Everybody wants to get in on the Off Center & Not Even music scene these days. We came across a group of toads (Bufo woodhousii) in the bosque last night that call themselves The Kaleidoscopic Croakers, which is rather obvious from the photo I took of them under the light of our phones. They croaked out a bluegrass-like tune for us that they call A Chorus of Crazy Croaking.
CODA is Spunk’s first solo release. He catches his tail, carries it around, and sings us a musical tale about his tail a cappella. Spunk and I decided we needed arrange a funky tune to complement his Dumpsta-Spunk singing style.
Sometimes when a good deal comes along, you just can’t pass it up. And when the deal happens to be your dream car, you really don’t pass it up. I’ve been looking at the Mazda Miata MX-5 RF (retractible fast-back), but I figured it would be awhile before I bought one. I saw a gray MX-5 RF for sale in a lot on my way home Thursday, stopped, photographed the vin, and sent it to Tristan to get the history of the car for me. Tristan works at Garcia Honda in Albuquerque, and, as it turned out, they got an MX-5 trade-in that was a much better deal. I went up and drove it, and that was it, Tristan sold me the car Friday afternoon, and I picked up the car and drove it home this afternoon after the inspections were completed. Now I’m the proud owner of a 2017 Mazda Miata MX-5 RF with 7,700 miles on it. It’s like brand new.
After I got it home and got it insured, Laurie and I went out for a drive about 4:00 PM. We stopped at her parent’s house to show them the car, did a few photos (below), and then drove around with the Bose stereo blasting out tunes from my phone (bluetooth connection). After we got home about 6:00 PM, I decided I needed to write a song about the car. I scribbled down the lyrics, went into my darkroom/music studio, came up with the music, and recorded the song “Me and My MX-5” (above).
Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price
TimothyPrice: vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass and electronic percussion
Me and my MX 5
Oh how we like to drive
Don a hat, hide the top
Drive and drive, we never stop
1st gear roars off the line
2, 3, 4, 5 takes no time
6th gear gets me in the jive
cruising along at 95
Driving my MX-5
Makes me feel like I’m alive
In Soul Red, black racing stripe
The really cool, sporty type
I wrote this song for my buddy Inchcock at Inchcock Today: Old, sick, weary, but harmless. I need to make others smile!, the dynamic pensioner in Nottingham, England, who had a stroke a couple of months ago. Since he’s been writing about the involuntary moving, shaking and dancing of his arms, legs and fingers, and the electrical shocks that run through his limbs since the stroke, I promised to write him a song about the issues. I spent most of Father’s Day writing, assembling and recording Neutopathic Mambo, as I know all about the electrical shocks and vibrations from dying nerves, as I still get them from the nerve damage caused by chemo. As I’ve noted in the past, I also have numb toes and fingertips, as well. But Inchcock and I are not ones to complain, other than making fun of our conditions, because like my doctor told me — “The annoyance of some nerve damage is better than the alternative.” Since Inchcock made it out of the stroke ward alive, he was told others who were in the stroke ward at the same as him did not live, he’s made a great recovery. I believe his fantastic recovery has a lot to do with his drive to entertain his followers with his daily descriptions of woe and wonderment of his life in Nottingham, not to mention his updates on his unmentionables and daily constitutionals.
Lyrics by Timothy Price
Digital percussion and music assembled and arranged by Timothy Price
When the legs go dancing on their own
Electric feelings shock my bones
Arms all flailing, fingers shake and role
Bumping and grinding out a neuropathic mambo
Shaking
Shocking
neuro pathic mambo
Shocking
Shaking
My knees get weak and start a shake
My arms go limp and then they quake
I stub my toe Ouch I’m still alive
Instead of Typing, my fingers do the hand jive
Shocking
Shaking
neuro pathic mambo
Shocking
Shaking
When the legs start dancing on their own
Electric feelings shock my bones
Arms all flailing, fingers shake and role
Bumping and grinding out a neuropathic mambo
Shaking, shocking, bumping out a mambo
Shaking, shocking, bumping out a neuropathic mambo
Shaking, shocking, bumping out a neuropathic mambo
Shaking, shocking, bumping out a neuropathic mambo
For any of you who know Spunk Kitty, you will understand how Spunk will not be outdone by mice, birds, squirrels, and especially lizards and bullfrogs. Spunk was not very happy that I posted Froggyphunk, by Jeremiah and the Lizards, yesterday before he got a chance to pitch his song idea to me. When I got home this afternoon, I got an ear full from Spunk about me posting a song by a stupid bullfrog when he had a song in mind called Meowing at the Half Moon. He insisted I help him record his song that instant. I told him I was tired and that I would rather do it over the weekend. Spunk would have none of that “over the stupid weekend” talk, and told me he would “scratch my eyes out” if we did not record his song tonight. So Spunk and I went into my darkroom/music studio, played, meowed, mixed and produced Meowing at the Half Moon by Dumpsta-Spunk. Enjoy.
The City of Albuquerque kicked off their first Heights Summerfest: Free, family, fun, concert-series last night, with Dumpstaphunk as the national headliner. Dumpstaphunk is a fantastic group of musicians, who put on a great show. We stood up against the barrier at the stage, and enjoyed their great sound as their funky bass and drums vibrated through our bodies (bass and drum vibes will heal what ails you like kitty purrs). Dumpstaphunk’s performance inspired Jeremiah and the Lizards to write and record Froggyphunk, above. Jeremiah and the Lizards are not quite as talented or as funky as Dumpstaphunk, but they came up with a decent tune. Jeremiah borrowed a recording of a “Chorus of Toads” from Laurie’s brother, Lane. Lane recorded the group of toads singing around his pond late one night. The chorus of toads adds a rather unique froggy element to Froggyphunk.
Leslie, one of our bosque buddies, walked towards me on the ditch bank holding her camera in such a way I knew she got something special. “I got a first for the bosque!” she called out. “A badger” as she showed me a photo of a badger looking over a pile of sand on her camera’s screen. I said “Wow! I didn’t know we had badgers in the bosque.” On Friday afternoon I walked through the bosque and found the badger’s burrow, but the sun was still fairly high, and I didn’t see any badgers.
Last night I went out at sunset, and found a mama badger and two large badger cubs playing and foraging around the entrance to their den. I started shooting video with a 320mm lens. I was about 50 to 75 feet from the badgers. One cub at the entrance of the den saw me and watched me while its sibling romped and tugged at it. I moved to a better position, because the camera kept trying to focus on the foliage in the foreground. While one cub watched me, its sibling hadn’t noticed I was there, and started foraging on the edge of the sandhill. Likewise, mama badger was oblivious while I filmed her and her cubs. The cub playing on the edge of the mound suddenly noticed me, stopped, stared at me for an instance, and then ran to the den and dived in the hole. The mama ran up the the entrance of the den at the cub’s sudden activity, and acting slightly confused, she put her head down toward the hole. All of a sudden she shifted her position and looked at me as if the cubs said “Mama! There’s a paparazzo filming us.” She looked at me for a second, and then dove in the hole herself.
I started calling them and I believe the cub that was looking at me from the beginning, popped its head up and stared at me. I talked to it, told it I was okay. It ducked back into the hole, only to pop it’s head up again a few seconds later. It seemed fascinated by the paparazzo in black talking to it. It started getting dark, so I said my goodbyes and the cub stared at me halfway in the entrance to the den as I walked away.
I wrote and recorded the music accompanying the video this afternoon. The Badgers seemed worthy of their own song.
I made a short video (with flamenco guitar) of the swarm of painted ladies on our purple Salvia.
The Conservancy tore the beavers’ dams out of the clear water ditch again. As you might imagine, the beavers are upset. The Angry Beavers asked the AWB to post “Bite ‘Em On The Old Shin Bone” again to remind everyone about how unjust the Conservancy is destroying the beavers’ hard work. Let alone messing up the ecosystem the beavers create with their dams.
If you would like to read about the video and the lyrics, you can visit the original post at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2017/11/bite-em-on-the-old-shin-bone. If you are curious about the leg with the “Do Not Throw” tag on the toe, you can read about it at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/7/tales-from-my-youth-do-not-throw.
After posting Lovelorn Wasp performed by Coughing Cooties last Sunday, there were requests to hear something by Violent Phlegm, another virtual group that collaborated with AWB to form Coughing Cooties. Dead of Night is Violent Phlegm’s first single.
Dead of Night
Words and Music by Timothy Price
Performed by Violent Phlegm
Still standing I’m bleeding in the dead of night
Battling daemons ’til dawn’s early morning light
Reaching for the future, tried shaking off the past
Following ambitions holding dreams were fading fast
Wading against the current, I stood against the wave
Control-alt-delete, I refuse to be a slave
Tumbling through the ether in the cold and dark
Social media’s shadow leaves its ugly mark
Cyberspace warriors fight by fiber’s light
Daemons call me out in the dead of night
Control-alt-delete, I refuse to be a slave
Wading against the current, I stood against the wave
Following ambitions holding dreams were fading fast
Reaching for the future, tried shaking off the past
Battling daemons ’til dawn’s early morning light
Still standing I’m bleeding in the dead of night
Tumbling through the ether in the cold and dark
Social media’s shadow leaves its ugly mark
Cyberspace warriors fight by fiber’s light
Daemons call me out in the dead of night
Off Center & Not Even 