Lutzbone's Blog

Back in LA!!

2009-10-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

We're here!! It feels great, and a little surreal, to be back. Denver went great, and we did a whole lotta shows, as I mentioned in the previous entry. We had a giant flu outbreak and some injuries too! At one point, I think there were at least 13 performers out of the show (there are only about 55 performers total) so we were scrambling to cover everything. Then the Wheel of Death had mechanical problems and had to be taken out of the show for the safety of Jimmy, Carlos, and Angelo. We're hoping it is (or will be soon) fixed!!

Enjoying Denver

2009-08-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive, I swear!

It's been an interesting few weeks (ok, months) since my last post. We went to St. Paul, MN where we survived mayfly swarms, raccoons living on site, a bat flying around the big top during the show, a flash flood that caused knee-deep water on site, and a tornado warning that forced us to cancel a show!

I enjoyed St. Paul - got to connect with some great friends, go check out some great music (and jam too), and, in spite of all the crazy happenings, relax a little. We went and saw Chicago and Earth Wind & Fire play when we first got to town, and I sat in at Bunker's in Minneapolis with Mambo's Combo and at the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul. It was great! We also visited the Mall of America a few times and enjoyed a visit from my 2 sisters and their families.

Now we're in Denver, enjoying the last few free days before the show starts up again next week. It's going to be an intense run - lots of shows! We have a gorgeous apartment with a view of the Rockies:

We've been enjoying that and getting the lay of the land too. We checked out a local bakery called Gateaux Cakes that's just a few blocks away. We also went with Jimmy and Robin to a great sustainable restaurant called Vert Kitchen. After that we went to a wildlife sanctuary where we saw some truly amazing and beautiful animals.

Oh, and an update on Sophie - she's doing great, beautiful as ever, and getting teeth! That has been a bit rough for her (and for us, too), but she's a tough little girl! Here's what she looks like these days:

A nice evening in NYC

2009-06-04T00:17:00.000-07:00

So this last Monday, Adrienne and I left Sophie with Cinda and went to see Avenue Q on Broadway. It was not only very funny, it was my favorite kind of funny - funny with a point. The show takes on the subjects of purpose, love, racism, schadenfreude, and internet porn (for starters) in an adult parody of Sesame Street. The songs are annoyingly catchy (Broadway musical meets children's TV, go figure...) and it's thought-provoking without being too preachy. Highly recommended!

After that, we walked around the Times Square/Theater District for a while, then went to a restaurant in Times Square for a late snack and a glass of wine while people-watching out the window. It was a great evening!

I'm reading "The Secret History of the American Empire" by John Perkins. I'm about halfway through the book. So far it's a little scary, but eye-opening and generally optimistic. Best of all, it seems to give hope and solutions for the reader, 2 things that I consider to be vital to any book in this subject area. Without at least one of the two, I think it's almost a waste of time to read such a book. Anyway, it was interesting on Monday night, being surrounded by such intense marketing on all sides, and thinking about all the labor and resources that go into the products being advertised.

Dreemama has a blog!!

2009-05-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

My loverly wife has a shiny new blog!! Go check it out!

Other things of note - brother Jon and family came to NYC to visit (pictures up on the above-mentioned blog) and we really enjoyed our time together! Mom and Dad are also going to visit soon.

Our weekend

2009-03-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We ate at Five Guys, fed the ducks, and took a picture:

Today, we went to DC for dental appointments, had crepes in our old neighborhood, and went to the Jefferson Memorial. The cherry blossoms were amazing! Not only did they look beautiful, but they smelled wonderful too. We drove around several times with the windows open. A gorgeous day!!

More pics of Sophie

2009-03-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics of the baby girl!

Sophie laughs in her sleep

2009-01-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

More pics of Sophie

2009-01-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Her first time at Kooza! She slept through most of it though...

Here are some cute sleep pics:

And here she is, demanding a manicure...

Pictures and video from the hospital

2008-12-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

Here are the 3 of us, immediately after the C-section

Here I am, falling in love...

I don't think the rest of these need captions.

Also, here are a couple movies. The first one is Sophie with the hiccups, the second is her sleeping and then sneezing.

Here she is!

2008-12-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

Sophie Adele Lutz was born 6 pounds 4 ounces, at 9:48pm on Sunday, Dec 7, 2008 by emergency C-section. She, Adrienne and I are resting comfortably at the hospital.

This is it!

2008-12-07T14:45:00.001-08:00

The big day has arrived! Adrienne's water broke this morning, and now labor is underway. We will be parents very soon!!

In the hot seat

2008-11-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

So last Tuesday and Wednesday, I performed as bandleader! I am now officially the backup bandleader for Kooza. The shows went quite well; the band was great and I feel good that all the time spent programming and practicing has paid off.

Let's see, what else is new? We went to a hockey game last Monday. Jen Denison got some BOSS seats to a Caps game, and we won the raffle and got to go! We saw Barry Melrose in one of his last games coaching Tampa Bay. Hopefully he will retire so we don't have to see him on TV anymore. But if he doesn't retire, hopefully he will at least do us the courtesy of GETTING A FREAKIN' HAIRCUT. Also, it was Olaf Kolzig's first game back in DC. He played for almost 20 years with the Caps before being traded last year to Tampa. It was a very emotional night; many fans had signs saying things like "We love Olie," there was a video montage about him on the big screen, and spontaneous chants of "Olie, Olie" kept breaking out throughout the game. Here's what our view was like:

Oh, and today I'm 30! I don't feel much different yet, but I think more dramatic changes are on the way as Adrienne and I begin the journey of parenthood. Things seem to be going very well with the pregnancy so far. The baby seems to be a little ahead of schedule (as were both Adrienne and her brother), so she will hopefully join us before our official due date of Jan. 2, 2009. Adrienne is firmly into the "I can't" phase of the pregnancy (I can't get comfortable, can't bend over, can't breathe, etc) also known as the 3rd trimester. It's a pain - literally - but it will be over pretty soon, and we'll get to meet our baby! Here's what she looks like so far, from our last ultrasound:

Artists for Obama featured on CNN.com!

2008-10-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Some of my coworkers and I created a video in support of Obama's campaign. Well, that video has made it to the final round of a contest on CNN.com. Please take a moment and do 2 things for us:

1) Go to this link:

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/allpolitics/0810/filmfest.vote/

Once there, you'll see a picture of me playing trombone. Click on it to watch the video (if you haven't already), and drag it to the number 1 slot to rank it highest. Check out the other videos as well; a lot of them are also very good! You have to rank all the videos for your vote to be counted. Voting ends at midnight Eastern Time, Wednesday, 10/22. Once you've voted...

2) Pass this along to everyone you can think of who might enjoy (and vote for) our little project.

AND VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4!!!!

YouTube - Artists for Obama

2008-10-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video that a bunch of us did recently:

YouTube - Artists for Obama

A great day in Cape Cod

2008-09-16T10:31:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Adrienne and I went to Cape Cod and had a great time. We drove around and took in a small portion of this beautiful place. We were reminded of several places (Santa Cruz, CA; Huntington Beach, CA; and Nice, France) all in one day. We then stopped in Plymouth for dinner and more sightseeing on the way back into Boston. Here are some pictures we took:

Nobska Lighthouse in Woods Hole, MA

Cape Cod shoreline near Nobska Lighthouse

Me in front of the Mayflower II in Plymouth

Moon rising over Plymouth harbor

Another shot of the moon continuing its ascent. Note the ducks in the foreground!

Gettin outta town

2008-08-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it's tear-down day... I'm bummed to leave behind Chicago (such a fantastic city) and our awesome apartment. But it will be great to have a week of doing pretty much nothing. That is, of course, with the exception of our baby checkup, where we will hopefully find out the gender and also get some solutions to some pain Adrienne's been having. Boston should be a cool city too, and our apartments look like they'll be very nice.

We've been enjoying Chicago a lot! Did a lot of the touristy things including the Museum of Science & Industry. They had a really cool "smart home" with all sorts of green technology, as well as the famous U-505, a German submarine captured in WWII. Both were very inspiring for different reasons and in different ways.

Mobile test post

2008-08-17T10:42:00.001-07:00

Just seeing if this works, and having a laugh at some idiot porking enfarcement personnel.

New life

2008-08-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, we've felt the baby kick. Wow. Mind-blowing!! In a few days, we have an appointment with the doctor, and hopefully we will be finding out the gender.

We're sad to leave Chicago. Although it's been a long run, we love the city, being close to family, and especially our kick-ass apartment. On the other hand, we've done most of the things we wanted to do here and had some great times. Also, Boston should be a great city. And best of all, we will have a week off! I love the show, but I'm ready for some time off.

Trying out Blogger

2008-08-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

This is the first post on THIS blog, but it is really a continuation of my other blog on myspace. I'm trying out Blogger to see if it's cool. So far, it is! A bit less flexible than WordPress, but most of the options on WP are things I'd never use anyway.

Adrienne is on tour now, having taken a 1.5 year leave of absence from HBHS. (There is a permanent show starting up in LA in 2010, so we may go back - we'll see.) I also have my car on the road and most of my best musical gear as well. So it's not even like being on the road, really. We just move a lot. But perhaps the biggest news is that we're expecting a child around Christmas this year!! I'm excited and scared at the same time. Adrienne is working as the receptionist in tour services, but has been feeling nauseous so it has not been super pleasant. Hopefully the nausea will go away soon so she will be more comfortable. There is a teaching job opening up soon, and otherwise I think it would be a good fit, if it weren't for the pregnancy... Oh well, maybe it will work out in the future. Or, maybe we're not meant to get too attached to Kooza. I really like it here, though!

In other news, Ashton Kutscher and Demi Moore came to see our show. We got some pictures with them, in which I'm sure I look like a douche. I'm sure I'll find out in the next edition of "Skeletons in the Closet!" Right now, I'm watching helicopters take off and land next to our apartment.

Here's a brief recap of the tour so far, as best I can remember:

Montreal: Hot, fun summer, great town! A far cry from the cold-ass winter!! And I got my folding bike.

Quebec City: We weren't there long, but Adrienne was with me the whole city . YAY!! (we lived in a hotel in the suburbs - blech) Angie D came for dress rehearsal, and we drove to see her later also. Old town was BEAUTIFUL, charming, and very European. We ate with Mom and Dad and the Pierces at the Cochon Dingue in old town. Site was in a mall parking lot. There was an ice rink in the mall, which was kinda slick.

Toronto: Awesome town! Adrienne was here for the first 2 weeks, then had to go back to school. Eugene was my roommate (first of the tour). Great location at the Rosemont Residences, nice music shop (Long & McQuade) where I first tried a Shires. I ended up buying one from the US factory because of the Canadian prices not reflecting the (plummeting) exchange rate. Went from 3 trombones to 2. We shot the DVD here, as well as photos for the program, all without Theresa who was out with severe morning sickness. Also, a few weeks before the DVD shoot, Jarrod separated his shoulder while riding home from work on his electric scooter. He missed the DVD as well. We got a new percussionist named Mimi who had played in Alegria. She was so much fun!! The new Hulk movie was shot next to our site! Love Guru was filmed here too. 2 weeks before the end of the Toronto run, Eugene told me to find a new roommate for San Francisco because he and Jana wanted to live with Jo Green before she left tour. It all worked out fine, tho.

San Francisco: Another great town! We did a LOT of shows here, working through Christmas and New Year's. It was here that Chris (and Theresa who was largely absent) put in their notice. I did a lot of sight seeing, and really enjoyed myself here. Adrienne visited a lot, too, which was outstanding. We became pregnant but had a miscarriage shortly afterward. It was hard, but I think we learned a lot that we can use this time around. One of the things we learned was not to "go public" until 3 months. It was hard telling people the baby was gone. My roommate was Crystel for the first couple months, then Angelo when she left. The singers, Seth, Miron, and I recorded for the soundtrack in this city. There was much drama involved with the producers, which I unfortunately cannot discuss.

San Jose: This was my first city with Adrienne on tour full-time. I love having her here!!! My roommate was (and still is) Francois Quirion, who is the merchandise manager. He is an ultra cool guy and I like having him for my roommate. Adrienne does, too! In addition to having Adrienne here, I also now have our car (love the Prius!!), full-size keyboard, fretless bass, mics and recording interface. Life is good. We also went to Santa Cruz several times and LOVE that city. Mom and Dad visited and we went for a drive and a hike in the mountains above the Santa Clara Valley. Absolutely gorgeous. Site was next to the police station. Chris, Theresa, Jarrod, Josh and Jason all left in this city!

Hartford: Not a lot to do here. Site was in the ghetto (as usual) but apartments were nice and spacious. We did go to Ben and Jerry's which was fun. We were located across the street from the mall, which I walked through once (not much of a mall guy...). We had a very cool 1-year anniversary party. Angie visited again, which was super cool. I started training to be backup bandleader in this city.

There will be more, but for now I hafta run. See ya!