We Deserve a Better Deal...

Joe Biden: "Donald Trump is the worst president we have ever had."

Amen, Joe...

So glad I missed that disheartening car-crash of a dumpster-fire last night. I grieve for those who watched that Presidential Debate, I knew it was gonna be a total waste of brain cells. Why bother? I'd rather stick pins in my eyes, or bamboo shoots under my fingernails, or you know, try a little waterboarding just for kicks?!

Torture!

Instead, I read a book about the band Portishead, a band from Bristol, England, and I DJ'd an all-Bristol CD mix on the stereo: Portishead (1,2 &3), Tricky and Massive Attack. It really was superb.

Anyway, checking out the news this a.m. Just as I expected (see previous post), a total shit-show.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Joe Biden. Sorry, Joe. Don't worry your time is near. The Toxic Clown's days are numbered. 

Word is Joe did just fine, holding his own under the onslaught from the loud, fat, ignorant Toxic Clown. That man is flailing, desperate. Sounds like at least he did accomplish one thing: he consolidated the loud, disgusting, ignorant, racist, no-nothing segment of the voting public. 

Luckily for us, even though they are loud, racist, violent and smug in their total lack of intelligence, they are out-numbered. The rest of us need to seize the day. Vote. Let's reclaim America. Let's imagine a better day and a new dream.

Biden/Harris 2020. We deserve a Better Deal... 

Count Me Out...

Fuck. I am not going to watch the Presidential Debate tonight. I mean, hell, I have already made up my mind, I am voting for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris, as soon as early voting starts here in the heartland. There is nothing that can be said to change my mind. And you know, it's just a spectacle, a faux-event, a tv show. It's certainly not a debate. It's not about the issues. I know the issues, and I know where these candidates stand. I cannot stomach watching the Toxic Clown Prez do his schtick.  Just not palatable. I believe listening to that man mangle the English language just makes us all more ignorant. Plus you need to work overtime counting the lies that come out of his slobbery mouth. I have had my fill of the the Toxic Clown. I expect Joe will do fine. But really it is like wrestling with a muddy pig. The whole exercise is ugly, and dirty. Just a tv spectacle that pretty much diminishes us all.  Count me out.

Yes. We Always Knew...

Turns out, of course that he's a complete fraud. He's been losing money for years. No wonder he's seems so desperate to be friends with powerful, monied folks like Vladimir Putin. Talk about a national security risk. Anyway, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about, our little Toxic Clown Prez. A "fake billionaire." He is an epic loser, and a con-man. Deeply in debt. Most of us suspected this a long time ago. It was totally breath-taking to watch the MAGA crowd make him out to be some kind of genius and savior. A total joke. He pretended to be a successful, powerful man on TV. It was all pretend. A charade. A con. Hard to believe anyone fell for it. And now it's been almost 4 years of him pretending to be President. I think we have all had enough. Turns out if you "elect" (or if he sneaks in because of a quirk of the Electoral College), a fraud and conman to run your government, you are basically totally fucked... who knew? Pretty much most of us...

Back to Basics...

It's funny. Before the pandemic our band was hitting a sort of peak. Playing some of the finest rock clubs in the land. We were having it and being seen by lots of folks. First class, professionally-run establishments. Great sound. Great crowds. A good time. Those times are gone for the foreseeable future. For us, and pretty much the rest of the world too.

The pandemic hit, and we were back to playing for ourselves, in the kitchen, in the bedroom. Close quarters, just the two of us, playing for our little birdies, our voices echoing thru our apartment.

Then we started to venture out, playing at the park with a couple of our fellow musicians. Masked, physically-distant. It reminded us of the energy, inspiration and good vibes of playing music with a group of people. All acoustic. 

I was starting really get back to an acoustic guitar sound. So organic. Yesterday, we finally played on the sidewalk in front of a record store with our P.A. all set up. Electricity. Totally juiced. The vocals up front, a bit of boost on my acoustic guitar, accompanied by a violinist and percussionist.

It was glorious.

Slowly building back up to that bigger sound. But, you know, it has been instructive and gratifying getting back to base, back to the basics. We were all masked. We all stayed a safe distance from each other. The crowd played by the same rules too.

It's the new normal. 

Tiny Adventures...

Every day an adventure...

I'm thinking life is made up of tiny questions & tiny adventures:

"How does my hair look today?" 

"Shower or bath?"

"What's for lunch?"

"Do I have time to lay on the couch for a few minutes?" 

"Bike ride?"

"Kombucha?"

"Stream a TV show or a movie?"

"I mean, what day is it?"

"No! Don't turn on the radio, I can't take any more, please!"

The Fall...

Fall in the Heartland

Daylight is slowly shrinking

Dark early to Dark early

Pandemic 2020 is as strong

and deadly as ever 

now bracketed by darkness

All the news is bad

all my friends and relations 

near & far

are freaking out

(of course, I'm freaking out too,

working hard, doing my best 

to stay calm and clear-headed)

Anyone paying attention

is in crisis

too much bad news

too much ugliness

too much 

pain

death

tragedy

madness

The Loud, Fat, Toxic, Clown Prez

is chattering away ceaselessly

Expect the Ignorant, Crazy, Desperate

Creep to continue to say Ignorant,

Crazy, Desperate Shit from now til,

well, probably until he croaks

We need to keep our heads

cooler heads are required

take in the news in small doses

It's OK to tune out

to seek

shelter & silence, to indulge 

in the fleeting pleasures of Life

Of course, Vote, encourage your

friends and relations to Vote

it is our one "sacred duty" 

in our Democracy

Let's care enough for our Democratic

experiment to save it

Biden/Harris 2020

Blue up & down the Ticket

Blue Wave is required now

Maybe Darkest before the Dawn?

It's OK to Hope

to Dream

to Imagine a Better World

Who knows?!

Maybe right around the corner 

In the meantime 

Hope

Courage

Strength of Mind

Contemplation

Don't forget to Breathe!

The a.m. soundtrack - "Buena Vista Social Club" (1997) -  There's nothing better than listening to a bunch of amazing musicians, Cuban Socialists don't you know, doing their thing, playing pre-revolutionary Cuban music. Inspiring. Collaboration, cooperation, social activism, socialized medicine for all.  Viva la revolution!

Autocratic Hell-Hole?

Tyranny of the Minority...

Is the Toxic Clown Prez at war with Democracy, and a Free & Fair Vote? Is this Toxic Clown Prez a "would-be, wanna-be, dictator?"

I suppose we will find out what kind of country we live in. What if Joe Biden clearly wins the election on Nov. 3rd, and the Toxic Clown Prez does not concede, does not recognize the vote, refuses to accept the result and the transfer of power?

Will we find out we actually live in an autocratic hell-hole? Is it possible the Toxic Clown Prez has destroyed our beautiful, democratic experiment in 4 short years?

Yikes. Who will stand up for our Democracy? Who will stand up and be counted? Vote. Vote Biden/Harris 2020. Vote like your life and this democracy depended upon it. Because, really it looks like it certainly may...

Working on Ourselves...

One of my favorite phrases is "the Good Work." I mean, the creative work. For me this has meant music, writing, theater. It's pretty open-ended. Work that gets you into something else. You put yourself, your mind, your body, all your mental and physical resources into creating something that didn't before exist. This is what I call a "flow activity," something that so engages all the senses that you lose yourself in the doing. Anyone can do it. It is recommended.

The Good Work is also working on yourself. You know, introspection, discovering who you are. "Know Thyself." It really is a lifetime project. We are all moving targets. Alive on a spinning planet. We don't choose our time to be born, or the era in which we live, but we must find our way in a strange and wonderful, and challenging land. A death-defying adventure: Life.

This morning, I came across an artist named Ree Morton, these lines are from her application for a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1976. "I learned to use power tools and to know the difference between needing help and just thinking I did." Also this: "I learned to take myself seriously. I learned to not take myself THAT seriously."

Yes. It's that kind of juggling act. The art of navel-gazing. To explore yourself, to understand your ideas, motives, emotions, pains, struggles, faults, flaws, etc. To take your self seriously, and to do the good, serious, work. To make choices. To try to make yourself a better Human.

And at the same time to not be too serious, or precious in the process. I woke up this morning with the idea of being "Radically Hopeful." Seems like an important choice. But really there is a whole list of radical qualities I'd like to aspire to:

Radically...

hopeful

honest

gracious

open-minded

contemplative

serious

kind

gentle

silent

observing

embracing

empathetic

compassionate

passionate

loving

mind-full

just

pragmatic 

You know the list can just roll out forever. Be better. Work on myself. Try to be and do the best I can. Try without trying. Be like the sky. Be radical in a decidedly un-radical way. Live with contradiction. And competing interests. And just juggle it all with a bit of humility, but determination too.

Creating, Dreaming, Breathing...

A voice on the radio tells me this morning that the Pandemic has been with us for 6 months. We are taking it seriously over here. Hope you are too. It's a nasty, scary thing. Doing our best to avoid it. We are doing all the things they tell us to do. We have altered our life-styles fairly radically. But, you know, it is all in the service of maintaining a life. You need a life to maintain a lifestyle.

There are some upsides. More time. Time seems to stretch out. Less idle chatter. More focused attention. Stopping to smell the roses. Long, meandering bike rides. Good, home-cooked meals. Once in awhile a pizza party. Music, lots of music (see previous post). Creating. Dreaming. Breathing.

Thinking of better days. But doing our best to enjoy the ones we have too.

Music Lovers Here...

Yes, we are music lovers here...

We are the kind of music lovers, that when our BOSE music system craps out, I mean, it starts acting erratically, rejecting every CD we put into it, spitting out CD's like an unhappy, spittoon-crazy, cowboy, well, we have a backup system at hand. Yes, indeed, we replaced and retired our BOSE system set up in the kitchen with a Tivoli Audio system that was sitting on the shelf collecting dust. And you know what? The Tivoli sounds fantastic. 

So we didn't lose a day of music in the kitchen. We fired that Tivoli up for cleanup time Friday afternoon, and U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (2004) brought me to my knees. Really. Mopping the kitchen floor, U2 blasting at maximum volume, there are a couple songs on the CD that always get me, hit me right in the heart. I know Bono is singing about his Father, I know he's singing about God, and the difficulty of being Human, and it gets me every time. So I'm mopping away, and tears are running down my cheeks. Now that's the power of music, right there. A deep spiritual experience. Tears and suds. That's clean-up time around here.

Saturday and Sunday we kept the music flowing. My partner was working on a painting in the kitchen and I was DJ. I spun these great albums. Every one of them fabulous, head-turning, groovy and enlightening:

Portishead's "Dummy" (1994)

Rye's "Woman" (2013)

Soccer Mommy's "Color Theory" (2020)

Angelica Garcia's "Cha Cha Palace" (2020)

Kan Wakan "Moving On" (2014)

I also snuck in another U2 record, "Joshua Tree" (1987). It's a monster record. So good. Every track, shimmering with intelligence, beauty, heart and soul.  I mean, it's almost a cliche to play this one. It was so ubiquitous when it came out. I sometimes take it for granted. Never mind, just put it on. Let it wash over you. As good as any album ever recorded. The real-deal. Oh yeah, it sounded absolutely killer on the Tivoli... "I still haven't found what I'm looking for..."

BTW- What's the soundtrack this a.m.? The Dirty Three.  I'm just running thru every record of their's we own this morning.  Glorious instrumental music. Breathtaking, soul-filling, healing.

If Joe Wins, the Toxic Clown Prez Promises to Disappear! Yay!!!

OMG. This is the greatest pledge our current Toxic Clown Prez has ever uttered. If Joe beats him on Nov. 3rd he promises to go away. Yes. Best news I have heard so far today. Let's make sure it happens. Vote Biden/Harris... Vote Blue 2020. To never hear or see the Toxic Clown again?! Mercy, that would be so, so wonderful. Good for the Nation, the World, good for our collective Mental Health. A good start to a new beginning, a renewed Democratic movement, and a Progressive future. More heart, humanity, compassion, empathy & love. PERFECT!

 

I’m Joe Biden and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/TuRZXPE5xK

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 20, 2020

Time To Fight Tooth and Nail...

RBG was an amazing woman and Judge. A towering American figure. She will be greatly missed. Her passing reminds us that one human being can make a difference.

I expect there will now be a brutal political battle over her replacement. I hope the Democrats fight tooth and nail to prevent the Toxic Clown Prez's nominee, whoever they happen to be, from being confirmed. It should not happen.

Let's elect a new President, a new Senate and then confirm a new Supreme Court Judge. This is an existential fight. We need to fight for our Democracy. Democrats, stand up and be counted. Get Up, Stand Up, Don't Give Up the Fight.

Funny. Life.

Life. You know this rollicking, over-stuffed force that surges thru everything. Life. This overpowering phenomena that animates us, and animates everything surrounding us. We are just a little strand, a fiber of life. We have our little portion. Nothing special. Every insect owns a portion too. Every little critter, every little being under the sun. Every plant. Life. Energy. As Wm Blake once wrote: "Eternal Delight."

There is an ebb and flow. Maybe really we don't own a portion. Life/Energy flows thru us. We are just little vehicles, containers, or little packages that serve the ebb and flow. Sometimes we exude excess energy, sometimes we are nearly empty, needing a good recharge.

Funny. Life.

Renew, Recharge, Reimagine...

Quiet, concentrated listening today.

Yes. Take a deep breath.

Less  talking.

Try to still the internal monologue.

Tend to the silence.

Tune out the noise.

Seems like a capital idea.

Renew, recharge, re-imagine.

Sometimes Democracy Does Not Deliver...

No, unfortunately, sometimes Democracy does not deliver the "Best & the Brightest," instead, we get the "Worst, Dimmest & Most Toxic."

That Loud Fat Toxic Clown walking thru the ashes of decimated forests in C.A. was on the radio yesterday morning refusing to acknowledge the reality of "Climate Change." Can we re-brand it as "Climate Catastrophe?" Or "Murdering our Interconnected, Life-Supporting Ecosystem?" 

I mean, Shite. Find the dumbest, most pig-headed person in your neighborhood, make them President. He or she would be infinitely better than that Freaking Toxic Idiot. He must go...

Biden/Harris 2020... 

Test, or No Damn Test...

Great sleep. Disturbing dreams. That's new. They are also so mundane. So real-world. Sometimes I am working at a company I hate. Or I am engaged in conversation with people I don't like. Or I'm taking a test (damn, I'm always taking a test), and missing something important, like the location of where the test is being held, or, hilariously, I can't find a pen, or, well, of course, I don't possess any of the knowledge needed to actually pass the test. A mission of failure.

Still waters run deep. I think I'm doing fine. That all is well with the world, but my mind is a warring, whirling, disturbing thing. Yeah, and then making the coffee this morning, I think, well of course, the message is crystal clear: You Just Can't Pass the Test.

Seems so damn pessimistic. I mean, I think I have decided that that is a "lie in my space." Fuck that. I don't need to live up to anyone else's conception of what my life is supposed to be, or what my life means, or adds up to.  Even if these doubts, slings and arrows are coming from my own overheated mind, my own consciousness. My own "judgement." WTF?

I decide to choose a alternate narrative. At least in my waking hours.

The a.m. soundtrack - U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind."  (2000). I play this one this morning as an affirmative act of defiance. I actually play the first track twice. Loud. In the kitchen. Feel the adrenaline rush. "It's a Beautiful Day." ! Exclamation point. This record looms as a major statement. It didn't seem like that when it first came out. But today, 20 years later, it looms as some grand opus of optimism, hope, grace. It acknowledges loss, death, pain, separation, but still the sound, the intensity, the passion in the grooves carries you, lifts you up. Recorded before 9/11, before the Iraq Debacle, before the Torture Regime, before "hatred of the other" became a national pastime, before the Economic Meltdown, before Obama, the Toxic Clown and the Raging Global Pandemic. Like they say, a more "innocent time." Although of course, no one was innocent then either. It's a beautiful day, you got a problem with that? Beautiful, yes, test, or no damn test...

A Break...

It is amazing...

a bit of sun

cooler temps

long bike ride

a sit-down on a bench

watching the trees sway

waves crashing into the shore

folks out and about

most with masks

physically-distant

all is good with the day.

a good meal

wrote a new song

read a book

listened to music.

i mean, yes things are dicey...

still, at least for one day, the motto:

"what, me worry?"

My Tribe...

When I am pushed up against the wall by the gruesome daily news and circumstances out of my control, I reach for a lifeline. I turn to Art. A great movie, (for instance, yesterday we watched P.T. Anderson's great magnum opus, "Magnolia"), or a good book (lately I have been reading r&r origin stories - Television, Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, Ramones). I turn to My Tribe. Who and What constitutes My Tribe?  Artists. Creators. Filmmakers, Writers, Musicians, Poets, Painters. Anyone who does the Good Work of creative expression.

This has been my go-to mode most of my life. I mean, since I was a Wee Lad. It started with Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island." I found Freedom and Adventure in the pages, the words, the images conjured up in my head. Later it was the Beatles, Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan that totally captivated me, took me to other places beyond my little room.

I have spent most of my life in that land. It is a land without borders. It is filled with wonderful characters, I mean, Saints, Holy Fools, Prophets: Sam Shepard, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, John Lennon, Dylan, Patti Smith, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Paul Bowles, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Jimi Hendrix, etc.

You can time-travel in an instant. Fill yourself up with the Power and the Glory of words, sounds, creative explorations of all kinds...

I recommend it.

Cascade...

"Cascade of Failure."

I remember being at the hospital and hearing a Doctor say those words.

One system fails, and it leads to other failures, a cascade, 

and then, finally, total collapse.

Feeling the effects of a World-Wide Cascade this a.m.

An Ecological Catastrophe

A Political Calamity

A Brain-Dead Leader

A Raging Global Pandemic

A Loud, Ignorant, Malignant Populace

Our fellow creatures are dying. 

Our Beautiful Little Blue Planet, 

our Life-Supporting, 

Interconnected Ecosystem is Dying.

Yes, this is a time of grieving.

No way around it. 

It's has been a week of darkness and rain in the Heartland,

raging, fiery, hell-scape in California.

Life. Love. Loss.

The a.m soundtrack - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Ghosteen."  (2019). An album of loss & sadness. Grieving. Sad. Gorgeous.

Messages...

I get messages when I'm sleeping. Don't you?

I don't know if it's just my own brain downloading info, or angels beaming to me, or if some other grand, invisible being is checking in. I mean, who really knows?

Last night I got some great song ideas. A little sonic to-do list. And I also got the message that: "Food is medicine."

I mean, I guess I already knew that. So it was just a reminder. The best medicine is food. A varied diet. I do think this is true. Best to stay away from the pharmaceuticals if you can. Go for organic stuff made by nature.

Nature seems to be wiser and older than us. And there is a payoff there. So good food, you know the stuff grown in the garden, the field, the grasslands. Vegetarian. Avoid that factory farm shit. And don't forget spices & herbs.  I do believe that garlic and cayenne pepper (for instance), are healing and magical. Really. I mean it.