L U N A T A L K with Eva Moon

Blog
About

Laughing Ladies

March 9, 2010 on 8:00 am | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In Backstage Pass, Found, Music, Sex Files

It’s a pretty safe bet to put you, dear blog reader, in the category of people who were not at our show Saturday night, since pretty much everybody was not at our show Saturday night. People were lining up in droves to not be at our show.

But music materialized. Drinks drunk, comestibles consumed, ladies laughed at the Laughing Ladies Cafe and we were glad to introduce our new guitarist, George Michael (not that George Michael) though it was a bittersweet gladness that we were not playing with our old guitarist, Dave Quick.

Dave had a serious stroke nearly six months ago and has a long recovery still ahead of him. We keep in touch and wish him and his seriously awesome wife, Jan, the very best. Even though Dave was not there in body, his influence on our music was present in arrangements, spirit and style. George (also known as Lyndon Heart) studied Dave’s parts to prepare for the show, though he brings his own lively style to the mix.

The show was broadcast live on Indie Spectrum Radio, in Second Life and on ustream.tv. Here is the archive of the ustream video feed, in all its static, ultracompressed glory:

The video was created using the built-in web cam on my Mac PowerBook which was plopped on a box on a table, turned on and left to its own devices for 146 minutes and 58 seconds. My dream of an Oscar for cinematography is on hold for the moment.

But the music is back and that’s reward enough.

And the winner is…

March 7, 2010 on 11:41 pm | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In Movies, Music

I don’t know why we bother. We put on an Oscars party every year, and every year it gets duller and duller. Not the party, but the Oscars. I had inexplicably high hopes for Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin - two funny guys. But NOOOOOO! Perhaps they took their cues from Avatar: Don’t waste a penny on the script.

Fortunately my friends are a resourceful bunch. We managed to sustain ourselves during the dry excesses of eye-rollingly insipid on-screen blather with excesses of snacks, champagne and… a theremin! We may have had the only Oscars party in the whole Puget Sound area with theremin accompaniment. Much to the cats’ distress.

Oh, and when did they go back to saying “And the winner is..”? I remember when they switched to “And the Oscar goes to…” That always smacked of the dreadful self-esteem mania that swept through the schools when my kids were growing up. God forbid there should be a winner because that would mean someone would have to be the loser. Good.

The Bonehead of the Opera

January 31, 2010 on 1:01 am | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In Arts, Food, Found, General Musing, Music

OK, so in the great if oddly-plotted opera Il Trovatore the gypsy woman, Azucena, attempting to avenge her mother who was burnt at the stake by the count, steals the count’s infant son intending to toss the baby on her mother’s bonfire. But, in a moment of confusion, accidentally throws her own baby on the fire instead. (Work with me here. I’m not making this up!)

Boneheaded move, you say? But even Azucena was not so boneheaded as to drive 30 minutes into Seattle before remembering that the opera tickets were still affixed to the fridge door with a New Brunswick souvenir moose magnet.

The spousal unit was remarkably restrained as I exited the freeway, swung around and headed back home where we canceled dinner reservations, grabbed the tickets and a quick bite and headed out into the night once again. Like Leonora, we arrived at the castle in the nick of time and we didn’t even have to drink poison to get in. But even so, it’s going to take a while to live this one down.

Thanks, S.B., for the terrific suggestion to bring spoons to tap along with the Anvil Chorus. I assure you the people around us found it most charming. It made a lovely accompaniment to the gentle snores of the elderly English gentleman seated to my right.

And for those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing it, I give you:

LEGO IL TROVATORE!

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Mixed Reality Music

January 8, 2010 on 3:26 pm | 1 person has joined the conversation. We need you too. | In Backstage Pass, General Musing, Music

A press release from my other life as Commissioner Moon:

Redmond Digital Arts Festival Sunday, January 10 2010, 3:00pm - 5:00pm FREE

(Sponsored by: Microsoft, City of Redmond, Gas Powered Games, Marriot, DigiPen, & Redmond City Center)

The Redmond Arts Commission welcomes you to the 2nd Digital Arts Festival, beginning with special events in December 2009 and featuring workshops and presentations on January 15 and 16, 2010. Join us for a celebration of the artists and businesses that work in Redmond and the areas nearby. There are many new activities this year. Please come and enjoy!

Come to SOULFOOD BOOKS on 15748 Redmond Way (next to Ben Franklin) for an event where virtual and real worlds collide! Be part of an event that brings together music lovers from around the world for an event that blurs the barrier between real and virtual as musicians play for a global audience at a simultaneous jam. The Mixed Reality Musical Jam will take place both on the ground in Redmond and online in “Second Life.”

Second Life is an online virtual world where some of today’s most talented musicians play live for audiences around the world without leaving their homes. Local Second Life musicians will gather to demonstrate how live music performance transcends borders and boundaries in the digital age.

Seattle-based Second Life musicians performing at the Real Life Festival:

Chaos Noyes
Dakota Pluto
Dale Aries
Edward Kyomoon
Eva Moon
Grif Bamaison
Lyndon Heart
Patrick LaSalle
Tukso Okey
Zag Jigsaw

We will stream video directly from Soulfood Books into the Second Life venue so that the audience there can see both the avatars performing AND the video of the live performers side by side.

We will also project the Second Life concert onto a screen at Soulfood Books so that the audience there can see both the avatars performing AND the live performers side by side.

Directions to Soulfood Books
Festival info: http://redmondartsfestival.com
Directions to the Second Life venue
Get a free Second Life account
Or listen to the simulcast on BZOO Radio

No one will ever know

December 10, 2009 on 8:20 am | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In Backstage Pass, General Musing, Movies, Music

Chapter One

Many years ago, long before I was the confident, capable (snort) singer I am now, I was acutely nervous about a solo in a choir concert. The solo was an exceedingly obscure Hungarian Gypsy song. It would be hard to overstate just how obscure this song was. It was from a tiny village in Kalotaszeg, a tiny cluster of Hungarian villages in northwestern Romania so remote the whole region only has two lines in Wikipedia. The song was passed to me on a cassette of a cassette of a cassette from a peripatetic ethnomusicologist. The concert was at a Jewish Community Center in Sherman Oaks, CA. What exactly was I fretting about? That I would fuck up the words.

“Who will know?” the director pointed out.

She had a point. I sucked in air and tried to unclench.

I did fuck up the lyrics, singing through a brief spurt of nonsense syllables. I let it go. After all, who would know?

I found out at intermission when I was accosted by an elderly, weeping woman. She was not only from Romania. She was not only from Kalotaszeg, but she was from the exact village where the song originated! How we both ended up at the same Sherman Oaks JCC, is just one of those unfathomable cosmic mysteries. Of course, she didn’t care a burgonyakereg about the fluffed lyrics.

But, damn!

Chapter Two

About four years ago, my band Balkanarama recorded a live CD. One night, twelve songs, one take, no do-overs, no overdubs. While not flawless, it’s an energetic and true representation of our live sound. One of the “not flawless” bits occurs 27 seconds into the first song. Another lyric flub. Instead of “kerta” I bobbled and sang “ashka.” If I never mentioned it, who would know, right? Well, this song, while not exactly Billboard fare, is not quite as obscure as the first one. It was written and recorded by the famous Rom singer, Esma Redzepova so, yes, there are some who might catch it. But only one who matters: Esma herself. And what are the chances of her hearing it?

Chapter Three

Fast forward once more to 2009. The phone rings. The caller is a movie producer who wants to know if he can acquire the rights to two songs from our Live CD for the sound track of an independent film currently in production. Gee, let me think about th… yes!

The movie (due to be released in the spring of 2010) is You May Not Kiss the Bride, a romantic comedy/caper flick directed by Rob Hedden in which a mobster tries to arrange for his daughter to obtain U.S. citizenship by setting her up with a American photographer. It stars Rob Schneider, Katharine McPhee, Dave Annable, Ken Davitian and Mena Suvari. The first two songs from our CD will be the celebratory music for the big wedding scene at the end.

But of course, since Esma wrote the song, rights had to be procured from her publisher. Which means, once again, the ONE PERSON IN THE WORLD to whom my lyrical fluff would actually matter, will know.

To this day, I continue to screw up lyrics regardless of the language. But now it’s a trademark.

Ten Reasons Why You Should Give My CD

December 8, 2009 on 5:50 pm | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In Backstage Pass, General Musing, Music

I’m not pushy when it comes to selling my CD’s. I put it out there and trust that you all will be so impressed with it’s excellence that you’ll step right up and buy it. I sincerely thank all four of you who did.

I’m not going to start getting pushy now either, but it IS the holiday season and some of you MAY be looking for that perfect gift or stocking stuffer RIGHT NOW! Or you may even be looking to reward yourself for all your hard work. Go ahead, you’ve earned it.

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Give My “Moon Falling Down” CD This Holiday Season:

Subversive cover art! Who else would take one of the world’s most beloved bedtime tales and drag it down to the corrupt depths of BDSM fantasy? Show your loved ones how sick you are.
Not sold at Target! They called and begged me, but I said not until they show they have the guts to say “Happy Holidays” even if it pisses off the religious nuts.
Better than a Snuggie! Snuggies are the hot gift this year for everyone who’s turning down the thermostat. But did you know blanket-cocoon made of “Moon Falling Down” CD’s will take your mind off the temperature in no time at all?
Makes great insulation! Go Green with “Moon Falling Down.” Just slip CD’s into the cracks under doors and around windows for big savings when the next power bill comes.
It’s waterproof! That’s right. Bring them in the shower, make cute little floating rafts in the tub, take them for long, romantic walks in the rain. Won’t shrink, fade or bleed.
Allowed on most diets. Trying to lose weight? You’re not alone. But rest assured, “Moon Falling Down” has ZERO calories and can be a healthy part of any nutritious meal plan.
Laughter is the best medicine. Have you SEEN Obama’s health plan? Better keep extras on hand for the flu season and beyond.
Bail out the economy! The feds dropped over a trillion dollars on Wall Street to try to save the economy. YOU can do your bit for just TEN BUCKS!
The sex.
It makes YOU look GOOD. The lyrics are funny and smart. The music is a hot blend of jazz/pop/latin/cabaret. Clearly anyone savvy enough to give this CD as a gift is a person of the very highest taste, style and hipness. Isn’t that you?

So what are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?

Buy it already!

The Horse Summoner

September 22, 2009 on 9:09 am | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In General Musing, Music

From a conversation with a belly dancing friend:

“I bought your CD at your last show but didn’t have a chance to listen to it until my last trip to Nevada. I’ve been driving from here to Nevada for twenty years and every trip I keep hoping to see wild the horses. I know they’re out there, but I’ve never seen them. Not once. But last week, driving through the desert I popped your CD in and by the third song there was a cloud of dust in the distance. I thought ‘is that it?’ and sure enough it was! A herd of wild horses! After all this time! It was amazing!”

Who knows what secret magic lurks in unexpected places? Be open to it. And buy the CD.

But you might want to be careful about where you play it. I’m just saying.

Running down

September 15, 2009 on 10:24 pm | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In General Musing, Music

My mother has always had an intense fear of walking downhill. I never knew why until recently. In her 70s, she’s fit, active and has a joy for life I hope I can match as I go through life. But walking downhill gives her the creeping willies. She clings to my father who holds her upright until they reach level ground. Even so, when I visited them in Arizona earlier this year, she gamely agreed to a steep trail hike up to see some Native American cliff dwellings, knowing full well there was only one way down. This time, on the hike back, it was my arm she clung to while dad strode on ahead and I asked her what the deal was with walking downhill.

She told me that once, when she was about six years old she started running downhill and then found she couldn’t stop. She lost control, took a bad tumble and never got over the terror of being helpless to halt a process that could only end disastrously. I understand this feeling, which is the intersection of thrill and fear. It’s in every adrenaline moment when the decision has been made, it’s too late to back out and there’s no choice left but to ride out whatever comes next. It probably explains why she never learned to ride a bike, either. You have to be willing to trust strong outside forces to carry you along, knowing that in the end you will probably prevail and it will be all right. As you survive more of these experiences, you learn to accept the fear to get the thrill.

I understand this feeling in a new way now. I’ve been playing guitar for a month. My current goal is to learn enough to be a bad guitarist. I’m not that good yet. A major struggle of the beginning musician (and one that keeps many beginning musicians from becoming intermediate musicians) is that it takes so damn long before you can make music - before it’s fun. You have to muscle through the first months on faith that in the end you will probably prevail and it will be all right: something resembling music will happen.

But the temptation is always there to just hop on and ride like the wind. To PLAY. A SONG. How can you resist? It’s what you wanted even before you picked up that guitar for the first time. So you learn some chords, get your fingers toughened up, practice some basic strumming, and then cast about for something to play.

YouTube is the ultimate jam band. Any song, any band you want - it’s there. Credence Clearwater Revival is down on the corner whenever you want to strap up and join them. You see the Beatles standing there on that tiny stage in that giant stadium waiting for you to signal the downbeat. How could you say no? So you start and it’s going all right! You’re playing and singing along in a hearty voice and you’re thinking, “I can do this. It’s not so hard.” But then you miss a chord. And the strings keep buzzing. Your fingers sweat and the pick starts to slip. And that damn F keeps going by too fast. Suddenly you’re struggling to keep up. Your voice gets wheezy and peters out, every scrap of attention focused on making clumsy fingers MOVE. Then you hit the bridge. What’s that in the road? A Bm? Holy fuck, what kind of sick songwriter would DO something so evil?

And you fall. Tumbling into silence while your betters race on ahead, not even looking back.

It’s a humbling experience. But of course you know what to do when you fall off your bike, right?

Your Cheatin’ Guitar

September 2, 2009 on 10:04 am | 2 people have joined the conversation. We need you too. | In Backstage Pass, General Musing, Music

I play keys. Not fabulously, but well enough to accompany myself for the most part and I lean on my band for the rest.

One particular musical rite that I’ve never been able to pull off is jamming. I’ve been to jams - generally the lone keyboard in a sea of guitars. They are filled with people who seem like mortal humans and yet no one has a problem keeping up. Except me. Jams tend to be noisy affairs and I can never hear the keyboard well enough over the din of guitars to be sure I’m on the right chord. As much music as I’ve played over the past (ahem)-ty years, I’ve never played pop or Americana so I don’t know the chords from past learning and I’ve pretty much never played I-IV-V songs. Add to that the hassle of being tethered to the grid. No electricity? No jam for me.

This all came to a head a few weeks ago at a music-intensive conference in San Francisco. I did not travel with my keyboard or amp. A keyboard had been promised at the SF end. But these things being as they are, there was no keyboard for most of the event. (No fault of the promisers. They struggled valiantly on my behalf and I felt like a troublesome, high-maintenance diva, swanning about and sighing over the lack.)

For four days and nights, spontaneous jams sprouted in parks, lobbies, hallways and hotel rooms. Jams I longed to be a part of. I don’t even like John Denver, but damn! my fingers itched to play. Jams are the music of the road. My ancestors did not flee the shtetl dragging amps and cables.

I turned to a guitar-wielding friend and begged, “Teach me!”

My first guitar lesson happened in a hotel room packed with seventeen musicians all going full-blast. It was even captured on video:

And here’s the dirty secret I learned: Guitarists cheat! You don’t need a great ear to jam. Once you know the chords, you can follow by LOOKING. I could be stone deaf and still know from across the room that we’re on D. It was one of those scales-fell-from-my-eyes moments. All this time I’d been thinking I sucked because I was the only one who couldn’t tell just by listening what the chord was. I may still suck, but I’m on to your little game, guitarists.

A keyboard finally did show up the last night. An hour before the big concert. The guy who brought it handed it over with the casual comment, “Oh, I forgot to bring the power adapter. Do you happen to have eight D-cell batteries on you?” (Oh yeah, it’ll be a relief to get them out of my pocket - they’ve been pulling my pants out of shape all night.)

Hand me that guitar. I’m heading to the jam. If you’re there, though, go easy on the barre chords. I’m still learning.

CD-O-Matic

August 11, 2009 on 8:40 am | Join the conversation. You know you want to. | In Found, General Musing, In the news, Music

Anyone can create an awesome CD with a few simple steps. This comes from a friend on Facebook:

Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random. The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
Go to “Random quotations” or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days. Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. (if you don’t have it, here’s an online photo editor: pixlr.com)

Voila! Your new CD!

Here’s mine:

That was so easy. Why did I waste two whole years on my last CD?

Oh wait… the music…

(photo credit: _Beat_)