Got Some Stuff Happeneing This Weekend, and Shrinking Heads!

This picture has nothing to do with my post this afternoon, but I wanted a picture, and it was handy. And it's nice. Venus is at her best when looking sleek and spooky in low lighting.

This weekend is shaping up to be quite something, it never rains but it pours, it seems.Tonight is the Magnetic Fields concert, which, sadly, I do not get to go to, as I am doing my own concert in Stillwater, someone should go and tell us how it went. I do get to see them post show, tho, which will be some late night fun.

Tomorrow is all about Cabal, for the first half of the day, starting at 11:00am he is going to be the Other Dog in a Canine Good Citizen Test, and then taking part in an Agility Class Demo, where he and the other Rock Star Dogs show the world how great they are, followed by a Dog Park Fundraiser at a local Culvers, where they will perform again. And of course, another gig for me that night.

Sunday I am going to something called "Dine and Dressage" which involves food and horses, never a bad combo, and that evening the Birdchick is coming out and we are going to Move The Kitty Hive. If your next question is HOW the heck do you do THAT???? I do not know, but the Birdchick sent me THIS....

Ought to Bee a fun evening. I know you have to do this at night so you don't have workers coming home and buzzing things like "HEY??? Where the hell is the Hive???? It was here, I know it was here! Where is my Queen, oh my Queen!!!" It is to be hoped that at night they are all home and snug and sleepy.

Of course, when they wake up the next morning they are going to buzz things like "HEY! Where the hell ARE we? This is our hive, we went in last night, and now it's MOVED! I don't think we are in Kansas anymore! Queen, oh Queen!"

I am looking forward to all of it. (Except missing the Magnetic Fields, rats.)

And oh, how could I forget? It seems there was some late night talking going on last night n the comments, and we decided we should all make Shrunken Head Cider, and take Pictures of it and have a Shrunken Head Festival at the end of the month. What think you? I have always wanted to be a Head Shrinker...

(How to make Srunken Heads: You make shrunken apple heads then float them in warm apple cider. Half the apple, use a melon-baller to take the core out, peel the apple, use a melon-baller to make eye sockets, use a knife for nose slits and mouth, then bake in oven for two hours at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve apple cider in mug with shrunken head. Have all the shrunken heads floating in the pot of warm apple cider.)

Love and Skulls,
Lorraine

Jungle Loves 1&2 (Ginger and Sabrina) Go home!

In about a week and a half Jungle Loves 1&2 are going off to their new home, with New Mother Kathy! After a series of e-mails and an hour on the phone, we realized that she was most definitely the person the Jungle Loves (and I) have been waiting for.

So I thought today, we would give New Mother Kathy a preview of her girls, as all she has are a couple of pictures I took (hee-hee, we know what they are like) and give you lot one last peek of them. Fortunately, we have Kitty doing video and pictures today.



Ok, so it's not the feature length film we have all been waiting for, but hey give us some time here!

Meanwhile, more cuteness! Jungle Love 1 and all her spots...



And here is a closeup of her most beautiful spots...



I love the ending to this one, up close and personal!



I've loved watching them, my first ever Bengal Fosters, grow from being scared, lonely, very frightened of people, hide under the chair kitties, to two really friendly (if somewhat skittish yet) curious and loving and very playful (the feather stick is your friend!) kitties in the couple months I have had them.



They are ready for a home and love, and people, and I think they are about to find it. Good luck Kathy, and keep us posted, we will miss them but couldn't be happier!

Love and Fosters,
Lorraine

Music at a Distance

I have to tell you how bad it sucks to have your bandmate so far away. I can't tell you how many times I see gigs that Lorraine and I could play and think, "If only we lived in the same town, we could do this club and that club..." There are so many clubs here, but our "band" is scattered and everyone is working on their own albums, etc., it's hard to get them all here, or me to Minneapolis.

(Here we are with the girls at ConVergence)

Every time I sing I think of Fablo. She's really the entertainer out of the two of us. She doesn't need an instrument to entertain thousands...or a few in a pub. (The later is FAR scarier for Me!) She taught me so much about "winning the crowd". Tonight I went to an audition and one of the guys knew Stephen Merritt! It was a small world moment! I got to brag about Lorraine and Chris for a few minutes and all we had done. It made me so proud.

(I made that dress for her without measuring and it fit perfectly)

Looking back on the last 4 years, I can't believe all we were able to accomplish. We were independently practicing the music for our CD before we met. Then going in blind, we opened for Garrison Keillor. (That was Lorraine's deal, I just sang. She set up everything.)

I remember how I would plan a show and Lorraine would say,

"We don't need dry ice and explosives Malena, it's a PUB!"

I always make everything into a big production. It was amazing when she said,

"You don't have to look gorgeous, just sing and they will love you"

This concept was foreign to me, being in the Hollywood scene.

Here in LA, everything comes down to how young and skinny you are. Being a well known musician doesn't have a lot to do with pure talent out here. I love LA and it is a part of me, but it is also nice to know there are places in the world where people go to listen to music, just for the fun of it. I really like Minneapolis. After all, PRINCE is from there. Talk about uninhibited creativity! Love it!

Here's Lojo, Dev and I at the recording studio. A director friend of Miles' listens to Lojo's "I'll tell me ma" so much he wrote a short story about it. We really did a great job for our first album. Then we did the Hidden Variable Album after that. Sometimes it takes a while of stepping back from,

"What are we doing next?!"

to see what we've already done is worth while. I am a perfectionist to the death when it comes to music. Lorraine helps me to have fun with it. I am very thankful for that!!!!

So, in a perfect world, Lorraine and I would gig together a LOT more. We just live so far apart and as the years go by our schedules get tighter and tighter. All I can say is, I sure miss it and I'm sure we'll get to do our thing again somehow.

I miss you all!

The M in LaM