Da Goddess

Special edition…just for

Let’s start with the expected.

And the obscure.

And now the lovely.

And the truly gorgeous.

And there’s really nothing more that needs to be said.

Sometimes you just have to go there.

I’m such a dork. But a lucky and happy dork.

I got to meet Colin Hay (Men At Work)! Met his lovely wife who provided backing vocals and dancing, Cecilia Noel, too.

Concert in the park. I was practically sitting onstage. It was wonderfully intimate and absolutely perfect. He played all my favorite songs, except for “Water Song”. I teared up when he played “Waiting For My Real Life To Begin”. I love that song. It speaks to that part of all of us that hesitates, that holds back, that fails to live in the present — ever-waiting for what might be. It’s likely one of the most apt songs ever written. And he played it beautifully.

Oh no I di’int! (Oh, yeah…I totally did!) More photos to come. Just wanted to post a few before bed.

My my my, it’s a beautiful world. And I’m a happy girl.

Still waiting on meeting Neil Finn, but the wait’s suddenly become more bearable.

Y’all are still checking out right? Donating? Participating? Supporting the fight against breast cancer!

Tell you what, grab hold your pair, be they big or small, male or female, and do your self-exam while you listen to these songs.

Before you start the second part, go call friends and encourage them to start their self-breast exams while they, too, listen along. And take this day to talk to those around you about early detection and early treatment being the key to fighting this disease.

* Every 13 minutes, someone dies of breast cancer.

* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

* Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.

* You are never too young to develop breast cancer! Breast Self-Exam should begin by the age of twenty.

Educate and communicate. Two of the most important components of providing help in this fight against cancer.

How about something from Heart since Nancy is divorcing Cameron Crowe. Don’t even start me on the report I heard on the radio last night annoucing this. “When her and he announced…” okay, so I started. Seriously, this is what “journalism” has come to in this country?

Never. NEVER!

Growing up, there were all sorts of women’s voices coming out of the radio, but none were as strong as those of Ann and Nancy Wilson. Sure there were “Dreamboat Annie” and “Dog and Butterfly”, but there were also kick ass songs like “Barracuda”, “Kick It Out”, “Magic Man”, “Crazy On You”, “Heartless”, and “Straight On”. Those were songs you weren’t hearing from anyone else. The Wilson sisters stoked the flames of indepence in a young girl’s heart, even while allowing her to dream of the sweeter, more romantic side of life.

Thank God these ladies are still rockin’ it out. Where would we be without them?

Don’t know what went wrong between the Wilson-Crowes, but somehow or other, they’re gonna have to split everything up…they’re gonna have to even it out in divorce court.

Hey you! Yes, you, Nancy! Shine on.

We need one more, don’t we? Yeah. Can’t leave things so mellow. I mean, WTF is up with that?

And just because I’m feeling all churlish right now, here’s image you need to see. I’d post it outright, but I still can’t upload anything to this mutha flookin’ blog. I need to upgrade and I don’t know how. And I no longer have a friend who does that sort of thing. So, you get a link.

I don’t know how many items will be on this “list” and I won’t go back and count them afterward. I don’t care. Hence, the lack of numbering.

I got pissed off twice this weekend. Once due to a nimrod of a local musician calling me for another musician’s phone number. “I’m a friend of his. I have his number somewhere. I need to ask him…” The musician whose number he needed? Closely guarded. I have been entrusted with numbers and contact info a very special group of people. I respect their privacy and their time. I use the numbers sparingly and I never hand them out to other people. I protect these numbers and my friends’ privacy as I would my children. So, I tell Mr. Local Musician that I’ll see what I can do and call him back. I leave a voicemail, text, and then a second text with Mr. Local’s phone number for my friend. I call Mr. Local back and let him know that my friend is off playing a gig, he has the necessary info, and I’ve done all I feel comfortable doing. Mr. Local launches into a tirade about how I should just hand over the phone number and a bunch of other things. I say, if you need to get in touch with him sooner, try Facebook because he might check it during a break. “I don’t do Facebook!” Well, then, I guess you’ll have to wait for the guy to call you back, eh? And perhaps the next time you call you won’t get all pissy with me and hang up because, guess what? I will so not help in the future. Nor will I be nice when we meet again in public. (Stupid little oompa loompa mofo.)

Edited to remove this section upon request.

My new ringtone is “Blitzkrieg Bop”. I’m in a rebellious mood, I guess.

Every single time I grab my bottle of Ambien to take a dose, I basically dump the pills everywhere. Okay, so I managed to not do that ONCE…

For the first time in about 31 years, I could be fashionably on trend. The 70s are back (according to NY Fashion Week and Milan and London FW)! That means peasanty and colorful and all sorts of interesting things work, including (apparently) curled, feathered hair. Um, my summer trip to Portland yielded my first clothing purchase at a festival ever and it was a purple peasant blouse. Ahead of my time, people. Ahead of my time. And my hair? I have to curl it into submission because of the disastrous cut I got back in April. It’s pretty retro, which means it’s IN and I’m IN. Hahahahahaha! That’ll never happen again.

I like that new show Lone Star. The soundtrack from the first episode? Kind of awesome.

Little Dude and I had a couple fantastic chats this week. Mojo and I talked about a week or so ago. And I had a dream about her yesterday. It was both reassuring and disturbing.

I lost a business card I desperately need. If you were that business card, where would you be?

There was a big send off party for a local musician Saturday night. I was going to go for just a short time and ended up being one of the last to leave. The room was packed with so much talent, you never knew what was going to happen next! I met a couple of performers who have kind of been a big deal in my musical journey, so that freaked me out a bit, but I got over it.

Photo shoot of a 3 year old later today. I can’t wait! I’m hoping we can get her and the peacocks in this park in the same frame. How cute would that be?

Neighbor brought over his newborn the other day and he was a little fussy. I asked to hold the baby, calmed him down, and watched as he just took in the world. It was precious. It’s been so long since I had a baby fix, I wanted to cry. Made me remember my children as babies. God, they’re so not that little anymore!

I have a stack of music to review. And I may have something really special in relation to that happening very soon. Fingers crossed!

I have company coming into town this weekend. Can’t wait! And to top it off, another friend will be here, playing with Ray Manzarek of the Doors. Yep, my company and I will be there!

Lighting intrigues me. I’ve been trying to up my lighting game as far as photography goes and in some ways I’m so much better. In other ways, I’m totally lost.

My camera is really having major focusing issues. I thought it was okay after the fall it took a week or two ago and, nope. Not so much. I can’t afford to have it act up. I also can’t afford to send it in for a look-see on the bench either.

I’m desperately seeking quick jobs to earn enough money rescue my belongings in my storage unit. For the first time since moving, I’ve had a billing issue. Everything meaningful from my grandparents on down to my kids is in there. Everything. New management isn’t quite as helpful as I’d like. Know anyone who needs writing, editing, photography, babysitting, data entry, housecleaning, or anything else done in the next couple days? I will work 24 hours a day to get the money I need to keep my LIFE from being sold out from under me. If you do know of anyone who would be willing to hire me for something, leave me a comment and I will email you STAT.

I’ve been watching the Tim McCarver Show lately. Apparently I’m back into sports.

I broke my sunglasses. Not just popping a lens out or something simple. The whole hinge section snapped. I’m bummed.

I had frozen yogurt this weekend that was a ginger lemonade…and I kinda liked it.

Boobie-Thon 2010 is almost here!

I’ve seen Jimmy Thackery in concert several times now and I’m always amazed at the depth and breadth of his catalogue. He can be so very subtle and then he can slash and burn the land for miles around with just a few notes. He’s been doing this for how many years? I dunno. What I do know, though, is I hope he doesn’t think of retiring any time soon.

This first tune is dedicated to my friend, Curtis of the Stoney Curtis band, who also does a bang up version during his show.

And this tune? It’s beautifully heavy.

I have many favorite performers these days. While they span the full spectrum of music, blues often gets top billing. This is for good reason: blues draws on the human experience in a way that reaches deep within you and can’t help but elicit a response.

This week’s Two-fer features Harmon (auto start music warning), winner of the 2004 International Blues Challenge with his band the Mid South Blues Revue. Since then, he’s been touring the world, impressing audiences with his tough, but sensitve, approach to the blues. Harmon’s sets can include everything from deep blues to gospel to solid R&B. There’s a little something for everyone.

(StJohnBluesFestival – Zac Harmon, “Rock Me Baby”)

(jeffstoneblues – Zac Harmon, “Comfort of a Man”)

My life is so very weird.

Two days ago I discover one of my SD blues guys had killled himself over the weekend. Not fun. Not fun at all. This was a month after losing another blues friend. Surreal, even.

Then last night, after a terrible show at my favorite venue in Vegas, I head over to the jam. And I run into drummer Steven Adler (Guns & Roses, Adler’s Appetite, and some may know him from his stint on Celebrity Rehab/Sober House) and Chip “It doesn’t matter who drives the bus, as long as we all get to the picnic” Z’nuff. Yep. Weird, huh?

I’m taking photos of one of my Facebook friends (finally met him in person last night) as he’s up there singing while Steve and Chip are playing, another friend on guitar…everyone having a great time. Diggin’ the whole thing. Cool to watch it all happening and to know that I’ll have a photo or two to share with the guys. After they finish, I get the one guy (the one I just met face-to-face) with Steve for photos. We had problems with Bud’s phone and I say, “dude, just let me use my camera. Don’t worry, I’ll get the pictures to you.” We’re fumbling a bit and Steve throws his arm around me, thinking I’m getting in the picture or something and all I could do is giggle. Like a silly little girl. I finally get everyone back where they’re supposed to be and get two photos taken of them, Bud gets the phone set up and I take one with the phone but it doesn’t turn out, and just as my other friend John is ready to get in the photo, a manager or assistant or someone says, “no more photos, they gotta eat.” Okay, fine. Bummer for John, but good for the guys, right? We figure there’ll be another opportunity to get a shot in after they’re done. Except we didn’t.

But we still got to meet and chill with some bona fide rock stars. In a nice little bar that most people outside of Vegas don’t know about and would probably opt not to visit. Wrong, wrong, wrong, people. This is EXACTLY the kind of place you want to visit. Off the beaten path. Shitty service (all the damn time, except for the cook — who is actually a chef). Good food. I mean, GOOD FOOD. And lots of yummy beers.

Is my life weird enough for you yet?

Squee!

A photo I took of a local musician was one of the chosen portraits for the challenge on Epic Edits. Even if you didn’t see my name below the image, and even if I didn’t tell you it was a musician, I’m pretty sure you’d figure out which was mine.

The photo I chose was originally taken for another photo challenge issued by my photography group here in Vegas. Night, square format, urban, portrait. Those were the parameters. I took several photos featuring various people, but Monk was my favorite. And now he’s on Epic Edits!

Fun challenge. Love Brian and his blog.

Here’s Monk:

Getting to every box I needed or wanted to get to in storage was pretty impossible, so I knew I’d have room for some luxury items. Like CDs. I grabbed a couple boxes. So glad I did. Uncovered my copy of Gino Matteo’s I’ve Been Thinkin’. Such a good CD, too.

Hope we get him out to Vegas soon. The guy rocks!

Just had to get a Bob Seger fix this week. As MOBD and I were driving home from picking up a file cabinet the other night (another Freecycle find), Bob was blasting through the stereo and I felt so alive, so good…I had to do it.

And while I wish I could have found a decent live vid of the next song, all that anyone needs to hear is Bob’s “oooooowwww!” and that great boogie on the piano and before you know it, you’re up and dancing around. Let’s face it, we need to dance more and bitch less, so if it takes a little Bob Seger to get us there, why the hell not?

Piano, harmonica, and horns = good times. (Good blues, too.)

My first concert was Pablo Cruise. Del Mar Fair. With my big sister. I remember thinking she was the best big sister ever! She told our parents she’d keep an eye on me. She didn’t have to do that, but she did and we got to go hang out together. It was one of those great sisterly moments that come around once in a blue moon. I’ll remember it forever.

These days you pretty much have to go stand in line at the bank to hear Pablo Cruise again. No more! I’m here to save the day.

Do you even want to know who the second concert was? (Bonus points for anyone who knows the answer)

Oh yeah. Ohhh…yeah.

What a night!

I still can’t believe it. I finally saw B.B. King. I loved his stories. I loved hearing him sing and play. Mostly, I loved meeting him.

YES! I met him and spoke with him for a few minutes. It was…amazing. A-maz-ing. Humble. Warm. Kind. Lovely all the way around. I want to weep over the depth of what this experience meant to me.

The one photo I have of my friend Curtis and B.B. in conversation is the worst of the bunch technically, but the moment itself was priceless. It became a bit of a mutual admiration moment. I started to tear up as Curtis told B.B. how he’d genuinely changed his life and musical aspirations. His sincerity struck B.B. so much that this…this thing…it was like a spark…it happened. Suddenly it wasn’t fan talking to idol, it became something more. The connection was pure and beautiful. I wanted to cry just seeing it happen. And that photo didn’t even turn out very well. That’s life, though. I got to see it and that’s what matters.

The best photo of B.B. wasn’t taken by me, but it doesn’t matter. I got to meet The King of the Blues! And I got to witness something special.

Endless thanks to my friends for including me in this incredible evening. You’re the best!