Something's come over me.

Yesterday dawned sunny, cool and blue. In the afternoon I managed to fiddle with the mower tires yet again, and get most of the lawn mowed by 6:00. By then it was chilly, windy and overcast. There was a definite change in the weather, and the geese have been honking loudly and flapping around, preparing to travel South (if they even do that anymore). It was a quiet day of house chores, and visits by dear friends who knew I was in a funk. In the evening I dozed on the couch while watching "Finding Nemo," and waited for Matt to call for a ride. This is the first weekend in a month that I've been home. Matt slept 14 hours last night. We were pooped.

Today dawned rainy and grey. The rain has been falling steadily all day and I have been a woman consumed with cooking and baking. I slipped out this morning early between the raindrops to run the dogs through the back fields. They got the best part of the day. After shopping for groceries, I have been in the kitchen all day and have made cinnamon rolls, breakfast sausages and eggs for the boys, meatloaf, apple crisp and foccacia bread (which is now rising before it gets poked, oiled, seasoned and baked). The Sunday line-up of NRP has been keeping me company as the boys occasionally wander in and out of the kitchen in their pjs. Great folk music is playing on A Prairie Home Companion.

This is what I missed when I was in Tokyo. The sights, sounds and smells of home. Green grass decorated by the falling colored leaves, raindrops splattering in the puddles in the drive, geese loudly honking behind the hedgerow, the sense that winter is finally not so far away, dogs who lie strewn about my feet and the warm smells of baking filling the house. Almost perfect.

Roots and Shoots- Day of Peace.

What a great day! We had a few "near misses," such as temporarily misplacing the kick drum shaft and beater while carrying the drums up to the stage, temporarily losing power on one of the amps between songs, and opening up the bass case and discovering a broken string (after a lengthy discussion as to whether to change the strings or carry extras...) But we found the beater (Uncle John found the beater), Matt managed to think on his feet during the dead air time and tell a couple of jokes, and we borrowed Voodoo Fix's bass. They were a really nice bunch of guys and played well as the opening band.

The guys didn't let these things rattle them, they kept their heads, and really played well. The sound guy was excellent. He made everyone sound fabulous. It was so nice to hear a live performance that really sounded like it was supposed to...but I guess in LA, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a sound techhie. They sounded good. They drew a crowd. The other performers were complimentary, and someone from EMI records asked about them. Vicky (probably their biggest fan) promptly whipped out a CD to give the EMI representative.

After they played, Vicky told us to tell the guys to stay around the VIP tent, as Pierce Brosnan (James Bond) was due to arrive around 1:00. One of my favorite pictures of the weekend (see above- first picture) is them standing in front of the media banner, at the moment when they first spotted him walking through the crowd. Their faces are priceless. Matt is beaming, Jacob looks beside himself, Trevor is smiling and Art is pointing. Just a fun moment to have captured.

After our boys figured out that the VIP tent was the pllace to hob nob with celebrities, that's where they stayed for a while. They posed with Pierce Brosnan, they chatted with Ricky Lake (who is an Ithaca College grad) and met Wesley (Dread Pirate Roberts) from the Princess Bride. Mary Lou Henner spoke at length at one point about the Jane Goodall foundation, they got a photo with some blonde Disney girl and then posed with Dominick Scott, the latest kid star to be signed by Disney. We all did a lot of giggling and grinning all afternoon. Dominick Scott's back up band was his Dad on drums and members of the Commodores. Remember them?? It was a hoot and a half to be there, and to watch our boys run with some of the "Big Dogs." I am very proud of all of them. I am so grateful that Debbie and Alan Scheer joined us on this adventure, as did Robin. Chris performed admirably as their "Mr. Manager." Rob found us a beasty Ford Van that seated 8 (nine in a pinch) and carried most of the equipment. And then HE DROVE it. Everywhere we needed to go. LA freeway driving can be a little hairy at times. He handled it with superb grace and skill under pressure- all the way up and down the 405. Art's Uncle John used his pick up truck to carry the drum set and some other stuff and was a great help. We spent time with the very lovely Sullivan family, got to see some of LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica, and then Long Beach on Monday. We ate at "In and Out" Burger, went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, and just generally did an awful lot of laughing. The flight back last night was a little rough, and I know the boys are tired. Additionally they had to give up their only home cross country meet this evening, but I know they have no regrets. This was a weekend that none of us will ever forget.

Long day in LA

Last night we arrived in LA about an hour earlier than scheduled after an uneventful trip. We landed at 11:00 LA time (2:00 a.m. NY time) and didn't get to bed until after 2:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m.) So it was quite like pulling an all-nighter, and when I finally got to bed was not sleepy at all. This morning started early, with a phone call, a text from a hungry son and the pounding on the door by house keeping.

Today was a day of waiting and preparing. We waited to hear about equipment, times, and drum set. We took the boys out for breakfast where they ate their weight in eggs and hash browns. Then it was back to the bizzaro California Sullivan Family Home to wait. (John Sullivan looks just like Pat Sullivan, Aiden looks like Genevieve, and there is a little bit of similarity between Anne-Marie and Mary!)But one thing holds true on both sides of the country- the Sullivans are a very nice bunch! The boys played ping pong and played in the pool while Chris contacted music rental places, the organizers of the DAY OF PEACE festival and tried to figure out our equipment needs for tomorrow.

When we signed up to follow through with this gig, we had been made several promises that have since been broken. The boys were promised the use of a drum set and amps. They were promised a set length of 30-40 minutes. In the last few days we've had to scramble to borrow a drum set, amplifiers, and today when we saw the final schedule, discovered that they had been alloted 20 minutes. Chris called the woman we've been dealing with and got the okay for our guys to play their entire set. Anne-Marie Sullivan called in some favors for us and found a fabulous Remo drum set from a friend and a guitar amp from a neighbor. (Who happened to have an Emmy sitting on a table in his living room.) We found a musical equipment rental place on Sunset Blvd. and got another amp and some cords. The disappointing thing is that our boys are playing tomorrow along with other youth bands, and none of the bands were willing to share any equipment with our guys. At the DAY OF PEACE Festival. It's okay now, but initially it was frustrating. Trevor made the comment that if the tables had been turned, that just about anyone we know in NY would have been happy to share equipment with a group of young people from out of town. No matter, our guys now have Fender amps and a really fabu drum kit to play. Nice stuff. At one point during our waiting game today Robin took Art's guitar apart and fixed a connection with John's soldering tools. After a practice of the set, they finally packed up the equipment and at 4:00 p.m. we set out for some sight seeing.

Robin managed to get us a very large white Ford 150 van. He is our driver and is familiar with this car, as it is exactly the size he used to drive all over when he was a chimney sweep! (Ancient History!) We keep referring to it as the terrorist van. It seats 8 and has cargo room. The boys are taking turns sitting in the back, because there are 9 in our party. The repartee is lively and fun as we travel the LA freeway. We first picked up the amp and cords, then headed to Hollywood Blvd to see some sidewalk stars. After a dinner of Mexican food, we cruised into Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive before taking the boys back to Anne-Marie's for the night.

Robin and I are staying right next to the VanNyes airport. This is the airport where the tarmac scene in Casablanca was filmed. Our Tburg boys are high spirited and sound ready for tomorrow. What a delightful time it is for all of us! It will be another sunny 85 degree day! And now, my computer is telling me that it's 1:14 a.m. and the clock on the table tells me it's 10:16. Either way...time for bed!!

California, get ready...

This summer, Art (at the tiller) sent a music video of himself playing in a band to his cousins in California. This home-grown band is called Radio the Ape. They are a local group of high school boys who have been playing together and writing music for about 3 years now. Last year, they won the local "Battle of the Bands." They were psyched. Their music is pretty catchy. The lyrics are good and they play pretty well. I particularly love the singer. (He's my youngest son!) I wrote in a previous blog about how great they sounded at a graduation party. Well. Their music video made the rounds out there in California. Art's Aunt sent it to her friends and they sent it on to their friends. It finally made it to Pierce Brosnan's personal assistant, who CALLED our hometown boys and invited them to play at the Jane Goodall Foundation's Day of Peace Festival, on the Santa Monica pier. I was in the house the night she called when they all gathered around the phone in Matt's room at the top of the stairs. The excitement was palpable. The boys were shaking they were so excited. I wouldn't have been surprised if one of them had burst into flames that night. They appointed Chris (my oldest) their "manager," since he had produced their sound recordings and knew a little about the biz.

We had a parent meeting the next week to discuss the possibility of actually making it happen. I was almost as excited as they were, and immediately volunteered to accompany the boys on their trip. We got the confirmation letter from the organizers -finally! The trip was ON. Robin and I used all our frequent flyer miles to purchase round trip tickets to LAX for 105.00 each. And we leave this FRIDAY.

I am excited for the boys, but secretly excited for me. I hope to meet Mr. Brosnan and get a photo taken with him. I know I will have a VIP pass as I will be "with the band."

This is one of those internet chance hook-ups. Four boys from small town Upstate get air time in California via the web because their Aunt knows somebody who knows somebody who took a second look and invited them to play gig at a Peace Festival in Santa Monica. My head is spinning. I guess I need to do laundry and pick out my outfit in which I will meet and greet celebrities who dig peace.

To view the video that got this all started:


And check this out: they are on the web page!
http://www.dayofpeaceca.org/htlm/music.html