"We Cheer the PITTSBURGH STEELERS!"

Greetings from Slough, England, U.K.

It's cold here, and they are expecting snow in some way/shape/form tomorrow. Which is troubling, because snow does not get along well these days with Southern England.

I have a running joke with my U.K. co-workers regarding snow in this area: It seems that if a single snowflake hits the windshield of a car traveling down the M4 motorway, that car immediately flips over and causes a multi-care pileup which takes 14 days to clear off the road.

Fortunately, I'm staying a stone's throw from the office and could conceivably walk there if worse come to worst weather-wise.

Unfortunately, I'm here during the SuperBowl, in which I expect my Pittsburgh STEELERS to crush their opponent (the Arizona Cardinals).

Fortunately, with the help of a very amenable limo driver (technically a Land Rover driver) I was able to procure two interesting 500ml beers to serve the dual purposes of helping me to cheer my team on to victory, and helping me forget that I am in Slough watching the SB by myself on a 14" TV in a hotel room, instead of watching it on my 50" Sony TV with my family and friends by the warm hearth of my gas-powered stove in the basement that I had finished for just such a lofty occasion as my favorite sports team (like, say, the STEELERS, of whom I've been a fan for over 30 years) playing in a world championship game.

Or something like that.

Anyway, the brews:
1) Wychwood Brewery Hobgoblin Ruby Beer
2) Young’s Special London Ale

Is it 11PM GMT yet?

GO STEELERS!

WYTB: The SL Video!

SL Band @ Turk's Head Music Festival 2008

With expanded rhythm & horn sections!

Hot Head

Happy to report that our Turk's Head Music Festival performance was very well-received. The entire event was great, except for the part an hour before our set where I basically passed out from dehydration in the heat, and was whisked away abruptly in Ker's car with a wet towel draped over my head and the band left to wonder what the hell was happening.

It was all very Motley-Crue VH1 Behind-the-Scenes. As my friend Sugendran said, "That's so Rock." I'm fine now, by the way (and back from a short but very exhausting trip to Windsor, U.K.).

There are some nice photos of the TH event up at Spark. Included below is one of the SL Band shots. next up for me will be Four Dogs Tavern on Aug 9 (6-9PM) - see you there!

Cheers!

Phone Moans

Hi all. Taking a break on a beautiful long weekend and managing a few minutes to post.

I am getting very stoked for our next gig (June 1st) at Four Dogs Tavern. The outside area has a great, party-friendly vibe. I've sat in with Hake & Jarema many times there, and always had a blast - meeting dozens & dozens of people, all of whom were very, very cool. Should be an awesome time.

On the home front, Baby & mom are still doing great. More & more baby pics are being taken all the time, and I cannot keep up with posting them on-line. I did manage to send a few up a week or to ago - here they are. She already looks different. Fatherhood rocks - I can't wait to see how her personality develops.

In other (totally irrelevant to almost everyone else) news, I am going through hassle of upgrading my cellphone. I say "hassle" because, despite being in IT, I am not a 'gadget guy.' I am a tinkerer. I tinker. I like to know how things work. I like to get the most value out of something that I can, which means often upgrading it, customizing the hell out ot it, and avoiding replacing it if all possible.

Case in point: My home PC is about 5 years old. Over time, it's received a new power supply, upgraded memory & video card, and external add-ons in a bout to extend its useful life. And generally, that tactic has worked for me. In the case of cell phones, I typically buy a phone that is considered "old" by market standards, and use it for 2+ years. My previous Nokia 6236i was 'old' when I got it 2.5 years ago. Nothing fancy. The camera is crap. The screen is tiny. But I knew how to work it, browse e-mail in a pinch, and - most importantly - send & receive phone calls (imagine that...). In 2.5 years, I had a grand total of 3 issues with the phone, all totally resolved by turning it off and then back on again. As far as I'm concerned, that is brilliant in terms of phone performance. It just worked.

So, how do I replace that? I ended up getting the LG enV2. This phone has 2 interfaces - an "old person" phone on the front that has large buttons and very little 'flash.' Inside, it's a bit more modern with a flip-up screen and a full (albeit tiny) keyboard. The 'old person' interface suits me fine because it's perfect for what the phone will be doing 90% of the time for me - making calls. The flip part will help for watching Elmo vids in a pinch when the baby needs to be entertained when we're traveling somewhere. And the keyboard will probably save me from becoming insane when, while traveling, I actually use it to type an SMS message or compose an e-mail.

I don't know why this crap is so difficult for me. Other people seem to replace PCs and cell phones every other month and don't complain about it (at least, not to me). Maybe I'm just cosmically cursed when it comes to gadgets - I usually end up seriously disliking the ones I own after a few months...

Anyway, hope all is well with you out there. Don't forget - only about 1 month (and counting) until Summer Solstice XVII...!

Uhm... eeerrrrghhh... where's my coffee.....

Ugh... working on an issue for my day job after 4 hours of sleep (and 1 too many beers, probably).

SL Band show at Jitters last night was Très divertissant, as they say (well, as they say in France, anyway). Next up for me - is the birth of our daughter! After that, I'll be re-joining the lads in the SL Band for a show at the Flying Pig (circumstances permitting, of course) on April 18.

After 2 weeks, the MTD BE is going strong and now over 60 members. I'm working on getting the major bass retailers to offer discounts to our members (which is working out well so far).

Bonus money for my day job came in, and it's a nice princely sum (by my standards, anyway). After investing a hefty percentage of it, I put a small amount towards updating my work wardrobe (which consists of nice stuff but 10+ years old in some cases!), purchasing baby items, as well as some workout equipment that Ker & I have been wanting for the basement "gym" - with enough left over for me to treat myself to a b-day present (see inset pic). Should be in my possession in a few short days, along with a gig bag and a (badly needed) new strap.


Hope life is treating you all well. Cheers!

Why the Internet Kicks All Kinds of A__

You know what's really awesome?

The Global Interweb.

That's the one with e-mail, right?

Ok, maybe I am a tad late to the party in pointing that out. But you gotta admit, it's pretty friggin' awesome when in 1 week you can mobilize over fifty people worldwide that are into MTD Basses and get them assembled into one virtual place.

MTD BE is now at over 50 members just 1 week into its precious little life! And there are some serious, serious players in the membership lineup - for example, we've got Mike Dimin, whose solo bass playing is not only inspiring, but extremely influential among the bass elite. As far as I'm concerned, MTD BE is not just legit, it has arrived. We've got Mike Dimin for f--k's sake! Yeeeeaaaaah!

I've been celebrating by saying "f--k yeah!" a lot, and by spending way too much time on the Internet.

In other news: the baby has not yet arrived, but we're expecting her any week now! Also, the next SL Band show with yours truly will be next weekend (March 7) at that most venerable of West Chester PA establishments, Jitters. Steve L. has posted his new FREE on-line compilation album, Banged-Up Classics. Surf on over to www.SteveLiberace.com and get yourself some tunes!

Cheers!

Updates (Holiday Edition)

Hi all - lots to tell you about so let's get started:

My township police chief contacted me and we've cleared up the matter with "Officer Unfriendly." I'm happy to report that the Chief was totally cool about the entire incident.

Just back from a great X-mas in FL and New Year's in Key West. We kicked off the holiday season with a party our pad in PA, then Ker headed south a bit early and had a baby shower with her friends. Then I flew down to West Palm, we caught up with friends, hung out with Ker's mom & step dad, and headed further south to witness the craziness that is NY's in Key West. All in all, a fantastic time. The pictures tell the story best.

The next SL Band show will be at Jitters on Jan. 11th. We're starting to fill out the performance schedule for 2008, I'm posting updates to the Gigs section as these come in. Bear in mind that March and April will be a very light schedule for me as that is the time are daughter is expected to arrive. Baby prep. has finally begun in more earnest and we're starting to get the house ready. And spend lots of money on items I never had as an infant (pack-and-play? didn't my mom just put me in an empty drawer??).

And last but by no means least, I took advantage of the holiday time off to pen my first eBook. How to Taste Like a Wine Geek: The 1WineDude Wine Tasting Guide is now available! Details are on my wine blog at this post. The eBook is targeted at wine novices, and details the same practical tasting approach that I used to increase my own knowledge about - and enjoyment of - wine (the greatest beverage in the world). If you're so inclined, you can purchase it now by clicking on the button below. Cheers!

Tunage and Happy Birthday Jim

Had a great, fun gig at Triumph last night. Now in full Holiday Mode as we prep the house for a holiday party tonight (with some nice Banfi Rosso di Montalcino on tap, as well as Delirium Tremens and a keg of Sierra Nevada's Celebration, the beer all courtesy of a generous contribution from the Ciaciaks). Should be a very good time!

My ongoing recording experiments also fared well last night, as we captured another set for posterity at Triumph. A few cringe-inducing moments for me on my performance of some of the newer material. We've been playing around with a cover of the The Doors' "LA Woman" which we unleashed for the first time as a trio last night - fittingly on the anniversary of Jim Morrison's birthday (Dec. 8); spookily, we did not know that it was his birthday yesterday when we debuted the song in our setlist.... Anyway, the results are available on my MySpace page for your pleasure (amusement?).

Cheers!