Da Goddess

My mom called a while ago, excited to tell me she was hanging a lot of her own paintings in the spare room since my sis and bro-in-law painted the walls for her. Long story behind the wall thing. Anyhow, she was very happy to be hanging her own work for a change and I’m glad she is. Her work is beautiful.

The other thing she was all excited about was that she’d taped a special on PBS: Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session. She’s been playing it over and over again while she worked on restoring her spare room.

And then I told her about one of the artists I know she likes coming to San Diego in January. She’d said she would like to see him perform sometime. I’m gonna hook her up with tickets and she was actually even more excited when I said that. It’s happening on my dad’s birthday, so maybe they’ll both go. Looks like their Christmas gifts will be some ear protection.

Cracks me up. I mean, who’da thunk it? I’m scoring tickets for a blues rocker for my mom! Gotta love having a cool ass parent like that. Mind you, she’s 75 and she’s still kickin’ ass.

Damn, I raised my mama well! Only possible because she raised me well.

Had to try something different this week. I have a lot of great music that doesn’t fit in with a theme or whatever, so it’s kind of nice to just pull it out whenever I get stuck.

I found Jilly Tracy via Scrubs, if you can believe it.

And this one? Well, it sort of explains itself.

Completely unrelated and yet both give me the pause I need in my day.

Don’t know what the deal was. But I finally got some photos post from 10-09-10.

Human Nature at Imperial Palace

I refuse to go cold turkey (despite it being Thanksgiving week and all) for an entire month when it comes to Human Nature. I’ve seen their show eight times thus far and, honestly? It’s damn good stuff. I was hoping to get in a couple more shows before the group headed off on their Australian tour, but that didn’t happen. So, for now, I’ll have to make due with their YouTube videos.

Hey, I hear you mumbling over there. Don’t question why I’d need to see the show so many times! I said it was good and I meant it. Let me put it this way: when everything else in this crazy town of Las Vegas relies on huge spectacular acrobatics and contortions and makeup and illusion and sex and explosions, it’s really refreshing to be able to go see a show where music matters to the extent that it does with Human Nature. This isn’t just some tribute show. It’s a celebration of all the great Motown hits. Four guys singing their hearts out, dancing up a storm, and enticing you to remember a time when music was king and we were all prom queens. You walk out of the show feeling young and alive and energized! You’ve spent 90 minutes singing and dancing along with those sweet harmonies and you don’t care who saw. How many times has that happened to you? That’s what I thought. So don’t question me on my tiny addiction. It’s the disease AND the cure.

Music? You wanted music? Okay, here we go!

And lest you think that’s all there is, let’s have a couple bonus songs, shall we?

There. That’ll get me through a couple hours. Only 670 hours or so to go until I get another live fix.

Good morning. I am extremely honored to be able to post for today’s twofer. One of my favorite bands is Pink Floyd. This is a band that has not gone without its share of ups and downs. They’ve had two major changes in the bands lifetime; the first being the rumored breakdown of Syd Barrett that eventually led to his leaving the band. At that time David Guilmour joined as one of the lead singers and guitarist. Then in 1985 Roger Waters left. There was a law suit and he lost giving the name to the remaining band members. They published two original albums and one compilation minus Waters with relative success. Guilmour and Waters have very distinct sounds and it is very prevalent listening to “The Final Cut” with Rogers and “A Momentary Lapse of Reason without Waters. So here’s today’s songs, one with Waters and one without.

One with….

And one without…..

One of my top five songs at the moment…and yeah, I’m workin’ the metric system, baby!

“It’s twenty five miles from home
Girl, my feet are hurting mighty bad
Now I’ve been walking a three day, two lonely nights
You know that I’m mighty mad
But I got a woman waiting for me
That’s gonna make this trip worthwhile
You see she’s got the kind of lovin’ and a kissing
A make a man go stone wild
So I got to keep on walkin’
I got to walk on, oh ho ho
I, I, I, I’m so tired
But I just can’t lose my stride”

Tell me this tune doesn’t kick some serious ass.

Come on feet, don’t fail me now!

Did I already blog this? I may have. I don’t care. I love love love this tune. It’s part of my musical therapy. Sure, sure, I love to see Human Nature do their version, which is wonderful, but while I’m here at home, I turn to Edwin Starr. Listen to those horns! And that killer rhythm section.

Excuse me while I go dance. It’s Monday and I need the kick start.

Last week was a tough one, so I’m going for maximum relaxation and blood pressure reduction.

“Paulistana #1” was composed by Claudio Santoro (1919-1989), and is one of my favorite pieces of music. My only complaint about it is that it’s so short.

“The Vanished Gardens of Cordoba” is by Ray Lynch. Most of his music is strange in a New-Agey-hippy-dippy kind of way, but beautiful. This one is a little more accessible I think, and is accompanied by some really gorgeous photography which is as calming as the music.

Plus, a bonus track for those who like a cappella: Steeleye Span.

Jan/ target=”_blank”>CascadeExposures

Go some for your own bad self.

From a project I’d worked on a month and a half ago and just now got around to posting.

Excellent guitarist. Great friend. Awesome model. We laughed a lot.

Oh, how the mother’s heart must stretch and flex in order not to break. My daughter is 18 today. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not really happening. Wasn’t she just learning to walk? Wasn’t she just uttering words like “babingsuit” and “booprise”?

Time waits for no man, or woman as the case may be. Despite my every effort to hinder growth, my lovely little girl is now old enough to vote and is considered a legal adult. I’ve fought it, but there it is: nature won.

When Mojo was about 2, she fell in love with John Denver. Our bedtime routine included a couple different Denver songs, along with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Marine Corps Hymn. Hey, it got her to sleep and it was our special time together. (Did the same thing with my son and I have to say, singing our “goodnights” was pretty effective.)

So, without further ado, happy birthday, Mojo!

For a while, this was called “Mountain Mama” and also “Mama Take Me Home”. She was two. It was adorable.

Our version of this song was very similar, but we had to sing every verse. Twice.

Then she grew up and began paying attention to more Top 40 music (in addition to all my favorites, like Etta and Bonnie and Billie). I lamented the lack of artists that were brash, lovely, sometimes delicate, sometimes strong like those I grew up with — Debbie Harry, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Joan Jett… After listening to Jewel and Britney once too often, I really thought my daughter deserved a contemporary female artist with a stronger voice and attitude. Thus we turned to P!nk. At the time, she really was the only one who could speak right to the heart of a young girl without sounding like a wannabe star or doormat.

Those were the days. Now my baby is all grown up and the world is going to expect more from her, people will expect more, life will become more complicated. While I’ll miss the little girl I once held in my arms as she cried and fussed and smiled and cooed and caused me to look at the world around me with new eyes, I will cheer her on as she makes her way into the great big world.

Now for Mommy’s tunes…

Happy birthday, my sweet daughter! I don’t care how old you are, you’ll always be my baby girl.

MOBD and I are about to be invaded.

The accommodations are sparse and uncomfortable, but if they’re willing to put up with it, who are we to say no? Couch surfing has its privileges, I guess. Anyhow, we are quite happy to have the guys crash here. Wish we had more to offer, but again, they’re willing to endure the bare bones conditions.

Guess there’s even more motivation to get that spare room organized and turned into a guest room for future visitors.

I received an email from target=”_blank”>DaGoddess a couple weeks ago, inviting me to generate a guest post for her weekly Two-fer Tuesday series. It’s a running feature similar to our Turn It Up Tuesday column on THE BS BLOG. Truth to be told, it’s where I got the idea for Turn It Up Tuesday in the first place.

That being said, I thought I’d have a little fun with it…and being lazy, I’m using the same post for both DaGoddess and THE BS BLOG this week.

This week’s featured artist is Tragedy, an all-metal Bee Gees tribute band. These guys are a riot, and actually quite talented. I especially enjoyed their video for You Should Be Dancing, in which they parody almost every cliche of an 80’s heavy-metal rock band.

For comparison, I’ve included the original songs followed by Tragedy’s outstanding covers. Enjoy, and turn it up!

Nights On Broadway

You Should Be Dancing

It’s going to be another fine stormy day here in Vegas. I’m lovin’ it! Even as I prepare to nap prior to my doctor’s appointment this afternoon, I find myself hoping the it continues on for hours, days, etc.

Weird pinkish-yellow cast to the clouds. Wind kicking up just enough to blur the trees. Everything feeling heavy and ready to just let loose.

Hopefully the windshield wipers will hold out just one more day. The one on the driver side of the car likes to try to reach around and wipe the side window dry. Obviously, we need to make an adjustment.

No matter.

My overnight work has proven to be inspired. Or somewhat inspired. The CD design is going… interestingly. Got the tray done. Got the background for the booklet done. Think I might have the cover done, except font. We’re still deciding on that. The back…I know how that’s going to look, but not exactly how I’m going to manage to get all the necessary info on it with it being as busy as it looks like it’ll be. I’m mostly concerned now about the CD itself. We have an idea on how that’ll look. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to wrap/warp the image enough to make it fit. And the cover…hmm…I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that the cover gets the okay. Otherwise, back to the drawing board.

Kind of exciting to have this in my hands. Kind of daunting, too. But it’s a challenge I’ve always wanted — especially at this level — so I’m running with it. Best part is that I get to include a couple of MOBD’s photos in the project. Star trails, the Milky Way. They fit the theme. Yay!

Tonight, I’ll take a short break and go see Corey Stevens play. Take a few photos. Come back home and use that inspiration to propel me forward.

Here’s another inspiration I’ve been using:

And this:

Off to bed now. Naps are good.

We’ve had some great storms rolling through town here. Late night thunder and lightning. I like! I guess I have always managed to equate storms with the comforts of home. Gimme a good storm and all I want to do is to curl up in bed or on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, sipping tea, possibly with someone else, but not necessarily.

Of course, when a storm rolls through town I always think of the song “Knock On Wood” by Eddie Floyd and the ever-incredible Steve Cropper. Who doesn’t like this tune?

Pathetic, isn’t it? I can’t even start to tell a story about me liking storms without going into some musical interlude.

Is there a cure for the music bug? Is there? Do I want to be cured?

Oooh! Getting close. I better get off the computer now.

Da Goddess was probably surprised that I like Eminem, but he’s a compelling storyteller.

Who among us hasn’t had a painful relationship, one that ultimately went up in flames?

It was difficult to pick only two… The last one is about family and an epiphany of sorts…

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