Studio Diary #10 October 17-24 2003.

Monday
Had a ghastly hangover all day yesterday having gotten back from the Manson show at 5 in the morning.You can imagine the state I was in.I had SUCH a good laugh though.It was great to get out of the studio environment and into a noisy,crowded venue.For as long as I can remember,going to live shows has always managed to revitalize and energise me for some reason and Manson himself of course is value added entertainment and inspiring company.He's so bright and articulate.
Anyways........as a result of my hangover I kept myself on the down low and went to see Clint Eastwood's "Mystic river" which I found to be rather melodramatic and pedestrian if the truth be told.Don't really understand why it's being hailed as his masterpiece."Unforgiven" was his brightest hour.

Tuesday
Oh lord...........we endured a complete and utter garbage-band meltdown this afternoon.It was pretty intense.We all sat around a table telling "home truths" and it hurt but it also felt really cathartic and healthy and constructive.
I got so freaked out by it all I had to come home and roast a chicken.it was the only thing I could think of to do that would root me back to the earth.And to some degree it worked.Made me feel more secure in my life.....albeit briefly.

Wednesday
Heard about Elliot Smith's suicide first thing this morning and thought about his lovely voice and his gentle music.How life can chew up the good and the delicate and spit it all out.What a shame....just such a bloody shame.
Spent the afternoon over at a friend's house, a local jazz musican just sitting listening to some of his old vinyl recordings from the 40's and 50's whilst drinking coffee and eating chocolates.It was a very peaceful and serene way to spend an afternoon following the last few crazy days.I mean......when I hear Nina Simone or Muddy Waters sing,I fly off into another dimmension.It's crazy.

Thursday
Sent a bunch of tracks out to our record company this afternoon so we can start discussing producers or mixers for a couple of the songs that we believe could benefit from an outside ear.We've become so bogged down here,we've lost our perspective so it's time to take a step back and take a few weeks off from even thinking about this fucking session.

Friday
Finally got my arse into gear and went to see "Lost in Translation" last night.God it's AMAZING and absolutely mesmerizing.Full of depth and emotion and experience of feeling.I got so lost in all that alienation and isolation and that weird intimacy that's so easy to acheive with a complete stranger yet can be so difficult to sustain with those you know and love so well.
I just thought Sophia Coppola captured really complex,contradictory emotions so perfectly............. without any hysteria or indeed too many words.I loved it.It's my movie of the year.

sat
Went shoppong in CHicago yesterday and ran into Michelle Branch at Barneys and just as we were yapping together about how odd it was that we should meet like that, who shoud we see slink by but a very pregnant Kate Hudson with her boy Chris Robinson! How bizarre.I got mixed up for a moment and thought we were in LA.Talk about Lost in Translation.