There are a lot of boxes in our new digs down here in Santa Clara. The vocals for the Bye Bye Blackbirds have just about been completed, just prior to my move south. I think some things may need to be re-done, but not much in my estimation. It's interesting, because I've been kind of a hard-ass on the pitch of the three part harmonies they've been doing, and I get really bogged down when in the thick of it. In older days, I would have reacted against some of the things I am doing and saying now. Then, a day or two later, when I roll tape again to go over the session, I'm pretty fucking amazed at how often those guys pull off the harmonies together at once around one mike. And these are not always the basic 1-3-5 harmonies. They'll do tri-tones, all sorts of different combinations. Billy Duke's got the best intuitive sense of vocal harmony that I've ever worked with, better than my own. Ian also has this great voice that adds an interesting timbre and quality to the group stuff. And Bradley's solid. All three, as well as their drummer, Lenny, are multi-instrumentalists. So it's interesting to work with others who share my sensibilities.

I'm also enjoying this process because it's helping me to regain my confidence at tape-op and behind the board. I don't have a lot of gear knowledge (well, because I don't have a lot of gear) . Nevertheless, I DO have access to better rooms than the early days of Beulah when that was my primary responsibility. It would have been nice to have the option to set up a mike in the shower stall and have some reverberation from the bathroom tiles on "Heartstrings," for example. Back in those days, I was a little feisty and feeling claustrophobic in that sweaty old practice space.

Chris Palmatier has been invaluable so far, especially in the room/mike/pre setup to capture the live takes. I've learned two things. 1. I will never record drums by themselves and layer everything else later, one by one, again. 2. I will track these live takes to analog first, before moving to a digital program. I wait to stand corrected that Protools sounds better than even 1/2" analog, 16 track tape. As far as headroom issues or hiss, here's what you do: crank up the levels as high as you can without them distorting on playback, and print with the built-in DBX or Dolby S.

My place of employment is now less than a 10 minute drive away. I have to say, even though the company's going nowhere and I expect to be laid off or for the company to go under any day now, in the time I have left, I am going to enjoy the short commute and my "maytag repair man" role. For once I don't have to work Satan hours or have Satan's commute.

Finally, on a political note, the Special Election is a joke, of course, but this one's easy: NO on everything except Prop. 79. If anyone reading this thinks that the best form of protest is to abstain, may I remind you that the best form of protest is to show up and vote no on everything, even 79 if you want to take a stand against the idiocy of having this special election in the first place. But I am voting yes on 79. The proposition system itself in California is obviously getting out of hand, and should be abolished. There is no such thing as "direct democracy." Never will be. Until this state repeals these stupid propositions, like 13, for example, it will always be in credit card debt.

Worst. Football Season. Ever. What can one say about the Pack? I don't buy the talking heads on sports radio when they say they should bench Favre for Rodgers this season. We don't have anyone to throw to other than Donald Driver and Bubba Franks, no one to run the ball effectively, a patchwork O-line, a shitty secondary, and on and on. Rodgers hasn't moved the ball in the times he's been in the game, even in garbage time. All we can do is sit and suffer, and read that series JSonline's doing about Favre and revel in the past. It's what Packer fans had done until Wolf came to town in '91...talk about the glory days of the 60s. Now we can talk about the glory days of the 90s and hope that we can have them again in the....20s. Seems to be a 30 year cycle with the Pack. Look at the championships. And then there are the gory years. It appears we are on the gory road for a while.

Cheney's finally getting the finger. I love it when I'm right!

The move is nigh...this Saturday in fact (finally)! We move to Santa Clara for two years, and then probably Rochester NY, my wife's hometown, to buy a house and simplify our lives.

On that note, the SF Chron had an interesting article in its series about how difficult it is for many "middle class" folks to live out in the Bay Area, citing economists' concerns that the super rich now have so much disposable income that it's driving prices up for everyone else. And I thought about how much I miss Bill Clinton, as he made a point in both elections, especially his first, to cite the failure of "trickle down economics" and he repeated that point ad infinitum. And now, of course, we've returned to that mindset. Look where it's gotten us.

When will people in rural America understand that the party they continue to vote for threatens their way of life with its policies? . I'm not sure the Dems have latched onto that message simply enough.

K & I certainly won't be able to afford to buy a house and live here. We do not want to keep up with the Joneses. We don't like the weather THAT much! So the way things are necessitates a move where the cost of living is a little lower and the weather is shittier. I don't mind, having been born and raised in Wisconsin. K & I feel bad for folks our age who were born and raised in SF and find it harder and harder to survive in the only city they've ever known as their own.

W/re to my post last 5/25 about Mike Tice, it finally seems the press is catching on. Heh heh.

This had seemed to be the worst football season for a long time, until last weekend's 52-3 rout of the Saints. Now the Packers are 1-4 just like last year. And since Detroit and Chicago lead the division now with 2-3 records, there's always hope.

The Vikes...so much better without Randy Moss, eh? #4 in the power rankings, eh? Take off, eh?

New things are on the horizon. Since the Packers stink this year and the A's season is just about over, I've decided to start recording some of my own material and also to continue to try and find sporadic work recording other bands, whenever I can. The preface is that I am not going to hustle and only record what I'm into. Period.

I was thinking back about some old posts in here, about how I defended Mike Sherman as being a better GM/Coach than Mike Holmgren was, and I still stand by that. However, it seems the Packers are now paying for some of his GM decisions in the past, though I'm not convinced Ted Thompson is the answer. Sherman's gotten a bit conservative and stale, and it seems teams have adjusted to his offensive schemes, particularly the running game. Having to trade the two guards certainly didn't help matters, though I'm not sure how much coverage has been given about salary cap issues.

As far as New Orleans, Katrina, Rita and all of that, I've gotten a barrage of emails from my conservative uncle lately, so you know the GOP spin machine is up to no good. I guess that's what they're talking about when they say they're putting Karl Rove in charge of the "relief" effort. Here's a particularly heinous email being circulated by a "doctor":

"The following from a Mississippi MD:
I am going to tell it straight, blunt, raw, and I don't give a damn. Long read, I know but please do read.

I went to volunteer on Saturday at the George R. Brown convention for two reasons:

A: I wanted to help people to get a warm fuzzy.

B: Curiosity.

I've been watching the news lately and have seen scenes that have made me
want to vomit. And no it wasn't dead bodies, the city under water, or the
sludge everywhere. It was PEOPLE"S BEHAVIOR. The people on T. V. (99% being
Black) where DEMANDING help. They were not asking nicely but demanding as
if society owed these people something. Well the honest truth is WE DON'T.

Help should be asked for in a kind manner and then appreciated. This is not
what the press (FOX in particular) was showing. What I was seeing was a
group of people who are yelling, demanding, looting, killing, raping, and
SHOOTING back at the demanded help!!!!! So I'm thinking this can't possibly
be true can it???? So I decide to submit to the DEMAND for help out of
SHOCK. I couldn't believe this to be true of the majority of the people who
are the weakest of society. So I went to volunteer and help folks out and
see the truth. So I will tell the following story and you decide:

I arrived at the Astrodome only to find out that there are too many
volunteers and that volunteers were needed at the George R. Brown
Convention Center. As I was walking up to the Convention Center I noticed a
line of cars that wrapped around blocks filled with donations. These where
ordinary Houstonians coming with truckloads and trunks full of water,
diapers, clothes, blankets, food, all types of good stuff. And lots of it
was NEW.

I felt that warm fuzzy while helping unload these vehicles of
these wonderful human beings. I then went inside the building and noticed
approximately 100,000 sq. ft. of clothes, shoes, jackets, toys and all
types of goodies all organized and ready for the people in need. I signed
up, received a name badge and was on my merry way excited to be useful.

I toured the place to get familiar with my surrounding; the entire place is
probably around 2 million sq. ft. I noticed rows as far as the eye can see
of mattresses, not cots, BLOW UP MATTRESSES!!! All of which had nice
pillows and plenty of blankets. 2 to 3 bottles of water lay on every bed.

These full size to queen size beds by the way were comfortable, I laid in
one to see for myself. I went to look at the medical area. I couldn't
believe what my eyes were seeing!!! A makeshift hospital created in 24
hours!!! It was unbelievable, they even had a pharmacy. I also noticed that
they created showers, which would also have hot water. I went upstairs to
the third floor to find a HUGE cafeteria created in under 24 hours! Rows of
tables, chairs and food everywhere - enough to feed an army! I'm not
talking about crap food either. They had Jason's deli food, apples,
oranges, coke, diet coke, lemonade, orange juice, cookies, all types of
chips and sandwiches.

All the beverages by the way was put on ice and chilled. In a matter of
about 24 hours or less an entire mini-city was erected by volunteers for the
poor evacuees. This was not your rundown crap shelter, it was BUM HEAVEN.

So that was the layout: great food, comfy beds, clean showers, free medical
help. By the way, there was a library and a theatre room I forgot to mention.

Great stuff, right?

Well here is what happened on my journey -

I started by handing out COLD water bottles to evacuees as they got off the
bus. Many would take them and only 20% or less said thank you. Lots of them
would shake their heads and ask for sodas! So this went on for about 20-30
minutes until I was sick of being an unappreciated servant. I figured certainly
these folks would appreciate some food!!! So I went upstairs to serve these
beloved evacuees some GOOD food that I wish I could have at the moment.

***The following statements are graphic, truthful, and discuss UNRATIONAL behavior***

Evacuees come slowly to receive this mountain of food that is worth serving
to a king! I tell them that we have 2 types of great deli sandwiches to
choose from - ham and turkey. Many look at the food in disgust and DEMAND
burgers, pizza, and even McDonalds. Jason's deli is better than McDonalds!

Only 1 out of ten people who took something would say "thank
you" the rest took items as if it was their God given right to be served
without a shred of appreciation!!! They would ask for beer and liquor. They
complained that we didn't have good enough food. They refused food and
laughed at us. They treated us volunteers as if we where SLAVES. No, not all
of them of course, but 70% did. 20% were appreciative, 10% took the
food without any comment and the other 70% had some disgusting comment to
say. Some had the nerve to laugh at us. And when I snapped back at them for
being mean, they would curse at me.

Needless to say I was in utter shock.

They would eat their food and leave their mess on the table. Some would
pick up their stuff; many would leave it for the volunteers to pick up. I
left that real quick to go down and help set up some more beds. I saw many
young ladies carrying mattresses and I helped for a while.

Then I realized something.

There were hundreds of able bodied young men who could help! I
asked a group of young evacuees in their teens and early twenties to help.
I got cursed at for asking them to help!!! One said "We just lost our
fucking homes and you want us to work!!" The next said "Ya Cracker, you got
a home we don't". I looked at them in disbelief. Here are women walking by
carrying THEIR BEDS and they can't lift a finger and help themselves!

WHY SHOULD I HELP PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT TO HELP THEMESELVES?

I waved them off and turned away and was laughed at and more. "White boy
jokes" were made at me. I felt no need to waste my breath on a bunch of
pitiful losers. I went to a nearby restroom where I noticed a man shaving.


I used the restroom, washed my hands and saw this man throw his razor
towards the trash can... he missed. He walked out leaving his disgusting
razor on the floor for some "cracker" to pick up. Even the little kids were
demanding. I saw only ONE white family and only TWO Hispanic families.
The rest were blacks. Sorry, 20% to 30% decent blacks and 70% LOSERS.

I would call them N*****S, but the actual definition of a n*****r is one
who is ignorant. These people were not ignorant.. they where ARROGANT
ASSHOLES. The majority of which are thugs and lifetime lazy ass welfare
recipients. We are inviting the lowest of the low to Houston. And like
idiots we are serving the people who will soon steal our cars, rape,
murder, and destroy our city while stealing from our pockets on a daily
basis through the welfare checks they take. We will fund our own destruction.

By "US" I don't mean a specific race, I mean the people who work hard, work
smart, have values and morals. Only people who want to help themselves
should be helped, the others should be allowed to destroy themselves. I do

not want to work hard, give the government close to half the money I earn
so they can in turn give it to a bunch of losers.

I don't believe in being poor for life. My family immigrated here, we came
here poor, and now thank God, and due to HARD WORK we are doing fine. If
immigrants, who come here, don't know the language, can work and become
successful... WHY CAN'T THE MAJORITY OF THE HOMEGROWN DO IT?

If we continue to reward these losers then we will soon destroy our great
country. I just witnessed selfish, arrogant, unappreciative behavior by the
very people who need help the most. Now these same people who cursed me,
refused my city's generosity, who refuse to help themselves are DEMANDING
handouts on their own terms. They prance around as if they are owed
something, and when they do receive a handout, they say it's not good
enough! Well you know what? These types of people can go to hell for all I care.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard L. Johnston, M. D.
[Note, I called the numbers posted on the email, and he retracted, saying he wasn't the author]

----

Nice bedside manner, eh? Says a little about the man's psyche, but that's about it.

My wife and I were turning on the TV in a youth hostel in Stockholm, watching dramatic news footage of Katrina approaching New Orleans the night of August 28th. It was Fox News, and there was footage of Michael Brown, head of FEMA, talking about how ready they were for what may come. I have to say, for once, the overly dramatic news coverage of that network, fit what was to come. And we've watched Brown today saying, in effect, that "all I can say is we're taking care of shit now." How can it take FOUR DAYS to bring basic food/water/etc., when you earlier talked about how prepared your agency was for the worst case scenario? That douchebag needs to be fired immediately.

I am embarrassed for my country right now. I still believe in the idea of America, I still stop when the National Anthem is played, and I believe that our flag means something, but these days it is more of an ideal and not the way things are. If it were up to me, I'd say a good start in sending a message to the world would be to drive all of the Hummers and Excursions and everything else representative of our arrogance into a very large ampitheatre, where molten metal is already spewing orange in some pit that everyone can see, and we melt down all of that shit in a kind of "disco sucks" rally, and we use the result to repair whatever is needed in our public infrastructure. And to drive the point home: "Remember New Orleans. This is what happens when you have 'limited government.' You get what you pay for."