11/8/04: update / You know you're old when / TM no longer flying / boat ride from hell

Man, things have been busy lately but very exciting as well! I guess it's what you might expect with the CD release coming up in about 3 wks (12/2 @ Bitter End). Lots to do. It's amazing how different everything is when you finally have some product to promote. No more "yeah, well, the CDs not done just yet so we're just kind of waiting...". No more waiting! Had a little strategy meeting w/Roger the other night and we've made some definite plans for taking over the world (or at least Middlesex County) that I think are really going to work. Been sending stuff to some select radio stations that have been good to us in the past. In fact, me & Roger (Roger & me?) are doing an on air interview Mon. 11/29 from 6-7:30PM on WDVR 89.7 in the New Hope area (simulcast 91.1 in Princeton), though we never play around there. It's just a small local station but they were really supportive of the previous 2 CDs and I love doing live radio. Tune in if you're in the area or listen live via your computer at www.wdrvfm.org. Can't wait to see what our PR princess cooks up for us as well. Looking forward to reading some positive reviews. It's nice to finally let these CDs out into the world and get some feedback. Been waiting to get the t-shirts in (due to arrive today) before sending CDs etc. out to those who contributed to the project; all of you should expect something in the mail soon. The site's been updated to include the new discs; the albums, press kit, music and store pages have all been revised. CDs & t-shirts can now be ordered through the site. Keep in mind you'll get a free copy of the EP at the door when you attend the CD release (have I mentioned it's 12/2 at the Bitter End?) and contributors get in free (applies to future shows as well). And it is confirmed we will have a lead elec. guitarist joining us that night. And a photographer, too! He'll be taking audience shots as well so smile nice for the man (Chad Vega) and show him what a good time you're having.

In other news, I have officially quit the cover band I was in, Tequila Mockingbird. It was becoming a waste of time for me and I wasn't getting anything out of it. Even if everything was going perfectly with regard to musicianship, getting good gigs etc. (which it definitely wasn't) it had ceased to be what it needed to be most of all for me: fun. At thirty something years old I just can't get into singing "Lifestyles Of the Rich and Famous" especially when I'm not and the song is written by a band that's on my "needs a beating" list. The band will not continue with a new singer; the other members are all going on to other projects. So, I've effectively put an end to a band that's been together since the original members were in grade school together. Leave it me to put a situation over the edge.

So I'm at a bar for lunch the other day and I notice that I'm digging the music being played on the radio. Then came the station ID and I was horrified to know what I had been listening to: 101.1 CBS FM! The oldies station! It seems oldies means 70's to them now where it used to mean 50's & 60's (I guess that audience was beginning to die off). When you're listening to "oldies" radio, you can't help but feel old yourself. I must admit to suffering through Tom Jones to get to Orleans, Firefall, and Chicago. Not good. Not good at all. I put on some Incubus when I got back in my car and it made me feel a little better.

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..."
It was about a month ago when a friend of mine asked me for a mildly dangerous favor. To save the considerable expense of having a boat hauler trail his 29ft motorboat from Eastern LI to a marina in Cliffwood Beach, NJ, he needed a copilot to go with him when he actually drove the boat there instead. Sounded a little crazy to me. Or course, I was just the man for the job. Then our plans got delayed. The weather got a little colder. Rain was predicted for the weekend finally picked to do this thing. This was beginning to sound a bit more crazy to me than it originally did. But there was no turning back; the marina and boatlift were on a tight schedule and we had to meet them during a specific window of time or the whole mission would fail. Plus, I'm a man of my word and I said I'd do it. So at around 11AM on a dreary looking Sat. morn we set out from East Moriches.
The first part of the trip wasn't so bad. We were protected from the ocean by a southern barrier island and made our way through the bay just watching for markers to keep us in the channel. But at a certain point, we had to leave the safety of the bay and head out through the inlet into open waters with only the Atlantic Ocean to our left and the Long Island coat to our right. Welcome to 8ft swells, getting bounced around, and much less fun.
Then the fog rolled in. A lot of it. The shore was barely visible. We needed to rely on instrumentation. Sadly, the boat compass was not properly adjusted and was flailing around unreadably. And while the Loran unit we had on board gave us relative position (latitude & longitude), its built in compass was not all that accurate. Luckily, I'm a Boy Scout; our motto as you may know - Be Prepared. And I was, breaking out my trusty handheld compass I hoped I wouldn't need but brought with me anyway. Good thing, too. Suddenly, we lost an engine. Barley able to hold our position in the water we pretended everything would be OK while we waited for the engine to cool down, trying not imagine the worst (what could happen? We get beached and have to walk to shore? We anchor and wait for Sea Tow to come get us? We weren't going to die or anything.)
But, one engine wasn't going to get us to Jersey. Our only hope was to get to the Jones Beach inlet to a marina where we could get it fixed and continue on our way. Miraculously the engine later refired and this wasn't necessary. So we continued on into the fog, just skimming the coast, with my compass keeping us due west.
Finally we reach Rockaway Point / Coney Island. On an average clear day, from here you'd be able to see the Verazzano Bridge, Staten Island and NJ. We were lucky to see the blinking marker at the end of the point. Now we would need to cross the bay in thick fog to reach the coast of Staten Island. Keep in mind this is a major waterway that cruise liners and oil tankers cross on a regular basis. I got a little nervous as Rockaway Point faded away. Like a co-driver in a rally race I began to call out directions to keep us on course: "left, LEFT, a little more, right a little, right, steady on". We wouldn't see land again for another 80 minutes. I tried to block out the theme from Gilligan's Island that had been blaring in my head for the last 2 hrs. But amazingly we hit channel marker after channel marker and eventually Staten Island appeared out of the mist. From there it was just a short run SW to Raritan Bay and our final destination, 6 1/2 hours after we left. Crazy? Of course. But sometimes you have to do something just to say you did it. And to get more material for your website.

Regarding the recent presidential election, I think Jane's Addiction said it best:

IDIOT'S RULE!

Oh yeah, by the way, the CD release is 12/2, 9PM at The Bitter End in NYC and you should go.