Tag: music

The New Men in My Life

So, as I mentioned briefly last night, I’ve joined a band, playing sax. It’s a new band that’s still coming together out of Alameda. If you’re into labels and genre, it’s ska, soul, and reggae. We’re so new that we don’t have a name yet, although there was a name that I threw out last night that the guys seemed to like, but I’m not sure it’s written in stone just yet, so I’ll keep that to myself.

In keeping with my tradition of not using anyone’s real names in my blog, I’ve already assigned code names to my bandmates – Pedro (bass), Ruckus (drums), and Commando (guitar). So far as I can tell, none of ’em smell too bad, and they all enjoy any joke involving either pee pee or underpantslessness, which is good, ’cause I’ll probably be spending lots of time with them in the confined space of a practice room.  A sense of humor seems to be a good asset in such situations.  They also don’t seem to mind my belches.

We should have a singer soon, as the guys have been getting together with a few last week and this. This will probably be another female, so I won’t be the only woman in the band. Also we would like to have a keyboardist. I’m not sure if there will be any other horns.

Last night we got together and “jammed”. This was a first for me, and I have to say, I surprised myself. I’m not nearly as awful as I thought I was. I know that I’ll get better too, with time and practice and possibly lessons. I am really looking forward to being a part of this group, and see it as the next big adventure of my life.
Making music is good times!

Evil iPod Gremlins

I love my iPod.  I don’t know how I ever managed to get by a day without it before.  I’m not very materialistic, but it is one of my favorite things ever.

But sometimes, it’s against me.

I have the big mambo jambo 80 gig hard drive in my iPod.  So there’s a lot of stuff on there.    A lot.   Almost all the music I own.  I’m still working on loading it, three months later, and it’s not even near half way full.

The thing I like to do most is put it on shuffle.  It’s just kind of cool to hear Ocean 11, followed by Billie Holliday, followed by See Spot, followed by The Beastie Boys.   I love shuffle.   I hate shuffle.

The thing is, sometimes the last song in the world that you should be hearing while you’re in a particular frame of mind will find it’s way to your ears, out of your iPod that’s in shuffle mode.  Brutal.   Damn brutal.  Why you gotta do me like that, iPod?

I hate to love you iPod.

Molotov’s – Lower Haight, San Francisco

Wednesday night, I was hanging out with some bikers. I’d never been to Molotov’s. When we got there, Johnny Cash was blaring on the jukebox. The bar wasn’t packed, which was nice, but it also wasn’t empty. There was just enough for there to be a nice crowd, but not crowded. There were a few hipsters, but I didn’t see a single yuppie. It was that fabulous warm day, and so even at 8 in the evening, they had the door and windows open, and I was perfectly comfortable in my short sleeved shirt. After the Johnny Cash songs, some Beastie Boys and other songs that I didn’t recognize came on the jukebox, but smack dab in the middle of the night, out of nowhere, “The Israelites” by the eternal Desmond Dekker. And as we were leaving, more Johnny Cash. Coming and going to Johnny Cash is OK by me. Needless to say, I now have a crush on this bar.

So, we were sitting about, discussing the trip that J4 is planning for his birthday. He was to moto down to the tip of baja. As I am a “satin ass,” I’ll be flying down to meet the gang. Of course we got to reminiscing about previous trips we’ve taken togeter. Vegas last Labor Day, and Hawthorne, NV in May. I’m sure that if we make this trip, I will have lots of stories to tell. Wednesday was just a nice chill evening, hanging out with some friends in a cool spot.