-- Dusty Springfield. Especially "Dusty in Memphis." THAT is music that will make you feel better, no matter how much pain you carry.
-- The new Radiohead album, sold online for "what ever you think it's worth." How often is a band this groundbreaking on both the artistic and commercial fronts? Appreciate this band while they are around... there may never be another one like them.
-- Cassis French Bistro in Overland Park, KS. Man, we had a great meal there. And they have some super cool and talented kids working there. Trust me KC: it's worth the drive. Yes, even to Town Center.
-- Jeremy and Brandi asking me to officiate their wedding. Yes, I'm serious. In Mexico, no less. Boy, is this gonna be fun...
-- Mexican food at Loteria in the LA Farmer's Market. I still think it might be the best in town... and yes, I know that is a BOLD statement.
-- RN at CMJ and with the Meat Puppets in New York. I wish I had some vacation days...
-- Duane Trower and Nick Tamburri (again, these are holdovers).
-- Harry's Bar and Tables. God, I miss you guys. My liver disagrees, but what does he know?

So, to everyone involved in this coming Saturday night:

Thank you.

Shawn Sherrill, Steve Tulipana, Duane Trower, Dave Gaume, Jason Cantu, Hanu Brown Eagle, Coalesce, Appleseed Cast, The Life & Times, Blackpool Lights, Rich Boys, Beautiful Bodies, Sal Retta, Ad Astra Per Aspera... everyone. The Pitch. The recordBar staff. The bartenders at Harry's where we will celebrate.

It's going to be a great weekend. I can't wait to be there.

See you all soon...

xoxo,
-bob

So I've decided that I'm causing myself brain damage. Not the "smash it against a wall" kind of damage, but rather the "fill it so full of good and stimulating things that shit starts to fall out" kind of damage.

Here's what I'm dealing with: I'm working on two film projects at once, transitioning into a totally new work routine, taking on a partner who will run and eventually own my business, and also looking for a new place to live in LA. Everything on this list is awesome. But the sum of these items is greater than the regular volume of my brain.

Two days ago, I found a dry cleaning ticket that is almost two months old. And it's not for a sweater, or a scarf, or something I never wear. It's for two Italian suits that cost an embarrassing amount of money. That same morning, I locked my keys in my car. Today, I damn near ran out of gas. Seriously. My car was coughing and lurching. Who runs out of gas in a city with pumps every 250 yards?

I'm telling you... it's brain damage.
(And this little blog stop in procrastination station isn't helping, either!)

The good shit in my life is taking over the brain space dedicated to every day life functions. I gotta get a handle on things before more essential tools get pushed out of my head.

I need an assistant. Or an act of Congress to extend the day to 32, or maybe even 36 hours. Or perhaps a clone: two of me would be good, too.

In the meantime, forgive the neglected e-mails or the flaky behavior. I should have all of my brain back soon...

-- Some punk Russian mafia asshole hacking my page and plastering bullshit Macy's giftcards on the pages of my friends. Virtual or no, my "friends" are important to me. Sorry for the hassle.
-- Pete LaPorte leaving RN for San Francisco. Bummer. The good news is, he'll be closer to me and we'll drink beer more often.
-- 8 hours in a day, 40 hours in a work week. Let's be honest, there needs to be at least 15 percent more hours in a day to get anything done right. And right now, I'm surrounded by smart people with too much to do. Thus, they waste my time without trying.
-- Missing the Battles show at recordBar, and then again here in LA. Drag.
-- Car Insurance.
-- Potentially ruined hard drives, thanks to our ever-vigilant protectors at the TSA. Thanks for zapping my music collection with your wand, asshole. I really feel safe now.
-- LA real estate prices. We need an earthquake to bring these housing costs down. I need a backyard.
-- Rudy Giuliani.

-- The Elysian Park Lowrider car show. Blue ribbons to the Lifestyles car club. You've never seen Impalas like these...
-- Laura Hessenflow and her canine comedy partner Rocco. "Hey lady, can we pet your dog? Or is he mean? How you get his teeth to look like that?" (best read with a thick East LA accent)
-- Naps from 5:30 to 7:45 pm, then pizza.

-- The Kids In The Hall, live at the Steve Allen Theater.
-- Jamie Simms and Mike Lanaghan in LA. Yeah!
-- A late April/early May CRUSH of work that actually pays.
-- Pete Fitzpatrick signed, sealed and delivered to write the music for To Tell You The Truth (coming to a theatre near you in 2008?)
-- Two weeks until complete freedom from CMU. Free at last... free at last...
-- Hottest new drug: Twitter
-- Cody's soon to be veggie-diesel Benzo. Rollin' Roger Moore style.
-- Duane Trower and the music doc soundtrack. Damn, that shit sounds good.
-- Los Angeles.

From my SaveNetRadio.org letter to urge Congress to reverse the Copyright Royalty Board decision to enforce the new royalty rules for Internet Radio:

Dear Madam and Sirs,

As your constituent and someone who earns a great deal of my income from the Internet and new media products, it enrages me to watch old media companies work to stifle innovation and progress instead of rolling up their sleeves and competing.

Put simply, the lobbying actions of the RIAA and SoundExchange are un-American. The royalty amounts proposed for Internet radio are intentionally inflated to eliminate smaller, nimble companies from reinventing the music business online. The goal is to price them out of the game with rates that tower over those paid by satellite and broadcast radio. They're trying to limit the distribution of music so they can continue to reap profits from their control over the old distribution networks.

Let's quit pretending our glorious economy is free and open and start making it so.
C'mon Congress... do your job.

Level the playing field and protect a small part of the future for America's single greatest contribution to the world economy -- the new media explosion of arts and culture.

I trust you'll do the right thing.

Cheers,
Bob Moczydlowsky

SEND YOUR OWN LETTER, PLEASE!

- Jeremy and Brandi in town for my (gulp!) 32nd birthday
- TVOTR and the Frolic Room (yes, I stand by "Ray of Light" being the best-ever Madonna song)
- Bill McShane and Laura Hessenflow
- No more class on Saturday (at last, civilization prevails!)
- Cheryl Carlson and her dollar bill-generating negotiation magic
- My friends Michael, Roberto, Lucas and Ian running shit at Y! Music
- Cody and Molly Simms (this is a holdover)
- The 2003 Subaru Outback that is about to start hauling my shit to the beach
- Nick Tamburri
- My new friend Elinor (aka April March) and her badass song "Chick Habit" being featured over the end credits of Grindhouse. Sweet!

Nobody feels luckier than I do today, reviewing the materials from my new film and basking in the afterglow of the great shows we were so lucky to film and record. We have a mountain of stuff to sort through, but that is the idea — put only the very best stuff on the screen.

Which in turn will make a music scene I'm so in love with look oh-so-good. Trust me.

If you interviewed or played live for the film, you'll get progress reports via email. We'll do our best to be monthly about those, but give us a small break — there is a lot of work to be done.

To Oxblood Records, the recordBar, White Whale, The Republic Tigers, Ghosty, namelessnumberheadman, The Pedaljets, Roman Numerals, Be/Non, In the Pines, American Catastrophe, Olympic Size, Lovers in Transit, The Architects and all of the other musicians kind enough to get up early and answer our questions... THANK YOU.

We'd have nothing without you.

... let's all remember that some gay marriage bans still passed.
The only solace I can take is that I really believe that the Supreme Court will ultimately rule every last one of those laws unconstitutional. Something in there about "all men created equal" that I think will trump religion and fear.

But damn, people. It's 2006.