the great dane & the great proboscis

it's been wks & i still really have no singing voice. have been babying it, hoping it comes back. dratted vocal chords!!! dratted insane snarling growling singing style!!! if i were a crooner, i'd be back at it by now!!
oh well.
yes, have been home a lot, so've been playing lots of piano. lots of classical, actually, trying to rebuild dexterity, also just for enjoyment, variety. forgot til these past wks about the many composers i really love! most recently: mussorgsky, faure, kabelevsky, brahms, tchaikovsky, the bach inventions, of course... then there are the czerny books; oh, how i loved czerny exercises when i was a kid! i think the repetition calmed my ocd tendencies, mebbe.
here are some videos i love, both sort of piano-related, from the great dane & the great proboscis (the latter is the only thespian i can think of who acts w/his nose).

gratitudes

(in no order)
1. aunty rita is getting out of the hospital
2. drummer randy got out of the hospital
3. phil & mark, funny generous buds
4. beautiful clear blue skies above & snow-capped mountains surrounding this usually smog-choked valley
5. sister angie visiting & cheering me up
6. noble, kindly former spouse
8. amy the angel, squarely in my corner
9. friends of bill
10. the pic above: drummer randy smiling confidently :)

thanks for sharing

castor oil is the most vile substance known to humankind. this morning i had posted a screamin' jay hawkins song that portrays my current misery, but it was too humorous about the horrid topic, so i deleted it. my sense of humor is hamstrung, lying on the floor in a writhing pile!! in attempts to be positive that things will get better, i post here my favorite of his songs.
castor oil... VILE!!!!!!! take it & be reduced to praying for quick death!!!!

sickness

rip, dear reba. what a kind, responsible, cheerful lady. good thoughts to her memory, & to leon. memorial is sun 2 pm at the club. many will speak about her, remember her fondly. am glad to have known her even a little; her happy face will be missed. hope she rests comfortably, wherever she may be now.
struck down by illness yesterday afternoon (the library job is a killer - so many germy books), am home today seriously sick, pain pain in throat, ears, ohhhhh... we have a show tomorrow. the show must go on, tho i might be dead afterward. wish me luck, if you read this, or to break a leg. i wish it to you, no matter what your wkend looks like, good times, life, seize the day, for as the dead remind us: eram quod es, eris quod sum
yowch. i just swallowed. to quote bill cosby, "ice creammmm...."

the flu the flu the flu, & some pictures, too

man, have i got the flu!! a person's gotta wonder what a high fever does to the brain (maybe this has been my problem all along)... haven't hardly been able to lift my head since yesterday at 3 a.m. on the up side, mister paul boulanger (what a great guy, very simpatico) sent these pix from the candye kane show. boy, do i look tired!! and as you can see, candye's more glamorous than ever. :) the woman in blue is the amazing sue palmer, the queen of the boogie-woogie!! it was a really swell night, tho all i can really recall right now is wolfing down tortas at 3 a.m. w/the phil, who hogged out (he'd admit as much) & burned his mouth...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for more fantastic videos, check out dusk devils favorites at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=duskdevils... youtube's a treasure! i could add 100s more, if there were time!!! (ps - if you love gene taylor's piano playing, check www.gene-taylor.com - gene now lives in belgium, but will be in the socal & bay area in dec to play shows w/dave alvin, bazz & bateman! these will be don't-miss events! :) whoops - gotta run...