One Of A Kind People

Still working on "Summer of Love Songs."  You can learn the chords.  You can learn the lyrics.  You can play and sing the songs, but then you come up against freaky, amazing natural phenomena, kind of like heavy weather that just can't be replicated.

I'm speaking of such awesome and daunting sounds such as Nico's  or Grace Slick's voices.  Two  amazing forces of nature for sure. Or how about John Entwhistle's unique bass technique?  It's like he picked up the instrument and invented a new way to play it. Or Keith Moon's weird, over the top, unlike anyone in the universe drum-playing?

You can learn the steps.  But it just isn't the same.

Even though you've heard their songs over and over year after year, if you really listen to them with fresh ears, you experience these things as just amazing, unique, sounds created by one of a kind people. Thrilling.

Friends Not Your Friends

The whacks, the cuts, the pricks, the kicks.  They come from any corner.  Some of them are intentional, some of them are not.  Intention doesn't seem to matter.  When the whacks come, they do their thing, they do their damage, and you carry on.  Usually they just leave small nicks and bruises. No major wounds.  The major ones are rare.

But there is an accumulation.  It all adds up.  Everything counts.  So you carry the bruises, you carry the scars... they come from the friendlies and the unfriendlies.  Those from the friendlies are more insidious.  The are the unexpected torpedoes. They surprise you. And sometimes surprise is not your friend.

You have friends.  But sometimes your friends are not your friends.

A Stunner - The Left Banke

We've been researching and rehearsing songs from 1967 as part of our preparation for our Summer of Love show. Came across The Left Banke, didn't really know them, although, I do remember hearing "Walk Away Renee."  What an amazing song. It's a total stunner, just beautiful.  The band didn't last long, but their harmonies and the lush orchestration on the track is just superb.

We are thinking of doing "Walk Away Renee" but ours would be a much starker version.  No strings, maybe no harmonies.  Wonder if we can pull it off?  Not sure.  Still the song is just so gorgeous.  Rehearsing it in our kitchen, one guitar, two voices, to my ears it sounds exquisite.

Takes a Licking, Still Ticking!

Someone read the tea leaves and saw a large conflagration.  An explosion of epic proportions. Sounded like hooey to me.  Couldn't see it.  Couldn't imagine anything rocking my world that hard.  And then the storm came. An enthralling and amazing display of hatred and rage. Very, very surprising, over what I thought was a little thing... so yes, got rocked. Totally. But took a licking and still ticking... sometimes being alone in silence is the only remedy!

The Passion!

We played a passionate acoustic duo set at the Flat Iron Arts building in Chicago last night.  We were in a really cool artist's studio, great acoustics, very comfortable, and a small but friendly and enthusiastic audience.

It's great when people actually sit and listen.  And it's great when you bring it.  We brought it last night. Yes, of course you need songs, and you need to be tight, and you need to sound good.

But what you really need is the invisible, intangible things: passion and energy.  And those things can't be bottled or manufactured.  Or faked.  Not really.  I mean, I guess you can try to fake it.  But I think it shows.

So yes, we brought the passion and energy. We committed ourselves to the moment.  And that's the world baby! 

Trying on Songs For Size!

Still trying to decide on songs for our Summer of Love show Oct 13.  Actually, I'm deciding which songs to bring to our band.  So I'm wading through the vast pool of music released in 1967, watching the YouTube videos, printing out the chords and playing along to see what feels good.

The exercise is sort of like trying on other people's clothes.  Seeing how they fit.  Seeing if you can make them your own.

Sometimes you like the "idea" of playing a song, but then there's the reality of stepping through the chords, and singing the words, and you realize it's just not going to fly.  Example: The Velvet Underground "I'm Waiting for the Man."  Love the song, pretty easy to play, but for some reason it seems false.  I mean, it's so true to Lou Reed, but false on my lips, in my brain.  

Now Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl," hell, that one seems like a winner.  Beautiful chord progression, great lyrics.  Yes, it will be hard to top Van's version, but something tells me our band will find the groove.  I'm thinking we try it for sure.

Nico's take on Jackson Browne's "These Days."  Somber.  Our drummer described it as "dour." And the guitar part is almost too bright and jaunty.  I've slowed it down a bit. Love the little finger-picking part, could be a very beautiful, hushed moment.  Depends.  The Lovely Carla needs to own it.  And what key would work best?  Have decided to keep it in for now. Even with the outstanding questions.

Sure things: Cream's "Strange Brew" - tight little jam, "The Letter" by the Box Tops - what a perfect pop/rock song and Alex Chilton singing at 16!, "White Rabbit" - so iconic.  Great bass part, great drum part, cool, trippy guitar part, but can anyone sing it like Grace Slick does?  "Stepping Stone" - yes, it's a classic from that TV band.  We're thinking a stripped down version.  The lyrics are great.  The Who's "Happy Jack" - I love this song!  Love the lyrics, love what The Who do. Can our band do it?  We will give our best for sure!  The Doors "Soul Kitchen" - this one is already in our set.  We love it, we groove it, we have definitely made it our own.  More like the Patti Smith version, but it's ours now!

Not sures: "Little Wing" - a beautiful Hendrix song, silly lyrics, stunningly beautiful guitar part, "Hey Joe" - misogynist as hell, but what a great chord progression, the band would love to play it for sure. And maybe with the Lovely Carla singing we turn the meaning upside down? "San Francisco" - A friend wants to sing it.  I'm sure he will do a great job, he has a wonderful voice.  But man, do I hate that song.  It's really the hippie nightmare.  And you wonder if San Francisco ever recovered from all those poor hippies flocking to the city looking for those "gentle people!" It definitely captures a certain 1967 vibe.  But it seems like a ridiculous song to me.

Anyway, still wading through songs.  Probably more surprises on the way... "Walk Away Renee" - maybe!

A Complicated Flower!

We're doing a "Summer of Love" tribute show. In October. The thought was, well there's always room for love, and always room for summer. And 1967 was some kind of watershed year in music. "Sgt. Peppers" from the Beatles, "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn" from Pink Floyd, "Are You Experienced" from the Jimi Hendrix Experience. And many more great songs and albums. 

Our band is doing songs from the Monkees (that cheesy TV band), Jefferson Airplane (trippy SF rock), The Doors (dark, moody, transcendental) and the Velvet Underground (strange, hard-boiled, decadent). Definitely attracted to the darker side of the summer of love. Revolution was in the air. Doors and walls were melting. And even though some look back at that year as some kind of beautiful flowering, it was a complicated flower with thorns that cut and could make you bleed...

Something Out Of Reach

Yeah, I was reading about Lou Reed, and found out that he was influenced/inspired by Raymond Chandler.  Chandler created Philip Marlowe, the hard-boiled Private Eye, who always found himself in the middle stories that would always get curiouser, and curiouser. And that template is sort of a description of our situation in life.  There's a mystery.  Something happened.  And we try to figure out what it is... but there's always something just out of reach...

And the language of those great Raymond Chandler novels, well... the language is addictive, illuminating... etc.

"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell." - R.C.

Football is Big Business

OK. Yes. The Replacement Refs made a pretty bad call on Monday Night Football.  But the outrage seemed a little over the top.  I mean, hell it's only a game.  And the Refs made a friendly call in favor of the Home Team.  It happens, right? What's the big deal?

I then I saw this story... reminded me that Football is big business.  And betting on Football is big business.  That little blown call may have cost bettors $300 million dollars.  Oh, yeah, I get it!  The outrage!

And then, there's also a political angle to the whole thing.  The "replacement refs," also known as "scabs" are filling in for the real refs who are on strike (Actually it's not a strike, the Owners are locking the refs out! This really looks like a case of Greedy Owners trying to bust/beat up, a union!).  Man.  Maybe this case illustrates the power and value of unions in this climate of union busting.

Just another example of how the GOP and much of Management in the land is on the wrong side of an important issue.  Unions helped make the USA the USA.  We should not forget!  

The SUN!

And just why isn't our land filled with these (see below) solar arrays? When people talk about "alternative" energy, they are derided as dreamers, as wimps, as tree huggers. Don't you know that the SUN is the biggest freaking generator in our orbit? 

 The SUN is the energy source for all life on our planet. We really should have a Solar Cult devoted to worshiping and channeling the power of the SUN! It's been around for millions of years, and will be around, unless something unforeseen happens, for many millions more. We should be devoting major investments in dollars and manpower to fill our land with solar arrays. 

Those making money drilling into the earth should be ostracized. Get your heads out of the dirt. Raise your heads, raise your eyes. Look up at the SUN. It's power can save us, it can free us from the slavery of dirty fossil fuel. Wake Up! The SUN!

Let's Go Solar Baby!

Don't know why this little video of ours didn't go viral. The clouds of radioactivity are still wafting thru the air (maybe people just don't want to think about it?).  And Japan has decided that maybe nuclear energy is not the solution... especially when we don't really know what to do with the waste, and if there's an accident, well, let's just say it's not good. Haven't you seen those Godzilla movies?!  There's that big old sun up there.  It seems like this amazing energy that should be fully tapped! Let's go Solar baby!

  

"All that matters is work." - Andy Warhol

I just don't have the rock and roll lifestyle thing worked out.  We played a show last night at a classic Chicago neighborhood bar.  It was another thrilling performance for our band whitewolfsonicprincess.  It's funny we thought we were a tight, committed band, but the last shows have shown that there are levels to tightness and commitment.  We have entered a new phase, where the tightness, the connectedness have opened to a new looseness and confidence.  Exhilarating and satisfying.  And the hardcore drinkers at the bar stopped, listened, applauded, bended our ears to tell us how much the enjoyed the show and bought CDs too... definitely some kind of endorsement.

But anyway, up late and up early too.  If I was totally rock and roll I'd sleep to noon for sure.  But it seems no matter how late I stay up, I'm up early, brewing my coffee, checking out the internet, and listening to music too.

This morning I'm listening to Lou Reed and John Cale's tribute to Andy Warhol, "Songs For Drella."  It was released in 1987.  I have no clue why it took me so long to finally buy it and listen to it. Maybe I read a bad review or something.  New resolution - never fucking listen to a reviewer!  The disc is just so beautiful, touching, amazing.  I picked it up yesterday at the used CD store, and I'm so glad I grabbed it.  I'm listening to it now, second time through this morning... it's just such great, thrilling work.  Love it. Sad too. Funny too. A great, great set of music... and oh yeah, I'm such an admirer of Andy Warhol... one of the greatest artists ever... so inspiring... I miss him too Lou!

"All that matters is work." - Andy Warhol

The Rot is Quite Stinky!

Yes, as Charles Pierce points out, the Romney campaign tossed out a dead fish for inspection late Friday afternoon.  The rot is getting quite stinky at this point.  You wonder if the Big Plastic Guy is just  a little bored of running for Prez.  The guy doesn't even have a job and he made $14 million last year.  Sheesh!  But at this point, it's got to be clear to him that lots of people actually loath him and his voice makes people's flesh crawl.  And all his glad-handing and all those empty, glazed smiles aren't going to change that fact.  Maybe he should just decamp to one his many homes and polish his golf clubs, or re-count his stash of gold bricks or something?

And what about all those greedy, rich folk who have been shoveling cash into the man's campaign?  You wonder if it's beginning to dawn on them that they are shoveling their dollars into a black hole of loser-land?  Kind of funny.  I mean, I don't want to be over-confident or anything. But it doesn't take a clairvoyant to see that Romney is big stuffed mannequin of a candidate heading to a big loss. The Romney express is a train  heading straight into a brick wall of political nothingness.

:-)

Things You Are Into

Yes, you are into the things that you are into.  And it's best if you can really sink in and fully devote yourself (heart, head, spirit) to the things you are into. And you're not into the things you're not into.  But it's good to explore.  You might find that your orbit of things you are into is larger than you think. The world is bigger than you. And you can be into things you didn't think you'd be into, or things that you decidedly weren't into at one time other.  but then, now you are into them.  so there are surprises, as long as you are open to surprises...

I Thank the Man for Being So Inept!

Not through with Romney yet... the guy is seriously pissing me off.  He's wasting our time.  He is running such a lousy campaign for President.  He is not very good at communicating with people. His election strategy is a complete botch.  During the primaries he adopted all the most hard-right positions, and then, once the primaries were over, he tried to tack to the middle.  But too many on the right are holding his feet to the fire, so he really can't go to the middle.  He's stuck with lots of really absurd positions just because the fire-breathing right demands it!

And he's not such a smart guy after all.  I mean, maybe he can work his way around a spreadsheet and a financial statement, but as a "leader" or "communicator" as for someone who inspires or illuminates, well, Romney really is an empty suit.  And he really is an out of touch rich guy.  He can't help it.  He's lived in a bubble of richness his whole life. He is a man totally unsuited to be President.  You wonder why he wants the job.  Probably just to burnish his ego.  Or maybe it's the rich guy entitlement thing.

He is one of those people that sort of makes your skin crawl; that plastic, pasted on smile, the deadness in the eyes, the halting, stilted way of speaking. He is a guy who has no core, and it seems he will say anything to anybody, anytime. The man has lots of money.  He inherited wealth, and then he made more.  Not all that impressive folks!

Anyway, I guess we can all thank Mitt for being such a train-wreck... the hard-core Republican base will vote for this guy no matter what... so the election may be closer than it should be.  But Mitt is doing all he can to lose.  And the country should thank him for it.  I thank the man for being so inept.  Even as he pisses me off!

Finally We Agree!

This is funny... the Obama campaign is painting a pretty convincing picture that Mitt Romney is just an out of touch rich guy who only cares about the rich.

And Mitt Romney's campaign is painting the exact same picture. In fact, Romney's campaign is painting an even more convincing picture that Romney is an incompetent and bumbling out of touch rich guy who is totally clueless and disdainful about much of America.

So finally we find something Democrats and Republicans can agree on.  Romney is out of touch, rich and clueless! 

Can't we find a more suitable job for the guy? I'm sure there's a  need somewhere for a well-heeled, snooty, self-satisfied, schmuck like Romney!  Like the head of some ritzy and exclusive golf club or rotary club. Get that man an ascot!

Mitt Romney Speaks His Truth!

You gotta love it!  Made me laugh out loud this morning to hear Mitt Romney speak his truth! He doesn't care about nearly half the country.  And if he's President he will not be worried about them either.  This guy wants to be the Rich Guy President.  And if you're not rich?  Well, you are on your own.

This is so good.  Usually the truth and Mitt Romney cannot be found in the same room.  But a hidden camera caught the man and his truth red-handed.  What a complete botch of a person and a candidate!

Reasoning the Unreasonable

There's that famous quote from Jean Renoir, "Everyone has their reasons."  The reasons don't need to be good.  Or rational.  Or make sense.  Humans can cling to just about any flimsy reason.  Humans aren't always "reasonable."  Often times we are totally unreasonable.  Makes for a pretty complicated world.  Everyone running around with their "reasons" and hammering each other with them.

How do you stand outside and above that kind of madness?  It's a hard stance to take.  Pretend to be an alien and sit back and watch human beings do their thing.  But of course, you aren't an alien.  You are a human being too.  Trying hard to be human.  Trying hard to be a being.  Hoping you are reasonable, even as you put all your "reasons" under a microscope too...

UnOccupied Space!

We played a r&r show last night.  There were a couple of loyalists in the audience, but we primarily played to an empty bar.  Played our music to lots of unoccupied space.  There were two pretty high profile music festivals in town, and the el stop at that location is partially closed for work, which meant getting to the place was totally inconvenient. So maybe that explains the low turn-out.  But what's funny, our band was undaunted.  We really showed our character last night.  Determined.  Committed.  Joyful.  Tight.  We played an expansive set, and it all went off quite well.  You can't put a price on the kind of group energy. I don't know how you conjure it up.  It's a very special thing. We really did fill up that empty space with our sound, and in some ways that's more impressive than if we had played to a packed house.  My only regret, more people didn't get to see and hear our joyful noise.  But it was not in the cards last night. Still very pleased the morning after the show.  We have created a really cool band, and a cool sound.  

Human Beings First... and Crazy Too!

More unrest in the world.  There is always unrest.  Lots of unhappy people in the world, and sometimes they express their unhappiness and hatred in terribly gruesome and inhuman ways.  It is true.  But when I hear sentences that begin like this, I bristle like a goddamn porcupine...

"The Muslims..."  "The Jews..." "The Blacks..." 

To me these types of sentences are part of the problem.  They imply that the sentence-maker doesn't see the complex world we live in, and doesn't see that we are all human beings first.  It is the language of defining and distancing ourselves from "the other."  This is the language of racism, prejudice and stereotype...

Of course the world is made up of human beings and some of them are Muslims, Jews, Blacks, etc. So sometimes those words are just descriptors, identifiers.  The problem is when lots of people are lumped together and judged as one thing.  This is not helpful.  It helps perpetuate unhappiness and hatred.  And of course, it's just not true of the world we live in!  There is vast variation in all these human "categories."  

I can't help it.  I am with the Dali Lama: "Human Beings First."  Now, of course, in my book Human Beings are fundamentally CRAZY.  It's kind of built into our psychic make-up.  We put on the mask of rationality, but we are born into a mysterious and strange world, and our lives can be snatched away at a moment's notice.  We are capable of amazingly beautiful things and horrifyingly terrible things too.  All of us.  Any time.  And if we do something beautiful, we should be celebrated, and if we do something horrible, we should be held accountable.  Just review the history of the world.  Any category of human you can name. There's lots of beauty, and an unbelievable list of crimes and horrors.  Human Beings did that! 

Just A Poem

You know somebody, who knows somebody, who passed... you are reminded that we all have an expiration date tattooed somewhere on our beings.  I mean, you know this, you are reminded of it every day, but sometimes the "insight" hits a little closer to home.  It's the "other shoe" that everyone carries with them, but one no-one really talks about all that much.  It can fall at anytime.  And it's big, and serious and mysterious.

You hunt for some thru-line, some narrative arc.  But sometimes, maybe always, it's just the brute fact.  Life ends.  Or morphs into something else.  So one is left with the knowledge that we have moments.  Lots of moments.  Some enjoyable, some not.  But they are our moments. And life is a collection of moments, and sometimes it hard to see if they really "add up" to anything.

You hope to come to some kind of grand culmination, or uncover some grand insight, but you wonder if that is just an unfulfilled hope...

You are born, you live, you die... it's all the in-between stuff that makes our lives our lives... it's sort of  a strange, little poem.  We are that poem.  Even if it's hard to understand what the poem really is, or means, or adds up to... it's just a poem. And it's ours...

"People are Stupid!"

The Lovely Carla and I were reviewing Esquire's polling data... Even though the overall news is good for Obama, we are both pretty much confounded by some of the results.  White people who make more than 100K lean fairly strongly to Romney?  What?  Is it just blind prejudice??? 

Romney is just such a train-wreck of a candidate.  You have to scratch your head and ask why people would be voting against their own economic and social interests...  makes no sense...

I guess you could think racism, prejudice, folks just buying into cheap stereotypes... 

The Lovely Carla sums it up thusly... "People are stupid!"

That's pretty good...

Enlightened Being Would Be Better...

OK, yes, it's a delicate balance... just about like everything else... you become too strident, too hectoring, too forceful... too damn opinionated... and well, you come off as a loud-mouth asshole...  and not good company at social gatherings...

Of course, you may actually be an asshole, the world is full of them, but maybe it's something you should decide to "work on," to try to modulate, and tone down... what you really want to be is a Bodhisattva, and being an asshole, and being an Enlightened Being, do not really go together well...

Heart & Politics On Our Sleeves!

I have been re-energized after the Democratic convention.  It was so refreshing and inspiring to see folks get up and say things that should be said...  I decided to write a rock & roll diary post about John Lennon and the power of wearing your heart and politics on your sleeve...

I do think we all need to choose.  Which can be dangerous and scary... to actually take a stand and proudly declare which side you are on.  You will piss off people.  And they will want to take you down, or "un-friend" you.  But so be it. On most of the key issues we face, there is no middle ground.

I love this post from Kevin Drum... supposedly Barack Obama is an introvert, not big on schmoozing and bullshitting, no, instead, he likes to do his job... gotta love the guy.  And yes, I do!

Floundering Phase of the Election!

I think we've entered the Mitt Romney floundering phase of the 2012 election.  Mitt is a doomed candidate.  No one likes him, and the GOP platform is a desiccated piece of warmed over shit that just doesn't pass the smell test.

Yes, of course, it will be a "close" election.  The country is deeply divided.  I guess it's North vs. South, City vs. Country, Progressives vs. Political Neanderthals...

And the GOP is a deeply dysfunctional political party, that has not recovered from the Bush Debacle.  It's an angry party, a retro-party, it's anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-minority, anti-immigrant, anti-future.  And there are a bunch of angry people willing to back their Floundering Candidate...

But this time around I just don't think Flounder can pull it off.  Even if the GOP tries to steal the vote, or prevent folks from voting... sometimes you just can't sell a shit sandwich... it's just too damn shitty! 

Yes, I suppose it does make sense...

Yes, I suppose it really does make sense... 

If the way we primarily experience the world, and acquire our knowledge, (think TV, think computers) is primarily episodic, fragmentary, and non-linear; where past, present and future are all mixed up, and available to us at all times, anytime, then we may rightly come to believe that, that is the actual nature of our world.

And the old way of thinking of the world... as a coherent narrative, with a distinct past, present and future, comes to seem so quaint, boring and untrue, or non-representative of what we are experiencing when we experience it, and that it comes to seem false to our experience; we no longer process or think about the world in such a cut and dried, linear way...  and even reading novels that use that template seem so old world and uninteresting...

Yes, I suppose it really does make sense...

Visual Storm!

We went to Wicker Park last night to see the Storm Thorgerson show "Computers have a lot to answer for."  Quite the amazing collection of art.  A dying art I suppose.  Most of Thorgerson's work has been album covers for bands.  No CGI.  All just striking images perfectly captured by old style photographic equipment...

Surreal imagery, so real, it's unreal.  Really.  I had a chance to say "hi" to Storm and tell him how much I loved his work.  I wanted to ask about those wacky days with Syd Barrett, but it just wasn't the place or time.  Anyway, what a great show.  Over the years I have sat and contemplated and meditated over some of these images.  Looking for the secret.  Marveling at the beauty and mystery...

The Only Choice!

Yes. I loved Barack Obama's speech last night. Totally aligned with everything he said... love the way Michelle introduced the man, the the way they hugged while U2's "City of Blinding Lights" played... great song choice... 

"The more you see, the less you know, the less you find out as you go, I knew much more then, than I do now..."

The Big Dog Delivers Big Time!

Yes, it's great to be "open-minded," to listen to lots of ideas and opinions when formulating your own. But then you need to make choices, choose sides, take a stand.  Yes, you can change your mind, and if "facts" change, you should adjust your thinking based on the new data.  That's kind of like the scientific method.

But there are some basic values that don't change.  Love for others.  Kindness and grace.  Humility. An understanding that everything is connected.  That we are all in this together. That we all need each other. That the universe is big and mysterious.  And we don't have all the answers.  But we can try to work together to make a better reality for all.  In fact, we are obliged to try.

It's sort of an idealism.  But it's a humble idealism.  I've always voted for the Democrats.  Maybe they have not always lived up to my ideals.  But they have always been closer to the target than the Republicans.  I guess in that respect I do see things in stark, black and white terms.

It was weird watching Bill Clinton, the Big Dog speaking last night. That Fleetwood Mac Song introduced him.  It was all so time-warp 90's.  He's older.  We are older.   He gave a great speech.   All those words painted a great picture of where we are, where we came from.  And what are the choices we need to make for a better future... the Big Dog did an admirable job... he showed that even if there are people who hate you, you can rise above...

And he reminded us that we do have to believe in a better future... it's a basic human need... we must believe and then roll up our sleeves...

Words!

Words.  Maybe they are just words.  But words do matter.  Even if they don't always match up with what happens, or what is...

We have intention. We have ideas. We have dreams. And we verbalize them with words. And we can create pictures in the air. We can create pictures in our heads.  And sometimes our words give us direction... to where we want to go, who we want to be, what we want to do.

Last night I heard lots of words.  And I was completely aligned with those words.  And it made me feel good.  But  these words need to be actualized... and that takes work, struggle, and dedication... Obama 2012!

UPDATE:  Michelle Obama's speech was beautiful, amazing, inspiring... if you didn't see it or listen to it... you should...

Interesting Life...

I wonder... yes, that's the ticket... to keep that wondering spirit... even if you've been around the block a few times.  Nothing is the same, everything is changing all the time... even if it seems like nothing is changing... the world is a moving target, and you are a moving target too.  And there's wonder built into that state too... I wonder... And wonder is probably one of our best tools... for survival, for an interesting life...

Tony Scott -- The Real Touch

I loved reading this tribute to Tony Scott, the film director who recently took his own life, by jumping off a bridge... turns out he was seriously ill, and you can't really fault the guy for taking matters into his own hands...

Anyway, very cool interview conducted by Kim Morgan, who is always entertaining and enlightening when it comes to movies.  I was inspired to rent "True Romance," which Tony Scott mentioned as his one of his own personal favorites.  It does hold up. Some kind of pulp classic.  It's very, very Tarantino.  Great script, superb acting all around.  I was never a Christian Slater fan, but in retrospect his performance is just fine.

The movie is a homage to action movies.  Very film-smart, and self-reverential.  And that musical score and narration reminded me so much of Terence Malick's "Badlands" - one of the great, great films!  

The violence in "True Romance" is bold and brutal.  There is a key scene with Patricia Arquette that is over the top violent.  I seem to recall that the first time I saw the film it was "too much" - couldn't handle seeing the pretty girl brutalized.  This time around, it seemed "less real" more stylized... and I suppose more integral to the scene and the movie...

And I do love this quote... I suppose this kind of defines Scott's movie-making aesthetic...

"Once you’ve touched the real world, there’s nothing more fascinating and nothing stranger than the real world and the people." -- Tony Scott

Double-Edge

A double-edged sword.  

The downside to the phlegm and congestion... breathing is shallow and difficult... wake up early, before the crack of dawn...

The upside... get to brew the coffee early... everything is quiet... seems the rest of the world is still asleep... lots of time to think... and sip... and read... and breathing comes easier...

Still Buzzing!

Yes, well, I'm still buzzing about the Flaming Lips' "Dark Side of the Moon."  I saw the live concert video first, and was totally, totally blown away.  Renewed my faith in the r&r experience.  Renewed my faith in the power of music to heal. Renewed my faith in the Flaming Lips as one of the great American weirdo r&r bands.  Renewed my faith in Wayne Coyne as some kind of zany, cosmic evangelist.

I had to hunt down the CD... I plunked down $13.95 at my local CD store... and I'm not disappointed.  In fact, the recorded version is just superb, and offers it's own unique pleasures.  Features Henry Rollins and Peaches.  And the band is in great, great form.  It's a pretty faithful recreation of the Pink Floyd original.  But everything comes thru the Flaming Lips filter; it's all a little funkier, more rocking, funnier, and more profound.  It's zany, and rambling, and cool.  Really.

I've been riding the vibe for days now.  And it's just the greatest feeling.  Amazing that a CD can do that for you... but this one is just such a funky, wacky, cosmic, joy... a real gem... wow!

Steven's Jazzmaster!

Back to the Flaming Lips for a second...  I was so enamored with Steven Drodz' Fender Jazzmaster guitar.  You realize Steven has his pick of just about any guitar you can imagine.  But he is dedicated to the Jazzmaster.  It's a beat old instrument.  And it sounds so great in his hands.  There's something about picking a guitar and sticking with it... it defines a sound.  And that kind of commitment and love is just so admirable.  Plus it's freaking cool!

Party of Liars!

I try hard to see both sides... I try my best to understand where the "other guy" is coming from... I sometimes like to argue as the "Devil's Advocate" to examine a position... or mind-set...

But today's GOP just pisses me off... really, it's the privileged, whiny, white guy (and gal) party. And they have no intellectual ammo... really they want to maintain their privileged existence, hoard their cash, keep the masses behind the gates of their rolling estates.

And they spout lies: lies, damned lies... nothing but bright, shiny lies, not even very creative or interesting lies...  It really grates on one; sort of like fingernails on a chalkboard.  I do not think they will win this coming election.  I do think Obama will be re-elected.  Maybe it will be close, and for sure the country will stay divided, and yes, Obama will have a difficult 2nd term too.

It's not a happy time in the old USA... we are off the road... and god knows where the hell we are headed.  I do think the American people tend to like to be lied to, but this year's GOP just can't keep their lies straight... no clear narrative or thru line to their lying tale... the lies don't sit light or pretty this time around...

Phonies.  It's a phony party. Which usually isn't a political sin.  But maybe this time around even the liars don't actually believe the lies either... and maybe that's why their words are actually painful to hear?  Maybe?

"Wouldn't it be cool if..."

I finally saw and heard the video of The Flaming Lips doing a concert of Pink Floyd's complete "Dark Side of the Moon."  It's the kind of idea you think someone probably hatched in a kitchen at a party where lots of inspiring substances were consumed... and one super-inspired freak intones, "Wouldn't it be cool if..."

And Wayne Coyne and company are just the enterprising freaks to take it on. What a great idea, what a perfect match.  You realize that "Dark Side" is a tightly constructed masterpiece, but The Lips provide a nice funkiness and zaniness (confetti, balloons, space-man get-ups) to the proceedings that is/was well beyond the stoic, post-Barret nature of Pink Floyd.

Wayne Coyne is one of the all-time most charismatic front men ever to  be conceived.  And the Lips are tight and loose, and funky and experimental and cathartic all in one fell swoop.  And Steven Drodz is an amazing musician. He alternates between keyboards and guitar.  I love his old Fender Jazzmaster guitar, it looks like it's been through a war, burned, banged up, dragged through the streets of Mogadishu...

Anyway, breath-taking, thrilling... the closest rock and roll comes to a religious ceremony.  "Dark Side of the Moon" stands and The Flaming Lips make it swing, sway, and elevate!

The End of the Road

Some of my best ideas come from "mis-heard" lines of dialogue...  last night I thought I heard, but pretty sure I mis-heard...

"The end of the road has come and gone."

That sounds about right.  For us, as a culture, maybe as a species.  We are past the end of the road.  We still think we are on a road, but we are not.  We are beyond roads.  Maybe have been for awhile.

Now this isn't just a tale of woe and doom.  There is hope and promise beyond the end of the road.  But the rules of the road no longer apply.  If there are rules, and there might be, they will need to be discovered.  So throw out the old rule book.  And maybe look at the ground you are treading, because it's not the old road you used to tread.

Could be open field, a crooked trail with a steep, killer drop off.  Tread lightly, and be prepared to alter course in a flash, and figure everything you used to know is pretty useless now. And don't worry a whole lot about tomorrow.  You have today, or you have right now, and there are no guarantees once you get beyond the end of the road...

Comic Book Ghetto Hat!

Photographic evidence that whitewolfsonicprincess played the Elbo Room in Chicago over the weekend. I am obscured by a pretty ridiculous hat, think Comic Book Ghetto. A r&r diary entry is to be found here...

R&R Assessment

We did the rock show, and then afterward we did the rock show assessment.  It's all part of the process of doing the rock and roll thing.

How was the overall sound? Excellent. The sound guy was "sober" and did a fabulous job. 

Was the acoustic guitar warm, bold and resonant? Yes, surprisingly it was... seems Jammer has finally solved the acoustic guitar issue-thing. His setup: condenser mic inside guitar, out-board pre-amp for volume and EQ, a feedback buster in the sound hole, a small p.a. speaker output, sound guy mics the p.a. speaker - last night this all worked to perfection. 

What about the vocals? The Lovely Carla was superb, alive and engaged, her voice was beautiful, entrancing.  Jammer was a little ragged and tentative. What's up Jammer?

What about the band? Tight, powerful.  Everyone listened, no false starts or endings.  We have really developed a nice on-stage synergy.  And our bass/drums combo is one of the best in the business.  Are we in the business?

What about the set? It was short and tight 40 minute set.  A mix of originals and covers.  After show assessment: maybe too many covers.  Next time work in more of our originals. 

Overall Grade? Let's give it a solid B... can always, always improve...

Story of a Cheater!

Don't know what the true story is, but let's say you are a world-famous cyclist, and you are a cancer survivor, and an inspiration to people all over the planet.  And you made lots of money, and earned lots of trophies, and inked multi-million dollar endorsement deals and basically reveled in a long reign of being the best of your sport.

And you are personable, and determined and even cool. And lots of people wear these little yellow bracelets in solidarity with your incredible determination and excellence in being the best you can be.

And at the same time, you are a cheater.  You doped.  You enlisted a whole bunch of folks to help you do it.  And there was a concerted effort to hide your cheating.  There was a tight-knit code of silence. But cheat you did. So although, you did win all those races, and you did collect the trophies and cash and did revel in the adoration of the masses, you didn't actually play by the rules.  So in that way, you nullified everything you achieved.  You lived with a pretty big lie for a long, long time.

You wonder what kind of psychic price you pay?  And even though the story is sort of murky and inconclusive... it may be that your whole career, the whole inspirational story is just an elaborate fraud.  It's almost like you nullified your own existence...

Strange.  And it really is the Great New American template.  Cheat! And collect valuable prizes!  And deny, deny, deny.  Never admit guilt! Dammit!

Light (and Dark too)!

"It's all about the light... and how much light and dark you have in your life... and you are lucky if you can see the light in even the darkest circumstances... it might be an illusion, or a trick of the mind, but it's a useful illusion, a useful trick... and no matter, whether you see it or not, experience it or not, it is there, or will be there... there is an endless dance of dark and light... our lives pass through this dance, we are the side-show to the flickerings... if we only see one or the other, only dark, only light, we are just being short-sighted... and we miss the intricateness of existence... 

Half A Chance

"Yes, she is a sad, pathetic, cripple. And you should feel sorry for her... but she is a vicious, sad, pathetic cripple and she will rip your face off if she gets half a chance..."

Roses and Candy!

This "jack of all trades" existence can be overwhelming.  And exhausting.  And when I hit the emotional nadir, I sometimes wonder if I will bounce, and rise again.

Turns out I'm pretty easy.  Don't need no Angel coming to tell me it's gonna be all right, don't need no bolt of lightening, no burning bushes, or god-like voice to egg me on.

A good night's sleep, a freshly-brewed pot of coffee, good music on the box (this morning it's Big Star), and everything is coming up roses and candy!

Joni Mitchell Was Right...

More from my friend Mr. Mo... 

Where we came from... what's in us... who we are... makes you wonder...

Above a Liquor Store, Center of the World

We totally immersed ourselves in the fountain of creativity that is the Abbie Hoffman Died for Your Sins Fest.  If you commit enough time to the weekend fest, you will find yourself glued to a theater seat at 4:00 a.m. riding a buzz of madness and cool...

Lots of little moments of wonder.  Lots of laughter.  Some tears too.  It's all just so human.  The individual efforts are swallowed up into the larger frame of one show, after another show, after another show. At some point the concepts of "good" and "bad" don't even matter any more.

It's all just part of an amazing spectacle... you want to experience it all... and you do... it's inspiring and numbing too... and there is nothing like it...

Even little miracles happen.  An improvised, on the spot, cold reading blows you away on a Sunday afternoon.  One young actor reading from a script in an in the moment, Irish brogue.  And it hits on all levels and renews your faith in the whole creative endeavor... and the tears well up too...

Nothing like it anywhere else in the world... a little black box theater up above a liquor store, the center of the world...

Garden Of Your Mind From that Genial, Sweatered Surrealist

Some times you get the right information at the right time.  After a long night of theater, Mr. Rodgers puts it all in perspective...

This came courtesy of my great friend Mr. Mo... Yes you can grow anything in the garden of your mind!

  

Hang it On a Hanger...

"We keep our expectations low and we work our asses off around here... cause when Ego comes in, they just hang it on a hanger." - Rich Cotovsky

Yeah we are in the middle of this thing... it's kind of like a life... you have feelings, thoughts, desires, and plans... and they are really, really important to you, and you spend your energy, your full sentient being envisioning and actualizing them...

And then somewhere along the line, if you can see and hear and take it in, you realize there's this bigger thing you are part of, it's much bigger than you, it's really so big, and so contradictory, and all-encompassing, and you are such a tiny part, and although, what you do is important to you, it's not all that important to the bigger thing.  

I mean, you have your part to play, and you do it to your maximum potential, but, hell this thing is not about you. And that's OK.  No, that's good.  And if you can just let go, let yourself enter the stream without fear, or doubt, or ego, you can flow, you can fly, you can experience and dream, like a motherfucker...

Bats!

We came home late last night, after a really good rehearsal to find a bat flying around our dining room. So freaky.  Never saw a bat close-up like that before; basically a mouse with wings.  Man could that little sucker fly.  He was swooping and diving around, probably madly searching for a way out.

We have no clue how he got in our apartment.  It was so surreal.  As I watched that little guy, I kept saying, "how did a fucking bat get in our apartment?!" There are no clear answers to that one.

Anyway, we opened the back door and kind of herded him out.  It took him awhile, and lots of swooping and circling, to find the exit, but finally, he swooped out, and then was gone.

Afterwards, we were kind of doubtful the whole thing really happened. Was there really a bat flying around our dining room and kitchen?  Seems sort of unbelievable. The Lovely Carla consulted the literature.  Seems there is conflicting info.  It's either a really good omen (that's what I'm going with), or a really bad omen (Carla is going with that).
Only the shadow knows...

Laws Are Made to Be Broken

Laws of Life:  Everything counts, especially the things that don't count.  Everything is important, especially the unimportant things...

A Conceptual Thing...

So if the thing you're working on is "conceptual" - "of, relating to, or consisting of concepts," the thing you are working on is pretty open-ended.  And you can stuff all kind of things into the thing. There are things that go together, and things that don't go together, and well that's ok, you can put just about anything into the thing.

And those jarring transitions, those odd silences, and dead-ends; well they work just fine in your conceptual thing.  Part of the beauty of this grand conceptualizing is that everything works, even the things that "don't" work.

So: happy, sad, funny, befuddling, clunky, weird, hectoring, poetic, pointless, crude; all is fine for the conceptual thing.  And your concept of this conceptual thing is all-encompassing, it's "air-tight" and really there are "no mistakes," or yes, well, there are mistakes and wrong turns, misguided flights, but they fit perfectly in this conceptual thing.

And your concept is that all this adds up to a higher truth... a truth that underlies the whole grand edifice.  But it's all so ephemeral, the grand edifice only exists in your head, and it can evaporate in an instant, like when it's over, and the lights go up.  And it does evaporate.  That's part of the conceptual thing too...

It's Only Theater & R&R!

So yes, one weekend it's rock and roll theater, and then the next weekend it's just rock and roll... that's how we like it!

A Black Forest State of Mind

We do this Black Forest thing... which is really just a state of mind... it's about creation, and ideas, and some kind of expression... it's a figment of our imaginations... it's also sometimes a theater thing...

Sometimes we've had a space, which makes it all a little more tangible, and sometimes we have not had a space, which makes it all seem more intangible.  

Right now, we are without a space, except for the space within our heads... so we feel a little more Gypsy-like, kind of like when we started out doing "theater in a bag" events, where we would write up a little piece, and then perform it in the middle of an art gallery or a coffee-house.

But space or no space, it's kind of the same drill.  Write a piece, then try to embody it, and then present it to the world (in this case, "the world" can be a very small demographic!).  Our new piece is similar to some of our old pieces, a mixture of monologues, scenes, poetry, rants, and music...  

We think our waring-blender type approach is a great reflection of the madness and mayhem of our world... and there are some others who might agree.  Plus there's lots of folks who scratch their heads and wonder...

And well, that's kind of the thing...

Black Forest @ Abbie Fest!

Yes, the 24th Abbie Hoffman Died for Your Sins Fest is just around the corner!  Our little fringy theater group, Black Forest will be performing on Saturday, August 18...

I wrote a r&r diary entry over @ the whitewolfsonicprincess website about our upcoming appearance: check it out!

Charles Pierce is Really, Really Dope!

If you do anything religiously,and I recommend you do, it should be to read Charles Pierce's blog on Politics in Esquire.  Some of the best writing on the political scene I've come across since that crazed Southerner writing about  Fear and Loathing and Richard Nixon way back when.

Romney just picked Paul Ryan for his VP pick... here's Pierce's description of the man:  "the zombie-eyed granny-starver from Wisconsin."  Great writer, funny too.  And he has his hand on the pulse of our political zeitgeist...  essential! 

Give Free Money to the People!

Yes, this has always seemed to be the best, most practical way to help us out of our "financial crisis."  Give free money to the people!

It's makes moral sense.  It makes economic sense.  The people are tapped out.  The economy is sluggish because most of the people are just scraping by... so the most direct way to get the economy moving again would be to give everyone a big wad of cash.

The only thing preventing the authorities from doing it is ideology.  The powers that be tell us that giving money to Fat Cat Bankers is just good monetary policy, but giving money to the people, well, that smacks of socialism or something...

I call bullshit on that rationale... give free money to the people!  Yes, that's the ticket!

Subtle Differences...

The smoke clears.  Still standing. Contemplating the subtle differences between a "smart-ass," a "smart-aleck," and an "asshole."

Soul Work/Life Work

If you are swimming in the creative realm, there is nothing better than being in the middle of doing the work.  It's a time of total immersion, a time where anything is possible.  It's also a time of bumping your ass on the ground.  It's a time of clunky-ness, and wonder.  

If you have the right collaborators, and if you believe in the work you are doing, there is an over-all engagement that embraces you on all levels - mind, body, spirit, soul.  If all the elements are there, you are doing soul work...

And there's no better, or more important way to be spending your time...

Momentarily Water-less!

I finally got around to listening the "Roger Water-less" Pink Floyd record "Momentary Lapse of Reason."  I like it a lot.  It certainly misses the fire and rage of Mr. Waters, (although it's trying to channel the spirit), but it's got the sound and flavor of Mr. Waters all over it.  Plus you get David Gilmour's voice and guitar, one of the seventh wonders of the world... it sounds rich, lush and cool.  Very Pink Floyd.

And I just absolutely love, love, love the cover... the great Storm Thorgensen...  real beach, real beds, no digital trickery... it shows...

Rehearsing the Essential

If you are in a band, or in a theater company, you do lots of rehearsing.  In fact, it's your primary thing. And it helps if you love to do it.  I happen to love to rehearse; even when it's hard, or intense, or all-consuming.  In fact, it's the all-consuming-ness that's a real kick.


I love to immerse myself in the work.  You lose yourself, and I guess in a way you find yourself too.  It helps if you love the work too.  That way you can enter into a rehearsal with no qualms.  Now sometimes this is an act of faith, even if you wrote the song, or the monologue or scene.  


Everyone has doubts, all your favorite artists at one time or another have had doubts in the work they are doing.  Read any biography about a musician or actor, writer and you will find that doubt is part of their psychic make-up.  At least if they are honest with themselves.


That's the key.  To fully commit, to steam-roller any doubts, no matter what.  To act as if, the work is essential.  And by that leap of faith, you make the work essential to yourself, and hopefully to others too.

Doing It!

We are back in "theater mode" at the moment.  The next few weeks we are preparing for our show at the Abbie Hoffman Died for Your Sins Fest.  We are working on a piece called "The Dogstar Raves On."  Someone pointed out to me that the Dogstar, Sirius, is ascendant, at this time, and I guess that is, or is not, just a coincidence.  My existence is bounded by coincidence.


Which in another realm isn't coincidence at all...


Anyway, the last three pieces we've done at the fest are all very much alike in form.  Short scenes, cryptic monologues, music and movement.  And for us "theater mode" means: boombox, pignose amp, fender guitar, jangly noisemakers, and lots of huffing and puffing from the performers.  This year we have will some help: a dancer, a bass player, a drummer, all helping us to try to clarify and mystify.  


The process of creating these pieces is always slow, organic and clunky.  And we have to do it all in a compressed time-frame.  It's a little scary and overwhelming.  But we trust the process, and trust ourselves to be able to pull it off.  That's the experience of doing it.  

Did I?

The heat is getting to me.  Wake up... sweating.  Drink coffee... sweating... sit in a chair... sweating... although they say if you stop sweating, then you should start worrying... or maybe by then it's too late to worry...


And sitting here sweating, did I just hear this line? "MY BRAIN IS TURNING TO SAND..."  Did I?

I Feel Love

I'm reading a book on Brian Eno (actually re-reading it, yes, I can get obsessive) and I was reminded that the Giorgio Morodor helmed, Donna Summers song "I Feel Love" was a huge eye-opener for Mr. Eno.  Seems that opening synthesizer bit was a happy accident.  


Today the track doesn't really sound "disco" to me, (I was so anti-disco then, and not at all now) it's sort of techno-cool and abstract, a little bit of art-pop.  Plus Summer's voice is just gorgeous.


And you can hear how the track influenced Eno, Bowie and Talking Heads.  It was a song and a sound that inspired some of their best and edgiest work...

UPDATE: For more Brian Eno, check out my r&r diary entry here.

Corporate Money, Television Hucksters and Suckers!

I like reading Charles Pierce.  He's a funny, insightful writer, and he's a political obsessive.  Here he is writing about the Texas Senate Primary.  You might think it would be snooze-inducing stuff. But it's not...


Seems Texas is getting right-winger, and crazier... and all round more wing-nuttier, certainly more Texas.


And here's Pierce on the Tea Party: "The Tea Party now has morphed into a movement made up solely of three elements: corporate money, television hucksters, and suckers."


Well-done Mr. Pierce!

Do-Nothing Animals Unite!

Wow.  Those wealthy 1% really are a jolly, admirable crew.  Seems this is how they think about the rest of us, when they think about us...


"Obama wants to take my money and give it to do-nothing animals."


They are talking about us.  I think it's time for all us "do-nothing animals" to get our act together!  We are not men, we are Devo!