Howdy!

Over a hundred thousand air miles later I managed to get through the year in one piece. Time flies and so do I - too much, in fact - but I'm underworked and overpaid, so no complaints.

"Pineapple Express" quietly came and went, somewhat overshadowed by Ben Affleck's jungle romp. The upshot? You can now rent "P.E." in the privacy of your hotel room . . . . Just saw it advertised last week scrolling through the in-room movie menu.

You know where I'm going with this; jam a wet towel under the door, open the window and burn a big fatty during the movie! Was this the problem all along? Did the fact that a guy couldn't spark one up in the theater actually affect box office sales? Is this why popcorn sales surged? Munchies? I don't know.

What I believe, though, is that if pot were legal and decriminalized, the drug cartels would quit "setting up shop" and deflowering our national forests, the price of a bag of weed would come down, and there'd be more than tomatoes growing in your backyard.

All that, and I don't even smoke the stuff.

I had the pleasure of flying down to L.A. to oversee the "Express" mix, making new acquaintances with some great industry folks in the process. Joe Cicarelli did a fine job mixing, he's an authentically nice guy, and by the end of the last night, by gosh, it sounded just like a new HLN song!

Later this past summer Christie and I had the pleasure of attending the "P.E." premiere at the Fox Westwood Village Theater. Upon arrival we took a wrong turn and ended up walking down the red carpet! Reporters and photographers looked like five hundred "RCA Dogs" struggling to figure out who we were and what we were doing there . . .

Acutely aware of our faux pas, we decided to beeline it for the theater; this meant scampering behind Columbian actress Marcela Mar's "Runway Moment", posing like her career depended on it. (I suppose it does; she may have more "premiere appearances" here in the states than actual movie roles!) I'd love to see an outtake of her best runway pose with these two little "Nor-Cal Bumpkins" holding hands, dashing behind her in the background like a couple scared rabbits.

On another front, my fishing/songwriting pal Dave Fredericks and I placed another song in a movie! It's tentatively titled "Nic & Tristan Ska8 Mega Dega," and the song is called "Let's Go!" Nic and Tristan Peuhse are two amazingly talented kids, I've known them since they took their first breaths, and I've had a lifelong friendship with their parents Karen and Mike. How long? So long I remember when, at about nine years old, Karen wanted to marry Chris Hayes!

You do the math, then check out the boys' site/info at:

http://www.nicandtristanthemovie.com/

The tune was cut by a cool little 3-piece band from L.A. called "Leather Souls." I think they already have the song up on their MySpace Site;

http://www.myspace.com/theleathersouls  

Great movie for all you kids out there nine to ninety, and I was thrilled to be able to participate.

Without going into finer detail, I'm sorry to say our 'mystery' guitar player has turned down my offer to participate in my upcoming project. Nonetheless, I'm starting to flesh out the tunes in preparation for tracking, which means I should have the project wrapped up some time around 2010 . . . . . . . . just kidding.

Along the same lines, I'm getting the 'music' end of this site together this month as well; so stay tuned for "Lucky Devil" tracks and, perhaps, some cool "J.C." outtake stuff like we just made available from the HLN vaults.

As Mel Blanc once said, "That's All, Folks!" Hope you had as much fun last night with our only nationally observed pagan ritual as I did . . . . Now if only we could inject the same air of humor into Thanksgiving, Xmas (sp!) and Easter, we'd all be in a better place!

Speaking of better places, don't forget to vote!

J.C.