Time has told me, you’re a rare, rare find a troubled cure, for a troubled mind...

I have rediscovered Nick Drake. Though I did not jump on the N-Drake bandwagon when the Volkswagen commercial came out (it was about 3 months earlier when I got into Jeff Buckley) I did go through a definite "malaise faze," whilst listening to him.
I think that downtown Long Beach is kind of like a Nick Drake song. There is an under current of complexity and a celebration of being flawed. I like downtown LB in the morning. I ride my bike to work and I like the view I get of it waking up. There is the food line at the Baptist church, people walking their dogs, folks changing into work clothes at the bike station (oops, that is me), and the clean Long Beach people power washing the sidewalks on Promenade. Ol' Drakey makes for a nice soundtrack.
On a completely different note, I think that I have been out of grad school long enough. I am going to read a book every other week. I will make sure that they are all NOT non-fiction, or library related.
Any suggestions for good fiction? Mysteries in particular.

There is no vacancy when you're empty...

I found out yesterday that Tom Mallon died. For those of you who do not know who he was besides being a great musician, he was also a sound engineer, and producer in San Francisco who offered professional services at affordable prices. This is how I met him.
I have been lucky enough to have worked with some really great engineers in the Bay Area: Kevin Army, Andy Ernst, Ryan Massey, and Greg Freeman. However, Tom Mallon is the one, I believe, who showed me how to record. He always had the band  play together in the same room, when the take was not-so-great he would just tell us to try it again, and after every take he would say into the headphones, "tune."
It had been years since I had seen him (ran into him randomly at a Peet's Coffee like 10 years ago) and it was not much more then hi, how are you?
The band mates that I worked with during the Tom Mallon recording sessions understand how important he was to not only the SF music scene, but to the us personally. The first time I came into his studio to record a 7'inch, I admit I was a little cocky, but after working with him on a full album, I was humbled and a much better player. The band  was silly, but professional and I am glad to say that we made him laugh. Granted it was probably at our expense.
A friend of mine told me that he was sick a few months ago. My thoughts and sympathies go out to his family and friends.

Now that we've perfected the art of love
Now all the lights shine on me and misery
My good friend misery

You can be cured by a single touch
You can get up and walk away
Anything that you say

The drive of the road again
'cause I'll be your only friend
Right before we touch the ground
The night asleep, loving sound
Sweet loving sound

"Asleep" of the album "Engine," American Music Club, 1987.

Nothing changes on New Year's Day

It is New Year's Eve. Who cares.
 I have never been a fan and usually I am so exhausted from Christmas that I don't want to do anything anyway.

So far I have received positive feedback from the podcast. Many thanks to the folks who contributed. I am inspired to make another one...I cannot decide if it should be summer or sport themed. Hmmmm. I have been toying with the idea of recording a version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Some of the interesting things I have noticed about the submissions that I got were that most were originals.
I was not sure if folks were going to do covers or write their own Christmas song. I am glad that they chose the latter. Their offerings to the nostalgia that are Christmas tunes, I think were fresh and interesting.
Most of the arrangements were light on the Christmassy orchestrations, but the lyrics were solid in that they were obviously about Yuletide times. I appreciate the different avenues people explored. Christmas imagery was challenged with the southern hemisphere, sexy Santa, and Santa's evil counterpart, Krampus. Ego Sensation created a psychedelic-electro vibe with "Merry X-Mas Liar," and Doug and the DBLF crew reminisced about grandma being drunk. The covers were "non-traditional" as well. I like my take on  "Rudolph"  and there is a video that goes with it. The live performances were meant to be rockin' and or rolling and I thought that Dominick needed props and who doesn't love a kazoo? But JT's "O Holy Night," is amazing! It is so emotional and paints a sublime picture. The songs makes me think of  the Masons of the 17th century looking out of their windows and longing for the pastoral memories of their youth.

2014 is the year of this gal FINISHING projects.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas...

Holy crap! I finally finished my Christmas podcast.
Track list
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere
Santa Won't You Come Down My Chimney
Dominick the Donkey
Krampus
Merry X-Mas Liar
O'Holy Night
Drunken Grandma Christmas
White Christmas

More to follow. Just listen!

https://archive.org/details/XmasPodcastMp3

Flagpole Sitta

 I heard "Flagpole Sitta" on the radio yesterday. After the song was over the DJ came on and said, "Nobody remembers the name of the band that did this song. They were called Harvey Danger." For those of you who are in the know will understand while I laughed out loud when I heard this statement.

I was "working from home (and getting my hair done at the salon)" and my hairdresser and I were discussing the worst break up we had each experienced. You know, the kind when you are blindsided and your heart is ripped out and you are emotionally devastated. 

Since I have been happily married for the last 8+ years and don't really think about this stuff anymore, but it was in a weird way kind of fun to reminisce about old pain. For some reason I feel French. Anyways.

The crazy shit one will do when they are in unrealistic love is amazing. There is one person who really broke my heart and in talking with my hairdresser, I was embarrassed at some of the crazy stuff I did, thought, and said. My twenty-something self would really irritate my forty-something self if they hung out. 

Besides having nonexistent eating habits and a small drinking problem, I lived in a bit of a fantasy world when it came to what I was going to do with my life. 

There is one time that me and the boy who broke my heart wandered around the city for like 10 hours. It was magical. The conversation was filled with unrealistic scenarios and lofty goals. We ended up at Tank Hill, which has a great view of the city. I am sure we declared our love or something like that, but what I do remember is wanting the moment to last forever. It was like a romantic movie. It is no wonder I associate so much of my life to music. I am a product of the 1980s and dammit, I need a good soundtrack! 

Don't get me wrong, I worked my ass off (still do) and I was motivated to make art and stuff, but I kind of lived for the day back then. 

All during high school and until I was about 20, I had a reoccurring dream that I died on my 34th birthday. It was because I had that dream weekly for 5 years that I did not think about "the future." When I actually reached my thirties things changed and I got older, wiser, and blah, blah, blah.

I am glad that I had the heartbreak. It made me appreciate what came next. 

We're an American Band

I play in a punk rock cover band. I really like the people I play with and I think we are pretty good.
Playing other people's music is a strange thing for me. For over 20 years I played in bands that played originals. In the mid 2000s, I played in two musicals and they were really fun. In fact one of my favorite times ever playing was doing the run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. But it is different than playing covers. This winter I want to FINALLY perform my Christmas show. I have the players (except a keyboardist), and I am pretty sure that I will have no trouble securing a venue as well.
No excuses.
On Friday night, we played at a local watering hole and it was a really fun low pressure gig.
My amp died before we started playing (by the by, now I have three amps that do not work), but luckily the singer is also a bassist and had gear close by to fill in. The other band was great too. Totally nice guys and good players. Not to be mean about the LBC, but it is still a boys club. Women are few and far between in bands in my opinion. In the 5 years I have been playing in this town only a handful of bands seem to have women or are all female. For the record, I am talking about Long Beach proper. I know that I don't get out much, but I do try and keep my fingers on the pulse of what the kids are into.
I vowed to myself that I would not stop creating my own art. That is why this Christmas show means so much to me. Though they are mostly cover songs, I am making my own arrangements of the tunes and there will be a few originals thrown into the mix. That reminds me, I really need to finish my greeting cards for my etsy store.

One of my best friends, Ego Sensation keeps me motivated. She is a crazy brilliant artist and I don't know what I would do without her in my life. I promised her no more pity parties (table for one?) and gosh darn it that is a promise I intend to keep.

You and Me Both

I am totally out of the loop with music these days. I hear about a band or artist once and again, thanks to my bass student who is a sophmore in high school. I have decided to return to my music obsessing roots and start exploring "what the kids are listening to," and artists who, I in the past have blown off for various reasons. Exhibit A-getting into Led Zepplin two years ago and thinking about downloading a few Blues Brothers tunes. Rubber biscuit anyone?
I wonder if it is nostalgia-influence that has kept me picking the same ol', same ol' for the past couple of years. I could blame the baby for me not having enough time, blah, blah, blah, but it is more than that, so I did an experiment and here are my findings.
A few weeks ago, I had to travel to Canyon Country (yeah, I did not know where that was either) to do some training and I decided to listen to music that I was obsessed with in my Junior High years.
It took me two metro lines and a train to get there, plus I waited an hour at Union Station, so I had time to listen to PLENTY of music.
I started off with David Bowie. I kept only to the Serious Moonlight and Blue Jean era. The music is still pretty good and I appreciate the orchestration and I really like the song "Ricochet," it has a weird feel to it. Also, it is a little embarrassing I admit, but I like the "Dancing in the Street," collaboration he did with Mick Jagger. It is probably because they premiered the video during Live Aid.
After Bowie, I went for Culture Club. I LOVED Culture Club and was fortunate enough to see them in concert. I went through the hits and then decided to listen to "Victims." This song was a pretty big hit in the UK, but was not released as a single in the US. I am sure it is about Boy George and Jon Moss (drummer) relationship and it is depressing. I wanted to lift myself up so I chose Depeche Mode. Mostly, from "Some Great Reward," which let's face it, has a lot of depressing tunes on it. After I listened to "Sometimes", I took a break and listened to a Podcast of "This American Life."

I am really sorry A.
For those of you who are not familiar with Yaz. They were (though they played a couple of years ago) a synth-duo that featured Alison Moyet and Vincent Clarke (who was a member of Depeche and founding member of Erasure). Their music is something else. I was staring out the window looking at the outside world and Yaz put me in a strange state. I was on the train and totally somewhere else.
Their lyrics are so melodramatic but completely sincere. The music is synth-y and not terribly interesting to an untrained techno ear. But damn! I was totally swept away.
My junior high years had some bumps I admit. I tried some pills, kissed some boys, had whiskey for the first time, and barely made it to the 10th grade academically. But I do not remember Yaz being an integral part of my soundtrack and then I remembered. In 9th grade I liked this dude Jim and he totally broke my heart. I think it was the first time I had really had heartache. This might have been when I bought "Upstairs at Eric's," and Yaz can definitely be break-up music. Also, I think that in a strange way their music has stood the test of time. I know that some would very much disagree and you are entitled to you opinion.
"Mr. Blue" is from their second record "You and Me Both (1983)," (which I think is a better record then their first, though the critical acclaim is mostly for their first record) and it is a super sad song.

"Winter sounds are crying-Like an old man slowly dying
And the only sound, the wind that fills the trees
Even colder comes the moon
And though it never seems too soon
A sudden stillness as the rainfall starts to freeze
I'm mister blue and I'm here to stay with you and no matter what you do
When you're lonely, I'll be lonely too."

Whew. For some reason these lyrics get me every time and take me to a place when heartbreak was not only painful, but new...