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my grandma's showing signs of dementia and is on anti-alzheimers medications (which she didn't tell anyone about!) and my mom's taking it really hard. i'm trying to find a book or something for my mom to read about coping with a parent with alzheimers because i seriously have no clue what to tell her or do to help. it's made worse by the fact that my grandfather somewhat recently (last 5 years) became legally blind. he's got glaucoma so he's had a lot of time to cope with it. it's shitty because he loves reading and likes using computers and all that, but now it's so hard to that he pretty much can't. and although he can still sort of see, when you lose your vision to glaucoma, you totally and utterly lose your peripheral vision which makes it really fucking hard to get around.

these sort of things force you to think of your own mortality, in a way. everyone knows they're not invincible or immortal, but how many people actually recognize that?

i'll tell you what made me realize that...1) when i started waking up in the morning feeling shitty every day instead of being able to get up and jam and 2) when my father died in 1989. i didn't even realize for years how much it fucked my world up when my dad died, because i wasn't that close to my family. but when your parents are gone, it changes EVERYTHING on a psychological level.

my gf is having to watch her parents age close-hand now...her mom just had a mastectomy last year, hed dad has chronic migraines, and it's tough for them and her as well. and for me...she and i have been together for 12 years and they've become family to me. thankfully they're still fully cognizant. but it's hard watching them suffer, and frightening to know that at fifty-four that's what i have to look forward to sooner rather than later.

weird that this should come up. my favorite aunt died this morning, and i'm really bummed about it. she was like my second mom when i was a kid, and precipitated a terrible rift between her and my mom by going to court with my grandma when i was 10 to try and get custody of me and my brother because my parents were alcoholics and not competent. she cared more about us than she did about keeping things copacetic with her own sister. what greater love?

"I'd love one of your pedals, but it just looks too complex for me."
"... well, I do have mini versions with way less controls."
"Yeah, but I don't know what I'd want."

-_-

Gawd Dammit,....

So we got asked to open for The Sword at one of our favorite Spots to play. But when we got the details,....we decided that wouldn't work for us. The promoter/booker expected us to sell tickets for $15 a pop. The Sword is worth $15 for sure,...but I'm not going to be able to get my friends to give me $15 to come see Mecha Shiva play. Having a stack of $15 tickets is way more responsibility that I'm comfortable with dealing with. Besides,....shouldn't the Promoter/Booker be selling tickets,....you know doing his job? Honestly Sword Tickets should sell like hotcakes without the band's help.

Anyway we declined the offer.

On a lark we got on a bill the same night,....at a bar (which is one of my Favoritist places to see shows), with some great bands who we fit in with (improvisational style,...noise,...epicness) and the promoter basically sniped one of the bands off the bill, a band I was looking forward to watching play. I don't hold anything against that band, I think the promoter pestered them till they agreed and did so out of spite. That shit's fucking bush league. I don't blame the good musicians for bailing on Spokane. Most the Venues around here are run by amateurs.

I don't think the date was planned that way,...and The Sword isn't going to suffer because we are playing a show in a tiny bar a few doors down. They won't have a problem packing the joint. I'm just pissed that the bill got sabotaged.

warwick.hoy wrote:Gawd Dammit,....

So we got asked to open for The Sword at one of our favorite Spots to play. But when we got the details,....we decided that wouldn't work for us. The promoter/booker expected us to sell tickets for $15 a pop. The Sword is worth $15 for sure,...but I'm not going to be able to get my friends to give me $15 to come see Mecha Shiva play. Having a stack of $15 tickets is way more responsibility that I'm comfortable with dealing with. Besides,....shouldn't the Promoter/Booker be selling tickets,....you know doing his job? Honestly Sword Tickets should sell like hotcakes without the band's help.

Anyway we declined the offer.

On a lark we got on a bill the same night,....at a bar (which is one of my Favoritist places to see shows), with some great bands who we fit in with (improvisational style,...noise,...epicness) and the promoter basically sniped one of the bands off the bill, a band I was looking forward to watching play. I don't hold anything against that band, I think the promoter pestered them till they agreed and did so out of spite. That shit's fucking bush league. I don't blame the good musicians for bailing on Spokane. Most the Venues around here are run by amateurs.

at least you have bands and venues to go to.
EDIT:
also while I'm bitching, the closest thing to a local record store I have is Hastings (chain store that expects me to pay $30 for a reissue of the velvet underground and neco)

At this point, I'd rather play in a field on a trailer.

No good shows come through town. One of my favorite bands has played this town once in their 13 year career.

It's a great town if you are into the 100's of ICP clones,....or you want to see hackneyed old acts like Slipknot and Mudvayne.

warwick.hoy wrote:At this point, I'd rather play in a field on a trailer.

No good shows come through town. One of my favorite bands has played this town once in their 13 year career.

It's a great town if you are into the 100's of ICP clones,....or you want to see hackneyed old acts like Slipknot and Mudvayne.

no good shows? what was that about the sword? I would pick no good shows over no shows either way. their are about 5 bars that occasionally have cover bands. If I want to see anyone of note I have to drive two hours about to Atlanta or Birmingham. That doesn't improve the number of venues I have to go to either considering that most of the good ones are 21 and over.

when i lived in Spokane in 1980, the only bands that drew were arena-rockers a la Van Halen or the Scorpions. even the Grateful Dead only drew 1/3 of a house at the Coliseum, and at that time they were one of the top touring acts in the US. at least now you've got clubs.

Well either way,...the underhanded manner in which people conduct themselves within the Spokane music scene sucks. It has me questioning how much more I want to be involved with it. There are certainly way more laid back venues to play, and I guess we'll have to stick with those.

It's a different set of challenges then what you face in rural (?) Alabama for sure,....

FWIW the "favorite band that played here once in 13 years" is Umphrey's McGee. Probably not a band that get's a lot of love on ILF,....but the fact that they were up against Slipknot and Deftones on the same night at the Arena,...and no one here has ever heard of Umphrey's McGee (they are a jamband),....meant that the Knitting Factory was maybe 1/2-2/3s full. Either way I'm willing to bet it was a way better show than Slipknot,....which likely sold out the Arena.

warwick.hoy wrote:Well either way,...the underhanded manner in which people conduct themselves within the Spokane music scene sucks.

I think that's just the skeevey nature of the music business in general.

And here I thought Washington as a whole had a good thing going.

And fuck. I overcooked my cookies.

If Bills keep piling up and I don't hear back from a job interview soon, this summer is going to be the shittest, most homeless and unable to eat ever

We had to turn down a show with YOB and Dark Castle because our drummer will be on tour with his other band.

VB Craigslist is turr'bl. Although i did see a First Act guitar for $10 that might be fun to turn into something stupid.

warwick.hoy wrote:Either way I'm willing to bet it was a way better show than Slipknot,....which likely sold out the Arena.

Slipknot>Kiss with less catchy songs any questions?