives. If individual Congressmen and women refused, President Edwards would use the "bully pulpit," and he'd go to their Congressional districts and call them out on it. Now that's the kind of confrontational approach that just might get things moving!

It's Us Baby!

Paul Krugman blogs about carbon dioxide here. I don't own a car, I don't eat meat, I recycle, I now have my own cup when I go to the coffee shop, I use cloth bags when I go to the grocery store, I turn off the lights and the computer when I leave the house. Much of this is thanks to the Lovely Carla's strong environmental evangelism. Still, I know this is nothing, not even a drop of water in the great ocean.

As Al Gore tells us, some kind of massive collective action is required. A lot of shit is gonna change big time when all the polar ice melts, and we kill off species left and right. We have destroyed, are destroying our ecosystem. We evolved out of this ecosystem, everything has a "job" everything is connected. We are killing ourselves. It's a slow, massive suicide. And it's our own arrogance, ignorance and ridiculous greed that drives this forward.

Fucking amazing!

And well, our great leaders dither or worse, actually, intentionally, drag their feet on this issue. Maybe it's too big? I don't buy it. It goes against the free market capital religion. Somehow the great free market will somehow miraculously fix this, and we'll all make shit loads of money. That's how it goes right? What a load of shit. We need collective action. We need regulation, targets, priorities. Smacks of "socialism?" Whatever.

I do think Al Gore is the prophet in the wilderness. The problem is, the wilderness is shrinking around us and it will disappear. We will drown, we will starve, we will roast. Somehow the planet will adjust. Don't worry, the planet will survive this, but the people, well that's another fucking story. And we can't blame some god here, it ain't the devil's doing. It's us baby, we are the fucking culprits!

John Bites the Apple

December is a hard month. What with the holidays, and the marking of time. You think of all those who have come and gone. As the years go by (nice title for a song), the memories of all those bloody christmases kind of flood in. Living in the present and the past at the same time is kind of a drag. As per a Philip Dick novel, it might be cool to just wipe out some of those past experiences, but I guess it kind of defeats the purpose (is there one?) of going through it all in the first place.

Every year, we get a little christmas tree, the Lovely Carla decorates it. She puts so much creativity and care into it. Each ornament has a story. The tree is one big novel all it's own, with subplots and detours. When she finally plugs in the lights and turns them on, the little sparkling colors just bowl you over. It's that beautiful.

Of course, the damn little tree is sad too. I mean, it's been cut, it's dying, and it won't last long. We ornament it, light it up, make it more than what it is, or maybe less? The tree is a little lesson too. A lesson we know already, every year we do the same thing, and it's never quite the same, and that's part of the process too.

December. My father was born in December. I think of him a lot. John Lennon died in December. I think of him a lot too. People who are gone, are gone, and well they aren't really gone either. And that's how it goes too.

"Christ, You Know it Ain't Easy..." - J. Lennon

Okay, this is superbly bleeding/fucking hilarious.

The Democratic-led House passed a resolution yesterday (the vote was 372-9 in favor) that does the following:

(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;
(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;
(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;
(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;
(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and
(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

Isn't that sweet? How about all the fucking pain and misery that that crazy cult inspired too? Let's not forget all the faith-based wars (as Dylan reminds us, "they all had god on their side!"), the Inquisition, the collusion with the Fascists and Dictators of the world, the Holocaust, all the bleeding raping of the land, the constant blood and conquest blessed and condoned by our precious holy ones. Plus, there's the sex abuse scandals ensnaring a goodly segment of the Catholic Priesthood and there's the decades long "coverup" that enabled our favorite Parish Priests to sample the finest altar boys in the land.

After all is said and done, I'd say this Christian thing is a pretty mixed bag. Although, I suppose it's good to see our representatives are stepping up to the plate and taking tough stands on the important issues of the day.

Merry Fucking Christmas!

Fearless Speech

From Al Gore's speech to the Nobel Committee:

"But the outcome will be decisively influenced by two nations that are now failing to do enough: the United States and China. While India is also growing fast in importance, it should be absolutely clear that it is the two largest CO2 emitters – most of all, my own country – that will need to make the boldest moves, or stand accountable before history for their failure to act. Both countries should stop using the other's behavior as an excuse for stalemate and instead develop an agenda for mutual survival in a shared global environment."

The full text is here."

Also check this out.

IF NOAM CHOMSKY DIDN'T EXIST, IT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO INVENT HIM:


And then there's this trailer for "Machine Girl." Just in time for the holidays!

Help Wanted

100 year old Zen Master Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi looking for successor. Qualifications required: someone who can totally abandon their ego and manifest that zero state that is neither subject nor object and that is a complete unification of plus and minus.

"A WAR CRIMINAL IN THE OVAL OFFICE" - A. Sullivan

It's Sunday. Maybe my outrage should take a rest for a day. But you know what? A little Mocha Java and I'm fucking fired up. I don't agree with Andrew Sullivan on a lot of issues, but on torture I think he consistently gets it right. Yes. It's not new news, but we have a war criminal in the White House. I mean, at least two of them. I see that Joe Biden is calling for an independent prosecutor to sort things out. Sounds like a good first step. Any other Democrats want to weigh in? I know it's primary season, candidates are careful not to take controversial stands, but this seems like a "no shit Sherlock" moment. Biden is known to be a little bit of a blowhard. But now is a time to blow hard on this corrupt house of cards. I mean FUCKING REALLY?!

EDITORIAL NOTE: Sorry for the excessive, almost Tourette's stream of "fucks" lately. But you know, what the fuck?!

UPATE: I'm thinking to myself, "why the outrage?" I guess, to answer myself, "it's either outrage or despair." Or actually it's probably outrage and despair. I was born here, I'm trying to make a life here. I pay taxes, I vote. I sort of give a shit about who represents me in the world. It's kind of that existential conundrum (Satre and Camus - those dudes with the berets would undersatnd), I am responsible, even for the things I seemingly have no control over. Eventhough, I am powerless - or no, not powerless, I could leave the country, I could stop paying taxes. I could go to jail in protest. But, well, I'm not willing to go that far. So instead, I throw these words out into the blogosphere, I live with the responsibility, the guilt. I feel responsible and guilty for the things some fat fuck in Washington is doing or not doing in my name. Is that the Liberal's disease? Is it preposterous? The only things I seem to be left with - anger, outrage, despair. And laughter. Cynical, sardonic. How not to get hardened, corrupted by all the shit too? So it's maybe not necessarily the good kind of laughter, more like the "laughing past the graveyard" kind of laughter. Here it comes again: FUCK!

UPDATE #2: As Glen Greenwald points out, and as per an article in the Washington Post today, key Democrats on the "Intelligence" Committee were briefed on, and enabled, the torture atrocities. Rockefeller, Graham, Pelosi, Harman (supposedly Harman wrote a letter of protest, but all the others were silent). This is a bi-partisan scandal. I suppose the "fear of terrorism" made all these highly-paid fucks crumble like little fortune cookies. It's safe to say that yes, the terrorists did win. It's amazing how quickly our government gave up on some core principles that define a civilized, law-abiding nation. All we are really left with is a country of brute power, blood and rivers of cash. It's a hollow republic and we are truly fucked! Have a nice day!

These are the Fucking Good Guys, Right?

So it looks like the CIA tortured a mentally ill dude, made him confess to all kinds of non-existent crazy ass terror plots, rushed around trying to squelch such non-existent crazy ass plots, all to save face for our tin-pot dictator wannabe, the venerable Moron in Chief. Joseph Stalin, if he were still around, would be so proud of our current Commander.

Then the CIA, just to cover their sorry asses (did any one say "crimes against humanity?"), destroyed the videotaped evidence. How convenient. It kind of takes your breath away. Make up the worst shit you can possibly imagine. Then read the headlines. It's actually fucking worse! That's our America, land of the free, home of the brave. Fuck.

Religious Shite!

People are free to believe any wacko shit they want to, right? I mean, what the hell, the universe is big, and there's all kinds of crazy things happening, and well once you get your head around the idea that we evolved from bacteria, just about anything seems possible.

But when we talk about respecting others "faith," what we really mean is we tolerate people holding some really stupid, crazy ideas in their heads, and that these folks somehow think that by believing this crazy shit, they somehow get a ticket to some exclusive club where all the other good dead people go because they also believed that crazy shit too.

Some of the crazy shit includes: there's a god, a great overseer who gives a flying fuck about what we do, there are virgin births, rising from the dead, re-incarnation. The usual stuff. Then there's additionally wacko shit like Mormonism where people believe that Jesus walked around in America, Joseph Smith dug up a book buried by an angel, there is special underwear that will protect you from harm (we're not talking Victoria' Secret, are we?), men should take multiple wives (okay, supposedly they've retired that one).

Most "faiths" profess that if you don't believe what the other freaks believe, you are fated to burn in hell for eternity.

Now that's all well and good, but when we have politicians who are vying for a pretty damn important job, wanting us to take them seriously, do you think maybe we should call them out on some of this shit? And what about how some of these same bastards have demonized a religion (Muslims believe some crazy shit too, but I guess there are levels of crazy here, right?) and well if you're holding some crazy ass ideas in your head, doesn't it compromise your ability to condemn someone else's crazy ass ideas?

UPDATE: Exactafuckinzakly!

Lost Causes

I took one of those on-line polls, I can't find the link now, that asks a series of questions, and then matches you with a candidate. It seems my preference for bringing the troops home from Iraq immediately, giving amnesty to all the illegals already here, and having a universal health care system, matches me up best with these three guys in this order - Mike Gravel (sounds like a character in a Mikey Spillane novel), Dennis Kucinich (wasn't he an extra in the Wizard of Oz?) and John Edwards (didn't Bill Clinton once say John was such a smooth talker he could talk a squirrel out of a tree?).

I don't really think any of these three has a snowball's chance in hell of winning the Democratic nomination. My preference is still Obama, but I recently heard a little of the NPR debate in Iowa, and frankly all of the candidates in the Democratic field sound reasonable and intelligent to me. Now wouldn't that be a refreshing change?

Anway, got me thinking, I've not always been the best at picking winners. My absolute favorite all time candidates in no particular order - Jerry Brown (Mike Royko dubbed him Governor Moonbeam), Eugene McCarthy (the great insurgent!), Robert Kennedy (gunned down), and George McGovern (lost in a landslide!).

Three of those guys wanted to end the war in Vietnam. If they'd been elected, most likely, thousands of lives would have been saved...but of course McGovern actually lost to the all time CREEP, Hunter S. Thompson's doppelganger, Richard Nixon! Early on, I realized my politics was kind of inspired by Saint Jude. Saint Jude, of course was the saint of lost causes and hopeless cases.

"You got the yay-yo?" - Tony Montana

Did Karl Marx foresee this?

Hedge fund managers living the life of Tony Montana? I know that the De Palma directed, Oliver Stone scripted "Scarface," with the great Al Pacino, is a touchstone film for many in the Hip Hop community, but when our Titans of Finance are living the lurid, cocaine-fueled high-life, frolicking with male dancers named "Tiger," ending up dead, face down in a swimming pool, you have to wonder if maybe our capitalistic paradise has reached some kind of decadent apotheosis.

I mean, it used to be our drug lords, our rock stars, would be expected to spontaneously combust. When our lawyers and financiers are following a script conjured by Oliver Stone, well, maybe the end times for this capitalized beast really are near.

Accurate and Impermanent

"I think of dancing as movement, any kind of movement. It is as accurate and impermanent as breathing." - Merce Cunningham

Hey, Let's Get the Mice to Exercise for Us!

As a long time runner, this story is not surprising in the least. Feeling down in the dumps? Take a long run on a short pier! I am here to attest that yes, exercise can cure the blues. So scientists have been putting mice through their paces to demonstrate that exercise produces a naturally occurring anti-depressant chemical in the brain. Extrapolating from the evidence: what's good for the mouse is good for us.

Read the story until the end to get to the punch-line: "Besides offering more support for the benefits of exercise, the findings also point to VGF as a target for new antidepressants, according to Duman and his colleagues. Such medications, they point out, would work by an entirely different mechanism than existing antidepressants, which are effective for about 65 percent of patients."

Now that's the ticket! I'm thinking the underlying assumption is that nobody is gonna actually get out there and run or jump or walk. Exercise takes time, and it's hard, and who really wants to sweat? Hell, this is just another great opportunity for the drug industry to create more product. We are living proof of better living through chemistry. Is this the Timothy Leary Legacy?!

I'm thinking in another time and place our Pharmaceutical Industry would be called the Snake Oil Business. I've known folks who have been stuck on anti-depressants for years, and well, I'm convinced the best drugs in life are free and/or illegal!

DISLCLAIMER: The author of the above post, and frankly all the other posts found on this site, imbibes massive doses of highly-concentrated java daily. This leads to states of euphoria, excessive dizziness, long unfocused rambles, and incoherent flights of fancy. Please read this blog with caution. After reading a post, if you experience any of the above symptoms, please consult a physician.

Euphoria

According to the definition I found on the web - Euphoria: Elevated mood. Euphoria is a desirable and natural occurrence when it results from happy or exciting events. An excessive degree of euphoria that is not linked to events is characteristic of hypomania or mania, abnormal mood states associated with bipolar disorders.

Yes well. Last night, dancing on thin ice, we put on the a rock show at the Red Line Tap. We packed the place. We rocked. It was a great night. Probably the best show WWSP has done to date. The Telepaths brought the mayhem. Tiffany Tarpit sat in, and well, it was rock and roll magic. The Cells performed a tight set of power pop gems.

I'd say I'm experiencing an abnormal mood-state today. Still riding the adrenaline rush. It's cool to play rock star. I feel like trashing a hotel room, or driving a limo into a swimming pool. I'll resist the impulse.

"What's the world got in store, for you?" - Jeff Tweedy

A storm is coming tonight. I mean besides the winter storm that's supposed to whap us upside the head. A rock show is coming to the Red Line Tap tonight, featuring three of my favorite bands (yes, I'm biased, I'm in two of them). The Cells, The Telepaths and WWSP are joining forces to help the kids. That's right, it's a Toys for Tots benefit. Raising toys and cash for needy children.

It should be a real r&r blast. I've seen the Cells once before, they are led by a true rock and roll original, the human jukebox himself Cory Hance. Cory is a charismatic dude who writes, sings and plays with passion, verve, excitement. He's a true rock and roll star. The Cells are one of the great bands in the City.

The Telepaths are my band of brothers. Like minded musical anarchists working in the trenches of the rough and tumble trench of garage rock. I play guitar, Cory is on bass, Peter is our drummer and Patrick is our vocalist. I don't exactly know what it is, but put us in a room together and sparks ignite. There's a wildness, a sloppiness about our approach, and that's where the excitement begins. You just don't know what's gonna happen. We are oh so "telepathic," in that whatever we do sounds unmistakably like us. But we really have no idea of what's coming next. Tonight we will have a special guest, Tiffany Tarpit, from a great band that is no longer with us. She will be fronting the band on "Fresh 24," check out the song. We don't exactly play it like that, but should be a highlight of tonight's set.

Then there's WWSP my labor of love with the lovely Carla. She fronts a sweetly whimsical bunch - Sara on bass, Sanjay on drums, me on guitar. It's quite the journey. We are still jelling working on an ever-expanding set of originals. It's one of the most intensely creative, and exciting projects I've ever had the pleasure of participating in.

Anyway, hope you can make the show. I'm sure to have some words about it tomorrow!