First of all I am fine and have
had nothing close to what happened Wednesday night,
befall my body since. The theories on what it could've
been ranged from a panic attack to pulled muscles to a
leaky heart valve. Well, replaying the night in my
head a couple million times, the best explanation that
makes sense would be the muscle thing. That
I simply pulled a muscle in my chest (explaining
the pain), and being frightened 'caused the remaining
symptoms of the heart rate and sweating. I'll pretty
much know the second I try to lift another TV. My
only problem with this idea is that my arms gave out
before I had the chest pain. Not quite sure why it
wouldn't be the other way around. As far as the panic
attack theory goes, hell I guess anything's
possible. Though that's about the only times out here
I haven't stressed. You know? When I'm gigging,
or being productive. That's when I'm happiest. And
overall the past 3 weeks, though stressful on the
money front, have been incredible for me. Putting
together Palaur is completely invigorating. Knowing
you're doing something no one has tried before has to
be the greatest feeling in the world. I simply
cannot wait until I can release the site in May.
I may bump it up to sometime in April because
it's going so well, but I want to be completely sure
there are no mistakes. But again, I am absolutely
PUMPED (heart pun intended) on this release. It's
truly unique...
Alright, the real reason behind
the newsletter: Barney's Beanery. This is where I
played last Wednesday, and the two Wednesday's
previous. It has to be the hardest place in the world
to set up. Completely packed, I have to go
through the entire bar and restaurant wiht people
there, to put my gear up. And I have a shitload
of gear. On top of that, I've had to play on Wednesday
nights which is their karaoke night. EXTREMELY popular
karaoke. And for good reason. Very talented singers on
Wednesday nights. I still HATE IT, but every once
and awhile even I have to stop and listen because it's
that good. Well I played two Wednesday's ago and went
back and forth with the karaoke. People were pissed to
say the least. "Why the hell does HE get to do 45
minutes in the middle of our karaoke night"...hey
I comPLETELY understand people. I think this is
insane. Not sure what the owner's thinking here. But I
did it for free to give them a taste figuring they'd
realize if they gave me a night there, I could
draw people in time. Nope, owner wanted me to play
another Wednesday. ALRIGHTY THEN. So now the
karaoke guy's pissed, the manager's shaking his head,
and the karaoke patrons will still be pissed. No big
deal I play another Wednesday. As long as they don't
throw bottles we're fine. That was last week, and
basically they were indifferent. They could've cared
less. They were simply concerned because they though
karaoke was off. My other problem is that it's busy
yes, but busy with loud drunk people that want to
sing. Not the best place to try and pull off 4tvs. So
I'm stuck just doing the singing sets, and I can't
touch the comedy stuff because it's too damn noisy in
there. No biggie because some people did enjoy it, and
Nigel (the karaoke guy) and I knew he'd throw me
on a Tuesday or a Thursday. So Jess and I are invited
in for a free dinner again tonight and the owner tolg
the manager I can play on Wednesday's to gain a
following. I seriously thought he was joking with me.
He wasn't. He was DEAD serious. (sigh). Well, I said
no. No one is benefitting when I interrupt
karaoke, or even push it back 15 minutes. Why he
doesn't see this is beyond me. I hurt the karaoke, the
patrons could give a shit less. All they want to know
is if they can sing "Achy Breaky Fuckin' Heart"
tonight for their girlfriend. Nigel is about to lose
his mind because it's cramped to begin with.
I mean REALLY cramped, and now he has to set-up
behind me....it'sjust stupid. Cannot do this again.
The manager understood, and we laughed at the pure
idiocy of all this. It's insane. Just give me
ANY OTHER TIME. I don't care if it's
afternoon. Don't care if it's DEAD to the world.
The few people that are there will see it, remember
it...and they WILL come back. But the owner wants me
on a Wednesday night. Incredible. I really wish
I could talk to the owner personally, but no one
is as pumped about 4tvs as the GM is and I'd simply be
stepping on his toes.
So we sat and talked for a little
more. And as I was about to leave he mentioned that
some old actor guy said something about me. He was a
movie actor in the 60's. Was in some stuff with Jane
Fonda and so on...I can't remember. Well, he
liked the show. He said he liked that TVS guy, but
left when karaoke started up. Well, that was about all
Ben (GM) had to say. I started putting myself in my
shoes roughly 3 months ago. I'd have been on my knees
for an opportunity like this. And here I am, telling
him "no" because I'm pissing people off. That on top
of him saying I had "brass nuts" to try and perform
that night...all made me say I'd do it. The only
condition being I could start earlier. It's that
one contact. It's that one person who I effect.
It's basically that that is the most productive thing
I can do for 4tvs on Wednesday right now, and I am in
no position to turn it down. So I'm doing Wednesdays.
Oh, and I have to call the karaoke guy and tell him.
Thanks. I get to hear him bitch at ME. Nigel even said
he ain't goin' through this shit again. We'll see what
happens. I cannot worry about him anymore. I have
my shtick, he has his. I need to do what
I can and run with it. I'm still in shock though.
How can you create a following for figure skating, if
you make it the halftime show at the superbowl? I
guess I could club a fellow karaoker, that may get
them on my side. Ideally I write a specific 4tvs set
for barney's and karaoke night poking fun at the whole
thing. But I can't do that, because there is no
guarantee I could ever even show it. I don't know.
It's a sucky situation. I can't wait until the
other gigs start going so I can have a bit of
stability.
On that note, I'm applying for a
job at 1KTV in LA. They're hoping to be the very first
television station for the net, and they need an
entire staff. Just so happens it's on the same street
where I live about 5 minutes away. Drawback may
be funding. We'll see how that goes. Exciting as hell
if it works out.
Jessica is of course doing
WONDERFULLY at Starbucks. I cannot say that enough.
Girl gets up at 4:30 in the morning with a smile.
I can't even go to bed at that hour without a bit
of a frown. She is incredible.
Oh, and my aunt and uncle sent me
an intel web cam! It's highly cool. If anyone has one
email me and we can set up a video phone thingee. God
love the 21st Century...
Oh AND THE MOVIE!! LOL.
You guys should enjoy this. For the past 5 weeks,
J-DOG our cat, has been howlin' to be let out. He
would just walk around the house crying. And
I mean really crying. Then he decided this just
wasn't working, and he's now resorted to walking on
the piano keys for attention. I swear to GOD, this cat
hated the sound of the piano his whole life until
right now. It always scared the hell out of him. Well
not anymore. Jess and I will be sound asleep and we
hear the piano keys. And it's not like he just walks
across them to get from point A to point B...he'll hit
a key and sit there. Just waiting. Then he'll move and
wait. Maybe jump off...cry a little...so on.
Well I set up the
camera late last night before I went
to bed, and hoped that maybe within the
hour that I had tape something would
happen. Indeed right near the end (because
it didn't even wake me up), he got on the
piano, sat there for awhile then got up
and hit a key. Then as if on cue just
looks around...la-de-da...then jumps off
and stares at the computer screen (which
as you can see is on - I forgot to put my
screen save back on - it was like that for
about 8 hours...is that bad?) then cries
and jumps out. It's strange because it
definitely looks like he sees something at
the end. But Jess and I were sound asleep.
Ghosts? Judge for yourself. Either way,
I'm very glad I got J-Dog
Joel on
tape...