Flu...

Last day of 2001. What an up and down fucking year. My wife was sick, kids were sick, now I think I got the flu. Been achy since last night. Oh and- Happy New Year...

Taxes

Working on my labels taxes for 2001. Trying to get an early start. We have this huge box of receipts that my wife and I have to break down into various categories at the end of each year. Spent 5 hours sorting through all the receipts and invoices. Pain! I also started dubbing CDR's of the Teen Feeding Frenzy! Compilation to send out to radio and media. Outburn Magazine did a review from a CDR I sent out last month. The actual release date is set for March- provided that Redeye Distribution pays me at least some of the $10,000 they currently have in Go-Kustom merchandise

Flathand 5

Still working on The Flathand 5 guitar tracks. Sometimes the simplest of parts can be frustrating, especially if it's an intricate rhythm part. These little parts sit in the background if they're recorded correctly. they stick out like a sore thumb if they're even a little off-time. Also been talking to Cargo Distribution about possible distribution for Go-Kustom. We will see.

Merry-Merry-Merry Christmas

Distribution

Bad news from my main distributor Redeye Distribution for Go-Kustom Rekords. It appears their biggest account, Valley Media has called it quits. I hope this doesn't send Redeye into bankruptcy as well. 'Tis the season.

Flathand 5

Finished up all but one of the guitar tracks for The Flathand 5 songs. After that, I have some lyric writing and vocal work to do.

Two More Songs

Did some guitar tracking on The Flathand 5 sessions. Finished two songs worth of material. This album has been a long work in progress. The initial recording session took place in 1998! I'm shooting for a mid-2002 release for it.

Kill Switch...Klick

Mailed off a new little guitar ditty to Courtney Hudak today. She recently did some vocals for the Kill Switch...Klick - Almost Ambient CD that Invisible Records is putting out next month. If she likes it we might record it in a few weeks and post it on her mp3.com site. It's different writing songs for other people.

OmBili Performance Troupe

My wife's band OmBili Performance Troupe played a show at the Lets Drum And Dance Festival, here in Seattle last night. It went over very well with a good turnout. I did the sound. It's strange being your wife's roadie.

Santa Claus

So I'm picking my son up from school today and he blurts out, "Joshua said there's isn't a Santa Claus, is that true?" He's six and I'm thinking, "Should I tell him?" I say, being very conscious of the other 5 year old boy sitting next to him (I pick up a friends little boy everyday as well as my son), "Ummm, welllll, in a way Santa exists, but I'll talk to you about it when we get home. I flash back to when I was about his age. I was at my Grandma's house in suburban Pennsylvania for some family get together (not Christmas). My cousin and I were playing in the huge apple tree in Grandmas back yard. Somehow we got on the subject of Christmas and Santa Claus. I made a reference to Santa slaving away making all those toys, and my cousin yells out, "You still believe in Santa Claus?!?" "What do you mean?" I replied. "There Is No Santa Claus!" he yelled out from the top branch of the tree."Is so!" I yelled back. "Your just a baby, everybody knows there is no Santa Claus!" I was silent, Then it hit me, what if he was right. I panicked and crying ran into the house to get my Grandma in on this. Surely she would make this better, she would tell me my cousin was lying and yes indeed there was a Santa. I found her in the kitchen cooking an early dinner. "Grandma!" I screamed, Gavin says there isn't a Santa Claus! He said I was a baby for still believing in Santa!" She stopped cooking, turned slowly and then sat down at the kitchen table. She motioned me to sit next to her. After I sat down she patted my leg and took her time to speak. I was ready, ready for her to fix this situation- tell me there was a Santa and then I could go outside and confront my cousin with a new round of Grandma Ammunition. But what she said left me hanging and didn't fix anything at all. "You better ask your mother and father about that Devin," she said. "What...what do you mean?" I asked. "You should really ask your parents." "Grandma what do you mean, why can't you tell me about Santa?" "It's...hard to explain Devin..just talk to them." Grandma didn't want to say the wrong thing, she didn't want to get in the middle of the Santa Claus controversy. My mouth hung open. I couldn't think. Why was Grandma holding out. My parents were at the store so I couldn't go and ask them immediately, Grandma wasn't talking and my Anti-Santa cousin was still out playing in the backyard. Grandma got up, patted me on the head and went back to cooking. I walked into the living room and sat down. This was all messed up. This didn't make sense...unless Gavin was right and there was no Santa Claus. Well what did that mean? Where did the presents come from? What the hell was going on? Soon my parents came back from the store (this was when they were still married), and as I was walking out of the living room, I heard Grandma whispering to them. I knew it was about Santa. My Dad asked me to go back into the living room and he told me. "No Devin, Santa is actually your mother and I. We buy the presents for you and your sister and put them under the tree on Christmas Eve." Man...what a mind fuck that was. So I'm trying to grasp the seriousness of what he's saying. It's like I've crossed some small line moving that much closer to adulthood. "OK," I said, "so even without Santa we're still getting presents on Christmas." My Dad nodded. I got up and ran outside to go play with my cousin, feeling stronger, like I had just been let in on some horrible top-secret, that only older kids knew about. In a way I had been. So...when we get home, I take my son into my recording studio and sit him down. "About Santa Claus." Yes he says eagerly." "There is no Santa Claus like in the stories, Santa is actually your Mom and I." He looked a little puzzled and said"So you get us the presents?" "Yea," I said . "Well I kinda thought that might be true, 'cause you know deer can't really fly, and that Santa at the shopping mall last year...well his beard was all funny looking and wasn't stuck to his face." "Yea, I know, he was a pretty lame Santa." My son laughed and I told him not to tell his sister. He promised and that was that. Much easier than the way I found out, or maybe kinda the same, he just handled it better..