From receiving a hand written message from Robert Fripp, seated next to Pete Townshend at the Curzon Mayfair cinema, being referred to as 'cute' by Kylie Minogue. Walking up Oxford St. London trying to converse with Mike Stern and slamming into passers-by along the way, Herbie Hancock's indifference...

...being asked by Geri Halliwell if Julia Roberts gives a good BJ! Selling almond croissants to Nigel Kennedy, drinks at Ray Winstone's private suite at the Grosvenor Hotel, selling a Abba Greatist Hits cassette to AC/DC's Brian Johnson, having tea at Kathy Burke's house, forgetting to ask Dave Samuels about his Zappa session, pissing off Style Council's Mike Talbot for playing too many chords...

...being railroaded by Terence Trent Derby whilst carying an amplifier, being told by Skunk Anansie guitarist that I was playing Sabbath's Paranoid wrong, standing next to Michael Caine and realising how tall he is, exchanging hello with Ian Dury in Swiss Cottage, to chatting with Phil Gould about the golden days of Level 42.

A few of these recollections I have elaborated on merely for mindless amusement. We start somewhere in Australia.

Since the last time I wrote, I have been occupied with the over-romantic yet elegant theories of Heinrich Schenker, however I did find time to read Steven Pinker's magnificent book, 'The Better Angels of Our Nature' a sober and incredibly articulate account of the development of human restraint through the ages. I also checked out the latest David Bowie album, and that has been getting plenty of rotation in my Audi's in-car sound system, a fantastic album... What poise.

I've been working with Derryl Gabel on his excellent composition "Breath Of Life" which he is preparing for a Dweezil Zappa EP to go out on Favored Nations. I have laid down some keys and synthesisers, and if my solo makes it to the CD, I will be sharing a solo spot with Derryl, Dweezil, and other great guitar players who will be teaching at the Dweezilla Music Masters Camp in NY this year.

I have recently been in contact with an interesting chap called Neil Haverstick. Neil plays guitars that adopt equal tempered systems other than the conventional 12 tones and he has written compositions using 19 and 34 tone systems. I was sent literature that contained Neil's 19 Tones: A New Beginning, and I found it a very interesting read. Neil is one of those guys who really is out there on the cutting edge; for more info, check out some of his articles.