At War with yourself,.. The only competition is self-competition. Everything that happens is a direct consequence of our own actions and competing, with small wins and losses, with ourselves along the way. Einstein said, “Perception is our most powerful tool” and he was right. If you believe in these 2 statements, you will change things in a positive way for yourself and those around you. Posturing and anger never solved anything except in the world of Art, meaning it was backed by a statement, however abstract. Hopefully, that just changed your perception of art. Independent thought will solve tomorrow’s problems, not prescribed knowledge (that’s a tool to independent thought). Moving on,.. What do we want from our leaders? How about: Decisiveness, Responsiveness, and Honesty. I think that is pretty good. So who is the leader in our world of self-competition, you are. Be what you expect a leader to be and you will change things in a positive way for yourself and those around you. If this message bothers you in any way, don’t worry about me; I’m only competing with myself
Waste-Land
WASTE-LAND
I awake amidst a grinding of gears and an enormous belching of smoke as the factory next-door springs to life. I’ve been here three days but each morning it feels almost dreamlike as if this place is not supposed to exist. It’s not, but it does. Coal burns and grinds the turbine next store sending carbon into the grey green sky. It fires kilowatts next door to my hybrid air conditioner and filter. The more coal that burns the harder the unit needs to work in a never-ending paradox that is this place.
How I came to be here, I’ve yet to discover. I keep thinking that the next morning will bring a return to normalcy and that which I’ve known but so far this is not the case. My room is a box of ten square meters, maybe, in the corner of this industrial building. There are two windows, north and west, and a mattress on the floor. There is no need for a blanket. With the air unit at full blast, the temperature rarely falls below 85. I fear I’ve lost ten or more pounds that I can scantily afford.
The factory sits outside the north window and it rarely idles. It is a grey windowless hulk in a sea of tenements flexing its superiority as an untouchable fixture of ‘the way’. I fear I’ve lost ‘the way’ for I no longer understand this superhero.
The west window faces an alley. As scary as the view to the north might be, it pales to the horror of the west. And the smell. The overwhelming ingredient is Styrofoam, piled nearly halfway to my window and mixed with the bones of dead animals and rotted vegetables. Parts of the pile could certainly be put to better use, the other seem best served in their current form. A forever tower of synthetic polystyrene that will meet this planets next master. “Hello new species of ethereal dominance, meet you to-go container.” I fear I only have days until the tower reaches my window and then what. My air machine could never defeat such a beast.
I pull my coat on determined to learn more about my new home. The coat provides innocuous warmth but soothe my minds paranoia that bugs and disease, rampant in the air and objects around me, will not be able to penetrate it’s canvas lining.
The street below me is bustling with nameless, faceless wretches hurrying to get from one nowhere to the next. Yes, this place is the ‘somewhere’ else. This is the unseen stage right in the equation of neo-classical economics. It is the wasteland for all things, human or otherwise and somehow I have found myself here.
The area I am in borders a vibrant business district but we cannot cross over. The only thing that crosses over is kilowatts and some finished goods from the factories at the very edges of the wasteland. Those are the prized jobs but it only for the quality of the air one gets to breath during their sixteen hours of toil. I like the games the children play.
Sitting on the edges of the wasteland during the morning and evening rush they try simply to be noticed. Some of the young ones are really quite talented. There’s one boy that can stand on his head for hours but few of the folks rushing to the glass towers have time to notice. He receives scant credit but its more than most. Oddly, there are few young girls. For they are not waste, they have been taken elsewhere.
In the wee hours before the morning rush, an endless seas of large trucks snakes through the wasteland. Too many stop in my alley, I will soon be swamped. I yearn to be out of here but I fear I may never leave until I discover the reason I am here.
The next morning my air machine breaks and I rush down to the street desperate to find someone to fix it. I have no money, I will have to be quite convincing with my offer of manual labor. In the doorway across from my building an old woman sits haggard and scowling at me. She is tattered and chewing on a bone of some animal. She was once a popular girl and so she left the wasteland. She came as everything does here, broken, bruised and thrown out. Sent to the ‘someplace’ that must always be here to satisfy the equation.
That the wasteland exists is shocking to most who would view it only as a scene from some futuristic Hollywood tale of grit and glory rising from the despair. Only each story told in Hollywood or elsewhere is tinged with truth as evidenced by my wasteland home.
The day’s pass by and my mind decays with the lacking function of my air machine. I was never able to find someone willing to fix it. Nobody seems to speak the same language here. It is Babel reunited. I cavort with the old women and listen to her unintelligible tales told through broken teeth. We share a full and unopened bottle of whiskey at Christmas that someone inexplicably threw out. It is Christmas after all. For a moment things are complete for an instant. But they always return to what they are by morning and I know that this is the place I have come to disappear. In this wasteland, buried between the tower and the plant.
The Power of Positive Presence
Strumming my first chord at 8am happens occasionally but usually it’s just for the birds, the trees and myself.
The past Saturday, I let the music play me in support of the 2013 CT Northeast Organic Food Associations Winter Conference. It was a crisp beautiful morning and you could feel the energy and excitement pouring onto the grounds at Wilton High School. I was in the registration area for the early session then got to play the lunch hour, before experiencing the wonderful food. Here’s my spot from the early morning centering.
With the Art of Wilton High School Students behind me, I strummed with joy
Yes, I called my early morning guitar work ‘centering’ and that’s exactly how I view it. It relates back to my yoga practice where one tries to get into the moment, the present moment. I believe it is the key to staying in a positive space. Here’s my process derived from great teachers and personal exploration:
1.) Breath: The breath is the most important circle, stay focused on it
2.) Smile: they’re contagious and they create positive space allowing you to say more that words ever could
3.) The House: Music lives inside every living thing. I must let the music move through me
4.) The Moment: Everything I’ve done or will do is preparation for this moment alone.
5.) Love: If I can love all living things, that emotion can transform the world
I am not permanently in this place but I am trying to be there. When I do become present, everything around me resonates with energy and light. Conversations flow easily, often without words.
Here was my message for the 800 or so folks assembled at this wonderful conference: If everyone here could be present just for one moment. Not thinking about picking up the kids or what to make for dinner tonight. Not worrying about the workweek ahead and not lamenting past decisions or poor planning in this moment. If we all achieve this, the amount of information that can be access would be astounding. These 800 people can change the world in a positive way (it actually takes far fewer than 800). That’s the power of positive presence and it is something I wish for everyone.
There are tremendous folks and information within NOFA, consider joining today at www.ctnofa.org
Ken Coulson is the founder of Sonic Bomb LLC, a mixed-media company that uses art to raise awareness about sustainable living solutions. He is an advocate of Natural Capitalism, a multi-instrument musician and is writing his first book, Annalee & The Forever Smile. His musical project is at http://www.gatsbygreenlight.com
5 Steps Towards Tangible Sustainability
This past Sunday, I was setting up to play music in support of the Whole Planet Foundation at Whole Foods in Westport CT when a man approached me to say hi. He looked over my meager media table mentioning something about a birthday party for his son and asked me about Gatsby’s Green Light. As I was explaining the project, his attention perked up when I said the word ‘Sustainability’. He was intrigued but clearly frustrated. “What does it mean in terms of action? Specifically?”
Seems many people, in his estimation, are hearing a lot of the buzzwords in the sustainability field, ‘green’, ‘organic’, etc but not knowing exactly what they can do to invest in our collective future.
I could empathize with his frustration. Having spent the last year studying the problems and trying to find or create meaningful work in the field, I was just getting through the initial learning curve of sustainable living practices. Habit transitions are tough but look deeply and you will understand the crucial nature of the change that is required. Here’s my list of 5 things you can do to create a foundation of sustainable living for yourself and hopefully, by discussing and encouraging these actions, for others as well
1.) Grow Something: We started a small garden and compost late last year. To our amazement, our mustard and spinach grew through some pretty cold conditions and we enjoyed the fresh food on omelets and salads. In the spring we plan to double the size of our garden, fence it and grow food inside. You can grow sprouts in a jar and many traditional retailers have a variety of seeds on hand. Take the challenge, fresh direct from you garden vs. store bought. I think your bodies and taste buds will know the difference.
Our Compost Bin gets started last year
2.) Vote with your Dollars: I was playing music in Whole Foods and here’s the thing. For a multi billion-dollar company Whole Foods does some great things but they are not local. I hope WF continues to become a learning center, using their scale and success to do things like: buy their buildings and install renewable power to become their own micro grid, onsite composting, waste energy implementation. WF aside, you need to vote local and vote clean with your dollars. Here are three great ways: 1.) Join a CSA for some of your fresh produce throughout the year: http://www.ctnofa.org/CSAs.htm. 2.) See a community play or music event 3.) Bank with a credit union or local bank. Why? They typically will invest directly in your community making small business loans, grants, scholarships etc
3.) Make a Culture Investment: For those of you around in the 60’s, you knew that music and art defined, not only our smiles, but our hearts, souls and minds as well. This is the understanding that drove me to express myself through these very mediums. In a very real way, supporting local and traveling artists over the monopolized commercialized alternative is a very real way to promote sustainable living. Pick culture that supports the ideals of your community and lift it with your dollars.
4.) Speak up on Clean Energy: I had the pleasure of doing a deep dive into Solar Energy production over the last year. It is truly amazing and makes me happy just to think about the fact that we could power ALL we do with clean from the sun and wind forever with zero fuel costs. The public tide has turned on this now it’s time for the government to do what we are asking here. Sign this petition here: http://ecowatch.org/2012/expedite-renewable-energy/
Solar at a waste facility in CT
5.) Waste Not: One of the biggest things we have transitioned to over the past year is adhere to the four R’s:
Recycle: .Our local transfer station is pretty good where we can recycle glass, plastic, junk mail, mixed paper, cardboard and more. The key is to be really diligent (store you used batteries up for a bigger trip) and, if you can, to get involved with your town as to why they might not be able to recycle certain things.
Reuse: I’m pretty excited for our used ‘Chobani’ container pepper garden this spring. You’d be amazed at how many plastic containers you are throwing out. Most recycling centers don’t handle these well so re-use is the best option. The uses are unlimited from spare change containers to plant pots even a drinking bowl of the cat.
Reduce: Focusing on writing over the past year and being out of the ‘traditional’ work pattern has made this one easy for me. In our home we turned a $75 dollar investment in energy efficiency into an estimated $3000 saving in year one. For you financial types, annualize that rate of return then think about the growth potential if even a small percentage of building and residences achieved such savings. Here’s info on the CT program: http://www.cl-p.com/home/saveenergy/rebates/homeenergysolutions.aspx
Rethink: When you start to understand how serious the problem of waste is (I won’t inundate you with scary facts here but there are many) you’ll understand the importance of taking the above actions. Additionally, we need community leaders to help redefine how our communities function, standards at restaurants, zoning for new building, incentives to waste less. All these actions and more need to be community driven. The government should be steering the ship, the people need to row. That is the only way true change will occur.
Thanks for considering these changes, there are many more that we can all take together through our communities and I’d love to hear and share your successes as well.
-ken
Ken Coulson is the founder of Sonic Bomb LLC, a mixed-media company that uses art to raise awareness about sustainable living solutions. He is an advocate of Natural Capitalism, a multi-instrument musician and is writing his first book, Annalee & The Forever Smile.
Musical E-motivation
Music is really that supremely important
Imagine life without its’ rhythm, its intention and dynamic, color and space. Without it’s articulation. All conversations are not musical but a great conversation certainly is. All communication however can be thought of as containing the elements of music. The ones that don’t work are filled with discord. The ones that do are harmonious and lead to progress. For only the absence of music in totality from a society could confirm the juxtaposition of the fable on the tower of Babel. Music transcends basic conversation to sit among the inexplicable joys of life. Our passions or our drivers that should not be confused with the ones we download to keep our printers running smoothly.
I choose to try to articulate that inexplicable joy we get from music, that sustenance, that spark and that push to go on when all else seems poised and ready to thwart the good and right and true intention of ourselves and our loved ones. So then our music must be about changing the world in ways both subtle and profound. Because it is there to push us back into the fray when all else seems lost. It is there to force the hard conversation to establish a foundation for growth. It is there to reinforce our true selves out of hide and into the beautiful light of life. Let us then, or ,we must consider the true emotional content of music herself.
True emotion will never dissipate. Love and Courage and Kindness are the most powerful emotions. Like all true vibrations, once brought forth with intention they will last forever, even if they grow faint from time to time. The true vibrations the true intention of our lives is to be at peace and in wonder. Simplification supplanting these true emotions or worse working towards the short wave polar opposites can only remain relevant to constant reinvention. Now that was confusing. Let me put it another way, CSN only had to make Déjà vu once and it will last forever. It is about as powerful as music could be speaking to people on opposite sides of our unique and abstract system of human labels. For those on the right and the left, the Christians and the Jews, are all trying to ‘Teach their children well’. This infused Love Courage and Kindness become more present, the dynamic of the vibrations increases, when we need them most. Like now, true vibrations are exercising their intent to be heard felt and lived. Through their emulation we will change the world and then if we’d like we can blame the music. Because that has happened before as well.
Becoming an active channel for true emotional content is our natural path. You will have access to more information and walk a path of peace and wonder. You will have an effect and you will be heard. Follow the music, follow your heart and when you’re ready craft a world of harmony. It’s waiting for you right now.
Gatsby’s Fall Run Oct 2012
GGL Fall Run
Oct 2012
I hadn’t expected the tour to end in Long Island but here I was at the Eastern tip of New York State strumming my guitar for thirty people around a fire pit, including the bride and groom. OK so maybe it wasn’t a gig in the traditional sense but for me it may have been the most important one. Moments ago, the crowd had been restless and in full assault of the single bartender attempting to keep their hands full of shots of tequila and vodka. The bar was loud even though the music was not and I couldn’t help thinking that for the attendees it was a Pavlov response to being in one too many loud bars where they try to pummel you into rhythmic submission with canned and emotion-less music. The crowd was boisterous full of kind but very tough men. Due to the frequency of emotionalism I am often emitting it was the type of crowd I would have to be careful with.
“Yeah, go man! That’s it.” said the man to my left as I bounced through Neil Young and Johnny Cash. I was exhausted, playing and traveling for a forth day, and the colors and faces around the fire pit were blending and blurring. I got the feeling that many of the folks had not been exposed to true vibrations in awhile. The effect my guitar had on them was similar to what I’ve seen happen often to children when the music happens. They must receive it, it is too important to ignore. Similarly, these men and women who came together in celebration were called to the fire pit almost subconsciously. They left the discord of the bar for the harmony and emotion of the guitar. True vibrations, filled with emotion, are powerful and the live format is scientifically different to various recorded formats. Additionally, when recording have been made purely with commercial intention, that can be felt and they don’t last as long as those made to effect large social change, both light and dark. Men who had been defensive softened and thanked me; I in turn thanked them and went to bed.
A day ago, we had been on my buddy Dean Carlson’s Wyebrook Farms in Pennsylvania. It was an incredible day for GGL and myself to play for sustainability surrounded by so much of it in practice. We played on a stage powered by the sun and Dean has various other examples of sustainability in his farming, market, vehicles, and energy supplies. We met many farmers and their neighbors well versed in our food challenges and many of these folks will be partners in the near future. It is always special to see a large age range when music is occurring and this is what we got at Wyebrook. The conversation was inclusive and the participation of most in attendance heightened the educational and therapeutic effects of the music. There too, I was breathing in the smoke from a fire pit but, support by the circle, I hardly noticed. Warmed by the sun, the tremendous energy of fresh, humanely treated local food, and kind folks we played on through the afternoon before thanking Dean for having us and letting the Ghost of Soul shuttle us back to Connecticut, at sometimes warp speeds.
@ Wyebrook Farms
Catwalk of Life
Letters >>
Comedian >>
Letters
Heart of Gold
Baila Luna
Juggo Vivo
Badfish
Apollonian
SET II
Britus*
Annalee*
Rukus*
Diamonds
Hallelujuah
Portland Song
Harkin
The night before we had been in Harrisburg PA, home to many friends and relatives including Dennis on the percussion and vocals for GGL. The whole crew stayed with my family, whom we see and play music with often. We have invested in a special bond that allows one day together to feel like five. Slowing our selves and our time down has allowed us to capture more of it and I am thankful for the kindness I am often surrounded by. We were playing at the Midtown Scholar, a rare and used bookstore in downtown Harrisburg. It is a spectacular place with wonderful acoustics and a quirky design perfect for sparking revelations of the imagination. Did I mention the coffee? Its probably one of the more important things for me. Strong coffee made with clean water will become more rare, so appreciate it and thank the purveyor the next time one is placed in your hand. Especially if its’ you. More about water later. The show was great and we connected with many engaged and aware folks young and old. This is why the bookstore and the farm are natural venues for me. We are coming together to exchange information and emotion in a positive way. Removed are much of the competition and distraction embedded in clubs and bars and among musicians. When that changes, the music scene will thrive once again but that is all I will say about that. Invigorated with powerful coffee, made with love, we played on. Many children came and danced; it was all I needed.
@ Midtown Scholar
Catwalk
Letters
Closer
Juggo Vivo
Apollonian
Harkin
Annalee
Portland Song
I added the Philadelphia date last minute to extend our trip and play more music together. We would be a four piece before being joined by Dennis in Harrisburg. Common Grounds is a non-profit coffee shop put together to being people together. It is a great and true idea. Earlier that day, the GPS device had taken Primetime, on its’ inaugural voyage, through an area of Philadelphia called Nicetown. It is a largely black neighborhood and extremely poor and resource deprived. It felt like a totally different world and I know that everyone in the van was deeply affected by it. These jobless and heart breaking ghettos exist all over our country. People are starving and dying in them each day. It is a function of poor access to resources, food, water, and education over a multi decade period. It is not a necessary part of our society and not one taken up by choice or lack of effort. It is a condition created over time by poor economic formula and ill intent. Like the shantytowns of South Africa, it is an image that will burn with me and drive my action. One only needs to travel to know the truth.
Back at Common Ground, we were jumbling our start times. Hari had realized he had forgotten his kick pedal and would have to devise a solution that only he was capable of. In the end he angled his kick like a Tom to the left of his hi hat and played it with both hands depending on the song. I’ve got the video to prove it. We love playing music and the band GGL has been a beautiful part of my life. It is beginning to encompass all I believe and hold close. The emotions in each vibration carry our hope and knowledge and desire for kindness and honest action.
@ Common Grounds
Catwalk
Letters
Juggo Vivo
Apollonian
Annalee
Portland Song
Three days, well four depend on whom you ask and I was back at the barn trying to figure out how to do it again and for longer. GGL has a few winter dates and a January Tour of VT shaping up with sights on Berlin in March. We’ve got the videos for Annalee and the single and story to release. We’re happy to have the support we have and look forward to returning it when possible. We play for a sustainable way of life; we play for the truth. To our friends old and new we say thanks and may love remind us all that it is all there is.
Gatsby’s Green Light
Someday When You’re Older
Someday, when you’re older
Someday, when you’re older; You will realize that all of your anger was misplaced And that the only emotion capable of true transformation is love and that your love is your most powerful asset.
Someday, when you’re older; you’ll see that this life was never about chasing short-term pleasure or money but a one-time chance to transcend to simple things, build strong meaningful relationships, help others, and cherish our magnificent planet.
Someday, when you’re older; You will know the meaning of Wisdom and the value of imparting it upon others.
Someday, as you’re sunsets get shorter. You will appreciate each one in a whole knew way. Those days with sand between your toes or grass at your feet will become your most valuable moments.
Someday, you’ll see that your only tool in dealing with negativity is forgiveness and love and only those things can change the heart.
Someday you’ll see that Heaven and Hell exist on Earth and if you have the choice to create a brighter day for others you’re in the right place. Someday, you won’t be able to un-see the persecution and starvation of others.
Someday, you’ll wake up and watch you’re hands open and close and feel you’re breathe deep within you. You’ll understand the world inside you as the deepest Universe there will ever be.
Someday you’ll realize that breath and the sun and the water are what make this all possible. You’ll see that you are powerless and it will be the most freeing moment you’ll ever have.
Someday you’ll see our current collective reality is only one possible outcome. Someday you’ll speak up about the inarguable truths taught by nature, science, and art.
Someday, you’ll let go.
Someday, you’ll see that you have two Mothers and if your lucky enough to have them both equally as kind you will be blessed. Someday you will choose not to throw away that blessing.
Someday you will see that the laws of those kind Mothers are the only things that are sustainable and all of the answer are there for your taking. And you’re giving.
Your someday may be the last millisecond of your life. After your heart stops and your final brain impulses are firing. Or maybe on your deathbed, will you be able to speak?
Will you get your wisdom across?
Someday you’ll understand the most beautiful thing. That someday can be today. With all the love I have I believe this.
What Will Shakespeare and Stephen King taught me
Will Shakespeare, Stephen King and I were sitting on a bench,
When Will said, “ You know Ken, it’s all about the act of the art? ”
” It doesn’t matter what you think, Will!” Stephen interrupted “ It matters what he’s got to say” ignoring my existence entirely while gesturing outward towards ‘it all’.
“Precisely Mr. King” said Will
It was something about William Shakespeare and Stephen King that got me going again. Not that I wasn’t going, I had been performing, writing a few new songs, and trying to find effective ways to interact with people as an independent musician and writer, right sizing my life, considering my carbon footprint but I had been sleeping way too much. I had a lot of fits and starts running around in my head and maybe I just needed to let them go, let them brew in the subconscious and cavernous recesses of the mind. It had been awhile since I was struck awake at 4am or until such an hour, struck with burning idea and vicious cause. Struck with the idea that I had to get on the page for it’s importance to anyone, any single soul including my own, might be too important to lose. Now I care about a great number of things, chiefly the planet and our potential, but as such I could be writing about any number of little or big things and maybe I had been just becoming a bit overwhelmed by it all, by the levity of it all. This is indeed, powerful stuff. As Stephen King would say, Magic, and I had to be reminded that I too absolutely and unequivocally believe in magic.
If Will Shakespeare was just a name behind a movement, a movement that saw art as the most powerful medium to affect social change and spread awareness in a period of intense oppression and harsh living conditions, then isn’t that the most important thing there is. After all in those days the bard’s song was often considered heretical and even when cherished and secretly revered was still kept in the cellar next to the wine, only to be brought out for the good times and emotional bribes. Then quickly tucked away so it were not to show weakness in the hands of those that beloved it so secretly. Not one could argue we’ve come along way from artistes’ being branded heretics and burned at the stake; after all there is an Art & Entertainment industry. But then again, one could view the industry and it’s surrounding media as a modern day rendering factory for artist designed to squeeze dry and spit out any peripheral talent willing to go along. The superstars, those with talent and wit and the ability to maintain integrity while navigating the various career and image pitfalls as they climb out of the chasm of opportunists, lichens looking for a ride to greener pastures. Smart businessmen capable of seeing the qualities that people with part with their green paper and maybe soon gold bars for. No different than any other industry, with the singular goal of ending up with more. The problem isn’t the process, it’s the definition of ‘more’. And then there’s the guy who ended up with the ‘most’, wasn’t he smart? How did he do it? Maybe he’ll write a book about it and a whole other line of cutter and pasters will show up to prove how smart they are. And thus, all industry was created and all industries fell. Back to art Metaphor, indeed. They all fall back to art.
And then there’s Stephen King, who came along and said if your not going to take it seriously, if it isn’t like making love to you, then kindly get the fuck out! Call yourself a businessman, a fishmonger, a programmer but not a writer. Stephen said no matter what, when you take it seriously someone will try to make you feel bad and it will hurt. You might even learn how to make yourself feel bad and become so good at it: you’ll quit.
Quit what exactly? This business of art? No, the art itself. The business part, after all, can be routine and oh so dour. The business part is unfortunately ugly and contradictory to the art in the first place. It’s the art that breathes life into everything. It’s the art that make us human AND part of nature at the same time. It’s the art that has something to say, something that will not be kept down. It’s the business that taught non-artist’s how to cut and paste to capitalize on the talent of the artist. As such, we are undershooting our potentially in a big way and the storyteller will continue to tell you that. In a small way, in a love song, in the flash and fade of the pop industry, in song written to sell, in words to die for. In it’s falsehoods, the industry, is still showing you the right way. I see a universal story so deep and powerful that I can often barely articulate it. I see the wrong story being told, told by technophiles, business minds, politicians, and that aforementioned flash and fade pop music industry. Stephen and Will might say the wrong story being told can still illuminate the right path but often I worry. In a big way, I understand I guess the misnomers ripe with humility necessary for a word of sanity backed by evidence to make it in edgewise. Be humble before the ignorant King, for it is he that knows the door that leads to the land and its spoils and also the door that leads to the lion.
It’s easiest at 4am, being honest. Beginning to question our current paradigm and accepting all that’s wrong with the human problem; the ignorance, the bigotry, the war, the state of the planet and the ignorance about that as well. It’s easier for me to know that art is about telling this story. And I needed to be reminded that what was keeping me up at night was what is also keeping me alive. Not being judged by the industry for it or by an artist who feels it somehow behooves his or her goal to criticize because simply, with a nod to Mr. King, who the fuck are you? I’m making love here, and love is all there is.
Facebook’s IPO could mean some interesting things
First off, it’s been awhile since I’ve written here and I’m glad to be back. This one is about Votes
I’ve written recently on my tour playing music over the month of December. I made it most of the way through but it was tough to find the time to write when roaming and traveling and eating and napping time get in the way,.. but they were great naps,.
Think of the stock market like a system of voting. It’s capitalism’s purest visible tool. It makes sense in a lot of way because its founded on good ideas. A good idea starts as a freak recipe for a cookie, or a interesting design for a chair, or a concept for connecting grandparents with their grand children. Point is, it all starts with a good idea! From that point, the idea is left to germinate and experiences its life cycle. People try the cookie, they like it,. you find a long but not lost soul. And it spreads, and its spread into my bones. That’s a quote from an Avett Brother’s tune I happen to love. It a series of ever changing and vastly organized voting systems that is nature and human life, the stock market is one of them. It’s effected our country’s life in a way that nothing else could come close to. Combined with other capital markets it became the glue and process toward industrialization and infrastructure buildout, medical advancement and transportation among countless other things. There has always been fraud in the system but when the tide goes out, we see the abuse more clearly. This has been happening for some time with, unfortunately, more to come. Back to Facebook and the rise of social online culture. How many new languages have been created, call signs developed, timelines and online monetary systems. Yeah its the online monetary systems that are interesting, but that said money has been online for a long time. We decided on it but not with a vote that people can remember, they think they minted the first good coins in 600B.C. And Facebook is a gold coin of the highest quality. How will it evolve? Ad-bots? Ro-bots? No-bots? I don’t know, but it’s received an always lot of likes along the way. You’re going to see it everywhere for awhile. But always remember, nothing beat face to face. I think the building of long lost connections is amazing but make the connection count. The art will always move to a new medium and keep in mind the art is what s building everything. Then that thing built enters it’s life cycle, like all things. Facebook has done some great things. Clearly that’s probably where this could end up being a powerful tool. There is a tremendous creative that built it but does it stand for all things or is it ripe with the same pitfalls that have corrupted many a good idea over time. To deny their existence would be to not look. Technology has propelled us long and far and built us up but we need to make sure we are using it to learn and be smarter. I think a lot of that is happening and thus I hope I can always spread a good idea.
A lot of people are going to talk about the Facebook IPO. In some ways it’s an ultimate, albeit systematic, validation of an idea. It brought out inner thoughts on the page and gave a living history of sort for it hundreds of millions of human users. I’ve found a lot of good people and shared good ideas in my digital world but none of it makes sense to me if we’re not connecting in a physical world? When Facebook gets its big slap on the back from Capital markets it will then be acted upon by entirely different forces and we’ll see how it evolves. Some good, some bad. I want to see the online community go down the path of continuing to connect people locally and beyond, promoting small business and protection of good ideas. that’s the only way the art will stay there in the long run. And at some point you’ll see, it’s all about beauty and art tempered by science and the laws of nature it’s all there for you to look upon.
The system is about votes, ” I like your hair “, ” You belong”, ” Liberty for What have you “. Enough votes and you’re in, with each new system. I hope we all vote for what’s honest. I hope the online society develops in a way to push sustainable development, peace and security, protection of good ideas, and other unarguable goals. Get rid of the greed, eliminate the mediocrity. As a medium; It’s got that kind of power. Like television before it, the power of the online medium is unfathomable. But TV is far less about education, growth, hard work AND relaxation than it should be. And neither is the internet, and Facebook I guess we’ll see,. And I know here’s where it gets grey but not really. Argue that MTV developed in the right way? Argue that a 7 year old stumbling upon picture of pornography or death is a good idea, argue that solutions to finite resource consumption are not equally about security as they are about the environment? It’s hard to argue the laws of nature and all that great information is right there for you to stumble upon. Whether its on the radio, at a coffee shop, on Facebook, or in the woods, I love when I find a good idea, Let’s keep sharing and protecting the right things and agree that our national identity and our personal ones hang in the balance. Kudos to a bunch of smart kids and some great ideas and god speed in their protectors
In Between Sleeping Moments
I’ve been thinking a lot about dreams lately,.. here I am up at 5:34am not sleeping particularly well since returning from a month out and about whereI was playing music, and doing the things I love. It was certainly a profound trip, but the sleep of the ages has eluded me upon my return. My sister in law is a Buddhist and deeply into meditation and she believes I am capable of some deeper meditations she’s not yet been able to achieve. It has something to do with the ability to lucidly dream. I do it from time to time, I have a few recurring dreams which have run for, at times, years. I began thinking that dreaming might be more that a subconscious barb dealing with our ID’s, Oedipus complexes and all in between mental complexes but an entirely different world in which to try new things and access the heart more completely.
I only wish for great and beautiful things to touch in this life and they are there right in front of me. And I cannot look back and I must give myself to this beauty more completely. Not the human world of constant competition of which I realize now only love can conquer, but the natural world in which time is the only true king and conquers all over it’s reign. Man and his ego, responsible for some much unavoidable suffering, DO you long to dream up a better world or do you seek a momentary win upon which the head can convince itself of immortally or legacy. The only true legacy is selflessness, that which confounds the keeper of things, the expecter of gifts, and the lamenter of inability. The only true legacy is selflessness and now I can sleep
Day 15 – Black Mountain, NC 1313 miles
Black Mountain, NC is a spectacular town just East of Ashville. Great local food and wares, It reminded me a lot of Silvermine, CO for some reason. I stayed at the Red Rocking Chair Inn, whose rooms are all named and, I guess themed?,. The owners were very friendly and as I were traveling with Music they showed me the cheapest room for the night,.. ‘The Music Room’. I smiled at the irony and settled in to my room adorned with notation for wallpaper and other musical trinkets. This was a random trip out, that I am glad I made. The guys I met a rapped with had me close to moving down there and maybe that might come to be. I won’t write about the energies they spoke of just yet, but I have a feeling they were right!
Bob Hinkle and the the others at White Horse are kind and welcoming folks and I will know them for awhile 
White Horse Black Mountain
Portland Song
Letters of My Youth
Baila Luna
