A Motley Crue song is playing right now. It's pretty astonishing how out of tune Vince's vocals are on their early material, and more astonishing still that, during my teenage years, when I was really into that band (first two records) how I didn't even notice. They were one of my first secret bands, in that I was really into them before they got really mainstream. I was listening to them before most of my other friends were. I was introduced to the Crue, believe it or not, by a couple of my fellow altar boys that served at the church I used to attend. These were the "edgy" altar boys, you know, the ones that would smoke cigs in the rest room before Mass. Pretty "edgy" behavior, huh - I mean, smoking right in front of Jesus and all. Phew. Those guys are so going straight to hell.

So yeah, listening to Vince's caterwauling right now, and remembering how much I loved it - and thinking about how freaked out I get when doing vocals on our recordings when I hear even one wrong note. I'm always so sure that EVERYONE WILL NOTICE. Darin always wants me to leave imperfections in, and sometimes I let him talk me into it. But mostly they drive me absolutely batshit (P.S. to Darin - we gotta redo a bunch of those vocals we did on AKITS - heh heh).

RETROGRADE CD Update, for those waiting patiently for them: we had some struggles getting the art finalized, but now that's done and the masters are delivered to the manufacturer. They should be sending me art proofs to approve very soonly, and are giving me a mid-September date when they expect to ship. All of the pre-orders will be sent out the very day the discs arrive here. Thank all of you so much for your patience.

Other disc news: half-pint demigod is currently pencilled in by me for an early November release date. I'm not gonna say what it is quite yet, because as you well know, these sorts of announcements tend to change around here, now don't they? But I expect to have the actual discs in hand before I actually say when the official release date is, and right now, early November is my best guess. What about the new Half Zaftig disc being worked on? Well, to be honest with you, I'm losing my optimism that it can be finished and released before the end of 2005. I look at how much work is yet to be done, and I look at the calendar and try to square the available time with how much we can get done in a typical month, and I look at the song list and realize that we still need yet more material - all these things add up to: ain't done yet. And it's almost September. I just think realistically, it's gonna be 2006 'fore that sucker comes out.

Beta Girl looks really hell-bent on really selling the house this time, so it looks like I'll most definitely be moving in the near-future, too - which might/might not affect the scheduling for work on music. I don't know yet where exactly I'll end up, though I want to look for something in Seattle proper. Maybe downtown someplace. I wanna live somewhere where I don't have to drive much - it would be nice to be able to walk to the store, walk to band practice. I guess depending on where my contracts for work shake out I'll most likely end up driving somewhere to get to work, but maybe I could take the bus. I liked riding the bus when I worked at Corbis.

I've had my current car for just over two years - and it has nearly 70,000 miles on it. Yeah, I drive a lot. It would be nice to cut back.

I know our European friends have been paying more than that for years, but boy, that's something.

I haven't changed my driving habits, though. I'd prefer to not drive so much, but as yet I am not motivated to make any lifestyle changes. I really liked taking public transpo to work on my last job, but for the one I'm on now it would be impractical.

I don't think we've topped out yet. Just a feeling.

Alone in the house with the dogs this afternoon. It's warm enough for near-discomfort, so they nap, like so:

Had a busy week at work. I spent a lot of time in deep concentration. I didn't get everything done, but I admit I had a good time doing the work. Again, some of what we're doing feels like overkill, but hey. Having a decent time at a day job is no easy feat for me.

I think we finally have the Retrograde artwork sorted out. Those of you who have paid your $4 will be seeing them in a couple of weeks. Thank you all very much.

Last night I watched all five most recent episodes of this, the last season of Six Feet Under that have been waiting patiently for me on the TiVo. My goodness, incredible television. SFU was the show that got me into the HBO lineup - and if it must end, it's good that it's ending with some of the best stuff they've ever done. Wow. Catch it if you can.

My roomies are out scouting possible new housing locations. Beta Girl is making More Than Typically Serious Noises about selling this house in which I sit. Maybe even within a couple of months. Which means a mad housing scramble for me, possibly. I've been very comfortable here, and I really love Snoqualmie, but I've been feeling a calling to try "urban living" for a while now. I think when I move this time, I'm going to look for something right in downtown Seattle - probably trendy Belltown. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking, but Belltown is groovy not because of all of the Yuppies that live there, but because of location, location, location. Our rehearsal space is there. Key Arena, where the Storm play, is a short hike from there. Easy and free bus service to Pioneer Square, should I need to be there. I've lived in this area for 12 years now, moved here to "live in Seattle" and not once has the word "Seattle" ever been part of my home address. I should do it once. Looks like now may be the time.

I'm here all week. Try the veal.

*****

I should just stop writing about the Storm here - they just lost two road games in a row, and Betty Lennox, last year's Finals MVP, got injured.

Oh well, they stunk on the road last year, too - yet still won the championship.

It's going to get hot here over the next week. I'm not thrilled about this. But the autumn approaches! I am digging that idea a lot.

Reconnected today with Mr. Beller via the magic of cellular phones. It appears that the Zappas have postponed/rescheduled the European Zappa music tour that they asked him to block out the next 4+ months of his time for to a date/time unknown. So where he once thought he had employment lined up for that period, he now finds himself without. That sucks, not just for Bryan, who was looking forward to a paycheck, but for those of us who hoped to see that show. Hopefully it will still happen.

dUg Pinnick released a new solo record today. I like it a lot after hearing it once. The production is a bit iffy, and I wish he didn't tune so low all the time, but I really like a lot of the songs, and there are some clever ideas going on in there. dUg has had such a profound influence on me over the years that I'll always buy whatever he does sight unseen... or, uh, unheard. He also added us as a "friend" on the new Half Zaftig MySpace page that Lizzy set us up with. I don't pretend to "get" the whole MySpace phenomenon, but at this point I'd be a fool to turn my nose up at any chance to help folks find their way to our band.

It's late, and I must arise early tomorrow.