Archive for October 2005
Three Days Of Rain
I paused at my door, bracing for the damage. A small patch of plaster greeted my first footfall. I looked up to a crater the size of a healthy watermelon, and smiled. My guitars were safe. My couch was unscathed. On scale with other’s recent losses to the sea and the sky, it was not…
Read MoreThe Great Beyond
For a minute there, I wasn’t sure this new record was gonna make it to you. Kevin — God bless his patient soul — thought his deadline was November 15th. Of course, as you know, Dear Reader, November 15th is the CD release at Pianos. And I need to have it into duplication well prior.…
Read MoreFuture 40s
For twenty-one excruciating minutes in a southbound cab last night, I was pretty sure that my performing days were nearly done. I was explaining the treatment for my “Mr. Rogers & Me” documentary to Christofer Sunday afternoon. Like my ill-fated “Jackie Chan” music video (we shot and released it, but Chan’s lawyers sent a cease…
Read MoreBelieve It Or Not (I’m Walking On Air)
Chris and I co-directed our first film in 1981. It was a big-screen remake of the beloved television show, “The Greatest American Hero.” I played Ralph Hinkley. He played the bad guy. We didn’t cast a William “Bill” Maxwell (Robert Culp). But we had our Pam. Jenny DeLuca was a dead ringer for Connie Sellecca.…
Read MoreThe Roof Is Leaking
I love Phil Collins. I can’t help it. He’s from a time before hip, from those precious days before my judgment. I don’t miss those times, solely because I never left them. While my colleagues can’t get past Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah, or The Unicorns, or whoever is the Flavor Of The Week,…
Read MoreInertia Creeps
It gave me pause. It was one of those moments where CNN is all you can hear in the newsroom. Everyone’s tuned into the same story, and listening closely. Commissioner Kelly (Commissioner Gordon’s nephew) sounded dire, warning of a “credible but unsubstantiated threat” in the coming days. I was talking with my colleague Ben Cosgrove…
Read MoreJesse Eisenberg Knows That Acting’s A Little Absurd — But He Loves It, Anyway
Speaking by phone with Jesse Eisenberg, it quickly becomes apparent that the young actor will probably never make the gossip rags for causing a ruckus or a scandal at a Hollywood party or club. That’s not why the 21-year-old co-star of the upcoming film, “The Squid and the Whale,” is in the game. Eisenberg’s seriousness…
Read MoreIt’s Hard
Rock ‘n roll is a fire set by young bodies. One day you wake up and smell your own flesh burning. Pete Townsend said that. I didn’t catch on to The Who right away. Chris had “It’s Hard” on vinyl, but his Sears Solid State stereo didn’t do it any justice. It wasn’t until one…
Read MoreIn This Heartland
I never know what to say when the music stops. That’s the first line from the title track of the forthcoming CD, “Heartland.” There’s a fair argument — over four years of Daily Journals — that says that’s not entirely true. I have plenty to say. Too much maybe. But it feels that way sometimes.…
Read MoreTunnel Vision
Ethan is obsessed with tunnels. Last month, Chris found a set of dominos in the cottage in Nantucket. Ethan insisted all weekend long that he build tunnels for his Matchbox cars. When Andrew and I visited him at Chris and Jen’s on Wednesday night, a pile of cardboard bricks towered over him. He toppled then,…
Read More