Were you in Central Park yesterday?

If you were.... thank you!

What a great day! It was one of those days where I actually see "the amazing thing" happen. Y'know? When I arrived at "the Hill" with my guitar, there was not one person sitting there. About 10 minutes later a woman named Linda, who is a "Hill regular", showed up and said, "Where is everybody?" It felt odd.

Then, I started playing music. Little by little, that patch of green turned into a crowd of beautiful, smiling faces... again. New Yorkers mostly. But, also people from all over the country and all over the world. Yesterday, I played another 5 and a half hour set. By the end the day, I'm completely wiped... but, so filled with Life I can't put it into words.

Shit! Man!

Amazing!

Y'know, when good people get together around something like that, the energy is tangible. I know that you can feel it, sitting in the middle of a crowd like that. But, standing in front of you guys? To say that when I'm holding my guitar in front of that much human energy I experience joy, is like saying someone standing in front of a tidal wave... experiences moisture.

Thanks.

Today, though... I'm NOT heading out to Central Park. (Remember, I'm out there on Saturdays this summer.)

Besides, today there is a "Salute to Israel" parade on Fifth Avenue. (Oy!) What a pain in the ass that was last year. There were helicopters hovering over Central Park, directly over our heads... all day. You couldn't hear yourself think, never mind playing "Crazy on the Same Day". So, just as well.

Security. Cracks me up.

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Hmmmmm... maybe something with a lovely color scheme.

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Anyway, listen... if you're new here, why not stop in the "Forum" (message board) over there and say, "Hey". It's very cool. You can meet other people, talk about music, Life, Love, sex, movies, world events... whatever. But, keep checking back in here everyday, okay? I'm gonna be doing a lot of really cool things this summer. And, along with some good friends and colleagues, I'm working on a wonderful project for the Fall that I would like all of you to be a real part of.

Now, you're gonna hear about this a lot 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.

They need help... our help.

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

Gotta run right now. I'll probably stop in the "Forum" later. Maybe I'll see you in there. Maybe I'll see you on the streets of Manhattan today.

Thanks for everything.