Hey everybody, just letting everyone know that the Jewelbox Theater at the Rendezvous( http://www.rendezvousseattle.com/findus.html ) in Seattle will be the place to be on November 28th. Our good, good friends Blackbird Orchestra( http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdorchestra ) are having their CD release party there that night and Civita ( http://www.​civitaband.​com ) will be playing to support them! If you haven't seen Blackbird Orchestra live, you're in for a real treat! Great songs, great melodies and great guys.

Of course, us in Civita are thrilled to play with Blackbird Orchestra again and we're thrilled to play for our fans. We may have some new songs ready by then, and we'll have our latest ep for you as well, so it will be totally worth the effort to make it out.

Plus Colby Imus and the Good Lieutenants( http://www.​myspace.​com/​thegoodlieutena​nt ) are on the bill. I don't know too much about them, other than they seem to be really good musicians. I hope to see you there!

~Paul

You know how you know your partner truly loves you? When they stick by you and give you second chances even when you're being a complete douche bag. Which is why I know my wife is the best wife in the world, because I've been a total ass clown, and yet somehow I'm still breathing. I don't know what I did in a past life were I merit the complete joy I have in this one since I've met Mel(instantkarmma), but it must have been something like curing the plague or something. I fear for my next life however because like I said, I've been incredibly retarded.

So Mel, I just wanted it on public record that I know I've been an ass and somehow I'll make it up to you. I want everyone within the sound of this blog to hold me to that. I know I don't deserve you but I've always been grateful for you and I'm committed to never disappointing you again. You hear that LJ land? You call my shit out if you ever see me being stupid. It should be an easy job because I know what I have, and I plan on not screwing it up, even if I can be an idiot sometimes.

This week has been busy, but really not that much busier than my typical schedule. We live a pretty full life. I think that sometimes when people hear "I'm busy," when I can't do something with them, they think it's a standard brush off answer. So, here's a glimpse into a week of my life.

Let's see. Monday worked 7a-4p. Went out with Jake Von Slatt(vonslatt) and the rest of The Tribe from 6pm till 11p up in Seattle. Home about 12a Tuesday morning. Worked 7a-4p Tuesday. Made it to bed about 1am Wednesday taking care of my dog. Wednesday worked 7a-4p. Went to Seattle to mix the new Nathaniel Johnstone(nathan_fhtagn) live album we're putting out. I sounds AMAZING by the way. Got home 1230a Thursday morning. Worked 6a-4p Thursday(1hr OT), went and played a Civita show, home about 1am Friday morning. Work 6a-4p Friday morning w/plans to drive the 1.5 hrs to the ocean after work. Mel(instantkarmma) is a bit under the weather and I'm fricken' EXHAUSTED! Will go Saturday morning. MUST HAS SLEEP! Of course, as I type this, it's 1:33a Saturday morning. We're night owls and it's hard to go to bed early.

So yeah, when I say I'm busy...I'm busy! LOL!

So, most people know that Mel(instantkarmma) and I are from the band Civita. Well, tomorrow we will be performing at the Columbia City Theater in Seattle on a different project with Nathaniel Johnstone.(nathan_fhtagn) Also performing will be dancer Finn Von Claret, the band Blackbird Orchestra and performance artist, The Red King. Srsly. You DON'T want to miss this! Check out the videos for a little taste and tell me what you think.

Finn Von Claret



Blackbird Orchestra



Nathaniel Johnstone

Just got home from rehearsals for the show Mel(instantkarmma) and I are playing with Nathaniel Johnstone(nathan_fhtagn). Mel took it easy with her voice since she's been sick and blew it out at the last Civita show. But she sounded good at rehearsal and the show should RAWK! Check the flyer for details.Click it for venue info.

Is it wrong that I kind of want to watch Woody Harrelson kill zombies? Looks like Zombieland might actually be a funny movie. And you can't go wrong with zombies! Haha! Don't judge me!

Zombieland opens October 2nd. I won't be there though and neither should you because WE'RE PLAYING ANOTHER SHOW THAT NIGHT! Woohoo! Can't wait. I love being on stage. We're playing with our friend John's band "This Modern Love." John's our recording engineer and a fantastic bass player. The show's only 5 bucks and it's a Friday night so hopefully we'll get to see all you lovely people there. Check out the flyer below for show time and stuff. You can click it for venue info.

I can't wait for the new Pearl Jam release! Next month I think. Some people think it's strange that I'm such a fan of late '80s early '90s so called "grunge" music bands. But remember, that's what I grew up around. I'm 44. So my late teens/early 20's where right in the middle of the whole "Seattle Music Scene." As a musician myself, playing in the Seattle scene, I've either played with or knew quite a bit of the people that later went on to become well known. So it should be no surprise I like that stuff.

Besides, there isn't much these days that has the same pure passion and complete lack of self consciousness that the music from then had. Where are the bands that aren't obsessed with being cool? Were are the bands that a kid can just go see after his shift at McDonald's and no one even notices he's still in his uniform? Were are the bands that just play because music in and of its self is cool enough? I like a lot of bands with bells and whistles. Like Tool, Rush, Iron Maiden. Even bands I'm friends with like Sky Cries Mary and Abney Park have a lot of bells and whistles. Though SCM seems to have toned it down a bit. That's fine. There's some great bands out there that put on great shows these days so I'm not saying there's no good music right now. But on commercial radio and tv there's a huge lack of it! Plus, even with a lot of good bands, there just seems to be so much else involved that it's almost too much work to be fans of them. And some of the music seems to lack any heartfelt feeling. I miss the time when all you had to do to be a fan of a band was like their music and show up at their show. And I miss music that made you feel something when you heard it. Be it happy, sad, angry, whatever. Not much of that on the radio these days. And even though there are some good songs out there, I feel someone would be hard pressed to match the sincerity of a band just playing for music alone like in the '90s. There needs to be bands with the bells and whistles, but there also needs to be bands that are still pure and honest and get straight to the point. There's a few out there, but I feel the balance is off kilter a bit. Here, I saw this show. have a stripped down version of awesomeness:

Remember this is less than a week away! Don't want to miss the chance to hob nob with three, count 'em THREE super talented local photographers! We have Angel Ceballos(robotangel) from Robotangel.com, Danny McManus(cyclpath) from Yellow Griffin Images, and Libby Bulloff(carpe_jugulum) from Exoskeleton Cabaret. Very diverse and yet equally talented artisans making head way into the photography scene. The details are on the flyer below. This is why I live in Washington state. Everywhere you turn someone is doing SOMETHING amazing. I'll be posting about my own humble contributions to the aural arts in a bit, but make sure you don't miss this!

Clarification, I was NOT laid off and I did NOT quit. I'm just working on the company website for 1 year so I'm not at the airport anymore.

Don't mess with these chicks man!

I've worked at the Seattle airport for just over 12 years now. Kind of sad to have to turn in all the ID badges and keys and stuff today.

My reply to a comment in the Abney Park community so people don't have to worry about Finn. She's made the best decision for herself and the band will be fine I'm sure.

Well Magdalene and I joined at the same time to basically fill in for Kryzstof(charmed_art) and Traci while they were off having a baby. Turned out they couldn't come back so we stayed on for two years. We both had our previous things going on and it finally caught up with us though. The same with Finn. If there's an undercurrent, it's that AP looks for the best talent they can find. Which unfortunatley for the band means the people they get are usually already involved with something and using their skills and so have to move on eventually.

Actually, my friend Rachel(melantha71) was before Traci and there was maybe two more before that? Going from Robert's quote from the craigslist add, I think he knows he needs a decent singer. I HOPE he does anyway because a mediocre singer would just be horrible with all the skill of Nathan, Kristina and Daniel as musicians. Robert's a good singer and a bad back up would make him sound like crap. I agree with you 100 per cent. I think he knows though. To quote his craigslist add he said the dancing needs to be PART of the package, not the main thing. Which is why, while it's sad for AP that Finn's leaving, I'm glad she decided to. She's much happier as a full on dancer. She's a really good friend of mine and I know it's best for her and AP if she pursues her dance passion full time.</a>

If you're a fan of great photography...and who isn't? Then you need to come to this. Three friends of mine are sharing an art show and all three are fantastic photographers! Plus, if I'm not mistaken, yours truly may be featured in some of the prints! The photographers are Libby Bulloff(carpe_jugulum), Danny McManus(cyclpath) and Angel Ceballos(robotangel). See below for details.



Venue = Zero Zero
1525 Summit Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98127
August 18 - September 21
Artist Reception: Saturday, August 22, 8-11 p.m

So, if anyone had heard that Civita was doing a show next weekend, we're not. We were entertaining the idea, but scheduling conflicts won't let it happen. It was last minute anyway so we didn't really promote it anyway. Kinda knew it wasn't likely. So if you were planning on going, don't worry, we'll be playing again soon.

Doesn't wanna get dressed for work and would rather just sit naked under the ceiling fan...

According to the weather report on the radio today, it will get close to 100F by Thursday or Friday. I'm not cut out for this...

As I told Jenni(crowgrl13) who originally posted about this, maybe pole dancing should be an Olympic event. These women are real athletes!



I think cheer leading should be added as well. The kind they do in the Bring It On movies. Which are Mel's(instantkarmma) favorite kinds of movies by the way. Some hard core athletes doing that as well.

I don't buy bottled water because I won't pay for something that falls from the sky for free. Even more reason at http://tinyurl.com/nj8lnr