i am teaching myself to play the piano (actually the celeste that the walkies left out here). i found free sheet music for 'because i got high' on the internet, and i'm working my way through it. my question, though, is this: am i just setting myself up for failure, starting with this one? i mean, "i would've learned how to play this song, but.....

groan if you want, but it's friday, and it's almost my birthday, and it's beautiful out: i owe you nothing.....take it or leave it, kids.

MUCHMUSIC USA

go here to vote for the walkmen (and against other bands) to keep them in rotation on much music.

also, this last weekend i finished fourth in a rock paper scissors competition put on by a-diction magazine. i would have won but i threw my semi-final match because i had to run spin records at a valentines day party where i ended up making out with a few lesbians after they made out with each other, so i'm pretty sure that i made the right choice. the ladies voted me the 'best male kisser' at the party.

speaking of me and making out, it's my birthday this saturday, so out of towners, it's not too late to get last minute tickets to be part of the birthday booty bonanza, or at least schedule a late night drunk dial or something. locals, make your reservations early.

word.

as promised, photos from the walkmen show in eugene:


see, i told you they weren't that great. still on deck, i promise: i finish fourth in a rock-paper-scissors tournament.

so i went out to the protest in los angeles this saturday with at least 99,999 of my closest friends. a quick shout out to abigail for feeling the same way i did about sublimating the nuances of your position on the war for the greater good. i actually didn't do as good of a job as she did: i had made myself a t-shirt that morning dissing one of the groups that put together the rally, the ANSWER coalition. they seem like a nice enough bunch of people but they are also a front group for the workers world party and are seen by the mainstream and right wing media as a bunch of socialist freaks. now i have no problem with socialists, communists, anarchists, etc., coming down and adding their voices to anti-war protests but i think it is vital that the organizers and nominal leaders of these kind of events be mainstream groups like coalitions of religious leaders and students -- basically people that warmongers can't cast as enemy sympathizers. today's peace movement is a remarkably mainstream movement but until its leadership reflects the actual political demographics of the thousands and millions of people who were in the streets on saturday those people who want to ignore this movement will be able to do so.

that said, i had a great time, and was glad to be out there. Martin Sheen was far and away the most moving speaker, although i only caught the last half of his address. very few people in american public life still speak with power and poetry, and sheen certainly does (for all gore did poorly in his camaign, i remember his concession speech being beautifully written and delivered as well, incidentally.). I looked high and low for a transcript of his remarks somewhere on the net and found none. I'll keep looking.



coming later: i finish fourth in a rock-paper-scissors tournament

No comments:

weekend update: there is now a forum system set up for all my friends and all true friends of rock and roll at the realistic records website.

well, the rains are gone and it's back to lovely southern california sunshine. thank god. i was getting tired for wearing a jacket after two days.

we're working on the trailer for a film set in france, so one of my jobs today is to listen to lots of 60's french sleaze like serge gainsbourg to find the perfect track for the trailer. quite pleasant. nothing like "je t'aime... moi non plus" at the reception desk at the office to set that valentines day mood.

oh how well i will sleep this weekend.

anyone have a copy of the first french kicks record (the four song self titled thing) they want to part with?

i think i can get damn near $300 on e-bay for an old eminem record i bought before he got signed. thank you, you crazy white boy.

happy valentines day to everyone i love, you know who you are.

beliingham, washington, continued:

the lighting (especially the sign in the back) made these some of my favorite shots.

don't front.

dante works hard for your money.

and, finally, seattle, washington:
matt barrick lets his hair down or what too much time on the road can do to some people.

peace and we're out. after the last show of the tour. but wait, there's an after party at the hotel....

"i'd drink a toddler's piss if if meant i could be off this tour and on a steel bird home tomorrow." you got your wish, peter, you got your wish.

thanks again to everyone who pretended to like me while we were on tour together.

sacramento, california.

bellingham, washington:
pete looks like a 36 year old pugilist.
hutch from the thermals.
apparently.
"hey guys let's get one nice one, then we can do a fun one...."

before more pictures, a few notes:

the website for my label, realistic records, is up and running. if you can't reach it, it means that for whatever reason the DNS servers don't know where it is yet so just wait a few hours or a day and you'll get there. it's not pretty, but it's there.

jinners: yes, that's me.

thank god for presidents, except our current one, for providing me with a paid holiday when i so desperately need one. you should have heard my back crack this morning when i stretched. i'm tenser than a tightrope.

between "buy a lot of duct tape" and "duck and cover" we should be pretty well protected from any weapons of mass destruction, right? oh, and to all my friends, they said we should have a meeting place in case of attack. I'll meet you guys at the glowing edge of that gaping hole where downtown used to be. any problems just hit me on my cellie. we can wrap ourselves in plastic sheets like it's fetish night. i call not the gimp this time.

anyway:

from the side of the road, we try and look tough:


backstage in goleta, near santa barbara:
walt throws out the "sleazy" vibe.
paul's fingers, faster than a speeding shutter.
dante of the hot hots keeps it grimey, ya heard? "your cadence is off..."

and onstage in goleta, a few moments later:
pete 10 seconds before he falls asleep on stage.
ham 9 seconds later, before he punches pete in the chest to wake him up. also, paul at the very moment he realizes that he can get away with absolutely anything, as he is usually the quiet one and noone would ever suspect him.

more later, my friends. these are just some to make your morning less soggy.

the apes have landed

from the after party for the echo (los angeles) show:

paul from the hot hots is one crazy motherfucker


steve from the hot hots isn't allowed to speak when he's offstage


does the hhh's dustin measure up?


the pete bauer 'dancing machine' suite


"pshhh! that's nothing! you should see me pop-lock."

it never rains in southern california

well, it's raining now, and as it is February it will likely rain for the rest of the month. the joys of a mediterranean climate, right? but you didn't come here to hear me jabber. you want pictures:



pete in pomona



the harsh realities of life on the road.



san diego sound check.

in the interest of speed, I'm going to post thumbnails instead of full-sized versions of the rest of the walkies pics, except in extrordinary circumstances. I'm also going to post 5-9 pics a day instead of 2-3 so it doesn't take two weeks to do this. therefore, a few more pics. click for full-sized versions.


troubador soundcheck

glass house (pomona) soundcheck

walt waits for his burrito in pomona

soundcheck at the troubador in LA. paul and walt from the walkies with paul (drums) and dustin (bass) from the hot hots.