AMANDA JONES’ AUGUST PLAYLIST
Ms Amanda Jones’ August Playlist:
Joan Baez / Bob Dylan – “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright”
So for reasons that I are especially “special” to me at this moment in my life – this has been a song on perpetual loop on my Ipod. I think I’ve listened to it about 100 times in the last month. The interesting thing is that as a child my mother would play folk music constantly – and I hated Joan Baez – hence a punk rocker was born. Now, however I’m older and a lot of what I heard when I was a kid I play all the time! This is one of those songs. The lyrics are uplifting for a melancholy song:
It aint no use in calling out my name babe/ Like you never did before
It aint no use in calling out my name babe/ I can’t hear you anymore…
Equally beautiful is Dylan’s version. If you’ve never heard it and you want to see songwriting at it’s best – take a listen.
Great Northern – Remind Me Where the Light Is
I got to see this band at Pershing Square with some friends – one of which has been talking about this band for what seems like years. Well he was right! They really are fantastic. They can create a beautiful atmosphere with their music.
I bought the record (which came with a digital download) because it sounds like it would be great on my record player. I especially like, “Story,” “Houses,” and “Fingers”….but the whole album is worth it! (more…)
YOUNG AND RECKLESS IN L.A.: Stories of a Girl without Hesitation – ‘BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE!’
I was trying to think of a witty line to describe how much I liked this man. I couldn’t come up with anything. Sometimes words fail to capture a moment you won’t forget , a time, a place or an individual that you hold in the highest of regards. I remember the first time I read Hunter S Thompson and I don’t think I’ve been the same since.
Hunter S Thompson was born on July 18, 1937 and died in 2005. Everyone knows the story of how he died. Like Hemingway before him it was by his own choice. I happen to think this is the best way to go out, on your own terms, but something tells me we might have had the same point of view on a few things.
Hunter was what I refer to as the last of the great dinosaurs that roamed the earth. Beautiful and frightening. A ferocious beast, in the best way possible. He lived a life that couldn’t be replicated if you tried. That’s a good thing, could you imagine the United States chock full of little HS Thompson’s? It would be mayhem and chaos in the streets. I might enjoy it myself but I think the average everyday citizen would be a little frightened, locked tight behind their blockaded front doors.
So much of what is currently going on in the world mystifies me, we live in a nation of post 9/11 fear . It’s just the way it is, as times and politics change. Unless you choose to say, “Fuck the rules, fuck the status quo – I’ll make my own rules ” and Mr Thompson did indeed do that.
I could wax poetic about this for hours on end so I’ll just give you a little of what made him so great and why I think this man was the coolest.
Truth in words.
Imagine such a concept? In today’s shallow pool of silly journalism and Fox 11 news he wrote a slightly exaggerated , eternally entertaining interpretation of the goings on around him Not like the silly tabloid journalism that infiltrates the news and magazines on the stands. He took a piece of American life and revealed it for it’s absurdity. For better or for worse.
“If I’d written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people – including me – would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism”
“The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good”
FEAR is not an option.
Yes, he wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A fantastic read but there is so much more to be learned from the man. So go out, find those things called a bookstore and buy some of his others works. I can tell you without a doubt they are just as entertaining, just as fearless and just as Hunter as the most popular book that everyone knows.
“The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over”
Don’t be afraid to live and make mistakes.
Hunter was a gentleman from the south .Chivalrous, unruly, brilliant and human. Humans make mistakes, they place their feet in places that sometimes they should not go. But – there is something to be said for those steps. So take them and make them. In the end, it’s still the end.
“For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled”
“No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.”
In honor of Hunter, in the month of his birth, get out from behind your computers, your television, your X-box & live your life. Take a chance & make your own way, whichever way it may be. This life is over before you even know what hit you – so make it good.
I’ll leave you with my two favorite lines from the good Doctor himself:
“Buy the ticket, take the ride” and “I feel the same way about Disco as I do about herpes.”
Check out Gonzo in your bookstores!
And while you’re at it, pick yourself up some Hemingway – Hunter would like that!
Ms. Amanda Jones
MAKE A LIST BABY!!! In a Garden State…
One of the item on my “to do” list for this year was to grow something in the earth and keep it alive for an entire year. I decided that the best thing to attempt to grow would be a garden of veggies. I like eating, I like eating vegetables and honestly somewhere in the back of my mind is that Apocalyptic – world ending – no food in sight – how would I survive scenario? The best thing I can do is to know how to live off the earth! I know, I know…my brain is its own little amusement park. You wouldn’t believe some of the scenarios I can come up with. But I digress.
I am growing a garden. I’ve always wanted to have a garden with fresh vegetables. I’ve just never had the room nor a home to do it in. And to be perfectly honest, I probably don’t have the know-how to do this on my own – this is why having a brilliant landscape designer as a friend (and someone who knows about growing things in the earth) comes in handy! When I mentioned my plans my girlfriend said, ” Great, I’ll help!” and off a planting we went!
I picked out what I wanted to plant based on some criteria someone else discussed with me when I mentioned I was going to do this. As I was finding out there should be some sort of plan in order to do this correctly. Who knew?
Rule #1 – Only plant things you want to eat or will eat. The reason being, that once everything starts to sprout – they really get going. Meaning, you’ll have a lot of whatever it is. So, rather than having food wasted – you should only plant items you eat a lot of and will be using. Growing eggplant, just because they look like something you can grow, probably isn’t ideal. Sure, they are pretty but if you don’t like them, what are you going to do with them?
Rule #2 – Decide if you are going to start these plants from seeds or get partially grown plants at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. What it really comes down to is the possibility that the seeds won’t take and you’ll have to replant and the cost. Partially grown plants are higher priced and part of the work is done for you. Starting with seeds is less expensive but a little riskier. I felt like buying the plants already started was cheating so I went the more difficult route and got seeds. I do everything the hard way – why would this be different?
Rule #3 – The area in which you are going to plant your garden needs to be properly divided into appropriate plots. I knew this in the back of my mind but never thought about the act of actually doing it? So my friend Ashley became the master mind in creating a grid for my plants. We sorted them and decided where things should go – and then used some yarn (That’s all I had) to create the plots. Next we got plastic forks (again it’s all I had) to stick in the ground to attach the yarn to and then…viola – 15 minutes later…I had 4 rows with 4 plots in each row for all of my veggies! I planted Broccoli, Red & Green Lettuce, Fennel, Oregano, Carrots, Green Onions, Chives, Cucumbers, Green Beans, Squash, Bell Peppers, and Tomatoes!
Something to keep in mind – you need to make sure the area in which you are planting your garden is fairly free of weeds. Ashley, my son and I spent about 15 minutes pulling weeds out of the ground before we mixed in the potting soil. Not terribly exciting but terribly necessary if you want your garden to grow. The funny thing is – I didn’t know what were weeds versus anything else so basically I just waited for instructions from Ashley, “Pull that out”, “Leave that alone”, “Don’t worry about those”, “Yes, that’s good enough”, etc. (more…)
Amanda Jones’ June Playlist
Ms Amanda Jones’ June Playlist:
John Doe – A Year in the Wilderness
This is a really great album that while June gloom took hold of the southland I played often. It has so many great tracks and John Doe’s stunning voice. My favorite tracks are: “The Golden State”, “Darling Underdog” and “A little More Time.”
Braid Paisley – Play
It’s called his guitar album and dear lord does that man know how to play it! It has the hit single, “Start a Band” (with Keith Urban), on it- but the whole album is solid. If you want to listen to good country and amazing guitars – this is that album.
Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat
I really love this album. She’s a great lyricist and reminds me of folk music my mother would play when I was young. “Run Devil Run” and “Rise up with Fists” are my favorite tracks….but really, the entire album is good.
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
I really like Ryan Adams. I mean REALLY like him. I love good song writers and for me, this guy is the real deal. The entire album is gorgeous – but I especially love “Two”, “Goodnight Rose,” and “Everybody Knows.”
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Panic Attacks / Michael Jackson / The Soothing Sounds of Elvis Costello
Some people are very lucky in mood and temperament. I am a high-strung, anxiety prone, insomniac, with a flair for panic attacks. Obviously, I am not one of the chosen people. If that make me a weirdo so be it, I am willing to own it and share it with whom-ever reads this. I don’t know why I’m such a lucky girl but I think it’s my lot in life to suffer. At one time I thought it made for really good art…now I think my genes just suck.
Anyway from time to time I get panic attacks. If you’ve never had one I’ll explain them to you. First – imagine you can’t breathe enough air in. Then start to focus on the fact that you aren’t getting enough oxygen. Next, think the more you inhale the better your oxygen intake will be. Then, start to freak out about what’s wrong with you? Start to wonder if you breathing this erratically is going to give you a heart attack? Then check your pulse, at this time your pulse is racing. Next you attempt to time it. Now as you count your rising heart rate, you begin to convince yourself that you are definitely having a heart attack and contemplate calling 911. It doesn’t matter that you are in good health and don’t have heart problems…what else could it be? More erratic breathing ensues – on the verge of passing out from hyperventilating and so on, and so on.
It’s really terrifying and no fun at all.
The worst one I had once lasted for an hour and a half and I thought surely I was about to die. I grabbed a brown lunch bag and breathed into it (like I’ve seen done in movies) and hoped that it would help. I still don’t know if it did, especially since I was basing my technique on something I’ve seen Gene Wilder do in a movie from the late seventies? Nevertheless, after I had consumed 8 bottles of water and a gallon of milk (my panicked reasoning was, there is H20 in water/liquid) I returned to normal. Now every once in a while I still get them but I try to control them before they turn into full blown – I’m going to die–attacks.
The latest and greatest was at work on a rather boring – nothing to speak of Thursday. All of a sudden I started to have some breathing problems. I was reading CNN and boom – I can’t breathe? I don’t know why, I don’t know how…but that’s the beauty of those little fuckers – out of nowhere and bam you are about to freak out and pass out. My first thought was – I couldn’t do this at work. It’s bad enough in the privacy in your own home, but passing out amongst people you work with sounds like a horrible nightmare that I don’t think I would survive – strictly thinking of the humiliation factor. I got up and walked around – attempted to thwart what was coming by talking to friends who could help. Then I decided that I should drive home…because that sounds so much better than passing out in the hallway? Sometimes I think my brain likes to fuck with me.
Ms. Amanda Jones’ May Playlist
Ms Amanda Jones is currently listening to:
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
This is an album that I’ve been listening to since I was a kid. The album came out in 1977 – so without dating myself I’ll just let you know that I was alive and I’ve loved it ever since the first time I heard it. Every song on this album is good! People always buy albums and the best you can hope for is that a few of the songs on the album are good – the real gems are the albums where ALL of the songs are good and you can listen to the entire album without having to skip over a song. This is one of those albums.
**I got to see Fleetwood Mac play at The Staples Center on May 28th and it was AWESOME! Such a fantastic show with so many great songs I was beside myself the entire evening. It’s the first time I have ever seen them and they were just fantastic. Never mind the fact that Stevie Nicks is the coolest woman on the planet, with a gorgeous voice, but Lindsey Buckingham is a kick ass guitar player. I knew both of these statements going in, but seeing it live blew me away. If you have a chance to catch this tour – do it!
Maxim Ludwig & The Santa Fe Seven
Every once in a while you come across some really good music – and you fall in love….well this is that band. I heard about them a few months ago and thought, I should totally check these guys out. They are fantastic!
ML & the SF 7 – have 10 tracks currently available (on iTunes). They remind me of early Ryan Adams and Wilco. Their music is kind of a cross between rock/alt-country & blues. I’m not good at labeling music….some people I know have a label for every kind of music under the sun…I’m not that person. I like a lot of different kinds of music and when I hear something good – I fall in love. Well – my heart has been cut out again.
10 tracks all available on itunes…if you go to their site http://www.maximludwig.com/
The tracks are also available for your listening pleasure.
They just played at Stagecoach this spring and got some great reviews….check out their website and Myspace to find out when they are playing next around town.
Hank Williams – The Ultimate Collection
This is my go to album when I want to sit in my room, drink some whiskey and close my eyes and listen. Listen to Hank’s voice, listen to the simplicity of perfect songs, and genuine emotion that only Hank Williams could do. It’s probably one of my favorite albums of all time. This collection has everything on it. If it doesn’t, someone let me know so I can go purchase more.
Hank Williams will always be the epitome of what country music sounds, looks and feels like for me. It’s perfect – beautiful – sad – and drenched in whisky and tears.
The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack – the 20th Anniversary Edition
I just purchased this on iTunes as I have two records (say it with me folks-Vinyl) of the Dirty Dancing soundtracks, but I’ve never owned the Cds. I decided I wanted to put it on my Ipod so I spent the $15 to get it. It’s a great album. Some of the silly stuff I could do without but I think it’s worth it just for Otis Redding’s, “Love Man.” For some reason Otis’ Greatest Hits is missing that song – and I love that song! It’s fun to dance to in your kitchen – get it and try it – I promise you’ll be spinning around your kitchen and singing along in no time.