DGC: Out of the Blue

Mirrored from the latest entry in Daron’s Guitar Chronicles.

By the time all the video bullshit was over with and the roadies began hauling our setup onto the stage it was six. It became clear at that point that this stage was smaller than what they’d anticipated as they looked at our gear piled in the middle of it and MNB’s gear set up around the edges. “What’s the problem, guys?” I said from the bottom of the stage where I was shifting from foot to foot as if it might help them hurry.

The stage manager, who I had learned to identify by his baseball cap with some band’s logo on it, crouched down by me. (I knew neither the name of the band, nor his.) “The original spec called for Hurricane Flats, and well, they got a real minimal set up. We’re going to have to take the keyboard rig off the lower riser to make room for your drum kit.”

I held up my hands. “So do it.”

“I want to clear it with John first.”

John, who was on his way back to the hotel with our junk right now. Ten million and one details. “Look, we want to get some practice time in. I’m sure he’ll say yes. I mean, what else can you do?”

The guy shrugged. “I’m going to page him anyway.”

Fine. The doors were set to open at 7:30. I had too many knots in my stomach to eat. Whatever happens, I thought, good or bad, it’ll all be over by 9pm.

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Cross-posting gone wild

Not sure what happened, but several of my blogs which cross-post and forward went wacko yesterday and today, and posted things they weren’t supposed to. Apologies to anyone who got anything in their RSS feed or friends list that seemed uncut or intended for somewhere (or somewhen) else!
I’m on the road but I think I’ve wrangled all the plugins now!

Five days left!

The Circlet 100 campaign is at 60% with only FIVE DAYS TO GO!
We need to raise just $2,000 more to ensure the printing of BEST EROTIC FANTASY. $3,000 has already been raised through our special mega-sale!
The sale ends on May 15th. For $50 you can get a CD-ROM with 20 of our erotic ebooks on it (a $128 value), or for $100 you get a bigger CD-ROM (27 books) and a commemorative T-shirt (a $182 value). We only need to sell 20-40 of these CDs to make our goal!
So please spread the word. The complete list of what books you get as well as the handy goal-meter from ChipIn are here: https://www.circlet.com/?p=1107
Help us find just a few more fantasy-loving erotica readers and we’ll make it!
Cecilia Tan
Editorial Director

Wiscon Roommates Needed

I have a room reservation at Wiscon at the Madison Concourse but haven’t found roommates yet.
Thing is, I got the reservation for Thursday the 27th through Monday the 31st, but now because of the Lambda awards on the 27th, I won’t arrive until the 28th. I haven’t changed the reservation, though, because roomies might need the Thursday arrival.
Anyone either want to take over the reservation from me and rent me back crash space for 3 of the four nights, or rent me crash space in your room for three nights and I’ll give the room back to the con?
While we’re at it, I need roommates for CON.TXT in Silver Spring, MD in June, too…!

24 Hour Game Diary Pt 3

Friday, October 17, 2003
4:22 am
Arizona time (Pacific)

Can’t sleep. I’m so tired, my muscles are burning, but some part of me is so keyed up I can’t get back to sleep even though I’m exhausted.

Yesterday (today?) was probably one of the best baseball days of my life. It would have been anyway, even if the Yankees had not pulled off an unbelievable, improbable 11th inning win on a walk off homer from Aaron Boone. That was just the cherry on the sundae as far as I’m concerned.

Pro camp was amazing and great. Kevan Burns and his wife? partner? Clarissa Marquez run this baseball instruction business called Live The Dream. For us they pulled in a dozen ballplayers and coaches, from guys who have been in the minor leagues for a couple of years to some current college coaches who have already been through their pro time. Some even had a cup of coffee in the majors. They’re all incredibly nice and, damn, but there is so much to know about this game, even five minutes spent with any of them would already expand anyone’s knowledge of the sport. We got to spend all day with them.

I think I’m feeling the altitude as well as the heat and dryness, because yesterday I felt out of breath pretty much no matter what we did. I’m out of shape, but not THAT out of shape.

We did all kinds of things that are like what major leaguers go through in spring training. Continue reading →

DGC: Take The Skinheads Bowling

We arrived in Boston to a heavy drizzle and I wished I had a warmer coat with me. It had been late summer last week and now it was seacoast New England autumn. Watt met us at the airport with his hatchback and Christian retrieved his van from the long term parking lot. None of our gear came back with us, not even the Ovation. We’d sent it all to Chicago in trucks with MNB’s stuff. Watt joked around with us in baggage claim and told us he’d take us all to Chinatown if we were up for it. We were.
I rode with him while the others went with Christian. The windshield wipers tried vainly to keep the heavy mist clear. Watt cursed and hit the accelerator like a true Massachusetts driver and we slipped into the toll lane furthest over. “The weather’s been like this ever since you left.” We crept up to the toll booth–Watt asked for a receipt.
“It’s getting cold in the Northwest, too.” I clutched the edges of my sleeves and blew on my damp fingers. “One of these days I’ll learn to pack.”
Watt drummed his fingers a little on the steering wheel but the radio faded as we sped into the tunnel. I sensed the conversation had reached that point, as it always did with anyone connected with the industry, where the chit-chatty part was over. “So, what’s the deal?” he asked.
Read the rest of the entry…

Circlet 100 Fundraising Effort Going Strong!

As of Friday night (April 30th) Circlet Press has reached $1,850 in our campaign to try to raise $5,000 by March 15th, to enable us to print Best Erotic Fantasy. W00t! The “Circlet 100” campaign has garnered mentions in Publishers Weekly and Teleread.org, and was retweeted over 50 times.
The fundraising will continue until May 15th, and hopefully we are on pace to make our goal. To join the Circlet 100, be one of 100 readers to take us up on a special offer to purchase $128 worth of erotic sf/f ebooks for a mere $50 (20 books in all). Or get the deluxe edition for $100, which includes 27 books AND a commemorative T-shirt.
I will be emailing everyone to check on T-shirt sizes after May 15th, and shirts will be shipped along with the CD-ROMs of ebooks around June 1st.
Please keep spreading the word! High bandwidth is the way to find the Circlet 100!
To see complete details on what books you get, or to mail a check, see the original post: https://www.circlet.com/?p=1107

To purchase, hit the CHIPIN button below. You will be directed to Paypal where you can pay with a Paypal account or with credit card/debit card. Enter either $50 or $100. It’s that simple!

(If the widget doesn’t appear to be updating for you, clear your cache. And my apologies to mobile browsers this is a Flash widget so not viewable on iPhone or some other platforms.)

2003 Women's Baseball Diary Repost

Starting later today I will begin at WHY I LIKE BASEBALL to re-post my diary entries from the 2003 season, when I was cut from playing part-time in the New England Women’s Baseball League and took up full-time with the Pawtucket Slaterettes, then capped off the season with the 24 Hours for Africa women’s baseball marathon in Arizona.
Follow “whyilikebb” on Twitter for daily reminders when the posts appear.
When I first posted these, “blogs” didn’t really exist and Why I Like Baseball had no way for folks to post comments other than to email me. So please feel free to comment this time around!
Disclaimer: I’m reposting these without editing them or fixing former typoes. Also many of the images may be missing at first until I fix all the links.