It's looking like I'm gonna get a break form radiation for a while (as of right now I'll have to go through more AFTER I get back from Chicago). My last day of treatment to the evil nerf football in my abdomen/attached to my lung is tomorrow, and I'm definitely glad, as it has burned me up on the inside and out. 12 really heavy days of it. My skin is tight and burnt, and my insides are uncomfortable as hell a lot of the time; I have a hell of a lot of esophageal inflammation (help me Prilosec!), my appetite's off (but I'm taking an RX appetite stimulant along with some uhh, organic remedies) and I'm hit quite hard with waves of extreme tiredness. But I rode this out pretty good, especially with it being immediately post-surgery, so I'm looking forward to getting all that crap out of my system in the coming weeks. It generally takes longer than that but hey, some motivation and drive can't hurt, right?

Hee hee. After my last surgery (wedge resection, part of my lung was removed) I stayed in the hospital only three of the expected five days, they begrudgingly let me out, I went up to my Dad's for a big food party (a huge smoked salmon and other yummy stuff cooked in a trailer-drawn smoker, some buffalo and other awesomeness) and stayed up quite latedrinkin' and smokin', got up the next day, rested 'till the afternoon, went to the Cheebahawk practice compound and practiced for a few hours. Felt pretty damn good, although I had to lay around and pretty much stick to the couch for a couple days after that. :p

zom-zom wrote: When are you going to be in the studio?Zom, he said it above, 11/17 - which also happens to be my birthday.dude - rehearse the songs until they are tight, go in there and kill it. have fun. recording in a nice studio is one of the most fun things. good luck. I hope a cut makes it onto the PRF singles club.

i just had a chance to look at the videos. (you tube blocked at work).you guys are actually GOOD! If you lived in Williamsburg, and your bass player had longer hair and a longer strap, you would have 3 records out by now. cheers steve, bob. everybody, lets put this goddam record out.

Dude, is that you playing drums in that Cheebahawk video?You're a fucking monster - I wish I sounded that good. I, for one, would be HONORED to be a part of putting this record out. Let's make this shit happen - put it out on 180g vinyl or something. Can we set up some sort of page or something to get the dough together?

As someone who (many, many years ago) was simultaneously playing in bands and dealing w/some fairly serious health issues (though barely approaching what you have to contend w/), my heart goes out to you, man. Ok, I'll try not to make this sound trite and/or disjointed:You've got an incredible-sounding project up your sleeve. It's gonna be a major thrill to focus on recording/mixing/mastering/LP production instead of devoting all your mental and physical space to survival/doctors/chemo/insurance billing departments/etc. Seriously. Some people would turn to drugs, self-pity, therapy, Jesus, whatever keeps them sane. But you've chosen to do something constructive in the middle of this: you're trying to create this enduring document of your music. And frankly, I think that's both brave and beautiful. Huge kudos to you, hope the finished project is ridiculously fulfilling and totally blows your mind.

I am so sorry you've had such a hard time. It's hard to think of what to say but I'm very sad for you and hope that while you're going through this process you have close friends and family around you. I can tell you've got a really positive attitude and I hope you have a wonderful time recording at EA. It is an amazing and humbling place to record (and they also have awesome cats). Pepper! and I would love to have you and whomever else wants to join us either over for dinner or out at a restaurant of your choosing on Wednesday night. Let us know if you'd like to hang out and if other people want to join us please chime in!Julia and John (Pepper!)

Also, Chris, great idea. Let's make this happen as soon as possible people.

Couple-tree things.1) The studio is not concerned with getting paid for this session. When John asked about the money I said "don't worry about it" and meant it.2) Bob just said the mastering is on him.3) I can't think of a better use of this forum's seemingly endless ingenuity and resourcefulness than helping John make a record out of this.4) Henceforth, any truly incredible endeavor should be called a Grabski.