My DIE-t is going well…i woke up today at 191lbs. For those of you doing math, that’s 21 pounds since April 12th…I STILL have a little tummy that needs to GO but my jeans are all loose and I’m actually noticing the weight loss myself…where as before, the scale would say I lost weight and I couldn’t really tell. I’m almost to my 180 target weight but I have a feeling the rest is going to go slowly.

This is all good stuff considering I’m not going to the gym. I’ll be doing that as a last resort. I actually DO feel lighter and I notice it a little when I’m playing hockey…I’m a little faster on the ice…but just a little.

Speaking of hockey, this entire season we haven’t lost a game. We tied 2 but we’re still in 1st place. This is the longest our team has EVER gone without losing a game and it’s a bit weird. With our luck, we won’t lose a game all season and lose the championship game LOL We made the championship game last season and came in second place.

As for music, the studio went well….I’ve been spending the last week tweaking the tracks we put down and we’re now ready to add electric guitar and violin. We go back to record on June 4th. Once I get those things down…I’ll be ready to add the vocals. Fun, fun, fun. 

We had some video taken while we were making noise in the studio but I thought I’d post these little snapshots. The pictures are a little blurry, but it’s enough to get the idea of what was going on.

We got the Drums, Piano, Bass and some Guitar done…still MUCH to do…but here’s the start

Last night’s Smallville was the best it’s been in about 3 seasons. I watch the show each week and the last few weeks have really been sort of lame…until last night. Glad they did something good for the season finale. I usually see stuff coming a mile away but I didn’t see that ending coming…can’t wait until next season now.

So we lost Melinda from American Idol…shocking, but not really. It’s obvious that she was the best singer all season (I was secretly wishing Lakisha would win though). Melinda will end up releasing a CD and it’ll sell (probably more now than if she would have just won). As for the 2 left? I’ll watch but my interest has died down a bit. I’m so tired of Blake’s beat-boxing. It’s OK on a few songs but it just gets old after a while…of course Melinda’s reaction to the judges through the season is probably what doomed her. That whole “You mean you really like me???” expression was stale. I think it didn’t seem “real” and people saw through it…who knows.

Speaking of music, tomorrow I’m back in the recording studio and I CAN’T WAIT! I must admit that I’m a little nervous since I’ve never worked with a few of the guys in a studio setting before…but I’m sure they’re going to do great. Also, the engineer I usually work with is no longer at this studio so I’ll be working with a new guy(which could be a good thing). I’m being optimistic

We’re going in for 6 hours and we’ll try to nail down the drums, bass and piano for 3 songs in that time..perhaps if there’s time i’ll add a little guitar. Today i’ll be getting prepared for all that. Recording is my favorite part of doing music. I do love performing live too, but creating in the studio is really the big roller-coaster at the theme park…the other rides are fun too but this one never gets dull no matter how many times you ride it.

Tonight is our last rehearsal before we get in the recording studio on Saturday. We’re going in to record 3 new songs…2 of 3 we could play with our arms tied behind our backs but the 3rd was a last-minute throw in. We’ll iron that one out tonight and should be good to go by Saturday.

I’m excited about recording again… I know I’ve talked about recording in the past but something always stopped me just before…if it wasn’t funds, it was NOT having the players set in place…either that or just not being ready in general. We’re ready now and I can’t wait. Hopefully we keep the ball rolling.

My 1st solo CD really wasn’t something I recorded as a “CD”. I know that doesn’t make sense but let me try to explain:

At the time, I was asked to do some tour shows with Poet/Songwriter Rod McKuen and all I had was an old CD I recorded with my band “Moisture”(it would have looked strange to go on stage as myself and try to sell a CD of my band’s that was no longer together). And since I needed a CD to sell at the concerts, a CD was thrown together VERY FAST. It mainly consisted of 4 songs that we started with the old band that never made any CD…a few remixes of older songs I’d written for the band’s last album and a few new ones that I recorded on my own (including a few that were meant as just Demos). So basically, it was a mixture of this and that just to make up something to sell and promote.

Since then, I’ve gone in and recorded other stuff…I wrote and produced tracks for others and I even recorded a few songs on Spec with another producer but I had yet to go in to set out to record the next CD….until now! So…in many ways, I feel like this is my 1st “official” CD [I'm not sure if that makes sense].

Anyway..I’m rambling on. I can’t wait to go record though. I’ve missed it.

Off subject…it’s been a month that I’ve been on this diet and have lost 18 lbs but I seem to be stuck at 194. I guess I’m going to really have to work for the rest that I want to lose. I’m happy with what I’ve lost though

[Me at the Koo Koo Roo]

Yesterday, I was at a place called The Koo Koo Roo(this is a place that’s a little like Boston Market but a little more health-nut-ish…I’m not sure if they have these places anywhere but CA). Anyway, I’m 99% sure the girl sitting in front of me was Nicole Ritchie but then I thought "Hey wait a minute…Does Nicole even eat?"

Speaking of "not eating"….my diet’s still going well. I’m now in the green section of that chart I posted a few entries back. Current weight: 194.5 lbs (and holding)…down from 212 lbs. Nicole’s weight? Maybe 80 lbs??

Since I’ve started this calorie counting diet, the way I look at food is TOTALLY different. Now, instead of seeing the actual food…I see the calorie count. I’ll be watching a commercial for a something on TV like..uh..let’s say a Big Mac and my brain turns it into some sort of HTML code equaling 590 calories. Taco Salad from Taco Bell? 850 Calories! [You would think a "salad" would be healthy but I suppose that shell is what kills it]

Having this little program for my cell phone which let’s me see the calorie count on just about anything has forever changed the way I look at food. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing…it’s a little like, once you know what the Matrix is, you can’t go back.

Speaking of movies, I’m leaving now to try and catch Spider-Man 3!

Tomorrow, I pick up my copy of the Spider-Man 3 Video Game for the PS3. I’m not sure which I’m more excited about…seeing the movie or getting the game. I’ll try to sneak out to see the movie during the week and not on opening weekend..perhaps in the day while everyone’s working. As for the game…I pick it up tomorrow…it’s "on hold" for me [I might vanish for a little while once I get the game].

I already know the story of what the 3rd movie will be about since I know the comic story pretty well. I’m a little bummed that keep showing more and more in the movie trailers. I saw one the other night that had Venom in it. I was hoping NOT to see him in the trailer and to be surprised when I saw the movie. It sucks when movie trailers show ALL the good parts but I understand that they need to try to fill theater seats and do what they must. I would think with Spidey 3, they wouldn’t need to do that though..it already has a built-in audience who would go see it even if the trailer was just Spider-Man in the black suit…that to me would be enough. I really try to look away when the trailer is on TV because I feel they’re showing way too much…hopefully when I see the movie they’ll have SOME surprises that I haven’t seen in the trailer. Ah well.

I think the WORST is COMEDY movie trailers where they show all the funny parts in the trailer…and what gets me is…when that same scene shows on the screen, people still laugh at it as if they never saw the joke coming. I love comedy but only dark comedy…I’m not really a fan of slapstick goofy stuff. Comedy is so subjective though…What’s funny to some people is mind-boggling to me sometimes.

Yesterday, I sent out my monthly mailer and got some nice responses from it. We’re all set to be in the Recording Studio on Saturday May 19th. I’m REALLY looking forward to it.

It’s so funny how recording has changed over the years. I remember when I’ve have to drop $200.00 on a 2 inch reel to reel tape to record the session on. You be lucky if the analog tape would hold 4 songs. Now, I just need an extra hard drive to keep all the Masters on. I DO like the way Analog Tape recordings sounds…but Digital is real crisp and good for vocals …maybe a mix of the two would be good but it could all be all in my imagination.

The main thing is…Studio time is BOOKED and I’m excited.

Last night’s rehearsal went pretty good. I took along my DAT recorder just to have a rough copy of the tunes we’re working on for recording in the studio (I have a very bad mix of the songs but it’s enough to get a general idea of what they might sound like recorded proffesionally). Listening back today, I hear a few things that might need a little changing, but for the most part it’s coming together nicely.

It’s nice to record what you’re doing since most of the time I really don’t get a chance to listen to it as it’s being played live. I’m concentrating on making sure i’m hitting the right notes myself…either that or trying to remember lyrics..etc… And so, it’s sometimes not easy to listen to everything that going on.

We’re about 98% ready to go lay down some tracks…so much so, that I called the studio today to see what dates are available to get in there. Now the trick is…getting it to work with everyone else’s schedule. I’m excited at the thought of recording again though…real excited …and real overdue.

One thing I noticed when I called the studio I like to use is…recording costs have really shot up. I totally understand why too. Every musician has recording software for their home computers that’s basically the same software that the big studios use…so basically, you can cram the tracks down in the studio and take the files home to tweak ‘em…saves time and money. BUT, you still need the rooms and "toys" that the studios offer(unless you have that stuff at home–I have some of it but only enough to put down a crumby demo for writing).

Anyway… I hope to get something in the books soon and something new recorded. I’ve got a backlog of songs just screaming to get put down. Whether or not any of them are any good…that’ll be for everyone else to decide. Either way…I’m excited and hopeful.