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!