Chihuly

Kate and I were in Miami for the Presidents Day Weekend, visiting my dad and step-mom. It was dad's birthday on Sunday so it was great that I could be down there with him. It was unusually cool for Miami with temperatures in the mid-50's. It was so funny watching the local weather with images of frozen temperature guages and talk about when will this frigid weather be over. Meanwhile, I had to dig my car out of solid ice to get to the airport in DC. While we were there we visited Fairchild Gardens (http://www.fairchildgarden.org/), a beautiful botanical garden where there is an extensive exhibit of Chihuly glass art. It was really speactacular. Dad and I shot over a hundred pictures each. Here are just a few:










Beyond that, the band auditioned a singer last night. He was good. He can sing and has no problem with lyrics. My problem is that he's a pretty serious guy. I am not sure I want serious lyrics. If we keep it fun and light and stupid, it just feels like having fun. If we start playing songs about regret and fallen angels then I just feel like we're another marginal rock band that doesn't realize that nobody cares. I dunno, you can't have it all. I could sing the silly lyrics, but then we're stuck with my voice and that's really not something you want to pay to hear. We'll keep looking though, who knows.

A nice Valentines day

So, I have been working pretty hard to prepare Kate's Valentines Day gift and last night I gave it to her. It was a cd with a recording of a song I wrote for her. It's my first real foray into recording an entire song myself. I used Garage Band on my Mac. Luckily, I have everything I need. For the guitar part, I played my acoustic using the pickup that Kate got me for Christmas. I obviously played Pai's electronic kit for the drum parts. The vocals were easy - I used one of the mic purchased during the Lavajet days. Finally, Tom keeps his spare bass at my place for practices, so I played that - though he is appalled at how "rubbery" it sounds on the recording. Anyway, Kate loved it. She brought me a wonderful card and a picture frame with one of her favorite quotes in it. Very cool. Tomorrow, we leave for Miami to celebrate my dad's birthday. I can't wait to be where it's warm!

CattleAxe

So, it's quite scary that I'm not sure who I believe right now - my own government or Iran's wacked-out ass. Pretty sad situation when I'm not sure who to trust between those two. Thanks, George Bush, for depleting every shred of faith I have in the honesty of my own government. F&ck.

In lighter news, the singer search continues. We had a nice lass come sing for us this past weekend. She was really nice and enthusiastic, but a bit on the odd side. She came with some lyrics......about suicide. Nice. Her ditty was entitled "Welcome To My Mistake." A bit grimm for a bunch of guys who would normally write songs about robots or The Facts of Life. We've got another dude coming in tomorrow - a hard-core Nu-metal guy with tattoos and strange facial hair. Sounds like a winner to me. We're also still adrift on the whole name issue. We've tossed around a bunch of names including Laser Hammer, Heads With No Bodies, Tattoos On Your Face, and some other gems. Any favorites there? Any unique suggestions? I suggested CattleAxe, but that was quickly vetoed. Too cerebral.

Lookin for a singer

So, the new band is coming along well. I'm getting more comfortable playing the guitar and I'm really having a blast with it. Our current working title is Laser Hammer. If you're laughing right now, you get it. Also, you WISH you were in a band cool enough to call itself Laser Hammer. So we have come to the conclusion that we need someone who can actually sing. Cause, come on, no one wants to hear me croonin except maybe Kate and even then just for a laugh. My friend Angela might sing for us but I'm not sure if she's really into our kind of music. Anyway, if you know any balls-to-the-wall singers (male or female) in DC, let me know.

As a side note, check this out - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/energy_california_lightbulbs_dc. If we're outlawing things like smoking and transfats, why not do away with those old incandescent dinosaurs?