doggie and sounds

Hugo was home for a couple of days and then relapsed. We had to take him to a vet on Saturday morning. He was listless, had no appetite and hardly wagged his little tail at all. The news is good, though - he's coming home tonight and the vet thinks another relapse is unlikely. We don't know for sure what's wrong but it's obviously something affecting his gut. Without going into detail, some of the symptoms are rather unpleasant to deal with.

When Hugo's at home, it's just like having an infant around, only his naps are shorter. A small puppy like that has to be watched all the time. He doesn't like being put in his crate. He just wants to run around and frolic with us throughout the apartment. When he's awake - which, when not sick, is almost all the time - there's not a whole lot that can be done. Of course, as he gets older, things will get a bit easier. As it is, we're trying to get him used to being alone for at least short stretches.

Musically, things are interesting: in January I'll be recording a demo of a couple of my originals with Jonathan Marks on violin, Fabrice Sicco on accordeon and Jeff Cardey on mandolin. This particular combo makes the music sound fabulous and weirdly different. These tunes were written for the horns and the strings/accordeon set-up gives it a gypsy/bluegrass flair. Nice stuff.

A bit later in the month I'll be recording a blues CD with my blues band, George & The Blues Bandits. Kevin Manaugh on slide guitar and Stefan Molnar on harmonica. We'll be recording blues standards and some of my original music. The hope is to get some low key, acoustic blues gigs out of it but the truth be told - it's just a lot of fun playing this music. The financial outlay is minimal, so there's little pressure.

Yet later in the year, I'll be releasing a new Swing Noir CD (possibly titled "Cafe Oriental" - but I'm still working on that one)

It has been a fairly good year music-wise and otherwise. May the vibe continue into 2006 and may I keep ticking off those NY resolutions!