One day into the week and I’m already behind.  Big shock, I know. 

Went to work.  Things went well.  For the next two days, it’s just Larry and me in the office.  Larry and I get along quite well, so it should be fine.  It’ll probably be a little quiet though.  For some reason, when the two of us get to working alone, we tend to stop talking to one another and just focus on work.  Oh, we have our moments, sure…but by and large, I imagine the next two days being less chatty than usual.  Not a bad thing…just kind of what happens when there’s only two of you.

My acoustic panels DID arrive.  Didn’t get any of them hung up yet…but I did kind of start planning for it.  The thing is, now I need some cardboard for backing-material, since I’m not too keen on gluing these things right to the drywall.  I think that once I’ve got all the cardboard up, it’ll be a fairly quick job.  …need to find a caulking-gun for the glue, though…

…but…

Didn’t do any recording.  I was pretty wiped out after work, and my back hurt.  Took a nap instead.  Hoping things feel better in that respect tomorrow.

Hopefully I’ll get back on schedule for tomorrow and band practice will go off without a hitch.

Looking forward to the Feldman recording over the weekend, even though it’s going to be keeping me busy and waking me up kind of early on Sunday.  All told, though, it’s a pretty easy day’s work for me…so it should be good.  I always like engineering during a recording session.  It’s pretty much just pushing buttons.

We shall see, but we shall see…

————

Current Watching:

• Jeeves and Wooster – The one where Wooster keeps bumping into the same black-face minstrels who’re playing “Lady of Spain” on banjos.  Which is just about as funny as it sounds…no matter how funny it sounds to you! 

I’ve got a big week ahead of me.  It’s a holiday week, of course.  So that means I’ve only got three days of work…but that doesn’t mean I’m exactly taking it easy.

Here’s a brief itinerary of the week ahead…

1. Monday
   • Work
   • My acoustic panels arrive.  I plan to at least START unpacking them after work.
   • Probably record a couple of guitar tracks I’ve been meaning to get around to.
2. Tuesday
   • Work
   • Band practice.  Likely finish up on Teague’s parts and maybe do some vocals or some of my still outstanding tracks.
3. Wednesday
   • Work…  And I’m getting up EARLY this day and opening.  We’re under-staffed with people taking a couple of days off for Thanksgiving plans…gonna be a long day, but thankfully it’s also the last day of work for the week, so I can deal with the fatigue involved.
   • If I’ve got the energy (which I won’t) I’ll probably finish up some guitar tracks, unless I’m just going to go straight to Dave and Valerie’s place and sleep over in order to get up and moving in time for Thanksgiving.
4. Thursday
   • Thanksgiving Day.
   • Go to Cape Girardeau.  Eat lots of food.  Come home from Cape Girardeau.  Sleep.
5. Friday
   • Sleep in.
   • Finish unpacking all those acoustic panels and do something to get them up on the wall, hopefully covering over at least one of the two big-ass windows I’ve got.
   • Clean up a bit…
   • Finish up my work on all previous recording projects, if time.
6. Saturday
   • Mike Feldman’s coming over with the current incarnation of his band to record bass and drums for their new record.  Early start.  9 a.m.
   • Hopefully wrap by about 5 p.m. (or sooner) and get dinner.
   • Likely to crack open a Boddingtons or two to relax and bid a LOOOOONG week farewell.
7. Sunday
   • Probably church, if I can get out of bed after all the exhaustion.
   • Mike Feldman’s coming over to finish up his guitar tracks–which should go pretty quickly, since he’s awesome at guitar.
   • Simpsons…Family Guy…Venture Bros…bed.

…so that’s my super-busy week.  Why is my vacation week so freaking PACKED?!?  I thought I’d thought ahead on this one…but November seems to have gotten away from me a little.  Hopefully I’ll find the strength to blog a thing or two as well…but we’ll see.

And next month…Christmas! 

Okay…that’s it for now.  It’s after 2 a.m. and I should go to bed.  So I’m-a-doin’ that…

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Current Listening:

• Springsteen – “Working on a Dream”

Here’s my Christmas List for this year.  Dad, Dave, Valerie, and possibly Susan, if you ever read my blog…study up. 

Stuff in red is stuff I really want (and/or am just shocked I don’t have yet).
————

DVDs

• Monty Python – Life of Brian
• Monty Python  – Meaning of Life
• Fierce Creatures
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
• Nuns on the Run
• Splitting Heirs
• Monty Python Series (Likely kinda pricey…but if it weren’t, this’d be red.)
• Blackadder Remastered Series (It’s in a brown cover.  May be expensive, though.)
• That new Star Trek movie, I guess…
• Also still trying to round out the Simpsons collection.  I need Season 9 and onward.

CDs

• Wilco
  • Sky Blue Sky
  • Kicking Television (Live in Chicago)
• Tom Waits – Glitter and Doom Live
• Beatles
  • Sgt. Pepper
  • Let it Be
  • White album
  • Let it Be…Naked
• Mastodon – Crack the Skye
• Pearl Jam – Backspacer (ONLY AVAILABLE AT TARGET)

BOOKS

• Nick Hornby – An Education : The Screenplay, Fever Pitch
• Leonard Cohen – Book of Longing (Might necessitate an Interwebs order.)
• Kurt Vonnegut – “Look at the Birdie”
• Chris Coake – We’re in Trouble
• Nick Flynn – Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
• Sarah Vowell – Assassination Vacation
• George Saunders – The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil
• Zadie Smith – On Beauty
• Frank Portman – King Dork

(The following are graphic novels)

• The Beats : A Graphic History – Harvey Pekar
• Stitches: A Memoir – David Small
• Final Crisis – Grant Morrison (et al) (DC Comics – this one should be easy to find.)
• Batman: Battle for the Cowl – also Morrison, et al…also DC…also easy.

OTHER

• Gift cards are always welcome—particularly to Best Buy, Kohls, and Guitar Center.
• Need some flannel shirts.  I’d recommend XL as a size.
• Could use some thermal-type shirts in any colour but black or white…again in XL.
• Money, also, is always welcomed.

————

A few additional notes for people who are wondering how it can possibly be that I’m missing so much Python, so much music, and what the deal is with that “I guess…” on the Star Trek thing…

• The Python – I’ve just never bought it somehow.  Some of the shows are only so-so, and the GOOD ones have been pretty consistently aired on BBC America over the past few years…so I haven’t had the need.  But lately (past year-ish), I’ve been wanting to watch more Python, and I can never seem to find it on TV.  The lack of the movies is pretty shocking, though.  I mean, I freaking LOVE Life of Brian…but I’ve never owned it.  I don’t know why.  Trying to change that.
• The music…
  • Re: Mastodon and Pearl Jam – I’ve been listening to them both online, and I’ve been enjoying them.  In fact, Mastodon’s “Crack the Skye” is EASILY in my Top 5 for 2009, if not my Top 3…but I just haven’t bought it in physical form…and I want the DISC, not the MP3s.
  • Re: The Tom Waits record…new live album…and I’m really disappointed that I’m making myself wait until Christmas or after to hear it…but that’ll just make it better…right?
  • The Beatles stuff.  I have every Beatles song ever recorded—including an ass-load of stuff you’d never WANT—thanks to the “Purple Chick” people (person?).  But, I would like to hear the new remasters.  “Let it Be” is particularly highlighted because it’s my favorite Beatles record.  I thought about just saying I’d like the Beatles remasters as a whole…but the last time I put something like “I don’t own any Beatles” on my Christmas List, I only got ONE CD, and it was “Magical Mystery Tour.”  Yikes.
• The “I guess” on the Star Trek movie…  Okay.  I love Star Trek…which is exactly why I have my serious doubts about this movie, especially after reading about it from critics and armchair-critics (like myself) alike.  I just don’t trust it…and more than that, I don’t trust J. J. Abrams.  Okay, so LOST is awesome, and I enjoyed Cloverfield…but look at the rest of the guy’s career…  Alias?  Felicity?  Fringe?  And again, I have to say Felicity???  Guys done a lot of crap I just didn’t like.  (Fine if it’s your cup of tea…but it’s not mine.)  I just don’t trust him to handle something I love in the way it should be handled…I mean…the jackass inserted a Slusho! cup in the background of the movie!  His cross-breed-whoring alone might ruin it for me, even though most people say it’s “not even noticeable.”  (Also I don’t think we really NEED a prequel to Star Trek, since we got pretty much all of the history in the shows and REAL movies…but whatever.)  Still…enough of me wants to see it that I put it on my list…mostly because I know I’ll never buy it for myself.

…and that’s the “why” for anyone that was curious.  Which, I know…you weren’t.

Apologies for the post-title.  

Here’s some random stuff that’s up in my brain-box.

1. I’ve got 9 new songs with nowhere to go.  No new upcoming Derek-record in the forecast.  None of it’s appropriate for Blue Tattoo.  Maybe it’ll hit the website…or maybe I’ll develop an alter-ego who does the kind of stuff I’ve been writing lately.  Whatever happens…there are at least a couple of them that I think have some real potential.  I’m just not sure where yet.
2. I can’t believe I didn’t mention it on the blog…but my dad’s car caught on fire the other week.  He was at the mall when he saw smoke coming out from under the hood.  He opened the hood.  There were flames.  He then closed the hood and called 9-1-1.  Obvious total loss on that one.  He was almost stuck with the storage and salvage, but thankfully my job came in handy in real life (which—no offense to anyone—almost NEVER happened when I was a Librarian) and I was able to advise him to see if they’d trade him the salvage for the storage and call that even.  Still got stuck with the towing…but on a car from like 1996, $150 for not having to be stuck with selling the burned-up remains is a pretty good deal.  So thanks, work!  (Particular thanks to Larry, who knows that stuff and told me what to tell him.)
3. Blue Tattoo should be able to FINALLY wrap at least the drums at our next session.  Full record details forthcoming.
4. Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  That snuck up on me!  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (super-sorry, Jesus) and I’m looking forward to the good food and catching up with some of the family I don’t see too often.  But, yikes…I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving…which means it’s almost CHRISTMAS, too!  Double-yikes!
5. Over my super-short Thanksgiving break (one of the bummers about no longer working in the education world is that you’ve got shorter breaks—if any—but that’s cool), I’ll be recording a new record for Mike Feldman.  Mike and I, as some of you know, go way back.  I’ve played bass on every record he’s done so far, but this time I’m just doing the engineering (though I’ll probably also sneak onto the record playing some harmonica and singing some back-up).  I haven’t been in his band for a little bit, and he’s using the new guy to play bass—which I’m totally cool with, since he’s an excellent player.  I’m kind of excited about this record.  Mike’s played me some of the songs on it, and they’re pretty good.  Mostly secular (if not totally), and I think Mike’s secular lyrics are way better than his Christian stuff, which I mean as a compliment.  (I think it’s actually harder to write a good secular lyric than to write a good Christian one.)  It’ll be cool to stretch my engineering-legs with a band that I know will be an easy day’s work in the record.  The mix will take some work…but I’ve been virtually guaranteed that we’ll only need ONE session for the majority of the recording…probably with a couple of “one-take” recordings, too.  So that’ll be cool…I’ve just got to get those acoustic panels up before then.
6. Oh yeah…I’m buying acoustic panels.  I’ve needed to sound-proof that basement for years—especially since some uppity neighbor started calling the police on my band practices a while ago.  With what Mike’s paying me for the project, I’m making the place a little bit more air-tight.  It’s not quite as big a project as it sounds.  The hardest part is cleaning up enough to do it! 
7. As we speak (…or type…whatever…shut up…), I’m re-watching “The Fellowship of the Ring.”  Still an awesome movie.  I know it’s not even been 10 years, but it’s just nice to see that it holds up after multiple viewings, y’know?
8. My Christmas list is done…I’ll probably post that here sooner or later.  I did that last year, I think…I remember it being fun.  So why not?
9. My niece has chicken-pox.  I had that when I was in like second-grade…but I’m still going to avoid her for a bit—no offense, anyone…I’m just paranoid.    It’s a little known fact that you CAN get chicken pox twice (though it’s rare).  It’s also a little known fact that the same virus that causes the pox causes shingles in adults.  So, best not to risk it if you don’t have to, I say.  (Also, just in case it was a misdiagnosis and she’s actually got measles…I didn’t ever have that…so I REALLY don’t want to risk that one as an adult!)  No offense, Tessa (or Dave or Valerie, for that matter), but I’ll see you in a week.   
10. I’m a big fan of the Venture Bros. (airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming).  It’s been super-good this season.  I miss the character of Brock, and I hope he’ll be back soon…but otherwise, it’s been excellent.  Last night’s episode was packed with David Bowie references (they even mentioned Tin Machine, and at one point a character modelled on Brian Eno showed up).  Sometimes, I think they’re writing just for me.
11. A few weeks (months?) ago, I mentioned that I’d been reading Nick Hornby’s new book “Juliet, Naked.”  I don’t think I ever reviewed it, though.  In short, it’s a really long time later, and I’m finding myself still thinking about the characters and wishing there was more of them.  It’s quite possibly my new favorite not only Hornby novel, but novel in general.  You should probably buy a copy if you’re into the whole “what makes a musician tick” thing.  It takes a chapter or two to really get going, but it’s pure GOLD after that.  I finished it ages ago, and I still know the character names without having to look them up.  That’s only happened to me a couple of times before.  So, right on, Nick.  (I’ve thought about writing him a fan-letter, but when you start writing to an author, you get really judgmental of your own writing…it’s kind of a slippery slope…)

That’s all I can think of for tonight.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Maybe next time we’ll do the Christmas List thing…or maybe not.  We’ll see.

————

Current Listening:

• Bowie, thanks to Jackson and Doc… 

Just a quick FYI.

My website’s been in varying states of disrepair for a little while.  Most things are finally working again.  Still a few uploads to get everything up to speed, but for the most part, it’s once again functional.  That’s good.  But it gets better.

I’ve had a “downloads” link there for a long time.  For a donkey’s age (what?) it’s just had the commentaries to my first two records up there.  (The third is forthcoming.  Need to do some editing.)  That’s all well and good, and they’ll be staying there…but I’m going to be posting some more interesting stuff there, too (hopefully around Thanksgiving, or just after).  Soon–very soon–I’m going to start randomly posting FREE music there.  Whatever I post will be a temporary upload.  Maybe a week or two.  Maybe a little longer if I’m feeling either generous or lazy…  But suffice to say that once it goes up, you’ll only be able to get it while it lasts.

So…what kind of music will it be?  Good question.  Not sure yet.  Maybe it’ll be acoustic demos.  Maybe it’ll be something I dug out of my archive of old stuff I’ve never done anything with.  Maybe it’ll be stuff that’ll eventually end up on a proper record with either my solo-thing (which, by the way, I’m now officially referring to as “Derek and the Somebodies”) or Blue Tattoo.  Dunno.  I’ve got something in mind for the first one…but I’m not going to say anything incase I change my mind (or I re-listen to it and it sucks).  Whatever I end up doing, this just seemed a good use for my website.  Hopefully it’ll end up being as cool as I think it is…getting music into the hands of people for free is always good news in my mind.  Hopefully it’ll pay off in some way.

………shameless whoring in an attempt to increase my web traffic, you say?

Well…obviously.

Nothing’s up there yet.  I’ll let you know when something “goes live” or whatever the kids call it these days.  I’m just excited about the idea, so I’m chatting it up on the blog—which will hopefully force me to get off my ass and actually DO it! 

————

Current Listening:

• And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – “Century of Self” — I’ve been going round and round on this record.  When I first heard it, I thought it sucked.  Then later, I thought it was genius.  Later still, I thought it was boring.  At present, it’s in my top 3-5 of the year.  Go figure.

I mentioned a while back that my friend John Puckett’s been fighting another battle with cancer.

Just found out that he’s finished with his chemo treatments.

Congratulations, John!  (Now stay healthy!)

Sorry I haven’t blogged since the Cohen show.   Been a little run-down.  Had some minor stomach problems that seem to have at least mostly gone away now, and I’ve currently got a little bit of a sore throat and I’m tired.  (Plus, I have a weird, sensitive spot on my right arm, just above the elbow.  I probably just slept weird on that…but it’s distracting.)  So, yeah…I think I’ve got a cold or something.  Nothing disabling.  Just kind of makes waking up a bummer.  Then again, waking up ALWAYS sucks…so I guess this just makes waking up a little worse. 

So…what else is going on?  I’ve been doing some song-writing.  Nothing Blue-Tattoo-ish, though.  Mostly just moody, kind of ballady stuff.  (Why am I always at my most prolific as a writer when I’m sick and I can’t sing well enough to do any demos?)  I’m not even sure it’s stuff I’d release on a Derek Brink record.  Maybe an eventual free-download on my website or something.

…oh…and my website’s MOSTLY working again.  I had some weird errors, but things seem to be up and running the right way again.  I’ve got some other stuff that needs to be uploaded (text, downloads, etc), but at least now my e-mail links and whatnot are working, and the new record’s finally up for sale on the “Merch” page.  Don’t know WHY that took so long…but at least it’s working now.

Otherwise, there’s not been too much going on.  I’ve been working.  Blue Tattoo’s still plugging away on the record.  I sleep, I wake up, I go back to sleep…  Same old, same old…

…that’s not so bad.  At least I haven’t got much to complain about, outside of the cold—and by the way, I seem to have just started sneezing a little.

So…that’s what’s been keeping me busy since the Cohen show…pretty much nothing. 

————

Current Listening:

• The Pixies

(^ Reference to a Leonard Cohen song.)

Just got back from the Leonard Cohen show.  (By which I mean I’ve been back for about a half-hour or so…not like JUST got back…)  Great show.  He played for about three hours.  Got several standing ovations, one lasting for about a full minute (a true novelty amongst St. Louis crowds, lately).  Three encores.

…and every time that 75-year-old man came out onto the stage he ran—yes, RAN—out.  …and when he left, he danced—yes, DANCED—out.  I can barely WALK, and I’m only 29.  Wow.

They did all the usual songs.  No major surprises…but I think it was a good night.  The crowd was really into it and really grateful.  Once or twice, Cohen seemed genuinely touched by our applause, laughter (of the good kind), and the bouquet of roses someone threw at his feet (which he then picked up, tipped his hat, and danced with the roses in his arm until the end of the song—class act). 

The performance was strong.  “Susanne” gave me chills (literally—didn’t see that coming).  “First We Take Manhattan” had the audience clapping along so loudly that you almost couldn’t hear the music.  “If It Be Your Will” was performed just by the Webb Sisters (background singers) and was absolutely beautiful.  “Hallelujah,” of course, was kind of the highlight of the evening…and in regards to that song, I’ve got to say…

I did my best.  It wasn’t much.

I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch.

I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you.

And even though it all went wrong,

I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

with nothing on my tongue but “Hallelujah.”

…if you can write a better lyric, I’d like to hear it.  But you can’t.  So don’t try.

All in all a GREAT night.  Thanks to Dave Knobel for coming along (and insisting on buying the tickets!).  I know it probably wasn’t the most exciting show in the world for you, Dave, but it was a real highlight of my concert-going career.  So thanks.  (…but next time we go to a show that close to a theatre where it’s playing, I’m going to SUCCEED in talking you into going to Rocky Horror afterward!)

And that’s it for tonight.

My friend Larry and I were talking about it today, and we have arrived at the following list of the Top 5 Worst Things Known to Man…in sequential order.

1. The Holocaust
2. An under-cooked Chicken McNugget
3. Cancer
4. Hiccups
5. AIDS

Just thought you’d like to know.

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Current Listening:

• Leonard Cohen – “Live in London”  SO freaking excited about the show tomorrow!!!

So, I’m basically just waiting for J. D. Salinger to die.  Not because I don’t like him…but because I LOVE him.  (I know this sounds creepy-stalker, but I assure you I have no plans to go looking for Salinger.)

For those who don’t know who Salinger is, he wrote “The Catcher in the Rye” (among others).  He’s become a complete recluse and hasn’t published anything in decades.  The closest he’s come is signing legal orders to stop people from “misuse” [sic] of his work—often fans who just want to quote the guy and tell people why they think he’s important.  (As such, I won’t be directly quoting Salinger in this post or anywhere else in print…ever…)  By some accounts, he’s gone kind of crazy-grandpa.  By other accounts, he just doesn’t want to be bothered and sometimes is seen in whatever town he lives buying donuts and whatnot.  By still other accounts, he didn’t care for the pressure of celebrity and chose to withdraw and cease writing.  The truth is probably some combination.

There’s been a long-held theory that Salinger never stopped writing and has volumes and volumes of texts stashed away that we haven’t read.  I don’t know if that’s true.  In fact, I kind of doubt it…  But that rumor is why I’m waiting him out.  If it’s true, I can’t wait to read it.  If it’s not true…then double-bummer when he dies.

Just in case, I’ve never read “Raise High the Roofbeams, Carpenters.”  I know the plot (and the ending), but I’ve never read it—because I’m nuts—just so I know there’s always another Salinger book in my life, in case he never wrote again after his stint writing for The New Yorker. 

…no idea why I shared that with you…maybe it’s because I just found out that a “new” Vonnegut book was published, containing some of his unreleased work…so I’m hoping one day we’ll see some more Salinger.  Not sure.

Either way, I again stress that I don’t have any plans to stalk Salinger.  Wouldn’t even know where to look for him.

…and, for the record, I don’t actually WANT him to die…I just want to know if he’s written anything else, and the only way we’ll ever find out is if he dies.  It’s kind of a catch-22…

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Current Listening:

• Leonard Cohen – “Live in London” in preparation for his upcoming show at the Fox Theatre this weekend!  (I’m super-excited about it!!!)