Vacation wishes and Musical caviar dreams.

I hope you're having a fine summer so far. Sure is moving fast though, isn't it? I mean it was just father's day, but then the Fourth of July just blew by and we're into mid summer. I think it was because of all that wonderful cool (relatively speaking) 80 degree weather we were having. In Redding, that's really cool. Get out the sweaters, it's 8o degrees!!

Then. . .Ka-Boom! HOT!! Jus' like that, but that is the way it is here in Redding. Its hot summers and warm winters are the norm, right? Hot-diggity dawg!

Vacation time is what's going on and I'll be telling you were the Majical boys have been vacationing and what they've been up to. Vacation? . . .I remember what that is. Personally, I haven't had one in a while even though I have been traveling plenty. But I figure when the time is right, and I'm hoping that's soon, I'll be going on a really great vacation somewhere to a tropical island or on a cruise.

Maybe you can send me your ideas as to where I should go for a vacation spot. And the best idea will get published here in the newsletter and online on one of the Majical pages. Plus, the best idea will receive an "Organic Fuzz" CD and a Majical hat as a prize. Or a tee shirt maybe; or all that.

So of course I will need your name, address, and email so I can get back to you and also send your prize when you win. Enter your information in the "sign in" that's over to the side please.

Anyway, I'll be telling you stories of where the other majicaleros have been this year and the respites we take keeping us in top shape when we do perform.

A side note about the public broadcasting issue. I wanted to say, and it was pointed out to me by my very good friend Lorraine Dechter, broadcaster of KFPR that this issue was about all public broadcasting including, NPR and Redding's own public radio station, KFPR and KIXE-TV as well. And the fact is that I do watch channel nine and listen in at KFPR occasionally. Of course this victory was not just about protecting JPR. It was a victory for all public broadcasting and all that are involved in this, all across the country... Thanks Lorraine.

So I hope you had a great Fourth of July celebration and that your summer is turning out to be a fun and relaxing one. See you on the next newsletter and better still, at our next gig :-)
Peace.


Musical Tidbits

Hey, check this out. Here's some musical history that happened during this week in time.
1954, Elvis Presley officially ends his career as a truck driver when he signs his first record contract with Sun Records...

1955, "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets becomes the first rock-and-roll record to hit #1 on the national pop charts...

1956, Johnny Cash appears for the first time on the Grand Ole Opry

1957, setting off a chain of events that will change the face of modern music, John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time ... the encounter takes place at the Woolton Parish Church Garden show at Liverpool's St. Peter's Church... recalling the meeting years later, McCartney says Lennon was drunk...

1962, the Rolling Stones play out for the first time at the Marquee Club in London ... Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Avery, and Dick Taylor constitute the lineup...

1967, in one of the strangest rock and roll pairings ever, the Jimi Hendrix Experience joins The Monkees' North American tour in Jacksonville, FL. ... the teenybopper crowds don't know what to make of Hendrix's wild performances, resulting in the Experience leaving the tour after only a few dates...

1968, following a concert in New York, the Yardbirds break up ... it won't be long until Jimmy Page forms The New Yardbirds, which after fulfilling the final Yardbirds tour dates will change its name to Led Zeppelin...

1969, Eric Clapton's new band Blind Faith makes their American concert debut at Madison Square Garden in New York City...

1976, pioneering punk outfit The Damned make their live debut at London's 100 Club...

1979, Chuck Berry is sentenced to four months in prison and 1,000 hours of community service after pleading guilty to tax evasion ... Berry will perform benefit concerts as part of his community service...

1980, Led Zeppelin plays the last show of its European tour at the Eissporthalle in West Berlin ... the show turns out to be the band's swan song when a couple of months later John Bonham will be found dead ... the band had planned to tour North America next...

1995, Jerry Garcia plays his final show with The Grateful Dead ... the guitarist, vocalist, and founder of the band will die of a heart attack a month later while in a California rehab center...

1999, Limp Bizkit leader Fred Durst is arrested in St. Paul, MN, for suspicion of aggravated assault following the band's show at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium ... during the performance, Durst's bodyguard was attempting to remove a fan who had jumped onstage ... venue security mistook the bodyguard for an unruly fan and attempted to remove him from the stage ... at this point Durst allegedly kicked one of the guards in the head...

2002, the surviving members of The Doors announce that they will be joined by The Cult singer Ian Astbury at an upcoming concert at the California Motor Speedway...

2004, excerpts from a forthcoming Record Collector magazine interview with Dave Mustaine reveal his anger over his appearance in the Metallica docu-drama Some Kind of Monster ... the scene is a confrontation between Mustaine and his former Metallica bandmate, drummer Lars Ulrich ... Mustaine maintains that the band agreed to keep the scene out of the final cut of the film, and calls its inclusion a "final betrayal" by his former band...

2004, in an interview with MTV.com, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor explained his penchant for incorporating big words into his lyrics ... "I'm sorry, but there aren't a lot of smart people out there ... I try to throw in as many polysyllabic words as possible ... it's very cool to be able to do that and pass down the knowledge" ... Slipknot fans run to the nearest dictionary to look up "polysyllabic"...

And that was the week that was. God, the Monkees paired with Jimi Hendrix, . . . what bonehead thought of that one? I remember that fiasco and being a Hendrix fan I thought, "What the. . .??"


Majical's Upcoming Shows

I'm not sure if you were there or not but our Billy Bombay show turned out really well. We had lots of people dancing, twirling shakin' their bon bon's and just having a great time. We had some guest players join us on stage too. Michael P. Harris sat in with Joe Funari at the percussionists’ area and Marvin Allen did some guiro action in there too. It was a blast and we love jammin' with our friends anytime.

That will probably be our last show there for the summer and possibly until late autumn because of our schedule. But I'll keep you posted and you can always keep tabs on us by going to www.majical.com/gigs.html so you know where we'll be playing next.

Then our birthday party gig for Dave Schumacher in Hayfork, which was held at the Casa de Castellanos restaurant, was a sweet gig too. We played outdoors and the weather was just completely beautiful. Not hot nor cold, we played with some great dynamics and it was such a contrast to the wild show at Billy's. Dave was totally thrilled and told us that it was the best party he ever had. We always like hearing that. Thank you Dave.

I also want to mention that our hosts of the party, Terry "terrible" and his wonderful family de Castellanos, have a wonderful restaurant where the food is totally "authentic" and very delicious. They are very affable, attentive and that familia atmosphere is in everything they do. Thank you Terry and the Castellano family.

So our next gigs are as follows:
Lakeshore Inn: Saturday Night, July 23rd 9:00pm to 12:00am. Lakehead for ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Beth Mifsud's Wedding, August 6. Sorry but it is by invitation only.

John Jaques Late Summer Party August 20. Again, invite only.

Old Millhouse Deli: August 27 End of Summer Party. A day on the green featuring too much fun to list here!! Off Highway 299 west. Outside of Redding.


A Cure for the Summertime Blues

What have the Majical boys been up to lately? And where do they go when they're not gigging? Well, here's a tale of three out of five, well, ok all five of us. Let's start off with Scott, the "Chooch".

Scotty, Janet and son Nic, (Dominic) went to glorious Mexico down around the Yucatan near Cancun. They spent about a week down in Playa del Carmen soaking up some sun, ocean and for Choochy, some fishing. He said the food was great, the weather was beautiful and the music was pretty cool too. According to Scott, "We were in this one place where there was this band. They pretty much played american music and the clientele were nonchalant about it." Choochy goes on to say, " Finally I go up to them and ask if they would play some Latino music. So they start to play some salsa and then the whole crowd got up and stated dancing. I figured that's what we come down to hear, not the same old americano music."

Scotty has been doing a lot of fishing and he recently went sea fishing off the California Coast near Crescent City. He said he caught a 28 pound Ling Cod but it sounds like a "whopper" to me. Sure tasted good though . . .Yum Yum :-) Thanks Choochy.

Jeff Duart and his wife Margie have been traveling too. Their destination lately has been Hawaii, Maui to be more exact which they had visited a few times. Anyway, they must love it because they are on their way again but what can you say? It's Paradise, right? I asked if I could go but they said, "ah . . . no." Couldn't hurt trying right?

Joe Funari and Patti have been traveling from coast to coast lately visiting with their grown sons. I believe just a while ago they were down in San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay area.

I love that area and have always had this inclination to retire down there. The weather is so perfect, for me, and I love the combination of rollin' hills and coastal charm. So, sigh, someday soon.

Grant Rudolph hasn't been on a vacation, isn't thinking of one nor will have the opportunity for one. . .yet anyway. He is busy working as a knee busting collection agent for Charter cable and he seems to be enjoying the task. "It's not often I can play the drums on someone’s knees because I'm always playing keyboards and, well, it's not the same." says Rudolph. So you better pay your cable bill, you dig? Or we'll be sending Lucca "Rudolph" Brazzi to pay you a visit.

Jorge hasn't been on a vacation in millenniums of time. He once went on a white water rafting trip way back in '76 or '77 but hasn't really seen or been on a vacation ever since. Ahh . . .those were the days. But like I said, the one that comes up with the best idea for a vacation that I would really, really enjoy will win a CD and a Majical hat combo, and I may throw in some more bonuses as this goes along. So please send them in because . . . I need a vacation!!! Bad!! And I think by January or February, I'll be ready to take one by then. I look forward to your suggestions.

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Recipes de Elnicoya
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Just something light for a summer evening I'm sure all can enjoy.

Take some very fresh fish, (ling cod for example) and marinade it with, preferably limes, or lemons and a little bit of vinegar. But first you season the fish with some sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, paprika and a touch of chile de árbol to kick it up. I also add fresh Thailand basil, and lemon thyme from my herb garden. Of course you can season your fish anyway you like and if you lived with me I would season it differently every time.

After seasoning it, you squeeze the limes over it making sure that both sides absorb the juice. Then add the vinegar. Just a touch like a couple of tablespoons, right?

Let the fish marinade for an hour before cooking, more if possible. The limes of course will cook it up a bit because of the acidity but it imparts such a citrus-y flavor to the already light taste of the white fish.

Next I roll it around in a crumb mix, or cornmeal whichever is in my cupboard. That's the great thing about cooking which is not being so rigid and always experimenting until you find the flavors you like best creating your masterpiece. I fry it in extra virgin olive oil, but you can use canola or even butter mixed with olive oil so as not to burn the butter.

Fry each side on medium high in a hot skillet about two minutes and probably no more than five or six minutes total cooking time. Some people like to kill their fish again but it cooks out the flavor of it. And it really depends on the thickness of the fish. Use common sense here.

In another hot skillet before the fish is done, you put some butter and olive oil and you sauté onions, green pepper, some tomatoes and garlic. You throw in the marinade of the limes, vinegar and the seasonings and continue to sauté until the veggies are translucent.

Fish is done and you pour some of that good sauce over it. Put some cooked rice next to it and you can pour some of the sauce over it too. A nica salad on the side with tortillas all hot and ready to eat. Pair that with a crisp and cool Chardonnay or even a chilled Pinot Grigio.
Bon appétit!

Enjoy your summer.
Jorge and the Majical Band