The Winter of Phil

...not nearly the ring that "the summer of George" has but, hey. Loosely, it entails (once I complete my grad school applications, hopefully in a couple of weeks) reading more, as I've amassed a modest "to-read" pile in the past year, running (Rob is trading his bureau for a treadmill... thank you, craigslist), delving into some old video games (hey, what can I say)... and less seriously, booking gigs for the side project of all side projects, Rob's Chicken and the Mint 400, Rob's vehicle for musical idiocy.

All joking aside though, I've been playing more with Frankie D. lately, which has been, in the words of Dr. Teeth of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the rock band from the Muppet movies, "so fine and laid back and mellow and profitable." We played at the Pearl River Hotel (which is not a hotel) last weekend and Nyack local Marco (singer/guitarist) sat in with us on a couple tunes including "Fly Like an Eagle" which was more fun for me than it should have been. It was off-the-cuff, unrehearsed, and sounded great, as most of the band already knew the tune... I had a blast playing too much organ on it and hitting 3-part '70s-esque background vocals with Kevin, our drummer. Good times. Anyway. I am booked for New Years with the same band, and have a Contraband "reunion" gig tonight at Casa del Sol, so, that's all cool...



So basically, all I've got obligation-wise lately are these (damn) applications. School is done (and I did real well; we'll see if it helps me or not). I've admittedly been dragging my feet a little, as the personal statement is not coming so easily. ...I hope I can look back on an entry like this months from now when I get accepted somewhere and think "I'm glad that's over" but... not there yet. Short of what I have to do on my end I'm still waiting on some letters of recommendation, actually, from the Brandeis professors, as well as my official GRE scores... once all this is done I can kick up my heels a little (more) and be on a get-home-from-work-and-have-nothing-I-have-to-do schedule similar to that of my apartment-mates... then come spring, if I get in somewhere, I'll have the summer to figure out travel and $ logistics for the fall...

Not much new music in my life, partly due to the loss of my iPod in the accident over Thanksgiving (I think someone must have stolen it)... I've been driving Uncle Ira's car, as he graciously left it to me until March when he'll be back from California, and listening to the few old CDs I have with me on the bumpin' stereo system. There's about 10 on rotation and I'm getting sick of them real fast... I did get a new iPod for Chanukah but I can't use it yet because my iBook only has OS 10.3 on it and the iPod is new enough it needs 10.4. Argh! All I need are the discs that came with any Mac slightly more recent than mine (~2005)... anyone out there got 'em?

The small bit of new music I have been exposed to has included Daft Punk's first album "Homework," their recent live release "Alive" (complements of Rob who reviewed it for work) and a particular Beethoven piano sonata from the Charlie Brown TV special A Boy Named Charlie Brown (the one where he gets to the national spelling bee). Homework is good, although not as happy-party-ish as Discovery; it reminds me more of a Thievery Corporation album. The live one is alright. And the Beethoven sonata (no. 8, "Pathetique") just struck me, I guess... slow, almost jazzy... some nice dissonance... anyway.