Last night and today I'm reeling a bit. I'm working on a project that lets me peer into the power broker society of big entertainment television, and I suddenly discovered a bunch of new perspectives that left me mind blown and fascinated. I always marvel at seeing things in new ways and my mind invariably begins to process and extrapolate out in several directions from there, building new links, trying out new theories. This morning's epiphany is that capitalism is designed for people to buy down from themselves, equal to themselves, but rarely up from themselves.

I leave for Wisconsin next Wednesday. My whirlwind 4 month adventure in LA ends for now and I'm already excited to come back in November if not sooner. I've come to love LA for sure. Yesterday I rode 38 miles on my bike on a pleasure cruise up Highway 1 into Malibu. It was wonderful. Stopped halfway to nap on the beach for a bit in the late afternoon sun, the waves calling out the tempo of their song. What's not to love.

I'm excited to announce that I've booked a performance at Untitled Bookstore in Sturgeon Bay on June 16th, 2014 starting around 4pm in which I will read large portions of Chapter 11 of Ulysses by James Joyce in honor of "Bloomsday". For those of you unfamiliar with Ulysses, Chapter 11 is the "Sirens" or music chapter and takes place in the book on June 16th 1904 starting at around 4pm as well. It will be the 110th anniversary so to speak. It is a rather uproarious chapter, filled with guffawing jokes and innuendo amongst the characters, and laced with musical imagery.

Wisconsin folks... Carley Baer and I have booked gigs on Feb 7th at Osthedler Saloon in Sheboygan Falls, Sat Feb 8th at the Fishing Hole in Idlewild (just outside Sturgeon Bay), and then will be performing in the QUEEN of all Valentines Day shows "Love On Holiday" at Third Avenue Playhouse in Sturgeon Bay Fri Feb 14th. Woot! See you there! More info to come...

This, my friends, is a fucking animated gif.

http://charliecheney.com/files/0EbvEUB.gif

I was just on the phone with my friend Debs and we started chatting about visiting each other this year. She lives in Toronto for the most part, so I started researching Megabus routes between Toronto and Milwaukee.

Megabus has a route from Toronto to Washington DC as near as I can tell. With connections in Buffalo, NYC, Philly, and Baltimore.

Now, in my madness, I'm creating a database app to help me create ideal Megabus routes between cities that require multiple transfers, so I can figure out the fastest routes, shortest routes, least expensive routes, etc...

@EugeneCho: Love wins in the end but in the meanwhile, it fights for & pursues the things that matter. Love isn't sentimental, it's fierce. It endures.

This is a real chat I'm having with Microsoft right now... the language the first Microsoft rep uses. Oh my god. Then the logic of the 2nd rep... oh my god. We've descended into madness. I did not make any of this up. This is copied and pasted verbatim. I changed the email addresses so you won't try to email the kid who's account I logged into on Microsoft's instruction. What a fiasco.

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A new day today. I'm sitting in a Starbucks on Alpine Rd just north of Grand Rapids. It's about 9:30am on a Friday. In fact, it's Friday April 26th, 2013. And it's 9:42am. Might as well be precise. I'm typing on my iPhone.

I have a new thing I'm interested in, or more accurately, today I'm beginning to define how much I've been thinking about solar energy and gardening. I googled solar panels today and was pretty fascinated to see that Home Depot and Lowe's had top rankings in Google for solar panels. You can literally drive to the DIY store down the street now and buy solar panels. This link on how to evaluate your next solar energy purchase was the first one i read and it seemed like a good one.

I've been living in Austin at the Aerie Studio for the past two weeks helping producer Mark Addison make a few local singer-songwriter records. This week we recorded 9 tracks for Wendy Colonna's new album and they were mighty impressive. A remarkable set of studio musicians made a bunch of magic. Rob Hooper on drums, Dave Madden on keys, Billy Masters on guitar, Michael Stevens on bass. Monster grooves. So tasty. Swampy New Orleans grooves and Texas singer-songwriter blues with some marvelous atonal bits.

Particularly impressed with and inspired by Dave Madden's work on keyboard.

I've met a handful of people in my lifetime who have switched political parties. It's like Heinz vs. Hunts, or ketchup vs. catsup. Did you know Target actually knows when you're pregnant and they also know that when you're pregnant is one of the few times you're likely to change brands? But they hide the advertisements that are specific to babies, hygiene, and food in their monthly mailers amongst other more "manly" items like tools and car accessories so as not to creep you out. So the question becomes... when are americans most "pregnant" and open to changing their long held beliefs?

Experiencing loss, like feeling hurt, feeling insulted, feeling grateful, or feeling broken is what music is all about for me. Writing songs is how I study and evaluate my own perceptions, values, and ability to respond.

My thought for today.

Last night I recorded that new lyric that I posted a couple days ago "A Hook For My Hand". I'm really happy with the song and the video both. Hope you like it.

Lyrics:
On my 50th birthday I slept in my van
Cuz if I like it or not
That's the person I am
Uninsured, unemployable, itinerant, broke
My only real possession are the lies that I wrote

A hook for my hand

New lyrics...

On my 50th birthday I slept in my van
Cuz if I like it or not
That's the person I am
Uninsured, unemployable, itinerant, broke
My only real possession are the lies that I wrote

A hook for my hand

I'm fat and vigilant
Pearled and reamed
Lie awake all night because
I still have dreams
Where I sing like a whippoorwill
Cry hard tears
Drink sorrowful melodies
Through ringing ears

A hook for my hand

Super fun show.
Charlie Cheney & The Significant Otters live at Quinn & Tuites in Grand Rapids Michigan at the end of the world party 12/21/2012. From left to right: Craig Van Otteren (mandolin, vocals), Tim Foley (bass), Eric Hollebeek (vocals), Charlie Cheney (vocals, guitar), Vickie Van Otteren (washboard, vocals). Shot on an iPhone.

Made a new video today featuring lots of black dog footage...

I seriously don't write enough blog posts.

On Friday night I decided to upgrade and update my website a bit. You know, one of those insane moments of clarity, like when you suddenly decide you have to clean your bathroom because the cobwebs and soap scum have finally built up beyond your ability to cope with it any longer, hahaha.