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

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!

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

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