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 ...
December 06, 2011 - 3:19 p.m.
I left word open hoping this entry would write itself. It didn't. That plan hardly ever works. So now I'll do all the heavy lifting bring you back to the distant and legendary past of last weekend.
I unfortunately did not have a lot of time to play with LORi Sunday morning as I had to get to Isabel and Gene's early enough to make the chocolavinator before the house concert. I did get to make her bacon and eggs and a bagel for breakfast then she drove me to the Long Island Railroad. The timing was tight. I never drive there and told her to make a wrong turn. I missed my train by one minute. Good thing I allowed enough time for that to not be a huge problem. It meant I only got there a half an hour before doors so the chocolavinator didn't come out till 20 minutes before the show started.
When I got there Gene picked me up and we stopped at the supermarket since I forgot to bring the maple syrup. I took advantage of that to also get whipped cream and a few things I needed in the house.
When we got back I started cooking and hung out; The musicians, Pesky J. Nixon and Jim Colbert and Chris were already there. See I don't explode if I'm not the first to arrive. I have to remember that.
I grabbed my usual seat down front on the left and was joined by Mike. How many people did I know there? Many. I endeavor to be accurate. There was the usual Long Island crowd, Gary & Edith, Steve, Bob & Rona, and Joanne. There was also Brooklyn in da house, Mark, Carolann, Felix, and Meg aka my ride home. There was a lot of "long time no sees. You should have seen my heartfelt welcomes to Ethan, Jake, and Kara. Kara lamented that it was over 20 hours since we had last seen each other. There were tears in my eyes. Who is Kara? Haven't you been paying attention? Eric couldn't make it to the shows this weekend and she replaced him on mandolin. She also played fiddle and did one of her own songs each night: Kara Kulpa. I realized that I wanted to write more about last entry.
Doesn't she just look like a Gordon friend? I pretty much have all the same clothes she's wearing. The idea of looking like a friend of mine has no rational basis. I know my friends have all sorts of different looks but somehow the idea persists where my brain should be and she fits the archetype. Of course Meg Braun would say, "she's a woman with a musical instrument: yes looks like she should be your friend." What matters of course is being able to play the instruments. She did that well enough that she sold out her stock of CDs the first night.
I have photos! I have a video. I should have had three videos but YouTube is having issues. Oh you figured out I have photos, I posted one already. You're smart. You probably figured I didn't take just one photo, and that of Kara, and without her even holding an instrument.
Here's all the first night's photos in a slideshow. Click on it and you can see the album.
Here's the one video.
Pesky J. Nixon told how they watched a video of Anthony da Costa and Abbie Gardner singing Let Me Die in Your Arms over and over again, taken right where they were standing. I took that one too. I had a proud moment. I've uploaded 214 videos, not bad for someone that has never owned a video camera. If I had one I'd be dangerous.
So what do I write about a second show by the same band I wrote about the previous day? The actual question is what don't I write? I had one of those days where the performance got my mind racing and I was writing Wise Madness in my head. That's a good thing. Stimulating my imagination is one of the best things I can ask of musicians. You can be pretty sure that one does I'll be seeing a lot more of them.
One line of thought was on songwriting and led to Mozart and Beethoven but I think I'll save that in a separate entry. I thought about Muppets. Last entry I said that Jake and Ethan look like Muppets; judge for yourself.
What I love is that I can write here that they look like Muppets and not only are they not offended but they like it. They are my kind of people. I'm going to dress like Gonzo and get shot out of a cannon at the Lounge Stage at Falcon Ridge this summer.
What I really wanted to write about is their cover of Tom Waits's Hold On. It is exactly what I want of a cover. It somehow reinvents the song why keeping true to the original. The vocals and sparse arrangement are perfect. It projects a feeling of a voice alone in a vast void, even when they harmonizing. Tom Waits's version will always move me, but Pesky'sgot me thinking about it in a way I haven't in years. That is what makes a cover worth doing.
After the show I got a ride home from Mark and Carolann who also drove Meg home. That was nice. I wasn't the last one to leave and I didn't turn into ooze. It's good to know I can do that too.
I wish I could just plug you into everything I was thinking that day. The ability to make my mind work like that is the highest praise I can give to the show. Instead you get shadows on the wall of the cave.
I always feel awkward when musicians thank me for writing good things about them. I'm not writing for them. I'm writing it for you My Gentle Readers. I want you to share my pleasure. When I'm being honest with myself I admit I'll also writing for myself. I want to get the credit for telling you about something great. I'm grateful to Gene for turning me on to Barnaby Bright. I'd love to have others feel about me that way.
I almost forgot to post the Sunday photos. Here they are.
It's late now. I have already eaten. I've already gone out and had a misadventure getting bagels. I can't say that breakfast is beckoning. After I post this I'm going down into the salt mines, I'm grading tests.
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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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Horvendile December 06, 2011
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