Last Book Read: The Agony and the Ecstacy by Irving Stone

Not bad, but I found myself skimming through some parts of this monster. Also, I think Stone 'guided' his story away from anything he felt to be distasteful; like Michelangelos homosexuality…..

Last Cd listened to: Actually I'm gonna take the opportunity to plug Alec's new song called 'Goodbye Cocaine.' I keep listening to it over and over again. We'll be playing it soon enough………..

Of course, the subject matter has got to be allegorical! None of us good boys would ever think to ingest such a horrible substance. Besides, apparently it's illegal!!!! 

Funny, just about every time I hear a new song from Alec, I think "this sounds great just the way it is -just him and the guitar." In my opinion, they're that good!

Well………… we'll work it up. Hopefully we won't wreck it too much.

Just back from my summer holiday. Brought my banjo, and it made it through the airline baggage without getting smashed to shit. Hey…… sometimes you gotta roll the dice.

We're playing a private party this weekend which pretty much puts us in our natural element. The party is held in a friends backyard and is very casual. B-B-Q, cold beer, warm folks, and a minimum of fuss makes for a great time. These guys know how to do it up right!

Book Reading: Exile on Main st. by Bill Janovitz

Part of a nifty little series of books about classic albums. A nice song by song analysis of 'Exile' from a musicians point of view.

Last album listened to: ……….You guessed it: Exile on Main st.

Got the Paypal button configured, and ready to go. If you are interested in buying our cd, all you have to do is click here (then scroll down) and follow the instructions!

I bought a pair of shoes today……. Marked down to $20., so I snagged 'em up right quick. I'm going on summer vacation on tues., so I figured a good pair of walking around shoes was in order. At that price, they were a steal

I got 'em home, and as I cut off the tags, I noticed this little graphic in the corner: Holy shit! Is this what it's come to? Using an assurance that you won't get your shoes taken away by the airport security as a marketing ploy?

Does this mean that if I present this tag, I can just happily waltz onto the plane? If I don't get on the plane, can I sue the shoe company for bullshitting me? How about suing the airport security for disregarding my advanced security measures?

Hell, I gotta sue somebody…………. wait a minute, I'm Canadian. We don't sue. It's not proper.

Here's the whole tag:

Well, I finally did it. Something I said I'd never do…………………. I set up a myspace page. The straw that broke the camel's back was finding out that there's a fellow already up there with my name JOE TOOLE. Fuck. I've been scooped!

The only reason I created an acct. is so that I could read what is written in his posts. Not much.

Amazingly, as soon as I signed up, I was 'awarded' with a new friend! Holy hell, I must be a real popular individual. Seems that folks are just dying to be my friend -even before they know anything about me!

I used to get a chuckle outta this site, thinking that there are some pretty weird people out there. Then I discovered myspace. Holy shit! My eyes!!!! Talk about bad design, bad taste, dizzying new heights of stupidity, shitty lives, horrible music, ugly ass people………. and that's just the ads!!!!

Myspace leaves itself open to all kinds of nefarious abuse. I mean, anyone can have a page there. I guess it's just playing to the fact that everybody wants to be famous, and everybody wants something for nothing.

I'll tell you this tho…….. it's not something for nothing. You've gotta wade through all kinds of mind-numbing horseshit to find anything worth looking at. Kinda like the real world I guess…….

So, having said that, I'm gonna set up a 'bogus' myspace acct. just to see what kind of shit sticks to it.

Boy those Norwegian cigarettes really pack a punch! Well………….. at least I hope it's a cigarette………

I've been playing banjo for about 5-6 hrs. each day for the last few days. You get a little stiff in the wrists and fingers, and your brain feels as though it's turned into cotton, but it's pretty amazing how well musical ideas come to you after playing for that length of time.

Of course, the next day when you start playing again, you don't automatically pick up where you left off. It's kinda like three steps forward, and two back. Some of the dexterity and ideas that you had previously, sticks, but a lot is gone again.  Apparently, one has to develop callouses on the old nerve pathways in the brain.

Fortunately, I know that from going through this shit with guitar playing some years ago, you eventually reach a level of competence where you can say with confidence 'now I'm a banjo player.' The nice thing about all of that is that you no longer feel as though you wanna smash the shit outta your instrument, and that all envy of really talented players seems to fade. You (at least I do) get to a point where you really appreciate someone elses playing for what it is, and can enjoy the beauty of a nice musical piece even more. It's like your ego is almost completely removed from letting you enjoy something. A good place to be.

Of course, by then, playing the banjo bores you, and so you move onto something else…..

Last cd listened to:

Harry Smith's 'Anthology of American Folk Music'

This is the touchstone from which thousands of folk enthusiasts used as the jumping off point for old time music. Truly a masterpiece. I find myself going back to it time and again.

Last book read:

'Electric Universe' by David Bodanis

Bodanis tells the story of how electricity was discovered, explained, how it shapes our lives, and how we are influenced by it because we are electric. Science writing at it's best!