we stayed at a very great place in the country. what they call an agriturismo. way out in the country. freshified. good water. great air.

this morning i see the new piano album (SNARL) is just up and ready on the home page. this is the feeling of a new release these days. no slow mo record company to accommodate such muck-a-luck. instantaneous yippity in downloadville.

then we slowly headed for torino. the devil used to live there.

the shroud of turin is obviously from there. the devil and jesus. coincidence ?

what is coincidence ?

just 2 incidents…. more or less.

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torino is a small rock venue we have played there recently before too.

its decked out in 80s sensibilities, which might have been intentional.

the entire town is under invasion from the alpini. 500,000 of them. they are the soldiers that live and scramble up in the alps on the north border. and to signify their membership, they all must wear a funny green mountain hat with a large feather in it. we want one. but no. we are not alpino.

it is also an emotional evening for some who are coming. though facebook a woman contact me, georgia, to please pay tribute to a fan who recently passed away from cancer. of course we will. his name was maurizio. only 36 years old. a thinker. a drummer. a gift giver.

his girlfriend is there amongst them, vera, and i will get her name wrong. it is this kind of sensitive handling an elder must own up to.

it is this kind of thing that rarely comes to light that needs to be handled carefully and with respect. to help all of us human beings bring each other along when the way forward seems impossible.

so we dedicate 3 songs to him. a smallest within a set. and i think we play them very well. they have a soulfulness.

tonight we did very well, until the very last thing we tried at the end of the encores. we attempted to play a version of “sea of heartbreak” the way it happened during soundcheck, which was not “sea of heartbreak” at all but made into it. it rocked at sound check. it sucked now. but it was so finny in that sucking, that it allowed the set to disassemble itself naturally. and if a song is going to suck, this was the exact best place for it to happen. and then i was very tired. very.

the small group honoring their missing friend came to say thanks and good night. georgia’s hug was unlike usual hugs. maybe i could feel the attentive nature of connection in it from a seemingly improbable form of request through the internet. it probably had built up a surge.

but when we hugged it felt like i could fall asleep in it. i was very tired.

when we got back at the hotel, the alpini were still at it. camping all around the hotel. i sat up awake to finish too many chores of writing. liner notes need me to finish them for the next 3 releases of the fire re-release program. emails scolded me for not reading them until now. travel travel travel. arrangements still need to be made. i missed my family. wanted to just listen to what my children wanted to talk about.

then it was 4:00 in the morning. went into the shower. then a deep sleep. everything gone. the day. the time. the human i am. gone.