Roman Edirisinghe

Just got picked up by Dave Wake.

One Drum members are generally a tardy lot. Or maybe that can be said of all musicians. Thoughts, anyone?
Well, I haven’t gotten picked up yet.

Decided to run by the river while I wait for Dave Wake to pick me up. The air is crisp & cold.

It appears I can post text, but I can’t post pictures. Oh well.
This is all thanks to the WordPress WAP plugin available at http://niksblick.de.

I’m about to leave for Fargo, North Dakota with One Drum. We’re going to drive for about 10 hours, sleep, set up and perform at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota (across the river from Fargo), pack up, drive another 10 hours, and crash. The plan is to be back on Saturday, because some of us have shows on Saturday.

I’m already quite exhausted, due to insomnia last night. I hope to catch some winks in the van. Additionally, I’ve configured my blog to accept posts from my mobile phone (moblogging), and interested readers can catch up with the band on the road. Although…if I don’t get a T-Mobile signal up there, we may have problems…

I was in such a hurry to get to my Rockford show today that I left my bass guitar outside in the rain!!! Thankfully, it was in its case, and thankfully, it was exactly where I left it when I got back home eight hours later. Idiot!

I was also thinking about how dangerous that plane crash actually was, and how lucky everyone in the neighborhood (and the pilot) was to not get hurt or killed. The plane crashed at an intersection of an alley 1 block away from my residence, in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. That is very, very close and very, very scary.

The moral of the stories: pay attention to what is happening in one’s life. It may be gone before you know it.

While I was setting up to play a gig last night at the Brynwood Country Club, an airplane crashed into my neighborhood. My mom called me and told me the news. Apparently the pilot was unharmed. When I did finally get to the ‘hood, I saw a crowd, police, a crane, and a plane tangled up in power lines, nose dangling mere feet above the ground. In Milwaukee’s Riverwest, we’re used to crackheads and stick-ups, not plane crashes. I went and hung out with the gawkers, armed with my camera, and quickly decided it was way too dark to get a good shot. It was quite a spectacle to behold.

Stopped by the Cathedral Square soup kitchen at lunch today, and didn’t see Dennis there. Although it may seem evident that I’ve been had, I have an inexplicable faith in this guy.

Last night, as I taking a break from our show at the Wyndham Hotel, we were approached by a homeless guy named Dennis. I had not only spoken to him on a prior occasion, but bought him a meal and gave him a ride to his boarding house. Last night, we was asking me if I wanted a Fender Jazz Bass. And he was willing to just give it to me, because he had essentially given up on music, and wanted to make sure that the person receiving his bass would use it. Well…

Dennis’ story is still somewhat shrouded. He says he used to play for Motown, back before Motown moved out of Motor City. Having seen Standing in the Shadows of Motown, I somehow believe him. He tells me Phil Upchurch and James Jameson were his teachers. And now, he’s homeless. He has few living relatives – a father-in-law, and a grandchild or grandchildren. What his relationship is to his existing relatives, I cannot say. But I almost want to get to the bottom of it. He seems a walking storybook.

Last night, Dennis told me he needed some money to pay for his boarding house rent, which amounted to around $22 per month. We fed him a cheeseburger on the band tab, and I gave him a ride to the boarding house after the show. I gave him $43 and I sincerely hope he used it to cover 2 months in the boarding house. After all, it is getting cold, and the exposed pavement is much colder than a nice, warm bed with fresh linens.

Dennis told me to stop by at the Cathedral Square soup kitchen during lunch and that he would have the bass there for me. Will this happen? We shall see.

I am so tired right now, and my day is not even halfway done. At 4:00pm, I’m going to leave work and head to the Wyndham to set up for our 6:00pm Mangee Trois show. We’re done at 10:00pm, which means I’ll be packed up by 11:00pm, which means I won’t get to bed until midnight, if I’m lucky.

I’ve been thinking about my bed a lot.