Yeah.

Blam! There's Hoff all over the place...that's more like it...

"Because it'll hurt more, you idiot!"

Life's great, thanks for asking. It means a lot to me to know that you're concerned about my well-being like this.

I feel so CARED FOR.

I'm in a pretty good space creatively speaking. I'll be embarking on a fairly serious batch of shows coming up here soon. Keep you posted, you say? Will do! I'm opening up[ the top of my head and pretty much bottling anything that wafts out. It's leading to some very interesting creations. Spoken word. Reggae. Drum and bass. More and more soul...

How are YOU doing?

This is a little shortie to catch up with you all. I'll compose something a bit more...substantial soon. Think of this as tapas to the sunday roast I'll dish up shortly.

Love and kisses on all your little pink parts,

Red

Paint the Town - EP finished!!! Hurrah!!!

Hello all,

So the EP is finished, well, at least an acoustic EP is finished. It looks hot. It sounds pretty hot, too.

They're selling for $10 each, and the response has been great so far. I played a show last weekend with the immortal Saigon Brothel and rocked the house. It was a great time.

The owner tried to stiff us our pittance, and pittance it was indeed, but in the end the efforts of Mr. Saigon brothel paid off.

Now hear this, though. The Comman on Denman at Comox? Don't go there. If they're the sorts of folks who try to rip people off of what amounts to pocket change in exchange for a full house and 3.5 hours of music, then fuck'em. There are other dives to frequent. Spend your money elsewhere.

Hoping to go for a meeting with a local producer who I've done some singing with. He's got a ton of experience, runs a studio in Vancouver and is an incredible vocalist in his own right. I'm going to go pick his brain about the next steps. I think it's gigging time, to say the least, and I have had requests from two small radio stations for demo copies for them to play, one of whom will be doing an interview with me and has offered to do a spotlight on the satellite station. Tres bien.

On another note, this came from the BBC - pay special attention to the last paragraph:

"A US court-martial in Afghanistan has found an American soldier guilty of mistreating two prisoners at a military base in Uruzgan province.
James R Hayes was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to maltreat and two counts of maltreatment, a statement from the US military in Kabul said.
His punishment includes four months in prison in Kuwait.
Another soldier faces a court-martial over the same incident which took place last July.
His trial is due to start on Monday.

The US military says the detainees did not require medical attention.
Human rights groups have often accused US forces of abusing Afghans held at US detention centres in the country.
No pay
Specialist Hayes was accused of punching detainees in the chest, arms and shoulders.
The US military said his punishment would comprise:
reduction in rank to private
total forfeiture of all pay and allowances for four months
confinement for four months.
"The command takes this matter very seriously," Marine Lt Col Bob Fifer said in a statement issued to journalists on Saturday.
'Discredit'
A third soldier is also facing "non-judicial punishment for allegedly having knowledge of the abuse and not reporting it through the unit's chain of command", the army said on Friday.
The charges against the soldiers came in October close on the heels of accusations that US forces burned the bodies of Taleban fighters, an act considered sacrilege in Islam.
At least eight prisoners have died in US custody since 2001.

In September, a US military interrogator was sentenced to five months in prison for assaulting a detainee in Afghanistan who later died.
Five other US soldiers have been convicted following the deaths of two prisoners at the military base at Bagram, outside Kabul, in 2002."

So, apparently, if you kill somebody by beating them in an enclosed interrogation facility so badly that they end up dead, that's worth one more month than if you punch them a couple times, which is also not f'ing cool. A little voice in the back of my head is adding, "...well, they're not American...and we're at war..."

I don't get it. You're in a secured area, the man is disarmed, restrained and outnumbered. Sure you're "at war" but not in that room. You're not out in the desert, exposed, you're not on a mission, and you're certainly not defending yourself. How can you kill someone, and why are you not forced to pay the legitimate cost of taking somebody else's life?

This shit floors me. I'm glad to see the first officer in this story getting his wrist slapped, but come on - does anybody else see a discrepancy there...?

Breathing deeply.

Has anybody out there read "The Life of Pi"? There are many references therein to taking "deep ujjal breaths" to steady oneself. I think that is one of the best pieces of advice a person can receive.

There is a fresh year ahead of me. Kind of like a lawn covered in freshly-fallen snow. Sans footsteps. I think this year I will hone my basic breathing skills to needle-like fineness. I don't make resolutions, but this year I am developing a kind of one-year plan in which I will learn to "follow my breath" as the Buddha says and let go of some of the rage I have.

I considered removing my last post. I wondered if it wasn't too angry and written while that anger was too new. I have chosen not to, and I have also decided not to explain myself, or any more about that situation. It's done.

[Deep, deep ujjal breath...]

Looking forward, the first draft of all the album artwork for my CD was mostly completed yesterday. Hooray! It's a sexy, sexy draft...it only gets better...hopefully someone at Arista will learn my name and put me to work for real. I think I will have to make that happen, rather than wishing for it. You can only live the life you make for yourself, after all. [Insert assorted other tired truisms here...]

Wishing peace and happiness to everybody I know, both those on good terms and bad. I hope everyone finds something that makes them content, or at least more so than they are now...

love and kisses
xo Red

Square one.

As if I needed any more material to add to the berth I already pull from creatively, the last intact segment of my heart gets blasted to smithereens.

Dumped. Again. Boo.

I gave it a second chance, even though I have never believed in second chances for dating relationships. I stretched my scarred, silly neck out.

I have been wrong a good many times, but I think that if you break up with someone, you probably felt strongly enough about not wanting to be with them that you decided to end it. You may be maladjusted in some way, but most of the inhabitants of earth are in some way or another.

This does not mean that you can ask them back and then go through that dumping rigmarole again, simply because all of your neuroses and self-sabotaging tendencies are still there. People are not Guinea Pigs. Do not treat them as such. If you want to get into a relationship with someone, that's great. If you end it, and then ask them to take you back when they were badly hurt by you, be prepared to do things differently! If you are not prepared to make different choices, take different actions and do the work of a relationship, DON'T BOTHER ASKING SOMEONE TO TAKE A CHANCE ON YOU!!!

Jesus Christ! When is this shit going to stop?!?!

"It's when you throw your shoulders back and close your eyes to see, it's when you choose to be and only be..."

I love getting my writing up to a fairly consistent level of creation. I think the most frustrating creative times are during the seasonal change between late summer/fall and the almost immediate winter - nothing feels comfortable in the world around you. The autumn in Vancouver is beautiful, but it lasts two seconds! It seems to me that as soon as you can enjoy wearing a sweater during the day, you're suddenly freezing your balls off. Hardly the most conducive environs for creativity and creation.

I've written some of the best songs in my life in the last few months. There has certainly been a ready and available pool of life experience to draw from. Emotional tumult hasn't exactly been in short supply. However, in this time of year, I often fall into the trap of feeling too negative, run-down or just plain uninspired to write. It starts to feel like there's a giant fart waiting to burst out of you, or acid reflux. You can't get away from the feeling until something occurs to you, and becomes a new opus. Then, predictably, you think that the newest is the best thing you've ever created (see above...!)

I love to write. I love to create something that moves people, I mean REALLY moves them. I wrote a song for my sister and her new husband - it's a silly, jangly, bloody country song. The chorus goes "I love you, yes I do, I love you, yes I do..." and on and on. It's not my best technical performance - I took the first takes of virtually everything. I didn't have the harmonies worked out at all, I just sang them, then did the next, and the next. A few sour notes, yes. BUT, the exuberance is still there. The chest-splitting love I have for my sister and brother in-law is THERE in that song. All the messed up rhythms, the not-perfect tuning, my arms giving up from slapping my knees at the very end - it doesn't matter.

What I did, which I've worked my whole life to do, and treasure each time I accomplish it, is create a real, inspiring and inspired experience for anybody who chooses to listen to it. I don't mean a Vegas experience where one is ENTERTAINED, rather, it's a bit of a tuning fork that is pitched to a very human element that most people possess. We all have basic emotions that are balanced differently, but when they're expressed honestly and without abandon, it triggers a response, either defensive or commiserating. People's insides start humming when they hear something like this...

My tough, resilient sister, who practically raised me, wells up with tears when I play this song. She gets it. She's never been a cryer. She feels this song very truly. Which is great. Because it's for her, and her wonderful, amazing husband.

Back to the drawing board, time to stir up some more...

Love,

Red

Matrimonial Mayhem, or Elopement 101

What do you get when two people who have non-cut-and-dry families are together happily and productively for nine years, then decide to get married? You get a private, secret ceremony of the dearest, most romantic nature. You get two people who know what they want, and do it well before anybody else catches on...good fucking show.

Congratulations Jessica and Jeffery Campbell! Here come the in-laws!