40 GAMES INJeff Francoeur and nonsense talk. bit.ly/10HTavUThis Royals' season has been more fun, in some ways, than the last 5 or 6 put together. But it is likely time to call the club to account for their tendency to stick with commitments that aren't working. The Davies-Hochevar-Francoeur era has definitely had a Hogan's Heroes-meets-Bad News Bears quality to it. One year of Santana and two years of Shields are available to us now--the clock is ticking on this infusion of reliable starting pitching. The wasted starts are killing Royals fans. MONOPLANE + THE GOLDEN MOTORS @ THE FIFTY IN SALEM. FRIDAY 6/7The Golden Motors will be heading up to Salem in a couple weeks to play a show with Monoplane. It's neat to be playing a show with these guys, in part, because years ago I played a coffee shop gig in our state's capital and the only members of the audience were Monoplane guitarist Mitch Duafa (then in high school) and his buddy. I played the whole show to just them and it was great. Mitch and I have stayed in touch and I have posted a number of pretend customer complaints on his Facebook page about non-existent hardware he did not sell me at True Value. I also know David Ballantyne from dropping by Ranch Records over the years. Also: THEIR BAND ROCKS. I-POD SHUFFLE FOR A NICE MORNING RUN
In a wild rupture of daily routine, I went running this morning instead of in the evening, and it was great. I didn't have to dodge lacrosse balls at the track or frisbees at the frisbee golf park, and as of noon, the benefits of exercise have really made this an enjoyable day. I feel like I could jump into a barrel of monkeys, keep my composure, and get 'em all dressed for church. I've always reserved mornings for introspective time, writing, reading, and especially Morning Pages, inspired by The Artist's Way. But there are many ways to approach things.
Here's the slow jog shuffle playlist: Yoko Ono: Healing J Mascis: Make It Right Tommy Keene: Down, Down, Down Paul Westerberg: All That I Had Reptile House: Keel Haul Love Marnie Stern: Year of the Glad Fucked Up: Manqueller Man Camera Obscura: Lunar Sea Neil Young: Driftin' Back I'VE GOT TIME FOR YOU (LOW-FI HOME RECORDING)This is a tune I came up with a while back, after a Golden Motors gig with Redray Frazier and The My Oh My's. I'm doing a solo opener for them tonight in Portland and that reminded me to take another run at this song, Garageband style. You can download it for free, or choose to hit the tip jar by using the "name your price" feature. The Golden Motors record is heading into the mixing stage and any patronage helps get 'er done! best regards, dsj4 GO ROYALS So, we fell out of first place last night, so what--The Kansas City Royals in first place one day shy of one month into the season is still a special thing. What an amazing turnaround in starting pitching--and with an offense that is bound to improve. Last I checked Jason Upton still had more homers than us. Really pulling for the guys who are struggling--that has to suck. I'm looking forward to Punk Rock Bowling fest. Some footage of Flag has been showing up on the web, but I don't want to see it. I want to hear the opening chords ringing out, in person, and feel the crowd surge. That doesn't happen too often, and it definitely doesn't happen on Youtube. BAND PRACTICE IS FUN
Yesterday we had an epic run through of 25 songs--two albums and a new song. I also got to talk to a harbour seal up close, in Florence, earlier in the day.
  Next Golden Motors show is Saturday, June 22 @ Sam Bond's Garage in Eugene, with Paper Foxes and Pellet Gun. My next solo show is this Saturday, May 4, opening for The My Oh My's at Secret Society in Portland. 
JUST WOKE UP: VOLUME 7, APRIL 2013 Here's Volume 7 of Just Woke Up, my music podcast of tunes I dig, available for download here. Thanks to Rick Deiss for turning me on to the Half Rushmore album. More good pop music from up Seattle way. It goes without saying that supporting artists by buying their music feels good for everybody. Say hi--extend your goodwill, go to a show, and enjoy. HALF RUSHMORE: FIVE THIRTY THREE TONY ALLEN: CELEBRATE RY COODER: POOR MAN'S SHANGRI LA PANBERS: HAAL (SHOCKING, SHAKING DAYS: INDONESIAN FUNK) SONIC'S RENDEZVOUS BAND: CITY SLANG DESCENDENTS: ONE MORE DAY THE MY OH MY'S: I NEVER KNEW IAN HUNTER: ARMS AND LEGS MARNIE STERN: YOU DON'T TURN DOWN TSEGUE-MARYAM GUEBROU: HOMESICKNESS ALEMAYEHU ESHETE: NEY-NEY WALEBA MEAT PUPPETS: TIME AND MONEY MOTT THE HOOPLE: WALKIN' WITH A MOUNTAIN THE PEDAL JETS: GIANTS OF MAY VINICIOUS CANTUARIA AND BILL FRISELL: LA CURVA LES LOUPS NOIRS D'HAITI: JET BEGUINE PARTY PEOPLE IN THE HOOD
Last night we took a pleasant late evening walk over to The Pantry and Pub for dinner. They have a nice patio where Pablo can hang out. He took full advantage of it, and exhibited a Dozer-like behavior: jumped up on top of our table and began eating delicious homeade potato chips.
The Pantry and Pub is the only place of its kind in the Fairground neighborhood, which is starting to spark a little bit--Eugene Coffee Company, Top City Frozen Yogurt, and of course, Bi Mart, if you need duck decoys, crab pots, or bridge mix. It's not exactly zoned for an insurgence of uptown shops but it'll do. The Pantry and Pub features a menu item called The Man Salad. It's a salad completely buried in steak and french fries. There was some lettuce on it, but I threw that over my shoulder. I loved it, and think it is worth the trip over to 18th and Chambers. The only problem was I went home and immediately fell asleep with my new guitar on my chest. Enjoying this record:    |
