...when we last left our hero, well over two months ago...

"Life is what happens while yr' busy making other plans"
- J.Lennon

Bonjourno!

It's been a full week since coming back from a two-week long stay in Italy. I've nestled back into my american ways and habits...adjusted from the 'lag...and have since filled my stomach with all the breakfast foods i craved for my entire overseas stay - bacon, egg & cheese on an everything bagel, hash browns, coffee that won't make me feel my eyebrows growing...and all the water i can drink from my tap - for FREE!!

...when i sort through all the pictures...all 1100 + of them (!), i'll post a few 'round here...it was an amazing trip...i was most impressed with all of the visuals - duomos and bassilicas that were both a testiment to the spiritual as well as the archetechtural...countless amounts of beutiful artwork and sculpture, amazing for their striking nature as well as their long-lasting existence...the quality of the food was as fine as i expected it to be, promting me to engage in a 2-week long gnocci tour of Italy, ordered it with pesto whenever i spied it on a menu...prior to the trip, it was typical for me to indulge in a glass of red whenever the wife opned a bottle...however, i'd be retreating to the beers after the glass, leaving her to finish the bottle on her own...the exception to this rule involved a chilled bottle of reisling, preferrably sweet, which i can easily stick a crazy-straw into and finish within minutes...touring the wine country of Italy finally stirred an interest in red wines and i find myself as enthusiastic as the wife when choosing the dinner red...everything we tasted was amazing...lots of chianti...a few amerones...a few barolos...one headspinning bottle after another...and it was our common experience to discover that most wineries also make their own olive oil...again, each one more amazing than the last...having brought back (smuggled!) 10 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of oil in our luggage, a large number of bread & oil w/ red wine dinners are in our future!

...the only thing i didn't like was the cold vibe i got from most of the locals...other than the folks we encountered at places of lodging or eating, most folks dealt with us with an indifference that seemed outwardly noticeable to these amaerican sensibilities...in all fairness, i know and understand that the american is not looked upon favorably in the eyes of many foreign lands...and for many of the daily excursions, i travelled with a pack of family and friends that could, at times, through their volumous mannerisms, let on that we were not only from the states but specifically from the NYC area...after a few initial bouts with embarassment and frustration regarding the traveling fiasco show, i loosened up and embraced my big, loud NY family for being exactlly who they were...it's really the very reason why i love living here myself - you can feel free to be who you are without worry, fear or shame...va-rye-it-tee baby...so as much as i went with the best intentions of being my own one-man american ambassador during my trip, carefully watching what i did or said, i wound up with giant wads of anamosity towards the very people whose homeland i had invaded and shouted down the streets of for making me feel asamed of me and where i came from...

...in other news, a few concerts are on the horizon...it's a one-two musical punch of a weekend coming up starting on Sat. with a local music fest featuring Donna Jean Godchaux w/ the Zen Tricksters and Mickey Hart's new band featuring George Porter Jr. on bass and Steve Kimock on guitar...it's sponsered by local Blue Point Brewery and i've already got my taste buds prepared for all the sweet-potato fries and funnel cake i can shove down my gullet...the fun continues on Sunday with a Phil & Friends show at Jones Beach, made even sweeter by the opening act of Levon Helm, drummer and vocalist from the Band, worth the price of admission in his own right...

...here's what i'm listening to these days...

- the new "Road Trips" Grateful Dead release, featuring a historic 1st set Bird Song > Dark Star from the legendary 7/31/71 Yale Bowl show, having previously only been available in a barely listenable AUD version and still was held in almost mythical regard...here it is in all it's glorious SBD beauty...another legendary AUD-only performance sprung free in pristine SBD quality is the hallowed 8/6/71 Hard to Handle, long rumored to be so intense live that Garcia dropped to one knee during his heroic solo...believe it or not, this version is hot as hell...the biggest surprise is the China > Rider that begins disc 2, featuring some of Phil's most muscular bass playing i've ever heard him flex for this time-honored two-fer...crank yo' subwoofers!

- i'm only a few days into sinking deeply within the new Beck release...i like it know and have plenty of confidence i'll love it in a few more days, as all of his releases have seemed to grow on me with each repeated listen...Beck is one of only a handful of artists that i own all of his material and will blindly buy his newest effort without hearing any of it before hand...he's got the goods...always has and i faithfully believe he always will...

- i've grabbed a few tracks from the new Racountours release...i'm not as big on them as i am the White Stripes but it is amazing to ponder the endless talent Jack White seems to have and utilize as much as he creates, co-creates and/or produces...the track "You Don't Understand Me" is a daily stuck-in-my-head-song lately...

- Eva Cassidy "Oh Had I A Golden Thread"...i heard just the last minute of this song while scanning through the radio dial...it struck me so deep i wrote it down and made sure i searched it out as soon as i got home, to be forever enshrined within my most elite pantheon of favorite songs...i can't really explain why i dig it so much...it features a wonderfully deep gospel feel, made so with the help of Eva's hauntingly exquisite vocals and spot-on warm and tasty organ accompaniment on the Hammond B-3...

- even stranger than this has been my continued foray into the music of Daniel Johnston...i have an overall appreciation for his talent and artistic style but i felt bad about only digging about 15% of his music, having breezed through his entire cannon...however, having said that, it's remarkable how strong that remaining 15% has stuck in my musical psyche...


...i've finally took my head out of my ass and started reading vorasciously again, averaging a book a week since the Italy trip...here's some recent selections from the bookshelves...

-David Sedaris "Me Talk Pretty One Day"...i was skeptical given all his recent praise and his recent dominance of the NY Times best-seller list since the release of his newest book...i'm typically always skeptical of anything recieving critical acclaim, with Milli Vanilli being my lone exception to this rule...i grabbed this older book having read the summery on the back cover and surmising it had something to do with the adjustments of being an american abroad...seemed right in my wheelhouse for consumption during the Italy trip...risking to break old habits and stubborn inclinations, i really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of his books...the attention ond praise is just and warrented.

- Susan Jane Gilman "Hypocrite in a White Dress"...i've made a concious effort to include more female authors in my reading repitoire, with this book starting me off in the right direction...written in a similar memior-esque style as Sedaris, Gilman takes you through a virtual adolencent to mid-20's flashback of female existence that proves both hysterical and poingent...she'll be another author i'll seek more of during my next book store visit.

-TC Boyle "Drop City"...this is the 2nd Boyle book i've read and without question, i'll be quickly collecting his books in no time...i love his style, so deeply rooted in vivid description and in-depth charactorization...granted, the book's subject matter piqued a personal intrest as it dealt with the death of the hippie commune lifestyle/reality of the late 60's as the next decade quickly sank it's hungry teeth into the nievety of those very same ideals and concepts without mercy or remorse...another excellent read, raced through in a matter of only three days.

...the only new books i haven't read yet are older titles recommened by the man himself, Bukowski...i listened to a few Buk bootlegs lately - mostly an assorment of ragtag and rowdy poetry readings with a few home recordings thrown in for good measure, and noted two books that he though highly of - Celine's "Journey to the End of the Night" and Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio"...when i get through 'em, i'll be sure to post my impressions...

...that's all for now...gotta' get some chores done, dinner made, food shopping lists made, etc...

...life...ha!...