Journal

Last night we went to the System of a Down concert at the Greek, which was a special benefits show to commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Prior to System taking the stage, we were shown some excellent footage about the Armenian Genocide on the large screen monitors. System sticks to what it believes and raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide was their mission last night, followed by their best performance that I’ve ever witnessed… and I’ve seen them quite a few times! When System finally took the stage, the audience went into a near frenzy. The show last night reminded me very much of the System shows we used to see in the early club days. The crowd sang every word to every song, like a stern militia loyal to its cause. Aylin and I were no exceptions: we were mesmerized by System’s performance and our adrenaline rose like everyone else’s. System’s music does something to me... my pulse rises and I get lost in the sonic mayhem. They are unique and I don’t think there’s a band out there that comes close. Their brutal attack, melodic sensibilities and unpredictable musical gyrations are second-to-non. It was an absolutely awesome performance!

On another note, Aylin and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary together by having dinner at the Chart House in Malibu – which is where we had our first date. Believe it or not, our first date was on April 15, 1999!

At bottom, every man knows perfectly well that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

Well, the Chemical Kids were a smash at the Sagebrush Cantina! We had quite a good turnout which could have been bigger had it not been for the impending rains and the Lakers game. Most people liked the sound and for the first time in a long time my vocals could be heard clearly through the floor monitors. It was harder to hear my guitar, especially in the beginning, which screwed things up for me a little. For example, I couldn’t figure out in what note to sing “Great Balls of Fire” and I just had to stop the band, pretending like I forgot the lyrics just to check the key!

I love playing live… I love seeing people drink, dance, sing, and have a good time. More than anything, I like the drinks I get from our audience ;-)

Sometimes we let things bother us. Things that happen, things that people say or do, the news, work… But these are usually things that are really meaningless in the grand scheme of life. I couple of days ago I was feeling a little blue and down, so I decided to turn on the radio. The song that came on was the Beatles “Let it Be”. Wow. What a healing experience. Those three simple words can mean so much. We want to deal with our problems but we don’t have to deal with all of them right away. Sometimes it’s just better to let things be for a while and then come reevaluate the issues. Sleep on them. See if those things mean the same later. Just let them be.

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642)