Today's been all business.

The work day was a long one, exacerbated by having to dine on some humble pie (note to fate: I'm already a big guy, I don't need to add any pie - especially the humble variety - to my diet, okay?).

After I got home, I had to do laundry 'cause I don't have any other time for it. At least I also found time to practice Mary's new songs for our gig Friday.

I have to tell you about this clever device that is a major aid for the musician with insufficient time for practicing: TASCAM makes portable "trainers" for guitar or bass. You can load a CD in it, plug in your instrument cable, and jam - through headphones, so as not to aggravate the neighbors. The unit allows the user to set the balance between the volume of the music & the volume of your instrument. Nice. The most brilliant element: tempo changing at pitch. So if a song has fast licks, you can slow it down for learning. It's great for getting riffs right the first time, then gradually bringing the tempo closer to normal tempo as you become more comfortable with the chord changes and riffs.

Oh, so, for any of you who are near Boston (or know someone who is), come check out the band in action Friday, Oct. 3, at All Asia Bar near Central Square, Cambridge. We're part of CNC Productions' "Music Marathon". We're going on at about 7 PM. There's a cover charge; I think it's less than $10.

With visions of happy gigster-ing dancing around the periphery of my mind's eye.....