wooo-hooo Shirley sounds so exhuberant and happy...this makes me happy and excited too! lots of details she mentioned in the journal also...
Studio Diary #13 January 26th-31st NEW!!!!
b>Monday
Ok......so it's back to work and here we are! Los Angeles.....the city of angels and broken dreams!!
YeeeeeeeeeeeHHHHHHHHaaaaaaa......
I've only been here two days and already I've been leading a completely "Hollywood "existence.
I mean......I've already hung out and caught up with Brody for the first time in an absolute AGE.(My god..........she looked crazy beautiful......her photos don't do her justice) and it was just so lovely to see her relaxed and luminous. I finally got introduced to her man,Mr Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age who,as unbelivable as it may sound, gives her a run for her money in the old magnetism stakes himself!!!
Also attended a "night before the Golden Globes HBO party" with my friend Sophie, where every second person was someone ridiculously famous! It was like ...oooh watch out you don't bump into "Charlotte" from Sex in the City and oh my goodness in avoiding doing so,you're practically falling on top of Jude Law, causing him to spill beer over Quentin Tarantino who jumps up and mistakes the clumsy fool for Tim Robbins who happens to be standing near by so Quentin swings a punch at Tim and they get into a fight and poor Susan Sarandon has to separate the two of them with the help of Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhall.
This actual scenario didn't actually occur that night despite the aformentioned stars being present.......but you get the picture.You couldn't move without brushing into SHOWBIZ royalty.
Ha ha ha ahaaaaa...........and so that was my initiation into Los Angeles life.All within the space of 36 hours.Bloody nuts, that's what it is.
Tuesday 27th
Had a great day in the studio yesterday.Working with John is fun cause he's such a studio nerd!
(Do I really need another one of those kind of men in my life?!?!?!)
Worked out with my LA trainer for the first time and WHHHooooohee.........oh my lord!!!!! I am afraid.......very afraid of what this woman is going to do to me!
Wednesday 28th
I'm supposed to go up to Manson's house tonight to listen to a rough sketch of the track we're going to record next week.It cracks me up........ the idea of us doing something together.I can't believe we haven't done it before now.
Thursday 29th
Duke flew in this afternoon....a little late due to his plane having a flat tire (true!) but in one piece nevertheless.......so now we are all present and correct and accounted for.Except for Daniel our bass player who I perhaps mentioned already in this diary has left us for a job in A+R at DEF JAM/Island Records.
As I feared....I am currently barely able to walk, thanks to my new trainer.I'm having severe problems lowering my arse down to take a pee on the toilet seat because my quads are so tight.It's AWFUL!!!!!
Friday 30th
Can't believe I've been in LA for a week already.That's too bizarre! I feel like i have hit my life's fast forward button!! I celebrated by going to see the Lakers play the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight.I was rooting for the Wolves because of my boy Sam Cassell....formally of the Milwaukee Bucks (You have to love Sammy.He plays and scraps with all his heart.) and I wasn't disappointed.
I was lucky enough to score two season tickets held by the head of my record company and oh lord,did I not nearly faint when we were ushered down to our seats and I discovered they were ON COURT!!!!!!!! I nearly died of pleasure right there and then.I mean it was SO intense.I could quite literally have tugged on Shaq's shorts,I was THAT close!!!!!!
Eeeeeeeech.............
Anthony Keidis was sitting a few seats along from me and so we were introduced at half-time.Despite the fact that we are managed by the same people and Garbage has opened for the Peppers on a couple of occasions, we have never met.I couldn't help but think how utterly beautiful he is.Small but perfectly formed.
Anyway....i digress.........the up shot of the evening was that the Wolves won and Sam was smiling all through the 4th quarter and I was quietly delighted.
Saturday 31st
Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck's bass player) came by the studio today and laid killer bass down on all four of the tracks we're working on.He is fucking incredible! An AMAZING musician but also just a really great person.Really funny and smart and irreverant! He brings such an infectious, good natured vibe into the room and an incredible,musical forcefulness that energizes everyone around him.
His first take on "Space Can Come Through Anyone" was so unbelievably good that the hairs on my arms stood on end and I thought I was going to burst with joy.And at the very moment the song ended, I was compelled to let out this little scream.I couldn't help myself.His playing was just so AMAZING that I had to scream.
Which brings me to another completely different subject entirely.
All this stuff in the papers about certain states wanting to implement a ban on gay marriage is really depressing and frightening me. Why on earth are some people just hell bent on breeding intolerance and hostility?
What skin is it off their nose if two people who love one another, commit to one another under the eyes of the law and their GOD of choice? Why do certain individuals wish to rob gay people of this privilege and instead are hell bent on trying to drive them underground,as if the gay community should be ashamed of their love for other human beings? Have we learned NOTHING since 9/11 about intolerance, ignorance and hatred and how those particular traits slowly corrupt humanity?
It fucking PISSES me off.The way the gay community is being treated ...I swear to god.......it's like the persecution of the Jews. This insidious, slow eradication of their human rights outrages me.