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
August 20, 2014 - 11:56 a.m. First off not many people read last entry and it's the kind I like to write the most. I had actual ideas about Beethoven and Tolkien and how music is like storytelling and visa versa. Now to new things. So what's new? I know I was supposed to write about some people I saw on the subway. OK now I remember it. All civilized people know that on an escalator you stand right and walk left. I was walking down the left side of the escalator and this woman was standing dead center. I said excuse me. She took a bit to move then she moved, now get this, left! I had to pass her on the right. Then I reach the crowded platform. The train comes in, not that crowded, not seats but not that many people standing. Lots of people want to get on the train. I was standing right but he door as I know where to stand. Someone was standing on the other side of the door. People got off and we went to get on and this guy was standing right in the door in front of me. I said "excuse me." there was plenty of room in the car. He just ignored me. So everyone had to enter the train single file because this one guy felt compelled to stand in the door and the car took twice as long to load as it should have. So what do we do with people like that? They clearly don't know how to live in the City. Now I know when you read this your first thought is, "Kill them by slow torture." Well yes that's emotionally satisfying but perhaps a bit harsh. They should just be exiled from the City. Let them live in a place without escalators or subways. Now if they violate their exile and return we give them an appropriate punishment. They are tied down on the ground at the bottom of an escalator or in the subway door and get trampled by the people walking by. A sign is put up telling of their crime so people will stomp. I don't have any anger issues. Nope. I was very good at Trader Joe's. they put you in two lines which feed into three lines. Someone tells you which of the three to go on. I was sent to the wrong line! The person after me got served first! I had to wait an extra 30 seconds! Yes I timed it. But that was just so I can tell you how insignificant it was. I really don't have anger issues. Last night I went to see Kristin Andreassen at Barb�s . It was a full band show. Critter was on guitar, Alex Spiegelman on keyboard, clarinet, and bass clarinet, Robin MacMillan on Drums, and Eric Frey on Bass. Alec and Critter have their own great bands that I love. Alec is in Cuddle Magic and Critter aka Chris Eldridge is in The Punch Brothers. Kristin and Critter Kevin is the only one I expect to know at a Kristin show but by chance I knew the person sitting next to me, Jefferson Hamer. He's a musician of course. I love how everyone is interconnected Kristin is supposed to be easy to write about. She is one of those musicians that make my head explode with ideas. She sets my mind racing. Do I actually need to write more than that? That should be enough to make you want to hear her. One of the first songs she did was The Boat Song at least I think that's the title. It's on the album she hasn't released yet. I always think of it as the dream song. It isn't just about dreams it feels like a dream. I once woke up with the melody in my head which is amazing as I can't start to sing it when I'm awake. It is the archetypal Kristin Andressen song. It shares something with most of her other songs and nobody else in the world could have written it. Kristin comes from the world of Old Time music but most of her original songs are neuromusic. That just hit me last night. They don't use the usual neuroinstruments other than the bass clarinet. They don't have that decadent European feel of most neuromusic. But they do the most important thing, create their own aesthetic. The songs don't move in the direction you think they will. She is from Oregon but many of the songs have a southern drawl. I don't mean she sings with an accent, it's the tempo of the music. They feel stretched out. With most people that's a flaw though one that can be overcome with other elements. Kristin makes it a strength. Cuddle Magic is pure neuromusic so Alec fits right in. The Punch Brothers aren't but Critter knows his way around a guitar no matter what is played. They did a great rendition of Kristin's Crayola. People know it for the Patty Cake percussion she does with women singing the song with her, most often Aoife. But she worked up a solo version with body percussion. Last night it was the rock band version. It was special.Here's what the body percussion and clogging looked like I would have liked to have hung out after the show but it was packed and I wanted to get outside. That proved fortunate as the second I was outside my phone rang, well vibrated as I didn't want it to ring during the show, It was Katherine and I talked to her as I walked back to the subway. I made myself a treat for dinner, Cajun steaks made on the cast iron skillet. I just went shopping but hardly have any meat in the house. It looks like I'll be eating home a lot too. I might have to buy something not on sale! That always feels wrong. I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge: please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
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