when i had my little underground paper here in backwardsfield, jeff b (i think tim rosen was involved, too, at one pt) had a real underground radio station by the above name that ran under the wire & even got raided a few times!! the name's been reincarnated online by whorehay [sp] of the spahn ranch boys, but whorehay only plays roots/punk music (western, rockabilly, boogie, surf, cowpunk, proto rocknroll, garage, the like) - & it being a podcast, the new RFB doesn't have to worry about being busted. jorge is playing the dusk devils on this week's show. check out the old band picture on the link! :) one of the current devils commented, "he must not know how handsomer the band is now" - no offense intended to the old guys, i'm sure! :)
we're on this episode with the mummies AND eddie angel!! wow!!! a big gracias to whorehay!! be good!! :) http://radiofreebakersfield.com/bands.htm
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Monday, September 01, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
yes, this is quite premature...
...but manuel called & really liked the cover i made. so here it is. :) the other guys are john palmer of mac curtis, ronnie dawson, lisa finnie, cadillac angels & more fame, & leo valenzuela (i'm sorry, leo, i can't remember your western swing band's name). like john, leo plays in many bands. but both are very lucky to play with manuel, i think. :) and i shore am, too. :)
this record will not be available til fall. but it will be a fun one, i gear-ron-tee. enough dialect from me. happy eve!!
Friday, August 29, 2008
i'm depraved on account of i'm deprived
just sleep-deprived, that is (name the song & win a prize)... to balance my hypoxic "depravity," here's a nice graphic mark made. i kind of get a kick out of it! 
mark made this unsolicitedly, which is esp nice bc in the old band, i used to have an ongoing fight w/one fellow about this "jenny angel and the..." thing. not that i so much want to be in charge, but it does make it easier. and in 08, w/the rest of the band wanting me to be in charge, we've accomplished a lot i'm happy about!! i know they all are happy, too: there is enough spotlight to go around. it feels right for now, so i'm grateful for each day of it, & for them. :)
i'm just a-riffin' here, since ah'm so tahrd, as a countryboy beau used to say it... made a graphic last wk for manuel's xmas LP, too, but am not posting that here til he gives it or some spin on it the green light... we're gonna practice again next wkend. this wkend, i'm sleeping for THREE DAYS (excepting dd practice & family fiesta, that is)!! :) the HUGE dog & pony show's going on all wkend at safari sam's, set up by dave alvin to benefit musicians' medical coverage, specifically here for candye, drac, & chris gaffney's family. everyone from the knitters to the blasters will play. yes, it'll be rockabilly- roots royalty sat-mon, & for quite a good cause! (tho one that wouldn't be necessary, were the u.s. health system humane.) i've emailed/ talked w/about 10 folks who are going or've mentioned it; it's gonna be so great, what fun, wow! ...but i just can't go. but here's a link to all, so please go for me & tell me about it: www.myspace.com/safarisams ...
the lost rocker al hendrix won't be here after all next wkend, since his wife laraine's recovering from recent surgery. but you can listen to him here: www.myspace.com/alhendrix1 - he's the dusk devils' musical grandpa, the 1st full-on rocknroller from bakersfield!!!! al will have a new cd out soon - he's sending bb & i a copy this wk. :)
a bunch of the dd's ep songs are live on myspace at /b2studio & /markallenpowell as well as /theduskdevils - & the funniest compliment i got was from st rebekka, the beautiful brainy gal i remember from jr high nerd classes (she wasn't a nerd, tho): "i love your growly munchkin voice." :) soon enough the cd will go live on itunes & a bunch of other places, thx to llewop kram. he da best!!! ... every day i drag home from work feeling like my feet are gonna explode: exhausted. i imagine it's just getting- back- to- work fatigue, plus bakingfield 103+ heat. yesterday i musta had 6 cups of joe, trying to get to respiratin'. rick & i caught skip heller's set at narducci's in the eve. it was fun to hang w/rick, tho i couldn't get my peepers opened all the way. skip injected this show w/moments of dry humor. he'd looked over at us, then play something like googoo muck, or mix recognizable melodies into other songs (tho not smarmily, which is something that bothers me at some rockabilly shows. even when being funny, sincerity is key, in my libro). there were some lovely moments, too, in the way skip, drummer dale, & elegant upright bassist paul would lock in. wish phil had been there to watch the lightning fingers, but he's been working long long hrs, too - outside!!! in broiling kern co, that's a brutal mission... after the show, i had to beat it quickly bc of being so tired, but of course, once home, the caffeine hit & i was vibrating off the bed all night long. so i say buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rock tonight, & i say buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rock it right... well, gotta go to the salt mines now. happy weekend to all who read this. :) :) :)
mark made this unsolicitedly, which is esp nice bc in the old band, i used to have an ongoing fight w/one fellow about this "jenny angel and the..." thing. not that i so much want to be in charge, but it does make it easier. and in 08, w/the rest of the band wanting me to be in charge, we've accomplished a lot i'm happy about!! i know they all are happy, too: there is enough spotlight to go around. it feels right for now, so i'm grateful for each day of it, & for them. :)i'm just a-riffin' here, since ah'm so tahrd, as a countryboy beau used to say it... made a graphic last wk for manuel's xmas LP, too, but am not posting that here til he gives it or some spin on it the green light... we're gonna practice again next wkend. this wkend, i'm sleeping for THREE DAYS (excepting dd practice & family fiesta, that is)!! :) the HUGE dog & pony show's going on all wkend at safari sam's, set up by dave alvin to benefit musicians' medical coverage, specifically here for candye, drac, & chris gaffney's family. everyone from the knitters to the blasters will play. yes, it'll be rockabilly- roots royalty sat-mon, & for quite a good cause! (tho one that wouldn't be necessary, were the u.s. health system humane.) i've emailed/ talked w/about 10 folks who are going or've mentioned it; it's gonna be so great, what fun, wow! ...but i just can't go. but here's a link to all, so please go for me & tell me about it: www.myspace.com/safarisams ...
the lost rocker al hendrix won't be here after all next wkend, since his wife laraine's recovering from recent surgery. but you can listen to him here: www.myspace.com/alhendrix1 - he's the dusk devils' musical grandpa, the 1st full-on rocknroller from bakersfield!!!! al will have a new cd out soon - he's sending bb & i a copy this wk. :)
a bunch of the dd's ep songs are live on myspace at /b2studio & /markallenpowell as well as /theduskdevils - & the funniest compliment i got was from st rebekka, the beautiful brainy gal i remember from jr high nerd classes (she wasn't a nerd, tho): "i love your growly munchkin voice." :) soon enough the cd will go live on itunes & a bunch of other places, thx to llewop kram. he da best!!! ... every day i drag home from work feeling like my feet are gonna explode: exhausted. i imagine it's just getting- back- to- work fatigue, plus bakingfield 103+ heat. yesterday i musta had 6 cups of joe, trying to get to respiratin'. rick & i caught skip heller's set at narducci's in the eve. it was fun to hang w/rick, tho i couldn't get my peepers opened all the way. skip injected this show w/moments of dry humor. he'd looked over at us, then play something like googoo muck, or mix recognizable melodies into other songs (tho not smarmily, which is something that bothers me at some rockabilly shows. even when being funny, sincerity is key, in my libro). there were some lovely moments, too, in the way skip, drummer dale, & elegant upright bassist paul would lock in. wish phil had been there to watch the lightning fingers, but he's been working long long hrs, too - outside!!! in broiling kern co, that's a brutal mission... after the show, i had to beat it quickly bc of being so tired, but of course, once home, the caffeine hit & i was vibrating off the bed all night long. so i say buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rock tonight, & i say buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, rock it right... well, gotta go to the salt mines now. happy weekend to all who read this. :) :) :)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
dusk devils downloads available for a short spell
we had a really fun rehearsal tonight (learned THREE songs i've written recently!! & the guys make the songs sound great!!), after b & i spent day visiting cody in smellay (carney's, petersen museum RV exhibit). we dusk devils've got some fun shows coming up, listed above & at bottom of this post. woo-hoo! to all who read this. :) sorta strapped for time lately (to put it mildly), i'm pasting below my blurb from myspace. hope you'll copy/paste & listen to the songs, & that you'll like them!!
-> sharon marie at B2 studios here in bakersfield just put up a song from the EP we recently recorded. it will be available for one week (til next saturday), & here it is (look for "tearin' my hair out' the dusk devils " on the player):
www.myspace.com/b2studio
-> our bass player mark also has some songs on his player. go to www.myspace.com/markallenpowell & look for songs by the dusk devils (mark plays in about 28 bands)... :)
-> if you like the songs, please spread the word. we hope to get everything straightened out & have CDs available w/in the month. we thank you for your kind comments & support, & thank you a bunch. :)
jenny, phil, mark, rick, the dusk devils, www.myspace.com/theduskdevils
upcoming music shows:
sept 27 - b.rider's, 9pm-1am, bakersfield, come down & sit in, have a drink, etc
oct 7 - ronnie mack's barn dance, 8:30, el cid, hollywood, ca
oct 18 - opening for the one & only candye kane, tio leo's, 9 pm, san diego, ca
oct 31 - halloween extravaganza, narducci's, 9 pm, bakersfield, ca
-> sharon marie at B2 studios here in bakersfield just put up a song from the EP we recently recorded. it will be available for one week (til next saturday), & here it is (look for "tearin' my hair out' the dusk devils " on the player):
www.myspace.com/b2studio
-> our bass player mark also has some songs on his player. go to www.myspace.com/markallenpowell & look for songs by the dusk devils (mark plays in about 28 bands)... :)
-> if you like the songs, please spread the word. we hope to get everything straightened out & have CDs available w/in the month. we thank you for your kind comments & support, & thank you a bunch. :)
jenny, phil, mark, rick, the dusk devils, www.myspace.com/theduskdevils
upcoming music shows:
sept 27 - b.rider's, 9pm-1am, bakersfield, come down & sit in, have a drink, etc
oct 7 - ronnie mack's barn dance, 8:30, el cid, hollywood, ca
oct 18 - opening for the one & only candye kane, tio leo's, 9 pm, san diego, ca
oct 31 - halloween extravaganza, narducci's, 9 pm, bakersfield, ca
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
i don't care about history, cause that's not where i wanna be, i just wanna get some kicks, ...
i love that song. i love rocknroll. i love teaching. they seem exclusive sometimes. yes, at times it's hard to be "the man" - that is, the teacher. two days in, & yesterday was quite a looloo. no class list. no classroom key. so of course the class was wild. two of my three classes are intensive (lowest level). the poor dears don't read. some can't, some can't or won't concentrate long enough to try. one group's so loud & "easily distracted" (as is said in eddication), it's lion-taming right now. herding cats, some say. i'm hustling from one room to another to sub for the librarian (job i'm applying for) while trying to on-the-spur mentor the sub who has my class. not sure what materials i can/can't use in the other classroom that is not mine. have to copy 110 5-page tests (pared down from 12). the copier is out of paper. someone wants to talk. why would i say no? the person is nice. a parent wants to talk. we want to talk to parents. always.
all of this is time-consuming. the campus is big. my feet hurt. wah wah wah. teacher comes in & says the kids saw someone messing w/my car... a few hours ago. i go out & see that thieves have removed my catalytic converter. over $1000 to replace. i want to use four-letter words, but i'm a teacher. thank god i'm a teacher.
my folks drive me home. b & dad go get the car, which now sounds like a rocket (a beat-up one). call the insurance. call the repair place. take the thing over. borrow another car for tomorrow. thank goodness for family & support. thank goodness for nice & supportive boss. file police report. go talk to the campus supervisor. two other teachers say they saw someone under my car. i want to sock them both.
many people would be completely ruined by this, dad reminds me. they wouldn't have insurance, be able to afford the repair, get to work, get the kids to daycare. ruined. this would be it for them. no one was hurt, mom says; it's just stuff. who cares in the long run? redistribution of wealth, dad says. this is the price of poverty. people are desperate. the economy is in shambles. it's just a car. things will get better.
they are right. if i have to get hit, & we all have to get hit here & there, i guess i was lucky this time.
the kids are cute. most of them are well-behaved. two-thirds want to learn. :) this, too, shall pass. :) i am fortunate.
tho the lyrics to "rock & roll high school" are more realistic of students' attitudes, i prefer right now the following more optimistic ones. probably because i'm the teacher. :) this song also has the most rockin' & thrilling concluding guitar/piano surge. wow.
i wish i could know that all my students, all kids, have a fun & safe place to go after school, be it home or soda fountain, but i know it's not the case...
more important, then, that we are there for them. bless you, my fellow teachers. bless you, students. and your parents, too. we are in this together.
Hail Hail Rock & Roll
Up in the mornin and out to school / The teacher is teachin the golden rule / American history and practical math / You studyin hard and hopin to pass / Workin your fingers right down to the bone
And the guy behind you wont leave you alone
Ring, ring goes the bell / The cook in the lunch room's ready to sell / Youre lucky if you can find a seat / Youre fortunate if you have time to eat / Back in the classroom, open your books / Even the teacher dont know how mean she looks
Soon as three oclock rolls around / You finally lay your burden down / Close up your books, get out of your seat / Down the halls and into the street / Up to the corner and round the bend / Right to the juke joint, you go in
Drop the coin right into the slot / Youve gotta hear somethin thats really hot / With the one you love, youre makin romance / All day long you been wantin to dance, / Feeling the music from head to toe / Round and round and round we go
Hail, hail rock and roll / Deliver me from the days of old / Long live rock and roll / The beat of the drums, loud and bold / Rock, rock, rock and roll / The feelin is there, body and soul.
all of this is time-consuming. the campus is big. my feet hurt. wah wah wah. teacher comes in & says the kids saw someone messing w/my car... a few hours ago. i go out & see that thieves have removed my catalytic converter. over $1000 to replace. i want to use four-letter words, but i'm a teacher. thank god i'm a teacher.
my folks drive me home. b & dad go get the car, which now sounds like a rocket (a beat-up one). call the insurance. call the repair place. take the thing over. borrow another car for tomorrow. thank goodness for family & support. thank goodness for nice & supportive boss. file police report. go talk to the campus supervisor. two other teachers say they saw someone under my car. i want to sock them both.
many people would be completely ruined by this, dad reminds me. they wouldn't have insurance, be able to afford the repair, get to work, get the kids to daycare. ruined. this would be it for them. no one was hurt, mom says; it's just stuff. who cares in the long run? redistribution of wealth, dad says. this is the price of poverty. people are desperate. the economy is in shambles. it's just a car. things will get better.
they are right. if i have to get hit, & we all have to get hit here & there, i guess i was lucky this time.
the kids are cute. most of them are well-behaved. two-thirds want to learn. :) this, too, shall pass. :) i am fortunate.
tho the lyrics to "rock & roll high school" are more realistic of students' attitudes, i prefer right now the following more optimistic ones. probably because i'm the teacher. :) this song also has the most rockin' & thrilling concluding guitar/piano surge. wow.
i wish i could know that all my students, all kids, have a fun & safe place to go after school, be it home or soda fountain, but i know it's not the case...
more important, then, that we are there for them. bless you, my fellow teachers. bless you, students. and your parents, too. we are in this together.
Hail Hail Rock & Roll
Up in the mornin and out to school / The teacher is teachin the golden rule / American history and practical math / You studyin hard and hopin to pass / Workin your fingers right down to the bone
And the guy behind you wont leave you alone
Ring, ring goes the bell / The cook in the lunch room's ready to sell / Youre lucky if you can find a seat / Youre fortunate if you have time to eat / Back in the classroom, open your books / Even the teacher dont know how mean she looks
Soon as three oclock rolls around / You finally lay your burden down / Close up your books, get out of your seat / Down the halls and into the street / Up to the corner and round the bend / Right to the juke joint, you go in
Drop the coin right into the slot / Youve gotta hear somethin thats really hot / With the one you love, youre makin romance / All day long you been wantin to dance, / Feeling the music from head to toe / Round and round and round we go
Hail, hail rock and roll / Deliver me from the days of old / Long live rock and roll / The beat of the drums, loud and bold / Rock, rock, rock and roll / The feelin is there, body and soul.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
big manny & the corn man; crazy clancy rocks the house; dusk devils por vida :)
-> we were in manuel's front room in e.la., practicing a christmas rocknroll tune, when he stopped mid-song & cocked his head, like a kid who's heard the ice cream truck. from behind the screen (not green) door, i heard a clown-horn honking & a shout: "elote! elote!" so i ran out & stopped the corn man, his cart loaded w/all kinds of goodies. we all feasted on gigantic corns on the cob dripping w/butter, salt, & chile. "watch out, jenny," manuel joked. "if you hang out with us, you WILL gain some weight." we also had apricots, fresh limeade, & his wife terri's delicious, fried, smashed meat-bean-papas tacos w/fresh pico de gallo & more... manuel is a lovely & loving man w/melodic talent & heart to match his king-sized frame. i'm doing what i can to help him w/his wish to tour texas these holidays w/"the big manny christmas band." :)
-> brian & i just helped along the "fatten jenny up" path by hogging out at the newest chain bbq joint, which was a surprisingly fun experience! very charming plump server w/beautiful espresso skin & flashing white smile; more-than-decent music; so so much sauce; that lovely drunken feeling that comes as blood rushes from the brain to aid the glutted gut... i'm gonna lay off on the big meals for a while now, tho - i know it's better if i pig out on music than on food, & also that i can go overboard on most anything pleasureable, if i'm not watchful. (not to mention that if i do these things too much, guilt kicks in & ruins everything...)
-> "just kill me!!! just kill me now!!!!!" lovely lunatic speaker, friend clancy, exhalted to the heavens last night about a particularly wonderful moment he'd experienced... i could say the same. the love was palpable, the joy everyplace, the excitement, well, wow! there were about 200 people stuffed into the club & we all sweated together like stuck pigs (a terrible but convenient simile), smiling dripping happy dancing pigs... yes, dancing!! clancy's a swing dancer, so from the podium he many times enthused, "let's have a dance!! jen & the dusk devils're playin' after this!! let's have some fun!!" so when he was done & i thought the place would clear out, everyone stayed, & more came in, & we started up, boom! & folks started dancing!! the kindly snakecharmer vibe slithered up my spine: quiet song, everyone danced small; big fast song, bodies flew all over the room! i loved seeing the surprise & happiness in my many friends' eyes, the ones who didn't have a clue i "do this"... :) the fellows rocked everyone's socks off, & phil & mark BOTH debuted their songs. it was great to hand the show over to each of them, & the generous & enthusiastic applause that they each got. early on, someone flipped all the lights off in the middle of a song, & i thought, well, i can't see what i'm doing, but cool; it's kinda like a high school dance! so i said this, adding, "except i never went to one," and everyone laughed. :) having the lights out swelled my heart up w/this huge feeling that performer & audience were one, that it was truly a "we" thing, & i've never had that feeling so fully while performing; it was certainly a spirited & spiritual deal. :)
-> i announced our cd, & our hopes to send it to austin for sxsw, & everyone cheered. :) at one pt, i was having so much fun singing hard, something in my throat went sideways & suddenly i sounded like eartha kitt! or maybe etta james! or maybe a munchkinlander on a bender! it hurt a bit, but i went with it cause it sounded cool! but then we had to stop early when i felt my voice totally blowing out. "i sound like madam," i croaked, thinking of the drag-queen puppet, & then announced the last song. people sitting down jumped up to dance, too, & there were my folks' & brian's beaming faces in the crowd as they all hopped up & down in a genial snoopy kind of dance... afterwards, people came up wanting the cd, & their insistence flattered & surprised me. :) a beautiful newcomer gave such a sincere compliment, about happiness & really being able to smile for the 1st time, that my tender-hearted bud jani burst into tears. i was so very touched, too, but was too beat to blubber. it all let me know, tho, that my instinct to do the show was right: it really was a "we" deal thru & thru, & my many fellowship friends, as well as others who came out to see us, had a great time.
-> a little more bragging (cause if i don't write it down, i'll forget it immediately): "i haven't seen that much dancing at one of our events in years!" jani said. "total success," mark m smiled. :)
-> it was even fun breaking down, joking around, w/everyone so sweaty, it was comical. i'm so pleased & fortunate to play with phil, mark, & rick. the dusk devils are what i've hoped for. :) now we just need a few saxamaphones & we'll be really styling, tho not as styling as "the phil" was last night in his cowboy-rockabilly dude garb. :)
-> brian & i just helped along the "fatten jenny up" path by hogging out at the newest chain bbq joint, which was a surprisingly fun experience! very charming plump server w/beautiful espresso skin & flashing white smile; more-than-decent music; so so much sauce; that lovely drunken feeling that comes as blood rushes from the brain to aid the glutted gut... i'm gonna lay off on the big meals for a while now, tho - i know it's better if i pig out on music than on food, & also that i can go overboard on most anything pleasureable, if i'm not watchful. (not to mention that if i do these things too much, guilt kicks in & ruins everything...)
-> "just kill me!!! just kill me now!!!!!" lovely lunatic speaker, friend clancy, exhalted to the heavens last night about a particularly wonderful moment he'd experienced... i could say the same. the love was palpable, the joy everyplace, the excitement, well, wow! there were about 200 people stuffed into the club & we all sweated together like stuck pigs (a terrible but convenient simile), smiling dripping happy dancing pigs... yes, dancing!! clancy's a swing dancer, so from the podium he many times enthused, "let's have a dance!! jen & the dusk devils're playin' after this!! let's have some fun!!" so when he was done & i thought the place would clear out, everyone stayed, & more came in, & we started up, boom! & folks started dancing!! the kindly snakecharmer vibe slithered up my spine: quiet song, everyone danced small; big fast song, bodies flew all over the room! i loved seeing the surprise & happiness in my many friends' eyes, the ones who didn't have a clue i "do this"... :) the fellows rocked everyone's socks off, & phil & mark BOTH debuted their songs. it was great to hand the show over to each of them, & the generous & enthusiastic applause that they each got. early on, someone flipped all the lights off in the middle of a song, & i thought, well, i can't see what i'm doing, but cool; it's kinda like a high school dance! so i said this, adding, "except i never went to one," and everyone laughed. :) having the lights out swelled my heart up w/this huge feeling that performer & audience were one, that it was truly a "we" thing, & i've never had that feeling so fully while performing; it was certainly a spirited & spiritual deal. :)
-> i announced our cd, & our hopes to send it to austin for sxsw, & everyone cheered. :) at one pt, i was having so much fun singing hard, something in my throat went sideways & suddenly i sounded like eartha kitt! or maybe etta james! or maybe a munchkinlander on a bender! it hurt a bit, but i went with it cause it sounded cool! but then we had to stop early when i felt my voice totally blowing out. "i sound like madam," i croaked, thinking of the drag-queen puppet, & then announced the last song. people sitting down jumped up to dance, too, & there were my folks' & brian's beaming faces in the crowd as they all hopped up & down in a genial snoopy kind of dance... afterwards, people came up wanting the cd, & their insistence flattered & surprised me. :) a beautiful newcomer gave such a sincere compliment, about happiness & really being able to smile for the 1st time, that my tender-hearted bud jani burst into tears. i was so very touched, too, but was too beat to blubber. it all let me know, tho, that my instinct to do the show was right: it really was a "we" deal thru & thru, & my many fellowship friends, as well as others who came out to see us, had a great time.
-> a little more bragging (cause if i don't write it down, i'll forget it immediately): "i haven't seen that much dancing at one of our events in years!" jani said. "total success," mark m smiled. :)
-> it was even fun breaking down, joking around, w/everyone so sweaty, it was comical. i'm so pleased & fortunate to play with phil, mark, & rick. the dusk devils are what i've hoped for. :) now we just need a few saxamaphones & we'll be really styling, tho not as styling as "the phil" was last night in his cowboy-rockabilly dude garb. :)
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
Home is the sailor from the sea, The hunter from the hill.
here's a collage of the motorcycle vacation. we've taken this trip & others like it so many times, we no longer take pix of stuff like the grand canyon, grand tetons, utah's national parks, indian country, etc. the picture never captures the experience, anyhow. these are what remain.tomorrow i get to mix our little LP with sharon marie. whoopee! i'm so excited! then monday i get to go practice christmas songs with manuel. again, whoopee! so excited! then friday night's our little alano club show for friends. whoopee! so excited! (hey, marcus aurelius, may i get the flyer from you? thank you so mucho.) :)
this wk, too, it's back to work, & tho i cry, in my heart, i know back to teaching i must go. i love thrills; get to do way more fun things than many; & tend to float away like a delirious helium balloon -- therefore even more crucially do i need to have my feet firmly replanted on the ground each fall when school begins & i resume the important role of educator. it's quite a responsibility & privilege. for although i fervently lament & dislike the legislation that's turned our schools into impoverished, embattled-yet-neglected test-prep factories, i still love the kiddies. :) (a.e. housman poems: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~martinh/poems/housman.html)
Friday, August 01, 2008
thee good ghosts of cedar edge & estrogen-huffing mosquitos must die
i'm sitting here on a rock & boy, the dang bugs really like me (i read, to my chagrin & cynical satisfaction, that they love estrogen) & boy, is my can getting sore, outside the library here near the grand mesa in colorado & it's dusk (like dussssssk devils, yes). friends from the clean & sober run are walking/riding by, eyeing me quizzically, but all smiling because clean/sober people who work a program are generally happy & grateful types, rescued from a common despair by a common solution, & i had to post this because it is simply amazing to not just be here (there go two more motorcycles, two more guys from the run smiling a little funny, oh, there's that girl who wears all that makeup & look she's sitting there on that rock & is she on the internet??)... ok, to be online like this is pretty amazing, but to be HERE for the 11th time is more amazing. there are good ghosts here: san jose jack, mike day's dad, redneck, stacy's dad, & stacy herself. it's "sacred ground," woody said, right before he whipped out a "instant redneck" doll that you add water to & watch blow up to "life size" (before we left to eat, he whispered into the water cup, "ok, redneck, we're going to eat, you gonna go? no? you wanna stay here?" because sacred & silly go together like peas & mashed potatoes, to woody)... two summers ago we put some of dear dear stacy's ashes on the cactus where the others' ashes are. at that time, the cactus was doing terrible, but this yr when we came back, it was blooming heartily, flowering pinkly even, & i thought, of course it is, cause that's how stacy was. she lost her way & had to leave this earthly place in such a tragic manner, but back at the serenity run, where she & we all have had such amazing times, she has blossomed again & we all can remember her smile & spirit, warm & wide & wild as texas, beautiful stacy forever stamped in our memories & hearts...
well, my butt's sore, so i'd better go walk back & meet the others.
on the music front, i still have no cell phone (left it in a coffee house in twin falls, id) so have no idea about big manny band practice upcoming, but getting online here, i got a good tip on the LA derby girls from my stepson (thank you, cody!!) & see that skip heller, "very pro-bakersfield these days" (he doesn't know bakersfield yet, i half-jokingly say), is back at narducci's on aug 7, & if the heavens line up & the great pumpkin wills it, i'll be home to see him play, home to my family, piano, & doggie dears.
well, i typed long enough that b has just pulled up to ride us back to the no-tell motel, where friends are, & now he's joking mordantly to friends riding by about being an "email widower," so better vaminos for now.
...being here at the international serenity run has remedied my homesickness for the most part. so many familiar faces, all converging in this beautiful spot to celebrate living w/o drugs & booze, just still LIVING: so many people i'm happy to see & who say the same to me.
as i heard today, better to be seen than to be viewed. amen, brothers & sisters. ah-men.
well, my butt's sore, so i'd better go walk back & meet the others.
on the music front, i still have no cell phone (left it in a coffee house in twin falls, id) so have no idea about big manny band practice upcoming, but getting online here, i got a good tip on the LA derby girls from my stepson (thank you, cody!!) & see that skip heller, "very pro-bakersfield these days" (he doesn't know bakersfield yet, i half-jokingly say), is back at narducci's on aug 7, & if the heavens line up & the great pumpkin wills it, i'll be home to see him play, home to my family, piano, & doggie dears.
well, i typed long enough that b has just pulled up to ride us back to the no-tell motel, where friends are, & now he's joking mordantly to friends riding by about being an "email widower," so better vaminos for now.
...being here at the international serenity run has remedied my homesickness for the most part. so many familiar faces, all converging in this beautiful spot to celebrate living w/o drugs & booze, just still LIVING: so many people i'm happy to see & who say the same to me.
as i heard today, better to be seen than to be viewed. amen, brothers & sisters. ah-men.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
feliz cumpleanos from the home of the world's largest mineral springs
tomorrow, happy bd to dear little laurel & to me... our dear sweet mama had her bd just last wk. my family is specifically leo- & generally summer-heavy birthday-wise: more than 10 between july & sept 1st.on this trip, we have all loved lava hot springs the other day & thermopolis today; we're glowing- fresh, soft as noodles. friends are true here, the scenery's stunning, & boy, once again, i get to travel & see this big big country. my family says they'll sing me happy bd tomorrow from bakersfield & i'm to listen for their wishes of good cheer. (wish they hadn't said that.) yes, times are good & i am grateful, & i'm so happy to see b so happy out on his motorcycle, which he loves like i love music. and i miss home.
enough sobbing from me. wish i knew a good joke to put in here. i can only think of one of my favorite exchanges from "horse feathers":
thelma todd: oh, professor, you're full of whimsy!
groucho: can you notice it from there? i'm always that way after i eat radishes...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
googly googly goo goo
...just delivered the drums to B2 studios for tomorrow's recording, so now of course can't sleep. on the simpsons one time, homer was obsessively googling his name, drawing an embarrassed laugh from many (me, anyways). when i just googled my spouse, this pic is what came up: 
when i 1st went to tow-headed b's home, i espied an LP bearing his name & a pic of a sneering flat-topped blond kid on a late-50s hot wheel. "oh, NO," i thought, heart sinking, yet weirdly satisfied. "ANOTHER musician!" but turns out b's cousin did A&R for a record co in NYC & in the rockabilly-new wave 80s, had sent him the LP, the US release of the above, as a joke. b, despite having a sonorous speaking voice & open-minded love of most music i love, can't carry a tune in a box, as he'd tell you (you can find the musical (aussie) bb's playing-chicken-w/-train tune "see you on the other side" online) ... when i googled dad, no pix came up - ironic since our dad's always been handsome as a movie star (he most resembled gene kelly, or the husband/dad in the sears catalog). as a kid, i'd get mad & jealous when gals would swoon after him, tho neither he nor mama cared. blazers manuel asked me more than once if clean-cut dad had ever been an astronaut: he's that upright & square-jawed-looking. but no pic online - just his history website (see link at R) as well as a ref on AWAD - & THAT is VERY cool!!!... a friend recently asked, when i told him dad's family was nor-italian, why i wasn't blonde. well, here's a pic of our mama from when she was in college choir - she's the lovely, naturally tan one w/the shy smile. :) 
when i look up my sis, angelina jolie in "gia" comes up. our angie is a martial-arts pro who illustrated a book about buck owens shortly before owens' death; she worked dang hard on that thing, & we're all proud of her talent & dedication. but no pix exist online of her from that gig anymore, not a one!! (she's cute, fellows, & she can cook, too, & she's brilliant. and she will kill me if she reads this!!)
when you look up my birth name, seamy sites, asian teens, & some leftist articles come up, only one category being me. (hint: tho i've had many a rough ride in my life, i've always pretty much been a goody two-shoes, really.)
as chico's asked, when we gonna cut the wattamelon???
well, i've slowed down enough to hit the bed, so i shall. don't let the bed bugs bite ya or the good lord smite ya. :) i mean that in the most respectful way, too...
when i 1st went to tow-headed b's home, i espied an LP bearing his name & a pic of a sneering flat-topped blond kid on a late-50s hot wheel. "oh, NO," i thought, heart sinking, yet weirdly satisfied. "ANOTHER musician!" but turns out b's cousin did A&R for a record co in NYC & in the rockabilly-new wave 80s, had sent him the LP, the US release of the above, as a joke. b, despite having a sonorous speaking voice & open-minded love of most music i love, can't carry a tune in a box, as he'd tell you (you can find the musical (aussie) bb's playing-chicken-w/-train tune "see you on the other side" online) ... when i googled dad, no pix came up - ironic since our dad's always been handsome as a movie star (he most resembled gene kelly, or the husband/dad in the sears catalog). as a kid, i'd get mad & jealous when gals would swoon after him, tho neither he nor mama cared. blazers manuel asked me more than once if clean-cut dad had ever been an astronaut: he's that upright & square-jawed-looking. but no pic online - just his history website (see link at R) as well as a ref on AWAD - & THAT is VERY cool!!!... a friend recently asked, when i told him dad's family was nor-italian, why i wasn't blonde. well, here's a pic of our mama from when she was in college choir - she's the lovely, naturally tan one w/the shy smile. :) 
when i look up my sis, angelina jolie in "gia" comes up. our angie is a martial-arts pro who illustrated a book about buck owens shortly before owens' death; she worked dang hard on that thing, & we're all proud of her talent & dedication. but no pix exist online of her from that gig anymore, not a one!! (she's cute, fellows, & she can cook, too, & she's brilliant. and she will kill me if she reads this!!)
when you look up my birth name, seamy sites, asian teens, & some leftist articles come up, only one category being me. (hint: tho i've had many a rough ride in my life, i've always pretty much been a goody two-shoes, really.)
as chico's asked, when we gonna cut the wattamelon???
well, i've slowed down enough to hit the bed, so i shall. don't let the bed bugs bite ya or the good lord smite ya. :) i mean that in the most respectful way, too...
Monday, July 21, 2008
music all weekend in smellay: 10 riffs, zero sleep
1. too tired to sleep. so here are some pix.
2. i didn't get my song to phil alvin because our dang computer cd burner BROKE!!!! ARRGHHHH!!! oh well... i tossed a band packet in his car. phil h says he now will think i'm a stalker. :) he'll get it, maybe he'll throw it out the window, either way, i can't much care: i did my piece. :) and candye kane & others liked my song, so really, i can die happy now, if i think about it much. :)
3. i get spooked when people comment on my makeup. and then i put on 2x as much. sometimes 10x as much. i'm sure it's deeply psychological. but will SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHEN IT'S ALL OVER MY FACE?!?! i would do that for you!!!! i guess i need a wardrobe AND makeup consultant. would someone please volunteer?????
4. i just love ruben & manuel. i've known them for 17 YEARS!!! manuel asked me to play on his christmas record. what a wonder that will be: xmas songs AND manuel. :) i could nearly cry, just thinking about it. i loved watching manuel watch others this wkend, his love of music & people, his child-like face: he's full of love & music, which are one when the world's right, i think.
5. skip heller & art fein look like they're related. luann & i commented on this & skip deadpanned, "we ARE related. we are both sons of zion."
6. it was great fun to hang out all wkend w/different people, but i find that when i speak & people laugh at just the sound of my pipsqueaky voice, i get all wound up & start acting like a clown. i know there's balance in all this... & i'll find it!!!! meanwhile, it IS fun to make people laugh. :) i like that far more than being told i look like cleopatra or am i "hooked up" or scary stuff like that...
7. donna once again put me up at her nice place in laverne (site of The Last Drink 13 yrs ago) & we thrift-shopped & watched "shaun of the dead" & ate at casa jimenez & then i saw them off when they all went to see "the dark knight"... & realized again how fortunate i am to not just still be alive, but to have adventures & friends & so many people whom i love & who even love me. :) it's all icing, when a soul really should be pushing up daisies, so i gotta remember that.
8. manuel doesn't merely sing, but soars, his voice as much an instrument as his earthy & skilled guitar-playing (& bass: fri night, his plus-sized fingers brought in the walk on "tequila" like laughing thunder from the heavens!!!). so it was shocking to go from the beauty of his pipes to the blasters show, at which phil alvin performed for 90 mins w/laryngitis!! people plied him w/whisky, & the poor guy lost any self-protective inhibition & started singing anything, no matter how larynx-ravaging, which was painful to watch & hear. the good part was, he pattered a lot more between songs, infamously weird & smart, such a character, w/a generous spirit toward the audience i've never really noticed much, but really appreciated this time, & he played more, in his intense & authentic vernacular folk-blues style. his force of personality & uniqueness make the blasters inimitable, i think, & i'm far from alone on that. :)
9. THANK YOU, jeff, for putting me on the blasters show list. jeff puts on super live music shows & is a really nice fellow... a texan, you know. :) i think that's what does it. unlike my bro-in-law, i've rarely met a texan i didn't just like, but love...
10. the midnight drive home wasn't bad. my night vision cooperated for the most pt & when i dropped into the valley, it spread out wide-black & velvety-clear, & w/the chuck berry b-side cassette music sailing, i was filled w/that wondrous feeling of aliveness...
then i rolled down the window & the magic was choked by the stench of dairies. welcome home. :)
Thursday, July 17, 2008
music music music music music music music
here's a cell ph pic of skip heller from when he played at narducci's recently. at the end of the night, he said, "jenny, why don't you come up here & sing 'fujiyama mama'?" my brain tried to leap out of my head, but i did it, getting the funny looks & smiles that tell me things are going ok. :) i'm a very fortunate person to get to do stuff like that & flattered skip asked me to sing. movie-star-looking skip plays another free narducci's show on july 31, but i'll be gone, so please go in my place. he speaks guitar more fluently than just about anybody! very impressive. :) (philly, you need to go in my place!!)this wkend i hope will bring travel to smellay to hang out w/friends & MUSIC!! fri night my dear old pals ruben & manuel of blazers, as well as many others, will play a jam session at the elks lodge montebello. sat is the upland blues fest w/phil alvin's doppelganger white boy james & many more. sunday's the safari sam's brunch americana, w/the blasters coming on at 9 pm!!!! i'll get to spend time (what a weird expression) w/one of my dearest friends in this world, & i hope her genius children, too. :)
hope i have the nerve to give phil alvin the song i wrote... maybe i should not... but writing this, i sense that i will... know that i will... (does that process ever happen to you??) why not? "better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done." ciao ciao ciao for now, for now, see you down the road, & how... :)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
21 days in jail, 24 hours in bakersfield
1. a few weeks ago, the local paper ran a piece about my favorite day in bakersfield. i thank jennifer self for featuring it so nicely. you can read it by clicking on the pic. not the most flattering pic, but a fun one, my friend bridgette's gotten some biz from the article, so it's been successful. :) 
2. many people saw the article. i've been surprised by how many, & every person's been nice. :) we were going to circle-K the other night when a black-&-white slowed to a near-stop right in front of us. being real spiritual at the moment, i immediately began to gripe about how "they" can drive however they want, we didn't do nothin' wrong, etc. we got out of the van & the officers did, too, & one waited for me. uh-oh, i thought, but he smiled, so i did, too, & he said, real friendly, "aren't you that woman in the paper? i told my partner while he was driving just now, hey, there's that girl from the paper!"
3. being in bakersfield is kind of like being in a bad relationship: it'll often let you down, but you stay w/it because it's cheap, familiar, & at times surprises you by being a real good time.
4. bakersfield's variously called bako, buckersfield, bakerssippi, bakersfailed, & two i lay claim to from my underground rag days, bakingfield & backwardsfield.
5. buck owens' crystal palace has the best sound in the area, but is a little like disneyland, so if you like disneyland, you'll like the palace. i wish to heck they'd feature more americana & country-western music. lately they've been featuring singers from "american idol." then today a KUZZ DJ (station owned by the owens family) said "american idol" singers don't understand country music because (i paraphrase) they don't understand the "real, everyday life" that country music is about. she then played, w/no irony apparent, willie singing cole porter.
6. if you drive out 58 toward the canyon, before you get there you'll see merle haggard's old house to the north, & then the killer kern, about which haggard wrote a song.
7. google "gerald haslam"'s favorite day. haslam is an oildale native & writer who in his article described where be the trout's family's house, the haggard house, & many other historical places, many related to music. interesting stuff!
8. if you have kids, you should take them to CALM, which is a nice place past hart pk where they'll see native animals & plants.
9. i wanted to help promote friends in the article (as well as good eats, free & healthy things to do, &, well, yeah, the band), so took pix w/bridgette @ victorian chiropractic. as i reclined on the table & the young photographer started snapping, i realized, this must be the dumbest photo op choice for a nerdy female musician to put herself in. how unflattering.
10. when the article came out, i called auntie rita & lamented, "they ran a picture of me on my back!" not missing a beat, my aunt replied, "that's good - i bet a bunch of guys'll recognize you that away."
it was just the wrong, yet right thing for her to say.
2. many people saw the article. i've been surprised by how many, & every person's been nice. :) we were going to circle-K the other night when a black-&-white slowed to a near-stop right in front of us. being real spiritual at the moment, i immediately began to gripe about how "they" can drive however they want, we didn't do nothin' wrong, etc. we got out of the van & the officers did, too, & one waited for me. uh-oh, i thought, but he smiled, so i did, too, & he said, real friendly, "aren't you that woman in the paper? i told my partner while he was driving just now, hey, there's that girl from the paper!"
3. being in bakersfield is kind of like being in a bad relationship: it'll often let you down, but you stay w/it because it's cheap, familiar, & at times surprises you by being a real good time.
4. bakersfield's variously called bako, buckersfield, bakerssippi, bakersfailed, & two i lay claim to from my underground rag days, bakingfield & backwardsfield.
5. buck owens' crystal palace has the best sound in the area, but is a little like disneyland, so if you like disneyland, you'll like the palace. i wish to heck they'd feature more americana & country-western music. lately they've been featuring singers from "american idol." then today a KUZZ DJ (station owned by the owens family) said "american idol" singers don't understand country music because (i paraphrase) they don't understand the "real, everyday life" that country music is about. she then played, w/no irony apparent, willie singing cole porter.
6. if you drive out 58 toward the canyon, before you get there you'll see merle haggard's old house to the north, & then the killer kern, about which haggard wrote a song.
7. google "gerald haslam"'s favorite day. haslam is an oildale native & writer who in his article described where be the trout's family's house, the haggard house, & many other historical places, many related to music. interesting stuff!
8. if you have kids, you should take them to CALM, which is a nice place past hart pk where they'll see native animals & plants.
9. i wanted to help promote friends in the article (as well as good eats, free & healthy things to do, &, well, yeah, the band), so took pix w/bridgette @ victorian chiropractic. as i reclined on the table & the young photographer started snapping, i realized, this must be the dumbest photo op choice for a nerdy female musician to put herself in. how unflattering.
10. when the article came out, i called auntie rita & lamented, "they ran a picture of me on my back!" not missing a beat, my aunt replied, "that's good - i bet a bunch of guys'll recognize you that away."
it was just the wrong, yet right thing for her to say.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
"when you're happy, play piano. when you're sad, play more piano." - gene taylor
my fingertips hurt, i've been playing so much. a spot of sunshine: the more i play, the easier it becomes, the more fluidly my fingers move, the more they cooperate, the more the ideas bubble, - no, - seep, sometimes weep, sometimes shimmer - on up. i have hope someday i'll be a little brown-skinned white-haired old lady looking a lot like my mama & grandma, wearing too much makeup & some strange outfit, cheery & useful & a pretty darn good pianny player. it seems lately like i don't have to be average or garden-variety forever when it comes to playing piano if i just keep at it. i'll never be the best, & that's never my expectation. but someday, if i keep playing & playing, i'll be able to play what i hear & be fulfilled by it.
for now, i bang & grin & go for the muscle & thrill because i just can't help it, but someday i'll have more to offer musically...
for you piano players, here are some tips i've gotten from some great piano players:
1. gene taylor: look at your hands; look for the "islands;" play left hand patterns while reading, talking to someone, writing, so it becomes natural as breathing; think about what each chord "means" depending on what change you're at.
2. carl sonny leyland: watch the right, not the left hand; don't be afraid to hit some wrong notes - just play them through so you can find the "right" ones; the "blues scale" is bulls**t - the guys in the old days were listening for the sounds of the music.
3. earl pool ball - a lot of times w/his band heybale, he completely lays off the left hand, but still sort of paws or claws at it to keep time, but then brings the left hand in when the music calls for that moment of extra boom! & excitement; in western swing, he plays straight time while the rest of the band swings; playing melody w/octaves really allows the piano to sing out from amidst all the other instruments.
i hope to get some tips from pat "banny" bannister, soon, but i need to call the man... he can run 3rds up & down the keyboard lightning-fast! ... i found out pat played on al hendrix's record, which was so cool. there are some real nice solos on that record! (www.cdbaby.com/alhendrix)
->well, since i started writing this, my folks came over w/cannoli & we had a really nice visit & i went & picked some grapes from the vines & they were just perfect, sweet, tangy, w/a slight crunch... so maybe things aren't as bad as i think. and maybe i better go play some more piano.
for now, i bang & grin & go for the muscle & thrill because i just can't help it, but someday i'll have more to offer musically...
for you piano players, here are some tips i've gotten from some great piano players:
1. gene taylor: look at your hands; look for the "islands;" play left hand patterns while reading, talking to someone, writing, so it becomes natural as breathing; think about what each chord "means" depending on what change you're at.
2. carl sonny leyland: watch the right, not the left hand; don't be afraid to hit some wrong notes - just play them through so you can find the "right" ones; the "blues scale" is bulls**t - the guys in the old days were listening for the sounds of the music.
3. earl pool ball - a lot of times w/his band heybale, he completely lays off the left hand, but still sort of paws or claws at it to keep time, but then brings the left hand in when the music calls for that moment of extra boom! & excitement; in western swing, he plays straight time while the rest of the band swings; playing melody w/octaves really allows the piano to sing out from amidst all the other instruments.
i hope to get some tips from pat "banny" bannister, soon, but i need to call the man... he can run 3rds up & down the keyboard lightning-fast! ... i found out pat played on al hendrix's record, which was so cool. there are some real nice solos on that record! (www.cdbaby.com/alhendrix)
->well, since i started writing this, my folks came over w/cannoli & we had a really nice visit & i went & picked some grapes from the vines & they were just perfect, sweet, tangy, w/a slight crunch... so maybe things aren't as bad as i think. and maybe i better go play some more piano.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
skip heller honky-tonk trio thurs 7/10; dusk devils in studio; this'n'that
1. go see skip's free show, 7:30-10:30 at narducci's (flyer below)
2. we're gonna finally record a live session w/sharon marie end o'this month. whoopee!! then we'll have professional-quality recordings for people who've been asking. :) and thank you for asking, people. :)
3. had such great sound & met wonderful folks at safari sam's sunday, from friendly DJ "texas" jeff to smokey miles, art fein, russell scott, randee & george, & of course birthday boy cody & friends; got to eat brunch (french toast - yumyum); got some dough; i got swung around the dance floor by a big feller named walter who's light on his toes as gene kelly; met & got critiqued by skip heller, who said i need a clavinet, & "you stick to that shuffle & gene taylor thing," & i thought, "well, that's all i got!" - his thoughts on music were prickly but interesting & i appreciated his perspective. & he's gonna get me some recordings of 5 royales (mine were stolen) & the diablos!!!
4. art fein's comment when i told him of skip's critique: "pope catholic?" :)
5. by now, all blasters fans know that bill bateman's back in that band's drummer saddle & jerry angel's joined touring band shurman. best wishes to gentleman jerry!!!!
5. "i'll never swim kern river again"... on a recent 100-degree-plus afternoon, orangy smog & smoke-choked sky like the apocalypse, b wanted to take his motorbike out into the kern river canyon & as we whizzed along that scorching ribbon of tar, brown walls above & angry water below, i started thinking about the men who've recently gone missing in the river. then the signs popped up: "help find beto." "help find gonzalo." :( too often, the people who go under in the "killer kern" are mexican & from southern california. i think when the weather's this miserable, the lure of a cool river dip overrides the fear of drowning. this is the kind of heat that raymond chandler wrote about: "meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks." it's desperation-heat, crazy-making, brutal, brutal, brutal. to want respite from it, no matter what, isn't much different (tho more innocent) than the depressed soul turning to a hit of dope.
6. so many people drown in the kern while trying to save someone else's life. doubly sad. i saw a car pull to the roadside & a brown-skinned man & boy got out. when we circled back to return to bakersfield, i noticed they had edged near the river, carrying long sticks & sad faces. they were searching the reeds for a dead man.
7. can you believe that people here criticize the river's missing & dead? people who blame the river victims remind me of those who blame new orleanians for wanting to stay in their hometown after katrina, or return to it. when you have the money to have a leisurely life, to travel, to conspicuously consume, to move w/out much life-disruption, or to just swim in a swimming pool when you feel like it,... well, it's easy to criticize the people who have to seek out a river or watering hole, who barely scrape by, who live desperately, who don't have the resources to move & start over, & beyond that, to whom many times home is where the heart is, even if that heart resides in a storm-prone delta bowl.
8. am reading harry crews' "car" right now, & if you want something good, go get it.
2. we're gonna finally record a live session w/sharon marie end o'this month. whoopee!! then we'll have professional-quality recordings for people who've been asking. :) and thank you for asking, people. :)
3. had such great sound & met wonderful folks at safari sam's sunday, from friendly DJ "texas" jeff to smokey miles, art fein, russell scott, randee & george, & of course birthday boy cody & friends; got to eat brunch (french toast - yumyum); got some dough; i got swung around the dance floor by a big feller named walter who's light on his toes as gene kelly; met & got critiqued by skip heller, who said i need a clavinet, & "you stick to that shuffle & gene taylor thing," & i thought, "well, that's all i got!" - his thoughts on music were prickly but interesting & i appreciated his perspective. & he's gonna get me some recordings of 5 royales (mine were stolen) & the diablos!!!
4. art fein's comment when i told him of skip's critique: "pope catholic?" :)
5. by now, all blasters fans know that bill bateman's back in that band's drummer saddle & jerry angel's joined touring band shurman. best wishes to gentleman jerry!!!!
5. "i'll never swim kern river again"... on a recent 100-degree-plus afternoon, orangy smog & smoke-choked sky like the apocalypse, b wanted to take his motorbike out into the kern river canyon & as we whizzed along that scorching ribbon of tar, brown walls above & angry water below, i started thinking about the men who've recently gone missing in the river. then the signs popped up: "help find beto." "help find gonzalo." :( too often, the people who go under in the "killer kern" are mexican & from southern california. i think when the weather's this miserable, the lure of a cool river dip overrides the fear of drowning. this is the kind of heat that raymond chandler wrote about: "meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks." it's desperation-heat, crazy-making, brutal, brutal, brutal. to want respite from it, no matter what, isn't much different (tho more innocent) than the depressed soul turning to a hit of dope.
6. so many people drown in the kern while trying to save someone else's life. doubly sad. i saw a car pull to the roadside & a brown-skinned man & boy got out. when we circled back to return to bakersfield, i noticed they had edged near the river, carrying long sticks & sad faces. they were searching the reeds for a dead man.
7. can you believe that people here criticize the river's missing & dead? people who blame the river victims remind me of those who blame new orleanians for wanting to stay in their hometown after katrina, or return to it. when you have the money to have a leisurely life, to travel, to conspicuously consume, to move w/out much life-disruption, or to just swim in a swimming pool when you feel like it,... well, it's easy to criticize the people who have to seek out a river or watering hole, who barely scrape by, who live desperately, who don't have the resources to move & start over, & beyond that, to whom many times home is where the heart is, even if that heart resides in a storm-prone delta bowl.
8. am reading harry crews' "car" right now, & if you want something good, go get it.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
happy independence day!!!!!!!!!
it's a special day... a movie i recommend is "god grew tired of us." and "1776"!! songs? "man in black," "this land is your land," "american music." food? watermelon, of course!!!!w/our smog & wildfire smoke, we really shouldn't have fireworks here in bakingfield, but we do, so enjoy safely. i LOVE LOVE fireworks, but increasingly worry about them...
hope everyone who reads has lots for which to be grateful. :) today i'm 13, & i have much. independence: what a concept, & how lucky we are to have it, relative to many on this planet. (some have more, i could complain, but why? not now.) focusing just on music: 7 new songs since home from texas; safari sam's sunday; fun friends to play music w/(read below); dusk devils just reached 3500 myspace friends!! to see, go to www.myspace.com/theduskdevils ... . not too smoothly worded, but i got buttloads of gratitude, in spades, & wish the same for you. :) :) :)
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
dusk devils at safari sam's this sunday & more live music, too!
also: fattkatt starts up again at the crystal palace on july 9; more info at www.fattkatt.com ... & there's live music 7 nights a wk at trout's/the blackboard stage: www.myspace.com/troutsblackboard
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