A video producer that lives in china who I met in Florence over the summer actually is making a music video for the new sleep with you album. He is making it for the song sleep with you, which certainly has not been lack of its share of controversy since its release. 

We are in constant communication about the details. I asked him recently what it is like now in china during this season. What holiday do they celebrate if any during this time of year I asked. Here is his response:

Hi Fishy:

Well, this in china should be just normal time coz the traditional Chinese spring festival, the biggest in a year, is still one month away... but now, young people living in cities spend Xmas, and they suppose that Christmas is the most important. And coz these people are the most potential consumers, so, the related goods get everywhere in street... well, u should come and have a look...u will be shocked. 

And the spring festival, a time for reunification of the family, has a history of over 2000 years. People everywhere should come back home to celebrate it. They are supposed to come to the family where their oldest family member has survived and get together there. that the reason why the transportation is always the biggest problem this time coz there are about 300 million person/time during the 15 days... 

Well, the story is to be continued if u are interested in. let u know more next time.

And happy Xmas friend!

Q

The Importance of Being Fishy.

Tonight I rode my bike all over the city. From one end to the other. From piazza to palazzo. It is not huge, but it is big enough. Plenty to see. Every time you turn around you glance up and you are gazing at some huge palace or church with your mouth hanging wide open. Amazing. had a great dinner of grilled lamb and too much red wine. Riding my bicycle so drunk through the streets of the city. Up the cobblestones and down through very narrow little streets and passage ways, Cars and scooters almost hitting me every second. So much fun. I believe I actually survived. Because I am sitting here attempting to type.  

Earlier tonight I met a guy from china named Qi who is studying film in college in London. We met on the street taking pictures of each other. We laughed about it—being here in Florence really is like a dream or an acid trip or something. You meet people from all over the world. You just kind of bump into them. Invited him to go to Pisa with us tomorrow. He asks who are you going with? I answer: oh just some guy I know who is here from Israel studying medicine. Crazy. Just visiting Florence for the weekend. We hung out. Talked all about film and music. Rock music especially because I was so interested in the music scene of china which he says is still very underground because rock music is still banned by the government. I asked him how do the people express themselves then without rock music? He just stared at me for a minute like I had said something so profound. It was eerie. He almost cried. Very moving for him. Perhaps it was the fact that we were standing in front of the mammoth Il Duomo cathedral made of all green red and white marble. He says, "you are not like most rock singers in America. You don't have tattoos. You are studying Italian in Italy. They don't do that. you are intellectual rock singer." He mentioned Kurt Cobain just being on drugs and being a bad influence. I didn't even know people thought about stuff like that??? I reminded him of guys like Bob Dylan or John Lennon. That once upon a time we had intellectuals in rock music. But our current system of commercialism over career artists discourages this now, but it still does happen—think Chris Martin or Thom Yorke. but maybe he just doesn’t hear about it in china. All people hear about in the world is our real commercial stuff and artists only get like one or two albums and then they are thrown away for the next big fad. 

I told him how envious I was of china’s rock music scene just getting started now. how exciting. “I will make you guys a great video for your new album. It is important for people to experience different things like you and your band. We make you very different and unique Chinese video for American singer of band who studies other cultures just because he wants to. I take your picture now. Very important for people to see you,” he says. We talked for a long time. I call this chapter ‘the importance of being Fishy.’ I never thought about me that way. I always just kind of took me for granted. As obsessed as I am with myself I don't give myself much credit most of the time. But the way he looked at me, the way he paused before he said anything, it was very special. I felt proud. I felt honored to be doing my own thing. To be doing it my way and not the way of the rest of the rock music culture in America like he was saying. all the typical rock singer guys are so the same. I realized that it is true I relate more to Caetano or Sting than anyone else now as kind of my archetype of what a great singer songwriter is. more of a traveling troubadour, who just happens to write and sing songs. Rather than anyone else. so maybe I don't have to cut my hair and wear a goatee and a crew cut like all the other guy singers on MTV. I suppose that could be why I have always been so fringe and not hugely successful because I am so not what is in the mainstream. But I don't care now. I'm just so happy to be doing it my way. I think now it is a very limiting box to try to fit yourself into just to try to make fame or money by fitting into that box for MTV. Next week I will see Caetano here in Florence. And francco batiato also. Very exciting. 

The picture he took is below. it was sunset on Ponte Vechio where my new apartment is. he's an artst. I cannot wait to see the video he makes.

Italian getting easier. It is fun like a game. Always guessing, throwing things together to see if a sentence comes out or if the person you are speaking with just looks at you like you are crazy. then you know a sentence did not come out. Today I visited the Loggia again and the Palazzo Vecchio and the Gallery di Uffizi. I saw the all the paintings and frescoes and statues of the renaissance from Bottecelli to Michelangelo to Raphael, even some Rembrandt. You are looking at this huge painting and you casually glance at the name and you see ‘Rembrandt’ and then you look at the painting again and you are like ‘the Rembrandt?’ holy shit. At this point I had to find food. I was in overwhelm. 

I haven't gotten out of this overwhelmed feeling. Completely surrounded by all this incredible larger than life art. things that I have been staring at in books since I was a little child and now you're just seeing it everywhere. and you realize, you know, o.k., I'm actually here. like, this is it. it doesn’t get more real than this or more authentic I guess. Depending on what angle you are looking at authentic from.

O.k. so all day I am just I don't know really trying to learn or, master say,  this ability to feel into stuff and feel through , in the moment feel into the resistance and into the lesson of it in the moment and then let go of it rather than think there is something there that needs attention. Or worse yet, try to not think it which is the worst thing you can do or try to suppress it or forget about it. It is an allowing process that says, “I am here. I am me. I am experiencing this. this is funny. This is not me. this is a thought/feeling. Interesting.” And then you just kind of get from it what you want and then you move on. You move through it. 

A lot of working on mastering that now. getting to that point where it is all the way deep inside you that you know without a shadow of a doubt that it is up to you and God and no one and nothing else. And that no matter what other people say or even you think sometimes that you really can have or do whatever you want. That it is truly our game. I know what you're thinking. but if I wasn't being whispered this in my

I have to find food. Stand by. More in a few minutes.

O.k. I finally found a real restaurant. Florence is really a tourist town. It is like living in Disney world. So maybe it is not a place to live but a good place to come and study for some time. But even the restaurants are known all over the world for what they are really, touristy fast food joints that don't care about the food they are serving. But I bet if you ask around you can find some really cool little secret places hidden away. After all real people do really live here. 

Was told today that they found me a better apartment. I almost didn't bother to go look. I was so tired. I have not been sleeping at all yet. Just so psyched from being here and it is so effing hot. I took a nap in the shitty little hot apartment I was staying in and then I forced myself up and walked maybe twenty minutes to this other neighborhood and when I get there I look down and there is this beautiful feather in front of the doorstep. All of a sudden the last few weeks I have been finding feathers again. it is the way that God or the spirit guides or angels or whatever communicate with me. it is just amazing. wonderful. I have felt so happy lately the last few months finding feathers again after so long. It is like they are saying ‘hey we are here, hanging out with you again. guiding you for this period. all is well. check out this apartment. you will like it.”