Steve Ball Diary
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Tuesday November 20
Wednesday November 21
Thursday November 22
Friday November 23
Saturday November 24
Sunday November 25
Read the archive
Tuesday November 27
Wednesday November 28
Thursday November 29
Friday November 30
Saturday December 01
Sunday December 02
Monday November 19
SBRS rehearsal at HQ -- intensive metronome work on new song "Kneeling Down"
and a quick recap of weekend events.
SGC rehearsal at HQ -- intensive metronome work on Shostakovich Prelude circulation and a quick recap of weekend events.
Good vibes all around.
* * *
Tuesday November 20
Date night: Monsters, Inc. Wow, what a great film. Wish to
see it again. Amazing animation and excellent story. Don't miss
this.
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Wednesday November 21
A slow day. Carrying a mild depression. This happens for me around
holidays.
* * *
A slow evening. SBRS rehearsal at HQ preceded by a labeling and clean-up session. Working out some new material for next week's Pitcairn Gallery show (Thursday!)
Music has lifted some of the weight, but gravity is still pulling down. Perhaps I should eat something? Duh.
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Thursday November 22
Thanksgiving. Giving thanks.
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Friday November 23
A weekend 'off' with local 'family.'
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Saturday November 24
Dinner and poker with friends chez Pelota.
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home
Monday November 26
Back to work after the holiday. In early to 'catch-up.' Always
'behind' at the borg. Nursing my poor ill sweetie.
Evening: SBRS rehearsal, preparation for show Thursday at Pitcairn Scott Gallery. New material flying out in all directions.
SGC Rehearsal: run though of material for a short show we have this Saturday afternoon at Phinney Center.
Under the weather.
* * *
Tuesday November 27
Home work on new Seattle Circle web site ideas. Still feeling under the
weather. It's raining here.
* * *
Wednesday November 28
SBRS rehearsal at HQ. Focus on final preparations for the Pitcairn show
tomorrow evening.
* * *
Thursday November 29
SBRS: one of our best shows at Pitcairn this evening. Musically, it felt
satisfying and just long enough. The new material is working well and
feels fresh. My voice felt strong and capable of great leaps this evening
-- and the vocal blend with TravisM was inspiring.
Of course, it always helps to have great listeners like SteveT and DonM in the audience. The two requests (Message in a Bottle and Back in NYC) although not on our set list, were in many ways the highlight of the show. Even though we had not rehearsed these for a while, they were alive and full of lively musical surprises.
* * *
The highlight of my day: finding the card that was waiting for me when I got home. It's the little things.
* * *
Friday November 30
Long day at work, began early, ended with a long rainy commute home.
Difficult not to feel the absence of George Harrison all day today.
What is Life
What I feel, I can't say
But my love is there for you anytime of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
What I know, I can do
If I give my love now to everyone like you
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
What I feel, I can't say
But my love is there for you any time of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
Oh tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
What is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side
Oh tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me who am I without you by my side
* * *
In the middle, making connections, the highlight of which was ongoing growing facilitation between SteveT and DonM in the building 50 cafe. Then back to an afternoon of UI work.
Evening: wonderful couples dinner with Lisa, EveB and JohnB, then home to an early evening after a long week.
* * *
Saturday December 01
Slept in to build up my health. SGC rehearsal at HQ before a short concert
as part of the Phinney Winter Festival.
The concert itself: difficult, but honorable. After we loaded the gear in, I had to move my car (and find parking in a crowded neighborhood) that had been blocking someone while we unloaded gear, so I missed whatever there was of a short soundcheck. Of course, perhaps because of this, it turns out that something was wrong with my guitar/cable/or mixer channel and my signal kept coming and going from the mix. Changing the battery did not change the situation. Good performances despite the technical difficulties. Some fun moments too.
One observation that I heard about later from someone who had been sitting (coloring and making paper dolls in the audience) during our set: "this music hurts my ears."
JanetteR did an outstanding job as song title card changer -- wonder how this worked for the audience. People are generally modal -- some respond to graphical some to sonic and some to intellectual, and some to physical stimulation. Having song titles written out on large cards may provide one more form of poetic information regarding our work... but what affect does this have on our audience?
Is this worth the trouble? Is this a distraction or an enhancement?
* * *
Heard an excellent definition today from the former US Ambassador to Iraq who recently spoke at Town Hall in Seattle:
Politics - derrived from the Greek root 'poly' meaning 'many' and the word 'tics' meaning 'blood sucking insects.'
Went to the MS Company party at EMP this evening with LH. We had a shockingly great time.
I am definitely in denial about a cold/flu that is working to hijack my body. Keep telling myself: not gonna happen, but I feel like crud.
* * *
Sunday December 02
Feeling bad for all of the poor Excite @home users who are scrambling to
discover how to revert to life with out broadband and email. 850K
people now without this primary resource upon which the technologically gifted
in our society are becoming dependent.
Seems like many of my friends were @home users. Enron or Excite: clearly, there are no guarantees.
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