The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Well it seemed like it wanted to rain all weekend but it couldn’t get the nerve up to actually do it. I hate that kind of “pregnant” weather. I just wish it would get on with it. I find myself feeling very thwarted and anxious in that kind of weather. I wonder if most people are psychologically affected that way. Read the first paragraph of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Amazing and brilliant. Going through another Nick Drake phase, fascinated by his futuristic elegant music. It sounds so modern and wonderful, like it has no time, just the endless time of the universe. Annoying hot, cloying weather. Tried to walk the dogs to the post office and just turned around and went home. Won an auction for some socks on ebay. Did I overpay? My favorite socks are (or used to be) made in Italy for Paul Smith. Trolling around the internet showed very few signs of life for men’s socks. Toyed with the idea of starting a sock company. Maybe asking Ethan if he would like to collaborate on a men’s sock brand. I just think we could do the same manufacturing as Paul Smith, but not charge as much. I wish when I had these kind of ideas, I would just do them, instead of only talking about them. But there are only so many hours, I think I will request an intern for the spring semester. Drove to the pool and did some laps. Arm sore and hurting. Not sleeping well. Maybe I just favor my right arm when I swim too much. Did some office work and went to the Canale’s for dinner, Lori and Danny. Lovely people, both quite talkative and interesting. She has done some editing, and the subject of Cormac McCarthy, (whom both Danny and I had met) came up, and how he has renounced editors and insists he doesn’t need them. Some of the editors say he’s showing signs of insanity, but I thought “The Road” was his most sublime and terse work yet. I drank too much wine and L. was tired so we left, but not before I played a couple feeble versions of new Silver Seas songs. Ug. Feel out of practice. Need to clean the studio desperately. Deep clean. Wash baseboards, etc. Hard to find the motivation, yet I know the result will be a better work-flow. Tomorrow.

Panel for “Next Big Nashville”, me, Glen Phillips, Kevin Griffin, and Dan Wilson. Interesting discussion about co-writing. Me saying : “Sometimes I feel like there’s too many songs.” and Dan Wilson saying “I’m not sure about that.” But very cool, and Jake Ottman was there, and Patrick Clifford, who I think is so funny. Then after, had some leftovers with Lillie, and we watched the end of “There Will Be Blood” and both of us marveling at Johnny Greenwood’s creepy and lovely score. The end of the movie had a fantastic terrible-ness to it. I loved the film, although I’m not sure if it had any redemptive quality. But I do feel that it was an important investigation of the typical “American” attitude of competitiveness. In other words, in order for one person to really make a pile, many others must suffer. Then took long nap, and rode bike to the Y to swim. Bike needing adjustment, handlebars, seat etc. I think my muscle aches are resulting not from biking itself, but the ergonomics not being dialed in. Then to Thai food with L, then on to the Bluebird Cafe for our “In The Round” - me the only one with no “hit” songs. I would always have to play right after some really big hit as well- Dan Wilson singing “Closing Time” -then it’s my turn. But Lillie says I held my own and seemed to make some friends as well. Glen Phillips was quite funny. Saw Mitchell Cohen, and he works for Verve now and I guess they are making a record on Darryl Hall, and he said he thought one of my songs would be good for Darryl. Also saw Jewel and Barry Coburn, who said he’d just had surgery. Then to 12th and Porter to see Elle Macho and they were exciting, terrific. Lindsay Jamieson was pounding the crap out of the drums. Home and bed by 2.

Well my grandpa died. I got the call that he was going about 7 am and so I shaved, and drove down to the hospital. The drive was very peaceful and grey, overcast. It was like a day from a movie.  When I got to the room, my dad was there, and he said: “He’s gone.” I felt the body and it was still warm. I touched his head, and his hands. I’ve never been in a situation like that. A death situation. It was very intense and I felt very glad to have been able to witness that. I didn’t feel sad at all, only strange. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. A kind of wonder, I guess. How could there be a spirit in the body one minute, then the next, it’s gone? The family all went to Hopkins for breakfast and I talked to Carl on the phone. Dad made fried eggs for himself and mom made me scrambled duck eggs. I like chicken eggs better I think. We toasted to my grandpa, and told some memories about him, then that was it. I had to go home and get practicing for the Guilty Pleasures gig.  But the gig went well, and we had a good crowd, but I drank so much Red Bull and vodka and I got kind of drunk, and I was trying to throw an empty beer bottle out the window at a passing train and I missed the window and it smashed into the wall and startled everyone, and somebody really could have gotten hurt and I felt really stupid.

Well we decided last minute to have an engagement party for Mike and Mindy, so we were getting ready for that, and L. helped me, and we got these funny balloons that said “Good Luck!” and we got white roses. I spent a lot of time during the day researching bikes, and I got the bike bug bad. I think I decided what bike to get, and it is a bit of an extravagance, but it’s so cool, and both David Mead and Brad Jones said I HAD to get it. It’s called “Soulville” and it’s designed by Masi. I wonder if when I die, my headstone will say something like: “He was a man of many passions- Among them were 2-wheeled European transportation devices and the Ukulele!” But we had fun getting ready for the party, and it turned out no liquor stores were open so we couldn’t get any wine, but Jay Barron bailed us out and gave us some champagne thank god. And everybody came to the party! Let’s see….who was there. Bobby Bare and Tommy Keenum and James DiGiralamo and Jason Lehning and Lex and Tamara and Josh Rouse and Brad Jones and Kat Martin and Trisha Brantley and all kinds of folks. Matthew Ryan came and he said he would like to be interviewed. I have been collecting interviews, and as soon as I get the blog fixed, there will be a part of the site where you can listen to them. I feel slightly guilty about the bike, I mean, I could just buy a $200 Schwinn and it would probably last me the rest of my life. It’s just that these things, sometimes you just have to live a little. So L. made some punch with Vodka and white grape juice and ginger ale and I drank a ton of it and got quite drunk. I was laughing a lot and at one point I appearantly fell off the sofa. heh heh.

Bad night’s sleep. Pillow too tall. To Hopkins for a short walk, then home to work a bit. Did some guitar experiments on “Bad Night” and “Somebody Said Your Name” and getting various studio bugs worked out. To L. for lunch and had Brunswick stew. Almost took a nap but went to swim instead. Had the whole pool to myself for about 10 laps. Then a giant fat kid did a cannonball right next to me. Got some vegetables from Hopkins and made corn on the cob and pasta with fresh tomatoes for dins. Read some Eno and that’s my “bible” now. “A Year With Swollen Appendices” Having fun with my new Shure SM81 microphone. Recording some classical guitars and getting a nice sound. There has been too much potential energy accumulating in the studio. I feel the only way it can be released now is some kind of creative “big bang” type of explosion. The energy is crowding the space, making just relaxing impossible, and mundane tasks seem more mundane. I would love to throw myself into some kind of Cornelius type of project where I can make little movies and score them. He’s unreal, that guy. Listening to the new REM, and Peter Buck has a wonderful warm distortion on his guitar. I really want to get a new amp. But I must resist, at least for a while. Also the new Verve is fantastic. A nice collection of sounds and melodies. Richard Ashcroft has such a great tone to his voice. He’s like the original guy from Spoon. He and Mike Stipe might be my favorite singers of the moment. This blog needs more sounds and more photographs. This must be remedied soon. Also, movies wouldn’t hurt anything. Maybe I will get one of those little $100 video cameras. Andy Warhol would have loved those. Movie-making as an American past-time. Watched Gore and Obama and he was very impressive, I thought. The truth has a different sound to it. It’s like there’s really no way to lie. I feel that what Obama is saying is true. It sounds true. Might as well give this kid the keys to the white house cause it’s over. He’s got it in the bag. No way can old grumpy McCain can compete with this guy - he’s too smart, eloquent and charismatic.  I really believe some people got it and other’s don’t. The weird thing was that Al Gore sounded so passionate and interesting, unlike, as I recall, he did during his campaign for presidency. Maybe, all the Supreme court stuff aside, he didn’t really want it. He’s won a Nobel and an Oscar and he really seems happy and youthful. Anyway. I can’t believe the Bush / Cheney legacy. Abysmal. We got lots of work to do to turn this country around. I want to put solar panels on top of my grandfather’s house.

Well I went to the bike store and got a crush on a bike. It’s a Gary Fisher sort of around-town type of bike. Very swanky leather seat, etc. Just the type of thing I could see myself on. $499, not bad. I just wonder, you know, how much I would really ride it. I mean, I could see, this fall, when the weather turns nice, just riding it all the time. But then imagine the guilt I would feel if I got it, then it sat dormant all winter, looking at me pleadingly. Grandpa continues to decline, but tells my dad : “I don’t want to take anyone’s time.” He’s uncomfortable with any fuss made over him. Maybe I will just take a book over there and read. Went to east Nash. and transferred the Silver Seas tracks to my drive and had lunch with Lij. We went to a little Barbecue stand over there. award winning flavor. Except we ordered wings and they forgot to put them in the bag. But the “Q” was tasty, although it made me need to take a nap, so I went home and slept from 2 to 3, then awakened by Chris Grainger who came to borrow a guitar. To the pool, then home and then to Lillie’s parent’s for dinner. Jay made delicious pesto, of which I ate a ton, then washed it down with chocolate cake, and if I keep eating all these desserts it’s adios to the trim slim DT, hello to the paunch!! Watched some of Hillary on the TV, and she was good. Bill Clinton was watching, his lower lip tucked in reverently. Joe Biden looks like a politician. Most of the speakers were sort of hot air leading up to Hillary, who really does have a lot of charisma and star power, also a very resonant timbre to her voice. Looked at the bike one more time and H.T.S.

Well my grandpa is dying. He has been sick for a long time. Something about his blood doesn’t work right, so he has to continue to get transfusions. Anyway, he decided to stop getting them, and he looks very pale. But I went over to see him the other day and we had a nice talk. On painting:  “My advice is to work fast and not really give a damn.” He was really the one who got me going down this whole road which I was really into for a while, but not so much anymore; of really dissecting music: you know, learning the song and analyzing what it’s doing. Like the Burt Bacharach stuff, and Peter Gabriel to a certain degree. The weird thing was that we were sitting side by side, and we both had our legs propped up on the ottoman and they looked the same: his legs and mine! Same shape and length and everything.

Been helping Lillian get her apartment set up and it’s looking really nice. She has eclectic taste and I like that. Heard about Will Hoge. It’s too bad he hurt himself on his scooter like that. I was just driving past “East Side Scooters” the other day and thinking I would love to have a scooter some day. I guess the thing is, no matter how good at it you are, you can’t always trust other drivers. Brad Jones claims that he has it down. He knows when to ride and what roads you can go on and everything.

Haven’t written any new songs but i’m working on some instrumental sort of Techno sounding stuff, and that’s always a nice break. I also would like to do experiment with some alternate tunings. Like Nick Drake tunings and see what I can come up with. The only thing is that I love Nick Drake so much that i’ll probably end up doing a bunch of work that sounds like that. Oh well. Could be worse.

I don’t know what to make of this thing with my Grandpa dying. I think it’s a strange feeling. Looking at someone, seeing them talking and hearing the thoughts in their head and knowing they will soon cease to exist on this plane. They move on to the next plane. I guess I really believe that. They move on to another dimension or something like that. Energy has to keep changing forms.

Walked the dogs around the block, then set my office back up at Hopkins. Overcast, thank god. I wish it would rain, like, desperately. To the post office to mail the Micro-BR on craigslist. Then to the grocery with my gran.

Gran- “What will you do when you finish school?”

Me- “I’m already finished with school, gran.”

Gran- “Oh well, you must be relieved then.”

We went to CTK to pick up veggies, and there was tons of squash, so I made a squash casserole. Here’s the gist:

Chop up one large green and one large yellow squash into cubes.

Saute cubes with 1/2 diced onion in vegetable oil (add s. and p.)

Pre-heat oven to 355, remove and transfer to bowl after 15 minutes

Toss squash cubes and onion with 1/2 cup sour cream (or yogurt)

add lots of black pepper and more salt, then put mixture into baking dish.

Top with breadcrumbs and parmesean cheese (lots) and butter.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy.

My neck is bothering me after I slipped on some water in the kitchen and fell yesterday. I must call the Chiropractor in the AM. Email from Amanda Moon about being on a panel and performing with Glen Phillips and Dan Wilson and i’m excited about that. Beavering away and learning Logic. I think I would like to make an “audio notes” section of this blog, where I can post random bits of field recordings. That seems like it would make a fun hobby. I was just listening to the sound of all the places I went, the pool, the store, walking the dogs, talking to my gran. Lillilan came over and we watched some Olympics. Men’s 400.

Journalist: “Can you believe you won the gold??”

Athlete : “I sure can!”

Helen took the cats I found and gave them to a shelter. I wish she had decided to keep them, but, at least they aren’t stranded in the wild somewhere. Springsteen plays in town tonight. I wish I had decided to get tickets because i’m sure it will be a great show. At the pool, Jackson, my lifeguard buddy asks me: “You going to the show?” (blows air into mouth of dummy) me: “No, I didn’t want to bother Gary”

Which is true, because I heard from somebody that everywhere they play, people come out of the woodwork and ask Gary Tallent for tickets to the show, and I just didn’t want to bother him. So there. I have elevated myself above the status of an aspiring guest list nominee.

Well i’d been looking at it for about 2 weeks but I finally broke down and got one of those Edirol R-09HR things. Amazing gadget. I guess i’m kind of a gadget-y person, now that I think about it. Marvellous article about how Norway just knighted a penguin. Went to Hopkins early and walked the dogs, then worked on some instrumental music for a bit. Zoe’s chicken salad for lunch, then to the music store. I tried to convince Jason to let me trade in my Micro-BR, but he said no, I should just craigslist it and besides, HE bought one because I told him it was cool! (laughs). Went to Troy’s house and got my Brian Eno book off the back porch. He left it there for me when he went out of town. Joy Shaw came by and dropped off a recent rough mix of her album, and it sounds quite good. Went to visit B. and he said he grew up with a dying man in his house. “How did that affect you?” I asked. “I learned that nobody gets out alive, and you’d better factor that in.” he said. Went to see the Whigs behind the Belcourt and they sounded good. Also, American Bang played, and they have some good riffs. The Whiggs had a little of that “Who” kind of sound, and I thought that was cool, except, they closed with a “Who” song, which I thought was sort of crossing the “t” a bit too cleanly, maybe? But then again, I love the Smiths and every time I write a song lately, I try to think: “What would Morrissey do?” (that would make a funny bumper sticker!) but I would never cover a Smiths song! Well, at least I don’t think I would. I was having fun recording little snippets with the Edirol and I saw Matt Kearney and he said he knew I didn’t put up my posters. Also saw Emily West and she said I looked skinny and rock. I was wearing my Robert Plant jeans. Also saw Ken Coomer and he said he’s been recording with Will Hoge. Who else? Saw Caleb Folliwell but didn’t say hello. Lillian and I went to Jackson’s and I had a whisky and she had a water. Bobby Bare was there.

Worked all day feng shuing the studio. It’s really coming together. I can’t believe I waited so long to get a little Mackie mixer to plug all my stuff into. That’s like the biggest revelation ever. It’s going to be all set up so all I need to do is come in and rock. There’s something very rejuvenating about organizing things, labeling cables, etc. It’s the kind of work which enables another kind of work later. Like sowing seeds. I read an interview with Daniel Lanois, and he still is one of my favorite heros. This time he was talking about the merits of these little Edirol hand-held recorders. I immediately want one. I completely switched from Pro-Tools to Logic and now I don’t even have Pro-Tools. I was distressed to read in the paper about the disappearance of bees, those magical creatures. I hope that humans can remember they are shepards to all of God’s creatures, and to be a little more mindful of things. Pesticides are really horrible and there is no situation where they would appropriate, as far as I can tell. I think we will look back on the era of pesticides as one of the great tragic times of humanity. I remember reading a science fiction short story when I was a kid by Asimov or Heinlein or one of those guys, and anyway, the plot was, we were colonizing the moon, and humans only wanted to bring pretty things, birds, flowers, etc. - no mosquitoes or worms or anything creepy-crawly or pesty. Anyway, all the pretty things died because they had nothing to eat.

Astonishing poem in the New Yorker by Matthew Dickman.

Felt very buoyant all day. Getting all the wires un-crossed in the studio has a very effervescent effect on my spirits. Excited to have new demos to post when I get the ball rolling

To a party with Lillian, for her cousin, who is getting married this fall. Drank party white wine and got a headache. Lovely tomatoes. Watched Michael Phelps win medal number 8, and I was thinking, these relay team-mates, they are swimming for their lives right now, not wanting to be the one who lost it for Michael.