8:33pm, Pacific Standard time, Feb 24. It’s raining outside and has been now since 6pm. My friend in San Diego, Frank Ciriza, sent me a nice bootleg of Bob and Dave’s (www.bobanddave.com) excellent Indie movie, “RUN RONNIE RUN” on dvd but neither my computer NOR my dvd player will read it so I’m f*cked, pretty much. However, I DID go to their website and asked Bob Odenkirk for a free copy so we’ll see what happens with that, right?

Ok, now yesterday, my friend, Matt Gainer, had an art opening in San Pedro, which i went to and ate a lot of cheese and hummus and stuff but there was no wine. Afterwards, Matt put all his work on e-bay (swear to God…and, if you are interested, he has peices ranging in price from $0.65 to $645,000…type in “AS REAL AS ANGELS” and shop away…) and I thought he might find it hard to part with his work but then i remembered he personally told me he was already feeling disconnected from his work so go figure, huh? After the opening, I visited the San Pedro Brewery, which is where Bukowski used ta wet his whistle back in the day, and I threw down a couple of drinks in his honor for good measure.

Did you watch the grammies? I didn’t. I saw the Sopranos reruns which are better than anything else on TV…some woman won a bunch of grammies and stuff, right? I hope it was fun for everybody involved. Things in this biz are getting downright comatose, huh? Where is the excitement and beauty? Cause I don’t know anymore. It all seems like a fashion show…which leaves me out..I guess because I am soooo lazy..it just takes all my strength just to put a shirt on. but I must say, someone threw a scarf at the stage in Glasgow and I put it on…I still have it and no matter how many times I wash it, it STILL smells like the perfume that person wore (and it had to be a woman because if a man smelled that sweet they would get ran out of town in Glasgow, now wouldn’t they?)

So I like that scarf and plan to take it on the road in 4 weeks. So maybe I can be a bit fashionable, possibly? You’d be surprised why I say it…I get SO MUCH FRIGGIN criticism..enough to make a grown man cry…”You play the same licks over and over”…”why do you write those stupid diaries?”…”I could care less what you eat…”…”how come you don’t whip some Hendrix stuff out?”…”You suck, compared to the lead guitarist in SHACK…”…”why do you bore me with your silly, juvenile stories?”…and on and on and on…

Of course, my answer is usually along the lines of, “get-a-life-already.” It seems, no matter how many times I tell people these fun ditties are for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY, there’s still a handful of knuckleheads who actually take the time to e-mail me to tell me i suck. And, ok, i can live with that..I can deal with that just fine. But, isn’t it EASIER just to not click on the links that FREEDOM MAN posts on the LOVE messageboard and have everyone in your house sleep better? Get a life already…

So, I was at Starbucks today (and I hate the place but I was too lazy to cross the street) and I ordered the Coconut Lemon Latte but they forgot the whipped cream and it’s stuff like that that really aggravates me…Oh, and before I forget, the Singer asked me to book studio time for next week at this place in Hollywood we like so much…but I keep forgetting…so I am typing this now to remind myself not too forget to book the studio time…and did anyone see that new tv show, the greek one? I REALLY wanted to see it but i totally forgot and now I want to know if it’s funny and stuff. If you are a critic, PLEASE don’t bother to tell me, cause people are SOOOOOOOOOOO negative these days I just can’t breathe. What is up with that?

Ok…now, get this…I am doing an acoustic show in Hollywood march 20 and it is being produced/ recorded by THE NEW GUY. I think it’s going to be fun…and it’s going to be something anyone can get, if they would like it. It is going to be made available. Hurdles shall be kicked over…hard drives shall be avoided…this will be about getting something to those of you very nice folks who ask me so many times that you would like some music from me. That makes me feel great and inspired and I want to say thank you. Even my critics may appreciate it.

Mike Randle