Last night we played a half hour acoustic set at a venue called El Cid near Silver Lake.  It was for an SPCALA benefit event – we were invited to perform after our show at Saint Rocke some weeks back.  Excited for the opportunity, we revamped some songs for an acoustic setting and hit the stage.  Steve was kind enough to video tape, and here is “Interview” from The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here.

Thanks Alisha and SPCALA for the opportunity!

This weekend we played a 4th of July pool party at a creative camp called uCamps.  It was in Big Bear, CA and at 7500 feet altitude, lifting an amp required similar effort to benching 350.  Luckily they provided us a hearty thanksgiving style dinner.

The gig was sweet – our audience was about 100 dancing and/or swimming kids, and playing outdoors in the sunset is always killer.

After the gig we hiked up to a cliff and watched the fireworks over Big Bear lake.  It’s been years since I saw a night sky like with this many stars – the milky way and all constellations were clearly visible, along with satellites and shooting stars.  I highly recommend it!

The next day we sat in on their rock band workshop.  I taught a few private lessons on bass, can’t say I’ve ever done that before.  Cam is actually staff and he will stay there teaching drums until Friday – his nickname is “Suds” (umm, because he’s a very clean person.)

uCamps is awesome – we had fun and we highly recommend it.

So last week Shaimus got the opportunity to perform at an event for event planners called Rock Circus in Hollywood.  It was quite a trip, and we decided that from now on, anything appropriate shall be deemed as “rock circus”.  For example:  “Wow, that girl’s hat is totally rock circus”  or “Damn, this party is rock circus!”

Anyway, below is a video recap’ing our adventures:

I should be writing this blog post but I’m staring at facebook.

I’m supposed to be working but I’d rather write a blog post.

I could be writing music, but it’s easier to tend to my work.

I’ve been thinking about making lunch, but I’d rather play guitar.

I could work on self-improvement, but eating a sandwich is an easier goal.

I should see a doctor about my chronic vertigo, but I can’t stop thinking about my ex.

Blahhh… I don’t think I have ADD, so why is it so damned difficult to focus on things that require my attention?  Why do I make excuses and illogical compromises to feed these unproductive thought patterns? I guess I’ve just been bored with all things non-Shaimus lately.

Those who know me know that I love to think and reason.  Unfortunately, thinking and reasoning isn’t the same as planning and executing.  I’ll take philosophy over action any day, and as a result I’ve become a master of “thinking” myself out of “doing”.  These days, in order for me to “do” something and give it the attention it deserves, the task needs to be fully immersing and inspiring – playing a show, mixing a song, writing music, solving a challenging problem, nurturing a deep connection with a fellow human.

But lately I haven’t necessarily been using my powers for good.  My over-thinking tendencies have led me to discount uninspiring ideas as undeserving of my attention.  It’s even made me ignore other people at times, which is downright judgmental.  I’m starting to realize that I’m making myself miss out on life.

Perhaps the extreme ups and downs of being in an unbelievable rock band take their toll on my psyche (play an amazing show one day, sit in my crappy apartment the next, wondering when the next amazing show will be).  The higher you fly, the further you fall, that kind of thing.

When it comes down to it though, life is actually quite simple.  It doesn’t take that much for a person to be happy.  Just don’t be lazy about it, and it’ll come.  If I turn my back on the little things, they won’t come chase me down – they’re too little for me to notice unless I make an effort to notice them first.

With that in mind, it’s time to eat an apple, and enjoy the shit out of it.

This kid is just psyched to be chillin’ on the lawn. Nothing more, nothing less.

So a week or two ago we were up near Pacific Palisades doing a photoshoot.  It was unusual for a few reasons:

1.  We don’t usually do photoshoots

2.  It was raining

3.  There was a pet turkey

Wait, what?  A pet turkey?  That’s right.  In someone’s yard right by this amazing oceanic overlook (where we were trying to take pictures) was a gigantic turkey.  I assume it was someones pet because it had a turkey-house (similar to a dog house, but built for a turkey).

I hadn’t seen one up close in years so I decided right away to go up and try to communicate with it.  Luckily Evan had a video camera handy, and documented this phenomenal encounter between man and beast.  Well, enough building up, here’s the damn video already:

Certainly an oscar-worthy short film.

PS:  The film that won best short animated feature is called Logorama and it’s freaking amazing. I highly recommend checking it out.