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so what does a hard boiled cop like joe friday have in common with a faceless 8-bit guy like pitfall harry? they share a very recognizable bit of music. i probably wouldn’t have known about  it if it weren’t for the atari 2600 game by game podcast. i personally own a stack of atari cartridges. the last count was 82 i think, and i wanted to hear the show that covered pitfall. when the host (ferg) revealed the dragnet/pitfall connection it was like seeing something for the first time that had been hiding in plain sight for decades. a good riff is a good riff, and it was common for video games from the 80′s to do this type of thing. i felt the same way when i realized the music in spy hunter was actually the peter gunn theme.
**ferg, if you’re reading this, i hope you don’t mind the way i edited the clip from your show. thanks again for your dedication to the atari 2600!

beep goes the weasel is coming back to salon kitch to turn music fans into music players april 21st and may 19th! on both nights the fun starts @ 6pm. it’s kind of ironic though. every time i think folks are losing interest, or shows are slowing down– somebody asks for another one! when the radio stations wouldn’t return my calls & the culinary center stopped giving us free veggies, i thought “well this is it.” but then kitch and penny asked “when can you play at the salon again?” beep goes the weasel is the show that refuses to die, like paul newman in cool hand luke (above).

jenny & i were in the grocery store today when we heard this song that tracey ullman recorded in 1983. we looked at each other, and cracked up as it played inside price chopper. we’ve seen the music video: tracey ullman plays the part of an exhausted housewife who is shopping for groceries (see above) right before she runs away with paul mccartney.

this only makes symmetrical sense, but now that it’s one day after st. patrick’s day, i’ll write about what we did the night before. this is jenny, me, jim, and mom at murray’s tables and tap. behind us are mike and cameron from flannigan’s right hook. they played some awesome tunes like you’ve got to hide your love away, folsom prison blues, and the theme song from tv’s king of the hill. the warmer than usual weather this year has been surreal.

jenny’s cousin, jessica, invited us to an improv showcase that she performed in tuesday night. it was really cool. after an audience member suggested a skating rink for a location, jessica’s improv group (pictured above) pretended to skate on stage. they took turns, and went into an unrehearsed sketch about open dating situations, a birthday party gone wrong, and drunk flirty nursing home residents.

last week i blogged about the trio plus, a recent purchase i made that can add drums and bass to my music. it’s ironic, but i always use new technology like this to go back in time and see how retro i can make it sound (or look). here is something i recorded the day after trio plus came in the mail. i guess i was channeling my memories of cereal and cartoon fueled saturday mornings with my sister.

yesterday i plugged in the TRIO plus and jammed w/gary. we work together at homer’s. he and i have been saying “we need to get together and jam!” for a long time… and then it finally happened. having the trio plus was like having a rhythm section on standby, because that’s basically what it does– it adds bass and drums to ANYTHING! we jammed for 4 hours before we started recording. here are a couple of tracks that made it to the hard drive:
work daze
island life

yesterday was the stay home and read a book ball, and MANY people like the kids in the pic above were doing just that. the johnson county library hosted this event, and encouraged everyone to stay home and read a book from 8am-8pm. they also accepted donations during the 12 hour event. one of the organizers asked me to make a music video, which i did with chris mull’s help. other local artists that made videos included kate cosentino, electric needle room, and bailey west.

the best ribs i ever had didn’t come from kansas city. they came from a little tavern in williamsburg, ks. that’s the town where chris’ brother roy lives. roy invited his siblings (& us) to his place for ribs from guy & mae’s tavern. they tasted so good that my eyes rolled back in my head. when i regained my sight, the first thing i noticed was roy’s union pacific mirror… it looked just like the one i had in my bedroom when i lived at home.

a couple of months ago bryan voell at the johnson county library asked if i could make a music video for the stay home and read a book ball. my response was… HECK YES! here is the final result after collaborating a few nights and afternoons with my faithful compadré, chris mull.