Music from 2001

In 2000, I met Mark Gigliotti (lead guitar) and Sean Horton (bass guitar.) None of us had any extensive band experience, so it was a good fit for all of us. Those 2 were heavily into Phish, and also the Dead. None of us wrote, but we did like to jam, so we would learn songs as a platform for jamming. Hunter Pipes (guitar) joined in 2001.

We had a rehearsal the day after 911. I distinctly recall an outstanding session, but unfortunately the tape wasn’t rolling that night. We used to jam in my basement in Fairfax, but moved out to Marin Headlands in November of 2001 after playing at a rather large Samhain party. 911 tension was still heavy, and it showed on the night of 11.07.01. This time the tape was rolling. We set up in a circle with a single mic in the middle of us connected to a Sony DAT deck. We started noodling around, one joining in after the other, and next thing you know, at least 35 minutes had passed before we stopped playing. Then we did it again.

Headlands Jam
https://soundcloud.com/mysky-music/headlands-jam

D Jam
https://soundcloud.com/mysky-music/d-jam

Headlands Jam came first. Headlands Jam, the name we attached to it, was completely unscripted from start to finish, with the exception of the ‘parts’ we had previously rehearsed. But, when we started, we had no idea when or where or even if we would be using those parts. I have edited it down to 26 minutes. I took off most of the noodling and loose jamming from the front end of it. D Jam came just moments after Headlands Jam ended.

We wrote these ‘parts’ and would insert them into these jams when we felt there was a good place for them. It involved a lot of listening. Someone might insert a riff somewhere and repeat it, while the rest of us would look at each other and think, ‘I know where this is going.”

D Jam was based on something that Mark had been working on, but never finished to that point. Except for the central theme at the onset, it's all total improvisation, not knowing where we as a band would be going with the jams. Half way through, we abandoned that theme and took off for parts unknown before returning to the theme to resolve the jam.

You can’t really listen to these as you would a 4 or 5 minute song. You listen to them as you would the Allman’s ‘Mountain Jam’, or ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, or ‘Thick As A Brick.’ I described it as Phish meets the Allmans, but it has recently been suggested that it also sounds like Seattle grunge.

Mistakes were made, to be sure, but we played right on through them never skipping a beat. The sound quality is certainly better than listening to a CD in a car with the top down or all the windows open. I find them to be very listenable. If anyone gets a quarter of the enjoyment out of these that I get, then I'm really happy. I've often dreamed of adding a 2nd drum track, percussion, keyboards, lyrics and vocals to this. Or possibly rerecording the whole thing.

I found Mark and Hunter on Facebook last year.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these two works.

Checking in, 2014

I've been away, yes, I know. 2013 was a very difficult year, one I'm sure to review in my blog. I plan to write more in 2014. Yeah, I know, I've said this before. I try again, starting with my next post.

Helping David w/neurological disorders

In 2006, weird things started to happen to my body. I couldn't tell you if these involuntary leg movements lasted 30 seconds or 5 minutes. They started off infrequently, but eventually became a nightly occurrence. Both my legs continue to shake uncontrollably 7+ years later. Involuntary movements- shakes, shivers, stutters, twitches, tremors, trembling, tingling; insomnia, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, headaches, numbness- have become a regular, daily and debilitating part of my life. There is so much more to tell regarding my symptoms and syndromes. My doctors won't even say the word Fibromyalgia, and they tell me that is not Parkinson's, but they won't tell me, or they don't know, what it is. I would like to try Eastern therapies, but they are generally not covered by MediCare or MediCal.

I've been living on a disability check (about 60% of my former meager paycheck) for over 5 years now. I've downsized, culled, sold, given away. I no longer have a storage unit. Everything I own fits into this one bedroom apartment. I used to buy a dozen fresh bagels a week, with cream cheese. I switched to store bought bagels and butter. Now it's sliced wheat bread. I go to the Redwood Empire Food Bank 2x/month. I don't go to movies, I have no premium cable packages. I haven't paid for any organic meds in over 2 years. I rarely drink alcohol anymore. It's cold in this apartment in the winter, and I am bundled up. Some weeks I only start my van up once for a trip into town. I have been waiting for 4+ years for my Section 8 voucher. They told me there was a 4-6 year waiting list.

I have very little left to sell. I peruse on-line selling emporiums to check on the demand for similar items to what I own, and there are very few bids, if any, on them. I have no savings left. I've worked for neighbors a bit here, a bit there. I have a sporadic, part-time contract job that helped me scrape by, but my contact there was laid off after 17+ years. By merger or acquisition, I suppose my tenure as an independent contractor there is now suspect. My father would kick down for me once in a while, but he has little left to give now.

I was without health coverage for 2.5 years before my MediCare finally kicked in, only to find out that it doesn't cover everything. I have been living as frugally as I can, and look for more ways to cut expenses, yet I found myself in over $3000 of debt. All medical bills finally went to collections agencies and ruined my rebuilt credit rating. I am also late on my rent payment each month and am behind in my PGnE bill as well, and will fall even more behind. (It's been cold this winter!) I also need new glasses as my vision is deteriorating and it's difficult to read this screen most of the time, and we all know how much glasses cost.

One of my bands, the Cancer Sucks Band, is a not-for-profit organization that only performs at fundraisers for the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society. My main band, Planet Waves~ A Tribute to Bob Dylan, doesn't make enough to cover gas money, never mind enough for sticks, heads, and rehearsal studio time.

Drumming and walking are the only physical activities in which I still partake. Drumming is almost, if not downright, spiritual. It is an aerobic physical activity. It gives me tremendous satisfaction to provide happiness for others through the music we make. But the symptoms and syndromes aforementioned above have exacerbated in 2013 to the point that it has greatly interfered with my timing. But this is not a good thing for the timekeeper in a band.

I see organizations and web sites such as Sweet Relief, but I do not meet their qualifications. With dwindling options and resources, I turn to my community of friends, musicians and baseball associates, as well as any other kind, benevolent and/or philanthropic person who may be reading this. If you can spare anything- $10, $5 or even $1, please click on this button which leads to my PayPal account which I created when I started selling my stuff on eBay. Anyone who donates at least $10 will receive a CD of live recordings on which I play drums or congas. I have played with some very notable Bay Area and nationally known players. I will be grateful to the end of my days.

Click here to help:

http://www.gofundme.com/1upmhs

Thank you for reading this.

Marconi Union "Weightless"

According to scientists, This is the most relaxing tune ever recorded.

This eight minute song is a beautiful combination of arranged harmonies, rhythms and bass lines and thus helps to slow the heart rate, reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress. The song features guitar, piano and electronic samples of natural soundscapes.

A study was conducted on 40 women, who were connected to sensors and had been given challenging puzzles to complete against the clock in order to induce a level of stress. Different songs were then played, to test their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and brain activity. The results showed that the song Weightless was 11 per cent more relaxing than any other song and even caused drowsiness among women in the lab. It induced a 65 per cent reduction in overall anxiety and brought them to a level 35 per cent lower than their usual resting rates.

According to Lyz Cooper, founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy, the song has been created using various scientific theories and make use of musical principles that are known to have individually calming effects. Hence these elements have been combined together by Marconi Union to make the perfect relaxing song ever. The song comprises of a sustaining rhythm that starts at 60 beats per minute and gradually slows to around 50. Thus, while listening to the song, your heartbeat automatically comes to match that beat. She even adds that it is necessary for the song to be eight minutes long because it takes about five minutes for entertainment to occur. The gaps between the notes have been chosen to create a feeling of euphoria and comfort. In addition, there are no repetitive melodies in the song which allows one’s brain to completely switch off since one is no longer trying to predict what is next. The random chimes in the song help induce a deeper sense of relaxation and the final element in the song is the low, whooshing sounds and hums, those like the Buddhist chants.

Moreover, sound therapies have been used for thousands of years to help people relax and improve health and well-being. Among indigenous cultures, music has been the heart of healing and worship. The song, weightless is ideal for unwinding and putting an end to a stressful day.

According to Dr David Lewis-Hodgson, from Mindlab International, which conducted the research, this song induced the greatest relaxation, higher than any other music tested till date. In accordance to the Brain imaging studies, music works at a very deep level within the brain, stimulating not only those regions responsible for processing sound but also ones associated with emotions. The song Weightless can make one drowsy and hence should not be heard while driving.

Richard Talbot, from Marconi Union, was fascinated to work with a therapist to learn how and why certain sounds affect people’s mood. Though he always knew the power of music, they had previously written songs using only their gut feeling.

The study conducted by bubble bath and shower gel firm, Radox Spa found the song was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea. According to Cassie Shuttlewood, from Radox Spa, it is understandable not to spend hundreds of pounds on massages, spa weekends and yoga retreats to reduce stress levels.

I LOVE THE INTERNET!

The Internet is the perfect forum. The dissemination of information by the people and not just the few corporations who once had a stranglehold on the industry has been facilitated by the explosion of Internet traffic. For years upon years, news was presented to us by 3 television networks. Your nearest city had 1, maybe 2 newspapers. There may have been a few more radio stations, but the fact of the matter is that all the news in the world and your town, good, bad or indifferent, was selectively filtered, spun and sugar-coated before being broadcast wrapped in fancy paper, ribbon and bow.

There has been a refreshing influx of alternative news outlets bringing us tawdry details conveniently left out by the mainstream media. These writers and reporters don't get paid the big bucks that the glamorous big network stars make, yet they do the same work, usually harder, for far less compensation and less protections. I applaud Amber Lyon for stepping down from a high profile position at CNN for ethical reasons. These people do this work because of their love of the truth, not simply because they are a cog in the gear of some big media corporation.

Millions of people are receiving and forwarding uncensored news from a plethora of news outlets. Here is an abbreviated list: Addicting Info, AlterNet, Daily Kos,  Daily Beast, CNN, MSNBC, Salon, Bloomberg Report, Mother Jones. The writers and reporters: Rachel Maddow, Bill Moyers, Anderson Cooper, Robert Reich, Michael Moore, Keith Olberman, Lawrence O'Donnell, Andrea Mitchell.

(To be fair, the right has their talking heads at Faux Noise and elsewhere- Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, George Will, Andrew Breitbart, Matt Drudge, Michelle Malkin, and Bill O'Reilly. That is, if you can stand the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard...)

We now receive the unfiltered and uncensored versions of events in real time, from these new outlets, in print, audio and video formats. Big news corporations don't want us to know all the details! They don't want us educated. They only want us to learn enough "to operate the machinery and do the paperwork." (Thanks to George Carlin.) Suppression of information would be a better description of that industry! We don't pay Big News to bring us information on TV or radio. CORPORATIONS pay Big News Big Money in the form of advertising revenue to bring and retain customers (the general public), not to present the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

That stereotypical nerdy blogger in his mother's basement so easily dismissed by Big News is probably more responsible for change in this world than the POTUS, y'think?

Owed to Pain

Pain, my trusty alarm clock, awaits me once again this morning.
"Be gone!", as I hurl insult after insult at the demon to no avail. Paralyzed by my adversary, I slowly collect an allegiance of muscles, bones and nerves, only made possible by the lure of local organic herbs and an onslaught of Big Pharma chemicals.

I call out their names!
Paroxetine! Zolpidem!
Omeprazole! Ropinirole!
Baclofen! Gabapentin!
Buspirone! Hydrocodone!
Help me! Help me slay this beast called pain that feasts upon my sanity.

Oh, Tamulosen, you're back. Spring a leak?


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My legs are on fire. A giant stake several centimeters in diameter has been driven through my chest and pins me to the bed. A lead chain has been attached to that pesky bulging disc. When able to break free, no easy feat, I feel an 18 # anvil hanging by chain from the inside of my sternum. Brain cells drip down the chain from the heat of the demon's blue flame.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 BIG PHARMA to the resue!

Today's Superheavyweight division Bout:

PAIN v. MEDS

Pain comes charging, pummeling hard and relentless. Meds lay still in the corner.

Finally Meds come alive and fight back! Dulling the Pain, Meds get more reinforcements in the form of more doses. Pain relents, but always returns, always, and stronger.

The match ends in a draw.

Stay tuned for scenes from tomorrow's episode, my next 15 rounds of knock-down drag-out.

Planet Waves~ A Tribute to Bob Dylan

Planet Waves is a jam band tribute to Bob Dylan formed in 2009.

Our friends:

Music Spectrum

Connecticut Yankee

Ashkenaz

Starry Plough

Cancer Sucks Band 

3rd Annual Benefit for The Jimmy Fund & The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Pearl Drums

Sabian Cymbals

CLICK HERE FOR THE PLANET WAVES MUSIC PLAYER

Grovel Post

So I've been living on a disability check (about 60% of my former meager paycheck) for over 4 years now. I've downsized, culled, sold, given away. I no longer have a storage unit. Everything I own fits into this one bedroom apartment. I used to buy a dozen fresh bagels a week, with cream cheese. I switched to store bought bagels and butter. Now it's sliced wheat bread. I don't go to movies, I have no premium cable packages. I haven't paid for any organic meds in over a year. If you see me at a show, trust me, I did not pay to get in. I rarely drink alcohol anymore. It's cold in this apartment in the winter, and I am bundled up. The heat rarely gets turned on. Some weeks I only start my van up once for a trip into town. I shop at Grocery Outlet. Next I'll be going to Redwood Empire Food Bank.

I have very little left to sell. I peruse on-line selling emporiums to check on the demand for similar items to what I own, and there are very few bids, if any, on them. I have no savings left. I've applied for jobs, I've worked for neighbors a bit here, a bit there. My father used to kick down for me once in a while, but he has little left to give now.

I was without health coverage for about 2.5 years before my MediCare finally kicked in, only to find out that it doesn't cover everything. I have been living as frugally as I can, and look for more ways to cut expenses, yet I find myself in over $3000 of debt. Medical bills mostly, but I am also late on my rent payment each month and am behind in my PGnE bill as well. I also need new glasses as my vision is deteriorating and it's difficult to read this screen most of the time, and we all know how much glasses cost.

I see organizations and web sites such as Sweet Relief, but I do not meet their qualifications. With dwindling options and resources, I turn to my community of friends, musicians and baseball associates. If you can spare anything- $10, $5 or even $1, please click on this button which leads to my PayPal account which I created when I started selling my 'stough' on eBay. Any donation over $10 will receive complimentary invitations to attend any show in which my band plays. I will be grateful to the end of my days.

Thank you for reading this.

Health Update

I have not been writing much since I moved to the Russian River area 3.5 years ago. The 3 main reasons for that are that my eyesight is deteriorating and I don't have money for new glasses (not covered by Medicare TYVM), I can't bear to sit still for very long, and my fingers do get numb on occasion. I am still having a very hard time prioritizing. My 'household administrative chores' as I like to call them, which includes paying bills, usually takes a back seat to yard work or playing drums.

Originally diagnosed as Parkinson's Disease, this affliction I am saddled with is now described as an undiagnosed motor disorder. Although my general physician and neurologist don't say it, I suspect the culprit might be Fibromyalgia. My sleep study doctor in 2007 and a back specialist in 2011 both stated that this mostly likely is indeed Fibromyalgia.

But disabled and doing yard work and playing drums? WT...?

I really do not like being still. I go out and do yard work, sometimes rigorous activity because I cannot stand to be still. If I perform 8 hours of rigorous yard work in 1 week, I am wasted! Same thing goes for playing drums. If I have too many rehearsals and/or shows in a short period of time, I get wasted really fast. When I say wasted, I will spend a couple of days doing next to nothing while trying to rest up.

I have constant, nearly 24/7 sharp leg pain in my thighs. If you have ever had a nasty flu, then you know what I feel like almost every day, but without the nausea. I display many of the symptoms for Fibromyalgia and Parkinson's. Because of these symptoms, I find myself sleeping/in bed for 10-12 hours every night.

OK, the complete list:

ALL THIS:
Near Drowning, age 6 (start of depression?)
Family moved when I was 12 yo (was a bad move for me, I was bullied big time in high school)
Played like a royal fool in relationships
Missing Regionals & Nationals due to untimely major water ski crash
Cocaine addiction
Homelessness
Divorce
In-laws from hell
Bankruptcy
More than 25 jobs in 23 years
Several jobs and bosses from hell
More than 25 homes in 27 years
Housemates from hell
Head on car wreck (not my fault)
0 meaningful relationships lasting >1 year

AND THIS:
Fractured collarbone (age 10)
Numerous water ski injuries (stretched ligaments, torn cartilage, destroyed ACL)
Both lungs have collapsed 2x each, resulting in surgery the 2nd time (in summer, no less. I still have the scars)
Huge shiner from getting cold-cocked resulting in optic nerve damage not discovered until very recently
Epic yard sale on 2x black diamond trail at Alpine Meadows (about .25 mile uncontrollable free fall bouncing off of huge moguls resulting in head injury)
Epic 25' flight over handlebars while mountain biking on Bolinas Ridge Trail resulting in dislocated shoulder and stretched ligaments. I still have the bump. No frequent flyer miles were received.
Fractured sternum from a head-on car wreck that was not my fault

RESULTED IN ALL THIS:
Depression
Anxiety
Tinitis
Insomnia
Sleep Apnea

Bulging Disc
Psiatica
Chronic recurring shoulder pains, easily injured

AND THIS:
Involuntary Muscle Movements (twitches, tremors, shakes, including painful leg spasms from hell)
Chronic Pain (nerve pain)
Chronic Fatigue
Essential Tremors
Blurry & Double Vision (most likely from getting cold cocked about 30 years ago)
Occasional loss of balance
Occasional unexplained nausea

It's not cancer, it's not MS, but it still sucks. Anyone wanna trade their normal health and job for a Social Security check, MediCare, MediCal, Section 8, IHSS and the blue parking card?

If Romney becomes President...

Abortion will become illegal. Watch the return of the coat hanger and back alley abortions. Women of child bearing age will die.

Cannabis will never become legal. Romney will see that every state legal medical cannabis dispensary is shut down, The war on drugs gets ramped up, more people will be thrown in jail for simple cannabis possessions, jails remain full of non-violent ‘criminals.’

Equality for gay people will never happen. Gay marriage will not be recognized.

Contraceptives will become increasingly difficult to obtain. There will be no sex education in schools. Planned Parenthood will lose its Federal funding. Teen pregnancy rates soar.

Public education funding will be gutted. The only quality education available will be in expensive private schools.

Funding for the arts will be slashed. Big Bird had better watch out.

Big oil, big tobacco, big pharma, big auto, big defense, big banks and all their cronies on Wall Street will have all regulations removed. Main Street is a ghost town.

Evolution and global warming will not be allowed to be taught in schools.

Despite declining numbers, Christianity will become the official religion.

Meaningless wars will continue to be fought in remote areas of the planet so that big defense will retain their big government contracts. Without abortions, contraception and homosexuality, Romney will have plenty of live, disenfranchised bodies to ship abroad. (Don’t forget, teen pregnancy rates will soar.)

Health insurance will become a nightmare. With policies in place to ensure profits before anything else, the CEO’s become richer, the populace becomes sicker.

Environmental protection regulations will be stripped, the EPA shut down. Corporations, free to pollute at will, do so, at will.

The Keystone pipeline becomes a reality. Within 5 years there is a massive leak. In the meantime, solar and wind energy subsidies and tax breaks are discontinued.

The rich will get richer, the rest of us will eat cake, presumably.

Please vote for Obama/Biden. If you are living in a solid blue state, please vote for Jill Stein, Green party.

Planet Waves

Challenge to Corporate CEOs of America

INVEST IN AMERICA!

Bring the jobs back home. Yes, the wages will be higher, but don't stop there. Buy up all the empty houses, condos and apartment complexes near your once bustling but now abandoned factories and surrounding areas. Renovate them, put in washing machines and new carpeting that won't rot in 2 years. Invest in alternative sources of energy for all your rental units, as this may reduce expenses for your tenants, allowing them to bank a little more, and to spend a little more, too. Maybe they'll even be able to buy the unit from you some day. Remember the American Dream that has just about all dried up? Hire back all the men and women you laid off. If necessary, garnish their wages at a reasonable rate (low % of wages, no interest) for their deposits and 1st months rent. After spending considerable time being unemployed, believe me, they'll be ecstatic to have their old jobs back! The cities and towns where your factories are located will become hustling, bustling centers of activity. If your employees are not able to come back to their old jobs, hire their sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters.

Forget about your chateau on the lake for a while and take care of your own country 1st. You are the ones with the resources to make it happen. Grass roots activism will only go so far. Your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will respect you for doing your part to making this country a better place to live for all of us, and not just yourselves. We will all enjoy life here much more with lower unemployment, lower crime rates and a happier populace.

And to all the politicos- do your part by clamping down hard on illegal immigration until all is stabilized in our country's economy. Announce to the world that such a clamp is in place and illegal immigrants will be turned away until stabilization has been achieved. Once this happens, then open the doors to legal immigration at higher rates. Make life easier for the multitudes in the middle and lower classes, instead of just the fat cats at the top who already have life easy. Do this for us, and life will still be easy for those of you on up high. Being poor or lower class does not automatically make us evil or bad.

Can you accept this challenge?

The Unsuspecting Instant

I feel it all about me, waiting for the right moment to pounce on my brain, dragging thoughts and ideas through tunnels of pain. Dragging, they become unrecognizable. Now disfigured, they drape over dead, dying and decaying brain cells. With no time to heal, another round of cerebral damage quickly shovels the wig salad to the side of my own information back road, like slush in an urban winter hiding potholes deep enough to swallow life and air out of tire and rim in an unsuspecting instant.

Fenway West Nominated For Best Red Sox Blog

I would have never guessed that Fenway West would be logging over 10k hits/month on a regular basis when I 1st started writing for that blog. It's been a total pleasure to be writing for FW, it's been great therapy, too. When I 1st started, we were getting about a couple of hundred hits a month. We have watched our circulation numbers grow little by little to the point that we are regularly ranked #4 in daily average and daily total according to RedSox100.com.

And now this- Fenway West has received a nomination for "Best Red Sox Blog"  by The New England Sports Blog Awards. Voting takes place from February 2nd to February 14th and fans can vote once each day. Please take a moment and show your support for Fenway West by following the link below and casting your vote.

http://www.trufan.com/nesb_vote

Short thread on Facebook

Original post: Is it hypocritical to ask God for help when your sick? What about when you only turn to him in times of crisis, you rarely thank Him for anything but when things go wrong, He's the first one you talk to...not once have I asked Him for help since I got sick, because I don't want to be a hypocrite anymore, but if any of you guys have good standing with the "Main Man" I could sure use some prayers right now.

Comment #1: I will throw a few up there but I don't know what my standing is :-D You are probably ahead of me in that line. :-)

(Like = 1 person)

My comment:  Not to be a bummer for you, but I don't think God (or Goddess) is up there pullin' strings... OK, you've prayed enough, I'll make you better now. Next. You need a job? OK, you're hired. Next. Now Jane, I know you've been praying a whole lot. I'm sorry, but I can't give your husband a bigger package. If there is a God or Goddess, s/he just flicked a finger at a speck of dust (or a booger) and got the whole thing rollin' on its own, and then kicked back after workin' overtime (6 days in a row.)

(Like = 3 people- last time I checked)

RIP John Carlos Maciel 02.12.48 - 12.13.10

Photo taken 11.14.10, Maryville, TN

A-Rod and Bush

From the NY Post:

Yankees not worried by road troubles
“We have played bad baseball. Our situational hitting hasn’t been good and we take pride in doing that.” Rodriguez said.

Sounds like something ol' Dubya might have said.