TIVO IS A FUCKING WORD!

Three years ago yesterday, I briefly considered the possibility of not being on this planet much longer because of some scary shit that was happening up the block from me. Yesterday, I was working on music a block away from the former World Trade Center and then later watching the bonus extras discs of the STAR WARS original Trilogy DVD's with a fine young woman. Life doesn't get much better than this. Somebody upstairs is a big Frank mark. Bless.

So it was back to the Birdcage for the second time this week to review some of the songs that haven't been listened to in some time. Mostly notably, these come from the later half of the record. Some of my demos from this portion of the album dated back to February and in order for me to get a firm grasp on the overall feel and track order of the albumI needed to be current. Also, this was an informal way on signing off on the arrangements. This required Brandt and I going into songs like EXIST, LENINGRAD, and SOLAR, which are all atmospheric and less flat out rock n roll than the other songs, and editing some temp live drums in order to see how the continuity worked. Also, in the case of EXIST and SOLAR, Chas had re-played and improved upon a lot of my rythmn bass over the last few months and I wanted these current versions. The live drums and new basslines totally take these songs to a new level, which is what we wanted, and for me, I'm happy that these songs have much more of a bite to them.

While doing all this, a vocal melody popped into my head for LENINGRAD, which up until this point has been considered an instrumental. The melody is based on an aborted aggression song, the music to which has been reworked in an Ass Cobra song called FIRST (though I'm not sure if they're using the song at this point).I'm going to try and give these vocals a shot this week. if it works, it works. If not, it remains an instrumental.

It was a productive day and I rewarded myself by spending a little more than I should have for an advance copy of the STAR WARS DVD's. I like the changes they've made so far on the DVD's, with the exception of adding Hayden as young Anakin to the final shot of RETURN OF THE JEDI. You can see the changes here;

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarschanges.html

The most interesting change is the new dialogue between the Emperor and Vader in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. It seems to allude to something that we have yet to see happen in REVENGE OF THE SITH. My prediction is this: in SITH, Anakin, with some good still left in him, lets Obi-Wan escape with the baby Luke and LIES to the Emperor that he has killed them. I wanted to put this down here so when the movie comes back I can either be proven right or wrong. Anyhow, the DVD's are good fun.

The rest of the evening was spent with my birthday girl (not Matt) with a little Shabu Shabu on 10th street. Later, we were joined by the ladies of Internationalpoontang who are the best. We did some classy ass barhopping, though I was the token boy (despite trying to find G repeatedly). This evening found us in a bar at 2 am playing scrabble and to YOU the reader I ask: is TIVO a word? My lawyer/agent/advisor would say yes. My girlfriend and the ladies would say no. Anyhow, I was robbed. I'm telling you. Though the word QUEEN got me lotsa points. Thanks for teaching me that word, Matt!

Oh, in cartoon news, the new BATMAN show is really good, but needs work. However a pal of mine is writing for it, so I am hopeful. TEEN TITANS rules as always but the JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED episode with BOOSTER GOLD, one of my all time fave C-list heroes, rocked beyond belief. This character is the, ahem, goldmine, I have always said he was. Take that, naysayers (especially those at Warners).

F

PS: Warning to import record store owners: If an album Brandt wants is coming out, PLEASE make sure you have it on time so the kid doesnt freak out like a small boy who got skipped over by Santa on Christmas. Thanks.