of tribe

Cheers Roj - lovely to hear from you, as ever, mate. Hope you, *, and the kids had a lovely xmas, and great and powerful luck for 2006. Hope E is recovering from operation, too often touted as an in-and-out, dinner-hour-style affair. The thought makes me shudder; but I admire his efforts on behalf of his family. * is a good guy. Send my best wishes, please, to * and *. I lost my dad last March; and though we were never close, he was still my dad; and a son losing a father is big, right-of-passage stuff; just as a daughter losing dad is in its own way. Death, like life, is truly weird shit. Sorry that the rehearsal was, in the event, a bit of a trial. They certainly can be that. Big pity the place itself is, seemingly, unsuitable, in being unprofessional as you describe. Rehearsal rooms can be anything from derilict buildings to plush studios. Some of them take the piss. But, in St. Helens there's not much going - as Dave and I found, back in 2003/4. We ended up in the north of Wigan, then Warrington. Neither Urban Sound or Attic, respectively, were that great though; and they were both £6/hour, cold, bad acoustics, dirty, smelly! Given that you don't use real drums, can you not kit out E's garage? I know it is more of an occasion to go somewhere to rehearse; and domestic settings can be all-too recreational, relaxed. But, is that not a better set of problems to overcome, than the dingy rehearsal room scenario?! My time of grim post-punk community centre (w) awful PA or backroom with dodgy electrics is well and truly over, mate! I want deep carpets, en suite, and a choice of fine wines to aid my creative juices! For me, it is some kind of home studio! Though, there is a real drummer in my current potential ambit, so I may have to out-source to that dodgy community centre on the rough estate! ... Thanks for checking out my blogsite. I really appreciate your interest, Roj. I've had some fun with it; and it is good getting used to the digital packages. Simple though they are - in not being state-of-the-art graphics stuff - I like to have to push them. I've always been into collage; so it's all more cut-and-paste to me; just no need for pritt and photocopier now. By all means - if you are serious - I would be happy to let you use something for a cover for your band. But, hey! - you are no mean artist yourself, mate! I thought you'd be doing the artwork. Of course, I would love to help out. Just let me know. I'd be interested to know which images you particularly like. Next time around, drop a few titles, so I can check back. It'll be an education! Thanks for kind words about my written pieces, too. I try. Writing is something I very much like; and, like most artists, I feel I have a book in me! It is getting it out of me that needs attention! I haven't listened to your jam yet. Will get back to you with reactions. Sure it'll be great though. Keep going, Roj. Your art is very important. I'm sure * is very supportive. I'm very lucky in that respect. Annie is wonderful. She's the woman I've always wanted and needed. All artists need a good, understanding partner. Best day of my life meeting her. My muse. Soon my wife. Take it easy, mate. Very best wishes, Anthony----- Original Message ----- From: Roj To: Anthony Donovan Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 3:21 AM Subject: RE: Alright bud. It was good to hear from you at crimbo. Although we didn’t sent a card (or a letter), real love was transmitted to you and yours from us and ours. I thought I’d send you a snippet from our jam on 28th dec. e has done a great job of mixing the first of many jams that came from that weird day. It was made all the more weird for the fact that , although we were looking forward to it with great relish, events leading up to it, affected our performance and mood dramatically. not so much on my part (although I have my own shit, like us all) but e had just had a * and had over done it and was ******. plus , the place was shit and amateurish. the PA didn’t work, and we ended up using a shitty amp and crappy speakers. I have better sound in our house. still; it was secluded, and there were no kids (or adults for that matter; who wouldn’t know or understand improvised music if bit them on the dick) we were gonna disturb. so that was cool, and liberating. I made a broth (from crimbo food left-overs) for the proceedings and I think it was the best arranged and nutritious piece of the day. Besides all that, it was a good experience. hope you’re keeping well (loving the stuff on your blog spot, espesh the digitally mangled images ((there’s a cd cover in everyone of em. can we use one?)) and the beautiful , truthfully painful ((or painfully truthful)) words your sendin out; top work bud) . I’ll be in-touch soon. roj J No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.12/220 - Release Date: 03/01/2006