Odds and sods for Thursday, May 11, 2006

Eric Slick with the flying sticks

So only four shows left on the Project Object tour -- tonight they'll be at The River Street Cafe near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. I hear that's a very cool venue (big surprise) and wish I could make it but it's a bit far...and of course I'll be there for the grand finale Sunday night (Happy Mothers Day to me!) in Bergen County, New Jersey where some special guests will be popping up to sit in with the band. More on that later...

I'm still surfing the web for reviews and found a couple brief blurbs -- both from My Space or Live Journals:

1. Got a wee bit drunk with my Momski at a [monthlate] birthday dinner.
2. Flirted with a cute Irish guy.
3. Went to the Rongo with Rob & Garth-icus to see Igor's Eye [Rob's friend's band] open for Project/Object, a Frank Zappa cover/tribute band which includes Ike Willis [Frank Zappa's lead singer & guitarist for 15ish years]. They also had a killer [18 year old] drummer, Eric Slick. It wouldn't surprise me if he became big shit in a few years.
*****
Project Object = best band i've ever seen

I went to a Project Object show here in PA. They play jazz mixed with rock, soul, humour and general madness. Whats cool about them is they do zappa songs. The lead singer was a member in Frank Zappa's old band, and he is continuing the legend, which is even more awesome (ike willis)

Half the band couldnt have been over 22, and they all rocked really hard. Awesome musicians. They had moments which had every element of music you could ask for.

Was blown off my metal feet.

Just shows ye.
*****
And finally, here's a link to photos from several nights of shows -- very, very insane stuff:

Mustaches and Hats!
*****
In writing news, Susan Henderson interviews our way cool friend, author Jordan Rosenfeld, right here.

A new, indie print publisher has accepted one of my short stories for its collection and there will be more news on who, what, when, where as soon as I get the okay to blab but from what I hear, I'm in some incredible company so I'm more than a little bit psyched about that.

And finally, the banging next door is so horrible it sounds like it's my house that's being rehabbed -- and don't think I'm not scared as hell that my house will require rehab by the time they're finished. So I'm off to the park with the dog until it rains or the workers leave, whichever happens first, and when I come back if there's anything interesting that occurs in the meantime I'll edit this post to include it.

Later,
xo

Did I say I was looking for Project Object reviews?

Eric Slick in Baltimore on May 6, 2006. As you can see by the (much better) quality of the recent photos, I've abandoned the idea of photography as a hobby and turned the camera over to Eric's dad.

Hey, have I mentioned I've been surfing the web all OCD every day looking for Project Object reviews? Ha! Only like a gazillion times. But hurrah, I found a goldmine this morning at the forum board of The Breakfast, an amazing blues/rock band from Connecticut who opened for P/O in Baltimore Saturday night. Rock School people take note - they also had really cool stuff to say about you guys and when I joined the forum and saw some footage of the show, I suggested they put it up on You Tube and they were kind enough to immediately comply!

So without further ado, here is Project Object, featuring the awesome drum work and back-up vocals of Eric Slick along with The Breakfast’ guitarist extraordinaire Tim Palmieri, performing the Zappa masterpiece Cosmik Debris:



Thank you to the folks at The Breakfast again, and I understand they'll be at Coda at 34th and Madison in New York City this Saturday night. They are really worth checking out -- and once you see their guitarist in action in the above You Tube movie I'm sure you'll agree.

Anyway, getting back to Project Object, remember, I'm Eric's mother (ha -- as if I'd ever let anyone forget) so the following reviews plucked off The Breakfast forum board are excerpts which mention him:

The drummer who is now with Project Object from school of rock was unbelieveable-19 year old kid totally ripping it up on stage.
*****
This was my 24th Object show and by far the best. Even though Napoleon was off playing with that farce Zappa Plays Zappa, Object brought the energy to a new level thanks to a 19 year old Terry Bozzio clone. This kid is probably the best drummer I've ever seen live. The amount of energy he gives off, the playing with one hand, the theatrics, the display of technical prowess and his overall apperance were second to none. They covered my favorite Ike Willis solo song, which featured his funky wife on backup vocals. I couldn't contain myself, Object destroyed every shred of sanity I had left.
*****
This was my first Project Object show and I was blown away. Drummer was incredible and the bass player was a freakin' animal. Don't understand how that kids hand weren't a bloody mess by the end of the show.
*****
Lots of talent on the stage last night, wow. PO drummer/ school of rock grad is so energetic and nasty on the drums...definitely gives it a whole fresh feel. He is in a Captain Beefheart tribute band out of New Haven too.
*****
Ahhhh...I'm happy now.

So today started out really great. The dog woke me up with a big stuffed animal in his mouth which cracked me the hell up. When I rolled over and went back to sleep, he tried a stronger tactic -- this time he got one of his big ass chew bones and stabbed me in the head with it. I'm serious. He repeatedly poked me with that thing until I opened my eyes.

"What do you want, Monty?"

He raced downstairs and I followed.

Breakfast. He wanted breakfast.

God he makes me laugh.

And then how weirdly fitting that after I fed him, I got the above cool info from a band called The Breakfast. I love serendipity!

Next, I checked my e-mail and there it was at last. The ARC (Advance Review Copy) for Another Bite of the Apple! All of my edits were on the mark. Okay, I had two little mistakes which I was aware of last night and fixed and sent off to my publisher before I went to bed. They were pretty funny -- I had my characters doing two things which were physically impossible -- one which would have required the female character to have double FF cup breasts and another which would have meant the man was also of, err freakish proportions.

Sheesh. Next time I'm trying these things out personally before I write about them.

(Yes, I know. I have a very hard life)

(Did I just say "hard"? Ha! Oh god, it'll take me a few days to get all of those references out of my head after writing about them for three days straight)

But err...since I am having such a good day, let's top it off with a serious twisted Neil Gaiman moment. If you were to ask me my favorite food...and I think it's even on my Amazon author's profile...I'd have to say sushi. So this combination is almost too much for me to bear:



Sigh...

Later,
xo

Blue Monday

Eric Slick at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD on May 6,2006

Hi there.

I'm finally decompressing from the weekend which included three days of editing and a visit to Baltimore to see Eric in his final week of the Project Object tour after which his dad remarked to me "Rob, do you believe we've been awake for twenty-four hours?"

But I digress.

So yeah, on Friday I received an e-mail from my editor with final major changes to Another Bite of the Apple, which normally would not have been a problem for me because I'm a geeky weirdo who loves to edit. But the timing was terrible because I knew I'd be in Baltimore on Saturday and wouldn't be home until late and I also knew the construction workers would be back early this morning to resume the death and destruction next door. And if I wanted the book released by the time of the upcoming convention in Florida, I needed to get those edits done in - ha ha - three days.

And of course the edits all concerned sex. I knew it! Because as I'm always trying to justify here, I'm not an erotica writer and Three Days in New York City was a fluke -- a chick lit book with graphic sex. I was really surprised when my publisher asked for a sequel and thought it would be a piece of cake but realized when I was finished that I had written a chick lit book for sure but I'd left out most of the hot stuff and since Phaze is a publisher of quality erotica they were understandably a bit unhappy and wanted me to, ahem, insert a lot more.

So I tried to take care of that Friday afternoon and Saturday morning but I had a lot on my mind and wasn't feeling very horny. Yeah, I know. Why do I need to feel horny to write a good sex scene? Beats me. Ha.

Right now I'm so sick of "glistening cocks" and "dripping pussies" if Neil Gaiman himself asked me for sex I'd probably run in the other direction.

Oh, okay, I'm a big fat liar but still.

Anyway, it wasn't easy but I pulled it off. At least I think I did -- I sent the edits to my publisher about two hours ago and am sitting here now biting my nails in between screaming obscenities at the men next door who are now banging so hard there is dust all over my kitchen and things are falling out of cabinets. And because these are brownstones, when I scream out the window trust me they heard and what I hollered wasn't nice. In fact, it concerns an act which two of the characters in my new book perform while drunk (cos' in my mind, you'd have to be drunk to...never mind)

Alright, enough of that. Let's talk about Eric.

My son is fucking amazing. Not having seen him in three weeks, when we got to Baltimore and I saw him on stage I almost fainted. The boy has muscles! He's thin as a rail but playing music four hours a night on stage and being his own roadie have resulted in, dare I say it, a bit o'buffness? And he wore a sleeveless muscle shirt!

Anyway, he's really come into his own on tour, and he's such a showman, I was dying. He plays drums standing up a la Keith Moon, he plays with one drumstick in his mouth and one in his hand, he sings unbelievable harmonies and cracks jokes all night into the mic...and every one of the band members told his dad and me and told us how great he is -- not just as a musician but as a human being.

My favorite remark was keyboardist Eric Svalgard who came up to Gary and me and said "You guys are the shit, you know that? If only my parents had supported my music when I was a kid..."

Svalgard is fifty now and even though he's a Berklee School of Music grad, he finally got to live out his dream to go out on tour when he joined Project Object two years ago.



Hi, Mr. Svalgard!

We also surprised Eric by bringing his girlfriend Carolyn to the show with us even though..sob...we knew he'd be spending all his down time with her instead of us. But hey, that's how it should be!

Anyway, I continue to surf for reviews but when I looked in the usual places, I was extremely pissed to see that all references to Project Object were removed from the Frank Zappa forum board. That's too bad. Frank's widow apparently has real issues with Project Object playing her late husband's music. I don't want to get into it here as I know she has her own extremely misguided reasons but I will say this: Censorship is never cool. In fact, here's what her late husband had to say on the subject.

I did, however, find a journal entry from one of the Rock School kids who opened for Project Object in Baltimore, and I'll respect her privacy and not mention her name (though I'd love to because she not only ruled on bass that night but was drop dead beautiful) but I will copy a bit from her blurb right here:

"Project Object was mind-blowingly tight. Dave Johnson's bass solo is probably the sickest, most amazing this I've EVER EVER EVER seen, and I am so happy that they closed with Village of the Sun which has rapidly climbed to my #4 favorite Zappa song. It has to be #4 because #1 is Packard Goose, #2 is Stick It Out and #3 is City of Tiny Lites and they're pretty cemented that way.

Anyway, I'm proud to have played with Eric. I hadn't really understood just how good he was until I watched him play Starless with John Wetton at the Troc and last night topped even that. Wow. When we walked in and saw P/O soundchecking, it seemed like a different kid behind the drums but he greeted us with "EVERYBODY GO ON TOUR... RIGHT NOW." And was in the dressing room with us talking about Svalgard's burrito farts while we ate and so I ceased to worry. I'm so happy for him."

So thank you, Ms. Anonymous, and I also read in your journal where you are so excited to be going to Germany for Zappanale 17. In a perfect world, I'll see you there! More details on that later...

But in the meantime, here's a little present for you, and trust me, if I were 20 years younger, I'd have a fan girl crush for sure on bassist Dave Johnsen, too:



Speaking of the Omega Rock School All-Stars, they were freaking fantastic in Baltimore despite missing some key players like Katie Jacoby on violin, Sara Zimmerman on slide guitar, and Foster L. on keyboards. But every one of those kids was fantastic and poised, and what a great song selection. I mean, really. Starting off with King Crimson's Red and acing it. Holy shit, Ms. Anonymous.

And while I didn't find anything else, yay! Eric updated his tour blog and once again, yeah, I'm taking credit for his humorous and wonderful writing skills. Oh come on, he got his music genes from his dad and my family; he got his looks and writing from me, right? Right!

Monday, April 24 Magic Bag Detroit

Ok, they had wireless and Dr. Dot's massage therapy. Two points there!
Eh, I don't wanna talk about the gig.

Note to self: Ask Eric about this later!

Tuesday, April 25 The Poison Room

Back on the chain gang. After what I considered a lackluster night in Detroit, we had a dazzling one in Cincinnati! C'mon they had wireless, a buy out for food (I had hummus wrap because the place was out of Falafel. Out of Falafel? What the hell!), and they had the best drum mic setup ever. A mic over the kit and one for the bass drum. Bonham style for sure, I was proud. They showed the best of Will Ferrell DVD before the show, and Svalgard never saw the more cowbell skit before. Always a good laugh. The Poison Room had amazing DVD's, they showed '69 Doors, '77 Marley, and '62 Ray Charles to top it all off. Ray Charles played saxophone?? One of the best sax solos I'd ever heard? I guess that's why his record was called 'The Genius of Ray Charles'. Everybody was fantastic tonight, Dre's solos were tasteful as always, Dave was just funkier than ever. Highlights of the night: Getting to play Roxy version of Pygmy Twylyte for the first time of this tour; the guy who enjoyed the show so much that he was depressed and put his head down on the bar for the entire second set.

Wednesday, April 26 Shank Hall

Shank Hall was originally a fictitious venue created in This Is Spinal Tap. Some guy decided to open up a place a dedicate it the movie, in fact there was a 18 inch Stonehenge hanging behind the kit. If there were midgets, it would've been crushed. We had Indian food beforehand, my first Indian food experience. The first set was weak because I had no monitor mix for the first song, and we blew an entrance. The audience didn't seem too excited which can be detrimental to my playing because I almost entirely feed off of them. The second set was almost a different show, it was precise and energetic. It's crazy how a show could take a 180 turn like that. The best is when you impress the people working there and they ask for autographs after the show. I jokingly signed my name as something else. I broke a couple of sticks that night, but that's almost every night. I think I play too hard.

Right on to the home of the baseball bat.

Thursday, April 27 Headliners

We were damn late to Louisville, Kentucky. There were so many broken exits, ramps with tons of road work, and intersections that didn't make any sense. I didn't get to eat anything all day except for tons of fruit so I was lacking the complete meal feeling. I will say that the energy was right on that night, and even though we played a big hall with not so many people, they were wild and enjoyed every minute. I loved the guy in the front who screamed at us the whole night - 'You guys f**kin rule!' 'Hey...hey....slick!' He had us cracking up. We also had a wonderful re-enactment of Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy by Taylor the drag queen....quite interesting! Props to the sound guy for getting everything done (monitor mixes, etc) in under 20 minutes. He had my Roland sampler mixed perfectly so when I did the gong in 'Broken Hearts' (..you came back on Sunday for the Gong show) you could hear it and twas powerful. After the show we went to a place called Spinelli's Philadelphia Pizzeria. They had Sopranos stuff everywhere (I mean, i thought it was Joisey), Frank Sinatra pictures, and Sixers memorabilia. Ok, they were a little off, but they did have Tastykakes, which was an impressive southern import. I got a Stromboli the size of a toddler. An Aryan Toddler (nobody will ever get that joke and it will remain a secret)

A RAMADA INN WITH WIRELESS. I like the star treatment nights. Svalgard and I watched Gentle Giant videos on YouTube and I officially renamed them to 'The Band that Never Got Laid'. Hideously ugly dudes who can play music better than anyone.

Friday, April 28 Stella Blue

Ok, I must say that I love Mountain Dave. Mountain Dave, wherever you are, thanks for feeding us (an organic buffet of sorts),thanks for lending me a 50's bass drum pedal. He even gave me his 20 year old sticks because he said I was the only young drummer to ever impress him. Mountain Dave will eventually get a huge paycheck for some reason, because he gives so much to everyone and deserves a lot back.
Asheville, NC! The southern hippie home. We literally drove down the Main street and there was a enormous drum circle with lights and a drumset and people freaking out. It was like we had been transported to the sixties or something.
This was an important show for me because Denny Walley (70's Zappa, Captain Beefheart) was playing with us and I had never met him before. Denny is THE MAN. Nobody can come close to his slide playing and his voice is like buttah. He even did the voice of the Mom from Joe's Garage for me and I almost passed out.
We had a great crowd that night, but during the second set I was feeling very woozy and probably still a little queasy from the late night stromboli. Still, a good show overall but one of Seahag's last. Onto HOTLANTA!

Motel 6? Hard to compare to a Ramada.

Saturday, April 29 The Five Spot

I can finally say that I went crusin' in the ATL (OutKast references, anyone? Anyone). Atlanta was hectic, there were people all over because there was a block party in the Little 5 Points area where we were playing. Our stage was small, but that usually means that you can hear EVERYTHING which is an opportunity we don't get too often. Denny came again to this show and brought his lovely wife Janet the Planet (the girl who danced in Baby Snakes...Donna U Wanna was at Valentine's, I forgot to mention). During the soundcheck he whupped out 'My Human Gets Me Blues' on guitar and I started playing along. It was a touching experience for me, I worship Captain Beefheart and associated...Dr. Dot's massage therapy ruled, 4 bones cracked into place. She should've charged me for chiropractic! They had wireless, another plus. We had a screen showing the OUTrio DVD. The OUTrio is amazing...Terry Bozzio and Patrick O' Hearn back together - mindblowing. Just when you think Terry Bozzio couldn't push the boundaries of drumming further, he does and he is light years ahead of a lot of guys and gals on the scene. After OUTrio the Fillmore Flo and Eddie footage came on and that's always good for a hearty laugh. The show that night was right on again, cept Svalgard messed up Inca! Haha, it's okay, he's been kicking ass this tour, I served a decent amount of mistakes during my first 2 and a half weeks on this tour. What can I say, we don't have a rigorous rehearsal schedule like we all would want! My old high school buddy Eli came to the show (he goes to Emory, or as I call it Coca-Cola University). Thanks Eli!

Preparing nicely for a day off in Hotlanta...
*****
So getting back to the Baltimore show, yeah, it was wild, and Andre and the boys were joined by an incredible trumpet player named Jimmy Wilson.



And here's a shot I took of Andre C. and Ike Willis:


Andre C.


Ike Willis

It was an amazing night of music but they didn't finish playing until 2:00 a.m., and this was only because Baltimore has a curfew. They were actually going to keep on playing and ended up cutting six songs from their set! Of course we hung out afterwards and talked some more, and when we left the venue, it was total insanity! Rams Head Live is right near the waterfront complex they have down there and no, I do not wish Philadelphia was like that at all. I imagine Philly is like that at 2:00 a.m. though because our nightclub scene is down at the waterfront as well but since I've never been a "clubber" even when I was young because I was a total hippie and then into punk, I was freaked by the vast amount of drunk people in sleazy evening clothes and glittery shoes swarming the streets as the bars closed. The parking lot where we left our car had police everywhere. Yuck! The worst thing about it, though, was that even though Baltimore has this lovely built up section at its harbor, it's the same damn thing as New York and as I've said repeatedly, even London. All of this gorgeous architecture is rented out to fucking Office Depot, Houlihans, and Fudruckers. In other words, no one but corporate chains can afford the rentals. So you have this gorgeous setting and all this money poured into the neighborhood and tourists come in droves to shop at the same damn stores and eat in the same stupid chain restaurants that you find in every single city in the universe.

At least Philadelphia still has cool neighborhoods full of mom and pop stores, art galleries, and small music venues. I've been all over the world now -- especially all over the United States -- and I can honestly say that I now appreciate Philadelphia more than ever. We're like mini-New York only much more accessible, and the mountains, beach, and said NY are all within a two hour drive depending on which direction you go.

But okay, yeah, if I could afford it we all know I'd be living in the UK tomorrow. But I think that's more for other reasons...(though politically they are as bad if not worse than we are)

Anyway, so we leave the venue and we're on the road home but we have to drop Carolyn off in the 'burbs and we have no idea where we are going. All I know is, I had to pee for about ninety miles and when Carolyn hinted that we might be lost, I almost asked Gary to pull over to the side of the road, that's how bad it was. It's now like 4:00 a.m. and people are getting their morning papers delivered already! Anyway, somehow at 4:30 a.m. we found her house, found our way back to Philadelphia, and at 5:15 a.m. practically fell through the door. Hence Gary's remark to be about being awake for 24 hours.

Now you might have thought I'd have slept until 2:00 p.m. Sunday, right? Well, I might have if Julie didn't knock on my bedroom door at 9:45 a.m.

"Mom?"

"Mmmurfff?"

"I made waffles!"

"Blezheskske?"

"Waffles! Here, Mom! Breakfast in bed!"

I opened one eye to see two huge Belgian waffles (Julie has a new toy) on one of my best plates, loaded with syrup and whipped cream.

"xo&%4xkx so sorry m*fuck* can't eat must sleep" I moaned.

"Okay...." she sighed, closing the door behind her.

And then of course I felt guilty as hell. Her brother is on tour having this totally exciting time and here I am not even making a fuss over what was surely delicious and beautifully presented homemade waffles.

I stumbled out of bed and thought Oh well, I have to do those edits anyway...

So from drippy waffles I went straight to drippy...

Never mind. You get the idea.

Anyway, one final note. Obviously I named this post for another favorite song of mine, but here's the real reason -- also from the Baltimore show:



Later,
xo

Project Object in Baltimore tonight!

Project Object on tour: The two Erics

So I've been getting antsy because I haven't found any new reviews of the Project Object tour but they've left the south and did a gig in Harrisburg, PA last night and will be in Baltimore, Maryland tonight where -- yay -- I will finally be seeing my son again. I cannot wait for this show! I've spoken with Eric on the phone and he told me they are unbelievably tight as a band right now after three weeks on the road and he wishes this could go on forever. Anyway, the venue this evening is another cool one, namely, Rams Head Live and the Omega Rock School All-Stars will be their opening act.

No post yesterday because I wasn't home most of the morning dealing with lovely things like having air shot into my eyeballs. Not for the sqeamish. Ha, actually, I went to see the eye doctor because I needed a new rx for contacts and apparently this air thing is what they do to you instead of eye drops now. I don't know, all I can tell you is after having to stare into a brightly lit box and click on a mouse every time I saw a squiggly line which made me have flashbacks to the seventies and drug memories, the grand prize was a shot of air into my cornea. I mean, it didn't hurt, it was just a totally weird sensation and then uh oh, the doctor said "next eye" and I thought FUCK you mean I have to do this again, it wasn't both eyes? So the whole time I'm clicking the mouse that time instead of getting all trippy I'm waiting with a sinking stomach for that blast in the eye and honestly, I am the world's biggest baby, I wanted to cry out STOP I CAN'T TAKE THIS even though I knew it was nothing and didn't really hurt.

So that kind of destroyed my day.

Then I got home and the construction noise next door had reached an all time fevered pitch. I just kind of threw my hands up in the air and thought forget it, I'm getting no writing done today. This pissed me off because I'd just received major edits for my new book with a deadline of oh, like three days. And as I said, tonight I'm traveling to Baltimore. Sooo...as soon as I'm done this post, it's off to write and tomorrow I'm clearing everyone from this house, putting on headphones, and diving headfirst into an editing/writing marathon. Last evening I had a crappy sleepless night worrying about it all and then for once I got rational -- I decided instead of tossing and turning with fear I should just think about the edits so that's what I did and knock wood, I think I'm in pretty good shape right now as to proceed.

But of course I'll take sanity breaks throughout today and if I find any Project Object news/reviews, I'll come in here with my ETAs and stick them in this post.

Anyway, one thing that did make me laugh yesterday is a newsletter I received from my new pal, The Idiot Bastard. As I mentioned, he visited my blog and wrote to me with Neil Gaiman questions because he really didn't know anything about him and he's a big Tori Amos fan and the two of them are friends blah blah blah...and then Andrew (The Idiot Bastard) ended up taking the Which Neil Gaiman book are you quiz I'd posted and we had an email exchange over that. So I broke up laughing when I received said newsletter because I saw the following notation at the bottom:

"If you don't want to be included on the distribution of future Newsletters from The Idiot, please send an email with "I'm Coraline" in the subject line. On the other hand, if you know someone who might like to receive these updates, write and ask for them to be added to the list."

Ha! That's great, Andrew. You made me laugh out loud.

And now on to some serious business. Sorry.

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I despise Republicans and everything they stand for. One issue I'm especially furious about is their stance on gun control. And so I'm particularly heartbroken over the following events which have occurred in the past few weeks:

This is where my mother, the kids' dad, and I went to high school.

This is where my kids' dad played football and well, played in general his entire young life.

This is where I've lived since 1978. These are my neighbors.

Later,
xo

Doing my best with what I had...

Eric Slick, Sex Machine

It's going to take me a while to recover from that one. Ha! But he does offer an explanation if you read his blog posts which I put up here a few days ago....



Robbie "Seahag" Mangano, Eric Slick, and Ike Willis -- outside the "tour van"

Ha ha - I love that photo. Meanwhile, like I said, in reading over Eric's blog from the tour there's mention of the band going hat shopping, etc. and I can just imagine the stares those guys get down south. They're a very charismatic bunch, with ages spanning 18 (Eric) to 50 (Ike Willis and Eric Svalgard) and I believe Robbie and Dave Johnsen are around thirty; Andre is forty...sooo...these guys must generate lots of attention when they travel together.

Fan reviews of Project Object shows have been tough to find since the band landed in the south...but I did find this one which cracked me up bigtime. It was posted by....who else...someone named "Cletis":

frank zappa the greatest man whom has ever lived, so sad that one of his magnitudy must pass into the next adventure before i had the chance to see the wonder... but last night, the coolest thing happened. i along with a handful of coleages ventured to the cat's cradle in carboro, nc not quite sure what to expect... four guys whom call demselves PROJECT OBJECT along with the one and only IKE WILLIS did what they call busting it out, throwin down a groovy groovy groove, doin da rockin, for a good four hour show maybe longer see i wasn't really keeping up with the time even though i still had to get up and gos to work taday..( which i woke up still drunk, went to work still drunk and hung out on dem forklift in the damn sun fer about 8 hours) they play a bunch of classics ( in an example) ... "titties and beer" to "flakes" and "montana" and don't fool yer self girl it's going right up yer pooooouuuuuuuuuuuooooooooop chute... "broken hearts are for assholes" i may never have the opportunity to meet zappa in this life but i ike and the gang is the next closes thing. i'd like to toast a shot fer the good o'l cat's cradle... they gots dem cold beer, nice vibe, good music, they seem not to mind yous taping da shows and when most of the crowd splits the fellas on dem stage lower demselves to the norm... just to say hi,....... fuck you, you ugly son of a bitch........................... and i dig dat... can you!!!... can ya dig it...

Yes, Cletis. We can dig it.

Anyway, I'm so psyched - two more days until the Baltimore show. I haven't seen my son since April 16! But if you are in the Charleston, West Virginia area, they will be at The Empty Glass tonight and once again, it looks to be a very cool venue.
*****
So in other news, I did something in total character yesterday -- meaning, something incredibly stupid. I've been subbing my short stories like crazy and found a magazine I really liked. And in their submission guidelines, they say they get back to you right away; they put stories up daily/weekly, etc., and they've published some of my favorite authors. Err...this would all be great except I neglected to read the editor's letter before I sent off my story. Apparently her "in-box" was full of stories written by stoners or people who think being stoned is interesting and she cannot stress enough how much she finds that NOT INTERESTING.

Naturally, the hero in my story smokes pot.

I was going to immediately write to the editor and withdraw the story so she wouldn't even waste her time reading it, but she beat me to it with a warm "looking forward to the read" e-mail. I should have left it alone, but no, no, I can never do that, and I sheepishly wrote back this morning, apologizing for subbing a drug story though it's not a drug story at all and of course I had to ramble on about that, too.

You realize, of course, what I've set myself up for.

"It's not the fact that your male character smokes pot, Robin. We are rejecting the story because it's a piece of crap."

Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm sure she'll be much kinder with her rejection than that. But will I ever learn? I have two things I do that drive me nuts. One: I sub a piece almost immediately after finishing it, instead of letting it "marinate" a while. Then of course I can't resist reading it over after it's been subbed...and that's when I start finding rookie mistakes like the same words/phrase used six times, etc. And then we have what happened yesterday -- I sub without reading the letter from the editor because I'm so busy reading the stories they publish and checking out the names of the authors that I neglect to read anything else before subbing.

Oh well.

In other news, have I mentioned how much I despise Tom Cruise? I hated him from the first time I saw him in Risky Business. This is sexy? I was mystified. And now that he's revealed to the world that he's also a complete lunatic and not in a good way...feh. Who the hell wants to see Mission Impossible III? Christ, the old black and white T.V. show reruns have way better plots and acting. I'm so tired of special effect blockbusters without any coherent storyline starring idiots.

You want sexy? I'll show you sexy! From the Robin Slick "Neil Gaiman Collection":



Funny story about that, too. My daughter was doing homework with her boyfriend here yesterday and they're both music industry majors. Julie's boyfriend had to do a paper on a concert he saw recently along with producing a ticket stub and/or photos from the show. Julie asked me to send her the link to my photobucket site so they could pluck some Project Object photos off it.

"Eww, Mom, why do you have all these pictures of Neil Gaiman on your photobucket site?"

Eww? How can she possibly say that? I wondered.

I admit it, I was as dumbfounded as I was mortified/embarrassed. But then I remembered her father. Oh. Right.

"Oh, those photos aren't mine. They belong to my friend Susan Henderson," I replied.

Luckily, being a totally self-absorbed twenty year old who never reads my blog, she bought it and was already onto the next topic as I slinked out of the room, muttering to myself like the madwoman I am.

Later,
xo
P.S.
In case you are wondering about the title of this post, it is, quite fittingly, from David Bowie's "Thursday's Child"...

A Quick One....

Another photo from the Project Object Tour -- Eric "Slowhand" Slick

So I'm way busy editing/writing today and am quite pleased that I've not only refrained from killing the construction workers next door, I was also assertive and told them they could not use my water nor my hose. So there! That'll teach them to bang all day.

Oy.

So yeah, just a quick reminder that the Project Object tour continues tonight in Charlotte, North Carolina at The Visulite Theater, doors at 8:00 p.m.; show at 9:00 p.m. Hey, click on that link even if you aren't in North Carolina. What a cool venue!

Anyway, I took a quick Google break to see if there are any new reviews of the show and I found this really sweet note on "Meghan's My Space"

MySpace.com

Meghan

Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Project Object
Current mood: tired
Category: Music

I went last night not really knowing what to expect, but reviews from friends & what I'd read online assured me that I was in for a treat. And what a treat it was.

These musicians are amazing, I am now offically in love with David Johnsen who might be the best bassist currently living. A bold statement, I know, & I am a scorpio so of course I tend to exaggerate, however this guy is channeling energy from bass gods of old, he truely is AMAZING! I bought his solo album entilted "Quisqueya", for a whoping $7, and it is short, but it is good. The 2nd & 5th songs, "Dub the Hag" & "Quisqueya Bachata" respectively, feature Robbie "Seahag" Mangano, so needless to say they are killer tracks. After talking to the merchandise mama, I believe Laura was her name, she told me about the bassists other band Insidious Rays & now I have another band to get all excited about. Okay back to the task at hand the Project Object Show....

So Andre Cholomondeley, the guitarist & more, starts introducing members of the band, he gets to the drummer & he's like, this guys been seeing us play since he was 15........(long pause)......and now you see him playing with us at the age of 18!!! WHAT???? This kid, Eric Slick, is only 18? no freaking way! He is incredible, I read his bio, he started playing drums at the age of 2 & was discoverd by Project Object's keyboard player, Eric Svalgard, at the Paul Frank School of Music. Good find!!!

Onto Eric Svalgard, now you all know I love my keyboard players, & this guy is up there, there were quite a few times when he was playing that I was completly unable to do anything else but stare at his hands, his fingers seemed to carry me away, each and every note was squiggly & perfect, taking you to the right place at percisly the right time. I mean during his solos, I couldn't move a muscle I just stood there in awe, marveling this magnificent keyboard player.

Andre Cholomondeley had all the chops necessary to nail those hard licks. He was entertaining & funny as hell. He even called me out on hooping, then Ike Willis chimed in & I got a whole little blurb spiel about hooping, they even incorported it into one of their songs, Montana perhaps?? not too sure.

Then there's Ike Willis bringing it home, amazing, a legend,enough said! I cannot put into words how surreal it was to see the man responsible for the voice thats accompined me through many a listen of "Joe's Garage "& "Thing Fish". You could really feel him chaneling Fee Zee. I have to admit I was hoping Napolean Murphy Brock woulda been there but I'll definately take what I got.

What a show what a show!!!!I would love a setlist but don't have one as yet.

Now my friends that have seen them before said this wasn't their favorite band & by far not their favorite show, however for me seeing them for the first time, I was quite blown away!

If you like Zappa you gotta catch these guys, Project Object

Much Love, Many Blessings, & Positive Vibrations,

Meghan

*****

So that's pretty cool, huh.

Okay, break over.

Later,
xo
I was going to sign off Sassy Mum again but I'm not feeling very sassy today...though I did refuse to give the construction workers water...

Wait...that doesn't sound right. Oh hell, never mind.

Double Shot Tuesday...

Eric Slick at Toad's Place in Connecticut April 19, 2006 where he did double duty as drummer for Doctor Dark and Project Object.

Good morning!

Oh, today is a good one. I mean, yesterday I had nothing, today I have so much news in the music and writing world I hope you have a few hours to read now.

Okay, first up. Last night Eric called me at 10:00 p.m., a half hour before he was scheduled to go on stage, to let me know that they were webcamming the entire show.

Do I you think I was a little bit excited?

Good thing I'm a nervous wreck because I went to the site to make sure it was working and it had that blue "Q" for Quicktime which I obviously have on this computer but for some reason it wasn't working because I probably ignored the last seven "Update" notices. So I literally had twenty minutes to download a new program and get it going which was enough time but of course in my world I was in panic land that I'd never be able to do this without Eric's help and I was going to miss the concert and eat my heart out all day today reading the reviews (Because yep, it was advertised on the Zappa forum board and a whole bunch of people all over the world were watching).

Anyway, I got it to work but they didn't go on until well after 10:30 p.m. and they do a four hour show. By midnight I couldn't keep my eyes open and it was such a dark, tiny screen I could hardly see it anyway but the sound was so great I turned it up and stretched out on the sofa so I could merely listen. Eric sounded amazing! Well, of course so did the rest of the band, but you know, I am his mother...

Unfortunately, I got too comfortable because the next thing I know it was 3:00 a.m. and I woke up all "Where the hell am I?" and twisted out of shape from sleeping on the couch and the computer screen was black.

Sob...I think I missed the whole second set.

But now of course hearing how amazing they sounded last night I not only want to go to the Baltimore AND New York shows this weekend, I want to do Harrisburg Friday night as well and I'm hearing a rumor as to where the May 14 show might be which is very interesting....

Okay, so now that I've wasted your time with my pre-coffee ramble, here's the first part of my news: Eric blogs from the tour again! Here are his entries:

Tuesday, April 18 Harper's Ferry

CHOWDAH! This gig was gonna be fun because Katie Jacoby traveled all the way there and Madi and Pat were guesting on songs. Talk about a School of Rock vibe show. That night we ate at an Asian Vegan place. I rocked the hell out of some Vermicelli, and then we went back and caught some of the opening band. It's funny how we get double billed with jam bands a lot, I mean, in a sense we are a jam band, but I don't think we have the mentality of one. The show that night was different, I think I was a bit overtired and sugared out. Too many energy drinks that day. Overall we had an accepting crowd and Katie, Madi, and Pat tore it up nicely for 'em. The second set was shortened that night due to curfew but perhaps that was for the better. I was just ready to get some sleep!

Wednesday, April 19 Toad's Place

She's a hot head, hot head...yep, that's Captain Beefheart, one of my all time favorites. New Haven, CT - college town central, the home of Toad's Place. New Haven was double duty night because I was playing with Doctor Dark, the only Captain Beefheart tribute I've ever seen or been a part of. I didn't get a chance to rehearse with them and we were doing almost all new material, like 'Ella Guru', 'When Big Joan Sets Up'...a lot of Trout Mask super complex material. I think we did a particularly good job in general, and we sounded much thicker this time around due to a sax player, new bass (not the old hollow-bodied Vox), and an extra guitar player pulling off all those insane Zoot Horn Rollo parts. I love all those guys, so thanks Doctor Dark for letting me play with you! Gregg Bendian showed up again and I finally got to sit down and talk with him about music. It's always different talking to drummers, at home my drumming buddy is Branden King so I was itching to talk about polyrhythms with somebody! Gregg is a sick player and a genuinely sweet person so it was easy to get carried away in conversation about things like Bruford-less Yes, Return to Forever, and the wizardry of Jack DeJohnette. It was a busy night for me so I was relieved by Gregg filling in on some songs. A good show again, the funniest part probably was the fact that Seahag made a point to go out and buy us fake moustaches. The second set was just hilarious almost to the point where I was laughing so hard I couldn't play. During 'Pick Me I'm Clean' I sang, 'I'm learning English, I can say 'moustache''. Ike couldn't sing the rest, so I'm glad I made him laugh. I had an old school Toto moustache (I don't really know whether it was Toad-O or not, I'll check it out), Andre and Seahag had a weasel mustache, Dave's fell off, and Svalgard had...um..uh...a Hitler looking moustache? Early curfew that night because there was a booming dance party with typical American idiots dancing along to revamped versions of songs from the 70's and 80's...yep...they played an 'I love Rock and Roll' remix and a newly recorded 'Tainted Love'...I think David Byrne predicted this in the liner notes to 'Sand in the Vaseline' (1991)..He said 'In the year 2000, the Talking Heads will become popular again due to slick electronic drum beats over our old material'. Talk about thinking ahead! Off to a day off, of driving and such.

Friday, April 21 Beachland Ballroom

Don't stop the rock! After an inspiring trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (we got in free because we're a touring ensemble) we came nice and early to the Beachland Ballroom. The Beachland Ballroom freaks me out because it looks like my old high school auditorium. The vibe was just amazing! We had an opening band of Oberlin youngsters who were not properly billed with us, but they were great kids anyway. They played some dance-rocky songs and got kinda drunk. Nice! Our show that night was a lot of fun. The previous day we went to a Party Store and bought hats. Seahag bought a riot control police helmet, Dave bought a Vietnamese lampshade hat, and I was corny and bought a cowboy hat that was way too small for my giganto-lollipop head. Also, there was a underground thrift store tunnel that connected to our basement backstage area...Weird. I bought a muscle shirt that says 'Sex Machine', because the Duran Duran Rio Tour Baseball Shirt was too small. The chef made us some great wraps, and then we went up and played our balls off! I think the energy was right that night, we were all connected, and the crowd was out of control. Nice and rowdy, just the way I like it! The after show included digging into my box of Honey Bunches of Oats and pigging out like I needed to. I must reiterate how these shows are seriously like going to the gym.

To a Motel 6 where we had a scenic view of a track field.

Saturday, April 22 Martyr's

Chicago, where didn't get to have any Deep Dish Pizza. It's all good, there's no need for pizza when I'm worrying about broken drum heads, faulty cymbal stands, and bass drums that won't stand still! I call Chicago the night of technical drum difficulties. Argh! I wanted to impress the Chicago audience so bad. We went to a Guitar Center beforehand where I got caught up in the wide world of synthesizers. The guy working at the drum counter was also willing to give me a Zildjian Constantinople cymbal for $350...oh man, I was so close to splurging, you can't get those cymbals for under $500 and they sound like GOLD. My playing was ok that night, I didn't warm up enough and I felt kinda crappy. Again, a couple guys insisted that I played alright and the guy filming it said it was the best concert he had shot. Thanks man! After the show, there was a guy who looked like Jeff Lynne hanging around and got himself into some trouble. Ah, I'll still take his proclamation into consideration (he claimed that he could fly).

Yeah, I bet!

Motel 6...no way!
They all start to look the same, except they designed a new bed sheet for 2006 entitled 'The Adventure'. Why do I know this? Because I am a nerd.

Sunday, April 23 Cicero's

Yeah baby! The hometown of Willis, St. Louis! Cicero's is a neat little place that reminds me of The Fire with a bigger stage and a better sound system. I felt like my playing that night was more cohesive and Svalgard was quite on the ball. I mean, everyone's playing that night excited me, so I was sweating it out by the end. We had an opening band that night called Fatback. They were very Ween-esque. They're definitely going to get alot of gigs, all jammy kind of bands do. Maybe that's where I need to focus my energy if I want to be a successful musician? I don't know, I couldn't possibly be a member of STS9, I don't think I have the personality. Or maybe I think that Zappa and Sun Ra were the ultimate jam bands and nothing can compare. Oh well. The Willis family support system was great, and Ike brought the goods. Positive post show energy was hindered a bit by the stage lights going on and off for whatever reason. Packing up is supposed to be quick and easy after a sweaty show like Ciccero's!

Moving on to 8 Mile, yo yo yo, Eminem, yo.
*****

So that'e Eric's almost up to date blog and yeah, as a writer, I'm dying here reading my son's "work"...I'd suggest it to him as a "fall-back" career but um, yeah, nice back-up plan, Rob. What you really mean is that he can stand on the corner with you, selling pencils.

And thank you Nancy, significant other to Bill Saunders, a/k/a Doctor Dark and whose amazing artwork I've posted here previously. Nancy just sent me the above photo of Eric and this wonderful photo of him on drums with said Doctor Dark at Toad's Place last week:



Nancy also told me that they popped in on Eric at the Asheville,, NC show. I hope she doesn't get annoyed with me for this, but I want to post an excerpt from her email because it really means a lot to me:

I caught the Denny Walley quote you included on your blog and thought you might be interested in this little bit of commentary, too: Bill gave Denny a copy of the CD recorded at the April 19th Toad's show (he also has copies of a couple of the earlier Doctor Dark CDs) and his reaction was something like "I can't wait to hear you with HIM playing" -- of course gesturing in Eric's direction. Face it, the kid's a powerhouse and a real force to be reckoned with in the music world! (as if you didn't know).

Oh, I know, I know, and when I tell you I had the chills last night watching him on the computer screen, that's putting it mildly.

Anyway, I don't see any reviews in yet of last night's show but as usual, I will pop in and edit if I find any during the course of the day.

Wait: Here's one:

ETA at 10:50 a.m.
crankin_frank_in_sc
Re: The Day is Finally Here!!!
Dam whatta awesome show!!! My first P/O show will not be the last, cant wait to see yall again. Everyone was on last night, Dre' ripped up the 6stringer, Dave..maniac on tha bass, Eric Slick you are amazing..18...amazing, and Svalgard thanks for taking time to chat after the show; you rocked as well, and last but not least, Ike thanks for taking us on a trip down memory road and tha stop at Joe's.
Thanks for tha show and we'll see ya next time round!!

Why thank you, Crankin' Frank!

Here's another I just found:
ETA at 4:25 p.m.
editdawg
Re: The Day is Finally Here!!!
Reply #2 on: Today at 4:11pm
Fantastic night. The sound was a bit sketchy at first, but got better as the night went on. During the break Eric Svalgard showed me his new Theramin. A pretty cool little gadget. I closed my eyes during Big Swifty and thought I was listening to Preston. Don't let anybody give you shit Eric. Eric Slick is a hot, tight drummer. The kid has plenty of 'pop'. Dave Johnsen played some awesome bass. Arthur Barrow came to mind a few times last night. Andre' was as cool as ever. He was wailing on that Paul all night. And what can I say about Ike? Just THE BEST. Oh man, what a show!

Top 3 highlights:
3. Talking to the guys before and after the show.
2. This is a tie. Screaming out, "I'm the slime oozing out from your tv set" on cue from Ike and then Ike high-fiving me. And my wife and I yelling out "play 'For The Young Sophisticated' and singing along with Ike and Dre' for a few lines of the tune. They didn't play the song, we just traded lines from the first verse. Cool.

And the #1 highlight - again a tie. Before they played Black Napkins, Dre' dedicated it to my wife and I. He called us "hardcore" fans. That was an understatement. Way Cool. And Ike giving me a hug after the show. You're getting that jacket, my friend!

If PO is coming to your town or if you're close enough to go to a show, please go. These guys need your support. Buy the T-shirts. Buy the CDs.

It's a 3+ hour ride for me and I have to be on a plane noon Thursday, but who cares....see you in Charlotte!

And thanks to you as well, editdawg.

And a few other music mentions before I spill some writing news:

Andrew Greenaway, a/k/a The Idiot Bastard interviews Rock School Uberlord Paul Green right here and it's a really great read...plus ha ha, he mentions Eric Slick.

And, as if that's not enough, he also mentions Eric (and me, the "sassy mum") right here under "Project Object" and wow, thanks for the link to my blog, Andrew! I've been having a blast e-mailing with him -- it's always amazing to find a kindred music spirit.

Hey, you know what? I really, really like "Sassy Mum". I think that should be my new nickname, okay? Actually, hmmm...that's a great pen name for erotica. Sick as hell, so naturally I like it.

Which is a nice seque into my writing news. One of my favorite people/writers at Zoetrope has landed an agent for two books -- one a short story collection and one a novel -- and I've been drinking virtual champagne on her behalf for the past 24 hours. Such great things are happening for all of my friends and it's just the beginning...

But this one has me particularly chuffed (heh...I'm just such a Brit wannabe) because this writer is so fucking original and I relate to her stories in such a personal way...oh man...and she's part of a core group of around ten writers with whom I "hang" who one by one are getting noticed and snagging book deals so hooray for all of my talented pals!!!!!

And speaking of my talented pals, Susan Henderson is interviewed by fellow author David Niall Wilson right here. Good job! It really gives you some interesting insight into Sue's brilliant and sensitive mind.

Meanwhile, Susan posts a blog question each week and she publishes the answers on Friday. Sue's very generous and will link your website/blog if you do reply, and I have to say, this week's question interested me more than a little bit because Sue asks "Who is your favorite songwriter" (and the "why" is implied...I sure as hell told her why in my response, anyway). So because I like this question so very much, I am posting the direct link to Susan's Blog Mail for your response.

Hey, Sue, who do you think Neil Gaiman's favorite songwriter is? The Tori Amos answer may be too obvious, I dunno. By the way, here's a present for you:



Oh god...

One final note, if you are in the North Carolina area tonight, Eric and the boys will be at The Cat's Cradle, which is about 25 miles from Raleigh. It should be another incredible show.

Love,
The Sassy Mum

Eric Slick/Project Object: Live!!!!!!

The Pour House

Follow the above link, click on "Pour House" where the Project Object show is being webcammed tonight starting at 10:00 p.m.!

Oh my god, how cool is this...

I got nothing...

Eric Slick and Project Object last week in Boston

Today is kind of crazy; the construction continues next door to the point where I'm afraid to leave because I'm seriously thinking my house is going to end up damaged in some way...right now it feels like a major earthquake is going on.

I was so nuts I actually did some domestic goddess work this morning. I mean, I cleaned the place so it will be all tidy when it goes crashing to the street below.

Hmm, sounds like I'm getting a reprieve and, they must be on lunch break now so I'm doing the Project Object OCD thing, looking for reviews, etc. but so far, nothing, unless you count the bt torrent things fans are posting and which I am too technology challenged to download myself. Oh Eric, I miss you! (I not only need him here for stuff like that but for updating my website which hasn't been updated since like 2004 but blogging is a hell of a lot easier if you ask me)

Hey, if any of you are in the Charleston, South Carolina area, tonight Eric and Project Object will be at The Pour House.

I hope I'm allowed to say this, but the two nights with Denny Walley sitting in on slide guitar were so fantastic that he and Eric...never mind, let's just say that after Eric played his first song on the second night, Denny turned to him and said "Jesus Christ you're like a fucking roaring train," which is a high compliment when you consider the source and I'd better stop now before the tears start and I really start blabbing...

Also, I believe that after the show in Georgia, Seahag left the band for some other committments, and that's a major bummer but I understand he's re-joining them on the final week back east. Seahag is just an amazing, amazing guitarist but so is Andre and so is Ike and I'm sure the two of them will keep up the standard of excellence that is Project Object. I'm not sure if they've talked Robbie (Seahag) into coming back for the Baltimore show on Saturday night but I know for sure he'll be at the New York show the following evening (May 7 at Coda) so I'm kinda waiting to see what he does before I make my decision as to what show(s) I'm attending.

Oh, who am I kidding. You know I'm going to both regardless. I'll find a way. Rochester is going to be a problem, though. I looked into Amtrak - a two train switch and a ten hour ride?! I mean, it's only 250 miles away. So then I looked into a flight. This you can't believe altogether. A non-stop flight to Rochester, overnight, is $946.00. Thank you, Mr. President. The oil companies made how much in profits this year?

I fucking hate him and his whole administration. Have I mentioned that lately?

And that's not just because I'm frustrated over construction noise and no new reviews on the Project Object front, either.

So how cool is Neil Young? He's streaming his entire new very anti-war CD on line right here.

Ack! I spoke too soon. It sounds like they are ripping the wall out of my kitchen. Okay, must go investigate to see if I still have a said kitchen.

Later,
xo

Hey, I met the Idiot Bastard!

Project Object performing at Shank Hall in Milwaukee, WI



And their drummer, Eric Slick

No new info yet on last night's Project Object show in North Carolina with Denny Walley but as usual, I will come in here with my ETAs if some pop up later. (By the way, ETA means "edited to add" in case there's someone out there who gets confused when I do that). Just know that the tour continues down south with a show tonight (again with Denny Walley) in Atlanta, Georgia at The Five Spot - doors at 8:00 p.m.; show at 9:00 p.m. Upcoming shows, after a much needed day off on Sunday, include Monday night in Charleston, South Carolina; Tuesday night in Carreboro, North Carolina, and Wednesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina...and then they head for West Virginia. I wonder if Eric is going to come back with a drawl...

In fact, ETA right now. This just off the Frank Zappa Forum Board:

Sheik Oyura Beeg 1
Joined: 05 Sep 2002
Posts: 62
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:19 am

"Maybe it was because it was a beautiful Carolina evening, maybe it was the venue- Stella Blue - filled with FZ and P/O fans, maybe it was the huge tribal drum circle going for hours in downtown Asheville, but what resulted was a fantastic concert last night by Project/Object. The band was tight, opening with "Little House I Used to Live In" and ending the night with "San Berdino" at 3 am.

The new drummer Eric Slick was very impressive. Eric S. kicked ass on the Moog, Dave played some exceptional bass, Seahag was phenomenal,and Denny Walley(and grandson) were a special treat...and of course Ike and Andre were great. When they cranked out "The Mammy Anthem" to start the second set, chills went up my spine..."Lawd hab murky."

I was introduced to the lovely Duchess of Prunes a.k.a. XYQA from our forum, a true SUPERFAN, who will help feed our favorite band in Atlanta this evening. It was a pleasure meeting you my dear.

Run to see and hear this band on tour.I'm going to catch another show in Charlotte this Wednesday...I can't wait."

Sigh...I so, so love this.

Of course I'll be posting links to the venues each day and reminders...ha ha just call me their unofficial P.R. person.

So as you can obviously tell, I've been completely OCD while Eric's been on tour searching out reviews, blogs, etc. on the subject, and it was while doing this I encountered Andrew Greenway, best known to music fans around the world as The Idiot Bastard.

After visiting his website and reading a bunch of cool stuff...and I'm not sure how the sequence went...I think he was googling as well and found me...we started corresponding. Ha ha - what can I say, he lives in the UK and is a music freak/historian/writer. Do I need to add anything else?

Hmmm...how about this review he has posted of the Zappanale 16 CD?

"...And as for Eric Slick's drums on the rock band version of Approximate - killer!"

Then Andrew made the mistake of writing me an e-mail asking me for any info I had on Neil Gaiman. Andrew is a huge fan of Tori Amos but knew very little about Neil and Tori is contributing Sister Named Desire to an imminent tribute album, Where's Neil When You Need Him (itself a line from her song, Space Dog), and he asked that I fill him in.

Who, me?

Nah, I behaved, and rather than write back with a mini-series, I simply directed him to Neil's website and told him about his blog with five years of archives.

"Just go to the search feature and type in Tori Amos or whatever else you're looking for as concerns Neil and you'll find more info than you can possibly use," I replied.

Apparently that's what he did, and then Andrew visited my blog yesterday and actually took the quiz "Which Neil Gaiman Book Are You" and I got this email back, which merely said...

"I'm Coraline".

I laughingly replied that somehow I doubted he was a children's book.

But I'm kind of embarrassed about the other stuff he read in my post of yesterday along with the ensuing comments -- Susan Henderson and I were just messing around.

Okay, so it was just Sue who was messing around. I was dead serious. Ha!

And while I'm on the subject of Sue, she's taking part in an amazing event scheduled on May 15 (Eric's 19th birthday!) at 7:30 p.m. at The Back Room, 102 Norfolk Street, New York, NY where she'll be be reading with Pasha Malla, Roy Kesey, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Todd Zuniga, Jeff Landon, Claudia Smith, Kim Chinquee, John Leary, Darlin' Neal, Gail Siegel, Grant Bailie, Lindsay Hunter, Jim Nichols and Kevin Dolgin. That's one hell of a line-up, and since I'm predicting right now that Eric is going to want to spend his birthday with his girlfriend that evening since it's also the day after the tour ends and he hasn't seen her for a month, I'm going to do everything possible to be there -- unless, of course, Eric wants me around to sing Happy Birthday and watch him blow out candles.

Sigh...probably not. So yeah, I'm guessing there's a 99% chance I will in fact be able to attend, because normally I would not miss this reading for the world.

And while I'm on the subject of boasting about my wonderful friends, look who is scheduled for a review at Kirkus Reviews on May 15! There she is, right there with illustrious authors such as T.C. Boyle...Ellen Meister!

May 15 is obviously a very, very special day.

Okay, believe it or not, and maybe you will after reading it, this blogpost was done on only one cup of coffee. I'm off to make an entire pot now.

I'm not responsible for what happens next...

Later,
xo