Sandy's Music Life

12:28:52 PM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing the morning news
Forgot to mention that this December I finished my fourth year in the cast of the Chicago Bar Assn's annual Christmas Spirits revue, this year called "Spamalot." I got a full-page profile in the playbill!  Didn't get any solo lines, but was in two special choruses and got a speaking part as Prof. Jean E. Ology, introducing the show's production number parody of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which lauded the theory of "Intelligent Design." Got mentioned in the Daily Law Bulletin for playing one of Michael Jackson's singing defense lawyers--first time I ever got my name in there in any other capacity than signing a legal notice. The Trib even ran a pic of a rehearsal where I came through quite clearly, albeit anonymously.  Already getting a head start on writing some songs to submit for next year.

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3:00:56 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing rerun of Olympic coverage
Has it been a year and a quarter since I updated this blog? YIPES!! (or "yeep" as the good Doctor Vac
would say). My hearing has normalized, via a cocktail of supplements and minerals and caffeine/sodium control. Also had musicians' earplugs made to protect my hearing.
SASS! is really going places--we've just returned from Folk Alliance '06 in Austin, TX, where we showcased like crazy, networked (and impressed more than a few folks, including a DJ who called us both "brilliant" and "certifiable." Our new CD, "Album One," has been mixed and preliminarily mastered and will go to the pressing plant as soon as the graphics are done. You can order an advance copy from us for $15; for $20 you get a CD-R copy right away to tide you over and for $25, all of the above plus a mention in the liner notes as an "angel." 13 original songs (7 of mine, 6 of Susan's), on which I play lead and rhythm guitars, mt. dulcimer and bass and sing lead and backing vocals. Some cuts have already gotten played on WFMT and XM Radio.
We toured NC and VA last May and ended up with a live DVD shot at Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA. We've done many concerts and UU services throughout the Midwest and have played the DAFT, Escanaba Waterfront, Hiawatha, and Fox Valley Folk Festivals. Our gig schedule (through Nov. 2006) is up on www.sass-music.com and www.sandyandina.com.
Andina & Rich's "Because We Can" (with the familiar title tune) is on the market and available on CDBaby, iTunes, and a number of other download services. Steve and I will be doing WPR's "Higher Ground With Jonathon Overby" on March 4, and the Firefly Cafe in Oregon, WI (near Madison) on March 18. We've already started co-writing for the next album. Meanwhile, I will be resuming work on my solo CD--there are songs I've yet to record and songs that I can record even better than I have with partners before--and it's been five years since my first CD.
We had some anxious moments with Mom--she flew up to VA for her annual escape-the-hurricanes trip but Katrina (then just a Cat. 1) nearly prevented that. But a bad cold in June had weakened her lungs to the extent that she needed hospitalization in VA; she then had to be put on oxygen and given a blood transfusion. Then Hurricane Wilma slammed into her retirement village; miraculously, she and her building were spared. We celebrated her 85th birthday Rosh Hashonah, and New Year's with her. Will be visiting her end of next month for Passover.
Had a few more health scares (guess it was my turn to get a visit from the S**t Fairy). In mid-Dec., developed a nasty case of trigger thumb (fretting hand) that fortunately did not need surgery--just a cortisone shot. And last week, I slipped and fell on some melting snow after a gig  and not only sprained my knees  but fractured my coccyx (tailbone) and maybe even my right wrist. Ouch!
Had a great show in Plymouth, WI (w. of Sheboygan) last week, despite the subzero cold. Have great ones coming up this weekend; Fri. at the Ethical Humanist Society in Skokie and Sat. at Changes in Park Forest. The latter is closing this spring due to the owners' retirement--catch us there now while you still can!

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2:39:51 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing late late news
Dr. Moore confirmed that the MRI was negative for tumor and stroke, though he could not see
on the scan whether I had a patulous eustachian tube. His diagnosis of elimination? Atypical
Meniere's Syndrome--"atypical" because of the lack of vertigo, dizziness, nausea and only mild
tinnitus. Meniere's typically produces unilateral hearing disturbance, lower frequency loss
(acc. to Sensaphonics' audiolologist, mild at 100-250kHz, w/in the normal limits for a non-musician)
--all of which I have. The week before I saw him again, I had to fight tooth and nail to get him to give me prednisone--at 28 days into
my sudden loss, just inside the wire.  It wasn't helping much, so I followed the advice of researchers
in "The Lancet" and added Vit. E. Had some mild improvement. He insisted I gradually cut out caffeine, way
down on sodium and alcohol (with my low carb diet, was already doing that), get >8hr. sleep/day, and drink half a gallon or more of water a day. Still not much
improvement, so I did some more sleuthing and found that ginkgo biloba and alpha-lipoic acid
had been shown to regenerate cochlear cilia in mice. I began taking them--and within two days my hearing was
normal! I continued to cut back my caffeine to 1c. per day, and salt below 2gm. Slept like a baby--
the easiest part of the regimen.  

Ah yes--the "Give Peace a Chance" session went swimmingly!  My dulcimer fit nicely into the mix and I got to
sing both as part of the general large chorus and part of the harmony quintet (I sang second soprano).
It was organized by Cathy Richardson--and I got to work with her, Jim Peterik, and Alice Peacock too!
The following Wed. we got to sing it at Daley Plaza--the city gave us a stage and PA. I was in
the front row, miked, singing and playing tambourine between Jim and Alice!  There was a video shot
'of the song in the studio and at the Daley Center, and interviews as part of a documentary
on the making of the remake. At the Daley Center, a reporter stuck a mike in my face and interviewed
me. I figured she was a journalism student (carrying an inexpensive reporter). Imagine my
surprise when folks came up to me at FARM and complimented me on the neat interview with
me they'd heard on NPR!
Decided to go for the Bar Show after all--this time, with my health scare and all the gigs I've had
this fall (last one till after the show is Nov. 26), I wasn't going to push too hard for any major solos.
Solo auditions didn't go too well; nerves and fatigue got the better of me (I'd driven to and from
Madison for the Kerry rally that day). But I had a great time that night at the open mic at
Metropolis--figured it was my last time to sing "The Shrub" before the election. I've been asked
to be part of their "All-Star" open mic this week and will do two solo sets next Mon.

Election? Too depressing to talk about--especially with the Bush Putsch of 2004 at the CIA and
Cabinet. But latest reports are that Kerry is quietly monitoring the NH and Ohio recounts--and
gathering evidence; if in his prosecutor's mind he finds sufficient evidence the election was stolen,
then his concession speech (which isn't binding anyway) will be retracted and "let the games
begin." Would be sweet indeed to see Bush et al slink away after originally claiming a mandate
and further deforming the fed. gov't. Meanwhile, I have kept singing "The Shrub" in hopes of
at least impeachment (changed the punch line to "at least we tried to trim the Shrub."). And I
just wrote a parody of "Carmelita" ("Condoleeza;" I understand someone in Austin,TX did too,
but since I haven't heard any of it or seen the lyrics, mine's not plagiarism).

Had a great trip to Ft. Madison, IA for the last-ever public tour of the Sheaffer factory and came
back with lots of pens. Had a nice little gig up in Madison at Urban Market (with some great live
cuts done on minidisc and transferred to Nuendo). Productive recording session the next day, too.
FARM was terrific too--my songs went over well, made many new friends, and was elected
Registrar. (Will be going to NAFA in Montreal this Feb.--waiting to hear if I got a showcase slot in the
lottery).  And Steve and I did very well at 8th St. in Escanaba this past weekend--small crowd
(hunters were away in the woods, and walleye season hadn't yet started--so the influx of
fisherman had not materialized); but had friends come all the way down from Marquette and
Houghton. We still made $70, and Rob really likes us!

Susan & I are also really getting SASS off the ground. We've done several Borders, and Chase
Cafe too, and will be going into the studio after Christmas. Retook photos as well. We will be
gigging like crazy in Jan. & Feb. and may be traveling to L.A. in Mar. for a UU service!

Had a brief relapse--discontinued the Vit. E after the NEJM scare; and with all the traveling (4 trips to WI in 2 weeks), little sleep, too much coffee
and sodium (road food) and playing the iPod too loud and long in the car. But it's mostly pianos
that sound flat--guitars still sound rich and full and not out of tune. (Also being very careful to
use my custom earplugs whenever there are high sound pressure levels--even at "acoustic"
concerts). Immediately resumed the E, went back to original doses of the A-lipoic acid and ginkgo
(added quercetin and will add vinpocetine), increased water and decreased coffee, and gotten
insistent about sleep. I'm improving again.

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1:48:55 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing no music: MSNBC storm watch
Got more good news: the radiologist read my MRI and pronounced it negative for tumors. Dr. Moore
is still on vacation so he hasn't seen it yet; he won't be back till this Friday. Meanwhile. I got a second
cold, this time with sore throat and laryngitis; but when it came on Tues. night, my pitch hearing magically cleared
up for about a day, till I began to relapse cyclically. Seems to be best early-midafternoon and late evening, and worst rush hr-earliy evening and
again late night.  I notice that hydration helps too. The cyclical nature of it leads me to believe it's conductive
(middle ear) rather than sensorineural.

In my frustration I kept trolling the Internet, and came across an audiologist who claims to work with musicians.
I wrote him; turns out that not only is he a top professor of audiology in New Orleans, he's also a working
jazz pianist. He speculates that I have not one patulous eustachian tubes but tubes or middle ears of different
resonating capacities, letting different frequencies through that clash with each other. He's having me listen
to the same jazz piano, guitar and bass tracks in different positions; he is also consulting with colleagues across
the country, since my problem is rare but not unique and more research definitely needs to be done.

Tomorrow, I will be attending a recording session for Musicians United for Peace. My voice is
still a bit iffy, but I will be playing dulcimer on a cover of "Give Peace a Chance" that will go out to
radio stations around the country. More details as they become available.

My mom finally came home to Delray from 3 weeks in VA, on the run from Hurricanes Frances,
Ivan, and Jeanne; she went home when Jeanne moved back out to sea. Well, surprise:
Jeanne did a 360 and headed right back to Florida. This time she refused to evacuate, since she
was tired of doing it again and correctly pointed out her house is on higher ground than the shelter.
She got extra oxygen delivered, bought a ton of batteries, filled the tub and stuffed the freezer
and hunkered down, inviting her younger neighbors over to ride out the storm. Well, so far
so good:  landfall of the eye was Port St. Lucie, of the south eyewall W. Palm, and south PB
County seems to be keeping both its power and phone service. They're having heavy rains but
that seems to be it. Cable is out, but that's only because the cable co. and its dish is in W. Palm.
Fortunately, she has rabbit ears on another set (plus the battery-op. TV/radio). She hasn't even
had to disconnect the computer.  I'm filling her in on what I'm seeing on MSNBC--the devastation
to the north (Vero, St. Lucie, Stuart) and the ho-hum from Deerfield on south.  She'll be okay.
But if Hurricane Lisa starts looming, she's staying here with us till Nov.

The Mishawaka gig with Susan went well. The Beanery owner loved us and urged us to come back whenever we want.
Next morning we played the town farmer's market.  The organizer, Bob Berryman, was gracious enough to not only
put us up for the evening but also ply us with marvelous homemade soup and Tullamore Dew.
Perfect driving weather, little traffic till we reached the Ryan. Had a nice dinner cruise on the
Spirit of Chicago, but we miscalculated and picked a table in the last section to be served; I had to gulp down my
coffee before we docked. Pen club meeting the next day was fun, as was the S.Side Song circle. I was able to hear my
new D-15 well enough to realize how awesome it really sounds. (As I said earlier, it's back to sounding a bit dissonant
again, but not as bad as originally or even as bad as my Gibson sounded in Indiana. To be fair, the Gibson
really WAS going out of tune--it wasn't just my weird hearing.

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12:31:37 AM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Buddy Guy
Had my appt. with Dr. Dennis Moore, the neurotologist (the proper term) yesterday. (No, you Monty Python fans, he doesn't use "lupines" to treat hearing disorders). Started with the audiologist. Verdict is my hearing acuity is near-perfect: they've never had an adult patient score as high as I did. They even were skeptical that I'd ever played in rock bands.
Apparently, I can detect the ultrahigh frequencies at much lower volume than most humans--that's what makes the harmonics produced by attack transients on strings sound like actual notes--and seeing as how they don't differ in pitch according to which string, they clash with the other strings.   Dr. Moore could not find any structural abnormalities in the nose and outer ear, save for a mildly retracted eardrum indicative of a waning cold. He pulled me off all my ear meds except Biaxin and Claritin, and had me schedule an MRI.
Parkside/Lutheran General is not on my insurance plan, but the independent center he uses in Buffalo Grove is. I can cancel the appt. I made for next Mon. at Parkside,
because I did the MRI at the other place today--saving at least $1K. (See below).

Got one piece of great news today—the bone scan showed only a little uptake, right at the fracture—and it was gray, not black, indicating inflammation instead of cancer. Whew! Dr. Newman thinks that the fracture happened as a stress fracture during the bone graft harvest in 1996,  broke completely as a result of time, weightbearing and either any one of many bumps to the hip I’ve taken getting in and out of airplane seats or the spill I took on the ice in Dec. ’02 on my way to the theater during the run of Christmas Spirits. It was held in place by my fat, and when the cells shrank from my recent 45-lb. loss, the shard drifted, causing the tendon to catch on it.  Treatment right now is conservative (with a small “c,” thank you very much): relaxation ( but not bedrest), use of a cane, OTC pain meds, and perhaps a cortisone shot a month down the road. If surgery is necessary at all, it’d be arthroscopic removal of the shard, not repair.

Wish I could say the same about my hearing distortion. It improved briefly this afternoon but after my MRI it deteriorated to as bad as it’s been in days.  Broke my heart to walk into the acoustic room at Sam Ash (same strip mall as the MRI center) and not be able to tell a difference in sound between a D-28, D-15, nylon string Taylor and Carlo Robelli cheapie—and I couldn’t tune them to my satisfaction either.  Bought some guitar polishing stuff to distract me from actually having to play, and a set of EQ’ing filtered earplugs that roll off the frequencies above 10kHz—maybe that’ll take away the string noise without muffling things—they only reduce the entire spectrum by 6dB. Meanwhile, I notice that individual notes sound okay when I play an arpeggio or a scale, but chords are what clash. And oddly, harmonica, blues guitar (especially electric with distortion), trumpets, celli and basses are fine. Acoustic guitars (especially 12-strings) sound like cheap Autoharps with worn felts; clean electrics aren’t any better. And piano and violin? Owwwwch.  

Found an MRI center Dr. Moore likes that takes my insurance plan, so I had the MRI waaaay out in Buffalo Grove this afternoon.  This was a pleasant facility with a brand-new scanner—they gave me earplugs and it was lighted inside the tube—no claustrophobia at all. The magnet sounds were varied, unlike the MRIs I’d had for my knee in ’91 and ’94 (which I could swear were saying “bloody humans” over and over). I then had a contrast dye injection and some more films. The tech said the radiologist would be reading them late this afternoon and would get the report to Dr. Moore in the next couple of days. Moore had warned me about a lag time of up to a week—there’s a chance now I’ll know one way or another before I leave Fri. for my gig in Mishawaka with Susan. (Speaking of which, for her song “Vittorio,” I wrote a dulcimer arrangement of the chorus of “Nessun Dorma” ).  Meanwhile, they gave me copies of the MRI films. but Bob says he could read the Upanishads in Sanskrit before he’d be able to read brain films. Just great. Well, I at least know what an advanced malignant tumor looks like—though not Meniere’s, acoustic neuroma, meningitis or encephalitis—I may take a look if I can’t sleep.

On the frivolous side, got my bleaching trays from the dentist today. Hey, I may end up losing my hair or worse—but I’ll have nice bright teeth.



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2:01:04 AM EDT
Feeling Worried
Hearing none (see below)
Once again, I’ve been remiss in “blogging in.”  I do have my reasons, which you’ll see shortly. But first, a recap: my first Southern Musical Odyssey was a success, albeit more vacation than gig.  I ended up playing at the Open Mic at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, VA (it, the Coffee Gallery and Escanaba’s 8th St. Coffeehouse have raised the bar for full-time performance cafes). When I return to the area in May (I hope), I will be the Featured Artist.  
All good things must end, but not always well. The travel aspect of the trip (save for the awful storms on I-295) was wonderful until the final leg, Atlanta-Midway. Due to Chicago storms, our plane was late in arriving in Atlanta. No problem carrying the guitar on board. Just as the doors were about to close, in rushed a harried late-twentysomething aspiring Master of the Universe in a horribly wrinkled white business shirt. He looked down at my feet, disgusted that I had used up my half of the underseat space so he could not fit his overstuffed tote beneath the seat in front of him by encroaching on my space. He grunted and shoved it into the overhead, cussing because my guitar case was already there (hey, you snooze, you lose, pal). He sat down next to me and I could barely stifle a gag—he smelled like a herd of cows had farted in an ashtray. I realized instantly why he was so late—he had spent every possible moment inside the terminal’s glassed-in smoking lounge and just had to get in those last couple of cigs.  I was able to breathe into my hand and lean against the window away from him, but came the bad news that we’d be delayed yet another half-hour. I noticed one more empty seat in business class and gladly took it—though the woman next to me had drenched herself in Opium (or was it Poison or Emeraude?), but she was a breath of fresh air compared to Mr. Nicotine Fiend.  It was a good thing I hadn’t brought food on board, because I had no appetite.  And the jerk was arguing with the stewardess that he was entitled to my free drinks because the seat was empty and I wasn’t ordering any. She prevailed, and he had to make do with two scotches (poor baby). When we deplaned, I looked at my former seat and saw a Nicorette wrapper.

Had several gigs since my return:  music comedy at Frankie J’s, Arbor Vitae (Ron, Greg and I as a de facto trio).the Pumping Co., Borders Oak Park, and Fox Valley Folk Festival—the last three performed under a considerable handicap. I woke up a couple of days after my trip with a scratchy throat, stuffy head, and a slight fever, so I took Sudafed, Tylenol. Vitamin C and Echinacea. Next day I was watching “Jeopardy” and noticed the theme song was flat and “wow-y,” kind of like a cassette or 8-track player with failing batteries.  Then the theme song for the news was the same. I realized I had an ear infection, and it was going to be a tough one to deal with. Woke up the next morning and was alarmed to hear that not only was it worse, my voice now sounded to me like I was putting it through an octave doubler pedal.  My new Martin came, and when I tuned it up and played it, I winced at how tinny, dissonant  and out-of tune it sounded. Picked up my other guitars and they all sounded the same. Uh-oh. Made the first ENT appt. I could get, and had to see the most junior member of the group. I told him all about my symptoms and that I am a professional musician—he treated it as a clogged Eustachian tube and prescribed what I was taking, plus Afrin and a nasal steroid spray. I asked him why the weird pitch problem, and he shrugged and said it “must be something going on in the cochlea.” How reassuring—I’d studied more on this than he had.  
It was only by sheer dint of will (and amplification that blocked the high harmonics) that I was able to get through my gigs; I could not stand the sound of acoustic stringed instruments, violins, or pianos. Oddly enough, voices were and are just fine,  The problem seemed to ease, then it got worse again. I have an appointment tom’w with the city’s top otoneurologist and his audiologist, to ascertain the extent and cause. All my reading suggests it’s sensorineural (inner ear) and thus possibly irreversible; though an online audiologist says the fluid in the middle ear can be notorious for blocking some frequencies (the low fundamentals) and letting others (the unpleasant high harmonics and attack transients) through. If I have to get specially EQd hearing aids, I will.  Funny thing is, everyone says I sound terrific, and so does my guitar.  And I hear everything loud and clear—I can hear a pin drop; and the crickets and cicadas are still louder than the tinnitus.

But that may be dwarfed by the following: in late June, my hip popped out on me as I got out of bed. I was able to lean on the dresser, swing my leg around, and pop it back. It began to happen every few days, but each time corrected by the leg swing. Sunday at FoxValley, it began popping out constantly; Mon. morning, I picked up my guitar case and got a searing pain—and this time the hip would not pop back in.  Earliest orthipod appt. I could get was Thurs.  The ortho was sure it was just bursitis, certainly nothing requiring hip replacement, but ordered an x-ray to be sure. The x-ray showed a fracture of the pelvis—the anterior iliac spine, with a jagged shard of bone floating free at a slight angle. I had no recollection of falling or bumping into anything, and a pelvic fracture that big is something one woulf ordinarily notice happening,  Only thing I can think of is that the iliac crest was the donor site for the bone graft used to patch my smashed tibia back together in 1996, and eight years of wear and obesity finally took its toll. The iliopsoas tendon had gotten caught on the bony prominence, and thus the hip popped out. The ortho had me take a bone scan to rule out cancer as a cause of the fracture  (so far, no news is good news). And I will probably get an MRI and a bone density scan to see how bad my osteoporosis is (I’m too soon post-change for that to be advanced enough to be a factor). Meanwhile, I will almost certainly need surgery—either internal fixation or at least removal of the shard. So it looks like the Bar Show is out unless I can get a non-dancing part (and a second-floor dressing room).
I sure hope there’s an explanation other than cancer, which in a non-amputatable bone has a miserable prognosis. I’ve started praying a little harder these days.


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1:34:24 AM EDT
Had a wonderful visit with my sister Rona, bro-in-law Gary and my niece Marissa. Hadn't seen them in nearly a year and a half, and I mustn't go that long again.

Tonight, I did the open mic at Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA. I was lucky to get in--normally, it fills weeks in advance, but host Kristin accommpdated me as a traveling performer. Quality of the performers was very high as a result.  Got to meet and hear the Featured Artist Patti Witten, with whom I've corresponded for several years. What a treat!  And I was "on" tonight--played "Canadian For A Day" and "A Man Could Hurt Himself" flawlessly and was in excellent voice (the lessons are making a dramatic difference). Rosie sounded terrific plugged in too--never knew a plain-vanilla Fishman Matrix pickup could sound so natural (I will put medium strings back on--the lights were a little weak).  I will be playing the Airlie Arts Fest in Wilmington next May, so I will be back here then too--and I will be Featured Artist at the JJ open mic. Will also try to book some gigs along the way--Louisville, Cary, Greenville, southern VA, Luna Park Grille in Arlington, a house concert in Md. and either Pittsburgh or Cleveland. Maybe even convince Susan to come along.

Speaking of which, Three Part Invention is definitely going to work (as is SASS, Susan & my new name for our duo). Though we had no crowd for the TPI gig (due to our fan base being away at an SCA convention), we had a full house for the UU service the next morning. We had great harmonies and our instrumentals worked beautifully. I'm playing more "upfront" guitar than I ever had before.

Gordy had his first real musical gig Friday--as bassist for Austin, TX's Marilyn Rucker at the Mars Song Contest at the Palmer House. I am SO proud of him! He's done three movies this summer and is actually temping at IBM this week. My baby is growing up!

It's getting late, so I'd better pack and turn in. I'm playing Frankie J's this Fri., Arbor Vitae Java & Juice this Sat., and emceeing both days (and also playing Sunday) at Fox Valley. Great trip, but it'll be good to be home with my guys, my kitties, and in my own new bed and comforter and pillows. (And I'd better play the Taylors to keep them from getting jealous of Rosie).

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1:17:51 AM EDT
Feeling Happy
Hearing MSNBC
Back on my PowerBook, with its brand new hard drive. Unfortunately, I had to reinstall OS 10.3.4, because Apple's policy is to install not the OS on the dead drive but what would have been on it when I purchased the computer. Was able to salvage most of my music files, photos, and docs--and whatever I couldn't, I transferred from my iPod, iBook, and memory cards I'd not yet erased.
Flights Chi-Atl-Myrtle Beach on AirTran were a joy--on time, large comfy seats, able to carry my guitar onboard. Took my new rosewood Gibson dread (named "Rosie"), since it cost me less than the Taylors and would have caused me less tsuris if I had to gate-check it. Landed in Myrtle Beach, and Hertz was out of Tauruses...so they gave me a Volvo S80 with a cassette/CD deck (so I had better sound for my iPod) and a NeverLost GPS! Oh, how I'm going to hate to give it back!
Typing this from my hotel room in McLean, VA. I fly home tomorrow. Had a marvelous trip to NC and VA, and a magical time performing at Airlie Gardens and Jammin' Java.  All the Indiegrrls at Airlie were terrific: Martine Locke, Shelley Miller, Amy Henderson, Melanie Sparks, Kelly Buchanan and of course the inimitable Laura McLean and her band Calamity--tight and skillful rockers all.  Airlie is a beautiful place, with ancient, giant oaks festooned with Spanish moss, palms and palmettos, flowers, ponds, geese, and just a stone's throw from the Atlantic. (Coulda done w/o the skeeters, but it serves me right for declining an offer of OFF because I was afraid DEET would damage my new Gibson's finish). I don't know what got crinklier in the massive humidity--my hair or my mailing list! But the crowd was huge and appreciative, the stage and PA excellent, and the company extremely convivial.
Only fly in the ointment (as opposed to black flies in my diet soda) was my capo (a pink Kyser "Capo For the Cure") knocking my guitar so badly out of tune that I wasted nearly a minute onstage tuning--and by the time I got up there time was certainly at a premium. You see, Airlie has no lights, no stage lights were permitted, we had to be done by 8pm and the band needed to end the evening with its set. Next morning, I hit a music store before leaving Wilmington, since I didn't want to do what amounted to an audition tonight with an out-of-tune guitar.  I found out it wasn't the humidity, the guitar, the strings or any flaws in my sense of pitch: it was indeed the Kyser capo. This one had a bit more curvature than most of the other Kyser Quick-Changes, which left the center strings more or less on pitch but squeezed the outer ones (esp. the low E). And it has a constant, non-adjustable degree of spring tension; that, coupled with the tall frets on Gibsons and Taylors, knocked my strings several degrees sharp. The store had Shubb Deluxe (which I have at home) and Dunlop Victor, which uses the same principle as Shubb but at 2/3 the price. Bought the Victor and it has acquitted itself nobly.
Most of the drive up to VA was quite pleasant--I-95 has been resurfaced and I was able to keep up with the speed demons w/o running afoul of the Hwy Patrol (thanks to Laura for warning me where the speed traps were). iPod plugged in and set on "shuffle," car extremely comfy with great music. Was making great time; decided to grab a snack on the go outside Richmond on I-295 when I gassed up. Got back into my car and the heavens opened--gale force winds, and I couldn't see six inches in front of the car! Groped my way on to the onramp to 295N--and found myself in the middle of a virtual parking lot. Rain was coming down in buckets, wind whipping branches all over the road. We went nowhere for half an hour, till the storm passed. Found out later it was severe, with floods, 60mph winds, damaging hail (which missed us), and even reports of a small twister that did not touch down.  Didn't help that the ramp back to 95 was down to a single lane. Ground to a halt again in Fredericksburg--another wall of clouds was threatening to spawn tornadoes--there would be twisting little points coming out of it and then darting back up inside it. Nobody was taking any chances--traffic didn't move again till word came via the radio from the Emergency Broadcast System that all was okay.  One side effect: when I pulled into the Richmond suburbs it was 93 degrees and nearly 100% humidity. Coming out of the storm, the mercury had plunged nearly 20 degrees! By the time I got to the VA burbs of DC, it was in the low seventies, sunny and dry!

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2:11:12 AM EDT
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing MSNBC After Hours
Just finished my GarageBand recording course, and I am psyched. Already laid down the beginning basic tracks for "Don't Look Away" and the entire rhythm section for "Safe Home" (will probably use dulcimer as the primary instrument on that one). Got several new gigs: Phyllis' Musical Inn 8/12 and Frankie J's 8/27. Will be talking to several bands (you know who you are<g>) about possibly splitting a bill with them one night in Aug. at HangOuts in Wheeling--a rare N. Shore appearance!

   Am quite heartened after watching the Dem. Convention this week--Clinton was terrific, and Obama amazing. Makes me proud to be a Chicagoan. Hope Kerry can come out of tomorrow night with a big bounce--he'll need it.
Getting ready for the Madison gig next week and NC mid-Aug. Would be nice to have someplace to play in NC on the 19th or 21st and in VA the 22 or 23, but I'll take what I can get.
   Anyone in the Wilmington/Cape Fear/N. Myrtle Beach area, and anywhere between there and the DC burbs of n. VA who would be interested in hosting a house concert or has a connection with a coffeehouse or cafe, please let me know ASAP--anything (lawful) I can do to defray my travel costs would help!  
The verdict on my PowerBook's hard drive is that, to paraphrase Bones McCoy on "Star Trek, " it's dead, Jim.  At the very least, bad bearings--possibly damaged heads and perhaps even damaged platter as well. Data recovery will be impossible. Only goes to show you that a virus-immune computer is still not invulnerable.
Back up every night--and oftener. I learned the hard way.  Can use Garage Band indirectly--installed it on an external HD, which uses this iBook as its slave. And I just dropped 512MB of RAM into the eMac, which is actually more convenient for recording--no a/c in the room, and the synth and MIDI/USB interface is up there.
(Fear not--I'm not going techno, but using the synth to control more "organic" patches of instruments I don't normally play).
Forgot to mention that the Glenlake Block Party was a smash. Declined to enter the pie contest this year, as being on Atkins is not conducive to baking a good pie (you can't taste as you go). Ron came over in the early afternoon and we did a mini-CSC-song circle. At night, Jim Simonis & I led a sing-along (kind of an en masse version of Herbie Gaines' "Herbie-Oke" human karaoke machine, and we did a couple of our own numbers each.

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3:25:46 AM EDT

Peace Fest? Well, they need to work on logistics. There was only one stage, and it was extremely loud and faced the entire fest site. Needless to say, the protest song workshop did not happen--I couldn't even hear myself play (no PA). Military helicopters kept buzzing the site too. Welcome to the Fifties, part 2.

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