Slim Darlins,

I got fired from my job at the pasta factory.

I made a fusilli mistakes.

SlimStones!

You have to come to the Festival of Arts show on Tuesday, September 1st in Laguna Beach. I'll tell you why...

Enrique Hernandez is coming down from Santa Rosa just for this gig. He played congas with us at Vicky's for years, and he's back for one night only! He's a beast!

So is Chase Huna on sax. And Tateng Katindig on piano. And we also have...making her Slim Debut...Megan Spencer on drums!

If you haven't heard of Megan, you will soon. She is truly an amazing talent.

Alfonso Olachea (plays piano with the SMB on occasion) told me about Megan. I checked out her videos and was floored by her playing.

I reached out to her and asked her to play the Laguna gig. She told me she was a couple months pregnant and couldn't be lugging drums around.

I told her, no problem. We'll have drums there for you! So she agreed to do the gig and I gotta tell ya, Slim People, you have to hear her play.

She's got the goods. And she's fearless.

I told her no rehearsal, just learn the songs and show up.

And she was cool with that!

So on Tuesday September 1st, come down to the Festival of Arts and observe this stunning new drummer.

Along with the rest of the Slim Man Band.

Who ain't too shabby!

It's our last show of the season. Pack up the pack mules and get those jackasses to the beach.

Laguna Beach! Surf's up!

Get tickets now before they sell out.

CLICK IT FOR A TICKET

AND NOW THE REAL NEW

REAL NEWS FROM

SLIM'S SHADY TRAILER PARK

I was driving in Palm Springs last Sunday afternoon when I started to feel a little funny. Not ha-ha funny. I was feeling a bit anguished. A tad discombobulated.

I pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store...

And sat there for 20 minutes. Feeling anxious. Panic in the parking lot! My inner calm had left town without telling me.

True story.

Why would the normally cool Mr. Man have an anxiety attack?

Did the goats escape Slim's Shady Trailer Park? Did Selma Krapoff run off with Dr. Ben Dover? Did barista Kareem N. Shoogah move back to SlimBobWay?

No. None of that.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized what had put my nerves in a blender: this huge project I had recently taken on...

A couple years ago, I wrote a screenplay called I Got You Babe. It won some awards. Got some recognition. 

One day, I was sitting around the Slim Shack thinking about what to do with it.

Thinking is not good for me because of my malady: Attention Surplus Syndrome. You know the acronym.  I think about things for too long.

As my ASS kicked in, I thought, “Why not turn the screenplay into a novel?”

Screenplays are not the easiest things for folks to read. You have to use your imagination. Let me give you an example.

In a screenplay, you might see this at the top of the page:

INT. NIGHTCLUB — NIGHT

That’s it.

No elaborate description. You leave most of that to the creative mind of the reader—usually a director, producer, actor, or movie mogul—who visualizes the scene in their head.

In a novel, you flesh it out:

The small club smelled like old sweat socks and Aqua Net as a striptease artist named 34 Long danced topless to “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.”

Big difference between a screenplay and a novel! Novels are much more...descriptive. Immersive.

It took me a year or so, but I turned I Got You Babe into a book. It wasn't easy. It was quite a challenge. But it was rewarding.

No AI. No ghostwriter. Just a Man and a Mac, trying to make a little magic.

When I finished, that’s when my ASS went to the next level. I thought...

Why not do an audiobook? 

I can tell you why not, Slim People.

I had never done an audiobook. Hadn’t even listened to one. Didn’t know the first thing about making one.

But I did it anyway.

I went to Melrose in Palm Springs—the studio where I do most of my music—and recorded the whole novel as an audiobook. It took four days. And then my ASS went ballistic.

Why not do a soundtrack?

A soundtrack? 

Yes!

In the book, I reference songs. Why not put all those songs together on one album? So that’s what I did.

I wasn’t sure if the soundtrack would resonate with the GP. The General Public. Every song is quite different from the one before it. For instance...

It starts with a Christmas song. Then goes into a new instrumental. Then an acoustic guitar-and-vocal tune. Then a funky 1980s dance song. 

And then a Cher impersonator sings the big disco Show Stoppa at the end of the story, Superhero.

That’s right. I found a singer named Lisa McClowry who does an amazing Cher—and she’s on the soundtrack. Singing the Big Finale!

Lisa did a Slimsational job.

But would all these songs make sense back-to-back on the soundtrack? 

Only one way to find out!

In the book, the main character drives a pink Cadillac. So, as my ASS went supersonic, I thought, why not make the soundtrack available on pink vinyl?

So that's what I did.

What started as a simple screenplay turned into...

I Got You Babe.

The paperback.

The eBook.

The audiobook.

The soundtrack.

On CD.

And pink vinyl.

Any one of those things would be enough to keep you busy for a year. Or three. But doing them all? At the same time?

No wonder my heart was trying to pound its way out of my rib cage outside the grocery store!

I sat there frozen behind the wheel for what felt like hours. Then I made an executive decision.

Make meatballs.

True story.

I decided to go into the store, get what I needed, and make meatballs. I wanted some comfort food. Plus, I needed to get out of the car!

I bought the ingredients, went back to the Slim Shack and made meatballs.

Meatballs remind me of one of my most favorite people ever in the whole wide world--my grandmother Angela. Angela Bambace.

We'd go to her house on Sundays. Angela would make sauce with meatballs and sausages. It was so comforting.

And then the family would gather around the table and yell at each other incessantly.

I miss those days!

So I thought making meatballs last Sunday might soothe the Slim Soul. And they did! They were delizioso.

I must admit, I felt calmer afterwards. Like a monk after a month of meditation.

Are meatballs a cure for anxiety?

Possibly. And you don't need a prescription!

After dinner, as I sat in my beanbag chair, I came to a conclusion: Release the whole cannoli. Follow through with the Slim Plan.

Yes, it's a lot!

Paperback, eBook, audiobook, CD, vinyl. But go for it, Mr. Man! Be bold. Be brave. 

Throw it out on the water and see if it floats. Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it. Bait the hook and hope for a big fish.

And if it hits big?

Then I move to Hollywood, get a facelift and a Ferrari, and hang out on yachts with Leonardo DiCaprio.

And if it doesn’t hit big?

Well...

There's always meatballs.

Here’s my latest recipe.

Enjoy, Slim People.

It’s all about love.

Who loves ya?

Uncle Slimmy



PS: The meatball recipe is down below!

The Slim Man Rat Pack Duo

Saturday August 29



LARKSPUR GRILL

SHOWTIME 6 PM

Larkspur Grill at Hotel Paseo

45400 Larkspur

Palm Desert, CA 92204

760.340.6069

Come see the Rat Pack Duo!! Frank. Dino. Nat. And more.

We have a cool video screen that shows hundreds of vintage photos of the Rat Pack, Vegas, Palm Springs, old album covers, travel posters and postcards from the 1960s.

Come check out the show.

It's fun. Ain't that a kick in the head!

See you there.

https://www.larkspurgrill.com

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1!!!

FESTIVAL OF ARTS!

LAST LAGUNA SHOW OF THE SEASON!

Get tickets now before they sell out.

SHOWTIME 5:30 PM

Get tickets right HERE!

CLICK FOR TICKETS

THE SLIM MAN BAND!

BACK AT VICKY'S! 

TUESDAYS STARTING SEPTEMBER 8TH

OPENING NIGHT! GONNA BE A BLAST!

SHOWTIME 6 PM

Chase Huna on sax, Tateng Katindig on piano, and Nat Scott on drums.

Vicky's

45-100 Club Drive

Indian Wells, CA 92210



CALL 760.345.9770 for reservations

SLIM'S MEATBALLS

NOTES:

When you put your meatballs in the pan, don’t move them around. They need to brown! 

If you want to put these in a tomato sauce, you’ll need about 6 cups. I strongly suggest you make your own.

But if you want to use bottled sauce...I understand. I'm not gonna go Judge Judy on ya!

If you’re not into red meat, you can use a pound of ground turkey and a pound of hot turkey sausage.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef 

1 pound hot Italian pork sausage meat 

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons sweet onion, minced fine

2 tablespoons Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine

1 cup panko breadcrumbs (I used plain)

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Salt (I used 1 teaspoon kosher salt)

A couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

6 cups tomato sauce 

HERE WE GO!

Heat your tomato sauce in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it starts to bubble, lower to a simmer.

Get a large bowl. Put in the ground beef and sausage, both pounds. 

Add the eggs, the onion, the parsley, the breadcrumbs, the cheese, and the salt.

Mix ‘em up! Dig in with your mitts and mix up all that stuff until it’s well blended.

Roll your balls! Grab a little mixture, about the size of a golf ball. Roll it in between your palms about 10 times and put it on a large platter.

Do this with all your meaty mixture.

Get a large sauté pan. Put the heat on medium. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, swirl it around. Wipe out the excess with a paper towel. Let the pan heat for 2 minutes.

Grab your balls. Then grab your meatballs. Notice the difference.

Put the meatballs in the pan. Flatten them just a bit. Cook for 4 minutes, or until golden brown on the underside.

Flip ‘em over, and brown the other side for 4 minutes, or until golden brown.

It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes per side. If the bottoms are too brown after 4 or 5 minutes, the heat is too high. If they’re not brown enough after 4 or 5 minutes, the heat is too low.

You’re smart. You got this.

Slice one open. Take a good look. It should be juicy and lovely.

Put your balls in the sauce. Then cook another batch!

Let the pan cool for a minute. Take a paper towel, wipe out the bottom. Add a little more olive oil. 

Wipe out the excess olive oil with a paper towel.

Cook the rest of your meatballs on medium heat the same way and put them in the sauce.

That’s it!

MANGIAMO!



CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR ALL GIGS. AND MERCH!

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PEACE, MAN!