Not So Deep Thoughts

Well folks… The class five rapids have calmed, brought me to the banks and I’m now drifting gently down-river, hours away from boarding a plane back to the US.

I can’t wait to get home.

-Peace

I forget to tell all y’all that I threw up some new photos on the gallery section of the site.

We’ll start with:

La Pedriza -

Just 45 minutes outside of Madrid and you couldn’t feel any further from the city. More of that clean air they’re alway talking about, rocks to climb and fall off of, trails to wander off and new ones to find once wandering aimlessly for 1/2 hour in underbrush. Good times.

Anti-Fascist Demonstration -

A 16 year old anti-fascist was murdered on his way to protest a congregation of other protesters who were holding an anti-immigration manifestation. A group of neo-nazis confronted him and his friends in the metro and he was stabbed to death as a result. The anti-fascists took Carlos as the new hero for their cause and have been using his memory to give them a voice. Here’s some photos of the first demonstration in his honor.

Ciao for now…

That is just one of the many possibilities of names that we are considering for the new band I’m playing in. As if I already didn’t have enough to do, I’m now a guitarrist in a brand-new, fresh-out-of-the-box band. We’re playing all cover tunes, but none of the pop-rock bullcrap that’s out there. We’ll be playing a lot of classic standards from countries like France, Spain, Brasil and Italy - but with a jazz/latin twist. And we have a dancer who will be surely ambulating rhythmically across the stage.

We even have a date for our first gig! January 17th! We haven’t even chosen all the songs, let alone REHEARSED, but we’re almost a month away from getting up on stage. These guys are gung-ho.

But we haven’t got a name quite yet… So, I’m leaving it up to you guys to vote on your favorite name, and the most votes will determine the name of our band.

Here are the options: (Thanks go out to Dave Barry for his recommendations)

The Cotton-Eating Moths of Australia
The Turkey Spiders
The Flaming Salmonella Units
The Wood Tick Snorkels
Heave
Squatting Turnips
Pinot Noir and his Nuances of Toast
Weasel Nostrils
The Flaming Booty Moths
Earl Piedmont and the Diphthongs
Slippery Spleens
Sheep Eyeballs
The Flaming Croutons
Rodent Passion
St. Vincent and The Grenadines
The Biscuit Whackers
Gaseous Worms
Raymond Burr’s Legs
Shark Puke
The Urban Professionals
The Phlegmtones
Crotch
Effluent, Sliced Meat
The Vestigial Organs
Diminished Penile Sensation
Crab Shrapnel
Contaminated Tumbleweeds
Varlet and the Squeaking Codpieces
The Fierce Prune-Eating Hamsters from Space
Paint-Peeling Puffs of Flatulence
Bleeding Nipples
Rapid Sucking Action
Nuclear Underpants
The Groin Whappers
Thrusting Balloon Puppies
Drastic Toilet Air
Drawers Full of Slugs
Groping for Elmo
The Pig-Stinging Jellyfish
Fugitive Squirrel and the Clearly Disturbed Beavers
The Moos of Derision
Disoriented Chickadees
Pain and Suffering
Kung Fu Trees
Combat Alfalfa

Let the voting BEGIN!!!

My friend Jacki very recently founded her very own Webzine called Nothing To Declare.

Nothing to Declare is a webzine started in November 2007 in Madrid, Spain. It is inspired by the unique experiences that occur when one is traveling or living away from one’s home. We look for original voices to bring these experiences to the masses.

-Jacki Lewin

She invited me to write a column and my ass finally got around to giving it to her this past weekend… AND SHE ACTUALLY PUBLISHED IT!!!

Which rules, because some of the other articles on the site are freakin’ jewels.

Go check it out and leave some love for me and the other writers (one of whom is my brother, Chris!)

Peas!

We’re all busy.

So I’m not gonna go on and on about this and/or that that I’m doing which is taking up X amount of time, leaving me with -X free time, blah blah blah. I think we all feel that in one way or another. “I wish there were more hours in a day!” no longer is a trite cliché but a dreary mantra.

But we can always try to find the silver lining; “Better Time Management!” we vow. “Discipline!” “Focus!” “Consistency!” and “I Won’t Take On Any More Until I Have This Under Control!”

Yeah, well, I’ve gone and screwed the pooch on that one.

I’ll be doing a voice over for an animated movie that some last year film students are putting together for their final project. I’ll be voicing the part of an older man, locked up in prison, writing to his nephew/son/friend/didn’t catch that part.

Sounded pretty cool at the time.

Supposedly they’re looking for a grumbly voice that sounds like it came from the inside of an old rusty barrel of crude oil. Either I smoke a few packs of unfiltered Marbs and drink a fifth of whiskey or someone can give me a better idea of how to do it without marring my insides (even more.)

I’ll send you all a DVD when it comes out.

It’s 9:21 on Monday morning and I already feel like I’ve just barely made it through another long week. This is not a good sign.

Or maybe it’s just that Mondays have always and will always suck and today’s just a sterling example of how much one can blow donkeys.

Thank God we have a long weekend this week and I only have to make it till Thursday…