Walking Like a Dog

Why must every dog walk be so stressful? If, like me, you have too many dogs (two geriatric females and one aggressive and strong young male), plus two kids, one of whom must be worn on your chest while walking said creatures and preventing them from fighting/chasing/going down ravines they can't climb out of anymore, this is not ever easy. Past debacles include dog bite when I was pregnant (the scar on my leg is almost faded now), multiple near misses with rattlers, mud baths due to ravine rescues and recently, two incidents where I had to carry my older dogs a mile in the heat after they suffered near stroke.

Today's story goes like this. What starts out as a leisurely stroll on a trail I know to be nearly deserted turns into a two-hour disaster when the youngster sniffs cattle upwind (if I'm lucky, I see them before the dogs smell them). Before I can stop him, he's herding them out of the bushes, on to the trail ahead. They all disappear 'round the bend, and I stand there waiting for him and the other dog to come back (the oldest can't chase anymore). "Uh oh!" I yell when a clatter of hooves and a cloud of dust precede the same group, now headed back in my direction. I'm not afraid of cows, except when there are 20 of them running straight for me. Rattlesnakes be damned, baby and I go tripping down the grassy hill to get to the other side of the cow fence. We make it, but the oldest dog doesn't. She stands there, and as proof that cows are not vengeful they proceed to herd her down the road, gently nosing her butt every time she slows down (15 years ago, she would have been nipping at their heels). Now my three dogs are scattered in different directions and I don't want to walk through the herd with the baby. In the end, I had to take a long detour to get back, constantly stopping so the oldest could catch up and calling for the youngest all the while. Turns out he was waiting for us back at the truck!

Performing tonight at Pearls!

Just put baby down for a nap (he likes to sleep on his tummy, so maybe he won't get that bald spot on the back of his head that his brother had). Making some copies of charts for our special guest on trombone tonight, Mr. Wayne Wallace. Then it's time to hit the curling iron and figure out what to wear--not quite fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes yet, though I'm almost there. Hubby helpfully proclaims "You'll never wear that dress again" as I parade in various skin-tight outfits trying to find something that lets me breathe. Hah! He'll see.

As for the actual important stuff, i.e. music and show, we had a good rehearsal the other day and this time there's been a fair bit of radio and print promotion so I hope to see a nice crowd tonight!

Wierd Al Download

I try to avoid being a critic (of musicians, anyway) so let's just say when I read that Wierd Al Yankovic had parodied the insipiquitous (combination of "insipid" and "ubiquitous") pop song "You're Beautiful," I had to hear it. Frankly, "You're Pitiful" is not only funny, Wierd's voice is quite nice on it! Apparently, he didn't get permission to release it on his forthcoming album but it's available as a download here.

No Business Like Show Business

SHE: I had such a hard day today in the studio. I swear, I felt autistic. Like an idiot savant minus the savant.
HE: What went wrong?
SHE: I couldn't sing a simple line back for the life of me. It was always, "OK, that was good, now sing it again with the right rhythm and intonation." Of course, if it was in tune and in time, the response was, "Now make it believable."
HE: Oh. Is your monster back again?
SHE: I don't know. Maybe.
[silence]
SHE: Can you just say "there, there" like you do?
HE: There, there. It will all work out.
SHE: Thank you.
HE: Anyway, aren't you supposed to be in some sort of breastfeeding fog for the first six months?
SHE: Breastfeeding fog?
HE: You know, where you shut out the world and all you think about is the baby. They say it's why you forget the pain of childbirth.
SHE: Ah, motherhood-induced amnesia. Well, I hadn't been feeling too stupid lately, and I practiced a whole lot for this date, but I really felt frustrated with myself today. I suppose I persevered in the end. But maybe I 'll go with that theory. Breastfeeding fog sounds about right. Eight hours of singing, with lunch and a 30-minute break for pumping. It was brutal.
HE: Maybe next time take more than just one break with a milking machine.
SHE: I guess you're right. We got through a lot of material, though. And then at the end of the day I had to do a bunch of laughing for one song, and some silly vocal percussion for another. I don't know if they'll use any of that.
HE: I guess my job's easy by comparison. I don't have to laugh on command.

New Lyrics to Tin Tin Deo

At our gig on Wednesday with Reno Jazz Orchestra in Reno, Nevada, I may be singing Dizzy Gillespie's classic, Tin Tin Deo. Late the other night after watching Philadelphia Story I wrote these lyrics to the tune. Wayne liked them so much he wants to arrange this one for my next record. I guess I'll have to see if I can get permission to use them.

Tin Tin Deo
By Walter Gil Fuller and Chano Pozo for Dizzy Gillespie
Lyrics by Alexandra Weber Morales © 2006

En la oscuridad ahumada yo le vi
No le olvido Tin Tin Deo
Su quijada a mirar me atreví
Soplando un Tin Tin Deo

Sus ojos de cuarzo
Penetraban mi ser
Que fiera de hombre
Quimera de ayer

Media vuelta y mi brazo él tomó
Chiflando Tin Tin Deo
Mi cintura en sus manos me dobló
Fui yo su Tin Tin Deo

Elegante misterio
Queria conocer
Fuerte y discreto
Al anochecer

Bailamos, no hay que descansar
No importa que falte el color
Tin Tin Deo inútil de apagar
En sombra florece mi amor

Sus ojos de cuarzo
Penetraban mi ser
En blanco y negro
Retrato de ayer

Double Talk It's Not

That last post cracks me up--10 years ago I would have had not a clue what I was talking about. It reads like perfect double talk, a skill I admire but lack myself. Reminds me of this video my bro sent me a few years ago--brilliant!

Read It While It's Hot

My latest article for DevX, entitled "The Inner Game of Concurrency Programming: Optimizing for Intel's Dual Cores," will only be available for a few days and then it looks like they'll shut the Intel-sponsored portal down for a time.

I tried to take a new tack here by starting with Martin Fowler's first law of distribution (don't) and then looking at how Herb Sutter's prediction of concurrency being the next programming revolution changes the source code optimization vs. maintainability equation.

Here's the deck:

"While much has been written about the why's, how's, and whether-or-not-to's of threading, there's been little focus on the most productive way to pound a paradigm shift like this one into place. Here's a peek into the Zen of threading for game developers."

KPFA Interview Today at 10:30 am

I'll be interviewed by Avotcja about our upcoming shows (Pearls in San Francisco on Thursday, July 20) and recording projects on KPFA 94.1 FM (also streaming at kpfa.org). Check it out!

OK, I'm back and feeding the baby now. Avotcja was great--love the music she chooses. Apparently she's been at KPFA 35 years! Here's the archive of our interview: http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=14965

Oh, and on July 25th she's got a birthday bash at Bistro Yoffi in SF--it's going to be a sweet jam! Her band is Avotcja/poetry & percussion, Sandy Poindexter/violin, Yancie Taylor/vibes and Eugene Warren/bass. There will be open mic poetry following each set.