Happy Holidays!!

Yeah, I meant to say happy holidays and not Merry Christmas. I said that to someone today, and she responded with, "I don't want to be politically correct, "Merry Christmas." Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, you know... the usual suspects in the neo-conservative nazi party of america, talking heads for the sorriest administration we've had in this country since Warren G. Harding (actually, I don't know if he was a bad President, but I'm on a roll) have created ANOTHER distraction called "the war on Christmas." Their premise is that secular humanists, liberals, non-christians and Jews are scheming to take the Christ out of Christmas. These blow hard apologists for the Bush/Cheney juggernaut that has taken this country from record surplusses to record deficits, from years of relative peace to perpetual war, from good relations with other countries to open hostility, from gains in protecting the environment to unspeakable giveaways to the worst polluters, from reductions in poverty to a wider gap than ever between rich and poor...these right wing pseudo christian bigots are so full of hate and fear they see a conspiracy on the door of every refrigerator. Since they don't want to focus on what is in front of all of our noses, the insane amount of money it takes to support this stupid war, the fact that Frist, Delay, Libby, Abramoff and several other prominent repulicans are under indictment or worse, the fact that the conservatives got their asses kicked this week on ANWR, the Patriot Act and the "Reverse Robinhood Budget,"...they deflect and conjure up a bogus conspiracy that is really just a poorly veiled batch of anti-semitism and religious intolerance dressed up in tinsel and garland.
The mood in this country is shifting, and I am looking forward to the day when O'Reilly and the rest of them are off the air because noone wants to hear their hatred spewed upon them anymore. That day is coming, as is the day when a spirit of decency, cooperation, fiscal discipline, fairness, environmental stewardship, economic equality, religious freedom, support of workers rights and partnership with the rest of the world community returns to this fine nation. Until then, I refuse to participate in this fiasco called Christmas that is really just a bunch of corporate hype designed to stress people out and push them farther into debt. I haven't bought one Christmas present, and my sweetie and I are going up to Mount Rainier to spend a few nights in the wilderness, where God speaks, if we are listening, every day. So happy holidays to you and yours. Let's pray for peace and sanity and a return to decency in this country. Let's face it, 2005 was fucked up, but we can do better!!

Remembering John Lennon

25 years ago today, John Lennon was murdered by an insane fan, supposedly enraged by his perception that the former Beattle had "sold out." I was attending the University of Nevada Reno, working in Lincoln Hall as a Resident Assistant, when the announcement came over the radio in my room, "John Lennon has been shot, he was pronounced dead on arrival." I remember going outside and finding people gathering together, crying, holding each other. I felt as if a piece of me had been stolen, that's how strongly I identified with John Lennon. I called the only person I could think of who loved Lennon more than I did, my brother John. He answered the phone "John is dead." We consoled each other, although neither one of us could find even a semblance of a silver lining. To this day I can't. I do know this, John Lennon was one of the most amazing song writers in history, and he will always be dear to me.

Alex

This is Alex, my daughter. She will be 17 years old in a week. She is a very talented visual artist, kind to animals and her younger brother, an up and coming guitar player and a gifted writer. I am so grateful that she is in my life. She's wearing an "Anomaly Records" hat and she is standing in front of my bad, 1982 Toyota Corolla station wagon. Yes, that is a Peace flag.

Mayor Gridlock

Here is our mayor, who only this month was heralded by Rolling Stone magazine as an environmental trailblazer for his work to fight global warming. A couple of weeks ago, he made sure that there will be hundreds of thousands of stinking, polluting cars gridlocked on Seattle's freeways for years to come. The mayor and the rest of the City Council blundered their oversight of the monorail project, then scuttled the whole thing by bad mouthing it to the press and forcing the people to vote a FIFTH time for it. From now on and for ever, I will refer to him as mayor Gridlock.

First Audio Blog

Strange news

Last night, I closed one of my posts with the question "do you smell cars burning?" I'm not advocating violence. I don't think it solves anything, and I believe the violence being done by the young men in France has as much to do with an absence of positive initiation experiences for young adults as it does with alienation and being disenfranchised. That being said, Bill O'Reilley and the rest of the republican mouth peices on Fox "Doublespeak" (to call it news is an insult to journalism) ought to be careful about pointing fingers at France and calling it a failed experiment in socialism. We have plenty of folks who are one 48 ouncer away from burning cars in neighborhoods that aren't a lot nicer than the government housing projects in France. A case in point is an act of arson that occured this last week in West Seattle, in a neighborhood called White Center. Some one decide to, you guessed it, light a car on fire. Hmmm... Was this a random act of violence or the beginning of a revolution? Time will tell.

I saw the line

The new movie about Jonny Cash, "I Walk the Line," is outstanding. I just read the review of the movie in The Stranger for this week, and I think the critic must have been a "Hootie and the Blowfish" fan. T-Bone Burnett put the music together, and Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did their own vocals. I guess that is the standard after Jaime Fox nailed "Ray." If you are a musician, go see this movie. Hell, go see it if you aren't. The scene where Johnny plays Fulsom Prison blues for a young Sam Phillips is amazing, and the concert scenes made me feel like I was right there watching it, except nothing you heard back then had the kind of fidelity the movie was recorded with. So, it's kind of like eavesdropping on an earlier time, only with better sound. I saw a sneak preview of the movie last night, and I think I might go to opening night this weekend.

I don't feel any safer, in fact...

I was standing in line at my favorite Indian/Pakistani lunch place the other day, and a middle eastern gentleman shot me a nervous glance. On another day, in another time, I might have overlooked it, but it is today, and war is being waged in our names by a group of religious zealots that failed to plan what to do if the people of Iraq did not meet us with open arms. Three years later, more than 2000 American soldiers have died, with countless Iraqi civilian casualties, many of them women and children. While Vice President "Himmler" lobbies the congress for the authority to abuse detainees, we are creating entire generations of islamic terrorists, trained to give their lives for what they perceive to be a holy cause. No, President kill-again, I don't feel safer, and I won't until you and every last one of your bigoted, narrowminded zealot cronies are safe behind bars, where you belong. I feel shameful for assuming that the man standing in line ahead of me in a turban may be planning to kill himself and take me and 25 others in the restaurant with him. But the greatest shame goes to the crew in Washingtion that exploited the good will of the planet after the attacks of 9/11 and exploited this nation's fear to satiate their lust for oil and profit in a land that posed no threat to us whatsoever. Hundreds of billions of dollars later, American's who have been made homeless by the hurricanes this season are facing evictions from the squalid "fema-camps" they have been living in, while the republican-controlled government plans another tax cut for the wealthiest. Meanwhile, fresh science on global warming states the obvious, the planet is getting warmer and this is causing weather changes, like more ferocious hurricanes in the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. What is that smell? Are there cars burning?

It's October of 2005

Fall is here, ready or not. I love the Puget Sound, but I always feel a little shudder go through my body this time of year, thinking of the long dark winter ahead.
Nancy J and I spent a week in Austin Texas at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. If you love live music, I recommend the event. We saw Wilco, Coldplay, Dave Alvin, Spoon, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Death Cab for Cutie, the John Spencer Trio and others. The event is coordinated almost entirely by volunteers, and I was amazed at how well it was laid out logistically, never a line for food, water, bathroom, transportation. The one thing the organizers had not planned for very well was 108 degree weather and no rain for weeks preceeding the event. The dust storm kicked up by 65,000 happy listeners on the last day saw people grabbing whatever they could fix for a bandana and wrapping it around their noses and mouths to keep the dust from clogging their lungs.
I came back from Austin in a bit of a funk and I am not immediately sure why. Partly it is that I really don't love my job anymore, but there seems to be more. I think it is the realization that I'm not anchored in Seattle as firmly as I have been and that I have the opportunity to be around family in a city that I might like even more than this one. For now I'm just breathing and taking small steps, testing the waters of change and uncertainty and adventure once again to see if I am brave enough or crazy enough to wade in again.

They are wrong for that

I picked up the New York times yesterday, Monday, August 29th. There was a story in the international section with a bi-line that read "PROCUREMENT." The story was about Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, a black female who was a career civil servant, working for the Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Greenhouse was demoted in her position for doing what the taxpayers pay her to do, making sure that the government was getting what it paid for. She raised objections to a 7 BILLION dollar no bid contract that was awarded to Haliburton subsidiary Kellog, Brown and Root. Her argument was that, if the contract was being awarded without competition because of the urgency of the war, then it made sense for the contract to be of shorter duration as well. This sounds logical, but it cost her her rank in the federal service. Ms. Greenhouse, who is a true patriot in my eyes, called a $165 million dollar contract awarded to KB&R for logistical support in the balkans without competition "the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed in the course of my professional career." She also said that the defense secretary's office had improperly interfered in the awarding of the contract. If you don't know what's going on here, I'll break it down to you. When I was a procurement specialist with Job Corps, I signed a conflict of interest statement every time I sat on a panel. Since Job Corps contracts are competitively bid, I would be fired on the spot (and I should have been) if I had made my decisions based upon interests I had in a company that was bidding on the project. For instance, if I had a friend who ran a company that runs Job Corps centers (and I have several) it would be completely unethical for me to use my influence to help that person secure the contract, or to be swayed in my decision making because I had a relationship with that person, or worse, something to gain financially by helping him/her out. When we were attacked on September 11th, 2001, the Bush administration started exploiting opportunities to help their friends and financial supporters get rich. A big chunk of the BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars that is being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan is being done on a no-bid, non-competitive basis. We've seen the effect of these contracts over there, with Haliburton getting caught overcharging for fuel, food, etc. So the companies are given these huge contracts to provide a service, then they rip the country off in the process of providing that service. If you are not mad, you are really not paying attention. WAKE UP!

It's been a while

since I posted here. I've had my "issues" with this blog. I tend to get fairly personal, and from time to time I question whether that is worth the trouble that it can cause. Then a part of me says, if I am trying to be truthful and talk about what is going on with me, what harm could come from that? I'll continue to sort it out and post any "aha!" experiences right here.
My life is very full now. I have some say in that, there are activities that are optional, meaning, pretty much all of them. I choose to go to work because I don't know how I would pay my bills if I didn't, but that in itself is not a very good reason. I'm active in a couple of fellowships that help me stay sane and balanced, therefore, these activtities seem like necessities rather than luxuories. I'm involved with a young woman that I love to spend time with, and, if it is a luxory, it's one I am grateful to have. I spend several hours a week working out to be able to keep my body in decent shape. Do I need to do that? The answer is no, but I am pretty miserable when I'm not getting my endorphins from working out, and, I am concerned with how I look, so I feel better when I am in shape. I've been putting a lot of time into practicing the bass guitar and recording new songs with my Experience Songwriting Project partners. This too may seem frivilous, but I get so much enjoyment out of it, I can't imagine life without it. So, my dilema is, I've gotten myself involved in more things than I can really do, but I am hesitant to unload any of them, because they are all, with the exception of work, dear to me. I don't feel terminally unique in wrestling with these problems, and I can think of about 1000 problems that would be more of a drag than having too many things I love to do and too little time to do them. I feel better having stated the situation. If I keep breathing, take whatever actions seems appropriate and stay on the path, the outcome will be revealed, and it could be better than anything my little mind could dream up.

So little to do, so much time

No, strike that, reverse it. (If you saw the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder, you'll remember that line). Nan and I watched "Two Cow Garage," "Grand Champeen" and "The Radio Nationals" last night at the Sunset. Two Cow Garage ruled, as they did last time I saw them. This trio from Columbus Ohio plays country music like it should be played, loud and dirty. The Radio Nationals are calling it quits, and that is going to leave a gap in this town's alt-country scene. I so want to put a band together, but can't imagine finding the time. No worries. I have really been blessed the last several years. If I keep trying to be a decent person, working hard, staying clean, I believe better things will happen to me than I can probably imagine. That's been my experience so far. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying playing acoustic gigs, getting more and more confident on the bass, collaborating with the ESP group on a new recording, etc. It's all good.

First recording session

Ben Wah, Will, Kelly K and I got together yesterday at Kelly's studio in Shoreline. I was having trouble hearing myself in the headphones, and I'm not thrilled with my bass line, but I'll get another shot at it this weekend. I am thrilled to be working with this group again. I really like the laid back vibe and the way people are coming together and supporting one another. Next week Vickie A, Tracy and maybe Kelly B will join us to wrap up song number 1. My daughter Alex is in town, a budding guitar player, and she seemed to enjoy herself at the studio, watching us knuckleheads try to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

The Experience Songwriting Project (ESP) lives!

In May I wrapped up a nine month certificate program co-sponsored by the EMP and the University of Washington Extension College. The program was taught by three prominant Seattle musicians, each offering their own take on the art of tune-smithing. Sean Nelson, lead singer for Harvey Danger and writer for the Stranger, took the helm the first semester, the introductory course, where we broke down songs by their basic components, chorus, verse, bridge, etc. Sean researched his lectures well, and his delivery was awesome. He also had a real flair for picking up on the direction the class was leaning and letting the students go that way. Second semester brought Carrie Akre of Hammerbox, Goodness and a flourishing solo career. Carrie was brought in at the eleventh hour, but she looked like she'd been doing it all her life. She helped us focus on claiming our artistic selves, developing a habit and a practice of writing regularly. We wrapped up semester two with a late night gig at Hattie's Hat. Third and final semester brought Jon Auer of Posies fame. This semester was devoted to production, and Jon worked with each of the lucky 13 who had stuck it out, producing our songs and helping us record them at Glenn Sound and at various other local studios. He helped the class put together an excellent CD, which we named the Experience Songwriting project, and the experience wrapped up on May 25 at a gig at the Science Fiction stage at the EMP.
Boy, what a long introduction to get what I wanted to talk about, which is that the ESP group has continued to collaborate. We are meeting for the next two Wednesdays at Kelly Krisjanson's studio to begin work on the next album. We're recording one of Will Morgan's songs as an ensemble. We also have a gig scheduled for August 19th, a Friday, at the Flying Lion Cafe in West Seattle. It's looking to be an excellent summer.

Greenlake Almost Free Music Hall

I played a new venue on Saturday nigh. The former Presbyterian Church on NE Ravenna, now operated by the Presbyterian Counseling Services, has opened it's doors as a music venue, and I was lucky enough to be one of the ones to kick it off. Ned Olsen's son opened up, followed by Mike Kerrick and the Happy Pappy Band. I finished the night off with a good set, although I was a complete spaz with harmonica and capo changes. The venue has potential, and I look forward to returning, both as a performer and a listener.
I went to see Billy Corgan at the Moore on Monday night with Nancy. My friend Bjorn has worked for Billy for years, and he was providing IT support on this tour, which was very "hard-drive" dependent. I think the album "The Future Embrace" is brave. Artists who depart from their formula often get attacked by their loyal fans and often by the industry itself, which leans heavily toward conformity. The album strikes a strange balance between melancholy and hopefulness that I find intriguing and sweet. Billy C announced to the crowd that he was putting the Pumpkins back together, and the result was thunderous applause.
Kelly Krisjanson from the Experience Songwriting Project is putting together a recording session for the next two weeks at his home studio. The first song we work on will be one of Will Morgan's. I'm pretty excited about collaborating with this group some more.

Karl Rove is Bush's Achille's Heel

In the Greek tragedy written by Homer, Achille's is unstoppable until Hector shoots an arrow at his one vulnerable spot, his heel. As the investigation continues into Karl Rove's involvement in outing an undercover CIA agent, it looks like the Bush administration's own hubris will be it's undoing, a theory (and hope) I've had for some time. Here are the facts. Joe Wilson, former U.S. ambassador to Africa, wrote an article critical of the Bush administration's claims that weapons grade uranium had been smuggled in from Niger. History shows us that Wilson was right. The nuclear threat claim was based on a falsified memo that noone but the White House chose to take seriously. The Bush administration, led, as always, by mastermind Karl Rove, wasn't looking for the truth back in 2003. They had been planning to go to war long before the charade in front of the UN and Colin Powell's famous Power Point show. The Downing Street memos, recently released minutes of top secret meetings of the British cabinet, show that the Bushies had a flimsy case for Iraq being a threat and were "dummying up intelligence reports to suit their aims." So when Wilson's article comes out, Karl Rove retaliates, as he is known to do. But this time, he made a serious miscalculation. Valerie Plame, wife of ambassador Wilson, was an undercover CIA agent working on tracking down weapons of mass distrucion world wide. In other words, Rove's leaking the information to a NY times reporter that Joe Wilson's wife was a CIA agent put many people at risk, operatives Ms. Plame had been working with, members of the front company that had been set up to mask Ms. Plames work and others associated with her work. So Karl Rove outs this CIA agent and then lies under oath to the Congress and the American people about his involvement. He is a crook and a liar and a traitor to this country. He violated his oath of office and his top secret security clearance. He should be removed from his position, banned from public office for life and prosecuted as a traitor and a war criminal for his involvement in the lies and manipulations that were used to get this country to go to war. This administration is the filthiest, most corrupt, arrogant, misguided bunch of theocratic war mongers we've seen in 100 years. Rove needs to go, then Cheny, Rumsfeld, W, the whole lot. They all should be removed from office and brought up on charges for repeatedly placing the best interests of themselves and their political cronies ahead of the good of the country. Can I hear an Amen?

I think I'm getting pretty good at this

Last weekend was dope. I picked up a ticket to see John Doe and Lucinda Williams at the new Summer Nights venue, South Lake Union. I prefer this venue to the pier, personally. John Doe was awesome. He alternated between acoustic and electric guitar, doing songs off his solo albums and reaching back for an X tune or two. He did a Dave Alvin song called "Fourth of July," and it brought tears to my eyes as I sang along. Here are the lyrics:
"She gives me her cheek when I want her lips, but I don't have the strength to fight it. On the lost side of town, in a dark apartment, we gave up trying so long ago..."
Anyway, John Doe is the shit, and I can't wait to get his new album, which is getting rave reviews.

Lucinda looked and sounded great. She looked like she was having a genuinely good time. She made a comment at one point about how much she was touched by the crowd's reaction to her songs. Good for Seattle. She said she had written 23 new songs, and she tried a few of them out. My favorite two were in true Lucinda Williams form, one a lament about a lover who couldn't stay out of jail and the other a rail about a boastful man who can't get her motor running. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was sober, but it sure hasn't diminished her muse.

I recorded a Michael Clark song called "Los Alamos Blues" on Saturday. Dylan Fant, owner of 1Shot Studio recorded it for free as a promotion for the studio. We laid down a guitar track, then lead vocal, then a harmony track and finally a short harmonica solo. I was mixed, mastered and out the door in three hours, and I didn't feel rushed. The young man knows what he is doing, and I am thrilled with the finished product. Now I just need to put this little solo project together, while I am still "among the quick."

I have a little gig at the Celtic Bayou, a cajun/irish place, which is pretty funny, cause I'm half cajun and half irish. Nancy and I are going to go have dinner (anyone care for Shepard's Jambalaya?) and then I play a 30 minute set at 11:00.
I'm not sure if it's the confidence I gained while taking the EMP class, 25 years of experience catching up on me, the fact that I am playing pretty much constantly or just "clean living," but I am feeling like I can pretty much shred through anything I play right now. Whatever it is, it doesn't suck.

Meanwhile, across the world, our young men and women keep dying for a lie and a ruse. Is anybody else out there getting pissed?

Thank you Ms. Auer for being the first person to comment on this blog. I'm glad your benefit for the school went well.

If others are reading this, send me a comment, ok? I won't bite.

Jon Auer and Me

Jon Auer and Me
Posted by: podman.

This is a picture of the CD release party at the Science Fiction Museum at the
Experience Music Project, May 25, 2005. Yes, I was pretty excited to have a musical idol sing and play guitar with me on one of MY songs. He produced my song on the ESP album and laid down one of the sweetest vocal harmonies in history. If you are a song-writer and you want to boost your skills, take the EMP-UW songwriting certificate program. It made a believer out of me.

Spoon rocketh my world

Nancy and I caught the Spoon show at the Showbox on Saturday night. Britt Daniels and crew came to play. The sound was flawless, and the songs carried the night, no need for a lot of head bobbing or stage theatrics. The crowd was mesmorized by the powerful lyrics, great musician-ship, infectious grooves and Austin laid back charm. Buy any spoon album you can find, put your headphones on, turn it up and smile.

The horror

Well, the truth finally came out about Terry Schiavo. The autopsy revealed that she was in a persistent vegetative state, had been for some time, that her brain was basically liquid. All those right wing pundits, the Sean Hannity's, Pat Robertson's, that sicko Randall Terry, they should be taken out and beaten for the damage they have done to the Schiavo family, for giving them false hope, for getting involved with something that was clearly NONE OF THEIR FRICKING BUSINESS! As far as the political hacks that got involved, Carl Rove, W, Tom Delay, beating is too easy, they should be in jail, pure and simple. They represent everything that is wrong with this country today, the hipocrasy, shrouded in religion, based in pure greed and hate that is a blight upon this once great nation. Check out Randi Rhodes link on air america for a good rant about these phonies and just how much damage they have done. Why isn't the autopsy a front page story? Come on, you know the answer.

Tuesday thoughts

I stayed home from work with a cold, lots of naps, movies, too much time to think. I saw W fielding questions from the Washington Press Corps. What a bunch of spineless ninnies! Not one of them asked "Mr. President, if our goal was to liberate Iraq, why haven't the rights to the oil fields been turned over to the Iraqi government?" Or,"Do you think the fact that U.S. companies, many with close ties to your administration, are reaping huge profits from the continuing struggle in Iraq may have anything to do with the growing insurgency?" Here's a good one, "North Korea had nuclear weapons at the time we attacked Iraq, how is it that your administration believed Iraq to be the more imminent threat? Do you still believe Iraq was more dangerous than North Korea?"
It's hard for me to watch him. "Air America" radio interviewed one of his former instructors at Harvard Business School. They asked this brilliant scholar what kind of student W was. The teacher said that he has taught there for over 30 years, and he can't possibly remember all of his students. He said he does remember W, because he was, and this is a quote "a patholigical liar." That figures. Anyway, Nancy and I saw young people putting up fake military recruitment posters in Capital Hill this week that showed the number of Americans killed (1600+) and wounded (27,000+) in Iraq so far. If the young people get involved, we can end this insanity. For my part, a massive anti-war rally is planned for D.C. in September, and I'll be there. Peace.

Tom in Reno during a flood

Posted by: podman.

What a night!

Last night was the graduation ceremony, CD release party and performance for the "Experience Songwriting Project," a joint venture between the Experience Music Project and the University of Washington's Extension Program. I've been involved with this thing for nine months now, and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. 22 original members whittled down to 13, but that group became, as Jon Auer described so eloquently last night a "community." I should have been exhausted last night from lack of sleep and sheer exertion, but the adrenaline carried me through. I met Nancy at the Liquid Lounge at about 4:30 p.m. She is grieving the loss of a dear friend who perished on mount Ranier just days ago, and she welcomed the break from all that. We headed up to the Science Fiction Museum at 5:30 and started setting up. The sound and logistics guys at EMP were great. I set up my Guild through the Trace Elliot amp, wired "pre-eq" so the sound guy could have his way with it. I hooked up the Fender Precision bass to a direct box for Jon to play, then I laid out the back and seat of his Producer's chair for the class to sign. Jerry started off with a very nice version of "This Cup," the title track to the CD, with Tracy doing some nice harmonies. Before I knew it, I was up, and I opened with "Unravel," to an appreciative crowd. Jon joined me with Kelly K's guitar for "Dreamline Alligator Revisited," and I have to say it is probably the highlight of my entire career, getting to play that song with one of my musical idols on stage in front of an adoring crowd. The rest of the evening was a blur, but everyone performed well. Especially worth noting were Ethan's two songs and Kelly Blackwood, who performed a sweet little set. Before Tracy's performance, I took the microphone and presented the producer's chair to Jon, who was genuinely touched. After Tracy, Sean Nelson said "all star jam," so the entire group, including Carrie, Sean and Jon stormed the stage for a very loose and often hilarious rendition of the "never ending 12 bar blues in G." It was a magic evening and the perfect culmination of the experience of a lifetime. I was grateful to be alive, to be sober, to be able to pursue my talent, to be surrounded with such loving and respectful people, to be part of something that is good and true in this crazy, mixed-up world. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures to either my website or this blog, I will share some from last night. Cheers!

Wrapping it up at the Experience Songwriting Project

Wednesday is the free show at the EMP for my song-writing class. It's also our CD release party. I went to see Jon Auer at the Summit School benefit on Friday night, and he seemed to be more relaxed now that the CD is at Discmakers. I'm really going to miss this class. It is going to be strange not going to the EMP every Wednesday night. I'm also going to miss having access to world class artists like Sean Nelson, Carrie Akre and Jon Auer. I am very grateful to have had this experience, and I do believe I have grown as an artist.

Lance Letscher

My cousin Mary Frasher, herself a very talented artist, married a quiet, humble man named Lance Letscher. After 20 years of hard work, Lance's work is being discovered by the art world, and I am thrilled for him, for Mary, and for Lance's fine boys, Gabriel and Jonathon. We went to his opening at the Grover Thurston gallery tonight, and Lance was very gratified that the people he talked to who expressed interest in his pieces seemed to have genuine insight into what he was attempting to do. He sold several, which is somewhat unusual for the first show in a major city. It shows that Seattle is a fairly sophisticated art town, as Lance has sold out shows in Barcelona, Munich, New York City, and throughout his home state of Texas. Nancy James joined us for a fine dinner at Marco's. Tomorrow we do the EMP, then they'll stay with me at my West Seattle pad before returning to Austin. I am thrilled that the show is doing well, because that will bring two of my favorite people, and the only family member that really "gets" me, back to Seattle. I love them both!

Random Thoughts

Mixing went very well at Glenn Sound. Watching Glenn and Jon produce a recording is like watching Tom Delay create a lie. They truly are master's, no pun intended. It is humbling for a singer to hear his vocal isolated, with no reverb, no guitar to back him, just a lonely, weak sounding voice, unsupported, faint, ok, you get the picture... I had to leave the room. I'm pretty secure, but I also admit that my vocal intonation is not perfect. When I wrap up the EMP class, I am going to hook up with David Kyle and see if he can do for me what he did for Chris Cornel, Nancy Wilson, etc. He lives and works right down the road from me on Beach Drive. Anyway, we decided to leave the lead vocal fairly dry and reverb-out Jon's backing vocal. I think it turned out fairly "dope." Glenn worked his mojo on a guitar buzz he didn't like cause by improperly place microphones (the recording class is learning too) and then he ran one errant note of mine through a machine that corrects the pitch. After I took a razzing for doing a "Rob Thomas" on it, we moved on. It's just one word "that." See if you can hear it when you listen to the song.
I'm basically as happy as a guy can possibly be who still works for a living. Tom-out.

Fun Stuff

I just returned from Glenn Sound studio, where I recorded a song with the students from UW's sound recording program. Jon Auer was there to add his layed back production skills to the process. I don't know if I've ever met a more gracious man. Through the magic of pro tools, we used half of one take and half of another to come up with a good rendition of "Dream-line Alligator." I used Steven's Larrivee guitar, because I really liked the tone it had with new strings on it. Since we only had two hours, we used the last half hour for Jon to lay down some SWEET harmonies. Since others in the class have been slow to respond to calls for recording session sign-ups, we may be mixing as early as this Thursday. Once again, I want to say how appreciative I am of EMP and the UW Extension college for offering this kick ass class. I'm having a ball.

Road Trip

Nancy and I had a nice time on the coast. We stayed at a place called the Lake Quinalt Resort. The cabins are quaint, with lots of privacy and awesome views of the lake. We spent the weekend hiking through the rainforest, seeing trees that were 400 to 900 YEARS OLD! W and the rest of the "conservatives" that continue to wage war on our old growth forests should watch the Tolkein trilogy. I had the sense while walking among the giants in the Olympic rain forest that Carl Rove and Dick Cheney would be squashed like bugs if they ever wandered in there, or maybe that is just my fantasy. When we weren't hiking we were playing cards, watching movies, reading and playing with the cats and dogs that live at the resort. My favorite was Alexandra (of course), a kitten who had been crowned "queen of the north shore" by the resort owner.
Saturday night, we went to the Internet Cafe in Amanda Park. Word had spread that we were in town and that I was a song-writer, so we were treated like royalty when we got there. I sat in with a very fun blue-grass band, then played a short, three song set. I opened with "It's On," followed by "Dreamline Alligator." Finally, in tribute to Neil Young, who recently had a brain anurism, I played "Needle and the Damage Done." The crowd was very receptive. In fact, you could hear a pin drop by the time I began the second song. I'm pleased that Dreamline has come together so well (thanks to Nancy Lou and Jon Auer) as I have the opportunity to record it at Glenn Sound Studios on Tuesday. I'm stoked.

Late night thoughts

I need to sleep, but I thought I'd post a quick note, as I will be on the road for a few days. Nancy and I are going to the coast, and I am pretty excited. I've been keeping my cat Foli inside, because she keeps eating something outside that makes her throw up her food. I have a feeling tonight is going to be a test of wills, because she has been inside for two days solid. I just heard a song on the new Kathleen Edwards album called "Old Time Sake." I feel sad everytime I hear it. It's amazing how certain songs can capture moments or feelings like hardly anything else can.
I had a private session with Jon Auer tonight, in which he gave me feedback on the song I will record next Tuesday at Glenn Sound. I'm very excited to be getting production notes from someone I respect as much as Jon. God bless him, Carrie and Sean for donating their time to this EMP/UW Song-writers forum. They are payed very little for the time they have given. Jon is even going to be at the recording session next Tuesday, and he volunteered to sing harmony on my song, which is titled "Dreamline Alligator Revisited." I said, "wait, let me think about that one, do I want the guy who wrote my favorite pop song of all time "I Can Dream All Day," to sing with me on my recording, YEAH!" The song is a tribute to Michael Clark, and I am pretty happy with it. Maybe KTHX in Reno will air it for any of the Boston Wrangler/Good Sam & the RV/Viron fans that might still be there.
Republicans killed Patty Murray's amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would have given returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan benefits like mental health counseling for PTSD. The bloodsuckers voted against it, because it doesn't line their filthy pockets any. If there is a hell, Tom Delay and the rest of that brood will surely burn in eternity for what they are doing to this country.

Is this what it felt like to live in Nazi Germany?

I don't know if listening to "Air America" radio is good for me. If you live in Seattle, you can find it at AM 1090. If you live anywhere else, you might have a station in your city that carries it or you can stream it on-line. I'll have a link to the station at my website, www.tom-tunes.com soon. Anyway, I was listening to the confirmation hearings for John Negroponte today, and they made my stomach turn. Negroponte has been linked closely to death squads in Honduras during the 1980's. He most certainly knew about the torture and abuse that was happening in Iraq to prisoners in U.S. custody. This guy has more blood on his hands than Jeffrey Dahmer, yet noone in the so-called liberal Democratic party (with the exception of Barbara Boxer) had the guts to stand up and call him what he is, an accessory to murder, kidnapping, torture and abuse.
I spent last week in a meeting with 50 or so dedicated employees of the Job Corps program. I've been involved in the Job Corps program for 15 years, and I have watched it change young people's lives. The program, which has been around for over 40 years, helps 50,000 young adults transition from unskilled welfare recipients to skilled, confident tax-paying workers, and it costs only a billion dollars a year to run. Mathematica, an independent auditing firm hired to study the program, concluded in it's longitudinal study that for every dollar spent on the Job Corps Program, $2.02 was returned to the economy. In other words, the program not only pays for itself, it brings in revenues equivilent to twice the original cost of the program. This is a conservative statistic, which does not even take into account the savings to society of helping thousands of young people stay out of jail, where the average inmate costs each taxpayer somewhere in the vicinity of $40,000 per year. Meanwhile, the estimated cost of this war is ONE BILLION DOLLARS PER MONTH! We're spending one billion smackers per month on a war that WASN'T EVEN NECESSARY. Every report released since the war started shows that the country had no weapons of mass destruction, meaning the rhetoric leading up to the war was a PACK OF LIES! Sometimes I don't know how much of this I can take.
The prisons in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan are CONCENTRATION CAMPS! When are people going to be outraged? When is this torture, abuse, neglect and humiliation, being done with our tax dollars, going to be brought to an end? If you aren't getting mad by now, don't worry about it, you are completely fucking unconcious.

Drive By Truckers

I saw the DBT's at the Filmore on Saturday night. They are a band that sounds better live than on their records, and they came out smoking. I guess they had hired a management company from the Bay area three years ago and set as one of their goals a gig at the Filmore. Saturday night was a celebration of their achievment, and the band christened the event by swilling Jack Daniels out of a bottle. I'm not sure if this is typical of any DBT show, but all three guitar players turned up their marshall and fender amps until the fuzz was so thick you could cut it with a trenching tool. The entire Pacific Heights neighborhood experienced a brown out, as the band sucked up two thirds of all available power from the grid. It was messy, but noone dared to complain. Trapped between an increasingly beligerant band and large, inebriated swaying goliaths in the crowd, those of us who were reasonably sober backed toward the door like George Clooney in "From Dusk til Dawn." The blood suckers remained to feast on one another's flesh and pass out in their own excrement.

As I was passing through the shake down that accompanies air travel these days, I was horrified to see three wheelchair-bound elderly women being manhandled in public by drooling male goons from the Transportation Safety Administration. Since wheelchairs are made of metal, they push old people through the sensors, then subject them to the most humiliating invasion of privacy I have witnessed since an ex let herself into my house and screened my answering machine messages. Risking arrest and being labled a terrorist, I yelled "that's enough for Christsake, she's 80 years old," as a TSA employee with a striking resemblence to a young hispanic Willem Dafoe ran his hands up and down one of the horrified ladies support-hosed thighs looking for a thermonuclear device. I know we all have to make sacrafices in this age of increased global tension, but let's put our heads together and figure out a way to get people in wheelchairs through the security screen short of a fricking strip-search. That is all.

I miss the Pope too

I'm a recovering Catholic. I don't go to church anymore, and I don't plan to start anytime soon. I have a deep and very personal relationship with my higher power, and I don't feel a need to be a part of a huge machine, run by old men who make up rules about how people live their lives. I will say that, although I didn't always agree with this pope, I admired the little man from Poland. He stayed true to his convictions. I heard Mike Malloy on "Air America" (am 1090 if you are in Seattle) say that this pope had more to do with the end of the cold war than that simple, senile old fascist Ronnie Rayguns. Pope John Paul weighed in consistently on the right side of a majority of human rights issues, including strong opposition to this fucked up war we are in now. He summoned U.S. Cardinals to Rome in April 2002, telling them that "there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young." (USA Today, April 5, 2005). Like others, I wish he had gone further. I wish he had launched a full-scale investigation into who in the Catholic hierarchy knew about these predator priests and did nothing to stop them from abusing again. Anyone who was complicit should have been sacked immediately. I believe that strong action to scour the church of scum who would knowingly transfer a priest convicted of abusing would have won back some of the church's lost credibility. That being said, I acknowledge that life does not always go the way I want it to and that I, like everyone else including the Pope, lack perfect knowledge. He was, after all, in the end, merely a man.

I had dinner tonight with Ronda, an ex-girlfriend. We talked about who we were dating, laughed about politics and family stuff. It was nice. It is not always possible to make the transition from lover to friend, but we have been able to do it. It feels grown up. What a concept.

San Francisco

I'm staying at the Marriot, attending my last conference for Job Corps. I have mixed feelings, mostly relief at being able to stay in Seattle and finding meaningful interesting work. I'm also relieved to get out of the system before things start to deteriorate. I fear for what the future brings with so many experienced people leaving the Job Corps system. The reorganization of ETA has been a disaster, and I am glad I don't have to stick around to see the damage it will cause for the program over the long term.

Nancy James, my new sweetie, is caring for Foli while I am gone. Nancy and I met through our mutual love for music, and I am very happy we did. She is very attractive, smart as a whip, hard working, kind, and screamingly funny. God was smiling on me the day we met. We are going to the Olympic penisula next week for a little R&R before I start my new job.

That's all for now.

Coming Clean

If you've visited this blog before, you might notice that some of the posts are missing. An old friend from College "googled" me and found my website. He read the blog, then contacted my brother and told him he agreed with me on the issue of Terry Schiavo. My brother read the blog, and he was understandably hurt by the words I had written. I sent my brother an apology in email form, then removed the posts that had been judgemental and cruel toward him. I didn't do it because I agree any more now than before with him on the right people have to meddle in other's affairs. I deleted them because I had asked him to keep our debate between ourselves, then I proceeded to publish it to the world. That wasn't right.

I wish I had stopped at the email. I called and left a message with my niece, and Stephan called me back tonight. Instead of just sticking to my ammends, I attacked him for his religious beliefs. I realized tonight that I need to do quite a bit of work to clean up my side of the street. I have divorced myself from the Catholic church, and I have found a spiritual path that works for me, but that doesn't give me the right to judge someone else because he or she believes in that church and is zealous about their faith. I need to find a way to forgive the Catholic Church. I need to do the same thing for the Bush
Administration. I'm not talking about agreeing with everything they represent. I'm talking about turning that anger into compassion and spending my time envisioning the best possible life and spiritual path for every elder in the Catholic church and for W himself. I was pretty sick when I got off the phone with my brother, but I think this had to happen to kickstart my process of reconciliation with my family and with some big institutions.

I'm on my way to San Francisco for my last trip as a Job Corps Project Manager. I am going out to Santa Cruz on Friday to visit with Chris Samuels and his lovely family. I've yet to meet the new baby, and I am excited about that. I have tickets for the "Drive by Truckers" on Saturday night at the Filmore. I also plan to visit my old yoga instructor Amber at the "Funky Door" in Berkely. It should be a fun week. Hopefully I can keep my mouth shut next time I have a strong opinion about someone's religious beliefs. It is none of my business!

I'm grateful that I get to get up tomorrow and try my best again. Life is an amazing gift!

Ghosts from the Past

A friend and I made the trek to Whidbey Island last night to see David Ossman, original cast member of Firesign Theatre in a production of "Don't Crush that Dwarf, Hand me the Pliers." It was a riot. I grew up listening to Firesign on records, and it was very engaging to see this story and one other done on stage. The actress that both Steve and I could not peal our eyes away from was Deana Duncan, a Langley local. It took me most of the show to realize that she was the same Deana Duncan that I had known in Reno Nevada 20 years ago. She was a well-established actor then, and I had a rather large crush on her. I dabbled in theater, so I showed up at an audition for Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love" and tried out for the lead. The director put Deana and I together for a scene during the audition, and in the course of reading some of the material, we ended up getting a little physical. I remember it being sort of sureal, but most of my intermitent acting experiences felt that way. The weird part is, I don't feel any different than I did 20 years ago. I hope I'm a little wiser. Deana looked good. The planet is small.

I love EMP

On a lighter note, I attended the first class of my third semester of EMP/UW's song-writing certificate program. This semester is being taught by Jon Auer of Posies fame. He introduced the sylabus and walked us through his vision for the semester. We are going to produce and record a song that will serve as our final project. We are also going to have a final show, probably at the Science Fiction Museum stage. As with our other two instructors, Sean Nelson and Carrie Akre, Jon was very personable and down to earth. He had each of us play a song we had written for him. I played "Dream-line Alligator Revisited," and he gave me an idea how I could accentuate one of the songs hooks. The fact that Jon Auer thinks there is a hook in one of my songs makes me smile. As has been the case with both of the previous classes, I am having more fun than a republican at a book burning party.

First Post

What to say? Hmmm. Welcome to my blog. I will write more when I get some sleep.