Well it’s been quite a

Well it’s been quite a week. Work is picking up at a rapid pace and it looks like I’m happening through November! It’s just that 30 day wait for invoices to be paid that kills me. I learned my lesson in July and will be getting myself ahead in bill paying for things such as car payment, health and auto insurance, rent (which gracious Joyce has let me skip for several months), etc. Of course Macromedia Studio MX 2004 is coming out soon, so I’ll have to pony up $500 to upgrade that.

Last Saturday the 23rd was my birthday and thanks to a tip from Calu, we decided to do it Tiki style at Trader Vic’s restaurant, which is in the basement of the Atlanta Hilton downtown. It was me and the babes – Joyce, my sister Lisa, Lisa and Lori Hall, and my friend Sonia from Darby’s playschool. Of course I expected the over-the-top tackiness of the Tiki style, but everything was totally awesome! The food was very good. And I’m a bit of a food snob when things are expensive, so that’s saying something. Over all it was a great time with some great friends!

Earlier that day, I took a couple of gift certificates to Best Buy (thanks Dad and Mary) and picked up a TiVo. I set it up and signed up for the home networking option and got it on the network. I must say, that this is an awesome box. It is already changing the way we watch television. I Tivo’ed the “A Decade Under the Influence” documentary on IFC and took notes on the directors that were mentioned. Searched for them in the Wish List part of Tivo, and all week we’ve been watching classic movies, most of which I haven’t seen. It’s also nice to be able to pause/rewind/fast forward live TV.

Tuesday I spoke to Claire about the George Clinton show on August 15th. Of course we chatted for another 30 minutes about stuff. She has been very interested in the Drive-Invasion, which is happening today and tomorrow at the Starlight Drive-In. I want to get there early by 4:00 pm so I can see the first two bands – Lust, which features Barb from Dollsquad and Gargantua, which features Shane Morton, Calu’s (Dollsquad) husband. I haven’t met him yet so that would be nice. Calu’s younger brother is also visiting from England this week. Sunday, the celebrity guest will be Mary Waronov. I’ve been fascinated by her ever since first seeing “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” when it first came out.

Work wise it has been a pretty stressful week. As usual projects get pushed back, but now pressure is building on all of them. One client decided that I was to work at their office!?! Luckily that idea went away. I have no doubt that I can handle the several projects that are coming up, but at this point I can’t be exclusive to anyone. I’ve got 3 active clients with projects in the wings that I need to tend to. Once two clients are out of the way then maybe I can talk to the third about something more permanent. I must admit though that I am getting used to my independence. It makes me happy (and relieved) that all of my clients have wonderful people working for them.

Oh, and Thursday we saw The New Pornographers at the Echo Lounge. The new CD Electric Version has some fine moments on it, but at times I feel that it falls flat. This was not true at the show. They were right on target and it was a great show. It was obvious that there was some incredible talent on the stage, and there was no sign of ego at all. Everyone was bathed in soft red/yellow light, except for the keyboard player who had a bright white light on him. It was funny at first, and then I started to feel sorry for him. Neko Case was amazing as usual – she will be a star. She has such a strong voice. In the end it was worth staying up late for them.

Listening: The Daily Show with

Listening:
The Daily Show with Claire Kember (totallyradio)
Temple of Sound & Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali – People’s Colony No. 1

Had lunch with Joyce today at a local restaurant called Front Page News in Little Five Points. I can’t say that I’ll ever go there again. The place was dirty, the staff was strange, and the food sucked. Next time we’ll hit the Brewhouse.

Afterward we went to Criminal Records to pick up some stuff on hold – get this – I emailed the owner, Eric, to see if they had my items in stock. He returned my email within minutes, and had the items held for me! Now that is cool! I picked up the Temple of Sound CD mentioned above (Claire has been playing them lately and it is very nice.), as well as the new DVD release of Desperate Teenage Lovedolls featuring everyone’s favorite band, Redd Kross!

I had the original VHS of DTLDs back when it came out around 1984. Our little punk rock scene in Flint just loved it. We’d watch it over and over in various states of inebriation. When I popped the DVD in I was disapponted to find that several bits of dialog had been re-recorded. That really sucks. I guess I’ll have to dig up the video and make a DVD from the original version.

Listening: The Daily Show with

Listening:
The Daily Show with Claire Kember (totallyradio)

It’s the first day back from our weekend visit to visit Melinda, Tony, and new baby Ella in Traverse City in the northwest of the lower penninsula of Michigan. It’s a very beautiful place and their house, built on a small mountain in the woods, was a very relaxing spot. Highlights of the visit were Ella (of course), the road trip up to Leeland, Downtown Traverse City, and Tony’s company’s development, The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, which is the restoration/renovation of the old Northern Michigan Asylum (ca. 1885). Pretty cool photos by Heidi Johnson. Oh, and I found out that they have a Drive In.

Had an interesting evening last

Had an interesting evening last night. Joyce has always been a funky girl, so when George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars played at the On the Bricks concert series at Centennial Olympic Park, I was compelled to go with her. Now, I’m not generally a big fan of the outdoor “free” ($3) concert scene. I expected drunk rednecks and massive overcrowding. We hopped on the East-West MARTA line, exited at the Omni station and made our way to the park. To avoid delays on entering I took my phone and my digital camera out of my pocket. The security guard says “No cameras!” Yeah right. Joyce was already inside so I had her meet me around the corner and I passed the camera to her through the fence. Once in, all I saw was cameras! Big cameras with big lenses. We made our way to within 100 feet of the stage and proceded to endure a jam band for an hour. During this period, the people that showed up with chairs were getting angry at the people that were standing in front of them. Several times fights and very heated arguments broke out. Look, you don’t show up at a free rock show with a chair and expect to sit the whole time. It isn’t the opera. Anyway, P-Funk came on, and after about 30 minutes of psychedellic/metal/rock guitar solos, George came on and the Funk began. I’d recommend seeing George at least once in your life (this was my fifth), because it can be an experience. At one point, I’d say there were at least 20 people on the stage playing in what is an extended 2 hour funk jam, with all of the hits peppered within. I got a real kick when he brought out his granddaughter to rap about smoking weed and keeping it hard while under the banner of the sponsoring local grocery store. They closed with Jerry Lee Lewis’ Whole Lotta Shakin’(!?!). Overall the experience was not as bad as I had expected, although a little hot and stressful. I’d do it again if the band was worth seeing.

This afternoon we’re headed up to Traverse City, Michigan to see Joyce’s best friend Melinda who just had a baby. I’ve only been to Traverse City in winter and I must say it was a winter wonderland. I’m looking forward to the summer experience there. I’ll be bringing back some homemade beef jerky that the guy from the corner store makes.

Listening: BBC World Service -

Listening:
BBC World Service – Outlook, The Music Biz
The Daily Show with Claire Kember
Royksopp – Melody A.M. (Workout)

Johnny Cash update: Heard an interview with Roseanne Cash by Mark Coles on The Music Biz (BBC World Service) where she states that although his loss of June Carter Cash was devastating, his health has been improving and she is quite happy about it.

I’m really getting attached to Outlook with Heather Payton, the daily news magazine on the BBC World Service. I can definitely hear Claire Kember doing this when she becomes “too old’ for music.

Listening: Rachid Taha – Diwan

Listening:
Rachid Taha – Diwan (Workout)

Well I guess it’s my turn for internet radio fame. Last week was Steven Venn, this week it’s me. I’m doing a “listener review” on totallyradio’s The Daily Show with Claire Kember. I’m reviewing the PBS American Masters documentary DVD, “Good Rockin’ Tonight – the Legacy of Sun Records. Claire called me about a week and a half ago to do the interview. We’ve become great pals over the last couple of years, and I was absolutely thrilled to be able to finally speak to her! She rules.

In an interesting twist, Sam Phillips, founder of Sun Records, died late last week.

My other online pal, Steven Venn, has become part of the relaunch of Invisible Radio as Radio Indie Rock. Basically he and his fellow internet broadcasters had to jump through hoops in order to legally broadcast music on the internet. Details on that here.

On the health front, I mentioned a while back that I had purchased some running shoes and had planned to hit the gym again. I went to the Decatur-Dekalb YMCA and finally came to the realization that I would never be able to commit to a true regiment there. It was a great facility when it was built just over 10 years ago, but I now live further away than I did before, the facility has become run down, and it is over crowded. There is a gym called Urban Body Fitness, that is just around the corner from me. It’s basically the same price as the Y and I took them up on their 5 visit trial. A big difference. A conveniently located, uncrowded, clean facility. I joined last week and will be cancelling my Y membership.