john updike, rip; the blush of 1st dawn creeps, the morning dew, it chills , &

gud morgen. wie gehts? bleh. it seems so uncivilized to be up every day before the sun, like right now. shouldn't a person wait? after you? el sol: the king: seems almost impertinent to go 1st - but obviously i'm being ridiculous & also very bourgeoisie cause how many people have no choice?? so i justify since at this life-stage i am privileged & therefore can say i just don't like it... john updike died this wk. in undergrad days (ha - so snobby, that sounds) i loved updike, which was weird bc he wrote mostly so specifically about the frustrations of the american male. maybe it's cause i've always thought i was sposed to be male, but that 2nd chromosome just kept growing (boy, it IS early) (tho i think many females feel that way here & there, since the society's built for the view of & to appease the male)... i loved updike's specificity, the way he caught the ugliness & shimmer of everyday life. i guess that's that.
good gravy; hurry up, toast.
what the heck am i doing on here? waiting for my toast, drinking coffee, standing up thinking then i'll type less that way, typing at this ridiculous, cumbersome, child-sized keyboard, trying not to feel sick... needed to check if the fellows could do a gig (they didn't call back; story of my life) (well, phil did, good old philbert) & must save time! must always save time! oh, i hate those metaphors; makes going thru life (there's another one) seem like empty commerce. stressful!
- well, at top are lyrics for a song i wrote but i pulled from esnips bc it's for a male to sing. so of course i tried to sing it, but there's no amount of smoking or forced coughing that can bring my vox down to the appropriate register. so it's gone. but i was pleased w/the weird little storyline of this one, called "when they find me," kind of a gothic unrequited love thingy set in a delano grape vineyard, like maybe even the one that used to be in front of our grandparents' house, & the pleasing thought that a story CAN be told in a 2-min song. i've known it, just never w/story so fully in my head. since then, there've been a few more, & maybe the band will learn some of them, but if we don't, i have them, & they keep coming, like little gifts (tho sometimes it's a necktie or a lump of coal).
toast's ready. i hope my skull & sinuses stop burning.

aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! a possible show & 6 new songs!!!!!

->hi, hej da, hi-ho, what's happening, hola! see below & above for info on dusk devils' two upcoming shows, sat 2/7 & fri 2/27. am working on booking a show w/the band of one of my favorite all-time actors (based in sta fe, but coming thru town -- whaddaya know!!) ... his band's called the troublemakers & he "blows harp" (i quote cause all i know about harmonica begins & ends w/my love of little walter jacobs) authentically, not phony & embarrassing like some who when they play (WHY?) make me want to hide my head in their honor. we'll just see what happens... more important to me al momento is that FINALLY i was able to upload some more of my tunes. the hosting site's been all messed up, but here are six more, all one man band recordings, which means rough rough rough rough rough, but hopefully done w/spirit that makes listening fun or cool or teeth-gritting or whatever. the newly uploaded songs are the 1st 6 listed at http://www.esnips.com/web/jenny-angel-dusk-devils-ex-girlfriends-music :
- hey bus driver
- hideaway
- no pills, no booze, no way
- mexican blanket
- two left feet
- one final night
thank you ahead of time, if you listen, & esp for feedback.
be happy, be well, be be be be be be... again, here's the link:
http://www.esnips.com/web/jenny-angel-dusk-devils-ex-girlfriends-music

it's gotta be R&R music if you wanna dance w/me

or even if you don't, which i recommend if you wanna save your toes. unless you like to pogo or twist, since i don't remember the two-step & b doesn't dance & the good male leads i know are in smellay (well, except philbert, but we can't play & dance at the same time, i'm just not that good), so i ain't gonna be relearning any steps anytime soon...
likely i'll post 18,000 times more before these shows, but just got the 1st flyer from markymark & made 2nd last night. whoopee! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO "BIG MANNY"!!!!! :) :) :)

dreamland hodge-podge

waiting to go to dr king breakfast w/union... it's sure cold in this house!

my friends the artists; on prodigies, perseverers, & poseurs; more blablabla

-> last night b & i went to a local coffee house to support friend david nigel lloyd as he performed, celebrating his new record "rivers, kings, & curses" being named in the top 15 celtic albums of '08. we walked in & there was his beautiful daughter ursula doing sound for her dad & his amazing wife gita sitting at one of the crowded tables, papermacheing this ENORMOUS HEAD for an upcoming festival!, & there was greg goodsell, slurping it all up like an enormous cat while he posted on his horror/sci-fi sites. we were yakking away, tho i tried to keep it down, watching david & thinking, in another duhhhh moment, sh*t, he is such a PICKER, & not a flashy, show-off one like some i've known, but a technical adept suffused w/heart.
-> i found myself continuously moved, so leaned over to lisa lobasso to state so, & she turned to me w/these tender tears in her big blues. my words would've been gratuitous at that pt; we already were too much like max cady, anyhow, me, b & greg, braying away while david played out his soul, so i shut up... looking at the lloyds in their various spots around the joint, i thought what a crappier place this bakersfield would be w/o them & people like them, & dang i wish there were more. i don't know jack about the role of the artist or really even what an artist IS (i mean, i have my opinions, but the heck do i KNOW??)... but i know it's them.
-> gita, the most remarkable painter/artist i've ever met, one time spooked me when i told her how talented she is. normally laid-back, she turned & looked at me very soberly: "it's NOT talent. it's yrs & yrs of hard work & study." and she went on to say how even offensive it is when people just presume she walked into this world w/the considerable ability that she now has: "oh, you're so LUCKY. i wish EYE could do that": - that kinda thing. in other words, talent is EFFORT, tenacity, altho, tho gita didn't say it, one must also have that flame, be it a smolder or inferno, that creativity & vision, that inspiration (as in "in the spirit"!) that makes the difference between a blake, a bukowski, a bizet & a... (no need to name names. every community has its poseurs).
-> there was a NYer article about types of genius, the born kind & the learned kind basically was what it boiled down to, so what gita was saying, i think, is the artist most often is that learning kind, the one who works, tries, perseveres, processes, sweats, bleeds, cries, realizes, adjusts & adapts, until the muses start to sing.
-> then david was calling me up to sing w/him on his "country" (yeah, what DOES that mean, anyhow??) tune "cúchulainn in bakersfield." it's been about 2 yrs since i'd last sung that w/him, when i did my tiny pt on his record, so ego said stay in your seat, but my gut said your friends the lloyds would like you to go do it, stupid, so go do it, so long story short, i did. david introduced me like i'm wanda jackson, which was very embarrassing, so i said, of COURSE i came up: you were stalling! or were you storytelling? "i was stallytelling," he quipped. we sang it & i don't know how well i did, that wasn't the important pt. the important pt was, i hope it made my friends & the audience happy. and now i need to go play the piano for a while.
www.davidnigellloyd.com and www.gitalloyd.com

the overeducated dunce, the lettered know-nothing

- (not like the u.s. know-nothing party... shudder)
- the next time i went back to school, i hoped it'd be to become doctor jenny. that just sounds so ridiculously fitting: doctor jenny. like doctor termite or doctor kermit the frog or doctor homer simpson or doctor charo. anyhow,
- i'm going back to school starting tonight & it's not the full boat but another credential. more hoop-jumping. but sono fortunata (unlike fortunato, seeker of amontillado) & it is online, so i hope to whiz bang zip bounce thru it like a pinball... & maybe learn something interesting, is the hoped-for cake of it.
- brain's a little sideways, tired from work & full of conspiracy (been reading john le carre), & hands sho is cold... females are more susceptible to that; it's called reynaud's syndrome... eventually the trivia will squish my all-else cerebral til i remember the lyrics to chuck berry's catalog but not where i live (right now i know both, to boast a bit).
can i say this? a fellow at work is an arshole (le carre calls them)... & another former student found me on myspace. the last part is nice! nice not to have hidden pts, to feel mostly whole; it's a caveat of encroaching antiquity & lessons learned from wise others...
salvos to all. whiz bang zip crash hurrah!!

elvis show 09 at the avalon slideshow

our photographer was more than a bit under the weather, so these were the least-out-of-focus shots... thinking of phil & lisa... hoping b & i get better soon...

weird weird weird weird weird

-> the elvis show at the avalon last night for me was a weird experience, tho not a bad one, i must say. but phil had a family emergency & couldn't be there!!! so manuel filled in (thank you, manuel!!!!). meantime i was nervous the whole show, since we hadn't rehearsed together at all & the songs weren't just straight 1-4-5's... manny did his set (super rockin'; killing that amp!), then i went & spoke to him at side stage (loud, where he parked) about the keys, the changes, but MAN! we'd practiced w/phil! & i was sad for phil, too... then this bako guy i hardly know shook my hand in a way that hurt it! that was effed up! the band & b wanted to go punch him in the gut, but we let it go & left it at "some people have problems..." the blasters sat around & waited & waited for phil (alvin, that is), & when he finally showed up, he was babbling & swearing a mile a minute - one of THOSE moods. he was nice to me & to everyone, but UP & disconnected (he walked right by manuel w/o even seeing him, for instance), & when he took the stage & did the calls from the beginning of rufus thomas's (elvis's) "tiger man" (which the blasters always do), the audience started calling back, which did NOT fit the timing; it is NOT a call-response song!... then art announced candye kane was gonna be there, but had gotten in a car accident! (she is ok, i found out this a.m.)...
-> the best parts were seeing art, the terrific house band, count smokula, skip edwards & lisa haley, barry holdship, the blasters, justin & sally jo curtis, ray campi (we always talk about school), jimmy angel, dave raven, paul body, just all the great & many talented folks who are always there, & friendly lisa & brian paxton, & hearing the great music (like rip masters' ripping piano! & strawberry alarm clock, whom i've never even heard, did a killer instro! & skip edward's piano & marty rifkin's steel playing!) amidst my nervous moments & the funny stuff people said. steve joseph gave me a mix cd & i bought the new one off carlos guitarlos, who always does this steam-rolling-cool version of "promised land" (tho i was surprised he had a word sheet!). when carlos got on stage, he strummed a chord & barked, "this amp's on the manny setting. what is that, manny, 20?" & when he was done, he strode offstage & told manuel, "man, there's a lotta white people out there!"
-> groovy rednecks, lightning willie (who looks like kinky friedman, w/a HUGE band!), then we were up. mark's friend brett walked up w/guitar in hand! - he & mark had practiced the songs that day! so i figured, heck, let him get up, too... we all got up there & did a good job, i could feel the audience's energy match ours, it felt really up & positive, & it was great to look back & see manuel & hear his rockin improv leads, & brett just did solid rhythm like i'd asked him to, & so helped it all really be grounded... but it wasn't my band, really; i just felt weird & sad for phil & oh well. we didn't mess up & the show went on & i was grateful for everyone's help... art said some real nice things when we were getting off stage; i wish i could've listened closer! but we needed to keep the show moving, so i shouted of my keyboard, "let's clear this elephant!" & manuel shouted, "i'm coming, i'm coming!" :) no one was there to help, so as we strong-armed it off the stage i said, "i had 2 guys at the beginning, but now they're gone," & the stagehand woman said, "that's men for you" :) when finally i was done & met back up w/b, he looked so obviously sick (we've been, of course), i felt really bad & realized we had to go right then, tho the show was not yet even over, so we missed a bunch of great acts, but really, we gotta have our health... thinking of phil & family, & thanks to art for having us, & to manuel, brett, rick & mark, & of course to b, & to you who read...

elvis show thurs (read below)! and video from krambo (rightchere)!

we all look like oompa-loompas! i gotta hope that's the camera adding 10 lbs thing... or the band needs to get together & go to a fat camp! it's a fun performance, tho, i must say... :) :) :)

happy birthday elvis happy birthday elvis happy birthday elvis

flyer by mark! pert-near-full lineup at www.sofein.com!

!!!!RAEY WEN YPPAH

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! may yours be happy, honest, purposeful, creatively fulfilling, & w/o too many regrets.
THE ELVIS SHOW IS COMING... see www.sofein.com for the flyer. :)
just got back from "vacating." the dogs were patient & stalwart travelers. iron butt briggs got us home by new year's eve, for which i was grateful. summary:
-> day 1: 574 miles to richfield, ut. food: cracker barrel dumplings. music: voodoo jive, chuck berry oh yeah, jimmy yancey vol. 3. conditions: white christmas snowy. cold!
-> day 2: 466 miles to denver. food: mexican in denver. music: just rockin’ & rollin’, more bad habits, the sadies. conditions: 4wd on icy roads, snow everywhere, frigging cold!!
-> day 3-4: boulder-denver. food: lucile’s boulder (biscuits, grits, beignets). music: rockin’ bones boxset from generous paul! conditions: cold, snowy, yuppie boulder, downhome denver, good women's mtg.
-> day 5: 200 miles to trinidad, co. food: feta pizza at whole foods denver, lee’s bbq trinidad – the best! hershey’s chocolate shake, buttered vienna roll, bbq sandwich, battered jalapenos, nice service. music: rockin’ bones, npr. conditions: warming up, found jawbone at truck stop.
-> day 6: 251 miles to albuequerque. food: overrated harry’s roadhouse sta fe, delicious homemade tortilla & empanadita in las vegas, nm, sopaipillas & sweet rice at garcia's kitchen abq. music: night train to nashville. conditions: cool little towns like raton & las vegas, lost in touristy santa fe, nice old square in abq.
-> day 7: 804 miles to home. food: couscous & tofu pudding at macy’s flagstaff. music: the very best of the 5 royales. conditions: long invention & brainstorming session w/b as we head for the barn, pedal to metal. fog in kern county, blessed home.
-> home: overly tired, meltdown. today: tired but copacetic. happy new year. :)