Listened to the majority of Red House Painters' first self-titled (aka Rollercoaster on the way to OKC today and was struck by the intensity and poetic quality of the lyrics. Few songwriters have such an evocative command of the language and the kind of voice that would make up for it even if he didn't.



Played music with some friends tonight, as I do about every other month or so. I play the acoustic guitar and sing and sometimes the join me guitar, keyboards, harmonica and backing vocals.

Now I'm not one to brag, but I played exceptionally well tonight...at least I was pleased, and I guess that's the main thing. I was making up songs on the spot with surprising ease and singing the heck out of the covers I did ("Wild Horses" by the Stones, "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, "Ripple" by the Grateful Dead, "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" by Willie Nelson, "Mistress" and "Glenn Tipton" by Mark Kozelek, "Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell, "The River" by Bruce Springsteen and probably a few more. Big fun. Could have wowed 'em at a coffee house, and I often wonder what it is that keeps us from doing just that... I have no doubt we would succeed...

But then again, what do I know?



Got into an argument with a friend about the pros and cons of capitalism and communism. It all started when I found out he was a Kerry supporter, and the spirited debate was on like a pot of neckbones. Then this guy shows up spouting off about how the only church he'll support is the church of Satan, and then he bagan telling us this urban legend about how the Proctor & Gamble company used to send lots of money to Anton LaVey and the Satanic church, how their brand logo contained symbols of the occult, which proved it, and that they had said as much on several occassions when they appeared on the Phil Donahue talk show.

Now I've heard all this before, so I cut him off in mid-blab and said I knew all about it. The thing is, this dude really believed it. And he gave me other reasons to catch a bad vibe off of him as the night progressed. He seemed very hostile to Christianity amd Christians in general. Seemed like I felt some tension when I made a comment that could have implied that I was a Christian.

But he cooled out somewhat when me and my buds started playing music. He was the one who requested "Ripple" and I think he dug it. Otherwise, I doubt he and I will ever speak to each other after tonight or even see each other for that matter. And that suits me fine.