CornMo.com

The plan after the show in Eugene was to drive straight to San Francisco. Aaron (Duckmandu) would be doing that. I had uncomfortable sleep but at least I got sleep. I don’t know how he did it. On the morning of the 24th, we stopped somewhere near Mt. Shasta and it was beautiful.

somewhere between Eugene and Oakland is beautiful

convenience store wisdom I didn’t take. I got whoppers and jerky.

We arrived in Oakland at Aaron’s place which is a converted furniture store. It has a nice stage in the living room for his band to practice. I took a nap one of five couches and woke up to a call from my friend who told me he’d had dinner with Mel Brooks and watched him drink too much Grapa, giving him courage to do his act from his Catskills days. Gold. I went to the bathroom that housed a fishtank and one of the two fish was dead. The other one stayed at the other end of the tank.

Mel Brooks

12 Galaxies is named after a guy who has . . . I don’t remember. I met him, talked to him and have forgotten everything except that he carried a picket sign that said many things, one of the things being “800 Galaxies”, and that he did some spoken word before the set and walked through the crowd with his sign. I do remember him explaining the galaxies but the sound of his voice was trumped by everything else that was louder. I should have listened closer but I didn’t. Any local hero that has a place named after him should be listened to closer.

All of us, including Frank Chu, had good shows.

My friends, Jen and Rich, came to the show. I stayed with them. We played Guitar Hero and then Gears of War. I fell asleep as my guy was dying. Excellent dreams.

We stayed with Devin and Kiri, a couple from Portland with a big place. They made us crepes in the morning that featured tomatoes, basil, and strawberries from the front yard’s garden. Afterwards, Geoff went to visit his 90-year-old grandmother. Duckmandu went to the 76 station to get his van looked at.

circus door to the house. camera phone trumps efforts to prove it.

Devin had RBI Baseball on Nintendo. He knew that’s where I first used the name Corn Mo. Corn Mo was the name I had given my pitcher for my Nintendo baseball team. I haven’t played that game in a while. As I destroyed my opponent, he felt a bit let down, not from my bad ass pitching but because he thought the name came from the game. “Nope.” In the next phase of our time together, he brought out Dr. Mario. He put all the levels on the highest possible and mastered that level like a juggler throwing 9 balls in the air with little fretting.

note the name of the pitcher. only one system has the original corn mo pitcher in its memory. mine.

Jason and I went to KBOO to do an interview. I met a bearded lady at the radio station. She had Van Dyke that was very handsome. Best lady beard I’ve ever seen.

I played “You Finally Got Your Song” and did some talk. I wrote that song in Oregon so it seemed fitting.

filing system for albums

this record is filed under awesome.

file under new friends

satisfying knobs

My new friend, Geoff, reminds me of my old friend, David. I carelessly used the word doppelganger and understood that no one wants to know that there is someone similar to them unless maybe there is a blood relation. Everyone is unique. But I’m pleasantly reminded of my friend, David, while keeping that info from my friend, Geoff. I don’t mind when people say Meatloaf around me when I can tell they enjoy him, also. But, it would be proper if they said, “You remind me of Meatloaf(with songs by Jim Steinman).” Otherwise, it is only a dog barking.

The show was good. It was in an old church and was run by volunteers I think. They were really, really nice.

This was the first time I’d seen Geoff or Aaron perform. Both were fantastic. Geoff’s songs are haunting, funny, smart, and beautiful. Aaron does a lot of Dead Kennedy covers very well. I’d say he’s the most accomplished player in our group. He also does a fantastic “Stars and Stripes Forever” cover. I love John Phillip Sousa. Vladmir Horowitz does a great cover, also. So do The Residents. Jason went on last. He can hold a crowd in his hand like a street performer with no final trick. He’s a great showman.

My friend, Nick, came. His show just got cancelled. We were going to drink after the show to his show’s demise. They didn’t have beer at church and they shouldn’t. They did have wine, though.

The plans fell through and I stayed with my friend, Kathy, and her son, Joshua aka Jetpack McLeod. Her boyfriend, Chris, is also a great friend but he was in Montana installing a piece of art. Joshua is a brilliant eight-year-old whose knowledge of music sometimes surpasses Chris’. He’s interviewed bands before and began grilling me with questions as me and him and his mom went to 13 Coins for a late dinner.

Jetpack is on the right. Chris Weber is on the left. That’s you in the middle.

“What do you like to do? Do you like to draw? What’s your favorite band? What’s your favorite song? Have you ever done something and hid because you’ve felt guilty even though you did nothing wrong? What’s your girlfriend’s name? What’s your favorite soda?”

I got a reuben. And 2 pilsners.

I forgot I was flying out of Newark. I shouldn’t have had the plane booked out of Newark. It’s easy when you don’t have a lot of bags. Otherwise, it sucks. The cheapest way is to take the subway to the PATH train and get out at Newark Penn and transfer to a bus. The second cheapest is to take the subway to New York Penn and take Amtrak which was $37 when I checked. Amtrak is overpriced. Another way to go is by car service: $60. Dammit. I didn’t have time to do the other options.

The driver was nice and chatty but he couldn’t read road signs very well. I gave him the benefit of the doubt I’d had when he passed the exits for the airport. It’s his job and he probably knows a shorter way, I thought, so I’d leave him alone. He passed three exits and got on the turnpike so we were late getting to my flight. Turnpikes aren’t made for mistakes. I offered to help him get a job at my friend’s work.

Continental sucks. They’re the worst airline next to Northwest. A few years ago, I used a beat-up walker as a keyboard stand because it folded and was easy to carry. Continental wanted to charge me $90 as extra luggage. I told her it was hers to keep. She let it slide.

This time, I walked up to the gate and was about to ask something-

“Sorry , we’re not boarding yet.”

“Thanks!” I ignored her and ask the tired looking one as the sweet genius left. “I just wanted ask a question.”

“Sure, when I can clone myself into 5 people you can.”

“I just wanted to ask a favor.”

“Sure.”

“Is it cool if I get on early to put my instrument on?”

“Sure, I don’t care.”

This lady does need a clone. She’s tired and burned out. My old roommate worked for Jet Blue. She was nice and pretty. She quit because they overworked her. She was always able to garner cheap rum.

Jason met me at the airport.  He’s the guy that set up this tour.  Geoff had taken a train from Vancouver and was in the car.  Aaron was driving up from Oakland.  It was about 3am my time but I was awake.  Upon arriving in Everett, we passed by a place called McCabes. 

“I’ve lived here for years and never been in there.”

“Let’s go.”

We looked in and saw dance lights and some drunk dancing.  If not for the cover charge we may have gone in.  The music sucked and drinking beer with a cover charge isn’t fun.  It’s almost as bad as waiting behind a velvet rope to drink with a cover charge.