The Hanukkah Bush

My house in Newton is full of history from our life, since my folks throw nothing out. Items that are no longer in service often get relegated to the basement, though there is also several large closets and crawl spaces too. I often chide my folks about the amazing amount of crap thats gathering more and more dust with each passing year.

When we were very little, my mom asked my brother and I if we would rather do presents on Hanukkah or Christmas, and like good little jews we said Christmas. So my dad, the physicist/engineer builds this clever little "electric tree" which we bring out every Christmas eve. This year, after retrieving it and plugging it in, I remarked that several of the lights were not lighting up. My dad opened up the "tree" and took out a bunch of seriously old colored light bulbs that are certainly no longer produced.
My mom looked at the lights, disappeared into the basement for three minutes, and returned with two small boxes of 30 some year old color light bulbs.

My dad replaced the bad light bulbs and the Hanukkah bush lit up withs its former glory for the first time in many a year. It looked spectacular.



Then my brother Doug looks at me and says: "And that's what the basement is for."

Brilliant.

I've started a new tradition of going through the house, and wrapping up a 20+ year old relic for my dad. This year it was a blue roll of toilet paper (complete with toilet reading lists printed on it) which had been sitting on the bathroom window for over 20 years.

One more time

I'm just coming off a the haze of a total music immersion weekend - The Dan Lebowitz group and Zilla @ 12 Galaxies, working with JP Cutler on some new tracks, and all night jam with some old musical friends (and GF collaborators).

My music is popping up in all sorts of random places on the internet, which how I like it. I just checked out a gorgeous mix by DJ Polaski on the amazing Kahvi Collective, which included some very clever mixing of a couple of my tracks. Highly recommended.

The good folks at echoes have released a list of the staff picks for the year, and I made #5. That made me feel nice.

There's no doubt that 2007 has been a truly amazing year for general fuzz.

Beer Cheer

Stina gave me the best Chanukah present ever. She took me to a magical place called City Beer in Soma. I cannot believe I've never been here before. It's a beer drinkers paradise. I've never been in the presence of so many beers I've never heard of.

That had five beers on tap which I've never seen on tap before. I sampled them all, and finished with a glass of the Delirium seasonal. All the beers can be bought as singles, and for a corkage fee of $1, you can enjoy it in the store. One of the owners very helpfully guided me through their vast selection to create a nice adventurous six pack. I was in such a state of delight, I helped myself to a few additional 750s. Then Stina bought it all for me.

Amazing.

Respect the interfaith marriage!

Echoes Poll

It turns out that at the end of the year, Echoes runs a listener poll for the top albums of the year. I was surprised and delighted to learn that I made #20, especially since I made no effort at all to run a campaign on the poll. Even my wife was unaware. That means people I don't know actually like it. It is a true honor to be listed along with some my musical heroes. I love the latest Explosions in the Sky album, and it's insane to see my name in any proximity to an album made by Chick Corea and Bela Fleck.

Inner Sunset

I am definitely feeling the neighborhood Karma tonight. First I befriended one of my Yoga classmates who turns out to live a block away. Then I happened to catch a listing on craigslist for a nearly impossible to find face priced Tool ticket for tomorrows extremely sold out show. I was the lucky first caller. Turned out the seller lived 5 blocks away. Then, on the way home from picking up said magical ticket, I ran into a friend from the jamband circuit, and we ending up talking and walking in circles around our neighborhood for almost an hour. Turns out she lives on the same block as me.

We were just coming off a surprisingly difficult weekend. I really appreciated the synchronicity of the evening.

Yoga

Half way through last night's class I grazed my foot with my hand for the first time in my entire life. Awww yeah.



Happy first night of Hanukkah.

A limp rag

We rode the Tom roller coaster for a little over 24 hrs straight - it was pretty intense, far too short, full of exuberant yelling, and I felt nauseous when it was over. Good times indeed. We fit in a little pool, a little poker, far too much football on the tv, kick ass food, Haber's birthday (and said birthday party), and the ceremonial destruction of Krudden furnature.

Here are some excellent shots by Stina:





and a personal favorite



We also saw Jersey Boys this week. I left my glasses at the Yoga studio, and we had serious nosebleed seats, so I had no idea what was going on. Stina kept an entertaining commentary running so I wouldn't feel too left out. I felt it could have been an hour shorter.

And just to add a dose of ridiculousness to my weekend, I went to two concerts tonight. One was the sweet cd release party of Ryan, or Chance's End. He's a talented violinist/electronic music producer whom I'm working with on a couple new tracks.

I'm right tuckered.

TOM!!!

Tom is visiting this weekend. I couldn't be happier.