This Yellow Taxi Cab In Which I Ride

I am finally home after being on a honeymoon for a week. I had a great time, though the camera has vanished. I am positive it will turn up, however, because if I were to find a lost camera I would do everything I could to find the owner and return it to him or her. Anyways, before I went away I put another video up on YouTube, but I didn't have time to post it here. It is a cover of "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison. Someone already watched it and rated it. It got two stars, which isn't too good.

I saw Stardust . I am still unsure of what to think. I enjoyed the movie -- I can certainly say that. I hope that others go to see it because I think they will enjoy it too. It was silly at times. The humor was definately not typical comedy humor. It was more that it was so absurd and so random that it took you by suprise. There was also the subtle love story. It was by no means a dumb romatic comedy. The romance part of it was totally acceptable (there are plenty of movies that contain unacceptable amounts of romance -- these movies should be destroyed). There was also a whole lot of adventurous aspects to the story, which was pretty cool. Overall, it was a really good movie. Stephanie, who is not an over the top Neil Gaiman fan like me, loved the movie. I, of course, am more than familiar with the story of Stardust as I have read the book at least four times. Thus, the changes made for the movie version pre-occuppied me every once in a while. I tried to ignore it and just enjoy the ...

Tonight, I'm going to see Stardust ! I'm pretty excited about it because the movie Stardust is created from the book Stardust , which was written by Neil Gaiman, who is my favorite author ever. I'm quite prepared for the movie to not reach the same expectations that the book did, so as not to be let down. Still, I think it will be a pretty great movie. Also, if the movie as a whole isn't just-like-the-book, some of it will be. Those parts will be exciting to watch, to say the least. On another note, I'll be doing some cell phone shopping. I'm hoping to upgrade to something that has mp3 capabilities -- not because I'm a tech savvy cell phone geek, rather, I simply want to listen to music at random times and I don't want to carry around a cell phone and an mp3 player. Finally, I need to get a pair of shorts for the cruise that I'll be leaving for next weekend. It's a honeymoon. Wow. I'm getting married in a week!

I attended Caffé Lena's open mic night on Thursday -- time out: is it mic? or mike? the debate rages on. You see, to spell it as m-i-c would be a slap in the face to the English language (which, if you ask me would be fair, as the English language constantly slaps its users in the face with ridiculous rules that make very little sense to anyone aside from those who study it and, thus, accept it). M-i-k-e should be the proper spelling, as is so eloquently described by Samuel Bayer , a warrior in what I can only say is the most pointless war since the Iraq one (Yeah, I said it). Many open mic goers prefer m-i-c because it looks right, being that "microphone" is first spelled m-i-c, not m-i-k, and "mic" is short for microphone after all. I tend to side with the m-i-c people, because as ridiculous as this debate is, I need something to blog about. Also, the first time I saw it spelled out, it was spelled m-i-c, not to mention the fact that "Mike" is a dude...

I put another video up on YouTube. I had intended on uploading "Endless", however the length of the video is five minutes and two seconds -- which, YouTube tells me, is two seconds too much. So, I'm going to have to cut it a little to fit it in. Of course, that will take a little time, and I just don't feel like taking that time right now. Instead, I uploaded "The Road to Nowhere." ----------- On another note, I just spent the last two and a half hours listening to new age Celtic music. I'm trying to find a really dynamic and modern representation of traditional Celtic music. Why? Long story. Trust me, don't get me started. At any rate, do you think I could find a decent collection? Just one? No. There is a lot -- I mean, A LOT -- of new age Celtic music out there, but it all seems so compressed and repressed. It's all too "nice." What I've listened to is mostly on the verge of elevator music. There are no highs and lows; it's a...

Insomnia -- I have not been sleeping too well. Pretty much since I started teaching summer school, I have been over anxious and my typically high level of anxiety has skyrocketed. Basically, this is caused by uncertainty -- something that I often write about in songs. I'm uncertain as to if I will succeed as a teacher. I'm afraid to do the wrong thing -- an unfounded fear, as I have been well trained to teach and I, for the most part, know what I'm doing. But, for some reason, I think that I don't know what I'm doing. Which, if you think about it, is quite rediculous. I should just get some confidence and stop worrying... but, I can't. It's 12:03am -- which is just after midnight in case you are one of those people who can't figure out if 12:00am is midnight or noon -- and I'm at my computer because I'm not tired. Even if I was tired, I know I wouldn't fall asleep for at least an hour if not more. I got home from Lena's about 15 minutes ...

Last Thursday was a great open mic night at Lena's. Some friends, whom I have not seen in quite some time, were there. We shared songs and stories and got caught up. It was really cool. One such friend suggested forming a songwriter "super group," in which I replied, "Like the Eagles?" I'm not sure if the group will ever be more than just a dream, but I'm hoping to at least rehearse some songs and play them randomly at each other's solo gigs. I have been kind of stale -- as far as song writing goes -- for a while now. I'm not sure of what my deal is, but I'm trying not to worry about it. I went through a similar stint of what might be considered writer's block a year or so ago. I was afraid, at the time, that I was at the end of my inspiration and that I might not be able to write anymore. However, I eventually broke out of it and wrote a pretty decent song. Anyway, I'm looking forward to branching out a bit (for example: playing in ...

I have finally had some good fortune in the realm of music. It may be not seem like a big deal, but after all of the failures that I have been having, it's good to at least accomplish something. A few weeks ago I took some video of a few songs. The sound was bad for some reason, and the picture was quite dark. I tried again yesterday. The video turned out well quality-wise; however, the beginnings and endings needed to be clipped (I had to turn the video camera on and off myself, and before singing I took a deep breath and cleared my throat -- something potential viewers didn't need to see). This caused a problem when I tried using MovieMaker. For some reason the sound became distorted when I imported the file. I thought this was going to be another failure for me. Luckily, however, I was able to import the files back into the camera and clip them appropriately. The only thing that is mildly disappointing is that it doesn't fade in and out, and there are no titles or credit...

I decided to make some updates on my website. Some of them are quite obvious to the keen observer; most of them, however, are behind-the-scenes type updates that are going to make my life much easier should I need to make any major changes to the site. First, and probably most obvious, is the home page. I changed the layout a little and added a little journal/blog entry teaser. I got the idea for it from neilgaiman.com -- the webpage of my favorite author. He has a pretty famous journal, which many of his fans read often. It is quite entertaining. Anyway, I liked how his home page reveals a few sentences of his journal as a teaser. I tried so hard to replicate it for my own site, but was failing miserably. I couldn't get the right code to work with the set up that I had. A lot of the code that I was finding was way more involved than I needed it to be and, thus, quite cumbersome to figure out. So, I decided to email Neil's site administrator to see what they used. The next day...

Do people even read the titles of blog posts? Hopefully not. My friend, Bill -- who attended my show at MochaBlend last week, and who took pictures and video with his digital camera and cell phone -- sent me the aforementioned pictures and video. Here are a couple that Bill took with his cell phone -- Verizon, I think. The rest of his pictures, as well as the ones that Stephanie took, can be found here . Unfortunately, the video didn't come out too good. While it certainly depicts me playing and singing and generally looking like a hip, confident rock star -- something I am most certainly not -- the sound quality is rough. I could only stand to listen to it for a minute or so before I turned the volume off. I may decide to cut and paste bits and pieces of it into a brief showcase video, where you can see/hear parts of a few songs. If I do decide to do it, it will be under a minute in length.

While in Lake George this past Saturday night, we were stopped by a random person and asked for some information. Wayne, as he later introduced himself, was from Staten Island and was looking for something to do. As an "adult" he needed to be where there was "adult" stuff happening--music, dancing, clubs, etc--not family stuff. I pointed him in the direction of the bars--although, I regretfully informed him that I didn't know of any clubs--after which, he told us that he was staying in an area that had nothing but "water and trees," and that he drove until he found some lights. Which is where he was when he found us. It was quite an entertaining conversation. Stephanie and I played minature golf at Pirate's Cove (twice--two different courses) and got ice cream at Bob's Ice Cream--the go to place for ice cream in Lake George. We also had dinner, earlier in the evening, at Jitter's Cafe in Saratoga. ------ On Friday, we had gone to Fresnos af...

Last night was the MochaBlend Cafe show in Troy. Overall, things went pretty well. I had a great crowd that included a bunch of friends and some casual listeners--pretty much all of whom gave me nice compliments on their ways out. MochaBlend is a great cafe. The seats are incredibly comfortable and plentiful. It's a small place, as most cafes are, but it doesn't feel crowded. The performance space works quite well; I was able to play to everyone. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too great while I played. Earlier, I had hurt my neck. I'm not even sure how it happened, but I pulled a muscle pretty badly. Badly enough that I went to the chiropractor for help. Still, during my set, I was in pain. I played two sets with no set list. The first set was a little iffy, as I was trying to save my best songs for when more friends came. My second set started out pretty good. I played some of my more upbeat songs at first, then I tried to slow things back down. For some reason, I cou...

Last night at Caffé Lena's open mic the task of hosting fell up on my shoulders. I have done it a couple of times before when the normal host needed a day off, but it has only been a couple of times and each time I do host, it is still a new experience. Hosting is difficult. You must be entertaining and engaging. You have to keep the listeners listening and be sure that they give all levels of performers their attention. I got some nice compliments regarding my hosting skills, so I must not be too awful at it. This is a jpeg of the list of performers. It is all scratched up because many people switch places and some decide to leave as the night progresses. ------ Tonight is the MochaBlend show. I am quite excited about it. My friend Maurizio lives near the cafe and told me that it is a great place to play. I am listed in the Times Union's Preview, which is a section of the newspaper that lists events in the area. It's very exciting to see your name in print, even if it is j...

We had a crazy hail storm here the other day. I took some video of it and edited it down to less than two minutes. It was pretty crazy and a little scary--as can be discerned by Stephanie's statement in the video. Here is a picture of a "golf ball sized" piece of hail. It's kind of amazing how hard these things actually are. A careful inspection of the photo will also reveal some of what we occassionally eat here in the James Frederick residence. ------ Last night I attended the Fulton Book Company open mic and stayed for the featured performer, who was no other than my neighbor Bill Ackerbauer . He does an old-time folk, blues, country style. Some of the songs he played were from songwriters whose names I hear often at Lena's--Mississippi John Hurt, for example; all, really rootsy stuff. And played quite well. I played "Endless," "Walking; Standing Still," and "Sink or Swim." Bill gave me English teacher points for using the key...

I have been neglecting of this blog lately. And for that, I apologize. Actually, I have been quite busy with more pressing matters of various important natures. Even so, I have had time to enjoy some interesting experiences of which I would like to share. Here goes: Saturday the 9th, I played a lunch time show at the Coffee Planet in Ballston Spa. Things went well. Although, I had a difficult time bringing my songs down to the level in which they are intended to be played. At lunch time, there are a lot of folks coming in for food, waiting in a haphazardly developed "line" for their food, and then leaving with their food to eat outside or somewhere else or occasionally not leaving and chatting with their companions while I play. The "line" in which I speak of is often formed directly in front of where I was set up, and in between me and the rest of the restaurant--which causes difficulty for the performer who can't really make eye contact with the people sitting...

This past Friday I found myself involved in a new experience. Some friends and I journeyed to Saratoga in search of something to do. Last summer, we frequented a pool hall tucked away in a back alley called Backstreet Billiards. It was kind of cool. None of us are really great pool players, but we hang out, listen to classic rock on the juke box, and my friends can drink beer. We also make fun of each other when we hit really terrible shots. It's fun. We decided to do that again. On our way up the alley, we all sort of sensed something different. We didn't talk about it, but after we left--much later--we all agreed that we felt something. There were an awful lot of people hanging around outside. In the past, the place was always nearly empty; out of the eight tables that they have, there would usually only be three taken up. I opened the door to the place and was met by a bouncer dude who asked us for our IDs, which was something that had never happened before. At the same time...

This is probably going to a quick, and--quite possibly--unintelligible, post as I am quite tired and am looking forward to re-introducing my head to my pillow. However, I wanted to get something down about the show last night (Saturday 5/5) before I get caught up in the week and forget about everything that happened. I played at Jitters Cafe in Saratoga/Ballston Spa (it's like right on the line, I guess--no one is quite sure which city it is in). Jitters is awesome. They truly have the best cafe style food that I have ever tasted--and I have tasted a lot of cafe food. If I didn't live so far away, I would definitely visit Jitters more often. I had a chicken quesadilla. They put black olives and onions and green peppers on it; it's delicious! I played fairly well. I did mess up some songs. I actually destroyed Crayons and was momentarily--and mostly introspectively--frustrated with myself for doing so. The other mess ups weren't as obvious and I was able to recover with...

Regarding PWNED . It is 12:48 am. I have not found myself awake at such a time in so long that I have forgotten the euphoric feeling associated with the complete lack of sleep that I currently suffer from. How did I get to this point? Read on. This past Saturday was the beginning of a nor'easter (I am really liking wikipedia tonight! or is it morning?). Sunday morning I awoke to nasty snow, sleet, rain, etc. Which really sucked as I was scheduled to play at Slow Jed's from 12-2. Well, I had to cancel. But not before I packed up my car with all my gear and attempted to brave the wicked driving conditions. Once on the Thruway, I passed a car that was pulled over on the side of the road. About 10 minutes later, another car. This one appeared to have slid off the road. A few minutes more and there was a two car accident, both vehicles were off the road and facing directions that were not equivalent to the direction of traffic on that side of the Thruway. No more than a minute late...

I am recovering from a wicked sinus infection that--combined with the initial antibiotics that I was given--has completely wiped me out. You see, they first game me something called Levaquin. After just one does, however, I thought I was going to die. Without getting into too much detail, I was stricken with some of the worst stomach symptoms one can imagine. On top of that, my joints ached so bad I could barely walk; I had the shakes; my eyes went in and out of focus; and I had mild hallucinations (yes, mild). That was on Monday. It has taken the rest of the week just to get over those side effects. The second antibiotic is taking care of the sinus infection. Before the illness, I played at Jitters Cafe as the opener for Ryan Jenson. First, let me say that Ryan is absolutely amazing! I have seen this guy play at open mics a few times and I have always thought that he was a great songwriter and entertaining performer. However, seeing him do a full show with 100% energy was downright un...

Let me begin by revisiting the last entry that I recorded here in blogger. It was a concert survey. One of the questions asked was the following: Coolest thing to get at a concert?: My response was: Autographs... and/or guitar picks, drum sticks, set lists--you get the gist... I have some of all of such things, minus the drum sticks, in my concert diary. That answer has been changed slightly since the Pete Yorn concert @ The Egg in Albany Tuesday night. The line, " minus the drum sticks " must now be replaced with " including a drum stick ." More on that later. Firstly, I had a blast! I attended the show with some excellent companions, ate at a nice Chinese/Japanese restaurant before the show, sat in row A, sang along with 90% of the songs, got to stand up and dance (well, not really dance but, you know what one does at a concert), and took some pictures. Some of which came out blurry... but you get the idea. This man is so cool. More coolness. ...