there she blogs!

long time no write...

2011-07-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

so what better time to talk about INFLATABLE WORLD
than now!
the scene of a 4 year old's birthday party. (well, actually he was two days shy of four.)
this space felt just right. i realize comparisons are always going to suck but i can't help it....this so improved upon the chuck e. cheese experience.
the birthday goers were happy.
probably the only draw back being you have to follow the smaller kids around - calling on the recommendation to bring two consenting adults to take shifts, while the other hangs out and eats pizza and cake.

go to...

2009-03-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

www.theassumptionsmusic.com.
happy 2009!

52 days left

2008-09-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

"what then must we do?" billy kwan from The Year of Living Dangerously

5 months along

2008-04-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

and i haven't posted a thing.
the assumptions have recorded and mastered their first album. as soon as art work is completed, the masters will be sent out to the respective facilities for pressing records and CDs. a record release affair is tentatively scheduled for the 15th of august, barring any other conflicting gigs that night. the venue is up in the air. we are still looking for a place for everyone to come out and enjoy themselves and the music.

growing up

2007-11-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

clearly i have been elsewhere...in the land of dreams, the land of wonder, the land of wynken, blynken and nod.
i am his grandmother, his mEm. he amazes me.

he’s a deep dish sonic sage
auspicious delicious
fire of thunder
keeper of rhyme

he’s a deep dish sonic sage
auspicious delicious
triple-split wonder
changer of time

it's a grand old flag!

2007-07-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

7.7.007 - world concerts abound, western heat waves provoke wildfires and the sound of an occasional leftover lit firecracker accompanies the smell of the 4th day of 4th of july barbeques. it's the weekend of the USA midsummer holiday, celebrating freedom from king george & his redcoats and the birth of a country. (i'm referring to the royal in britain, back in the 1700s, not the rube currently in power in this country.) just one more fun-filled day and then it's back to grindstones everywhere - from sea to shining sea.
for those of us getting ready to make some music in a couple of weeks it means the last of rehearsals before having a dream come true. a little voice inside my head keeps saying, "be careful what you wish for..." i don't know why it whispers this. it just does.
i read two blogs today - the http://inmindseverywhere.blogspot.com & the http://www.petetownshendwhohe.blogspot.com/. both of these men have been so influencial in what is to come out of the assumptions recordings. i know at least one of the fellas will see this.
the following sentiment goes out to both of them.
thanks for the fireworks!!!!!!!!!
x, l~

may queen

2007-05-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

ah...beltane...the maypole...wicca wicca...STOP!

7:24
there's a mockingbird outside my bedroom window, singing its little heart out. the sky is overcast, (the usual may gray playing its traditional part). i am sipping earl grey tea, (double-bagged), and have resigned myself to not going to nashville later this morning. my partner and i could not be more inundated with influenza. yesterday, while wrestling with 'to go or not to go,' i imagined sitting on a plane, with two strangers sitting next to me, carrying enough germs to infect the entire population. my resentment of such passengers cinched my decision to cancel. if that were not enough i walked into the bedroom where my partner was resting not very comfortably. there was confirmation of the highest order. trust me...
nope, we are not going to nashville.
we miss you stacie...xo

addendum to previous

2007-04-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

my humps? my love lumps? i can't even type these words without bursting into laughter!
i have not been a fan of alanis morissette but her treatment of 'my humps' expresses the mockery to perfection - even better than pink's video. i hope these vids get play and replay around the world.

girls today

2007-03-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

"even when you're talented and extremely nice and you can do whatever you want and who cares what anyone thinks anyway, it's still not ultimately great for your self-respect to wear butt floss and make porno faces in public.

Despite the starry-eyed teenagers lining up to be the skankiest showgirls of all, there's almost nothing normal or artistic about the Pussycat Dolls -- which is why they're so obviously destined to rule the known universe.

But you don't have corns! What am I saying? You're beautiful and young and therefore still free to shake your perky ass on the strip-club stage of life for Aqualung and his friends, enjoying that deep satisfaction that comes from knowing that stinky old guys want to have sex with you!"
By Heather Havrilesky at www.salon.com

After reading Havrilesky’s article today I decided that it might be time to blog on and spew a bit.
But first I did a little looking at the music videos from those sumptuous vixens, (she said rather facetiously) the pussycat dolls. It wasn’t enough though. I needed to see more. The trail led me to yahoo videos.
The thought that came up for me, while watching the glut over and over, video after video, was how much money is being spent on inane visuals. The ONLY video I could remotely give a fuck about was ‘stupid girls’ with Pink. Nice little spoof. Hats off to ya, honey!
The investment on the part of the entertainment companies, influencing girls to dress in as little and as tightly possible because it will make them happy, pretty and powerful and able to choose or reject any male in the universe, (uh huh), is capital, information and time that could be spent persuading these chicklettes to find out what they really want to be when they grow up – as opposed to encouraging them to act out like they already are. OR capital, information, and time spent acknowledging and encouraging young people in their own age bracket to feel good about being in their own age bracket! Why does the 'glitz biz' need to lie to our children? OH! I forgot….profits!

My partner’s daughter is thirteen. She’s an artist and musician, not to mention a lovely fulltime adolescent. My goddaughter is twelve, a 'tween', beautiful, well educated and, by today’s standards, very, very innocent. She is still trying extremely hard to believe in Santa. Both of these girls are so bright and full of enthusiasm for life. Both have a little coy minx starting to pop through. Great! Having the flirt come alive is anyone’s budding birthright.
However, when I see the onslaught of ‘same ol’ same ol’ female aberrations wearing a tired mask of equality through ‘my booty and its gyrAyshuns’ I can’t help but wonder what must be going on in the heads of these two girls. Hey kids! Please! Wait a minute! There’s more!
I asked the dad of the thirteen year-old what he thought would positively affect his little girl. And his response didn’t really answer the sad curiosity I have for how these current cultural imprints are influencing and building young feminine character. His daughter is an avid Avril Lavigne fan. (I watched her latest video on yahoo. Sooooooooooo disappointed...more of the - i'm the one for you, young stud, and she's nOt and i feel better by watching and laughing at her hurt and embarrassment. oh! and i look really sexy and she's a total dweeb! she's sooooooooooo not your type and i am - video.) Such clever and surprising stuff here. Ahem!
Dad’s hopeful comment was that he foresaw a hybrid of saucy Kate Hepburn/gamine Audrey Hepburn women emerging, of whom his daughter and my goddaughter would be shining examples. Wishful thinking! And yet, there is some truth there. But these two are not the majority.
And they are going to have to work, vote, romance, live and possibly raise children along side the ones who are dreaming of being just like Nicole, Ashley, Kimberly, Melody, Jessica and/or Carmit pussycat doll!

Some teenage imprints that come up for me are Dusty Springfield, Janis Joplin, and Joni Mitchell. I keep trying to imagine these women in the 'millions of dollars 3 minute 43 second music videos' made and approved for today’s teenage demographics.
Springfield, Joplin and Mitchell were examples of sexiness, talent and beauty - they called upon their talents first, looks & bod came after. Granted, they made compromises. We are all fallible. Hell, two of the three aren't even on this material plane anymore. But they were and are icons. They sparked those of us girls watching them and advocated that women were more than just some sexy puff... and of the three, the one still living is one of music's greatest artists, never was and not about to be pigeon-holed into coquette corner.
It’s an archaic position, I admit. One that every generation passes through….when I was your age WE blah blah blah. But come on! This message of – you are not gonna fuck me unless I give you permission but I’m gonna tease you just to watchcha NOW WOMEN THIS IS THE ULTIMATE POWER - has got to go!
How many more young girls have to morph into seedy tease creatures, self esteem casualties?
If that is the best we have to offer and show in this world at the moment...

...and i can't even begin to formulate what must be going on in the minds of all those adolescent young dudes...

new day/fresh start

2007-01-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

where have all the towers gone...

2006-12-31T18:26:00.001-08:00

growing up in southern california had its advantages. the liberal west coast of the '60s and '70s offered abundant sunshine all year, the pacific ocean with its glorious waves and some of the best music the planet had to offer. there were cool record shops where one knew the clerks and the clerks knew their customers, but no store could ever outdo the insane amount of fantastic records one could find at tower records. there was one on the sunset strip in LA. as a teenager, everytime i visited my godmother in pacific palisades i found a way of going to my musical mecca. tower was the first place i ever saw an import from the UK. they were strangely wrapped in heavy plastic sleeves as opposed to our US brand of thin crispy shrinkwrap. the store's never-ending bins held every section/selection of music under the sun. the place bred excitement. there would be spottings of movie stars or better yet, MUSICIANS. there were 'meet and greets' with groups who had come to play the forum that night. it was heaven. but it was a few and far between thing for me...until they opened a tower in my very own hometown! a dream come true i tell you! situated right across the street from the sports arena, the tower in san diego was almost as magical to walk into as the one on the strip. having access to all that vinyl in one place, in my own backyard was very, very special. years later another store went in just around the block from where i lived. i could walk to tower! they even had a ticket booth for concert purchases. it became positively dangerous. there were too many times i would rationalize a purchase at tower as being more important than paying the electric bill for the month! besides, i had quite a crush on the general manager and would go in just to catch a glimpse...

i had heard rumours. with access to purchasing music through cyberspace, the sales of material goods at the stores were dwindling. then i heard something disturbing. tower was filing for bankruptcy. but it was to be sold...new owners of an old landmark...could be ok.
or not.

when my partner and i landed in new york on our way home from europe we paid one of those obligatory visits to tower near lincoln center in manhattan. we saw big colourful signs from the outside but didn't register what they said until inside the store. we stopped dead in our tracks. STORE CLOSING. the part of the brain that refuses to register what it doesn't want to accept was seeing this as an isolated incident...until we went to the cash register and the clerk told us that all the towers were closing, all over the country. no! no! no!

it was documentation time. it was time to say goodbye. we had already snapped shots in manhattan. we went to the tower on sunset. we went to the tower on sports arena boulevard. we went to the tower in la jolla. and when we failed to make it to the original store in san francisco, a friend was kind enough to take some fotos for us - in abstentia.
here are some of the last days in pictures.

as our world continues its twenty first century changes i voluntarily adapt to the future, but nothing, for me, can replace the thrill of walking into tower records where i knew i would find any variety of music, and later video, that i ever wanted, all together, in one place, under one roof. LONG LIVE TOWER RECORDS!!!!!!

traveling in some...part 3

2006-12-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

we knew we were going to amsterdam and we knew we were going to paris. the third destination on our excursion was TBD for quite some time. we batted around prague...florence...barcelona...
i don't know exactly why or when spain won out. certainly our friend, pat, had influence. his reminiscences of living there were quite alluring. he spoke of the place with such affection and enthusiasm. he gave the people high marks.
i had only been there once, as a teen...no memories...jon had never been there. he suggested a train trip from paris with an overnight berth car. it sounded splendid!

22.12.2006...this just in. oh oh oh i am missing amsterdam...all i want to do is walk down the length of the singel canal and then find a nice flat to fall into with friends and a fireplace and the smell of winter, chimneys and smoke...holland smoke.

christmas eve 2006...very early in the morning...i began writing this piece a month ago...

as for the romantic train trek to spain - i never slept. never so glad to get to a hotel room...and OH what a hotel room! and oh! what a view.

two blocks away from the sagrada familia, i passed out while jon went in search of food and fun. he found them.

barcelona is a place that reminds one of the times of the modernistas. the city pays homage to many artists, with museums honoring picasso, miró and, of course, gaudí.
our dinner times were spent on the plaza, facing the famous gaudí cathedral, eating tapas and drinking beer. they were really fine tapas. it was really fine beer...

our second day had us sight-seeing...really! took the tour bus et al! the first stop was girona. this city in catalonia shows you medieval buildings, ancient roman, jewish and arab culture and a cathedral with the most gorgeous bells. when they sing the hair stands on end on every part of your body.
we took lunch there before moving on to the birthplace of the incomparable, supreme egoist, salvador dalí!
figueres is not only where he was born but the final resting place, inside the museum HE designed - teatre-museu dalí.
if it was dalí's intention to make this place fun, he succeeded. if it was his intention to create great art, he succeeded. if it was his intention to be entombed in a wall shared by the women's bathroom, he succeeded.
we shot close to 300 fotos at this place. we spent hours at this place. not enough...not enough. we immersed ourselves here.

the following day saw live statues on plazas, performing their weird slo mo/come to life sequences that charmed the children on a field trip and the hundreds of touristas, tipping along the way. we made a stopover at the london bar, in search of a gaudí structure, and settled for yet another damn fine beer.
i felt a subtle nagging in a tooth. nice to be able to walk into a farmacía and purchase a simple pill that addresses a toothache. i always prefer pain-free holidays, doesn't everyone?
the house on passeig de gracia that antoni gaudí was commissioned to refurbish was owned by josep batlló. the architectural intent was clearly related to water. the place is miraculous - it made me cry. it made me miss hovercraft at 6th avenue. it made me realize that if the hovercraft project had been done in a different time that it would still be standing, with all its beautiful art.

after our usual dining experience, cathedralside, we decided to hit the bar that pat had told us about - the heliogábal. it had started to rain. we caught the metro. the looks and sounds of the place were very different from where we were staying...more like a real neighbourhood as opposed to the swirl of downtown and glassy eyed touristas. the place is very small, very cement. it smells of creative revolt. leave it to pat!
jon walked up to the bartender and asked if he knew pat mAcdonald. the guy's eyes lit up. "oh yes! well, i don't know him but i know of him!"
jon gave him a copy of his album, 'cabalistic dispatch' and we also gave him a copy of pat's latest CD, 'troubadour of stomp'. he immediately played both, back to back, over the house system and served us beer after beer - on the house. it was a holiday in spain so the people were starting to gather. the bar packed quickly. i remember thinking that i wished i had picked pat's brain a little more for what and where else to see. this was truly a special little place. when we left it was pouring rain. the metro was still running - thank the gods and goddesses for the spanish holidays and, therefore, later metro hours - so we landed back at the hotel, sated and exhausted.

after a scrumptious 'breakfast in bed feast', our last day in barcelona was spent at the park güell...in the rain. more playful, colourful gaudí. even with the rain, umbrellas, cold and mud, the park was glorious. i spotted my own version of the little 'morton salt' girl. i snapped foto after foto...after a while she just started posing - she knew she was a muse.
we finally succumbed to the rain and hailed a taxi. interestingly, the taxi driver's radio was tuned to a station playing only tim buckley - hmmm...wouldn't find that in the u.s.
because the plaza was soaked and the drizzle still having its way, we ate inside the cervezería for the only time. we were catching that night train back to paris.

so, in the hopes that much alcohol would help me sleep, i drank A LOT OF BEER! once on board we went to the snackbar car and drank A LOT OF BEER.

oh i slept alright...and that's why, folks, i very rarely drink a lot of beer...

the next morning we were back in paris. too brief...a cab ride to another station - that was it, before catching our connection to amsterdam. it started out a very, very rough friday the thirteenth...for both of us.
amsterdam was cold but its charming, darling self. the sight of the city lifted our mutual outlooks. our hotel left a lot to be desired, after the 4 star in barcelona, but hey, it was a place to sleep. we walked forever around the city that night...strolling the red light district, watching the girls for hire. swarma, spacecakes, burger king, (which i attribute to the spacecake), häagen-dazs, (probably also spacecake influenced), coffee and several smokes later we were exhausted and delightedly content.
the next morning we were awakened by the telephone. BILL! the three of us walked all over the place - the rembrandtplein to the kalverstraat. we made it to the crossroads of keizergracht-reguliersgracht. i had stared at the foto of this landmark, in our living room for so long, wondering if we would ever make it to this place together and here we were...pretty enchanting. bill took the obligatory shot of mjk & ls.D before moving on to more red light walking, curry at an indian restaurant of bill's choice. delish.

sunday was cold and rainy. it was the amsterdam marathon. while the people on the very brisk outside were running 26.2 miles, jon and i were toasty on the inside of the rijksmuseum. 400 years of the master, rembrandt, of dutch masters is the city's big bannered celebration. all these painters from the dutch golden age of the 17th century are beyond the fantastic. as i stared, mouth agape, at the use of light and detail all i could think of was the amount of patience and discipline these people had to have. not unlike the marathoners outside.
we stopped by de saloon for an afternoon beverage. coffee and ciggies for me, a palm for jon. this is one of those little corners in amsterdam just off the main track that delighted me so. like the square in barcelona, i could have been content going to de saloon over and over.

jon played that night at a pub called sláinte. yeah...lots of britishers. mjk sang, with me piping in from time to time. he passed the hat and came away with a good night's gig share. there were a few pub crawlers hoping for more football tv than live performance. carrie and i worried a bit but jon ended up charming them and collecting a few of his wages from these gits.
another day in holland, another morning coffee with bill. we didn't know it at the time but it would be our last visit with him. we took off in opposite directions, he to work and we to sightsee, with the intent to rendez-vous later. it was monday and the only museum open was the house of anne frank. neither of us had been inside and neither of us went inside. the line for entry was more than an hour's wait.
we took the tram to the flower market. yep! tulips everywhere. it was a crisp sunny day and the colours of the flowers stood at attention for all the tourist eyes to marvel at and purchase for gardens back home.
we made our way to vondelpark. under the influence of magik, i saw storks by the lake. i heard the laughter and dutch spoken by children on the grass. i sat, content to be in this great space in our world.

it was our last evening in amsterdam. with great appetites, we revisited kam yin for one final serving of moksi meti.

we visited sláinte for a final pint and then trammed it back to the hotel.

our intense adventure over, we packed in the morning, squeezing and pleading with our traveling gear to carry their loads just two more days. we flew to new york by way of frankfurt. the german language was very jarring to the ear after the melodies of dutch, french and spanish, but it was no where near as harsh as the english spoken at JFK. it was raining proverbial cats & dogs upon reentry into the USA. we stayed at a damp and creepy airport best western motel. we were both pretty sad and cranky.
wednesday, 18 october was a day of two coastal cities. one on the east - manhattan, the other on the west - home. we checked our faithful luggage at JFK and subwayed into the city. how different it looked from when we left joe & tom in september. i wanted to eat at the stage deli...probably should have gone to john's pizza. we were still adapting to the cultureshock that we live with on a daily basis. neither one of us was very happy to be back. we could feel the abrasiveness, the fear and the tightness of the US - and it wasn't because we were in manhattan...it is actually much warmer and real there than places out west!
we headed over to the west side for a cappuccino at café la fortuna.

somehow the drink and ciggies weren't going to work for me anymore. well, it was a good run, and yes, all things must pass. although i do drink coffee from time to time, the smoking days are bygones...at least for now. hey, my lungs are very, very grateful.

strawberry fields forever! visiting the little spot in central park was very different than the last time i was there with mjk. we went in the daytime this visit. jon played lennon songs and several people stopped to listen. there's a sign there that says:how is that possible?

we went by tower near lincoln center. WHAT! TOWER CLOSING! ...but that's a future blog.
we had a last libation at fiorello's before the long, last flight home.

ah...our own bed with freshly laundered, new flannel sheets. that's what it's like to sleep on a cloud.

and now it is christmas day, more than two months after the 'trip come true' came and went. what a banner year for travel. may everyone be so fortunate to be able to experience one year in life this way.
happy hols! xoXOxo
& may we all celebrate JAMES BROWN, the godfather of soul!

traveling in some...part 2

2006-11-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

hours away from the last month of 2006...a BANNER year for visiting where i do not reside.

paris/october 2006. i love paris in the springtime. i love paris in the fall. our first day found us at the louvre. i never tire of the place, art or sound of the french language. it is said that paris is a 'virgo' city, intent upon precision, details and perfection. there is nothing but these three at the louvre. after we left the museum we hit a little of the paris drizzle. just in time to step into a café for a small dinner and then a walk, taking in the visuals of the
moulin rouge.
breakfast at our hotel was divine. the french equivalent of the the american complimentary breakfast is so much more! fresh croissants, brie, fresh fruit, café au lait, jams, honey and fresh baguettes are just a few of the items offered. sheesh!

musée d'orsay. here, i would LOVE to reside. just imagine waking up in this place and walking around from room to room with your coffee, saying good morning to the
van goghs, renoirs and toulouse-lautrecs...it's easy to feel the spirits of these artists in this place of exhibition. for me....especially monsieur auguste rodin. the force of his pieces almost make me swoon, not unlike being at a beatles concert...for me.
one piece that has always been a favourite is 'the circus' by seurat. his last work, unfinished, has been a personal symbol for virtuosity. i love everything about this vervy swervy painting. seurat believed that painting could achieve harmony like music. i hear this sing!

and what would paris be without at least one visit to les galeries lafayette. berets, parfum et lingerie!

after a day incorporating shopping, sight-seeing, and museums, mjk and i were low on energy and even lower on clean clothing. a few shops down from our hotel was a gorgeous little wine store. we found out that it was 'white night' in paris. all the museums would be open - free - until dawn. all the landmarks would be lit. everyone would come out come out and pack paris in like a sweaty night club.
so...we did laundry...
with a bottle of delicious wine...

the last day in paris was insanely busy. a trip to le cimetière du père-lachaise. respects were paid to yves montand, simone signoret, apollinaire, delacroix, many more, and, of course, james douglas morrison. jon began singing and playing on guitar 'crystal ship' when the gendarmes came over to silence him...basically the police were letting him know that music was for the metro NOT for the cemetery!!! aside from this ridiculolus scenario i rather enjoyed the place. and i really had to be coerced into going. i think of cemeteries as creepy, morose devotional sites to a belief system that i DON"T believe. but this was one of the most breathtaking places. i would have loved to have been there at night...and play enormous amounts of music. electric music!
from père-lachaise we took the metro to the centre pompidou. honestly, i had become desensitized...i needed a day off from the museums. one really needs two or more weeks in paris to fully appreciate the amount of history represented. i was done. there would be more mirós and dalís in spain. what i wanted and got was a fabulous dinner before hopping an all night train to barcelona. and so it was au revoir to france...and bienvenidos á españa!

traveling in some...part 1

2006-11-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

it is el día de los muertos. it is the time of scorpio. it is all about transition and regeneration.
well...transitioning from the new world to the old world and back to the new has been interesting these past weeks.
regenerating always occurs with and for me after rambling from country to country.
the recent adventure included encounters in five - the netherlands, belgium, france, spain and germany.
but the trip began at home in the adolescent USA. from dago to NYC was an exciting flight - that first one in anticipation of the rest of one's holiday and all that awaits...
manhattan was busy being hurried, boisterous and full of the bawdy characters that i have known and come to love. jon and i stayed with our friends, joe and tom, in jersey city and their dog, bear. what a visit! what a couple! what a pleasure it was and is to be in their company.

the next day saw the village, my traditional stop at the algonquin for a cosmopolitan - or three - and a nice chat with matilda, dinner in hoboken and more fun with dear friends before a night's rest and morning journey to jon's childhood homebase, arlington, VA. i have heard many stories about places and moments in arlington. to actually see these homes where my partner grew up, to visit 'the broiler' where he folded many a pizza box, and to drive the roads where he and his bike cruised, and sometimes met the pavement, put me even closer to him.

washington d.c. greeted us with a beautiful day on the mall, an henri rousseau exhibition at the national gallery east, and 'the US vs. John Lennon'. the capital of the USA is a pretty powerful place, but in my heart i felt it to be a melancholy occasion. exasperaton and exhaustion seemed to be in my mind, the verge of abandonment on my agenda. oh beautiful for spacious what!

jon and i ended our evening with lobster and wine at the ebbitt grill before returning to the days inn on columbia pike. the next day would see us returning to new amsterdam to catch a plane to old amsterdam. and i couldn't wait!

my legs are long - too long to be comfortable in economy class on a jet to europe. arrival in holland was on a damp tuesday morning. our hotel let us have our room right away fortunately. once we freshened up it was time to hit the leidseplein and the bulldog cafe. ah amsterdam...i smoked, i drank tonz o' coffee and indulged in smoking areas that are normally off my map and out of reach. it was lovely, really lovely.

the canals are legendary. but you have to be there, of course, to appreciate how exquisite it is to stroll along side these waterways and take in the sights. gorgeous people, storybook architecture, and the smell and feel of an old country. a place that has withstood history and histrionics.

i met jon's friend, bill, and have developed an immense affection for him. he charmed me right off the bat with his renaming of jack russell terriers. 'why jack russells? why not chuck mansons?" you had to be there...but i will forever refer to these canines as chuck mansons.
our second night in amsterdam saw bill, layne and jon's big adventure...it started out at conscious dreams and took flight at the park hotel. the quoter for the night was bill's. jon played 'tomorrow never knows' and after it was over bill gleefully exclaimed that the experience of listening to that song was right up there with looking in the mirror....you get the gist of the matter. a great cozy night among crazy friends.

our last evening in amsterdam - part one - found us at 'curry night'. bill and our new friend carrie prepared some of the most intoxicating indian fare i have ever eaten. it was my favourite meal of the trip. no, really it was that delicious! several friends of carrie and benji came around for the food, drink and fun.
the seven month old cat, pearl, was particularly fascinated with jon playing his guitar in the kitchen as carrie and bill cooked.

the train ride to paris was charming. four hours of riding in very comfortable settings with plenty of room for too long legs.
we stayed near the moulin rouge. new ground for me. rue pigalle.
boulangeries and cafés with REAL onion soup. daring, enchanting, dreamy paris. i shall always love this city. with all the steeped pomposity and arrogance of centuries, i shall always love this city. maybe not so much for my partner, but i KNOW he did enjoy the art.
i'll leave you with a taste of the musée d'orsay, and a look at one of auguste's. sigh...

endings beget beginnings

2006-09-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

expiration date/mother/one year ago today

the thing to do when breath is alternating between shallow and shallow is to play in the kitchen. if i can play in the kitchen it keeps my hands busy and my emotions calm/balanced/serene. i am able to write music and lyrical pieces in my head. or pray over the food i am preparing, a habit i picked up long ago and kept by choice in my current behaviour system.
so, on this day, this anniversary, i invited my siblings to join us for brunch and decided to prepare our mother's midday favourite food items. i know the recipes by heart but i always feel like i need to verify them from her cookbook, in her handwriting. perfect penmanship, like that of other grandmothers, schooled in a way long forgotten - where the look, the style and precision of handwriting lent itself as another extension of who a person was. she was a very fashionable woman - very handsome and tall for her generation, with a buxom movie star figure. a natural blonde, (who helped the natural along in her latter years), she maintained an innocence that she insisted on keeping till the day she died.
chile con queso, fruit salad, sausage, bacon, croissants, fresh orange juice and champagne, wine or cocktail, (the alcohol that none of us ever got around to.)
after eating, we called her sister, my godmother and now the family matriarch. now SHE would have gotten 'round to the libations! she knows how to celebrate. although a bit reserved at the start of the call, she shot her own brand of enthusiasm to her nieces and nephew right through the phone wire. and i felt it. a tie, an ancestral bond that expressed itself. the voices of my sister and brother were genuinely animated, as they spoke to our favourite relative. as the telephone passed from one to another, conversations didn't really say anything at all, but all was said with intent, love for each other and a shared feeling - the one about missing her.

i thought of the place where we all grew up. the magic home where, for a while, the american dream took hold. where my mother cooked the best brunch i have ever eaten. where my brother, sister, parents and i ate together in harmony. where i learned the meaning of family. where my roots took hold. and as i sat, sharing a remembrance meal today, brother and sister with me, parents no longer in material form, with the man i love on my right side, i felt my mother agreeing with me that the brunch could have been better....croissants not quite crisp enough, meats...comme ci comme ça, but the chile con queso was a winner. she would have loved it.
she loved us. and we loved her.

windy city blues

2006-09-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

well! a week ago today i flew to chicago and joyously reunited with my man. we drove to appleton wisconsin that night, woke up on a bright birthday morning - my aforementioned man's - and set out for the breathtakingly beautiful sturgeon bay. i was ecstatic to be back in such a very dreamy, yet very american setting; it's the kind of american place that one has a tendency to forget exists when in far more cynical places... after checking into the beach harbor resort, we prepared ourselves for the saturday night gig at the hitching post in valmy. a birthday bash for those born in august. it was a grand night. the music was exquisite and those in attendance were digging it!
the next day, back at the beach harbor, sunday boasted more music by even more musicians sharing the stage, a lot of 'cherry bounces', and a caravan over the michigan street bridge to the nautical inn, around 11pm, where more music was requested and played! we retired after 3ish in the morning...oh well, at least it was a little earlier than the night before...

the Bard was right. parting is such sweet sorrow. we were leaving for chicago on monday - first thing in the morning
...we left sturgeon bay at 3:42 in the afternoon...with much melancholy and resistance...even more so for my partner, as he had been living there for the entire month of august and loving it.
by the time we arrived in chicago we were, perhaps, not in the best of mental spaces to be in chi town. it was a hideous night. all i really cared about was leaving.
the next morning was all about hissing mist in the air, the bongo room for eats, and the art institute for visual pleasure.
a brief reprieve from the harsh city outside, the museum was astonishing. although i have been fortunate enough to visit museums far and near, monday was the first time i set foot in the art institute of chicago. at my love's insistence we made our way to the haystacks of monet, the bedroom of van gogh and much more in hasty fashion, due to the fact we both had separate planes to catch to
our home.

back outside the museum...

it was the 'hold your breath and hope you make the flight' kind of ride to O'Hare International. if you read the previous blog - 'why do i have to go to LA' ....friends, thAt was a cakewalk in comparison to the absurdity called 'commuting' in and surrounding chicago and they HAve the Ltrain! ...you are not in sunny southern california either. whew!
i do not know how these people do it everyday.
with a car to return to the car rental office and a shuttle to catch from there to the actual airline terminal at one of the largest airports in the world, the baggage and ticket check-in to go through and that final frontier of the orange alert security fear zone, with an extra helping of a 'i wanna get outta here' screaming voice in the head and the chances of actually not missing the flight...odds not in one's favour..., all i could focus on was the incredible art at the institute and the weekend of joy and music i had just experienced.
i think that might have worked some magic. against teeming odds, my partner and i found our separate planes on different airlines to catch back to our home that night. i think we are both still a little blue and still carrying around a pocketful or so of wanderlust but happy to be together, looking forward to the next adventure, the next place to take off and the next to land.

postcard from the bay

2006-08-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

today - according to myspace - i am 100 years old ;^>
feels great! i have fantastic friends, the most incredible daughter and son-in-law in the universe, cherished family and, yes, my sweetheart.
well....even though he's in sturgeon bay, wisconsin - a far cry from southern california... his internet radio show, state controlled radio, at 5pm west coast time, today is an ode to ls.d (that's me), on www.bzoo.org. please join my natal day celebration & listen won't you?

mjk, i love you, ls.d

take it back...

2006-08-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

okay...i didn't mean it. i'm recovered from my lengthy journey on friday and, of course, if i am lucky enough to GET a ticket, and i am not off in the wild jungles of mars or somewhere...i will return to LA...especially for the who...even more so for rachel fuller, if she plays the west. but i'm going by train!!!!!!!!!

happy birthday dear jaime...

why do i have to go to LA...

2006-08-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

thursday night, at the troubadour, on the verge of hollywood, i saw todd snider perform. again. todd is an event. he has just released his brand new album 'the devil you know' and shared some of that album's content, as well as older songs the crowd all wanted to hear. can't fault the guy. he's pretty perfect. here's the problem. he hasn't played where i live in a very, very long time, at least not to my knowledge, in the time i have been aware of him and his music. i have such a strong love/hate relationship with LA. there is clearly an energy about the place that feels creative, fun, artistic, glitzy, trashy, plastic, boring - all coexisting with each other. depending on one's mood and emotional settings, the best of LA can shine and bring on the good times like no other city i know....or not....that's not the point here. in august the plimsouls are playing. in october roger waters is playing. in november the who are playing. there are others....the point is getting to and from, in and out of LA is an ordeal. it used to be exhausting. now it is almost unacceptable. there are a lot of thoughts that crop up while one is on the way to and from the city of angels. the first thought that cropped up for me, sitting in bumper to bumper world, was our continued refusal to accept that our main means of transporting ourselves -the car - is irrevocably damaging the planet. how are we going to heed the warnings and get on with better means of transportation. why do we ignore perfectly acceptable mass transit vehicles - wouldn't a train ride be fun?!? the second thought that materialized was the idea that we are all in these separate vehicles, determined to get where we are going and equally determined to ignore the indivduals in the cars surrounding us.

as we were driving home from the todd snider show - four of us carpooled up and back - there were a couple of girls - perhaps aged 12 to 14ish - in a car in front of us, waving to all the cars they were passing by. it was interesting to see how few people acknowledged them at all, much less waved back. we dEFinitely waved back. we even threw them our pez dipensers, fully loaded, and a candy necklace. we adopted their stance and started waving to other people in other cars as well. let me say, if the patrons in the other cars were not going to smile, wave and/or greet the little girls, they were rigid in their contempt and fearfully adamant about not waving at 4 adult women. it was all very disheartening....and by the fourth hour on the road, (in the dead of night it takes one and a half to two hours max to arrive at your destination), and still a very, very long way to go, i found myself forming the third thought which was the one about never coming to LA again. it wasn't worth it, even if it meant missing the plimsouls, roger waters and the who. i only wish the environmental problems out there on the highways or the pivotal real fear of relating to other humans could be as easily resolved.

SUN GOD

2006-08-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

birthday cheers to p.mAcd. one fantastic subversive mother f***king hero!
TROUBADOUR OF STOMP is pat mAcdonald's latest CD. it's to go to heaven for...
go to his myspace page for more info. http://www.myspace.com/patmacdonald

the wreck of the arthur lee (1945-2006)

2006-08-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

"By Forever Changes...I thought I was going to die at that particular time, so those were my last words."

Arthur Lee on the album released in 1967

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

Albert Einstein

sparked!

2006-08-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

i have just returned from the apple store where i purchased a wireless mouse. my friend, stacie, accompanied me...she did not like the feel and/or design there at all...too 21st century....
i don't know why but it feels like the 21st century has kicked into warp speed over the last year, or maybe i am just noticing it more. there are the symptoms of a 'sci-fi' detachment that i have a difficult time accepting. i have a problem with most magazine covers these days. every cover graces a beautiful woman. but they all look like they have had botox! and, of course, most of them are under the age of thirty. i still can't wrap my head around HAVING to look younger, especially if one is under thirty! the cosmetic surgery industry baffles me. i won't have anyone cutting my face. my friend agrees. gives us the willies.
stacie says that by the time she hits her fifties, (quite a ways to go), people will either appreciate her as a great beauty or see her as some sort of freak. and she's probably right in either scenario.
i am reminded of some of my favourite movies that i have relished over time. only now these flashes of celluloid disturb me...they have come true. whether it is 'blade runner', 'brazil' or the plethora of fantastic rod serling 'twilight zones', each had hints, warning us what NOT to do. and it seems that, instead of heeding the warning(s), we have decided to make some of those sterile, yet subtle, aberrations our societal truths.
much is said about 'the power of suggestion' belief systems. well what are we suggesting globally? what are we wishing for? it would seem that a lot of disturbing images and sounds are being picked up under the radar - in our good old psyches. what are we sub-filtering? what are we retaining? what is just passing through? what are we wishing against?
it is very, very unnerving to watch the film, 'an inconvenient truth' and come out of the theatre into a sweltering heat wave with record breaking temperatures. my mind flashes on david bowie's dying planet in 'the man who fell to earth'. where and what are our purposeful directions? how relative are the changes that each of us make in a day? just the spark of an idea can go from one individual's brain to a rolled out carpet ride for someone else.
i type here and send my missive through the great cyberseance. HA! this is some ouija board!
who views? whose view...this magical means of communiqués gives me hope. if cold and dispassionate waves are being spread about like so many polluted air particles, so are the happy surprises i receive through my daily internet cruise. i relish the freedom one has online. i refuse to give up hope that humans wish to survive and evolve; it is inherent.
all i know is i have a hard time watching 'sci-fi' anymore. it seems just a little too real, and not in a positive way. i feel too uncomfortable in a space that feels too unearthly, like stacie, at the apple store.

nonessential irritations

2006-05-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

have been meaning to post here since last september - it has become one of my nonessential irritations.
the problem is writing what i want to write. war, as a subject for music, is everywhere. i hear it everywhere. hell! it's even the subject of some of my own tunes! it confounds me! how do we humans get here again and again?

on the cyber seas

2005-09-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

all these avenues on which to communicate give one hope that individuals can help fashion a better collective.
i hope to be posting some writing, some pictures and experiences that will bring people joy, provoke comments and invite sharing.
i have two artistic projects i am currently conjuring...heh heh...
one is a visual retrospective of a collective art installation that a group of 23 artists worked on two years ago in september. each artist was given a wall to paint in the upper flat - mine, rented - of a 1912 victorian house that was subsequently torn down. we wanted to give the old manor a lot of collaborative colour before her meeting with the demolition man. all the original art went down with it.

the retro show will consist of huge photograghs of the 23 pieces, as well as new art from the original artists who decide to participate. all suggested donations will go to those left homeless in new orleans. i'm shooting for an early november date. will keep you posted.

the second project is a musical piece and it is taking shape as i type.

to one and all out there, nice to meet you! layne