Linkin-park ©

Quick shout out to Ian Rogers for the great pic from last night’s show in San Jose. It feels good to be back on the road–Chester is feeling much better, and the shows have been going well.  Last night was an interesting one.  Two shows ago, I spilled a bit of water on my keyboard; last night, a few of the keys decided to stop working.  We have a backup keyboard, but it decided to be broken as well.  So, I was forced to play the keyboard with broken keys.  While I played, I found out that if I hit the busted keys, they made an obnoxious sound…so I played the entire night changing and transposing notes on the fly–as I played and sang–to avoid the low A and A#.  It kept things interesting…fun for one night, but not something I want to do all the time!

Speaking of yesterday, I want to say a big “thank you” to all the people we met and visited with, especially the folks from the UN, UN Foundation, and Facebook.

We had a busy day–4 of the guys were in LA meeting with the UN reps, and Phoenix and I were at Facebook HQ in the Bay.  It was my first time visiting their offices; I was pretty impressed by the unassuming nature of the place, and the earnest warmth of the staff.  There are a lot of LP fans at Facebook, and although there’s no way we could meet with everyone there, I wish we could have.  Thanks to Randi and the staff for your hospitality.

As some of you saw (the link is now updated in my post below), we participated in a “Facebook Town Hall” online discussion with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, plus members of the UN Foundation to talk about the situation in Haiti, and how you can help.

People often ask, “is there something (simple) I can I do?”  Two headlines stood out to me:

First, the UN Foundation is currently engaged in a campaign that delivers solar lights to the people in Haiti.  Many are still living in tent villages; darkness provides a cover for crime and accidents.  These lights turn the sunlight (which is in no short supply) into a form of protection for them.  It’s a great campaign, and we’re excited about it.

Second, since the UN Foundation is our partner on Download To Donate, all you need to do is visit the site in order to support the UN Foundation’s effort.  Click on the link, donate $10US, and you get tons of music (you get over 60 songs right now, with more to be added on a continual basis), plus 100% of the money flows through DTD to the effort in Haiti.

Or, if you want an even simpler solution, text “RELIEF” to 41010 to donate $10.

Thanks for your help.  See you at Staples Center tonight!