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well, gosh dang it, none of the photos would upload, with the descriptions below, but here they are separate!

give me one hand loose & i'll be satisfied...

this summer i've heard some good music, but yesterday was tops!! if there's no fan club for bloodshot bill, there should be!! little pedro's downtown LA was nearly EMPTY when this fabulous talent & the formidable ghostwriter (from austin) did their afternoon show... it sure didn't help that it was 110 degrees plus in LA... i stayed with my dear friend in laverne, & when i left today to head back to the barn said, "i'm goin home to bakersfield where it's COOL!!!" (it's only been 108 here...) hotter in smellay than backwardsfield: if this ain't the end of the world, i don't know what is... or maybe i'm talking dumb due to dehydration. anyway, these shots are funny because vanessa & richard (friendly folks i'd just met) (he brother of mummies/phantom surfers/etc. russell kwan) kept saying stuff like, "look intimate! sit closer! look like you're into each other!" when i'd never even met bbill (photos by vanessa reynoso) ... then this nice young man got onstage, and, using just his voice, a beat-up old guitar, a snare, & a PLASTIC bar trashcan for his bass drum, turned into this wildman one man band! playing, stomping, spitting, squealing, hiccuping, wailing his heart out to about six of us, a small but very appreciative audience... i probably scared him with my enthusiasm afterward, but i haven't seen such a fevered rock&roll performance since the first time i saw the blasters or the cramps!! and this was just one skinny, sweating young fellow. the first song he said, "this one's fer you, jenny, it's buck owens," & i couldn't tell you what song it was, but buck never sounded so wild! then about 30 mins in, he started asking for requests, & i yelled "that certain female" & "one hand loose," which he winged quite impressively... it was the closest a person could've gotten to hearing charlie feathers on this earth, with the maniacal energy of hasil adkins: magical... (www.bloodshotbill.com or www.myspace.com/bloodshotbill ) ... the other shots are from the talented local artist lysa luna, who is creating a gothish tarot deck... i was happy that she wanted me to be the star, which is symbolic of the future & hope & harmony... lysa uses her human models as the foundation for her work, as you can see... in one shot i'm enlongated, in the other, a bit compressed. thank you again, lysa, for letting me be part of your art! you can see lysa's dark & lovely work at www.myspace.com/lysaluna

bloodshot bill lived on a hill never worked & he never will... oops: wrong bill

bloodshot bill, the maniac canadian one-man-band reincarnation lovechild of hasil adkins & charlie feathers (the hyperbole is appropriate for bill's wild style) will play in socal saturday, 4 pm, at little pedro's, 901 e. 1st st, los angeles, and 11 pm at the doll hut, 107 s. adams, anaheim. i want to go!!!!! this guy knows how to keep it simple and plays exhilarating, raging, gutbucket R&R.

boomchickaboomchickaboomchickacheek musicwriting soothes the savage beast

one of my heroes phil alvin told me one time (an interview: an hour 45 mins via phone & i think i got in four words!!!), "to be part of the river that is music, you have to enter it." so profound! probably especially due to the sonorous, pontificating manner in which he spake it: i almost expected to hear the vesper ring out in that great moment.
but i forget that i can participate in & produce, be part of the inventive activities that make Life a thrill... i think i'm just a spectator, an everything manque, & that last statement's true, but that doesn't mean i can't incubate & actualize, too... we hacks, we salieris, we live, breathe, produce, too!
brian hubby started the engine; he was the catalyst: "stop complaining and do something!!" he told me many years ago when i was grousing about lack of happening CULTure around here... & so now & then i remember his advice & i jump to it again.
we've as a band been playing these fantastic cover tunes for 3-4 years now, great ones by the blasters (phil's band, you know, with most songs penned by bro david 25+ yrs ago), hank ballard, johnny cash, wanda jackson, the hollywood flames, robbie fulks, etc. the songs are fantastic! but then folks say, you can only go so far as a cover band; your options are limited... brian p thinks NO ONE knows these songs in our repertoire, & he will probably read this, so i'll just say, respectfully, & once again, buddy, YOU'RE WRONG!!!! these songs we do are cherished & well-known/-worn ones within a certain musical genre & among its aficionados/ fetishists/ dictators. we certainly couldn't bluff our way into SXSW by submitting as "our song" "riot in cell block no. 9" (speaking from experience here... eek...)
... so i've been in a bit of a pickle lately cause i've been convinced for some time, why add songs to the billions out there when i've nothing to say? all the stories have been told; all the good songs have been written. but now i am realizing more and more, sticking to our repertoire of well-loved oldies limits our possibilities. and my earlier thinking was just a cop-out so that i wouldn't have to try. (that's actually the most important realization!) boo, hiss! i've been a lazy little cheese.
then the clincher: in a recent conversation about "the biz" & exploitation LPs of the 60s, a wise friend told me, "there's nothin' wrong with writin' one-offs. everybody else is doin' it." wow! everyone else is doing it; therefore, i can do it, too. why not??? what makes me so special that i have to judge & thwart my abilities & separate from the herd to the degree that i accomplish nothing in the end???
five-six years ago i was writing songs like a little demon, anyway, without such stultifying self-consciousness, because i was driven suddenly. it's like the switch was flipped & the songs started rolling out. en spiritus, you know? what an exciting time, only rivaled when i published a local underground rag for 3 years... creative toil, ink on hands, blisters on fingers, sweat on brow, pulse fevered, mind dancing with rhymes, rhythms, couplets, melodies, the excitement of productivity & finding just the right word or note!
i had this little four track & i was my own one woman ultra-low-rent brill building, locked in the parlor of our old house for 6-8 hours each night after work. i must've written 150 songs!!! yes, most of it was crap, but here & there i uncovered a tiny gem, a diamond in the rough (apologies for all the cliches, but this ain't no pulitzer, yknow, not even purple prose...)
well, then some a**hole broke into the house & stole all my little recording gear (twice). it really wrecked me. i felt like god was saying, "it's time to stop." they stole my new guitar, too, which i'd got as a gift so that i could play all the (rough) musical parts on all the songs. (bass isn't so bad, but the demon guitar, with its non-linear, insane mad-math structure... well, i rationalized that god did not wish for me to play guitar, either... )
but now i'm back at the songwriting trough, because to be part of the stream of music, you have to enter it, & there's nothing wrong with writing one-offs cause everyone's doing it, so the songs are falling from my brain again & it's bliss. it helps (???) that i've been going through some physical & much self-inflicted mental & spiritual torture: i don't act much out of my comfort zone unless i'm in some kind of pain, lazy consumer that i am... the kick is, some of the songs don't even sound like knock-offs!!! the best ones are like hillbilly opera, though i'm neither hillbilly or operatic, but i did used to love & work for some hillbillyish people & my boyfriend liked to sing roy orbison, & orbison was called the "caruso of pop," so maybe that's it.... or maybe i just type too dang fast & who cares??
maybe someday someone will hear my songs. this guy in florida, johnny fire, recorded one from the old days ("my heart remembers when"). what a thrill to hear someone else's interpretation! (it sounded kinda like "see you on the other side" by australian 80s newwaveabilly brian briggs.) brian p's been nice enough to record some of my songs with me & his creative input is making them really pop with possibility.
today, i birthed two more. plop!
aahh... music. without music, life would be an error... i didn't write that; i knocked it off. :)
ad astra, ad infinitum, ad maiorem Dei gloriam

appropriate use of explosives

happy independence day to all

POST No. 100: THE GREATEST COMIC EVER!!!!

i found him online!!!! the greatest comic book character ever!! (well, except for 10 others, but at this moment this seems like it was my favorite ever because i could NEVER FIND this comic)... when i used to pinch mad, tomb of dracula, love and rockets, howard the duck, mister x, american flagg!, & superman (this was eons ago, if any students are reading, and i got caught one time & it was QUITE HUMILIATING), i would PAY FOR reid fleming, since it seemed so special to just be able to get my hands on one. here's the website: www.reidfleming.com

it's the greatest sound, right from the u.s.a.... & the rest of the world, too, you know... :)

here are some ron jones band pix from the show saturday... just got to do something else fun, a "visiting artist" gig for the Arts Council of Kern (http://community.kern.org/artscouncil/ - currently showing an awesome collage exhibit by william lichtfield!!). thank you, david nigel lloyd, for considering me! so this week i go to outlying communities around kern county & teach migrant farm workers' kids about american rock & roll! i was reluctant to do it at first since i believe i'm an entertainer, a hack, a "just do it," throw it in the pot & lets see what comes out type, certainly not an artist... but troubadour dnl, who schedules these things, convinced me i'm a "workingman" kind of artist, and well, i certainly liked the sound of that. also, the purpose of this program is quite appealing: to show children they can do more with their lives than work the fields; that their lives have possibilities. :) who could say no after hearing that?? ... it was a positive experience. i miss these kinds of kids; they were quite polite, sweet, & loving. my little keyboard & i (no mikes; i could become a shout singer, if this keeps up!) hacked out "la bamba," "hound dog," "go, johnny, go," "tutti frutti," & more as the kids sang along. they got to practice funny singing - mooing, mewing, barking, yipping, growling, all the sounds that loosen up the throat & the sense of seriousness that can bog down the music... mature & collected young ursula lloyd is my "assistant" this week, & she was so much help; afterward we got boba & drove around the old parts of town a bit. another amazing day, when, i must remember, i really should be taking a dirt nap. this dispatch concludes with a pic of the happy paxtons. :)

those were people who died, died, they were all my friends... and they died

that's an awesome jim carroll band song i can't listen to because i get this lump in my throat when it's on & it becomes impossible to swallow... today in the obituaries, there he was, another friend, someone from meetings who used to ride his bike by our house on his way to work, used to read out of the big book with us all, a stout, friendly, early 40s fellow with curly dark hair & olive complexion, an addict who didn't stay clean & sober, and now he's gone, gone, gone. my experience in 10 years, 357 days has been that most people in our condition, allergic to the poisonous stuff that other people can put down when they "start to feel it," are unable to put it down, think they can control their usage, and then it's "jails, institutions, and death." rest in peace, V. :(

like sands through the hour glass...plus my face for the world to...[fill in the blank]

well, today's long beach adventure (ink & iron show at the queen mary) went fairly well all things considered, i'd say. thank you to cesareo for playing with us. pac west/brent m did sound - great job! we kept the songs rolling well enough that i didn't have to "tell my joke" (i have one little joke that i tell when brian starts futzing or we stop playing for too long... so i said, "i'm gonna tell my joke," and he said "AWWW, naw you don't," & launched into the next tune. it worked!) big crowd, lots of tattoos, people moving to the music though they didn't much come up to the stage, cute girls dancing had us sign drumsticks, nice green room (though the energy drinks were gone by the time i wanted to drink one), nice crew and promoter (trac edwards), lots of motorcycles & hot rods, a more varied sellers hall than at, say, a straight biker run (counterculture stuff from rue morgue mag to tattoos to vintage clothing, though i was sad no hollywood book and poster...). the queen mary is quite a dinghy; if you like art deco, you should go down there and check it out... the breezes on deck were a quenching respite. today in bakingfield, it was 112 degrees! it was a nice ride home with the paxtons & jones of atlanta, but when i got here & loaded the day's pix, i was horrified to discover i'd committed Yet Another Wardrobe Felony. what's new! feliz domingo a todos & if you live here in "bakerssippi," as i heard it called recently, well, try not to keel over from the heat.

Sat @ Queen Mary, Long Beach (details below)

Sat at Long Beach Tat Fest, Double-D's feature el bombero fabuloco, the one & only C. Gar :)

SAT June, 25 2006 at Long Beach Tattoo Convention
The Queen Mary, 1126 Queen Hwy, Long Beach, CA, 90812
Cost: $20 adv. / $25 door
Set Time 4:45-5:30
w/ Charley Horse, Cadillac Tramps, James Intveldt, Manic Hispanic, Jake LaBotz, Cacti Widders, Danny Dean & the Homewreckers, Hayride to Hell, Yard Dog Road Show, Los Creepers, & more... Deals on rooms start at $135.
www.electricinkpromotions.com/HTML/LB/09-LBT-Schedule.html
That same weekend at the Queen Mary is the Long Beach Bayou Festival, as well!!!!!!! The music'll be stomping and a hopping and a dancing... and it'll be just the place to get drunk and tattooed, if that's your thing. :) ... We're fortunate to have Mento Buru's & Moonshine Deathbed's Cesareo Garaza on drums for this show, so you won't wanna miss it, if you can make it!

marlo venus was a beautiful lass she had the world in the palm of her hand she lost both her arms in a wrestlingmatch to meet a browneyed handsome man

... or blue eyed... or hazel eyed... or fill in the blank eyed... say, where are my arms?
everyone says it better than i can...
"if it's got more than three chords, it's jazz" (lou reed)...
"if ya ain't got it in ya, ya can't blow it out" (louis armstrong)...
"we are all of us living in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" (oscar wilde)

i've been everywhere, man, i've been everywhere

i ain't been home in 11 days. first was a stay with dear friends in encinitas/carlsbad, sleepy and sea-friendly, next to salton sea, desolate and rankly romantic, then to desert hot springs, calming and 50s resort-style rejuvenating, then to hollywood, busy and glittery and invigorating... next i got on the plane for the lone star state to stay with my dear cousin and her nice little family in granbury... texans aren't like californians: they are unequivocably dang proud to be texans. i sure do envy such certainty. LA people have freeway maps imprinted in their brains; texans have farm and county roads. my cousin, to get her family's supplies and run work errands for hubby, will drive to cleburne, fort worth, weatherford, acton, all over the darn place like it's nothing... texans are like bakersfieldians in being stubborn & bible beltish, but texans are friendlier, or maybe it's me friendlier to them... austin's the best, combining stubbornness/fortitude with open-mindedness, inclusiveness, good health, and respect for american musical tradition like no place else on earth i've been, and there i heard a bunch of dang great music & left a part of me, like i always do, like a kid leaving disneyland or on the day after christmas, a bit heart-broken each time i have to go home, but since i'm grown-up, ready to return to everyday responsibility... tomorrow it's home, me and gus the puppy. eighty bucks it'll cost to take the new pooch home via airplane, but it was that or he was to go off with a stranger, or be offed via rifle shot. he'll leave behind his ranch doggie, goat, and horse brethren here to make his new place in backwardsfield, where he'll be a welcome little brother to roscoe the wonder dog. junior the mammoth and mammothly grouchy cat will not be happy, but he never is. my family thinks if j.r. becomes an indoor-outdoor cat, it might melt some pounds off him. and maybe improve his attitude, too!
can't wait to get home, can't wait to leave. this push & pull in me is familiar, but i'm not unique. there are plenty of us squirrels, wanting to burrow and nest for a bit before venturing out again for more of that happy lonesome feeling going brings. not just in california, "land of fruits and nuts," as bomar calls it - i think it's just human to want to stay and want to go, that yin-yang, tension of life thing. i'm going outside now, to hear one last june bug, cicada, frog and cricket central texas night-time symphony.

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.