If you go to www.simpsonizeme.com you can upload a picture of yourself and create a simpson-esque character that sorta, kinda, doesn't look completely unlike you. Well, to be honest, the computer generated version of me wasn't even close. But they let you tweak it after. This was the best I could come up with - this is the Simpsons Brian.

Those of you who know Bryan Pai know that he's started a new job at Sun Edison, the nation's largest solar utility. His role there is to provide integrating analysis for the company's business, technology, and marketing elements - determining project costs and forecasting corporate needs. Sounds like a tall order. He's been busy but really enjoying his new position. Here's a great shot of Bryan on a recent tour of solar installations in New Jersey.

Who else is psyched about ethics reform?

Okay, so besides being elated that Ted Stevens is finally being investigated for being clearly the most "for sale" Senate seat in recent history, I'm really jazzed about the 411-8 vote in the House on the ethics reform bill. I was going to be VERY displeased with my party if the Dems didn't do this and I can't wait for it to pass the Senate later this week. Assuming another large majority passage, Bush (read Cheney) can't even veto it.

I was, of course, let down by the softening of sections of earmarks and bundling, but at least this will set a new baseline. In a couple years - when this feels like the standard - we can hopefully make another push and clean up Congress that much more. It is generally insane to me that we have a governing body that is so clearly broken and corrupt and yet it is still so difficult to fix these open sores on our democracy. I can't believe that people who vote against ethics reform are not immediately ousted by their constituencies. Probably because they're using loopholes to bring home the pork. Maybe, when we eventually get rid of earmarks altogether, we'll have a representative democracy that works the way our founding fathers intended. Maybe.

I hope these efforts, plus the election of a visionary democrat (let's hope such a thing still exists) will mean a more honest government that works in the interests of all the American people for a change.

Does anyone know if Bob Ney is in jail yet. I sure hope so. Oh yeah, and fuck you Ted Stevens and fuck you Jim DeMint. You can both suck it.

Gender Stuff

Sorry this blog has been so bereft of pictures recently. I will try to do better. I had a great weekend, the highlight of which was Saturday night's "Thunderdome" party that Kate and I hosted. We had two tables of gaming fun - including poker (which I lost miserably at), Taboo, Apples to Apples, and Celebrity. Pat, George and I were a Celebrity dream team as we befuddled the ladies with characters like Christopher Lambert, Lucy Lawless, Joe Walsh, and Tron. We'll have to do that again soon.

Sunday was fun too because the band (sans our hardworking, lawyer lead singer) got together and finished a new song. We should have a gig scheduled soon and we're looking forward to playing our music for everybody.

Oh, and I wanted to share this great article I read in the Post this morning about a study of male and female bargaining behavior when getting a new job. It seems that women do bargain less, which leads to lower pay - but that there is actually a good reason for this. In the end, it's an unconscious response to very real double standards. Give it a read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900827.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Socially Conscious Shopping

Some friends and I were discussing travel offsets last night. I have never "offset" my travel before but I intend to start. A couple ways you can do this:
1. Pai tells me that Expedia allows you to add offsets to your trip while you book it - cool.
2. At www.terrapass.com you can calculate how many you'll need for your trip and buy offsets. You can also purchase offset gift packages for friends.
3. If you'd like to buy renewable energy for your home or business, check out www.green-e.org
4. Or, to find other really cool renewable energy gifts (such as a solar sholder bag that'll recharge your ipod or cell phone!), check out www.rewarestore.com.

For more great tips using carbon offsets, visit: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/how-to-green-your-carbon-offsets.php

The Democratic YouTube Debate

So, I just watched the YouTube Democratic candidate debates (http://www.youtube.com/debates). This is the first Dem debate I’ve watched this year. I’ve been avoiding them because I just feel that we’re so far out from the actual election that we aren’t going to hear honest answers that can be converted into policy. We’re far enough away right now that any of these people would have time to modify or transform their stances on any given issue if they feel it will give them a better shot at the candidacy or the white house. It’s disgusting, but true – I have avoided learning about these proposals because there are simply too many trial balloons in the talking points.

However, I really liked the idea of the YouTube debate so I strapped in and finally began my process of selecting a candidate. Here are some of my thoughts:

In general, I was a bit disappointed that the candidates did what they always do – they take each question and restate it as a question that they already have a canned answer for. You could tell who had no chance of winning because they were the only people making bold statements. Still, most of the answers felt flat and uninspiring – which is to be expected when you’re digesting trial balloons.

I was also very disappointed by the slap-dash treatment of environmental concerns – given the importance of this issue today, there should have been a much more coverage to better illustrate the differing viewpoints of the candidates.

My kudos to Anderson Cooper. He kept it rolling with no self-aggrandizement and, in a few situations, hammered at the candidates to force them out of vagary and into a clear statement of policy. Nice job AC!

Gravel – Wow, this guy’s a nutball. I assume he’s trying to look like the firey outsider, but the way he went after Obama made him look more like a junk yard dog. Also, his tax solution to climate change is insane and won’t work. Still, they gave this guy NO airtime and I don’t know why they bothered to have him on. Of course, he used half of his time complaining that he didn’t get more time. Lame ass.

Biden – I like Biden’s no-nonsense way of speaking. I loved his response to Darfur – “Why Darfur? Because we can!” Kick ass. His Iraq policy sounds like the only honest one to me, but it still creates a Yugoslavia-esque state that would be unstable at best.

Kucinich - Kicinich is just hard to take seriously. I mean come on, is DK really going to come into office and pass reparations for slavery? Whether you like the idea or not, it’s a dumb thing to stump on in my opinion. With each answer he tried to sound really inspiring but he was just trying too hard – he ended up looking silly in my opinion.

Clinton – Boy did she use her front runner status well. Hillary knew she had the room to act like a statesman and she did. I thought her answer to the “are you feminine enough?’ question was one of the best answers of the night. I have always felt that HC was a bit disingenuous – more politician than statesman. I think she did a good job of chipping away at that stumbling block in this debate. Her energy answer, while a bit safe, was on the right track.

Dodd – Beyond an above-average response to the race/Katrina question, Dodd showed himself to be a Washington insider looking for a better job. Having voted for the Defense of Marriage act, I thought his answer to the gay marriage questions was hypocritical.

Richardson – Whenever he spoke he went right to no-nonsense statements of exactly what he would do. No trial balloons here – he cut right to the promises. I was particularly inspired by his decisive comments on international leadership.I don’t think his “all out now” approach to Iraq is practical and I strongly disagree with his stance on gun control.

Obama – I was disappointed to see Obama dodge the reparations question. He said “We do need reparations for our public schools!” What a cheap shot. Everyone will clap for the schools and it was an easy out. I really liked the question about how will Obama address being “black enough” and while he had a great answer, it didn’t address the actual question. I loved his answer about meeting with foreign leaders. In all, Obama spoke well and I like his policies as they stand, but I was disappointed that he didn’t answer questions more directly. I think he’s playing it safe right now (which is probably a smart move).

Edwards – Edwards really played the role of the outsider more than I expected. While it may just have been rhetoric, I liked his rhetoric on challenging big business for control of this country. I like his strong stance on universal healthcare and thought that he made excellent (and accurate) comments on energy solutions.

Best question of the night – question 10 – Why is it okay to use religion as a basis to deny marriage rights to gays. This question was just REALLY well phrased and really skewered Edwards good. He looked like an ass. When Obama took up the question he talked about his civil union proposal providing equal benefits. As he spoke the words “separate but equal” drifted through my mind. Not good.

So, after this debate I am still not sure who I will vote for, but I can put them in order of how much I like them and their policies and vibe right now:

1. Barak Obama
2. John Edwards
3. Hillary Clinton
4. Joe Biden

These could change, dramatically even, once I put more time and effort into learning their policies. I guess I’m sucked in now. Let’s hope whoever we pick can whoop their Republican opponent something fierce.

apathy and frustration

So, I've been pretty mood so far this week. None of the moods have been good either. I've been vacillating between apathetic, frustrated, and down-right angry. I don't really get it. I have a busy week, but nothing to difficult - just lots of stuff. I don't have real reason to be angry, but it's just how I feel when I get up. So strange. What's even weirder is that Kate feels the same way. This is really disturbing because she is usually really good at pulling herself out of a funk.

My negativity is not due to a bad weekend. Kate and I went to New York where we partied with our friends and saw our families (it had been a while since I'd closed down a bar). I took the opportunity to help my recently-retired mother purchase and set up computer equipment for her new home office. I think she's going to love working for herself. As a congratulatory gift, Caryn and I got her a really nice pen - a symbol of her new career as a freelance writer.

On Sunday I spoke to mom's church about environmental issues. I even handed out an action plan to give attendees a bunch of great ways to mitigate their environmental impact. If you'd like a copy, email me or leave a note here. The added element of stress there was that Kate's parents came. I wanted to make a good impression there - especially because Kate just told them that we're moving in together (something that Kate's mother wasn't thrilled about). After that we all went to lunch. It went pretty well - Kate's dad and Heinz share a love of German food.

Tonight is Collider practice which I'm looking forward to because music is my favorite past time right now. At the same time, I'm a bit frustrated with my band mates. I'm putting a lot of effort into things like writing new music, scheduling band practices, burning demo cds, and booking gigs. Whenever I ask for help though I don't get much response. I guess I have more interest in doing that kind of stuff than they do, and that's fair enough. I don't mind doing most of the work if I have most of the interest, but it would be nice to see at least some enthusiasm from them since they clearly want to be in the band. I mean, where will the gigs come from if we don't put any effort into getting them?

I've decided that they don't take any initiative because they'll just assume I'll do it for them. To this end, I've decided to put no work into the band (save coming to practice) for the next month or so. I'll see what happens. What do you think? Is this the right way to go? Am I being an ass? How would you approach the situation I'm in - if you wanted to put effort into the band but didn't want to feel like you were banging your head against the wall? I could use some feedback on this one.

Writing a song

Collider is finishing up the writing of two more songs right now. One or two more and we'll have what I would consider a full set.

I've read plenty of web pages and even a book on how to write songs. I've never really been able to apply the step-wise approaches I've read. I don't think you can write out a process that a musician can then easily apply. This is especialy true for anyone writing with a band. In Collider there are various schools of thought as to how we should write. Pat & Bryan would like to see us just get together and jam until something comes out. Tom and I like to write on our own and then present something for the band to fiddle with. We would all like to have the vocals and guitar lines created at the same time so they don't feel slapped together, but none of us know exactly how to DO that. None of these ideas are mutually exclusive and I think we are making great progress.

My next big idea is to start by laying out a song structure FIRST and then composing riffs and guitar lines to fill it. Could be interesting. We'll see.

Big News

So, I've got some big news. Kate and I have decided to move in together! It's strange that this doesn't seem like a bigger step to me. In the past, doing something like this would have been scary. But when it comes to Kate I just don't have a shred of doubt in me so instead of trepidation, it's just pure excitement at the thought of having her around. Rockin.

I had a great weekend. Friday night Kate and I saw Knocked Up - great movie. Then on Saturday I played golf with Sam - we both played really well. Saturday night, Kate and I met up with Mona, Sam and Sam's new guy, Marcello, at 1223 - a posh nightclub on CT ave. They were showing the Live Earth concert on their big screen so at 9pm the place was full of enviros. I guess the place decided to lift their dress code for the event. Later on they switched to the DJ and the five of us danced until about midnight. At that point, the music had just gotten too loud and we left. When we did there were people lined up down the block to get into this place. As I said to Bryan - the women were dressed like they are in Entourage. It was nuts. Not a place we would typically go, but it was fun. To the right is a picture of me standing in one of the club's purple lights as I reenact the final scene from the movie The Highlander. Sunday Kate and I hiked the Billy Goat trail in Great Falls National Park. It was beautiful out, but it was also 97 degrees. It was pretty brutal, but we both enjoyed it anyway.

So, random dream scene from this morning: I entered a large gray room. It was the dimensions of a basketball court and about 50 feet to the ceiling. There were no windows - just a big gray box with one set of swinging double doors. There were a mixture of barber chairs, hospital beds, and exercise machines spaced out around the room - in no aparant order or structure. Some people were there to get their hair cut. Others were being tested for diseases. Still others seemed to be doing physical therapy for injuries recieved in Iraq. In my dream before this one I had been Boba Fett, attacking a Star Destroyer so I wasn't really sure which activity I had come to this room for. I decided that it was probably a haircut and sat down in an empty seat. Josh strolled in for a haircut - he always got his hair cut here. Now he had long, black lanky hair down past his shoulders. It had patches of red from a bad highlight job and patches of gray because he was getting old. I made fun of him and flirted with his stylist. Who was going to cut my hair? I looked and saw a woman in an apron smile at me and gesture that she would be there in a minute. It was Catherine Zambito (a girl I knew in high school). She had just finised cutting the hair of Alanna Gino (a girl I used to work with). Alanna's hair was cropped really shot - she looked cute with it that way. Why was she here though - why were any of us in this room? I woke up.

The wrong way to build support

So, this weekend I joined Pat and Tom to go to an outdoor concert put on by a community organization in Mount Pleasant. The concert was to protest (and raise awareness of) a current ban on live music in Mt. Pleasant establishments. There is a concern among some residents that live music clubs will turn Mt. Pleasant into another Adams Morgan and result in dance clubs, noise, increased crime, etc. I went to this outdoor event feeling fully in support of the concept of lifting this ban - thinking that people were entirely overreacting by banning music outright. While I still support that, the event left a decidedly bad taste in my mouth.

The first act (the only one I saw) was a hip hop duo performing with mics and turntables. They were relatively talented, but the lead singer managed to turn me off to the point that I ceased thinking about the issue he was supposedly there to promote. In between each song he harassed the crowd about not dancing or even bobbing their heads - about standing too far away or not rushing to buy their CDs or T-shirts. Even worse, he gave equal time to bemoaning the horror of gentrification and blaming the ills of the neighborhood on anyone who hadn't been born in the same hospital he had.

In fact, I kept a running tally of the groups this man identified as being "against" music in DC. This included all Republicans, white folks, anyone who didn't work in the service industry, people not actually born and raised in the District, and anyone who had moved to Mt. Pleasant in the past three years. The audience was probably 10% black, 40% Latino, and 50% white and, based on the hand survey he took, only a few listenners worked in the service industry. Based on his definitions, most of the people there to support the cause should be against it. This man vacillated between berating the people there to listen to him and hassling them about not dancing and acting more interested in his performance. His special message to the "undercover police officers of color that I know are here" made him seem especially out of kilter with the supposed spirit of the event.

This guy might know something about hip hop, but he doesn't know the first thing about building a coalition. Step one is to define "your side" as broadly as possible so people will feel that your plight is their plight. I left before the end of their act - never having heard about how I can help or even signing a petition. Pity.

DC Planning

Part of the reason I came to NREL was to explore the incredible professional opportunities that come with working at the world's leading organization on renewable energy. A few weeks ago I spoke at a major industry event where decision makers from Fortune 500 companies listened to me speak about the future of renewable energy. Today I landed an even cooler gig. I am going to participate in a working group assisting the DC Department of Environment with their drafting of a new DC energy plan, which will focus on concrete steps the District can take to encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in the District. I may also get the opportunity to contribute to comprehensive energy legislation to be proposed in the DC Council.

This is the kind of project that I always wanted to be a part of. It's got me quite excited!

RUSH

So, this weekend Pai and I went to see Rush at Nissan Pavilion. This was my sixth time seeing them in concert. This wasn't the best of their shows that I'd seen, but it was certainly no disappointment. Their last tour was their 30th anniversary tour so they indulged the crowd by playing lots of the fans' favorites. This time, they focused much more on their new album. The challenge here is that Amazon screwed up my order so I didn't have the new album before the concert. Even hearing these songs for the first time though, I really liked them.

As I study guitar, play in a band, and immerse myself much more in music theory I listen to music differently. I am hearing what's going on on more levels. It's funny because it has me appreciating complex music (like Rush) more, but it's also got me appreciating super simply music (like Art Brut) more as well. I like that. I like that I enjoy a broader range of music as I learn more about how it's made. We spend so much of our adult lives eliminating options - narrowing our focus - that it feels rejuvenating to actually broaden one of my foci.

Of course, while this was the first Rush concert where I paid more attention to Alex Lifeson than Neil Peart, it was still amazing to watch Neil play his kit with what I can only describe as inspired genius. Why is Neil a genius? Because he can do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bIchqJoxFQ&mode=related&search= and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkNGne4ZWB4

Been Sick & random updates

Sorry about the delay in posts, but I've been pretty ill. My dad, step mom, sister and nephew were all in town for Fathers day weekend. Evan is the cutest kid I've ever seen in my life. It was so great having him around. Our girlfriend's watched with smirks while Bryan and I did "Dad" duty with the little guy. It was great to see everyone, but Joanne and I both got pretty sick and that put rather a damper on the weekend. I'm better now though - finally.

Yesterday my awesome real estate agent called me up and offered me free tickets to the Nats game. Bryan, Kate and I were joined by Kate's friends Rose and Dave. It was lots of fun, even though the Nats got pretty trounced by the Detroit Tigers. There was also a kid behind me who kept screaming in my year "Triple Play! Get a triple play!!!!" and "Grand Slam!!!" I was seriously ready to slap him. I didn't though - cause I'm such a kind soul. I did get my beer, hot dog, nachos, and ice cream. My digestive system must love me.

On the way to the game I heard from my old friend Mary Santos. She hasn't really returned my calls in the last five months so I didn't really know what her deal was. She says she's been out of the country a lot. Anyway, she was writing to let me know that she got engaged. I'm very happy for her. I am really interested to meet this guy. Mary is a unique individual and I'm curious as to what kind of guy would eventually click with her on that level. Some people seem to fall right into serious relationships with who ever's around. Others need a very particular match in order to really fall in love. I wonder if it's because some people are more complex and have more trouble finding the right one or is it just that other people are just more willing to settle? I'm not sure.

The other thing that I'm excited about right now is that Kate and I have decided to plan a vacation for this March. We're not sure exactly where yet (researching that is part of the fun) but I think we're going to get scuba certified before we go and spend some of our trip diving. I'm SOOOO psyched for that.

Where's your next vacation?

Great weather

I hope the weather was as nice where you were this weekend as it was here in DC. I took advantage of it for sure. Saturday I played golf with Bryan and Linnea at Fairfax National Golf Club. I played like total crap but Linnea had her best round ever. That evening, Kate and I went to a BBQ at her friend Justin's place. That man knows ribs. On Sunday we joined some of Kate's other friends to watch the Orioles at Camden Yards. While the Rockies did beat the home team we all still had a great time. Sunday night was the final Collider mixing session for our demo, "Practice Makes Perfect." I just have a couple tiny tweaks to make tonight and they'll be posted on our myspace page by tomorrow!

Great clip

I'm not a huge fan of Bill Maher, but this is a great segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvYFvbVi6S0. The hard hitting fact here is that the Bush Administration currently employes 150 lawyers who attended Pat "The Gays are Coming!" Robertson's Regent law school.

In brighter news, recording on the Collider 3 song demo is complete. The band's getting together on Thursday to mix it and then it will be up on our myspace page by Friday: www.myspace.com/colliderdc.

Disturbing Meeting Title

We often have meetings here at NREL's DC office and you will see signs up in the hallway directing visitor to the conference room. This afternoon we have a meeting here titled

"Cradle-to-Grave: Nuclear Future Assurance Workshop."

Now, anyone who's familiar with hazardous waste policy knows the cradle-to-grave concept deals with following a substance from initial development through complete disposal and mitigation. And, I know that this meeting is being held to discuss nuclear power. Still, you could totally have a meeting wit this title at the league of super villains or something.

My atrophied imagination

Kate and I were talking the other night about the loss of creativity. When I was in high school and college I used to write poetry all the time. Now, I don't. I have sat down and tried from time to time (mostly to fuel my last bands need for bad lyrics) and found none of the inspiration I used to feel. I was never a good poet, but there was usually some corner of my imagination that I could stretch and find an interesting concept upon which to write. Where did that go?

Is it because I don't sit down to write as much? Is it because I simply don't do it enough and am out of practice? Has year upon year of 9-5 desk jockeying so sedated my right brain that my creativity has simply atropheyed? I miss my ability to create characters and strange locations off the top of my head and explain them to my friends during one of our many role playing sessions. I miss the amazing variety of possible futures played out in my various day dreams. I still have daydreams but they're usually the same things. I still value them, but I wonder why my imagination has given up on the universe of possibilitities it once explored at an almost break-neck pace.

I have noticed my own limitations in learning as well. Science tells us that children have a much higher capacity to learn new things (like speaking a language or playing a new instrument). As you may know, I am taking guitar lessons. Part of this is learning music theory. It's hard though - harder than it should be. I can almost feel my rather stale brain resist when I try to understand the relationships between concepts. It's frustrating because it makes me feel stupid and I know that I am not stupid.

Perhaps, above all, I am just too settled in my concept of what my future might hold. My father told me the story of his 30th birthday where he looked at his life - corporate job, wife, two kids, house in the suburbs - and wondered "what now?" He stared down the maw of a future with no variety - a set path that left little to creativity and person choice. It scared him and I can understand why. I think somehow we need to embrace the "plans" of our life (like employment, marriage, children) and not resent them for the restrictions they put on our freedom. At the same time, I see it as absolutely vital that we find ways to stretch out and use our creativity, our capacity to learn, the savor of the unknown and unknowable.

We Levite's say "you don't grow old, you stop learning and you become old." I've been feeling old lately. I will redouble my efforts. I will learn some new tricks.

Last Weekend

Hey there,

Sorry about the delayed posting but it's been a busy week. Work has been a full boat and Collider has bee hard at work finishing our demo. Tuesday night should see a final product - I'll let you know when we post it to our MySpace page.

I hope you had a great long weekend. I got a lot of R&R in. Satruday I played golf (Sam, George and I played the par 3 course at Haines Point) and did really well. I hit several greens from the tee and even drained a 25 foot put for a birdie!

Sunday morning Kate and I went to Luray Caverns down by the Shennandoah Valley. Supposedly I was there as a child but don't really remember. It was neat. Kate said "I love being in places that remind you how old the planet really is." I agree - it's easy to get an inflated sense of our own importance in the world, or the importance of things like cars of Lindsay Lohan's train wreck of a life. Being in a place that has been evolving for thousands and thousands of years really helps one keep it all in perspective. My favorite part of the caverns was this really cool standing water that perfectly reflected the stalagtites on the ceiling. It looked like two massive cities facing each other.

The other patrons at Luray were pretty diverse. We were surprised at the number of Indian families. There was also a rather boisterous Vietnamese group. Other than that it was your typical Virginia fare. The crowds were a little annoying while we were trying to enjoy nature's beauty but what're you gonna do, right? I wanted to play pirates but Kate was no fun - she wouldn't even give me one "Arrrrrrrg".

After Luray we went to a camp ground in Shennandoah national park where we were going to camp that night. We had a picnic and then went for a hike to this beutiful waterfall. On our hike back it started to rain. Then it started to rain HARD and the temperature dropped about 25 degrees. We were a mile from our campsite, soaking wet and running on the side of a road when a nice family in a pick up stopped and gave us a lift. Good thing too because a second later it started to hail really hard. The family dropped us off at my car (thank God we hadn't set up the tent already) where we waitend another 20 minutes before the hail storm let up and we could safely drive home (for some reason we didn't feel like camping anymore). Oh well, no camping this time. We went home and chilled out on the couch with some beers and microwaved smores.

Finally, Kate started her new job this week and that's going quite well. Check out her new employer: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/

MS 150

This past weekend was the MS150 bike tour that I do every year. I want to once again thank everyone who contributed to my fundraising efforts. I raised about $730 this year while my biking parter, Bryan Pai, raised around $2,000 (go Bryan!). This year was particularly hard because neither of us had really trained for the ride as we'd done in years past. Also, the strong headwinds this year made going even downhill a challenge sometimes. As tough as it was, I'm once again glad I did it and, oddly enough, I'm not at all sore so I've got no complaints.

I hope some of you will ride with me next year or possibly volunteer at the event. It's time to Start to Finish MS. For more opportunities to work with the National MS Society, please visit. www.msandyou.org

Band stuff

So, last Wednesday we had our second gig at Artomatic. It was once again a blast and we got really positive feedback from the folks there. I thought I played a little sloppy, but I'm understanding that what's important is not playing each part perfectly, but putting on a show that people will enjoy. Mona made up for my few bad notes with lots of stage presense and ending our last song with "I won't buy you chips!" (inside joke, sorry)

Last night, we tried to record our songs two instruments at a time (first the bass & drums then the two guitars). Since my hardward can record two distinct tracks at a time, this will allow us to have our songs in Garage Band with each instrument as a separate track - allowing us to fiddle with level and effects and what-not. Unfortunately, we had problems with the sound board and more generally with our own incompetence. The whole night was pretty much a waste. The good news is that we think we've got it all figured out now and should be good to go to record next week.

audience for the music is one of the things that drives us to makeBeing in a band is a lot of work and it can be frustrating. We all know that there is next to no chance that we're gonna become rich and famous rock stars. So, why do it? Why not just get together and play when we feel like it? That's a hard question to answer. Having our music heard (at gigs or in a recording) is a way for us to share a part of ourselves with other people. Also, knowing that there is an eventual it good. It's more fun if there are stakes, you know? Anyway, I guess there's not a point to it really, it's just something that we all love to do.

Finally, our new MySpace page is up and running. Check it out every once in a while for band updates and to hear our latest tracks: www.myspace.com/colliderdc.

Also, Look how dorky Pat & Tom look in their matching shirts!