Brian Wilson, Jeff Beck, and Micky Saunders

Despite my looming cold, Sharon and I had a great weekend seeing our friend Micky Saunders playing with PANDORA at the Continental Club in Glendora (our dinner bill was only $44 with 4 rum & diets!) and then using our free, KLOS BLOOD DRIVE tickets to see Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck at the Greek.

The seats were almost back there with the Tree People, but we were in direct alignment with the stage, and unlike the Bowl it's really tough to get a bad seat at the Greek. We even lucked out on parking, after circling the venue for 15 minutes waiting for the lots to open. Out of there in a killer 15 minutes!

Great show. Brian wasn't always on key (even more than usual) and it'd be nice if he threw a couple more lead vocals to Al Jardine... but the band was amazing (always love seeing Darian Sahanaja on stage!) and Jeff Beck dazzled with some classic Jazz-prog guitar.

Below, my mandatory shitty cell phone pic.

UPDATE: forgot to mention running into my friend Chris and his wife Connee. Chris had said he couldn't afford the tickets, but I guess he decided he could! They were close enough to "borrow" the Jeff Beck setlist from the nerdy kid who grabbed it!

Really? AGAIN?!!!

Because I like to make note of these things, I must sadly disclose that I just caught MY THIRD COLD OF THE YEAR.... totally blowing my recent average of once a year.

And though I hate to blame people with thankless jobs, I know this came from Elizabeth's Parent-Teacher night at Hollywood High, because I found myself in very close proximity with one coughing teacher and another who complained about having a headache and feeling sick.  In both cases I had no hand sanitizer and was sitting very close just to hear them speak above the din.

Reminds me of when the kids used to bring home colds and the flu from elementary school!

No work today so I'm safe there, at least.

Stedmuro Finished at Last!

Russ Stedman just sent me the mastered version of our collab CD, and it sounds amazing!

Now, finally, after 2.5 years of off & on recording (mostly OFF) this project can go to the printer! It will be a small run, but I'm sure Russ will have it available as a download as well.

Russ points out that we actually started talking about doing this in 2010 (or earlier?) but I didn't finish Dino's 50 until early 2011, so that's when I start counting.

Now... next project? Probably an outtakes collection called Dino's 56, and after that another solo CD - just a single, non-grandiose disc project.

UPDATE: The CD is printed and released! (In very small quantities, but still...)
It can be bought HERE, and a free download will soon be available.

http://www.russstedman.com/stedmuro.html

Waterlogged!

Two weeks or so since my last post, and I'm still huffing the albuterol and still coughing way too much, but the chest is clear and I can sleep and I've signed with Soundelux for another year, so things are looking up.

Well, except for this morning, where I spent a lot of time looking down at my flailing body parts in the L.A. Fitness pool with Sharon. She wanted to start a water aerobics class, so I tagged along, thinking I could just bob in place if things got tough. Not a chance! We had a great instructor but she immediately came and talked with us because we were new, and there was no way I was gonna be allowed to "skate" (or bob!) through her class!

Felt great, though, and we plan to return tomorrow and as often as possible during the coming weeks.

My Current Drug Regimine

I feel like Hunter Thompson or Tim Leary  (except, still alive!)

This is what I take every day to get through my bronchitis, pneumonia, and chronic cough:

Levofloxicin
Q-var inhaler
Albuterol treatments as needed
vicodin (for back and chest pain)
xanax (for sleep and anxiety)
Doxycycline
Steroid rescue inhaler
Codeine cough syrup

I'm finally feeling semi-functional today, and am hoping I can sleep through the night without my 3:00 AM coughing jag.  Back to the doc on Friday for follow-up.

Escondido Resorto

Had a great weekend at the Welk Resort in Escondido with Sharon and the Gower family: Nick, Friday, and Elizabeth.  This was our first "extended family" vacation and it was a lot of fun. Our rooms were pretty much a modern apartment, with more than enough beds and kitchen space.

Sharon  mostly cooked, but we also had breakfast Sunday morning at the restaurant.

Of course, who catches a cold in the heat of summer? ME!! So I spent most of my time pretending I was trying to get better in Florida, sunning myself or attempting to sleep it off.

So much better than just another weekend at home!

Photos: Our back porch, and Nick with the entire pool to himself!

UPDATE

Well, of course, I can never just catch a cold. Been hacking myself to death for a week, and just had X Rays and found out I have bronchitis and the beginnings of pneumonia. Another day off work!

Elmwood Lives On!

In spite of myself, and against my own better judgement,  I started writing the ELMWOOD sequel while I was off work for a couple weeks.

My plan was to hit all my journals and tapes and do a massive amount of research, but I miss writing about those characters so much that it just started pouring out of me. I did check a few files here and there but the writing has mostly been pretty automatic.

I guess it's more for me than the 30 (max) people who have read Elmwood!

Added later:

Still kicking around titles.

How about: ELMWOOD II - The Continuing Adventures!