The last time my
father was out here was the end of February 2007. It
was the midst of the "Up & Adam" explosion,
he was part of the season ending Egos Episode - and
the crew was all so ecstatic about me getting my own
late night show that every moment felt other-worldly.
It was so incredible to have him be a part of all
that, and considering how quickly that feeling came
and went? The timing was perfect. I flew him out to NY
the following week for what was to be this great
celebration after I met with everyone and
unfortunately the writing was on the wall even then...
that it wasn't going to happen. I barely even register
the devastation of that, as much as I remember
how wonderful it felt spending time with him in LA
when everything was still on...
...and could he
have picked a better weekend to come out? A trip
planned months ago now coincided with what is actually
rivaling the "Up & Adam" days.
I mean, Weller-Grossman happens on Thursday, then
Atom Films Friday morning and then I pick him up
from the airport the same day? Just perfect. Which as
many of you who have read The Journey... is a little
spooky. Heh. You start to look around like a piano is
about to fall on your head. And if life has a balance,
it showed up quickly with my dad's plane being delayed
which meant my surprise of the road trip to Vegas to
see The Beatles: Love was ruined. Totally bummed.
There was still a chance we could pull it off, but the
traffic was unusually bad coming from LAX at 3:30
so it just wasn't meant to be. But nothing was worse
than losing my cell phone.
NOT LIKE I WAS WAITING FOR A CALL FROM SOMEONE OR ANYTHING.
(sigh) I had it in the car, my dad and I went to the
grocery store, and picked up a burrito - and it was
gone... but I never took it out other than in the car.
We were both mystefied. Not as mystefied however as I
was to everyone's response that I mentioned the
missing cell phone to. Ha. "Did you try to call it?".
No, that never occured to me. Thanks. "Did you look in
between the couch cushions?" Oh really? It might have
gone there? (sigh). What I find even funnier is that
I'm expecting a call from a goddamn BEATLE and
searched for close to 2 hours for this phone, and
people still think it wouldn't occur to me to call it?
I'm actually kidding because it's a gut-reaction and
we all do it. It's like the "Where's the last place
you had it?" line. It just comes out before you even
think about it.
So needless to say
it was a long night, 'cause I was sure I would
miss "the call". The following morning -
I switched my service to another phone
I had, and of course started getting calls from
unknown numbers. Well, remember that the call I may or
may not be getting from Sir Paul would be an unknown
number - and that I have had my pocket videocamera
ready to record the call... but now
EVERY GODDAMN number is unknown. What a
complete mess. I'm quickly putting numbers back in,
but certainly a tough time to lose your phone - fo
sho.
Anyway - the trip
was actually a little different than I thought it
would be. We're big movie-watchers and usually end up
watching a bunch, and with the new big-screen... just
incredible. But we only pulled off 6, which
were:
Cars
McCartney:
Us Tour
Across
The Universe
Tropic
Thunder
Knocked
Up
The
Dark Knight
And the reason?
Rockband. My father picked up the drumsticks and
started playing Rockband on expert like he was
freaking RAINMAN or some shit. We played for hours on
end - it was really, really cool. My dad's a big
Boston fan so we got a bunch of Boston tunes (which
are notoriously difficult) and I figured it would be
cool to try and pull off one on expert - getting 90%
or better. Of course I decided to sing AND play guitar
on expert which actually wouldn't be that hard... if
it wasn't for Brad Delp being sans testicles. Goddamn
his range is up there. My speaking voice is now
approaching "Barry White" status (so much deeper
in the last 5 years), and I'm trying to hit these
notes in full voice on an expert setting?
AND play the crazy ass guitar lines? It was a
helluva challenge, and here's the result:
If your computer
can handle it (meaning it doesn't stutter once it's
loaded) click the "HD"
button...
Man, we rocked the
SHIT out of that. My dad kept getting 89s and I kept
getting 90 on one, but not the other... and this was
the first time we got all 3 - SO COOL we got it
on tape. I can't get over how good he is at the
game. I mean we're both piano players, and
I think because we're so used to the left/right
hand doing completely different rhythms etc, drums are
easy to pick up... but with Rockband it requires
really reprogramming your instincts 'cause they aren't
real drums. Things are in the wrong place, etc. And,
you can't really riff - you have to try and play it
exactly. That's also REALLY hard when singing
too... because most singers will sing the same melody
on verses, but slightly alter them - so you really
have to follow the melody line to see the subtle
differences (you'll notice in the video, especially
HD, that my eyes are all freaking over the place).
It's a great challenge actually. And to all the
"real" musicians out there who get all snooty
about Rockband, chill already. My dad made a living
for 40 years as a musician, I've been playing piano
since I was 2 and singing just as long.
I play guitar, and can also knock out a few
things on the drums, though my dad is clearly a step
ahead of me there... anyway - we're
"real" musicians, and the game is still fun.
Lighten up.
Alas, the trip was
too short. Actually, frustratingly so. One of my
absolute biggest hopes with all that's going on - is
that I can spend more time with my family, as a
couple hundred bucks won't kill me. Ya know? As it
stands having my dad over once every 2 years... just
makes me sad. Goddamn I want people to read this
and be thankful they can have their family over for a
cookout... even when they all end up fighting. Do you
know what I would give to have a good old fashion
family argument? LOL. Isolation man. It eats at you.
I know it's the path I've chosen, but it's a
helluva choice to have to make. :(
What a month.
I have a big 'ol "Randoms" entry to finish
it off on Thursday (which will finally be
unlocked) and then we get to look forward to May
and all the wonder that month holds. Hard to believe
this all started with a playground game and a "hail
mary". This has to rank as one of the best months,
end-to-end, in the entirety of The Journey for
sure.
