A Little Madness and Much Better Now

Okay, I'm in a much better mood now.

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card game and are headed to NY to play the Giants on Sunday. I guess I'm excited but to be honest, I am a lot more stoked about the upcoming inauguration.

In other happy news, I just found this awesome video clip of the Adrian Belew Power Trio performing A Little Madness in Barcelona, Spain a few months ago. Check out Ms. Julie Slick!




My daughter is just so very, very cool.

She had us over for dinner at her new place Monday night. Want to see some pictures? Sure you do!

Julie and her new lamp, which I am going to steal. Must...have...that...lamp...



Then she started cooking. She is one sick puppy. Speaking of puppies, guess who also came to dinner? Gah, Monty is so hyper when he goes visiting, though. We had to let him out every two seconds and then we had to make him a peanut butter sandwich because obviously he can't eat spicy food and he went insane over the delightful aromas coming from Julie's kitchen.



Our first course were home-made samosas with three different chutneys - mango, onion, and raita:





I shot Julie an email yesterday to ask her to give me an ingredient list for the absolutely fabulous meal she made, and her reply was priceless:

"Vegetarian (technically vegan) curry - with onion, potato, cauliflower, tomato, peas and spinach. It was finished with coconut milk, lime juice, and chopped cilantro. Obviously it was topped with Tiffin chutneys and rice which I couldn't make since I gave Dad my good rice pot (ahem...). The base was made with a homemade curry and garam masala blend. For the complete recipe go to my blog (which I'll update it later today)."

Yeah, she did update her blog and while she hasn't included the recipe yet (check back again this afternoon), she talks more about her travels in Australia, preparing a surprise breakfast for Adrian Belew, hanging out with the fabulous Derek Trucks Band (which became the mutual admiration society, by the way - the two bands really dug each other's music and hanging out together) and her quest to intoxicate her poor brother with what looks like Flaming Moes.



Sigh...

Anyway, getting back to her amazing dinner, yes, she did actually grind her own curry:



A work in progress:



The final product:



Our meal was extremely fantastic and Julie is indeed the mistress of her new manor:



I am still in denial that she's moved out, though.

Anyway, when I uploaded the photos from dinner, there were still some from Australia on my camera which I hadn't seen, and I am reluctant to post them here since Julie is apparently putting them in her blog once I upload them to my photo site, but here's one I could not resist - Ms. Julie and Pink Floyd's bassist Guy Pratt:



And this hilarious shot of uber drummer Eric Slick:



Finally, two more of Ms. Julie which speak for themselves...ahem...





Ah, to be (almost...on January 30, to be precise) 23 years old, beautiful and talented...

Okay, that's a wrap for me. I am sure I have more to say but I just this minute learned that the City of Philadelphia now has weekly recycling and I didn't think I had to get my plastics and paper out until next Wednesday so now I must rush around and gather stuff up like a madwoman...but woo hoo...it's about time, Philly!

Later,
xo

Bleh

Dear Internet,

I am sorry but I've fallen out of love with you.

Oh okay, I'm being overly dramatic and childish but lately, between what I'm reading on various music and writing forum boards I frequent plus my own issues with an alleged promo site for writers, I feel like screaming. But I'm smart enough to realize that when I think too much about cyber people instead of focusing my energy on those I love in the real world, it's time to sit back and take a break.

Though there's a lot I wish I could say.



I'm really not fond of this time of the year. Can you tell? I love Christmas and all the pretty colored lights and gift giving and suddenly it's over and we're faced with the cold bleak months of January-March. At least in Philadelphia, anyway.

Anyhoo, is there any good news to report? Well, yeah. Tomorrow night Julie is having us over for her first dinner party at her new apartment and yep, I'm bringing the camera. So that should be an uplifting future post indeed.

"Daddy Left Me Alone with God" is currently being line edited, which means it will be out in the real world shortly. My baby! Almost five years in the making/writing/editing...and I am really stoked about that and intend to throw my entire being into promoting it...fair warning now.

I added some more songs to my Music Player on this blog. I could seriously program that thing all day. I love the shuffle feature and the fact that I created my own juke box. Yeah, yeah, I know these things have been around for years but I've just discovered it and let me have my fun, please. Anyway, you have to do some serious scrolling down to find it, but it's on the right, directly under the ads for my books.

I have still not been able to diet more than two consecutive days which is freaking me out. I ate far too many Christmas cookies. Tomorrow I am going to wear my tightest outfit all day so that I am in acute pain awareness of anything I put in my mouth that isn't green and leafy. Actually, eating at Julie's will be very good since I know whatever she serves us will be both healthy and vegetarian. The only problem will be when I get home because WE STILL HAVE THOSE DAMN COOKIES. And because they are shortbread, two weeks later they're better than ever.

I'm doomed. I should just have my jaw wired.

Do people still do that? I'd find a way to still shove it in, trust me.

The reason I still have cookies is that I was very lax in sending them out this year. To those of you who didn't receive any tins, I'm really sorry. The week before Christmas when I was flat on my back took a lot out of me and that's the week I normally mail out cookies. And well, then I started eating them myself...

Oh well. Another hour and the Eagles will be on. Go Eagles? I'm kind of ambivalent at this point...let's see them win this one and play the Giants next weekend, then I'll be excited.

Sort of.

But for now, I think I'll take a break from the dreaded internet and read a book or something.

Later,
xo

And Now for Something Completely Different (and Happy 2009!)

So here's something completely different to ring in the New Year -- Eric Slick, jazz dude.

This is a film by Robert O'Haire, featuring BOB MUSSO and RAOUL BJORKENHEIM on guitar, ELLIOTT LEVIN on sax and flute, KEITH MACKSOUD on bass, and ERIC SLICK on drums at The Bowery Poetry Club on December 17, 2008.



Meanwhile, Eric does rock out around six minutes in...but I love the jazz dude, too.

And here's a link to some cool photos of Eric at that show, too.

The Daily Gazette in New York reviewed over 200 concerts this season and posted a list of their top ten concerts of the year, with said ten being the usual suspects, Wilco, David Byrne, etc. but look who is listed in the dozen or so Honorable Mentions!

Honorable mention

- Neko Case on Jan. 31 at The Egg

- John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett on Feb. 16 at The Egg

- Nellie McKay on March 10 at The Egg

- They Might Be Giants on April 19 at The Egg

- Adrian Belew Power Trio on June 8 at Revolution Hall, Troy

- Cowboy Junkies on July 8 at the Plaza Music Fest in Empire State Plaza

- Robyn Hitchcock on July 10 at WAMC

- Terrance Simien on July 24 at Alive at Five

- Zappa Plays Zappa on Aug. 5 at The Egg

- The American Music Festival on Aug. 17 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center featuring Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, the Swell Season, Conor Oberst. Steve Earle & Allison Moorer, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and Raul Malo

- Rodney Crowell on Oct. 23 at The Egg

- Richard Thompson on Oct. 24 at The Egg

- Joe Jackson on Oct. 30 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

- Bela Fleck & the Flecktones on Dec. 9 at The Egg

Yes, we are pretty psyched about that.

Anyway, some of you may have noticed I added a Music Player to this site (scroll down on the right hand side) but you will all be relieved to know that I've disabled automatic play in case you tune in at work and get caught as the dulcet tones of Ween or the Kinks come blasting through your speakers. But I'll be adding to my player all the time and since everyone knows what excellent taste in music I have, feel free to click the play button when no one is around and crank up your speakers...oh yeah, I've also added the shuffle feature so you won't get bored.

Wait - did I just say "crank up your speakers?" Who am I, Wolfman Jack? Oh god, please kill me.

In other news, Julie moved out to her new apartment yesterday and I went into her bedroom today and saw it (mostly) cleaned out; then I walked into Eric's room and saw the same, and I admit it, reality hit hard for the first time and I got teary eyed. Oh well, life goes on. Julie did feel it was her civic duty to wake me out of a sound sleep last evening at midnight to wish me a Happy New Year and at first I was like, "is she nuts?" and then I realized how terrific she was to do that and how lucky I am.

So while Julie settles into her new apartment this month and sets up her studio, Eric will be going on tour with Project Object and there's already a few dates listed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland with more to come. Then I think in either February or March they begin the first of two sessions with Ade down in Nashville for their first studio recording, "E" before heading out on what it appears to be a two week tour in the midwest. But I'm not sure if it's confined to that area or not...I keep checking Pollstar.

Meanwhile, I just realized I need to take a photo of Julie's new bass. Lakland made her a fretless custom in natural wood. It's so gorgeous it's ridiculous.

Finally, the infamous Jon Swift has his yearly Best Of Blogpost entries over at his place as chosen by the author, and if you want to see what I picked as my favorite In Her Own Write moment of 2008 (could it possibly involve the Adrian Belew Power Trio?), click on Jon's name and have a look.

Well, now that I've totally run out of things to say, let me just mention how happy I am that 2008 is over; it was a pretty difficult/bleak year for Gary and me. Luckily, 2009 is The Year of the Ox. Any year dedicated to the late, great John Entwistle is okay with me, eh?

Later,
xo

Now You All Get to Look At The Slick Family Christmas Slideshow (that isn't)

Okay, this is what you get for reading my blog. You're going to be forced to watch the Slick Family Christmas slideshow.




Okay, I lied. If I were more of a techie, yeah, yeah, I probably could have figured out how to make this a slideshow but no such luck, I had to cut and paste every freaking link and have I mentioned how much I hate this new thumbnail thing? Does anyone out there use Photobucket with Blogger and know how the hell to make it resize the way it used to do automatically? If you know wtf is going on with this, I am begging you to email me the answer. Thumbnails really sucks. For whatever reason, the above two pics are the only ones I could post regular size, the rest are thumb, but certainly worth clicking on if you are still here reading and haven't fled my site screaming yet.

So the first shot is our obligatory yearly pic of the tree; the second is, trust me, just a fraction of the wrapped gifts, which spread from under said tree into two rooms by the time we were done.

Eric decided he didn't want to miss a Christmas morning here so he slept over with his beautiful significant other, Katy, but unlike other years, neither Eric nor Julie woke us up at 7:00 a.m. No, they drank that demon alcohol into the wee hours of Christmas Eve, feigning innocence the following day but the jig is up, I found the empty bottles. So in the end, it was our genius dog, Monty, who got us up, because yes, he knew it was Christmas morning as you will see in an upcoming photo. But one photo I do not have is that as soon as he saw a solitary ray of sunlight coming in from a crack in the blinds, the dog literally tried lifting us both out of bed by digging under our backs with his nose and paws -- and I truly believe it's because I still had J&E stockings in our room and they were filled with chocolate so he had that clue, too, since he slept beside them all night -- anyway, Gary went downstairs to make coffee, the dog followed him, and as Gary filled the pot with water, he heard a tearing sound behind him and out of all the presents under that tree, apparently Monty can read his name on a gift tag because he picked out one of his and immediately began unwrapping it with his teeth.

So here's one of Eric and Julie coming down the stairs to gifts of wonder and delight, and notice their way cool Christmas headgear.





Even the dog has it going with the haberdashery and yeah Julie can't help but kiss him and I know, I know, what a fabulous photo. Thanks, Gary! (But I'm the one who yelled "Ooh ooh get a pic of that!)



Here's Julie shooting me a look because I bought her make-up from Sephora as a stocking gift and Julie is so naturally gorgeous she never wears make-up but I just thought it would be fun.

"Sephora make-up isn't tested on animals," I offered lamely after seeing her skeptical expression.



Aw, I love this one of Julie and Eric spontaneously hugging after exchanging gifts - Julie, determined to turn Eric into a chef, bought him an immersion blender. Eric, ever practical and tired of being her human version, bought Julie a tuner for her bass.



"What's in this big box?" Julie wonders. Check out her Yes t-shirt. Is she a geek after my own heart or what?



"Oh God, Mom bought me motorcycle boots. Make-up and black leather boots. Good job, Mom. Mother of the Year."



Okay, so maybe she's the only geek. She did keep those deely boppers on all day. (Though of course I adored that)

By the way, I'm kidding. She assures me she loves both gifts and is wearing said boots today.

Eric looks puzzled because the box he is about to unwrap weighs about as much as a feather. What can it be? Notice Eric, who is decidedly not a geek, is wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt.



Why it's a hat. Not his usual style, but I worry he'll catch cold. Though I just saw a show on PBS the other night which said that whole heat escapes through your head thing is a myth. Truth is, I liked the hat and was running out of ideas for stocking presents.



Julie agrees the hat is cool and she's in a great mood because she's just opened part one of her main gift which pretty much told her what that gift is. Oh, let's get real here. She picked out her gift, sent me the link, and I ordered it so she knew what it was all along. It's a Canon camera and it's really nice and that's all I know.



Okay, Eric now knows he's opening his major gift. He thinks he knows what it is, but he's not sure...



Yes, Eric, your father and I caved. It's a new macbook Pro. Julie engineered that purchase as well so I can't tell you anymore more about it other than it's the top of the line and she's jealous.



Here's two shots of Julie with her new camera.





We realized we were starving all of a sudden and I totally blew buying something decadent for breakfast...I was really freaked out that I lost a week flat on my back the week before and had to stay up until 2:00 a.m. wrapping gifts...anyway, Julie said calmly, "Don't worry, I'll throw something together."

And so she did. Scrambled eggs with hot sauce and fresh cracked pepper, Pink Lady apples sauteed with butter and cinnamon, multi-grain toast with butter and fresh strawberry and blackberry preserves.



In the meantime, while we were busy stuffing our faces, Monty didn't think anyone was looking...





How wild are those photos? That he positioned himself next to a shopping bag which said "Believe". I don't think Gary or Julie or whoever took that photo realized it at the time, but it's amazing.

As is the fact that once again, the dog figured out which gift was his, tore it apart, and that one was in a cardboard box yet but yes, it was food and he is part beagle...

Now here's my educated guess about the next two shots. Julie wanted to try her camera out by taking random photos of the (messy) living room.




So it ended up being the world's most awesome Christmas. Gary got a Canon HD10 camcorder along with Rode video mic, and a bunch of CDs, Julie and Eric got so much stuff I feel embarrassed to list it all here; I got basically everything I could ever want as well but favorites include a rare CD I've been searching out for a while and really, really nice black leather gloves, some very special books picked out especially for me by Eric and it's like he read my mind because two of the books were on my to buy list and the other is a coming of age story written by a 91 year old man which looks hilarious...oh yeah, I also got a brand new mac blah blah blah I know there is a recession but I live in the moment and I did my part in trying to restore the economy and who cares if we have to eat cat food when we are retired...besides, let's get real, cat food costs more than people food, anyway, so that's a dumb analogy...anyway...let's move on to the next main event, which was Christmas dinner.

Ah yes, another extraordinary culinary experience at Casa Slick.



Julie's prep table with plates of swiss chard, arugula, and a green olive and freshly made in front of our eyes mozzarella salad. Oh wait. That's another story. Julie and me shopping on Christmas Eve for ingredients like fresh bread from Sarcones and white asparagus. It just wasn't happening, but we did pretty good despite our last minute rush. But that in itself makes for a separate blog post, and if I have it in me, I'll tell you the whole sad story. Just know that she tried to kill me. Not intentionally, mind you, she just forgets I'm not 22 like she is, can't run, and do not consider a ten mile walk holding bags which weigh twenty pounds each after spending the prior week on my back in agony a "piece of cake"...which, by the way, I would have loved to have had but she wouldn't let me. She also starved me to death on that trip but again, that's a story for another day.

"I want you to eat healthy, Mom."

Okay, as far as Christmas dinner, yep, she made good on her word. Below is my dinner - seared scallops in a sauce made of Greek yogurt, lemon, and a drizzle of honey served over arugula and garnished with chopped tomato. Mmmm....



Broccoli rabe ravioli topped with roasted garlic oil and wilted swiss chard (and a Sarcone's seeded roll) for Gary, Eric, and Katy:



Eric and Katy chilling out, waiting to be called to the table by the High Priestess of Culinary Delights...



Ah, finally, ready to rock...



Eric and Katy chilling some more; Julie is the photographer...Gary and I are already upstairs wiped out.



So a good time was had by all. Katy, Eric and Julie played Scrabble until 3:00 a.m. though when I came downstairs and saw the board, there were words like "Leroy" on it and no, no, kiddies, Leroy is not a word and you can't use proper names in Scrabble and...oh, who cares...it's just so cool that we all got to have one more Christmas together as a family...

And that's a wrap to Christmas, 2008.

Oh, P.S. Katy bought Eric a brand new bike, Eric bought Katy a camera kind of like Julie's, and the Adrian Belew Power Trio has added some new shows to their 2009 schedule - Julie, Eric and Adrian will be playing at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis, MO on April 17 and at the Riverbend Music Festival in TN on June 10 - don't know who the headliner is but last year it was the Black Crowes...more dates in April and June to be announced soon. Stay tuned!

Later,
xo

Garry Crimble to All!

Yay! I'm finally vertical again, and about to run around like a crazy lady doing last minute shopping.



Okay, maybe the "war is over" part of those wonderful Lennon lyrics are premature, but I have a lot of hope for 2009.

So far, other than last week's unfortunate Robin Threw Her Back Out and Almost Died Like Elvis incident, this has been a wonderful holiday season which is kind of nice after the year of hell. I tend to talk about only the good stuff here or make the bad stuff funny, but man, another repeat of a year like this one and I'll be in a straight jacket. But the year also had some wonderful moments -- the Adrian Belew Power Trio soared to new heights both musically and professionally and personally; I signed with a new publisher; and finally, I've made some wonderful new friends in another totally unexpected "venture" I've taken on and adore. Anyway, this is the fifth year of the blog now and most of the time I do a year end recap before December 31 but whether I will have the stomach to do it this year remains to be seen. Though it would be nice to revisit the Canada and Russia experiences, and even the Bates Motel in Ohio...

Anyway, one thing I did do last week while I was flat on my back was order presents like crazy via my laptop, and they've all arrived - there are boxes stacked everywhere and I can't even remember what I got and who it's for. All I know is, I will probably be up all night wrapping them...but first Ms. Julie and I are going out this morning on a massive shopping trip for some last minute items, food for our Christmas feast tomorrow (don't worry - I'll spare no detail and post many photos Friday morning)...and as I mentioned, Julie is moving into her new apartment next weekend so we're going to look for some cool furniture, dishes, etc., too.

And we're having lunch at a fabulous new vegetarian restaurant...I don't want to talk anymore about that now because I'm afraid to jinx it...i.e., I'm afraid they might have taken today off since it's Christmas Eve day and if we arrive and they are closed, we're going to be aggravated.

Tonight Julie is working at "her" restaurant for a few hours so the whole family is going out to eat there to keep her company, then we'll head back to our house for the said gift wrapping marathon...and then...and this makes me really happy...everyone is sleeping over here for probably the last time (sob) so that they can wake up and open their presents as they've done for the past 22 years. But yeah, with Julie and Matt in their own place and Eric and Katy in their own place, I sorta think this is probably the last Slick family Christmas morning...oh God...here come the tears...

Nah, it's all good. Life moves on and so must I. Wait. Where did I hear that before? Ha ha - most of you will know.

Anyway, let me end this before I get any more sappy...Garry Crimble to all, which will take care of all religions and non-religions...and I'll be back on Friday morning with the full "what we got for Christmas and more importantly what we ate" report then.

Here's to Peace on Earth...

xo

The Agonizing Pain Post

There will be no pictures with this post today. And if words are spelled wrong or I do not use capital letters, don't shoot me. It's already taken me fifteen minutes to type one sentence while flat on my back using my laptop.

On Sunday, I bent down to pick up a shoe and haven't been able to stand up since without screaming in agony. I either merely pulled a muscle or it's something worse. I prefer to think muscle as there are little glimpses this morning that I may be able to sit up with assistance and actually eat without slobbering all down my face.

Don't even ask about what it's been like to get to the, um, ladies room. At one point when I was here all alone on Monday it took me twenty minutes to walk twelve feet to the powder room and once there, I couldn't get back up.

"Please don't let me die like Elvis," I cried out loud to no one. "I so wanted the Nelson Rockefeller death." (Look it up, youngsters, providing links right now is impossible, too, though I'm gonna try in a second.)

Anyway, a half hour later after a lot of loud screams, I made it back to the sofa and my heating pad, where I consoled myself with a handful of Gary's Christmas cookies. Here's a good hint - don't try to eat cookies while laying down. It's very conducive to choking and then sobbing some more when you realize you didn't also grab a glass of milk to go with them.

Anyway, about that link. I need to post it because Eric has major news. Okay...deep breath...here goes. Wait. Let me just tell you something else first. Today, Eric is being filmed for a secret project I am not allowed to talk about yet but if things go as planned, Eric will be coming to a television set near you all over the U.S. once monthly. And that's all I'm saying.

But for now, I can tell you what he's up to tonight, tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday.

And I can also tell you that last night Eric bumped into Bela Fleck on the street and the band guest listed Julie and Eric ("Where's Julie?" they all wanted to know) and I am guessing they had VIP backstage passes because it was midnight and Gary was baking cookies again and Julie still wasn't home. If I could make a link, or if you dig in my archives from May or June, 2006, you will see that Julie, Eric, and Adrian jammed in Atlanta with Bela's band, including the incredible Victor Wooten, and they are big Adrian Belew, Julie and Eric Slick fans. So if there are any stories from last night, I will edit this, at least in theory, when Julie wakes up.

ETA: Yep, they had backstage passes; went on Bela's tour bus after the show, and hung out with their sax player until 2:30 a.m. at Monk's Cafe. That's all I've got so far -- Julie hasn't had her coffee yet.

This line of gossip, direct from Julie's mouth first thing in the morning, will be ending in two weeks as my daughter has just signed a Lease for her very first apartment and will be moving out January 1. Wah! But luckily it's nearby -- well, a ten minute car ride -- and in what's probably the hippest area in Philadelphia right now and though I haven't seen it yet, I hear it's amazing - bi-level, with skylights, and able to accommodate her entire recording studio on one floor so if there are any bands out there looking for a great engineer/producer and recording studio, Julie is your woman. To reach her, visit her at her blog which she just updated to include the lovely lunch she made her poor sick mother on Monday. Okay, that link I could do cos' I know it by heart. But let me try to Google some links I'll be needing for my son.

It has now taken me an hour to type this much. I just wanted you all to feel my pain. Normally this would take me five minutes and include photos.

But back to Eric. Tonight he has a major, major gig in New York City at a benefit for the Bowery Poetry Club. Oh man, look who is on the bill. If only I could link every one of their names:

Downtown Music Gallery Benefit show on the December 17th at The Bowery Poetry Club featuring:

10pm - ISZIJI MUNOZ HEART-BURN TRIO w/ special guest JOHN MEDESKI on organ.
11pm - ROBERT MUSSO ENSEMBLE w/ special guest RAOUL BJORKENHEIM
12pm - ELLIOTT SHARP POWER TRIO

Robert Musso - Guitar
Raoul Bjorkenheim - Guitar
Elliott Levin - Sax, Flute, Poetry
Keith MacSoud - Bass
Eric Slick - Drums

The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
212-614-0505

If you click on the link for the Bowery Poetry Club, you'll see Bob Moses is also on the bill, and he's not listed above, but you won't see John Medeski, because if that word gets out, they'll have to turn people away. Oh well, I let the cat out of the bag. If you are in NYC, buy your tickets NOW. This will sell out in a couple of hours as soon as people start realizing just how big this gig is.

Tomorrow night Eric plays his usual weekly gig with the ultra-cool (arghh...another link...a ten minute exercise on trying to get Google with a laptop perched on your chest) Black Lodge Ensemble and if you click on that link, and you'd better after all the hell I just went through to post it, anyway, that link will also tell you that Eric will be playing with another side project of his..and wait...I think I just figured out an easy way to post a pic which will tell you:



Eric plays with **PRFSR*DRSZ**, and the band includes the man who taught Julie most of which she knows on bass, Dylan Sherwood McConnell, who is also one of the founding members of the School of Rock.

So that's Friday night, and then Saturday, another biggie. Eric on drums, Chris Harford on guitar and vocals, the incredibly talented Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo of Ween on lead guitar, and bassist Matt Kohut. Where will they be playing? Ha ha, good one - a venue called Hillbilly Hall in Hopewell, New Jersey. Those are four amazing musicians but unless a miracle occurs, I'll never be able to make that gig as I'm freaked out enough that I can't do Christmas shopping or bake cookies this week due to my "condition" and if I'm not better by next week, I may jump out a window.

Oh, I'm kidding, but this is so damn frustrating. It's my favorite time of the year and I can't even decorate the tree properly. J&E and Gary started it but it's still not done and since they are doing absolutely everything else for me, I'm not about to nag them about that. Besides, I really want to do it myself so here's hoping that if I continue to lie flat for the rest of the week, this old back of mine will repair itself. If not, oh God, I may have to see a doctor. I just had a vision of myself in a hospital bed in traction.

Arghhhhh....

Anyway, if in NYC, go see Eric tonight. It's major. If not, check him out Friday or Saturday night...also major...and a lot of fun.

More news on the Adrian Belew Power Trio soon - got some huge news there as well.

Back to sleep for me now. I started this post at 5:00 a.m. and it's now 7:23 a.m. Two and a half hours to type a couple of paragraphs. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio - Back from Oz

A bubbly Julie Slick arrived home from Australia late last night (well, Eric did, too, but he went straight to his digs and I haven't seen him yet...and from what I understand...Julie will soon have new digs as well so...sob...empty nest syndrome, here we come!)...anyway, she came bearing vast quantities of Tim Tams and oh my God, it's a good thing we don't have them here in the U.S.



Anyway, the bottom line is, the ABPT had an amazing, amazing time in the Land Down Under, the weather was warm and beautiful; the fans friendly and incredibly supportive, and basically was a fantastic way to end what has truly been one hell of a year for these three talented musicians. And to think it can only get better in 2009...

Here's a way cool radio review Adrian did whilst in Sydney - he touches on everything from the Adrian Belew Power Trio to Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, and King Crimson. You don't have to download anything - just click on the play button.

And of course my life would not be complete if I didn't come downstairs this morning to yet another fabbo email and review from a fan who just saw them play in the Land of Oz:

Mrs Slick,

My name is Sam, I am from Wollongong, Australia, I saw the power trio a few nights ago on their last stop of the Australian tour, and I have to say how amazing it was, your son and daughter blew me away with their musical skills, and their hospitality when I met them, I typed a review, it’s a bit long, but I hope you enjoy my opinion on it, it might not be grammatically perfect, but it’s true and 100% honest.

“Adrian Belew Power Trio – Heritage Hotel, Bulli NSW Australia - December 11, 2008

Gigs come and go, musical revelations come once in a life time, well that was one of those, that’s for sure….

It was probably one of the most amazing gigs I have ever seen in my life.



Arriving with my good friend John at this lovely venue which was an amazing small pub, with heaps of gig posters up, I just felt the atmosphere as I walked in. Lovely staff, really friendly, one was nice enough to give me and John a poster each of the show, we hung around for a while, went and sat down at a table and about 20 mins later, the Trio walks in to the venue, now call me a fanboy, I admit it 100%, but I was extremely nervous to meet a man whose music has inspired me and touched me in a lot of ways, walking up to him, he had a big smile on his face and I handed him the poster and he graciously signed it, he said to me would you like the other members to sign it, I said "yes, that would be great", as they were signing it, I said hello and remarked to the Slicks - Julie (the bassist) and Eric (the drummer) on how much I appreciated their work on Side Four, and they were extremely friendly and introduced themselves which made me at ease. I then went on my way back to the table with a huge smile, still trying to get a grip what had just happened. Yet, the best was yet to come.



Time passed by and more and more people arrived into the venue, was a bit strange being at a venue with tables as I am normally jammed down in the moshpit, but it made for the atmosphere.

8:45, the show started with Writing's On The Wall, and you could not wipe the smile from my face, I was singing, smiling, air guitaring - drumming along with the music, just getting to see Adrian Belew for the first time especially in a venue not that far away from my home really made me happier than a pig in, well you know the rest.

The 1st set blazed along with so many aweome songs, Dinosaur, Young Lions (with a breathtaking drum solo from Eric), Beat Box Guitar, A Little Madness and then ending with the most awesome version of Elephant Talk I have ever heard, Julie owned this song, nailing chapman stick parts on a 4 string bass, simply stunning.

There was a half hour break, I spent most of that time talking to John and my other friend Richard on how amazing that was, we all decided to go down to the front of the stage and catch the rest from there.

Set 2 came, and the first blew me away, the second just knocked me down, they really got into it so much more, you could not wipe the smile from Adrian’s face, Eric was going like a madman, beating the life out of the drums, Julie was in her zone, chilling back, going in and out of the pocket.

Songs like Neurotica, Of Bow and Drum, Futurevision et al were absolutely amazing, their newest piece E was like a musical rollercoaster, up and down, side to side, I was astounded.

But the fun really came with the last few songs, classic Crim with 3 Of A Perfect Pair, made my night, really hit home that I am seeing Adrian Belew with the last band he ever needs, big call, but it all came together.

The Australian national anthem was next, and what better than Back In Black, with Andre Cholmondeley, road manager, technician and nice dude extrordinaire doing an excellent Brian Johnson impression, hit it out of the park hands down.





Last song was Thela Hun Ginjeet, great song to end the night, and the end of their last show of their Australian tour in style.



A little bit after, the Trio came out and signed cd’s, took photos and took the time to meet the people, I got to talk to Eric and Julie a bit more, they are so nice and deserve every bit of exposure and success they get. Thanks for the photos and the signatures.







Adrian, what can I say, getting to meet a legend that has been there and done that, yet will still play little clubs for the love of music in a little town in Australia, thank you for taking the time to talk with me, take photos and play one of the greatest gigs I have ever seen in my life.

Andre, thank you for having a chat, you are a really nice dude (wish I had got a photo with you…)

Thank you Adrian, Eric and Julie, I hope to see you all back in Australia very soon, now I just gotta wait for that to happen…."

Thank you for your time, if you would like some photos, please let me know and if you decide to put this in your blog, please feel free to, I would love to see it there!

Regards,

Sam Radojcin"

Of course I wrote back to Sam immediately, thanking him and asking for those pics! So other than the Tim Tams, all of the photos in today's post are from him. When Sam wrote back to me with the official "okay" and pics, here's what else he had to say, and he included a link (which I asked him for) to his MySpace site:

"...Once again, thank Eric and Julie for me, I hope I get to run into them again one day over here. I guess because I am a similar age and a musician myself, I really had a great time, a friend of mine who had not heard Adrian or KC before was blown away, he said Eric was the best drummer he has ever seen live.

No other blogs, I have a MySpace (doesn’t everyone? LOL) (I don’t know why I chose that as a handle as I am a bit more eclectic in my tastes although I love the heavy stuff.)(Note from our author: Ha ha - Sam is known as "Aussie Metalhead")

Anyway, thanks for the reply!

Sam"

So that was extremely cool and gracious of Sam, and I'm really starting to think I want to write a non-fiction book about the trio which will include all of the incredible photos, reviews, and emails I've received from fans in the past two and a half years since the inception of this wondrous band. What do you guys think about that idea?

I know I like it!

Enjoy your day, everyone. My family is home; we're going out to buy our Christmas tree and start celebrating the holiday in style. And here's the answer to the question I know you are all dying to ask: Yes, the internationally famous Slick Christmas cookies will start going out in the mail this coming week. I cannot accommodate everyone, but if you want in, shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do. If you were on the list in 2007, please do me a HUGE favor and email me your addresses again. I had the official recipient list all typed up but damn if I can find it. What can I say? It's been one hell of a year.

Oh! One final thing. Cool new You Tube up of the Adrian Belew Power Trio performing at The Basement in Sydney, Australia. Enjoy!



This was posted courtesy of my pal, Gerard, who also sent me some lovely photos which I previously "lifted" and a review which you can read if you scroll down a few posts. I totally forgot to put up a link to his photosite for an amazing, complete set of pics of the trio, so here it is now:

Link!

Oh, and here's the link for the rest of Sam's photos, too.

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio on Tour Down Under and Oh My God I Looked up "Chunder"

So lovely, for the last two weeks I've been thinking how clever am I, using all of these Australian terms lifted from Men at Work lyrics...and I've been throwing the word chunder around like it's something great. Just for the hell of it, I googled it a few seconds ago, expecting to find out it meant something really cool. I was planning on writing another hip little phrase using the word one final time. Instead I wrote this:

Out from the rock she'd climbed under
A writer did blush from her blunder
She'd used words the wrong way
Never meaning to say
It was noble and good to spew chunder.

Yeah, you guessed it. Sad but true.

I just learned chunder means vomit.

Har har. Only me, only me.

Moving on (you can thank me later), yesterday I woke up to some truly great stuff from cyberland which I'll post in a second, but first, here's a photo of Julie, Eric and Andre at the beach in Sydney:



Those lucky bastards. So far this week I've had to walk into town during an at least balmy monsoon (also known as "Robin's hair day from hell") and one day when the temperature was somewhere between, oh, Antarctica and Siberia?

Anyway, enough about me. Here's some stuff on Ade.

This blew me away over at Planet Crimson. Planet Crimson is a lovely forum board for die hard King Crimson fans, so this comment really meant a lot.

"I saw some bloke's trio a couple of nights back. I might write something later. All I can say now is...

YOW!

Frankly, he needs no other band. It's all here.

Oh yeah, and I got him to sign his own leg for me."

Ha ha - I loved that, and the author of the post, Owen, is probably the only person I've ever personally met who knows why we named our daughter Julie. And gets it. Owen? If you are reading this, do that review and I will send you cookies.

And oh, okay, I know the suspense is killing all of you. Why did we name our daughter Julie? Easy. We were/are in love with the music of Julie Tippetts. Back when we were little baby hippies, she was known as "Julie Driscoll" and she was in a band with Brian Auger called "Brian Auger and the Trinity". Look 'em up on You Tube. Oh here, I'll make life easy and do it for you. Tell me she isn't amazing.



Ahhh...that was truly awesome. I hope you all clicked on that and enjoyed it even half as much as I did. And I think Owen may be her biggest fan but I bet my Julie is coming in his close second now.

Hey, I noticed Ade gets a nice mention over at Bowie Down Under.

But not as nice as this - an email to me from a fan who flew from New Zealand to Sydney to see all three ABPT shows in that area!

"Hi, Robin

Steve Mahoney here from Wellington New Zealand.

Robin I am the guy whose post was taken from the Yesfans.com web site. You may remember it starts on your blog as Fccccccccccccccck Me, then continued on.

I just wanted to say to how much respect I have for Julie and Eric your kids. Hey, whenever I talked about the Slicks, Eric and Julie to my friends in Sydney, I would always call them the kids. Only because they are way younger than Adrian Belew.

I saw the 3 Sydney gigs Robin.

It was well worth the trip by plane to see them in Sydney Australia from Wellington, New Zealand .

Your children have a way with people which is just so nice.They were very friendly and respectful of their fans.

I was more than stunned by Eric and Julie's musical talent, Robin, they are an amazing talent.

Robin, it was a real buzz to see my Yesfans post in your blog.

The last gig in Sydney I gave a great review.

The band were on fire.

So were the crowd.

I wish Julie and Eric all the Best for the future because they deserve it.

Merry Xmas to Eric and Julie and you and your husband, Robin".

So naturally after reading that, I had to rush over to the Yesfans forum, where yep, true to his word, Steve posted a stellar review and some great pics:


Photo by Anne, and if you click on the YesFans link, I'm willing to bet she's the gorgeous blonde with the beautiful blue eyes

"Steve's 3rd and Final Adrian Belew Power Trio Review December 2008

Here goes, People.
Slayed tonight by the Adrian Belew Power Trio.
Tonight Lulu Mortice came along with me to tonight's gig.

Here is the Set List

Writing
Ampersand
Young Lions
Beatbox
Matchless Man
MadNeurotica-Cars
I Remember
Elephant Talk
Future Vision
Neurotica
Cat
E
Three Of a Perfect Pair
Back in Black AC/DC
Thela Hun Ginjeet

This was better than the Basement gig a week ago.

Seriously, this is very fans dream when they go on a tour to see there favourite guitarist.

Adrian Belew and Julie and Eric Slick jusr melded together beautifuly tonight. They were having a blast as were the crowd who were so much more into this concert than last nights gig. Julie and Eric were Fizzing.

Julie Slick has to be one of the best bass guitarist in any band playing in world at this time. Julie just seems to almost have 4 hands not two, her fingers just flew over the fret board of her Bass.

Eric Slick is one the Best drummers I have ever seen.

I can see why Adrian as he said tonight had one listen to them and decided, That's it we are on the road. He is very proud of the Slicks, you can tell that.

Adrian is on another Planet, Planet Belewboloid.

Staggering. Frank Zappa had Belew many years ago and then Bowie stole him, then he played in Talking Heads and of course the mighty King Crimson.

The sound was fantastic tonight as well.

Adrian gave it 150% as did Eric and Julie.

If this ends up on Robin Slicks Blog that is ok with me..."

Ha ha - I'm glad it's okay, Steve, because, yes, you made the blog. And not only was it way cool, all of a sudden, I realize the set list includes not only Elephant Talk again (Yay!) but...but...the trio's cover of AC/DC's Back in Black? Oh please oh please oh please, someone post a You Tube!

Actually, I did know that the trio did the cover (though initially I thought it was a one time only thing at the Adelaide Guitar Festival last week during their tribute to AC/DC), because yesterday I also got a series of the usual fascinating and informative emails from Andre, who filled me in.

"Susie is awesome!!!

she is from the popular aussie band FRUIT, and also has a new band REDHEAD

she has toured the states a couple times as well

She was the vocalist for AC/DC's BACK IN BLACK when the ABPT performed it.

We were planning to have me sing it...when we got there we discovered she was paired with the band - no worries! then - I lost my voice for 2 days ANYWAY.

I got it back in time to sing it last night!! Shocking the audience in the encore -- I jumped up and rocked with the trio. So - as Julie said as we walked off "Now you've done EVERYTHING in this band...!!"

hahaha it was fun.

Here's Susie, J & E right before they all went on..."







And here they are at soundcheck:



When Andre sent me the first photo I posted all the way at the top of this journal entry, the one of Julie, Eric, and him at the beach, he had this to say, and I'm editing it because some of it is deeply personal...but here's the gist:

"this was a special memorable day

we all waded in, and your daughter said some touching things about how special the year has been and she really thanked me deeply and sincerely. It really was a great day for us."



Later,
xo