whiteboy james & the blues express with opener jenny & the phantoms

r.i.p., R.S., the cool cat jolly giant of the bass, never a snob, a friend to all. https://www.facebook.com/events/1093262156449798

graaavest gravy, graaavest gravy

because of asthma, and a raucous beginning of school, and my own indolence, and hoodahellnose, i do not yet have a copy of this... and now it's mostly sold out. i am losing my edge. this is what happens. damned gravity. will i again ever be mehitabel-like toujour gai? only the shadows knows. blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla blablabla blablablablablablabla

homelander, love lies bleeding, my life in france, & mo

we have had sad events here (and frightening health issues! do not drink diet sodas, if you have an overactive immune system!), so here are some of my summer obsessions: 1) antony starr as homelander - his mercurially twisted handsomeness & seemingly unstoppable true menace made the boys especially thrilling! since the show ender in june, my obsession has shifted to the tremendous artistry evident in some of the action figure heads of starr. wow! (james sez they are 3d-printed, but didn't someone have to create the designs? maybe it's all ai-generated.) 2) a24's love lies bleeding, which i read in a few reviews to be a "sapphic fever dream" but even more is a quirky, gritty crime caper, a happily-ever-after body horror underdog love story featuring magnetic, kickass, charismatic kristen stewart & katy o'brian! oh how i loved its wonderfully surreal, then morbid, then true-love-affirming ending! 3) julia child's my life in france, so charming, smart, lovely, & chummy, i have to read it in short bites, like nibbling at a delicious dish so that it lasts its longest possible; 4) our new stove, which i got on facebook marketplace, & that fits perfectly, replacing our old scary, vermin-infested oven. after james sealed the mouse highway in the wall, i fashioned a tiny shelf from sheet metal scraps, made a jeweled backsplash from dollar store placemats, filled the cabinet below the stove with all our cast iron cookery, then festooned it all with favorite antiquey tchotches. we now smile every time we walk in the kitchen. turns out james was rather horrified, too, by the old oven.... & now i can cook again without being creeped out!... i don't know what more to write except school's about to start back up, james is getting a new guitar, & boy i hope some music will be crackin soon. i spose in my final school yr, there's always playing & singing daily in the classroom with my 3rd graders. this has been my latest entry, dear diary, & i hope not my last. (ps, i watched an LA band do a truly horrible rendition of the truly horrible -- but fun! -- theme song from faster pussycat kill! kill! the other eve, which led to a documentary in which john waters, great auteur & wit, described FPKK as not only the best movie ever made, but the best movie that probably ever will be made. that certainly deserves an LOL!)

another revolution

so the plan for the next 300 or so days is that i will teach one last yr, playing music here & there, then burst back upon the world of vernacular music like a quazar, back into the rocknroll circus, as my seester calls it, but the question is will it still catch fire like it did? before this chapter, i was free lonesome selfish glamorous, & so many were here who now are not (except in spirit). they were important ones who made life thrilling, people like Manuel & Art, filled up with american music. this chapter's been so long, it took out lux interior, little richard, chuck berry & muhammad ali, & tina turner, lorrie collins, dearest gene, dex romweber, so so many i can't even keep it straight. jimmy carter, apostle of southern goodness. not to mention all the family. i'm here at the coast with family to celebrate mama's bd, mine too today, & just finished a moving book, anachronistic but memorable, the four winds, & guess it's got me thinking. long as i have two hands that still move & a voice & brain that still work i will want to play american music. guess i just hope i've got more than a yr left on this plain/plane to do so. thank you to anyone reading this & to memphis mike out there, too.

you must

get this important book, if you don't already have it. i could hardly put it down!! maila nurmi, as described sensitively & skillfully by her remote but adoring niece, was glamorous, frustrating, tempestuous, wildly innovative, pugnacious. the story ultimately is touching as told by talented niemi: indelibly humane & memorable. orson welles, marlon brando: both were her boyfriends? the streets & insider scenes of hollywood in the '40s & '50s? that's just the start: in between bouts of poverty & deprivation, both self- & other-inflicted, maila's life unfolds, enabling readers to enjoy maximum shivery fly-on-the-wall thrills & chills. willful, eccentric, difficult, she also was stubbornly admirable, gifted, prodigiously creative: a bona fide iconoclast. thank you, phil s, for getting this for james, who lent it to me... & now i'm keeping it! it has a special spot now in my bedroom bookshelf, where the most cherished titles go. sometimes when i'm resting, i look over at those most precious tomes & feel so happy to be alive to have read them... i'm not kidding -- READ THIS BOOK NOW!! (the link is to abe books, but it's also on thrift books & elsewhere online.) i hope sandra niemi, maila's niece, has written more, for she is a certain talent!

almost 59!!

in a few wks i'll be one yr shy of 6 decades. wowza! tomorrow two of my sponsees are taking me to dinner to celebrate my recent sobriety bd. 31 yrs w/o booze & drugs! wowza! this is the first time in the many yrs that i've had sponsees do this. they call themselves "sober sisters" & express to me gratitude & affection. i just adore them both as humans & am so grateful for their thoughtfulness!! we will chat, eat, laugh, & i hope set up a step 4 meeting for us three. i'm on that one too, again!, never-endingly!, since a 12 stepper's work is life-long. always, more layers of the onion must be peeled to ensure continued personal improvement. as they say, "uncover, discover, discard." i do NOT want to remain the person i was yesterday. every day brings a promise of better living, even with certain bumps in the life-road: our credo is to keep trudging (i think of the ancient r.crumb image w/its motto "keep on truckin'"). i bring up yesterday bc many occurrences then (not much other way to put this) SUCKED! however, the sun set & rose, & here we is still... today the worst has been that, while making curry with vegetables, i accidentally dumped a huge portion of chili powder in the mix. the dish now is delicious, but whoa nelly!: taste & swallow with caution! have an inhaler nearby!... here is a pic from the tunnel leading to leo carrillo state beach. carrillo was mythed to be a maternal relative until dad did geneo research & found that to be a grandiose grandpa falsity. on that side, the famous relative is john gavin (of psycho & u.s. politics), apparently reluctant to admit his hispanic heritage when contacted by dad for interview! i spose in his generation & career, non-white blood mebbe was a handicap... (???). this connection pales compared to james (of course), who counts among his several famous relatives bettie page! criminy jeepers!... we had gone on a central coast trip in our "new" (to us) car, silvia cristina murano, the most comfy ride we've together had, starting @ the museum of jurassic technology in sta monica & ending @ the historic sta maria inn. it was a trip of mild pleasures, lovely coastline, & some good good eats... well, just abloggin here, nothing much to say except siesta season has hit frazier mtn: cool morns & eves, warm daytimes. i'm happy to have fans, shade, & lovely places to rest my bones. going to go join the pets & spouse now w/hope of soon & restful sleepytime.

the setup!

the other night in bakersfield , we celebrated pops' day early & i got to do some serious spitballing at the keys, always fun! i sat at my childhood piano, my 1st best friend, & dear sweet thomas, visiting from texas, sang softly and tenderly. james was next, from the sacred to the profane: don't f*** around with love! angie wandered in, & she and james sang some from doctor demento. that inspired me to sing werewolves of london, a true chewing gum & patting your belly drill, each piano hand & the melody pattern contrasting. and so many droll funny lyrics! finally, dad came in for the most fun of all. we'd say, dad what songs do you remember? then we'd go into the coasters, fats domino, jerry lee lewis, etc. dad's eyes shined above the widest smile! he told me, that was something! you've got such exuberance! what lovely words from dear father... since we celebrated early with Dad, james went down south to have official father's day with his son. it's been a long time since he's done that, with his allegiance to my father, james's good buddy. james turns 85 yr young dad into a mischievous teenager. they have so many inside jokes! he is such a big hearted dude, no matter all the nasty s*** that went down in the past & the rumors that still waft like farts through the air here & there, from people who've gone to pot & don't do anything but watch. don't get me wrong: so many good fans and people exist, too!! but the fatheads take up more than their share, always do, all the way up to the white house, so why would a little blues subgroup be any different?... as soon as james left, i got to work cleaning & tossing stuff out, doing more property clearance, rearranging the music room. so happy with my setup! the keyboard lacks the life, resonance, even seeming humanity of a real piano, but it'll do. grateful for another day to live & play! happy pappy's day to you.