Don’t Let Those Dream Planes Crash

I dreamt last night that America was under attack. As a fighter jet circled low overhead, I said to my suburban neighbor, ‘This is the part of the dream where the plane always crashes,’ and waited for it to go down.

But it didn’t. Instead, the scene cut to a ‘West Side Story’-type neighborhood — all brick tenements, fire escapes and clotheslines — to which we were retreating from the attackers, now on foot and firing mortars and small arms. I crouched on a rooftop, took aim at a distant sniper, and felled him. Outnumbered, we retreated to the Hudson River, crowded with refugee-packed skiffs and ‘Mad Max’-era tankers, and sailed off towards uncertain, unsteady safety.

I awoke from the dream to the most beautiful New York City morning of the now-waning summer. I turned off the air conditioning, threw open the windows, and got to work cleaning my apartment to an NPR soundtrack.

Now then, the current events debrief before I go forth to enjoy the day.

In music news, Kevin is still fighting the bronchitis that has plagued his summer. Hence we took Thursday night off, and will return to the studio in earnest Sunday. Bassist Tony Maceli is joining us to lay down some additional guitar tracks on ‘Never Be The Same’ and ‘New York,’ and then we’ll do a little maintenance: compositing Jason’s electric tracks, and cleaning up any punches (the studio word for dropping a fix into the middle of a track for clean up in post).

After tomorrow, we’re likely to let the record rest for almost two weeks as I deal with the Video Music Awards (August 28th on MTV!), and the week of vacation (Nantucket!) that follows. In early September we’ll tackle final vocals, any additional percussion, and Julia Kent’s cello parts. And then we’ll mix. Total recording time: eight weeks. If we stay on schedule, it’ll be a miraculous contrast to the two years of work on ‘Crash Site.’

In an effort to get my ass outside, here are two more sets of thoughts, then I’m rolling. First, a list of creative projects that occupy my waking mind:

Work
New album
Mr. Rogers documentary
‘New York’ music video
‘Living Room’ Tour ’03
‘Six Boroughs’ Tour ’03

Second, my to do list:

Run NYRRC 18-Miler
Buy sneakers
See ‘Step Into Liquid’ and/or ‘Secret Life of Dentists’
Buy new My Morning Jacket album
Send invitations to 32d birthday party
Get tix for UCB ‘Pretty In Pink’

And so, have a great day. Don’t let those dream planes crash; don’t let those dream invaders win. I’m not really sure what any of that means, but I’ll bet it has to do with persistence.