obsessing over go-karts, james's improv over ammons' boogie-woogie

this is the only way i could figure out how to get this video from facebook onto this blog; i wrote about it below, then forgot about it til this eve... anyways, here it is. (wow! i just listened & recording the video FROM a video created the coolest reverb!) 

well, it's almost mimis time around here. i intended to research & practice ghosh yoga this eve, but instead sat on my brain here obsessing over california-legal utvs. i think i want to order a 4 seater; then the family can ride along when we go up in the mountains. i don't want anything fast bc in our family a young cowboy cousin-of-a-cousin lost his life going fast on a quad. that still haunts me, & dad even mentioned it when i told him i was looking for a utv for us -- off-road go-kart, side by side, don't matter.

a few months back i was jogging penny home & near our house is a very steep dirt trail that parallels & abuts the highway. two fellows in a side by side went tearing a*s past us along the road, beverages in hand, whooping it up, leaving us in a cloud of dirt as they cut across the highway at top speed & plowed straight up that narrow, steep trail, still at top speed, got to the top, &... stalled out. then for some insane reason, they rocked the vehicle TOWARD the cliff that fell off onto the highway & as i watched, in slo-mo, they teetered, then tumbled, then crashed end-over-end, boom! boom! boom!... SMASH!!!, landing sideways on the asphalt of the highway. i ran with penny, imagining blood & exploded skulls, but as i approached, i just heard a loud f-bomb exclamation & then knew they were ok. "do you need help?!?!" i exclaimed, & angrily, probably embarrased, they both yelled "NO!!!", stuck there in the tiny vehicle, lives saved by its small roll bar, jammed in like sardines, but they did not want MY help, some middle-aged woman with a dog... i walked off, my help rebuked, as a luxury sedan AND a dirt bike screeched to halts, the men in each jumping out to go give rescue. so i just took my penny dog & went home. let the men help the men, i guess.

so when we get our utv or off-road go-kart (with FREE SHIPPING! maybe from TEXAS!), we will need to avoid that kind of danger....

but i know i'd never be stupid enough to speed up something that narrow, steep... and right next to a highway!!

well, i think it's time for bed now. hope you enjoyed the video.

 

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  been in a sick haze for a while since finding out about gene t's death, me & thousands of other music lovers around the world, i think. there is such a ginormous hole now where the bada*s boogie-woogie pianist was...  i felt better recently learning that he had told friends he was ok & didn't want to be picked up, that he had a roommate & they'd decided to stay in their rooms to keep warm, that he wasn't alone, that ppl were in touch w/him, so sounds like he went to sleep & passed. so if he had lots & lots of blankets to wrap up in, maybe that wasn't such a terrible way to go. it's still a horrible loss for the music world & everyone who loved him, but since we all gotta go..

two wks ago i thought i was gonna go bc of my heart, which is what took gene. i actually had to go to the e.r., realizing in all my yrs on this planet, that was the 1st time i'd been in a hospital bed. it felt to be covered with memory foam, surprisingly comfy. after the initial shock of being told i'd had a "past heart attack," i decided to be observant & calm. the ppl at mercy southwest in bakersfield were very nice & the experience ended after only 7 or 8 hrs. they found nothing wrong w/my ticker after thorough testing, so i went home & james cared for me scrupulously for several days. and yesterday was my first followup & in upcoming wks will be tests, but overall it's a good thing bc i would rather do all that than find out too late something's wrong.

my friend tjarko had gone through it too, recently, but his good friends, late of the late great ronny dawson's band & much more, picked him up when he was freezing to death in his austin apt, after a major surgery, moreover. saved his life, maybe. in pain, freezing, he thanked them  & i do, too.  i am lucky to be healthy & so happy tjarko's friends helped him in his time of need.

i can't think of austin the same way anymore. the past 10 yrs have seen it turn into a pretty d**chey place compared to the funky little town of 30 yrs ago (when i first went there). but the recent storm, gene's death most likely due to it... i don't think i wanna go there for some time, music or no music. too many west LA folks there now, or those w/the west LA vibe.

anyways, i had such a long day today with my students being just wonderful all day, but i gotta get ahead with grading & planning so i can go to the heart doc tomorrow, so i worked late, got home, we had dinner, then james & i played some music. i've been playing every day because gene did. i need to play every day. i have the ability to play, so i need to maximize it. here is what my wonderful husband came up with, impromptu, as i play an albert ammon knock off. 

(I WILL POST THE VIDEO LATER! BYE FOR NOW!)