First fruit from the young tree

 

Grace, is that actually a mini dress you're wearing?  Of course I love it!  Of course you look great in it!  You look like a Rock Star!  That expression on your face makes me smile, too.  It's as if you were being leered at.  Well, that you are.  But it's not a shot to lust after.  And the photo quality is less than the background.  Well, at least you have cover art.  Congratulations again on your latest single.  The production is good, and I love how the song wraps up.  "Wine on Venus" is a great song, Grace!  You're only getting started.  Always keep writing, Honey.  Write from the heart, and don't worry about the words yet.  The fruit isn't money or fame, it's music. 

I was streaming the Qur'an this morning, when the server got jammed.  I'm sorry folks, but it wasn't a local problem.  You're going to have to ask those guys in Portugal what's up.  They're usually good about fixing things in real time, but not this time.  The Twitch stream seems more stable, but I don't read the Qur'an over it.

I can't stomach a lot of the local fruits because they're usually too sweet.  I like mangos and mangosteens.  Then there's jackfruit.  There are 2 types, "cempedak" and "nangka".  The nangka is what I eat, so I planted a couple of trees by my front gate.  That was 5 years ago, and one of them is bearing fruit.  These are huge trees, so 5 years is unnaturally fast for bearing fruit.  One of the fruit ripened a couple of days ago, so I harvested it.  The size of the kernel you see in my hand is smaller than normal, but I got about 30 from one fruit the size of a football.  The flavor and texture is sort of like a smooth and milky apple.  Sweet like ice cream.  This is the first fruit from the young tree.

Music

 

Oh red and white!  Music lives long, and you just gave Nana a longer life.  Keep the music available, even 100 years from now.

Yes Grace, that's a nice pedal board.  That's a D'Addario, right?  I count 5 levels of gain.  I can understand that sometimes there's just not enough gain.  I hope you enjoy your new pedal board, Honey.  To me, you sound great just going straight into the amp.  Please make sure you get that engagement ring.

Rick Beato has been become YouTube royalty.  With mass media the way it is now, he might just fit in with the Hollywood agenda and be a movie star.  They will slick up his hair with pomade and have him in a suspense thriller called, "Are you sure that's in tune?" As for music, I don't really search for new music unless it falls into my lap.  I already have all the nostalgia I need to die ten times over.  When creating music, I don't have many tools.  So I suppose that gives me an advantage according to Rick's theory.  I'm just stuck in my ways, so I wouldn't use the new methods even if I could afford them.  But really, you have to already care about the music in order to listen to it.  It's always been that way.  It's human nature.

Life, love and music

 

Hi Grace!  It's a cute post, Honey.  And I'm sure there will be more than one person in the audience at the Opry on your birthday.  Iowa looks like a better gig than one might expect.  I suppose people need something to do.  Is that Billy Idol and Steve Stevens?  I had to squint to make sure.  In a bowling alley?  It must be Iowa.  How luxurious!

I'm glad you're meeting all these music heroes, Grace.  Consider it your job.  I will be the mystic guru at the top of the mountain that the Beatles have to camp out to see.  Hey check it out, Debbie Harry is talking about life, love and music.  I listened to a lot of Blondie and Billy Idol growing up.  Now she's turning 80... wow.  Just, wow.  I don't think I could watch her live at that age.  I'm happy just listening to nostalgia.  Mary doesn't sing any Blondie, but perhaps I could train her on "Sunday Girl".  Mary is still sick, if you haven't noticed.  She lost 80% of her songs, and ended yesterday's session doing only Ella Fitzgerald.  Then she fainted.  I didn't get much rest myself.  I try to sleep then go into a coughing fit.  But unlike Mary, I sound great when I'm sick.

Hey folks, Grace is releasing her next single called "Wine on Venus"!  Make sure you save it!  Go to GraceBowers.com 

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the rejected.

164.  Say, "Shall I seek for Cherisher other than Allah, when God is the Cherisher of all things?  Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another.  Your goal in the end is towards God where you will be told the truth of the things wherein you disputed."

The Cattle 6:164

Vogue World Paris

 

Hi Grace!  How are you feeling, Honey?  Don't let the babbling of the crowd make you mad.  We all know you're chaste.  Be cool!  You're MY girl, and you're beautiful!

Oh, I forgot to tune in to Vogue World Paris!  Sorry Anna, I just plain forgot.  Yes I got the email, but I still forgot.  That show came on at around 3 am over here, and I'm always busy at that time.  It's a good thing it's on YouTube!

Oh, I didn't know the Olympics are in Paris this year!  I guess I'm not much of a sports fan.  Do you like sports, Grace?  Isn't your Dad a football player?  You must like some level of sports.  The only sport I like is ladies figure skating.  I think it was the World Championship when the Russian champion got busted for doping, then a couple of days later Russia invaded Ukraine.  I guess Grandpa lost his cool.  It's a shame, though.  She was their greatest champion in my book, and she didn't need those drugs.  But I don't even watch ladies figure skating anymore.  God and music consumes me right now.  I did see some sort of hint of the Paris Olympics when I saw the US ladies basketball team do some modelling, but I tuned out.

But um yeah!  Nice show, Anna!  You're smart to keep it at 40 minutes.  The best looks go to Paco Rabanne, but the collection that came up next was pretty cool too.  I like the classical and drum music, but none of the other stuff.  I'm confused about the connection of French fashion since the 1920s and sports.  The sports feel irrelevant to me.  Oh, those horses are beautiful!

Color

 

Grace, did your parents pay for your first album?  You have very supportive parents!  It's so obvious to everybody that they love you and are very proud of your music and of you.

I remember when I was a kid looking at the Billboard charts for stuff to listen to.  Independent artists don't have the same network as the corporations do, Grace.  And you can bet your ass they use streaming farms.  If anyone can get their own huge network going Grace, it's you.  Of course it can be done!  That's why TikTok and Instagram faces get invited to the Met Gala.  You have the looks and the charm.  Don't forget to use your stream to promote your music.  And behave like a 17 year old girl while you still are!  

Another option is to simply forget about promotion and just make great music.

Today is Whitney Houston tribute day!  Although I don't think Mary can sing any Whitney because she's still sick.  I think Mary sounds way whiter than Whitney.  It could be she is white.  Whitney got a young start too, Grace.  She followed the usual route because her mother was already in it.  I'm not sure how she was allowed to become corrupt, but the corruption ruined her singing.  Do you think it was planned, and why?  Her daughter died in a bathtub too.

A perfect life

 

Oh Grace, what a beautiful picture!  You are totally a pinup girl.  I hope you love your own music and your new single, more than what you expect other people to.  I like that song, and the single sounds awesome.  Again, it's most important that you love your own music so you put in the work to make it better.

This is your first band.  You don't have a permanent lineup yet, right?  People have their own lives to live, so it helps if you could give them a living.  Getting signed is not the answer!  You will become slaves!  The solution is to make the most out what already pays.  Which means merchandise will only sell when you stream.  Which means you need to stream more.  Which means you need to make endorsement deals.

Keeping a band together is very difficult.  We need some sort of success.  I was loathed when I was younger and active in a group.  But I was able to keep some sort of band together until we moved to Phoenix, and things went to hell there.  André died, I was the one who found the body.  I've been on my own ever since.  I discovered Mary a few years ago, and I knew she had to be protected.  But I have nothing.  All I can rely on is God.  And that is how this music survives today.

Dinosaur

 

Hi Grace!  Congratulations on your getting such a huge haul from your benefit concert!

So do you like that first slide?  This is the second time you've posted it.  So melancholic!  But beautiful.  Like I said the first time, winning doesn't feel like winning.  But that's cool, Honey.  You won!  If you want to feel good then maybe someone can tickle you.  I have a slideshow of you.  There aren't many choice photos to choose from because you're so young, and the better snapshots are the ones where you don't have that darkness in your eyes.  I thought I saw the darkness go away when you got some dinosaur to spring for you but no, there you go again even though you just won.  Melancholy makes good music, though.  Most love songs are just bummers.  No wonder Mary is so emotionally fried.

But you look like you're enjoying yourself in that photo of you and Esi.  You both look thrilled like a couple of hyenas about to dig into a carcass.  Oh go ahead and give John Oates a hug!  Perhaps you could reconcile him with Daryl Hall next time.  So many dinosaurs...

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the rejected.

118.  So say, "O my Lord!  Grant You forgiveness and mercy!  For You are the Best of those who show mercy!"

The Believers 23:118