...some Giant music for my friends...
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
...T.S. Eliot once referred to "thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season", a phrase that leaps to mind when i sit down to write these days...and nothing comes out...
...to that end, i make some more video offerings...firstly some dancing chickens for my friend Marmy, and a wonderful live performance from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush...
...to that end, i make some more video offerings...firstly some dancing chickens for my friend Marmy, and a wonderful live performance from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush...
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
the night before the night before...
...pondering my choices for the evening repast on this night before the night before, i decided to head to one of my favorite Mexican grub joints...was able to secure one of my favorite tables in a dark corner where i can stealthily observe the comings and goings of my fellow diners...
...at a nearby table two couples were scanning their menues while one of the men self-importantly dominated the "conversation" in a voice several decibels louder than necessary...even after their food arrived he continued jabbering with mouthfuls of food, hunched over his plate with furrowed brow, this hairless pink ape...it's a daily battle for me, fighting this contempt i have for my own species...
...then...at another adjacent table a young man and woman sit with their young son...from his bald head, lined with a fresh scar and his frailty, i could tell he was having his own daily battle with something that was seriously trying to kill him...the faces of his brave mom and dad were care-worn way beyond their years, and tasty as they were, i began to lose interest in the blue corn enchiladas on the table before me...
...sat back and took a swallow of pale ale and as i sat the glass back on the table the glow of the christmas lights illuminated the sleeve of my shirt...this old worn, purple knit shirt i break out for the colder desert days and it hits me that this is the shirt i was wearing while sitting at my dad's side when he breathed his last...
...another sad punch in the gut, so i quickly payed my tab and rushed into the cool night air...climbed into my car and there in the relative quiet and solitude, i cried...
i cried for the poor naked ape that will probably never open up to love...
i cried for the young family fighting for life
i cried selfishly...missing my family, my friends...
i wipe away the tears and resolve to fight
for life
for love
for whatever days i have left...
...at a nearby table two couples were scanning their menues while one of the men self-importantly dominated the "conversation" in a voice several decibels louder than necessary...even after their food arrived he continued jabbering with mouthfuls of food, hunched over his plate with furrowed brow, this hairless pink ape...it's a daily battle for me, fighting this contempt i have for my own species...
...then...at another adjacent table a young man and woman sit with their young son...from his bald head, lined with a fresh scar and his frailty, i could tell he was having his own daily battle with something that was seriously trying to kill him...the faces of his brave mom and dad were care-worn way beyond their years, and tasty as they were, i began to lose interest in the blue corn enchiladas on the table before me...
...sat back and took a swallow of pale ale and as i sat the glass back on the table the glow of the christmas lights illuminated the sleeve of my shirt...this old worn, purple knit shirt i break out for the colder desert days and it hits me that this is the shirt i was wearing while sitting at my dad's side when he breathed his last...
...another sad punch in the gut, so i quickly payed my tab and rushed into the cool night air...climbed into my car and there in the relative quiet and solitude, i cried...
i cried for the poor naked ape that will probably never open up to love...
i cried for the young family fighting for life
i cried selfishly...missing my family, my friends...
i wipe away the tears and resolve to fight
for life
for love
for whatever days i have left...
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Falling Slowly
sometimes one falls slowly, other times headlong in a rush
and once in a great while
for a lifetime...
Saturday, December 20, 2008
happy winter solstice
looking for magic
on this longest of nights
and though in short supply
it hides in the most unlikely places
looking for magic
on this longest of nights
and though in short supply
it hides in the most unlikely places
it hides in the faces of innocent children
it rides shotgun with those in harm's way
it resides in the hearts of lovers
it divides and multiplies when given freely
give
forgive
love...
Thursday, December 18, 2008
CRIMBO PRESSIES FROM MARMY!!
Oh my...i want to tear them open right now, but me mum is in me head saying to wait until Crimbo Morn...well, she's actually saying "Christmas Morning"...but, i digress...
Bless you Mel, for bringing smiles across thousands of miles...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
...a good friend who visits here has put forth the queries "What up with the blog?...no new words?"
...good questions...i could lie and say i've been really really busy and yes, i have played a few shows and been logging time as the dutiful wood elf, turning trees into music, but to be quite truthful there is a certain malaise of spirit this holiday season that i am finding hard to ignore...
...and i am finding it within as well as without...work is becoming scarce for me and many of my compatriots, not only in the music biz but other fields of endeavour as well...i thought perhaps i was having residual bleakness hanging on from the ohio trip, but even a week back in the sunshine has not yet served to bring back the light...so rather than bitch and rant in a semi-public manner, i've been seeking that quiet place in the center my soul...meditating, reading, exercising, working...because i knew any attempts at wordsmithing would turn out much as this one has...
...i'm so much more fortunate than the vast majority of souls on this planet, but it's hard to be thankful in the face of so much suffering...
...but there are some light-hearted moments in the news...
...good questions...i could lie and say i've been really really busy and yes, i have played a few shows and been logging time as the dutiful wood elf, turning trees into music, but to be quite truthful there is a certain malaise of spirit this holiday season that i am finding hard to ignore...
...and i am finding it within as well as without...work is becoming scarce for me and many of my compatriots, not only in the music biz but other fields of endeavour as well...i thought perhaps i was having residual bleakness hanging on from the ohio trip, but even a week back in the sunshine has not yet served to bring back the light...so rather than bitch and rant in a semi-public manner, i've been seeking that quiet place in the center my soul...meditating, reading, exercising, working...because i knew any attempts at wordsmithing would turn out much as this one has...
...i'm so much more fortunate than the vast majority of souls on this planet, but it's hard to be thankful in the face of so much suffering...
...but there are some light-hearted moments in the news...
...it would appear that freedom of the press means something totally different in other parts of the world...i can't picture Helen Thomas hurling a pump at Dubya's melon, much as she probably would have liked too...and at the risk of sounding sexist, that dude throws like a girl...but to be fair, the Iraqi little league baseball system isn't up to speed with the rest of the world...
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Home At Last
...can't express it any better than this...
...well, perhaps if i had made it to the computer before making to Four Peaks for two pints i would give it shot, but discretion prevents me from typing another stroke.
Monday, December 01, 2008
back in buckeye land ~ closing shots
...awoke to a light dusting of snow this morning and have seen the sun for only a few hours in a week's time...wondering now what the fuck was i thinking when i thought it would be a good idea to stay an extra couple of days longer than usual...perhaps something nice will happen in the next two days to justify my decision...i'm not holding my breath...
...the other two gigs we did while here were an exercise in patience and contrast...friday night we played for a delirious, celebratory crowd...the alma mater of my partner in musical crime won the state championship in football and the club was packed to the rafters with drunken catholic pigskin fans and i feared for the safety of the gear (most of it rented or borrowed, excepting my bass) so i stayed in the stage area on guard duty during all the breaks...i say "stage area" because most of the joints around here don't have actual stages, they just push some tables aside and one carves out some territory in a corner...Nanci Griffith has a song called "Working in Corners" that describes this, letter perfect...
...as we drove into Delphos that evening to set up for the show, i knew that we were in for an interesting night when i saw that the gutters along Main Street were piled knee-deep in toilet paper for blocks and blocks, white streamers of the stuff festooning power lines, traffic lights and telephone poles...people probably woke up the next morning with nary a sheet to wipe with...
...needless to say, we played as loud and hard as an acoustic duo can play and i was wishing mightily that we had our drummer and lead guitarist along for the ride...but we emerged at the end sweaty and exhausted, but undamaged...
...the second night was much more to our liking, a more mellow crowd as most of the really rowdy folks were home nursing hangovers...same town, different venue, still a packed room and people were actually listening...definitely one of the high points of the trip...except for the one inebriated woman who screamed "PLAY MARGARITAVILLE!!" after every song...that was the exercise in patience part...by the end of the night i was ready to duct tape one of my soiled socks into her pie hole...most other places on the planet would have have had a security dude happy to do the deed for me, but as you might have gathered, this place is, ummmm...to be kind, different...
...in forty-eight hours i will be on the road to the airport...it can't come quick enough...
...the other two gigs we did while here were an exercise in patience and contrast...friday night we played for a delirious, celebratory crowd...the alma mater of my partner in musical crime won the state championship in football and the club was packed to the rafters with drunken catholic pigskin fans and i feared for the safety of the gear (most of it rented or borrowed, excepting my bass) so i stayed in the stage area on guard duty during all the breaks...i say "stage area" because most of the joints around here don't have actual stages, they just push some tables aside and one carves out some territory in a corner...Nanci Griffith has a song called "Working in Corners" that describes this, letter perfect...
...as we drove into Delphos that evening to set up for the show, i knew that we were in for an interesting night when i saw that the gutters along Main Street were piled knee-deep in toilet paper for blocks and blocks, white streamers of the stuff festooning power lines, traffic lights and telephone poles...people probably woke up the next morning with nary a sheet to wipe with...
...needless to say, we played as loud and hard as an acoustic duo can play and i was wishing mightily that we had our drummer and lead guitarist along for the ride...but we emerged at the end sweaty and exhausted, but undamaged...
...the second night was much more to our liking, a more mellow crowd as most of the really rowdy folks were home nursing hangovers...same town, different venue, still a packed room and people were actually listening...definitely one of the high points of the trip...except for the one inebriated woman who screamed "PLAY MARGARITAVILLE!!" after every song...that was the exercise in patience part...by the end of the night i was ready to duct tape one of my soiled socks into her pie hole...most other places on the planet would have have had a security dude happy to do the deed for me, but as you might have gathered, this place is, ummmm...to be kind, different...
...in forty-eight hours i will be on the road to the airport...it can't come quick enough...
Friday, November 28, 2008
Black Friday
...all the news outlets having been referring to this day as "Black Friday" perhaps because of the huge crush of holiday shoppers out looking for bargains and creating some black ink for retailers as opposed to the red ink they've been hemorraging during the idiotic rule of the current junta...
...but this phrase took on a blacker meaning on this dark late November morning in a Wal-Mart in Nassau County, New York...as the doors were being unlocked, the unruly surge of shoppers literally knocked the doors off the hinges and crushed a Wal-Mart employee to death and caused a pregnant woman to miscarriage...to celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus...
...Jesus Tap Dancin' Christ...you'd think it was a Who concert or something...
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, get a fuckin' clue...please?
...but this phrase took on a blacker meaning on this dark late November morning in a Wal-Mart in Nassau County, New York...as the doors were being unlocked, the unruly surge of shoppers literally knocked the doors off the hinges and crushed a Wal-Mart employee to death and caused a pregnant woman to miscarriage...to celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus...
...Jesus Tap Dancin' Christ...you'd think it was a Who concert or something...
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, get a fuckin' clue...please?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
back in buckeye land ~ part two
this is an interesting life i've chosen for myself, this business of making money making music...one never knows what sort characters one will encounter, even while doing something as mundane as loading gear into a club...yesterday was a perfect example...as we were heading through the door of the venue with the first bit of equipment, a crusty wrinkled old codger with a face like a saddle was in the doorway having a smoke...as i walked past, he growled, "You guys don't make music, you just make noise."...keeping my composure, i replied, "You haven't heard us play a single note my good man."...he countered with, "Well, i'll bet you don't play any country music." "Wrong" i say..."We play all sorts of stuff, including some Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash" ..."That's not country music.", he snears back at me...i realized at this moment that any further conversation would be a lost cause and only tend to piss me off, so i ignored the continuing barrage of derisive comments and tried to keep a Zen patience here in this land of astounding ignorance...and speaking of astounding ignorance, i have had to just get up and walk out on several racist-tinged jokes and conversations about Barack Obama...visiting here just reinforces for me the reasons i moved away from this place...so many small minds, dark hearts, just plain ol' dumbass rednecks...i don't know how any compassionate artistic souls survive in this place, let alone be able to grow up to be old enough to run away from the bleakness...the soul of this place is lost in hatred and stupidity...
...but on a more positive note, last night's gig went well...not as many folks turned out as we would have liked, but we played well and those who were there were groovin' and the club owners love us and want us to come back on our summer spin through the midwest...we shall see...the way i'm feeling right now, i'm not sure if i want to subject my spirit to the dark side of this place ever again...
...try as i may to spread love and light, the people around here look at me like i've got two fucking heads, and i feel like i'm smashing both of them into a brick wall...
...but on a more positive note, last night's gig went well...not as many folks turned out as we would have liked, but we played well and those who were there were groovin' and the club owners love us and want us to come back on our summer spin through the midwest...we shall see...the way i'm feeling right now, i'm not sure if i want to subject my spirit to the dark side of this place ever again...
...try as i may to spread love and light, the people around here look at me like i've got two fucking heads, and i feel like i'm smashing both of them into a brick wall...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
back in buckeye land
today i can see the sun for the first time since leaving arizona...the weather here is as it is supposed to be this time of year...cold, gray, windy...but thanksgiving day is supposed to bring a respite and the good ol' glowin' orb that gives our planet life is forecast to be unencumbered by clouds...
...first of three gigs that we have booked on this trip is tonight...a new venue for us and we are planning on blowing the roof off the joint and make them beg us to book more shows when we come back here in the summertime...
...not much else to report at the moment...
Happy Thanksgiving...
...first of three gigs that we have booked on this trip is tonight...a new venue for us and we are planning on blowing the roof off the joint and make them beg us to book more shows when we come back here in the summertime...
...not much else to report at the moment...
Happy Thanksgiving...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
More Kate
oh...those eyes...
...a bit creepy, this one...see if you can find the currently mega-popular television star amongst the actors in this video...
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Food Chain
i was reading an article earlier today about vegetarian food options for Thanksgiving dining...there is much tradition associated with the food customarily served on American dinner tables on this holiday, and being one who flirts with vegetarianism but hasn't gone into it whole hog (please pardon the pun), i'm always interested in new meatless options...the article was honestly a bit of let down, mostly soups and sides and not much in the realm of entrees and the big surprise came on the comment pages...a die hard carnivore (another ironic term) conservative took the opportunity to spew his hatred of vegetarians, liberals, hippies, women and all things that look scary from the smoky mouth of his cave...ignorant, knuckle-draggin' Neanderfuck...actually thinks that vegetarianism and environmentalism are threats to "his way of life"...
...we have come so far and yet still have so far to go...
...we have come so far and yet still have so far to go...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Veteran's Day
are we going to fight to take back our country
and make the fallen heroes as proud of us
as we are of them?
all battles and revolutions don't require
a blood sacrifice
some just ask us to love...
and make the fallen heroes as proud of us
as we are of them?
all battles and revolutions don't require
a blood sacrifice
some just ask us to love...
Monday, November 10, 2008
imagine if you will...
...this goes beyond tasteless...it is hate speak of the worst order...imagine if you will, a black musician such as Kanye West or 50 Cent saying something like this about Bush or McCain or any other white politician...he would be hauled off to jail at the end of the show...we have a long way to go my brothers and sisters as long as dim-witted assholes like Ted Nugent practice such "free speech"...
is this what our fathers and grandfathers died to defend?
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
and speaking of mysteries...
...it doesn't get more real than this...another great mystery solved...
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
mystery solved...
...as i lay down to sleep last night and all the noises of the city died to a faint murmur, i detected a strange sound in the air, seemingly coming from all directions...it was barely detectable at first, but built in intensity with each passing moment...what could this be, i thought...crickets?...a horde of locusts?...a steady tschick-tschick-tschick echoed in the dark...like the tell-tale heart in the story by Edgar Allan Poe, this sound began to drive me mad until i leapt out of bed and ran outside to find the source of the racket...
...and then it hit me...it was the sound of thousands and thousands of McCain/Palin bumper sticks being furtively scraped off in unison...
...and then it hit me...it was the sound of thousands and thousands of McCain/Palin bumper sticks being furtively scraped off in unison...
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Electoral Insomnia
...it seems to be going around, like a mutant mental virus, this sleeplessness, this tossing and turning, the flipping of the pillow to the cool side, almost slipping into sleep and then the questions loom again, "What if the polls are terribly wrong?...What if the thugs can engineer another upset?"...it's not just me...lot's of people are fighting through this malady that thankfully will be cured in a matter of hours when we perform our civic duty and try to bring on the start of a new, peaceful revolution...it's not up to the politicians...it's up to us to change how we think and feel and treat one another...it really is just that simple...
and rest in peace Madelyn "Toot" Dunham...please watch over your grandson...
and rest in peace Madelyn "Toot" Dunham...please watch over your grandson...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Joe The No-Show
...one of the more cringe-worthy moments of the presidential contest...almost felt pity for a second, almost being the key word here...and since we're all plumbers now Senator McCain, i know a whole bunch of folks that would love to hunker down and salute you with a world class display of butt cleavage...
in this dangerous age, these songs make me feel safe and warm...i remember the refrigerator-sized radio i talked Pop and Uncle George into hauling up to my attic bedroom...the large round lighted dial glowed like a full moon every night in my room as i searched the airwaves for sounds from exotic places, sounds that started my musical heartbeat, a never-ending thump-thump-thump that has driven me quite happily mad...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Obama - McCain Dance Off
...this is how all disputes should be settled...or perhaps a rousing game of "yo mama is so fat" (and/or ugly) for those of us who are choreographically challenged...
Sunday, October 19, 2008
...from where do dreams spring?...
...after an epic mountain bike ride in the desert today, i came home and stretched out on the sofa and had a very bizarre dream...
...i was in a wooded, mountainous area, a winter chill was in the air and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground...through the trees and up over a rise i could hear a commotion...animal sounds, human sounds, all riled up and all spun together...i made my way toward the noise and imagine my surprise when i saw Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin, he dressed in the standard Tarzan loin cloth, and she wearing the fetching suede one-piece sported by Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane...they were standing back to back, a herd of pissed-off, snorting, stomping moose on one side and a pack of snarling, snapping wolves on the other...they were without the aid of aircraft, high-powered rifles or even bow and arrow, and clutching only hunting knives and making furtive lunging motions as the animals circled ever closer...then Ted spied me on the hillside and yelled, "Hey brother, do you have a gun on you?" to which i replied, "Sorry brother, don't you remember that God made all the guns disappear?"...
well...one can dream, can't one?
...i was in a wooded, mountainous area, a winter chill was in the air and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground...through the trees and up over a rise i could hear a commotion...animal sounds, human sounds, all riled up and all spun together...i made my way toward the noise and imagine my surprise when i saw Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin, he dressed in the standard Tarzan loin cloth, and she wearing the fetching suede one-piece sported by Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane...they were standing back to back, a herd of pissed-off, snorting, stomping moose on one side and a pack of snarling, snapping wolves on the other...they were without the aid of aircraft, high-powered rifles or even bow and arrow, and clutching only hunting knives and making furtive lunging motions as the animals circled ever closer...then Ted spied me on the hillside and yelled, "Hey brother, do you have a gun on you?" to which i replied, "Sorry brother, don't you remember that God made all the guns disappear?"...
well...one can dream, can't one?
Saturday, October 18, 2008
whoa...that's a tough hombre...i wonder if they stuffed his banjo into an autoclave to sterilize it...
...i'd have to roll a bass rig into the operating theatre...that would be much harder to de-germ, considering all the funky stages it has inhabited...
so...
what's the difference between a banjo and a lawnmower?...you can tune a lawnmower...
what's the difference between a banjo and a trampoline?...you don't wear golf spikes when you're jumping on a trampoline...
(apologies to all my banjo playin' brothers out there)
Friday, October 17, 2008
Levi Stubbs ~ 1936 - 2008
...in the pantheon of great singers on the Motown label, Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops was my all time favorite...even as a young (caucasian) boy in the farming hinterlands of Ohio, when i would hear his huge edgy voice leap from the tiny speaker of my transistor radio it would make my heart ache and my knees buckle...
...to this day i can't listen to "Bernadette" without going absolutely mental...
...rest well, Levi...your voice lives on in the hearts and memories of millions around the world...
...to this day i can't listen to "Bernadette" without going absolutely mental...
...rest well, Levi...your voice lives on in the hearts and memories of millions around the world...
Breaking News...
the soul pumpkin, aka Augie Patchouli, has been returned to this earthly plane to participate in the reunion of the infamous 90's musical force, The Patchouli Brothers...Garth and Augie are rehearsing in an undisclosed location and are planning widespread sonic guerilla activities of love...
...updates as they become available...
...updates as they become available...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Other Iconic Figures I Promise Not To Satire, Poke Fun At, Lampoon, Roast or Disparage In Any Way (A Partial List)
1. Mothers
2. Grandmothers
3. Fathers
4. Grandfathers
5. Great Aunt Cleo (and Uncle Tug)
6. Santa Claus
7. The Easter Bunny
8. Captain Kangaroo (and Mr. Greenjeans)
9. Mr. Rogers
10. Jesus
11. Mohammed
12. Buddha
13. Zarathustra
14. Confucious
15. George Washington
16. The Rest of the Founding Fathers (and Mothers)
17. Frank Zappa (speaking of Mothers)
18. Marion Morrison
19. NASCAR drivers (boy oh boy, talk about some sensitive fans)
20. Willie Nelson (hey, didn't he write "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys"?)
21. Ben & Jerry
22. Martin & Lewis
23. George & Gracie
24. Lewis & Clark
25. Peter & Gordon (for all you Merseybeat folks)
26. Rowan & Martin
27. Mary Martin
28. Martin Landau
29. Martin VanBuren
30. Van Johnson
31. Van Halen
32. Van Gogh
...to be continued...
2. Grandmothers
3. Fathers
4. Grandfathers
5. Great Aunt Cleo (and Uncle Tug)
6. Santa Claus
7. The Easter Bunny
8. Captain Kangaroo (and Mr. Greenjeans)
9. Mr. Rogers
10. Jesus
11. Mohammed
12. Buddha
13. Zarathustra
14. Confucious
15. George Washington
16. The Rest of the Founding Fathers (and Mothers)
17. Frank Zappa (speaking of Mothers)
18. Marion Morrison
19. NASCAR drivers (boy oh boy, talk about some sensitive fans)
20. Willie Nelson (hey, didn't he write "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys"?)
21. Ben & Jerry
22. Martin & Lewis
23. George & Gracie
24. Lewis & Clark
25. Peter & Gordon (for all you Merseybeat folks)
26. Rowan & Martin
27. Mary Martin
28. Martin Landau
29. Martin VanBuren
30. Van Johnson
31. Van Halen
32. Van Gogh
...to be continued...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
as some might recall, i originally come from where the east meets the midwest, where the corn belt meets the bible belt meets the rust belt, at the upper end of tornado alley... i have now resided in the desert long enough that i now consider myself a "westerner" but i am frankly baffled by the mystique of "the cowboy"...(and i don't mean the pro football team of that name)
...it all starts with the word itself..."cowboy"...firstly, they ride horses, not cows...and some don't even ride horses anymore...never been near a horse...all hat and no cattle, as they say...and the wranglers of other critters aren't called "sheepboy" or "goatboy"...at least not in polite society, anyway...
...hey, what do you expect from a city slicker?...but i do like a nice Stetson and a pair of Tony Lamas as much as the next buckaroo...
...it all starts with the word itself..."cowboy"...firstly, they ride horses, not cows...and some don't even ride horses anymore...never been near a horse...all hat and no cattle, as they say...and the wranglers of other critters aren't called "sheepboy" or "goatboy"...at least not in polite society, anyway...
...hey, what do you expect from a city slicker?...but i do like a nice Stetson and a pair of Tony Lamas as much as the next buckaroo...
Saturday, October 11, 2008
UK Scrummies
...i have succumbed to the mystery and marvel of Marmite...fortunately, there's a Brit store up the road a bit where i can feed my new-found addiction...
thanks Mel...
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
The Most Alive Moment
The most living moment comes when
those who love each other meet each
other's eyes and in what flows
between them then. To see your face
in a crowd of others, or alone on a
frightening street, i weep for that.
Our tears improve the earth. The
time you scolded me, your gratitude
your laughing, always your qualities
increase the soul. Seeing you is a
wine that does not muddle or numb.
We sit inside the cypress shadow
where amazement and clear thought
twine their slow growth into us.
~ Rumi ~
those who love each other meet each
other's eyes and in what flows
between them then. To see your face
in a crowd of others, or alone on a
frightening street, i weep for that.
Our tears improve the earth. The
time you scolded me, your gratitude
your laughing, always your qualities
increase the soul. Seeing you is a
wine that does not muddle or numb.
We sit inside the cypress shadow
where amazement and clear thought
twine their slow growth into us.
~ Rumi ~
Monday, October 06, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
canyon images
...a few pictures from the grand canyon taken during daily hikes along the south rim...numerous deer calmly walk through the village and graze next to the railroad tracks...
...played music to the usual assortment of folks from all over the planet...i strongly suspect there were a few extraterrestrials as well, not to mention drunken mule wranglers, drunken Aussies, drunken Brits, drunken Irishmen...are you catching a thread here?...after the sun goes down, there's not much left to do but hobble into and stagger out of the pub...
...and we supply the sound track to this wilderness Bachanaal...
it's good to be home...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
...lest one should get the impression that i'm hung up on basses alone, here is my Yairi classical guitar, a friend in the quiet hours when all the amplifiers and electrics have been packed away...don't play six-string all that well, but have been dedicating a bit more time to it as of late, in the late night hours, quietly finger-picking, hoping that some new songs will come tumbling out...god knows there's all sorts of crazy shit going on to write about...
...this guitar is as of yet nameless...any ideas?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Kewpee
...through this portal is the reason why i stray from vegetarianism...
...this place has been here since 1928...and both of my grandpappy's ate there...
the famous Kewpee burger...double special with cheese please...and as the wrapper says, "Hamburg-pickle-on-top makes your heart go flippity-flop
i think this napkin dispenser has been there since i was a lad...Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
it's no secret that my total immersion in music has prevented me from vaporizing, most likely decades ago...it is career, lifestyle, artform, psychotherapy all rolled into one...and lately, it has become a form of meditation with some surprising results...
...during a show recently at the Spirit Room in Jerome, Az. the band was closing the night with Stevie Wonder's song 'Superstitious' which we've turned into a vehicle for us to get our ya-ya's out and take as long and crazy solos as one wishes to...especially if the joint is packed and the folks are dancin' and sweatin' and screamin'...this was exactly one of those moments...
...i launched into my solo with the usual down low gut rumbling slappin', just to set the mood, to build the foundation...as it built in intensity, i could feel that wonderful spirit of adventure take over and i knew i was going to be exploring new sonic seas...suddenly the giant musical hand pushed me and 'Third Stone From The Sun' by Jimi Hendrix flowed out and in a weird swirling whoosh, i found that i was standing outside my body, watching as if it were a video...it only lasted for a few seconds before i realized i'd better get back and guide my fingers through the festivities...
...it was amazing...perhaps i'll have the balls to stay out there longer the next time...
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Barbara
....this is another of my dear friends, Barbara...the somewhat crappy snapshot doesn't bring out the true beauty of the lovely copper metalflake paint job...old school Fender bass all the way, named for a red haired cheerleader i had a crush on when i was a freshman...she was a sophomore, an older woman and made completely of unobtainium...oh, and her last name was Copper, hence the connection...
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Judy
this is Judy, the Zeta electric upright bass...she is far more upright than her fleshy compatriot...
...was just watching a bit of the republican national convention and couldn't help but notice that almost everyone in the hall is white...and old...not to mention a good number empty seats...
...and then the best thing...someone holding a sign that says "Raisin' McCain!" ...how true...a wrinkled old fruit...and a white grape, to be sure...i have no doubt that the bearer of the sign did not realize (or even understand) the double entendre...
how can this political race be even close?...is the american public that fuckin' stupid?
...and then the best thing...someone holding a sign that says "Raisin' McCain!" ...how true...a wrinkled old fruit...and a white grape, to be sure...i have no doubt that the bearer of the sign did not realize (or even understand) the double entendre...
how can this political race be even close?...is the american public that fuckin' stupid?
Sunday, August 31, 2008
am i just paranoid, or what?
it has been reported that political activist organizations in Minneapolis - St. Paul have been raided in a pre-emptive strike to prevent protest at the Rethuglican national convention...sign making materials and computers were confiscated...weapons of mass instruction...
...am i the only one freaked out by this?
...am i the only one freaked out by this?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Tsalagi People (Cherokee) believed that within each person was a battle between two wolves. Sitting with his grandson, a grandfather explained that one of the wolves was evil and was driven by anger, envy, regret, ego and the worship of war.
The other wolf was good and was driven by love, hope, compassion, and the promise of peace.
Thinking about the wolves already growing within him, the boy asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?
And the old man replied, "The one you feed."
from The Tao of Willie
by Willie Nelson
The other wolf was good and was driven by love, hope, compassion, and the promise of peace.
Thinking about the wolves already growing within him, the boy asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?
And the old man replied, "The one you feed."
from The Tao of Willie
by Willie Nelson
Monday, August 25, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Leaving Cherry
...dodging raindrops on the road out of Cherry, Az.
...played music for an annual gathering of friends (our fifth or sixth year in a row of doing so) and today was the first time we had to deal with rainy weather...got in about half our show before wetness and electrical storms forced a halt to the procedings...some folks were curious as to why i was so adamant about stopping, when it looked as if things might clear up...
i related to them the tale of one of my most bizarre (and embarrassing) moments on stage...many moons ago, whilst a senior in high school, my band Climbfree (mentioned in an earlier post) was contracted to play an after-the-football-game sort of gig in the one of the two auditoriums in the school at which i was enrolled...this venue was referred to as "the old gym" and had been relegated to gym classes, team practices and music and theater productions since a new facility had been constructed for the high profile jock-o-cratic functions of athletic prowess...the old gym had wonderful acoustics for rock & roll and we always relished the chance to play there...
...it was an early November night and a moderate snow was falling as we loaded our gear into the building and we eagerly rolled everything into place and plugged in...amps were switched on and that wonderful, comforting hum filled my head...i strapped on my bass and stepped up to the mic to say "testing...testing...one, two three..."
...before i uttered the first "t" of "testing", a blinding blue flash leapt from the microphone to my face and the next thing i remember was the emergency medical personel injecting me with something to keep my heart from leaping out of my chest...and i was lying there onstage in a puddle of piss, drooling like a mad dog...needless to say, the show did not go on that evening, as i was not able to find my ass with both hands...
...the wet soles of my spanish boots of spanish leather (thanks Bob) were the perfect conducting medium for a poorly grounded electrical system...
...been sporting Converse All Stars onstage ever since...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
canyon tree
...along the hiking trail on the south rim of the Grand Canyon stands the massive skeletal remains of an old pine tree surrounded by it's progeny, sprouting through gnarly ancient roots...tourists clamber up into the low, wide boughs and pose for photographs...some carve their names in this venerable old creature, feeble markings signifying a brief glimmer in the relative spans of time...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Azura
this is my friend Azura
this seemingly inanimate object
possesses more life than
a goodly number
of humans i know
it speaks when i cannot...
Not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...
...as it turns out, my bass didn't get off the plane with me in Phoenix, but went on to Las Vegas, where it had a marvelous time with a couple of hookers, but lost heavily at the keno tables before being loaded back on the jet and sent back home...
bad, bad guitar...you have to stay in your case until the next show...
bad, bad guitar...you have to stay in your case until the next show...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
...this post finds me in Ohio, my point of origin and as i tap away at the keyboard i am at my parent's old house, now owned by my younger brother...more specifically, i am in the basement, sitting in the exact spot where my first band, The Nite Riders used to practice, well, that is when we weren't in Keith's attic or Wes's garage...Wes was ceremoniusly asked to leave the band cuz he was a pain in the ass control freak spoiled doctor's son whose gear was way better than his ability...enter Steve...much better musician and singer...unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Keith's parents made him quit the band because his grades at school weren't up to snuff...Jack becomes new drummer guy and the band changes it's name to Climbfree...i always liked that name...there were all sorts of goofy band names at that time...Strawberry Alarm Clock, Chocolate Watchband, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, ? and the Mysterians, and many others that slip my mind at the moment, but in the spectrum of things i thought "Climbfree" was a pretty cool name...that band hung together for four years until i graduated and moved away to attend art school...
...i just received an e-mail the other day that the former dean of the college passed away...he was a mean old bastard thirty some years ago...i shudder to think how nasty he may have become...but then again when he stopped teaching, perhaps he became a nicer person...he taught a class called "Color Concept" and it was a required class for all incoming Freshmen...and The Dean was brutal to almost everyone who walked through the door...the class met one day in seven, monday morning, a perfect way to fuck up a good week...we would spend days and days on our weekly assignments, our little artistic experiments in color, and with fear and trepidation we would enter the lecture hall and hand them over to be critiqued...all the pieces would be lined up on easels across the stage and The Dean would pace back and forth madly, always in a charcoal gray suit and powder blue shirt...he would pick up someone's artwork, yell derisively about it, "TOO BLUE!!" ...or too this or not enough that...one day he actually screamed "YOU MUST EAT YOUR ART!!" and bit the piece he was holding...and after his brief and brutal critiques, he would fling our little masterpieces into the air, so by the end of his lecture the stage would be littered with paintings and drawings which would have footprints from being tromped on as he yelled and stomped to and fro...every week, you could see guys in the shadows of the lecture hall, restraining one another from leaping on stage and kicking his crazy ass, thus ending our educational experiences...
...anyway...rest in peace, Dean...maybe now you're a nice guy...
...i just received an e-mail the other day that the former dean of the college passed away...he was a mean old bastard thirty some years ago...i shudder to think how nasty he may have become...but then again when he stopped teaching, perhaps he became a nicer person...he taught a class called "Color Concept" and it was a required class for all incoming Freshmen...and The Dean was brutal to almost everyone who walked through the door...the class met one day in seven, monday morning, a perfect way to fuck up a good week...we would spend days and days on our weekly assignments, our little artistic experiments in color, and with fear and trepidation we would enter the lecture hall and hand them over to be critiqued...all the pieces would be lined up on easels across the stage and The Dean would pace back and forth madly, always in a charcoal gray suit and powder blue shirt...he would pick up someone's artwork, yell derisively about it, "TOO BLUE!!" ...or too this or not enough that...one day he actually screamed "YOU MUST EAT YOUR ART!!" and bit the piece he was holding...and after his brief and brutal critiques, he would fling our little masterpieces into the air, so by the end of his lecture the stage would be littered with paintings and drawings which would have footprints from being tromped on as he yelled and stomped to and fro...every week, you could see guys in the shadows of the lecture hall, restraining one another from leaping on stage and kicking his crazy ass, thus ending our educational experiences...
...anyway...rest in peace, Dean...maybe now you're a nice guy...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
two thousand miles and
twenty four hours away
a return to ancestral ground
dark black earth scent
green upon deeper green
still in my head
no matter how much
the desert dries my brain
old friends remain
and we will gather in our
dwindling numbers and
raise a glass to those who
have gone before and
to days that lie ahead
music will be made
in familiar haunts
to familiar faces and
in unknown places
to the new friends
we find there...
twenty four hours away
a return to ancestral ground
dark black earth scent
green upon deeper green
still in my head
no matter how much
the desert dries my brain
old friends remain
and we will gather in our
dwindling numbers and
raise a glass to those who
have gone before and
to days that lie ahead
music will be made
in familiar haunts
to familiar faces and
in unknown places
to the new friends
we find there...
i have given up my heart
to one who wishes not to hold
whispered secrets to a world
where words are bought and sold
mechanical man moves mindlessly
through days and nights
dark and light
fingers move
notes come out
there is little doubt
that only the fool hears their
hollow ring
cannot sing
only hoarsely shout
in an empty room
the same words over
and again
the same mad mantra
as reason slips away...
to one who wishes not to hold
whispered secrets to a world
where words are bought and sold
mechanical man moves mindlessly
through days and nights
dark and light
fingers move
notes come out
there is little doubt
that only the fool hears their
hollow ring
cannot sing
only hoarsely shout
in an empty room
the same words over
and again
the same mad mantra
as reason slips away...
Saturday, August 09, 2008
...and as i was sputtering and turning blue the thought occurred to me that this is a real fucked up way to go...done in by the munchies...
...you see, sometimes i'm a bit famished when i get home from a gig, and waiting seductively in the fridge was some leftover spicy Thai curry...zapped it up in the microwave and i thought i had found all the bay leaf that they toss loosely into the mix, but there was one chunk left, lurking up against a mushroom and when i shovelled it into my face, that little leaf slid down and blocked my breathing apparatus...
...thus started the aforementioned blueness and sputtering and probably other gutteral noises usually not uttered by a civilized homo sapien...obviously i survived this quandry as i am sitting here typing...a second quick thought leapt in and said "HEIMLICH YOURSELF, YOU DUMB FUCK!!...so i doubled up both fists, placed them over my solar plexus, and slammed myself into the kitchen wall and launched the killer vegetation and it actually stuck to the wall...no shit...
...and they say meat will kill you...
...you see, sometimes i'm a bit famished when i get home from a gig, and waiting seductively in the fridge was some leftover spicy Thai curry...zapped it up in the microwave and i thought i had found all the bay leaf that they toss loosely into the mix, but there was one chunk left, lurking up against a mushroom and when i shovelled it into my face, that little leaf slid down and blocked my breathing apparatus...
...thus started the aforementioned blueness and sputtering and probably other gutteral noises usually not uttered by a civilized homo sapien...obviously i survived this quandry as i am sitting here typing...a second quick thought leapt in and said "HEIMLICH YOURSELF, YOU DUMB FUCK!!...so i doubled up both fists, placed them over my solar plexus, and slammed myself into the kitchen wall and launched the killer vegetation and it actually stuck to the wall...no shit...
...and they say meat will kill you...
Monday, August 04, 2008
okay...let me get this straight...Dr. Bruce Ivins worked with the Army's chemical and biological weapons department at Ft. Detrick for eighteen years, had been receiving psychiatric treatment since 2000, said to have "homocidal tendencies" by his doctor, and still allowed to work with some of the most dangerous and toxic substances known to mankind and worked there up until the day that he "committed suicide"...
...right...
...and we all still have to take off our shoes at the airport and put all of our toiletries in clear plastic bags...
what the fuck?
...right...
...and we all still have to take off our shoes at the airport and put all of our toiletries in clear plastic bags...
what the fuck?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
it's curious sometimes, the thoughts that bounce around my brain when i'm onstage...playing bass has become a very elemental thing for me and certain grooves become a meditation (as well as a medication) so ideas seemingly separate from the music intertwine with the notes and sounds...some are quite ordinary..."hmmm...i'm hungry...what do i have in the 'fridge to snack on when i get home?" or "did i remember to turn off all the lights?" or "who farted?"...
...but last night this thought popped into my head about what really contrary creatures we humans are and it centered on the fact that with one hand we make guitars with which we make art...we make music that makes people smile, dance, tap their feet and even sometimes think about the 'bigger picture'...and with the other hand we make guns...they were devised for one thing and one thing only...
...please don't tell me you're a "sportsman" unless you want to similarly arm and somehow teach gun functions to whatever creature in which you are about to blast a big bloody hole...
...killing for fun...seems that some of us are still standing at the mouth of the cave, peering out in fear and unable or unwilling to look inside our own black hearts...
...but last night this thought popped into my head about what really contrary creatures we humans are and it centered on the fact that with one hand we make guitars with which we make art...we make music that makes people smile, dance, tap their feet and even sometimes think about the 'bigger picture'...and with the other hand we make guns...they were devised for one thing and one thing only...
...please don't tell me you're a "sportsman" unless you want to similarly arm and somehow teach gun functions to whatever creature in which you are about to blast a big bloody hole...
...killing for fun...seems that some of us are still standing at the mouth of the cave, peering out in fear and unable or unwilling to look inside our own black hearts...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
"The truth is always with you at every moment. It's not something far away, abstract or difficult. It is the uncomplicated and direct truth of what is right here, right now. Truth is not removed from your day-to-day existence. God, way up in heaven on his big gold throne, is just an idea. That itch on your left ass cheek right now is the truth. It's way bigger than God could ever hope to be."
~from Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex & Death by Brad Warner~
~from Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex & Death by Brad Warner~
Saturday, July 19, 2008
sometimes it's strange returning
to my cloistered, monk-like cell
after nights onstage being admired
by thousands...ummm...hundreds...
ok...perhaps dozens...
but it's not the glamorous life
that most of them would imagine...
your humble rock & roll narrator
instigator
agitator
spectator
perpetrator
fornicator (well, i used to anyway)
curator
procrastinator
educator
navigator...after years on the road
i rarely get lost
and yet i can't find my way
to my heart...
to my cloistered, monk-like cell
after nights onstage being admired
by thousands...ummm...hundreds...
ok...perhaps dozens...
but it's not the glamorous life
that most of them would imagine...
your humble rock & roll narrator
instigator
agitator
spectator
perpetrator
fornicator (well, i used to anyway)
curator
procrastinator
educator
navigator...after years on the road
i rarely get lost
and yet i can't find my way
to my heart...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
the tears you see
know not years
not time
rhymes i spin
new as tomorrow
are dug from the dust
of yesterday
we enter this play
mid-scene
with our lines
and little more
deep beneath the present
is the score
plots, sub-plots, cues
clues to the truth
to muse and mull over
and over
defenses fall
bombarded by beauty
protective senses fall
crumble and fall
away...
know not years
not time
rhymes i spin
new as tomorrow
are dug from the dust
of yesterday
we enter this play
mid-scene
with our lines
and little more
deep beneath the present
is the score
plots, sub-plots, cues
clues to the truth
to muse and mull over
and over
defenses fall
bombarded by beauty
protective senses fall
crumble and fall
away...
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
the words come slowly
buried in a
barrage of
thoughts
confusions
distractions
dillusions
instructions
obstructions...
...bullshit
the morning brings pain
i see you there
i turn and hide
locked up inside
overheated
moving parts melted together
thought that i could weather
the storm
formulate logical answers
from data amassed...
the fool looks for logic
uncovers chaos
at every turn
gets burned
at every turn
looks for learning
turns
steps back reeling
spirit
in need of healing
reaches out
bleached and dried
in the sun...
july breathes it's heat
across our brows once more
smiling prophets peddling candy
under flashing skies that pour
and the more i learn
the less i see
howling mobs of
zombies of love
run cunning jobs of confidence on the masses
sunday morning more masses
masses of masses
god's vicar on earth
reposed in splendor
wine in golden chalice
bread on golden tray
and at the very same time
and not so very far away
babies moan
and bloat
and die
somebody's grandmother fries up some dogfood
innocents are jailed and killed
as robber barons run free
it all makes little sense to me...
buried in a
barrage of
thoughts
confusions
distractions
dillusions
instructions
obstructions...
...bullshit
the morning brings pain
i see you there
i turn and hide
locked up inside
overheated
moving parts melted together
thought that i could weather
the storm
formulate logical answers
from data amassed...
the fool looks for logic
uncovers chaos
at every turn
gets burned
at every turn
looks for learning
turns
steps back reeling
spirit
in need of healing
reaches out
bleached and dried
in the sun...
july breathes it's heat
across our brows once more
smiling prophets peddling candy
under flashing skies that pour
and the more i learn
the less i see
howling mobs of
zombies of love
run cunning jobs of confidence on the masses
sunday morning more masses
masses of masses
god's vicar on earth
reposed in splendor
wine in golden chalice
bread on golden tray
and at the very same time
and not so very far away
babies moan
and bloat
and die
somebody's grandmother fries up some dogfood
innocents are jailed and killed
as robber barons run free
it all makes little sense to me...
Friday, July 11, 2008
and each day that passes
gets stranger
aged infants spout wisdom
recorded by superstitious
frightened men...
those who dare to look
beyond man's limited existence
are dismissed as demons
or fools
because the rules outlaw
any fluxuation
from current situations
what power can words wield
against man's ancient ignorance?
brothers from
other worlds choose
at times to show themselves
show us bits of expanded knowledge
they come in spirit
they come in ways beyond
our scope or reason
they have existed here
they watched as firstlife
slithered from the slime
waited as great monsters
thrived
then died in an
onslaught of ice
they initiated early man
in hopes that this emerald
of the cosmos
could become paradise
paradise
i hope their disappointment
is not too great
as they survey this
plundered
ravaged
paradise...
so
all you turtles
afraid of truth
pull back into your shells
afraid of hell
air-condition your shells
i won't tell anyone where you're hiding
but this bird is going to fly
while there is still sky and time
for flying...
gets stranger
aged infants spout wisdom
recorded by superstitious
frightened men...
those who dare to look
beyond man's limited existence
are dismissed as demons
or fools
because the rules outlaw
any fluxuation
from current situations
what power can words wield
against man's ancient ignorance?
brothers from
other worlds choose
at times to show themselves
show us bits of expanded knowledge
they come in spirit
they come in ways beyond
our scope or reason
they have existed here
they watched as firstlife
slithered from the slime
waited as great monsters
thrived
then died in an
onslaught of ice
they initiated early man
in hopes that this emerald
of the cosmos
could become paradise
paradise
i hope their disappointment
is not too great
as they survey this
plundered
ravaged
paradise...
so
all you turtles
afraid of truth
pull back into your shells
afraid of hell
air-condition your shells
i won't tell anyone where you're hiding
but this bird is going to fly
while there is still sky and time
for flying...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
it's raining tonight in the desert
washing clean the city air
that cools twenty five degrees
in just moments
winds gust and debris
fills the air and
i happen to find myself
driving through this
and i have to turn on my
windshield wipers
for the first time in months...
those days and months
of light and heat
heat and light
fused rubber to glass
glass to rubber
and the first mechanical stroke
wrestled for an instant with
adhesion
then the weakened rubber gave way
and on the second stroke
took on the appearance of
wet licorice whips
lashing back and forth
to and fro
uselessly across the windshield...
i looked with sheepish chagrin
at the new wiper blades that i bought yesterday
sitting on the passenger seat
and once again marvelled at my
monumental procrastination
and crept cautiously home...
washing clean the city air
that cools twenty five degrees
in just moments
winds gust and debris
fills the air and
i happen to find myself
driving through this
and i have to turn on my
windshield wipers
for the first time in months...
those days and months
of light and heat
heat and light
fused rubber to glass
glass to rubber
and the first mechanical stroke
wrestled for an instant with
adhesion
then the weakened rubber gave way
and on the second stroke
took on the appearance of
wet licorice whips
lashing back and forth
to and fro
uselessly across the windshield...
i looked with sheepish chagrin
at the new wiper blades that i bought yesterday
sitting on the passenger seat
and once again marvelled at my
monumental procrastination
and crept cautiously home...
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
...my horoscope for today says that i'm going to meet someone that "is going to show me that life is about daring to live life to the fullest..."
...highly unlikely...unless some magic portal opens under my workbench and such a mystical being materializes from another dimension...
...the stars don't seem to know me all that well...i strongly suspect today will be another hot, dry, dusty, solitary desert day...
...highly unlikely...unless some magic portal opens under my workbench and such a mystical being materializes from another dimension...
...the stars don't seem to know me all that well...i strongly suspect today will be another hot, dry, dusty, solitary desert day...
Sunday, July 06, 2008
...oh...another vignette that i forgot in the previous post...as we were loading our gear into Pinon Pines for our show there, we caught a piece of conversation that was startling in it's gruesomeness...a weathered, grizzled old biker type exclaimed to his friend in a whisky and tobacco ravaged voice, "well...i've got three human skulls already, but i want one with a BULLET HOLE..."
...just the sort of thing one wants to hear walking into a gig...
...just the sort of thing one wants to hear walking into a gig...
more tales from the road
hmmmm...lets see, where did i leave off?...
...after the Telluride trip, we were home for two days and then back out for four days of shows in northern Az....all the gigs went well...played two new venues (for us, anyway) and blew the roof off both places, so Pinon Pines and the Raven Cafe will be added to the regular slate of shows...
...we had saturday night off on this trip, so we were able to go see some friends play at Coyote Joe's in Prescott...they have a Beatles tribute sort of band called Ringo McLennonSon...drummer Jimbo Gibbons is an old bandmate of mine from the jazz fusion band Dr. Bombay, where he provided percussion, comic relief and physical intimidation if things ever got dicey...the band was excellent and a spendid time was had by all...Tom and i even got up and did our arrangement of 'She's a Woman'...our studio version of that one features Jimbo on tabla drums, unfortunately, he didn't have his tablas with him that night...
...we were heading back home sunday night, ready to be back to our own beds for a while, rolling down the mountainside when the vibration started...slight at first, with each passing mile it became more pronounced...we had just gotten out of what we call the "yee-haw" portion of the drive, some steep mountain grades and serious curves, and just past Black Canyon City, and i was just about to suggest that we pull off at the next exit and BOOOOOM!!!, a tire blows out...
...fortunately, we were back to the flatlands and it was a rear tire, so we were able to limp off to the side of the freeway and ponder our next move...the only way to get to the spare and safely jack up the van would have been to unload all of the gear onto the hot desert roadside in the middle of the fuckin' night...we quickly nixed that idea and called AAA and had a tow truck take us the rest of the way to Tom's house in Scottsdale...had to wait about two hours, but that's a minor inconvenience compared at to what might have happened if that tire had blown five minutes earlier on a nasty downhill curve in a whole pack of vehicles doing 65mph....
...a sobering end to an otherwise lofty journey...
...fast forward to 4th of July weekend...Payson, Az...the Smoot electric band was booked to play a three hour show on the street in front of Bootleg Alley Antiques and Art, owned by our good friends Ken and Brenda Mooney and then do a short set at the Ox Bow pub afterwards...
...we got to town and checked into the motel, run by a jolly, but nearly unintelligible Chinese gentleman...i understood about every third word and smiled and nodded a lot...went to the site of the first show and noticed that storm clouds were tumbling toward us, the wind picking up and the temperature dropping (i liked that last part!)...so Tom and i decided to play an unplugged duo thing inside the antique shop...we had played a few tunes when, we were convinced that the storm was going to pass us by and we should set up outside and play...
...well, you've probably figured out by now that we got three songs finished before the skies opened up and it poured until the streets looked like rivers...we were able to power down before anyone was killed by lightning and got all the gear to safety before anything got too wet...
...went back to the rooms to get some dry clothing and headed back for our evening show at the Ox Bow...and things continued to deteriorate...as it always is with multiple band shows, there is a distinct possibility that the schedule is going to get fucked up...and given that this was the first time the organizers of this function had ever done such a thing, it was a certainty...the band that was tasked with handling the backline and sound for the event were handed a shit sandwich...the P.A. gear that the promoter provided was woefully inadequate for the size of the room and the levels at which some of the bands play, such as ourselves...we don't play at ear-damaging volumes, but every band needs a system that is punchy and clean...this was neither...
...so, we're standing around waiting for our time slot, which is getting later and later all the time and decide it's time for a beer...yeah right...bud and bud light, coors and coors light...
...hey...you know what coors light and having sex in a canoe have it common?...
...they're both fucking close to water!
...and then i noticed that about every other male person in the room was wearing some sort of american flag shirt...i mean, i know it was the forth of july and all...i was sporting a red t-shirt with a Hopi fetish design, the first americans, the real americans...
...finally our time came to play and we hit the stage as hard as the earlier thunderstorms hit the streets...we decided to change the attitude of the room and country rock and cowboy music gave way to Superstitious, nasty Detroit funk as mean as we could deliver...the lighting system was set on a dipshit sound activated thing and they were flashing so much i spent much of the show blinded, hovering somewhere between vertigo and a seizure...i couldn't see it happen but i'm told that the room's collective jaw hit the table when we launched into our first song...i love shocking peoples sensibilities...Tom and i have talked about this at length...he got into music strictly from the artistic side...the quiet singer/songwriter sitting on his front porch, crafting tunes, pulling lovely melodies from the ether...i on the other hand viewed it as an act of rebellion, of revolution, a gathering of the tribes to make sounds to shatter the walls of conventionality...for me, it was all about the thunder, the groove, the bottom end...i was born to be a bass player...
...we are still pretty much the same...just a bit older...
but i digress...so we did our show and everyone was raving about the band (especially the other bands) and the promoter wanted all the bands to hang around and do a big jam for the last part of the night...i wanted no part of it as i was still feeling the effects from some questionable fish tacos from two days before and just wanted to be back in my room, close to the potty, if you catch my drift...
...the next night at the Ox Bow was to be the same type of show...several acts throughout the evening and ending with a jam...oh boy...i like jam on my toast...
...our lead guitarist had to split to fulfill a prior commitment so i was thrust into the bassist/soloist mode as it is with the duo...but with Matt there bangin' away at the skins, it freed me up to experiment with playing in and around and over and under the beat...big fun...
...but the biggest fun was our last number... we got our dear old bud Hans Olson up to play harmonica on the song 'Forgive' , a song that he recorded with us on our third CD...it was spectacular...Hans is a blues monster...
...we made our excuses and bailed on the jam and headed back to the valley...an uneventful trip this time as there is all new rubber on the road...
cruisin' faithfully...the horizon calls...
...after the Telluride trip, we were home for two days and then back out for four days of shows in northern Az....all the gigs went well...played two new venues (for us, anyway) and blew the roof off both places, so Pinon Pines and the Raven Cafe will be added to the regular slate of shows...
...we had saturday night off on this trip, so we were able to go see some friends play at Coyote Joe's in Prescott...they have a Beatles tribute sort of band called Ringo McLennonSon...drummer Jimbo Gibbons is an old bandmate of mine from the jazz fusion band Dr. Bombay, where he provided percussion, comic relief and physical intimidation if things ever got dicey...the band was excellent and a spendid time was had by all...Tom and i even got up and did our arrangement of 'She's a Woman'...our studio version of that one features Jimbo on tabla drums, unfortunately, he didn't have his tablas with him that night...
...we were heading back home sunday night, ready to be back to our own beds for a while, rolling down the mountainside when the vibration started...slight at first, with each passing mile it became more pronounced...we had just gotten out of what we call the "yee-haw" portion of the drive, some steep mountain grades and serious curves, and just past Black Canyon City, and i was just about to suggest that we pull off at the next exit and BOOOOOM!!!, a tire blows out...
...fortunately, we were back to the flatlands and it was a rear tire, so we were able to limp off to the side of the freeway and ponder our next move...the only way to get to the spare and safely jack up the van would have been to unload all of the gear onto the hot desert roadside in the middle of the fuckin' night...we quickly nixed that idea and called AAA and had a tow truck take us the rest of the way to Tom's house in Scottsdale...had to wait about two hours, but that's a minor inconvenience compared at to what might have happened if that tire had blown five minutes earlier on a nasty downhill curve in a whole pack of vehicles doing 65mph....
...a sobering end to an otherwise lofty journey...
...fast forward to 4th of July weekend...Payson, Az...the Smoot electric band was booked to play a three hour show on the street in front of Bootleg Alley Antiques and Art, owned by our good friends Ken and Brenda Mooney and then do a short set at the Ox Bow pub afterwards...
...we got to town and checked into the motel, run by a jolly, but nearly unintelligible Chinese gentleman...i understood about every third word and smiled and nodded a lot...went to the site of the first show and noticed that storm clouds were tumbling toward us, the wind picking up and the temperature dropping (i liked that last part!)...so Tom and i decided to play an unplugged duo thing inside the antique shop...we had played a few tunes when, we were convinced that the storm was going to pass us by and we should set up outside and play...
...well, you've probably figured out by now that we got three songs finished before the skies opened up and it poured until the streets looked like rivers...we were able to power down before anyone was killed by lightning and got all the gear to safety before anything got too wet...
...went back to the rooms to get some dry clothing and headed back for our evening show at the Ox Bow...and things continued to deteriorate...as it always is with multiple band shows, there is a distinct possibility that the schedule is going to get fucked up...and given that this was the first time the organizers of this function had ever done such a thing, it was a certainty...the band that was tasked with handling the backline and sound for the event were handed a shit sandwich...the P.A. gear that the promoter provided was woefully inadequate for the size of the room and the levels at which some of the bands play, such as ourselves...we don't play at ear-damaging volumes, but every band needs a system that is punchy and clean...this was neither...
...so, we're standing around waiting for our time slot, which is getting later and later all the time and decide it's time for a beer...yeah right...bud and bud light, coors and coors light...
...hey...you know what coors light and having sex in a canoe have it common?...
...they're both fucking close to water!
...and then i noticed that about every other male person in the room was wearing some sort of american flag shirt...i mean, i know it was the forth of july and all...i was sporting a red t-shirt with a Hopi fetish design, the first americans, the real americans...
...finally our time came to play and we hit the stage as hard as the earlier thunderstorms hit the streets...we decided to change the attitude of the room and country rock and cowboy music gave way to Superstitious, nasty Detroit funk as mean as we could deliver...the lighting system was set on a dipshit sound activated thing and they were flashing so much i spent much of the show blinded, hovering somewhere between vertigo and a seizure...i couldn't see it happen but i'm told that the room's collective jaw hit the table when we launched into our first song...i love shocking peoples sensibilities...Tom and i have talked about this at length...he got into music strictly from the artistic side...the quiet singer/songwriter sitting on his front porch, crafting tunes, pulling lovely melodies from the ether...i on the other hand viewed it as an act of rebellion, of revolution, a gathering of the tribes to make sounds to shatter the walls of conventionality...for me, it was all about the thunder, the groove, the bottom end...i was born to be a bass player...
...we are still pretty much the same...just a bit older...
but i digress...so we did our show and everyone was raving about the band (especially the other bands) and the promoter wanted all the bands to hang around and do a big jam for the last part of the night...i wanted no part of it as i was still feeling the effects from some questionable fish tacos from two days before and just wanted to be back in my room, close to the potty, if you catch my drift...
...the next night at the Ox Bow was to be the same type of show...several acts throughout the evening and ending with a jam...oh boy...i like jam on my toast...
...our lead guitarist had to split to fulfill a prior commitment so i was thrust into the bassist/soloist mode as it is with the duo...but with Matt there bangin' away at the skins, it freed me up to experiment with playing in and around and over and under the beat...big fun...
...but the biggest fun was our last number... we got our dear old bud Hans Olson up to play harmonica on the song 'Forgive' , a song that he recorded with us on our third CD...it was spectacular...Hans is a blues monster...
...we made our excuses and bailed on the jam and headed back to the valley...an uneventful trip this time as there is all new rubber on the road...
cruisin' faithfully...the horizon calls...
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Telluride, Pt. 2
...imagine you're having a really bad day at work, one of those days when everything takes twice as long to do as it normally does, one of those days when everything you touch turns to shit, sort of a King Midas in reverse...now imagine doing this amplified by thousands of watts, illuminated by thousands of watts more and all this in front of ten thousand people...
...such was the case for Glen Hansard, when his band The Frames closed the show saturday at the festival...though i didn't see the show, it was related to me by several trusted sources that he basically had a meltdown and as a result the set was a bit of a downer...
...so, there was a good deal of anticipation preceding the show the next evening by The Swell Season, which is basically The Frames with the addition of Marketa Irglova...as said in a previous post, their show was stunning...still reverberating in my head two weeks later...
...but one of the most gripping parts of the show was when Glen Hansard apologised to the crowd for having had a bad show the night before...it was quite heartfelt and humble and he really endeared himself to the audience in doing so...
...another memorable part of the show was when all of a sudden the sky was filled with marshmallows...definitely a conspiracy afoot to have thousands of marshmallows flung into the cool mountain air at the same moment...in all my days, i've never seen such a thing...
...earlier that day a freakish thunderstorm rolled through, but instead of dropping rain, or even hail, this storm produced mini-snow cones (minus the paper cone) that exploded with a "poof" when they hit the ground...like the marshmallows, never witnessed that before...seems like a beautiful place to spend the summer, but at the drop of the first snowflake, i'd be desert bound...
...such was the case for Glen Hansard, when his band The Frames closed the show saturday at the festival...though i didn't see the show, it was related to me by several trusted sources that he basically had a meltdown and as a result the set was a bit of a downer...
...so, there was a good deal of anticipation preceding the show the next evening by The Swell Season, which is basically The Frames with the addition of Marketa Irglova...as said in a previous post, their show was stunning...still reverberating in my head two weeks later...
...but one of the most gripping parts of the show was when Glen Hansard apologised to the crowd for having had a bad show the night before...it was quite heartfelt and humble and he really endeared himself to the audience in doing so...
...another memorable part of the show was when all of a sudden the sky was filled with marshmallows...definitely a conspiracy afoot to have thousands of marshmallows flung into the cool mountain air at the same moment...in all my days, i've never seen such a thing...
...earlier that day a freakish thunderstorm rolled through, but instead of dropping rain, or even hail, this storm produced mini-snow cones (minus the paper cone) that exploded with a "poof" when they hit the ground...like the marshmallows, never witnessed that before...seems like a beautiful place to spend the summer, but at the drop of the first snowflake, i'd be desert bound...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
i am a citizen of planet earth
i refuse to recognize artificial
lines on a map
i refuse to mistrust or hate
based on
location of birth
skin pigmentation
or what name you give to
god
whether we care to admit it or not
we are all the same
we all feel
heat
cold
hunger
pain
joy
disappointment
love...
unfortunately, there are those
who have forgotten how or why
to love
because it is simultaneously the
easiest and hardest thing
for humans to do...
some human beings just seem to have a hard time
being human...
i refuse to recognize artificial
lines on a map
i refuse to mistrust or hate
based on
location of birth
skin pigmentation
or what name you give to
god
whether we care to admit it or not
we are all the same
we all feel
heat
cold
hunger
pain
joy
disappointment
love...
unfortunately, there are those
who have forgotten how or why
to love
because it is simultaneously the
easiest and hardest thing
for humans to do...
some human beings just seem to have a hard time
being human...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
...just returned from nearly a week in Telluride, Co. representing Zeta Musical Instruments, the company that i work for building electric violins, violas, celli and upright basses...we also dabble in resonator guitars and mandolins, but on a very limited basis...recently built a number of guitars for Bruce Springsteen and Nils Lofgren and even added electronics to a dulcimer for Cyndi Lauper...never a dull moment at the Zeta shop...if it has strings on it, our fearless leader Kozy can figure out a way to build a pickup for it so you can plug it in and turn it up to 11...
...anyway...was at our booth most of the time during the day except to dash off for a piss or grab a bowl of lentils and rice (good veggie Indian food right next door...well, it was a tent and technically didn't have a door, but "right next flap" doesn't sound right)...in the sponsor's tent were a number of other instrument makers and factory reps and such...Martin and Gibson were the two major companies and then there were several other smaller esoteric manufacturers in addition to Zeta...Shanti Guitars built by Michael Hornick from northern California, AMAZING hand-crafted pieces of musical art...and they sound better than they look...San Juan Mandolins made by Bobby Wintringham of Dolores, Co. which rival instruments made by anyone on the planet...and speaking of the planet, all the staff from Planet Bluegrass are the best...Steve,Wendy, Pete, Pat and numerous others put on one of the greatest festivals of any type, anywhere...and hats off to the over three hundred volunteers who keep things running smoothly...the stage and sound crew is also top notch...every band hit the stage right on time and the mix was always tight (though, dare i say it?...it was a bit loud for this reporter on a couple of occasions...and "too loud" are generally not two words that i use together...)
...being in the tent during the day, i missed seeing a number of acts that i would have liked to have seen, but i could hear some of them quite well except when there were novice bluegrassers in the tent, wanking away on banjos, guitars and mandolins...it got to be quite the din sometimes so i just stuffed in my handy earplugs...Arlo Guthrie was one i hoped to check out and unfortunately, nearly half of his set was drowned out by the above-mentioned wankers...
...was able to check out one whole set each night after closing the booth and having supper...it was cool being there on the company dime and having all access passes and all that good shit...
...so we were always able to get seats in the VIP section, though one had to be there and stake out a place in the queue early to assure getting prime viewing and listening location...first night saw Ani DiFranco and her Band...yeah, they have other stuff other than traditional bluegrass, which i'm very glad about...at this moment, i think if i heard another banjo my brain would blow like twin geysers from both ears...Ani was an electric bundle of energy from the second she hit the stage...love her aggressive syncopated guitar style...and the band rocked...
...second night saw newcomer Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer/songwriter...and rocker!...great singer, and a tight little four-piece rock & roll band...two guitars, bass and drums...it's all you really need...after Paolo, we checked out Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby jamming together with Kentucky Thunder...another killer band...violinist Andy Leftwich is from a totally different fuckin' planet or something...they closed their show with a raved-up bluegrass version of Super Freak...very cool...
...day three brought another good bunch of bands to the stage...heard parts of the sets by Tift Merritt and the Jerry Douglas Band...saw Tift on Austin City Limits sometime back...another great singer/songwriter...and Jerry is probabaly the best dobro player working today...and he's a fellow Buckeye!...after supper caught most of the set by another young singer/songwriter from California named Brett Dennen...very captivating vocal style and songs with some serious social/political commentary...this was followed by the Sam Bush Band...Sam has pushed mandolin into genres where it had never before traversed...pick a style of music, Sam and his band visit it during the show at least once...
...on day four, Sunday, the first act in the morning was R&B legend Solomon Burke...funky, funky, funky...like goin' to church without all the pompous preachin'...Canadian band, The Duhks followed with their blend of celtic, cajun and worldbeat music...will definitely add some of their recordings to the library...early evening show was The Swell Season, featuring Glen Hansard (from Irish band 'The Frames') and Marketa Irglova doing music from their Oscar-winning film "Once"...this was the musical highlight of the festival for me...it was one of those shows where time stood still and it was over almost before it began...each of their voices wrapped around the other and created a new vibration that is still reverberating in my head...and Glen Hansard's acoustic guitar playing is amazing to hear and to watch...
...ahh...so many new CDs to buy now...
...more about the festival and pictures to come...
...anyway...was at our booth most of the time during the day except to dash off for a piss or grab a bowl of lentils and rice (good veggie Indian food right next door...well, it was a tent and technically didn't have a door, but "right next flap" doesn't sound right)...in the sponsor's tent were a number of other instrument makers and factory reps and such...Martin and Gibson were the two major companies and then there were several other smaller esoteric manufacturers in addition to Zeta...Shanti Guitars built by Michael Hornick from northern California, AMAZING hand-crafted pieces of musical art...and they sound better than they look...San Juan Mandolins made by Bobby Wintringham of Dolores, Co. which rival instruments made by anyone on the planet...and speaking of the planet, all the staff from Planet Bluegrass are the best...Steve,Wendy, Pete, Pat and numerous others put on one of the greatest festivals of any type, anywhere...and hats off to the over three hundred volunteers who keep things running smoothly...the stage and sound crew is also top notch...every band hit the stage right on time and the mix was always tight (though, dare i say it?...it was a bit loud for this reporter on a couple of occasions...and "too loud" are generally not two words that i use together...)
...being in the tent during the day, i missed seeing a number of acts that i would have liked to have seen, but i could hear some of them quite well except when there were novice bluegrassers in the tent, wanking away on banjos, guitars and mandolins...it got to be quite the din sometimes so i just stuffed in my handy earplugs...Arlo Guthrie was one i hoped to check out and unfortunately, nearly half of his set was drowned out by the above-mentioned wankers...
...was able to check out one whole set each night after closing the booth and having supper...it was cool being there on the company dime and having all access passes and all that good shit...
...so we were always able to get seats in the VIP section, though one had to be there and stake out a place in the queue early to assure getting prime viewing and listening location...first night saw Ani DiFranco and her Band...yeah, they have other stuff other than traditional bluegrass, which i'm very glad about...at this moment, i think if i heard another banjo my brain would blow like twin geysers from both ears...Ani was an electric bundle of energy from the second she hit the stage...love her aggressive syncopated guitar style...and the band rocked...
...second night saw newcomer Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer/songwriter...and rocker!...great singer, and a tight little four-piece rock & roll band...two guitars, bass and drums...it's all you really need...after Paolo, we checked out Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby jamming together with Kentucky Thunder...another killer band...violinist Andy Leftwich is from a totally different fuckin' planet or something...they closed their show with a raved-up bluegrass version of Super Freak...very cool...
...day three brought another good bunch of bands to the stage...heard parts of the sets by Tift Merritt and the Jerry Douglas Band...saw Tift on Austin City Limits sometime back...another great singer/songwriter...and Jerry is probabaly the best dobro player working today...and he's a fellow Buckeye!...after supper caught most of the set by another young singer/songwriter from California named Brett Dennen...very captivating vocal style and songs with some serious social/political commentary...this was followed by the Sam Bush Band...Sam has pushed mandolin into genres where it had never before traversed...pick a style of music, Sam and his band visit it during the show at least once...
...on day four, Sunday, the first act in the morning was R&B legend Solomon Burke...funky, funky, funky...like goin' to church without all the pompous preachin'...Canadian band, The Duhks followed with their blend of celtic, cajun and worldbeat music...will definitely add some of their recordings to the library...early evening show was The Swell Season, featuring Glen Hansard (from Irish band 'The Frames') and Marketa Irglova doing music from their Oscar-winning film "Once"...this was the musical highlight of the festival for me...it was one of those shows where time stood still and it was over almost before it began...each of their voices wrapped around the other and created a new vibration that is still reverberating in my head...and Glen Hansard's acoustic guitar playing is amazing to hear and to watch...
...ahh...so many new CDs to buy now...
...more about the festival and pictures to come...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
another arm update...
still battling the pain-
there are good moments
and bad-
ironically, it feels the
best when i'm doing what causes
the problem in the first place,
slappin' my good ol' bass
moderation
rest
attitude...my new mantra...
there are good moments
and bad-
ironically, it feels the
best when i'm doing what causes
the problem in the first place,
slappin' my good ol' bass
moderation
rest
attitude...my new mantra...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
update...
hand
wrist
arm
shoulder
still problematic
creating static
in my brain
if not a bassist,
what then?
few options come to mind
it's all i've ever done
ever wanted to do
is this how
this forty-two year journey
is to end?
in pain and
darkness
and not really giving a fuck about
anything
anymore
seeking some sort of light
but i can't pull the ink-black membrane
from my eyes
head spins
in a constant state of vertigo
seeking solace at the bottom
of a pint glass
much too much
and it's never there
just a momentary dulling
of this new reality...
wrist
arm
shoulder
still problematic
creating static
in my brain
if not a bassist,
what then?
few options come to mind
it's all i've ever done
ever wanted to do
is this how
this forty-two year journey
is to end?
in pain and
darkness
and not really giving a fuck about
anything
anymore
seeking some sort of light
but i can't pull the ink-black membrane
from my eyes
head spins
in a constant state of vertigo
seeking solace at the bottom
of a pint glass
much too much
and it's never there
just a momentary dulling
of this new reality...
Friday, June 06, 2008
Happy National Doughnut Day...
i'm reminded of one of my girlfriends from high school...Annie...she had a job at a doughnut shop and me and my musical mates would go rollin' in there at around closing time and she would allow us to cart off all the leftover pastries...so, here's to Annie, Goddess of Day Old Baked Goods...
i'm reminded of one of my girlfriends from high school...Annie...she had a job at a doughnut shop and me and my musical mates would go rollin' in there at around closing time and she would allow us to cart off all the leftover pastries...so, here's to Annie, Goddess of Day Old Baked Goods...
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Sometimes, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...
...might not have been the most prudent course of action, but tonight i decided to take the dicey hand out for a test spin, a shakedown cruise as it were, and do a two hour rehearsal with the band...was a bit stiff for the first few songs, but after warming up it was almost normal, except for achy tendons...as i mentioned before, pain is good, numbness is bad...
...think i'm going to have to lay off the gonzo mountain bike adventures for a while and just plant my carcass in the recumbant stationary bike at the gym and give the hands and arms a rest...will miss tearing down the dusty desert trails to be sure, but it's a no-brainer sort of decision...don't make no cash ridin' the bike...
...think i'm going to have to lay off the gonzo mountain bike adventures for a while and just plant my carcass in the recumbant stationary bike at the gym and give the hands and arms a rest...will miss tearing down the dusty desert trails to be sure, but it's a no-brainer sort of decision...don't make no cash ridin' the bike...
Hey Doc, it hurts when i do that...
it's been interesting
continuing to build instruments
with the left appendage reduced
to a clamping vice flipper sort of thing
holding violins down with a club-like forearm
but the numbness is giving way
to pain
which is the better option
pain means nerves are still functioning
pain means life...
fighting the urge to get a bass out
and play a bit as i entertain myself
by typing with
one
hand...
continuing to build instruments
with the left appendage reduced
to a clamping vice flipper sort of thing
holding violins down with a club-like forearm
but the numbness is giving way
to pain
which is the better option
pain means nerves are still functioning
pain means life...
fighting the urge to get a bass out
and play a bit as i entertain myself
by typing with
one
hand...
Saturday, May 31, 2008
a brief note of explanation...
left hand and wrist
in a brace when not on ice
or some other sort of treatment
years of bass wrangling
have taken their toll on tendons
and other related parts
and for the first time
have had to cancel gigs and sessions...
...will be away from the keyboard
for a day or three...
updates as they become available...
left hand and wrist
in a brace when not on ice
or some other sort of treatment
years of bass wrangling
have taken their toll on tendons
and other related parts
and for the first time
have had to cancel gigs and sessions...
...will be away from the keyboard
for a day or three...
updates as they become available...
...pictured are my hand and my
state of mind...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
more tales from the road...
my two man band, smoot mahooty, just finished a five night stint at the Bright Angel Lodge, located on the south rim of the Grand Canyon...it's a cushy gig as gigs go...one load in, one load out, hiking and digging mother and father nature during the day, playing music for those fortunate enough to have the shekels to travel in these trying times...but that's another story for another time...
...friday night started out as most evenings at the Bright Angel Lounge, the bar full of globetrotters fresh off the bus, dusty hikers doing what i call "the grand canyon shuffle", downing pints and other cocktails to ease the pain, wide-eyed families from Wisconsin and other midwestern locales and an assortment of folks from the four corners of this little cat's eye spinning through the cosmos...a large portion of this assembled humanity clutch and periodically peer at the beeper devices that will call them to their evening repast...
...so, basically, we're playing pre-dinner music, just easing into the night and one of us usually jokes that we'll break out the lasers and fog machines a bit later in the show...but this friday started with a bit of a twist...
...seated directly in front of the stage was an elderly couple, i would guess ages to be somewhere between 80 and 180...it's hard to tell when we humans get that old...anyway...for our first number we selected a Lyle Lovett tune, "She's No Lady (She's My Wife) a very humorous, tongue-in-cheek view of relationships and marriage and such...(perhaps i can implore Pixie to imbed the audio of that song, as i am an idjit about such things)... getting back to the point, these two dear old souls glared at us for the entirety of the song, and when it was finished, they wobbled to their feet, tottered over directly in front of us, and this wee, tiny grandmotherly thing shook a boney finger at me and exclaimed how much that song sucks!...imagine my surprise...after which her knightly paramour added, "We've been married 60 years, and she's a lady and she's my wife!"
...sheeeeesh....go have some oatmeal and take a nap...maybe you'll wake up with a sense of humor...
At your request, my beloved Punkin!!!! (XOXO Pixie)
home...for now
...back from another couple weeks on the road
making music
and friends
along the way
witnessed summer thundersnow in
northern arizona
vivid canyon colors
obscured by swirling white clouds
put a finger on the pulse
of people from all over the planet
and can feel a change coming
just over the horizon
just beyond those
swirling white clouds
people (most of them, anyway)
are weary of business as usual
and wary of the powers that be
ready for the next human evolutionary step
a spiritual one
not a change brought on
by some imaginary cloud being
hairy thunderer or
cosmic muffin
a change made by
us
within every heart
every mind
evolution is revolution
everything sacred moves in a circle...
making music
and friends
along the way
witnessed summer thundersnow in
northern arizona
vivid canyon colors
obscured by swirling white clouds
put a finger on the pulse
of people from all over the planet
and can feel a change coming
just over the horizon
just beyond those
swirling white clouds
people (most of them, anyway)
are weary of business as usual
and wary of the powers that be
ready for the next human evolutionary step
a spiritual one
not a change brought on
by some imaginary cloud being
hairy thunderer or
cosmic muffin
a change made by
us
within every heart
every mind
evolution is revolution
everything sacred moves in a circle...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Happy Birthday Soul Pumpkin
FROM DIANE
FROM JANET
FROM CHRIS (BECAUSE BASSISTS CANT CARRY A TUNA)
FROM WOOD SONG (BECAUSE IT MAKES HER THINK OF MUSIC, WHICH MAKES HER THINK OF YOU)
FROM SWEET SUE
And from me, well... I just love you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
home
truck is unloaded
gear rolled into it's
assigned space
basses all safe and
sound(less)
hands are toast
after five straight nights
of delivering "the bottom"
even typing is more taxing
than i wish to deal with
at this moment...
more stories to come...
gear rolled into it's
assigned space
basses all safe and
sound(less)
hands are toast
after five straight nights
of delivering "the bottom"
even typing is more taxing
than i wish to deal with
at this moment...
more stories to come...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Soul Pumpkin returns April 27!!!!!
We missed you!
Hope the Canyon was a peaceful retreat and the audiences appreciative.
Love you Punky!
Pixie et al
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Yoikes!!...i hath been tagged!!
a six word memoir...six words to encapsulate a life...hmmm...okay, here's the first try:
Burly Buckeye-born bassist brings brotherhood.
...needless to say i'm fond of aliteration...i will add to this as new things pop into my head...i think i can do better...
Burly Buckeye-born bassist brings brotherhood.
...needless to say i'm fond of aliteration...i will add to this as new things pop into my head...i think i can do better...
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
HOW TO SING THE BLUES
1. Most blues begin "woke up this morning."
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the blues, unless you stick something nasty in the
next line:
I got a good woman
with the meanest dog in town.
3. Blues are simple. After you have the first line right, repeat it.
Then find something that rhymes. Sort of.
Got a good woman
with the meanest dog in town
He got teeth like Margaret Thatcher
and he weighs about 500 pounds.
4. The blues are not about limitless choice.
5. Blues cars are Chevys and Cadillacs. Other acceptable blues transportion
is the Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Walkin' plays a major part
in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the blues. Adults sing the blues.
Blues adulthood means old enough to get the electric chair
if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. You can have the blues in New York City, but not in Brooklyn or Queens.
Hard times in Vermont or North Dakota are just a depression.
Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City are still the best places to have the blues.
8. The following colors do not belong in the blues.
a. violet
b. beige
c. mauve
9. You can't have the blues in an office or a shopping mall, the lighting is wrong.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. the highway
b. the jailhouse
c. the empty bed
Bad places:
a. Ashrams
b. Gallery openings
c. weekend in the Hamptons
11. No one will believe it's the blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be
and old black man.
12. Do you have the right to sing the blues?
Yes, if:
a. your first name is a southern state -- like Georgia
b. you're blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied
No, if:
a. you were once blind but now can see
b. you're deaf
c. you have a trust fund
13. Neither Julio Iglesias nor Barbra Streisand can sing the blues.
14. If you ask for water, and your baby gives you gasoline, it's the blues.
Other blues beverages are:
a. wine
b. Irish whisky
c. muddy water
Blues beverages are NOT:
a. any mixed drink
b. any wine kosher for Passover
c. Yoo Hoo (all flavors)
15. If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a blues death.
Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is a blues way to die.
So is the electric chair, substance abuse, or being denied treatment in an
emergency room. It is not a blues death if you die during a liposuction treatment.
16. Some blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
17. Some blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Lightning
Persons with names like Sierra or Sequoia will not be permitted to sing the blues
no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
17B. Other Blues Names (Starter Kit)
a. Name of Physical Infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Asthmatic)
b. First name (see above) or name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi)
c. Last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the blues, unless you stick something nasty in the
next line:
I got a good woman
with the meanest dog in town.
3. Blues are simple. After you have the first line right, repeat it.
Then find something that rhymes. Sort of.
Got a good woman
with the meanest dog in town
He got teeth like Margaret Thatcher
and he weighs about 500 pounds.
4. The blues are not about limitless choice.
5. Blues cars are Chevys and Cadillacs. Other acceptable blues transportion
is the Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Walkin' plays a major part
in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.
6. Teenagers can't sing the blues. Adults sing the blues.
Blues adulthood means old enough to get the electric chair
if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. You can have the blues in New York City, but not in Brooklyn or Queens.
Hard times in Vermont or North Dakota are just a depression.
Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City are still the best places to have the blues.
8. The following colors do not belong in the blues.
a. violet
b. beige
c. mauve
9. You can't have the blues in an office or a shopping mall, the lighting is wrong.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. the highway
b. the jailhouse
c. the empty bed
Bad places:
a. Ashrams
b. Gallery openings
c. weekend in the Hamptons
11. No one will believe it's the blues if you wear a suit, unless you happen to be
and old black man.
12. Do you have the right to sing the blues?
Yes, if:
a. your first name is a southern state -- like Georgia
b. you're blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can't be satisfied
No, if:
a. you were once blind but now can see
b. you're deaf
c. you have a trust fund
13. Neither Julio Iglesias nor Barbra Streisand can sing the blues.
14. If you ask for water, and your baby gives you gasoline, it's the blues.
Other blues beverages are:
a. wine
b. Irish whisky
c. muddy water
Blues beverages are NOT:
a. any mixed drink
b. any wine kosher for Passover
c. Yoo Hoo (all flavors)
15. If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a blues death.
Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is a blues way to die.
So is the electric chair, substance abuse, or being denied treatment in an
emergency room. It is not a blues death if you die during a liposuction treatment.
16. Some blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
17. Some blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Lightning
Persons with names like Sierra or Sequoia will not be permitted to sing the blues
no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
17B. Other Blues Names (Starter Kit)
a. Name of Physical Infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Asthmatic)
b. First name (see above) or name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi)
c. Last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
40 Years
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality...
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word"
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word"
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
up to my ass in
boxes and
chaos
but my
boxes and
chaos
and it already feels
like home...
i cooked breakfast
naked
this morning
(fear not, no frying bacon involved)
didn't have to have the range hood fan
set to "turbo-suck" to exhaust
the lovely aroma of
hot butter and scallions
cilantro, cheddar and eggs...
i love cooking smells
(almost guiltily)
so much of the world struggles
just to exist
i am so blessed to have
food
shelter
transport
bass guitars
functional ears
and fingers
and a heart
full to bursting with
love
for all the special people
in my life...
boxes and
chaos
but my
boxes and
chaos
and it already feels
like home...
i cooked breakfast
naked
this morning
(fear not, no frying bacon involved)
didn't have to have the range hood fan
set to "turbo-suck" to exhaust
the lovely aroma of
hot butter and scallions
cilantro, cheddar and eggs...
i love cooking smells
(almost guiltily)
so much of the world struggles
just to exist
i am so blessed to have
food
shelter
transport
bass guitars
functional ears
and fingers
and a heart
full to bursting with
love
for all the special people
in my life...
Monday, March 24, 2008
it started as just a hint
in the air
just a few days ago
and now the atmosphere
is thick to nearly intoxicating
with the sweet, heavy
aroma of citrus blossoms
signalling spring's return
and as the desert
briefly blooms in a
riot of color
before the inevitable
withering of summer
and in this time of renewal
i once more pack my
blue jeans and t-shirts
books and notebooks and journals
bass guitars, amps and music
and seek a place
less bleak
where the light can flow
in
and the words can flow
out
where the music can be
born...
in the air
just a few days ago
and now the atmosphere
is thick to nearly intoxicating
with the sweet, heavy
aroma of citrus blossoms
signalling spring's return
and as the desert
briefly blooms in a
riot of color
before the inevitable
withering of summer
and in this time of renewal
i once more pack my
blue jeans and t-shirts
books and notebooks and journals
bass guitars, amps and music
and seek a place
less bleak
where the light can flow
in
and the words can flow
out
where the music can be
born...
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