Today slept late. went to a café and had two cappuccinos and an omelet. I found eggs. I was so happy. And on a Sunday so it couldn’t have been better. The radio here in Italy is awesome!!!!! They play everything—it is “full spectrum radio” this never took off in the states, but it is great. You hear rock, pop, R&B, rap, and dance, all on one station. In one hour, you will hear songs from America, France, England, Australia, Brasil, Spain, and Italy. It's just great. Very different than the “one format” style we have in America.

Had an intense conversation with a couple of summer travelers, one from new York, and one from Mexico. We all sat around all afternoon at the café and drank beer and talked. She was explaining to him how much she and her friends all hated Bush and the American government. And how frustrating it was cause it seemed like even though no one liked him that he may be re-elected anyway just because everyone feels like there is nothing they can do. I was just listening at this point. Happy to hear some English being spoken and interested in the college generation’s views. I finally chimed in and told her that there really was stuff that she could do, and that a lot more people agreed with her and her friends than maybe she realized. That she needed to get out and pass out pamphlets and get her friends to vote and voice her opinion on the Internet and really take action all the time. It was cool as the three of us strangers sat together from different places and we had all been to different peace marches for Iraq this year---her in new York, me in DC, and he in Mexico. We lamented the fact that our peace marches did nothing. We lamented that bush stole the presidency when Gore won the popular vote, and all the tom foolery that went on in Florida with Jeb and that Harris lady. We lamented that it seemed like no matter what the people think or do now in America that it seems like we are hostages in a very secret and sinister takeover of our great country. The Mexican, named Paco, who was very beautiful and slammed four beers and didn't even seem to catch a buzz, attested that they were all very scared now because their whole economy is based on our economy and if we go down they go down. He said he hates how Mexico is starting to get slowly taken over by the US. He thinks he may stay in Europe for a few years, back packing and learning other languages. We talked for hours about many things. It did not end well. We all just kind of looked at each other like “wow, what can we really do....?” the girl, Eve, with a full bush under each arm and no bra—God bless her—said that maybe she would live in Europe until Bush and all of them leave the white house and the country turns more liberal. I reminded her that the Clinton years were just as sinister, maybe just not so obvious. We worried that even though bush may only last another 5 years, if he has a chance to select any supreme court justices that his legacy could have very bad long lasting implications to millions of us for generations to come. We expressed our horror that three of the current Supreme Court justices, all 3 conservatives, voted to keep that anti-sodomy law in Texas. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry over it. And I think that is a natural place to be as an American right now. Our country is very torn between the old guard and the new intelligencia so to speak. 

There is a large group in America that really do see the light. The new intelligencia. They are there. I mean the light of all humanity of what is right and just and true and moral is right front of all of us. it is blinding. So really just people that you  talk to on the street or whatever understand and know the basics. But then there is this other group, the majority I think still, maybe they are the older people that you don't really see on the street, or maybe they are the people that live in the middle of the country, that again you wouldn’t really see on the street or anywhere in the big cities, and these people seem like they are still ruled by fear rather than by what is right or justice or freedom or truth. [ps—the Sprite here in Italy is awesome.] You don't know whether to laugh or cry at how ignorant some of these people are. I mean really, lets put all the BS aside for the moment. These are the same people who in twenty or thirty years when future generations look back in their history books and read about things like equal rights, these are the ignorant people we will be reading about. These are the “back of the bus” people who once tried to stop the black people from entering our schools. Now they are trying to keep laws in place that ban how you can have sex or who you can have sex with. That is some scary thinking there. It is fascist really. And worse than that it tries to use the concept of God or religion to help build its argument. So that just further confuses everything for the younger kids who are being raised by these people. Well we laughed and cried into our beers and then we said good bye. America is a scary place to be right now. every single thinking person needs to stand up and battle these ignorant old dogs.

My friend Muhammad came and we headed off to the palazzo pitti. An amazing palace where the Medici family lived in the fifteen-hundreds. Now its just a museum. One of the most impressive in the world today. Just totally overwhelming. Works by Rubens, Botecelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, huge frescoes on all of the ceilings that tell the story of this prince being trained by all the Greek and Roman gods. The statues. The throne room with a real throne. Crazy. The inner bedrooms. Hung out in piazza republica for a few hours people watching. Had a great dinner, lamb chops. This amazing desert called afogado al café. Drowned in coffee. Which is a cup of coffee with a scoop of ice cream in it. I am getting so fat. It just makes me laugh. I have this huge stomach now from being here. God I want to smoke. I am dying to smoke. But I don't smoke because I love my voice too much now the way it is. But I think about it all the time.      

Stay away till all the assertions come off, till all the fears come off, till all the sadness comes off, till all the pretense comes off, till all the desires come off, till all the anger comes off, till all the pretending comes off, till all the resistance comes off; stay away till the need to be right comes off, till the desire to die soon comes off, till the disappointment comes off, till the boredom comes off...i will need to stay away for a very very long time... 

Today I realized in the palazzo pitti looking at all the great art how inspired I am becoming. Inspired like when I was very young. When we would read about Galileo or Da Vinci or Michelangelo or Picasso or Edison and we would dream big dreams of doing something big someday and important. doing great things. instead of all the other things that come into play in this life. family and jobs and money and all that. Can it just be about the work God? Can I just take refuge in how great the work itself is and not worry about anything else? Like when we were children. I just want to get that initial inspiration back that I remember feeling when I was growing up. to do amazing things and not worry about a thing except the work. Now we have made this amazing new album and almost finished with the next one. And I hate having to think about the business of it now. All the marketing and promotion and worse yet how we will fund all of that and if we get picked up by a larger label and all of that. all it does is bring me down from the high I feel from making the music itself. But I am starting to feel this inspiration again. and yet it is surrounded by this terrible fear that eventually I will have to start thinking about the business behind the music. I cannot just stay away forever hiding in learning and creating. Can I? No probably not. And I wouldn’t want to. for now though I will get the inspiration back to where it was when I was very young. And the world seemed infinite and the life seemed endless. 

Current Spin: Francesco de gregori, rimmel. This is a very good little album from the seventies. Italian soft pop, almost folk rock. So far I have not fallen in love with Italian music yet. like with Brasilian or middle eastern for example. But this is good.

Last Movie:  Brain Wilson, Imagination. Brian Wilson is so good. there is some great music making on here. you have to see it. I love Brian and the beach boys so much. I guess everybody does. I get around, don't worry baby, surfer girl, in my room, wouldn’t it be nice, God only knows. and the new album was great too. fuck. This guy. you don't remember how big of an influence he is on you until you are reminded by listening again. And then it just hits you when you hear the songs again. it is magic really. His music. Everyone saying that pet sounds is the most influential album of all time for them. either that or sergeant peppers, which is funny because of course Paul gladly admits that album was influenced by pet sounds, and Brian saying that rubber soul was his inspiration for pet sounds. Its cool how it all just kind of goes around like that.