Happy Birthday!

barrettwparents
Originally uploaded by stereogab.

Today is my mom's birthday. My mom has been through a lot this year. Her Swedish Minnesota Lutheran upbringing equipped her with the strength and stoicism to endure the various hardships that life has tossed her way over the years. She is now the matriarch of her family, having outlived her three sisters. She keeps in touch with her nieces and nephews and even marks the birthdays of their children. She touches many children's lives in her work as librarian in a public library. I am happy to honor her today, and every day.

Latvian Repose

IMG_2154.JPG
Originally uploaded by tomcakuls.

Tom C is in Latvia right now. he posted some summer solstice snaps. funny, I was just thinking about him, wondering how his visit is going.

here in DC on the solstice we cooked the first veggies from our garden (zucchini, sage, radishes). I don't know if they taste better because they're so fresh or because we grew them.

Black Star

My friend Chet is from Ghana. His family lives near the capital, Accra. He's a member of the Ga tribe, one of many tribes in Ghana. Yesterday we sat together in the cafeteria at work and watched the World Cup match between the United States and Ghana. The World Cup is a big deal here at work. They have TVs set up everywhere, with broadcasts of all the games. It's funny to see clusters of normally staid economists whooping and cheering for their teams. And everyone is doing it; as I watched the game, Chet was seated to my right and to my left was my boss's boss's boss.

I don't really follow the World Cup but I wanted to watch the match with Chet because he was so excited about it. After the second goal by Ghana he was so nervous and excited he was almost shaking. When they won he jumped up and cheered at the top of his lungs. The rest of the crowd laughed and applauded; he was the only one from Ghana in the room and they were happy for him and for the underdog team that had pulled off such an upset. On our way back to our offices he kept running into fellow Ghanaians and hugging them. He gave me a high five slap so hard my hand stung for half an hour afterwards.

I read a New York Times article today about the troubles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (once known as Zaire). The article said 1000 people are dying every day as a result of a four-year civil war. Four million have died so far. That's a lot of people. To us Westerners, Africa is a backwards place, kind of a nightmare continent. If we think about it at all it's usually with pity ("those poor starving people"). Or contempt ("why can't they get it together?"). Much of it is fucked up but its also home to millions of people who are proud of their lives. People like to be proud of their home. And they invest their emotions in a team (the Redskins, etc) because they feel the team represents their home and when that team wins, they can share the pride of being on the winning side. In that sense it's more than just a soccer match. It's fulfilling a basic human need: pride.

Living on the Mechanical Leash

Last month, my parent's computer died. So did the transmission on their car. So did their air conditioner. As for me, in the last 30 days my MOTU stopped working, a DVD I ordered arrived unplayable, and the key to the door of my apartment stopped working. And just as I type this post, the warning "Could not connect to Blogger.com. Saving and publishing may fail" suddenly popped up.

Even when the gadgets are working, I find myself distracted with all the choices: create more iTunes playlists? or update my Flickr page? Yesterday out on the road (in another mechanized piece of my life!) I passed a guy who was typing on his Blackberry while driving 65 mph. I doubt he could compose a very coherent email right then. He certainly couldn't drive coherently.

I've come to realize that the more I automate my life, the more I lose control of my life. There are many things in my life I can't control anyway (death, the weather) but where I have the choice, I now try to run it through the metric "Do I really need this?" "Does this really matter?"

The more things we buy, the more beholden we are to the companies that make them.

I'd type more but I have to call support. I just got an email that my roeshad.com domain has expired...

John Lennon Reads About Brian Jones

Hackmuth alerted me to this great photo, which appeared on The Wit of the Staircase. This is around 1969, when Lennon was looking like a pilgrim and Jones was looking like a Nazi. The SS uniform was his (German) girlfriend Anita Pallenberg's idea. They did a series of photos, some with Brian standing in jackboots on a toy doll. It was supposed to signify an anti-fascist stance but it came across as nothing more (or less) than a blonde rock star dressed as a Nazi. Not a good idea.

blues

blues
Originally uploaded by BarrettJ.

here's a kinda blue photo for a stormy monday

6.6.06

via sleep, eat food, have visions

The Hog Farm network

"In the 70's the Hog Farm had several different Downtown SJ addresses...I stayed for several days at a house on S 13th and another on S 16th, (wherethe bus was parked being fixed ,as always) , in the Fall of '71, one of astring of homes from Oregon to New Mexico, all the way East to NYC and up tonorthern...extreme northern...Canada was across the back fence...Vermont. A network of literally thousands of people, if a bus broke down or someone got popped or hurt, anywhere, the Hog Farm had a friend who would drive the 50 miles, put us up, help us fix it...if you had a phone you could always call Louie or someone who could call Louie and he would get out the "Book" and make some calls. Lawyers, doctors, mechanics, moms, ex-girlfriends as well as musicians, artists, publishers, promoters, loan sharks, famed chefs with fancy restaurants, actors and actresses, writers, filmmakers...everybody was in the "Book" and help was on the way. Of course you were in the "Book" also and would get your calls as well..." recounts an old timer in this blog post

W.I.T.C.H.

W I T C H activities, 1968-9. from "Playpower" by Richard Neville:
W I T C H — Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, has conducted several (black) mass demonstrations outside New York business institutions. Witches, it is pointed out, have been the original guerrillas and resistance fighters against oppression down through the ages. Historically witches are seen as non-conformist, free, intelligent, joyous, aggressive, creative, scientific and actively rebellious (birth-controllers, abortionists, herbalists, heads and pushers). On Hallowe’en Eve (1968) W I T C H haunted the New York Stock Exchange. Nervous commissionaires barred the way while witches in black fairytale cloaks claimed they had an appointment with the Chief Executor of Wall Street himself — Satan. (’With closed eyes and lowered heads the women incanted the Berber Yeall — sacred to Algerian witches — and proclaimed the coming demise of various stocks. A few hours later the market closed 1.5 points down, and the following day it dropped five points.’ Rat, 6 Novem ber 1968.) On St. Valentine’s Day (1969) witches disrupted New York’s first Bridal Fair at Madison Square Garden (a sample slogan: Love starts at Chase Manhattan) and were roughed up by uniformed bouncers who screamed, ‘You’re sick, you’re sick, you’re sick.’

Edie Sedgwick - Pretty Doomed

Over the past few months I've learned a lot about the life and times of Edie Sedgwick. I read her biography and after I finished the book I rented Ciao Manhattan which is a totally weird, trainwreck of a movie and is only interesting if you're researching all things Edie. I guess others are thinking of Edie too, because there's a movie coming out called Factory Girl (which I have a feeling is going to suck as much as the recent Brian Jones biopic) and Urban Outfitters is selling this (which Gab discovered the day she finished reading the book). Synchronicity, huh?

In the extra on the Ciao Manhattan DVD there is an interview with George Plimpton, who edited the Edie biography. In the interview he notes that she really had no ideas or talent, yet she was appealing because she was so pretty, vulnerable and sparked.

I guess her story is interesting to me because she was one of a number of sixties characters (Nico, Jim Morrison, et al) who lived for the moment with a reckless intensity that is completely unimaginable in these modern, careful times when the biggest news is Britney Spears driving without her child in a car seat.

Friends in Finland (and all over)

Hannu Haahti runs a small CD-R label in Finland. He's been kind enough to put out two of my songs. The first was on a compilation that came out around Christmas last year. The second just came out. It is entitled Kanoja, Myös Hanoja . I have no idea what the title means but I like the cover a lot, and to be on a compilation whose lineup includes Ben Reynolds and Robert Horton is kickass.

Speaking of good musicians- my friend Mike Tamburo came through town this past Friday. He performed a long set that built to an amazing crescendo. He's really expanded his sound since I saw him last summer. Accompanying him on this tour was Nick Schillace. Nick is another solo steel-string guitar player. He has a very fluid, fast style, which you can hear on his album Box Canyon

I get by with a little help from my friends.

Happy Birthday Pete!

This Friday

flyer by stereogab

Notes from a Wise Old Rat

"Animals talk and convey information but they do not write. They cannot make information available to future generations or to animals outside the range of their communication system. This is the crucial distinction between men and other animals. WRITING. Korzybski, who
developed the concept of General Semantics, the meaning of meaning, has pointed out this human distinction and described man as ‘the time binding animal’. He can make information to other men over a length of time through writing. Animals talk. They don’t write. Now a wise old rat may know a lot about traps and poison but he cannot write a text book on DEATH TRAPS IN YOUR WAREHOUSE for the Reader’s Digest with tactics for ganging up on digs and ferrets and taking care of wise guys who stuff steel wool up our holes."
From The Electronic Revolution (pdf) by William S. Burroughs.

Mike Tamburo

My friend Mike Tamburo is on the road again, this time with Nick Schillace.

MIKE TAMBURO & NICK SCHILLACE TOUR DATES
May 12 2006 avant gentlemen's lodge philadelphia, PA
May 14 2006 Radio Bean burlington, VT
May 14 2006 WFMU (taping at 10am to be played on may 15)
May 15 2006 strange maine portland, ME
May 16 2006 PA's Lounge Somerville, MA
May 17 2006 TBA (probably once twice sound) Baltimore, MD
May 18 2006 Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar Charlottesville, VA
May 19 2006 611 florida washington d.c.
May 20 2006 garfield artworks (early show 6pm) pittsburgh, PA

We'll be opening for them on May 19th at 611 Florida.

Reading the Future

mrslaura
Originally uploaded by BarrettJ.

Which way to go? I can tell you one thing: the future is always ahead. There's no way to dodge it and stay alive.

Sometimes living day-by-day ceases to cut it and I have to stop and make a plan. Navigating the world is difficult but with some luck and lots of sweat it is possible to live our dreams.

Speaking of dreams coming true, see New York Doll to learn how it happened to Arthur "Killer" Kane.

Transmission from Planet GONG

at 9pm gmt

join your brothers and sisters on the telepathic airways.

what else do we contact?

this is the mystery of gong. nobody stops you from knowing but yourself.

Maya

Maya has come into this world, courtesy of Phong and Sabine.

Dead Head

When I was in high school I was a Dead Head. I saw them at the Hartford Civic Center and the New Haven Coliseum. Then I went to college and started listening to SST bands. I lapsed while living in Los Angeles, where I saw them at the Sports Arena in 1994. Then I went back into denial until about four years ago when I went to see Phil Lesh and Friends in Hersey, PA. Since then I have come to accept that I am a Dead Head. While my loved ones have come to accept my condition, they fear it will get worse. But while I have no intention of getting dancing bears tatooed around my bicep, or glued to my car, I still crave The Dead sometimes.

That's where the collection on archive.org comes in handy. Last year, in response to a request from The Dead Organization (or whatever their business arm is called), the sound board recordings were made available in streaming media format only, as opposed to files for downloading that had been available previously. But thanks to Audio Hijack, I can now listen to hours of Grateful Dead shows. Just as long as I keep my headphones on, that is ; )

Providence!