Had a great time.
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Maile knows a wonderful Russian woman named Vera who studied drama and taught it to kids. So when we were looking for someone to speak Russian for a kid’s album I’m working on, Vera immediately came to mind. Tonight she came over, preformed and translated this poem.
Улыбка
От улыбки хмурый день светлей!
От улыбки в небе радуга проснется.
Поделись улыбкою своей
И она к тебе не раз еще вернется!
И тогда наверняка вдруг запляшут облака,
И кузнечик запиликает на скрипке!
С голубого ручейка начинается река,
Ну а дружба начинается с улыбки!
Smile
With a smile a cloudy day brightens!
With a smile the world is colored like a rainbow.
Share your smile with a friend
And your smile will return to yo!
And suddenly clouds will be dancing
And the cricket will play the violin!
With a blue stream the river begins,
So friendship starts with a smile!
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From our nightly after-dinner walk around the hood. Two abstracts and a self-portrait reflection.
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Here is the first draft of a video I’m submitting to Kickstarter.com, to use their service to get the support I need to press my second full-length album, FOK dUb. The video is rough, and has no titles, text, but I think it gets the idea across.
Kickstarter is a brilliant idea that creates an interface for artists and supporters to work directly together. Direct engagement is exactly what I’m always reading I should be doing, and Kickstarter inspired me – with it’s endless catalog of interesting, funded projects – to use it to try to explain to my fans exactly what I’m trying to do and why I need their support in the clearest value proposition possible.
I discovered how much better it feels to ask people to fund a project than to buy a product. I want to believe in it, not feel like I’m bugging people. It’s a better application of the Obama campaign communications code.
I still need to do some creative thinking about what I can offer for various levels of support, but basically I’m going to start with
I don’t know what the right goal is, but I’m thinking somewhere between $500 and $1000.
Originally conceived of over the last year as “Folk Dub,” I’ve spent this year refining the set and the business behind it, into “fOK DUb,” an acoustic-soul reggae-remixed album of ten songs.
I’ll record the album at Tonehaus and ask fans and friends to remix the tracks, dub-style (or however they want).
There is a funky, syncopated feel and frequent beach/water theme running through the songs below, making them a perfect set to subject to a reggae-remix production.
That’s FoK DuB. Over the next six months I will make an album out of these songs with full band, horns, and backup singers while at the same time asking friends, fans, and the public for feedback and colaboration. As I post songs please make sounds of your own, send to me to remix, or remix yourselves. fOk dUb.
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After trying to crack Obama’s communications code, I’ve broken my philosophy down to the following five principles.
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Maile and I were on the Pacific coast of Mexico, taking a bus from Ixtapa to Zihuatanejo when this shirtless, blind man got on the bus with his guitar and started playing. We all sat silently as he sang. It was wonderful. I snuck this shot underneath the magazine in my hand.
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Since Maile’s skater-cousin Addison arrived in Austin to work for a few weeks, we’ve been spending weekends hanging at skate parks and discovering new spots. I alternate between remembering how to ride a skateboard and shooting pics and vids of him.
Finally, today, Adds and I cranked out a little montage of the best footage we’d got so far. We were pleased.
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I got a new Canon G11. I’m so excited, it’s the nicest digital camera I’ve ever had. Here are some of my favorite shots from the first few days.
Family Time Rocks Gigs: Manchaca Library and an HEB opening in Dripping Springs

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