TheatreNXS Performance
Current mood: creative
Category: Music

Hey troops! Just thought I'd write a bit about having played out the other evening. I don't do it as much as I want to or need to, so when I do, it's a great thing.

One of my partners in musical crime, Mike Robertson (bass, repeater), got myself (guitar and syth,) Jeff Wheeler (keyboards) and Pam Fleenor (African drums) to play at a benefit for a new theater trying to get established here in Columbia, Missouri called TheatreNXS. It's theater for adults - not to be confused with adult theater. Mature themes, not afraid of edgy, and looking for a home. Like, a black box theater where it can mount such contemporary fare. When not being used for runs of  new theatrical work, the showcase would be open for performances by experimental musicians, dance groups, performance artists, and the like. Columbia may actually be ready for it!

Well, our little musical ensemble was to represent the "experimental" side of things. We were to play lead in music (with the help of a bluegrass band!) then sit out for the first part of the presentation that included some scenes from some contemporary plays - including work by local playwrites. Then, we were to play a little through the intermission and then go "out into left field" for a few 5 minute slots between more scenes from plays and then, after all was said and done, play a little exit music.

Working with some of the more traditional musicians at the beginning was a mixed bag. There was a guitarist who sat in who was wonderful He had a jazz edge to his contribution and knew how to go with the flow and improvise. For our part, we did our best to keep things accessible during the intro. There was a harmonica player, though, who didn't seem to get the idea of improvisational jamming. He kept asking what key we were in - we would tell him, then he would say that it would be better for him if we played in G or Em - we were in G, by the way. We told him "We're in G!" all the while trying to play, listen and put on a good show. And he kept asking "Are we in G or Em?" At one point I heard Mike shout "It doesn't matter!" I personally got a little miffed when this gentleman stuck his harp blowing face in mine and honked out some not-so-bad but completely-out-of-place blues into the otherwise well heeled fusion jazz that was happening.

Sigh.

But everything actually turned out well. The scenes that were performed were effective, the audience appreciated them as well as the work of a local poet/writer/storyteller who did two very interesting recitations, and when we finally played out Edgar Varese inspired improvisations, the audience both appreciated and actually seemed to "get it."

Each of us in this little pick up band got our licks in and everyone shined. The high point for me, though, was playing with Pam. Mike, Jeff and I have played together before (in fact, we were/are a band called AOIO) but this was a first with Pam. And she was GREAT!!!! She brought rhythm, class and a woman's energy into an otherwise testosterone laden musical entity. It was so much friggin' fun!

Currently listening : Cloud About Mercury By David Torn Release date: 08 May, 2001

5:45 AM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

There and Back Again
Current mood: exhausted
Category: Blogging

Hello Folks!

It's been a long time and, sadly, this isn't going to be an exhaustive report - I just don't have the energy for it.

I've been, uh, sick for the last 3 weeks or so. "Sick" as in "trips to the hospital, lots of pain killers and doctors scratching their bald heads" sick. It started with feeling dizzy and kind of spaced out. That grew into a headache and night sweats. That grew into a 103 temperature, enough head pain to cause nausia, sensitivity to light and sound and a host of other unhappy things. A visit to the ER resulted in x-rays, CT scans, encounters with brain dead health care professionals ("I thought you didn't want any pain killers!) and a spinal tap. As an example of how badly my head and body hurt, the nurse and doctor were amazed at how I dealt with a hole being poked in my spine. I told them that the pain was nothing compaired to the pain in my head. This was when the nurse mentioned the pain killers. Idiotbitch.

After bloodwork, spinal fluid exam and urine analysis got back the doctor announced the presence of a "black thing" in my right lung. The doc wanted me to stay in the hospital for more tests. I insisted that I wanted to go home, get some antibiotics and see my regular doctor first. I had to make sure that there was someone to take care of Max!

My doc got me on some pain medicine that didn't make me hallucinate and agreed that I should be "better" before they did a "poke and scoop" on my lung. After an amazing display of ineptitude by the hospital staff and a botched attempt at a biopsy, I finally got in to the hospital last Friday for a CT guided needle biopsy. No two doctors, it seems, were able to agree on what the mass was, except that it was kinda big. I was in the scanner for at least an hour without the needle showing its ugly face. Someone would appear in the room and ask a simple question: "Have you been coughing?" "No." "Okay." Then they would go back into the little room behind the bullet proof glass. I was on my stomach, but I was able to look up and see the conference going on. Then, someone would come out again and ask "How long ago did you have your last CT scan?" "Nearly two weeks ago." "Okay." Then they would disappear again. Finally, when the radiologist came out again, before he could ask another question I asked him myself (not bad for a drugged out patient!) "So - did it disappear or something?" "No, but it's shrunk. About half the size. That means it's not a tumor."

YIPPEEEEEE!!!!! So, they didn't do the poke and scoop, but this presented another problem. What is it and why was I sick? At this writing I am sadly back at work but without much "umph." I've finished a round of antibiotics but still have to take fever supressors, anti-nausea meds and some pain killers at night. I've got my appetite back - but not where it used to be. Over the 5 days or so of the extreme fever I lost about 20 pounds. Of course, it didn't go away from my gut where it needs to go away, but I suppose I have no say over the issue.

So, now, I wait some more. I see the docs again this Friday and probably go in for another CT scan in another week. I was able to go to visit my dad last Sunday who had a stroke while I was under the weather. He's doing okay, but it is frightening to see how far he's declined. I need to make sure I'm healthy to assist my mom when ever she needs it.

Tons of thanks to my friends who stepped up to the plate and helped me get to and from the hospital, took care of Max and arranged for a place for me to get my strength back. Shame on the health care system that rapes my wallet with an arrogance I used to think was reserved for government workers and an inefficiency one would expect from underpaid fast food monkeys.

And all of that is fodder for another blog at another time....

Currently reading : The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) By Homer Release date: 01 November, 1998

5:16 AM - 3 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Music In The Air!

Hey folks. I haven't been on this profile for a while for lots of reasons. Some of my time has been spent working on music and starting to do a little pushing in that area. To that end, GO HERE!!!!:

Stuart Dummit's Music Page

8:26 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Taking A Break (repost of bulletin)

~Taking A Break~

Hey friends and apathetic bystanders alike-

Just a short note to let y'all know that I'm taking a break from MySpace Land. I haven't been keeping up with the friends that I've made here which is not a good thing, and I take responsibility for not being a better communicator.

Way too much stuff going on in my life right now to give full attention to places like this. I'm keeping the site up - I have every intention of returning and cruising the virtual hallways and back streets of MySpace again, but not for a little while at least.

There is a link to my real website on my home page here and from there you can email me directly if you wish. The DEStudios web page will be getting a face lift soon enough, but the address will remain the same. I'll always do my best to respond to notes from friends.

So, to all of you here, have a great Holiday Season - be safe and be true - and for those of you who will venture out of MySpace into the jungle of the rest of the internet, see y'all out there!

Big hugs and indiscreet nuzzles and nudges,

Stuart
Dangerous Enlightenment Studios

7:05 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Where Has That Boy Been?

Hi Ho Troops -

I haven't been spending a whole lot of time on MySpace lately and, to my friends with whom I communicate regularly through this venue, I apologize. I sort of needed a break from the noise of this place.

Max is doing okay these days, but he still only uses his hind leg about 50% of the time. We're going to go back and visit the Vet again next week with the probability of him having some more x-rays taken to try to figure out if there was some other damage done by the fall. I really miss the two of us taking long walks in the woods, this is the season for it! But the doc says that he should be resting as much as he can - not using the leg if possible.

Right.

I got to play guitar with C3 last Saturday night at Cooper's Landing on the Missouri River. From where I was on stage I could watch the sunset over the water. It was a truly magical evening. The audience was great - not sure what to expect from us but totally into it once they realized that expectations were useless. Our hosts were totally cool - the brisket dinners they offered us were soooo tastey! And the members of the band - wow. They made me feel so at home, so much a part of the band. The audience response was tremendous and there were certainly times when the chemistry took everyone places that they never even knew existed. It was as though someone had put acid in the sound waves.

As for my lovelife - well, not a lot has significantly changed there. A hint here, a possibility there - there was even a short time there not too long ago when I thought I might have actually found HIM! But, alas, his heart belongs to another. At least I now know that there are "straight" guys out there that actually are good kissers. Will wonders never cease.

So, now, I continue to wait. Perhaps all of these false starts and tickles are in preparation for oh-my-friggin-god-he's-big-beautiful-smart-sexy-stable-ruthlessly passionate and COMPLETELY DEVOTED TO ME!

Don't laugh. It can happen.

I decree that it will.

Soooooo....next up: I'll be playing with some of the members of C3 at a Halloween party given by the great Lizzie West (Google her if you don't know her.) That should be a hoot.

My buddy Jeff and I have been working on getting the act together. I believe at this point that the project is officially called A O I O which stands for the Audacity of Inanimate Objects. Think of it as 'bombastic minimalism' or 'hardcore ambient' or 'interstellar cruising tunes' or 'damn! that'd be great music to have sex to...' uh, yeah.

We should have a MySpace page fairly soon, so hold on to your privates, folks. The world is about to get just a little stranger.

Just a little.

So, in conclusion: I'm doing fine - not enough time in the gym, but I'm working on that problem. Emotionally I have been in better places, but I'll use it to the greatest advantage and squeeze a new song or two out of it. I'm edging up on 48.5 years out of my mama's womb and I've decided that I want to be a guitar god when I grow up. A guitar god with a really hot boyfriend (who would be my husband if the dumb-ass population would get its collective head out of that Elephant's ass) . . . . . .

sigh.

Not much good on TV this season. Battlestar Galactica starts up in a few weeks but I don't get cable. Another sigh.

Remember to love with as much intent and attention that you can.

Stuart

8:21 AM - 5 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

...and I even broke my diet.....
Current mood: anxious
Category: Life

I spent the better part of a week with my folks, taking Mom to the hospital for her knee surgery, getting Dad to dialysis, sitting in the waiting room for Mom to get out of surgery, making sure that Dad eats every three hours and gets enough protein and takes one of those little blue and white capsules when he does eat, and calling family and friends to give them updates on Mom's condition. All the while the buyers of my house sit, silently, imagining ways to make me shudder and shiver with the coldness that comes with not knowing. "Will they buy? Will they back out? Will they insist that I fix yet another defect in the house, despite it being sold "as is?"

I haven't done anything about finding a place to move. I'm afraid that as soon as I put some effort into it I'll discover that they've started backing out. If I sign a lease, they'll back out for sure. Sometimes I am such a Negative Nancy.

So, Mom comes home from the hospital today. Some in home assistance for both she and my dad has been arranged for. The appraisal on the house is done, we're just waiting for the shoe to drop. If it "appraises" as my realtor says, then the deal is as good as done. If it does not "appraise," then I'm most likely going to have to drum up the thousands of dollars needed to get the roof, gutters, facia, exhaust flue and ceilings repaired. And I won't be getting that new Dodge Ram, either.

Max can tell that something is up. He doesn't like all of the boxes that have begun to pile up around the house. I know that he will have a hard time with a new place to live anyway. Change is not his favorite thing. I can't blame him, especially seen from his point of view.

And, to top it all off, after having lost 10 pounds from around the middle of my gut I fell off the diet. I wanted, yes, indeed I needed some comfort food. And that means CARBS lots and lots of CARBS!!!! And, may I say, that despite being back at square one, they tasted mighty good.

11:21 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Life Update
Current mood: indescribable

Hi Ho Friends and Foes alike -

Here is where things stand:

There is a contract on my house. If all turns out the way it should, we will close on July 28. I need to find a house or an apartment to rent by, say July 15, so I can move in during the hours after work.

Mom goes in for knee surgery on July 5, and I'll be Child-In-Charge for the first week. Max is looking forward to a whole week with his Grandma and Grandpa. I'm looking forward to Ma feeling better.

Physically I've been doing not-so-great lately. I'm a-thinkin' it's a bit of that ol' medication reaction biz. Some of the symptoms are "classic" - as in numbness in the face and lips, flu like aches and pains, etc. Others are not so "classic" : more winged turtle hallucinations and an uncontrolable desire to start production on my most marketable concept yet: "Hip-Hop Barbie."

Then there is the ever-popular emotional rollercoaster. Not sure if I'm on an up or a down. Perhaps I'm actually approaching the blessed "I don't care"  straight-a-way part of the trip. That would be novel.

Speaking of "novel" - I'm reading a great book. Not a novel, but a memoir - Augusten Bouroughs' Running With Scissors - so far it's been quite entertaining.

Artistically - well, there's an interesting bit for you. As would be expected - now that I feel like shit and now that I've got barely enough time to breathe, much less pack, move, take care of the folks and answer telephones (my job,) I've got all of these great ideas for pictures, paintings, songs and symphonies. What's more is that I've got the desire to actually work on them - but, no. I must tend to my health and to my responsibilities. The ideas will be there when I get back. Perhaps a better question would be, Will I be there when I get back?

11:28 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Artistic Lust

The appitite of an artist is the subject of much speculation, debate, myth and anecdote, whether painter, musician, writer or actor. We don't hear much about the dancers, do we? I'm sure they're just as lustful...if not more so. And being a self proclaimed painter/musician/writer type, I admit that I'm a hungry son of a bitch. I have more than a few moments of lascivious obsession, but not always for what might be expected. Sure, I lust after a hot, firm body to satisfy my libidinous desires, and there aren't enough of them for my taste, that's for sure, but more importantly is the need to actually get off artistically. Making headway on a new piece of music or successfully pushing around some paint on a canvas gives me a special kind of woody. And ultimate success causes an ejaculation of neuro chemicals that cascade over neurons and synapses which makes the explosions in my testicles seem weak and practically impotent. Now, don't get me wrong - Testosterone is one of my all time favorite substances - I like it in me and I like it in a partner...but there is another substance, and I don't know what it actually is, but it's the artistic cousin of that King of Male Hormones and it builds aesthetic muscle and increases artistic agressiveness and fosters the development of secondary and tertiary creative attributes in a way that makes regular sexuality pale in comparison.

9:17 AM - 7 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

I SPEND MONEY
Current mood: hopeful

I am not a rich man. In fact, a case could be made for me actually being at the low end of middle class. My financial problems stem from several sources. The biggest drain on my treasure chest is healthcare. My meds cost me an arm and a leg despite the fact that I work for a hospital and have pretty good health insurance. Not good enough to pay for all of my pills, but better than not having any coverage at all. The second biggest drain is the house. Since I can't get rid of the meds the best option is getting rid of the house. I'm working on that. And the next drain - and the one that is the mostest evilest of all is my addiction to art supplies.

Now, when I'm painting and drawing a lot, this isn't so bad. $50 here, $100 there for paint, paper, canvas, etc. Sometimes I'll go overboard and spend a lot on some new brushes - they can be very pricey.  But, as I have been recently, the cost of me being in a musical mode can get out of hand. $50 turns into $500, $100 turns into $1000 and beyond.

Case in point: I just won an auction on Ebay for a Roland GR-33 guitar synthesizer. Basically $450. Now, this is a discontinued item and is worth its weight in gold. To find it for this price and in the condition is amazing. Is it worth it? We'll find out. If it does everything it's supposed to I'll be a very happy if not very poor boy. I suppose it's time for me to start selling stuff on Ebay to pay for my toys.

Now...all I have to do is get that looping station and a new car and...

9:12 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

So, Who Do You Sound Like?
Current mood: horny
Category: Music

When people find out that I am an artist they sometimes ask "What do you do? Watercolor? Acrylics? Do you do portraits? Landscapes? Elvis on Velvet?" And depending on whether I think they're A) sexy or B) willing to listen to me ramble or C) wasting my time, I tell them the various media that I work in, who my influences are, a bit of my personal art theory and/or my card with web address and personal phone number written clearly on the back.

When folk find out that I play guitar I often get asked what kind of music I play and who I sound like. I usually say that I was trained classically and that I didn't even listen to popular music until I was in college (which isn't exactly true, but close enough) and that I tend now to be "experimental."

"Like Eddie Van Halen?"

"No. Not like EVH."

"Do you like B.B. King and Eric Clapton?"

"Yes, I like B.B. King and Eric Clapton, but I don't sound anything like either of them."

"Then who do you sound like?"

"I sound like me. But that doesn't really tell you anything, does it. Imagine what the bastard child of Steve Howe and Robert Fripp would sound like if he were locked in a closet for a year with Steve Reich and Marcel DuChamp."

"Who the hell are they?"

"Nobody important. Really."

"I didn't think so."

"Okay. Imagine someone putting a contact microphone on an old Frigidaire then running the sound of the motor through a low frequency oscillator, a compressor and then a phase shifter. But with a beat."

"Can you dance to it?"

11:14 AM - 8 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment