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...

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!!

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