Snow!!!

Boy did we have a busy weekend!! Em and the boys went on a faerie hunt (no paint ball guns, alas), I tried out a new guy for the band, we went to a party for a really good friend of ours who's moving to Laguna, and we watched the Oscars. And in between all of this, Finn and I went up to the snow!!!

We drove up the Angeles Crest Highway to our favorite snow place at Chilao Flats, and it was an awesome snow day! Because of all of the rain, there was plenty of packed powder, but it really wasn't too cold, and we got there before the crowds (we did miss church, but sometimes you just gotta). It's so amazing to me that only thirty minutes out of Los Angeles, you can be in wonderful snow. It's actually easier than going to the beach I think!

By the way, please note Finn's excellent new shoes provided by Uncle Brian :)

We had the complete snow experience. We threw snowballs, made snow angels, went sledding, and even made a snow man, named "Snowy". See the action shot of us flying down the mountain for a taste of the excitement! Finn was super brave. That jump may not seem like much, but I'm sure that we got a few inches of air and he never freaked out.

We ended it all with hot chocolate supplied by our lovely mama/wife who also sent along carrots for Snowy's nose. It was really a great snow day!

Faeries! (And other wild things)

(Em reporting here) Yesterday, Finn and Jack and I went on a faerie hunt with Josh and Lorelei. A good, magical time was had by all, although I have to say that Jack lived up to his Max/Wild Thing costume. Josh kindly kept an eye on Finn and Lorelei, who were transfixed by the faeries, while I chased Jack hither and yon. Never before has there been such an appropriate costume for a kid, I tell ya.

The faeries were spunky and beautiful and I think the kids had a great time, even though the play/performance was perhaps a tad too long for a couple of five years olds. Finn's first comment afterwards was a jaded, "That wasn't TOO fun." (Have we mentioned that he's turning into a teenager before our eyes?) Of course, that didn't stop him from going up to the faerie queen afterwards to shyly give her a bouquet of flowers.

Party!!!

Yesterday, on President's Day, we had a really nice birthday party for Em's sister Bell! It was great to have so many of Em's family over, including her mom, Bell's husband Steve, Em's other sister Rosada (all the way from Maryland!), Rosada's son Chris, and his wife Joyce. We all had a great time, and Em made an amazing Mexican feast for us!! Hooray for Em and hooray for our new dish washer!!!

Bell got some great presents, but by far the most interesting were two (literally) hysterical creatures that make a nice counterpoint to our huge serious cat. Apparently they are a kind of family tradition - after all of these years these girls can sure still surprise me!! Em's family are wonderful storytellers & we had a great time listening to the hilarious family memories - Rosada's hatred-of-babysitting stories were classic!! Happy birthday again to Bell and love to all of Em's family.

Speaking of Bell, everyone should take a look at the newest comment on the "Lux!!!" post from last week. Bell wrote an amazing reply to my (and Eric's) anti-Cramps diatribe that made me somewhat ashamed - I feel like I should have my rock and roll credentials revoked. Great writing Bell!!!

Re: Amy's request

And I'm out:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/02/jane_austen_by_way_of_george_r.html

Reopen!!!

Please to click on the new song on the jukebox (the last one down). I believe that this song perfectly proves my point. Or Eric's. I'm not sure which. But happy upcoming Valentine's Day to everyone, and especially to my love Em!!!

Closed!!!

The Dore Family Blog is closed until certain issues are dealt with in the previous comments section.

Lux!!!

I'm always a little dubious of blogs containing deep thoughts, but I woke up this (Saturday!!) morning at 5:00 thinking of Lux Interior. There have been a slew of passings lately - John Martyn, Mitch Mitchell, etc. - but this one struck me, not because of a profound sense of loss, but because of how much I hated him over the years.

If there has been one constant on the L.A. music scene as long as I can remember, it is the Cramps concert. It seems like every L.A. Weekly I've ever read has a huge picture of some crazed grinning zombie and the announcement of the Cramps playing at the Whiskey, or the Troubadour, or, lately, the Smell. And every time I saw one, it would remind me of what bugs me about music as much as anything - the triumph of the image over the music itself.

Of course this bugs a lot of people, and it may seem weird to focus this hatred on such a small-time band in the world of the Jonas Brothers. But there was something different about the Cramps. In my mind, what they always represented more than any other band, was the absolute contempt for what is, to me, the best thing about music: melody.

It's kind of embarrassing to admit, actually. Coming up through the attitude of punk and new wave. and then post-punk and into folk, there always seemed to be an understanding that the music is about something deeper than it's individual notes. And of course it is - anger, alienation, love, fun, sadness, craziness. But, what I have always, really, worshiped, is a great melodic line. The absolute perfection of "Johnny B. Goode" - try changing a note. The sublime "Strawberry Fields" and "Our House" (CSNY, not Madness, although that's not bad either). Straight to Hell - so good that it was almost ignored then, and is a big part of what is defining our era now (who knows this?), the amazingly intelligent "Free Man in Paris", the truly ridiculously amazing "Dancing Queen" - we watched Mamma Mia last night and how happy that crazy Swede must have been. God Only Knows.

Beethoven called melody, "the most noble aspect of music." Praise the Lord for rhythm, and you better write something deeper than, "Friday night and the lights are low," eventually, but it's the melody for me. John Lennon may or may not sit higher at the table than Paul Mccartney, but Kurt Cobain doesn't (it's all personal). Above all, it's the upward sweep: "But Johnny didn't care...", "Write you a letter tomorrow...", Garcia's Bird Song, Beethoven's 9th. Putting whatever gets you through the night into a few notes that rise up to Heaven.

Over the years, there have been plenty who, through whatever combination of some talent, looks, and persistence have made fortunes with a handful of mediocre melodies. The Britneys of the world. The lack of grace of , "Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand." That last note - the third of the sub-dominant chord - like sitting on an over-ripe tomato. Put a Ring On it and I'm out.

But the Cramps were different. They seemed to me to have a contempt for melody. A need to overcome it by attitude, volume, and Halloween. Poison Ivy wailing away like Chuck Berry with no Maybelline. I'm sure that it's not just an L.A. thing, but it kind of seemed like it. The Germs were the same way, and I see the same thing going into La Luz de Jesus and seeing for the billionth some artist substituting quasi-Day of the Dead weirdness for an ability to draw. Grump grump grump.

Anyway, the boys are up now and I don't wish Lux any badness. They were an L.A. band, and God bless us all. But Holmes had his sadness after Reichenbach Falls, and sometimes you just want to get things down. so there it is. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Peace & Love,

Patrick

Jane!!!!

As a huge Jane Austin fan, I wasn't sure whether to be amused or horrified at this. From a pretty good Internet magazine called 3 Quarks Daily comes this description of an upcoming novel:

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen's classic novel to new legions of fans."

I'm going with amused, but if it becomes a movie or a video game, I'm out. You can see the original article at 3 Quarks Daily Here:

http://www.3quarksdaily.com/