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Posts from March 2014
A Mythic Quest...Divine Interior Design
"Pay attention to your dreams, and indulge in the pleasure of wild fantasies, and see yourself as a mythic hero in life's divine drama. See yourself as being on a mythic quest to discover and fully express your soul's code. " Gemini ~ by Free Will Astrology
and I'm taking my bag of tricks with me!
and furthermore...
"To help take the edge off the darkness you have been wrestling with, I offer you these lines from a poem by Kay Ryan: 'The day misspent,/the love misplaced,/has inside it,/the seed of redemption,/nothing is exempt,/from resurrection.' In other words, Gemini, whatever has disappeared from your life, will return later in a new form. The wrong turns you made will lead you to a fresh possibility."
"I hope you will respond by embarking on a heroic effort to make life beautiful everywhere you go. Little by little, with your steady affection and relentless devotion, you can transform what's rigid and hard."
~ Gemini, Free Will Astrology
Speaking of "rigid and hard", the barn is finished ! and we'll soon be moving on. You will be dazzled with imagery from this grand experiment soon, je vous promets. It's been a blast transforming it into something beautiful. More to come. For now, here are some tiny peeks:
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Melancholy Monday: Father John Misty
Father John Misty ~ Every Man Needs A Companion
"Joseph Campbell and the Rolling Stones couldn't give me a myth,
so I had to write my own."
Amen.
Sad can be sexy: watch live version at Don Quixote's in Felton, California.
KEXP always has great performances in the studio. See FJ Misty here.
And happy sad Monday to you!
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Winery Winter Wonderland
Marcel and I have been up north at Francis Ford Coppola's place!
A sprig of rosmarino in the lapel...
He's not really upset with me photographing him endlessly, he's just trying out his serious side...
Warm enough for a dip in the pool...
Happy Marcello!
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Melancholy Monday ~ Carrickfergus, Bryan Ferry
"I would swim over, the deepest ocean,
just to see my love, before I die,
but the sea is wide, and I cannot swim over,
nor have I wings, so I could fly..."
This was on the 1978 album The Bride Stripped Bare (Waddy Wachtel was one of the producers). I played it to death when it came out. That's How Strong My Love Is follows this heartbreaker on the album. Way to hit you when you're down, heh. It's like a one-two punch.
I just found a 45 of Jealous Guy (I love his pinky on the mic) recently. Another tearjerker. Read the background on it here.
I'll be seeing Mr. Ferry in a little over a month, in Oakland. I haven't seen him live since 1978.
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Dr. Dog ~ Live Grooves and Etsy Leather!
Marcel and I were happy guests at Dr. Dog's concert last night in Santa Cruz. We got back from our trip just in time for the band's first appearance in Surf City. They had a documentary film crew in tow who interviewed Marcel and plied him gifts throughout the night. Merci mille fois to Monsieur Santos.
Marcel, adorned for the show:
They set the tone before taking the stage by blasting a recording of Bad Boy by the Jive Bombers..."I'm taking the trouble to blow my bubbles away"...and they blew them away, well and good. With a campy stage set, that looked like something from a 60s game show, they entered through a metallic drape hung from an arch studded with red light bulbs. An electric marquee glowed from stage left that read "Dr.Dog - Live From Steamer Lane" ~ a reference to one of our local surf spots. The band were stunned by the roar of the sold-out crowd.
Highlight: Toby Leaman's vocals on Fate reminded me of Graham Parker (video below)...
After the show I talked with him about how I could easily hear Billie Holiday singing it ( or even Amy Winehouse):
song begins at 3:20:
Another highlight of the show was Broken Heart, with syrupy harmonies, jangly rhythm guitar, chunky bass, driving drums (is that some kind of effect on the tom-toms? or is that luscious Dimitri with one of his toys?) and shredding guitar (solo comes in at 2:05 on the video), set to vintage footage of amusement parks (pre-liability era I'm guessing):
The encore for the show lasted for at least a half hour and was a fun free-for-all. They invited guitarist Christian Peslak from the opening band Saint Rich to jam with them. He felt a little "shy" and halting, but Dog drummer Eric Slick nudged and pushed him so masterfully. It was a brilliant display of the drummer's artistry (his Mom's blog). I really appreciate small moments like that at a live show.
Look for them on tour and check out the free download from a house concert they played in Nashville (boy, they grow them houses big in Music City).
We saw them last August at the First City Festival in Monterey:
Photos of the band with Marcel backstage, along with Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse:
And now for the "leather"...
Continue reading "Dr. Dog ~ Live Grooves and Etsy Leather!" »
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