Lo and behold – I am once again moving. Downsizing for a nomadic lifestyle. So many books are going to the local used book store – I’ve been bringing them by for the past week now. Some I am shipping to New York – adding to the family library – at least until I decide where I am going to settle. I held in my hand, and decided to keep, Technicians of the Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania by Jerome Rothenberg.

At the same time, social media listed a memory from ten years ago, when I was still unpacking for my short time in Tucson, AZ. It connected to this story, the book, and music. I’m keeping the book, and, I’m continuing to make music. Everything else? It’s a new day, a life . . . So much zigzagging between the past and the future! 

The protest I mention is Occupy Wall Street – Tucson. 

Here’s the memory:

TREASURE IN A BOOK ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON

I didn’t make it to the protest today (yet). Been working really hard lately, making art in the hopes of making money with it . . . I’ve not been home much in recent weeks except to sleep and bathe and have coffee in the morning. As a result my little house is wrecked. Dishes, floors, mail, fur balls – everything needs attention.

So today, I decided to condition my hair while cleaning house. I went through a box that hasn’t been gone through since we moved here (in June)! So now we have three cat brushes (having bought two since we moved to Tucson) which we hardly ever use (since we are so busy working in the studio or doing things like protesting or taking our kid back and forth to school).

Question: Whatever happened to school buses? Oh yeah, Arizona hates kids. (Oops, did I write that?)

Anyway, while dusting my book shelf, I cracked open a book I used to use for writing inspiration. It’s the 1969 Edition of Technicians of the Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania by Jerome Rothenberg.

In the book I found not one, but two, band flyers from when I played with the Moldy Dogs in 1999. The Moldy Dogs had been around in different incarnations since the 70s (maybe even the late 60s). This version was Paul Major (Endless Boogie), Wolf Roxon (Wolfgang and the Nobel Oval, The Tears, The Metros, and Walkie-Talkie), and me.

Paul Major and Wolf Roxon are two of the most talented and prolific songwriters and musicians I have ever met, let alone played with. Between the two of them, I’d say that they have about 2000 original songs. They are both incredible guitar players – and man – they can sing harmonies! We had a lot of three-part harmonies happening, and if the key wasn’t the best for my voice, they’d just change the key! Wow! What a concept! No bitching and moaning, or telling me that the key of D is what sounds best for guitar.

I wish the Moldy Dogs project lasted longer. In the meantime – I still have these flyers and our rehearsals recorded on cassette tape (someday I will digitize).

Moldy Dogs live at the Gaslight, April 19th (1999) – psychedelic version with shopping list

I drew this groovy little poster that is really hard to read but fun nevertheless. Though the cartoon doesn’t look like me (except for the hair), it does look like my bandmates.

The list reads: lightbulbs, comet, kitty liner, hair dye, needles, saline solution, black eyeliner, baking soda.
The back of the card says: p. 25 – They say it is an ugly mirror, a mirror which contends with one’s face

Moldy Dogs ~live~ at the Gaslight, April 19th (1999) – punk version This one features me at the microphone. I used an old Halfbreeds picture for the image. (Wish I knew where that pic was now – along with everything else Halfbreeds. Maybe I should clean more often!)

The back of the card says: “You don’t write for the whole world, and you don’t write for ten people or two. You write for just one person.”
Vonnegut, Bluebeard

Original Post: October 22, 2011 – 
Tucson, AZ
Updated Post: October 22, 2021
Flagstaff, AZ