What a great video for a catchy old school punk tune. (I won’t feel bad that I hadn’t heard of this band, given that they are unsigned and in Leeds.) I can always count on the blog Backseat Mafia to introduce me to new music.
postaday
Graceful and Gorgeous
The Egyptian Theater is an old time movie palace and Art Deco masterpiece on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, currently the home of the American Cinematheque.
When I’m there I always notice the spectacular ceiling:
A glimpse of the ceiling.
This time I discovered that even the stair railings and exit ways are special:
Classy stair railing.
(The Weekly Photo Challenge wants to see lines and patterns.)
Rock Rorschach
If you read this blog much, you know I like to see stuff in other stuff.
Here is a rock that sits right in the surf on a Santa Barbara beach. It’s got a big hollow with ever-changing sand deposits. Last time I was at this beach, the rock looked like a fossil shark tooth to me. What do you see?
What do you see?
Later that day, the surf developed the rock’s next persona:
Tide coming in.
(The Weekly Photo Challenge wants to see lines and patterns.)
Not Entirely Shameless Self-Promotion
So. I want people to read my books, and that means they need to know the books exist. Understanding this, I can’t believe how difficult it is for me to broadcast the news. It shouldn’t be such a big deal! Let’s be kindly and say that self-promotion is not one of my strengths.
As always, then, it is with some discomfort that I announce: I’ve now got an Author’s Interview over on Smashwords, which lets more people know that my books exist. Every time somebody visits my interview page, my interview moves closer to the front of the Interview queue, which results in more people discovering my books. So please do click on my interview page link.
BTW, I can add to the interview, apparently forever, so let me know what other questions I might answer there.
Also BTW, the Smashwords interviews are cool. Readers with a free Smashwords account can also post interviews. Tell the authors what you want!
Sheepish again.
Two sheepish posts in one week! Wonder what the record is – bet I could beat it. In fact, currently I’m in a loop: I now feel sheepish about so often feeling sheepish.
Concert Review: Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen at The Mint, west Los Angeles, 9-14-2013
Live music is one of my favorite things about being alive. It can be such a pain: scrambling for tickets, driving to the venue, finding parking, waiting around, basketball teams positioning themselves in front of me. But then, when the music is good enough, none of that matters.
Actually, the show I attended last weekend was relatively low on pain, being at The Mint, a tiny neighborhood-style club where no one is more than 50 feet from the stage and where the sound is decent from all angles. There was some annoyance when the club opted to charge separately for the second act, and cleared the joint after the first band. Tacky! But that’s just carping. None of that matters.
I didn’t know what I was getting into. My friend said “he’s worth seeing” and I trust her taste so I tagged along. There are special risks and rewards when I attend a concert by musicians unknown to me. When the music is all new to you, you can miss a lot. But when the music is new, it can be a revelation. Like this show.
New Orleans pianist Jon Cleary and his band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, bring joy and fun and beaucoup soul to the stage. Apparently Cleary is a New Orleans musicologist, which might explain the wide assortment of funk, blues, shuffle, boogie-woogie and other tunes they played. It is a special treat when a band enjoys one another’s company and playing as much as these guys do.
Below is a sample from a similar show. The song is split into two parts. Check out the band introductions near the end of the second clip, which they incorporate into the tune.
It makes me happy to know that in certain places around the world, including New Orleans, there is great music casually available every night, every where you turn. I was lucky enough to live in Los Angeles in the late 1970s when that was true here. I absolutely must get to spend some time in New Orleans. I have never been there and that is just so wrong!
More Words about Murder and Brains
With relief, enthusiasm, and sheepishness, I announce that more chapters are now on-line in my serialization of Was It A Rat I Saw, my psychological thriller involving real-life split brain research, animal rights, and a love quadrangle.
Baaa.
I’m making progress – a mere 70 hardcover pages left to re-type! – but am way behind my original self-imposed deadline to digitize this novel. Hence the sheepishness.
Do not be misled by the photo. There are no sheep in Was It a Rat I Saw although I do have great fondness for sheep. In fact, my daughter’s first word was “Baaa.” We were visiting a farm at the time.
Was It A Rat I Saw was previously published in hardcover by Bantam-Doubleday-Dell. For the first time, I’m publishing it electronically, first as a serial and then as an e-book.
Here are some Rat Reviews on Goodreads.
A Meal That is Good For My Diet
Now that Mom is 89, her lifelong interest in cooking has become sporadic. This does not, however, explain the dish she had waiting in a rice bowl.
Equally tasty served hot or cold.
The Weekly Photo Challenge wants to see “Inside”.
Bag, Box, and Clubhouse
Warning: If you hate cute cat pix, stop reading now before you ruin your day.
Like all cats, the five in my household like to go inside stuff. It is the moments like these that persuade me to forgive them during times like these.
Here are Bop and Luna in a deep bag:
Bagful of cats.
The kittens often play in a long narrow box. Arrow also uses the box when it’s time for her meds:
Ever tried to drag a cat out of a 6 foot x 5 inch box?
Bo, Leo, and Arrow spend many hours in a mostly dead bush that has become their clubhouse:
Entrance to the Clubhouse
Can you spot Bo deep in the Clubhouse?
This is what one’s paws look like after a day in the Clubhouse:
Few things are finer than coming home filthy.
Bop does about five times more cute stuff than any other cat I’ve known. This is likely related to her being such a jerk to the other cats. If she’s cute enough I won’t return her to the shelter? Hmm. May have worked so far. She likes to help me sort papers:
There. All arranged.
And in some situations she acknowledges the lowly human has the right idea:
A pIllow and comforter can enhance the nap experience.
For those of you who don’t know cats very well, an assurance: no cats were organized or arranged in the shooting of these photographs.
The Weekly Photo Challenge wants to see “Inside”.
Water Lines
When away from Oroville Dam in northern California, I can resent its intrusive existence and its destruction of the Feather River. Yet when I visit and walk across the dam, I see the beauty that remains. Currently, the reservoir is low on water, which exposes patterns that disappear when submerged.
The current Weekly Photo Challenge wants photos from an unusual perspective.)
My Birthday Week (I’m Milking It!)
If I must acknowledge getting older, then I prefer to have my birthday celebration spread out over days. This year I’ve got a birthday week – and if I count the concert with a friend in November, I’ve got a birthday season!
Hiking at dawn. It has been too long.
Highlights this year are two dawn hikes (my first hikes with my new hip), a trip to the beach, and dinner at a favorite restaurant. My kids also gave me a book of dustbowl-era political and social photographs:
Looks like an interesting book and its photos are unforgettable.
It’s an awesome book but what really makes it special is the thoughtfulness with which they chose it. (They figured it fit with my love of Woody Guthrie and my recent interest in traditional bluegrass.)
At last, hiking again!
Required Writing 