The contrite post

Eric doing his Neil Gaiman imitation while autographing CDs at the Chris Harford/Ween show on Friday


Yet another example of why I need to read the manual that came with my digital camera...I had no idea I was taking an avi and can be heard to exclaim "What the hell?" while I was trying to take photos of my son, Ween, Chris Harford, etc. They all sat at a really long table after the show for a meet and greet autograph session like it was a Rolling Stones press conference or something -- so freaking cool -- and I had to wait in a long line to say Hi to my own son (where I was also a major dork, bought a Chris Harford t-shirt, and made everyone autograph it)

So yeah, this is called the contrite post because I feel kind of bad I dissed the chick who is winning the Best of Blog, Diarist right now...especially as yesterday she really did post a pic of her naked tits in the shower. I mean, who can or wants to compete with that, no wonder she's got a lot of readers. I know half of you are rushing right now to go click on her site...go ahead...I'm not going to make it easy for you by posting a direct link...but um, you can find her site by clicking on the Finalist Best of Weblog logo below and voting for me, where you will find links to her and all of the finalists.



So that's enough out of me on that subject...I am officially letting it go and prefer to carry on with other stuff.

Daughter Julie and I did in fact get a hotel in New York City this coming Saturday night so we're gonna hang out all day, have the New York Christmas experience, shop here and here among other cool places, and then later in the evening we'll go and see Eric bang on the drums with Fugazi's Joe Lally at the Lit Lounge. So yeah, sounds like an awesome weekend. Julie and I have made it a yearly tradition to hang out for the weekend in NYC at Christmas every year, and if you want to read about one of our more insane experiences, you can find it in my archives -- here's Part I and here's Part II.

Let's see. What else. Oh yeah, over at the Adrian Belew store you can order new t-shirts with the Side 1 cover on front and Ade's name at the bottom:

That's the cover, and it's a long sleeved black t-shirt. Oh, and while there, you can also order a bunch of Belew CDs for Christmas...right now you are listening to "Asleep", from his brilliant "Side 2".

Speaking of that, the most amazing thing happened. Rena Fay, Ade's most diehard fan, sent my family the greatest Christmas present yesterday. For me, a handmade Belew shirt...one of four that exist in the world, one of which is owned by Rena herself, one of which is owned by Martha Belew, and the other of which is owned by daughter Julie. So now I'm in the exclusive club and yep, I feel special.

Oh, and she also included the most incredible chocolates and a funny, photoshopped picture of Gary.

I was going to take a pic of the chocolates but I turned my back for ten minutes to look for the camera and it seems they'd already been eaten. Too bad. They were really pretty, too.

But I will take a photo of the shirt when I wear it to New York on Saturday.

In other news, I've added some new permanent links on the right side here...Your Drum, which I've been meaning to do for a while because I love it and not just because yesterday they featured me; Jon Swift, who is also a weblog finalist in the Humor Department (and please vote for him!), writer David O'Neal, author Frank Daniels who is on a mission to change the world and I totally adore him; and also, The Publishing Spot/Jason Boog, who did that wonderful interview of Susan Henderson last week. All required daily reading for sure...lots of fun and good stuff.

And not one is naked in the shower. Imagine that.

Oh well. Today I must be "normal mom" and bake massive amounts of Christmas cookies with Julie and then go out on a hunt to find tins large enough to accomodate mailing them all across the universe (why oh why do I forget about buying tins every year and then the only ones left are the tiny ones at the dollar store in which you are lucky if you can fit six cookies...and since I don't have the tins, so far we've eaten every batch of cookies we've made ourselves because they are just too damn good and too damn easy to get to just piled on trays); in a perfect world we'll also do the family tree-trimming thing tonight -- we bought a beautiful Balsam yesterday that is way too big for our house but who cares; and then naturally no one was home to decorate it -- Eric had a gig; Julie had a date, so I drank a bottle of wine and re-read the revisions to my new novel for like the twenty thousandth time this month and maybe, just maybe, it will finally be done this week.

Okay, I've got to go. The television is blasting VH1 Classic (it wasn't me who put this on...it had to be Eric before he went to bed!) and God help me, they've got an Aerosmith song playing. I've got to jump up and change the channel before I suffer serious and permanent brain damage.

Later,
xo

I interrupt the usual broadcast of this blog...

Okay, first things first. I really don't care too much about the above award, seeing how I'm being killed by several hundred votes, most notably by the already obvious winner, who, if you can read more than one sentence of her rambling self-absorbed idiocy without getting a migraine headache, offers naked pics of herself in the shower.

Sorry, it truly pisses me off how stupid people have become. There are some very good writers among the finalists in the diarist category, including an eighty-year old woman who writes about her past very eloquently...and well, I guess I should never take anything associated with the internet too seriously.

That being said...I would, however, like to at least place in the top five, so please click on the above logo and vote for me daily until the polls close on Friday, December 15...because really, a vote for me is a vote for literacy and keeping the true arts (writing, music, literature) alive. Ha!

Secondly, and way more important, this crossed by desk this morning, and THIS IS THE STUFF THAT'S IMPORTANT AND MAKES MY DAY (besides my family, that is):

"Source: Atlanta Progressive News

By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor and National Correspondent (December 08, 2006)

US Rep. Cynthia McKinney today became the first US Congresswoman to introduce Articles of Impeachment against President Bush, as well as Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Atlanta Progressive News has obtained the following remarks prepared by the Congresswoman, and has learned she was not allowed to read them on the US House Floor. The remarks are expected to become part of the Congressional Record but will not be available on thomas.loc.gov until next week.

The Congresswoman has scheduled an interview with APN for tomorrow to discuss her legislation. Stay tuned here for more.

The remarks are reprinted here in full:

Mr. Speaker:

I come before this body today as a proud American and as a servant of the American people, sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Throughout my tenure, I've always tried to speak the truth. It's that commitment that brings me here today.

We have a President who has misgoverned and a Congress that has refused to hold him accountable. It is a grave situation and I believe the stakes for our country are high.

No American is above the law, and if we allow a President to violate, at the most basic and fundamental level, the trust of the people and then continue to govern, without a process for holding him accountable, what does that say about our commitment to the truth? To the Constitution? To our democracy?

The trust of the American people has been broken. And a process must be undertaken to repair this trust. This process must begin with honesty and accountability.

Leading up to our invasion of Iraq, the American people supported this Administration's actions because they believed in our President. They believed he was acting in good faith. They believed that American laws and American values would be respected. That in the weightiness of everything being considered, two values were rock solid: trust and truth.

From mushroom clouds to African yellow cake to aluminum tubes, the American people and this Congress were not presented the facts, but rather were presented a string of untruths, to justify the invasion of Iraq.

President Bush, along with Vice President Cheney and then-National Security Advisor Rice, portrayed to the Congress and to the American people that Iraq represented an imminent threat, culminating with President Bush's claim that Iraq was six months away from developing a nuclear weapon. Having used false fear to buy consent, the President then took our country to war.

This has grave consequences for the health of our democracy, for our standing with our allies, and most of all, for the lives of our men and women in the military and their families--who have been asked to make sacrifices--including the ultimate sacrifice--to keep us safe.

Just as we expect our leaders to be truthful, we expect them to abide by the law and respect our courts and judges. Here again, the President failed the American people.

When President Bush signed an executive order authorizing unlawful spying on American citizens, he circumvented the courts, the law, and he violated the separation of powers provided by the Constitution. Once the program was revealed, he then tried to hide the scope of his offense from the American people by making contradictory, untrue statements.

President George W. Bush has failed to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States; he has failed to ensure that senior members of his administration do the same; and he has betrayed the trust of the American people.

With a heavy heart and in the deepest spirit of patriotism, I exercise my duty and responsibility to speak truthfully about what is before us. To shy away from this responsibility would be easier. But I have not been one to travel the easy road. I believe in this country, and in the power of our democracy. I feel the steely conviction of one who will not let the country I love descend into shame; for the fabric of our democracy is at stake.

Some will call this a partisan vendetta, others will say this is an unimportant distraction to the plans of the incoming Congress. But this is not about political gamesmanship.

I am not willing to put any political party before my principles.

This, instead, is about beginning the long road back to regaining the high standards of truth and democracy upon which our great country was founded.

Mr. Speaker:

Under the standards set by the United States Constitution, President Bush, along with Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of State Rice, should be subject to the process of impeachment, and I have filed H. Res.1106 in the House of Representatives.

To my fellow Americans, as I leave this Congress, it is in your hands to hold your representatives accountable, and to show those with the courage to stand for what is right, that they do not stand alone.

Thank you.

Stay tuned for a full APN interview with Rep. McKinney tomorrow."
********

Can you say YAY! I can. YAY! YAY! YAY!

Okay, this blog will return to its regular broadcast either later today for first thing tomorrow. I do, in fact, have some really cool music, writing, and art news to report but no, I will not be posting any photographs of myself in the shower.

Consider yourself very, very lucky.

Later,
xo

What day is it again?

Here are some pics of Eric behind the drums at the Chris Harford gig yesterday

And in case you want to have a listen to the entire, hour long show, you can find the archives over here at NPR.

So we had a blast at the above mentioned gig; meeting Ween was quite wonderful...I love jam bands. They are so laid back and cool.

I heard from a girl I grew up with -- I don't think we've seen each other for thirty years -- anyway, she has a daughter who is a senior at Central High School and said daughter and best friend decided to do a magazine for their senior project. So after finding my blog and learning about Eric's involvement with Ween, she emailed me and asked if she could come to the show with her daughter and friend who would then take pics and interview them for this project. Both Dean and Gene Ween (ha) were outrageously patient and nice and here's a pic of them all together:



The four of them are so cute, aren't they? Though as I teased, err, Gene Ween, that hat makes him look like George Costanza in The Chicken Roaster Episode.

And how I love the internet -- it enables us to make contact with people from our past whom we would normally have lost touch with. I admit to being a bit of a Google nut when it comes to that myself...I look up everyone. So be warned!

Today it's back to the real world, i.e., me realizing it's only two weeks until Christmas and frantically trying to order some stuff at Amazon.com, only to get estimated shipping dates of March, 2007. Oh my god. And here I was all prepared to spend a little extra for overnight shipping...well, it's moot and I'm screwed. So now I need to do some emergency shopping at real stores and please kill me now, oh how I hate to shop unless it's for CDs or books.

Luckily, both Eric and Julie have requested the very thing.

Well, at least partially.

In other news, yeah, yeah, please vote for me every day as "best diarist, 2006 Weblog Awards" by clicking on the finalist logo on the right hand side of this blog but I'm being slaughtered and I don't want to discuss it because reading one of those blogs gave me the headache from hell...it's truly disturbed. So now I don't care so much if I don't win...well, I'm obviously not going to win...but I guess it would be cool to not finish in last place so I will in fact grovel daily until December 15 for your votes.

Grovel, grovel.

Next weekend should also be awesome because Julie and I are spending Saturday in New York where we will do more of the dreaded shopping -- but it will involve going to music stores so it will not be dreaded at all, actually -- stuff our faces at whatever amazing restaurant Julie picks out -- and then, Saturday night, which is December 16, we're going to see Eric on drums with this guy of this little "unknown" band -- they will be performing at The Lit Lounge. Tell all your friends - this is going to be an AMAZING show. Right now I'm in the process of trying to find a hotel room in NYC during Christmas season as part of Julie's xmas gift (don't worry, she already knows though she insists she never reads my blog, anyway)...but so far I can't find anything nice for under $1,000.00 a night. Ha! I'm now checking out hostels.

Eww, right. Like I could really share a bathroom with 17 strangers.

Nah, I'm actually finding some decent places in the east village and if I could just stop blogging this minute, I might actually be able to book a room now. So that's what I'll do.

Ooh, check that -- I'm currently instant messaging with Julie, who has already begun her restaurant search, and she just found Tamarind which, if you click on the menu, looks right up our respective alleys -- vegetarian for Miss Julie, salmon and hot Indian bread for me, and outrageous desserts for both of us.

Ah, life is good.

Okay, off to find us a hotel...please click on the Weblog Award logo to the right and vote for me...and um...I think that's it for now.

At least in theory.

Later,
xo

Ahem..The Finalist of Diarists Speaks

Fabulous photo of the Fabulous Eric Slick by The Fabulous Daryl

So just a reminder that there are two major events happening today:

(1) My son is going to be broadcast live on XPN and National Public Radio all across America from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. eastern -- with Chris Harford and the Band of Changes featuring said son Eric Slick of The Adrian Belew Power Trio on drums, Dave Dreiwitz from Ween on bass, the brothers Ween themselves, Gene and Dean, and Scott Metzger, formerly of Particle. They will be interviewed and performing live at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennslvania, as part of the WXPN Concert Series, to be broadcast nationwide on NPR as part of their Live Friday series. In case you cannot make it to World Cafe Life today, you can listen to a live stream of the show at the links provided for XPN and NPR above.

Here. I'll make it really easy for you. For the live stream at 12:00 noon eastern today, click right here for the WXPN link or here for the NPR link.

Hey, I just visited the NPR webpage to get that link, and they have a very nice write-up of the band:

"Chris Harford & The Band of Changes in Concert
Listen Live Online at Noon ET Friday

Band Members

* Chris Harford
* Dave Dreiwitz (Ween)
* Scott Metzger (Particle)
* Eric Slick (Adrin Belew Band)
* Aaron Freeman (a.k.a. Gene Ween)
* Mickey Melchiondo (a.k.a Dean Ween)

NPR.org, December 6, 2006 · Chris Harford's music has been described as "beautiful, heart-wrenching and soulful," as well as "dark, rocking and dangerous." Regardless of the moods Harford's music evokes, his songs have a way of getting under the skin. Chris Harford & The Band of Changes -- backed by members of Ween, Particle and the Adrian Belew Band -- will perform a concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia on Friday at noon ET.

Harford's newest CD, Looking Out for Number 6, was produced by Ween's Dean Ween and released in October. As for Ween, which is currently touring with Harford (and backing him during this performance), the group has spent the last 20-plus years cultivating a large and loyal underground fan base. Ween's countless recordings have run the gamut from primitive home-taping experiments to big-budget major-label hits; its latest release is a collection of outtakes and oddities titled Shinola, Volume 1."

Pretty cool, huh. And I just realized that if you are on the west coast or at work and cannot listen to the broadcast at noon today, it will be archived over at NPR at the link I gave you so you can have a listen in the future. Please let me know in the comments section what you think.

What you really want to also do is visit Chris Harford's MySpace and click on the song "Teach Me"...that's the single off the new CD and they'll be performing it today. Very cool song.

(2) Okay, voting has begun in earnest over at the Weblog Awards and I while I'm not writing my concession speech yet, I see I'm up against a blog named Dooce so popular she's got her own t-shirts printed up with her blog name and whatever the hell she is doing there with advertisers has made it possible for her husband to quit his job and be a stay at home dad. Note to self: Write this woman a letter and find out how she is accomplishing this! I mean, I did get solicited for advertising on my blog but I was under the impression it was, err, tacky. Now I'm thinking otherwise, though I would want places like CD and music stores and books and art for sale on my blog...oh right, they don't make any real money, what was I thinking. I mean, I do have links for the purchase of books on my blog -- like Neil Gaiman needs help from me though I could use help from him...like asking his readers to vote for me but I'd rather save any favors from Neil for like, Hey Neil, would you please contribute to the anthology I'm editing which will contain short stories and poems about sexual relations/situations between people over age 39? Ha! Seriously, I have books for sale on my blog merely to turn people on to my favorite writers, like Ellen Meister and Susan Henderson. By the way, see the link on the right hand side of my blog for Susan Henderson's Motorhead? It's been nominated by Amazon Shorts for a Pushcart! Way to go, Susan.

So anyway, now that I've totally rambled off topic, let me get back to the weblog awards. See that link on the right with the Finalist Logo? If you click on it, it will take you right to the voting page for best diarist, where you will see that I am currently getting slaughtered by the above mentioned Dooce as well as some other chick who I guess has a huge MySpace/Live Journal/Facebook following...she's young and bitchy and cute and oh my god she makes me feel old and bitchy. Ha! Nah, all of the finalists are great and I wish them all well.

I'm skipping around like mad here, but speaking of Susan Henderson, I see Part II of her interview is up at The Publishing Spot. I love what she has to say here:

"And if you read a story in a magazine that makes you gasp or tear up, instead of saying, "Oh, I should submit a story there," stop and appreciate the one you just read. And then write to that author or editor and tell them what you liked about it.

As soon as you stop making the world all about you and your career, you realize it's a rich and mesmerizing place."

Ugh, I know a delusional author at my former online writing workshop who needs to read what Susan wrote and repeat it to herself several times...bah...she, and other ME ME ME psychotics over there are one of the many reasons I left the site and call it my "former" workshop.

Oh god, and now after writing that after reading Susan's words of wisdom, I now have to again beg you to vote for me as best diarist? Ha! Perfect. The story of my life.

But..err...please? Again, the Weblog Finalist Logo on the right hand side of my blog...all you have to do is click on it and vote...and you can vote anonymously once a day...they don't even ask your name, email address, nothing.

Or, you can simply click here.

Okay, I'm off to get ready for the XPN show. Eric needs to be there at 10:00 a.m. and I want to go early, too, and hang with the band.

What can I say? I should change the name of this blog to "Groupie Mom".

Oh...one final thing. This blog is actually named in honor of the late, great John Lennon, and his brilliant book of prose/poetry, John Lennon In His Own Write. Twenty six years ago today, he was assassinated by the CIA. A moment of silence in his honor, please.

Later,
xo

The Voting Begins Tonight!

Okay, they are still working on links at the 2006 Weblog Awards, but the polls are open and you can vote for me as best diarist right here.

Thank you! Seriously. I'll owe you all big time.

And..err...I do have a bunch of other cool news...stay tuned tomorrow morning.

Later,
xo

Oh my God, I'm a top ten finalist for Best Blog of 2006!

This morning I came downstairs to the news that I am a top ten finalist in the Best of Blogs 2006 Awards (category - best diarist).

I'd like to thank the Academy, my brilliant family, Adrian Belew, DGM Live, Andrew Greenaway, Susan Henderson, Neil Gaiman....ha! - and all of you other way cool and interesting people who have crossed my path this year and given me the best material ever to work with.

I'm kind of high over this because, as they say over at the Best of Blog Award website...

"A Note To Nominees

Every year this is the hardest post I have to write - the one where I explain why your nominated blog was not selected as a finalist. First, the odds are heavily stacked against you. This year we received nearly 4,500 nominations..."

Here's the official list of finalists...I'm right up there with Huffington Post, TMZ, Boing Boing, BlogCritics, and even Jon Swift!

So yeah, I am stoked, stoked, stoked. On the right hand side of my blog, you'll see another icon for Best of Blogs 2006. Tomorrow, it will link you to the actual voting site and according to the rules, each reader is allowed one vote per day for 8-10 days (the actual final date for voting has not been announced yet but the FAQ section of the Awards currently says 8-10 days). So once this is all ironed out tomorrow, I will start groveling and offering you copious amounts of Christmas cookies, nude photos (of the dog, of the dog...sheesh)...whatever it takes...and ask that each of you vote for me each day until the polls close. Okay? Okay!

Ahem. Now I am blushing, so I must switch topics. On to my son, who has some pretty exciting news of his own.



That's Eric on stage with Chris Harford last week at the North Star Bar.

This Friday, December 8, 2006, at 12:00 p.m., Chris Harford, along with Eric Slick, Dave Dreiwitz from Ween, the brothers Ween themselves, Gene and Dean, and Scott Metzger, formerly of Particle, will be interviewed and performing live at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennslvania, as part of the WXPN Concert Series, to be broadcast nationwide on NPR as part of their Live Friday series, where, as you can see, in past weeks they've hosted The Slip, Joan Osborne, Sean Lennon, and our pals The California Guitar Trio. So this is pretty major...and I have to admit, I got the chills last night listening to XPN and hearing the commercial for this event...they said something on the order of "Join us for a concert series featuring singer/songwriter Chris Harford and his Band of Changes, featuring members of Ween, Particle, and The Adrian Belew Band."

"The Adrian Belew Band! That's Eric!" I shouted to Gary.

"Yes, I know," he said, patting me on the arm.

"I have to go tell him!" I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs.

"Eric, I just heard the commercial for your show on the radio! I have goosebumps!"

"What did they say, Mom?"

So I told him.

And then he laughed at me.

Why? Because I was excited even though they didn't say his name. Listen, he has to understand. I am still pinching myself over the fact that he's Adrian Belew's drummer. I hear "member of the Adrian Belew Band" and I have seizures when I realize that's my son they are talking about.

Gary understands, though. But he's not uncool like I am so he stayed upstairs while I was the usual official drooling family dork. Ha ha - nothing new about that, but at least no one here gets pissed at me...in fact, though of course they won't admit to it, I secretly think they love my...err...enthusiasm.

So yeah, if you click on the XPN or NPR links I've provided above at noon (eastern time) this Friday, you will hear a live stream of my son and the band but don't worry, you can be sure I'll be posting more specific links on the day of the show.

And um, in writing news, I've just learned that my books Buenos Noches, Justine, Another Bite of the Apple, and Three Days in New York City are best sellers in romantic comedy -- #18, 19, and 20 respectively -- at All Romance Books.

I still say I am not a romance writer...good God...but at least they have me correctly listed as comedy!

Anyway, I seem to be hyperventilating over all of this awesome stuff happening today so I'd better sign off the internet, take a few deep breaths and calm down (like that's ever possible), and work on my Best of Blogs 2006 campaign strategy.

Just kidding. More like I need to finish my novel, buy Christmas presents hopefully before December 24 (yep, I'm always that person standing in the long line as the stores are closing and the sales clerks snarling), and at least take a half-hearted stab at some domestic goddess duties around here so that we have a proper place to put/decorate our tree...i.e., not on top of the pile of umbrellas, bookbags, and various guitars and amplifiers currently scattered throughout the living room. Though I will say this...when the Chris Harford Band of Changes drove Eric home following Sunday night's gig in Washington at 4:00 a.m. and helped him carry his drums inside, they were heard to exclaim "This is where you grew up? You lucky bastard!"

Ha ha - Eric is one lucky bastard, that is very true.

And so am I.

Here's what last Christmas looked like at this nuthouse:





Later,
xo

My Life is So Cool - Part III (where my family keeps popping up on the internet)

"Scream before go on stage
Most Rock band ceremony before go on stage, scream together as loud as possible."
...Hideyo Moriya


Said rock band Adrian Belew Power Trio on stage


2/3 Belew Trio father, Gary, doing merch with California Guitar Trio's tech, Aaron


Group shot of California Guitar Trio and Adrian Belew Power Trio

So I took a break from editing my new novel today to do some Google stalking on my crazy family and man, I hit the jackpot.

I found the above photos on the website of The California Guitar Trio who recently opened for my kids...err...I mean the Adrian Belew Power Trio out on the west coast two weeks ago. The pics are from Hideyo's Roadcam, the Portland show on November 15, but there are others as well here and here.

Next I discovered just an amazing You Tube with son Eric on the drums, the mind-blowing Katie Jacoby on electric violin, Eric Svalgard of Project Object on keyboards, Rock School star CJ Tywoniak on guitar, and Julie's boyfriend Matt Rothstein on bass. But you have to wait until the Adrian Belew song currently playing on my blog finishes before the You Tube sound will work, so hang around for a few minutes because it's really worth it, trust me. Oh wait. You can also double click on the You Tube and it'll work that way because it will take you to the You Tube site. D'oh!



In other news, I got an email from the person who maintains Stewart Copeland's website who stumbled on a blog entry I made when I met Stewart last year in L.A. and he asked me for more details and permission to post the accompanying photo...of course I said yes.

Julie on Stewart Copeland's website

Here's the photo which is now on their website in case you are too lazy to click:



That would be Julie and Stewart performing School's Out for the Summer with Alice Cooper at the LA Knitting Factory last May. Here's another photo, but you can't really see Stewart on drums:



Then we have Eric's tour over the weekend with Chris Harford...here's what they say on the Ween Forum Board:

"TONITE 12/3 - CHRIS HARFORD & BOC - D.C. AREA ***CHRIS HARFORD & BOC***

featuring:
Dave Dreiwitz - bass
Scott Metzger - guitar
Eric Slick - drums

SUNDAY, Dec 3, 2006
8:30p doors

IOTA CLUB
2832 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA
703-522-8340

www.iotaclubandcafe.com/

"sweet. that line-up rules. eric slick is a drumming prodigy."

"who is eric slick?"

"School of Rock prodigy"

"Eric is a great drummer. That is a great line-up."

"Eric looks about 15 years old, but I think he's 18 or 19. Unbelievable drummer period. Nice kid too.

Drums with Adrian Belew."

Ha ha - and that's what I found in the first five minutes. So yeah, life is pretty awesome right now. Eric is doing the above mentioned show in Washington, D.C. tonight; Julie and Gary are out buying Christmas lights, and the dog and I are sipping wine and fooling around on the computer. Okay, the dog is sipping wine, it's me on the computer.

Err...

Anyway, the Harford show at the North Star Bar on Friday night was a lot of fun; there's a funny story I could tell in connection with it but I don't want to horrify my son so I won't...but there was in fact a green room and I did pester him there but hey, there was a cooler full of free Yuenglings and no one else wanted them so what could I do? They put on a very tight, fun show...didn't even take the stage until 11;00 p.m. and finished up around 1:00 a.m., the guys from the Benevento Russo Duo showed up because they had a gig at the Electric Factory which wrapped up just as Eric was taking the stage at the North Star...Eric hung out with Joey Russo for a while, then they all headed back to the Ween house in New Hope to await arrival of their rental van for the rest of the tour, which was in Baltimore last night with the Duo and like I said, Washington, D.C. tonight.

In other words, no one is home and I should be writing and working on my novel, or at least talking about writing.

So I will.

I'm nervously awaiting word on two possible awards; I sent a story to a literary magazine via snail mail -- something I usually would never do because I'm not pretentious enough to imagine myself a literary writer (thank God) and more importantly, I'm a lazy sod who would rather save a tree and submit by email, but this magazine is special, it's called Tin House, and they have a special issue coming up which focuses on evil. Now I just happen to have a short story I wrote on that very subject so I decided to go for that snowballs chance in hell and subbed it.

I'm sure you'll read my sobbing rejection post here in about three months, but hey, you cannot win if you do not play. And oh my god, did I just quote a Steve Forbert song? You have permission to shoot me now. Please. Put me out of my misery.

Let me make up for it.

If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

(My personal theme song...lyrics by George Harrison)

Or..

I'm never gonna know you now, but I'm gonna love you anyhow.

(If you don't know who wrote that, you're just not cool enough to read my blog)

.Just kidding...the late, great Elliott Smith...Waltz #2...and here's a heart-wrenching stripped down version, sans band...Elliott solo back in 1998:


Okay, back to work for me. And ooh goody, Julie and Gary are baking Christmas cookies tonight. To say that they are awesome bakers is putting it mildly -- the Slick family has an international reputation for our cookies. You can email me and if possible, I'll put you on our recipient list.

Ha ha - some people will do anything to be a Best of Blog 2006 finalist. Tsk, tsk, simply shameless, aren't I? Yoo hoo, judges? Care for some cookies?

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Friday, December 1

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My Life is So Cool - Part II

More fun sketches of Julie and Eric in concert by Family Guy cartoon artist Ron Brewer

Yep, I admit it Part II...my life is cool. This morning I came downstairs to find these new drawings on the desktop along with a few others I can't disclose yet, but all I can say is, they are just too amazing for words and I hope to post more as well as some very interesting news about them in the future.

Also, Part III of the podcast interview with Julie and Eric right before they took off on the west coast tour with Adrian Belew is posted now right here at Krimson News and both J&E are hilarious in this latest and last installment.

And because he knows I'm a total music freak, Sid Smith of DGM Live sent me the new CD by Jakko M. Jakszyk, which is called Bruised Romantic Glee Club. If you click on that link, you'll hear the title cut which absolutely blew me away and I've written to Sid and asked if I can get a download to put on my blog so that you can have a listen every time you come and visit me and read my daily ramblings, in which I'd like to include a more comprehensive review. But as a tease for now, get a load of who else contributes to this almost other-wordly recording:

Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree), acoustic bassist Danny Thompson (Pentangle, John Martyn), sax and flute from Mel Collins (King Crimson, Roger Waters) electric bass from Mark King (Level 42) piano & keyboards from Dave Stewart (ex-Hatfield & The North), drummer Ian Wallace (King Crimson, Bob Dylan), Soft Machine bassist, Hugh Hopper, ex-Egg drummer, Clive Brooks and guitarist Robert Fripp (King Crimson).

What strikes me the most about Bruised Romantic Glee Club is that it's full of surprise. You may be lulled by a magnificent, classical keyboard piece and if you are like me, drift into that pleasant dream-like state...then the tempo suddenly changes and the music will really rock out. The songwriting is amazing and as evidenced by the stellar list of musicians who contributed to this effort, this is really a must buy CD. In fact, if you are so inclined, you can purchase it right here.

So thank you, Sid, for being so very awesome and sending me this masterpiece all the way from England.

Finally, today marks a sad day in music history. Five years...can you freaking believe it...five days since the passing of George Harrison. Click here to listen to his haunting guitar work and then take a few minutes of silence to remember a legend.

Yes, I know, I am a writer and should be hawking my books and those of my friends and I promise, I will begin doing that ad nauseam in the very near future, what with Christmas coming and all and the fact that I'm up for a couple of awards. But for now, just sit and listen to George, please check out the link posted above for Jakko Jakszyk, and remember what Frank Zappa said: Music is the best.

I know it's gotten me through some really tough times...and conversely, given me a high that can't be duplicated.

Oh, one final music note: Now playing, "Asleep" by Adrian Belew, inspired by the events of September 11. You can find that song on Adrian's brilliant solo CD, Side 2, and if you click on the link provided on the right hand side of my blog, you can pick up a copy at Mr. Belew's handy website store as well as read the very moving background story.

More tomorrow...and I hate to say it, but it's going to most likely be titled My Life is So Cool - Part III -- because yesterday was Gary's birthday and ooh boy do I have a story in connection with that!

Later,
xo

Okay, I admit it -- my life is cool

Okay, alright, I admit it. My life is so cool I can hardly stand it. Because yes, that is Stewie from Family Guy, my favorite animated television show of all time along with the Simpsons, drawn by his actual artist, Ron Brewer, especially for my son, Eric, after Ron met him in concert with Adrian Belew two weeks ago.

Ron is a friend of the California Guitar Trio, who opened for the Adrian Belew Power Trio for three nights beginning in Villa Montalvo, California. He was so blown away by the Belew Trio he trekked to their two subsequent concerts in Eugene and Portand, Oregon. So he emailed Eric that pic, and too bad I don't have a scanner because Eric's got an original Ron gave him on the tour as well.

Julie apparently received something from Ron as well which I'll post here as soon as she comes home and reads her email.

There's some pretty interesting news I could share about all of this, but, um, I'd better not. The jinx factor and all.

And now, before I say another word about anything, the real major news of this morning: Eric has updated his tour blog.

I've really enjoyed the past couple of days -- besides pigging out on some incredible food, I've gotten a lot of writing done and am hoping against hope that I will tie with Susan for our "finish our mutual novels by the end of November" competition.

This Thanksgiving was one of the most relaxed and awesome holidays ever. Julie was in the kitchen at 7:30 a.m. all business. By 10:30, she'd baked two pies, roasted beets, chopped seventeen different vegetables in preparation for the stuffing and sidedishes, had the wild mushroom soup simmering on the stove, and made fresh whipped cream. All Gary had to do was basically come downstairs in the early afternoon and assemble things. It was like he had his own private prep/sous chef.

Here is said soup -- and you can see the swirls of mascarpone cheese, which is so damn decadent and rich it should carry a warning label:



Julie's roasted beet and pistacchio salad with dijon dressing:



And then we went into full eating mode and forgot to take pics of the actual meal, but I did remember during dessert -- unfortunately we had already cut into Julie's magnificent lattice top apple pie, but at least I got a shot of a slice a la mode:



And here's what is probably the best sweet potato pie I ever tasted, sans the whipped cream, which she shot it with a minute later:



Anyway, like I said, we had the best time, and yeah, yeah, we did continue our lame tradition of going around the table before digging in, saying what we were thankful for this year.

Eric went first and he gave an actual speech, naming so many things he loved about all of us and his life that I started to bawl like a baby. Julie was next, and she said "Well, as usual, Eric went on too long and he said everything I wanted to say, so I have to cut it short before the food gets cold and look at Mom, she's sobbing and she's not even going to be able to talk, so I'm just going to say how much I love all of you and let's eat. Mom?"

"Wah...sob...dribble..."

Julie: "Okay, we're skipping Mom...and Mom...get a kleenex, will you? Your nose is running and it's disgusting. Dad?"

But ha ha, Gary was teary eyed, too, and he couldn't speak, either. He managed a choked up "I love my family". At least I think that's what he said, anyway.

And now for the question I know you are all dying to ask: Did the "I've been a vegetarian for a year" Julie taste the organic, free range turkey breast she coerced me into buying?

The answer is Yes. She tasted one small slice, then asked for another, but stopped after that because she was afraid she'd get sick after not eating meat for months. However, we all agreed that we were happy she insisted on this turkey, because, yep, it was the most delicious bird ever and I will happily buy one every year from now on.

Hours later, Gary and Eric were on the road to Nashville, Tennessee to visit with Adrian Belew and pick up Eric's drums. When they finished the tour in Portland, Oregon, Ade's roadies drove all of Eric's equipment back with them to Nashville -- at the time we weren't aware that Eric was going right back out on tour with Chris Harford this coming weekend. It's a twelve hour drive from Philadelphia to Nashville, but Julie was so cute -- she packed the boys all of the Thanksgiving leftovers, even pie, so they wouldn't have to eat at any fast food restaurants on the various turnpikes they had to travel nor leave said turnpikes and get lost in search of real food. So they pulled over at a rest stop at lunch time, bought some coffee to stay awake (I think it was probably six hours into their drive), ate, and got back on the road again where they listened to the Beatles Christmas records which Eric had wisely burned onto CDs before their trip. It's been a yearly tradition in our house since the kids were babies that we always play the Beatles' Christmas records while we're trimming the tree. These records were mailed to members of the Beatle fan club back in the sixties and as I've mentioned here before, Gary was in said club until they disbanded in like 1980 and we have memorabilia like you would not believe. But years of playing them have rendered them charmingly scratchy...it's almost like listening to something from the turn of the century (sob)...so to have new remastered copies on CD is kinda weird but cool at the same time.

When they arrived at Ade's house in Nashville, Ade took them out to dinner at a really cool place -- Ade's wife and daughters were at her mother's house in Kentucky -- so it really was a boys' night out. The three of them discussed music and how fantastic their recent tour was and how they never wanted it to end...and even better...Ade discussed his plans for the future and again, I don't want to tempt the jinx factor, but there's some potentially very exciting news that I just might be reporting here within the next couple of weeks...right in time for that special music fan on your Christmas list.

And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.

That, and it looks like definite plans are being made for an extremely cool tour the last two weeks of March...I have no other details other than the possible opening acts, which just may blow a few minds.

Despite driving for twelve hours immediately following Thanksgiving dinner, Gary and Eric really wanted to be back in Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the rest of the four day weekend here, so they grabbed a few hours sleep before heading right back on the road again.

But not before Adrian woke them at dawn and whispered "I'm going out to get you guys some really great donuts. Any special requests?"

Eric put the pillow over his head but Gary, used to me being awake at obscenely early hours, was fairly alert and replied "Chocolate for Eric, cinnamon for me."

So how endearing is that. This famous rock star -- this legend who played with King Crimson, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Simon and Tori Amos -- went out at sunrise and bought my guys donuts.

Our two families have this mutual admiration/love thing going on which is so beautiful I'm getting teary eyed just typing this. Oh, I should add that while Eric and Gary were on the road to Nashville, Ade called here to check on their progress and to let me know he was reading my blog about the tour and he made me blush over how much he enjoyed it. We spoke for like almost an hour!

Anyway, back to the present. So Gary and Eric did in fact arrive home Saturday exhausted and happy; the drums are back in my living room, and let me give you the info for Eric's upcoming tour with Chris Harford:

This Friday night, December 1, they will be playing at The North Star Bar;

Saturday, December 2 -- and this is where it really gets interesting, they will be opening for The Benevento Russo Duo at The Recher Theatre near Baltimore, Maryland, which looks like the coolest venue ever...and here's how they have it listed on their website in case you are too lazy to click on the link:

"Walther Productions Presents
BENEVENTO / RUSSO DUO
Tom Hamilton's American Babies
Chris Harford and the Band Of Changes
featuring:
Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) - Scott Metzger (Particle)
Eric Slick (Adrian Belew)

Saturday, December 2"

I'm kinda bummed because I hear Benevento Russo are incredible, it's probably going to be a huge, sold out show, but it doesn't appear I'll be able to go because Gary has another committment that evening and I have no way of getting there.

Damn...

And on Sunday, December 3, Eric will be playing with Chris Harford at The Iota Club and Cafe in Washington, D.C.

Even more exciting, Eric, Chris, Scott, and the guys from Ween will be at WXPN, a public radio station which plays the only listenable music in the entire City of Philadelphia, doing a live radio interview/performance next Friday, December 8, 2006 at 1:00 p.m.

I'm pretty sure that's all the news for today but you never know. In the meantime, I need to edit a few thousand more chapters...arghh...I've learned the only real way to pick up errors is to print out the entire manuscript and read it out loud.

So that's what I'll be doing in case anyone needs me.

Later,
xo