Had a good week last week. On Monday I received an email from my friend Lynn Thorp letting me know Chris Haskett was in town, and she was inviting a whole bunch of people over to see Chris before he fucked off back to Australia. I didn't even know that he'd been in Australia. He's got another Australian girlfriend, and he's been living down there for a while now. As usual, chris was full of loads of interesting stories, and it was great to see him.

His current plan is to write an album's worth of songs while down there, and come back to DC in the summer to record them w/Brandon Finley, and some other musicians to be named later.

Phil Duarte, who I hadn't seen in donkey's years, was also in attendance. I still haven't made it out to see his current band, Puptent. I really don't get out much these days.

Donald Keesing was there, and he's proffered an open invitation to take the girls out to the stables to see his mother-in-law's horses. There's even a possiblity of riding the horses. I'm not sure I'm ready to go that far; I've never ridden a horse in my life. At least Isabel and Rebby have ridden ponies at the county fair. I'm not sure how safe I feel with them riding, either, but at least they have SOME experience.

Of course, it was great to see Lynn. She's really developed into a great mother hen. I hope that's not taken as a perjorative; I mean it in only the best way. With all the crap I've been through of late, it was incredibly healing to get together with a bunch of friends to just have a good time together. I'm so glad my schedule allowed me to attend, and to bring the girls, and have them enjoy themselves, and for Constance to join us and have fun too. Rebby actually got bored pretty early on, but she put up with it, and it was nice to have her fall asleep in my arms. She sure is a lot heavier now than she was when I used to hold her in my arms all the time. My girls are growing up. She took a few pictures, some of which have been added to my albums, and my profile.

Mark Noone was there, and gave me a copy of the new Slickee Boys album Marshall Keith assembled from old live tapes from 1980 through 1982, "A Postcard from the Day." It sounds really good, considering most of it was probably recorded on cheap cassette recorders on crappy tapes a quarter century ago. It's actually a live "bootleg" you can turn up to 11, and rock out to without too much distortion (not the bad kind, anyway) concealing the ROCK therein. And of course, it includes a great, and rather large, collection of some of their best songs. If the Slickees are of any interest to you, pick up the CD, and come see them if what I heard was correct that they'll be playing at Nightclub 9:30 on Memorial Day weekend.

Speaking of the club, I went and saw Iggy & the Stooges there on Thursday night. That was an incredible show!! Iggy's just amazing!! As energetic as ever, and not an ounce of fat on his leathery bod. I can't believe he turns 60 years old on Saturday! I still can't believe he's reunited the Stooges, and he's been working with them on and off since about 2004. I haven't heard good reviews of their new album, but they sounded great last week! The new songs sounded fine to me. And of course, the old songs sounded fresh too. They did a lot of their "hits," as one might expect, but they did some of the lesser known songs from their repertoire, as well. Unfortunately they didn't do "She Creatures from the Hollywood Hills." I don't think it's ever been given a proper release, and it's a royal shame, as it's got an amazing groove. And I'm sure in Watt's more than able hands, it would be even more propulsive. He just looked like a kid in a candy store up on that stage. I'm not sure I've ever seen a musician who looked to be having more fun. I'm so happy he was chosen to fill in for dear departed Dave Alexander. Watt brought the right mix of reverence to the simplicity of the Stooges material, and the complexity of the Coltrane he snuck in for good measure.

I actually watched from the pit, and like a true fanboy, reached up to touch Iggy's sweaty torso on more than one of his forays to surf the crowd. I had to; how often do you get the opportunity to touch "The Godfather of Punk?" One thing that disappointed me about that night was that more of the old crowd wasn't there. Or at least, that I didn't see them. The place was completely packed to the rafters. I may have missed one or two friends in attendance. I did see Steve Finberg, Richard Gibson, Kim Kane, Chad Brady, Billy McKenzie, and Kenny Inouye.

That Sunday I actually had the day off! That never happens! Sunday was Easter, and our store was actually closed. My friend Frank had a few friends over for Sunday brunch, and I was again able to bring Constance and the girls out for a fun time. Mike Wise from the Post was there, and he has this great idea for a charity event, and I want to do whatever I can to help him make it a reality. I wrote him, but haven't heard back from him. I wonder how serious he really is about it. I hope I have news to report next time I post an entry.

So Constance is in San Francisco at a Web 2.0 conference for most of the week, and I go and read in one of my magazines about Web 3.0. Holy hell, I just got it together to start using Web 2.0, and here they go and make a new paradigm already. I'd best start creating Web 4.0, or I'm gonna get my ass left in the dust, eh? Now how do I make it so people actually read what I've written? I guess that's something I need to look into if I'm going to make this a habit.

Oscar's Lumbago,

Tommy B