Once again, Spesh's psychic powers came in handy. In addition to our comps, Spesh had the foresight to secure a large handful of proper tix, way ahead of time, and we needed every one. With the likes of Madonna, Bono, and Mick Jagger trying to climb the anchor line or stowaway on Sasha's only boat appearance for his entire tour, we were sitting pretty on a pile of tickets. Knowing everybody who was throwing the party (major props to the Spundae and Kinkyfunk crüs who pulled off a very tight ship) wasn't going to help us a bit in this case, every bit of room on this boat was accounted for and veeps were being rejected left and right.

After the usual boarding chaos and confusion, actually getting on the boat turned out to be pretty easy. Did I say boat? I meant giant luxury yacht. It looked like their last gig might have been a Hefner birthday party or something - that kind of accommodation. I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of room to move around even after boarding was complete - this one was going to be by the book, no obvious fire hazard/capsize/trampling-suffocation risk.

I had barely secured my first mandarin-tonic when somebody grabbed my arm and ushered me to the back deck, where I found myself face to face with ... Jerry Bonham. I hadn't seen Jerry in weeks, since we finished our last JSJ track and sent it off to Renaissance. I hobnobbed with Jerry, Spesh, Astrid, and a few others in our crew for several minutes, before I noticed everybody was acting a little weird and making quick furtive glances to the left. I turned to see Sasha sitting in the corner. He seemed relaxed and genial, in contrast to everyone around him who was doing their best to act nonchalant but was in fact totally star-struck. I soon found myself in the latter category, but managed to get out a respectable "Nice to meet you" when we were introduced. Sasha seemed really pleasant, and very regular and down to earth. Still, I couldn't help but feel a little giddy, and it caught me off guard because usually my over-exaggerated sense of self-worth protects me from the dj celebrity effect. But ... not in this case.

The music did not disappoint. While I couldn't find where Jerry was playing, I did enjoy a good part of Taj's set, and almost all of Sasha's set, which was emotional, lush, deep, breaky, and original. The vibe was warm, excited, and not quite as sloshy as some of the other boat parties I've been to (with the exception of Spesh, who seemed to be one vodka shot away from breakdancing towards the end of the night). I would have matched him, but Shannon, in some exuberant dance move, managed to shot three quarters of my last drink up my nose, treating me to a refreshing citron-tonic nasal rinse. The light carbonation was refreshing.

Other news ... the al-bom is really coming along. We've got fourteen tracks more or less complete at this point. We've still got lots of work to do, especially with vocalists, but we're gaining momentum even as we near the end. We're considering debuting one or two tracks at Loöq Hard on 9/7.