Been over a month since I left any news here. It is only because I have been busy burning the candle at both ends, and I have never been happier. Last week Misuzu and I went to Motoko and Rocco's wedding at Cafe Metropol (Where Rocco manages). Congratulations to the both of them and their families and I wish them a long marriage. I ran into more people there than I expected. People like, Matt Piper, Lorca Hart, and Atsuki Inoue. It was a fun time and a good hang. I hadn't seen Lorca in quite awhile. More currently, I had a couple of decent gigs this weekend, which found me playing my NS Designs electric upright bass for the first time in awhile. Great bass and I am hardly worthy, but I promised myself to incorporate it into my practicing regimen. More about that later. This weekend I played with Igor's Og O Go group and had a great time. I think the audience had a great time as well. We were playing for an art exhibit for Ray Carofano and his large photo prints, which were quite impressive. This Og O Go group included, Igor on a guitar/bass instrument, KD on percussion, Rod Oakes on trombone, and the excellent rapping of Boss, who I hope to work with some more. Boss had never really improvised with a group like ourselves, but she rose to the challenge. Sunday, KD and I played a pretty good set @ Poobah Records as Dark Numbers and we may be going to Santa Cruz for Rick Walkers Y2K6 Looping Festival in October. Thanks to everyone who came out to these shows, especially in this crazy heat we had over the weekend. I'll go ahead and give a special shout out to Nathan Yagi, my number one fan. (Tongue in cheek, of course) This guy has seen me play more times than anyone on the planet, including my parents. He is a great pillar of support. Other than that, these days I am spending every extra moment practicing, preparing for school in September. I am spending about two to four, or six hours a day working on music. I have vowed to spend at least three sessions a week on piano and want to do it everyday. I have also decided to throw the acoustic bass into my regimen and try to hit it everyday for an hour, sawing away on Simandl trying to hone some technique on the beast. So far it is all working out great. I have been keeping a journal and I am on my third month of this intense schedule. Peace- P.S. Hang in there Andre...