Zoe's Incredibly Interesting Blog

Cellos in Space

2008-05-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I played a concert at the NASA Ames Research Center for a massive event called Yuri's Night (Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space).

I would describe it as science fair meets alien fashion show meets performing arts festival meets rave. I had no idea NASA was so cool!!

I talked to a few people who worked there, and hopefully impressed upon them the importance of puttings cellists in space. Or at least hiring me to provide soundtracks for their missions! (er, I'm assuming all space missions have soundtracks?)

Music for a new short film

2008-04-24T13:18:00.001-07:00

Last month I made some music for German filmmaker Max Sacker's recent entry to the Filmaka competition. The film is called "The Secret Adventures of the Projectionist" and you can watch it here:

Fiery Fashion

2008-02-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

I performed a couple weeks ago at a fashion show at The Crucible in Oakland, CA. Incredible fashion, stunning models, lots of fire! Here are some photos that Jeffrey Rusch took of the event.

Getting ready...it takes 15 minutes to lace up my granny boots...

and another 15 minutes to make my hair look like I just crawled out of the swamp. I know its ready when I can't tell what's going on when I look at it....

Note the folks getting ready behind me....

You have to be careful on your way to the stage...

My performance...

Chatting with one of the designers, Antoniya Ivanova..

Some of the fashion...

Notes from a week without Electricity

2008-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

Jan 1st, 2008

We spent the holidays up in Oregon, where we had a really nice Christmas with family, but the weather was damp and miserable. However, now we're back in California and the weather is just lovely. I've always loved the golden light here in the winter. Yesterday we went to Bodega Bay to get some crab, and while there watched a spectacular last sunset of the year.

Then we ate our crabs, covered in melted butter, and toasted the new year around a bonfire with some good friends.

Thursday, Jan 3rd: The Storm

I read on the news that a big storm was headed towards California. So I went into town and bought instant coffee (in case a lack of power rendered the coffee grinder useless), an LED flashlight and some candles. It started raining buckets in the afternoon, like a waterfall out of the sky.

We went to bed. In the middle of the night I was woken by a lot of noise. It sounded like blasts of wind hitting the trees and we were being pelted by debris. Massive redwoods and douglas firs tower over us and all I could imagine was that we were about to be crushed by a falling branch. We'd had a tree climber over in the summer to remove the most ominous limbs, but was it enough? I hid under the covers and tried to go back to sleep. Impossible! The noise got louder and louder, each gust more violent than the last. Jeff, who normally sleeps very lightly (whereas I am almost impossible to wake) didn't seem to notice.

This went on for a bit. I kept jumping out of bed everytime something large-sounding hit the roof. The storm was blowing from the south, and as our bedroom is on the south side of the house, it was first in line to be pelted by whatever gets blown at it. I gave up on sleeping, got dressed and went into the living room to look online at the radar map. It was louder in here because the cathedral ceiling acts like a huge drum, amplifying every sound. Just as I was looking at the animation of the storm rotating over us, there was a distant thud that sounded like an explosion, and the power went out.

The wind was now an almost continuous roar. Jeff woke up and came into the living room too and we cowered as the tempest continued around us. There was another violent blast of wind, followed by a thud that shook the house accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. Tentatively, we shone our flashlights in the direction of the sound and saw that the deck next to our bedroom was speared by a tree limb, which then snapped in half and smashed through the paned glass of the french doors. Jeff hastily patched the window with cardboard and duct tape. We noticed that water was running out of the ceiling, from between the wood panels. It being too dark to go out and look, we put a bucket underneath. It seemed too dangerous to be in the bedroom, so we dragged the bedding over to the sitting room in the north side of the house, and camped out there until dawn. Looking up out the windows as I lay there, I could just make out the silhouettes of the trees against the sky. They are over 200 feet high and some of them are a few feet in diameter, and yet they swayed back and forth like they were made of flexible licorice.

Friday, Day 1

After a few hours of fitful sleep, dawn finally arrived. The storm was still going strong with waterfall-like rain and hurricane-force winds, but at least it was light and we could see what was happening. Looking outside, all around us the ground was covered in tree branches and pine cones. Some of the branches were pretty large. Jeff put on his rain gear and climbed onto the roof, luckily it hasn't been pierced, just some damaged tiles that let water in. As for the deck and glass door, we planned on replacing them anyway. Around noon, the wind died down but the rain continued.

Being without electricity doesn't feel so bad at first. We've got a light that runs off a power tool battery. However, we immediately discovered the downside of VoIP phone service...you need juice to run to the cable modem and without juice, no phone. We've got a portable battery though, so we can run the internet and phone for a couple of hours. I went online and read that over 2 million households got their power knocked out. Luckily we have a woodstove for heat and our vintage wedgewood stove runs on propane, so we can boil water and cook. We camped out in the living room next to the woodstove and played scrabble. Being a naive city person, I naturally assumed that the power would be on in the morning.

Saturday, Day 2

No power. The kitchen was 50 degrees but instant coffee felt festive and making toast under the broiler heated the kitchen up. We wanted to know what is going on out there though and the portable battery needed juice. So we decided to drive around to charge it up, and meanwhile see if we could find an internet cafe. The town was in the dark but the health food store had a generator going, so we stopped by, had a chat and bought some milk. We continued on to Sebastopol. The entire downtown was in the dark, but on the far side of town they seemed to have electricity. We found a cafe with power and wifi, so we could download our email. It's an outdoor cafe, so we only lasted 15 minutes under the awnings before giving up. I called PG&E to see how long the power would be out. When I finally reached a human, she couldn't pronounce the name of our county, read us a statement I previously read on their website about the severity of the storm and couldn't tell us when power would be restored. Maybe Monday? I guess they must be getting a lot of calls. Oh well, back at home in the dark, we lit the candles and started eating through the 3 pounds of wild alaskan salmon defrosting in the freezer.

Sunday, Day 3

Ok. The charm started wear off today. It is really cold inside. We stayed in bed as long as possible to stay warm. The rain gave us a little break in the afternoon, so we went for a walk to see how our neighbours were coping. Down the hill from us, some people didn't fare so well. A rotted douglas fir fell across three houses at the height of the storm:

Luckily no one was hurt, but there was a dramatic rescue of a woman and her daughter who were trapped in one of the houses and all the residents are being put up by the Red Cross. I am glad we did all that tree work over the summer. We found that most people still in town have generators and the rest have fled to stay with family and friends. One neighbour recounted how the last power outage lasted 12 days. That sounded ridiculous given that we're 60 miles from San Francisco, which means something to me for some reason. It's not like we're in Alaska, or somewhere remote. I spent the remainder of the afternoon cleaning up storm debris. Then we had more salmon for dinner and polished off an entire bottle of wine.

Monday, Day 4

I'd really like a shower, but instead...boiled water and a quick sponge bath in front of the oven to stay warm. It got colder overnight and the thermometer in the kitchen said 45 degrees this morning. The portable battery was out of juice again, so we drove to Santa Rosa and spent the day bouncing from one warm internet cafe to another. I did some business on the phone while sitting in a parking lot. Then I called PG&E again and they told us the power would be restored by 9pm! I am full of optimism. Both Jeff and I are feeling anxious about the amount of work we have and we need power, heat and privacy to do it. Back at home, our wood seemed to have gotten wet and it took a long time to get the fire going. I don't bother taking my hat and coat off anymore. More salmon for dinner.

Tuesday, Day 5

I'm feeling a bit numb, both from cold and from disbelief. Today's call to PG&E told us they don't know when the power will be restored and they couldn't give us any specific information. At the post office, where the clerk was in a parka and working by flashlight, people swapped stories about the countless blackouts they've been through. They talk about this as though it's just a normal thing that happens every year, as inevitable as winter itself. All kinds of apocalyptic scenarios start to go through my mind. If the power goes out every year, I dread to think what would happen in a major disaster..like an earthquake. We're starting to understand that we now live in an every-man-for-himself world. Maybe we always did, even in the city, but we just never had to find out. Jeff uses his hour of internet to research generators. You can bet we'll be prepared to ride out the next storm!

More delicious salmon for dinner. At least we're eating well!

Wednesday, Day 6

We tried to work at the Sebastopol public library, but in addition to being built in the 70's and seriously lacking in power outlets, it was far more crowded, chaotic and loud than any cafe, although I admit that I might just have been in a foul mood. We go home. At sunset, incredibly, the lights flickered on! They were strangely dim and pulsing and no appliances would work. Jeff's voltage meter showed that we were getting 88volts, so to be safe we didn't plug in any computers. We did however, turn on the stereo and crank up Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's four seasons. Rawk! An hour later, the power went out again, but our hearts were warmed and we feel optimistic again.

Thursday, Day 7

At 8:00am, I heard the phone beep on!! OMG! Electricity!! I leapt out of bed, turned on every available heater, made toast in the toaster and promptly blew a fuse. Then, I got fully undressed for the first time in many days, and took the best shower of my life...and an hour later, had another one. I heated up the studio, and the poor cello, and got back to work this afternoon!

Happy New Year everyone. May you have heat, light and ample electricity.

illuminatedly, Zoe

Time's fun when you're having flies

2007-12-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Good grief. I haven't written in my blog, I am so horribly behind in my social networking, I haven't responded to everyone's lovely messages! My life is too busy to properly document it! Argh! I suppose this is a good thing... I'll give you a quick update on what have I been doing, and then I will dive back into the note mines.

I've been writing and recording the soundtrack to a documentary about an extinct bird. Just putting the finishing touches on the score now. The film, called "Ghost Bird" should be out early next year. I'm really happy with what I've written for it, it's brand new musical territory for me.

Quite a bit of traveling...I got back yesterday from London, where I drank a lot of tea, visited with family, and went to a fantastic birthday party (still recovering from that actually) for a tall and beautiful English lady named Imogen.

In between traveling and filmscores and renovating the "new" house, there is my latest album. Yes, it's been going slower than I would like, but I remember that when I did the last one, not only was I not so busy, but I had a private, soundproof studio. My new studio won't be finished for a long time (the priorities for the house right now are to 1) stop it from falling down and 2) make it warmer than outdoors), so until then, I've setup shop in a spare bedroom. Unfortunately, every time a dog barks, a car goes by, or someone uses powertools...I have to re-record what I just did. The good news is that all the parts are recorded now, and now I just have to mix and arrange them. Go ahead dogs, bark!

Anyway, there are a few new things online...

One is a video podcast of a performance of a new piece of music at Pop!Tech in October. I wrote it specially for the occasion and it doesn't have a title yet (any ideas?). It is available along with the talks of other presenters at the conference, on iTunes:

The podcasts of this year's conference are really inspiring. So if you have some time, and if you've already had your morning coffee (it helps) I strongly encourage you to watch a few.

Next, there is another multimedia slideshow up on the New York Times today, this one about China's seafood industry, and using my song "Updraught".

Ok. That's it for now! Thank you for listening and I hope you are managing to stay warm, wherever you are.

celloly yours, Zoe

NYTimes, Pop!Tech and Radio Lab

2007-10-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

OMG, I have been so busy I feel like I hardly have time to feed myself!!

I apologize for the brief news-like quality of this entry, and its woeful lack of images and related entertainments. There are some events coming up that I'd like you to know about...

There is a new audio slideshow about pollution in China up on the the New York Times site, with my music in it.

You can experience it here:

And in case you missed the other part of the series that ran a month ago, here is a link to that as well:

I'm about to leave for Camden, Maine to attend and perform at a conference called Pop!Tech, curated by futurist and National Geographic Society Fellow, Andrew Zolli. I feel very honored to be asked to perform at this event, and while it is very difficult to get tickets to, you can watch the whole conference, filled with world-changing speakers and ideas, online and for free. Viewers can even submit questions live, by emailing questions@poptech.org!

The webcast will commence Oct 18-20, 2007 from 9am to 6:30pmm
My performance is on Thursday, Oct 18 at 5:00pm

Just go here: Pop!Tech

After that, I'll be at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul Minnesota on Oct 27th. The occasion is the first live performance of a radio program called Radio Lab, produced by WNYC and broadcast by NPR. I'll be performing in part of the show. This event was originally scheduled to happen in May, but was rescheduled for the 27th of October.

Radio Lab, Oct 27
8pm
Fitzgerald Theater
St Paul, Minn
$15 (discount for Minnesota Public Radio members)

About the show:
Minnesota Public Radio presents Radio Lab with Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad at the Fitzgerald Theater on Saturday, October 27th at 8:00 p.m. Hailed by This American Life’s Ira Glass as “Reinventing radio! Possibly the very best thing on public radio today,” Radio Lab, a production of WNYC in New York, explores big ideas through a potent elixir of science, first-person storytelling and radio theatre.

Producer/co-host Jad Abumrad has reported and produced documentaries for a variety of local and national public radio programs, including On the Media, PRI's Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and WNYC's "24 Hours at the Edge of Ground Zero".

NPR Science Correspondent, Robert Krulwich, joins as co-host of Radio Lab. He has been called "the most inventive network reporter in television" by TV Guide. His specialty is explaining complex subjects - science, technology, and economics - in a style that is clear, compelling and entertaining. As host and executive editor of PBS's new five-part documentary series, NOVA scienceNOW, Krulwich explored scientific breakthroughs and their applications, from fuel cells and hydrogen-powered cars to secrets of the genetic code and nanotechnology.

---

Ok, and last but not least, I've posted some video footage from a performance on August 4th up on YouTube. And as a bonus, you can also enjoy video of my brief appearance on Jay Leno last month with Paolo Nutini.

Here you go: Zoe's YouTube Page

Ok, that's it for now!

Thank you very much for listening...

Zoe

Making the Cut

2007-09-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

My dreadlocks have been bugging me all summer.

It gets hot here in Sonoma county. Hot enough that a visit to the local swimming hole is part of the daily routine. Have you ever tried to swim with a foot-tall pile of dreadlocks on your head? Not only do you look like Carmen Miranda, but you can only do the doggie paddle. Getting them wet is not really an option, unless you enjoy spending the rest of the day with the equivalent of a wet dog on your head. Plus, during your non-aquatic summer activities, if you are unlucky enough to have skin like mine, in order to truly avoid sunburn and freckles, you must wear hats. For some reason, wide and floppy english-style sun hats do not come in elephantine sizes. In San Francisco it was never warm enough to go outside without a full down parka, so I didn't have to worry about such things.

There have been other "issues". For example, walking past a gaggle of street kids, they might say "hey, cool dreads", and then ask if I would like to smoke with them. I can never decide whether I should be flattered to be welcomed into a group of teenagers, or horrified that they think I'm a stoner.

At the same time, I have loved my locks. I love geting ready for a performance by tying it all up into a few huge knots. Voila! Ready to go! The result is an enormous pile that I fondly call "The Bedraggled Bimbo". I would feel like my hair was in drag and refer to it in the second person..."Oh daahling! You're looking a bit hung over today". Conveniently, given that I hate shopping, I've noticed that when you sport a Bedraggled Bimbo on your head, it doesn't matter what you wear. People are so stunned and confused by the tangled mess, they don't notice anything else.

So for better or worse, my hair has become part of my identity. Newspaper articles start out "with her striking auburn dreadlocks...". So of course I wonder, will I even EXIST without my dreadlocks? This fear was reinforced for me at a Dresden Dolls concert when I heard someone behind me say "hey, is that Zoe Keating?" and then heard her companion reply, "No, she just has hair like Zoe".

During each of my previous hair phases, I was always told I looked like so and so. For example, in college in New York, and had uber-short, spiky-blonde hair, people asked if I was Brigitte Nielsen. And as a bobbed-redhead in high school some kids once asked me for my autograph thinking I was Molly Ringwald. I guess this must happen to everyone? This must be why so many young women get the exact same celebrity-inspired haircut. If you have hair like a celebrity you must look EXACTLY LIKE THEM! I find it more than a bit odd, maybe because I tend to recognize people by their eyes and their smiles and don't generally remember their hair. But I guess I should not complain. It was nice there for a while to have my hair recognized as mine, instead of that of some random actress. Although an encounter on tour weirded me out a little. A red-haired and dreaded girl (who, I would like to note, was a foot shorter than me and not at all similar) came up to me in a coffee shop.

"Are you Zoe that cello player?" she asked.

"Er, Yes", I replied.

"I though so. When I'm playing my accordion on the street people always think I'm you", she said.

By the way she said it, it was not clear whether she was correcting people. Great!

So....you knew this was coming....after weeks of indecision, I poured myself a stiff drink and cut them off. The pictures below tell the story...

(Next up, the true test of my new hacked-haircut on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night.)

Where would YOU like me to play next?

2007-08-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends,

I am finishing up my latest monstrosity, er I mean new album, and when it eventually comes out I'd like to do a wee solo tour to support it. Here's my nutty idea...I think you, beloved audience, should decide where I play next.

To faciliate that, I've set up this "Demand" thing on a site called Eventful. How it works is that you "Demand" that I perform somewhere, and it keeps track of your requests. Then I'll know where you are, and will do my best to perform there.

Don't know if it will work, but it is worth a try! All you have to do is click below and Eventful will take care of the rest.

Maybe only 2 people will sign up, but I guess that's enough for a small cocktail party at least! Thank you very much!

best, Zoe

Arkansas: Land of the Giant Jesus

2007-08-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to Arkansas to record with the band Mar. Their founder and frontman, Kyle Reidy, asked me last year, out of the blue, if I would record cello on their album. I took one listen to their music and said yes. They have that epic melancholy quality that I always find myself drawn to. I can't resist! Plus, there is so much room for cello!

I'd passed through Arkansas numerous times with Rasputina, but only to Fayetteville, and never for longer than 24 hrs. The thick woods on the surrounding hills, I'd seen them on the drive in, and they called to me. Next time, I thought. Next time I'll come back and go into those woods!

It's one of the frustrations of touring: yes, you get to go to so many places...Copenhagen! Montreal! Omaha!...but you never really see or experience them. For a slow, meandering traveler like myself, it can be a form of torture. For example, I can spend many days investigating all the nooks and crannies of a few square miles: sampling all the regional foods, chatting up the locals in the bars and cafes, reading the epitaphs on tombstones, observing the flora and fauna. But on tour, you arrive and must leave the next day, or maybe even right after the show. If you're lucky, you might have pulled in that morning or the previous evening and there are a few hours to explore. Or more likely, you can squeeze in a quick ramble up and down the street in the hour before soundcheck. To deal with the tragedy of always being about to leave, in every city I cram as much exploring as posisble into those tiny windows. I imagine that I am scoping it out for when I come back. That list of places to go back to is now impossibly long, and growing!

Don't get me wrong, I love to tour. I love waking up in a new place everyday (and each time is different, so even if you were there the year before, this time feels new). I love the anticipation of what untried and exciting foods will live around the corner from the venue. I love having a new audience every day.

I also happen to love surprise recording projects where I have no idea what to expect. So a few days in the exotic and mysterious land of the Ozarks, with a band I'd never met, and songs I'd never heard...well that sounded fantastic. That is how I found myself on a small commuter jet on route to the NW Arkansas regional airport.

The first inclination that this was a different kind of place I was headed to, were the passengers on the plane. They were large, loud and very friendly. The boisterous chatting across the aisles and with the flight attendant started immediately. "You're coming from where?", "Oh, we used to go there when I was a kid! I remember when...". There was a great deal of interest and questions in regard to my hair. "Oh you must be going to Eureka Springs!" , everyone in the adjacent seats nodded knowingly and..were they winking? I actually had no idea where I was going, "er, somewhere in the Ozarks", which became a topic of conversation in itself.

Anyway, it turned out the band was recording near Eureka Springs, in a rented log cabin they had turned into the perfect studio retreat. Running the controls was a handsome chap from Iceland named Flex Arnason. After a welcome-to-Arkansas recuperatory beer, we went to listen to what on earth I'd be playing along with. I loved it immediately. This is a big deal because I am notoriously hard to impress and am not moved by most music I hear. And if I'm not moved, I find it hard to play the cello to it. The sound was epic but spacious, exultory (is that a word?) and intense. Beautiful and soaring violin parts had been laid down the previous day by Anton Patzner (who composes his own music and plays violin with Bright Eyes). Overall this was more full-on and rocking than their previous album I'd listened to. I couldn't wait to get started. I spent the next 2 days locked up with Flex and John Lennon's microphone (loaned to the band by the person who bought it from Yoko. I heard it was the mic he recorded all his solo albums on and was probably worth more than my new cello). I lost track, but I think we recorded cello for five or six songs. I honestly can't wait to hear the final product.

Yet again, there was no time to explore much of the area, so I'll have to go back. The cabin itself was in such a beautiful location, perched on the cleared top of a densely forested ridge so the sun would rise on one side and set on the other. On my last morning, I watched the sun rise from my bed. Everything was all orange and hazy. During meals and breaks, it was great to sit out on the porch in the heavy air and listen to the omnipresent cicada soundtrack (that's Ty, Flex and Kyle experiencing the cabin's ambiance). So although the visit was short, I really felt like I got to settle into the slow, velvety rhythm of the place. It went with the music. Another day and I would have started speaking in a drawl!

The last night there, after a grilled dinner on the deck, the band took Flex and I to see one of the main attractions of the area: the 60ft tall Jesus of the Ozarks. Unfortunately my cellphone camera could not capture the halo of bats circling his head. Thankfully, the gift shop was open.

Check out Mar

Atlanta: Creativity and Pork

2007-07-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Boy, has it been hot. I spent July 4th submerged in the Russian River to escape the heat. Today feels like its going to be more of the same, so I'd better write this before I melt into a puddle.

After the Great Amercian Music Hall show on June 23rd I had to leave for Atlanta the next day to get to the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). It was interesting to be musical entertainment at an event that in the past I might actually have attended in an information architect capacity (Jeff too, for that matter, he worked for 10 years in educational technology at UC Berkeley). Maybe my multiple lives could actually merge? What would that look like?!! My job at NECC was to play before a panel discussion on the small topic of creativity.

It was a huge hall aat the Georgia World Congress Center, 4000 capacity I think. I was amazed anyone, including myself, could be compus mentus at 8 in the morning, but sure enough, the room started to fill up as I started playing. Jeff ran the projections from backstage.

I'm hoping there is some more video out there because the screen behind me was an incredible 20 feet tall and I'd like to see what it looked like. The performance went well, at least I hope so. My role was to get everyone in an expansive and "creative" kind of mindspace, so hopefully it worked.

After playing Jeff and I ran out into the audience, eager to hear Zolli and the panelists discuss what to us was a most interesting topic. I guess when I think of creativity, which is never, I think of it as something natural and innate, like air. I don't think it has ever occurred to me to figure out how to get more of it!

I can actually remember when I first heard the word "creativity". It was after we'd moved to the states. Some woman was commenting to my mother (who until then I had thought of as perfectly normal mother... you know...artist, potter, opinionated free-thinker and maker of the best pastry in the known universe) "Oh, you're just so cree-AY-tive". It was something about the way she emphasized the word while gesturing with her hands, and the way my Mum responded with her smile-that-is-not-really-a-smile. On one level the lady was making a compliment but she was also saying there are people who are cree-AY-tive and people who are not, and being cree-AY-tive means being different and that was not necessarily a compliment. (Now that I think of it, this lady might also have been the one who introduced me to the concept of making things from "scratch", exclaiming "Oh, I can't believe you made these from SCRATCH". I wondered what SCRATCH was. Flour maybe?)

Anyway, back to the panel. The moderator Andrew Zolli is known for explaining complex trends and events to people and institutions so they can act. Really, the kind of person the world desperately needs more of. Coincidentally, I vaguely knew Andrew already because a couple months ago he asked me to perform at Pop!Tech this year but neither of us had any idea the other would be at NECC and involved in the same event to boot.

As for the panelists, they were people I wish I could have over every evening for animated dinner parties: Elizabeth Streb (a choreographer and MacArthur genius who applies scientific principles to movement-based asethetics), Michael McCauley (a creative director and VP of a communications company), Mary Cullnane (the technology architect of the School of the Future) and Dr. Francesco Pedro (analyst of the Paris-baes Center for Educational Research and Innovation, his specialty in "millennial research"). I wished the panel discussion could have lasted all day, or days even, as you could dedicate an entire conference to the topic. Unfortunately their session, through no fault of their own, was unnaturally short.

People more intelligent than I have summed up what was said. Plus, I doubt you're reading some wacky musician's blog for a review of a panel on creativity in education! But here's my incredibly brilliant synopsis...humans are naturally creative and institutions just need to get out of the freaking way.

After wandering about the conference for a bit, Jeff and I enjoyed being fabulous in the red-themed decor of the Glenn Hotel.

Then, since we wanted to make the most of our trip to Georgia, over the next few days we got down to the serious business of 1) peaches, 2) catfish, 3) BBQ Pork (ok, that would be me, Jeff is innocent, he's a real vegetarian) and 4) spontaneous musical improvisation. I understand peaches are not so good or plentiful this year due to bad weather, but we found some all the same and I happily ruined my best outfit with peach juice. Success! As for the pork, across from the Eyedrum Gallery, where I performed on Friday with Paul Mercer, was a BBQ joint that got no less than 4 recommendations from the folks on my email list (thank you!). Pork was had, and it was good.

As for #4...check! Paul Mercer and I spent Thursday holed up in the studio of his friend Bruce, playing the beejesus out of our instruments and rolling the tape. I haven't listened to it yet, but I think there was some good stuff in there. We seemed particularly inspired after taking a mandatory break to power down as a big thunderstorm hit. Crash! Bang! You don't get storms like that out here in California. Earl Newton from Stranger Things drove up from Florida to videotape our show on Friday. Hopefully he got some good footage too. Thanks for driving all that way Earl and thank you Paul for arranging the recording session and our show together, and thank you Donella Evoniuk for inviting Jeff and I to NECC.

A surreal television experience

2007-06-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

On Friday I played on a morning infotainment television show on the local CBS station in Sacramento. I think this is the kind of program people must watch as they are getting ready for work, its got a little bit of everything: the weather, what's going on this weekend, a little cooking, a bit of "lite" news. The "news" on Friday was Paris Hilton. She'd been released from jail the night before and a drama was unfolding as to whether or not she'd be ordered to go back. So in between the cooking demonstrations, the traffic reports and some guy in a cowboy outfit at a rodeo, the cameras kept cutting back to what was going on outside Paris' house.

I had gotten to the station at the un-rock hour of 7am, set up my gear, did a soundcheck, powdered my nose and made myself ready to play. I've been on the set of these shows before, but never to play my solo work, and I was feeling more than a little out of place culturally. I tried not to think too hard about the weird juxtaposition of my music with what was going on, but instead focused on how extremely nice the crew and the anchors were to me, and how happy and grateful I was for this little bit of publicity and a couple free donuts. I don't have a television, but maybe this is the way people enjoy it...by not thinking too hard about it?

Anyway, lights, camera, action! I do a wee interview and play a song...all good. Then I go to hang out with Jeff in the green room until it is time for me to do it all again 45 minutes later. There are television monitors everywhere, showing the two channels produced at the station, and they are all showing different shots of Paris Hilton's house. Jeff and I were feeling a bit claustrophobic, so we go outside, but all the cars in the hot parking lot make us feel worse, so we wander back in.

The time for my second segment rolls around, and I tiptoe back out onto the set to sit back down with my cello. One of the anchors comes over to prepare what we're going to talk about. Meanwhile, the Paris Hilton thing is hitting the fan. I'm only following loosely...she has to go back to jail? A police car is picking her up at her house? People are calling in to the show with their opinion. Me and the anchor lady are sitting there waiting, any second now. Then things start getting really surreal. In walks a psychic in flowing robes. Yes, you did indeed read that correctly. A psychic walks onto the set at sits at the newsdesk. No one seems surprised by this, so I'm guessing this happens regularly. We are in California after all. I can't hear everything she's saying because the microphones are for obvious reasons not piped onto the set, but she's answering calls and telling callers how their problems will be resolved. Did she give Paris any advice I wonder?

Anyway, the cameras are training on me and the anchor now, and I see some of what she is going to say in the teleprompt "...one of the world's best avant cellists...". I get the signal to be ready and we're waiting again. I'm trying to restrain my strong desire to make insane facial expressions and devil horns over the anchor's head. Waiting, waiting...but no, something important is happening! I'm not sure where the decision comes from, but some guy with a clipboard holds his hand in a stop signal. "Wait" the anchor whispers to me, "they're changing something". The guy with the clipboard is talking to someone else, and then makes a cutting-your-throat gesture to the anchor next to me. She raises her eyebrows, shakes her head and makes the same throat-cut gesture back like a question. The guy with the clipboard nods his head vigorously and points to a television monitor I can't see. "I think they're going to go with the Paris Hilton story..." she says "I'm sorry".

And that was that...bumped off the news by Paris Hilton.

But at least I got to play once, and it sure does make for a good story. Just like the way older people remember where they were when JFK was shot, or for our generation where we were when the twin towers were hit...well, now I'll always remember where I was on the momentous day Paris Hilton was dragged back to jail in handcuffs.

Watch the segment: