Ladies Night(s)....

Greetings, eh!

So yeah - another coupla perfect days on the lake...

Carrie and I have been having an absolutely amazing time. Gee - have I mentioned that yet? Hmmm... ANYhoo - things are moving along at a lovely pace and I feel like we're really getting some good stuff recorded. Darryl completely knows his stuff and it makes the recording process, which can be a pain in the ASS, pretty carefree. Granted, there have been a few challenging moments ('Hovering' - will elaborate more later...) but all in all, our musical time here has been SO enjoyable. And again, having an awesome producer and an amazing place to record certainly seems to be adding to the joy... And the lovely Tracy and Michelle... Oh, and the beer store...>:-)

But more on that later! I wanna tell some stories before the details start to get fuzzy...

So, the other night, after recording, Darryl had to go into town to teach a class, so the ladies were left at the house. (Me, Carrie, Tracy and Michelle) Tracy had made yet ANOTHER awesome meal and we had gone to the store earlier to stock up on exotic beer, so we were totally good to go. We definitely had the makings of a very fine ladies night...

After we ate dinner, we sat around the kitchen table talking about the things that ladies discuss when boys aren't around. Let's see, we discussed Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment), read portions of the Old Testament, hosted a round table discussion on world politics and pretty much solved many of the world's pressing problems. Well, we talked about them, anyway... All while drinking exotic beer and eating a very tasty, organic, veggie casserole. It was definitely a good night...

While sitting around the table, we were also priviledged to hear many amazing stories as told by the lovely Michelle. One word: Wow. She told us the most fabulous stories of her world travels, the various bands and musicians that she has played with and some of the truly unique recording sessions of which she has been a part.

She shared a particularly fascinating story of recording an entire album in a prison. Seems the prisoners had been writing some great songs and Michelle was part of the group that was comissioned to come in and be the backing band. From what I've been hearing, Canada has a great grant stucture set up and this project was the result of funding that had been given to a woman with whom Michelle was working. The idea was to come into the prison and record with each person that had written a song. This was a maximum security prison and the people in this particular prison had definitely been convicted of some heinous acts. They recorded with the prisioners, ate in the cafeteria with them, interacted with them and apparently made a great album. I haven't heard it yet, but I'm very excited to give it a listen. This is just ONE of the epic stories that we heard that night...

After we finished up in the kitchen, it was time to move to the living room for a bit of 'Canadian Idol.' Sigh... Yes, it has crept into Canada as well. I've never really been able to get up the will to watch it in the States, but I watched a bit of it here and it wasn't bad. Some of the singers were pretty decent. However, it still had that very UNrealistic vibe about it - oversensationalized and dramatic. Oh well - at least they had a REAL band backing the musicians rather than glorified karaoke tracks. (A band that contained two players that Michelle knew... Seriously - she's played with many people... wow... And now she's playing with us. :)

When Idol was over, we cracked open the first season of the HBO show, 'Carnivale.' I had become obsessed with show over the last year, but I had only seen the second season. KICK ASS! We were sitting there with the entire first season on DVD! (A special thank you to Neko Case who left the series with Darryl and Tracy after wrapping up her recent album recording... She left Six Feet Under, too! YAY!) (NOTE: If you haven't already, be sure to check out Neko Case - she's fabulous. Her recordings are actually what led Carrie to contacting Darryl. FABULOUS albums... ) Anyway - I've actually been talking about the Carnivale series to whomever would listen over the last year or so. I LOVE it and I've been trying to get people to tune in... ANYhoo - HA!!! Now everyone is the house is totally addicted!!!! Moowwhhahwhwahwhwhawhhaahahahahahahahh

Seriously. We're all addicted to Carnivale. We've been watching it every night since... I don't know what we're gonna do - we only have 4 episodes before the season is over. AND - I am very dismayed to report that the second season isn't available on DVD yet. CRAP MART! It's also another serendipitous thing that's happened while we've been here. The series is very quirky, dark, based on the travelings of a carnival in the mid-30's... It TOTALLY matches the vibe of the album that we are in the process of recording. It's just weird how things sync up sometimes... Granted, our album isn't really about a struggle between good and evil or is it set in the dust-bowl depression era, but whatever. It's still quirky, moody and carnivalesque in many spots. So there. Don't argue with me. :)P

Yeah, so anyway - we watched FOUR episodes of Carnivale that first night. We've since dialed it down to about 2 episodes a night, but it's reeeaaaaallllyyyy hard. I just don't know what we're gonna do when it's all over. I shutter to think.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I've got 'LOTS more to discuss (blah, blah, blah) but it's getting time to head back downstairs to the studio... With my 'Bucky the Lucky Bok Choy' in hand... (Don't worry - you'll be formally introduced to Bucky and his trusty buddy, Carrie Corn on the Cob in the very near future. Oh, and I scored the PERFECT hat for a Canadian pub crawl. Just sayin'... Pics coming...)

And Carrie has also hooked me up with some initial pics, so I'll be posting those later tonight. I super swear.

See yous guys later!!

The REAL Jordache