I'm in Orlando right now. last minute excursion for the holidays to hang with Little Tree and some Avatar friends. Biggest Avatar course in history yet again. every course is the biggest one. over 180 new Avatars at once. Awesome.

Just received this email from JB, my new awesome image guy. about the new CD NIC.

Hey Fishy,
First, let me apologize for taking so long to get back to you about the specific feedback that you requested on the album.

I think you said it best in our session last week, you start with that fluid instrumental, then Somebody Killed the DJ has an 80's vibe, then you have songs like I wanna Know Ya, Tomorrow, Come On, and Revolution In Me has it's roots in more 70's rock, Caetano is it's own thing, then the next few songs each have their own distinct elements, then you have that instrumental on track 11, then Softening-which is awesome, but stands as something different from the rest, then you go in another direction with Bored, then you take 40 seconds to get into If Your Baby Could, which sounds like a lullaby, then Nothing is Cohesive which illustrates the point exactly.

Now, it's all very cool, mind you. I like the music a lot. It's just that you keep people guessing throughout, which in and of itself isn't a terrible thing, but it doesn't portray one very consistent point of view and direction. And when you're making a first impression, that's what people need. As an example, if you look at Songs About Jane from Maroon 5, every song on that album stays true to one sound and direction. And they won a grammy for it.

How are you feeling about all this now?


O.k. since he asked, here's my answer to JB. I LIKE that the CD goes in a lot of different directions. I don't like songs about Jane from maroon 5 because every song HAS THE SAME STYLE. That's how I feel as a music listener. I like albums to offer lots of different sounds and textures and styles like pink Floyd’s the wall or the Beatles white album. That's the shit I love more than anything else. I would hate to think that I'm my own worst enemy. The truth is that I am a rock star wannabe at best. haven't broken big yet, so maybe old JB has a point. He certainly isn't the only one who has told me this. then he mentions making a first impression and I'm thinking shit man this is the third transcendence album, and its my sixth in total as a recording artist. So its not exactly a first impression. As an artist I have to be free to explore the art as fully and completely and expressively and wildly as I want to. I just have to. but at the same time, I hear him. on this next CD I'm going to do my best to keep the style one cohesive one. keep it all sounding the same. I'm really going to try for once to do that. we’ll see how that goes. I appreciate the feedback a lot.

Last screening: Biography of the Louisiana senator Huey long. interesting: “it is said that great men aren't necessarily good men, but they can do good things.” I think we’re going to prove that one wrong eventually.
Great men can be good men.

Current spin: HOssein alizadeh, Neynava. Beautiful Persian taar music with flute.

Just returned from the Avatar pro course in Orlando. Took some notes. 475 people from 18 different countries, speaking 18 different languages, but all converged together in the same room to do the same thing. Creating an enlightened planet through making ourselves better people and happier people. You just can’t believe what it is like to sit in that space for seven days with all these people who are together for the same reason, and just be so free to work on yourself and help others do the same thing.

[This is some hardcore trippy new age stuff here so be forewarned...]

For a long time I didn't talk about Avatar to the public or to anyone. I just figured it was better kept quiet. That maybe people would think it was some kind of a cult or something. Now that it has gotten so big we joke, maybe it is a cult. But who cares. Lol. After all, there are only 90,000 Avatars in the world today. And look what happened to Shirley McClain when she started talking about her spiritual journey with people. But you know a lot of Christian artists don’t have a problem thanking God, or whatever, when they are on stage. Avatar isn't a religion by any means. It really isn't even spiritual. It touches on a lot of spiritual matters. But it's more of a philosophy if anything. Really more just a set of tools that people use to make themselves better people, make themselves happier. Like therapy really, but instead of one hour a week you go for twelve hours a day for seven to fourteen days straight so you are able to really push beyond any limits that are inevitable in current therapeutic modalities. The miracle stories you hear every day from people from all over the world are amazing. Now Avatar courses are being taken every day of the year, in every country in the world. So everyday more and more people are using the tools and waking up to the fact that we are all creating our own realities, rather than the ‘creator/fate/destiny/unseen forces’ theory that has existed for so many millennia in human consciousness. And the Avatar tools don’t necessarily negate or oppose or interfere with the ‘creator’ belief system if someone holds that one. It's just a nice added bonus.