The Video Onslaught Continues...

Yup... it's time for yet *another* video from yours truly. One again featuring shaky camerawork, questionable wardrobe choices, and ill-advised attempts at humor. Hmm... this sounds like a porn video, actually. Which, come to think of it, would do wonders for my view count... Anyway, that's an idea to set aside for another day. >=)

But for now, settle back and enjoy another installment of Cass's Coulda-Been-A-Blockbuster. :D

***

So my friend R was nice enough to braid my hair for me again on Friday, as I had plans later that evening. After arriving home I chatted with (who else?) April (no prizes for guessing that! lol) until nearly 3:00 AM. I watched an episode of Treme, which I'm FINALLY getting around to at long last, and then, at long last, prepared to go to bed.

I undid the braid, bent forward, and shook it loose. When I flipped it back up and looked in the mirror, I saw this... and burst out laughing - because this was what I saw!

(BTW, that was my attempt at the "Boston-tough-chick" look. I needed to apply at least one more tube of pink lip gloss and add hoop earrings to really pull it off though...)

I laughed and laughed (did I mention it was after 4:00 AM?), and was telling a friend today that I could walk onto the set of L.A. Law or Dynasty circa 1986 and no one would have batted an eye. We are talking BIG hair here!

I much prefer it pulled back off my face, but these were too funny not to share. Hope you got a kick out of them!

***

I've been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan, The Band, and The Byrds this week, what with the release of the latest Bootleg Series release of The Basement Tapes. These are the sessions Dylan held in the spring and summer of 1967 with what would soon become The Band, literally recorded in the basement of the home the band was renting near Woodstock New York. I thought I'd include a few songs from those sessions here.

First up, "Million Dollar Bash." The joy they were taking in simply playing for the joy of playing is infectious:

The Band's "I Shall Be Released," featuring Richard Manuel's haunted lead vocal:

And finally, The Byrds, doing a great live version of "This Wheel's On Fire," co-written by Dylan and Rick Danko:

The smokin' guitar solo was courtesy of the amazing Clarence White, one of the great guitarists of all time. He was killed by a drunk driver in 1973 while loading his gear following a show in 1973. He was 29 years old.

Here's one more, Nashville West," featuring White's mind-bending guitar technique.

Roger McGuinn - not exactly a slouch on guitar himself - would routinely introduce this song by saying, "Clarence is gonna pick one for you now. And I'm gonna try to keep up." You can see why here!

New Video :D

Hi everyone. Things have been moving along - so fast I can barely keep pace. I just made a video to cover some of it. There's more to come - good things, too. But for now, this gets the ball rolling. :-p

Hope everyone has a great weekend! And thank you for being so wonderful! Love you all! xoxoxo

Thank You

This video is a small gesture of appreciation and gratitude for everyone who has reached out today after reading my most recent post. You have helped make an awful few days more bearable.

I hope to respond individually over the next few days... but for now, I hope this conveys how grateful I am to have all of you in my life. Thank you all. I love you.

Cass's Media Conquest Continues: My First Video (Plus... A Bit of News!)

Hi all! Hope everyone had a good week.

This will be brief, as it's late (nearly 2:40 AM - blame extra-inning playoff baseball games).

That said, I *do* have something to share: a bit of news, and...

Something else; now, what was it again?

Oh, that's right...

My very first video! :D

Yes, that's right; in my ongoing quest to conquer all media platforms, I've expanded my realm to include poorly filmed, shakily edited, semi-coherent videos. Lord help us all. (Community Access Cable... you're next!!!)

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of videos, depending on whether or not this one crashes the Internet and/or leads to one too many libel suits.

This is basically an introduction about myself, and what I hope those theoretical future videos will cover.

And that leads me to the second item mentioned above: my news. What is it, you ask?

Well, guess who went from not being able to run more than 60 seconds at the beginning of August to running for 35 minutes (and approximately 5k, or 3.1 miles) as of last Friday, October 3?

This girl, that's who!!! :D

Stay tuned for more on why I've become a runner (I love being able to say that!), why I decided to start making videos, and what is coming up in the weeks and months ahead on Cass's calendar. Hope you enjoy the video!!!

***

A few run-themed songs to round out the post. First, the great Del Shannon, playing Late Night with David Letterman in 1986:

Next, Jackson Browne's 1977 ode to being on the road:

And finally, this stunner from what is arguably Kate Bush's masterpiece, 1985's Hounds of Love album:

Thanks for reading (and watching)!!!