Neil Peart -- The Latest News

The September 2009 article on Neil Peart that appeared in American Motorcyclist is now on NeilPeart.net.

Click here to read the American Motorcyclist article: "Rocker & Roller"

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling

Neil has posted a February 2010 update to his website called "Fire on Ice."

Labels: neilpeart.net, News updates, written by NEP

Neil Peart has updated his Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill section of his website with Turkey recipes.

Bubba's Big Bird

Cranberry Jelly

Brutus's Turkey Stock

Brutus's Turkey Chili

In addition, there's a pre-order for Bubba's Hockey Jersey (the same one Neil wore while taping the new version of the Hockey Theme for TSN).

Labels: Bubba's Bar N Grill, Bubbawares, neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has posted a Bubba's Book Club update to his website for 5 books.

Bubba's Book Club - Issue 14

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has posted an update to his website called "Autumn Serenade - November 2009."

Labels: drums, neilpeart.net, News updates, written by NEP

There are a few changes to the Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill section of NeilPeart.net that are worth noting:

• Brutus (Neil's friend and long-time riding partner) is now the manager of Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill, and will also be helping with other website duties. Read more about Brutus' management philosophy here. Neil writes about Brutus taking over as manager, "It just seemed right. Brutus is enthusiastic about most everything, and is organized and unflappable. He loves people, and they love him. He's a great cook in his own right and I've got to admit I'm awfully fond of his martinis."
• You can now buy official Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill merchandise.
• You can register for Neil Peart website updates (click through this link).
• If you haven't been to Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill in a while, there are lots of new recipes and stories about how Neil got those recipes.

I've also added links to all of the recipes under the Explore this site menu on the home page of my site:

Labels: Bubba's Bar N Grill, neilpeart.net

In the September 2009 edition of News, Weather, and Sports, Neil recounts his growing fascination with a hummingbird nest in his backyard as his daughter's due date approaches. This is a great read.

The Ballad of Larry and Suzy

Thanks to Tony Stiles via Power Windows for the head's up!

Labels: neilpeart.net, web article, written by NEP

Neil has posted an update to his website called "A Little Yellow Cabin on Yellowstone Lake - August 2009."

In this update, Neil writes about his last solo trip before "the Blessed Event--the birth of our baby in August. After that, I wouldn't be going anywhere for a while."

Neil has so much to say in this update, there are actually two parts. One of the most interesting for me was the section where he breaks down the history behind the lyrics for "Manhattan Project."

There are other interesting reflections on what's good about America, opinions on Ralph Nader and Jane Fonda, and new country song lyrics.

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, News updates, written by NEP

Neil has posted an update to his website called "Under the Marine Layer - June 2009." About two-thirds into the update, Neil drops a big surprise:

At the same time, under that same marine layer, my wife Carrie was seven months pregnant. [Pause for sharp intake of breath and shiver of apprehension.] Our baby was growing and kicking, protected and insulated in its own oceanic fluid, its own marine layer. The anxious (not to say terrified) father kind of wished the baby could stay there, safe from harm, and not have to embark upon a life of menace and potential tragedy. He had lost before, and probably couldn't stand to lose again. People kept saying it was going to be all right, and he tried to keep telling himself that. Even in the June Gloom.

When I first read that passage, I had to go back and read it again. Did Neil really just write that he was going to be a father?

Congratulations to Carrie and Neil!

Labels: neilpeart.net, News updates, written by NEP

Update: 7/1/09: A new "press release" of sorts is now available about this section on Neil's site.

-----------------------

A new banner ad has appeared on NeilPeart.net: Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill: Good Simple Food.

In the Official Announcement Concerning the Illustrated Roadshow Companion, Neil wrote about a possible new department called "Chef Ellwood's Kitchen":

Cooking, for example, might become a new department on the Web site called "Chef Ellwood's Kitchen." Or sports cars -- I have written a fair amount about motorcycles and motorcycling, but relatively little about cars, though four-wheelers have fascinated me since boyhood, and absorbed much time and interest in my life. Over the past year I have been forging a sometimes rocky relationship with a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, and it has engendered plenty of stories -- at least for people interested in that sort of thing. Perhaps I'll open a new department called "Bubba's Garage."

Labels: Bubba's Bar N Grill, neilpeart.net

Neil has posted a new recommended reading update to his website for 5 books.

Recommended Reading - Issue 13

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil Peart has posted a new Latest News to his website. This time, he writes about a quest in the Laurentian Mountains to find "The Eye of Satan."

The Quest for the Phantom Tower - March 2009

Labels: neilpeart.net, News updates, web article, written by NEP

Neil Peart has posted an "official" update for the long-awaited "Roadshow Illustrated Companion" book. Unfortunately, it looks like this book isn't going to be published.

Read the update here.

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has updated both the Latest News and Bubba's Book Club. To read these updates, click the links:

A Winter's Tale of Summers Past - Feb 2009

Issue 12: February 2009

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

Late Nights On Air - Elizabeth Hay

Man Talking - Mike Heppner

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, neilpeart.net, News updates, web article, written by NEP

Neil has posted a new "News, Sports, and Weather" update for December 2008:

December in Death Valley

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, News updates, written by NEP

Neil Peart has published issue 10 of Bubba's Book Club to his website. In this issue, he reviews:

• The Colony of Unrequited Dreams - Wayne Johnston
• The Custodian of Paradise - Wayne Johnston
• The Alexandria Quartet - Lawrence Durrell
• Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Mark Richardson
• A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World -Tony Horwitz

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has posted a new update to his website. You can read it here:

Independence Day - July 2008

In this update, among other topics, Neil writes about how much he enjoys the crowds at Rush concerts and the importance of wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle.

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, News updates, Rush SnakesArrows, web article, written by NEP

Neil has posted a new update on his website. You can read it here:

When the Road Ends - June 2008

Labels: neilpeart.net, Snakes 2008, web article, written by NEP

Neil has posted a new update on his website. You can read it here:

South by Southwest - May 2008

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, News updates, written by NEP

Neil has posted a new update on his website, writing about his love for winter in Quebec and posting many pictures from his cross-country skiing and snowshoeing expeditions. This almost seems like a companion piece to his February 2006 essay My Laurentian Soulscape, which appeared in Canadian Geographic.

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP

It's been almost a year since Neil's last recommended reading update, as he's been out on tour with RUSH. In his latest book recommendations, he reviews This is Your Life, by John O'Farrell, The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, Unfinished Journey (Twenty Years Later) by Yehudi Menuhin, This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin, and Metal Swarm (The Saga of Seven Suns - Book 6) by Kevin J. Anderson.

I rather enjoyed how he began the last book review:

Consider it duly noted that Kevin Anderson is a good friend of mine, but that would not be enough to earn a glowing review from Bubba's Book Club.
      Being Bubba's friend doesn't hurt either, of course, though it can be hard for Bubba not to be envious (the first deadly sin -- I know) of a writer like Kevin, who is so prolific, so fulfilled, and so accomplished.

Finally, he adds a homework assignment to read Newfoundland author Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and The Custodian of Paradise. He writes:

A few years back I was asked to contribute to a year-end newspaper article on "my favorite book of the year." If I had been asked last year, I would have named these two.
      Enough said. Check them out. (Of the library, or better yet, buy them. Support the poor, deserving author.)

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has posted an update to his website for December: The Hour of Arriving.

There are lots of great pictures and more stories about the European leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour.

In the story Neil mentions a sign that someone held up at the Clark County (Portland/Southern Washington) show, "NP--THIS IS YOUR LIFE." I was at that show, and I remember seeing that sign and being somewhat confused. It's interesting to read Neil's take on it.

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, Rush SnakesArrows, written by NEP

Neil has posted an update about the European leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour, "Haste Ye Back." No mention of the 2008 leg of the tour.

This is Neil's fourth update of the tour. The other three include

• "Shunpikin' it Old Skool," posted on August 20, 2007
• "Every Road Has Its Toll," posted September 26, 2007
• "That's the Way We Roll," posted on July 13, 2007

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, Rush SnakesArrows, written by NEP

Neil has updated his website with "Shunpikin' it Old Skool," about the last North American leg of the Snakes & Arrows Tour.

This is Neil's third update of the tour. The other two include "That's the Way We Roll," posted on July 13, 2007, and "Every Road Has Its Toll," posted on August 20, 2007.

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, Rush SnakesArrows, written by NEP

Neil has updated his website with "Every Road Has Its Toll," about the second leg of the Snakes & Arrows Tour.

You can read the update about the first leg of the tour here: "That's the Way We Roll."

Labels: neilpeart.net, pictures, Rush SnakesArrows, written by NEP

After the first leg of the Snakes & Arrows Tour, Neil has updated his website with a news update. You can read it here:

"That's the Way We Roll!"

Labels: neilpeart.net, NEP motorcycling, Rush SnakesArrows, web article, written by NEP

You can listen to a drums-only version of the song "The Main Monkey Business" at NeilPeart.net. I listened to the entire track, and I heard all kinds of things I'd never heard before.

Just got to NeilPeart.net and click on the embedded player (see the arrow below):

If you like this kind of thing, check out the following Book/CD, which includes a few drums-only tracks of Neil, including "Leave That Thing Alone." Unfortunately, it looks like it's not published anymore -- but you might be able to find it used.

Labels: drums, neilpeart.net

Neil has a new "Quality Reading" book review on his site. This time, he reviews What Is the What by Dave Eggers.

Neil uses this review as a way to discuss some of his favorite books, as well as what makes art great.

"The definition of art as a combination of Truth and Beauty traces back to Plato, and still holds. Truth may also be the province of journalism, history, science, and biography (ideally), and beauty can be created by designers--industrial visionaries, architects, and decorative artists--but the combination of the two is the sublime, transcendent province of genuine art. I remember feeling enlightened when I learned that the term "fine art" comes from the French fin--the end. Art as the end, art for art's sake."

Here are some of the other books discussed in this review:

Labels: neilpeart.net

On Neil's website, he has posted links to "The Republic of Nothing" by Lesley Choyce for which he wrote the afterward, and a recommendation for "Pike's Folly" by Mike Heppner.

From Neil's website:

"Pike's Folly is clever, funny, endearing, and well written, with special praise for how skillfully Heppner takes the reader inside the mind of a character who is gradually losing her grip, discarding her sanity with her clothes as she walks naked into the streets of her Rhode Island town. It takes a Faulknerian tour-de-force of writing skill to pull that off, and he does it.

Highly recommended -- and especially appreciated as a more-or-less 'impulse purchase.'"

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil sent out a bulletin on MySpace about the upcoming tour rumors:

---------------------------------

Feb 10, 2007 3:43 PM

Subject
Myths and Up & Coming Facts

My trusty MySpace Music Soldiers,
Tour dates floating around are not confirmed.
Check out Rush.com for the confirmed 2007 tour schedule!
We can't wait to see you on the road!
NEP

Labels: neilpeart.net

In the latest NEP recommended reading, Neil reviews no less than seven books.

Read the reviews here.

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP

In the latest NEP News update, Neil writes about recording the new Rush album, working with new producer Nick Raskulinecz, and more. He also has included a few pictures. Thanks to DKos for the head's up!

Photograph by Andrew MacNaughtan

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has published Issue 6 of his Quality Reading column.

In this issue, he reviews A Complicated Kindness, by Miriam Toews.

Read the review here.

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP

Neil has posted another Quality Reading review on his website. In this issue, he reviews:

• Brighton Rock -- Graham Green
• The Winter of our Discontent -- John Steinbeck
• Frank Lloyd Wright -- Ada Louise Huxtable
• Pike's Folly -- Mike Heppner

Excerpt:

First of all, in the previous issue of "Bubba's Book Club," I definitely set the bar too high with that Hemingway review. In the first few installments, I only set out to offer brief recommendations of particular books I had read recently and enjoyed. However, I should know by now that everything I start out doing for fun eventually turns out getting all serious. Though I am by no means an overachiever, I do tend to get overly ambitious.

That same "trap" has led me into ever-growing ambitions in drumming, bicycling, motorcycling, reading, writing, and even posting updates on my Web site. Lately I keep wanting every one of those little "open letters" to be better than the one before, and instead of dashing off a casual report, I end up laboring over those stories as much as I would "serious writing."

Labels: neilpeart.net, written by NEP