I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

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.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

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 ...
-James Branch Cabell

September 01, 2017 - 11:10 a.m.

Harpeth CHIRPing

I hope you are ready for a rerun, I did the same thing last night as I did the night before, I saw Harpeth Rising give a free show in a park. Last night it was Ballard Park in Ridgefield CT, the night before it was Parker Press Park in Woodbridge NJ, 91.3 miles away. I wonder if I set a record for the furthest distance between seeing Harpeth Rising on consecutive nights by someone that doesn't have a car. I wonder if anyone else would even think about something like that. Sometimes you know when your mind doesn't work like most people's. Sometimes you don't; that's what gets scary.

I had an easier time getting to last night's show as Jane and Bernie gave me a ride. Jane is a distant relative of Michelle the banjo player, they are both related to the outlaw Cole Younger. I used that as enticement to get Jane and Bernie to the show. The great music had more than a little to do with it too.

I didn't at green room food; we brought sandwiches. Mine was peanut butter. I'm sixty-years-old and peanut butter still makes me happy. It's more than enjoying the taste. The world is a better place with peanut butter in my mouth.

I was disappointed that Marilyn and Jim couldn't make it. They planned on going. They live near Hartford but I met them at a show of Honor's in Park Slope. Honor opened for Harpeth Rising last night. I told you the Folk World was tiny. This next paragraph in italics is just for Marilyn and Jim, the rest of you can skip to the next one.

Don't worry about missing the show. It was the worst show Harpeth Rising ever gave. They did nothing but covers of Taylor Swift and John Phillip Sousa. The encore was their rendition of John Cage's 4'33" that they repeated three times. You don't need to read the details; just be happy that you missed the show and skip the rest of this.

Welcome back everyone that isn't Jim and Marilyn. Unlike the day before I didn't have to wait for the police to respond to an assault on the way to the show. I'm perfectly happy with that lack of excitement. I haven't been to the CHIRP series at Ballard Park in ages but remembered it well. When I had a car, I went there fairly often as Barbara Manners who presents the shows has great taste, the shows are free.

Does Harpeth Rising hold up on consecutive days? Don't tell Jim and Marilyn but yes. I still got totally lost in their music. There is just so much content to their music that you can keep unpacking it. I'm listening to their most recent album, Against All Tides on repeat as I write this. I realized that I have not listened to it often enough. I need to get a VW microbus, give it a psychedelic paint job, and follow the band around. VW is bringing the microbus back as an electric vehicle.

Fred wasn't there so I brought my camera. Don't be silly, I have not edited them yet so you can't see them. I took a video of my favorite song of theirs, Lucid Dreaming Sheep. They describe their genre exactly the same as I do, "Chamber Folk" but Lucid Dreaming Sheep is pure "Acid Folk." Alice in Wonderland is part of the inspiration. I would love to see what animation Andrew Benincasa could come up with it for a music video.

The one thing I was not prepared for was the temperature. I checked the weather before I left, but I checked it for City Island. Ridgefield is north of here and inland. I wore a t-shirt and brought a thin nylon windbreaker to wear over it, sandals without socks. It went down to 61°. As soon as I got up and moved I was fine but sitting their it was chilly. Getting into the warm car after the show felt good.

I had an evening with music, friends, and peanut butter. That's enough to keep me happy. I have simple needs.

I have nothing on today's agenda but therapy and food shopping. Tomorrow's entry will not be as easy to write. Let's hope I get inspired. I'm stealing this entry's wrap up from Vin Scelsa. I only steal from the best.



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



creative commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Horvendile September 01, 2017
site search by freefind advanced


Follow on Feedly



about me - read my profile! read other DiaryLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!