As of July 1st, 2005, I have just finished the first draft of a book about the R30 tour, with the unwieldy title of ROADSHOW: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour By Motorcycle.

(Hey, I just want the title to tell what it’s about!)

The book is constructed around the 57 shows we did on that tour — all across the U.S., a couple in Canada, and 14 in Europe — plus the 20,000 miles of motorcycling I did between those shows, but it inevitably stretches out into the world around me.

I’ll say no more about it yet, but judging by my past books, which have taken about 14 months to complete, I’ve got another six or eight months of work to do yet. The “memory work” was the most urgent thing, as I felt kind of pressured to get the first draft down — didn’t want to forget anything — and now begins the difficult, but pleasurable, process of making it all “nice.”

We’ll see what my editor, Paul McCarthy, has to say about it.

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In mid-July, I will start the filming of a new instructional DVD, this one to focus on the subject of drum soloing. The working title is Anatomy of a Drum Solo.

It will be based around an intricately-filmed solo from R30, plus the Grammy-losing “O Baterista!” from Rush in Rio, and will include a wide variety of other “ghosts of solos past.” All that, and me talking about it all.

(Maybe that’s a better title, “Ellwood Explains It All.”)

•           •          •

That’s the news.

The weather is sunny (of course, I’m in Southern California), and as for sports — well, I don’t know much about sports.

Some guy took some performance-enhancing drugs and hit a triple into the end zone during the fourth quarter with a four under par, but was whistled down for interference.

Then there was a fight.

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