Monday 23rd of April, 2001
E-mail Tim at Scholastic about the Animorphs cover for this month.
Back to the guitar exercises - this time from Jody Fisher's web site - and readdressing the guitar solo. Again, I've forgotten whole chunks and need to rewrite those sections. My take on this is that if I can't remember bits of what I've written, then they can't have been that memorable to begin with. So it's either a useful winnowing process or a gross rationalisation of my dreadful memory. But it's coming on. Before lunch, I appear to have a whole Thing done, and can even play it all the way through, over and over, with only the odd hiccough, albeit at 80bpm.
The injured thumb is just enough of an irritant to impinge slightly on my consciousness. Let us see it as a Pointed Stick of some kind, shall we? A reminder that I'm not supposed to press on the neck too hard.
Chase up bits of work, but don't catch any.
Write cheques to cover various bills and put them in envelopes ready to go in the post. But it's only 3:00, I've plenty of time.
Mmm. Vast quantities of money out, but no money in.
Scary.
Call Joe Q to see if the CD and cassette covers came out alright, and he seems quite pleased with them, even though it sounds like the printers thought the CD file, which had been laid out in spreads, had in fact been imposed. But that doesn't actually mess with anything really badly, it just means that the credits (which were supposed to be on pages 6 and 7) are on the centre spread. And the other pages have been jumbled slightly, but then they were fairly jumbled to begin with. Apparantly I'm on the door for tonight's launch, so that's nice, if I'm in a marginally cashflow-sensitive frame of mind, which I suppose I am. We forgot to put a credit for me on the cover, but I don't mind particularly.
My spiritual life has improved since I've been doing people's CD covers for the karmic boost of it, anyway. And I'm sure it's good design practise.
After more metronome work, I can play the guitar solo all the way through, and in a very raggedy and halting fashion up to 168bpm, which is faster than it really ought to go (and thus probably the speed I'll end up playing it when I panic on its first outing). Still difficulty with the last couple of bars - do these need to be rethought even now?
The song now has the working title Almost Perfect but anyone using the title on conversation with me is likely to get blank stares - it's one of those curious interior things. Any mention of it from the outside will just leave me confused. I'm actually pretty bad with titles - usually they're just there for other people, so they don't get confused. Sometimes I'm asked for a title, and tell it, and receive a sort of "that's a rubbish title" look. Which may well be true, but by that time I've stuck the track on the internet and made literally dozens of CDs. By that time, it's what the track is called.
But Almost Perfect is the working title of the track I'm labouring on. And when you finally hear the finished song and wonder where the guitar solo has gone, don't ask. It will mean that I can't play it.
OK?
Before you hear it from anyone else:
In the kingdom of the mixed metaphor, the one-eyed man is worth two in the bush.
Get to the post-box just before 7:00, but it makes a worryingly hollow sound as the letters rattle down into it. I have a vague sense that the chap locking up the newsagent is laughing at me, perhaps because I have obviously made the effort to get to the post-box just in time and have got the just too late instead. Or is it just that paranoia has finally taken complete control of my brain and he is in fact laughing at ... I don't know, a funny tree or something.
Random thought - I need a whiteboard.
Off to the 12 Bar to Joe's launch. When I get there, I end up packing the CD artwork into the cases. I get carried away and do about fifty in the end - more than they need, certainly. It looks fab, I'm both relieved and impressed. And the cassette cover looks really good, too.
I must remember that printer for when I do my next CD.
Rob Mullender is the first on, while I'm still upstairs doing the CDs. I'd booked him for the Soundwave on the night I came back from Sassoferrato - I was totally fritzed before I went, and had my mind fairly expanded when I came back, and he didn't play. The evening turned out well in the end - a lengthy set from Mr McGee, which I enjoyed tremendously - but I owed Rob, ao I've booked him for the 27th of May. Marvellous stuff - yearning, soaring vocals. And he has a double-bass player, which is always a good thing.
Speaking as one.
Naked Angel do the second set, with Kat using Joe's Rhodes (sounds lovely, I think), and eventually Joe goes on. I stay for two numbers - a new song about suburban lads (I think) and Bones from the album, with Will from Naked Angel joining in on Djembe. Very powerful song Bones. Then I have to get home, bed, sleep. I'm turning into a sad old man. I probably mentioned that before.