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Below are the 25 most recent journal entries.

	2005.07.27  17.58 Captain Ahab's death and the Megalomaniamix And so renews my journalistic tradition of relating everything to you several weeks after the fact. Well it was around the beginning of July that I participated in staging Captain Ahab's death. Ahab was actually sneaking off to Bulgaria to bring sound design to the Bulgarians, but before he disappeared it was said that he left clues which anticipated his demise during this trip. In fact, he gave me the clues over the phone. He also stopped by to drop off a hard drive with 6 gigs of music on it and a burned CD. He even offered to lend me his vocoder. ( Read more... )

	2005.07.20  15.53 So according to my last entry, in April of 2004 I had just moved the upright piano into my bedroom, in order to play without distraction. And for about a year that was a nice arrangement. I usually played after work for an hour or two, between 6:30 and 9:00. It felt good to do. Every so often I went out and deejayed a party or went to show. I love spinning records and dancing with my friends, and that's how I like to relax. But I also began to settle into my relationship with LA, which is a little stand offish. The city allows for personal space. I went ahead and took mine. I like working by myself and I felt the benefit of that. I also began to realize that I didn't need to live in LA. In fact I wondered if a change of scenery might do me some good. But the only place I could imagine moving was back up north, back home. Or slightly left of home, in the Bay Area. I used to consider that a sign of defeat. Now I'm beginning to see it as a matter of preference. Whenever I saved up enough money, I bought another synth or a multi-track recorder. I got a digital 4 track that caused me no end of problems, and I aborted dozens of recordings halfway through due to malfunctions. I began to think it would be at least more comfortable to work with tape again, even without the benefits of digital sound. Sometime in May of this year I acquired a large 8 track reel to reel with a built in mixer, which became my pride and joy. That necessitated some rearranging in my tiny room, and the piano was finally moved back into the living room. So I continue to do my thing. Jonathan and I continue to Deejay together as Wesley Snipes. Earlier this year we created a 20 minute megamix of inspirational dance music for release on Deathbomb Arc #041, and I'm very proud of it. In fact, after that one worked out so well, Jonathan commissioned me to give the same treatment to all the Captain Ahab tracks, and so I made the fifteen minute Ahab Megalomaniamix, which was played at a Captain Ahab show that Jonathan was unable to attend, a couple weeks ago. But that's a whole story of it's own, which I'll save for another entry.

	2004.07.12  10.49 I did it. I got the piano into my room. All I had to do was move my bookcase out into the living room and I had all the room I needed. so that's refreshing. Tony arrived in LA this week, and stayed at my place for a night in lieu of moving into his new apartment in Silverlake with a guy named Ben. His brother drove all the way over with him from Chicago so he wouldn't be alone on the trip, which I find quite awesome for a brother to do. In spite of their road fatigue we sallied out to a bar that night and then to see Spiderman 2. While we were in the theatre Tony realized that we had skipped out on paying for our last round of drinks at the bar. We just forgot to pay. That bartender must have been really pissed off, especially after making me that ridiculous specialty drink with sugar ground into the mint leaves. So we decided we had to do the right thing and go back after the movie. The bar was closed when we got out but luckily the bartender was hanging around, and although she nodded sourly as we explained our stupidity, I could tell she was overjoyed that we had actually come back to pay for the drinks. Hey. Everybody needs a hero.

	2004.07.09  13.46 I would have to take the tenfold dose Brian Wilson "the pills do not help" "rather is attractive for its age": Brian Wilson on the umjubelten "Smile" route Drugs and depressions would have destroyed Brian Wilson nearly. Now goes the musical head of the legendary Beach Boys with new CD on route. Mr Wilson, after six years published you again a solo album, will arise in August you in Germany. Do you suffer still from fear of stage? O, I has terrible fear. Fear that it goes correctly beside it. That I begin to laugh or cry. Or that I begin rumzubruellen (walk): I do not want to give the concert, I bear it not, get me an ambulance (becomes louder), bring me in the hospital, give me drugs, assistance! Assistance! The people would think, that was Show. Yes, which would think, it are fun. It would be serious. Is it to be been so cruel, a star? The fame makes me paranoid. I have the feeling, I must my name become fair. I must be someone completely special, also, if I do not feel in such a way at all. The people say, Brian Wilson, music genius. But humans Brian Wilson are a scared small Schwaechling with a soft heart. I am not as large as my large name. But I am condemned good in what I do. I must admit that. I have a little talent. Their new album sounds so innocent, and after all the bad years, which lie behind you. Are you despite all optimist? No. But I believe in my abilities. I hold really very much of my voice. I am lucky to be able to say in such a way. And I learned to live with the fear. To have fear before humans and deal nevertheless with them. The people do not suspect at all, how much I am afraid. ( Read more... )

	2004.07.08  17.13 Its getting more and more difficult to work on music at home. I write most of my music with keyboards or a piano. There are many keyboards in the house, but only one piano, and I prefer the piano enormously. But the piano, alas, lives in the living room, and in the living room it has many noisy and distracting roommates: the stereo, the turntables, the dvd/vcr/and projector, and the xbox. The hyperfunctionality of the living room makes it a hotbed of activity nearly every night. If someone isn't listening to music, they're watching the Sopranos on DVD or playing HALO. It is impossible to concentrate let alone hear the piano within this continuous storm of media. I was in a music shop recently and I played a Viscount Allegro, a very slick keyboard that looks like a small upright piano, and mimics the sound of a grand piano, an electric piano and a harpisichord. The harpsichord in particular sounded brilliant, and the keys were light and friendly. Not like the big, heavy, godawful keys on Dan's Yahama. If I had the Allegro I would plug headphones into it and be gone for days. But it was $1300 dollars. Used. The only solution I can see is moving the piano into my room. It's Phil's piano but Phil doesn't mind. He hardly plays it himself. I could do this. Only problem is the size of my room. It's tiny, and already quite crowded. I need to figure out a way to make room and still be able to open my windows. Perhaps my bookcase could be relocated into the lounge... This is a pressing problem.

	2004.06.22  13.03 Jon and I are spinning at the Smell this Thursday. Anyone reading this in LA : Robot Disco!This Way! For less than a pack of gas station cigarettes! Abe Vigoda and DJ Terrible will also be there. And we should have some mix tapes to give away. Jon actually made these brilliant mixes in Acid that will make your car stereo sound like it is broken and playing all the radio stations at once. Come get some! I met up with Ari on Sunday and played him a few of my songs. He seemed to dig a couple of them, so we may collaborate on writing some lyrics this summer. The meeting lasted about ten minutes. Then for the next two hours we were just like..."remember that one episode of south park?" It was good to see Evan for a weekend. I really envy his moxie for moving out to Chicago and leaving his cozy little network of friends and acting gigs behind. He says he's directing a play soon at a 1400 seat theater, but that he's also having trouble finding a job and thinking of moving back to Cali. I hope things work out...then I'd have someone to visit in Chicago. Now that Tony's moving out here. Any big fat city you live in is gonna rub you all wrong at some point. LA isn't the greatest. Sometimes living in LA can feel like being handcuffed to a bed full of dead hookers. And you're just one more dead hooker. But then other times its like turning over the hooker stained mattress and discovering a statue of Babar made of 24 karrot gold. That's just life. On Saturday night we stayed up until 7 in the morning drinking a lot and playing Risk at Jon's house. I've never actually seen a game of risk end. But now... I have. That was insane. Risk is the most diabolical and mean spirited of all board games. But I think I love it. The only antidote is daylight. And Nabil's collection of anal pornography. Also we saw this incredible documentary about Al-Jazeera called Control Room. A must see. This is an excruciatingly revealing look at local news coverage in Iraq. Some of it is hard to watch but all of it should be watched. Also, after seeing this movie I really feel like its time to quit smoking. The people working for Al-Jazeera deserve their smoke breaks. In comparison, I don't really need them.

	2004.06.18  17.02 Busy is good. You don't have time to worry too much when you're busy. But busy is also dangerous because it requires a certain obliviousness. As in, I was so busy programming the pitch bend on the synthbass that the spinach souffle burned to a crisp. Or another example, I was so busy swooning over the good looks and charm of the girl I'm seeing that I neglected to notice that we go about as well together as hot sauce and jello. I sometimes I think I am not so much attracted to people as impracticality. I spoke to this guy from the office who said he's interested in writing songs. So I'm going to have a meeting with him this weekend to see what happens. I keep thinking I should be able to do all this stuff myself, because I can write words, and I can write music, and why can't I just put the two together? But I've found that the tension of having someone else in the room often leads to surprising and interesting results. So why not give it a try since I'm floundering in other respects. In a related story, Dan and Aaron really want me to join their band. In a way I can see a lot of benefits in that. I could focus on a small part of the picture instead of playing every role myself. I could become a more disciplined player. I could get more comfortable in a performance environment, because at least they're doing shows. But I'm not sure that's what I want. I like working on my music. And I like being in control. I want to experiment with songwriting partnerships. But I don't want to be just another guy in the band. I work full-time and I fight against distraction for every hour I have to devote to this shit. I want to spend that time on what's most important to me. Evan's in town for the weekend, so I'm going meet up with him at Gabe's in Westwood and hear about life in Chi-town. So much for quitting cigs. But thank heaven for old buds.

	2004.06.16  17.33 45 rpm An odd, frenzied month, that was, that I have lately emerged from. Do you remember the frenzy of youth? Yes I think you are still experiencing it, young man. This is an ecstatic dance you do. This thing is rad. Actually I've had it since April. Its an incredible gift from Adam, that he brought along when he stayed with us for a few days. I've recorded some of my tracks to it and I love the way it sounds, warm and deep, lightly fuzzed. Dad told me that when he was in college, they used to record party mixes on the reel to reel, and I guess if you record at a low speed these tapes last really long. He went to UCD, and the guys at KDVS would dub all the best records on the reels and then bring them over to the party and have music all night. I love that. Like having your own radio station. Only now that I have the two turntables, I want whoever to put on the record they want to hear. And next Thursday Wesley Snipes is spinning at the Smell. Bo.

	2004.06.14  15.15 The Lost Weekend "I began to despair for looking up, and the time passed by such imperceptible degrees that I soon lost track of the days. In the twilight I felt strangely hopeful, the night seemed more likely to bring some suprise, perhaps a visitor, friend or foe, someone who could shake me loose, or accidentally fall in themselves and kill me in a mad, pointless struggle. But with each new dawn came the renewal of hopelessness, slowly I began to feel the rusted jaws of acceptance grinding shut around the terrible calamity of my situation. There was no getting around it. Out of it, rather. My incorrigible lust for discarded jewish cuisine had sealed my fate. I suppose from an existential point of view the world can be caricatured as a sort of oversized trash container from which we all stare dumbly up and out in wonder. Rather than gawk at the humbling shadows of an unknowable reality, we are treated to generous deposits of its residue, the lingering ghost of its stink; a more tangible, palpable illusion to wallow in, and no less the detriment to our hideous philosophies. And I who loved stink, who adored filth, now prepared to drown within a tank of it. I lay in a sobbing mess...at last I became the trash I once lived to hunt. Another possum might happen upon this mortal cylinder one day, stuffed anew with gobs of promising filth, and chew his way to its furry center, finding me, claw outstretched, in a struggle with my last collapsing breath to squirm back through the gorgeous muck that buried me. Musing deliriously in this manner, I was caught in surprise and astonishment when a shadow peered over the rim. A frightening, violent chirping noise echoed through the trash can. The onset of dementia, no doubt. Other voices seemed to join in the first, a bizarre and untrustworthy music for creeping trashmen of the night. And then to my utter paralytic fear, some kind of blunt weapon was being leveled at me from above, and the sinister click of its deadly functions resonated through my brain like the cracking of bone. More furious chirping followed, and then a stunning flash of light, surely this was the moment of departure, I thought, so it follows that I am thinking this in the afterlife, and so some spindle of consciousness must have unraveled beyond that point of detachment, for surely I no longer feel the boundaries of my weak, trembling body, or the hollow room of my demise, I am a lump of cognizance suspended in time and space, yet to be swallowed down the throat of oblivion. Then the trash can abruptly tipped over. The backyard, the house, the garden, the power lines I used to grapple over the fence taking bleary shape in the blinding light of day...my freedom was granted. I suppressed an urge to explode in a fit of hysteria. Instead I ran like a wounded child back into the arms of laughing chance." -Excerpt from the journal of a possum

	2004.04.27  15.35 peace and quiet So the Winters & Davis show was a success. Everybody played great and people seemed to like it. I could hear some pronounced "owww"s from the crowd during Aaron's big guitar solo. I also got a big pat on the back from the band for my goofy little keyboard accompaniment. I'm really happy for them, and I think it was a good experience for me. Anyway. Now I can get back to making bleeps and bloops. Also Adam made it into town in time for the show, and later that night Tony met us at my house, around 3am, and for a spell I had some of my old posse back. I do hope Tony moves out here, but he wasn't that impressed with the Art Center in Pasadena. During the day looked at art school while I worked, and at night we got to pal around and see KB Vol. 2, and I mostly didn't get any sleep the rest of the week... Thursday night I drove to Fresno to visit Trev. We rested up at his place, and from there bugged out to the mountains and stayed in his parents' cabin by Shaver Lake. It's wonderfully deserted up there and somehow we managed to pick the most deserted weekend of the year. Nobody was around. It's actually a little unsettling to be in a place that quiet, but I got to liking it very quickly. There are lots of big meadows and redwood forests all around. We hiked up to a lovely treelined meadow that just kept opening out the farther in you explored. While Trevor practiced his French Horn I went off by myself following the trail of some lumber truck up through the forest. There was still a little snow up there. I listened to my minidisc while the twigs snapped under my feet and the mosquitoes squiggled around in the sun. Then there was this bog that ran through the middle of the meadow, and I got separated from Trev and Andrea so I had to find another place to cross...I would venture out a few feet and then get all kinds of swamp water in my shoes and slosh back to dry ground. Finally we found a little spot where I could just jump over, but the ink had already soaked through my shoes and changed my socks from white to blue. Back at the cabin we plugged in the synth and guitar and recorded two new demos. Those were really nice to do cause we didn't feel like we had to rush or anything, nowhere to be the next morning. I think we have about eight of these recorded now so I should put together a little CD of them. We came back to Fresno Monday morning, refreshed and relaxed. Then I realized my keys were missing. I got back to LA kinda late Monday night, after the car key scare and a little visit from the San Joaquin Valley Locksmith. But what a sight to come home to...the turntables were all set up in the living room when I walked in! And Dan put a little cactus in front of them, a nice touch. Wide-eyed and wondering, I approached the table to appraise my new Deejay setup...and then I realized, there's something missing. The second TT has no headshell! The part the cartridge fits inside. That's something I hadn't planned on. One little plastic piece still stands between me and total mixology. So I found a place near my house that sells them but naturally, they close before I get off work...I guess I have to wait until Saturday for the spheres to align. Incidentally, Dan and I were talking out front and Sam walked up (our downstairs neighbor), we shot the shit and he mentioned that he bought new decks too! Whoa! So now the Duplex Dance Party is set to rage in T-minus however long til I buy the headshell. Sam said he was gonna ask me to show him the ropes but he picked it up himself pretty quick. That's how it is with Deejaying. It's a really intuitive thing, the basic operation of the mixer comes pretty naturally. When that becomes easy then you start throwing in little tricks, or scratching or whatever. The hardest part is just knowing your records, that consumes all the time. So anyways. Its just the beginning of a lot of fun at 6361. And the end of peace and quiet.

	2004.04.21  17.34 Ontological Anarchism; Radio Sermonettes; Temporary Autonomous Zone Here's a cool thing I just found out about...a body of work from a remarkably exciting philosopher. Highly subversive, fiercely erudite, and he actually writes worth a damn. Read the collected writings of Hakim Bey. I was checking out some of his stuff from the early eighties and nineties. His treatise on Poetic Terrorism from '84 reads as a refreshing, relevant document. Also he appears to be as fond of breakdancing as I am.

	2004.04.19  13.19 entry too long for display ( Read more... )

	2004.04.06  12.09 Wow. It's not even ten after noon. And this is already a kickass birthday. Happy me.

	2004.03.17  12.15 The Big SMiLE Entry Slow day at the office, the boss is out unexpectedly. Shuffling through piles of old box reports I haven't sent out yet... Stacks of looseleaf paper arranged in criss-crossed piles cover my entire desk. Scattered on top of these, are the most important tools: a black permanent maker, a grey scan gun with coiled cable attached, one pair of the big scissors, a plastic fork and a defunct stapler. The stapler holds my place as I go through each box of files. I know its Old News now, but I downloaded the bootleg mp3 of Brian Wilson's SMiLE performance in England. Its a recording of the first concert performed on February 20th at the Royal Festival Music Hall. Is that the Albert Hall? It's available on soulseek, probably Kazaa as well and other p2p networks. The running time is 46 minutes. Pitchfork provides a tracklisting: 01 Our Prayer 02 Gee [aka "How I Love My Girl"] 03 Heroes and Villains 04 Barnyard [suite incorporating "Do You Like Worms," "Bicycle Rider," "Heroes and Villains," and "Barnyard"] 05 The Old Master Painter 06 You Are My Sunshine 07 Cabinessence 08 Wonderful 09 Look 10 Child Is The Father Of The Man 11 Surf's Up 12 I'm In Great Shape 13 Workshop [incorporating "I Wanna Be Around" and "Friday Night"] 14 Vegetables 15 Holiday 16 Windchimes 17 Mrs. O'Leary's Cow 18 I Love To Say Da-Da 19 Good Vibrations You should download it and hear for yourself...it's basically a fantastic gig. A few trifling criticisms aside, the band performs tremendously well during this incredibly demanding set, with frequent instrument changes and for the most part no break between songs. As I listened to the "laughing" saxophone riff at the end of Old Master Painter I was struck by the great pains that had been taken to mimic the style and sound of the original sixties session players. This came as a relief after hearing the live adaptations of Pet Sounds by the same band, which I was not nearly as impressed with. Unquestionably, the weakest link in the performance is Brian himself, whose voice gives out occasionally and requires additional vocalists to double his lines. For the band, the most obvious problems occurred during the complicated multi-piano instrumental tag that caps off wind chimes. The pianos fall slightly out of sync and never quite recover, but this section is mercifully shorter than in the original recording, and what follows is a startling new section that elaborates on the infamous wind chimes bassline before it segways into Mrs. O'Leary's Cow by means of a revised version of the Water Chant(???). The performance contains many such twists and turns, giving the impression of a stylized medley or revue of the SMiLE material, rather than a complete incarnation of the original album...yet it IS the most complete rendering of the songs to date. ( Read more... )

	2004.03.17  10.59 Ok so as a follow up to the oil crash article here's another. Regarding video games. http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/crash.html

	2004.02.12  11.17 I'm reeling. Quite an article. Check it out. lifeaftertheoilcrash? after lunch

	2004.01.26  14.41 I finally own the soundtrack to my favorite movie. And other anecdotal gems... ( Read more... )

	2004.01.23  11.15 G.I. JOE Remember the PSA's from G.I. Joe? No I don't think you do. They weren't quite this funny before... http://fenslerfilms.heavengallery.com/computer.mov http://www.lumpen.com/video/BobyMassage.mov http://www.lumpen.com/video/skier.mov

	2004.01.16  16.03 And I'm leaving now I'm going back up to the Bay Area for the weekend. We're throwing my Grandma a Birthday Party in Oaktown. It's been fiendishly devised and thoroughly puzzled over since before Christmas, designed to trump even the ridiculously overwrought affair we threw for Gramps last summer. Really, my family is nothing but a bunch of party planning fanatics. I guess Gram has reached an age where events like this take on a certain gravity. The whole restaurant staff will probably break into song. Dan had the idea that we could play Happy Birthday for Gram on the little recorders we got for Christmas. No no no. I'm sorry, this is no recorder. This is a Tonette. Endorsed by America's leading music educators. How do you think Jethro Tull learned how to play? Well, he just raised one leg like this... Earlier when I used the elevator, I noticed a weird surge of static electricity as I pressed the buttons. When I pushed the number for my floor, my finger slipped off the button momentarily, touching the metal inlay on which the buttons are mounted, and I felt this spark. Immediately five other floors lit up as though I had called them. I tried it again. Touched the metal. Another few buttons lit up, without my touching them. I had called up half the floors in the building. Now the elevators will do my bidding, will indulge my every whim. I must have been granted these amazing powers of static electricity for a reason. I knew there was always something odd about the way my clothes stuck to my body as they rubbed against my little bodily hairs. I guess I must swear to always use these powers for good. But that is ludicrous when the only thing my powers are good for are annoying other people in the elevator and perhaps magically raising a girl's skirt from across the room.

	2004.01.06  13.56 Flashback: Riley's Christmas Party That's right, Huey Lewis. Buckle up cause we're going back in time. ( Read more... )

	2004.01.05  11.10 Flappy New Rear Well. New Years was very silly. We were put in the back yard, and after the lukewarm band had played the dancefloor basically fell below the freezing point, everyone timidly ran inside and we spun for the few Goths who fancied themselves impervious to cold. Have you ever danced like a Goth? First you need that big long coat. And you should probably be a dude. But you don't have to be. You make like you are trying to kill a bug on the floor. Stomp around and turn in place. But you never can quite kill that bug. Keep stomping! Also swing your arms around a bit like there might be bugs in the air as well, bees or flies perhaps. Yes you are very irritated. Stomp those bugs. Look there's a girl getting on the dance floor! Crowd her out! STOMP STOMP. Okay now you are getting bored. Look someone's lit a firework! Run toward it! Let's practice our sword-fighting! I don't know what to say, we tried to show everybody a good time. But then at ten minutes after midnight everyone left to go to some other Goth's house, some one named "Fishbone" who was under house arrest. We had actually saved many of the best records for after midnight, but everyone was gone. So we went and got some Del Taco (Del Macho) and watched the Conan O'Brien New Years special which we had taped.

	2003.12.31  11.43 Desenex Does It I'm back from North Cali. And it was a really great time. I think. I hardly know what to make of it, it all went so fast. When I first arrived I had used myself up entirely. I was worn out. I actually just slept my whole first day at home. And I went to the foot doctor, cause I got the FUNGUS. On the way to the foot doctor I started weeping. It was very strange, I was listening to my Mom talk and in the middle of her sentence I just burst into tears. The combined stress of christmas, the songs we recorded, the flu, traveling, and the foot thing just got to me. Mom wondered if I was emotionally unstable and whether I needed Therapy. I know I've just been taking things too seriously, pressuring myself. I've gotten in the habit of doing that. I wondered briefly if I really did need Help of some kind, but then I just shook it off and said I was fatigued, and went on with my Holiday. The Holidays are usually good Therapy for me. Most of the family was there, very nice and politely inquisitive. I got to relax and talk about things from a distance. the cousins and I spent a day in the orchard behind gram and gramps' house making a movie about electric back scrubbers. I received many fine gifts like money and a spice rack (full of spices). And we played Shadowrun in my old room, I got to share some old archived videos with Chad and Brett, and Brett gave me the Pet Sounds Box Set for Christmas. my uncles gave me loads of advice about "going into teaching." And for a few hours I hung out with some good old friends. Friends I haven't seen in ages. That was the best. I guess it was all so rushed, yet...it felt very refreshing. Pretty soon I was landing in Burbank, wondering if I could hold onto that peace of mind for very long. So Jon and I were asked to deejay our friend Pouder's New Years Eve party in Riverside. Also a cool band is playing (with former members of Auf-Bau!). Apparently there will be a large crowd of the Gothic persuasion there, which I am rather tickled about, and so this week we both ran out and bought a bunch of cheesy Goth music. and actually, some of it's kinda good. I mean, of course Skinny Puppy is good, but I hope these folk still listen to groups like Alien Sex Fiend, Xymox and Sisters of Mercy. cause that's what they're gettin. I brought the records into the office with me today so I could leave for Riverside as soon as I get off. The party will be at 3523 washington st riverside, ca 92504 Come if you like. I think it will be a blast. Whatever you do have some fun tonight. Happy New Year.

	2003.12.23  14.34 Happy Holidays No time to talk about anything but I'd like to wish everybody reading this a splendid Holiday. Be good. With any luck I'll be seeing some of you soon.

	2003.12.08  14.27 I had a dream that I was out running errands. I had just left a pornographic health food store (my one errand) and as I hurried home through a light rain, I noticed a non-descript office suite located in a building near my house. I entered the building thinking maybe I had an appointment inside. There, in one of the modest, sad gray colored offices, seated at an unbecomingly small desk, I found former pop idol Lionel Richie. Seated at a desk nearby was Martin Fry, former leader of ABC. I approached the two sometime pop stars and asked them to consider producing my next album. They both acted like it was totally beneath them, even as they sat behind those Best Western writing desks in the crumbiest office space in my neighborhood. I needn't have reminded them that Suge "Show me the goddamn search warrant" Knight's offices were located just around the corner. Then Martin asked me if I'd heard Lionel's new track, "In Seconds," and without waiting for a response he cued a remote controlled DAT player across the room, and through the stereo came the most rockin new wave neo soul studio pop cut I have ever heard, it was like a cross between ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and Shannon's "Give Me Tonight," sped up to about 140 bpm and rounded out with an incredible Quincy Jones bass sound. Compared to Richie's other music it most resembled "Can't Slow Down," his 1983 adult contemporary dance floor filler, but this cut had a more succint, evolved sound, with less string cheese guitar work and an increased sensitivity to synth programming and rhythmic arrangment. Oddly, Lionel's vocal was not featured on the track. I was blown away, as they knew I would be, and before I could protest they were shooing me out the door and I woke up with a vague memory of the feel of "In Seconds."

	2003.12.08  13.06 DJ pee DJ poo So what do you do on Saturday night, the lonelinest night of the week, when you've got no date and no tender, beefy shoulder to cry into? Well if you're me or Jon you go and Deejay the fug out of the University of Virginia Alumni Mixer in Downtown LA! Woo-HOO! And you make a cool $125 each doing it. Our first Deejay gig together. Incredibly posh. We took turns spinning for four hours while sipping free guinness and eating the nicest goddamn cheeses. The building was all polished marble and leather chairs. Mexican guys in nice suits running around everywhere. We should have been spinning Hadyn or something. Meanwhile a modest crop of forty somethings in their cocktail best were having a stockholder's meeting on the dance floor, as though we WERE spinning Hadyn. I guess they were just too small a crowd or too white or something. Not a leg shaking. I went across the hall to where somebody was having a wedding reception or something...man THEY were gettin DOWN. Lots more black people. Marvin Gaye pumping out da speaka. I went back to our party and was beginning to think the old U of V just like music they can chew their ice cubes to, when out of the blue these sheepish bus econ types started creeping onto the dance floor to shake it like versace models. And what was the song that got them dancing? None other than Ton Loc's "Wild Thing." The party wrapped up at midnight and we hadn't really even warmed up, we were still in possession of the PA we rented for $50, and still no hot date. So we stopped back at our respective pads and changed our 80's records in for electo and ghetto tech, then drove to a party at Gabe and Patrick's in Westwood, plugged in da sound system and rocked a 45 minute DJ Assault/Bass Mechanic/Knifehandchopathon that would have made Freaknasty proud. And now THIS party was gettin FREAKY, just a big writhing mass of people. Then the cops came and pulled the plug. Psshh. They hung around to make sure we unhooked all the gear. And we sulked home to watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force.