Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Werk has been dominating my life lately - I feel the need to scale it back a bit. I would really love to spend the remainder of Fall and Winter in a cozy room with a blanket over my knees, sipping strong coffee, dictating into my dictaphone and watching PBS...but no. I am a slave to werk, dominated by my capitalist credo.
Otherwise, life has been good. I am happy to be going into Mo from Touchforce's studio on Saturday. It's going to be Cosmo on drums, Dave Snider on bass and me on guitar, doing a six-minute rock opera about a boy named Norbert.

Come out to Tiny Tavern on friday - if you do, you will see Eric Jensen aka Tractor Operator along with solo performances by Dan Jones and myself.

Happy Holler-Days!

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

No new news. Been listening to Bowie's "Hunky Dory" lately - damn fine album; my favorite Bowie of all, I think. Werk hurts my ears - too much machine-noise, coupled with loud music blasting = I'm becoming even more deaf than I used to be. My ears literally never stop ringing - I'll probably end up like that guy from Mission of Burma, performing in a plexiglass shell with ear-muffs.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Long time, no post; so post, I shall:

Had a good show at Luckey's the other night. We, the Pinkies were sloppy and at least one of us was 1 or 2 drinks over the line, but I still totally dug in and enjoyed playing. I think it went over well, but I have to say, that was the drunkest Womenspace benefit I have ever played. Quite fun.

Work has been stressing me - I feel like I volunteered for a lot when I became "assistant team leader" a few weeks back. Shit! Everyone knows that I'm trying to be a musician, not a manager - the two professions are completely opposed. Still, I am trying and putting in muchos energy into the salsa slave factory. That and teaching guitar on Monday nights - which I did earlier, of course. Oh yeah...it's also Halloween. Yippee! Tina just headed out the door to her gig at the Rocky Horror Show cast party. I was too pooped to go - have to werk early, of course. She looked really cute as a black cat.

I've been feeling stressed lately. Events beyond my control are getting me down. Still, putting one foot in front of the other, slowly trudging forward to death...but happy to be alive, for the time being. Time-Being.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Life cruising along merrily. I got a promotion at work and now will making slightly more$$$. I am happy. Did some sound at Luckey's last weekend - Chris Tsefalas band and Book of Maps, both from Portland. BOM were too fucking loud for the room, but they were good - kind of mathy freak-out rock. CTB were good. 3 guitars, bass drums and occasional keys. Tuneful songs - not unlike Frank Black or the Stones.

All other things in life are busy and good. Very on track for the future.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Wrapping up another weekend here at the Cole/Sarno ranch. Did some organizing in the basement, ate some food, watched the Ring 2 - it sucks; don't bother considering it - and spent time with my peeps.

At Lucky's last night, it was Heroes and Villains, from Portland (I can't find a matching website for them; sorry) along with solo artist Greg from Seattle and solo artist Andrea from Seattle and solo Artist Brian from Salem. H & V were notable for the fact that they all sang rather well but also quite loudly at times. I had some definite difficulty in dialing them in, with their stage and front mixes working out only somewhat. Still, they came off well - very circus-like, still kind of indie rock with some show-tunes quality to their music as well, what with everyone singing and all. After the solo artist attack, I was happy to go home and slumber.

Now, it's Sunday once again. Tomorrow, I start going into work at 7am, versus 9 am. I'm happy about - I like change.

FUCK THE GOVERNMENT!

there, had to get that out.

g'night, ya'll,

Ed

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Short Blog - quick blog -

Michael McKinnon posts some nice pictures of the harvest Moon, as seen from my home town of Crescent City.

Went to Guitar Center with Cosmo yesterday and picked up some much-needed drum heads (on sale no less). We'll get not much use out of them today though, since we agreed to not sonically intrude on our upstairs neighbor on Saturdays. Are not we nice? I thought we were, anyway.

Had a root canal on a molar on Thursday. Started the appointment thinking to myself about the old Bill Cosby routine about the dentist ...also thinking of those who have died from dental procedures gone awry. I hate going to the dentist, but at this stage of my mouth's life, it is unavoidable that I will be come very close with my dentist's office over the next 6 months.

No gigs at all for the Pinkies - we haven't even practiced since our last show in early September. It's hard to get my band mojo up and running these days ... it's not that I mind playing late-night shows in half-empty bars for little or no pay; I just can't seem to muster the energy to care as much as I used to about putting the whole shebang together. Maybe all these little and not-so-little glimpses of Human tragedy in New Orleans and on the gulf coast are wearing me down, making clear the futility of existence. Then again, maybe I'll pull out of my R 'n' R slump and get back rocking soon.

Yay! It's Saturday!

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

In response to Mr Random's calling out of bloggers who don't blog frequently enough for his taste...I, too, am often bummed when I click on a friend's blog only to get the same entry for days or weeks at a time, but that's life. I probably would be on the keyboard a little more often if I wasn't A) working all the time or B) doing so much other stuff outside of the house when I'm not at work. One of these days I'll be back on a regular "computer-time" schedule, but too many other things are going on at the moment.

Sunday was a sad day/happy celebration of life party for our recently departed friend Anthony Vanderford. Anthony's earthly body threw in the towel after a year-long battle with liver cancer. We'd known Anthony through his son Isaiah, a classmate of Cosmo's from kindergarten through third grades. Isaiah is a radical kid and has been over for many a sleepover and likewise, Cosmo used to spend a lot of nights over at Anthony, Audrey and Isaiah's on nights that I had gigs. In other words, we were close to the Vanderfords and totally blown away by the news, first of his cancer, later of his early death.
At his memorial, Cos and I played "Ring of Fire" and "Beat on the Brat" as per Anthony's request. Set up at the banks of the McKenzie river at Armitage park, we ran a 100 ft extension cord to the half stack, set up the drums and PA and kicked out one last jam for Anthony. Despite the mourning and sadness, the memorial also had a party feel to it, and we ate up food and admired the art and memories of our friend.

Rock on, Anthony! See you in the next dimension.

-Ed

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Lots to report, no time to waste, so I'll get to it:

First and most recent, my mind was blown last night at Luckey's when I witnessed the new-to-me band Six Eye Columbia from San Francisco. A typical Friday night, I was doing sound for locals Armored Frog and Sexton Blake and everything was going wrong. During the first song of Armored Frog, I was wondering why things were sounding strange when I realized that one of the front powered speakers was turned off. Of course, after I turned it on the whole system erupted - and I mean erupted- into deafening feedback. Yeah, you know - one of those moments that causes everyone to cover their ears and say, " WHAT THE F*CK!!!???". Nerve racking, to say the least. (later, Armored Frog said they liked the feedback...?) Sexton Blake I liked, but I wish I could hear what the soft-voiced singer was singing. Kept tryin' to get that vocal up there, loud enough to be heard.
By the time S.E.C. were up, I was frazzled and wanting the night to be over with. The band looked like a motley bunch of S.F. musicians - randomly shitty looking equipment with noise-making electronics, lap steel, vocal effect boxes and a bass amp that was held together by masking tape, effect pedals everywhere, etc... the usual sound-guy's nightmare. "Can you find another direct input for my sampler?" "could I get more sampler in the monitor...the level isn't changing...is the sampler coming through? more, please..." Oh God, another shrieking noise band of urban bohemians, right? Wrong! From chord one, this Millenium Falcon of bands hit hard with a heart-wrenchingly beautiful and well-sung pop song that pushed all of my buttons at once. Accurate beats, jangly, oddly tuned guitar riffs, even more odd low-note wrangling from the bizzarre 8-string Hagstrom bass and of course the atmospheric pedal steal, harmonica, singing and percussion from the weird-lookin' dude on stage left. The centerpiece of the whole band was this guy - mid thirties, Tom Waits hair with mutton chop sideburns, wild-eyed and impassioned - Josh Pollack (any relation to Jackson?). A left-handed guitarist with a loose, informal dimeanor, straight out of a carnival ring, singing these beautifully written songs that were high-caliber, well written mini-symphonies for this band of freaks. And they cohered! The whole band could go from noisy and wanking to utterly soft; very nice dynamics. The drummer was dead-on, yet totally loose and very versatile. Comparisons fail, but I could definitely hear the similarity to the Flaming Lips and Guided by Voices and Big Star - pop, yeah, but of the most atmospheric and disheveled kind. Shit! I feel like a geek for going on and on, but I was truly moved by a band that was a total surprise to me, and it's nice to get your mind blown once in awhile. I never could tell if the sampler was coming through.

Of other matters of importance, Tina, Cosmo and I did finally move into our West-Eugene farmhouse and it's great! More space than the last house for much cheaper. The basement is mostly sound-proofed and ready to rock. Yeah! I love change! Now, I can feel the encroaching fall and know that we have a great, solid, artsy house for us and our dog. We'll let you know when the house-warming party is. IF you're lucky.

Oh, and I've been doing sound two nights a week at Luckey's Club Cigar - duh! I've been doing that for a couple of weeks.

I saw my friend Toby Van Fleet on Friday last week, when the Pinkies played at Downtown Lounge (a great show, with Dan Jones and Touchforce; you should've been there) and then on Sunday last week she came over for breakfast with Zookie in tow. (French toast & homefries - yes, really good, actually. Thanks, Tina!) Okay must wrap this up. I just had to give Toby's new literary blog a plug.

Okay, see you around,

Ed

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Monday, August 22, 2005

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Lots to report. It's been a busy week full of social events and performance galore. I sometimes think myself foolish for spending so much time chasing music around in circles in this town - that perhaps I should be spending more time at home, perhaps reading a book or reviewing my bank files, like normal folk. H*ck that - too many cool sounds to not miss.
Friday was the end-of-week performance for Cosmo's rock and roll band camp at the Shedd center. This was the third session he had been through and Cos knew many of the musicians already, so this was a pretty killer performance. "The Benchwarmers" stormed through Zep's Immigrant Song, the Who's "Baba O'", Queen's "Under Pressure" and also Beastie Boys "Fight for your Right" and a James Brown-style funk jam (which showcased his band's control of dynamics - yow!). These kids were good! The singer girl had a strong voice and really belted out the Queen song, hitting real notes and stuff. Cos' drum solo absolutely slaughtered the audience. Very fun. Zak from Dead Americans was their leader and directed song parts at times, only in the most enthusiastic and encouraging way. That guy is good with kids & a good musician.
Phew! Enough on that!
David Lee Roth was well-documented in yesterday's Register Guard article. I myself had a great time - went down there with Cos, once again. He met up with a friend and had a great time sneaking into the seated section of the show - durn kids! DLR and band sounded great - his guitarist was amazing, but a little stiff. The drummer was beyond good and of the very-flashy, LA metal style of drumming. The guy burned thru "Hot for teacher" so good that it almost sounded better than Alex Van Halen himself. Just burnin'! DL's vocals were sounding worn and torn with age, but he somehow pulls it off everytime. No more high-notes or whiskey-coated screams - just more of an old mannish, bluesier version of his earlier self. Good back up vocals for the band, too - those cats were good.
Last night, I did sound at Lucky's for Dead Americans, Touchforce and some band who's name I forget (May Flowers? Spring Tsunami?), apparently a new band, just moved to town from Reno. Nice guys, kind of sounded like Mission Of Burma with a baritone guitar instead of bass. Interesting.
Now, I am here. Chilling with Cosmo, waiting for the floor show...

David Lee Roth and band at Lane County Fair Eugene, Oregon 8.19.05  Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

I was totally blown away by the news that Ryan Sumner died suddenly on Saturday, apparently from a bloodclot in his leg that had dislodged and made it's way to his heart. Ryan, a popular guy to say the least, was a friend and past bandmate and a really cool dude.
I first met Ryan in May of 2000, when Dan Jones invited me to play a gig with he and Ryan at Tiny Tavern, sight unseen, no rehearsal. What ensued was a great sloppy, noisy set that included both "Cinnamon Girl" by Neil Young and "Expressway to your Skull" by Sonic Youth. Totally fun, we later formed Activator, Ryan, John Laney and I, first playing as a trio and then later Dan rejoined at Ryan's request. During our trio days, I recall fondly a Vet's Club gig where we were on fire, playing much better than usual. I jumped up on the small, fence-like wall in front of the stage and ripped out a solo to whatever song we were doing. I looked back and Ryan was just grinning, really digging in and rocking hard. Shucks. I wish I had been more in touch with Sumner lately; I miss his sarcasm, humor and brilliant observations on music and life in general.
Rock on, Ryan! We'll see you on the next go 'round.

-Ed

Friday, August 12, 2005

Lots happening on the home front. We are moving into a new house that has a basement! Very exciting - I have always wanted a jam room in a basement and now the dream has drawn closer than ever. Once it has been realized, I shall be a satisfied man.

I've been checking out Richard Loyd's homepage. In addition to the usual music new etc... he also has a HUGE q & a page and tons of online guitar lesson archives. Totally f*ckin cool. The only drawback is that I personally don't like to read a whole bunch of text online 'cuz my eyes get tired. IF he ever writes a guitar instruction book....I am so there. A very articulate writer and music philosopher, Richard Loyd played guitar in the band Television, in case you didn't know.

The Launchpad/Chanteuse show at Black Forest was totally amazing. Chanteuse came off with a slightly shambly, ukelele-strummy, three-way sing-fest with a little drummy/tambourine action on the side. I liked Chaia's singing and stage presence, and the song in 3/4 time really showcased Tina's knowledge of triplets.

Launchpad... what can I say? I assumed that my friends would be quite a bit noisier than they actually were. It is apparent that the three aliens involved have been honing their collective tones and actually creating the most interesting disco/noise/space jam group. Ken's guitar sounded otherworldly; David's flute/dj/electronic noise-jumble produced dance-able bloops and blurps. Lelu's guitar lines and vocal come-ons made me feel like maybe, just for that evening, we actually were in a little bit of outer space. Sun Ra and Chuck D would have both been proud.

Too much club-going has left me weary. I don't expect to go out for some time now. Tired...(yawn) ...need coffee.

The Ol' Howl and Smash at Sam Bond's, 8/8/05. Cranky, primitive garage punk with three-way howling. They sound just like their name. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, August 07, 2005


Eugene's answer to D. Boon, Dan Jones Posted by Picasa

Ed, John, Mike and Dan blurring out at Dan Jones cd release for GetSounds Now Posted by Picasa
The end of another ceaseless party weekend. Friday was the Ovulators and Deke Falcon and the Waltz Invention at Luckey's. The first two you probably know; Waltz Invention ,a girl-trio from Olympia, were really good. Odd time signatures, chimy riffs and solid bass lines - very original and kooky, too - very much an Olympia-style band. Totally enjoyed them, and the members were nice. Sorry, no pix - maybe Mr Random has some somewhere, cuz he was there.
Last night was Dan Jones' Cd release at Sam Bond's Garage. I've been really digging his latest musical baby - it really comes off as very...uh, well, REAL - warts and polish together in the same package, Get Sounds Now is one of those albums that is like an easy-fitting shoe - totally comfortable, listening to it feels like hanging with your best buddy, drinking a beer on an August night. Anyhoo, the show was really good - againyou can probably read more at Random's, cuz he also wrote about it.

Currently, I have a hugely swollen foot from a bee sting on Friday - I'm trying to keep off of it today; yestrday was too busy to do so. We're moving into a new house at the end of the month and I think we're going to really like our next place - we have a house in mind, but it's not finalized yet. Crossing fingers...YEs, of course it has a basement, dummy! And bees in bee house in the backyard.

Thursday, August 04, 2005


The ubiquitous Cosmo, captured in his native environs. Posted by Picasa
I'm pretty stoked to be be rockin' Highway to Hell thru the computer speakers at the moment - Cosmo's B-day gift to me, thanks very much. And my birthday? Totally rad. Tina, Cos and I hiked up the Pacific Crest Trail from hwy 242 and spent the night next to South Matthieu Lake, near the North Sister. We swam in the lake, hiked around, ate food and just hung around, drinking coffee and beer. Tina made a birthday cake out of two Hostess Cupcakes and some twinkies with candles on top. I felt like I was at John Waters' campout or something, ready for a trailer pulled by a station wagon to come rolling over us at any moment. But no, it was good. Nighttime was the best - an amazingly clear night revealed more stars than I think I had ever seen in my life. The Milky Way looked like milky clouds in the illuminated night sky. Many shooting stars later, we turned in after a few beers and scary stories by Cosmo. The next day, we hiked a slightly different route and hit North Matthieu lake mid-morning, went for a swim, and then hoofed it back to our car and drove home. Phew! Exhausting, but totally fun. Can't wait to go on another hike soon.

Okay, laters skaters,

Ed

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Can't forget to mention this - the Pinkies 2nd show is at Sam Bond's Garage, Saturday, July 30th at 9:30pm (and we MEAN 9:30pm!!) opening up for a pop band from Salem called Easterly and another band called the Glorious Bride. Sounds like a pop show, so bring your pop-plugs.

O.K., must drink cold beer on this very hot day.


E

essential summer listening comes in piles. Posted by Picasa

Monday, July 25, 2005

Monday night, thank God the weekend is over - so little to do, so much time to do it in...wait, scratch that; reverse it. Had a totally killer weekend. Saturday I just pretty much kicked it with Cosmo; in the a.m. he had a baseball game down in Cottage Grove. Coz hit a homer, which was rad . My boy is turning into a great hitter right before me eyes ... Sunday, Cos, Tina. Lulu and I headed out to Brice Creek trail for a great hike and swim. Very pastoral and beautiful. Lots of other hikers and swimmers, jumping off rocks and walking their dogs, just like us. Last night's Pinkies pratice was best so far. although we were all a bit haggard from too much partying/everyday living etc... Of yeah, a dude named Levi is our new drummer; don't know his last name yet, but he is kickin' and likes to practice, so we are 3/4 the way there...the other 1/4 being a second guitarist, who already is out there somewhere but just hasn't been fully co-opted yet. Work at the guitar slavery factory went well tonight - my fingers are pretty much healed and my summertime students are starting to shred, so that is good. Alright, back to my non-digital life.

Laters,


Ed

The Pinkies, L to R: John L, Ed C and Levi Posted by Picasa

Friday, July 15, 2005


Italian girl-punk duo Motorama with adoring fan Luckeys 7/14/05 Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, July 13, 2005


Father Don recording some punk rock bass demos of Busholini songs 7/13/05 Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, July 12, 2005


The aftermath of the metal can lid attack 7/11/05 Posted by Picasa
WELL, SHIT!

I cut my damn fingers at work yesterday, right before I was to leave to my Lessons Factory guitar teaching job, too. I dropped a giant metal drum lid and it sliced the tips off of my middle and pinky fingers on my left hand. 6 stitches overall. Very annoying to not be able to play guitar for a few weeks, but oh well - there's always time to learn some one-finger keyboard licks.

I'm pretty sure the Pinkies have found a drummer, but I want to have all the details before I share the news with everyone. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Wednesday, July 666th, 2005

I went ahead and set up a myspace page for the Pinkies - http://www.myspace.com/thepinkies . There are download-able songs on the site and a few basic facts. If you do myspace, invite Pinkies to be yer friend, pleese. Thanks.

Everything else is abnormal as per usual. Was very sick for a week - some kind of viral throat infection/cold thing. Hated it + missed more work than I could afford. The 4th of July was fun - Tina and I had Zookie over for some BBQ and BBBEERS and then we later, just the two of us, biked down to the river bike path to view the fireworks. A nice, if slightly wobbly, evening.

I now have a digital camera - thank you, brother Darrow! I'm so far behind, I know, but it will finally be nice to upload more imagery to my various internetty pages etc...

O.K., back to real life!

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Recovering from Success War

The weekend was good. The debut show for the Pinkies went well - people seemed to like our song...ba da-da-da-da and it came off well overall. Jivan kicked ass as our debut drummer-he really nailed the changes and his groove set well with our songs. John's bassing totally supported and snaked nicely through the tunage. Fun was had. Andrew Poisoner is now a one-man band, which seems appropriately crazy enough. Stomping on a kick drum and playing guitar, he mixed some Slow Poisoners songs and a few songs who's origin I did not know. I admit, it was kind of hazy for me, looking back...But I do know that the Ovulators played a great-sounding set. Their new drummer is really solid and plays good fills.

Mr Random raves about above band and also links to the Register Guard article that mentions both of our blogs and quotes mine. Very funny! You never know who's reading your blurg and then all of a sudden it feels very public and exposed. But hey, that's what the internet is for, right ? The quick, almost viral, spread of information. I wish I had one of them site-tracker number thingies - I bet there was probably a slight surge in my readership since Friday - so, for that, thanks RG article-writer.

Now, back to my blurry Sunday - father's day also, how quaint. I received a nice gift from Cosmo and Tina of a pair of black, low-top Converse all-stars. I am totally stoked and grateful. Worked for 6 hours at the salsa slave-ship factory, enduring only fifteen lashes since I was working on a holiday dedicated to procreating males - like me! Now, just awake after late-afternoon coffee + just saw Tina off on her way to Portland for an Ov's gig. Life is just one knotted, sewn-together string of events. Next knot...

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

I'm getting used to adulthood. For several years now, there's been a slow trickle of friends from high school emailing me or otherwise contacting and making their presence known. I don't know how many years I spent trying very hard NOT to think about high school at all - probably 10 or so, until I decided to become too self absorbed with my own problems to notice that I was thinking quite often of the derelicts that I used to hang with.

Case in point, my buddy Ashcraft was an often homeless musician chum of mine. Kept running away from different foster homes in the town we lived in. Also was a pretty damn good guitarist and bassist - showed me how to play Stairway to Heaven + the Rush song "Limelight" when we were 15 or so. Later, we play Kiss and Judas Priest covers in an un-named band that I always called the Dogs but I think it may have been called Generation Landslide. We practiced regularly on Saturdays at 1 for the better part of 1985/86. Never had a singer though, and none of us could cut the vocal duties with our crappy puberty voices. Also in the band was guitarist L. Wallbanger and a kid drummer who - I kid you not- was a dead-ringer for the actor who played Spinal Tap's manager in the first Spinal Tap movie. (Everytime I see that movie I get the chills...) A formative time, to be sure. Guess you had to be there - probably were. I also guess that the point I was getting at is that I talked to Ashcraft on the phone after a 17-year hiatus in our friendship. You know what? People don't change. Still the same funny, cynical dude I remember from the 80's, only now programming the world for destruction by working at some multi-death corporate job in some secret state. Sounds like he's doing good, staying off the sauce and the eye-injected lsd but now addicted to the internet - you tell me which is worse.
Yawn... okay, off to my happy job - wheeeeeeeeee!!

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Back in the saddle again. Very cool to get an email from high school friend Danny Harrison - I should be used to old aquaintances popping their digi-heads back into my life by now, but every time someone does, I'm totally stoked to make another connection with my past life in Crescent City. I could really give a shit about ever going to a High School reunion in a town that never seemed to care for me, but I'd go to a picnic at needle beach with any of these old chums that I used to churn with - Justin D, Matt A, Matt B, Danny H, Loren W, and any others from the old horde. Those were the days.

In other, more current news - White Hot Odyssey had a pretty good show at McDonald Theatre a few nights ago, opening for the venerable Hell's Belles. Fuckin' packed, nearly, and a lot of underage kids. I almost felt guilty, belting out the back-up vocals to "Sex With The Devil" but then again kids are pretty used to lurid concepts these days. Also played a spontaneous show with Dan Jones at Sam Bond's the other Wednesday. It felt good to get out in the music world after months of not having any gigs. Which brings me to my next point...

The Pinkies first show is at Sam Bond's Garage on June 17th, with the Ovulators and Andrew Poisoner. The Pinkies are: Ed Cole, John Laney and Jivan Valpey. The Pinkies are looking for a more-permanent drummer. The Pinkies sound like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mixed with AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! and also a little bit like the Ramones and Lou Reed. Come check us out!

No other new-news for this grown-up kid. Oh Yeah, Sleeve left a cool bootleg Bowie dvd at our house of him live on tv 1973 with the classic Spiders-from Mars band - fucking excellent!! Mick Ronson is one of my all-time favorite guitarists. I wish I could share it with all of you.

Til wee meet again,

Eed

Monday, May 02, 2005

I've been having fun reading this blog by my friend Michael - Crescent City Sucks. I grew up in Crescent City and remember it sucking very hard when I was in High School. I wanted to be anywhere but there - total deadsville, very little culture or music, but still a quaint little seaside town with a giant penitentiary.

Ah, yes, growing up in sucksville made me the man I am today.

Sheesh! I've been working too much. I'm ready for a vacation. 6 days a week at the salsa slave factory and 1 night a week at the guitar lesson place. I don't mind being busy, but I want to be LAZY! Right now! Ain't gonna happen.

White Hot Odyssey resuming practice this week. Hopefully we'll have a few local gigs by early summer. Pinkies are looming. Watch out for the Pinkies!

ed

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Hey People! It's Sunday, my sole day off this week, and I am very glad about it. Must maximize time and blog quickly. Improper grammer to follow: Worked a lot at the salsa slave plant this week. Happy to be earning $$$ but Christ, there has to be a better way than being soaking wet and covered with salty salsa all day. No band practices lately - W.H.O. seem to be stalled and need a collective shot-in-the-arm to get revved up and rolling again (Brolling?As in Criten's?) Pinkies will play tonight, sans drummer; must work harder at making music happen...kinda slacked off there and look what happens whole scene shot to hell. You're welcome for the break, but here I come right back at ya! Coffee's been pretty good over all lately. Cosmo turning into teenager before my eyes, currently on a mall excursion with same-age friends. Glad my kid is happy been rocking at baseball too - very proud. Tina has been working tons too - nice to be pulling out of the debt ridden slow lane and into the passing lane of life. Been having fun with that girl also. Sounds like the Ov's will have their pick of some excellent new potential drummers that they've been auditioning. Fun news. Watch out for Pinkies! We're going to slay this towen with one finger ag ag ag!!

over & out

Ed

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Blog blog blog. I've slipped a bit in my interest in being online - nothing dramatic; just enjoying real life instead of virtuality. Lots of stuff going on, though. Tonight, Chanteuse are recording a Led Zepplin tune in the living room with the Cole mobil set-up - a couple of mics and an Adat. Sounding very ethereal and tripped-out. May add jaw harp later.

Had the pleasure this weekend of hanging out with my oldest brother, Darrow Hamilton Cole. We drove down to Gasquet, California, taking down a truckload of mom's stuff. Mom is moving back into the house that we were often growing up in during the 70's and 80's. Darrow is a real intellectual, so we had many a rousing conversation on the way down and back, loading stoves and refridgeerators and tons of other crap. I took a few pictures on my ancient Argus C-3 camera - would post if I had them scanned. Sorry, gotta wait for now.

I've been liking taking a break from gigging with any and all of my bands, but I'm slowly feeling readier to climb back up onstage sometime in the near future. Perhaps soon...very soon.

til then,

Toodles


Ed

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Greetings, people!

I haven't been online much lately, due to actually having a real life to focus on. Here's the Ed Cole low-down for April 3, 2005:


I've been writing and completing a nice new batch of tunes for my as-yet-still-imaginary new band. Kinda in the upbeat/poppy/pervy/lovesong/the-world's-coming-to-an-end/Ramones/Dickies/drum-machine & guitar territory at the present. It's nice to actually be finishing some tunes after having had a creative sabbatical of sorts while sorting out selling my house and some other things.

Cosmo had his first Babe Ruth baseball game yesterday. He plays on the Pleasant Hill Billies. Ha ha at least those folks out in the sticks have a sense of humor. A fine game, they won over Springfield and play Shelbyville next week.
Last Night was also Ovulators and Velvet Trap at Sam's Place, the newest lesbian bar in Eugene. The show had the chaotic feel of a venue putting on a show for the first time - confusion about guest lists, late, late, LATE start times, bad PA system, lack of organization. Still, a pretty fun scene with many friends and regulars in attendence. I had a great time talking to my friend Sebastiane, whom I hadn't seen for some time. Her wife, Ana played drums in VElvet Trap, who kicked ass with their 4 song set. Maybe they'd consent to letting me record them? Dunno, but way hard rockin' in the L7/Bikinikill/7 year Bitch style; very raw yet tight and pummeling bass lines with throaty vocals. Good shit, maynard.
Ov's had a good set; they dressed as boys and played as 'The Ejaculators' for April Fools day. Again, loud, soothing and good.
Friday night at the Daddies/Yeltsin show, Cos and I wandered in for a bit of sound and people-meeting. HE mainly hung out with his friend, Josie. I met habitual Daddies fan Beth-from-Wisconsin, who I knew from exchanges of email regarding White Hot Odyssey and Daddies factoids. Much nicer to meet folks in person than via computer screen. Beth, thanks for the Killdozer video - nice to have a record of one of my favorite bands at an 80's bar show. Funny how things haven't changed much for bands playing in bars since then.
For anyone who doesn't know, Tina and I are engaged and gonna marry the hell out of each other in about 14 months, so stay tuned for events as they unfold!

Must go rock now.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005


Van and Ed Posted by Hello
Hey!

Thanks, Ken, for posting some keen pictures online of the night of January 7th, 2005, all taken at Luckey's. Such memories...


Existance is pretty much hand-to-mouth, day-to-day, second-by-second. I feel the impending doom of death everywhere I look and am thus motivated to stay positive and have some fun. I've been liking teaching at the Lessons Factory more than I thought I would; so far, I like all my students and I'm having a lot of fun trying to stay up on furthering my musical knowledge and abilities. Phew! It's tough staying ahead of 11-year-olds who know more Ozzy licks than you do - I feel more and more like a crusty old man with a stiff brain that does not want to learn any new tricks. But, I am trying.


I can't wait to hear the tunes that the Ov's did at Dogwood studio this week. It sounds to me like they worked very hard, had fun and were pretty satisfied with the basic tracks they had laid down. I love hearing new recordings done at studios that I haven't been to yet. I'm sure it will rock me hard. And all others that hear it as well.

Okay, time for more coffee. Check back soon,


Eds

Friday, February 18, 2005

Hey! It's Friday, and I'm ready to continue existing. And that's final!

Work was very intense this week at the Salsa Slave Ship factory. A human that I did not like very much was fired, which made everyone I work with slightly more happy. Of course, the other result is that we all have to stay a lot longer at work and work harder. I suppose it's a trade off, but I'd rather work longer hours around nicer people rather than shorter hours around spiteful control freaks. 'nuff said...

Be sure to check out my friend Toby Van Fleet's travel blog about her travels in and around Bangkok, Thailand.

Excited about making a cup of coffee.

I scored some cool records at the annual Eugene record convention. Let's see what I got...

Ace Frehley's solo Kiss album/Jimi HEndrix "Smash Hits"/999's singles collection/Warren Zevon "Excitable Boy" / Ozzy Osbourne "Bark at the Moon"/ Dokken "Under Lock and Key"/Charles Mingus "Candid" (a weird album that is part lecture)/Cocteau Twins "Treasure"/The Swan's "Burning World"/ and Led Zepplin "Song remains the same" soundtrack. Phew! I think I'm going more 70's rock in my old age Very fun to check out the various record collector geeks - there were some waxy sights to be seen on that day.

Okay, coffee time

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Dream this morning

We're in the woods - it looks like either Garberville or Willits, CA. There are lots of parked cars and trucks - did we just watch fireworks? Many people from my family walk through at different points in the dream - my brother Monty and also Cosmo, Tina, others. Now we're in a school in nearby futuristic/nihilistic Eureka, CA. It's got a beautiful layout - strange passages lead to nicely carpet-covered auditoriums and sublime little stairways and nooks. It seems like we should be getting ready to leave, but for some reason I'm still wandering. I start seeing other familiar faces in the school - the crazy dancing man with the gray beard who digs through the recycling all over town - is he still alive? Others also.

end of dream

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Hey, Humanoids - it's been some time since I've transmitted from this site. My old webpage may be ressurrected soon, but for now, I'm back in classic Atari 2600 mode. Forward...to death!!!

I'm afraid all my recent posts at edcolerocks.com have been swallowed up and dumped down the digital sewer - alas, I don't think I wrote anything of importance last year anyway - it's too constricting to write as one's self all the time. I only pray that the people who care can find me in my new state.

Today was interesting in that someone who had been annoying the hell out of me at work was fired, which was of no small relief to everyone who works at the salsa-slave factory. I have another job interview tomorrow, but it's purely exploratory.

AS for any futuregigs with any conceivable musical acts - I have none. I feel like the tortoise, crawling into a friendly cave and dissappearing for a long spell, to emerge with some new sheet music in hand some other day.

Toodles for now,