laissez les bon temps roulet!!!!

how you, baybee? my mardi gras started from the couch (i'm always physically sober, but passed out around 4 am from sheer exhaustion, movie on being the generally not-worth-it-unless-you-like-feeling-slimy "dogtooth"). awoke to a phone call from my recuperating friend who once lived in new orleans & now look out on "my" mountains as visiting cat friend happily grooms herself, perched on the window... am celebrating this last-hurrah before lent w/a pot of community coffee & wonderful nola sounds such as these, both so, so thrilling (particularly the unison singing at end of "i'm gone"!), & all i can think of as i listen is warmth, friendship, smiles, affection, happiness, romance, travel, cool music, love... dang!
cat just jumped on the keyboard! "kitten on the keys"! :) she's reminding me to stop being mushy, maybe...
fabi dean's right that it'd be better to be at mardi gras today, but, as we discussed yesterday at breakfast at affordable, delicious cafe casse croute, it's great to be anyplace...
yes, we're not pushing up daisies... surely that's something to be happy about!
a smile on this mug, i wish you a lovely day. :) :) :)

Experiment

blogging from iPod. Slow. Cumbersome. Dificil. But want to write so I may remember some pts of my life plus maybe tell others of fun experiences shared or to try... And am too full & lazy to get off this heater-side rocker & walk over to the computer sitting in the cold dining rm... This wkend at last sec was sposed to be spiritual retreat, but got up too late at hostel, so instead spent day in sta monica. Ate lotsa tasty food: hamburger night at the hostel, norm's, izzy's (matzo ball soup, latkes w sour cream & applesauce, rye bread that went wow in your mouth), rode beach cruisers from sm to marina del rey, plus thru the big crowded colorful mess of Venice beach. Never have ridden a beach cruiser bike: it is effortlessly comfortable, feeling like sailing; smoothly gliding thru cool marine air was lovely & dreamy. Another experience that was amazing was boogie-boarding; I was so pleased to find myself able to plunge right into the cold surf (helped by the cold showers I now take; read about them in bk "secrets of ppl who never get sick") & wade way out, freezing but exhilarated, & feel so strong, happy, clean, free, & like flying, riding the wave... I guess surfers don't think much of boogie-boarders in general, but what do I care? Can't believe how much I love it. I mean, I'm a lion(ess): we like sun and earth; I am normally water-averse. But this sport, if you can call it that, is instantly doable, like running or playing piano or singing: no fancy equipment, no reeds, no rules, no embouchure needed: just find a wave, catch it & sail sail sail... Also this wkend, started watching the tv show treme, set in the Nola neighborhood right after Katrina. It's terrific: John goodman, Melissa leo, a bunch of actor-musicians as well as real musicians like Kermit ruffins and Alan toussaint... It's the only show I've seen where most all of the characters are musicians! That alone is interesting... Only downfall is Steve zant, who plays a very ugly whiny know-it-all of a type I've known & find particularly odious... Today, cattie ness & the revenge showed up here on the mountain & we ate pizza, cookies, salami cheese French bread, drank soda & coffee, & played played played music til the sun went down in prep for show next fri opening for big sandy in Fresno. After they all hit the road, I played piano for quite a while longer, & looks like now it's getting time to wind down on this cold but cozy evening & once again give thanks for a head perhaps in the clouds, but feet on ground, w/the remembrance to not borrow trouble, but instead be grateful for breath, shelter, food, rest, & those other essentials: prayer/meditation, music, love -- personified in earth's humanity as well as its flora & fauna... I'd insert here a quote from Thich nhat hanh, but am still too full to get up & find the poem a friend read to me, so instead will sign off to pick up the roku clicker & watch the munsters, I think... To reference rumi, may we all treat every guest to the house of our soul as welcomed, bringing gifts & lessons, always remembering that each guest is only temporary...

yurt, dome, or yome? & "you gotta dig a little deeper": the best movie in town's at the dollar theatre

have caught on fire w/house-hunting mania (quietly, tremblingly so, from my computer here)... what variety of properties the mtns have! have put 2 bids in in last 2 days... we'll see! meanwhile, for the property i hope to get, shall i add to it a yurt, dome, or yome? google these terms together, & fascinating sites on alternative dwellings come up... next, here are pix from my favorite movie of late. a magical valentine to nola rather than a glossing-over of jim crow & the plantation era, as have heard it described, it has wonderful vernacular joyful songs, inspired voice acting, beautiful color & animation, lovable characters, & of course, all set in new orleans, so the enamored & noble little firefly speaks gentle mumbly-mouthed cajun; the villain is basso purple-clad voodoo bad (his human disneyland imitators resemble esquerita or screamin jay, & how cool is that?); the gigantically happy bashful sidekick gator blows horn & is named after jordan, armstrong, or prima, take your pick; & the rescuer is a toe-cracking, cackling, gospel-singing little blind hoodoo lady named mama odie. the princess & the frog plays now in bakersfield at the dollar theatre - go see it, if you haven't! "dreams do come true in new orleans"... the city is pure enchantment, despite hardships; this movie celebrates that & i believe aids in the ongoing rebuild of the crescent city's spirit, as did the recent victory of the saints... hope you'll see it, or already have. :)

life goes on without me

- to quote louis prima, my future ex-husband in my next life... the consequent lyric in that wonderful tune doesn't apply much to me cause tho i sometimes have that feeling that "i ain't got nobody, nobody cares for me," i know it's just the shyster between my ears letting itself be heard like it sometimes does, the bugger.
- this summer's felt in a way like crunch time thru & thru: 1st moving, w/all the accompanying strife & slipping out of town semi-frequently to try to avoid heartache; then the extra work week; then the hoop-jumping teacher class; then the trip of a lifetime; then my sobriety bd (friends! cake! love! thank you, dear jani, dan m, sally c, & all others who wished me well!); then trying to pass my library class (put in an 11-hour work day to finish the final assignment the other day) while cousin & brood & all these family members visited; then band practices; then uncle henry's funeral w/full military honors (b showed up, sincere & responsible, because uncle henry was his friend, & w/water for the old people, & tho i was grateful he was there, it made it much sadder)... only now, after today's gig, do i feel like i can start relaxing, tho tomorrow i take my cousin to the airport up north.
but today's gig! what fun! drummer jim hit most spots right, & he's developed the "push" i like to hear, the oomph, the torque (as brian p used to say) a good song needs. philbert & mark were duded up, friendly, funny, & played really great! as we were trying to get the sound dialed in, we bantered w/each other like we do & the girl announcer said, "yes, ladies & gentlemen, you probably didn't know the dusk devils are a comedy act, too..." we started the 1st song & the piano glopped from the monitors like pure mud, like the bottom of a bathtub, only discernible when i moved above middle C. still, i could hear my vocals & the others, so as is so often the case, pushed on thru! dedicated one to uncle henry, kids danced, people clapped & cheered (& left their relay laps to sit down & listen!)... overall, i think this was the best relay for life gig i've gotten to do. not bad!... afterward, we all drove back to bako, the dusk devils comedy show, til mark started nodding off. then we got fish & chips at the bowling alley & came back to my house to unload & watch pt of faster pussycat kill! kill! while waiting for mark's 2nd gig that night. when we found out it was cancelled, everyone went home & now here i sit, feeling thankful to get to play music w/such swell friends. i feel pretty calm & happy, not wired & weird, like sometimes happens, so believe it'll be mimis time here shortly. life is good, in my clean little house w/my new yamaha clavinova peeking at me from the living rm. (know will have to go play it for a while before turning in.).
besides scoring that great piano (from salvation army! 250 bucks!!), the most exciting music event for me recently was seeing the preservation hall jazz band in fresno. mom & dad took me for my birthday & w/the 1st notes, tears jumped from my eyes & my throat swelled w/happiness: if you've been there, instantly you were transported back to the big easy, filled w/such a longing to be there again RIGHT NOW, but that would mean missing the romance of that lovely music, the loose dixieland bluesy-woozy feel, the exquisite camaraderie & friendly repartee, the warmth & generosity the band radiated to the audience... i bought every bit of swag they had & then at the end of the 2nd act, they did 2 amazing things: one was a 2nd-line around the tower theatre's perimeter, band leading audience, on "when the sts go marching in;" then a finale in which the band caravanned up the aisles & out the door, playing the whole way the rhumba-clave "el manicero," & drew the audience out to the foyer where all grouped around as the musicians continued playing out on the street, just like they would in nola, & then they concluded & the audience cheered in the happiest union of audience/performers i've seen in some time. all the way home, dad, mom, & i yakked a mile a minute, so swelled up w/love & music & gratitude to have been together to see such a great new orleans institution... if you get any chance to go, don't miss the preservation hall jazz band!!! http://www.preservationhall.com/ choko mo feel no hey, and bonne nuit, baby!!

mom & dad likely wouldn't much like the first flyer...

... but here it is, with another cool one from r&r pizza. :) we're on at thunder run at 1 pm, at r&r pizza at 9... in between, i'm gonna go on a long train trip to texas & to new orleans. have waited my whole adult life to see NOLA. i'm finally gonna do it. love & happiness & peace of mind to all who read this...

swing it

this is incredibly wonderful :)... wait for the duo between louis prima & pee wee russell... & who is that on piano? the guy's really getting a workout. imagine playing like this! even watching it: what joy! imcomparabile! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBYC3gEnZs

so long, don't know where i'm going, but so long

So long, don't where I'm going
But so long, you know you done me wrong
So long, because I know I'm not the one

Goodbye, please tell me why
Goodbye, you always make me cry
Oh why, why are you never satisfied

So long, I'm all packed up and on my way
So long, you'll need me some ol' sunny day
So long, yes I'm, I'm going to stay



http://www.tous-arts.net/fats7.html <- here's a "newer" version of this song, with its so-sad, so simple, so beautiful solo, not ruined by even one wheedle-wheedle of show-off guitar -- i think it's just perfect, the aural equivalent of a huge shuddering cry, like the end of that saul bellow novella i mentioned below... these kinds of songs aren't knock-offs or throw-aways or "simple" to me at all. they're all heart & soul sincerity, & give me hope & make me want to live & love another day.

do you know what it means to miss new orleans?

my folks took me tonight to see harry connick, jr. they saw him pre-katrina, when he put on a rambunctious show, it sounded like, encoring with a foot-&-hand-stomping rollicking junker blues. they vowed they'd take me next time he rolled thru town, so they did! :) this show, they said, was more staid, w/lots of abstract jazz & loud brass, which to my ear, esp in the bouncing acoustics of the rabobank, was too discordant. (i'm a sucker for 1-4-5s w/heavy backbeat & bright chords.) also, connick's grand piano wasn't miked high enough, from where we sat. but when he brought out his two high school buddies to do more traditional blues-dixieland-rhumba influenced music, the show started to soar for me: loose & amiable 2nd-line style dancing & satchmo-like singing between wawas & toots from trombone & trumpet, harry switching between grand, spinet, & hammond (doing some cute visual jokes w/the trombone mute & teasing the audience quite a bit). yes, the guy is charmingly handsome, w/an absolutely winning personality onstage: i haven't heard so many females screaming ever in real life! the show ended w/a song by my favorite new orleans musician, professor longhair - "going to the mardi gras."
all in all, it was quite a nice show. harry the heartthrob can really run those keys (he studied under james booker! jiminy! -tho the jazz has taken him over, & i like my rocknroll, but oh well), is an endearing performer, & again will put on a more rollicking show, i think, the further katrina recedes in memory. there was a tinge of melancholy to tonight's performance (concert proceeds going to rebuilding new orleans), especially evident when he ended the show w/"do you know what it means to miss new orleans?" he must've sang that one a lot to not cry or get choked up, esp when his hometown, by his own report, is still ravaged - "it's even worse than you can picture"... THIS IS A COOL WEBSITE! The History of Boogie-Woogie -> http://nonjohn.com/History%20of%20Boogie%20Woogie.htm ... good night, everyone! :)

upcoming shows you gotta gotta goada

if you can get there, that is... i'm a-goin. just gotta. life's too short not to.
-> THE PONDEROSA STOMP, house of blues, new orleans, LA www.ponderosastomp.com
-> ROCKIN'50s III, oneida, green bay, WI www.http://www.actionpackedevents.com/Oneida%20Fest%202007.htm (pix from Rockin'50s I, Spring 2002)