The P. Hux Chronicles Issue Number FOUR
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

IN THIS ISSUE:

* Band Camp
* Russia?
* Star Wars

Dear Huxaholics:

It's Springtime in DC. Nice. Hope it's nice wherever you are, too.

Enough about the weather. Onward!

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ORCHESTRA BAND CAMP

I've just returned from a week at Band Camp, which is our pithy name for six grumpy old men getting together at a studio/retreat in New Jersey. It was actually almost fun in spite of the heap of work before us: rehearse nine new pieces of music for the upcoming UK Tour; finish mixing the Live In Reno DVD; take new photos; get visas for Russia (more on that later), etc.

We've added some cool stuff to the set, including "Wild West Hero" from Out of the Blue; "Can't Wait To See You" from No Rewind; and "Shine A Little Love" from Discovery. You'll have to see the show to find out what else we've done! It'll be a really nice change for us to do different material. We thinks you'll like it, too.

Our erstwhile pal and video mentor George Reed came to New Jersey from metropolitan Green Bay to show us his new cut of the Live In Reno DVD. Now, some of you may recall that I've previously described the Reno DVD as "not very good." That opinion was based on a viewing of the raw footage of the entire concert, which was filmed not long after 911, a period during which we hadn't worked very much (the concert industry took a dive at that time) and as a result, we weren't at our sharpest. After viewing what George has done, I'd like to amend my opinion: It's actually not bad. Why the change? Well, George has removed the handful of songs we butchered, kept seventeen good performances, and recut the video so it actually looks presentable. It's pretty cool. I will not be embarrassed to have it released. How's that for a ringing endorsement? We hope to have it available on DVD in time for the UK Tour.

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RUSSIA?

Before we head to the UK, it looks like we'll be rocking the former USSR. If all goes as planned we'll head for St. Petersburg in late April and swing through Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Ufa.

Ufa? What, you haven't heard of it? C'mon, it's the biggest city in Bashkortostan! Here's what I found in Google: It can be said that nature awarded the republic with unimaginable beauty. Pure air of mountains and vast steppes, medicinal waters, medicinal muds-all these make Bashkortostan one of the leading healing places, the place of spas and resorts of Russia. Sanatoriums "Yangan-Tau", "The Green Grove", "Krasnousolsk", "Yumatovo" (the only place for mare's milk treatment), "Yakty-Cool", "Assy", "Pine Grove" are the largest and the most popular health resorts of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

I'll let you know how things go if we visit the "Assy" spa or go for the mare's milk treatment.

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STAR WARS

Okay, this is war. Some cretin hiding behind an anonymous email address has shown the nerve to express an opinion! How dare they! Michael Woodrum, my co-producer for Homemade Spaceship, called this morning after he noticed a snippy, negative, obviously ill-informed review of Spaceship from "house of cheese" on iTunes. The address is:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=129248028&s=143441

Can you believe that? ONE STAR? Hello!

Now I'm not saying that those of you who really, really, really, really like Homemade Spaceship should immediately click on WRITE A REVIEW and post your own more TRUTHFUL opinion...I would never say that. Let me put it like this: please immediately click on WRITE A REVIEW and post your own more POSITIVE and truthful opinion. We cannot let this guy bring down my "average stars" rating. Thank you. And don't worry, I won't be checking every three minutes to see who's stepped up to the plate. I will be patient and wait at least five.

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Thanks for reading. You rule!

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