The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Woke up and Tommy and I both agreed we wanted something substantial for breakfast. We walked over to this place called “Skillets” and had hash-browns and pancakes and bacon and eggs. We all told jokes and Trisha told this really funny non-P.C. joke about “orientals” and Tommy and I were really uncomfortable, but it was funny. Went back to the hotel and had a short nap, and talked to Leslie, and Tommy went to the pool, and some of the girls went to the beach but I didn’t want to go. It kind of reminded me of being at camp, the whole trip. Went to the airport about 3 and flew home. They lost my luggage but the woman told me not to worry, that she’d worked for Southwest for 10 years, and they’d never really lost a bag in all that time. She said they would call me in the morning. Leslie picked me up with Posh in the car, and I was glad to see her, and they took me home and I ate some of her left-over Thai food and went to bed and had strange dreams.

So I had breakfast at the hotel, and it was continental. I had some cereal and some hard boiled eggs with salt and I felt kind of self concious because I was the only one eating hard boiled eggs out of everyone, and they were looking at me like I was from Mars! But then Grimey ate one. Went back to my room and watched some “Cops” and put one my ipod and charted “Let’s Go” by the Cars, and I was going to chart the Van Halen song, but something told me we wouldn’t do it, because it was kind of complicated, so I didn’t. I get the best sleep in hotels! Even though the bed isn’t as nice as mine at home, there’s no distractions! There aren’t dishes to be done, or mail to be sorted, all the stuff that stands in my way at home. So I took a pretty long nap and it was really restorative. Went to the lobby and got on the shuttlebus to the Hyatt and we stopped at a liquor store and everybody bought booze. Mine was Jack Daniels and it came with some craps dice, so I taught Jen Gunderman how to play craps, and she promptly took all my money I had left. We set up at the hotel and my bass rig was not right so they sent for another one. Sound-checked and pretty much played right away, and the sound man was kind of inept, but the show overall was good. A highlight for me, was when Kristy West started line-dancing to “9 to 5″ and got everyone to line dance! It was so surreal. Finished and went back to our hotel and got in the pool and swam for a while and went to bed. No dinner, but a fun night.

Grimey came and picked me up at 5 and Leslie went back to bed. Went to the airport and Kristy West’s mom picked us up in a giant stretch limo. We were driving to the airport and Grimey said: “I forgot my prophylactics!” and I forgot what they were. Then Kristy said “What’s a prophylactic?” and I was glad she asked because I truly had forgotten. We took 2 Southwest flights and when we got there everybody wanted to go to the beach pretty much right away, so we went, but there was something called “Red Tide” happening, and there was killer algae in the water and it made my skin burn. I got my fill of the beach and so me and Grimey and Tommy went to this little beach restaurant called “Doc’s” and had some beer and french fries. This drunken, sunburned stewardess kept interjecting into our conversation and she finally confided that she just broke up with her boyfriend who did lighting for Cher because he was addicted to crack. Went back to the Holiday Inn and I took a nap, then everyone rendez-voused for dinner and at an Irish pub behind the hotel, called “Fitzgerald’s” and it was pretty darn good. I had fish and chips and a whisky. ($15) Went to meet our host, Pam Connor, briefly, at the Hyatt Regency, and we looked at the ballroom where we would be playing tomorrow. Back to the Holiday Inn, took a quick dip in the pool and went to bed.

Had a few errands to do before I left and so I went to Corner Music for some bass strings ($18) and I was going to try to do a demo of that song with Nini Camps, but I had too much other stuff to do. Did some packing and found out we’re on Southwest so I don’t have to buy a flight case. Packed and did laundry.

Got up and walked and had breakfast with my mom. Went home and fed Posh and did some Feng Shui. Leslie went to class at the hospital, and I cleaned the kitchen. Did some emailing and cleaned out the steps to the attic. There are all these half empty bottles of shampoo and face creams and I thought, what about combining them all and calling it “Tashian’s Elixer” ? A potent cure-all! Leslie got home and she was in the mood to go exploring, so we went to lunch at Jersey Mike’s and we split a #4, “Mike’s Way” with Jalapenos on half ($8.45). Then we went out to R.E.I and decided we’d like to take a bike trip sometime. They have a straggler’s van, if you get tired, but you really need to only use it as a last resort, or else it can become a crutch. Then we went to the Apple store and I watched a very nice demonstration video of the new imovie HD, produced by Frank Ockenfels? It really made me want to get a video camera, but I will have to wait for my birthday. Went home to check on Posh and she was happy to see us. We waited for Nicki for a while, then we all went to dinner at Las Cazuelas and I had the combination number 7. John Bruton called and said he was having one of his “Dingo Dance Parties” so, we all went by there, and Emily West was there and she’s so funny. So then everybody was dancing and I started fooling around with the smoke machine and everyone was coughing and it was ridiculous, but there were only about 5 people dancing, so I thought the smoke machine would make it feel more crowded, more “happening”. I had several tequilas ($18) but they didn’t have any effect on me because I was dancing so much. They played “Lifestyle” and it was embarrassing, but I sang along with it instead of acting shy or embarrassed of something. We went home and went to bed about 12:30.

Walked early and it was another hot day. Went to Sarah Siskind’s house and she played me some amazing new demos. She’s got a great natural gift for writing country songs. We worked for a little while, but we were both kind of tired so we only worked for a couple hours. Picked up Posh from the dogsitter (mom) and went home. Decided I didn’t feel like cooking. I’ve been cooking so much lately. Leslie got home about 9 and we went to South Street. It was really smoky in there.I had crawfish enchiladas and Leslie had an oyster “Po-boy”. I was going to go up to L’ayla and see Heather and Jason DJ, and Kate York called, and she was house sitting for Emerson, and wanted to have a pickin’ party, but Leslie worked all day and she wanted to go home. She said she could leave me there, and I could get a ride from someone, and I don’t know what happened. I should have stayed, but I just got really sleepy all of sudden and nothing sounded better than bed at that moment. I’m sure someone could have given me a ride, and that’s no excuse. I mean, they came when I DJ’ed, and it was really an opportunity to be supportive of someone else’s artistic endeavors and I missed it. I just can’t ever complain when I do something and nobody shows up. That’s the trade-off.

Walked early and still really hot. It was just me and my dad and he was telling stories about when he was in college and the early days of his band, The Remains. He remembers lots of details, and said he used to not eat breakfast, and get a large bottle of tomato juice and put salt and pepper and Worchestershire sauce in it. It was interesting. I want a television in every room now. I love this new channel Leslie found called Current. Came home and did some computing and had some fruit tea. Worked on some Reason ideas. Posh likes someone to go out with her now, and wait while she goes to the bathroom. Made some Hot Dogs for lunch, and then finished a song with Nini Camps in New York, via ichat. I put down some ideas in Garage Band, but she wants the demo to be in Protools. People respect Protools more, but does it sound better? I’m sure it must. Spent some time reading blogs and Leslie went to run some errands and came back with air filters and some groceries. She said it was really hot outside, but she figured out how to open her sunroof all the way. Watched some of Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet and it’s kind of depressing. Took a nap until 6, then I made Clams Linguini from Rachel Ray’s recipe and it was not so good. Determined to make a comeback, I made Chocolate Ice Cream, and some more fruit tea, but when I poured the fruit tea into a glass pitcher, it cracked, so I lost half of it down the sink, not to mention the pitcher, which was a gift from Leslie’s mom. Did some emailing and watched some of the “$100,000.00 Chicken Cook-Off” on the food network, and really, none of the recipes looked very good. Prince’s could have beaten them all.

Walked early and it was going to be another hot one. I had given Posh a bath and my mom gave her a haircut and she looks like half the size that she was before. Had some fruit tea and did some computing and took a shower and Leslie wanted to go to Target, and they were building a superstore out White Bridge road so we went out there. It was hot. We stopped at the hospital on the way to pick up Leslie’s I.D. We listened to Bjork in the car, and I like the strings on “Venus as a Boy”. The Target is wider now. They still funnel you right into the Women’s Clothes section, but we found some plastic bowls and plates and a new dog bed for Posh ($121). Then we went to Jersey Mikes for lunch and it’s unbelievable how much better than Subway it is. I mean, they both make sandwiches and Subway is a little cheaper, but I think Jersey Mikes is the best. I mean, they slice the meat for the sandwich right there. Anyway, then I came home and laid down for 30 minutes and it was nice and cool and Posh laid down on her new bed right away. Then it was one of those naps that’s really hard to get up from. I didn’t want to go to Guilty Pleasures rehearsal, but I made myself a cup of tea and went. When I got to SIR, we were not in the usual room, but in this tiny little corridor that looked like a cross between “2001″ and a padded cell. Jen Gunderman was there and she was listening to her ipod and figuring out sounds, and Randy Flowers was there and Trisha and Sara Beck, and she says she wants to write some more. Kristy West went to Calypso and I ordered an Island Burger, but they were out, so she got me a black bean salad with beef. It was pretty good. But the rehearsal was like 7 hours long, and that’s a long time. Came home and got in bed and watched some of Truffaut’s “The Man who Loved Women”, which I guess he did the original of, and it was fascinating but I couldn’t stay awake.

Walked early and it was hot. Leslie went to work for the 4the day in a row again. I looked at the Calendar and saw I had Emerson at 11 and he emailed and said how about 12? So I tidied up some and made some barbecued chicken salad (which is one of my favorite things now) and Emerson came over and it was so hot I really wanted to make my brother’s Fruit Tea, So Emerson took me to Kroger and we got what we needed and came back and I made him lunch and he said you have to name this sandwich, and I said “How about ‘The Wimbledon’ ” and he said “Nah…what about ‘the Steeplechase’, something local.” So we had sandwiches and Emerson was playing some “mash-ups” that Cameron Crowe had turned him on to. One featured Marvin Gaye and 10CC together, another “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Paperback Writer” and they were interesting. Then he got some business calls and he said something about “Well, we may have to send ‘Big Tony’ up there to break his legs.” and when I asked him some more about it, he said “I’m not at liberty to say.” Oh, and we checked out “Google Earth” and that is something amazing. Wow. So neat. I must download that software. First I have to figure out how to archive 6 million emails. We worked on a couple ideas in Garage band, but we decided to call it a day at about 4.
I called Dixie for her Sloppy Joe’s recipe and Paul Kennerley called back and he said “I hope I haven’t caught you with a mouthful of Lobster Thermidor” and he’s so funny. I keep telling him I want to descend on him for tea, but he’s so reluctant. Kind of a loner, really. I made macaroni and cheese (Kraft) and some baked eggplant. Worked on some Fables while I was waiting for Leslie and she finally arrived about 8:30 and we had dinner and she was happy to be done with work for a few days. We went to rent a movie but the stupid Movie Mart or whatever it’s called closes at 9! They don’t have any movies, really anyway. Then we saw Kat Martin there and she came over to borrow a movie. Leslie said she thinks it’s important to loan things. I just wish it wasn’t my dvds, but she says i’m too uptight about that, that I make people feel uncomfortable. Oh well. We watched some of “Date Movie” on Pay Per View and it was pretty funny. Kind of silly, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Leslie went to work, so I made her some peanut butter and honey sandwiches on white bread. Walked early and my mom said she felt slightly depressed after all the houseguests left. She had like months and months of non-stop guests, so it was the end of an era. Came home and did some internet and Grimey wants the Ukulele club to play for 15 minutes on Thursday night and maybe we will. I will have to email everyone, and I don’t know if Brad or Angelo can do it. Not to mention Gary Tallent. We need to have at least one banjo-type instrument in there. Also, Angelo said Frank Swart got a Ukulele, plus, there’s always Tom Littlefield, but he said he doesn’t want to join the club or anything. He’s kind of a loner. Watched some of “The Trail of The Pink Panther” and was that the last one Peter Sellers made before he died? Anyway, it’s the one with the scene I haven’t seen since I was like 7 or 8, and I thought I imagined it, but it’s where Herbert Lom dives into the pool of Jello! I loved that! It was strange to see it, because it looked so realistic. I wonder how Blake Edwards did that. Leslie called and said would I bring the nurses lunch and I said why not, so I went to Baja Fresh and they’re disorganized. I went to the line that said “Pick Up Phone Orders Here” and nobody paid any attention to me for 10 minutes. Finally, a girl said “May I help you?” and we got going. It was a lot of food. Took it down there, and ate a burrito with the girls and Leslie looked cute in her work clothes with a stethoscope and everything. Had a fountain “Pepsi” and it was great. Went home and checked on Posh and I was going to go back out and get some air filters but it was too hot, so I started working on dinner, and I cleaned up after the party. Called Jason White and asked if I could have Maddie over and he said sure, so she came over and played with Posh. Posh get’s so excited to see another dog she kind of freaks out. She gets overzealous. Grimey called and said he needed some songs for the Guilty Pleasures florida gig, so he came over and brought us a present of a J.J. Cale record, and that was nice. Leslie likes J.J. Cale. She was looking for this record for hours at the party, and couldn’t find it. The one with Racoon on the cover: “Naturally”
I made some bruschetta and fried zucchini and green beans, and it was sort of a finger food meal.
Grimey came over and got on the computer and drank a few beers with us and Leslie came home and camped out on the couch and we listened to Beth Orton on the radio, live at 3rd and Lindsley. It was a long concert, and really good. We watched the Tour De France, and I guess it wasn’t on today and they were showing re-runs of it, and they showed some people running beside the bikers, and then, some people pushing bikers over! What is their problem? What’s wrong with these people? Also, who are these Wimbledon streakers? What do they want?