Well according to pitchfork, the new TVOTR is amazing, but those douche's love indie pop above all else. I like some soul. Not just the musical genre known as soul, but actual soul, you know? I even tried to listen to it after i read their review and I still didnt get it. Bland.

Oh yeah, my jeans almost fell down at the Pow Wow due to lack of a belt so my Indian name was almost "Dances With Underpants"

The Pow Wow was brilliant. It was up in the mountains in the local reservation. There were all these instructions for outsiders like not calling the Indian dress "costumes" but regalia, standing when the drum dances were on, stuff like that. The little kids looked so great in their cost... whoops, regalia, and it was so peaceful and moving. I bought a ton of drums and flutes and stuff, plus several books on the history of the Yakut, the local tribe. A very sad history it is too. As for the Indian tacos, they were like ordinary tacos except that the meat and salad stuff was on this huge Indian fried bread which must have taken yewars off my life but which was delicious. We took lawn chairs and fell asleep under a tree just like old folk are supposed to do at social functions.

Deep fried Mars Bars are a Scottish rather than English thing, but I did have one once. I like banana fritters.

Anyway, hope the biz trip has not been too awful and that the lip balm has helped keep you going.

:-*

Apparently you sit up in bleachers and watch native american dancing, drumming, etc etc. A member of my band, Ben, is involved with the tribal council and I think he is doing something. I am really looking forward to it.

Ploughmans? Branston Pickle? Make me homesick why don't you! Can't get Branston's round here, and believe me I have looked. I so like the sound of a stoner chip shop. There is an English pub in Visalia that I haven't tried yet. Hope the business trip is not too horrible. I will report on the PowWow later

Welcome to my culinary world!

I am going to my first Pow Wow tomorrow. Well, it is not mine, it is the Tule Tribe's, but you know what I mean. I am told Native American tacos are good. I will report!

If I had a quarter for every time I have had cold pasta for breakfast i would probably have $28.75 Touring I loved (except for the couple of years I didn't because I was burnt out) but business trips I never liked. When I was little and I had to go to the dentist, my Dad would always get me a bribe to get me through it. I have continued the tradition to this day and whenever I have to do something I don't like (like invasive medical tests, lots of those at the moment) I buy myself a treat afterwards. A big treat, usually musical or food related! Hang in there

Story time: Geno Washington was on the roster of Motown in the early 60s, I think he had a minor hit or two, then moved to the UK where his Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band played R&B all nighters, covering the soul hits of the day. He was immortalised in the Dexy's Midnight Runners song 'Geno'. Well, by the 80s, he still haqd a version of the Ram Jam Band on the road, playing the London club and pub circuit. My sister had seen him in the 60s glory days and called me to see if I fancied catching his show. I had been away with a children's theater company for ages and hadn't seen her much, so I agreed.

My sister was going through a bad divorce at the time and it didn't take much to encourage her to drink. We were both pretty full of gin and tonic by the time Geno finished his set. As the band loped off the stage, Janice said that she wanted to go backstage to say hello, and promptly headed that direction. I thought I should follow her so I did. We found ourselves in Geno's dressing room, a cramped affair made all the smaller by our entry and Geno's at6tempt at concealing the line(s) of coke he was about to snort. Janice stumbled over to him and said that she used to see him a lot in the sixties. He lied and said he remembered her. Then she remembered me, and said, "This is my little bruvver, he is a mooshishan too!" At that Geno extended his hand. She went on, "He sings about Penguins to five year olds in the theater~? At that the hand was withdrawn again. And that would be that, except...

Two hours later, we are locked in at the pub, and Geno, Janice and some of his band sit in front of me joining in with vocals and hand actions as I play a borrowed guitar and sing..."Bedtime for Mr Penguin, Nighty Night, It's all here in black and white, Just enough time for a sleepy wish, For lot's of ice and some tasty fish!"

How's the weekend going? Had a good gig last night. Acoustic non blues murder ballad type things. Very different to what I have been doing, but pretty satisfying. I have eating and watching shite movies pencilled in for Sunday. What's going on in Beel city?

Oh, by the way, I had a pet budgie when I was little called Joey who used to push a ping pong ball along the floor with his beak and into my hand. He also used to like perching on my hand and looking in the mirror. He was alright.

I am so sorry but Nicole Kidman is so wooden in that movie that her stunt person must have been a tree. I saw her on the West End stage in London in 'The Blue Room' though and she was pretty good. She played opposite Ian Glenn who was great.

the gigs were pretty good. Yeah, we had to get a new drummer. Our last one is facing jail time after his last gig with us. A long story. We have got gigs up till late October, then I am thinking of maybe looking for another band. Not sure about that yet.

It is still oppressively hot here, and likely to be that way for a couple of weeks yet. i yearn for a climate where you have to treasure the last few days of summer. Enjoy

How was the weekend? Mine was busy. The band had three nights up at the local indian Casino, four hours a night. I like playing there though as we get to be loud and I still like to do that. On Friday night, there were some girls dancing round their purses, even when when were playing murder ballads and stuff. (Hey Joe, Stagger Lee, etc) More recording this week, then another weekend of gigging, so I am tired but having fun.

I just watched 'Invasion' on HBO. one of those "two hours of my life I can never get back" deals I am afraid. Its 3:40 now and I am wide awake, so I might start another mixtape. TaTa for now

Helloooo here is the link for the 78rpm mix http://www.s endspace.com/file/utx15u

Thank you friend. I am having a great day. Not that my happiness relies on consumer goods entirely, but I did get an amazing pressie, Pro Tools, which turns my computer into a studio. I am full of banana icecream, we are about to go to a jam in a dodgy bar and then on to my fave Mexican diner. Happy happy happy!

Birthday is on Sunday, I was due to go to the Long Beach blues fest this weekend, but that has fallen through. I hope to maybe get out of town for 24 hours at least but it kind of feels like festivities have been cancelled right now. I am not in touch with any of my family back home and I know this sounds odd, but I am dreading not being able to talk to my Dad on my birthday. Things like birthdays bring into focus what you have lost as well as what you have. Miserable bastard aren't I. Actually, I will cheer up as soon as I get out of P'ville 2morrow, and end up having fun. I want to see a band but to see anything decent means a 175 mile trip to LA. We'll find something. Meanwhile, enjoy the long weekend. I am playing on Monday, so that will be fun.

Fab gear and groovy contest entry. It made me smile on a very non smiley day. You also made me think of The Dead Boys for the first time in an age. Some mixtapes do take over till they are done, don't they but I am glad you did this one. Meanwhile, my descent into my third childhood continues. I just got an early birthday pressie, 'Guitar Hero: Air Guitar" and the air round here is filled with 'Smoke on The Water". Nice!

It iiiiiis... I'm completely blank.

The recording is going well, but the engineer is a poobrained dung beetle. I keep saying that I want an old time natural reverb laden bluesy sound on the acoustic songs (he says "thats so old fashioned) and a Black keys/White Stripes attack on some of the amplified stuff. (He says those bands are shit and make bad records. I say "Who is paying for the bloody session!") That song is a story song. Little Willie John was an R&B singer in the fifties. He recorded the original version of 'Fever', 'Need Your Love So Bad' and lots of others. James brown was his support singer for a couple of years, and in the mid fifties he was big news, but the pressure/loneliness of fame got to him and he started drinking heavily, getting into a bar fight in 1964 that led to a manslaughter charge. In 1968, just as 'Need Your Love So Bad' was covered by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac in the UK and got to no.1, he died in prison. The official verdict was that he had a heart attack, despite reports of ligature marks round his neck, a possible indication that he hung himself or somebody hanged him. Anyway, there is something about his story that really got to me. I had heard some of his recordings because of the Peter Green connection, but a few weeks ago, I found a web site where some guy has uploaded his huge old 78 record collection as mp3s and I heard a lot more of his stuff. You can hear his phrasing technique in a lot of singers who came just after him (including James Brown) but I haven't heard any before him who sing like that. He also had this huge chip on his shoulder about his height which could not have been helped by the name by which he was known. Anyhow, his story interested me and I wrote a Black keysish little ditty which will hopefully be on my CD which I am tentatively calling "Chimichunga's Revenge" although that might change!

In the mid Seventies, I went to a guitar clinic held by Robert Fripp. I paid 30 pounds, at that time a lot, and turned up expecting some kind of souped up guitar lesson. What we got was a lecture on backwards tape and a brief history of Wimbourne Dorset. He did chat to the thirty or so of us at the end and seemed a quiet but nice guy. I saw Crimson around that time (Red was the latest album) when they were a three piece, Fripp, Bruford and Jon Whetton, and he stood onstage then, but just a year later he played in the band backing Peter Gabriel on tour, and he hid behind the curtain at that one, and most of the time since as far as I know. He is (at least was) married to Toyah Wilcox, a not very good New wave singer from the late 70s. She came from my area of North London and before she hooked up with Fripp she tried to buy one of the local movie theaters (Hendon odeon I think) to turn it into a home for her. The only other thing I have to say about her is that she once had to have a toe removed in a surgical procedure and she offered it as a prize in a fan club competition. I bring you the news nobody else gives a shit about!