I guess Fall is finally settling in....I had to turn on the heat tonight when I got home from work. It was darnright chilly!!!! The weather forcast said that it was "unseasonably cold" today. Damn, they're not kidding! I did notice though, that the Mums that I planted out front a while ago are starting to bud again. Right on!!! I don't really have that much to say tonight, so I'll sip my tea and chill out for a while.....

Wow, I just realized that it's almost October! Gotta pull out the U2 CD again! It seems like yesterday, I was getting away of the hell that was April. And it is true- Time heals all wounds.

Yesterday, Ben, Emily and I threw our "end of summer party" here at Camp Pameacha. We killed 2 kegs, and 110 bucks worth of grub (the chicken terriaki was a great success!) Weatherwise, we got really lucky, It had been threatening rain all day, but it help off till after we wrapped up at 3:00 THIS MORNING! Yikes!

The party was a great success, lots of great people, good food, music (we even had a DJ throw down a trance set...till the cops came!) and of course Drumming! I got to drum with some different people which was a great change. Em didn't really join in, but Myshele from the Naugatuck crew came down, and we got in some good jams.

You know, I invited a bunch of people to our party, but only FOUR of them showed up (thanks you guys!). Oh well, It was a great time, too bad everyone missed one hell of a rockin' party! Man, I guess we know how to throw parties. According to Mike, we probably were the envy of all the Middletown parties last night!

Today, it rained like hell, and I didn't really leave the house, except to do some cleanup (I got soaked) and move the Jeep so Emily could get out of the driveway. I watched parts of like 5 movies on cable, but nothing seemed to keep my interest. So, here I am....blogging on this Sunday night. It's almost time for The Simpsons, so I hope it's not pre-empted by some stupid sports game!

In the CD player recently:
The Beatles- Anthology 2
Jack Johnson- On and On
Phish- A Picture of Nectar
Grateful Dead- Dicks Picks Vol. 11
3 Doors Down- Away From the Sun

Tonight, CU Next Tuesday (yeah, I know it was a Thursday!!) played down at The Gatekeeper. I got a call from Mike earlier in the afternoon telling me that they'd be there. I got a bit of flack from JD about not having the film from Labor Day developed, but I'll get on that ASAP.

Anyway, the guys were "on fire" tonight. Mike started playing the riff from "Play that Funky Music", and it ended up morphing into an incredible instrumental jam. Bang! They were on...right out of the starting gate!

They played for a while and took a break (they realized that they outnumbered the patrons at this point). Matt and Bryan started into a improv jazzy piece to be joined by Colin and Mike. This jam developed into the riff from "LA Woman."

JD decided not to join the band for the second set, and Mike kept signaling me to take the mic. So, I did (I kinda had to fudge some of the lyrics, but I pulled it off) and stayed up there for the whole set- occasionally singing and playing percussion. I had a great night, especially the jam where Pink Floyd's "Breate" turned into "Down by the River" by Neil Young (now referred to as Neil Floyd or Pink Young!)

I got a couple of compliments from the guys, so I guess either they were being nice or were serious....

I found out this week that Radio 104 changed formats to a hip-hop format. So now, my modren rock legacy that I started way back in 1994 has ended. Clear Channel has ruined Hartford radio once more!

Oh, just because-
Clearchannelsucks.org

Well, I started my day off this morning right :) Craig and I went over to Knight People for the Tibetan Singing Bowl meditation. It was just awesome to start the day off by totally relaxing and getting into the right frame of mind. The combination of Emile's voice and the playing of the bowls is an incredible experience. I could start my day off every day like that!

Craig and I walked from the house to Knight people, and it was really amazing how much you miss when you're driving by in a car. I think that I live in a rather neat little section of Middletown. Got to see some of the neighbors on High Street. And I got a little exercise on this beautiful late Summer day.

After I got home, I just kinda hung out for a while and enjoyed the day. Mike invited me over for lunch, and we ended up walking to the South Green and Main Street for a little bit. I went into Record Express and found a used copy of Michael Brook's "Cobalt Blue" CD- Craig had turned me on to it a while ago on a cassette copy of his LP. I just finished listening to it. Great CD. It's even got a 2nd CD of some live stuff.

When I got home, I noticed Danielle called. I was kind of suprised that I heard from her. She's seeing a new guy, and usually when that happens, I never hear from her. We were talking online last week, and I wasnt in the best mood, and she called to see how I was. So that was a nice addition to my day.

In the CD player today:
Elton John- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John- Madman Across the Water
Micheal Brook- Cobalt Blue
Neil Young- Harvest
Peter Gabriel- US

Had a pretty great weekend this weekend. I'm glad that I got over the funk that I was in last week- more on that later :) Even though I had to work this morning, I still managed to do quite a bit this weekend.

After I got out of work, I met up with Craig, John and Virginia at the Cheshire Fall Festival to do the drum circle. The public circles like at Cheshire and the Meriden Daffodil Fest are always way different than the ususal jams that I do. I ususally go to the ones like yesterday for the kids. The little ones love drums. And it helps to have a few seasoned drummers on hand as well.

The first jam we did went off really well, everyone locked in right away. Then the stupid PA announcer kept making announcements on top of us, and we were right next to the speakers. That kinda drove the crowd away, and made it impossible for John to do any real facilitation. At one point, he took the wireless mike and shut it off and put it down in disgust. Craig even went over to the guy and said "we cant do what we do if you keep taking over us." The idiot on the PA didn't listen.....

The next event scheduled at the festival was none other than the Dyn-O-Myte Disco Review, with none other than our dear friend Bryan Caudle on drums. So I got a chance to chat with him for a while. I had intended on introducing him to Craig and John, but Bry was busy with his sound check so....

Later, I had gone over Virginia's for dinner with Craig, John and his family, Pete the Didg guy, and we had a great time!. Virginia has a really great place, and the conversation over dinner was incredibly stimulating. Only to be beat by the awesome jam we had in the backyard afterwards. We played a couple of great drum and didg jams, and we even broke out the crystal bowl. Every time I play that bowl (or the one at Brian's house) it's just incredible... So at least I got one great drum jam in this weekend :)

Tonight Mike asked me if I'd help him and play some percussion on the Two Virgins CD. Tom Mooney was there with Mike and we put some stuff on tape for 3 songs, 2 of which I was on. This makes the second and third songs that I recorded with them, so I'd love to hear the finished product!

I got home and I was inspired to write a little, and do some blogging, but I have to work tomorrow at 7, so I gotta fly! Till next time :)

I went to see Bela Fleck (again) last night at Bushnell's Belding Theater with Janis and Dave. This time it was Bela acoustic and Edgar Meyer on upright Bass and Grand Piano. Totally different from a Flecktones show! These guys just blew me away! Bela's playing always does!

The tunes strayed from Flecktones material and played mainly classical pieces and some Jazz, along with Fleck-Meyer originals. Bela and Edgar had a great rapport with the audience, and showed a great sense of humor. The crowd was polite and listened, holding their applause to between numbers, and giving 2 standing ovations. (Not like the guy in the upper Mezzanine at the Tones' show at Jorgenson in April)

They announced that they were recording the shows, and were going to showcase some of their new tunes on an upcoming CD in April. I had noticed there were audience mics on either side of the stage when I made my way to my seat.

All in all, It was a great show, and a great night!

I've been busy again, so not much time to blog lately. I've got lots to update so here we go!!!!!

On Monday, I was invited to participate in a drum circle with Arthur Hull. Arthur is creditied with bringing the drum circle to the mainstream. Monday's event was an interview with Arthur conducted by Ron Knight of Sirius Satellite radio at their studios in midtown Manhattan. Talk about excitement! John and Craig got together a bunch of us to represent the Central Connecticut Contingent (or CCC) The CCC included me, John, Craig, Pat from Blessed Beat, "Pete the didg guy" and Virginia. Many of the drummers there have been playing A LOT longer than I have, and it was quite an honor to be invited to join them!

So, we packed up our drums and headed down to the city for the day. I had figured that we'd get some strange looks walking down the street in Manhattan carrying drums, but I forgot something- this is freaking New York! After parking and checking into the building (security is still a bit tight after 9/11- they even ran the drums through an XRAY machine!) we were on our way up to the 36th floor to the Sirius studios.

Man, what a facility! I've been involved in broadcasting and worked in the business, but I've never seen anything quite like this (well, ESPN a few times, but....)! Just a really awesome big-time studio and master control facility. But I digress, I think I was really there for the drumming! A bunch of us were milling about with drums, so I figured we were all there for this event. All in all there were about 30 of us.

So we get set up in the studio, and Arthur comes in, fresh from a trip to the Sam Ash store down the street with some new percussion toys! Arthur seems to be a rather unassuming guy at first sight, but I figured it was him by all the hugs and greetings everyone was giving him. But once we got in the circle and he started giving instructions, he was amazing. I just can't figure out how they can put so much energy into one person! He was jumping around in the middle "like an elf" (someone elses's description).

The format of the afternoon was the taping of an interview with Arthur, with four segments of drumming throughout the program. Arthur spent some time discussing the drum circle movement, his friendship with the late Babatunde Olatunji and his involvement with Mickey Hart (yes, the Mickey Hart). The interview was interesting, but I was really there for thr drumming. I mean, "It's all about the drums!"

We got some great jams during the time we were there, I think it was one of the best circles that I have ever participated in. I totally get off when the energy connects, and you're surrounded by such great drummers! I was still buzzing from it the next morning!

Delilah and Sarah at Drums around the World
(Photo by Steve and Darlene)

Oh, I went to Old Glory yesterday and bought a new baseball hat to replace the WWUH one that I lost recently. For some reason I can't seem to be able to keep the damn things! Anyways, I picked up a Sublime (the band) hat, and Janis and Sue pointed out today that the hat had a picture of a bong on the back of it! I hadn't even realized it when I bought it :)

"What are you...a pothead fokker??"

I went to a great drum circle last night with the gang in Naugatuck. The monthly circles as of late have been more partying and less drumming. Well, we all got back our focus on drumming, and we really had a great jam last night. I met some new people, and got to hang with old friends, and we had a great time.

There's nothing like the feeling when the drumming just comes together and the rhythym just connects. It's kinda like magic or something. It's really a spontaneous thing!

Today I went to the fair with Janis and her friend Sue (who Janis is trying to set me up with). We had a great time, it was kinda casual, and I was just able to be myself. Sue and I talked on the phone for like 3 hours yesterday, we seem to have alot in common. I'm gonna have to wait and see how this goes....I'm sure I'll find out in a couple of days.

I did a little shopping at the fair, I bought a great Sun and Moon mirror, and got a Dreamcatcher (I've been looking for one for a while). I've still got to find a Green Man for the apartment though, I'll have to check for one when I go to the Renaissance Faire. Hopefully I'll get to one of those before they close up for the season.

I happened to be listening to a bit of Howard Stern yesterday, and he mentioned that he listens to WEHM- a freaking great station on Long Island. You'll see that it's listed as one of my favorite stations. And they don't even carry Stern!

Holiday Week is over :(

Well, it's been back to work for the last couple of days, so my blogs have more infrequent. I had a great ending to my week of vacation. Monday, Mike's band, alternately known as CU Next Tuesday or The Gatekeepers, were to be playing at the New Haven Road Race. Mike asked if I wanted to go along, so I said yes, though it meant getting up at 6 freaking 30 AM, but I pulled it off. I had to get into the work schedule again anyways....

So, I meet Mike (gtr), Bryan (the drummer) and Colin (on Bass) in Middletown and we carpool down in 2 vehicles (we got the drum set, bass amp, guitar amp and instruments with us). About halfway down to New Haven, it starts raining. So, now Bryan pipes up from his half-asleep grumpiness to state "I ain't playin in the fucking rain".

So we get down to Long Wharf to meet JD (Lead vox and gtr) and Matt (gtr) and it's still raining. It's not looking so well, as none of us have any tarps or anything we could make a shelter out of. We're hoping that the location we're going to be playing at has at least some kind of overhang or something to protect us from the rain- it dosen't.

So the band decided that they weren't going to risk electrocution and play electrified instruments in the rain. We all stood around and watched the race go by, occasionally cherring on the racers. Well- the cute ones- hell, we're a bunch of guys, damnit! Man, it was freaking hysterical. I had brought along my camera to get some pics of the historic gig that ended up being "The Gig that Wasn't". Maybe some of the pics will show up on their web site.

Well, after the race, we were all getting pretty hungry, so we headed to Westville and hit up the diner for breakfast. It was pretty funny how we immediately found the "Breakfast Cocktails" section of the menu. I think we all had one, except for Colin. I got some great pictures of the band under the neon lights of the diner. I wish I had a digital camera to post them right now, but we will have to wait till the film comes back.

After breakfast, JD called The Gatekeeper and asked if they could play a set there for a couple of hours. Funny, the Information Operator tells JD to "say hi to Peter for me" (the Gate's owner) when he called to ask for the number!!!! Most of the guys were itching to at least play something that day. So, we trucked back up to Middletown, and set up shop at The Gatekeeper till like 2:30. They were smokin' by the time they called it quits, and I got some good pics of the band playing. I guess I became the band's unofficial photographer that day.

After we loaded up from the Gatekeeper, Mike, Bryan and I went to Vecchitto's Lemon Ice on DeKoven Drive for a treat. I had been working and living in the Middletown area for many years, and I only found out about that place last Summer. Thanks to Mike and Spot Spot!

And that's how I spent my holiday, I hope yours was as fun as mine was!