Pitiful

That's what my blogging has been of late, and I am truly sorry. I really do vow to do better, but meanwhile here's what you oughta know:

• I have two gigs tomorrow, Friday the eighth. At 5:00 the World's Greatest Lovers play at Memorial Union Terrace, 800 Langdon St. in Madison. On a pleasant summer evening there is no finer place to be than the Terrace. And at 9:00 I sit in at Country Corners with the Back 40's, a fine classic country band featuring members of the German Art Students, Arena Venus and others. Country Corners is a real live kicker of a honkytonk at 3737 Cty. Rd. AB in McFarland.
• War of the Worlds. Loved it. Scared the living shit out of me. And I loved it all the more because of Tom Cruise's media antics. More antics, Mr. Cruise, more antics. They give us something to think about besides our pain.
• The death of Luther Vandross. Sad, and personally significant because thanks to my mom, I once performed with him on television. She's a choral director, and Oprah Winfrey's people asked her to help with a Yuletide show her O-ness was taping, with special guest Luther Vandross. Mom's task was to conduct Winfrey, Vandross and the studio audience in singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I was at the taping and watched as Mom, wearing a Christmasy red dress, divided the audience into sections, one day each; and Vandross and Winfrey each took a day. At Mom's direction we all sang lustily, and when Vandross and Winfrey had their turns it was a miasma of melisma. During a commercial break, there was an amusing moment when a makeup artist came out to work on on Vandross' face. As the makeup artist walked off the stage with a gooey Kleenex, a middle-aged woman in the audience gestured frantically at the tissue and shouted, "Let me have that!" Vandross cried, "You don't want that nasty thing!"