a very nice thanksgiving weekend

ahh, the long weekend. a long weekend devoid of travel. very nice.

we awoke thanksgiving day to see lots of rain outside and lots more in the forecast, and we gave thanks that we were remaining indoors. we made coffee, and lexi made blueberry pancakes. saw some of the macy's parade and then a bit of the dog show that followed it.

of course, every time we see a dog show on tv, all we can think of is Best In Show anymore.

lexi made the demand that i stay out of the kitchen, so there was no homemade pumpkin pie from me this year. but her culinary powers conjured up a turkey, stuffing, yams, a butternut squash and apple soup, plus gravy and a can of whole cranberry cranberry sauce (for which i take full credit; take it where you can, right?). we (meaning i) enjoyed some football on tv, we chilled out, and after our magnificent dinner we watched Elf and then played some Simpsons Monopoly.

saturday evening we made it out to see For Your Consideration, the New Christopher Guest Film. while it wasn't quite up to par with Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman or A Mighty Wind (and definitely not the Rob Reiner-directed Spinal Tap), it was a lot of fun. i rarely stopped laughing the whole time. Catherine O'Hara was brilliant, and Jennifer Coolidge and Ricky Gervais were scene stealers. Fred Willard was, well, Fred Willard, and, as such, had me laughing my ass off with every scene he was in. i recommend it, and we'll definitely be picking up the dvd as soon as it's released. i'm sure that, like Guest's other films, there are a ton of jokes that we missed on the first viewing.

sunday we had a Larry Banilow recording session that began around 6pm and included Erin, Neil's co-star in "Little Shop of Horrors" -- she played Audrey. we added her excellent voice to Sundae Smile and Pillow Time (which, by the time you read this, may be live on the Banilow myspace), and then Neil and i figured out what we were going to do for our live performance on WAAF that night.

the radio performance was awesome. we were flanked by the Steamy Bohemians, and we played Daydream Believer, Cups and Cakes and our originals Love Waves Hello and Pillow Time. Carmelita, our Bay State Rock host, told us during a break that Zack, the midnight DJ, phoned in to say that he apparently had to pull over during his drive to the studio. he was laughing so hard that he was actually crying, and he had to phone all his friends -- "Turn on 'AAF, i don't know what's going on over there!" so that's a VERY nice little endorsement and positive feedback. thanks, Zack!

after hanging with Carm, Tez, Brian, Scott Dakota (the Steamy's producer who was along for the ride) and the Steamies, Neil and i listened to the recording of the show, and i didn't walk into the house 'til about 1:40am, too wound up for sleep.

so yesterday i was in a daze, though the workday went smoother and quicker than i'd expected 4 hours of sleep would provide me. but last night, i was wiped.

December 7th, Lizard Lounge! it's comin' up. next week, we'll put the show together and then do it up. you gotta come out. we may have iron-ons.

yeah, that's right. iron-ons. god, i hope so.

a nice weekend

so friday night we went to see the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra at the Berklee Performance Center with our good friends Tracey and Jim. it was really good. my main issue was that there seemed to be a few too many singers onstage. some of the material they did (Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and The Beatles' "Because") required a large number of singers, but, really, "Because" only needs 9 to pull off. that number might serve "Bohemian Rhapsody" well, too, but i'd have to look at a transcription of the harmonies.

but the show was excellent nonetheless. we had a great time, and then the four of us ended up at island hopper for a tasty, if late, dinner.

over the rest of the weekend, i was pretty much in the studio. saturday saw me beset with inspiration for a new song. by the end of the day much of the song was structured out and basically arranged. psyched about its potential.

yesterday, i played around with that a little more before neil arrived to do some banilow brainstorming for the December 7th show. we also revisited a new song, "Sundae Smile," and began adding some drums to the big horn ensemble arrangement. later on, after he left, i worked more on those drums and then added some shakers, tambourines and bass. it's starting to sound pretty full and spector-esque. all we need is two more basses, one more drum kit, five guitars and two more keyboard parts, and we'll be set!

phil spector, your sound is being towed.

seriously, though, it's a nice sounding arrangement. we'll have to see where it goes from here. i'll probably give a listen tonight to see what needs fixing or adding. plus i'm working on lyrics for that saturday onlyone tune, too.

giving some thought to some live, stripped-down onlyone performances for early next year. stay tuned!

it's 60 degrees out there. mid-november in boston. not complaining so much as exclaiming. in a few weeks it'll probably be 20 degrees, and then i'll have something to bitch about.

actually, no, i wouldn't. i could choose to live elsewhere if new england winters are too much!

i do like autumn, though, and this doesn't feel too much like autumn to me. i love it in the 50s, crisp, nice occasional breeze, etc. this weather, though, makes me feel like it's just going to jump right to winter with a quickness.

anyway... nothing too much to report on. tonight we're going to the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra show at the berklee performance center. should be tons of fun. lots of our friends are involved in it -- actually, i could've been one of the keyboard players, but i opted to remain focused on my own writing. but looking forward to seeing tony savarino and rod emyael and everyone else.

and christopher guest's new movie comes out this weekend! actually today, huh? we're hoping to get out to see that over the weekend. looks quite promising, and, really, how could it not be with this cast? i'm psyched about the addition of ricky gervais, whose work in the original BBC The Office is amazing.

speaking of The Office -- our U.S. version -- what a freakish show. totally loved it this past week... Dwight Schrute is too funny for words, and the interaction between him and the new number two (whose name is escaping me at the moment) is priceless.

i'll be in the studio this weekend with Larry Banilow, as we do some more work on the newer tunes and plan out the idiocy for big show on December 7th, plus i'll be finding time to push onward with new onlyone music, too!

should be a fun weekend all around!

the tally

it's been a busy year. hell, it's been a busy several years. since i recorded "Yourself, Anew...", it's been a fairly unending variety of acts, and it's been a lot of fun, too. some were supposed to be one-offs that quickly grew into something bigger; some still roll, if occasionally. here's a quick list of some of the bands i've played in with the instrument(s) i played in each:

Amber Spyglass - bass
Axemunkee/ Cathy Capozzi - bass
The Gloria Forward - bass
Larry Banilow - keyboards
World's Greatest Sinners - keyboards
[munk] - synths/ loops
FUNF - signal processing, glockenspeil(!), organ, percussion
Gato Malo - signal processing, keyboards, percussion
Voodoo Screw Machine/ Beatles Tribute - keyboards, guitar(!)

now, if you're a session guy like my friend tony savarino, this list may not be particularly impressive but for the array of instruments i've contributed with (i still can't believe i attempted to play rhythm guitar alongside of stony curtis in VSM!). but i consider myself first and foremost a recording artist/ songwriter. while doing all of these shows with my friends, as fun and exciting as it is, it gets very difficult to immerse myself in composition and recording. sure you can do stuff here and there, but it's not quite the same. there's just not time.

not to mention the mental drain of learning all these new songs, keeping them in your head, perfecting the parts, etc. (Gato Malo and FUNF exempted from this, as both are improvisational ensembles requiring little-to-no forethought and preparation) when i'm not practicing or rehearsing or performing, one does need to have actual downtime to recharge.

and writing is not recharging. one needs to soak in things and allow them to gestate and develop. one needs to cajole, wrestle, manipulate and seduce the muse into giving you something new and interesting. one needs to take what the muse gives you and try to shape it into something new and interesting if what you got isn't that already. it's quite a bit of work even before tape starts rolling (as it were, being that we're in the digital age here), and then i'm compelled to make sure that the sounds and arrangements i'm creating aren't just like everything else out there. i won't allow myself to just kinda auto-pilot it through to the end and make a record that doesn't interest me. i just can't.

and so my means of working requires me to cut myself off of other projects for awhile. to immerse myself in the beauty of sound and music. to spend the time away from the studio thinking about the songs i'm writing, not the songs i'm performing this week with that band.

anyway, that's why it's been three years since i've last finished an album, not counting a few long-form unreleased ambient pieces and one-off songs. not that i expect anyone is counting the days and waiting expectantly for the next onlyone album. perhaps there are some that look forward to it, but mostly it's just something i have to do for me.

growing up, i never really went to many shows. my discovery of music was through records, and albums are the art form i most fell in love with. i would sit and listen for hours, trying to figure out how everything was put together. "what is that sound? how do you make that sound?!" reverse-engineering everything at age 11. rigging up multiple tape recorders through a DJ mixer in order to overdub at age 14. learning to program a synthesizer and doing recording experiments on a 4-track at age 17. once i heard "Sgt. Pepper" when i was 16, that was it. i wanted to be the beatles.

but not the relentlessly touring beatles that would bang out a record in a day and then hit the road again. i wanted to be the beatles that disappeared from sight for months on end to work mysteriously on something -- what are they doing in there? the beatles that, upon coming out of the studio, had a record to deliver that sounded so fucking different from everything else out there that your first reaction was stupification. the beatles that made "Revolver." "Sgt. Pepper." freakin' masterpieces of sound and songwriting. virtually unperformable blends of rock music, western classical music, world music and musique concrete.

that stuff is not easy. but it's what i want to do.

all that said, i'm taking a brief break from my studio hibernation, as Larry Banilow was invited by The Steamy Bohemians to take part in their Jerkus Circus christmas spectacular. that's taking place on thursday, december 7th, at the lizard lounge, cambridge, ma. expect much bizarreness and fun out of that night. for serious.

and then it's back to the studio for me.

philadelphia freedom

this past weekend, we took a little trip down to philly to have a surprise dinner birthday thing for my dad, who's turning 60 later this month.

our hotel was in the historic district a couple of blocks from independence hall and the liberty bell, so we were pretty much in the center of it all. loads of fun wandering about the old city. of course, my first meal in philly was a lunchtime cheesesteak, 'cause you gotta, right? walked past the national constitution museum and the liberty bell but went into neither -- lines were too long at the liberty bell, and too many other things going on to get to the constitution museum.

friday night, we took a walk to south street and then to penn's landing before settling for dinner at ristorante trattoria by 6th and south. as we were eyeing the menu and deciding to go in, a nice guy in a plaid hat commented "good choice."

"oh, yeah?" i inquired.

"definitely. a lot of great options -- you'll spend 15 minutes just looking at the menu!"

"nice! thanks!"

i wished he was still in the vicinity as we left the restaurant so i could tell him how right he was. we both opted for a simple linguini and meatballs dish, and the pasta tasted homemade. the staff was very nice, and my merlot was delicious. everything was awesome, and the portions were good, too. too often restaurants feel the need to give you so much food that you need two more meals to finish it (vinnie t's, anyone?), but these portions were perfect. we were so stuffed that we had to get some cannolis to go, but by the time we could've eaten them we were falling asleep.

saturday, we met up with my brother shortly after touring the betsy ross house, which had several costumed historical re-enactors. the betsy ross claypoole actress was particularly good and quite engaging to the kids we saw. then we walked over to elphrim alley where we met up with my sister, munk and munk's son trey.

the dinner later that night was fantastic and our dad was extremely surprised and pleased. afterwards, we all went back to my parents' house for cake before lexi and i had to get back to the airport for our return flight.

it was a quick trip, but it was nice to see everyone. and of course it was awesome to be there for dad's surprise bithday dinner. i'll have a gallery of some of the photos from the trip posted soon.

my grandpop

my dad called a little while ago to let me know that my uncle stanley bednarczyk (my dad's mom's brother) had written a story about my grandfather (my dad's dad) and his experiences in world war II, something that my grandfather had thus far refused to talk about for all these years. well, my dad knew he had been in the battle of the bulge, but i don't think anyone knew anything beyond generalities.

it's a really good story in the polish american journal, and my grandfather doesn't know it exists yet. hasn't been printed and delivered just yet, but it's on the website. check it out!

always knew grandpop was cool, but this is awesome to read a bit about his life and his courage in war. and i can't even begin to imagine having a best friend taken out right before my own eyes.

thoughts on TV spots

those who know me know that i get a kick out of tv spots. hell, i even work a dayjob in advertising (although i don't create the advertising; i'm a web application developer). so i thought i'd write a little bit about some of the tv spots and campaigns i've been seeing that stand out. think of it not so much as an expert's opinion as much as it's the rather educated and warped opinion of someone who appreciates the medium as well as the most absurd entries into its arena.

CitiBank Visa

directed by Jared Hess (director of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre), the new ads feature Roman and his virtually silent cohort Victor, and Roman is keen to demonstrate how fast he can rack up rewards points. the spots are oddly coloured, and the styles are decidedly retro.

my favourite one of the campaign so far features the two of them in a living room, Roman dressed in his tracksuit, which makes him "tiger fast." Victor high-fives him (very fast) to celebrate his double points due to his having CitiBank checking account as well as the card. "Revarding! Very, Very, Very Revarding!"

Cheese-Its

i've seen this one just a couple of times, but it's absolutely hilarious and memorable mostly due to the little girl who explains to two adults how they make Cheese-Its. as soon as she starts her explanation, the direction cuts away to visualize her story, following a giant cheese wheel escaping a truck and rolling downhill (bystanders narrowly avoiding injury!). a careful worker places a cracker on a plate and places the plate on the road in the path of the wheel. just as the wheel approaches the plate, it cuts back to the girl, who emphatically crushes the plastic cup she's holding and says "Cheese-It."

the crowning element of the commercial is her earnest look as she delivers the "Cheese-It" line before looking at the other adult and insisting once again "Cheese-It." fricken brilliant.

Dunkin Donuts

okay, everyone's been talking about the They Might Be Giants/ Dunkin Donuts song commercials, but it's worth saying here that i've loved them from the beginning. the Karate commercial for the smoothies was so loved in my household that, during red sox games, i'd keep my eyes peeled for them during the breaks, cranking the volume when i heard that familiar drum machine groove that opens the spot. "Swimming! Soccer! Ballet! Oboe! And last but not least...

"KARATEEEEEEE!"

sweet. the new Alarm Clock Catastrophe is also notable, especially for the vocal delivery of the lines "i'm about as far behind as a human being can be." brutally behind the beat. brutally so. it's one of those subconscious details that can make a song, scene, story, etc. here, the extremely laid back delivery conflicts slightly with the visuals of people scrambling to make trains and to get to the office before the boss sees them, but it works so well musically that i don't think it matters.

tv ramblings

here's why we don't watch much tv:

this new tv season, nbc premiered two new shows that we really dug -- Twenty Good Years and Studio 60 -- and both are supposedly being cancelled.

now, 30 Rock is staying despite its being much weaker thus far than these other two. i love you, tina fey, but it's true. it's not that it's a weak show, but it's still finding its footing. the series opener for Twenty Good Years had us laughing uproariously for its duration. john lithgow? jeffery tamboor? in the words of job bluth, "COME ON!!" these guys are brilliant.

anyway, that was a surprise of last week or so, and i read yesterday about Studio 60. i had no complaints at all about the show -- well, i thought amanda peet's character needed some development. first couple of shows she seemed a little too one-dimensional, too conscious of toeing the line between a hard-ass who gets what she wants and a likeable person to work with and for. but it's not an issue that wouldn't have been worked through and transcended. and so many of our West Wing friends were back with this show! i had a lot of fun with it. it's a shame nbc is throwing in the towel on the show, likely to toss some half-baked reality or game show up in its place.

and right there is one of the many things wrong with tv now. we finally find some good new shows that make us want to follow them, and they're negated almost immediately.

i think we'll be sticking with our discovery channel friends adam and jamie for most of our new tv fixes now, especially now that my ongoing dates with tim gunn are over for the season.

i keep meaning to write some commentary about some of the tv spots i'm catching that i really dig. should keep a notebook by the sofa for this stuff.