MidgeLiveGigsNewUploads9-2011 what's Midge? guestbook, reviews conspiracies,Twitreatise contact lisa mick/midge HeavenlyRevolutionsCD NEWs, dates, quotes.... amazin talkin mime, weather francronyms,Bidens Lawn PALINS! setlists, blablablog what's Midge huh? MP3s & some lyrics what is midge? some lyrics what's Midge2? MP3s & some lyrics1 what's Midgew/IMTY? what's Midge?XMAS MP3s & some lyrics1 what's Midge?2-06 what's Midge2010? what's Midge?1 what's Midge1? what's Midge B?

what's Midge?

WELCOME to the MIDGE website! Congratulations on Your Exquisiteness!! (THIS SITE IS short-attention-span enhanced!) MIDGE writes & makes original music, some of which , is playing, & a few songs r to leftLiSA MICK Songwriting/ vocals/ keyboards/ guitar (Invisible Casanova, Muse or Nemesis?) PAUL GRDEN Lead Guitar, vibes/vocals/ bass/ percussion, etc.Mick's original songs and the duo's arrangements incorporate varied musical influences & loves-- rock, bossa nova, folk, traditional & alt-country, jazz, psychedelic, lo-fi, funk, lounge, classical, other good stuff--to make new music: In-DIY! They're currently upgrading their recording operation so as to meet their own standards of excellence, which are difficult to meet whilst also making ends meet, like in La Boheme but with less sewing & much less FREE TIME. Lisa's songwriting defies easy categorization. Her sly lyrics and inventive melodies portray stories of love, loss, connection, and things that fall between (so much falls between, n'est ce pas? La vie est la belle dame sans merci). She's also been known to write songs about horses, astronauts, trains, treachery...........& MURDER! Paul's innovative guitar-playing occupies many different moods, styles, and spaces, from gritty & raw to sublime & ethereal. He can make a glass or steel slide sound like a pedal steel (which he wishes he could afford), a spaceship (ditto), or other cool stuff. Midge's live shows can be acoustic or plugged-in, depending. "They are always electric!"Their music captures elements of the dreamworld, the intangible. They create a sound that is dynamic, textural, intimate & emotionally evocative. (More adjectives available upon request.)

WELCOME TO THE POSTFUTURE!Please ENJOY!! these features and come back for updates on the band's jet-packing ways, complete with carbon offsets, solar panels, &, um, public trans.. This site is still in its adorable toddler stage, so let us know if you can make out anything herein. Make yourself at home & stop by to say hi on the guestbook (email addresses remain private) or on the "contact lisa/midge" page. The entire enterprise will be upgraded frequently w/ the following: music, movin' pitchers, sundry fun, chattiness, games, and hi-jinks.Please visit often to see what's new and to learn the most recent of trendy trend-setting trends.* IKIW-- (I know I will) !!!!... (Just one example).... Stay tuned! (BONUS interview!) (BOGUS interview!) *TTSTLisa's proud to have placed in the finals on CELEBRITY CHECKERS WITH THE STARS!!!

What with people being what they are nowadays and everything and whatnot, you may well be wondering-- Who is this Midge? Is it someone, or something, that I can or should trust? Can I trust them with my children? With my pets? How about watering my plants?What sort of music does this "Midge" play? How will I, the discerning listener, categorize it?In short, Midge: What is it?In an attempt to help answer some of these incisive questions, Midge member Lisa Mick sat down with the editor of the much- acclaimed “Midge magazine” for a friendly interview. The following is a transcript of what transpired. Actions are in parentheses. All other words are quotes. No sections have been redacted:Editor: Who is Midge, really?Leesa: Midge is the name of my band/duo.Editor: You’re waffling. Band or duo?Leesa: Well, it’s both. We've mainly been a duo but we've at times played with other musicians, making us on those occasions a trio.Editor: That’s disgusting. Let’s move on… It seems like everywhere one looks these days, there are large bands full of boys, or young men, whether it be on your Lettermans, your Lenos, your Conans, your Craigs or even your Kimmels…. Sometimes these bands contain upwards of 6 to 10 members. Especially if they’re from NYC or Europe. Why does Midge take a contrarian stance with its band size and demographics?Leesa: Well, I’m not sure it’s contrarian, actually…Editor: See, you’re doing it now…Leesa: Yeah, I guess… But I was born as a baby girl, then I became a woman, so that’s the main reason I’m not in an all-boy band. As for the number of people…Editor: Excuse me. I need to break in here. I’m on a deadline and I have a life. If you were a tree what kind of tree would you be?Leesa: I wouldn’t be a tree.Editor: That’s not an answer.Leesa: OK, I guess my answer is I’m not sure. There are so many great trees. It’s hard to say. Editor-- (rolls eyes, throws arms up, throws pen down, storms out… 5 minutes later storms back in with coffee and donuts) OK, I believe we were discussing pastries. If you were a donut what kind of donut would you be? By the way, do you mind if I take the Dutch Crumbs?Leesa: Not at all. … I’d definitely be a honey-glazed donut. Those are my favorite.Editor: Good God! Isn’t that boring? I mean, HONEY-GLAZED??? Leesa: Well. It’s not boring to me. I love them.Editor: (Glares while finishing Dutch Crumb donut. Storms out of office again…Storms back in carrying a bottle of Vodka.) Alright, I think we were discussing mixed drinks. What’s your favorite?Leesa: Well, this answer really IS boring. I don’t drink alcohol. It’s not even for a glamorous reason, like an addiction or past brawls or anything. It’s just that I get lousy migraines and I don’t really enjoy drinking since that started. Plus my friends tell me I’m more or less naturally drunk. But I like drinking out of martini glasses and I'm a fan of olives.Editor: (drinking vodka straight, staring into space) I’m sorry, were you talking? Because I was incredibly bored.Leesa: (blushes) …SorryEditor: Whatever. What’s Paul’s favorite drink?Leesa: You know, I’m not sure. He never drinks when we play out either.Editor: (snickers) You mean you can’t answer without his lawyer present? (slurring words)Leesa: Well, w/o Paul present.Editor: You seem to be avoiding discussing your music.Leesa: I’d LOVE to discuss the music. We’re desperately trying to get our equipment to stop breaking so we can record more--Editor: (interrupting) One last time-- will you or will you not discuss Gwyneth Paltrow?Leesa: Sure! Ask away!Editor: (passes out)**An Industry-insider, much too famous & inside to be named, had this to say: "Scientific studies have shown that people who like & listen to Midge's music have GREAT taste and live longer, better lives."

Why look! It's an interview!!

MIDGE

THOUGHT FOR 2010: 1-07-10"These days it seems you have to hit people over the head with subtlety."(courtesy of Frannie)Also, in the news, I (Frannie) am no longer the webmaster's personal assistant-- I'm now the official WEBMISTRESS!It feels good to be promoted. Thanks for your support & for texting those votes! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo(Below is from last year. It kinda feels two-thousand & one-digit-y now, but it's still pertinent, except for my job-title....Luv yas!)Important Informative Information from Frannie, webmaster's personal assistant: Hey Gorgeous!***CHECK OUT AMAZIN TALKIN MIME PAGE-- Go to that page's far right top to find tantalizingly titillating & timelessly current article on Mimes and the Olympics!!! AND CHECK OUT politicky entry: "POLITICS: Joe Biden's Lawn,8-23-08" on FRANCRONYMS page, where you'll also find Frannie's world-famous all-purpose Acronym Guide, designed for the modern, on-the-go, no-nonsense cyber-generation, which has neither the time nor the inclination to spell out words. Everything you need to understand the 21st century lingo, or "texting, the modern Morse code," can be found there...General important note:Even if you have looked at this website, you might want to (probably should) look at it again every day or more because you would be surprised how many new features might be added that you might enjoy. Not just goldfish which there is still LOTS of room for, but also more MUSIC, words, VIDEOS, pictures, and informative information! Even on the same article/page, if I remember something that I forgot before, which does happen a lot.For example, just today, these colors changed!LUV YAS!, Frannie(Second cousin, Midge fan, Volunteer Assistant to Web-Master; they didn't even have to ask me!)

Today's original quotable Frannie quote:"3 TRILLION wrongs don't make a right!" (copyright, franniefrancine, 1-29-09)BRAND NEW 2009 FRANNIE on TRASHBALL on 2009 Blog page. (a sportslovers special)Coming Soon, Frannie's take on recent study findings that"HONESTY IS ACTUALLY NOT THE BEST POLICY"(once again-- this report made b4 release of movie: "The Invention of Lying" -- I need a TINFOIL HAT!!!!!Keep an ear out for the upcoming HUGE CD: MIDGE, Too Big To Fail/Welcome To The Postfutureto be followed by a full-length RINGTONE- ONLY CD!!Calling All Political Junkies: SARAH PALIN REPORT & JTP on 2009 blog setlists pg. (I know it's old but it's HISTORICAL).Also Inside Biden (I know it's yucky but he's historical), Francronyms pg ALSO, TOO!!:Today's Acronym of the Day (TAOTD) is TMSIDAKEor "Tell me something I don't already know, Einstein." (Chris Matthews stole this slogan!)And WWNC (will wonders never cease), here's something!!!!:(THE E CHannel stole the title of JSYK....) (i'm serious)...Get me that tinfoil hat, STAT!

Just So You KnowJust so you knowI left your roses on the bureauWrote in lipstick on the mirrorPut your letters on a floppy diskNames and dates and other listsFlew across the lawn just like a birdWithout a word, with just these wordsJust like a bird Without a word, with just these wordsJust so you know I crossed my name off all of our treesJust so you knowThe space is blank, fill as you pleaseThe space is blank, fill as you pleaseI told our friends to never mindClosed the windows, pulled the blindsI’m starting clean as soon as sunBut there’s a chance it will not comeJust so you knowI packed a bag, I took no cashJust so you knowThis train goes to another placeThis train goes to another placeI might be back another timeI might not make it down the lineI know it’s wrong, I know it’s rightI might go down without a fight

*Note to visitors: This website puts it all out there, on account of it won't internavigate yet. Instead, its pages are extra huge. Each scrolls WAY DOWN & goes WAY far over to that side -->, so please check em out, especially if you're into "that sort of thing," & unless you're too damn lazy to scroll. Has it really come to that?Coming soon--INTERACTION!! There will be interactive holograms of magic maps, celebrities, rocktards, charming & attractive meteorologists, unattractive & unbearable political pundits, & NAKED GHOSTS!!! This will be the FIRST website that will allow you to electronically interact with supernatural beings AND ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE!Do NOT be fooled by imitations!!! Oh yeah, we're also trying to figure out how to put up video of shows but it's not as easy as those naked holograms of Chester Arthur (scroll all the way right) were.Till next time, Enjoy!==================>

THIS SPACEFOR RENT

Lovely cyberloft with view of attractive text. Pets welcome, reasonable rates. Unreasonable neighbors. NO WEIRDOS.Undesirables, misanthropes, & Polly-Annas considered. No residential ceramics allowed in building. Glazing Room is off limits except to staff!ABSOLUTELY NO quilters. No knitting or crocheting after 11. No cuddling on weekends.Free indoor Rollerblades & Heelies given to each tenant on registration. Bowling ball & pins also available on request. Each live-in unit has a lane! Bowl or skate all hours. No restrictions!!!Willing to paint to your specifications.* Cement-grey, artifical-turf-hue, or olive green Indoor/ outdoor carpet included. Free Tupperware & motivational tapes available to first 25 respondents."Make 50,000 the first month!!!!!!!!!!!!!"Help with move ??--Sometimes, but no promises all your stuff will get there in one piece. Or at all. Also there will be an extra charge. Don't blame us; this is the management's decision. We just have a really creepy guy on the staff who enjoys enforcing it.And don't forget the "condo, can-do motto" (copyrighted): "It was nice meeting you!"For further info contact Lydell: webmaster@midgemusic.com*(Specifications must be mauve.)

If anyone knows what this is, or if I should be concerned about it, please let me know.Thanks, Fran

Uh Oh, there's another one....And it's bigger!Send info if you have it!

But Not For YouWhen you stopped believingyour heart's secretsIt kept on beatingBut not for youNo more to dive or soarNo more, no moreNo more for me or youWhat to do? What to do?Come back my secret heartFly to me, swiftCome back in day or darkBring back your secret gift,Your secret giftCan love really end so strangely, so strangely?Can a heart really change?Can its beat rearrange?Can its beat rearrange?[bridge]Someday will it speak again?Will it know your true name?Will it whisper the secrets of a friend?Come back from high or lowSpeak the words no one else knowsFrom blue of sea or black of skyBring back the secrets of the nightThe secrets of the night...

Eclipse

Pages scroll right and go down. Please avail yourself of these modern amenities!

A note about live performing arts:(For the purposes of this discussion, lip-synching is not considered live performance). A live performance cannot be installed.A Live Performance is, by nature & definition, a transitory & ephemeral event contained in a specific time & space. It is possible to capture or cage a live performer; however, in some states, remarkably, this practice is illegal.* Also it may be difficult to get him or her to "perform," once you've got em in there. (*Music slave labor is still legal in all 50 states & the protectorates. American hero Woody Guthrie helped the crop-pickers, but didn't seem to give a damn about his own ilk, sadly. However, Kung-fu did a great job playing him, & "This Land Is Your Land" always gets you "right here.")FacsimilesOne can record a performance, but though reviewing a recording is often a rewarding experience, it is still not the same experience as witnessing or "participating in" a live event. (And YES! Your just being there is participation, you lovely patrons of live art who applaud, tip &/or pay the cover!) As a gentleman & a scholar I must ask that those of you who lack etiquette & restraint be grown-up enough to show appreciation for the performers & respect for the audience by keeping your scintillating conversation to a dull roar during acoustic performances.In other words, to be frank: get over yourself or get your own damn gig. TAKE IT OUTSIDE if you can't be polite & classy & shit. SOME PPL are actually trying to listen. (There's a song that addresses some of these issues called "I Just Wanna Get Paid" on the youtube. Check it out. It's quite good.)Continued:A recording's verisimilitude depends to a high degree on the quality of the recording medium & the skill of the technician.VariablesThe variables for the live performer are highly unpredictable, & often unwelcome (see above) & unwelcoming, but this element of chance is part & parcel of the live experience. (unless you're an asshole who doesn't know how to act in public, in which case, again, see above). Indeed, such is the beauty of the beast (this is what we must tell ourselves). Or is it the devil in the detail? Well, it's at least one of those cliches. The current cliche for real life or live art is "face time." Happily, the live performance is the least cliched performance art possible, & it is the soul of all performance art. It's coming to a venue near you. I recommend it!Most of it will NOT be televised.Kenneth Oberlin, Ph.D., Professor of Musicology, Philosopher of Life, Amway Distributor

COVER CORNER to right

Hello! Welcome to LIVE COVER CORNER!!! This entire site is soon to be New & Improved, with fancy internavigational...ness. So you can find stuff! Midge is still working on the new CD and I'm told it's coming along doggy-paddlingly. In the meantime Leesa got a yen for some oldies. Kept hearing all this razzmatazz about "TWEETING" & it reminded her of a song in an old (now lost) piano book that she absolutely adored called "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street." She thinks there may be more verses but has to find the score somewhere to know for sure...An impromptu session of just guitar & voice ensued, recorded live, rough, no redos. So far. L may ask Paul to add some harmony vocals & kazoos or megaphones or the like so they can do more chestnuts up real top-drawer. L says Paul's slide guitar on "Sugar" is excellent but she's not thrilled with her part & may want to change the key next time. (What else is new?) For now it's AS IS; let the speakeasy chips fall where they may. UPDATE- There's now a new vocal take, so that makes 2 versions, a half-step apart from each other. America, vote today! (More updates ahead!!!! ...Update: the votes are in, the key of G won...)Keep an ear out for evolutions & also for "I'm in Love with you, Honey," "Loverman," & maybe "Violets for your Furs." It's like being live in the studio! Except there's really no studio, per se, which is a shame, cuz they need one & would make good use of it. (You might want to get in on the ground floor of this investment! in fact, if you are a very kind, smart person with good taste & want to invest in the cause of a real studio for Midge, &/or in the upcoming CD, please contact me, Frannie, at webmaster@midgemusic.com) To hear "Sugar" Just Click arrow & go go! You'll be transported to the days when songs were songs, Ha cha cha was 23 skidoo, & every party had rootbeer & confetti. , Luv yas, Frannie

*Midge is ready to discuss BB Thornton's acting career! Also, Midge WILL say that to Tom Petty: "You're Gonna get it" is one of our fave albums ever, Tom... Would NOT say that to BBT.

THIS just in: Midge has been dealing with medical stuff in actual hospital NOT "rehab," TMZ! (See TMI info to right.)Get well soon, MIDGE

SOME Original LYRICS

OnceOnce you had a loveSun and rain on earth and flowerOnce you had a lovelike the crest of a waveat highest tideSaid: Oh, don't you know mein the desperate hour?Oh, don't you hear mewhen I call out your name?I'm callin now...Once you had a loveVoice like salvetouch like balmOnce you had a loveYou promised tall trees and sparrowsYou promised allSaid: Oh, don't you know mein my time of dark?Oh, how you called meSweet mystery, Sweet loveYour own heart...

Pic below?? Pic below right: April 25, 09 gig, MIDGE LIVE! at benefit for S.O.M.E.(So Others Might Eat)- (or so we were told!) (We certainly hope others ate!) Above right is a picture of Lisa enjoying some floral art at the famed UpsideDownArt Museum in the Catskills on UpsideDown Art Appreciation Day.

Above picture was taken by Pat Padua4-2009, Live at Unit 22

Midge has produced a limited-edition six-song EP called "Heavenly Revolutions" (pictured below), & is busy-- very very busy-- couldn't possibly come to the phone-- but please leave a message, especially if you like nice people & fun things, or are interested in producing CDs-- recording a NEW CD with tons of new songs, & new versions of HR songs, current working title:

Sugar

ATTENTION LADIES!!!It's a knotty pine DREAM!!!

BRING ITYou got that thingBaby, come on and bring itYou got that songBaby, go ahead and sing itYou got that thingBaby, come on and bring itI'll show you my bellIf you promise to ring itEvery night you drive by my houseBut you never will come to my doorI like your smile, I like your waveBut didn‘t you come with something more?It’s your moveBaby, go ahead and make itWhat I’ve got to giveWell, I know you wanna take itEvery night you call my houseBut you never will say helloI like to hear the sound of your breathBut if there’s no more then I’ve got to goIt’s so realBaby, I know you wanna feel itIf I walk it on byWon’t you beg, borrow, or steal itYou got that thingYou got that thingDarlin, bring that thing

Winning StreakI can’t stop winningI’m on a winning streakThere are just beginnings And it feels so sweetIt never ever rains on my parade, No way!The clouds burst openAnd pour down rainbow bouquetsSuch sunny daysWe pick wildflowersAnd sip lemonadeI can’t stop serendipityIt just happens to meI live with felicityOn easy streetMy feet can’t seem to touch the groundI can’t find downKaleidoscope horizons aboundNow that I‘ve foundThe way throughI’m just throughI can’t seem to loseNo matter what I chooseAces up both sleevesOh Baby-- One plus threeI just can’t seem to get the bluesThey don’t ring trueNo up down over or aroundNow that I’ve found The way through to the other sideWhat a rideI’m on a winning streakI’m on a winning streak

Summertime, live w/ B.Patrick on bass

ECLIPSEearth eclipsed the moonearth eclipsed the moonjust like thatthe sky went blackyou turned your backyou turned your backjust like thati faced the factsanyway, even with my best...even with my foolish face forward,shining forward....it's more than i...more than i can standbeaming such lighton a blind manfickle blind mannothing to expectthere are no blank checkslife taught you thatand to face the factsthat people do as they please, these daysno one stays on his knees, you saya thing takes its coursewithout remorseand it's ok, yeah it's out of sightwhen you're throughyou turn out the lightbaby it's alrightplanets shiftin the milky waycelestial revolutions everydayearth eclipsed the moonnone too soonangels and foolsacknowledge the rulescome crashing downto cold hard groundwhere gravity's clearyou there, me hereit's ok, baby it's alrightthe stars are realigning every nightsay, what's your sign?the universe, expanding out in spaceheavenly revolutions taking placeit's okit's ok....

Before the beginningBefore the beginningBefore the endLove was a fortune...Time was a friendNow you know betterYeah, now you've grownYou've seen them cominYou see them cominYou've seen em comeYou've seen em goYou say "I used to know you,to know you so wellI mean I thought I knew youBut who could tell..."Yeah, now you know betterSo now you've dropped outAnd love is a whisperLove is a whisperLove is a whisperTime is a shoutYou say "I used to know you,to know you so wellI mean I thought I knew youBut what the hell..."Before the beginningBefore the endLove was a fortuneLove was a fortune...Love Is a FortuneTime Is a FriendTime Is a Friend

Paul "Ps &Qs" Grden of Midge

MIDGE CD!

Something To Cry ForLIVE! )

Sofa-Sized Paintings 4 Sale!

see our other website (under construction)

Click here to edit the text

MUSIC: Click arrows to start, squares to stop each sample. If more than one song's playing, make sure only one square's up.

Before the Beginning

The Scenic Route

But Not For You

TOO MUCH

Page may take a sec to load. Tiny dots in slots = volume. If music stalls, try moving pg or refreshing site.

BAND history:Midge have played out live, paying dues & whatnot, mainly in the Balto/DC/VA area. In 2006 they released a limited edition EP & continued to perform publicly until Winter of 2009, recording whenever possible & readying to record a back-catalogue of originals as well as continually writing new songs. (There are about 100 songs still to be released, but they're gonna start with a CD of about 10 or so.) Due to serious medical difficulties in last 2-3 years, plans have been stalled quite a bit; recording is main musical priority. Recent (Autumn 2011) efforts have been stepped up, & MIDGE WILL BRING IT!Thank you for caring; people like you help keep hope alive. Actions are underway to help Midge "inspirationally" rebound & record a CD that kicks ass & takes names. Hopefully your name will be amongst those of the clever folk who buy & enjoy the upcoming CD-- WELCOME to the Postfuture!Member Musical Bios/ Histories:Lisa experienced "high-performance" elementary school years that included a stint as "principal-helper" & that netted certificates for perfect attendance, spelling, reading, & even handwriting. Luckily, by adolescence she was alienated & confused enough to meet the requisite disaffected deliquency applicable to a "career in music." Prior to acquiring this "teenage rebel street-cred," as a toddler she played a neighbor's piano for about 4 yrs while lobbying for lessons, which she had 1 year of in 2nd grade- long enough to learn to read music. After that, until she was on her own in college, she was self-taught. Her family never heard of No FancyPants PeabodyPrep, so she couldn't get thrown out of there for being alt (unlike rich & famous bench-humper Tori Amos); they just had a spinet & some sheet music. Some of the latter included the song "Ebb Tide."In college L majored in "literature" but there was so much reading of Chaucer & the like that she switched over to what she really loved more anyway-playing music. To her pleasure & surprise she was able to earn a degree in piano performance (studying with talents Jose Ramos Santana, Nancy Roldan, & the generous Robin Kissinger Virizlay). In these halcyon years she acquired experience as a salesperson (phone AND door-to-door), waitress, store-clerk, food-preparer, floor-mopper, and cashier. Eventually she realized she needed to do something PRACTICAL, like write songs. (Prior to this she was torn between her love for boxing & her love of the violin.) She's been a chamber musician & teaches piano. She has the extreme good fortune of being under the tutelage of beautiful lyric soprano Martha Randall, who also acts as MIDGE coach.Paul's a wiz at lots of things, including MATH (a subject most people hate, which may be why the lousy banks can screw us over so easily), & he was NOT a screwup in school, altho his talent, in my opinion, was & remains undervalued by the mainstream media, & also the alt media. He could blow away almost any buzzband guitarist on the planet & he doesn't know I'm writing this but he could be, like, a studio guitarist for anybody, or a conductor of an orchestra or something. He's a natural &"trained" musician. He started on trumpet & quickly moved on to teach himself guitar. He can pretty much play anything (after hearing it once, & in the correct key-Kind of WEIRD) & is a great improviser/ improvisationalist too. He was in the epic struggle known as "BATTLE of the BANDS" as a teen where his band placed in the top THREE! Sadly, the band wearing Spandex won the title. (Paul was also on "It's Academic" where his team also placed third, 3 being the luckiest number.) He can play any style: metal, jazz, funk, bossa nova, country, classical, & what-have-you. Luckily he digs the latter, which comprises the bulk of MIDGE's ouvre. He can also teach anything but you must pay attention! Luv yas, FrannieSee below & to right of lyrics for details of 2011 health-update of PATHOS (Thinking of starting a blog, or a tumblr, or whatevr, concerning medical system re rare & complex conditions, difficult diagnoses, patients' struggles, how to deal with people who don't get it or don't care to get it, handling severe pain, whether, when &/or how to explain your physical reality & medical needs (still working on this one), an increasingly victim-blaming, uncompassionate culture, fun stuff like that. Actually there would be good stuff too, like people helping each other & not apologizing or accepting blame for being sick or injured, & especially ppl FEELING & GETTING better. That's certainly the plan here.)

HYAMerryLXmas

ECLIPSE

all the world

SOME Original LYRICS

Just So You Know

Bring It

Once

But Not For You

ALL LIVE!: I Dream Too Much

Lisa, april 2011, still standing briefly, B4 elevating/cooling)

Pedigrees/Nepotism/HobnobbingLISA is granddaughter of a West Virginia Coal Miner & is a STOP MTR activist. (see @welovemountains on Twitter & please save a mountain if/when you can)It's RUMORED she's great granddaughter of Bill Haley & the Comets (different sources cite different Comets). PAUL is the great nephew of Jazz great Albin Grden, who played toe-tappers for Tony Bennett and Judy Garland, among others, & he's the son & sibling of many talented musicians. UNFORTUNATELY no1 in MIDGE has any HOLLYWOOD-type connections, but they r willing to make some. (Brain-teaser: One out of 2 members of the band is a statistician! At least one is a fan of exclamation points!!!)

2011 Health/ medical "update of pathos": Read as much or as little as interests you. It's the best one can explain in words, without just screaming in pain (warning: some of the words are medical-- but once you get the prefixes it's really not that hard to understand the terms).There's been tragedy: injury, illness, & penury, but u don't really want to hear about that, do you?... Or maybe u do. Maybe you really care... or u just enjoy Schadenfreude. Either way u're in luck! Health trouble: there were serious injuries that L had dealt to her from a ways back, but until last couple yrs Midge could mostly cope while still gigging & w/o making a 'public statement' or a "big production" about it, per se (altho the probs sometimes made big productions, especially auto accident c-spine injuries & a serious Guillain-Barre adverse reaction to a vaccine)-- via activity-modification, physical therapy, etc. In 20/20 hindsight, "playing hurt" can be important, but not making the space or getting the care or help you need via "toughing it out" is not advised. Need as opposed to want.Contrary to intuition, prior health problems make it harder, not easier, when acute symptoms present. Not only do coping mechanisms & pain-thresholds get overloaded, but doctors tend to look mainly for horses, whereas at that point they need to be able to identify zebras & more exotic species like lemurs. And other than the dashing & fictional "House" there aren't specific specialists who specialize in diagnostics at all, much less who diagnose difficult or rare cases, nor are there many M.D.s we've been able to locate who are "fascinated" by complexity. Altho' there need to be bc when you add up all the ppl w "rare" diseases, they ain't so rare). We would love to get L to Dr. Lisa Sanders, tech advisor for "House," & writer of "great "Every Patient tells A Story.". if any1 knows how to get an appt w her, PLZ contact this site!From 2000s (after treatment for early breast cancer in 2001), there were painful hyperemic probs, often exacerbated at under-cooled clubs &, paradoxically, there was sudden worsening of long-standing ischemia from Raynaud's & CTD. (Also, in 2006 L got a bad infection from an outpatient endoscopy that weakened her considerably). By 2008ish these probs were getting out-of-hand & there started to be unexplained injuries in arms & shoulders that were making gigs hard. But hope springs eternal & all, so she kept at it. At the time Drs described symptoms as a "profound vascular presentation" (with no name, like the horse, which later turns out NOT to be a horse-- see above) & detected Carcinoid Syndrome triggers; L was in fact already beginning to experience heat & pain from secondary Erythromelalgia (if interested, see article & pics describing this in Wikipedia or Pubmed), tho' neither she nor her Drs had heard of it yet. As labs & symptoms unfortunately continue to worsen, diagnosis evolves. Right now some of it is: Severe Erythromelalgia secondary to SecondaryErythrocytosis (not kidding) elevated EPO-w hypoxia, concurrent secondary CRPS, Small & LargeFiberNeuropathy, Autonomic Dysregulation & new, as-yet-unexplained hemangiomas along w other systemic CTD/Lupus problems with severe Raynaud's that makes Erythromelalgia much worse due to prior & ongoing damaged vascular system. Also a worsening spinal injury indenting/flattening/abutting cord at several levels with extrusion & cranial migration of disc matter (from car-accident/ not her fault, L said to tell u) just to make things super-interesting. Only good thing is none of it's "catching."It's a mouthful & that's not even all of it. Plus, since nobody knows most of those words, it's often "a lot of 'splainin'." "Diabetes" is something everyone's heard of, for example, but this isn't that (at least not so far). You find out pretty quickly who's open to expanding the mind/ heart enough to comprehend your communications regarding your currently immutable reality (thankyou to you kind ppl- you know who you are. xo!), communication like:"HELP! BURNING!! NEED COOLING, AC, ICE!!! to LIVE!!!!," after which you're somewhat safe for short intervals of time if those nearby "get it" & either help out by cooling down room & icing you down, &/or making space to allow you to cool it down/ keep it cooly baby.See, a diabetic would just say "insulin, stat!" or "no sugar for me, thanks" & ppl would understand, because they've heard of those things. Due to the rarity of Erythromelalgia & secondary polycythemia as well as the interwoven aspects of L's thermal-dysregulation, cardio-neurological-endocrinological-hematological-vascular, etc. presentation, there's been & continues to be a learning-curve for her, her family & friends, & even for physicians. Basically the medical experts are still figuring out not only what's going on & hopefully they will do so because in order to effectively treat secondary anything you need to know the primary. And this disease is considered by medical pain experts to cause the worst pain possible. In fact they know something about the pain "channel" that causes Erythromelalgia (I don't recommend getting it on your cable tvs), & for the few lucky ppl in the world for whom it's turned OFF, they literally can WALK ON HOT COALS & FEEL NO PAIN! For those who have it turned ON, they feel as though they're walking on hot coals when they aren't. In L's case that's constantly.The hardest thing to contend w is that outdoor or room temps above 60 degrees F trigger flare exacerbations that feel & behave like severe burns, so even going for medical appts is extremely painful & sometimes not possible.The pain is like being set on fire, being stung by thousands of bees, being stabbed by too many knives (as opposed to too few), being tasered --things against Geneva conventions-- all at once, every day. The intense heat is relentless, like an ongoing serious burn, & in L's case there are recurrent skin-burns. The inflammation feels & looks pretty darn scary & is systemically apparent in cardiovascular markers that indicate high-risk for thrombotic "events." L has the most severe of cases & is in constant flare even when in controlled environment.Unfortunately, there's no specialty that encompasses all these parts.& physicians rarely if ever deal with thermal-dysregulation-induced hyperemia vacillating with ischemia/ hyperviscosity/ vessel hyperdilation & shunting-caused pain; there aren't any meds that directly address the severe burning heat, inflammation, & pain -- so room-cooling as well as limb-cooling (pack those dogs w ice!) & elevation are constant needs. If this seems repetitive, sorry; it's not, unfortunately, nearly as repetitive as explanations often need to be IRL situations. *In summary, there is PHYSICAL PAIN like you never even knew existed, & certainly like you never thought you could withstand for prolonged periods of time without relief, & it changes everything-- the way you feel, think, live, what & whom you know-- your entire perspective. Coping is a constant engagement, & there's also the ongoing chase to understand & catch up with & hopefully turn back its worsening-- so it can be remedied without continuing or permanent physiological complications/consequences.And always there's finding as much time as possible, however possible, for music. which is a true grace.Re making music: at 1st the need to cool & elevate made playing piano a real conundrum-- there's no place to elevate legs on a piano. The PIANO is in the way. Try it & u'll see. Then L realized-- gotta go for COOLING. So she practices, in shorter time-slots, with iced feet- & could play for U or ur iced-foot function thusly! Finding a way to keep practicing at all was huge.What duzent kill U can F U over BIGTIME. It's one aggressive, active mofo of a disease at present. But L's wiley & intends to get the better of it.Plus, luckily, MUSIC ! It's, like, clean air & water, good health & love-- LIFE. Srsly! We are genuinely fortunate to be able to make music, even for a short time...But we really look forward to a big chunk o' concentrated time & a real studio so we can record like the rich folk do.We also look forward to any time spent seeing you & making music with or for you, whether live in actual person or here in recordings on/in the magical cyberbytes of cyberland! xoxox, be well when you can, & be kind to yourselves, to the planet, & especially to each other. love, midge

To see all content, you will need the current version of Adobe Flash Player.