beautiful, funny, sad & true

I’m selling a few instruments that I either don’t use anymore, or want to trade for something else. Here’s the list:

Danelectro baritone guitar
SOLD

Apple G4 PowerMac
800 mhz, 768 meg RAM
40 meg and 80 meg internal hard drives
USB wireless internet adapter
17″ Apple flat screen Studio monitor
keyboard and new Mighty Mouse
$800 or best offer

Gibson Les Paul Studio electric guitar
bought it new at Apple Music in 2001
wine red with chrome hardware
recently intonated (by me) and new strings
beautiful condition; less than normal wear
Gibson hard shell case
$800 or best offer

Kurzweil K2500XS synthesizer
88-key weighted keyboard
sampling option
Grand Piano daughterboard (best piano sound available!)
KDFX digital effects option
KB3 Hammond organ emulator option
all manuals and two instructional videos
two pedals (expression/volume and ‘double’ piano pedal)
SKB hard shell case (these alone sell for $300)
I’ve used this on many CD’s and most of the recording sessions I’ve been on.
I’m only selling it because it’s too heavy for me, and an 88-key synth won’t fit in my car. I’ll be replacing this with a Kurzweil rackmount version. The sound is phenomenal.
$1500 OR TRADE for a ‘loaded’ rackmount version of the 2500
or 2600, plus either some cash or another instrument

Yamaha DX7 synthesizer
80’s classic; still going strong
decent cosmetic condition; perfect working condition
comes with original manuals, music stand thingy, extra patch
cartridges, and even the rare breath controller
$200 or trade for guitar pedals? Something else?

PORTLAND-AREA PEOPLE ONLY, PLEASE.

Thanks for looking at all this. I’ll edit this entry as these things sell.
Please go to my profile and e-mail me if you’re interested.

Have a good day!

To continue on a theme that I started recently, I’ve been feeling better lately; better enough, in fact, that I don’t want anything to mess up my equilibrium. So I’ve pretty much given up coffee for the last week and a half, and only had wine a couple of nights in the last two weeks. I’ve been feeling much more like my happy-go-lucky self again, and less anxious and weird all the time.
This weekend, however, I had a couple of funny things happen that upset the metaphorical apple cart. Joan and I went out to see Paris Je T’aime on Friday night, and afterwards we went for sushi. After THAT, we went to Pix Patisserie for dessert. It was pretty fantastic, of course, but we also had a couple cups each of decaf coffee, which despite its name actually does contain some caffeine, as you know. So that, combined with the super-concentrated sugar in the dessert, kept me awake until around two in the morning.

At noon on Saturday, I went to the studio to play some parts for the new Susie Blue CD. (I played accordion, xylophone and Omnichord, just in case you’re keeping track.) I felt all cracked out and anxious the entire time, in a way that was obviously brought on by our post-movie binge the night before. After we were done recording, Susie invited EngineerJason and me to her dinner party that night. She, Jason and a couple of other people had gone mushroom hunting the previous day, so mushroom ravioli was on the dinner menu. Everything was made by hand, and it was mind-blowingly good. Naturally we had to have good wine with it, and also naturally, we had way too much of it, especially considering my practically monastic regimen these last couple of weeks.

So yesterday I was completely hung over. Slept till eleven, then just kinda dragged around for most of the day. I did manage to clean my kitchen and bathroom, though, so the day wasn’t a complete bust. Joan called at around five-thirty, and then she and I went to dinner at a new vegan restaurant called Nutshell. The food was incredible, and the service was fantastic, but there were a couple of things I think are worth mentioning that would keep me from giving it the glowing recommendation that it would otherwise get. The two-person tables are about a foot apart, which some people may not be bothered by, but Joan and I both felt pretty uncomfortable and self-conscious. Plus, when customers are getting up to leave or wash their hands, or waiters are delivering food, you’re more likely than not to be bumped, or get someone’s ass in your face, or worse. Plus, the room itself is reverberant and noisy enough that it can be a difficult to hear your own conversation, but everyone else around you is extremely audible. Like I said; these things may not bother other people, but introverts may have a tough time at Nutshell. To be fair, the restaurant is brand new, and I’m sure these quirks–and a few others that have been mentioned in various reviews–will be worked out over time. The food really is unique and stellar, and I’m definitely going back, but it’ll have to be a time when I’m in the mood for that kind of environment.

Today I’m back on track with the aforementioned monastic regimen, and I’m finally starting to feel my equilibrium returning. It was interesting, though, to have a test to see how all of the new changes have been working for me. I wanted to eliminate things that have been acting on my body, and keeping me on the roller coaster, so to speak, and I think giving up the coffee has made the biggest difference. I feel like I’m getting my easy friendliness back, and my sense of humor too; not to mention the fact that I’m even sleeping better. Crazy, how much something that we take for granted as a part of daily life can have such profoundly negative and strange effects on us.

Crazy how serious and long this blog entry is!

Tonight I’m meeting Crystin Byrd and her husband for dinner, and tomorrow night I have a Breanna Paletta gig. Breanna has another multi-instrumentalist friend who’ll be joining us on mandolin, and I’ll be playing cello, so this should be a cool combination. It’ll be the first time we’ve met or played together. Fun!

Here’s to a good pre-birthday week. The Big Day is now only seven days away!

I’m going to interrupt the ‘usual’ fare here at BFS&T to let you know about an important concert series I’ll be playing in. It’s starting October 9th and running clear through November, and it involves some of Portland’s biggest and best bands at some of Portland’s biggest and best venues.

The series is the brain child of Stephanie Schneiderman, who has teamed up with MercyCorps to raise money for Uganda relief. There’s been a largely unreported civil war happening there for the last twenty years, and the general population is really suffering because of it. Here’s a web site, where you can find out more about the cause and about the concert events:

Voices For Silent Disasters

It’s going to be a huge series of concerts. The Stephanie Schneiderman band–which I’m a member of–is playing on Friday, November 2nd at the Mission Theater. Amelia, Steph’s band, Richmond Fontaine, and the Joe McMurrian Band are all sharing the bill that night.

The series starts October 9th–with China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini–so that’s why I’m giving you an early heads-up. I’ll actually be playing twice in the series, once with Stephanie on November 2nd, and then with Susie Blue as part of a huge Songwriters’ Night on Saturday, November 10th, also at the Mission Theater.

* * * * *
Quote from one of the volunteers:
EVERYONE who is performing, donating venues, doing the lights, taking tickets, etc. is donating 100% of their time, talent and resources so 100% of the ticket sales go directly to Mercy Corps, who has the excellent track record of sending 97% of the donations it receives directly to its projects; the remaining 3% is for their administration costs.
* * * * *

If there’s a night that sounds particularly interesting to you, I recommend that you buy tickets early. Many of these nights will definitely sell out.

This is an amazing and worthwhile event, and I’m honored to be able to do my part. Thanks for your support!

Here are a few pictures from the play reading the other night.

The guy with the beard is the playwright.
The guy with the accordion and no beard is me.

This is Todd Sabel, the director. In the world of The Theatah, however, he’s known as T. Austin Sabel.

These readings are great fun, and I’m tremendously honored to have the privilege of attending them. Thank you, Todd, for giving me the opportunity!

I found these on YouTube tonight. They’re videos of songs by the Young Immortals; “The Fever” and “Motive”, respectively. Totally surreal for me, because Jake and I recorded these songs in my old apartment last year. He wrote the songs, and the two of us played all the instruments. Now “The Fever” is on a Starbucks compilation CD, and there are teenage girls making videos. CRAZY.

Cool!

Still it’s surreal, especially for an introvert such as myself. But ultimately, the music speaks for itself, much better than I ever could. “The Fever” is a smash hit.