Tonight: Eric Slick and Dave Drewitz = Crescent Moon

If you are in or around Brooklyn, New York tonight and want to see a kick ass show:



And for your viewing pleasure, a You Tube from one of their performances last summer:



Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio at Rockpalast

Oh. My. God.

The entire television show, filmed this fall in Germany, complete with interviews.

Ladies and gentlemen...Eric Slick, Julie Slick, and Adrian Belew at Rockpalast

And The Winner Is...

Thanks so much to all of you for your contest submissions. To say you guys are brilliant is putting it mildly and trying to choose a winner was pretty damn challenging. But after deliberating with my two, erm, impartial judges, I am pleased to announce that the winner of an autographed copy of Daddy Left Me Alone with God is...



"No heartbreak? So, it wasn't love..."

But...I feel like I'm completely losing my mind. I checked my blog comments, all of my email accounts, my blog at Salon, and even after two cups of coffee I still can't find the name of the person who wrote that! So if he/she will drop me an email or comment underneath, I will edit this post and give you the congratulations you are due as well as any applicable links to your blog, website, etc. Oh yeah, and I also need your address.

Anyway, because I had such a rough time deciding...and because I have a bunch of author copies...I've decided to name two other winners as well.

Now this man is a brilliant, published poet so he had an unfair advantage for sure which I had to take into consideration, but I absolutely loved the six words written by Dennis Mahagin. He even gave his a title:

Conductor's Blush

"...Two trains, coupling. She got off...."

Dennis has been my online writing pal for several years now and he read portions of this book in all of its incarnations and was kind enough to offer both encouragement and even a critique (ha ha - though I did keep the Uncle Sammy story in, Dennis, but I shortened it considerably because it ended up being germane to the novel after all). So Dennis, shoot me your address and an autographed copy will be yours. And if I could figure out how to turn my guitar picks into something male oriented, you'd be getting that, too...oh wait...d'oh...I can just send you some undrilled picks. Cool?

My third winner made me laugh out loud and since this blog has pretty much been taken over by the tales of Julie Slick, Eric Slick, and Adrian Belew, well, this entry, written by Lee Huntingdon, simply had to be acknowledged, too.

"Love ABPT. Can't see. Heart breaks."

So there you have it...whew, next time I throw a contest it's going to be something that involves pulling a name out of a hat...and if "Anonymous, I am so sorry I have no idea who you are", Dennis, and Lee will send me their contact info, the book will be on its way.

Anyway, I did get some last minute entries so if you are curious, I added them to the master list below. Now. If only I'd kept track of who sent what when I cut and pasted that list, I wouldn't be in the position I am now of not knowing the name of the winner. Ha ha, okay, well, you already knew I was a dork, right?

Right!

Later,
xo

Final hours to win a copy of Daddy Left Me Alone with God

Okay, so I wrote this book...



And then I decided to have a contest so that one of you could win a copy. I asked you to write me your best six word memoirs on love and heartbreak. Some of you posted here, some posted at my blog over at Salon, and some came to me via email. Here's all of the entries I have to date...and there's still time to enter before I pick a winner by midnight eastern time. That winner will be announced tomorrow morning.

"Innocent marvel, adolescent strife, aged wisdom."

"Sex, sleep, eat, drink, dream, sob"

"Love still grows
After he dies"

"I broke love to make love."

"Attraction, Passion, Commitment, Doubt, Trust, Hope"

"Fret not. My heartbeats are yours."

"Night's magic is morning's cautionary tale."

"absence makes the heart grow fonder"

"...Two trains, coupling. She got off...."

"What I knew I learned again."

"Sadly, his clone left her again"

"Dabbled, maneuvered, attempted, succumbed, surrendered, found."

"still too verbose for six words."

"Oh, that sweet ache is you."

"No heartbreak? So, it wasn't love..."

"Married a brunette, loved a blonde"

"Their ghosts are everywhere in me."

"All I wanted...and couldn't have."

"I am love, I am loss."

"Love ABPT. Can't see. Heart breaks."

And that's what I've got so far - they are all totally fabulous and I love them all. As I said, there's still time to submit your best six words, you can enter this contest more than once, so if you are reading this here or my cross post over at Salon, to make things easier for me please put your entry under this post today (here or at Salon) or email me at Robin81700@gmail.com; I'll come in and edit and add you to the above list, and assuming I am on my usual schedule of falling asleep early and waking up at dawn, the winning words will be posted here first thing tomorrow morning.

I have so much more to say it's ridiculous but best to leave that for my next post...just know that I had dinner last night with Julie, freshly back from recording "e" in Nashville and performing at Sweetwater Music in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and whoa, do I have stories!

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio at Sweetwater Music

Okay, it's only 6:00 a.m. and little blurbs are just starting to appear now regarding the Adrian Belew Power Trio gig at Sweetwater Sound yesterday, but here's what I've got so far:



I found the above photo on the Parker Guitar forum board...it was taken at 7:45 a.m. when the trio did a free concert for the staff at Sweetwater...

Then we have this blogpost from someone lucky enough to catch the evening show:

"Dad and I went to go see King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew play a set of prog-rock power trio tunes at Sweetwater tonight. Pretty fantastic - small room, killer set, free. His band was a brother/sister team out of Philly, ages 23 and 21. I'm trying hard not to think about that because I ain't need a quarter-life crisis. Need to scrape the rust off my bass chops."

And this from the Harmony Central Forum Board:

"It was awesome. Sweetwater (Ft Wayne, Indiana) gave a free 'workshop' to see Adrian showcase his new Parker sig with the Power Trio.

What happened though was 250 of us lucky bastards filed into a beautiful auditorium, with great seating, to see the Power Trio perform most of their Side Four live album. I was finally able to hear live tracks like Dinosaur, Three of a Perfect Pair, and Ampersand. And really.. just watching him give his guitar hell the whole time was amazing. Not even to mention how stellar the brother and sister combo are on drums and bass.

He really didn't talk about his guitar much, didn't take much Q&A, just rocked. I still can't believe I was able to see this for free. Anyone else lucky enough to attend this event? Sweetwater delivered huge on this. Kudos to them for putting this together."

And this from Guitars and Gear:

"As I type these words, Adrian Belew (King Crimson, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails, Frank Zappa, et al) is just down the hall, in Sweetwater’s retail store, showing off his new signature Parker guitar. I had dinner with Adrian and Eric and Julie Slick (the other two-thirds of his “Power Trio”) last night; they’re genuinely friendly, nice people - who just happen to travel the world playing amazing music. This morning they gave a short concert for Sweetwater’s Sales Engineers and introduced Adrian’s guitar. Tonight they will play a free concert in Sweetwater’s Performance Theatre. Based on what I heard this morning, it’s going to rock!

I’ve been waiting to get my hands on the Adrian Belew model Parker guitar ever since I heard it was announced. It’s finally shipping, so in honor of this momentous occasion, here’s a video of Adrian demonstrating and discussing the instrument. To wax slightly Tolkienesque, “One guitar to rule them all…” This thing will do everything! Not only does it have all the standard Parker Fly features (dual magnetic pickups, piezo, etc.), but it has a built-in MIDI 13-pin output and a complete built-in Line 6 Variax system. There’s even a Sustainer pickup built in. Yet it only weighs four pounds…

The concert tonight is going to be spectacular. Those in the area should plan to come by, for the rest of you, I’ll try to score some video of the event. And speaking of video, be sure to tune in to the next issue of Guitars & Gear. I’ll have an exclusive video interview for you with Adrian where he tells the story of the guitar and demonstrates some of its features - it’s going to be great!"

A few Twitters...my new addiction, by the way...follow me on twitter right here...but enough about me, here's some tweets about the trio:

"Back from the Adrian Belew performance at our theatre...That boy is not right...Julie and Eric Slick are sick...This is all good 2 me :)"

""Got paid to watch Adrian Belew's power trio perform live at 7:30 am this morning. I like my new job. :)

Had to giggle that Eric got a few mentions on the Zappa forum board regarding his recent show in NY with that "forbidden band"

"I know Eric's a bad-ass on drums with Belew..."

"The heart of it all was the Rhythm Section of Rob "Seahag" Magano on bass(who usually plays guitar and is sick)and Eric "Miniature Vinniature Colaiuta" Slick on drums. This sick duo kept a nasty groove all night which laid the foundation for a great night of music...also each band member improvising lines when pointed to (Slick by far said the funniest stuff)..."

Anyway, Julie and Eric will be back in Philadelphia after spending the last several days in Nashville, recording "E", their first studio CD with Ade. When I emailed Julie to find out how things were going, she replied as only Julie can:

"excellent thus far - we're spending every day recording a new piece,so yesterday we did a. the last day will be spent doing any overdubs, and miscellaneous stuff. ade is very excited and eric and i are (so far) are killing it. can't wait to show ya!"

Followed by this:

"record's sounding incredible - still on track. tomorrow is e then we just have one more part in b to record. after that we get to have fun doing wacky, spooky overdubs.sunday i get to make chicken tikka masala and curried vegetables. last night i made adrian's favorite meal of 08/09 - pan seared chicken with asparagus, leek and wild mushroom ragu over fresh pasta ribbons."

I had to laugh out loud when I saw the phrase "Adrian's favorite meal of 08/09"...she remembered not only the date but the exact meal? That's my Julie!

So that's it so far but it looks like, from reading some of these comments, that there will be some video up later from yesterday's show(s) so if I do find that or anything else, I'll be back.

ETA: Thanks to my pal, Sid Smith, over at DGM Live, who not only linked my blog but has a very nice news item up about last night, courtesy of fan Tony Isch, right here.

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Fort Wayne, IN

Real quick - if you are lucky enough to be in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area today, you can catch the Adrian Belew Power Trio hanging out while Ade gives a workshop, seminar, whatever at Sweetwater Music Instruments and Pro Audio...and then the trio will perform a free show tonight for as long and as many of you want...nice little newspaper article and further details here!


(Photo by Gary Slick taken sometime during the last ABPT tour)

Also...Eric has updated his blog.

Apparently, he has, um, sullied the Robert Fripp suite.

And in other news..

Now be good little kiddies and scroll down to the post below and enter the contest to win a free copy of my new book...I've extended the deadline until this Friday.

Later,
xo

The (Mostly) Robin Slick Post

Edited to add: The contest deadline has been extended to February 20, 2009. Your responses, both here and on my blog over at Salon, are so brilliant I am awaiting decisions from a couple of impartial judges to help me out here. And so there is still time to enter -- I'll announce the winner on Monday February 23.
**********

Okay, time to stop whatever you are doing, jump up and down, and scream Yes! Yes! Yes!



Oh. Wait. That's me screaming. Erm. Sorry. But okay, I'm a little bit excited. After five years of total insanity, three agents, many rewrites, quitting my job of over two decades to write it...Daddy Left Me Alone with God is now in print and available at Amazon...look for it at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and yes, even an independent bookstore near you shortly. But for now, you can purchase it right here!

I wanted to mention the goddess responsible for not only my book cover but for all of the cool promo which will be forthcoming when I come to a town near you to sign, read, and generally party over the book's release. And she is also a brilliant author in her own write, the lovely (oh is she ever!) Stella Price.

Is it lame to be excited about promo? Not in this case. Along with the usual postcards, magnets, t-shirts, keychains, etc., Stella has designed very special custom guitar picks for me, which I purchased through the absolutely fabulous In Tune Guitar Picks...some of which will be, d'oh, just picks, but others of which I will be busy turning into some really cool jewelry - earrings, chokers, and whatever else my devious little brain can come up with, but here's a sneak peek of the pick itself - all of which will be black with silver print/design, some of which will matte, some of which will be glossy:





And where will I be in the coming months? Well, my favorite webmaster, Scott of Nerdy Rhino Development has updated my website...go on...have a look...you know you want to...and he's added a new feature, Where's Robin? Look for more dates and places to appear in the coming weeks, but so far, my first event is in Orlando, Florida for four days in April - the 22nd through the 26th right here.

Isn't the "moving" Daddy banner on my front page cool?

And now about the book itself...

Daddy Left Me Alone with God started out as two separate entities...the first of which was a short story published in an anthology, Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction, and not to toot my own horn, but this is a book really worth picking up as it contains stories by incredibly fantastic authors, some of whom are good friends.

But really, it's the second aspect that is the meat of the book. In 2004, when the Paul Green School of Rock was just beginning to make their mark on the world and Julie and Eric Slick were the two of the original twenty-two All-Stars, Paul took the kids on a three week tour across America, playing in clubs everywhere from Salt Lake City, Utah to Spokane, Washington to Phoenix, Arizona to Boise, Idaho, etc. Julie and Eric were 17 and 18 at the time and I learned that this would be a real rock and roll tour...um, meaning, a real rock and roll tour of a group of musicians who hadn't quite "made it". Translation: Spending some nights traveling 13 hours by bus; some days with no hotels, no showers, 22 kids eating tacos from fast food restaurants on the way and then sharing one porta-potty on said bus. Ever the neurotic, over-protective mother, I said "There's no way you are going on this trip without me!" So I signed up as a chaperone and got a lot more than I bargained for. No one over the age of forty should ever spend that much time on a bus with 22 teenagers in raging hormone hell (both them and me) -- certainly not without a comfortable bed to sleep in every evening or hot and cold running water. There were times I thought I was going to die. But somehow I managed to write a daily journal of the tour, and documented everything. Early readers of this blog may remember my day by day account of this fabled event, warts and all (since deleted).

Did you ever have an experience in life which you wish you had the opportunity to do over? While on that bus, I was so freaked out by lack of sleep and proper nutrition (my own fault...I could have chosen healthier options on the road), that I failed to really appreciate all of the good on that tour - seeing places in America I never dreamed existed, (did you know Wyoming is mostly surrounded by red mountains/rocks? It looks like Mars! And ohhh...the beauty of San Francisco...) hearing incredible music every single night as the kids just got better and better...and watching the amazing, amazing comradery grow between this unlikely group of extremely talented group of friends/musicians.

And so I decided to rewrite the book as it should have been written in the first place -- full of joy and wonder and har har, anonymous characters as opposed to a strict non-fiction account naming names. So yes, while the book has a strong backstory of the 2004 School of Rock west coast tour and some of you may think you recognize yourselves, trust me, you've all been turned into...muhahahahaha...other people. Ahem. Some of you, anyway.

But the book was still missing something. What, you might ask? Well, how about something about the author? Why was she on the trip? Did she have any ulterior motives? Why yes, she did. Did she have a deep, dark secret?

From the book's back cover blurb:

"At age seventeen, Annie had a love affair with a man ten years her senior, legendary British rock guitarist Mick Saunders.

Now...feeling desperate to change her life, she is unexpectedly given the chance to reconnect with Mick while chaperoning her fledgling rock star teenagers on a tour across America.

To Annie, this opportunity to recapture her past is a dream come true. But will she and Mick be able to pick up where they left off?"

Hmm...is Annie my alter ego? Is this book really a memoir? Or is it simply a fictional tale, woven into the story to make it more interesting?

Ha ha - how about all of the above?

So when you read Daddy, you may learn more about me than you ever wanted.

Or not.

You be the judge.

Would you like a free copy? Okay. I've decided to launch a little contest here in connection with a new book by the editors at the fabulous Smith Magazine, where I also have a little piece of the internet. The book is also available at Amazon, it's called Six Words on Love and Heartbreak, and you can purchase it right here.

And in furtherance of that...this is your challenge. Write me a six word memoir on love and heartbreak. Post it in comments here, or email it to me (but let me know in your email if I have permission to post it on the blog). I'll choose one or two winners or more, depending on the amount of entries I receive...and that lucky person(s) will receive not only a copy of the book, autographed, but some fabulous guitar picks/jewelry as well.

Cool? Cool!

In closing, um, I did say this was the "mostly" Robin Slick post. As most of you know, Julie and Eric are down in Nashville recording their very first studio CD with Mr. Belew. I trust all of you have seen this?

Okay! Write me your six word memoir on love and heartbreak. I'm really looking forward to knowing a little bit about each of you, too.

Later,
xo

The (Mostly) Julie Slick Post

So yesterday I hung out with Julie at her apartment and we had an absolute blast.

I arrived around noon, starving, which is always a good idea when you visit Julie Slick because she is a Master Chef and to waste those talents would be just plain dumb. And because she is both my daughter and best friend, she was totally prepared for me to visit in that state and made me an awesome omelet stuffed with sliced avocado and goat cheese and topped with black bean chili in mole sauce with toasted almonds, accompanied by a side salad of arugula, avocado, and walnuts in a light caramelized onion vinaigrette. Those red squiggles on the plate turned out to be hot sauce...very, very good with the dish for sure.



Julie will be talking more about this meal and including the recipes and more photos in her next blog post, but in the meantime, she has updated her journal with a great broccoli cheddar soup and garlic cheese pitas...we are dead serious about our cookbook...anyway, here's a link to Ms. Julie's latest entry.

After lunch, we broke out the paints. Within a half hour, Julie had managed to sketch out a brilliant beginning to a portrait of Igor Stravinsky, it took me two hours to accomplish the piece on the left -- I know, I know, it looks like the work of a genius...um, a seven year old genius, that is...but I have high hopes for that painting and it's only in its beginning stages.



Unfortunately, we will not be having another "date" until after February 18, because as I've been broadcasting all over the internet, tomorrow Julie and Eric are headed for Nashville to Casa Belew to begin recording their first studio CD, "E". What's that, you might ask? Well, let me quote Adrian on that:

"so...what is "e" ?
of course it's rather senseless to talk
about music you have yet to hear,
but senseless is my middle name, so here goes.

e is a thematic piece of music in five sections.
it is based on a 16-note chromatic figure
which can be played up and down the neck,
both forwards and backwards and in various keys.
it could be seen as five pieces of music,
since each section can stand alone
but I prefer it as one long piece.
how long? 40 to 50 minutes.

the chromatic e figure is used in compelling ways
both against itself and with itself
to create complex rhythms and harmonies.
each of the five pieces of music flow through
a wide variety of secondary themes and melodies
some of which reappear, but they all are based upon
and eventually come back to
the e figure.

in some areas the timbre of the piece
is much like something King Crimson might do,
but I've used Gershwin, and Stravinsky
for my guidance and inspiration as well.
I have been writing e for more than two years!
it's very difficult (at least for me) to play.
along the way I make 16 different loops.
in order to add parts and solos over top of the loops
each loop has to be perfect, of course.

e has been written and arranged
specifically for the mighty power trio.
but it may also be worthy of classical orchestration.
I could hear a rock trio treatment
and a classical treatment (with horns, strings, etc.)
and even a combination of the two.
but I'm getting way ahead of myself.
classical treatments don't fall off trees.

as diligent and single-minded as eric and julie
and I have been in our approach to learning e,
we have yet to actually record a single note.
this being eric and julie's first "new" record
I'm hoping to make something grand
for them to be proud of.

then we'll have to play it live."

All I can tell you is, I've heard the rough cuts and it's a masterpiece...a classic in the making. Stay tuned for news about just where and when they will be playing it live, though Pollstar has a few dates up already.

Getting back to my day with Julie...

After we were finished painting, Julie smiled at me with an evil little grin and said "Okay, now we're going to play Wii!"

"But...but...I hate video games..."

"Trust me, Mom, you're going to love this. And it's great exercise!"

Ahem. Love and exercise do not go together in my world, but okay, I'll give it a try.

And now a series of photographs where I am clearly having a heart attack. Please also note two things. One, I am not that fat. I was literally wearing three shirts because I was cold, and the final t-shirt on top was a large to accommodate the two shirts underneath. Second, please notice said t-shirt. It says "The Smart One" and I scored it from the author of an incredible book with that very title (which I just cannot recommend enough), the beautiful and brilliant Ellen Meister, who was kind enough to give me a new blurb for my latest novel...and you will read all about that in the next day or two in "The (Mostly) Robin Slick Post". I am currently in the midst of updating my website to feature the book and links where you can buy it...and there will also be a contest where you can win free copies, hot off the press.

But for now, let's watch Robin have a coronary:





Okay, you can clearly see my Smart One t-shirt in this photo, as well as my Wii avatar, which sadly looks exactly like me...especially when Wii put big white shoes on my feet whilst playing baseball which made me feel -- both in real life and Wii World -- as though this was the Special Olympics and I was the participant who scored so low she got the Good Sportsmanship trophy and even that only because the judges took such pity on her.



Finally, after much huffing and puffing and going through ridiculously stressful games of tennis, baseball and gah! bowling where I almost slammed my daughter in the face accidentally, fell backwards several times, and nearly broke a lamp, Wii gave me my true age:



Oh yes, "Good Job". I'm sixty-seven.

Please. Kill. Me.

My Wii Fitness Age, however, is an age I aspire to achieve in real life because at this point, I'll be happy to live another week.

I admit it. I went home and drank several shots of Jack Daniels to rid myself of post-Wii back pain because Advil just didn't do it for me.

Oh, okay, it was more because it was Saturday night and I felt like partying...I'd just spent an amazing day with my daughter.

Alrighty, that's enough out of me. Stay tuned for news concerning the long-awaited release of my first mainstream novel, Daddy Left Me Alone with God...and as soon as I get the okay to talk about the major happenings in Eric Slick's world, you guys will be the first to know.

Oh wow...wait...this just popped up and I'm afraid to say much more because of the psychotic Mafia "Trust", but take a look at this...



Later,
xo

The (Mostly) Eric Slick Post

So Eric Slick has been on tour for what seems like forever (I miss him!) with Project Object and I apologize that the You Tubes I put up last post have been removed by the psychotic "Zappa Family Trust". Anyway, I'm not wasting any more valuable time or words on that, so let me switch gears and say that as soon as Eric gets back from touring Monday morning, he literally has just enough time to pack and head down to Nashville for ten days or so to record his first studio album with sister Julie Slick and Adrian Belew. Not a bad life, huh. And then of course there is the possibility of a momentous news flash (or three!) regarding Eric upon his return later this month, but I am forbidden to speak until it's all a done deal.



I do know that Eric and the boys played at the Morse Theater in Chicago last night so I'm hoping some reviews pop up later as is usual and customary from ardent fans in the windy city; I also know there was the possibility of some special guests in the audience, but right now, it's 6:00 a.m. in Philadelphia and I got nothing. Will come in with the usual edits later if/when I find additional stuff today.

But for now, from a review of a recent Project Object show:

"Most impressive amongst the band’s youth was the drummer, Eric Slick, who managed to sing a rendition of “Tryin’ To Grow A Chin” while beating the fuck out of his set. Out of anyone on stage that didn’t already have star power, Slick stole the show, throwing down colossal barrages of drum rolled amazement. He might’ve inspired the biggest reaction from the audience by the time the show was over."

And from the Ween Forum Board

"Saw 'Kid Slick' last night w/ Project Object- that kid is a fucking machine. Holding his own with a stage full of veterns."



And here's a recent interview he did for Temple News.

I found this blurb on the Music Player network, which led me to this website where you can hear Eric playing most excellently on David Essex' "Rock On" and the Beatles' "You Can't do That" along with Glenn McLelland on piano (Ween, Blood Sweat & Tears); Hal Selzer of Gary U.S. Bonds on bass...further details are on the MySpace page.

Doesn't the cover of the Beatles' You Can't Do that sound like a total Eric Clapton rendition? EC, if you are reading this, now you know who to use as your drummer next tour (heh)...and I even named my son after you so...

(I really did. I've written about that many times before but in case you are a new reader to this blog, Eric's full name is Eric James Marshall Slick, in honor of both Clapton and Jimi (James Marshall) Hendrix. Figures he'd be a drummer har har.)

Since Eric was on the road, he could not make the "Best Of" School of Rock Show with guest professor and another former David Bowie guitarist, Earl Slick. Gary filled his shoes, and he and Earl enjoyed a cigarette break outside the World Cafe Live, where Gary kidded him about being the fictional father of our kids. It's totally true, though, I cannot tell you how many blogposts and other news articles I read about my kids where they are called offspring of rock royalty, i.e., Grace Slick, Earl Slick, Slick Rick...okay, I'm lying about Slick Rick but that should be obvious. (Insert smiley face emoticon here).

Anyway, Gary was kind enough to furnish me with the following photo of him and Earl, hereafter known as Slick & Slick. Too bad Eric wasn't around to complete the trio, but Slick & Slick sounds like the law firm from hell, doesn't it?



In answer to the other question I know you are all waiting for with baited breath, Julie and I did not have art night on Monday; we moved it to tomorrow morning so that we could paint in natural light. And sober. Because you know if I ended up at her place in the evening, we'd be busy stuffing our faces and drinking copious amounts of alcohol, and the conversation would go like this:

"Do you want to paint now, Mom?"

"Um, not yet. More wine please. And could you please pass the hummus? Mmm...what did you make this with? Corn? Roasted peppers? What? It's the best hummus I ever ate..."

She really does make the best hummus, I kid you not.

We are collaborating on a cookbook/rock music tour and travel guide and I'll have a lot to say about that in the near future. I've prepared a couple drafts of a query and am currently putting the finishing touches on a proposal. One agent has already looked at it and I've had interest from others so I need to get the proposal finished within the next few days, but yeah, it will be called Having My Bass and Eating It, Too - I know I've mentioned it here before - and it's loosely based on both of our blogs and will include all of Julie's amazing and unique recipes, drawings, photos...I can't wait! And yep, that hummus recipe will be included...

So that's all for now but I am definitely going to check in with Eric later this morning so trust me, if I find out I can tell you any more news or I learn of anything else related to the Project Object tour or Eric's other future endeavors, I will be back.

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Sunday, February 1, 2009

Gah! I can't believe it's February already. As my favorite waiter in an Asian fusion restaurant once told me, "Time fries, Lobin."

So this past Friday, January 30 was beautiful daughter Julie Slick's 23rd birthday:



I'm sorry, I know this photo (posted here many times cos' I love it) is not current as evidenced by the bass she's playing, but it's one of my favorites -- from her very last "Best Of" Rock School show at the Troc almost five years ago!

And speaking of that, if you live in the Philadelphia area and want something very cool to do prior to the Super Bowl, be at World Cafe Live at 2:00 today for the winter, 2009 version of that same event, which will feature kids/songs from last week's fabbo Philadelphia Beatle show and students from Wilmington, Princeton, and Cherry Hill School of Rock as well. You can purchase your tickets right here!

Oh, did I mention the show will also include "Guest Professor" Earl Slick? Ha ha, Gary finally gets to meet the man/guitarist most often confused as the father of our two kids. We have a running family joke that Earl should play a gig with Julie and Eric called Slick, Slick, Slick...then it turns out Eric may be playing with him at some point in the future afer all - not sure yet, though and Eric will probably call me on the phone and yell at me if he reads this but yes, it has been talked about as a one-off. By the way, Eric is currently on tour with Project Object and I apologize for falling behind in my usual PR on the blog - they've already done shows in Teaneck, NJ, Baltimore, MD, and Sellersville, PA but tonight should be a great one down in Falls Church, Virginia -- they are opening the doors early for patrons to watch the Super Bowl on big screen television; then Project Object will take the stage immediately thereafter. Ticket information can be found right here.

Here's two You Tubes of the band filmed in November, 2008 - some tasty stuff:





Speaking of great You Tubes, I know I promised a couple from the Beatle show last week but I was so freaking busy I didn't get around to it so let me make amends now. By the way, I was the crazy woman sitting by herself at a table sipping wine and bawling over every song. Of course that was partially a result of being up the entire night before partying in New York (see prior post) and then watching kids ages 6-17, from all cultures, backgrounds, and even disabilities perform the White Album in its entirety - I was their age when it was first released and naturally it played a huge part in my musical and creative life...so if you were there and wondering "Who the hell is that sobbing lunatic?" now you know...





Yep, the show was incredible and Eric, as the show's music director, and Gary, as his assistant, just did a stellar job with these kids.

Okay, what else. Oh yeah, Julie's birthday. Well, we all went out as a family (minus Eric, who was gigging in Baltimore that night, but filling his seat was Julie's significant other, Matt) to Chloe at 232 Arch Street in Philadelphia. We had a most excellent meal but I forgot to bring the camera so you'll have to take my word that the appetizers of lobster/crab crepes swimming in lobster bisque, oysters in garlic butter, spicy grilled shrimp with chili, coconut cilantro sauce, served atop corn cakes, and Chloe Salad with baked panko crusted goat cheese, mixed greens, red onion, and orange chipotle dressing were totally awesome, as were our entrees of grilled salmon fillet with crispy polenta, sweet and sour eggplant chutney, and parsley gremolata (me), pan seared sea scallops, crispy potato pancake, watercress and red onion salad, smoked chile and sour cream drizzle (Julie); baby back pork ribs, macaroni & cheese, seared spinach, bourbon chipolte glaze (Matt)...and center cut pork chop with sweet potato mash and grilled apples (Gary).

For dessert we split a light cheesecake (I only had a forkful...damn diet) and banana bread pudding (ditto).

Julie wanted art supplies as her gift, so yesterday the two of us went to a couple of way cool stores and picked up all kinds of things - tubes of paint, canvases, brushes...and while we were at Chloe, we noticed they had these really unique "lamps"...candles in pint glasses which were wrapped in gorgeous paper and tied in twine...very atmospheric and neat. So I knew of an art supply store which sells all kinds of crazy paper by the sheet (Taws, at 16th and Locust)...we picked up some lovely burnt orange, textured paper, pale ivory with moss green highlights..and dark green twine. Monday night has now been designated as "Robin and Julie Art Night" so I'm heading over to Julie's new digs tomorrow night for dinner (she's cooking me either scallops over warm lentil salad or black bean chili - I don't know yet); then we are making our lamps and we're both going to paint. It's so weird. I was an art major when I was in high school and thought that it would be my career. It's only been lately that I've had a strong desire to get back into it, and I never said a word to anyone in my family...then Julie expresses the same urge and that she wanted paints for her birthday. It was so freaky! So to say I'm looking forward to tomorrow night is putting it mildly.

Okay, I have all kinds of things to do today...I am dying to show you my new, finished book cover; what I plan to give away as promo (you are all going to want to read my new book just based on what you're going to get with each copy you buy! I'm so excited and will link you to the person/artist responsible next post)...but I want to make that a separate journal entry so hang on...it's coming...

One final note, which I will be posting again...there is a very special event happening for those of you living near Fort Wayne, Indiana on February 17. You can read about it here. And yes, the dynamic duo will be joining him...

Later,
xo