and a happy new year!!!

So wowza, it has been some crazy last couple of weeks....
For the record, NYC was awesome, I met a cousin I didn't even know I had , saw one of my best friends from college (I practically lived on their couch) .... here is some video from that night:


The next night was pretty awesome, I went to a place called Proteus Gowanus for the release of a new book "The Space Between" by John Law and was treated to some amazing presentations of pictures and stories of John's experiences with climbing bridges. I made a little video of that but it is too long to put on you tube and honestly I have been too swamped with gigs and holiday bruhaha that I haven't had a chance to post it in 3 parts yet, but here is a great photo of me with John Law and the publisher Julia Solis:
Aren't they just adorable? You have no idea just how much mischief lies behind those beautiful eyes...... but if you buy the book you may get some idea. After NYC and Brooklyn the Amoeba and I headed for home, thankfully the young bucks that comprise my band, namely Tony DePaolis on bass and Mike Murray on organ decided they actually wanted to drive so Amoeba and I just cuddled and tried not to fart.....
After we made it home I had a whole slew of gigs , and international holiday sing a long called "We are all children of Abraham, Merry ChristmaChannaKwanzaa!!" at the New Hazlett put on by cityLive! wherein we sang songs from all over the world.
We sang songs from Turkey and Germany and Spain and Mexico, some Latin, some Hebrew , some French... one day I have a dream of me going on a musical peace tour across the world where I will sing songs with and from every culture I meet. Until then Pittsburgh will just have to put up with my husband and I in Santa and Elf costumes singing ChristmaChannaKwanzaa songs wherever they haven't yet banned us. At my show at the Backstage Bar we were invaded by 150 drunken Santas, led by 2 distressingly large men in bunny suits, they even had their own songbooks..... you have to have respect for those what travel with their own songbooks......apparently the dancers at Blush (their stop previous to coming to hear me sing) really enjoyed wearing the bunny heads while twirling around the poles, I am sorry I missed that....
and I never did get a figgy pudding.... all these years I keep asking and asking and do you think I would ever get one? Well, that's not true, once (just once) my friend Allie brought over a figgy pudding, it's kind of like a welsh fruity version of kimchee, you chop it up, bury it and mmm mmmm good!! But then she moved to Ireland, and now she can only send me small jpeg representations of figgy pudding on facebook and it's just not the same..... of course, if that is all I have to complain about than I consider myself very blessed person indeed.....

That said, I am very excited to invite you all to check out the Phat Man Dee Experience!! What happens when you get Phat Man Dee singing in a room with Mike Murray on organ, Chris Parker on drums and hopefully some guitar, Extreme Painter Kevin "the Nerve" Wenner, and artists from the Living Brush in North Carolina, Scott Fray with your favorite model Foxy Moxy? Well, I am not sure either, but you should be there just in case.....New to the Phat Man Dee Experience this year will be special guest Buddy Nutt!! Called "Pittsburgh's Tiny Tim" by the Rolling Stone, Mr Nutt will be gracing our souls with his crystal singing cups and his singing golden saw. Like I said, I can't predict exactly what will happen, but whatever it is, it'll be in a couple languages, it'll be hot, it'll make you feel better about the world we share and if nothing else you'll have some awesome music to listen to while your eyes drink in the beauty of the paint and canvas....

Sets at 6:45 pm, 9 pm & 10 pm. Tickets are available in the form of $8 buttons which you may purchase at any Giant Eagle and will gain you entrance into all of the First Night activities. (Some venues require vouchers, not mine, but refer to their website for details.)

Non alcohol event, family friendly, all ages!!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Shows at 6:45, 9 and 10 pm.
First Night Pittsburgh, 905 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
Contact the Box Office for info:
412-456-6666
or visit:
http://firstnightpgh.com/

I hope to see you out, if you can't make it, come on out January 8 at
Pegasus! I will be singing there with three mini sets starting at
10:30 pm. I'll be bringing a birthday cake for my friend Suz Pisano,
she's turning even more lovely than ever before, so mark the calendar
and come down and buy her a drink!

Happy New Year everybody, I really hope we can be the change we need to see in the world over the coming months, love , light and keep the faith!

Lastly for now, I have been quite enamored with facebook of late, if you are on it
and wish to find me, my music page is:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phat-Man-Dee/19202236991

Hope to see you in the ether!