red blood, white bone, & a backbeat, you can't lose it

ain't nothin' shakin' but the leaves on the trees... the watermelon's lusciously sweet right now, the evenings are lengthening & hottening, soon it'll be time to go late sleeping & fig rustling, the kiddies & their teachers are about to burst out of school... ahhh, summer, hello there: you're unforgiving, punishing, blazing in these parts, but you've got such allure, still... well, my collage won't upload. the quote on it said, "we're all red blood and white bone underneath" - carl perkins...

His voice could jar a corpse... Life without music ain't life

Bob Dylan wrote "Roy Orbison … kept you on your toes. … [He sang] his compositions in three or four octaves that made you want to drive your car over a cliff. … His voice could jar a corpse..." Phil Alvin says the purpose of music is to "bring forth the collective conscious of those who've come before us," but there's an emotional part, a spiritual part to being filled up with good music... "It's only rock and roll, but I like it, like it, yes, I do..."

video killed the radio star / PRIMITIIIIIVE.. that's how i... live

not me; the words above, of course, are song lyrics!
so here's a link to some music videos i like... http://www.youtube.com/profile_favorites?user=duskdevils&page=1 (parental guidance suggested on a few)

rock hudson didn't deserve what he got.. and there's life in the old gal yet

distressing, depressing, disheartening... got some bad music news (minor compared to so, so much bad news a person could get), so instead of dealing with it, i watched movies. yesterday was "the savage eye" (1960), an early cinema-verite/dramatic fiction about a divorced woman's move from despair to hope, then today, john frankenheimer's "seconds" (1966), involving & shocking. in common: both lonely B&W pix are gorgeously filmed (james wong howe & haskell wexler, respectively) & are about "American hopelessness," the futility of chasing the empty dream of acquisitions bring happiness & desire for outside-in instant personal transformation. blind conformity kills! the first, quite dated in parts, still socks you in the gut with candid footage of sad empty-eyed "real" folks, & lines like "there are two kinds of people in this world: the living and the afraid," & a long scene of church healing with people speaking in tongues, & vintage strippers & queens, but in the end, it has hope-- our gal sees she's united with all in suffering this life & its trials, can have compassion & love for all. but the second,... wow! i felt instant sympathy for its sadsack protagonist (1st played by john randolph, then rock hudson, both with mournful, soulful eyes). he makes a faustian deal to change his identity/face/ life (that action film "face off" ripped that part from this flick & from the french "eyes w/o a face"), but even becoming gorgeous & loveable rock hudson doesn't make the guy happy, & in the end, he pays big time. the final scene took my breath away -- horrible!! horrible!! -- & now i have to type because i can't sleep, keep thinking of that terrible scene, & poor rock hudson, & all the people who try to fit in (like he did in real life) & end up lost, & on and on.......... expectations can kill one's soul: "if only i could be/have/do [fill in the blank], THEN i will be happy" or "if only [he/she/it] would be/have/do [fill in the blank], THEN everything will be ok..." or "if i do [fill in the blank], i will receive [fill in the blank]." oscar wilde said, "a man who does not think for himself does not think at all." the opposite of bravery isn't cowardice, it's conformity!! add to that action with expectations & you have one sad, angry, disappointed human. as spake the oracle at delphi, "to thine own self be true..." & as spake the cramps, "stay sick, turn blue..." that rhymed, which is why i put it there... as if anyone is reading, or gives a care... yes, virginia, life can be unfair... i don't know how to end this, so beware... each line stinks worse than its pred-e-sair...

you're a dirty robber, i said you're a dirty robber... well, you take my love, & then you run away

tonight at the speaker mtg, something wild happened - the mild-seeming, sort of casper milquetoast-looking speaker said he used to go to wailers shows in wash state... no, people, not the bob marley wailers, but the tacoma 60s garage-punk R&R band, the howling vocals, slamming piano, saxes, & guitars akin to the sonics & the mummies (all recorded "dirty robber," for instance)... it was like hearing your grandma say she used to party with jerry lee lewis!!! here's a wailers snippet (go down to "dirty robber"): http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3896076 ; sonics version: http://www.101cd.com/detail.aspx?productid=56493 ; the mummies (go down a ways) http://www.101cd.com/detail.aspx?productid=56493/detail.aspx?productid=56493 ... these bands were/are rough, wild, alive, with production/studio quality/all that talk that makes me crazy second to the rock & roll... when you're in my (non)league of musicality, who cares what mike or monitor or whatever is used??? who cares what clothes you have on, or what you're "supposed" to play? (like phil alvin said, "i ain't never been nothing you call 'billy'!") you just want to wail... & there you go: there's the band's name... on topic of practiced players who don't need perfect gear to put on a dang good show, the other day at school we had a swell cinco de mayo assembly with local legends mento buru. the school orchestra played a few tunes & i plunked away on accompaniment at request of our upright music teacher (who can blow mean sax). on the mexican hat dance, each time we'd all chime in instrumentally on the "clap-clap" part, i'd hear los mentos over there, giggling... then matt was nice enough to read aloud with me "the story of cinco de mayo" so we'd have an educational excuse for it all, then the band began to wail, using our cruddy school PA (set up time for entire band: 15 minutes)... & it worked just fine!! the kids went nuts, whooping wildly; a high chorus of kiddie cheers erupted at the end of song one, & matt said, smiling widely, "that's the best applause we've ever gotten, kids!" near the end, i found out one of our teachers used to own a dance studio, so my god! why was she sitting? i asked her to go up & dance with a few of the kids, then a few more little hams ran out there & started shaking their stuff... it was wonderful! ......... i wish all local bands were as soulfully cheerful & rocking as mento buru, but i do remember My Teens & Twenties, when life was dark, dark, dark & verrrrrrrrrrry serious... well, my experience is, the teens & 20s must be endured... then life gets fun. :) ............a show i DO VERY MUCH want to see is this guy, playing at gigantic vintage on may 18: www.myspace.com/duckmandu ... an accordion punk rock one man band!!!! of course, on the same blasted night, my friend greg goodsell opens a poetry event. here in backwardsfield, CULTurally, it never rains, but when it does, it pours. i would like to reiterate:
it never ever, ever, ever rains here. but when it does, it pours.
my favorites tonight: 1) jogging til i'm lit with endorphins & yet feel like i have rigor mortis; 2) oatmeal with peanut butter, salt, & cinnamon; 3) mordantly witty, romantically violent song titles like your pretty face is going to hell (the stooges) & the world's a mess it's in my kiss (x); 4) limewire; 5) ricardo's coffee at tonight's meeting (it's ALWAYS horrible at drunk meetings, & this was a happy exception!); 6) orson welles' touch of evil, which i'm about to go watch for the 20th time or so ("the sleaziest good movie ever made" "a masterpiece of bad juju" http://www.austinchronicle.com/gbase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3a142768 ) ... happy mothers' day to all mamas... i hope everyone's mama is as smart & wonderful as mine & angie's is... in fact, it's funny - the older i get, the smarter my folks get.

great guns... eric's dusk devils pix from sat's show

just a hunka-hunka-burnin' love

...our friend woody told us elvis didn't like that song. woody used to go out with elvis's ex, linda, & she told him it was so. "burning love"'s in our repertoire now, & i guess i could see why elvis didn't like it, his personality being so much part of american myth & culture now that we (well, i) can feel we (i) know the king well enough to guess his inner workings... gorgeous, hammy, gifted elvis was still shy & pious in his way, & maybe didn't like the song's boastful conceit, one that goes back to john donne, an ecstatic prayer about sexual fireworks... we just had our benefit show & the band actually matched! everyone showed up in white, black, & red... we actually looked like a cohesive unit, i thought. more importantly, we played well. i think coming in "uniformly" started things off right! people walking their cancer laps came bopping & hopping & dancing by as we hammered & slashed away. i saw lots of smiling faces, some what-the-eff looks, but overwhelmingly it was a good good thing. in the distant crowd i spied our first drummer, handsome mark, grinning away, & he's not one to blow smoke up your skirt, so i figured we sounded just fine. at the end of burning love, my mom smiled & my shy dad gave a big thumbs up, so then i sang him happy birthday & my dad, 65 tomorrow, hopped up & down with happiness. that alone would've made the whole thing for me! eric snapped pictures, the excellent soundman gave me a congratulatory hug, i got to ask downtown school parent jim scott (tv talking head) if he'd named his son after rockabilly singer jack scott (i've been wanting to ask him since i first saw the child. jim said no, but in that context, it was welcome news for him. maybe little jack'll turn out to be an american-music freak someday now!), brian p dedicated a tune to his granddaughter, who was sacked out on lisa's shoulder, i played through the tough part on roll 'em pete so that we could end the set with a resoundingly successful crash, then my brian whisked tired-looking sean to the free hamburger tent so he could get some nourishment... the coming down after the show part's always tough, so it's good this was a day-timer -- so hard to come home in the wee hours of morn with head a-buzz with music & monitors & drunks & chatter & blurry smiling faces & cheers and... and... then the house is quiet & dark & still, and what to do, what to do? so this is good. :) ... today i recommend the video "the blues vol. 7: piano blues." i got it off greencine (alternative netflicks), am only halfway through the show, but already they've shown cleo brown, dorothy donegan, art tatum (amazing!), ray charles, doctor john, marcia ball, the wonderful wonderful fats domino and .... MY FAVORITE!!!!... professor longhair. fess talks about rolling junk pianos off the new orleans streets & into the house & in that way learning to fix them... he'd take a hammer off this one, a string off that one, & make one working beast. talk about low-tech and D.I.Y.! then he played and sang "tipitina," distorting the mike as he howled, and it was a died-and-gone-to-heaven thing. :) hubby brian's in the garage with his beloved motorcycle(s) & dog, the chicago blues section of the video awaits me, tonight we have basque feast in celebration of papa's 65th, & so it's another good day in backwardsfield paradise, & i hope it is for you, as well, kind reader.

DUSKDEVILS/at/RELAYFORLIFE/csub/SAT/onepm

i was digging through old band pix & found this one... we used to play these street fairs downtown, which the city insanely holds in the middle of summer, so we're melting here, brian and i, with our first drummer mark in the background... then here's heidi & lisa from when we played relay for life few yrs back... the heavens erupted & dumped great waves upon the stage as a gigantic wind came up & i was forced to duct tape my skirt down... we played through, wondering if we'd be electrocuted, & when the set ended, the grand old sun reappeared warmly & i thought, "well, of course," & we snapped this picture... more details on this saturday's benefit set are below... it's free, so hope all will come on out. :)

aaazzzzmmmmmaaaaaaaaa... cough! cough! hack!

gasp gasp gasp... today i feel like a fish that has flipped out of her bowl... i've found much breathing relief not from constant allergy shots, not from advair inhaler, not from prednisone & other drug regimens, but from NAET - nambudripad allergy elimination treatment. i see bridget bonnet at victorian chiropractic in downtown bakersfield (661-325-NECK); she does this strange but effective treatment on me & now i am so much better. knock wood. i sure hope i can get in to see her soon. spring has sprung here in bako: the sun is beaming, the mercury's up 20 degrees from last week, the breeze is blowing, the trees & blossoms are sprouting & popping & pollinating everywhere. with this plus the announcement last week that bakersfield has the Nation's Worst Air Quality, i'm surprised we're not all of us ill or dead from simply trying to respirate. NAET is the program... it works! ...we sing "burning love" as a duet & i wanted these lines: "It’s hard to breath, And my chest is a-heaving, Lord almighty, I’m burning a hole where I lay..." i know the lyrical intent was not to reflect upon asthma, but i relate to it that way. in that moment, the singing allows both illnesses -- bouts of prurient obsession & shortness of breath -- to be allayed. wheeeeeeze.... hobbling off to bed now.

pulling floaters from kern, big show at queen mary (www.electricinkpromotions.com), random blablabla

paste above address into your browser to read about the long beach international tattoo festival (middle flyer), where we'll play sat jun 24, 4:45-5:30 pm... all three events you see on the main page will be concurrent, at the queen mary in long beach... a couple acts look fairly eccentric! ...specifically diablo dimes & yard dogs [sic] road show... others include james intveldt, jake labotz, cadillac tramps, danny dean & the homewreckers, manic hispanic, cacti widders... looks like it'll be a real katy bar the door kinda deal... wish candye kane would be there, but knowing her, she'll probably be belting 'em out someplace in poland or spain or san antone!... i have no tattoos, being just a boring little vanilla female with two earrings & a penchant for excessive makeup... our grandpa worked homicide here in bakersfield & said the only tattoo he'd ever get would be his social security number, right on his shoulder. he was tired of pulling john & jane does out of the kern river & said if anything like that ever happened to him, he'd be quickly IDed with such inkage. practical guy, grandpa phil. i remember him looking like john wayne, but i think lots of people my vintage have that snapshot of their grandpas. i don't think i was so good with resemblances when i was a tot, though. for instance, i used to think muhammed ali & elvis were the same person.... actually, in those days of B&W, mebbe that's not so far off, really: roman profile, good hair, handsome physique, wild garb... back to the tat: i used to say if the fate of the world were in my hands & depended upon the act, i'd get bettie page's face tattooed on my bicep. but nowadays, well, nah, it's ridiculous to bring up to begin with, but no, i wouldn't, so ker-plooey! goodbye, big blue! ....... good thing i'm only a tiny sub-quark of a speck in the grand universe, & therefore my powers end at the tip of my nose.

rollercoaster...wheeeeeeeee......

what do you do after being in charge of a great big friendly life-saving heart-warming convention filled with wonderful talented speakers & food & 1000s of cups of coffee & 100s & 100s of smiling friends whom seem to all want to talk to you & ask you questions & compliment & complain to & thank you & life is beautiful & you're dressed to the nines in heels & shiny dresses running around & jabbering & laughing & grinning like a happy goof & then boom, it's over?...... i guess now it's time to deflate, get back to "normal" ... make groceries... watch movies with hubby... play piano... try to catch up on sleep... read email... talk to family & friends... babysit niece (who's hardly a baby anymore) ... ready to go administer standardized tests to 5th graders tomorrow... be grateful for this wonderful, crazy, exciting, quickly-over rollercoaster of a life... be grateful to not be pushing up daisies, like i should be... bomar was elected to be in charge next yr, so soon enough, prep will start again, & thank goodness for such happy responsibility, bringing focus, commitment, opportunities for fun & service to rare-do-wells like us.

The question why there is evil in existence is the same as why there is imperfection... But this is the real question we ought to ask: Is this imperfection the final truth, is evil absolute and ultimate? -RabindranathTagore, poet, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer,Nobel laureate (1861-1941) / Go to wordaday.org/awad for more...

mississippi alligators de espana on dusk devils

if you don't read castilian spanish, try translating this using babelfish (on google or alta vista)... you will get resultados muy interesantes. (babelfish translates literally, word by word, without idioms, turns of phrases, multiple meanings interpreted.) gracias, looke. we need good news these days, and a constant supply of good musica con raices, too, quaffing it in like air. http://audio.ya.com/bluespain/cleftblues.htm

ddevils play relayforlife sat may 6

details are here: http://www.bakotopia.com/home/viewevent.php?cat_id=35&post=14040 ... if the link doesn't work, go to www.bakotopia.com and search for "dusk devils"... this is a good day to be alive, friends. i hope that, like me, you can be grateful for it. i have gotten 10.75 extra years, and for that i am quite fortunate.

a permanent solution to a temporary problem :(

some periods in my younger life seemed so dark, i thought there was no way out, but for whatever reason, i am still here, lived through the bleak times, & (i think) grew as a result. i know now how many loved ones would have suffered, really suffered, if i'd taken the other route. our dear friend in texas, whom we hoped against hope we'd see again someday, decided saturday to end it. she was alone & in pain & if only, if only we could have told her how much we loved her. it probably wouldn't have made any difference, & it's probably just selfishness on my part that makes me want to have had that opportunity, but we missed her so much already! .... she had the brightest smile & the biggest heart imaginable. anybody who didn't love her, well, i don't want to know you; you are cold-hearted & have nothing i want or need. she was a long-legged, big-grinning, sweet, generous, wild, kind, fiesty girl (a woman chronologically, but a spirited girl at heart), the daughter of a texas judge, the one-time sponsor of many desperate women, a speaker of wisdom & compassion, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a die-hard biker gal who rode a red fatboy & turned her own wrenches whenever she could. she just loved men, & men just loved her. women loved & admired her, too (i was most definitely one; she helped me to be happier, more light-hearted, less afraid of life). she loved to buy things for her friends and throw her belongings & purchases all over whatever campground we all were at. i think that's how she made herself at home while on the road. the fellows had started a goofy club called the kehoni bros., so she started her own joke motorcycle gang, the chi-chi sisters. (for instance, i was a member, & i don't ride anything except a bicycle now & then.) she liked to bark dirty, funny jokes in her scratchy texas drawl, chain smoke, laugh at everyone else's jokes, & do an impersonation of an elephant that would make you fall down laughing. she loomed so large in our hearts, it seemed like we'd just seen her yesterday, but it had been three whole years. she was admired & loved by so many and now we'll never see her again. i hope that she'll always remain in her friends' memories, as does her fiancee mike, who died before they could be married. we had so many good times with her, & that's the way we need to remember her, & eventually we'll be able to. goodbye, stacy. we love you and miss you. :(

fleebleglurbleblixblapglurtplootgleep

gee, i'm just not used to this 3 am stuff anymore!!!! my brain today feels like that old video game pong, with the one little ball languidly plopping back and forth.... ploot!..... ploot!... not too many synapses firing right now, but here i go, typing away... anyhow, how was your sat night? mine was really swell. we played sandrini's with fattkatt & ventura's sixgun. i got to wear my continental club austin t-shirt & ridiculous nana elevator cowboy boots, & i always start the evening right when i have a fun outfit like that... music performances ARE called "shows" for a reason!! i think the visuals add so much to the experience, for performer and audience, so let's get dressed up a little!!! of course, flashy duds don't mask lack of musicianship, but i still think (i'm surely deluded) that a lot of heart helps make up for lack of finesse... anyway, i just love when we can make a crowd happy. sometimes i make a monkey out of myself, clowning around for folks, but we had that happy crowd last night, with people coming out on the dance floor, shouting back at us, laughing & cheering. what a kick! ... jeff langston dialed the sound in so well, eric was there to help, & many people showed up for the dusk devils. i don't wanna start listing all who showed up cause then i might leave someone off, but if you were there for us, thanks so much! and thanks, too, to jefe from sandrini's for taking care of us, & to fattkatt (sounding mighty tight, & whatta nice bassman that les fellow is) & sixgun for being there, too. handsome dj bruce wayne told me he sent our songs to his friend mike ness, promoted the show on krab radio, & had told his pals to come out & see us, so a big thanks to him. ..... however, i gotta say, we haven't heard from mike ness yet!!! never say never, i suppose: i imagine he's a little busy and might have more on his mind than the dusk devils... :) "toujour gai," said mehitabel, "there's life in the old gal yet." ....... next show: relay for life, sat may 6, 1 pm at csub here in bakersfield ... come on out & support this important fundraiser, jog or walk some laps, eat, listen to the good time old time primitive rocking country blues & rock & roll music that don't save souls, said the cramps... though i think it does!!!!!!!!

it finally worked!!!!!! oildale boy on owens funeral......... & we're playing tomorrow .... i can't believe the work it took to upload this sucker!!!!

6gun duskdevils fattkatt sat apr 8

6GUN DUSKDEVILS FATTKATT... passing of buck

the cast has changed a bit for the sat april 8 show (details below).. maybe me & fattkatt can sing a duet ("solamente una vez"? "my heart skips a beat"?)... i love singing harmony on those kind of songs. below's a dumb pic of me, a good one of him, from a while back -- one of those "i'll hold the camera, it'll come out ok" things where a person (well, me) comes out looking quite stupid & sappy. que lastima... relatedly, since fattkatt sings all the time over at the crystal palace, my talented little sis just illustrated a book about buck owens (who passed away just this morning... found out just now as i already was typing, in an ironic moment). it's good to see her get some recognition for her hard work... info here: www.bcsd.com. MY FAVORITE 15 BUCK OWENS SONGS: 1) above and beyond, 2) under your spell again, 3) my heart skips a beat, 4) love's gonna live here, 5) hello trouble, 6) loose talk, 7) foolin' around, 8) excuse me (i think i've got a heartache), 9) together again, 10) A-11, 11) second fiddle, 12) i don't care (if the sun don't shine), 13) under the influence of love, 14) don't let her know, 15) act naturally... me & a certain darling from the far past used to drive around & sing & sing those buck & don parts; what a nice memory. i hope this fellow's OK today, with news of mister o's passing...

children of the night... what music they make, yall

here's a collage of pix from a while back of an annual music fest at the live music capital of the world. top row - left, mike stinson, with tony gilkyson on mike's right; mike vernon from 3 balls of fire; redd volkaert & band laying down great honky-tonk music; the spirited & inspiring crooners from brooklyn; middle, me & blasters fan club pres billy davis; sax player for belgium's seat sniffers; wonderful buckwheat zydeco, and below him, part of his band; street scene; bottom, ponderosa stomp truck outside continental club; db harvey & lynda kaye sit in with rosie flores; brass band at new orleans benefit; the continental club at night. the last pic is of me with jerry cole & george tomsco. rockabilly hall of famer jerry was in the original champs & has played with everyone you can think of from the 50s & 60s; george is the "tex-mex fireball" of the original fireballs.