Saturday, June 29th, 2013, India’s Flavor

The LA heatwave continues. It’s brutal out and all I wanna do is stand still.  Thank God for A/C on buses.  After morning events I made a decision to buy a guitar.  I had been going back and forth with a seller on Craigslist.  Rachel, the Australian lass with the guitar, gave me the old ‘I have other interest, but I wanna give you first refusal’. I bit.  I said I was going to try learning guitar on top of gigs, so I might as well follow through (a theme perhaps? nooooooo.) I couldn’t have picked the worst time to do this. Why didn’t I have this inspiration in February? or 10 years ago?

Rachel was in WeHo, so I popped over to grab what is a very basic acoustic guitar, and it came with extras: A shoulder strap, electric tuner (even though I found this video to be very helpful), a soft case and a whole new set of strings.  Rachel is saving up for a keyboard, so I contributed to her fund.  She fancies herself more as a pianist.  I never know who I’m going to meet.  Maybe one day, when Velvet Tom decides to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes, then I can call on her and her piano skills so that I have someone to play with (not a euphemism). After a brief chat, she refilled my water bottle (also not a euphemism).

I got back home and immediately set the guitar aside. Instead, I sat down to Notflix and watched The Grifters….time was not kind to this movie.  I needed a pallet cleanser, so, after having a staring contest with the case, I brought out the guitar.  Where do I start?  YouTube! duh. A vast visual library of whatever I needed to know guitar related.  So I took a couple of lessons.  This won’t be easy, but it will sure be interesting.

We were late to a premiere party in Glendale for a friend of mine.  My former student Monia Ayachi, wrote a script, got a Kickstarter for it, raised ALL the money, then produced, directed and starred in her own web series.  Talk about drive and willingness. She is an example of the new entertainment business model. Visit her show page. The first episode should be posted. Kerry and I made it in time for Karaoke (drool).  Anybody knows me, knows that I cannot resist getting on the mic for at least one number.  It used to be worse but I won’t go into the severity of my Karaoke addiction. So it goes.

Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’ had been rolling around in my head all day.  I have no idea, probably for Velvet Tom. It was already 11:30p at this point and I knew I wasn’t going to get a mic in, so THIS performance had to become tonights mic.  I told you I was going to rewrite the rules. I hit the stage and the sweet music started….firstly, at this point; Kung Fu Fighting and I Will Survive had already gone.  I was in prime position for a slow down, power-ballad centered around the theme of unrequited love (it’s. an. addiction.) Rocky start, yes. But what happened afterward, will be spoken about for years to come at India’s Flavor.  It became this comically sexualized thrustfest. I think the word is commitment. I committed to the moment and from it came something totally unrecognizable from the original number, I think it might have been better.  I always try and get the audience involved. I was able to get them singing the final words of each chorus “….I love you.”  By that last chorus I gently said back to them “I love you, too”.  

Shows to Date: 11

Total $ spent: $9

Miles traveled: 10

Topics covered: unrequited love, sex, my hip thrusts, my sexual power, my uncanny knack to remember a song that I just heard for the first time in a long time in a Rite-Aid, I’m allergic to guitar