Cowboy hats, guns, Republicans and Austin.

Howdy, Partners (Sorry, I’m in Texas) -

I’m sitting here naked in a hotel room in San Antonio writing this. I am feeling bad about dumping a massive Chicken Fried Steak into my system at 1am. Rough morning. I can’t erase the past. I guess I’ll have to live with it. Hopefully I will be headed to the Tejano Conjunto Festival in a bit and maybe I’ll lay down a podcast somehow. I love that music. I remember when I was growing up in New Mexico there was always an AM station playing what seemed to be one long Mexican song that involved accordion, horns and a polka beat. It was consistent, reliable, always there to stop the dial on for a quick burst of Latino excitement. I am also thinking about going to the Alamo because I really have no sense of the history of Texas (or much of anything other than me for that matter). I just judge it. Many of those judgments are solid but there is certainly an authenticity to this state. It is what it is. Cowboy hats, guns, Republicans and Austin. Austin is so close but seems so far away. Thanks for making the trip btw, all you Austinites. Austinians? I dunno, but thanks. Also, thanks to all of you that made the drive from Houston. That is a haul. I hope you had fun.

This week we get back to some less emotional casts but provocative nonetheless. Steve Byrne finally decided to share his side of the Dane Cook essence-stealing debacle. It took a while for him to come to the decision to set the record straight from his side. For those of you who didn’t listen to the Dane Cook episode, Dane accused Steve of stealing his ‘essence’ early on in their careers. Aside from this fiery tidbit, Steve is a great comic with an interesting life and story to tell. Hope you dig it. Phil Rosenthal is also on the show this week. The co-creator of Everybody Loves Raymond talks about his documentary, Exporting Raymond. Phil went to Russia to help the Russians produce a pilot for their version of his show. It is a compelling and hilarious documentary and a great story. Phil can be a little annoying but that comes with the territory.

Looking forward to being home at the Cat Ranch for a bit. I’m going to get into the writing. I have a book to make and a speech to give. More on that later.

Adios,

Maron

P.S. Cat Negotiations shirts are flying of the racks or out of the boxes or off the shelves…whatever it is, people dig them. I’m glad.

The lingering is how they get ya.

Back at the ranch, Partners-

Hey gang! I can’t tell you how it great it is to be home for more than 3 days. It feels like it has been months. I’ve been doing some work around the house and outside. I actually went to IKEA the other day and only bought things I needed. I had to do it quickly. The lingering is how they get ya.

I thought is would be fun to do a weekend down in Irvine at the Improv. I figured its nearby, go do some shows, make a few bucks and see a few WTFers. Man, was I wrong. I had some good shows but it was not fun. The only fun thing about it was seeing some of you guys down there and playing to you--pockets of WTFers amongst a sea of free ticket holders at a a shopping mall in a corporate club in Orange County. WTF was I thinking? We did okay. If you came down I urge you to come see me again in a club that has a soul.

But, again, thanks for coming out and thanks for bringing cookies, candy and stuff. Thanks to whoever had flowers (ProFlowers at that) sent to me as a Mother’s Day gift from Monkey, Boomer and LaFonda. Very clever.

I am very excited about the show this week. As some of you know I went up to Santa Barbara and spent an hour or so with Jonathan Winters at his home. I was quite nervous and a bit in awe of the comedic genius that is Winters. He is 85 but is still firing on all cylinders. I hope you dig the talk. Also this week, in honor of George Carlin’s birthday, I talk to Sally Wade. Sally was George’s partner, significant other, girlfriend, however you want to say it, she was with him for the last decade or so of his life and has put out a very touching and fun book about their relationship, The George Carlin Letters: The Permanent Courtship of Sally Wade. These are shows in honor of true comedy legends.

I will be in San Antonio at LOL Comedy Club this weekend May 13th, 14th and 15th. Come down if you are around.

New website is coming (it’s actually here but it is a ‘soft launch’). You will be able to listen and download from the site. It is beautiful, fun and will have everything WTF/Maron related. Check it out.

Adios,
Maron