ant invasion; blablablablabla; alotta hopes

- the mysterious max lingo posted a vid from sat night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lajvnGZLMTA ... would imbed it here, but my voice is just a little too laryngitic in the clip for me to feel secure about the singing!!!
- ... many kids at school have commented they saw me on tv, youtube... promoters must've done some publicity on that sat show. too bad i was too sick to see any of it!!!
- saturday's was an immense stage. it was ant music for ant people, bad music for bad people, blablablablablablabla... andale: went to book fair today; lost & found cell phone (curse that infernal thing); was brimstone-breathing dragon teacher due to being sick (poor kids, the uncooperative heathens); went to rx; sent song to whiteboy james that i wrote him (he has commented a few times how much he likes my song "bride of frankenstein"!). brian had wonderful retirement party; was so happy for him, to hear that so many others know him as a man of character & heart. hope he'll transition smoothly into retirementhood; he sure has enough interests, between the hard sciences, engineering, numbers, motorcycles, fellowship, reading, invention, & ceramics/stained glass...
- am headed soon to kickboxing & hope it'll remedy my weird stomach ache & bring improved health somehow (found out i have viral bronchitis)... this wkend's the drunk convention (fri-sun @ doubletree); hope am well enough to do the 5k sat am. then it's off for a northern trip to commemorate 11 yr anniversary & visit woodrow. senyor mark will watch the baby boys & satanic cat here; muchas gracias, amigo.
- rereading, i see many hopes. what is life w/o them? tho mine are not always positive, hope usually no longer feels desperate: it's a marker of love, life, possibility...
- that's it; hope all yall be happy & prosperous, however you may define those thingies...

still not pushing up daisies

- spring fest: beautiful weather; great crew & staff; nice dressing room; humungous stage!! (note photos above - we all look like ants, tho brian got a great close-up of the men.) totally blinding spotlight!! i could see dear mom & dad & ramirezes out there, not really much else... on the periphery, some figures dancing, kids running around, stacy from rabobank singing along!... mark was really sick. phil kicked butt!!! rick was solid. i made it thru the set w/some voice still left, but it was raspier & more painful the longer we went. drank too many energy drinks to make it thru; made it home & buzzed buzzed buzzed like a bumblebee for hrs.
- the nicest moment was during sound check. we finished, & i heard a child's voice: "mrs b!" it was one of my favorite library students. her eyes were lit up & she was grinning ear to ear. "i didn't know you were a singer," she said sweetly. i swear those eyes were full of love. that's how kids are. :) i know i love them, anyhow.
- after the show, a young teacher i know brought his little girls up & they hugged me. before the show, david & yolanda brought their grandkids to the dressing rm. i am so fortunate.
- and today, i only kind of feel like i have the plague. there is hope!!!!
- we have many shows coming up. maybe at one, we'll all be well. :) wouldn't that be something???? all shows are listed at www.myspace.com/theduskdevils ... a most blessed & beautiful day to any who might read this...

let's get out of here, now, with a little bit of this stuff here

(mark made this flyer)... re title: name that EP; it's the best EP ever pressed, ever... show starts 530, we're on at 830. been so sick, can't waste one iota of mojo... let's rock; everybody, let's rock...

sickness

rip, dear reba. what a kind, responsible, cheerful lady. good thoughts to her memory, & to leon. memorial is sun 2 pm at the club. many will speak about her, remember her fondly. am glad to have known her even a little; her happy face will be missed. hope she rests comfortably, wherever she may be now.
struck down by illness yesterday afternoon (the library job is a killer - so many germy books), am home today seriously sick, pain pain in throat, ears, ohhhhh... we have a show tomorrow. the show must go on, tho i might be dead afterward. wish me luck, if you read this, or to break a leg. i wish it to you, no matter what your wkend looks like, good times, life, seize the day, for as the dead remind us: eram quod es, eris quod sum
yowch. i just swallowed. to quote bill cosby, "ice creammmm...."

dusk devils on art fein's poker party (r.i.p. for now)

art posted my least-favorite of my songs, which i wrote thinking of my friend becky, the haughtily-glamorous cattie ness. it's my least favorite, i think, because i'm not haughty!! but on becky, the quality's very alluring. :) i think it'd be fun to be haughty, maybe... the best part of the vid is art's little whoop at the end. it's great to play when he's there bc of his enthusiastic response, like a little kid. :) please watch & rate & thanks.

duskdevils saturday march 28, 8:30 pm, free outdoor show, bring la familia!, plus blablabla

mark made this:
it is amazingly lovely here in bako right now... am not even jealous of art fein for being at sxsw & i'm not!! :) he called a few days ago to say wish you were here or maybe thumb his nose, so i called him back "on behalf of the working class of america" to announce that SOME of us schlubs have to WORK!!!! (look for full AF sxsw report on www.sofein.com) (my tx cousin was here, lessening the injury: her bawdy joy really makes anyplace feel fun as austin, tho certainly in a more quotidian way...) actually, things worked out best w/ddevils NOT going to sxsw, since we all have had family or other issues, & family always will trump band, to sound decidedly unrocknrollish... this wkend dear friends F&B are here, & last night we supped at mama roomba's, & today visited the once-but-no-longer-secret hot springs in the canyon & i hiked around & climbed up rocks & sang w/the birds & the wildflowers (how could a person not?), then we grubbed at the dam corner (well, they had salads; i grubbed) & man, you should hear the avian symphony going on up here in this 2nd-floor aerie right now.
must be 1st-day-of-spring syndrome: beauty is everyplace, & i don't know where i'm going, but at this sec, it's to the shower, & later i hear we'll have pistachio ice cream or maybe the elvis sundae at moo creamery (ice cream, bacon, marshmallow, banana, peanut butter). (ahh... PB... god bless george washington carver...) not much could be better, not at this second, & may this day bring you, too, kicks & grins a-plenty.

now i know why phil's always so tired when he comes to practice from work...

phil hickerson old-school wrestling clip
three things about this clip make me happy:
1. this phil hickerson was a heel from memphis, as was sputnik monroe, integrationist & hero
2. the video setting much resembles that in a scene from my most favorite movie so far this yr, "the wrestler," & w/o the stomach-churning gore
3. the guy dressed as elvis (naturally)
- read below about our upcoming shows, as well as at duskdevils on myspace (i finally got all the dates & times straight)

dusk devils upcoming shows!!!!! (others at www.myspace.com/theduskdevils)

pinetop, yancey, & pete, meade lux, ammons reborn

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this is my new song about something i have sometimes imagined late @ night while sitting in the music rm. finished it at 3 am, then being a dork (& whacked-out tired), immediately emailed it to some of the world's greatest roots-american music musicians before relistening & realizing one piano solo was off. this is the fixed version, the best i could do! one cool thing i figured out was to split the one analog track into 2, then put a 0.001 lag on one side, which gave it a(n) (i think) neat echo! i hope you like it.

a near-perfect g-rated day: dulce est desipere in loco

coffee, ezekiel toast w/pb for breakfast. took love wagon up granite rd, b driving, stepson cody shotgun, dogs wrapped around me in back, listening to NPR. purple, yellow, pink, pale blue, white wildflowers everywhere, shimmering, magical, verdant hills, sheep, goats, steer, cows, deer, scrub oak, dramatic sky, clean air. stopped at oakgrove cemetery near glennville, a lonely & lovely spirit place. the thin dark headstone of margaret, "my beloved wife," sighed under a spidery tree. baby benton's tiny headstone sat way off, all alone. i had a vision moment w/sunlight & windchime in tree, & i'm suspicious of such things, but it happened... on the rd again, a red tailed hawk flew down, then floated, brilliant!, right in front of the love wagon before soaring off... roadside chile verde monster burrito near ducor, home along porterville hwy, headed up bluffs to mom & dad's. mom & dad smiled, aunty rita had her hair done & her red lipstick on, smiling, uncle henry was there for the 1st time in wks, frail as a baby but w/white teeth flashing. i don't remember my little uncle being so handsome. his breath is just a whisper, but his spirits high. so much laughing, & of course, tons of food, from enchiladas to (more) chile verde. i took a run down panorama toward union until b & c picked me up, then at home, we watched the gorgeous LA apocalypse movie "miracle mile," god, i so love that film, then cleaned up & headed to speaker mtg where got to hear handsome old burt read "ch 3" in his sonorous tones, which in a flash i realized are positively johnny cash-like; i could die listening to his voice... then my old friend dan spoke & tho i've known him 13 yrs & see him wkly at our home mtg, i've never heard his story; he was so charming, so sincere, so real tonight. i'm so proud & grateful to know people like him.
now it's time to go mix some music tracks, then head to sleep, & tomorrow, no work! tho i love my library kids more & more, a day off's a wonderful thing. :)

he was a boogie-woogie boogy boogy man

-> some say words alone mean little: divorced from sound, emanating from higher brain, they're less "real," spontaneous, more studied, more potentially ironic... i don't care! i lean toward primitivism, too, like only the fortunate do when such a bent is not intrinsic, but to the devil w/what inhibits fun! plus i like my little story here & hope you do, too. :) wrote it mon night, played on it yesterday (but gita's bd song & extreme squirreliness were higher list), recorded it tonight, hope to mix it tomorrow. my stupid right hand is a real bummer... yet i have such piano-playing fun!!! :) :) :) if i have your email address, i likely might spam the "music" to you once done... cheap, fast, sizzling, salty, sweet spam... (insert homer simpson drool)

BOOGIE-WOOGIE BOOGY BOOGY MAN
i was just sitting on a night all too same
outside an owl kept on calling my name
i could tell that it was getting real late
i finally whispered, mr. owl, why frustrate?
i was just sitting watching the shadows creep
the way they move real slow when the hour's deep
the black of night-time parted, i stood and said
who goes there, spirit, and are you alive or dead?
IT WAS A BOOGIE-WOOGIE BOOGY BOOGY MAN (2x)
(pete johnson-style piano solo)
he warmed up with the fives, of course in "c"
the shades began to swirl as he bewitched the keys
i saw the specters smile as he went round the horn
pinetop, yancey, and pete, meade lux, ammons reborn
HE WAS A BOOGIE-WOOGIE BOOGY BOOGY MAN (2x)
(ammons-lewis style piano)
he rocked and rolled those ivories til dawn was near
the room transformed into a juke joint without peer
8 to the bar, hop, jump, stride, shuffle he did play
the morning shade flew up, he vanished in the day
HE WAS A BOOGIE-WOOGIE BOOGY BOOGY MAN (2x)
(closing piano)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhh!!!!!

am trying to post a max fleischer-style youtube library vid to my library school wiki & IT WON'T WORK!!!!!!!!! anyways, whatta wkend. the show, what fun, vince rocked, philbert rocked, we rocked, 3 chord whore rocked, rock rock rock everybody, lotsa friends, cool!! then jani & i went to the coast & her dang vw window broke! so our host bob rode us to a body shop to get it fixed & we bummed around town, jawed & laughed, got the car back, she spoke & did a swell swell job @ one of those seaside mtgs where folks just don't seem too happy in general; maybe it's the beach thing, trying to "find oneself" & just getting more lost in the process, anyhow, our host wasn't that way, a swell & helpful fellow...we got late-night pizza then i hunkered down on the couch, all swaddled up like a papoose in our little b&b & watched directtv til i hit some button & messed it all up, then the next am jani was SICK AS A DOG all of a sudden!! so i went for a run, waiting for her to pull herself out of bed, went down to the beach, poked in the tidepools, said a prayer for uncle henry the sailor, headed back toward land & saw a bunch of deer gentle & beautiful as angels, took the last 1/4 mile straight DOWNHILL, legs flying, boy, was that fun! finally jani was well enough to get in the car (we concluded she might've had a little food poisoning), so we drove back to bako, then it was time for my sponsor's party & what a lovely corny happy event that was, w/food & singing & dancing & SHE gave US presents, tho it was HER birthday!! i sang frankie lymon, ruth brown, shirley & lee, then delphi & i did joan jett, then we kissed everyone goodbye & headed home.
we dusk devils have a bunch of shows coming up, but for now, i'll leave it at that & try to calm down a little to go watch the simpsons. es todo. espero. calmame, por favor... we'll see...

wardrobe!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 it was a rockin good time tonight!!! this is a pic from beans & gravey sherry that makes the best of things; what a good snapper she is! :) will write more later... thank you, bands & friends & loved ones, for going to last night's show!!!!
about to hit the rd w/jani to the coast, where she's speaking. happpy happpppy happppppppy to anyone reading this! :)

dusk devils this friday night, BORN BAD w/3 chord whore, grizzly owls, vince galindo

thank you for spreading the word about this show!
ps - on esnips (link at right), ex-girlfriends, the phantoms, & the appendages = me.

achievements monumental & mundane

just finished the BTC 1/2 marathon, but came home in a blue mood (not cause of the race). then an acquaintance told me father damien is going to become a saint, & i feel better... have always had such an uncanny feeling for father damien, the way a person's inexplicably drawn to, compelled by, certain things, magnetically, often. in his before pic, as a new priest, he looks like our young dad, or young frederic march; in the last, he is a weary monster, gnarled & beautiful.
here is the article: father damien to be sainted ... if anyone deserves to be a saint, tis damien, who truly was the hands & feet of god.
if you wanna learn more, go to the link @ right or get the movie "molokai'i." i drew a cartoon about my experiences going to kalaupapa; it is here: glumglum cartoon... if you're easily offended, don't read the other cartoons... the race: stormin' ed sailed by & finished in 1:40 or so. kent, who said he's "an old clydesdale," slowly & steadily ran THE ENTIRE WAY. i was feeling pretty strong, tho of course got dopey after about 8 miles, but had a plan that at mile 12, i'd speed up & try to come in faster. the instant i did, I GOT CALF CRAMPS BAD!!! it was just awful, since i wasn't even really tired, but i had to slow way down... shoulda had a banana w/breakfast, not just pb&j!! soon, the clydesdale came clopping by, smiling encouragingly. at the finish line, there was beautiful julie p & her girls, cheering me on, & i was nearly hobbling! every time i'd pick my legs to go a bit faster, AAAAH! but all in all, it was a great event. i am so grateful for this life & the friends i get to have now, each so unique & precious; animus facit nobilem...

bragging?

just found out i came in 5th in my age group in last wk's valentine's day 5k!! woohoo!! i started about 2 mins after the race did, so am amazed! it was a real event, too, w/lots of people! am happily puzzled to know i can accomplish such things, even w/my very non-competitive athletic mindframe. (what chomsky said about spectator sports made a lot of sense...)
a teacher at school who looks kinda like john bazz said he used to run competitively & could do a mile in 4:20 in his youth. amazing!! am hoping i'll merely finish tomorrow's 1/2 marathon. think i pulled something in my hip, but am not thinking about it... you can get info here: www.bakersfieldtrackclub.com
and thanks to andy noise (the photo-taking "wogger") for his encouragement! here's his site: www.andynoise.com
gonna go eat some pasta now, then turn in early (i hope). please, squirrel mind, cooperate...

music salves the soul, long live rocknroll, a buncha links but no sausage

-> haven't been able to focus on hw due to familial worries (brain feels splayed) ... so found a bunch of great cramps interviews last night instead. you can see the ones i liked best here: http://www.youtube.com/user/duskdevils (also posted my library school "boy named sue" video there, so thx for watching it, if you do...)
-> immersion in real rocknroll got the pretty little demon hopping, so this morn (president's day) i recorded a song from a month back, one i think is really fun, my version of the coasters. would like to come up w/some kind of tribute to the cramps, but such things can't be forced, plus how to envision a cramps-like song w/o envisioning the inimitable lux howling it?? i guess it'll happen if it's meant to.
-> here's a link to that recording, "evil eye": jenny & the phantoms music: hope you enjoy it.
-> lastly, thru it all, b & i went out this dusk under the most cold & gorgeous watercolored storm skies to the bbq joint & had the greatest dinner... here are the eateries in bako i think have the best piped music: 1) mama roomba's; 2) dave's; 3) prime cut (tho the other night they followed beau jocque w/the eagles & it was truly a wtfuuuuudge moment...)

dusk devils rock&roll pizza & catalina 5k slide show

happy valentine's day to all, whether you have a sweetie, sweeties, or are your own sweetie... if romance be not your momentary fix, recall the many forms of love! (oof; that sounds preachy; but it's something i never used to consider... "MORE than romantic love? what??") school will be crazy & fun tomorrow. :) i love my library kids. :)

just looked up love quotes. here are my faves: "every time we love, every time we give, it's christmas. - dale evans." "you call it madness, but i call it love. - don byas." "the heart has its reasons which reason knows not of. -pascal." "love life and life will love you back. -rubenstein." "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. -george sand." "there is no remedy for love but to love more. - thoreau." "i love people. i love my family, my children . . . but inside myself is a place where i live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up. -pearl s. buck." "this is my beloved and this is my friend. - song of solomon." "love all, trust a few. - shakespeare." "when you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. -marcus aurelius."

prayers for uncle henry; thinkinbout lincoln & the one who wore black for the poor & beaten-down...

-> our uncle henry just went in the heart hospital a few hrs ago, so i am dropping off the dog boys to head over & wait w/mama while aunty rita holds his hand & no doubt keeps him laughing while he waits for the doc. why am i writing this? well, i hope you know someone like uncle henry. and i'm likely stalling... uncle henry has always been 120 lb dripping wet; i am an amazon compared to him. he's been pickled to the gills since before he grew a whisker; he's smart as a whip, smarter w/every belt he takes, w/a memory that matches mama's (but mom doesn't partake of the vine), a fortitude that's always caused me both admiration & envy. he & his wife, aunty rita, weave wild blue tales so creatively, rapidly, & w/such profane pleasure, they'd make redd foxx blush. small & brown, aging, jack spratt & his wife, they draw crowds w/their ribald & wild repartee. they are just plain fun, tho sometimes terrifying fun, like drinking fun can be: the rita & henry show can make a person want to hide at times. for the most part, tho, they are ambassadors for the human race, which is how i read people like them aptly described in a NYer one time. i guess bubba - president clinton, every married woman's "freeby," as our cousin, aunty rita's daughter, described him - is the same. such folks make a person feel happier to be alive, wilder, more mythical, more included, braver, more pleasured to just draw breath. you can tell them dang, i stepped in dog crap, i ruined my new shoes, & w/in minutes they'll have spun that sucker into a gut-splitting epic that from then on is forever & always family lore... & you don't feel embarrassed: you feel like paul bunyan, like annie oakley, like zeus. :)
-> uncle henry was on a nuke sub for 30 yrs. then he worked as a shut-down operator for power plants for 20 yrs. the devil knows what he's got glowing & growing in his system. i just know his fierce life force has carried him much farther than such a seemingly-fragile frame would seem to be able to endure...
-> on another note, i did my library school HW today, a podcast about mr lincoln & video of "a boy named sue". if johnny cash & president lincoln aren't your true-blue heroes, well, i don't think you'd be here reading this, actually, so here is a link: http://ynnej.pbwiki.com (look on the right side for titles... both were created for mid-school kids w/hope to inspire them...)
-> please say a prayer or send a kind thought to our uncle henry. he deserves the goodwill of the universe, as do all such leaders & inspirers...

whoo-hoo!! we got the moon (support your local female one-man band)

-> http://www.esnips.com/web/jenny-angel-dusk-devils-ex-girlfriends-music/ - go to the song "we got the moon," which i was able to record w/drums in proper time bc i moved them over so my headphones actually would reach from the drum set to my little tascam ... meanwhile am listening to richard berry - haven't heard this cut in a long while!!! this - i believe - smash LP was one of my best scores ever: i traded a reissue buddy holly double LP for original vinyls of RB & JIMMY REED on veejay! in VG+++ condition, both! my only better trade was when i traded chris goodsell the blasters on rollin' rock (which i then got them to sign) for some vintage shirts for the gal who later became his wife. so we both got a good deal, i think...
here's a few pic from last night's show. :)