Pino Pies

I have mail ordered pies from Placerville (Z-Pies) and from Florida (Four N Twenty Pies, from Oz), but now my mail order days are over!

Pino Pies is a new business in Bishop, and it's run by an honest to goodness Kiwi named Dulcie. The pies are fab and the price point perfect ($3.50 if you buy in bulk). She only uses high quality ingredients (meadow farms "crack" bacon, organic sirloin, etc.). I might the luckiest girl in the planet. I just need to get my hands on a big bottle of Watties. Mmm, I can taste the spicy anise before the vinegary tomato now.

Dulcie and her husband Troy have agreed to have pies available at the concert for those of us who are too disorganized to have dinner ready. BYOB and pies and gig. It'll be a little bit of the Antipodes in little ol' Bishop.

Woot!

Flight of the Conchords on HBO

I know I have always groused that I liked them best when they didn't talk about getting it on with women ....the Bus Driver Song is still my favorite. It reminds me of why I love the Front Lawn so - perfect storytelling encapsulating hope, loss, regret.

I was not prepared for how awesome the Flight of the Conchords' HBO special would be. Michelle, Matty, and I piled around the laptop and watched and laughed and laughed.

Good on them!

The character Mel, the married stalker fan, kind of scares the hell out of me. Please dear God, please let that not be me.

Staying focused

I suppose I have always wanted to bring a band like the Phoenix Foundation through here because this town is not only marked by its striking beauty, but by its resource of really awesome folks.

Derik, whom I didn't know two weeks ago, has supplied 75 percent of the backline gear (3 amps, keyboard amp, keyboard stands, guitar stands and now drums and lighting). Milo and Chris are opening even though what I am able to offer them keeps dwindling. Dan, another gentleman I don't know, is bringing a mural up from over an hour away (and gas prices are over $3.50 a gallon), so that we can use it in the show. People have bent over backward to help so far, and I will never really be able to pay all of them back. I have ridden the core group of friends very hard.

They ask brilliant questions, they keep offering to do more, and they keep me focused.

Sam from the Phoenix Foundation said that this stop was their "wild card," and noted that the band were really up for it. Even in my moments of insecurity and nervousness, I know that it's going to be a wonderful match. Bishop deserves a hardworking, endlessly talented, and endearing band like the Phoenix Foundation and they deserve an attentive, appreciative, and unpretentious audience like us.

Beers all around. My shout. The keg of Allaghash White arrives tomorrow!

Our girl Karen is 40

We had another large potluck last night. It was our beloved Karen's 40th. Our keg blew, so we asked folks to supply some beer. Boy, we made out very very well. I guess we'll be plying the band with all these leftover IPAs, stouts, and bitters.

At one point, there were 8 people crammed into the banquette area of the "Bad Girl Trailer." It was fun to see.

The boy was the only child out of 50 or so folks, but he didn't seem to mind.

Concert Promotion Bizzo

There has been great response to the upcoming show. Kids who don't get out of the Valley much say they are coming. Grizzled old timers say they are coming. District attorneys and city councilors say they are coming.
I guess the proof will be in the pudding.

Folks are getting ready for the "It's a Lie!" singalong on Nest Egg.

We've got almost all the backline secured and on a donation basis to boot. Just need to find a drum set. Who knew there were so many sets of congas in the Owens Valley?
We've got this fantabulous mural of Paas bunnies riding a UFO hovering over a herd of stampeding horses.
We've got donations from local businesses.

Even still, between the venue hire, guarantee, PA system hire, and a few other sundry things, I've gone past the $1,000 mark. Good thing we have a home equity line of credit we don't use very much.
Any money made will go towards these expenses and anything left over will be icing for the band and the opening act. We're also selling a locals' edition t-shirt (see one incarnation above) and profits off that will go the band, too.
Matty and I are kicking in for the ear plugs, glow sticks, and dessert for the gig and food, booze, hot spring passes, and accommodation for the guys. Rock and roll hostel. Yeah! Luckily our house used to be a boarding or whore house, so we've got the room.

Bless Bibi. She's flying across the country and taking a week off work to help. Bless everyone like Janet, Michelle, AT, Karen, Matty, Derik, Zach, Milo etc. who have already spent hours listening to my nattering on about details and hours working on T-shirts, giveaways, etc.
For liability reasons, I am operating this show like a house concert. This means using the invite system, heavily policing for underage drinking, and running it as a not-for-profit deal.

I've learned heaps. I am fairly focused. I am scared and thrilled all at once. If it goes well, I think I could handle doing this once a year.
Babbo is pretty excited about "the band" coming. He thinks they are coming to play for him.

Matty has his old Hobiecat sailboat. I have my rock and roll bands. We all have our expensive hobbies.

Bloody Hell, all that courting worked

Phoenix Foundation Makes American Debut
2007-05-17 12:53:57.533,
Story by: Taylor Mason

New Zealand group the Phoenix Foundation are preparing to make their mark in the States, as they release their debut album, Horsepower (Young American Recordings), June 5, in addition to embarking on their first North American tour. The band will also premiere their work on Miramax Films' Eagle VS Shark, a film for which the band contributed six songs, including three score pieces. The Phoenix Foundation launch their stateside dates, which will feature Eagle VS Shark screenings, May 30 in Bishop, California.

Tour Dates For The Phoenix Foundation:
05/30 - Bishop, CA - The Masonic Temple
06/01 - Seattle, WA - The Seattle Film Festival
06/02 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile*
06/03 - San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Records
06/04 - Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
06/06 - Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones
06/07 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge**
06/08 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall**
06/09 - Boston, MA - Great Scott**
06/12 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe
* with Voxtrot
** with the Veils

www.thephoenixfoundation.co.nz

from CMJ News 5/17/07


This thing has been logistically even more interesting than trying to entertain 200 people in a sheep pasture (that would have been our wedding back in 1999). People are coming out of the woodwork to help and by golly, do I owe some folks.

I have to be the luckiest woman alive to be married to Matty. He has been awesome and supportive and just just so - calm.

A HUGE shout out to the Phoenix Foundation, their manager Matt McLeod, and their engineer Brett Stanton. They are giving us our chance to pull this thing off and hopefully put little ol' Bishop on the tour circuit.

Weaned

Bloody hell. We did it and it was painless for all involved!
Day five and counting.