the big sleep @ webster hall



double wow!

the big sleep @ the brooklyn lyceum



i went to see the big sleep at the brooklyn lyceum on friday night. they were playing oh my rockness' show with goes cube, foreign islands and detachment kit. the brooklyn lyceum is very confusing when you first enter. you pay for tickets at the same counter you buy bagels at. the door way is too skinny and trying leave is a stressful bitch.

when you finally get to the main room, it turns into this spaceious art space that has a lot of potential. minus the sort of cheesey art hanging on the walls, the space has all the makings of a "smells like teen spirit" video, especially with the big sleep lighting.

as they took the stage, it was like being at a high school rally. the ominous sounds of their music filled the venue. people's heads hung low, bobbing to the beat of the big sleep. the set was brought to a climax with the giraffes' lead singer aaron lazar coming out and taking the mic. so awesome!

i can't wait to cheer them on at the editors show. if you're going to the editors at webster hall on thursday, show up early for the big sleep.

chromewaves reviews dirty on purpose at sxsw
read the review here.

gorilla vs bear reviews dirty on purpose at the big orange show at sxsw
read the review

glide magazine reviews dirty on purpose @ north six
check out the review

scenestars reviews dirty on purpose in memphis
read the review here...

mikers in the new gomez book

check out this fly photo

filter music appreciation nights

filter is starting a music appreciation nights tour, putting on some free shows at a city near you... including the walkmen and the duke spirit in new york. fuck! i'm going to be in la for the ascap expo during that time. figures!!!! but you can still make it for me. they also have shows lined up with pretty girls make graves, the helio sequence, jimmy tamborello, hot chip, the redwalls, peaches and more... check it out here.

the big sleep takeover new york city

it's no secret how much i love this band, the big sleep. they are amazing. and sweet. check out the show tonight at the brooklyn lyceum because the other two shows are sold out! booyeah!

Friday 3/24
OH MY ROCKNESS' MARCH RADNESS PARTY
Brooklyn Lyceum
225 4th Avenue (at President St.)

8pm Goes Cube
9pm The Big Sleep
10pm Foreign Islands
11pm Detachment Kit

free Sparks from 8-9pm

Train is R to Union Street,
Corner of President Street
www.brooklynlyceum.com

Sunday 3/26
Bowery Ballroom
8pm The Big Sleep
9pm The Head Set
10pm Stellastarr*

Thursday 3/30
Webster Hall, y'all
8pm The Big Sleep
9pm Editors

sxsw 2006 in pictures



check out my flickr set of sxsw photos!

magnet and amusement parks on fire

i went to see magnet at the living room last night. it was a sold out show, and magnet easily charmed the crowd. perhaps touring for five weeks straight will teach you a thing or two about charming the audience... he won everyone over at the show with jokes and a mischievious smile. his songs are just so beautiful and hushed. the emotion that so easily resonates from his voice is painful, tortured and lonely. all of that life and depth from a one-man band. simply and utterly amazing!

i also caught a bit of amusement parks on fire at rothko. they had improved their sound a lot, and played to a crowded room.

yaris also covers knife skills

there are pretty photos of knife skills at the kill rock stars day party at sxsw. hot shit, yo. check it out:

photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4

knife skills on jane mag's blog

knife skills get a mention on jane mag's sxsw blog. check it out yo!

New Girlie Crush: Knife Skills. Caught them at the Kill Rock Stars showcase--heavy and loud. And the singer/guitarist and bassist are these beautiful girls who look like they may be fellow half-asians. I'll have to investigate further. You have to hear them.

chromewaves covers dirty on purpose @ sxsw

i finally got to meet frank from chromewaves in person, and he looks exactly like his photo! he reviews the dop showcase here. the soundsystem at spiros is pretty shitty -- so dop were lucky that they brought their own sound man to fix all the feedback almost instantly... though my favorite dop show in austin was definitely the loose record show. i was dancing around everywhere for that one!

new york mag covers SXSW

check it out, sara from manic mess covered SXSW for new york magazine. she came to see dirty on purpose too. i love that girl! i also love jo divestar who took photos with sara for the feature. total hotness, that one.

stereogum interviews jinners

i got interviewed by stereogum at the filter blogger brunch.... slightly embarrassing but watch the clip here. he also interviewed fluxblog, gothamist, the real janelle and central village. woo hoo! i was a nervous wreck through the whole thing, and now you all know i talk like a total valley girl.

austin: day 5

if blogging now about my last full day in austin is any indication to how tired i am, there you go. my muscles are aching from schlepping shit all week. my ankles are killing me from constantly standing at shows. and my throat is clogged from all the smoking. in short, sxsw 2006 was awesome.

on saturday i got up and headed over to the filter party. i forgot i wasn't setting up for that party and started setting up. then i ran over with joe from dirty on purpose to check out the free asics that were being given away over at beauty bar. we ran into sarah and doug from the jelly party -- they were getting ready for their awesome party with art brut and apollo sunshine -- jello shots in the fridge. the beauty bar in austin is a lot fancier than the beauty bar in new york. it was actually a really great place to hang out though. i have no idea if they are related.

then i jetted off to try and catch the silversun pickups (who i had missed at the dangerbird showcase the night before) at moonshine and got there shortly after they started their set. they totally wowed me with their live performance. there tension between beautiful guitar lines with the driving bass and the lead singer's passionate growl.

then i ran back over to the trade show to the listening kiosk and just hang out and talked with people at the trade show until i went to go see sam champion at emos iv. afterwards i caught the last few songs of art brut at the jelly party. i had never seen them before, and enjoyed their stage banter. musically they were OK, but the lead singer had such charisma. art brut -- top of the pops! he kept shouting that out at the end of their set, every once in a while throwing in other band names like "apollo sunshine -- top of the pops! big daddy kane -- top of the pops!" so funny.

then i went to the orchard party at the driskill (where jay was staying) to celebrate the dirty on purpose and north street records union with our whole team of peeps. after that i ran back to my hotel to get stuff to set up for the ascap acoustic showcase at whisky bar. then i met up with dtl over at emo's annex to check out swearing at motorists. this was a band he and i saw at sxsw 2004, and they won me over so much i bought all of their freaking cds after the show. there's just something that is so open and vulnerable and defiant about their music that catches in my throat and makes my heart cry out. i lurve that shite.

then i went to grab some food and check out knife skills at lava lounge and also say hi to slim and portia from 5rc -- who are putting out their full length this summer. that was the best knife skills show i had ever seen and my heart had massive palpitations (sp?) as they played their set. even dtl, who was going to leave in the middle of their set -- had to stay to the end. it was that compelling.

then i ran back over to the ascap acoustic showcase. i saw jennifer from our la office who i didn't get to spend much face time with during the entire week, so i went with her to check out a couple more bands before heading back to whisky bar officially for the night. we went to check out living better electrically at the blend bar balcony but ending up only catching their last song. from what i could tell it was pretty good. then we headed over to maggie mae's to see the duke spirit. the lead singer was like a punk rock chan marshall. lots of sex appeal, and i liked what i saw of their set. this was a relief because i actually like their cd. i ran into beach there and we chatted for a bit. then jen and i ran back to whisky bar and we heard the chapin sisters rehearsing upstairs before their set. lovely melodies. later -- the rest of my gang was watching gang of four on some rooftop. i skipped out and headed to my hotel because i literally couldn't stand anymore. i got a call a little later that mike was bringing a whole bunch of people back to my hotel -- george, joe, liz, jonathan and some girl named claudia. joe was tired and cuddled up to me in bed like he was my son, and jonathan started to take photos like he was the papparazzi, even when i told him to stop. i knew everyone in the room except that claudia girl and she decided out to cuddle up to me in bed too. at that point i had enough, and i kicked everyone out of the room so i could go to sleep. sweet sweet sleep. that was my austin 2006. can't wait again for next year!

austin: day 4

my voice is cutting out and my throat is all scratchy. my eyes are so dry from the air in my hotel room, and i'm exhausted from lack of sleep. thus begins day four of my sxsw experience.

yesterday i headed over to the filter music alliance blogger brunch at the filter cedar street courtyard show. i ended up seeing a few faces i hadn't seen in quite a while (jen from daily refill, scott from stereogum and robert duffy from donewaiting, in addition to meeting frank from chromewaves for the first time in person). i was catching up with robert, who i first met in person at nemo this past year (dirty on purpose played his showcase there at lizard lounge) and it was great to catch up with him and the celebrity pilot folks. such nice guys. they are what makes ohio a nice place to visit -- in addition to the lovely peeps at woxy, who i'm not sure if they're here -- i haven't seen shiv around at all. last year i ran into him all over the place, so perhaps he didn't make it out this year. ;-(

scott ended up interviewing and filming me for some thing he's doing for yaris and toyota. not quite sure what it is but it was sort of surreal being on camera. we recounted how i was actually the first blogger he ever met "in person." those were the days when stereogum was a livejournal, and i used to run into scott everywhere. he's still a really nice guy, and i'm happy to see that his blog is doing so well! he ragged on me a little for missing sxstereogum, but if i could have made his party, i definitely would have been there. unfortunately i was working the trade show all of thursday. boooooooo. i also tried looking for the mysterious brooklyn vegan but couldn't find him. you'd think i would have met him by now!

then i had to run off the trade show again for the listening booth and ended up running into bsiii again. after the trade show, he and i went over to the todd p show over at ms bea's to catch knife skills. we saw a little bit of dc snipers, who were pretty good. after knife skills finished i headed back to the hotel to set up for the barfly/ascap showcase at exodus where the secret guest were the zutons. when i got to the club, the zutons were soundchecking... they sounded really awesome. then later i headed over to spiros to see dirty on purpose. haystack stopped by and interviewed the band and filmed some of their set.

then we booked it over to the loose record party at big orange. big orange is sound team's recording studio/rehearsal space and it was amazing -- cool set up of tv monitors inside and the practice space was a cool set up too. it had this huge outdoor part of it that was nice to hang out in the breeze and then a nice projection of the band on a wall outside so even if you weren't inside you could see and hear the band. i saw daylen and robbie from clap your hands and got caught up with them. daylen's been touring with those guys, and it was great to see them there. dr. dog was up next and they were rocking it out. so did sound team and voxtrot. it was an overall awesome party where the kegs never ran out, and there was actually some room to breathe the chilled austin air. what a great night.

austin: day 3

oh am i sleepy. i'm getting up right now to go to breakfast with recently acquainted friend melissa who manages a great brit rock band called the rinse and her other manager girlfriends. i still haven't had my first cup of coffee yet, but there is plenty of gatorade to go around. i'm not quite built for the hanging out every night and insane show hopping that goes on at sxsw but i'm up for the challenge this year.

i feel like yesterday was a complete blur, but i was able to start out my day with seeing wayne coyne and the rest of flaming lips play demos from the new album and talk about the creative process that led from demos to finished product at the filter cedar street day party. it was pretty cool. he also played a random tape on his four track that was an answering machine message left for him one night by a friend... she was in the shower when the police came to her door. they didn't announce themselves. she came to the door in a towel and then the police pointed guns at her and told her to put her hands up. she said no (she's naked in a towel)... and that's where he stopped the tape. apparently it goes on for another 40 minutes. i wish i knew how the story ended...

then i rushed over to man the listening kiosk at the trade show and met a bunch of ascap members. met up and hugged knife skills and dirty on purpose as they arrived in austin. i had such a feeling of relief when they arrived here. i had to admit, austin wasn't feeling like a complete experience without them. now it was complete. jenna, jo and sky also arrived, and we hung out here and there during the course of the day. i also went to the ascap music and money brabec panel, which is always an educational experience on how to make money in music, and ran into bsiii. it was such a nice surprise!

later i went to dinner with some coworkers and jenna, joe and oystein (sp??) at iron works. it was the best bbq i've ever had but i kind of felt like a savage eating ribs. that probably won't happen anytime soon, but i'm glad i got that texas experience. afterwards we went to see film school at club deville, and i ran into brody, who manages singer-songwriter josh pyke from austraila. we also ran into erika and heather of au revoir simone there and we all chilled out to the sonic wave of film school. then i moved on next door to velvet spade, where i watched a band called the annuals with dtl for the ace fu/solid pr showcase. we ventured off to see oxford collapse rock it at the aam showcase over at habana calle 6. they were superb. if you haven't heard, these kids just got signed to sub pop. they rule. jesse from chin up chin up jumped on stage and played the shit out of whatever was lying around. it was awesome. at the show i ran into a lot of the chicago peeps, including the nice folks over at flameshovel and new york peeps lio and kay from kanine and sara and company from aam. i also saw gerry who plays drums in a number of bands including the juan maclean and turing machine (and former knife skills drummer) who i hadn't seen in AGES. it was like a little teary eyed reunion!

later on in the night i went back to velvet spade and checked out pteradactyl and an albatross at the ace fu/solid pr party at the velvet spade patio. then i made a quick stop at emo's annex at the kill rock stars/5rc party and caught two ton boa. then i returned to the velvet spade to catch a little bit of man man's set inside. i tried to wait it out and watch no things, but i was just way too tired from all the running around and had to get up early the next day so i just booked it back to my hotel to sleep.

i interrupt the broadcast from austin to bring you this important new york city message...

HELP SAVE THE DELI MAGAZINE!

sorry i didn't have this up sooner, folks. i've been in a whirlwind, and just managed to stop for two seconds this morning to let you know that the deli magazine, a new york magazine that covers local indie bands, needs your help!

they need to gather 1,000 votes in the comment section of their deli blog to help get some advertising in their print publication. two minutes of your day can help save one of the coolest local magazines around. spread the word and get your friends to vote too! if your band has been covered in the deli, take a minute to vote and help make a difference.

vote now!

and thank you.

austin: day 2
last night i went to a big staff dinner at an amazing restaurant called sullivan's steakhouse. mmm delicious. then mike and i wandered around, checking out the calm before the storm. 6th street was busy, but not as busy as today! we ran into the say hi to your mom kids and went to hang out at club deville. my new favorite place to hang out in austin. in fact, the last time i was there was two years ago at sxsw for the insound day party with daniel. boy did it bring back memories! we also hung out with the dudes from dynah. nice guys. great brit pop rock.

today i woke up early and headed to the austin convention center to set up for the tradeshow. we had a bunch of "listening kiosks" that were apple laptops with nice headphones attached, as well as some kind of film projector. this is so people can come listen to showcasing bands and see trailers for films screened at the film festival portion. the convention center was MADNESS.

mike and i managed to make it over to urban outfitters to check out the metal hearts set. i met a bunch of the suicide squeeze folks, and i lamented the fact that i'd never been to seattle. i'm dying to go. any band heading to seattle? take me, take me! metal hearts were great -- they were the first official band of my sxsw 2006. i loved the sax. ran into jay good times. the man knows how to make an entrance, he snuck up from behind and suddenly it dawned on me that austin was going to be so nice this year -- running into so many great friends. brings a tear to my eye...

i hung out for a little bit with some of mike's filter coworkers. they were supernice and i was a little sad i would miss the bulk of the filter party slots because i'm going to be at the tradeshow right smack in the middle of their day parties. i'm going to try to run and see some of the end though. i'm also planning to go to the wayne coyne Q&A and listening party for at war with mystics. yay! i also ran into polsia again, who is always a pleasure to see. we had a nice chat about all the good things to come for the cloud room. i'm really happy for her!

i had a little bit of time before setting up for the ascap showcase so i ran over to meet jay good times roll over at the super swank orchard lounge at the driskill hotel. it was like walking into the set for clue, the kind of place where pipes and smoking jackets are mandatory. i also ran into pfeffer from razor and tie and we had a nice chat and catch up outside of the omni. turns out he's like 5 doors away from me. small world! then i met up with scott from headgear who is awesomely doing the sound for all of the dirty on purpose shows. then i met up with daniel and mike and we caught up on everyone's plans for the rest of the week.

if that wasn't enough, i had to run back and forth from my hotel to set up for the ascap showcase at the dirty dog bar. the dirty dog bar has a logo of a girl with her skirt flying up -- and there's a dog humping her leg. hmmm pretty dirty! the bands were great though and i met a ton of wonderful peeps. the owner of the bar even set me up with a free jello shot at the end of the night. aberdeen city, love of diagrams, pilotdrift, office, the rinse, colored shadows and the ark were great. i'll elaborate more later. time for me to sleep and prep for tomorrow.

austin: day 1

mikers and i landed in austin today and went through the whole registration badges shite. it was fun! i saw new friend jesse at the registration desk, polsia from gigantic and hung out with the rinse, melissa emert their manager and the ascap crew (la and new york in the hizzouse!) at the iron cactus. the breeze and the sunshine instantly lifted my mood. i really did need to go out to new york. tonight we also have a huge traditional ascap/sxsw dinner and then later a ray benson birthday party. good times! tomorrow the real work begins! wish me luck in austin. it feels really good already though.

what happens in austin, stays in austin

i'm a little nervous to head down to austin, given the fact that anything can and will happen in the texas heat. when you open up the possibilities, sometimes it can be scary.

there are so many shows -- it's overwhelming. i decided not to deal with making a real schedule. i decided to just wing it. given my heavy work schedule, i probably won't get to do anything... or at least not much, but you know, i think it doesn't really matter as long as i'm with the people i love.

that doesn't mean i'm not going to meet new people this year. i'm going to try and make the most of it. i hope to see you there.

todd p presents... knife skills and no things @ union pool tonight!

:: n0 things ------------> x Liars, the Screw
:::: Knife Skills
:::::: the Good Good

[ N0 THINGS ]
"New York trio n0 things fuse psychedelic nuclear rhythms and apocalyptic dirges into arresting songs reminiscent of Swans and Dog Faced Hermans. Singer Christian Dautresme's (Chicago’s HiM, x the Screw) biting delivery is underscored by his acrid guitar melodies, while bassist Pat Noecker (ex-Liars) and drummer Ron Albertson (ex-Liars) provide the menacing sounds that go bump and thump in the dark."
-- MP3s / MYSPACE --> http://www.myspace.com/nothingsnyc
-- WEBSITE --> http://www.no-things.com

[ KNIFE SKILLS ]
"Aptly named Knife Skills strike with nervy songs that feel like falling into a hidden pit in the jungle floor filled with sharpened stakes. As you lay bleeding, your brow beaded with malaria sweat, while the daylight fades and the animals grow louder, this could be your soundtrack. Their debut album, Disco Apocalypso, will be out on the 5RC label summer 2006."
-- MP3s / MYSPACE --> http://www.myspace.com/knifeskills
-- WEBSITE --> http://www.knife-skills.com

[ UNION POOL BAR ]
484 Union Ave @ Meeker | Williamsburg
L to Lorimer, G to Metropolitan | 8pm | $6 | 21+

real world williamsburg to surreal life east village

after my house meeting on sunday (which bordered on real world williamsburg), i was feeling a bit pressured. but it sort of forced me out of the house for a change. today i walked around the village for two hours... by my lonesome, something i hadn't done for quite some time. i had my headphones on, blasting out a wonderful soundtrack to new york, as i roamed around, meditating about my life, my future and my pursuit of happiness. it was chilly, so i stopped in a deli to buy a small peppermint tea. it cost me a buck. did tea prices inflate in the last month or what? not happy.

afterwards, i met up with mike and we headed over to dtl's place to meet up with him and sara glick. we had a little pre-party (which included listening to two new lansing-dreiden songs -- so fucking hot) and then headed over to meet team big sleep and reba at kara's apartment for the special parisian edition of sugar high social. kara just flew in from paris and had super fancy parisian macaroons with her -- fresh from the bakery that very morning. they were melting in my mouth, especially the sugary wonder of the raspberry macaroons. the coffee and chocolate were also equally amazing. the vanilla, to die for.

that wasn't it though for us. reba brought over a bowl of moon pies. moon pies! they were a bit much for me. i couldn't even finish one, despite the fact they were my namesake. danny and sonya brought over fig cookies that were so yummy in my tummy. and then there was this chocolate toffee creation that made the sweet literally stick to my molars. cavity, anyone? all of this goodness was washed down with some milk. 2%, whole and soy. wow. bonanza. my pants feel a little tight today. why can't life be this good all the time?

ps....

we also started planning dtl's birthday party in april, and came up with several possibilities.

these are my notes...
1) meth rice crispy treats (just kidding) and pot brownies (not kidding) from sara glick
2) a variety of 6 dozen milk and cookies bakery cookies (where we had our inaugural sugar high social)
3) babycakes - vegan ("you can't be president of treatsclub and show up with a done treat." -- danny)
4) pinata
5) ruby et violette - 1 dozen champagne cookies
6) jellybeans ("jin, please note the jellybeans." -- dtl)
7) dylan's alcoholic edition
8) ice cream cake with dtl's face painted on it
9) champagne pyramid
10) in the 6-2-1 room -- honeyz in the pudding and jello wrestling

update: link to sugar high social photos!

loose change documentary on 9/11

mike and i watched this documentary on the world trade center attack called loose change. and let me tell you... it gave me nightmares. i don't know where you all were during 9/11, but it was a crazy experience for me. the documentary basically says the government was reponsible for 9/11. i take everything i see with a grain of salt, of course, but i couldn't shake my nerves when watching this documentary. click here to watch it...

stars, magnet @ webster hall

i thought the stars show at webster hall was positively delightful. it was like one of the happiest shows i've been to in quite a while. mike and i got there super early to reserve prime balcony seating. i hate being in the balcony of webster hall, standing on my tippy-toes, trying to peer over the mutant tall music industry people. i mean, c'mon. so we got there early to get a table, and chilled out and waited for magnet to come on stage. we ran into mike's friends liz and melissa -- who we also ran into at the wolfmother show.

i liked magnet for the most part. he's a one man band with a bunch of gadgets and pedals in front of him. his voice is beautiful and extremely passionate in a subtle way. it's soft but echoes loudly in the sold out webster hall room. i was silently enjoying his set, but after a while, my mind began to wander. his music is deeply meditative... soothing, sad and powerful.

stars were even better this time around than when i first saw and fell in love with them at sxsw '05. i loved the energy and the rebellious spirit of singer amy. her voice just boggles me. it's just too perfect, like james mercer from the shins. but oh i basked in the perfect pitch, and drooled the entire set. though "ageless beauty" is my favorite recorded stars song, i really love "reunion" live. it just stands out as an anthem of sorts -- the kind you want to sing along to... "all i want is one more chance to be young and wild and free, all i want is one more chance to show you, you were right for me."

yeah yeah yeahs at bowery ballroom

i know i'm a little late on this, but please bear with me. i went to see the yeah yeah yeahs at bowery ballroom last week. it was the first of two sold out nights at bowery ballroom, and i hadn't seen the yyys since summerstage in central park with devo and stellastarr*, soaking in the damp, grey rain. as melody nelson has stated, crowd energy and interaction with the band is key at a yyys show... but so is the quality of the band's performance and the strength of their set. and while it is admittedly harder to get into new songs, if the songs are exceptional, you'll still like and remember them afterwards. so which of the new songs do i remember? only the single, "gold lion." now that's a damn good catchy song. the rest were so-so, mostly due to the fact that i didn't think karen emoted or growled the songs with as much heart and spunk as she used to. i didn't think her vocals connected with the songs, and that really affected how i perceived the new tunes. in fact, she giggled quite a bit while singing... like she wasn't taking it all very seriously. of course it's rock and roll, but if a comedian laughs while they're delivering a punch line, it's not as funny. it's all about the delivery and the punch! but maybe after i listen to the recorded versions, i will like the new songs better? gosh, i hope so. also, did anyone else think it was a little robotic for nick zinner to pull out the camera and snap the audience shot? is he doing another book of yyys mania? and unfortunately, because of a personal matter, i wasn't able to get to the show in time to see blood on the wall. bummer. i really wanted to check them out.

on the moon music invades sxsw 2006!

Knife Skills @ SXSW 2006



Thursday, March 16
Kill Rock Stars Day Party
@ Flamingo Cantina (515 E. 6th St)
4:30 pm Set Time

Friday, March 17
Todd P & The Rambler Free Day Party
@ Mrs. Bea's Patio (1104 East 6th St)
3:30 pm Set Time

Saturday, March 18
Official SXSW Showcase
@ Lava Lounge (405 E 7th St)
9:30 pm Set Time

Dirty on Purpose @ SXSW 2006



Thursday, March 16
SXSW Day Stage
@ Austin Convention Center
4:30 pm Set Time

Friday, March 17
Official SXSW Showcase
@ Spiro's (611 Red River St)
8:00 pm Set Time

Friday, March 17
Loose Record Party
@ Big Orange
10 pm Set Time
W/ Voxtrot, Dr. Dog, Sound Team
[Invite Only]

into the great wide open

no matter how insane my schedule and my life is, i can always count on music to help me deal with all the craziness. this week, it is all about tom petty's "into the great wide open," "runnin' down a dream," and "free fallin'." if you don't own the greatest hits, go out and grab yourself a copy. it's the shizz. and has managed to give me a bit of momentary inner peace. i am nervous about meeting him next month at the ascap "i create music" expo, where he'll be the guest speaker. i've also re-opened the traveling wilburys. i love love love that song "handle with care," and i don't really like the cover version on the jenny lewis album. it pales in comparison to the original, but at least they were bold enough to try.