Back To The Drawing Board

The new Boy Scout Troop Neckerchief I designed for them. Cool, huh?  Going off the back pack n the 7th to Yosemite again. Taking my watercolors again, And my big back packing watercolor easel. We'll see what I come back with.

Probably almost the worst performance night of my life

Well, I booked myself into the Universal Bar & Grill in North Hollywood- its sort of North Hollywood's version of the Cinema Bar of Culver City or Tripp in Venice- anybody can play there. Well, I go. My band mate, from over there sort of, I ask to back me up. He and a couple of others were backing me up at the Tripp night I booked myself into. That was very marginal -at Tripp. Well, I thought he remembered rehearsing the songs. He didn't. It was just so much noise. The video I took was unwatchable. I tried to plug my way through- people applauded. But it was real shit, probably the worse I've ever done. Why on earth would I think this guy even re-listened to the cd of the songs I had given him or looked at the music before showing up there. I'm tired of being a sucker for the idiots of the world. I rehearse to play with others. I listen to what others are playing. Anyway, live and learn.

To Yoga Or Not To Yoga

Well, I checked out another Yoga class tonight. I was going to a Sunday morning class in Santa Monica which was beginner level and mellow and slow- been going for a couple of years now, since the teacher I followed all over LA went back to Argentina. Indira, and very small Armenian girl with a big mouth made me smile, so I was loyal, but the Sunday morning music gigs are cutting into the same time, so at most I'm going once or twice a month. So I decided to look for something in between work and home on a work night. I ride my bike most days (only 6 miles each way) so in a perfect world I would ride after work to yoga and then ride home after. The one place I started had a weird guy that had his shtick and it had to do with very formal ways in which to use your blanket and your block and my favorite teacher in the world was a dancer and free form (the lady in Argentina), so this was not it. This was a funky little place on 83rd in Westchester so it was actually on my route on the bike. So I decided to check out Playa Vista- which is a trendy condo community in the watershed between the Marina and Westchester on top of the hill. The first one was a Power Flow, which I couldn't keep up with at all and the teacher obviously didn't want me there, because I was old and unable to keep up. The second one was this ninja guy that was going to teach me how to balance because I could do some of the stuff. I explained to him that I've never really had good balance ability and its gotten worse now with old age where these loose particles in your ear canal actually can make you nauseous. He didn't relate. So I tries once more. They move much too quick- and do in 15 minutes what I was taking 30 to do in the Sunday morning class, but part of me thinks, well, maybe if I went for a while, it might force me into a better place. There's a third place over by the Ralph's that has a 6:00 pm class. I think I'll try that one.
The basic requirements: Good looking women that are not so young that they look at me like I'm their grandfather. Something that changes up every time and has surprises. And a loud mouth girl teaching the class. Or a wise kinda of shy Argentinan that looks like I feel when I'm playing music. And the most important thing- getting to the here and now with the breathing, and feeling my muscles smiling after I make them stretch. (The biggest plus of all: being able to randomly jump up to my toes when I'm on my hands and knees- how many 60 year old men can do that?) 

Rollin' On My Sweet Baby's Arms

The Boy Rips off 3 Generations

The new version of a very old song. Three generations of songwriters:

The Ship That Never Returned
The Wreck of The Old '97
M.T.A.

This was a very cool night- lots of applause and tips and good food.

Where Ah Been

Well, I flew to Great Barrington, went to the smallest bear's AA graduation (she really isn't the smallest any more, her sibling girl bear who is older is shorter than her) The great boy son bear came up from DC on the bus. I played banjo sitting out in front of motel room. The guys on a golf tour who were sitting out drinking loved me. We visited with other parents at grad dinner. Turned out that one girls father actually lives in a apartment in this house cited on me web site helenadekaygilder.org  Mark Twain spent a summer here with his kids when his wife died. Tyringham is about 15-20 minutes from Great Barrington where the bear goes to school. Anyhow, went over to visit and took a couple of pictures and met the 92 year old descendant that married into the family. Will try to write to her to get access to Helena's artwork, but am not too hopeful. 

We drove down to Bethesda and hung out with the very large bear boy son and saw where he worked and lived- never been there before. - Then drove to Knoxville to see brother and wife and mother. Played banjo and sang to my mother a couple of days, which was well worth me carrying the banjo off and on planes and driving with it. One of me bandmates, played for her father just before he died and encouraged me to do so. Me mother enjoyed it, she was patting her knee in time. (She's very gone- can't remember anything past about ten minutes. When I think about it, and my poor brother who has to deal with it, and despite his angst about her and everything she did wrong, it is a testament to her strength that she is still living alone in a trailer and is dressing herself and sort of taking care of herself and is still somehow making those around her focus themselves on taking care of her so she can continue in some way under under her own terms.

She fell under my watch, but bounced and we think she's ok. Me thinks next times, when the bear gets her bachelors that neither me mother or brother will be there- hoping for the best.

Next year its Paris for the little cub and we will trade our house and go to bring her home after her year there. I got to polish off my three french verbs.

So, I found a Square Dance place in Knoxsville and we went and danced. Just like home, except they had a huge old building in downtown Knoxville that was a Square Dance Hall.

Found this place:

which was a whole building devoted to music jamming Tennessee style. They had concerts and weekly jams in the "front rooms" (above four to five of them) where every one jammed. I went and hung a bit. There was not a piece of sheet music or words with chords in the place. Maybe 20 really good musicians playing at breakneck speed and 10-20 people just sitting around listening. I gave up and went home.

Any how its been very busy being back- with checking up with work and dealing with a bunch of friends who nixed the band on a potential gig and I'm happy to be back even if the So Cal thing is so different from the hinderland.