Hey, good gig in Brooklyn last night... very intimate... lotsa good feeling. If you were there, and I let you in on some of the secrets and stories about how and why some of my songs were written... shhhhh.

Listen, I know there are people reading this all across the country and in other parts of the world. But, here in New York City, if you're thinking about heading out to Central Park for some music today...

YEAH... I'm gonna be out there today.

Because, y'see, we're in a little bit of spot if I wanna get out there tomorrow. I mean, I think the weather is gonna be 100% better tomorrow. But, tomorrow is the "Salute to Israel" parade (Uy!) on 5th Avenue. Last year, that parade was nothing but a complete pain in the ass. There were armed guards on every corner... emergency vehicles driving up and down through the park... but, the BIG pain was... the number of helicopters.

Last year, all day... helicopters were hovering a little more than roof level... all day. (If you were there, you remember?) You could hardly hold a conversation, never mind sing "Crazy on the Same Day". And, they were positioned about every 10 blocks... over Central Park West!!! Go figure. The parade was on the East Side.... but, the helicopters were directly over us... all day. Outside of singing Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon" 75 times in a row, I was pretty much at a loss.

So, I'm thinking even with the shaky weather, today will probably be a better day for a sweet concert in the park.

So, bring something dry to sit on if the grass is a little wet.

.

Back to a few new covers tunes I'm doing out there this summer...

Unwell, Matchbox Twenty
Look what you've Done, Jet
Thunder Road, Springsteen

...and, I'm really excited to play a great, character-driven, story-song by Elvis Costello called "Veronica" (I've always loved that song.)

Also gonna pull out a bunch of the new songs I've written over the winter that aren't on a CD, yet. We're gonna have a lot of fun out there this summer... and, hopefully we'll also be able to pull something off that will do some Good. (I'll explain more in a minute.)

If you're new here and you have a minute, take a look through the "Archives" over there. See what we've been up to around here.

Now, here's something you're gonna hear about alot this summer. But, if you are a regular here, you may have read about this next thing already. If you have, you can stop reading. But, would you do me a HUGE favor? Would you take a minute.... right now... would you go into the "Forum" (message board) and let me know what you think of the following project, or if you have any ideas of your own for it?

You're aware that I'm jumping, up to my neck, into an effort to put together a concert to help the innocent, ordinary people who are taking the brunt of the hurt in the war we started in Iraq. Y'know? The American television "news" media doesn't seem to feel it's necessarily good for ratings, I guess. But, there is a war going on... a war that we started. And, every day, the innocent civilians in that country are being hurt, wounded and killed by the dozens... every day... while America is watchng Michael Jackson. Children are being horribly hurt, orphaned... mothers and daughters, fathers and sons... children... their lives are being destroyed. And, the people in Washington are nothing but pleased that the much of public isn't really interested in the reality of the devastating, daily nightmare we've created over there.

I'm hoping to pull something off in September or October to raise awareness, but especially money, to get help directly to these people. We may still have some great connections with peoople who are still on the ground in Iraq, and we think we can really do some good. Hopefully, we'll do this with a group called Mercy Corps... one of the few humanitarian organization that haven't pulled out of Iraq because of the danger.

This is what I meant before about doing some Good. Y'know, you can have an awful lotta fun, doing really hard work, if you know you're working toward something good. So, in the coming weeks, I'm gonna be asking for help from ordinary people... like... um... you.

Right now, I'm gonna ask you to click on this link and take a few minutes to read what's there, okay? Please?

EVERYTHING YOU WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE CONCERT...

...so far.

Maybe it's time for the rest of us ordinary people in America to do something extraordinary for those people.

Gotta run right now. Maybe I'll stop in the "Forum" (message board) tonight.

Hope I see you in Central Park today.

Thanks for everything.