Regarding Hawaii, well, it’s Hawaii. Is it ever bad? My wife and I are going for our friends’ wedding. The couple is from Hilo so the wedding, as well as our lodging, will be in that area. We don’t have much of a budget for the trip, but it’s Hawaii. I could do nothing but attend the wedding and spend the rest of the week sitting on the beach and reading. My only goals for the trip are:

• Read through the books I’m bringing (Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck and Slipknot by Linda Greenlaw)
• Attend a beautiful wedding
• Avoid wearing closed toe shoes at all costs

Other than that, I am just looking forward to spending a week in paradise with my wife. I hope to come back rested, tan, tattooed and ultimately, more clear headed.

Which brings me to the other thing that has been keeping me busy. Launching a business is no mean feat. I have been doing this type work for a while now, more as a hobby than anything else. But times have changed. I love writing, in all it’s forms and I might as well make some decent money while I’m at it. So far I have designed my stationary (business cards, letter head and envelopes) and had a ton of ideas. Right now I am in the process of reigning those ideas in and focusing them into a viable business model, which brings my business plan. I’ve never written one before, but it seems straight forward enough. I’ll probably get to work on the actual writing of it tonight. I’ve spent the last couple days researching how to do such things. That, and my marketing plan. I can’t really write my business plan until I have a marketing plan in place. Again, lots of research. Writing is not a problem for me, it’s the business part of things I am need to learn. I am, however, not deterred. There are few things you can’t learn through a combination of book knowledge and old fashioned trial and error. I just hope this trial and error has a more positive outcome than my adolescent experiments with firecrackers. Poor dog.

Anyhow, things around here next week will be spotty to a possible shade of non-existent. Not that I’m neglecting things when I need to be most on top of them, but I’ll be in freekin Hawaii. On Vacation.

See you there.

Why Starbucks, why?

I don’t know if the promotion is cut, or if my local baristas just dropped the ball. I sincerely hope for the later. Hopefully they were just too busy this morning to get them set out. I guess I will have to subject myself to another soy latte tomorrow and see. Here’s hoping.

This weeks Pick of the Week is Is there Nothing We Could Do? by Badly Drawn Boy. Damon Gough’s voice is raw and honest. He tells the story of someone trying to help a woman escape her self-imposed prison. The lyrics are little disjointed, but they add a discomfort to the song which helps to identify with the woman. The music is both basic and monotonous. The strings, piano and guitar are subtly blended, which allows the listener to absorb the heart felt lyrics. An easy, repeated chord progression conveys the trapped feelings of the woman in the song; day after day, fighting futility and never moving to break free. The singer longs the help the woman, but can not make her see that there is a life beyond the one in which she feels so trapped.

Is There Nothing We Can Do? is a heart-wrenching song. Gough’s honest voice makes you want weep for the person trying to help. He bares his soul and brings you into his world. This is one freebee I would gladly pay for.

Has anyone else picked this one up? Any thoughts to share?

Starbucks has partnered with Apple, I suspect in an attempt to further respective empires, and every Tuesday they offer us the Starbucks/iTunes Pick of the Week. While I have reservations about both companies, this is an awesome idea. Each week they feature a new artist/song. You pick your free download card up from Starbucks, punch the code into iTunes and you get your free song. What a great idea. Sure Starbucks makes money off me be because I tend to buy my MEDIUM Soy Latte while I’m there, and Apple wins because occasionally the Pick of the Week is a real winner and buy more music by the chosen artist. But it also gives artists another outlet for exposure and gives me, and everyone else, a chance to discover artists we never would have heard of otherwise. Best of all, FREE MUSIC! Everybody wins.

I’m not trying to advertise for either company, we all know they don’t need the help. I just want to share with you a way I have found to experience music I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Have you found any favorites this way? What’s your favorite way to find new music?

This week saw more than a full house. I was really looking forward to it, but do to the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time festival there was not a seat to be found. My wife and I even got there early. I ordered my much anticipated chicken burrito and sat on the to go waiting bench to wait for our food and enjoy the music. I answered when I was called, and while I was waiting for them wrap up my food, I saw a table come and go, quickly. We hung out long enough to enjoy a couple of songs and raced our cooling dinner home.

It was still a lot of fun, and I loved the few tunes I got to hear, but I just can’t pull of standing and eating a messy burrito anymore.

I’ll be taking in a little more of the SFBOT Friday at the Freight & Salvage out in Berkeley. Look for a bit about the show here and a more formal review at The Deli.

If you have never experienced Bluegrass music before now is the time to get out of the house and get to one of these great venues. Bluegrass has a way of getting into you, now matter what type of music you like. Most of my favorite Bluegrass bands are playing this week: Black Crown Stringband, 49 Special, Alhambra Valley Band and Dalton Mountain Gang. I wish that I could catch them all, but alas, twenty fours just isn’t enough some times. Not to mention it would require me to be in two places at one time.

Ah well, what can one do. If anybody makes to any shows, let me know. I’d love to let you post a piece about them.

When cornered, I can never really pin down my favorite type of music. I cut my teeth on Country and grew up on Grunge. Somewhere along the way I learned to appreciate Bluegrass, Old-Time, Rock, Metal, Punk, Classical (and all styles this is generally meant to encompass) and who knows what else. Lately, since I have been playing Bluegrass, I have gained an appreciation for Old-Time music. It pulls us back to those earlier times we would all love to think were simpler. I think part of what attracts me to it is the relationship to the Scotts-Irish tradition.

One of the best thing about living in the Bay Area is that you can find just about anything you want. Especially if it’s music. The Old-Time band that I have really been into lately is Black Crown Stringband. John McKelvy’s vocals are ripe with that ring that is expected in Old-Time/Bluegrass music and are balanced well with the harmony vocals of Tim Hicks. The bands rhythm is flawless and Elise Engleberg’s fiddle will get your toe tapping and you blood pumping. The commitment the band feels to the music is portrayed in their performance. They show a polished professionalism that betrays the origins of their style of music. The transport you to an earlier and if you’re not careful you might catch yourself thinking that you’re in the neighbor’s barn on a Saturday night, competing for a seat with the livestock.

Be sure to watch for Black Crown Stringband at this weeks San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival.

The decor is warm wood, which gives it a homey feeling. I can hang out for hours just browsing the collection. It’s normally lacking the clutter that one typically finds at a used book store. I appreciate the neat clean appearance.

My wife and I were pressed for time so I didn’t get to spend much time temping myself. I really don’t need anything more to ready anyway. The rest of the day was spent watch the New Orleans Saints secure a very well deserved victory.

Justin Cole has taken one of these outdated bits of technology and once again made it useful once again. I finally have a use for that tape deck in the truck. Thank you Justin.