So here’s the part where I ask you a favor, but I give you a present as a reward!

WHAT I’M ASKING: If you would PLEASE go over to iTunes and write a review of my CD, it would mean a lot to me and really help my career.

Now, you might say, “Deni, how can I write a review when I haven’t heard the CD yet?” Well, no problem! When you go to iTunes, you can click on any of the tunes and hear a snippet of each and every song. So you wouldn’t be lying when you said that LAST GIRL ON EARTH was the best CD you’ve heard since… (fill in the blank with your favorite all-time album). Or when you listen to this CD, it reminds you of the time you… (fill in the blank with your most pleasurable memory). And you would DEFINITELY recommend this CD to… (name your favorite person.)

Isn’t’ that easy? Doesn’t cost you a dime, and you would be helping an independent artist/blogger try to make a tiny mark in this giant universe of ours! (Of course, if you want to download the CD or a track or two while you’re there, it wouldn’t hurt my cause either!)

WHAT I’M GIVING IN RETURN: For anyone who writes a review, I’ll PERSONALLY email you an MP3 track that has never been heard ANYWHERE! This would be the only version of a song that is LG’s personal favorite. It’s charming, cute, and guaranteed to light up your day, and make you exclaim, “DAMN GIRL, I can RELATE to THAT song!” It’s a little ditty about being a packrat, and an ode to my THINGS!

And for those of you who don’t have iTunes and love the feel of a real CD in your hands, please feel free to click HERE to buy the hard copy. I’ll even sign it if that’s your thing. Much obliged.

BY THE WAY, I would like to say a giant thank you to my dear friend, MICHAEL MANNING who wrote an amazing review and story of our friendship over at his blog. Please go over there and read it. (Click HERE) I’m honored, touched, and moved by his words. This is truly one good guy. Thank you, Michael from the bottom of my heart. I might have to lift some of it for my new press kit if you’ll let me!

Once again, thank you thank you thank you to those of you who have bought the CD, and those who have written to me in support of this project. I keep going because of people like you.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been cheering me on these past few years. It’s taken a while to get this CD finished, but hopefully, you’ll think it was worth the wait. I love you all for your patience and support. I couldn’t have kept it going without you!

Love,
Deni

P.S. Buy LAST GIRL ON EARTH, (my new CD) HERE, and I’ll love you forever!

Obligatory Camel Pose

Now that we are home from our big Moroccan adventure, bits and pieces of our trip pop into my head and make me smile to myself. Here’s an incident I didn’t share with you while I was blogging from our BlackBerry.

When we arrived at the Sahara, we were staying at an Auberge (Inn) that was situated close to the second largest dune in ALL of the Sahara. My Dad was supposed to be going into the hospital the following day to have a small procedure and I really wanted to speak with him before he went under anesthesia. It wasn’t anything serious, but you know how it is. I just wanted to hear his voice while I was so far away, so that evening LG and I decided to hoof it over to a tiny village that was about a ten-minute walk down a rough sandy track from our desert inn.

We followed the track to the five buildings that comprised the village, one of which advertised telephone service. I wasn’t able to get through to Dad, but while I kept trying, darkness descended on the desert.

Surprised at how quickly night had fallen, we headed back to where we thought the track was, and very quickly found ourselves hopelessly lost in the Sahara! We walked for around a half hour towards the only electric light we could see, which turned out to be an Auberge that we thought was ours, but alas, as we burst through the front door, we realized it wasn’t ours! That’s when we realized that we didn’t even know the name of where we were staying! Our room key only said “7” on it, for our room number! Fortunately, LG had brought his cell phone with him, and since we had bought a Moroccan SIM card for his phone for emergencies just like this one, we called our guide, Hussein, and asked him the name of our Auberge. He informed us it was called THE SAHARA! (Who knew?) So we asked the guy in the Auberge that wasn’t ours - in our pretty poor French - where the Sahara was. He looked at us with a grin and informed us that we were IN the Sahara!

After he got over himself, he told us that we weren’t far. LG and I were laughing pretty hard at this point. What else can you do? So off we stumbled, through the sand drifts, until we saw another tiny light in the distance and headed that way. Eventually we came to another Auberge. But as we approached we realized with dismay it wasn’t ours either. But this time, at least we knew the name of where we were trying to get to. The person at THIS Auberge informed us that we were “not far”, and that we should simply head towards the two big palm trees. We nodding with understanding and proceeded on through the dunes looking for two big palm trees, but in the moonlight it didn’t take us long to realize there were MANY palm trees scattered about the area. By this time, we’d been out almost an hour and a half, wandering in what turned out to be a big circle. We were doubled over laughing. At least we had a cell phone if it got REALLY bad. We could have told Hussein to get a car and meet us between Dune Number 42 and Palm Tree 65!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we eventually found our Auberge and made it to dinner with minutes to spare and a good story to tell.

The next day, we traveled by camelback for two and a half hours into the desert to spend the night in a Berber camp. Halfway out there, in the middle of nowhere, LG noticed that he had a very strong cell phone signal. He threw the phone over to me as our camels lurched through the sands, and so while I was on camelback, I called my Dad in Florida and got through to him. Here’s how THAT conversation went:

ME: Dad, I’m riding a camel as we speak! We’re in the Sahara and we’re going to spend the night on the desert! But I wanted to speak to you before you went into the hospital.

Dad: Love you too, baby! Everything is fine here. Have a great time and don’t let the camel … (garble garble)

And that was it. We ran out of minutes on the cell phone and couldn’t finish our conversation. That night we got caught in a sandstorm and spent the night in a tent with our fellow travelers trying to get some sleep while the wind was whipping the tent all around. It was pretty scary, but once again, we lived to tell the tale. (I’m still getting sand out of various crevices of my body!)

When I got back home, I asked my dad what he said to me while I was on that camel. He proceeded to explain to me the mating ritual of a camel. How my father knows these things is beyond me, but maybe he was trying to save from a terrible fate like THIS ONE.

My dad is quite a guy, huh?

Me and my camel.

I just got home from three AMAZING weeks in Morocco where I got to jam with a couple of traditional Berber bands. I’m not kidding when I say I got to “ROCK THE KASBAH!”

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS: I rode a camel for two and a half hours into the Sahara where we spent the night in a sandstorm; climbed high into the Atlas Mountains; played music onstage with a Berber band in Fez; walked around the beach town of Essouiara; wore a snake around my neck long enough to have a picture taken; celebrated my birthday under a roof tent in Marrakesh. I’ll be posting some pix and videos from the trip as soon as I get over the jetlag! Now, one to the BIG NEWS!!

My new CD, LAST GIRL ON EARTH, has finally arrived and will be available online starting next week. Three years in the making, I can hardly believe it’s here. I’m really proud of how it turned out, and I can’t wait to see what you all think of it.

Like I said, I’ll let you know next week how to purchase several copies for yourself and all of your relatives!

MEANWHILE, I got an award on Wednesday at The New Century People’s Choice Awards. I’m honored that my previous CD, ‘Bigger Is Always Better’ has won the 2008 New Century Best Heatseeker Contemporary Folk Album category. Cool, huh?

I’m experimenting with TWITTER. (Check out the little Twit box over there on my sidebar). Do any of you Twitter? If so, let me know how you like it, if you have any pointers, and maybe we can even Twit together.

HAPPY SPRING TO EVERYONE!!!!

Essaouria was really wonderful and laid back. We were able to také a break from our daily onslaught of tagines and couscous by indulging in some fresh seafood.

Yesterday was a day off from the tour. LG and I went off on our own and explored. Unfortunately, my 18-55 mm camera lens has gone bad, so I’ve only been able to také pictures with my 55-200 mm zoom lens. The cool thing about this is that I’ve been having a blast taking close-up, sneaky pix of people instead of the usual tourist shots that I would have taken. I’ll share some of them with you all when I get home.

I’m fighting a cold, but I refuse to let up. Tomorrow is my birthday and I intend to celebrate in true Berber style! Mo-ROCK-o here we are!

No heat and no hot water. Had a wonderful chicken tajine last night, though, so it wasn’t all bad.

Last night, LG and I shared some wine with a lovely Canadian guy who is in our group. We took the bottle to the communal room and sat down with a couple of Brits who were about to hike up to 3000 meters for a few days, and then proceed on to the summit of the highest nearby peak. We privately thought they were nuts! It was bloody freezing at the gite, and the thought of being colder and more miserable was just crazy! To each his own!

Shortly after we poured our first glass of wine, the little wood stove started smoking badly. With tearing eyes and smelling like wood smoke, the 3 of us, minus the Brits, went to our gite room and drank a couple of bottles while shivering with no heat.

Got up, watched the lovely sunrise, and hiked back down the mountain. We said a teary farewell to the gite. (NOT).

I’m aching for a hot shower and a warm nights’ sleep. Because we are all pretty tajine’d and kabob’d out, we stopped at a grocery store and bought picnic stuff for lunch. Let me tell you, after almost two weeks, a turkey sandwich with good cheese tasted AMAZING!

Will be on the seashore in Essaouira within the hour. Hoping there will be some good seafood and a tiny bit of relaxing downtime.

Still having an amazing journey.

We’re having an amazing adventure, and all the people in our group are absolute funsters! There are fifteen of us, mostly Canadian girls who are so fun to be around, one Irishman who is totally entertaining, and his wonderfully sweet and funny British wife, one Finn and one very sweet New York girl. It’s so hard to believe we’ve been together a week already. The time is flying by.

Last night, we slept in a Berber tent in the Sahara which we traveled to on camelback. Let me tell you, after two and a quarter hours on the back of a camel, you are really ready for a good Tangine, which we had, and then a good nights’ sleep, which we didn’t have because of THE SANDSTORM that went on around us all night! It was pretty scary, but I live to tell the tale! Then after about an hour’s sleep, we got up to watch the sunrise over the dunes, and back onto the camel for the ride back to the auberge (ouch) for a quick shower and breakfast. (I am SO not a morning person!)

We’re in the Tondra Gorge right now in a lovely Inn in the middle of the gorge. It’s simple but has lots of character. The whole area is absolutely stunning. Happy hour is just starting and who knows what tonight’s adventure will be!

While we were in Fez a few days ago, we were taken to a touristy dinner place that had food, trad music and belly dancing. Our wonderful guide, Al Hussein, knew that I play the violin, and on his own asked someone with the band if I could sit in. I agreed to go up, but only if I could play along to THEIR music. The violinist handed me his electric violin and, (forgive me for saying this), I had my chance to ROCK THE CASBAH! I’ll post clips when I get back.

The next day, Al Hussein suprised me with a violin that he had purchased for the trip. He’s always wanted to learn, so I’ve been giving him little lessons along the way. Plus I’ve had the chance to play FIDDLER ON THE SAHARA! I’ve jammed twice with Berber drummers, and felt the true Berber soul through music… Or so they said!

We’re heading to Essaouira tommorrow for a couple of days. It’s on the shore and should be very fun and laid back. We haven’t had much downtime on this trip. Every day is another adventure with my new buddies. It’s amazing how fast you can bond with a group of people who are all like-minded. I feel so lucky that everone on the tour is so cool and gets along so well! We truly haven’t stopped giggling since we all met way back in Casablanca. I guess it’s true what they say. After you share a tent in a sandstorm with someone, you’re bonded for life.

More to come…

Today, after going through The Sacred Hassan II Mosque, the Holy Tomb of King Mohammed V, and the Royal Palace, LG reached into our backpack for somethinng then turned to me with a blush and said, “OOPS - I think we’re going to hell. I just realized We sneaked a couple of bottles of vodka through some of Islam’s holiest shrines.”

To be continued… we hope!

Tonight we’ll officially meet up with the 15 people who are on our tour and get an orientation from Hussein, the dude who’ll be our guide for the duration.

Thankfully, we’re only staying here until tomorrow morning when we head out to Meknes. After experiencing the Casbah in Rabat, Casablanca seems a bit dodgy, although the people who we’ve encountered. were all very warm and helpful.

Spent the afternoon tooling around the area of our hotel, then we headed over to the Hassan II Mosque. (the 3rd largest mosque outside of Mecca). Very impressive.

Off to meet the group. Next post will be from Meknes if they have GPRS for the BlackBerry; a place that is known for its mint tea, olives and wine. These are a few of my favorite things. I am SO there!

So far it’s pretty fab! Experienced my first couscous in Morocco last night. Along with the guy playing an Oud and the waiters in caftans and fezzes, I knew I wasn’t in Kansas any more.

Walked around our first Casbah today, sipped some mint tea, and tried out my lousy high school French with the locals.

Lunch just arrived so I’m outta here. If the post works from our Blackberry, I’ll be posting as often as I can. Au Revoir!

We’re leaving late tonight, and I’m BURSTING with excitement! I’ll try to blog whenever I can. I probably won’t be able to post any pix until I get back, though, as I won’t have my computer with me. Of course that won’t stop me from hanging out in an internet café every now and then!

We’ll be flying into Casablanca via Paris. Too bad we only have one hour in Paris. I LOVE Paris in the springtime… (Sorry, that was pretty lame!). As soon as we get into Casablanca on Thursday afternoon, we’ll drag our jet lagged asses around town to find the train to Rabat where we’ll stay until Saturday morning. Then we head back to Casablanca and meet up with our group sometime that evening.

For now, I’ll leave you with a little video I found that I think is TOTALLY appropriate! LG and I rented the whole movie from NetFlix a few weeks ago. The movie is REALLY silly and I don’t recommend it unless YOU are planning a trip to Morocco. But this video is pretty priceless. Enjoy it and I’ll see you at the Casbah!

But now I’m exhausted after getting home from JFK at 2 in the morning. And then laying in bed all night thinking of things I SHOULD have said to the nasty bitch who was sitting next to me on the flight home!

JetBlue Flight 70 from West Palm Beach was a little late taking off last night. I was traveling with a carry-on bag, and Rosie in a small pet carrier.

When I found my row on the plane, I told the woman who was sitting on the aisle that I had the window seat. She got up to let me in, and I told her that it would take me just minute because I had to first put Rosie under the seat before I could put my bag up in the overhead bin.

She looked at me and said in a VERY snarky loud voice, “I hope IT isn’t going to bark the whole way there…”

Shocked at her nastiness, I said “I can assure you this little dog will be quieter than all the people on this flight, and especially all the screaming kids.” (She harrumphed, but said nothing.)

I’m sure most flight attendants would agree that carry-on pets are less trouble than most passengers! Rosie goes to sleep the minute she gets in carrier. She’s flown dozens of times now and NEVER ONCE made a peep the entire flight.

Having stowed Rosie under the seat, I then struggled a little putting my other bag in the overhead bin. This prompted bitch-woman to comment, “I see your bag is pretty heavy.” Without offering to help, she said with heavy sarcasm “So maybe you shouldn’t carry so much on board with you next time.”

At that moment my bag slid into place, so I gave her an icy stare and said, “Last time I checked it wasn’t any of YOUR business what I carry on board this plane!”

She harrumphed again as I squeezed past her into my seat. I was so pissed at her nastiness that I couldn’t bring myself to look in her direction for the entire flight!

Because we left late, JetBlue gave us free movies on the flight in addition to regular TV. I watched “Juno” and LOVED IT!

Unfortunately, I have to confess I spent most of the movie thinking of snappy retorts that I SHOULD have said to that mean woman, like…

“Don’t worry this dog doesn’t bark, it only poops a lot in the carrier once we get in the air. Hope you don’t mind!”

Ah, if only I wasn’t such a wuss…..

There’s a difference this time around, though. I realized that I took WAY too much shit with me on the last trip. And since this is going to be an “organized tour”, we’ll be limited to 15 KILOS per person! (That’s 33 pounds.) My MAKEUP normally weighs 33 pounds, give or take a tube of mascara.

So I’ve been downsizing. I SWEAR I’m going to do this right. I’m NOT shlepping a heavy suitcase around from casbah to casbah. I finished sorting through my toiletries tonight. Everything is in a nice, tiny container. I intend to live with the tiny tubes for the next two weeks to see if I can do it. It’s almost like I’m auditioning the new, improved, I-can-pack-like-a-person-who-is-used-to-living-out-of-a-teeny-suitcase-ME!

After the last trip, though, there are certain things I WON’T travel abroad without. Here’s some of them…

Oatmeal packets. – I get really grumpy by mid-morning if I can’t have a good breakfast, and sometimes coffee and a croissant just won’t cut it for me.

A HUGE container of sunblock – I’m the whitest girl on the beach. In this case, I’ll probably be the whitest girl on the Sahara!

My supply of stomach meds – After my experience in Mexico with FRIDA KAHLO’S REVENGE, I’ll always be over prepared. I’ve got everything from Immodium to Pepto to Cipro. I’m ready. Bring it on!

We just bought the world’s smallest sleeping bags for our sleep on the Sahara, (which we’ll get to via Camel!) They weigh one pound 10 oz. each, and are supposed to keep you warm in weather as cold as 40 degrees. I suspect I’ll be sleeping in my fleece as well, but I just think these bags ROCK!

I’ve also bought a CONVERTIBLE SKIRT. (In black, of course. I’m a New Yorker!) Chances are I won’t be unzipping it into a short skirt too often in Morocco as I hear women dress very conservatively there. But it’s nice to know that I CAN have a shorter skirt if I want one. Plus I also own convertible pants that unzip into shorts. Aren’t I just the total fashion plate?

This weekend I’m off with the pooch to visit my dad in Florida. But before I go, here’s a question for YOU…

I ran to the front window, and couldn’t see anything but the street that was brightly lit by a streetlight. I went to the back door and looked out, but couldn’t see anything either. So I called him back and asked him where he actually was. He said that he was with the dog somewhere on 6th Ave. I asked him if it was worth going outside to see. He said, “Hey, if you’ve seen a lunar eclipse… It’s just like that.” Then he hung up.

Well, I CAN’T STAND TO MISS ANYTHING! So I put on my Ugg’s, my long black down coat, grabbed my keys and marched over to 6th Ave. DAMN IT WAS COLD!

I stood by myself on the street corner and looked up at the sky. It WAS just like an eclipse. But whenever I see something like this, I feel a little awestruck, ‘ya know what I mean?

Yes, I looked up and stared. No one else was looking. And I stared some more, and when I looked down, there was a guy standing next to me looking up, too. He looked at me and said, “Kool, it’s an eclipse!” I said, “I know, that’s why I came out!” Then we both stared together. Me and this stanger.

And wouldn’t you know it. A few more people saw us staring and joined us on our corner. By this point, the moon was still a little sliver on the right of what was going to be a total lunar eclipse. We all started talking in hushed tones while our heads were craned to the sky. People were wondering what would happen when the sliver was gone. My original stranger wondered if we all would go blind by staring at a lunar eclipse. I told him I didn’t think so. At least I hoped not after all the hell I’ve gone through to get my perfect vision with the Lasek and all! I mentioned that maybe when the moon was totally gone, Godzilla might make an appearance and provide us with a REAL New York street scene.

By this time, there was a nice little crowd on my corner. We all stared and shivered in our boots, because then we all realized at the same time that a total lunar eclipse takes a REALLY long time, especially when it’s friggin’ frigid out.

I looked around me and said to all my new stranger-friends, “Well, it’s been really great sharing this eclipse with you all, but I’M FREEZING! Have a great night!” Everyone said goodbye and we all went our own way. I’ll probably never see any of those people again, but for a few special moments, we shared something REALLY BIG. ‘Cause what could be as big as a total eclipse of the moon on a cold Manhattan night?

If you hit refresh on THIS page right now, you’ll get a whole different set of pictures. Don’t you just love modern technology! This is still a work in progress. I still need to fill in where each of the pictures were taken. Maybe by the time I leave for Morocco next month I’ll get it together! And then I’ll have ANOTHER gazillion pictures to go through.

What the hell. It’s a labor of love. Enjoy.

So have there been enough sweet mushy-gooshy “love songs” written to last several life times? In honor of this day of love, I’d like to share one of my original songs with you. Something a little different…

I consider this an “EVIL LOVE SONG.”

By the way, the background “YEAH, YEAH, YEAH’S” are being sung by my buddy, Robyn Hitchcock! (yeah!) And joining us on guitar is Kimberley Rew from Katrina & the Waves. (He wrote WALKING ON SUNSHINE) This tune was on my last CD, BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER.

Hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day.
Now sit back and wig out to:

THEN I’LL REALLY LOVE YOU

]]> http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=434 http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=433 http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=433#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:30:57 +0000 Last Girl on Earth See me, hear me, touch me General http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=433 In case you didn’t know this, I’ve been posting music clips from my old TV show, DUETS WITH DENI up on YouTube for the past few months. I have a YouTube channel, (click HERE), with around 16 clips so far, and many more on the way.

Well, last night I posted one of my favorite clips from a show that I filmed with a very good friend of mine, JOHN WESLEY HARDING. He’s not only an amazing musician, but he’s also published two novels to critical acclaim under his real name, WESLEY STACE.

About an hour after I posted the clip, I got online to see if it was running alright, and to my surprise, within ONE HOUR it showed that it had over 200 views. When I woke up this morning, I checked again and there were over 7000 views! DAMN!! On top of that, I was in the TOP 13 of ALL MUSIC VIDEO’S ON YouTube!!

So here’s what I need you to do… PLEASE… Could you go over to the video of me and Wes and give it 5 stars and maybe a comment? I’d truly appreciate it. HERE’S THE LINK. Thanks, and now, here’s the video in case you can’t make it over there…

]]> http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=433 http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=432 http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=432#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 04:36:01 +0000 Last Girl on Earth See me, hear me, touch me General http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=432 Today I picked up the finished masters of my new CD, LAST GIRL ON EARTH. This week, we’ll send it off along with the finished artwork to the manufacturer and it should be in my hot little hands, (and yours too), by the beginning of March, and up on iTunes at the same time. I can hardly believe it!

Several years of my life went into the contents of this envelope!

]]> http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=432 http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=431 http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=431#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:11:41 +0000 Last Girl on Earth General Rosie http://www.denibonet.com/blog/?p=431 Today was a tough day. As most of you know, my little dog, Rosie, is a registered therapy dog with Therapy Dog International. She passed her test last summer and we’re very proud of the way she makes sick people happy. I’ve always felt she was a healer, but today, she proved herself BIG TIME!

Once a week, I take Rosie to Saint Vincent’s Hospital on 14th Street where we go from room to room for about an hour and a half. We started volunteering at St. Vinny’s around six months ago. It’s been extremely rewarding for me to see the healing powers of this little soul around people who are in the hospital. Most people are bored out of their minds and most are in some kind of pain. For a few minutes in the day, Rosie helps take the patients’ mind off their troubles.

Since we started, we usually visit the rehab floor, and a couple of other floors that aren’t too intense. But today, we were instructed to head up to the 15th and 16th floors of the hospital where there are some very, very sick people. The first few rooms we went to, there were people with dementia. Usually I put Rosie on a towel on a patient’s bed if they want her there. But in these rooms, I just held her in my arms. She brought plenty of smiles even though I couldn’t put her down.

The second floor I went to was the oncology ward. There were quite a few terminally ill people there. It was so very intense for me to make the rounds there. But once again, Rosie was AMAZING. It was like she KNEW these people didn’t have long, and she was going to do everything she could to make them smile. I put her on several beds and she licked and loved her way into the hearts of a few people who couldn’t tell me enough how much it meant to them to have her visit them today.

One woman in particular touched me to my core. Her family were all there with her, and when I put Rosie on this woman’s bed, she didn’t hesitate to trot up to this lady’s chin and give her a big ‘ole lick. Her son got a picture of Rosie giving his mother a kiss. It was such a touching, emotional moment for everyone in the room. I stayed in there for around 15 minutes or so, and when we left, the son followed me out and told me that his mother was terminal and probably would be going into hospice soon. He said that Rosie’s visit meant the world to his mother. He could tell. I believe that my little dog could tell that this woman needed some extra loving today. I’m so proud of her.

I left the hospital holding back my tears. This was really a tough day, but I’ll keep going back there as long as I can take it. If Rosie can make a few people happy every week, than I need to be strong and take her to work like a proud mother should!

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