On the weekend of June 19, my son Nick and I are joining a group of old friends to climb Mount Shasta and will attempt the summit. We’re taking part in a nationwide event to raise money for research and increase awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a devastating illness affecting my friend Paul Cliff’s son Alexander, age 11.

Please consider a donation within your means to support our team, to support this event, and most important to support Alexander Cliff, a young boy facing challenges greater than any mountain peak: http://www.firstgiving.com/alexandercliff

Our friends Doug Glover and Troy Paff, the camera team from Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe,” will be documenting the climb and I’ll provide updates via Twitter as often as possible.

Thanks for your consideration.

More information on this event here: http://cureduchenneadventures.org/

And on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy here: http://www.parentprojectmd.org/

Beware

iTunes |  amazon

Blood from Stars
Joe Henry
Pop
This is the album Elvis Costello wishes he released this year (not that Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane wasn’t good – but note it didn’t make my list). Henry’s sound is like a confident solo cabaret, if that makes any sense. Traditional jazz and blues standards inform these songs, but never dominate – his questions and concerns come through loud and clear on every track.

iTunes |  amazon

The Bright Mississippi
Allen Touissant
Jazz
Nothing less than perfection, really: Touissant keeps the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, and more alive with the assistance of an A-list backing band and a nod to the ongoing tragedy inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.

iTunes |  amazon

The Hazards of Love
The Decemberists
Pop
Moving closer to a full-blown stage production, The Decemberists keep the prog-pop progression going with this narrative concept album featuring shape-shifting demons, dead babies, and medieval gardens. Heavy rock recalls Grace Slick’s vocals, Deep Purple’s guitars.

iTunes |  amazon

Hold Time
M. Ward
Pop
Even when the guy puts out a crap album, it’d probably still find its way onto my top ten for the year – he’s that interesting. Keeping the mood going without breaking too much new ground, Ward entertains with wit and warmth. Lucinda Williams and Zooey Deschanel join in on the fun.

iTunes |  amazon

Middle Cyclone
Neko Case
Rock
Part familiar, part unique, and all passionate, “Middle Cyclone” sounds like an album I’ve been enjoying for twenty years. Most likely it’ll be spinning another twenty. Ending with a half-hour of crickets though?

iTunes |  amazon

Monsters of Folk
Monsters of Folk
Pop
Irony noted: they can call themselves “folk” all they want, but this is pure pop fun. M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes have created a Traveling Wilburys-like collection, weaving their influences together and apart.

iTunes |  amazon

Noble Beast
Andrew Bird
Pop
I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s just about impossible to dislike this album. Or, better – if you don’t like sunny, bright tunes with plenty of whistling and poppy melodies, then just get out. I’ll enjoy it on my own.

iTunes |  amazon

Ready for the Flood
Mark Olsen & Gary Louris
Americana
The next best thing to a Jayhawks reunion. It’s great to hear these voices harmonizing again after ten years apart – and the songs aren’t half-bad, either. Warm and welcoming.

iTunes |  amazon

Black John
The Soul of John Black
Soul
A recent passenger in my car asked, “Don’t you have anything with rhythm?” Well, yeah, I do. Miles Davis & Fishbone sideman JB Bingham brings down the house with this slice of retro soul/funk. Just contemporary enough and hardly lacking in substance. Dig it.

iTunes |  amazon

I had a little fun at the Q&A site Fluther recently…

Question posted by brand-new member jenabee:
“Where did the origin of the word doughnut come from? If there are no nuts in most doughnuts, then why do they call them doughnuts?”

My horseshit response:
“The word has its origins in the murky past of Middle English where they were referred to as “toe-naughts.” (Naught meaning zero, of course.)
There were other numeral-shaped treats at the time – perhaps the best-known is the delicious Fig Eight.
Eventually, as the Great Plague passed and the need to make the best of discarded digits waned, these wonderful fried rings came to be known as “doughnuts,” mostly for their use of dough.
It is a Welsh tradition that if you can pass a Filbert through the center of a doughnut, you’ll have three minutes of good luck.”

Steely Dan was in town with master session guitarist Larry Carlton for a four-night stand playing a different classic album each night: “The Royal Scam,” “Aja,” “Gaucho,” and one night of Internet requests.

For Pete’s birthday, I offered to pick up the tab for his ticket if he would make the trip down from Modesto (we hadn’t seen each other in eight years). He took the long way down (Amtrak, then a Greyhound from Bakersfield) and joined me & Mike for a memorable night. We were all equally repulsed by the desperate flash of Universal CityWalk and just as much impressed by the concert. In particular, Jon Herington, Jim Pugh, Carolyn Leonhart, Freddie Washington took turns blowing us away while old men Becker & Fagen seemed not-so-old, energetic and fresh. Hearing Larry Carlton tear up his classic solo on “Third World Man” was the icing on the skunky cake.

Here’s the set list:

Intro: Teenie’s Blues

The Royal Scam (complete)

Hey Nineteen
Daddy Don’t Live in that NYC No More
Aja
Black Friday
Home at Last
Parker’s Band
Love is Like an Itching in My Heart / Band Intros
Third World Man
Peg
Josie
My Old School

Reeling in the Years

Outro: Last Tango in Paris

Around age seven, I had an encyclopedia with a full-page illustration of a creepy skinny bones. I couldn’t even look at that page. I kept the book shoved under my bed. One day I got real brave and decided to face my fear head-on. I got the book out, slowly opened to the horrible page… and found my Dad had taken a pencil and drawn a smile on the skull. A ragged, toothy smile on that face without a face, empty sockets staring back at my suddenly bloodless gaze.

After I finished crying, I gave the book to my mom. I didn’t want it anymore.

Rittenhouse rye and what looks like a real Marasca cherry, even!

(splash image courtesy Jay Hepburn at Oh Gosh!)

Friday
11:00 a.m.
Woke up late. Out for breakfast, we saw these adorable mini-Guantanamo prisoners roped together, crossing the street like little goslings.
3:00 p.m.
Spent the day walking and wandering, learned the MTA map does not mirror the London Underground map for accuracy and clarity.
10:00 p.m.
Sussman came out to meet me & Kristin at the Society of Illustrators, where one of my illos made the cut for this year’s annual book & show. I found myself among very esteemed company, met legends Gail Anderson and Steven Guarnaccia as well as some very nice fellow qualifiers, and was generally overwhelmed by my inclusion among such quality work. I hope to come back again (if they’ll have me).

Saturday
4:00 p.m.
Kristin & I spent the day exploring Chinatown & Midtown. On a tip from Troy, we had the steamed pork dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai – equally memorable for the chaos of the restaurant as much as the flavor or the dish. Next, it was shopping for the kids in Midtown, a visit to the Deco marble perfection of the Empire State Building (had to) and an awesome comic/graphic novel shop where the loudmouth manager was complaining about ELO’s “Living Thing” and “Strange Magic” playing over the speakers. Back at Jim’s place, we’re realizing between our plans for the evening, the beginning of Daylight Savings time at 2:00 a.m. and our 3:30 wake-up call to get over to JFK, there may not be such a thing as a Saturday night tonight.

Sunday
2:15 a.m.
Met Sussman for dinner last night at Artie’s Deli in Midtown. Was tempted by the Celray soda, but didn’t succumb — more from being too full of brisket than culinary fear.
After that, Sussman’s old friend (apparently, known affectionately as “Big Gay Bryan”) invited the three of us to join him at his birthday party in what surprised us to be a very gay Hell’s Kitchen bar. Who knew? Hung out and traded stories, Kristin got to dance the way she likes to… and when they took the decorative curtains down from the walls, we figured that was our cue to exit.
Back in TriBeCa at this ungodly hour – where 2:15 is really 1:15 (which, in fact, is still 10:15 to us), we’re stalling for time at a late-night bar before we need to hop on the train to JFK.
10:00 a.m.
Thought better of the train and caught a taxi to JFK instead, chatted with a cop at the airport. Back in California (SFO) waiting for our connection home. Thanks again to Jim and his family for being the perfect hosts, thanks to Greg, Sussy, and Linc for making it all happen, thanks to Troy for the Chinatown tip — and thanks to New York for being New York. We’ll be back soon.

Geez, guys. Get it straight.

Still, though – Pup ‘n’ Taco and Star Wars in one flick? What are the odds?