I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
May 31, 2013 - 5:42 p.m.
Wow it's late, 4:55. I got a late start to my day. I got to bed late then had some anxiety and trouble sleeping. My alarm woke me up at 8:30 to play the WfUV Question of the Day. Today's question was the epitome of the type of question I hate, "There are a lot of concerts this summer, who are you looking forward to seeing?" It's basically request a song. Nothing I am looking forward to would be played so what I wrote on the QotD group was, "I'm going back to sleep. This wasn't worth getting up for." People knew, and I think looked forward, to my reaction to the question. The first post was, "Full curmudgeon alert." I am the resident curmudgeon. Somebody has to keep them honest. I like to think of myself as the Loyal Opposition.
Last night was a musical double header. First I headed up to the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for Downtown comes Uptown Featuring:Rachael Yamagata, Lake Street Dive, Matt Sucich, Akie Bermiss & Lynette Williams; Hosted by Rita Houston from WFUV
I knew I could only stay for the first half so I was hoping that's when Lake Street Dive would play. That was who I went to see. I got there early, 6 AM and figured I would save a seat for Fred. Damon was already there and saved a seats for both of us, I didn't know he was going to be there. So I spent an hour and a half hanging out with Damon. I grabbed food from the snack bar, Grits with ham. They were good. Most of the food was a bit too foo foo for me. I of course had friends there, Eliot, Glen, um other people I'm totally blanking on, and the person I'll talk about later.
I don't know what held him up but Fred was running late. By the time he got there they closed the doors and wouldn't let people in. I told the guard he was with me but the guard said, "we don�t' save no seats." I figured it wouldn't help to point out that he said a double negative which means that I could save some seats. Fred took it far better than I would have. I'm pretty sure I'd have had a tantrum.
You'd expect the order to be the reverse of the way they are billed. At least at the top that fits how popular they are. But no. Matt went on first. I was so hoping that LSD would come on second. They didn't. It was the presumed headliner Rachel Yamagata, I will have to ask Rita about that. I had to leave after Rachel. Fred was eventually let in as people left and was standing at the back. He took my seat.
Matt is an acoustic singer/songwriter, the kind of music I try to get WFUV to play more of but then again it�s the kind of music that I often decry here. I so wanted to like him. He's a Queens boy. An FUV listener. He was funny and charming. But, you knew there would a but, his songs are not as interesting as he is. They failed my test. I have come up with my test. Can I give a song 100% of my attention and have it hold my interest. The answer was no. Sadly the same was true of Rachael who in this world counts as a star. I guess people like her voice. It's good but not blow me away good. Yes it is better than most of the people I like but not than the best of them and her voice is her selling point. She plays the piano but not good enough to hold your interest. her lyrics try to be quirky but they aren't. It's not like she's bad, If she were in the Emerging Artist Showcase and nobody had heard of her she's probably be middle of the pack. She might even do better, But I know she doesn�t' connect with me.
So I missed the band I know I love, LSD and the one that Damon said sounded great during sound check,. Oh well.
On my way out I passed a bunch of people standing near the roped off VIP section. I recognized someone from back, walked back to check and saw I was right. It was Kat Quinn. I wish I knew she was there. I could have given her the seat we saved for Fred. At least I got a hug and an obvious "I'm glad to see you look."
Then ironically enough I was off to Rockwood to see Andrew Vladeck. I discovered him years ago at the Lower East Side Music Festival. I saw him frequently for years then he fell off my radar. He spotted me in the bar of The Living Room a few months ago and we reconnected. He sent me the advance of his new CD. He is not only still great, he's better than ever.
I got to Rockwood with perfect timing, the previous band just finished and I got a seat. Oddly there was a good crowd but almost everyone stood. There were lots of empty seats.
I thought this was the album release show but it wasn't, that's to come. But it was his first time playing many of the songs out. He did all new songs but one. I was proud of myself for recognizing "Coney Island Baby" from the first few notes. He plays it on slide banjo. The new songs were all on guitar. I decided to be fair and give the new songs the test, Yes I can give the song 100% of my attention and found myself not just entertained but waiting to hear what came next; to find out where things would lead. He has things to say and says them like nobody else.
When the show was over he saw me and I got another "I'm glad to see you" look and another hug. Cute Jewish boys and Nice Irish Girls like me. You can tell from the adjectives I said that for Carey.
OK I just found out that I get to go to the New York Ukulele Festival tonight. Two acts and three people I love are playing; Honor Finnegan and The Lords of Liechtenstein. I have to run.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile May 31, 2013
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