Date: Saturday, May 27
Subject:
From: "Michael Balzary"
To: members@redhotchilipeppers.com

so we went and played at nascar this weekend
that was a trip
i have never even watched a car race before
and i am totally disconnected from it
but all the people i met, drivers like greg biffle and carl edwards,
were very nice people
it is an amazing skill they have driving 200 miles an hour in those
cars all squished together for hours at a time
and they wipe out it is crazy i tell you
those guys have a lot of focus
i could not do it in my wildest dreams i sat behind the wheel of one
of those cars and i could not imagine it
i'll stick to the musical expression

when we played it was ok but i had a lot of tension in my body, from
some emotional family kind of things going on and my arm cramped up
and i could barely play 'tell me baby' which usually i just party
through having the time of my life
that bummed me out, but at least that song was not televised and i
still tried my hardest

we have finally finished the promotional part of our work
finished all the interviews and t.v. shows and whatnot
and we can just concentrate on playing some music and putting on a show
which is what we do best
instead of defending our truth from the rock 'n roll press attack

the weirdest thing about the whole press/promotion deal this time for me
was
in the beginning of doing it
i opened up about the fact that john and i were not getting along
well during the making of 'by the way'
and that we had come together as close friends again by the time we
got going on stadium arcadium
to me, and to john, that was an important part of the story
that our closeness was liberating to both of us, and was a feeling of
rebirth
and led to a creatively powerful time for us that was hard work but a
lot of fun too

but a lot of the press, particularly in england, took it upon themselves
to say there is a power struggle among us, that john had to acquiesce
to me in some way, that we did not like each other
that is so absurd
john and i have always loved each other completely
yes we went through a time of distancing from each other during by
the way
is that not what happens sometimes in long term friendships? is it
not a dynamic thing?
they just cannot believe that our relationship is loving and mutually
supportive
and that we inspire each other to be our best when we compose and
rock together
they had to make up some kind of sensationalist soap opera bullshit
and try to pit us against each other
so silly
every creative decision made in this band is one that all four of us
are completely together on
always
and that is what makes us who we are

anyways, i am just glad all that press is over
and we are ready to ready to rock the fuck out of barcelona in a
couple of days