The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Went to the Steeplechase with the dogs early and I learned that it’s the only public horse track in the U.S. The dogs were wet and tired. Went home and Josh was awake and I asked him if he wanted an omelet but he had a doctor’s appointment and he wasn’t supposed to have food. He played me some songs from his ipod, one was a band called The Clientele which was very cool. Another thing I really liked was a collaboration between Zero 7 and somebody else. It was very good, too. We had breakfast at Frothy Monkey after he went to the doc, then I went to a meeting at Big Yellow Dog. I really like them and I hope we can do a deal. Then I had to get ready for my Tin Pan South round, so I made some tea and started practicing the piano, but it was miserable because I’m so out of shape on the piano, it would have taken me weeks to learn four songs. Plus, the songs i’m doing now have lots of hard chords and that makes it worse, so I gave up and just decided to play the guitar, which made me disappointed in myself, but as they say, you gotta pick your battles. The round went well, and afterwards went to P.M. with Angelo, Eulene, Troy Verges, Jessica Maros, David Mead, Dave Berg, and Dave’s girlfriend I later found out is a gifted muralist, and I was telling HER about painting murals! Step One: Insert foot in mouth. The party moved over to Angelo and Eulene’s and Angelo was taking all these polaroids of everyone (see below) and we were cracking up a lot. But the downside was I drank too much and by the time I got home it was 2 AM and I was really buzzed.

Cleaned the house for Josh and I can’t wait until I can afford a maid! Leslie and I both wanted to get haircuts so I dropped her off so Britney Connor could cut her hair, then I went to the Oxford Barber shop ($15) and when I pulled up, there was a camera crew and all these lights set up, but I decided to go in anyway, and there was a photo shoot going on for a draft pick issue of ESPN magazine. They said it would be the cover. So next month, when it comes out and there’s a picture of a young quarterback from vanderbilt getting his hair cut on the cover, I was in the next chair! Then got the Saab detailed ($20) and picked Leslie up. Josh arrived about 2 and he said there was a party going on in Nebraska last night and it kept him up all night, so he was tired. Leslie and I walked the dogs, got Korean food at Korea house ($40) and went to sleep.

Leslie was coming home so I wanted the house to look nice. I walked and mom told me about her goals class which was interesting. Did some laundry and decided to make Martha Stewart’s Pot Roast. Went to Kroger ($37) and then the wine shop ($27) and then while the roast was cooking I tried to get the front lawn mowed but there were too many sticks so I had to pick those up first. Picked Leslie up at the airport and she was tan and beautiful. We watched a slideshow of her pictures and she unpacked all of her stuff. She got me a Paul Smith shirt for the summer and a hat and some boxers.

Had a meeting with the Bees at Athens and I wonder why it’s so hard to sell songs for download on the internet. Why is it so hard? Then we decided to ask David Yonkman if he would edit some of the Jeff Goldblum footage into the Country Life video. Josh Rouse called and he’s getting ready to start his North American tour. He said he needed a place to stay for a couple days. I told him Leslie gets in on Tuesday, so it shouldn’t be a problem for him to come Wednesday. Jason White called and he was on his way to Corner Music to look at Ukuleles and so I met him there and I was supposed to help him pick one out, but there was only one there to choose from, so he got that one. Well, there was only one Baritone. Tidied up some more and Melissa came over and we changed the key of our song and wrote more lyrics. I think she thinks of songwriting as a very confessional process, whereas, for me, I think of it more like greeting cards. Like: “what could it say when you open the card?” Watched the “Housewives Of Orange County” on Bravo and it was really hard not to be judgemental about these stupid fucking vapid people! All reality shows are about super-rich people, like Tori Spelling….what if, to balance it out, you had a show where you made the rich people switch places with some really poor people. But then again that wouldn’t do any good, because all they would think at the end was “Wow! I’m so glad i’m rich!”
It’s almost like the rest of the country (or MOST PEOPLE) watch and think : “I hate these people! I’m so much more enlightened than they are!” but really, they secretly envy them.

Went to Athens with Mike Grimes and John Deaderick and I forgot my wallet. Mike bought my breakfast. Went home and cleaned up a little. Then took a nap and watched some TV. I found this great movie called “8 Women” and the set and costume design was amazing! I think I should get the DVR thing Comcast has. It’s only $10 a month. Went to El Mariachi ($15) and had a few beers and saw Jen Rouse and Mark Deaderick and Marna Taylor and Brad Pemberton. Leslie called when I was just leaving so I asked her to call me back at home. I could hardly hear her so we didn’t talk long, but it was good to hear her voice. Watched the same movie again.

Slept in til 10:30 and Posh was great. I just woke up and fed her and she went right back to sleep with me. Then tidied up and watched some TV. Jason gray called and said he wanted to go to F. Scotts to see Rashawn Barber with the Jody Nardone trio, so I put on a suit ’cause it’s F. Scotts and we got a good table and saw some excellent jazz. But one set was enough for me and I had 2 beers and some dessert ($18) then they took me home and Angelo called and he said he was at Nick Buda’s birthday party so we went to that and I saw Derek Bell and he told me he’s building the new courthouse. He said if the state doesn’t fuck it up it should last 200 years. Eulene told me her shower was a success and she’s glad to get it behind her and now she’s thinking about the new album. She said she’s going to work with Roger Moutenot on it. I was telling everyone about Leslie scuba-diving with a swedish millionaire and they were laughing. I had a few Makers Marks and I started to get a little tipsy everyone was telling stories about walking in on their parents having sex and thank god that never happened to me because I don’t think I would have ever gotten over it. Home and watched some of the Andy Milonakis show and he’s funny if annoying, but somebody told me he’s like 30 years old which I can’t believe.

Walked then took a nap and watched some TV. I like Sean Paul. I find myself singing his hooks alot. Also, that Busta Rhymes track is so innovative and cool sounding. I love all the textures of it. Went to the Korean place and had a Cham Pong soup for lunch. It was really spicy and the octopus was too chewy. Also, the kim chi was repeptitive. It seemed like it was all the same stuff just in seven different bowls.
I worked on the song Melissa and I started for a while. She came over after work but I was too tired to really accomplish anything. My mom told me the ultimate strategy for the Iraq war:
1. Bring all the troops home immediately
2. Tell the insurgents that “they won, now they can figure out how to govern themselves”
3. Make friends with Chavez and get oil elsewhere, also tell American people to conserve fuel and carpool.
I truly believe this is a good idea for several reasons: It would be so unexpected. I have a feeling the “insurgents” and terrorists LOVE having all the attention. They DON’T WANT us to leave. It would send the right message: we’ll get it elsewhere, thanks. It’s brilliant reverse psychology! I could drive like 50% less and carpooling would be a great thing for Americans to learn to make friends and work together!
Ate some ice cream and went to bed.

Slept a lot. I just was so tired. I mowed the back lawn and I really need to find a riding mower. It was nice and cool though, and it was amazing to see how much land we have. Went to dog class and Posh did a good job. Fell asleep watching “What not to wear”

Watched a biography on A&E about Jody Foster. I forgot she was in the original Freaky Friday. She’s such a natural actor. They showed a scene from Silence Of The Lambs where she was visiting Hannibal in his cell and she is so good! Then worked on a mix and I’m getting better at protools. Grimey called and we went to Las Palmas ($12) and he told me “Metric” was the best band he saw in Austin. He said the lead singer was mesmerizing. He saw the Pretenders and they played at Stubbs Barbecue which he thought was funny because Chrissie Hynde is such an animal rights activist. We left and Grimey came over and DJed for me, which was a treat because he was playing stuff out of my own collection that i’ve never heard. He managed to find the one song on “Thriller” that I had never really listened to! He also played “Creepin” by Stevie Wonder (which also appears on the Tommy Keenum album that I produced), something really obscure by the Carpenters…a Buffy St. Marie song that I loved, the theme from “Peter Gunn” which, athough somewhat of a pedestrian choice, never fails to move me. What else? Oh…we listened to more Little Feat that I bought on itunes, like “Six Feet of Snow” and “Down on The Farm”. He said the whole itunes thing was disconcerting to him, but really, I can see what he means. Watched some Letterman and went to bed.