Steve Ball Diary
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Tuesday January 02
Wednesday January 03
Thursday January 04
Friday January 05
Saturday January 06
Sunday January 07
Read the archive
Tuesday January 09
Wednesday January 10
Thursday January 11
Friday January 12
Saturday January 13
Sunday January 14
Monday January 01
Sleeping in today. A well deserved break, and a great way to begin the new
year. Waking up to Nick Drake: Pink Moon.
Later in the day: Good Will Hunting.
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Tuesday January 02
Up early for a 9am meeting. More fire drills to begin a new year and
prepare the runway for take off.
Later in the evening, a visit to Mercer Island for some computer consulting and relational 'homework.' A delightful evening, confirming my hunch that I am climbing tree that has strong roots and healthy branches.
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Wednesday January 03
Bootleg is now up and running in our new office. Walked to work, 12 minute
walk. This is the life. Evening: Working on a new song.
Inspiration pouring out of the sky. And elsewhere.
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Thursday January 04
A late afternoon visit to a famous Seattle recording studio for a chat about a
potential project. Exchanged stories about an old music technology company
that went down before its time back in 1995 (nu.millennium records, run
by Paul Atkinson and partially funded by Bernie Taupin.) Exchanged some
good stories about some mutual acquaintances in the early days of the weg.
Later, evening preparation for a visit from GeorgeZ tomorrow.
Then, off to the first SGC rehearsal of the new millennium. Dean has a new piece that has a nice groove and a wild melody. Beginnings are always fresh and fun. Some quick discussions about how, when, and where to work for the next two months. Jaxie and I were in violent agreement about the need to address our repertoire (and how we work to prepare for performance) with a new perspective.
A satisfying evening.
Then, home, hoping for a phone call. Hoping to audition the new song for its intended audience. Oops - gotta go. Phone is ringing...
* * *
Friday January 05
Vacation is definitely over. Back in the swing, and yet there are new
elements in the air that have changed everything.
So many suitors, so little time. Looking for patience.
* * *
Circulation Project begins tomorrow.
* * *
PS - Jonatha Brooke has a new CD. Bought it online today.
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Saturday January 06
Missed sitting this morning. Slept in. With good reason.
* * *
First Month of Saturday's 'circulation' meeting this morning. Thirteen guitarists of a wide range of experience in the circle. A good beginning. And a great reminder of why group work is so important, regardless of supposed 'level' or competence.
It is obvious that there is little hope for significant group interaction if we are unable to make contact with even one person who happens to be sitting right next to us. So, we discovered a good place to begin. Forget contact with the group, forget contact with an audience. Can I even tell if the person next to me is alive? Most of the time, not. Can I even tell if I am alive? Where am I? I'm not even sure what note I'm playing - how can I possibly respond to yours?
Me me me me me.
* * *
Had a wonderful late afternoon and early evening with a close friend. I am full of bliss and peace. Not sure why. Maybe the food? Maybe the wine? Maybe the film? Something is unfolding, unfurling.
un·furl (un-fûrl?) v., transitive & intransitive
To spread or open (something) out or become spread or opened out.
Played guitar this evening too. Music in the air. Slept like a baby.
* * *
Sunday January 07
Bought Nick Drake's "Pink
Moon" on Amazon this evening, recommended by a friend. This
song is haunting me, day and night.
Postponed meetings with Christian and George this morning in favor of catching up on some much needed relaxation before the new year really kicks into gear beginning tomorrow.
* * *
New song is coming along nicely. Words almost memorized. Tried to record a version this afternoon, but the supposed recording device turned out to not be a recording device. Looking forward to getting my studio together...
* * *
I'll be Back in NYC on Wednesday after another Tuesday evening red-eye.
* * *
Monday January 08
First real day back at work after the holiday hubub. A good day with more
meetings defining and refining the tasks for the next cycle.
* * *
Evening: SGC rehearsal in Ingrid's studio. A delightful work session visiting three areas where we need work:
a) calisthenics
b) ear training
c) circulations (pulse division addressing 'when' to play, and note selection, addressing 'what' to play.)
One of the most enjoyable guitar circles I've worked in recently. Wish Jax could have been there. Looking forward to more of this. Also the change of venue to Ingrid's studio was refreshing.
* * *
Tuesday January 09
Falling.
* * *
Off to NYC on a redeye. Back Friday evening.
6:37am EST
Just landed at JFK. Typing while riding in the cab into Manhattan. Brought my guitar on this trip as I am to be playing every day during the next 40 days. Did not declare public resolutions this year, but they exist. Resolutions this year have more to do with priorities than with specific tasks or goals. Although I do plan to complete three
CD projects this year.
Recording projects last year were pre-empted by the birth and nurturing of BootlegTV and the pre-adolescence of Bootleg Networks.
I did not sleep a wink on the flight. More patent writing. There is no shortage of ideas. Ideas are cheap; a dime a dozen. What has value is the realization of ideas, the manifestation of ideas, and the implementation of ideas.
I also decided officially on January 2nd that I would not participate in the AAD course that is currently underway with a large international team. I realize that I cannot honorably and healthily commit to the minimum requirements for participation; even though I am intensely interested in 'completion' and the group energies that can be accessed via the AAD courses, my work is elsewhere right now. Local.
And my attention is focused locally.
* * *
Excellent mail from Dean today, a reflection of and reference to potentials revealed in our rehearsal Monday evening:
----- Original Message -----
From: DeanJ
To: CurtG, BobW, JaxieB, ChrisG, SteveB
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 2:55 PM
Subject: herb and ray
"Ray and Herb did something that a lot of players don't do. They played together in the daytime, apart from the gig. They sat down and actually practiced harmonic movement. And not set-up. They didn't say 'On bar four we're going to do this.' They practiced possibilities. All the possibles, all the alternatives. And whatever triggering mechanisms they had--and I wasn't allowed in that club--they could go any given way at any given time. It was just automatic with them. And I could sense it. They had a way of letting me know they were going in such a way, at times. And other times Ray would turn and say--this was his famous line--'See if you can hear this.' "
Oscar Petersen
* * *
Traffic into the city is remarkably bad, even at 6:46am. Where are these people going? Beginning to feel the effect of the flight now. Need sleep. Stop and go traffic is not helping my typing or my growing headache. Eyes are half shut. I've been sleeping very well lately; hopefully, I will not get sick from this schedule interruption.
Practiced briefly in the airport before taking the redeye. So good to touch my guitar everyday again. The past 15 years of intense investment in practice shows in how quickly I can bounce back after a few days without regular practice. The October-December break was extremely useful. I am beginning again, fresh, energized, and inspired. Ready to work.
The extended SGC team also seems to have it's own momentum that has been building for the past 7ish years.
* * *
Looking forward to the weekend. Many domestic tasks to get done at home. (Car headlights, bills, a few small repairs, etc.)
Quiet prayers for friends suffering at a distance this morning. Now, to
sleep for a few hours.
* * *
Received an excellent phone call early in my day that made my day. Then an encouraging meeting with a new potential customer. Dinner with BillB, plotting strategy for meetings of the next two days.
Short, exercise-oriented practice, then to bed to make up for last nights sleeplessness.
* * *
Thursday January 11
Jetlag hit very hard today. By mid-afternoon, I was a zombie and needed
heavy caffeination (sp?) to maintain the appearance of semi-consciousness.
* * *
Two excellent back-to-back meetings have the Bootleg NYC team filled with optimism today. That plus seeing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" earlier this evening has me pumped full of energy for a late night practice session in my 44th St. hotel.
We have one more meeting tomorrow morning, across the street at a nameless megalithic media company, and then a follow-up to one of the investor meetings later in the afternoon.
The extreme ups and downs of start-up life would be difficult to exaggerate. Today was part of an apparent up swing.
* * *
Geaky gear moment of the day: stopped in at the Sony store between meetings today and had major laptop envy seeing the 3lb VAIO 800Mz laptop with 1024x768 native resolution. Felt like blowing a small wad in this store, but I restrained myself in an act of unnatural grace and patience. Other things on my mind right now. Other priorities building.
* * *
Practice focus this evening: the 1:3 symmetrical scale across three strings. Great patterns and intervals fall out of this scale in NST. This scale has developed its own consonance for me.
Also, continuing to evolve and explore two new songs. Need to begin a new recording process as soon as I can get my studio set up at home. May need to call in some help to get it operational quickly. I'd rather be spending my time being the musician than the engineer. Thinking of calling in someone who came to interview at Bootleg a little while ago to help me.
Wish StevenR was still in town... Hi Steven, where ever you ended up... (LA?)
* * *
What is the glamorous part about travel again? Can't wait to be homeward bound.
A picture next to my bed in this psuedo-swank hotel room reminds me of home.
Two meetings today, full of optimism and confirmation that we are, again, on the right track. The challenge now: follow-through and completion. There is a certain time in a marathon, to pull back, conserve energy, and persist in the face of pain, suffering, and the impulse to stop. We hit the 20 mile wall a ways back. Now is the time to accelerate the pace, and carry through to the finish line.
* * *
Necessity keep me from coming home today despite previously laid plans for activities Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening.
I need to take care of some personal business that cannot wait. Apologies to those inconvenienced by my last minute change of plans.
More practice in airports today.
* * *
In retreat.
* * *
* * *