The Sunday Night Roast

So friday night we went around to Yefgenij's house and we acted like Ghosts.... That was strange and fun and silly. For some reason, Andy would not be on camera....
Saturday was a birthday dinner for Cat with her Mother at a steakhouse. It was tasty as steak can be. I photographed the bathroom as I am wont to do nowadays for no good reason:

Then after an aborted run around the Rose Bowl, thanks to some aching bones.... (but some beautiful fauna

) Sunday was a recording day for some Web theme tunes with Kim Anh. These tunes are pending, but should be fun. A little creepy and a little boneheaded... Fun to work with the young lady, though.
I played a show sunday night at The Sunday Night Roast Where I played Walk On the Wild Side, Famous Blue Raincoat, Perfect Day, Taken Away My Baby and Lullabies. It was lovely to see Ruthann there as well.

the big chill

ok, so just suffered through "the big chill" 80s film with William hurt, jeff goldblum, Glenn close et al.
sub John Hughes cozy grown up brat pack rubbish. why do these films have to be so resolved and awfully pat with nice conclusive endings, godawful contrived banter and judgmental drug references. 2/10 (a generous appraisal)

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Transcendent Man

While Cat was sleeping, I managed to watch "Transcendent Man" - a kind of documentary film concerning Ray Kurzweil, the eternally optimistic proponent of the nanotechnology revolution (and the progenitor of my new project name: "The Singularity"
The rental was for a brief time 99 cents from the ubiquitous iTunes.... No shame there.

Ray is an interest of mine most definitely, and I am in the middle (!) of reading "The Singularity Is Near" which I bought from Amazon:

Anyhow, fascinating stuff and recommended reading for anyone with a working knowledge of science, and progress. The basic tenets are that the rate of scientific progress is exponential, which to the layman means that the more we know, the faster the new sciences emerge.
He then goes on to postulate that we will merge with technology very soon to become cyborgs (human/machine hybrids) and that the robotic/computer technology will very soon develop an independent artificial intelligence of its own which will completely supercede our own biologically limited intelligence.
There is also a mention of "Nanobots" which are tiny independent robotic computers that can work together in synchronicity to perform medical procedures to repair humans from the inside, and perform myriad other tasks.
Anyway... deep stuff! To the movie
To the movie:

It focuses a lot more on Ray's personal life, revealing elements of his past, particularly his heartbreak at his father's death of heart failure.
It introduces us to Ray's wife and the idea of his philanthropy and love of family. It also reveals Ray's obsession and reliance on pills and dietary supplements.
It features some very strange and outspoken critics of Ray's abundant optimism.
The end result is a muddled documentary with many unresolved strands and incongruous ideas. I was left feeling a little disappointed, and wishing that we could have been shown a lot more of the ideas which have made Ray famous and important. I came out liking him, but pitying him more so. Could do better.....

An artshow, A gig and a very sad event.

So last night's shenanigans were very much fun. Tonelise and I went out to Will's event at the Stephen Webster gallery which was a buzzing hive of activity. Sam and Django (Siobhan's kids) and Siobhan, Will, (of course) Scott, May, Cat, Josef, Vanessa all came down to witness the fantastic show. Will outdid himself. So many people, and such a great atmosphere.

Next stop the Redwood to see Rainboe's debut live solo show. Not many people wait until they are 65 before they get up and rock like this lady! Great show and a fabulous idiosyncratic voice. Not to mention a very sweet woman. Power to the people! You should hear her story.... Escaped North Korea to end up living in Los Angeles happily married to a wonderful man for a very long time. Cut a long story short, she is now happy to be in possession of a very good debut record (which I was privileged to help produce and cowrite)

Today, Tonelise and I went out to Venice along Sunset Blvd and hung out with all the hippies on the boardwalk. Met Scott down at the lovely Venice Brewing Company(?) and drove out towards Hollywood to meet a May and Eme, when Tonelise got the information that her Mother had died. Plans changed and now she is trying to book flights through to Tromso while we dropped Scott off at Dillons on Hollywood to look at his hockey game....

Life and its many paths....

Since the other blogs are doing it for me.... I might as well! Stream the album in full here: Julian Shah-Tayler's "Coito Ergo Sum" for free streaming here. Featuring the "Tiger Blood" live favourites "Wetter", "Revolution" and "Beautiful World"

“Wetter Is Massive It will make Julian a star” – Alan McGee (Creation Records)
“Very Impressed” – David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets)
“Julian is a true musical genius” – Ed Mears (Crest Digital Recordings)
“Classy Pop Perfection” – BabySue
“Massive talent” – Boom Boom Chik
“Sublime electronic rock – A marvelous Hunky Dory” – Mojophenia
“Songwriting and performance is quite stunning” – Beehive Candy
“Julian is seriously talented” – I Am The Programmer
“Electrifying” - Hotter In Hollywood
“It’s like a magic carpet ride” – Mark Walbaum – CSI Miami
“London new wave at its danceable best” – Dabelly.com
“The Brilliant Julian Shah-Tayler..... Stupidly good” – Liberty London Girl
“Extremely Catchy” - Bomarrblog
"Illustrious, very talented. I can't say anything short of Wow!" - Lolly's Hot Licks
"I am so blown away. Reminds me of Prince." - Rick Mizuno (LA Talk Radio)
"I love this album - it's fantastic" - Yorkie, Aiiradio
“Beauty that is rarely seen in music today” – Ramonosaurusrex
“As good as it gets” – Must have track of 2010 – Rebel Riffs
“Intelligent, and skilled” – The Deli
“A true musical chameleon” – Mixtape Muse
“This music screams SEXY to me” – Lafamos blog
“Artistic perfection on his own terms” – Obscure Sound
“An artist to watch for his versatility, musical integrity and sophisticated artistry” – Music Goat
“A mystical world mastered by Julian… Melancholic rock heaven” – Mishmash Magazine
“A real musical journey” – Back When We Were Beautiful Blog

This evening. Will's art show, Rainboe's show and Jason's Birthday at Sayer's Club

Tonight might be a long one...
1st Stop: Wildcat Will's art show... "I just don't care anymore"

This is the flyer for the London show as I can't find one online for this one.... ;)

That will be amazing as I have already had the privilege of checking out his work, and it is well worth experiencing.
He is the previous drummer for Whitey and a longstanding friend, and generally great all round good guy. Very funny and ultra stylish. We are currently working on a film soundtrack together with his girlfriend Siobhan for a forthcoming movie to star Alysson Paradis.

If you were not invited for this evening, then you may come later to the Stephen Webster "No Regrets" lounge, 202 North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, ca 90210 at a later date to witness the work in its setting... Come with money. Buy, collect, repeat....

Also, one of my favourite people and a staunch supporter of my music: Rainboe Wave is performing at the "Redwood" Lounge downtown at 9pm, so I will be there immediately afterwards to support. She is great, and I cowrote and produced a couple of tracks for her, before being superceded and outshined by a much better studio/engineer! no hard feelings of course! x x x

Then... If we can, it is Jason Scoppa's birthday and the "official" launch of the Sayers Club, Hollywood. Cat and I went last week, and it was fun!

Pamela desbarres and the BBC

So this weekend was a long one! Friday a birthday for wildcat will. Scott and I finished a mix of his song "waste" to join will and cat and Siobhan at a Mexican restaurant xyta downtown, but not until after we had a couple of drinks at Villains Tavern and shot a Magnum 44, AK 47 and a shotgun down at The Gun Club on 6th and Mateo...

Not my normal fodder, and obviously Will's choice, but a fun evening.
Saturday, cat and I went to her friend Jessica Devere's wedding at the catholic church down in Manhattan Beach: "American Martyrs". huge family affair.
we then went to Pamela Des barres house for a brief drink to see Nightmare and the Cat, although they had not started yet prior to our departure.

The next stop was the wedding reception in front of la library. very nice affair.
Sunday was supposed to be our BBC event "Karmaval" with "Tiger Blood"

performing, so we picked up Tonelise from Starbucks, near Christiana's house in koreatown.
drove down to Venice with all the equipment and found that they were completely disorganized, there was nobody there and no mic/mic stands. grrr... anyhow, we left without playing although I did get to distribute the keds shoes.

Rainboe came out which was nice so we ate nearby and cat then put a Downpayment on a new mattress.
she also met some beautiful mastiffs.

then Tonelise and I bought a chicken and vegetables for her to cook for us, and Josef, Cat and I had dinner very late and chatted into the night.

Then on monday, we decided to go out to Huntingdon Gardens to take in some beautiful flowers and plants....

OK, so I can't figure out how to plant the photos in the body of the blog, so this one is just going to have to float! Sorry!

drinking

I love a bar that will play heroes by David Bowie unasked and after the best tempeh noodles ever..... nice to see steve from vanaprasta and gear his good news. they are playing mainstays sunset junction this year. :)

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daisy chainsaw

I just went to amoeba to collect the new Kate bush album "director's cut" which I have been eagerly anticipating for a few months at least, but the only copies available are on import, so ludicrously expensive....
however I did find the daisy chainsaw album "eleventeen" which I have never before found for $10 so I took the plunge as I have been listening to them with some exaggerated sense of nostalgia recently.

I do love queen Adreena, the band they became, but I think the original lineup holds some naive magic that is not inherent in the later music. let's see.....

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Wow. Thanks, LMNOP! / Babysue.com

Julian Shah-Tayler - Cotto Ergo Sum (Double CD, Impossible Things, Pop/rock)
Julian Shah-Tayler is a young man who has the potential to become a legendary superstar. Folks into 1980s music by artists like David Bowie and Peter Murphy will find a lot to love here. Mr. Shah-Tayler writes and records highly melodic, danceable, somewhat emotionally detached modern pop music. Julian writes, performs, produces, and records his music entirely by himself...and yet the songs have the punch and clarity usually associated with a full blown rock band. Songs are the real strength here...as this man manages to come up with a mound of oughta-be hits. There's a lot to take in here...twenty-one tracks of classy, classic pop perfection. We can't help but think that Julian Shah-Tayler could push his career to the next level by making one teensie tiny move. We think this fellow should change his name to something more catchy and easy to remember. If he were to come up with the right name...we have no doubt his career would instantly skyrocket. Totally cool groove driven pop cuts include "Revolution," "Wetter" (this one is infectious), "Northern Light," "Show Me Your Soul," and "Lullabies." Cool stuff. Top pick.

http://www.babysue.com/2011-June-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor105484