THE COOLIST SHI(r)T EVER

OK-there were all those peeps pushing hemp, saying how our Founding Fathers grew it and whatnot.

Well wait, this is WAY BETTER... these cool shirts are made from 100% bamboo! The company, started in Jason Mraz's house by designer JON MARRO and man- I'm just sayin'... Mraz walks the walk (and wears the clothes!)

Jon designed my fav "ANTS MARCHING" for Dave Matthews.

Side bar: Hey? You ever hear Matthews sing ''In My Life?" on the Tribute to John Lennon? It is the best.

As for Mr. Marro. "I know I'll never loose affection..." for his talent, like the ants. And now, I'm gonna bug him to let me help get the word out on his company. This guy could well be THE artist of our time. Pleeeeeese go to the site:

www.blendapparel.com

Please look into this cool company.

Vinnie Falcone and Frank Sinatra: DISCOVER IT FOR YOURSELF

SO I AM WATCHING TONY BENNETT PLAY TENNIS YESTERDAY AND A GUY COMES UP AFTER THE MATCH, SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT HOW TONY ''JUST HAD TO HEAR'' SOME SONG.

AND TONY WAS SO POLITE.

YOU KNOW, TONY DOESN'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO ANYTHING OR TO ANYONE, BUT HE DOES CHOOSE TO STAY UP ON WHAT'S WHAT IN POP MUSIC.

I COULD TOTALLY KICK TONY BENNETT'S BUTT ON THOSE CLAY COURTS, BY THE WAY.
HA (THAT WAS A CHRIS MATTHEWS/WILLIE WATTERS LAUGH... LOUD).

TONY BENNETT IS TWICE MY AGE AND EATS YOUNGER PLAYERS FOR BREAKFAST.

BUT LET'S GET SERIOUS AND TALK ABOUT POP MUSIC,SHALL WE?

GREAT.

TONY BENNETT WAS JUST SO... GRACIOUS. THE GRACE THAT COMES FROM SUCH A WARM AND WONDERFUL PLACE. HE NODDED AND THANKED THE GUY. ME? I REALLY CAN'T HIDE MY EMOTIONS AND JUST DON'T LIKE IT WHEN MUSIC IS 'PUSHED' ON ME.

(NOTE; I ACTUALLY DELIVERED A SONG FOR TONY TO CONSIDER RECORDING SEVERAL YEARS AGO. HE GAVE IT TO RALPH WHO GAVE IT A LOOK AND LISTEN AND KINDLY GAVE IT BACK TO ME. I FORGET WHO HAD WRITTEN IT, BUT IT WASN'T BAD, IT JUST WASN'T...).

MUSIC... ESPECIALLY POPULAR MUSIC, SHOULD BE DISCOVERED. SO WHEN I RECEIVE ALL OF THESE EMAILS TELLING ME THAT I HAVE TO HEAR THIS OR THAT BAND, I KINDA LET THAT TONE GET TO ME.

I DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE FROM BUSHWALLA AND DISHWALLA. (OK, ACTUALLY? I DO. BILLY WRITES WITH MRAZ AND THE OTHER IS A BAND WHOSE NAME COMES FROM AN ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICAN TERM THAT MEANS 'TO STEAL CABLE TV,' I THINK ... CURBSIDE PROPHET VS. ROOFTOP PROFIT?)

PEOPLE WHO ARE MY AGE (BUT FOR SOME STRANGE REASON ACT ALL OLD OR WHATEVER) LIKE TO MOURN THE DEATH OF THE RECORD STORE. SUFFER YOUR CD'S UNTO ME.

THAT'S A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT. SURE, I USED TO LOVE RECORD STORES, FLIPPING- THROUGH THE BINS. I USED TO HANG-OUT AT THE TOWER RECORDS ON SUNSET. I EVEN WAS THERE ONE NGHT WHEN BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CAME IN AND SHOPPED. IT WAS LIKE MIDNIGHT ON A SUNDAY, AND IT WAS COOL. HE ASKED SEVERAL PEOPLE- ME INCLUDED, ABOUT THE KIND OF MUSIC WE LIKED. HE TOLD ME HE WAS HALF-ITALIAN (ME TOO) AND AGREED THAT IT WAS COOL WHEN REPRISE INCLUDED A POSTER IN THE FOLD-OUT ALBUM VERSION OF FRANK SINATRA'S 'WATERTOWN,' A PROJECT PUT TOGETHER BY THE JERSEY BOYS THEMSELVES, BOB GAUDIO AND JAKE HOLMES.

(NOTE ABOUT WATERTOWN)- I LISTED IT IN THE TOP 20 BEST SINATRA ALBUMS IN AN ARTICLE I WROTE SEVERAL YEARS AGO, CAUSING VINNIE FALCONE, WHO IN ADDITION TO BEING MY BEST FRIEND IN SHOW BUSINESS, WAS SINATRA'S MUSICAL DIRECTOR FOR THE MOST CREATIVE DECADE IN THE OLD MAN'S LIVE PERFORMING LIFE. VINNIE SO DISAGREED WITH ME, AND I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM ASKING ME WHY I CHOSE TO PUT THAT ALBUM UP THERE ALONGSIDE TRILOGY, SHE SHOT ME DOWN, COME FLY WITH ME, ONLY THE LONELY, ETC. YOU SEE, VINNIE COULD HAVE JUST TOLD ME THAT I WAS WRONG, BUT HE DIDN'T. I WAS MAYBE 20 AND HE COULD HAVE SIMPLY SET ME STRAIGHT. BUT INSTEAD, HE MADE ME QUESTION MY OPINIONS AND IN THE PROCESS, ENCOURAGED ME TO TAKE POP MUSIC OPINIONS SERIOUSLY. VINNIE NEVER SPOKE DOWN TO ME-

NOT EVER.

OH, AND A FURTHER NOTE- SINATRA SO RESPECTED HIS PIANIST/CONDUCTOR/ DIRECTOR/CONTRACTOR THAT HE ACTUALLY USED TO 'SNEEK-OUT' TO HANG OUT WITH VINNIE. YUP. JILLY TOLD ME ALL KINDA STORIES HOW THE OLD MAN RESPECTED VINNIE'S OPINION SO MUCH, BUT DIDN'T REALLY WANT THE OTHER MUSICIANS AROUND SO, ON THE ROAD, JILLY WOULD MAKE SURE VINNIE-AND ONLY VINNIE- KNEW WHERE SINATRA WOULD BE HAVING DINNER AFTER THE CONCERT SO THAT THEY COULD TALK MUSIC. WOW...I'M JUST SAYING. AND YOU CAN READ MR. FALCONE'S FINE BOOK, WHICH IS REALLY AIMED AT STUDENTS OF MUSIC, BUT YOU'LL NEVER FIND A HINT OF WHAT I'VE JUST SAID. NOR DOES VINNIE TAKE ANY KIND OF CREDIT FOR CONDUCTING SO MANY TRACKS ON WHICH OTHERS ARE CREDITED.

MUSIC SHOULD BE DISCOVERED. MUSIC SHOULD BE RECOMMENDED. OPINIONS OF POP MUSIC SHOULD NEVER BE PUSHED ONTO OTHERS.

NOT EVER.

AND WHILE TOWER IS NO MORE, I'VE BEEN TURNED-ONTO MORE GREAT STUFF INSIDE BORDERS AND BARNES & NOBLE THAN ANY OLD HIPPIE EVER STUMBLED ONTO IN THEIR LIVES. A SUPER-COOL GUY WHO IS THE MUSIC BUYER AT BORDERS MADE SURE THAT I WAS HIP TO GUSTER AND ACTUALLY GAVE ME MY FIRST SONDRE LERCHE DISC. HE AND I HAD MORE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW MIND-BLOWINGLY COOL JAMIE CULLUM IS AND HOW PERFECTLY THOUGHT-OUT JASON MRAZ'S LYRICS ARE.

I KNOW THAT THE FUTURE OF MUSIC WILL HAVE TO INVOLVE MORE...STUFF. LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS, YOU MAYBE GOT A POSTER, PHOTOS TAKEN IN THE STUDIO AND ALWAYS GREAT LINER NOTES, WELL, NOW, THE RECORD COMPANIES SHOULD OFFER VIDEOS, INTERVIEWS, SPECIAL STUFF CAPTURED IN THE STUDIO, AND MORE. IF THEY DO, THEY WILL RE-INVENT WHAT IT MEANS TO DISCOVER MUSIC.

BACK TO TONY BENNETT, OK?

I WAS WITH HIM, AND, VINNIE FALCONE WHO WAS CONDUCTING FOR HIM AT THE TIME, THE DAY AFTER FRANK SINATRA PASSED AWAY. WE WERE BACKSTAGE AT CAESARS PALACE- A PLACE SINATRA HAD PERFORMED IN FOR A DECADE, A PLACE WHERE VINNIE STARTED AS HOUSE PIANIST AND A PLACE WHERE TONY BENNETT WAS ONE OF THE REMAINING FEW STARS WHO COULD BE COUNTED ON TO PACK THEM IN, SHOW AFTER SHOW.

JUST PUT UP ON THE MARQUE-"TONY BENNETT," AND THE PLACE IS SOLD-OUT. HE MAY SHOW UP WITH JUST A PIANIST. ADD IN A TRIO. OR LATER IN THE SHOW, A BACK CURTAIN MAY RISE TO PRESENT AN ENTIRE ORCHESTRA. DOESN'T MATTER. THE CROWD IS THERE TO SEE TONY BENNETT. HE OFTEN SINGS A SONG AFTER SETTING DOWN HIS MICROPHONE. HE'LL COMPLIMENT THE ACOUSTICS, OR MAKE A MTV REFERENCE TO BEING 'UNPLUGGED,' BUT WHAT'S MAGICAL IS THE POWER AND CONTROL HE HAS... THE SPELL HE CASTS... THE RESPECT HE DEMANDS AND RECEIVES, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.

SO I LOOK FROM THE DRESSING ROOM TV, WHICH HAD BACK-TO-BACK COVERAGE OF THE LIFE AND CAREER OF FRANK SINATRA. I'M STANDING WITH VINNIE FALCONE, WHO WAS CONCERNED HOW SO WRONG SO MANY OF THE COMMENTATORS WERE GETTING THINGS, AND TONY BENNETT. TONY HAD CANCELLED THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE AS SOON AS HE HAD GOTTEN THE NEWS OF MR. SINATRA'S PASSING BUT THEN, THE NEXT NIGHT, WENT OUT AND PUT ON AN EXTRA SPECIAL PERFORMANCE, GOING OUT OF HIS WAY TO STATE HIS OPINIONS ON STAGE AS TO WHY THIS SONG WAS SPECIAL OR WHAT HE LIKED SO MUCH ABOUT THAT LYRIC.

I HEART TONY BENNETT SO MUCH.

HERE'S SOME MUSIC YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK OUT-

*TONY BENNETT AND BILL EVANS TRIO (I MEAN, EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS, RIGHT?)

*TONY'S ALBUMS IN THE MID- 70'S THAT HE PRODUCED FOR HIS OWN RECORD LABEL, IMPROV.

***SOME GREAT SONGS, LIKE THE MOURNFUL: 'SOME OTHER TIME,' THE DYSPHORIC 'WHEN DO THE BELLS RING FOR ME?' AND THE SHINING,STUNNING 'OVER THE RAINBOW' OH-ALSO, CHECK-OUT THE DUET WITH PAUL MCCARTNEY, 'THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU,' WHICH IS A GREAT SONG FROM THE GREAT BRITISH BANDLEADER RAY NOBLE. THE DUET IS SO... RESPECTFUL.

WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC, BE RESPECTFUL.

LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID. LIKE THE LYRIC GOES, "TO ME, THAT'S EVERYTHING.''

JAMES FRANCO LIGHTS-UP "PINEAPPLE EXPRESS"

If yur gonna hang with a guy who smokes tree,
JAMES FRANCO is the dude, dude

Oh, so dig this- in his new movie, Pineapple Express, he plays the funniest stoner ever. I went to a screening and he's sensational.

But where every other handsome Hollywood type "really wants to direct," Mr. Franco wishes to write.

Right on!

James is back in school, studying English lit and has retired as an actor.
So how great is it for a successful actor to choose to write? THE BEST!
You see, the writer is the first artist to 'discover' the art. In my book, what JAMES FRANCO is doing is the greatest.
My money is on you, man.

YOU CAN'T HIDE YOUR LION EYES

Here's something you may not know about me---


I tame lions. For fun. I have for years now.

Setting aside my very real love of dogs, it seems kinda weird that, back in the day, we didn't domesticate lions and not just wolves.

Think about it-lions that had been domesticated (meaning bred to be smaller and 'tame' around populations of humans) make a ton of sense. Loyal, loving, and... lions!

Ask me about my lion sometime, and about the lions I've known over the years.

THE KING OF DIAMONDS. THAT'S CAESAR, RIGHT?

So there is a little inside joke in my novel THE KING OF DIAMONDS regarding Caesars Palace.

Danny Diamond, who is known as 'The King of Diamonds,' was a regular headliner in Las Vegas at, where else: CAESARS PALACE.  As cool card characters know, the four Kings in a deck of 52  represent real royalty, with Diamonds being Caesar. So Caesar is the King of Diamonds.

 

Darin Diamond, the handsome young pop singer/magician ends up with his own 4000-seat showroom room,  named 'Diamond Palace,' built adjacent to The Palace of the Caesars. 

 

As for Darin's best friend, Patrick? Well, his role model models his relationship with Darin after Alexander the Great, and even refers to his close friend as the "King of Clubs," the Court Card representing the young Macedonian who ended up King of the Persians.

Now if all that shuffling wasn't enough to bore the shit out of you, please know that all of these lame little trifles, like the supposed meanings behind the changing colors F. Scott used in his Great Gatsby, are just that- trifling. But just in case I croak and my books are discussed in some English class, I wanted to just put it out there that-YES- I DID put these things in on purpose. My novel, like Alexander and his 'ol man Phil, is about fathers and sons. And the relationship between the young star and his best friend? Well, like Alexander and  Hephaestion  based theirs on the one between Achilles and Patroclus, so too did Darin and Patrick.     

And...for those of you curious about the sexuality of real men (like Alexander the Great and me, for example) Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman has a great take on Greek sex at  www.pothos.org

DON'T YOU MIGUEL ANGEL RUIZ ME, MAN

So I received an email from a web buddy (a real friend- a guy who asked that I don't use his real name in my books and articles) telling me that after reading singer/songwriter/blogger JASON MRAZ's  www.freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com yesterday, he got all turned-on to "The Four Agreements, asking if I was I familiar with the book.

What The Hell---

I don't re-write this blog, it comes, as the song goes, 'Straight From the Heart.' My novels take me forever, but I just bang-out this blog. That's the point: to provide a peek inside my head. Some cats wanna do the couch and a buck fifty an hour Doctor-Patient thing. Me? I'm not that patient. 

I wrote, FROM MEMORY, the FOUR AGREEMENTS in my March 1 blog, "An Axe for the Frozen Sea Within Us (another quote from memory). You see, I am kinda proud of www.houseofh2o.blogspot.com, that is, of my respect for free association (and not like the "And Along Comes Mary" Association, either, although I did grow up near Glendale's Ice House, was the youngest contestant on 'Name That Tune,' and so, that reference-off the top of my head (AS ARE ALL THINGS HERE AT WATER HOUSE) was an easy one. 

***Shit...I can't even think of another song by The Association... so, let's get back to Miguel Ruiz's book, 'The Four Agreements.

The book The Four Agreements CHANGED MY LIFE (well, actually? Reading it changed my life) and I have referenced it so many times to so very many of my peeps these past few years and, six weeks before MR A-Z mentioned it on his blog, I wrote about it-about The Agreements-on MY blog.s 

One of the women working on getting my novel "The King of Diamonds" up and online this summer prior to my Hollywood friends hustling the screenplay based on my little book, well, she tells me that I've had thousands of "hits' checking out my profile, which, she says means many times that number reading the blog. We re-started the counter in February on all three sites and are getting hundreds of hits per week here at BLOGSPOT (partly, I'm told, because I

reference www.houseofh2o.blogspot.com on my other sites and in radio and pod interviews).

So why am I sweating getting 'The King of Diamonds' out there? Well, mostly it is because I know the way Hollywood works. Or I thinks I do. My story-about an "impossibly handsome" pop singer who incorporates original illusions in his show- has already been messed with. In fact, the "Draft Screenplay" I started to read made me wanna vomit. These geniuses took a 22-year old singer, who grew up in LA with a superstar father (Danny Diamond starred in the hit sitcom 'The King of Diamonds,' playing the kinda-dumb husband to the first female Governor of the State of California), a kid who gets his great looks from his savvy  mother who was known as "the prettiest showgirl in Vegas" back in the day. Young Darin writes his own songs, idolizes performers like Jackson Browne, and finally finds a partner-Matt White- with whom he can share his career.

And his onstage female assistant- Mystina- is his off stage girlfriend, Tina.

So the weirdo who wrote this first script said he wanted to make it more "Gay friendly." What a dumbass. The book, while pure fiction, is based on my very real experiences in show business. My book, like my life, (if one needs a definition) is 'Hetro friendly.'

Back to the battle of the blogs-

As for Jason Mraz and his freshness factor? Let's see? What can I say?

Nothing. 

Zippy.

Bubkis.

You see, Mraz is such a talent, such an incredible musician, such a fine artist that I really have nothing critical to say.  How dare I? He's a guy who makes me weep (Bela Luna) makes me smile (Curbside Prophet) and makes me proud to be a friend (You and I Both) He's that good...I hate him that much! Or probably the opposite. Those emotions are two sides of the same coin, no?

In the studio? After a great take? The producer turns to the artist ( be it Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Kenny Rankin, Kenny Loggins, whomever) and says "Good," or "That's a take." They don't go on and on and on and on- (Down in Jamaica, they got, lots a pretty women. Steal your money then they break your heart) So I won't, either.

So after I cooled-down, I assured my famous phone friend that I completely understood his wanting to check out the Four Agreements because of Mraz and not me. And, I told him that all was forgiven, that I was pulling into the bookstore and had to go. But then (and by 'then' I mean like 20 minutes ago, as I entered my favorite Barnes and Noble in Las Vegas) I freaked-out. On display was Dan Millman's 'The Way of the Peaceful Warrior,' a book I gave AS A GIFT to my celebrity cel phone web buddy last year, a book I just now remembered that he, after seeing it listed in MRAZOPRAH's reading list, asked if I had read it. 

I stepped over to the Starbucks section, drank-down a latte and thumbed my ChuckBerry's green 'call back' button.

He answered after one ring. "What?"

"I'm at Barnes & Noble. You know that Barnes is cool..."

"Right, but word on the street is Noble is a real prick." He remembered the line.

"So, why is it that if I blog about books..., even when I BUYS you books, Jason Mraz gets the credit." I must have been kinda pissed. The pretty-much deaf guy had looked-up from his morning paper, squinted in my direction and shook his head.

"Will--- the only reason I even know about Mraz is because of you. Well, that's not true, but you always have him blaring in the car whenever we go anywhere. YOU are the one who loves the guy. I just like the song where he tells his chick to: Take off her makeup.  Or shoes. or corkscrew..."

I cooled-down right away. So what if a 'two-pump chump' can't last?  

"So you DO remember the Nick Nolte story I told you? How he went to Westside High School with my friend's older brother, and how I always saw Nolte in the role of Soc as I was reading "Peaceful Warrior?"

No answer.

"You do remember that my character, Darin Diamond, in my novel, sings along to Mraz in the shower, right? I had you read that part, remember? "I Melt With You," remember?

Silence. Then breathing, nose exhaling. I hate that. Sounds like a Shuttle launch.

"In the book I'm writing now, the character Roy Richards, is super-tuned into what everyone else is thinking. He's able to get laid all of the time, ever since he was a kid, is totally focused on the present, and actually hears the voice of Lady Luck when he's inside casinos, making him THE MOST 'in the moment' character ever. Do you recall us talking about that?"

"Is that the guy who gets 86'ed from Caesars because they think he's cheating?" Oh, snap!

"That's the one." I was starting to feel better about my famous phone friend, about our friendship.

"Hey, Will? You know I love you, right? And not in a gay way. Well, maybe a little gay, like when you do your hair and wear that pink-ish shirt...''

"OK, OK. Yes. What?"

"It's just... you are so easy to piss off, man. You are just too easy."

"Ish." I'd like to think that I pushed the little red, receiver- shaped "hang-up" button before he hung up on me. 

I promised him years ago that I'd never use his name in anything that I wrote. The guy is pretty famous, and it's cool that he speaks freely with me. Besides, if I did use his name, it could change the way people might read what I've written. 

OK, now it's weird... like you are trying to guess who it is. He is a very famous guy. But fame? It exists in YOUR head... and rarely in the head of the one you think of as famous. 

OK, OK. He's a really great actor. And yeah, he probably IS a little gay for me, which is a little weird as he is surrounded by beautiful peeps all of the time. 100% straight but gay in a "I love ya, bro" kinda way. I wrote the 'Bromance' King of Diamonds based on our strong feelings.   

Oh, man... I just thought of some more 'Association'  music! 

"Who's looking out the streets of the city? Armpits stink in the burnin' sun? Everyone knows it's Windy!" (OK, I may have re-written part of that lyric). 

As for my friend who is the only one I allow to see my novels as I'm working on them? The guy who quotes Jason Mraz and not me? The one who doesn't want me to

 use his name (but loves it when I use our real situations in my novels)? Will I ever write his name? 

"Never My Love." 

(Now that's a song, no?)

Note: If you have not gotten it yet, please understand that this blog- houseofh20- it is a FIRST DRAFT, just-off -the- top -of -my- head -type-thing, (and I mean that not in the way you do when you say that phrase to a hooker or your barber), and I am actually thrilled when people take the time to check-in to see if I am out of my mind.

I CAN write... and some think I'm getting pretty good at it. The King of Diamonds, while completed in just 90 days, turned out to be a nice young novel about an interesting young performer. I SO hope that you will read it, even if you just do so online. If a film is made, I'll bet they totally mess it up, making everyone older and stupid (In my mind, Darin Diamond is played by Speed Racer himself, EMILE HIRSCH, or even the real magician, DARREN ROMEO. His dad, Danny Diamond is Joe Montegna and singer/dancer Matt White is Dancing With the Stars' DEREK HOUGH.  

The truth is that I would be thrilled if a film is made, no matter how much they change things round.

  

   

    

CHECK IT OUT-

I MAY NOT KNOW EVERYTHING, BUT I CAN SPOT A GREAT MAGICIAN

You know me. 

I have an opinion or two about entertainers and the state of the business.

I'm not a wanna-be, or some crazyass who falls too quickly for what's presented as the next big thing. (NBT). In fact, I'm really not that interested in the NBT . My eye is out for the guy who is coming up, ya know? THAT'S where the fun is.

The great joy in life is "discovering" a talent early in their career, getting that "he's got IT" feeling and then, watching the guy make it. 

Sometimes I've been in the position to help craft a song. publish an article, or just put- in a well placed word at the proper time. 

JASON MRAZ was delivering pizzas when we first heard him play. That made his success ("The Remedy") and continued growth (tears were in my eyes listening to Mraz sing 'Bella Luna and I'm not an emo guy. And? I was playing MR A-Z on the long drive back from somewhere out the the middle of the desert, and when the Bella Luna track came on, I fell in love with it all over again. You almost hate Mraz for rhyming so cleverly, but then, you just give-in to it, to him) and I actually can't wait to hear the entire new MRAZ CD.

I booked JAMIE CULLUM way way after his becoming the NUMBER ONE JAZZ ARTIST IN THE UK. But still, it was on a bootleg CD that I first heard the smokey, sexy voice of young Jamie. In fact, Cullum self-produced his first CD (500 copies) and while his renditions of originals and standards continue to mature, he still offers-up a fresh and funky versions every time he sits down (or stands up on) the piano. I heart JAMIE CULLUM.

OK, OK. It has been said that I know a thing or two about magic, and I'll take that. My novel, "The King of Diamonds, " concerns the career of pop singer/magician Darin Diamond. An illusion I created is being presented "live' on stage as we blog, and, I hear it has already been ripped-off. high praise indeed. And, I count among my close friends several professional magicians.  Got one or two... (well, FOUR, actually) as enemies, so I hear.

So, what's new on the magic scene?

Two words:

JUSTIN KREDIBLE  

JACKSON BROWNE

solo acoustic vol. 2 is out...and great.

I wrote a whole novel, "The King of Diamonds," with Jackson Browne's   'solo acoustic vol. 1'  in my head. 

"Fountains of Sorrow" informed the entire story. Little wonder that Darin Diamond fantasizes about having a songwriting partner like Jackson Browne. 

vol. 2 has a heart-stopping "In The Shape of a Heart," and an almost shy "Redneck Friend."

How important is Jackson Browne to me? Well, a person couldn't begin to understand me unless and until they came to appreciate Jackson Browne. 

Here's something people who think that they know me prolly don't know: I've never met, spoken to or even been near Jackson Browne. Sure, I could have... many many times. I've taken very pretty girls to some very beautiful Jackson Browne concerts over the years. Now while I'm not quite old enough to have been "in on" Jackson's music as it came out, once I got into him, I fell and I mean deeply. And fully.

I have gone backstage to meet virtually every star who has performed in Las Vegas over the past 20 years. Shook Paul McCartney's hand... twice. Chatted with Bono at the Desert Inn.. Hung-out at some pretty heavy-duty sound checks. But when I had the chance to meet Jackson Browne, after a Hard Rock show, I just couldn't do it. I wasn't ready.

I still am not ready.

But I am getting there.

I hope.



I was maybe 16 and on the road to a ski trip to Colorado with my peeps. My friend Mike is driving and he's got "THAT'S A BIG TEN FOUR"  blaring on his car stereo. I mean ba ba ba BLARING!

After that, we couldn't take a road trip without playing "RUNNING ON EMPTY."



Looking back, ..."I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels." 


I was just 18 when a girl (Debbie) had to explain to me what "Rosie" was all about. I will always remember feeling... well, less than hip, for thinking the tune was about a groupie! Oh, and how I tried to pretend that I knew all along what "Rosie" was. And how I failed. And how Debbie kind-of felt sorry for "Mr. Name That Tune,'' and how she SHOWED ME what was what.


Oh snap!

I finally fingered it out.



Speaking of fingers--- when I was in my 20's, I stayed up all night learning the changes for "Here Come Those Tears Again," fueled by nothing but passion and at 11:11 the next day, proudly played and sang it for the most beautiful blond dancer ever to shine in the Flamingo Hilton's "City Lights."

The real McCoy, you might say.



Several years later, after Lawyers were no longer In Love, I was hanging with a talented hostess of Crazy Girls. It was during the last weekend that Jahna Steele would spend at my house that she insisted I sing her some of my favorite songs and talk about why on more nights than I'd like to admit that I too often felt like "The Pretender" as I went out in the cool of the evening.

I will never forget Jahna shaking her head that morning, saying that I was the only person in the world who knew the lyrics "Out into the cool of the evening, strolls The Pretender," and also "In The Cool Cool Cool of the Evening." (Sue wants a barbacue, Sam wants to boil a ham, Grace votes for bouilabaisse stew).

She and I were able to hold down a few handfulls of oyster crackers before going back into my little home studio.

We rehearsed a duet that we'd perform later that night 'live' on the Buck Hunter TV Show (although we were dead to the world at that point)...and then, before we left my pad to head over to The Gold Coast, she grabbed my arm and went into an impromptu "Doctor My Eyes." I dig that song. Jackson wrote it on a broken piano (you can hear that).

You know-I watched the video of Jahna and me doing that TV show over and over again. 

I have watched too many of my friends not being good to themselves- unable to avert my eyes.

Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?

SKEPTICISM IS THE CHASTITY OF THE INTELLECT

"Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect."

 I guess... I mean, it sounds good, no?

But, come on! Maybe, just maybe, it' s time that we loosened up a bit and let the old guard down, at least from time to time.  Suspend your disbelief, and try to believe in magic. Who knows? Something really magical might just appear, right before your eyes.    

ROB LOWE HIGH POINT AT DUNES

William Saroyan wrote it best:

"TRY TO LEARN TO BRETHE DEEPLY, REALLY TASTE FOOD WHEN YOU EAT IT, AND 

WHEN YOU SLEEP, REALLY SLEEP...

AND WHEN YOU LAUGH, LAUGH LIKE HELL, AND WHEN YOU GET ANGRY, GET GOOD 

AND ANGRY.

TRY TO BE ALIVE.

YOU WILL BE DEAD SOON ENOUGH."

I love that quote. 

BERT REYNOLDS said pretty damn well, too. He was making a not great film here, shooting at The Dunes for a few weeks. In  between takes he gave me some great advice...

"Son? Ya gotta grab life by the lapels and try your best to wrestle it to the ground."

Take you pick. I like both quotes. I'm gonna live til I die.

Dunes trivia? The best film shot there is OXFORD BLUES, 1984, starring a really cool ROB LOWE and a hot-as-hell ALLY SHEEDY. The first part of the picture, with Lowe doing the older woman up in the Dunes is great. It goes downhill when the story moves to the UK.