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Below are reprints from Rick's personal online journal located in the ACCESS-RS PLUS+ section of http://www.access-rs.com, Rick's Official members only fan site. Join today to read Rick's most recent postings! |
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November 28, 2007 Rick's message: Good Morning Vietnam! Woke up the day after Thanksgiving (good) with B rushing into the bedroom saying 'There's another fire and it's headed this way' (not good). I had just bought one of those generator pool pumps (good) that you drop one end in the pool and hose down the house with the other, but had neglected to read the directions (not good) so with the fire storming over the distant mountain I filled it with gas and oil and found all the right connections and got it running (good). I threw all the outdoor furniture in the pool (which made it look like the aftermath of the Titanic sinking) and grabbed some of my older guitars and put them in my car (also good) then realized I now had a half container of gasoline sitting by the house (not good) so I figured I'll put it in the car, since the car is filled with gas anyway, how bad could it be? (good), and then remembered I'd put some of my vintage guitars in that car (really not good) so I unloaded the guitars into my son Liams car (good) but he said, "I'm not leaving, I'm staying with you to fight the fire" (not good). All this time B and my old mum are loading the dogs, photos and videos into her car and getting ready to take off (good) while the cops are driving up and down the neighborhood yelling' This is a mandatory evacuation" (not good). But I realize that there is no such thing, because they can't force you to leave your home (good...I guess). I then run in and grab some of my rarer StarWars figures (geeky) and put them in B's car, when she comes out and says "what is that big box taking up all the room in my car?" (could go either way). I say "It's my Starwars stuff". She rolls her eyes and goes back in the house for more photos of our loved ones (okay, good). Then she grabs my old mum and they head off to the local safe place. I crank up the pool pump thing and start hosing down Liam's car (with my cool guitars inside) and he says "Dad what are you doing???? Spray the HOUSE!!" (smarter) so I do. And when I walk out onto the street it is eerily quiet and a few neighbors are standing beside loaded cars and trucks and we all look at each other and offer a pale smile and then the capricious winds change and the fire goes the other way and we are spared again. (really good). I drove around town yesterday and there are more blackened mountains and it's getting so it looks like we live on the moon (but with a really nice beach). Thankfully the ocean won't burn (well, maybe after a few more oil spills it might). Hope you all had a thankful Thanksgiving. love Rick PS. I have a feeling my Star Wars stuff may be secretly sold online one day soon. If you see it...alert me, okay? (yes, that is the part of me that still lives in my mums basement and hasn't kissed a girl yet) November 19, 2007 Rick's message: Check this out A good argument and one that is actually not addressed by any of the politicians. This doesnt have many viewings so send it around. If we all cook or drown, at least we'll know why. http://www.bwebcentral.com/blog/3/626 November 19, 2007 Rick's message: Wow. I needed a filler upper and the Chicago show was it!!! Everybody was on fire, including you guys. The band was tighter and bigger than I've ever heard and funnier. Does anyone watch the stage while I am out in the audience???? That's where the REAL show is. Matt and George are insane. I am also amazed to report we are all getting messages from Sahara. I wouldn't have believed it... wait...yes I would.. if it hadn't happened to me too. What a great and powerful spirit. She was in Chicago that night (as well as everywhere else she is needed.) It was a great almost last show for the year. Next year we WILL be playing a wider set range. More songs and different and some more old and some more new. I am excited about next year for so many reasons. I am thankful for all of you. You are the 'soul' reason we are out there!!! I just decorated a dog bowl for a group called 'Ace of Hearts' and they will be auctioning it off on Feb 12 at 8.00 PM for all the doggies that dont get the love they all deserve. (I hope if I go to hell, I am in charge of all the people who abused animals.) The site is www.aceofheartsdogs.com and I wanted to let you know of the dog dish because I drew the precious Gomer on it (see photos). I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I am very thankful. We met a 23 year old soldier on the plane on the way back to LA and he was going from his barracks in Hawaii to Iraq on Dec 12th. He will be there for Christmas. I wished him God speed. It seemed inadequate. It's all I knew what to say. God bless and protect them all. Love to you Rick November 11, 2007 Rick's message: Sahara's celebration I just got back from Sahara's celebration. What a profound and beautiful service it was. We made it (as the Gods and Sahara willed) just in time and watched in awe and pain and joy as person after person got up and spoke of this amazing girl. Seeing all the photos of her as she had been was both heartbreaking and heart warming. The only photo where she wasn't smiling was one where she was asleep. Everyone told their version of the same tale. A brilliant spark with a passion for everything in her life from basketball to animals to music to her friends. A spirit of great power and wisdom beyond her years. And in the end, a girl, beautiful inside and out, who had time for everyone and everything. I hope the stories of her short and brilliant life will come out eventually. Amy and Shannon handled it with grace and humility as we all spoke of what Sahara meant to us. One of the most eloquent people was an 18 year old girl who wrote a poem for her friend which I hope to get a copy of and post (yes she had friends of all ages). In the end it all came down to being back at her home and in her room and looking at stuffed toys and clothes and posters she'd loved and wishing we could hug her just one more time and tell her once more that we love her. We are left with the memories and souvenirs of a cherished life that a great little girl left behind so she could hit baskets from God's 3 point line. Nothing but net. love Rick November 07, 2007 Rick's message: Not feeling very good today. I woke up this morning with the reality of Sahara's passing and it took my breath away again. I just cried on the phone with her mom Amy and we were reliving some of her finer moments, like her passion for life, her fearlessness, her willingness to try anything and her bright, and very powerful spirit...not to mention that I once dared her to eat octopus at a Sushi restaurant and...she did. Her love of all things basketball and the bittersweet notes that are left around the house now she is gone (physically, but I know she is there spiritually). Playing games with her and having her at shows, even her own show at 'The Cape' in her honor. I truly walked out into the sun this morning and felt her in the warmth and in the breeze. And I keep seeing her in her purple striped sweater with her hair blowing in the breeze and her smile, as contagious as a fit of the giggles (which she also used to get with great frequency). I miss her and I cannot imagine the journey that her parents have now ahead of them. Send Amy and Shannon all your love and healing as I know Sweet Sahara is doing. They are most worthy of your respect, love and support. I know some of you have lost kids in the past and my efforts on Sahara's behalf always paid homage to your loss as well, as I know Sahara wanted it that way. She was giving in every respect with her love and life and attitude. At 58 I am still not the person she was at 12. I am in awe of the journey she has taken and where her soul is now and it again makes me realize how precious we all are. love Rick October 25, 2007 Rick's message: What's new? Let's see now.....we had FIRES in Malibu and EVERYWHERE......Flood's in New Orleans and other parts.....and that weird SuperBug that know one seems to know how to kill.....Okay, so that's 'Fires, Floods and Pestilence'..Did I miss anything? Oh wait, the 4 horseman of the apocalypse... I'm sure their image will show up on someone's toast or in the flames of a burning house or something. Apart from that, it's been a pretty regular week. It's like a war zone in Malibu shopping district. I went there yesterday (luckily the fires were on the other side of this little town) and there were black mountains as far as I could see and houses gone and the little Presbyterian church where both my boys went to kindergarten burned to the ground. There were emergency tents being disassembled and ash and rubble everywhere. Business buildings with holes in their roofs and just a general feeling of having survived an attack of some kind. Pretty insane for a quiet beach town. A couple of houses on Malibu road (on the beach) were torched while ones right next to them (2 feet apart) were left untouched. We had our home videos and photos and a few other things by the front door in case the winds decided to whip it all our way (and the winds were insane). A neighbor had a tree drop onto his new car and the trash and leaves and branches blown everywhere made it look like nobody cared. (We do, it's all clean again now...ready for the next one). But its amazing what you grab to save in those moments. Usually we all grab for the same stuff...Videos of the kids, photos, a wedding dress, art from early school years, old letters. But that's about it. It's like the end of that amazing movie ' The Accidental Tourist' where Bill Hurt's character leaves his briefcase sitting on a fence and only takes the photo of his dead son, leaving everything else behind as replaceable. Thanks to everyone who was concerned about me and my family. It's people like you who make me want to keep touring and making music. Honestly. Okay, enough seriousness...Hey, Who's seen 'Space Ghost'? It's not for everyone but I dig it. (I think it might be meant for teenage boys, but I like it anyway...aren't we all still 9 years old inside... I know Rodger is) See you on the road soon. love Rick October 11, 2007 Rick's message: Hello from Malibu. That's where we have been all this time away from the concert trail. I just shot a video for 'Christmas with You' on the beach. (Where else would you want to spend Christmas?) Not sure where the video will play with the music business in the mess it's got itself into but we will put it on Youtube and the website and whatever TV shows I do for the CD. So we are getting ready to shoot the video and the day before, we can't find a flight back to Nashville for Caitlin, the girl (see photos I posted)who played the violin on the song, so she can't make it. As you know violin players don't grow on trees...well, the violins do (wood) but the players, I'm pretty sure are born of regular mothers (though I have met one or two that I thought maybe came in through another door)...So, I am thinking, who am I going to get to play the violin in the video?? I had this whole idea of how we were going to shoot it with just me and the violin player on the beach. Then I remember that one of my closest friends daughter's is an amazing violinist so I call up Doug Davidson (Y&R) and ask if we can borrow Caly, his sweet girl for the shoot and Caly comes in and saves the day!! How cool is that. And we kept it in the family. I've known Caly since she was born and it was kind of surreal having her in the video and she did amazing work too. Not to mention that she looks like a mermaid so it was very appropriate and groovy all round. Now the part of the video where we get serious is the fallen soldiers photos that will stream through it. I have seen these photos and they are heartbreaking and also I am very proud and grateful. This is not a political statement other than to show respect for soldiers and their families who have made the full sacrifice. Derek, (who wrote the song with me) has a father who served 2 terms in the Vietnam war and was in the airforce and my dad was a lifer in the army and I played for the troops in Vietnam in '68 and '69 so this is not something we are taking lightly. The proceeds will go to the families of fallen soldiers, via Gold Star Mothers. We should have the edited version pretty soon. Have a great Halloween (my favorite holiday). love, Rick September 5, 2007 Rick's message: G'day mate! I am sitting in my room overlooking the Pacific?/Indian? Ocean (never was good at Geography) and this place is amazing. Oh I'm in Perth in West Australia. It's like San Diego 25 years ago. Perfect weather, not a lot of people. The best beaches in Oz and plenty of good old sharks. No, I didn't go shark diving. Believe it or not there was no time. I met up with my school hood friend John Kennedy and we had a blast reliving the old days. We also met up with our guitar idol when we were young lads (Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows...he lives in Perth) and talked into the night with him about all the songs we grew up with. It was pretty surreal and beats meeting Elvis and Paul McCartney put together for us Aussie boys. All the great guitar players, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Jimmy Page all started off looking to Hank Marvin... and all the American guitar players who were inspired by all those English players owe their debt to Hank. I totally 'fanned' out and had him sign one of the guitars that we sell for meet and greets. Hahahhahaha. It was quite a switch and wonderfully humbling. He was a gracious gentleman and everything I had imagined he would be. Anyway, we leave on the 4 AM flight to Sydney and then on home. (This is the longest I've been on the road since our boys were born...too long) It has been a great trip with amazing audiences and basically like a vacation (with the best beer in the world). We have a week off and then we are on the road again, this time playing our full set (I can't wait). The cast (headed up by Martha Davis who is a doll) got me these cool 'Bluetongue Lizard' beer glasses for my birthday and Rodger has bet me $50 they won't make it home unbroken. They will...Oh Yes, they will. Looking forward to being home soon. love RS August 24, 2007 Rick's message: We are in Sydney (where I was born) for my birthday and I haven't had a birthday here since I was 3 years old. As you can see from the photos we aren't having much fun. it's all work work work, but we are struggling to enjoy ourselves. We do a show here in Sydney tonite and then on to Hobart and MELBOURNE, ADELAIDE and perth. I have been hanging out with Beeb Birtles (Little River Band) and talking about the old days of Zoot etc. We will all get togehter with Darryl Cotton (the Zoot singer) in MELBOURNE AND HAVE a night out. The people are all really a blast on this tour. I forgot what a great dark sense of humor the Aussies on the road have. Rodger and I are going to walk across the top of the Sydney harbor bridge tomorrow which should ease the tension a bit. I am still looking for shark diving but it looks like the wrong season. We did however, take AeroPelican (yes, that's right, 'AeroPelican') airways to Newcastle which was a thrill a freaking minute. We have shot some pretty hilarious footage so far with Rodgie manning the video camera. I will be meeting my mate John (from 'Me and Johnny' fame) in Perth and we will try and track down our old guitar hero Hank B Marvin. There will be photos if we do and if we don't there will still be photos. I'll report in later. love RS August 16, 2007 Rick's message: G'day mate! Here I am typing from Oz. (Newcastle to be exact). it's up the coast from Sydney. The flight over was great and we are struggling to stay awake when 3PM rolls around but getting used to it. We had a rehearsal today that went really well until Rodger stole some chocolates from the catering room and got into the car and they shmooshed all over his pocket because they were really butter. Hahahaha. Serves the light fingered fruitcake right. We have done bugger all (Aussie expression for 'nothing much') here so far except crack a tube (Oz for 'have a beer'), ooggle the sheilas (look at the girls) and have some bloody good tucker (really good food). I am home sick which is weird because THIS was once my home. We will start the shows in 2 days. Luckily we will be in Sydney soon where there is tons of stuff to do, although I cant slam Newcastle too hard, I do have a cousin who lives here. I think I have cousins in every State. Well ta ta for now (bye bye), I have to go meet Rodger at the bar. (how exciting is that?) I'll type more when something actually happens! Love RS July 27, 2007 Rick's message: Here we are in Alaska and we have already seen bears and salmon and caught some Rainbow trout (catch and release) but the place is spectacular. It's so quite up here you could hear a pin drop (Hey what was that noise? I hope it was a pin dropping and not another bear). The bears are the freakiest thing. One came within 20 feet of us yesterday. They are so cute and could kill us in seconds. Very odd mix of feelings "Oh you're so cuddly, can I squeeze you..Hey don't rip my arm off, okay?" We take float planes into the fishing area (although we are in the middle of nowhere already) and landing on water is pretty cool. This place is so pristine and clean I feel guilty for leaving all the Styrofoam cups and plastic beer rings all over the virgin landscape, but I figure they'll just disintegrate as they are designed to do...just kidding. We have to pick up EVERYTHING! I have already taken 217 photos and it's only the first day. I'll put some up when I get back. We finished the Christmas CD 2 hours before I left for Alaska just in case I am eaten by a bear (hey, think of the posthumous CD sales!!!) See you when I get back. Love Grizzly Springfield June 26, 2007 Rick's message: We had an incredible show in Chicago (land of the rubber dolphins...okay ...private joke...at Rodgees' expense). It was a rock show that Eli Love would be proud of. And then the next night in Dallas there were the 2 cutest little singers of DTTS!!! The cute meter actually exploded. It couldn't handle the current. The Christmas CD is really turning out. I'm actually very happy with it. Well, I wasn't sure at first when it was suggested because as Rodger says.."Nothing say's Christmas like Rick Springfield"...and yes, he was being facetious (who's running for a dictionary right now???) but it has taking an interesting turn. By the way interviewers now are ALWAYS saying what a great and strong fan group you all are. I am very proud of that. See you on the telly. love, Rick June 25, 2007 Rick's message: ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! WARNING!! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!! I lost my wallet last trip out, so whoever found it, when you get back from Tahiti, would you send it to me. You can keep the $21 bucks (I never carry cash) that was in it but I would like the drivers license with the photo of Scooby on it, back!!! I took out a 'new' wallet this trip. An envelope with the words 'New Wallet' written on it in felt tip, so if I lose THAT one, send it back too. Rodger said I should get a chain to attach it to me, Ronnie said I should have my mom pin it to the inside of my jacket with a safety pin. I dont think either of them are taking this seriously. Also watch Ebay for someone trying to sell my license, if you would? (Let Jim know if you see it up on Ebay). Thanks. Love, Rick June 20, 2007 Rick's message: The Christmas record is done and it has turned out really well with some fine additions by that master of vocal arrangements Matt Bissonette and his lovely wife Chariya. Matt's brother Greg even played drums on a couple of tracks so I'm thinking of calling it 'A Very Bissonette Christmas,' (okay, kidding).I love 60's surf music so we did an instrumental version of a Christmas song as well.I wanted to use my cool new 1960 Strat that I bought a year and a half ago, but ITS STILL NOT REFINISHED YET!!!!!! So I used an old '65 Fender Mustang that's hanging on my music room wall. It sounds so authentic I wanted to grab a surfboard and go out dodging sharks. Speaking of sharks, the shark trip has been postponed till next year because I am away so much this year with Australia and all but I AM going next year. I am also looking into doing it while in Oz. They have the mother of all Great White sharks in Australia you know. My son Liam turned me onto this band called 'Beirut.' It's not for everyone but I thought it was a great record. Also the new QOTSA CD just came out. I love that band. And Paulie has some good songs on his new Starbucks CD too.I'm sounding like some cheesy record reviewer. Better go. Love, RS June 15, 2007 Rick's message: Vegas was too much fun. I think half the audience was my family. We arrived at the coolest hotel there (The Green Valley Ranch) and we were all heading down to sound check when we heard there had been a fight at the topless pool (what a surprise!!!). Running into my son Liam and his 2 buddies, the first words out of his mouth was "Hey dad, we just got in a fight at the topless pool." So the trip started out on a unique note and went up from there. I was introduced to my new best friend 'Mr. Mojito' while sitting by the pool on one of the sunny days. He is about 7 inches tall, and is full of rum and mint and some other cool stuff. I will only be his friend on vacation though as he could be a very bad influence were he to tour with me on a regular basis. We all went and saw 'Love' (the Beatles / Cirque show) and that was amazing. To hear the music in that environment is aaaaaaaaaaawesome. The remixes sound even better than the CD.Okay enough advertising for Vegas ..... let's talk soap. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! It could only happen on a soap. But the writing has been good so far and once we all agreed to change the original name of the guy, (you'll never guess) it has been a lot of bloody good fun. I'll explain later if that is too cryptic. May 30th, 2007 Rick's message: What incredible news about Sahara and her fight. Keep all the prayers coming. Everyone involved has shown their true colors and her family and I are amazed. We are going out for a 'one off', as they are called, to Baltimore tomorrow... (one show)... (damn, I was hoping to do one of these entries without parenthesis...I am addicted) ... and nobody likes the 'one-off's' because you just get started and you have to stop but with our desire to not be out for 3 months at a time, they come up every so often ... (is it me or am I sounding a lot like a school teacher today?).... I never say 'every so often.' Moving on ..... We have almost finished the Christmas CD and it is VERY different. In an attempt to not make a rock sounding Christmas CD, I pitched the songs lower (key-wise) to get into a different voice (kind of like the 'Under the Milky Way' voice) and it has been fun, not screaming every song.I have heard a few name suggestions for the new studio (please dont be offended if I dont choose yours)...(okay, NOW I'm sounding like a school teacher) .. you blasted kids! I've got to go to Rodgers studio (the one he kicked me out of...What's a guy got to do to get fired in this band???) and to introduce Gomer to his new pup Muggs. The Australian tour is going well and I hooked up via email ... ( 'via?'.. I never say 'via') ... with my old teenage idol Hank B. Marvin (who now lives in Perth) from the 60's band The Shadows, (check the Internet) and will go see him when I get there (and scream like a little girl, probably). Now back to your desks children and no chatting or there will be detentions handed out! love R April 28th, 2007 Rick's message: 2 weeks before the arrival of the 'Queen Mum' as she is sometimes known...Eil, my mom. I will be in Australia for the month of August and my birthday..what is it?? My 26th, 27th...I can never remember.. will be spent there in the very lovely and very dangerous land of Oz. Dangerous because of all the animals that can kill you. I cant believe I survived a childhood spent running barefoot through the brush and countryside with venomous snakes, spiders and other creepy crawlies lurking near by. Australia has the most venomous everything. Black snakes, brown snakes (what moron came up with those names...it's like calling your dog 'Spot...sorry in advance to all those who named their dogs 'Spot') the desert taipan (the MOST poisonous snake in the world). funnel web spiders, red backs, blue ringed octopus, box jelly fish, deadly coral snakes and even the freaking cute little Platypus has a poisonous barb on its hind leg. And don't even mention White sharks, Mako's tiger sharks, etc., and on and on. Growing up in Australia is like growing up in New York City. It's a badge of honor just that you survived childhood. My studio is done (still can't decide on a name for it..although Gomer inadvertently came up with a possibility the other day. He threw up 5 times on the studio floor ..must have been an under cooked Filet Minon...so we started calling it 'Upchuck Studio'. But, honestly, I don't expect that to stick... unlike the Gomer hurl that is sticking like glue to my studio floor) and we are most of the way through the Christmas record, which is turning out better and better. There's a track on it called 'Christmas with you' (though all the rest are traditional Christmas songs) that Derek (who's birthday it is) and I (who's birthday it will soon be) wrote in the car on the way down to George B's little Irene's birthday party. We are hitting the road pretty seriously in a week (ME included) so put on your helmets and may the best person win. See you all there. Love, Rick (and his yakking dog) March 26th, 2007 Rick's message: Gudday Mate.... Is that a clue? Yes, we are off to the merry young land of Oz (Australia for the uninitiated) inAugust for a brief tour. So with the fishing trip to Alaska and the Great White shark trip, this is going to be a skinny summer for RS gigs in the US. Well, not THAT skinny but less than usual. SO we will see you all in WI for the 5 night freak-fest and also on the summer tour we are doing with Eddie Money and Scandal. The studio is finished and when the writing is done we will go in and start the new record, which will come out on Universal..honestly...in the early new year. Well, do you want it quick or good?, because it cant be both (except for the Beatles first 7 albums, that is). See you out there. love, Rick March 8th, 2007 Rick's message: I was on the set of GH the other day talking to Stuart Dammon (who I was v. surprised to find out, is still on the show....AS A GHOST!!!!!)..Only on a soap. Or a StarWars movie...I dont know if he got my Obi Wan joke...anyway..so Jill Phelps came up to me (the producer)...wait, SHE's the producer, not me...(a cool lady)...SHE is...again, not me..and ran the new idea for the Noah Drake story line they want to do......all I can say is....yes that's right...ONLY on a soap. We are off to the wild blue yonder again and hopefully it will treat us better than it has been this year. It looks like I am going to Australia inAugust (never toured there as a solo artist) although I toured every town twice when I was in bands. It was rough, baby. We slept a night in an abandoned bank vault once, seedy motels, vans, whatever girls we could con into letting us sneak into their mom and dads house while they slept. "Jeez, where did these 4 sexually ambiguous boys come from, Darla??" My studio is nearly done ...ahahahahahahahahaha. I will do some photos soon. Gomer's already found his spot. New songs, new songs.....Must write. okay Bye bye love RS February 15th, 2007 Rick's message: Off once again into the wild blue yonder. The band rehearsed and sounded amazing. With them it's like riding a bike - only they dont pedal and there's no basket on the front to put the groceries in. We will get to some new songs but I am still waiting for my studio to be finished. It looks like it's going to take another week. (Wow, it's just like riding a bike, only longer.) Matt and I have been writing and having dinner together and the whole town is talking. Actually there is some cool stuff and I am looking forward to FINISHING THE STUDIO GUYS FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD!! so we can get in there and start. Our little pug Pearl had some huge seizure a few weeks ago and ended up with brain damage and one less eyeball...but she is still adorable. It's just like riding a bicycle for her, only bicycles dont pee all over the kitchen floor every 10 minutes. Okay I have to get some sleep cause we are doing some stuff in NY, like going to Sirius radio to do a couple of interviews and also talk about me doing a regular thing on there. So the skinny is that they are giving ol' Noah a story line at last on GH. See you soon. love Rick. PS, hey dont steal my new rosaries if I come out into the audience. They have been blessed by the Pope and the Dali Lama and you will go to hell twice if you take them. Love RS January 2nd, 2007 Rick's message: My Buddha fountain froze the other night. I guess you know if I'm talking about the weather, not much has happened this week. But the point is..the weather is changing and the world is headed to a scary place. One that the Islamic fascists or the politicians (I believe using those terms in the same sentence is pretty fair) or anyone else hell bent on trying to shape the world to their liking are going to have no effect on. Do your bit for our Mother Earth. There were some rumors going around that I had surgery on my hand. Absolutely not true... Ronnie Grinel had a face lift and I covered by saying it was me that went in for my hand. No? Okay, it was me and yes I had 2 small bumps removed from my left pinkie. The good news is I got some really good sleep and as soon as the numbness goes away from the tip of my finger I will be able to play guitar again. It was a little scary because it's my fret hand. The one that does all the 'widdley-widdley'...(Hey! Keep your mind out of the gutter.) And yes, Ronnie is naturally that young and handsome looking. (Ronnie, how loud was the big bang?....What color were Dinosaurs?) Okay, I'll stop now. Hey... Our girl Sahara has been doing well and the family continues to offer prayers and thanks to all of you who continue to be champions for the cause. Read her blog if you want to know what's going on..it's smarter, hipper and funnier than mine. We have started to book shows again and the band is very excited to be playing again after such a long hibernation. Especially Rodgee. Although he has been busy with Brian Setzer in his studio. Not to mention various other bands coming in and trashing his place and making him scrub things...who'd have thought Rodgee was a neat freak? It just doesn't fit...but it does if you know him and in his 'tell all' book that he will write about our days on the road, when he is 89, you will find out just how MUCH of a neat freak he is. My studio is almost finished and looks really cool. Also Georgie boy (Bernhardt..who has been the main carpenter and builder on it...is there anything this guy CAN'T do?)) had the same hernia operation as me the other day. Hold on..... is this starting to sound like a bunch of old guys talking about their surgeries?....Yes. So send good wishes to GB for a fast healing so he can get back to hauling his little daughters around so they can help him build stuff. I am going White Shark cage diving with my brave, eldest son Liam in Sept sometime, so you might want to come to the earlySeptember shows, just in case they are my last and I end up as shark crap somewhere on the bottom of the Pacific ocean. More exhilarating and wetter than skydiving. This cruise ship thing IS going to happen though itMay be (as some of you cynics out there call it)..in RickTime. I hope to see you on the road and on the various silver screens and possibly stage too, this year. All while trying to hack the icicles off my Buddha head fountain. love, RS December 23th, 2006 Rick's message: Yo Ho Ho Yo Ho Ho and Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, and non-denominational holiday wishes to you all. It's freaking cold here!!! The waves have frozen! Ronnie G's hair hasn't moved in a week and Gomer gets under the bedcovers at night and cuddles up to me to keep warm. Wishing you all a great, prosperous, peaceful, healthy, happy New Year. I want to do something (that matters) to help this earth in the coming year. 1) Save the earth 2) Save the oceans 3) Save the kids 4) Save the animals 5) Save stamps In that order. I wish you something wonderful. love, Rick December 12th, 2006 Rick's message: Everyone goes to Heaven! Everyone goes to Heaven! To all of you who were at the Sahara Benefit this past week in body or in spirit, my love to you and the deep thanks from Miss S's family too. She was a champ herself, staying up way past her bedtime to have photos taken with you and meet as many people as she could. What an amazing show for all of us too. The feeling in the arena was unique to say the least: kind of like a family gathering for several thousand. And to everyone who stepped up bigtime at the auction and spoke with your hard earned money:XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOX! I know a lot of you who were there and I saw who you were that night. I think all together we all will raise about $70,000 from that night,Maybe more. Right now, if you read her blog you know that they are back in Houston, this time at Dr. Bryzinski's Clinic and will start alternative treatment there soon. Keep the faith, prayers, meditations coming. Again, from me, thank you so much and my love to you all. RS September 10th, 2006 Rick's message: Ouch ouch ouch, my head hurts. Went to a friends daughters wedding last night. Drank too much....note to self: Don't do that again. I know at some point in the evening's festivities I ( and a couple of equally liquid-challenged friends went up to the wedding band and.....well, weMay have had weapons, I'm not sure...orMaybe we just pulled the "Jessie's Girl" card...whatever happened) we all ended up with instruments in our hands and played the rest of the night (I think... not too clear on the details). I'm glad they weren't paying me, they might have asked for their money back. But it WAS a blast. I am feeling much better now though thank you. Also (another note to self) don't, don't, don't ever ever EVER answer emails at 3:00 am after a wedding party. Sorry to all the recipients. Okay, we are having so much fun on the road and the band is so good we dont want to stop (especially Rodgee who now has a family and extra mouths to feed...but what a cute family. I am hoping he puts some of his Treo videos of the boys up on his Doghouse website, or at least on his myspace)..Hey I have a myspace too, but I also keep getting those phoney spam myspace emails (how they find my address I dont know, wait, there are no secrets on the World Wide Web..bless Al Gore for inventing it...speaking of AG..see 'An inconvenient truth'.. all the Sci-Fi books I read as a kid are coming true.) Oh oh..where was I (that's the trouble with parenthesis.. you can quickly lose your way)..Hang on let me read back over what I've written.........uh huh.......mmm....yes, I see.......okay.......... myspace..right..As I said a while back I keep getting emails from people who want to be my friend...As Seinfeld once said, when you were a kid, any reason was good enough to make a friend "You like Cherry Coke? I like Cherry Coke too"...but once you hit 30, it's like "I'm sorry, I'm sure you're very nice but I'm just not taking applications for new friends right now".... Why do they want to be my friend? Do they even know who I am? What my deepest desires and dreams are? WHO AM I?????? (Hang on, IMay still be a little buzzed from last night.....remember what I said about emailing when you've had a few too many..so before I embarrass myself any further I am going to stop............... (Did you notice I didnt even close the parenthesis????........(that one either) love RS August 24th, 2006 Rick's message: It is really sad to hear about Bruce Gary's passing. What a great drummer he was and a nice guy. Who can ever forget his great opening to "My Sharona". Classic stuff. Love to his great spirit. RS August 23rd, 2006 Rick's message: Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me Happy birthday dear Roooooo-ster Happy birthday to me. Thanks to you all for the birthday wishes and stuff. It's nice to remembered even if it's for being...well, older than your mom. I got a DVD of the Titanic (birthday gift) at the last gig and I was watching it last night on my computer ( I watch videos and TV on my Ipod and movies on my computer... I havent turned on a TV in years...I truly dont know how to work our main TV at home) and in amongst all the interviewees ( a couple of whom I am sure still live in their mothers basement and have never kissed a girl), up pops little Ricky Springfield talking about his Titanic collection. We laughed out loud it was so unexpected. (I know there is a part of me that still lives in my mums basement.... "Hey did I tell you about my StarWars collection"?... I swear there is a little piece of me that is, at all times, mere seconds from putting on a pair of home made Spock ears and high-tailing it to the nearest Trekkie convention). Okay Matty's here and we are going to work on the Christmas album I think. Yours in geekiness. RS August 22nd, 2006 Rick's message: Hey there, hi there, ho there... Where's a 'ho'? Oh okay, there she is. What??? We are numb from the past month. Unbelievable. Even a few fans at shows have said "Are you guys insane?" This time out (3 shows) we actually took 8 planes and flew from the West to the East to the West to the East and back home to the West again. And we do it all for you (well, okay we enjoy the shows too). They have been great. The last 3 shows were some of the most fun we've had and the band has never sounded better. Rodger actually played so hard at the last gig that he walked off stage and threw up!! Now that's dedication. He was voted best drummer by a Japanese heavy metal magazine earlier this year..with GOOD reason, even tho my dog is more handsome than his (tho his is pretty sweet). We did some of the 80's shows which have been insane and I have the marks on my body to prove it. Thanks so much to everyone who is making the committment to raising money and awareness of Sahara's fight. She has had chemo and will start radiation soon and has been handling it pretty well tho shes been sick a few times and was VERY pissed off that she had to start school at the ever incredible Ronald McDonald House today. RMDH is really one of the most meaningful uses of corporation money that I have personally witnessed. Anyway, I increasingly dig all of you guys. Hahahaha my Mum is calling in (phone machine) and saying she just saw an interview I did for Aussie TV and was all thrilled. She is so cute (tho I didnt think so when I was 15) and will be here rocking out with us nextMay. The DVD from Rockford is finally done and will be out soon with 5 addtitional songs and interviews and yadda yadda. We are having such a great time playing on the road that we are actually excited about going out on Thursday. See you all (well, a lot of you anyway) soon. Love RS August 15th, 2006 Rick's message: Sweet Sahara's Fund Here is the address for ALL donations to sweet Sahara's cause: Sahara HOOPS Aldridge "Slam Dunk Cancer" Fund 325 N. Kingshighway Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 Thanks and love, Rick August 8th, 2006 Rick's message: Update on Sahara Thanks for all the great support for Sahara. They are staying at the Ronald McDonald house and you can mail her there: Sahara Aldridge Ronald McDonald House Houston 1907 Holcombe Blvd. Sahara Aldridge - Room 22 Houston, TX 77030 Please just send your love and support and not too many stuffed toys (she is 11 you know). She has a great sense of humor and would probably just love to read stuff from you all (and your kids too) Love and thanks, Rick August 5th, 2006 Rick's message: Dear Fans: Sahara Aldridge, (aged 11 years) a sweet friend of us all who is funny and smart and always makes us laugh (and about whom Sue Packard herself said "If I could be guaranteed a daughter like Sahara, I would have one in a second") is fighting a stage 4 malignant tumor on her brain stem. I have known 'Little Miss S' (as I call her) since she was 5 and she is a bright spark in this weary world and this planet NEEDS her. Her mom and dad (Amy and Shannon) are in Houston with her right now looking into new and promising alternatives to chemo and radiation. What I am asking you all for (because you are a powerful group when you get together for a cause) is for prayer groups, meditation circles, screaming, begging and positive healing energy to be directed to our maker and Sahara for intervention on Sahara's behalf. She is precious and most worthy of your love and care. Every night would not be too often. To visualize who she is please go to her blog site at: http://saharaaldridge.blogspot.com/ Leave a comment or just look at the site and learn a little of what this shinning girl is about. You can also be updated on her progress as well. We will be doing more at this site as time goes by but this is just to give everyone of you a heads up. I truly am doing this because a) I love her and b) I do believe in this big, wonderful, sometimes dysfunctional, loving family unit we have here. Again, and not to be too mushy...I dig you guys.And my love to Little Miss S, Amy and Shannon. Let the healing begin... Love,Rick PS: Also we are heading to New York this week to do the Regis & Kelly show so see you there and bring signs that say 'We Love Sahara' and whatever you want. We have been playing a lot and the band is really kicking ass. July 5th, 2006 Rick's message: Hahahahahahaha My poor Gomer was so freaked out by the fireworks (there were some big ones around here) that I had to lock him in the sound proofed studio so he would be okay. I took him to the vet the other day and there was a guy who was being given some pills for his dog and the receptionist and she was saying "give him one an hour before the fireworks" so I think it must be a national disease with animals, the 4th ofJuly. Scoobs was so wiggy. Derek and I wrote a Christmas song on the way down to George (B's) second baby shower (he's having another girl) the other day and we decided to do a Christmas CD. If we can finish it in time it will be out for this Christmas. We have a portable Pro Tools (recording) rig that we are taking on the road and will do most of it in hotel rooms around the country. Hope you had a great 4th (or if you're reading this the next day... a great 5th) and we will see you soon. Love, Rick and a very frightened SCOOBS June 19th, 2006 Rick's message: Okay so we have to deal with this because it is a drag but a very few people (and we all know who we are) are writing bad things about people who work for me. There's a war going on and worldwide poverty and we are poisoning the earth and it is no longer okay to be so spiteful and small minded about your gripes, real or imagined. Get over your beefs and move on and put some positive energy back into the world instead of being a drain. I love and appreciate everyone who does something positive in my name but some of this stuff is not and it's just 'high school mean'. A very famous (and old...just kidding...he is 64 now for crying out loud) man once said 'And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make'. Love Rick June 9th, 2006 Rick's message: Hey and hello and yo. My dog is sleeping beside me and all is well with the world. Okay, maybe not everything but we must take what we can get. We did a local charity event for Doctors without Borders the other weekend. They don't take donations from any organisation thatMay try and sway their philosophy. It's humanistic and not political and they do great work in the war torn and ravaged countries. We played a set of covers and some of my songs (Back in the USSR was really great). Jen Landon got up and sang and was amazing. And I think they raised some good $$ for the cause. The cruise is going ahead. And there are NO icebergs in the Pacific. What is it with me and the Titanic?? I just cannot read enough about it.Maybe I was on the ship. I often think things like that when I have too much time and red wine on my hands. That and my fascination with Egyptology. HeyMaybe I was the Egyptian mummy that was supposed to have been in the cargo hold on board the Titanic at the time of the disaster. Yes, that's the link. Okay I'm going to walk over here now and pretend I didnt just say that......... We are hitting the road for summer and damn glad of it. We are working up some new songs (for those of you who come to so many shows you are actually sick of the set we do...god bless you) and writing away for a new record. I am building my own studio after Rodgee kicked me out of his (I WAS there for 3 straight years) and it should be done soon....ish. See you soon in the hot sun. Love, RS May 17th, 2006 Rick's message: Yes we had fun in Milwaukee. I'm still recuperating. Yikes. And did every song we know and some we don't. I have the best band in the land. We recorded every show and they sounded great. What a crazy bunch you all are. hahahaha. There was one point in the last night of the show when everyone was on their feet and I saw a table of 4 people looking round with their mouths open and a stunned look on their faces. It was pretty funny. Matt, Matty and I set up a portable studio in my hotel suite and we wrote and played every day (as some of you are very aware...and thank you for not complaining to the managers). I think the Indian wedding that was going on for 3 days on the 7th floor out did us though with the volume. Wow. It is so much fun to play live. I hope we keep doing it and I don't get a case of the 'bail-to-an-island-and-sit-on-the-beach-for-the-rest-of-my-life-itis' My dog's head is soooooo big. We were in a health bar today and Pamela Anderson was there and said to Scoob "Hey beautiful". Now he thinks he's 'all that' and won't even hang with me. What a fruitcake. Love, Rick Love, RS April 28th, 2006 Rick's message: Hey..we just did the Emmys rehearsal last night and believe it or not it went swimmingly (I only hope tonite goes as well). It's a unique set up where we start outside in a thing they call the 'Fanzone' and then I go inside and finish the medley on stage at the Kodak theater.They had big photos of everyone in the audience (like they do at all the award shows) so the cameras can see who will be sitting where on the night and Barbara Walters is front and center!! I'm hoping she'll throw her bra, but I'm not counting on it. Right now Gomer is upset because I just brought out one of my 'travel' bags and he knows I'm going somewhere. Why do they always do that???? It so sucks. Guilt. My dog knows how to do it. Where did he learn that? Did Bucky teach him? (Don't tell Ronnie I said that, okay?) Okay, the limo is here so I'm leaving. See you tonite. Love, RS April 24th, 2006 Rick's message: And about what I've been up to...I was off to 'real' work today (General Hospital) although my nightime job was a blast this weekend. We played locally and got to rehearse the Daytime Emmy medley that we will be doing on Friday night. We haven't got it right yet but we are hoping we pull through on the night (j/k). We played San Diego, Phoenix (the fabulous 'Carousel of love') and Palm Springs (Palm Springs?)...yes there were a lot of 80 year old golfers in the audience with their fingers in their ears. Okay, not really. Jackie Zeman came up to see us play there. She is sweet! And Jason (my TV son) and Kimberly (I played her dad in a TV movie called 'Dying to Dance'.....what is it with this 'dad' thing all of a sudden?...came to San Diego. Matt Bissonette our lovely and talented bass player DROVE everywhere!!! He is a wild man and bass and singer for the fabulous Squirts who opened most of the 3 shows.I did ET the other day and they dont let dogs on most of the TV lots these days (someone in TV land thinks 'dogs = terrorists'...go figure) and the windows of my car are REALLY blacked out so we snuck Gomer in and he ended up on the segment we filmed. People dig my dog and I can't blame them. He is charming and extremely handsome. Well, I hope the ACCESS-RS site is everything you hoped it would be...if it is, then I do dig you guys....if it's not, then I had nothing to do with it. Okay, gotta go. Love, Rick April 05th, 2006 Rick's message: I was at a small Daytime Emmy party on Saturday when I heard the news that Gloria Monty (GH producer through the whole Luke and Laura, Ice Princess time) had passed on. She was a great lady and a champion of my career. She was looking for a new doctor back in 1980 while she was running General Hospital when I auditioned for her and got the gig of Noah Drake (originally it was Paul Drake but Gloria said they found out that was the name of Perry Masons side kick in the orig. Perry Mason show...most of you wont remember that show but it was BIG in my house when I was a lad). She was so supportive when my dad died in 81 while I was on the show and championed me moving on to other things in 82 when I left GH. She and her sister Norma showed up several times through the years at different things I did (Broadway, Las Vegas, etc.) and I always felt she was doing more than just looking in. I wish she'd written a book on how to be a woman in show biz. She was tough when it was needed and (so I found) very nurturing and encouraging when that was needed too. Love to Gloria's spirit and a light to her memory. RS March 07th, 2006 Rick's message: Helllooooooo......
Here is the coolest shot of my dog I have ever seen. He is an awesome specimen of canine-isisty. Even though he still stares at the back of my head without saying anything when I drive him places. We had 3 great shows this weekend AND got to go on a bunch of rides at Disneyworld. HEY, who has my phone number and keeps calling and hanging up??? CUT IT OUT! The energy at the last 3 shows was wilder than I have felt in 20 years. What is happening????? Whatever it is...keep it up..I dig it. It's raining so hard here right now. I just got back from GH and it rained all the way home. (Who's got a liver they can spare me?) Honestly, people are starting to look at me weirdly (that HAS to be a real word) when I have a glass of wine..."Aren't you worried about your liver?" Anyway, something is happening and it could be on the ocean. See you soon at a concert hall near your house. love Rick February 14th, 2006 Rick's message: Haaaaaaapy Valentines day. It was my mum and dad's anniversary. I think they would have been married for something like 60 years if he was still alive. Well alive or not they have been married that long. We had a great couple of shows over the weekend. Thanks to everyone who showed up. I hope it was worth it. It was to me. I was joking about the GH people being weird to me. There are a lot of cool people there. My managers guitar got stolen from him when he was a youngster and after 20 years it just showed up on ebay. Freaky. I hope the guys that stole my 2 guitars in Australia and Vietnam respectively, choke on 'em. People who steal guitars are total losers...hey wait a second... I stole one when I was 15. Damn! I guess that makes ME a total loser too. Oh well I'm going to take off my t shirt and go have a jacuzzi...hahahahahahaa to all you in the snow and cold. Truly, what's up with that? It was snowing when we left Detroit the other w/e and when we got home it was 79 degrees. But the good news for you is that LA has earthquakes, fires, mudslides and me. So a little cold is no big deal. Plus I don't think the terrorists are going to hit Fargo anytime soon. Okay I'm rambling so I'll sign off. Just remember..... I dig you guys. love Rick February 3rd, 2006 Rick's message: Hey! I am an American! I went down to the convention center in downtown LA and was sworn in with 4500 other people who weren't happy in their mother/fatherland's either. This great country gave me my beautiful wife, my 2 amazing sons and my 35 year career so I thought it was only fair that I make myself eligible for Jury duty. I love America. I'm still an Aussie too though (dual citizenship its called) so if things get too hot here I can always run to the great Southern land. We are up and touring soon and we are all looking forward to it. And General Hospital has been interesting. Are you guys watching or what? Who watches soaps now? It's been fun and it's also loooooooong hours. I forgot about that. Everyone has been very nice and if they ever talk to me on the set I'll let you all know exactly WHO is nice. I like the junk they have piled on Noah and I look forward to getting a new liver (or dying from it ) someday soon. You never know on TV. You look around and suddenly they're dropping like flies on a Shell pest strip. Saw Tommy Emmanuel the other night. He is a fellow Aussie ( well,Maybe I can't quite say that anymore...okay, half of me can) and he is Gods gift to the guitar. You MUST check him out and if you have a chance see his live show. It's staggering. Just him and an acoustic guitar, You wont believe what he does with that thing. Eric Idle (from Monty Python) was there too and a VERY DEAR friend of all of us was sitting there with us and we said 'Oh look it's Eric Idle' and our DF said " Is that Billy Idol's brother?" T you are sooooooooooooo freakin' cute. Okay so I'm signing off for the first time as a half-American..so....um... bye love R January 09th, 2006 Rick's message: Wow. I just flew 50 hours in 2 weeks. That must be some kind of record!!! Japan was great. Wait, did I talk about Japan already.Maybe. Okay Australia was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(yes, that's right)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasome. We were between the Sydney harbor bridge and the Opera house for the fireworks on NYE and the streets were full of crazy drunken yahoos all night long. What an amazing city, I'm proud to have been born there. Saw all my cousins in both Melbourne and Sydney and drank with every single one of them. My 91 year old aunt Molly was a highlight of the trip to Sydney. Almost blind and with a cane but as sharp as a needle and a great sense of humor. Both Liam and Josh loved her. We saw my dad's last living sibling, his little sister(Shirley) and she is a doll. Then there was my dear old mum. We hung with her for most of the trip at my old house in Melbourne. She loved having Liam and Josh there. Josh and I went fishing one day and he caught one. (I banged my shin up pretty good on the way home..it was pretty rough). We went to this amazing winery outside Melbourne and drank a lot of (you guessed it) wine. My mum's dog Zack was a trip and helped us with missing our dogs back home. Went through all my old crap upstairs and found all these old (terrible) songs I'd written when I was 15 and 16. And also a photo session of me when I was 16 and trying to be a model (yikes). I got my kids into Aussie candy too.(Ahhhh 'Cherry Ripe'). It was an incredible trip and now I can't wait to go out on the road (HAhahaa). We just did the Ellen show and I have GH for the next few days. Then ANOTHER VACATION!!!! WHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! No just a day or two in the desert. Okay so.... we will see you all soon. love Rick November 23rd, 2005 Rick's message: So sad to hear that Chris Whitley died yesterday at 45. He was a remarkable artist with a beautiful voice and a sweet guitar style. You should check out his CD 'Perfect day'. It's always been one of my' deserted island' CD's (y'know, if you have to take only 5 Cds to a deserted island....tho' where you'd find AC power on a deserted island, I have no idea.). His style changed with pretty much every release but his voice was so unique. ( I shamelessly tried to copy his 'Perfect Day' style and sound in the SDAA song 'Alien Virus') Beautiful and warm and soulful, I hope his spirit and music go on. love and Happy Thanksgiving Rick October 29th, 2005 Rick's message: Hello. How are you? I'm fine. (most fan letters from the early 80's began like this) I just received my first General Hospital script in 23 years. Kinda freaky. It should be fun and ....interesting. I spoke with Jackie Zeman the other day and she said she is happy I'm back. She is a great lady. We are finishing up mixing the Rockford DVD and should be done in a few weeks. It takes a little longer in 5.1 (surround sound) Well it looks like I am hernia free. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaeeeeaaaaaaaaah. I have friends who are gearing up for the same op. I hope its not contagious. Kind of like swine flu for the over 40 set. We are looking forward to Japan in Dec and then we are going onto Oz to hang with my old mum for a few weeks. I've been in touch with my friend John (from 'Me and Johnny' fame) and we are going to play some pub gig somewhere under the name of the 'Beeswaxmen'. Probably old surf songs and sixties songs. And then next year.... love Rick October 11th, 2005 Rick's message: Ouch.. Ow ow ow ow ...Ouchee Ouch Whoa! Ow ow ow ow Ooooouuuchhheee. love RS October 09th, 2005 Rick's message: Weeeelllll...... here we go again. Under the knife one more time. "Hey get it right this time will ya?" These last shows (probably shouldn't use the word 'last' when I'm about to get cut, but they were great and the second show at the same place is always a free for all. I think we even did a Church/Beatles medley. You were great and even more fun at the bar afterwards. We have some interesting things coming up in the next few months. ....very interesting. The news of my retirement (like the news I'd OD'd) is a little premature and we have already started booking 06. Oh yeah, here's some good news.... I just got a carded,double-telescoping, Obi Wan Kenobi. If anybody knows what that means then you'll understand why I'm excited (knowing I'm a bit of a toy freak) and if you dont know what it is, then it doesnt matter and you can just say "whatever dude". Gomer was happy to see me and I was happy to see him. Looks like we are off to Japan in Nov and then I am going to Australia with my family for Christmas (with the 100 degree weather, the flies and the cold chicken dinners). Have a groovy Halloween. I am going as the 'Guy who had to have TWO hernia operations'. It should scare the hell out of the little kids. love Rick July 26th, 2005 Rick's message: Hi. Just a short note before we go out again to....um...ah... somewhere in the US of A. Love underwear being thrown, NOT beer cans. I am having surgery on the 1st of Aug. That's why we are not playing for 2 weeks in Aug. so I can recover. I am having Scooby surgically attached so they HAVE to allow him on the planes with me. Also while I'm under I'm having a 6th finger added on to my left hand (to aide my guitar playing) and having pec implants so I don't have to lift weights anymore to look cool. No not really, actually it's a hernia operation (yes, there) and I got it from lifting too heavy a weight at the gym in NZ while filming the first episode of High Tide. I think SAG owes me on this one.(We will be running an contest soon and the winner will be able to sit in on the operation and even hand the doctor his instruments)...( I'm kidding.... did someone out there go either "Euuwwww, gross" or "Hey, I hope I win!"?? Come on, be honest.) Anyway I wanted to let you know why I will be out of action for a bit. Plus I think the band needs the time off to recover from New York. See you after the op. (the results of the operation will be available on Ebay soon- No, no, I'm kidding, again) I dig you man love Rick June 21st, 2005 Rick's message: Hey did I mention that Gomer rubbed his face in a dead bird? EEEeeeeuuuuWWWW! Unbelievable. What would make a handsome, intelligent, almost human creature want to where the odor of a rotting avid?? I bathed him twice and its still not gone. Guess who he is NOT sleeping with tonite the stinky little freak. I met a charming pug on the road this week. We have photos cos I brought her up on stage. I would love to see some. Girls, tell Homie to take his stitches out too. Oh, one of the songs on the 2nd CD is a song I wrote about my Mum in 1989. It's about her tough upbringing as a kid (lost both parents at 14) and her fighting on, finding my dad, then losing him and going on. I hadn't heard it in so long and it was great to find it again. Lot of personal songs in the 2nd CD. But I know Derek will kick my...(I can't say *ss or I owe George $25- 'toochus', there a nice mispelled Yiddish word) with the EFX vid. I'm going to bed to read this great new book (actually Ihave 24 books waiting to be read) so...nitey nite. love Rick June 21st, 2005 Rick's message: Ouch! I just took my own stitches out. I got nine good ones on my shin about a week and a half ago from an overzealous security guy throwing me back on stage and wacking my leg on the side of the stage. Ended up in the ER (after the show.) We are in the studio all day tomorrow and I dont have time to go to a doc so i thought I could save myself a few bucks and do some home surgery. It worked. At least until the infection sets in. I just finished putting together the 2nd CD for the LECD of "TDAY". I always enjoy that process and I stubble on some long forgotten recordings that take me back to when they were written. There is some different stuff, most of it unheard before. TAnd the EFX thing looks really great. Derek is become an autstanding editer, so if the keyboard/rock vioce thing doesnt pan out , he's always got his groovy editing. Just did Larry King show this afternoon and that was pretty interesting. We had fun at the last festival in Wisconsin (should we MOVE there?) and we all had a little too much to drink at the club that night. NightRanger and 38 specila got up and comandeered the local bands intruments and I'm sure if Matt Bissonette had have been there, we would have too. He's always the one that gets that going. And then the local band came back and song Led Zeps 'rock and roll' and wee were blown away. We are taking off for parts unknown (to me, anyway) on Wed. and look forward to seeing more and more of you out there,,,,why????..... Because I dig you!! love Rick May 16th, 2005 Rick's message: Hey what a blast this week was. If you were there then you know. I had so much fun. It was the most I've enjoyed playing in YEARS! If we do that gig again it won't be too soon. We are wrapping up the new CD and also finishing the LECD that I wasnt going to do but have since changed my mind after Derek showed me his edit of the EFX show and it's really cool and so i thought that would be great to include in the LECD of TDAY. I want to say that I am seriously looking foward to touring this summer. It looks like it will be so cool and I also have to say that I DIG YOU GUYS. love RS April 25th, 2005 Rick's message: Hi. The Day after yesterday CD is almost done. Someone wrote asking why (as a songwriter) I'm releasing a CD of other peoples songs. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time and they are songs I have loved through the years. I also wanted to see what would happen in the studio. It was approached a little differently than when I do my own songs and a lot of the time it was much more fun (I get so damn tense and edgy recording my own songs). i felt a lot freer doing these songs. The next CD will be my own stuff and I am not sure what direction that will be yet. The song list for TDAY is: broken wings (duet with richard page) For no one (Beatles) Under the milky way ( the church) Imagine (Lennon) Human(human league) Waiting for a girl like you (foreigner) Baker street (Gerry rafferty) I'm not in love (10 cc) Miss U nights (cliff richard) Life in a northern town (dream academy) Holding on to yesterday (ambrosia) Love is the answer (todd rundgren) Blue rose (liz wright) Lets go out tonite (Blue Nile) Cry (original song) The last one I added just recently as a way of getting into the next CD which will (as I said) be my own songs. We had fun (and a little tension) recording this album. And Gomer loved it right up untill we blasted Broken Wings from my car stereo at 3 million decibels and he started shaking and wouldnt come to the studio with me anymore (I'm working on changing his perspective). It was a blast to be on the road again and the shows felt like we never took a break. Georgie is amazing on guitar and the girls were glad to see John Billings back on stage. We will be out working the WHOLE ofJuly it looks like. Be there or be square. love RS March 28th, 2005 Rick's message: I've got to do something about my memory, or at least re read what I've written before. Okay so I already mentioned the Rockford thing so you can erase that bit. I'm going swimming. love RS March 28th, 2005 Rick's message: Hi there. We are finally closing in on these sessions and should be done soon. I'm adding one of my own songs to the CD ('Cry') just because I can. Hey, it was written in the time period that most of these other songs came from so it kinda fits. I hope you all had a groovy easter. Everyone here was home from school/college and it was a regular teen party at the Springthorpes. I saw the Frickin A video and i think they did a great job. The guys in the band are very cool and the fact that Gomer makes an appearance in the end of the video (to echo Ronnie's shot at the end of mine) is too funny. He is such a ham (like his old man). The Rockford HDTV shoot went better than expected and everyone involved rocked the house (that's you). I saw a bit of the line cut and it looks 'excellent'. We are awaiting the final cut soon. The new (and for the first time, decent) Anthology is up for pre sale (whatever that means) on the site and I was told by the boys who handle it all, to mention it ( wow, did that sentence make sense at all?) It's a very full retrospective on RS and I love that it starts with that old Zoot track (Eleanor Rigby) with me stabbing away at the old SG (the first guitar I ever bought that was actually decent) and ends with 'For No One' off the new CD- The Day After Yesterday- and both Beatle songs came from the same LP (Revolver). Okay now re-read that and tell me I don't need to throw in some punctuation somewhere. .(..,!?..:()!!....) Cut and paste. Matty had to say goodbye to his loved dog 'Roscoe' over the weekend. Roscoe was 14 and Matty rescued him when he was a puppy after wacking him with his car (on Roscoe Blvd. -hence the name). He picked him up, took him to the vet and the rest is history. Send prayers to Doggie heaven c/o Roscoe Spindel. Ronnie and I went up to SanFrancisco to do a benefit for 'Little Kids Rock' (it's an organization headed by David Wish that buys instruments and puts music lessons in schools who have had their music programs axed by our faaaaabulous politicians.) And I saw some of the Zombies there to lend support. It is always great to see that.I dig you guys. I did a lewd half hour on acoustic guitar but it was fun and for a really great cause. If there was more access to music in schools there would be less violence. I've seen in my own life how music has lead a violent or troubled guy in the right direction and given him a focus. Anybody up for a Sea Cruise????? WhoooHoooooo! Okay, bye bye for now. love Rick February 24th, 2005 Rick's message: Yikes I still have sparklies stuck to me and my clothes! What gets them out???? February 20th, 2005 Rick's message: Hello.... I just wanted to thank everyone who came to Rockford and made it such a great show. It's as much about you as it is about us. And all those who were so sweet to my girl B....thank you too. We have seen a quick line cut of the show and it looks really cool. Dino our sax player had fun and will be at the occasional gig now and then and George was great. What a first show... being filmed... trial by fire and all that. We are really glad we filmed at the Coronado too. It looks like a trillion bucks on film. And HDTV makes everything (and everyone) glow like there's a light inside. The 'Tsunami' get together was really succesful (glad I showed up) and Amy, Viv and all you guys raised $18000 for the victims. A real solid round of applause to all who were involved. Hey I even gave a $2400 lap dance (twice!!). Yes I will prostitute myself for the needy. We can't wait to finish this CD and get out on the road and play. See you all soon. love Rick PS Lap dances have gone up. They are now $4500. PPS hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. PPPS tata. RS February 09th, 2005 Rick's message: Okay so... some of youMay have heard on the radio interviews I just did that the new CD is called 'The day after yesterday' and it's songs I WISH I'd written. Well that's true. They are songs from the (mostly) 70's and 80's and include 'Broken Wings' (a duet with Richard Page who wrote and sang the original version) John 5 also played some great guitar on this track, 'Waiting for a girl like you' and 'Baker Street'. It will be released inJune. 14 songs and everyone of them a hit (you cant always say that about a CD y'know) Jim will announce it officially on the website soon too. We are all jacked up about the Coronado show. Start rehearsals this week. We just finished one of the tracks for the BMG/Sony anthology which will be out inMay. It's 2 Cds , 40 tracks and will start with Eleanor Rigby (Zoot-1970) and end with 'For No One' (from 'TDAY' -2005) and everything inbetween. Also I am going to be in the Frickin' A video of Jessies girl (I'm playing 'Jessie', so i guess I get the girl after all) - Hey, musicians ALWAYS get the girl in their video. Have you noticed that? Really cute girls who wouldnt normally look sideways at the scraggly dude are fawning all over him. I think I did the reverse in my old videos. I NEVER got the girl. Damn. love RS February 03rd, 2005 Rick's message: George B and his lovely missus Laurie would like to thank everyone who sent stuff for their little baby girl Irene. George took a great shot of the little one and it should be up on the site as soon as Jim B gets his hands on it. We start reheasals for the video shoot next week. (rehearsals??? what are they???) love Ricky January 28th, 2005 Rick's message: Hi, I just wanted to say that I will miss Davey very much. He is so much fun on the road and a great stage presence. Who'll do the 'voice of the devil' now when I hold a mic. up to a little baby to sing DTTS? I wish Davey good fortune. (It's raining here and my dog is asleep at my feet.) To which Gomer answers ( in a high falsetto) "Hey, I'm NOT your dog, you're MY driver! Unfortunatley that is correct as I will be driving Gomer to the Doghouse in a half an hour so he can hump Dudley. (it's a male domination thing I think....hope) Who's the whacko that started the rumor I went to New York, not to meet with record companies and managers, but to have chemotherapy?? (wow) We are all looking forward to The HDTV shoot and Georgie is practicing hard. I just heard the Frickin' A version of Jessie's girl that's out. It's really good. "I've been a pimp with the lines"???? That's great. We are almost done with this new CD. See you soon, love Rick January 20th, 2005 Rick's message: Hi 2005, Ronnie and I just got back from New York (where one night it was 0 degrees!! That's zero as in NOTHING...so cold it doesnt even register!! I think my hair froze. Apart from the cold it was faaaaaaaabulous. We met with the guys who are going to be my new managers. Doyle/Cos. Also met with RED and played them some of the new record and then went to Sony/BMG to talk about the new anthology that's coming out inMay. It's 2 CD's with 40 songs from 1970 to 2005 and its got my loopy comments on each song. Where it came from, who was it based on, what I was wearing when I wrote it (okay, that last bit's not entirely true). I dig NY tho' especially when its cold. Truly, I was swimming in the morning in CA and then freezing my butt off by dinner time. Hey, weMay be playing a single date inMarch. Okay so clues to the new CD: it's called 'The Day after Yesterday'. Any guesses? Not sure of the release date but it will be announced soon I think. I believe everyone I know is coming to the HD video shoot. It should be a blast. I'm doing another photo session with Pamela Littky next weekend for the CD. She's the photographer who took the 'red bed' shots and most of the ones during SDAA. My dog is so cool.He's sleeping beside me here as I type. Even when he sleeps he's cool.I dig you man. Rodger asked me to put in this web address: www.tatu-designs.com. They make boots and when you buy them they give some of the sales to kids with AIDS (www.aidskids.org) So there ya go Rodgee. My new years resolution (after all the crap about world peace and healing and wealth for everybody) is to write in this thing more often. There are some interesting things coming this year. See you all soooooooon. love Rick December 26th, 2004 Rick's message: What's the deal with the double message?????I better improve my typing skills ( they pretty much suck). Happy New year. XXOO RS December 26th, 2004 Rick's message: Okay, so I guess it didnt send before, I dont know what happened so I'll try to remember what I said... First i wished everyone a very Merry Christmas/Holidays 'insert politically correct holiday greeting here'. I hope everyone got everything! I did. Including a 3 inch wooden splinter under one of my fingernails that sent me to the local emergency room to get 5 shots in my hand to numb it up so the doc could dig the the damn splinter out. What a great Christmas night. It was the finger I usually flip Matty off with too soMaybe God was trying to tell me something... use the other hand,Maybe? I dont know. Anyway it was a great night once the throbbing pain and all the bleeding and screaming had stopped and I hope you all had fun too. We will be in Las Vegas on NYE and it should be a wild time as the band and I havent seen each other in weeks...except Matty who has been in the studio with me. Come to think of it, I havent flipped him off in months soMaybe the splinter was a different lesson. Damn, now Im confused. Okay, I'm going to contemplate this Christmas night lesson. See you in LV love Rick December 26th, 2004 Rick's message: ....HEY, DID I JUST SEND THAT BY ACCIDENT???? Damn. I didnt even spell check it or re read it yet. I hope I didnt say anything I'll regret. Have a great New Year and I hope to see you on the road with the new CD (we are already booking gigs, so the announcement of my retirement is premature) love RS December 26th, 2004 Rick's message: ....HEY, DID I JUST SEND THAT BY ACCIDENT???? Damn. I didnt even spell check it or re read it yet. I hope I didnt say anything I'll regret. Have a great New Year and I hope to see you on the road with the new CD (we are already booking gigs, so the announcement of my retirement is premature) love RS November 28th, 2004 Rick's message: Hi. Yo...wassup? Okay, Rodger wanted me to mention that a new series of CDs is starting. It's called 'Live at the Doghouse' and features up and coming LA musicians/writers playing live in the studio with friends and visitors. The first one is from Pauly Trudeau and sounds very Beatle-y at times. He's got a great voice and plays a sweet piano. And that is Rodgee whomping the drums in the background (personally I would have had Rodgee louder but that's a 'mix' issue). The first CD is available at : www.thedoghousestudio.net I better get busy soon cos I'm bored out of my skull right now!! Some fans have started showing up at the local Starbucks and I've actually run into some... These extended holidays are too long. love RS November 23rd, 2004 Rick's message: The big news is George B. and the lovely Missus have had their baby. And it's a baby girl named Ireen. Thanks to everyone who sent something to the PO Box for the little miss and I'm sure George and Lori thank you too but they're kind of busy right now. Also our equally lovely PR person Susan Lucas had HER baby girl last night.... someone better be having boy babys somewhere or there's gonna be a lot of angry girls in about 15 years. Dont know Susans baby's name yet. We played our last gigs last w/e and they were extremely...er wild.(Okay, who stole my ion bracelet at the last show?) We have one more on NYE in Las Vegas and then we are off untill the HDTV video shoot on the 18th of Feb 05. It's in Rockford IL I think at the Coronado theater and if you want to be immortalised on celluloid, then make tracks to the Coronado on the 18th of Feb. The finished video will be shown on HDTV and will also be available in stores and from your very friendly RS Merch guys. (Really, who DOESNT dig 'webdude'???...okayMaybe one or two who got on his bad side, but apart from them..?) Happy Thanksgiving. I'm heading to the studio and will write more later. Rodgee, that big screen TV is ALMOST yours!! love Rick November 08th, 2004 Rick's message: HEY I forgot to mention the most important thing. Our guitar tech - player - genius, George Bernhardt and his lovely wife Larry (Actually it's Lori) are having their first baby (a girl) on Nov 27th. Now THIS is a present-worthy occasion dont you think??? SO..... I would like to suggest that anyone who wants to send good wishes in the form of a card, girly clothes or cold cash (j/k about the cash) send it to the same PO box as Jack. Which is: #141 30765 PCH Malibu CA 90265 And label it George Bernhardt and the luverly Misses or baby Bernhardt or Larry and George and little Larry.. whatever, but if you want to send something, please feel free. I will keep this PO box open for a while longer. Okay... now I'm done XO Rick November 08th, 2004 Rick's message: My special thanks to all of you who hiked it out to the middle of Mo-nowhere last weekend for 2 faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous shows. And the fan who gave up the only suite in the hotel so I could have it!!!! Do I have great fans or what????? I love playing a couple of nights in one town. The 2nd show is always 'different'. Now when the promoters say "wow, we've never had a show like this before"....is that a good or a bad thing????? Speaking of good and bad things, you should read 'Reading Lolita in Tehran'. It's a great book and if you want to read about what it's like to live under MILITANT Islamic rule (and especially to be a woman under it) you should read this book. We are in the studio tomorrow and Tues and Wed ( working on the 'mystery' project) and then out on the road. I am doing an interview with Access Hollywoooooooooood on Wed. at the Doghouse. It's about 'crushes' and it appears the host Nancy O'Dell had one on yours truly when she was younger. And I can bet Gomer will make an appearance on that show too. I'm going to have to get him his own make up person. And who was it that drove a 60 mile round trip to bring us hot Starbucks in a thermos. You know who you are and I dig you! More people are starting to find out about the Doghouse studio. Some of the 'Wallflowers' are in this week too and the very talented Dave Darling is starting to mix projects in there as well. I'm going to have to start fighting for time. See you in Puerto Rico (j/k) love RS October 31st, 2004 Rick's message: I just saw 'The Grudge' last night with my son Josh. If you want a really scary Halloween, go see it. It's freaky. (The acting isn't always great but the scares are scream-worthy). We are in the studio Mon Tues Wed and then we are off to see the Wizard again (road trip). love Rick October 21st, 2004 Rick's message: Hey that was fun!!! Those crazy sports guys. Sorry to Rodgee for hurting his drums. All in the spirit of 'too much testosterone'. How did Gomer look? Was he cool? He's the only one I'm concerned about because of his fragile ego. We are in the studio all this week. Everone is sick (thanks to too much close time spent with me last w/e). Should the 'period' go inside or outside of the parenthesis on that last sentence???? Okay, bye. love Rick October 17th, 2004 Rick's message: Cough,cough,hack,choke! Okay, by now everyone I touched this weekend has my cold. I was sick (in the head) but also sick with a bad cold this w/e but did that stop us? You bet. No actually we played on. The last show was the best and the most fun for me. We are doing the Damn Best Sports Show Period! on wednesday. Hey I'm an Aussie who knows nothing about US sports but we will be playing a couple of songs live. Derek is a genius Football guy and Rodger bleeds purple and gold and Matt B. is a baseball freak so I figure if they are on my team I'll be alright. I was actually sitting in a Brewers baseball game last year with Matt and the guy on deck hit a foul ball that went up into the stands behind us and bounced all the way down to us (people grabbing for it all the way), hit our row and rolled to me down the aisle. I was eating a salad (blush) and talking on my cell phone and I reached down and picked up this game ball and I looked at Matt and his jaw was on the ground. There has to be a Zen lesson in that somewhere. Anyway, then we are in the studio all this week around Rodger rehearsing with John 5's band (also in the Doghouse this week). All Dudley ate this time Rodgee was away was a little bit of the bottom of RC's bed and the flap off the dog door. Yes, it was completely missing. I have to get Jim to post a shot of Bad boy Dudley. Jim B. was at the 2 gigs we just did and did some video shooting on both shows for the web site and also as prep for the HD TV shoot we will be doing soon. I'm exhausted. I can't believe some of you get up at 4:00AM to say goodbye. Also how do you find out where we are??? Come on. Who's the leak? It's Matty, right? nitey nite RS October 13th, 2004 Rick's message: sorry..'thyroid' October 13th, 2004 Rick's message: Ahahahahahahaha! Jim's Gomer album just gets funnier and weirder. We are off to the east coast tomorrow. The last show in Reno was great (okay I'd like submissions for new adjectives to replace 'great') and crazy. The audience was pretty freaky (yes you know who you are). Jack W. is digging his mail (thanks again). I will close the PO box in a month or two and thanks for everyone who has mailed. It looks like the draft thing is now a dead issue but some web sites are still saying its not. Hey, Gomer's on thiroid pills and he is like a new dog. Wow (damn, I said I wouldn't say that anymore) it's like he's 3 years old again. Does anyone other than me think he is beginning to resemble a badger now he's getting so grey around the choppers and eyeballs. We are still working on that HD TV concert shoot but itMay be in earlyJanuary now. See you on the road. love RS September 30th, 2004 Rick's message: PS. Gomer is STILL doing that freaky 'staring-at-the-back-of-my-head' thing when I drive somewhere with him. You dont think he's like that crazy little kid Stewie on the 'Family Guy' who's always plotting to kill his family, do you? I hope it's just 'cos he digs me. September 30th, 2004 Rick's message: Hello......... Hey, I just had breakfast at a local hang with Jack White and he's doing really well but you should have seen his face when I handed him everyones cards and things. He lit up like a little kid and said (though don't hold him to it) that he would answer every one. Thanks to everyone who sent something, that is very cool. I have that PO Box for another few months so if you still want to send something, go ahead. I will see that he gets it. The address again is J-Dub PO Box #141 30765 PCH Malibu CA 90265 Went by the Doghouse today and Rodgee was rehearsing with his freind John 5 ( ex-Marilyn Manson, astonishing guitar player) andMay go on the road with him while we take a break Jan, Feb, Mar of 05. John has an amazing new CD out ( the front cover of which was taken at the faaaaaaabulous DogHouse Studio.) Dudley continues to eat everything that isnt nailed down. It's a good thing he's so damn cute. We have a weekend at home this ....er.....weekend and it's a nice change though we are all looking forward to hitting the boards again soon. Everyone is now saying that the ' Draft' bill is a dead issue and it's something the Democrats dreamed up becuase they were mad at Bush for Iraq. But keep an eye on it's progress or hopefully, lack of, if you have kids who will one day be 18 - 26 years old. BMG is actually talking about putting out a serious box set of my stuff (rather than releasing another re shuffled version of the greatest hits again). I'm going to Sushi with my son Josh. nighty nite love Rick September 28th, 2004 Rick's message: Have you seen Gomers photo album yet?????? It is amazing. I dig my dog and so does Jim B. Jim you are a genius. The one with the girls is too much. Rodger said today that Gomer's getting depressed because there are all these photos showing a life he DOESN'T have. .......but he could...if only he'd loosen up a little! In the studio again today and Derek H. played some killer B3 on a track....sorry, can't tell you which one. i know it sucks but it would ruin the whole thing if you knew now....admit it. We will be doing a show soon that will be filmed for High Definition TV and will then be released as a DVD. We will let you know where as soon as we know. Be there and be on TV and DVD forever!!!! nighty nite. Gomer and I are off the bed. love Rick September 25th, 2004 Rick's message: We are in the studio doing a 'mystery' project. It is fun (especially trying to work with everyones schedule). Dudley continues to eat Rodger out of house and home. Does anyone have any great tips to stop a dog from chewing on everything in the house!!!???? No touring for a while. We will see everyone in a week or two (I think). Keep those cards and letters coming for Jack. love Rick September 19th, 2004 Rick's message: Had a great show at Universal ampitheater in LA. It's always a blast at home. I have the most amazing fans in the world. I even saw a couple of girls who I recognized from the 'Live and Kickin' video shoot there 25 years ago. I dig you man!!!!!! We had so much fun. For all those who thought they were tooo late to send cards to Jack White. That PO box is good for 2 more months and all the cards etc. that arrive I will make sure get to Jack. love and thanks Rick September 15th, 2004 Rick's message: From the Daily words of the Buddha that shows up on my email every morning: One should first establish oneself in what is proper and only then try to instruct others. Doing this, the wise one will not be criticized. September 15th, 2004 Rick's message: I Just went to the PO Box and got a bunch of the get well cards and things that people had sent to Jack. Thanks so much for doing that. You guys are aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome!!!! I'm seeing Jack early next week so i will take everything to him. He was really pleased when I told him about the cards. Did anyone see Gomer on national TV this morning???? He looked good didnt he? Okay,Maybe a little puffy around the eyes ( it was early) and he could lose a few pounds, but so cute. Thanks again for all the J-Dub stuff. love Ricky September 14th, 2004 Rick's message: Rule #1: A Grey Goose is for petting and feeding bread crumbs to, NOT for drinking!!! I learned that lesson the other night. Woah! Also WE DID NOT CANCEL THE LITTLE ROCK GIG (Sorry for shouting). The promoter did. In fact he cancelled it twice!! Apparently quite a few people showed up at the gig on the night and the folks at the show said that I had cancelled. Let me say this again...WE DID NOT...(sorry) We did not cancel the gig!!!!! Okay, now that's settled, lets move on. We had a faaaaaaaaaabulous show on Saturday night. It was one of the best yet. Great sound, great show, great audience (I should find another word), Davey and Derek looked cute, John Billings 2nd to last show with us for a while (welcome back Matt B in LA this week and Lance, Lance, Lance towards the end of the year), Bucky was in top, whistle blowing form, George did some serious ass kicking and Rodger was......well, ......Rodger. I loved the Titanic book too. Thanks. Now wait.... I don't say this stuff about Starbucks, the wine (which I am seriously cutting back on by the way) and the Titanic stuff so I will get more. Please, I would much rather you make a cool donation to someone needy (like Rodger) or an animal charity (Okay,Maybe that's not the case with the Starbucks) but I was feeling guilty like I used to in Vietnam when we would say to one of the G.I.'s how much we liked their watch and they'd take it off and give the freaking thing to us. Honestly...wait, strike that, you know you should never trust someone who says 'honestly'. You know what I mean. I dig you guys. love Rick September 07th, 2004 Rick's message: Hi. Our good friend Jack White ( J-Dub to us), just went through prostate cancer surgery last week and is recovering in New York. I didn't know whether I should mention it but I spoke to Jack today and he said by all means mention it. He has had some great support from others who have gone through the surgery and later on thought he could possibly do the same for others. If anyone would like to send a get well card or positive wish to Jack I have a special PO box for that! Write to Jack White at: #141 30765 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu CA 90265 ..and I'll make sure he gets all that you send. Please don't send anything for him to sign or return, it's just for good wishes while he is recovering. Thanks in advance to everyone who sends him good vibes (either in card form or through the skys) love Rick September 07th, 2004 Rick's message: Wow!! (Dammit, I said i wouldn't start with that again....sorry)...Okay,so... what 2 great shows we just had at my beloved Vegas and Schaumberg (it's outside Chicago). The Vegas show was the first one Ive played in shorts and bare feet since I was a little kid (relatively speaking). All the tech guys were too scared to get in the water with me ( to hand me a mic. cause I broke one)...They thought I'd fry them with my guitar.....I'ts powered by a 9 volt battery boys. Only in Vegas could you play in the desert and still be at the beach. It was a really cool show to play and I especially appreciated the 90 mph wind that came up half way through the show..It actually felt like a real beach with that freaking hurricane blowing. Then we had a day off and we went out to a Teppan restuarant which was really good till I realized they were seriously overcharging me for the wine I was drinking....THANKs to those entrepreneurial 'spirits' who have been digging up the Turnbull 1999 Merlot. It is a great find.I guess you guys are the ...."Wine Angels????" Hey, where were the paramedics when I almost cut two fingers off my right hand at the next show. Sometimes those broken guitars fight back. Yeeeow!!! Thanks Char for the suggestion to hold my hand UP so it doesnt bleed so much (next time I injure myself)but how do I play the geet-ar with my hand above my head, sister??? We saw John Billings wife Susan...sorry Heidi (inside joke) and his adorable little future-girl-bass-player, Ainsley. And Rodger, thank you so much for switching everyones room numbers so we couldn't get into our rooms at 1:00 am. Also it was YOUR fault I threw that furniture in the hotel swimming pool you know. See you soon. love Rick September 01st, 2004 Rick's message: We are off to Vegas!!!! Yeaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!! " Hey where are all my billboards????? ...Packy????????...... Where's my caviar??????.....Where are all the people calling me MR Springfield???"...... They're dealing with the French Canadians. I am so glad to be touring! We are all doing the Vegas show in swimming trunks....exceptMaybe Rodger...unless they make a BLACK body suit. I just checked out alll the (sorry there's only 2 'l's in 'all') photos and vids on the web site. All the contributers AND Jim (wizKid) Bullotta are amazing!! I wish I could post photos here because I have an awesome shot of my dog to show you. love and lotion Rick August 30th, 2004 Rick's message: Okay, that's TRULY the last diary entry I start with the word 'Wow'...I promise. OY August 30th, 2004 Rick's message: Wow. That rainstorm was amazing. So we're playing in .....um....New York and it starts raining in the middle of the show. This gigantic breeze comes blowing through and then the rain, thunder and lightning starts. i would have kept playing (apart from the danger of fatal electric shock, I have no problem playing in the rain) but the promoter wanted us to quit incase someone got iced by the lightning....Hey it could happen!!! Then we played again later and it was one of the best shows of the year. I think eveyone dug being grody and wet!!! Thanks again to the Stabucks Angels...wow do I have the greatest fans in the universe or what (tho' some of you are a little psycho, that's okay with me because I'm a little bit psycho too). I think we're done with the birthday thing, don't you? I'm having unbirthdays from now on!!!! We are back in Vegas next week. And playing at a beach...only in the great US of A is there surf in the desert.. Don't forget to vote because I cant!! Hey, how come the band was a couple of hundred bucks lighter after that night off??????? love RS August 23rd, 2004 Rick's message: Wow!!!!!!!!! My age is starting to scare me. Thank you so much to everyone at the party after the show in....um..... oh yeah Bismark (or there abouts). And for the cakes and your great sense of humor (the thing I dig the most about you man!!!) And the wine!!! That Turnbull 1999 Merlot was amazing. One of the best wines I've ever tasted. And let's not forget the birhday cakes.(Homie) Thanks also to everyone who sent is sending or will send birthday wishes. They came from Australia and South America and Europe and of course the mighty US of A. My old costar Yannick Bisson and his groovy wife are here with us for my birhday and we will all be having a cocktail or two tonite to celebrate. I worked out this morning for my birthday...dude, at my age, just to work out is a gift! Oh, Rodgee wanted me to mention that if anyone is interested in the Doghouse T shirts that some people have seen us all wearing, they are available EXCLUSIVELY (RC wanted me to put that in) at: www.thedoghousestudio.net This is a free advertisement and no gifts, sexual favors and/or monetary compensation was exchanged. Tho' Rodgee owes me BIG time. Gomer is so excited about my birthday he's taking a nap by the fridge. Thanks again for all the birthday stuff and if you didn't give me any wine for my birthday........it's still not too late. love RS August 20th, 2004 Rick's message: so..... disappointed by some of the chat on the list. It says more about the ones who post it than it says about yours truly. I love you even with your faults and Gomer knows we all have faults. HEY!!!!...We will be filming a live show for high def. TV (and a dvd)soon. Watch for details. John Billings is back in the saddle for all the JB fans. He is a very cool guy. And so is his wife Susan. (in joke) I just had a birthday massage..what a great present. I am 26....I am 26.... I am 26. These last couple of shows have been really great. My dog smells. love and lotion RS August 10th, 2004 Rick's message: We just got back from 3 great shows and the lovely Matt Bissonette joined us on the 3 nights for a 'wham-bam-thank you-ma'am' but I still respected him in the morning. And to the 'Starbucks Angels' thanks for the drinks handed warm and toasty to us all in the lobby the next morning. I'm starting to get quite a bit of 'red-wine-as-a-gift'....should I be concerned? Is there an idea going aroound that I'm more fun on red wine ???(I certainly talk more.... I think that final night in Cincinatti was the FIRST time I ever was last at the bar....even Rodger went to bed before I did. Hey, Sal (from EFX Alive)is going to be doing a quick 4 minutes at the Vegas show for old times sake. That should be cool. The new outro to the show is working way better than the old one. I think everyone used to think the show was over when that old music came up. The idea for the breathing was a fans idea. Wow, you guys even have good musical ideas too!! buh-by love RS August 04th, 2004 Rick's message: A truly great site: http://www.jibjab.com/ We are off to......er...somewhere, tomorrow. love RS August 03rd, 2004 Rick's message: Dear Dairy,( yep I mispelled it on porpoise.....that too) who was the first guy to look at a cow and say "I'm gonna squeeze on those pink dangley things there and drink whatever comes out of them". We just got off the road and if I could post photos on here I'd post my left thigh to show you the GIANT strawberry i got from falling at the Lubbock TX show. Both shows were a blast (Corpus Christi and Buddy Holly's town) and I have no idea what direction the wind was blowing at the Lubbock show but I hope it never blows in that direction again ....ever. We talked with the Fixx guys after and they said they almost passed out. Wow. My sore throat will be gone by the next show I promise I am a collector of sorts and I recently got a hold of the 'SS Titanic' name plate from lifeboat # 2. ( 90% of you out there are saying...."Wha?") I am so into that wierd stuff that I did an interview for the NAtional Geographic for a program on the Titanic. Really, how many CD's are we going to sell to a bunch of history professors and collector maniacs like me. It was a labor fo love. WeMay be doing a New Years Eve show around Vegas somewhere. Nighty nite. love RS not responsible for crappy spelling July 29th, 2004 Rick's message: Okay.so..... Bucky and I are off to Las Vegas today for a radio convention today...("HEY,where are all my billboards...and why isn't everyone calling me Mr. Springfield????????). Anybody have any messages for Wayne?? Okay on a serious note: Ther are two bills before Congress (written by a bunch of politicians who I am sure will keep their OWN sons out of this mess) that is aiming at getting the draft going again. Please log onto (those of you who have boys, or are interested): http://thomas.loc.gov/ and type in bill # S89 and then bill # HR163 and read on. Send this info to anyone you think will actually help do something about this...any ideas??? The word is that Kerry is as into this as Bush is. How's that for a rumor? Okay that's it for the serious stuff. Rumor has it that 'Doghouse Studio' is so exclusive...NO ONE can use it. And that the 'welcome' sign out the front is a ruse to trap unsuspecting musicians into thinking they can. love RS July 26th, 2004 Rick's message: 7/26/04: Dear Diary, you know what's really weird? When Gomer and I go out driving somewhere, he always sits in the back seat of the car and just stares at the back of my head: it's a little creepy. We went to the DogHouse today and finished up the mix of the new version of Jessies Girl for 'ringtones'.(it sounds like the old one only better) You get to download the real song instead of those cheesy ringing bells that make your song sound like some bad video game sound track. This feels a bit strange writing to myself like this. Can I post pictures on this thing too?????? RS July 25th, 2004 Rick's message: Yo! Welcome to the Gomer Diaries. This is a new section where I get to type rumors and facts and make up weird stuff and tell you that Gomer himself is lying at my feet as I type this. Do you have anything to say Gomer???.............Okay, i guess not. Hey Pearl (the Pug) just came running up and I think she wants to say something......okay I was wrong, she just wanted to say hi to me. I dont know what to say so I think I'll start a rumor .... I'm actually Bucky's illegitamate child. Okay so....we just got back from Atlantic City and Keith Howland ('New Guy' from the early 90's tour we did) came by to say hello and he got up and played IGE with us at the show. Then we went over to Ceasers to see Chicago (who Keith now is playing with) and went back to say hi to everyone. I know Jim Pankow from years ago when our families and kids used to get together and Jason Shceff (their singer and bass player) played bass on The White Room from Karma.It was great to see Keith singing (I didnt know he could SING!!).. We will be playing a new version of Celebrate YOUTH soon on the road as soon as we get time to rehearse it. That's it for my first experiment. Type at you later. Love RS P.S. Oh yeah......Davey really IS the spawn of Satan. |
