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 ...
June 02, 2013 - 12:26 p.m.
I am not going to start today's edition of Wise Madness by telling you what time I'm starting,. I will not tell you that it is 10:41 AM. I'm going to get straight into the action. No preambles.
Long day yesterday on not a lot of sleep. There were many things I could have done yesterday, Appel Farm had an incredible lineup though the people that excite me were not the headliners. I wanted to see:
Caravan of Thieves, Joe Crookston, Aoife O'Donovan, and Colin Hay. I have not actually seen or heard Colin but Carey said I have to. I now see that Aoife and Caravan were on tat the same time so that's one less act that I missed.
I could have gone to the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Club for Red Molly, and the Copper Ponies (Erik Balkey and Annie Donahue). I love and I'm good friends with both bands and I've never seen the Ponies do a set onstage. I have seen them at the Budgiedome and at the Christopher Street open mic and heard what they've recorded.
But what I did was see the Chicks with Dip Blue Show at First Acoustics. That was totally a home game. I volunteer at the venue and it's the Chicks. I'm in the Men's Auxiliary, the Roosters aka the Dips with Chicks.
I am not going to do some major cheating environmentally friendly recycling. I wrote the promo email for the show and I'll plagiarize recycle that. This isn't quite what we sent out. It was depersonalized a bit for mass consumption. On my blog personalization is more appropriate.
It's hard to find a list of greatest or most influential albums that does not include Joni Mitchell's Blue. It can be claimed by rock, folk, and jazz but it is the quintessential singer-songwriter album. It transforms the deeply person into the universal. Some of the songs have become standards, others obscure, but they are all gems.Blue was released in 1971. Fast forward 40 years to 2011. The Chicks with Dip, a sisterhood of New York area songwriters wanted to do a fundraiser. They chose Blue as the theme. They performed the album in its entirety at the Christopher Street Coffeehouse. There was no stage patter. There were no introductions. The idea was to reproduce the experience of listening to an album. Then in the second set they introduced themselves and each performed one of their own songs. It was a planned as a one-off event. Except the world wouldn't let it remain one. Immediately after the show they were asked to perform at other venues. Then as word spread; more places asked them to play. They decided to record the songs from Blue. They did, they released it, and it made more than one top album of 2011 list; including mine. And so it continues.
The songs are too great to be fully realized by just one rendition. The Chicks did not reproduce the original album but found new facets inside of it. This is not a jukebox but an interpretation.
Some of the Chicks might be familiar to you. Many played at first Acoustics, Honor Finnegan, Sharon Goldman, Carolann Solebello, Anna Dagmar, Meg Braun, Karyn Oliver, and Catherine Miles with her band The YaYas. Allison Tartalia, Elisa Peimer, Victoria Lavington, Allison Scola, and Cheryl Praskher might be new to you. You'll soon learn to love them too. I have seen the show six times but I keep coming back for more. Each show is different as they do different original songs.
This is not a diversion, a pleasant way of spending an evening. Joni Mitchell's Blue: A 40th Anniversary Tribute is an event. A night you will cherish.
Coco and Bruce who run First Acoustics had a wedding in the afternoon, conveniently it was in the same church as the concert. Of course that also made things complicated. The concert is in a different room but the wedding used our chairs and the kitchen and there were people all over the place. There was also a meeting in the chapel where the show was. I went to lunch while they were at the wedding then got to the chapel right after the meeting ended and started to set up the tables and chairs with Sandy and Mary, two other volunteers. We expected a big crowd so we needed a denser configuration than usual. We got the big crowd.
Most of my friend sat in the same corner by the piano, in order of appearance, Fred, Gene & Isabel, and all the way from Virginia Jim and Tina. In a bit we were joined by Karen Dahlstrom. I know Karen from Bobtown. She bonded with Honor Finnegan at Kerrville. They were both finalists in the New Folk Contest. Have you noticed that I have very talented friends. I ended up sitting on the bench with Karen. This is the first time I got to spend quality time with her.
The show was great even though it was very hot, there was no air conditioning, and there was 137% humidity. What is it with churches not having AC? When's the last time you saw a Shul without it? Jews don't sweat.
It's been way too long since I had seen most of the chicks. I saw Honor the day before but it's been months since I saw most of the others.
Things run in streaks. I just looked at my calendar and noticed that I'll be seeing Karen again on Tuesday, solo at Jalopy, and Friday, with Bobtown at the Outpost in the Burbs.
I can't find a way to end this so I'll switch to something I've been meaning to write about, my health. It's good. My Crohn's has been as quiet as a dormouse. I take immodium a few times a week but that's it. It's warm and I'm wearing sandals and no socks. I looked at my ankle and noticed how slim it was. This is not about my attractive slim ankles. It' about them not showing a trace of edema. A month ago that looked like a major problem. I have no idea what makes it come and go like that though standing on my feet all day is not good. Years ago a doctor told me that there was nothing I could do about it other than where the compression socks. I didn't want to do that. Instead I started walking more on the theory that it would stimulate vascularization. It seems to have worked. Maybe I need to start walking more again. I should for reasons of general health and actually I have since the weather warmed up.
I'm going to Willamsburg tonight to see Anthony. I could walk around exploring there. What's a good place to eat? How about ice cream? He'll be at the Cameo Gallery at 93 North 6th Street.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018
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Horvendile June 02, 2013
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