My New Favorite Author - Christopher Moore

I discovered Christopher Moore's book "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" completely by accident while on my honeymoon. It was the PERFECT vacation book -- Christopher has one of the most creative imaginations ever, and I love being sucked into his twisted world of dark humor.

I just finished reading "Lamb (the Gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal)" and I also recommend "A Dirty Job."

Is anyone else out there familiar with Christopher's writings? What's your favorite book of his?

I think I'll read "You Suck: A Love Story" next...

;)

7:51 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

My RadioActive Kitty Indy

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, my kitty Indy is being treated for hyperthyroidism.  Fortunately, there's a CURE for it, and Indy received his treatment -- an injection of radioactive iodine -- yesterday morning.  This means he's currently RADIOACTIVE and being quarantined at a local animal hospital.

My friends & family have been getting a kick out of checking in on him via his own personal quarantine webcam (yes, he's a rockstar!).  We can see how (and what) he's doing throughout the day.  Yesterday a cute nurse checked in on him and petted him -- ever since then he's been on the lookout for her!  ;)

I've posted a photo from the webcam on here -- it's been so fun watching him!

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Bleeding For My Cat

9:54 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Bleeding For My Art

9:53 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

My Big-Screen Debut in CSNY: Deja-Vu

A couple of weeks ago, I was informed that I had made my silver screen debut -- and I didn't even know it! 

Apparently, video footage of the Neil Young "Living With War" recording session that I sang on was featured in Neil Young's new movie CSNY: Deja-Vu.  The film is a politically-charged documentary of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Freedom of Speech 2006" tour of North America.

I got to check out the movie in a Berkeley theater with my mom -- it was really fun for us to see me with my friends (Faith Rivera, Raya Yarbrough, Gerald White & Gary Stockdale) up on the big screen, singing our hearts out! 

You can learn more about the movie at csny-dejavu.com, including where to find upcoming openings in theatres around the country.

9:50 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Busted at the Border - UK Show Canceled!
Current mood: amused
Category: Travel and Places

The day before yesterday, after stepping off of a ten-hour flight from Los Angeles to London, I was detained by a UK immigration official for 30 minutes and informed that I would "have the night off" on Monday night. Needless to say, this was NOT the warm welcome I was hoping for in the UK!

Apparently, as a visitor without a work visa for the UK, it's illegal for me to perform ANY kind of show - even if it's unpaid and free to the audience, as mine was going to be.

Here's the story...
Originally, I had told the immigration officer that I was not going to be performing while I was in the UK -- just to be "safe" (ha!) and avoid a hassle. I figured, as long as I'm not being paid by anyone, I'm not really working, so why bring it up and potentially delay my entry into the country? HA!

I guess my large, lovely Levy's guitar case (and the fact that I admitted to being a professional musician) raised the immigration officer's suspicions. So he asked me to wait for him to "talk to someone" in back. 20 minutes later, after having Googled me and printed out the details of my London show from my website, he came back out and gave me, in his words, "one more opportunity to tell him the truth" (ouch!) So I admitted that yes, I was planning on doing one performance while in London, but that because I wasn't getting paid for it, I had assumed that it wasn't really working and that I wouldn't need a work visa.

Thankfully, the immigration officer took pity on me (a little). Rather than immediately sending me back on a 12-hour flight to LA with an "Entrance Denied" black mark forever on my passport, he made me promise that I wouldn't play the show, and then he called the club I was supposed to perform at and informed them that I was not to be permitted to play on Monday night. Then he let me pass on through to customs.

Needless to say, I was a bit embarrassed about the whole affair, and majorly disappointed not to play this show (especially after having dragged a suitcase full of gear and merchandise across the Atlantic).

So why not just take my chances and do the show anyway?

Well, because I said I wouldn't. And just in case that weren't enough, the immigration officer warned me that it's possible (though I'm guessing unlikely) that a plainclothesd enforcement official could show up to the Bedford on Monday night to make sure I keep my promise. If someone were to catch me performing, I'd be immediately deported and not allowed back in the UK for ten years, and the club could be fined up to £10,000. So that's obviously not going to happen!

All this to say that I won't be performing on Monday night. But I WILL still be there to enjoy dinner and the show with my family, friends & London fans. So if you or your friends were planning on coming to the show, I'll still be there - I just won't be singing on stage.

Even though this experience was quite a disappointment, I'm choosing to see it as the universe's way of telling me that it's time to move on from doing unpaid international one-off shows to playing lucrative full-blown international tours (including a promoter who obtains all the proper visas - haha!).

Cheers to that!

3:56 AM - 9 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Indy’s Infamy AKA Toilet Training for Cats
Current mood: amused
Category: Pets and Animals

Okay, so I have a confession to make.  For the first three months of 2008, I put quite a bit of effort into toilet-training Indy & Pumpkin (my two 11-year old cats).  I had bought a book at Christmastime -- "How To Toilet Train Your Cat in 21 Days" -- and 2008 was gonna be the year of no more nasty litterbox or toxic blue kitty litter to deal with.

I was determined to make it work -- I moved the litterbox right next to our downstairs toilet, and every few days I'd put another magazine (usually Oprah) under the box to make it just a little bit taller, so that eventually the kitties would get used to jumping up to do their business. 

The next step was to go out and buy an extra toilet seat to tape onto the top of their box and hope that SOMEHOW they'd figure out how to sit on top of the seat, yet do their thing in the box.  (so now their litterbox has a big toilet seat taped to the top of it, in the hopes that the cats will sit on the seat and "go" in the litter below)

At first, I thought it was working -- I'd be gone all day and come home to find "success" in the litterbox.  However, to make sure that they were doing "it" correctly, we set up a video camera (aka kittycam) in the bathroom, and turned it on to see if we could catch them in the act.

ummm...have you ever walked into a bathroom and seen a video camera staring you down?  Even if it's not on (which it wasn't while we were home), it's pretty disconcerting! 

ANYWAY, we did end up catching them on video -- and it was hilarious.  Here was my huge fluffy cat Indy, cramming himself into the litterbox, standing in the litter as always, surrounded by this big toilet seat, trying to do his thing the best he could. 

After I finally caught my breath from the laugh-fest, I decided that this was just about all the kitty humiliation I could subject my beloved babies to, and I surrendered to the fact that my 11-year old cats (senior citizens in kitty years) should be left in peace to do their thing the way they knew best.

For those of you who are curious to see the results of kittycam, unfortunately, it appears that we've taped over the most incriminating (and hilarious) evidence.  However, I do still have some early kittycam tapes of Indy and the toilet seat/litterbox combo -- so if you really want to see my confused cat aimlessly wandering around a toilet seat, you just let me know.

9:32 AM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Arizona Festival Performance Friday Afternoon

If you're in Arizona next weekend, come join me at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival!  Info below...

I'm performing as part of Fender's "Hooky Happy Hour" at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival in Scottsdale, AZ.

Other festival performances include international and national acts Blues Traveler, Gov't Mule, The John Butler Trio, The Wailers, JJ Grey & MOFRO, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and others, as well as four local bands from Phoenix and Flagstaff.

Tickets for the 5th Annual McDowell Mountain Music Festival (MMMF), Arizona's premier non-profit music festival, are on sale now via Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com). First tier advanced ticket prices range from $40 for general admission to $150 for VIP day passes. A VIP pass includes food, 12 drink coupons, shade, poser deck, couch seating, tables and a VIP concert t-shirt.

12:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Gig Tonight - Come Meow & Get a Free CD ;)

Come help me celebrate being home from Memphis and the resurrection of my computer (my hard drive crashed over a week ago and I finally gotmy data back -- yay!)...I'd love your support at this show - and everyone who shows up gets a free live CD!

Hosted By: Ali Handal
When: Wednesday Mar 05, 2008
at 9:30 PM
Where: The Derby
4500 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, California|5 90027
United States
Description:
Ali Handal

Click Here To View Event

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The Recording Has Begun!

The recording has begun! I'm THRILLED to be working with producer/engineer Seth Horan on my third full-length album. We've already cut basic tracks at Phantom Vox Studios in Hollywood - an incredibly vibey room with tons of vintage gear - I just love it there!  I'm working with Orlando Sims on bass, Christopher Allis on drums, and David Leach on percussion. Of course, I'm playing all of the guitars myself, as well as singing lead vocals. A variety of guest musicians will also appear on the album - to be announced soon.  It's sounding SO great so far (and really heavy!!)...to be continued...

8:35 AM - 7 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment