Out of the Shadows

I am making a return to the blog. I have been hiding for quite a while, time to step out of the shadows.

Tiriba

This is the rhythm we are learning right now in my West African drum class. Yeah, it is a hard one. All the rhythms we have learned until now have been in fours or eights. This rhythm is in 12/8, I think. Heck, I don't even know what that means. It's in threes, the lead hand changes from left to right and fast.

Man.

The beat goes on.

In and Out

Oh I'm a lucky man
To count on both hands
The ones I love

Indeed

Dusty & Rusty

I just went to the Free Library-which wasn't very free, I had to pay off some late fines, sheesh! Anyway, I saw a book there by an author named "Dusty Bunker." I just had to check it out, I felt a special connection to her.

See, you might not find that very amusing or interesting if you didn't already know that I sometimes roll with the handle "Rusty Plyers." I gave it a little British flair to throw the gawkers further off my trail.

I don't use the alias for any malicious intent, just social network sites, tables for two and the like. I'm just a little shy you see. Depending on the level of informality, I sometimes roll with "Donnie." Just ask my nephews William and Charles. They are whip smart, I only had to ask them once to use Donnie in public if there were strangers within earshot, and never had to remind them. Silly me, I was surprised when they whipped it out at the University of Pennsylvania bookstore. "Donnie, Donnie, Uncle Donnie, let's go!"

Let's go.

Honk For Labor

HONK! HONK!

Thank Goodness I got back on the health and wellness today. Thank goodness I gave up on my 5:19 5 bus a while back. I left the house around 5:11, arrived at York/Dauphin station to find it locked up tight, I started walking down Front to the Berks stop and phoned home. Sarah looked at the SEPTA website and informed me that Transport Workers Union, Local 234 announced a work stoppage as of 3am this morning. Here is a link to the article from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Here is a map of the route I took:

Yahoo! Maps is calling it 6.42 miles. I guess that's a 10k+. I left at 5:11 and arrived at the gym around 6:50. I still had time to stretch, shower and get to work on time.

I feel real relaxed.

My Whole Life...

Send "Modern Girl" Ringtones to Cell

My baby love me
I'm so happy
Happy makes me a modern girl
Took my money
And bought a TV
TV brings me
Closer to the world

My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day.

My baby loves me
I'm so hungry
Hunger makes me
A modern girl
Took my money
And bought a donut
The hole's the size of
The entire world

My whole life
looked like a picture
of a sunny day.

My baby loves me
I'm so angry
Anger makes me a modern girl
Took my money
I couldn't buy nothin'
I'm sick of this
Brave new world

Bring it Philly-Bring It!

On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert
I pick up my money and head back into town
Driving cross the Waynesboro county line
I got the radio on and I'm just killing time
Working all day in my daddy's garage
Driving all night chasing some mirage
Pretty soon little girl I'm gonna take charge

CHORUS
The dogs on Main Street howl
'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this whole town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start

CHORUS

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

Make Me Fries!

Oh my, I am dying.

Live a little, laugh a lot.

Let us hope.

The American Self-Loafer

Sunnydazz writes: 2 of 5 Stars

Eddie Vedder the American Self-Loather will be blaming Bush and Corporate America when this CD tanks........

September 23, 2009 10:08 PM EST


"Bitter, table for one..."

Man, laughed my ass off when I read this. "American Self-Loather!" That's awesome dude! I found that little gem underneath a Rolling Stone review of Backspacer, PJ's new album. I don't normally go for reviews of any sort-especially before I read, view or buy reviewed product, but generally when I am blown away by something I do have to turn to the "experts" to see why.

It took me a while to dig it. I haven't shed any tears on this one yet, as some have, but after about five good listens to it over two or three days I have plunged full-on in love with this album. It is heavy, a little hard to listen to, but I've listened to it about ten times since yesterday-I can't stop.

Why does Eddie Vedder write so many songs about me?

"Vainglorious, table for two..."

Second Chances

Man, I was really trying to wait a whole month, but I just missed it too much. Hah! I am not really sure why, but I began to loathe the posting, but thanks for reading just the same.

Maybe it had to do with my ability to follow through with much of anything-for very long anyway.

Maybe it is because I quit taking my crazy pills and fell into a mire-which happened the minute I started this renovation stuff. I never thought I'd be that person, it wasn't because I thought I was fine, the stuff was stored in the room the where the renovation began, and I just got out of the habit. It was reassuring to confirm I am still full of hate and anger, depressed and that I am still ready for it to all be over.

Maybe it's just not worth recording.

Anyway, I am back on the crazy pills and posting on the blog.

Alas, we are born anew every day. Isn't it nice.

It reminds me of this fellow named Donald I used to work at at the Burton. He was trying to drill a hole in a lid for me so I could run a siphon into a jug of poison, and he drilled it too big and the siphon was all wonky. He was bummed about it and I said "Here, I have another one," and he replied "Oh goody, I love second chances."

As do I Donald, as do I.

Fare well.

More Mas

Hey, uncovered some goodies tearing down the panelling that was in the room. It is pretty gnarly. We are just going to frame out this wall-the blue wall, and put sheet rock up; not a bad plan.




Found a door, and yes, all those lines that look like cracks and spots that look like holes, that is what they are indeed.

Be well.

New Intro for Moribayassa

Hey, check out this video of Moribayassa. We are currently learning this intro. It sounds really good. We are playing a first Friday event at Circle on September 4th. Groovy.

Renovation Is Underway

Did you ever see that funky green carpet we have in our front bedroom upstairs? It is funky.

I started pulling it up on Saturday, to expose the hardwood, so that we can refinish the floors upstairs.

Of course they are really gnarly and will need a lot of work. It looks like an old dock or something.

I also removed the drop-tile ceiling. That will give us another foot or so overhead.

Here's more floor.

You can see the corner near the ceiling in this funky picture.

Like everything else, this came up really fast, Sarah and I talked about it one day, the next, I am ripping up carpet.

We are going to do the second floor-except the bathroom in one whack. We hope to be done by the middle of October. Sweeeeet!

When I Get Mad, I Write it Down On a Pad

Sarah and I went to a spoken word event at Circle the other night. It was a lot of fun. It really made me curious why I had never been interested in going to anything like it before. Sarah read a poem she wrote about the lost and found a the medical library she works at. It was so good. People really enjoyed it. She had read it to me once before at our house, it gave me chills. I heard it differently on Saturday night. I got up and told a Craig Henderson story. It felt good. It made me want to write my stories down and continue to share them. That will make some people happy.

Listen well.

Do No Harm

Interesting stuff is afoot in the homeland. I am being quite affected by the Ched Myers. Yesterday in a post I mentioned the Myers video titled Let Them Speak Many Languages. In the discussion, Myers brings up Mark 6, when Jesus sends out his disciples to carry out the "good news," in which Jesus' instructions for evangelism are very clear.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

8These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

12They went out and preached that people should repent. 13They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Mark 6:6-12

Myers brings up a couple of interesting points from this passage, namely the mandate to carry little or nothing with you and if you are not welcome in a place, then leave. He uses these as an argument against the advance of empire and the assimilation and oppression of "subject" populations. He points out that it is hard to subjugate people if you have nothing and rely on them for your sustenance.

Jesus also instructs that if you are welcomed, stay, if you are not, leave. Well put Jesus. Myers points out that he does not instruct the disciples to punish, enslave, kill or in any other way persuade dissidents. He doesn't instruct the disciples to set up schools, disrupt indigenous beliefs and practices, steal their land, build a town or mine their natural resources.

Where did we go wrong? Please forgive us.

Yes, I am a little excited about Ched Myers. I think it is neat-o that I learned of Myers shortly after I started reading all these Chinua Achebe books. At the moment I am reading one titled Arrow of God (watch that link, it may be a spoiler). In a nutshell, it is about the colonization and subjugation of the Ibo people of Nigeria by both the British government and Christian missionaries. Imagine how conflicting and confusing it would be to have your beliefs, language and way of life devalued and villainies and replaced with ones that offensive and disruptive to your entire being. Welcome to the plight of millions.

This is who we are, this is our cultural heritage. It is necessary and helpful as we go forward, to recognize this fact.

Be well.

The Empire Strikes Out

Hey, I watched this great video today of Ched Myers talking about multiculturalism. It is a very interesting and provocative discussion. He uses two stories from the Bible (the Tower of Babel and Pentecost) as evidence for God's dislike for centralized power and monoculture. He makes a pretty strong case against empire and using the Bible and/or Christianity to institute and advance empire and domination-of any sort. The stories in the Bible are the stories of oppressed minorities, Israelites and Christians, not the elite. As Myers says, good news for some, bad for other. It is definitely worth a listen.

I Know, I Know

Man, I have been a real bum lately on the blog scene. Oh well, here we are. I have been reading and gardening and also toiling with the djembe. The garden on Frankford Ave has been taking up some time, as Rachel has been out of town. I have also been reading some Bible stuff from Ched Myers about Sabbath Economics. Here is an article from Sojourners magazine about it if you have some time, if not, here is the wikipedia page. More about that later. I have also tried to abstain from doing this at work. It helps me not feel like a bum.

Be well

CSA week of July 23, 2009

Well, the csa continues to roll on. We are still really surprised and delighted every week that we see our bounty. It is so cool. The Ruby Swiss Chard is really beautiful. We also started to buy dairy and eggs through the csa.

1 head green cabbage – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 bag Yukon gold potatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs – 2.5 lbs
1 bag candy onions – transitional – Taste of Nature Farm – 2lbs
3 green slicing cucumbers – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
3 green zucchini – certified organic – Maple Valley Organics
1 bag yellow or green beans – certified organic – White Swan Acres – 1 lb
10 red slicing tomatoes– certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch red bor kale – certified organic - Life Enhancing Acres
1 bunch Swiss chard – certified organic – Little Brook Organics

Have fun

The Day He Saves

Sometimes I feel a little like Captain Linger. I wonder what his mild social disorder is.

Roxy and Elsewhere

Poor Roxie! Sarah and I went to meet Roxie at PAWS on Saturday afternoon. She looked so pretty and delicate, like a desert flower, but she was very mean. Sarah picked her up and got bitten! She was growling and hissing. We could pet her a little bit at first, but I accidentally touched a piece of matted fur and she swiped at me. Boo hoo. I reached down to pet her one more time and she unleashed on a cat that was sleeping in a cat bed nearby; crazy cat!

We asked the staff member if Roxie was just having a bad day, or if she was always so grumpy. Nope, no bad day, that's Roxie. I went back on Monday afternoon just to look around and Roxie was up on her hind legs batting at this poor cat that just came up to sniff her. She is real pretty, and has probably been through a whole lot, but she is just a looking cat, she really doesn't want anyone in (or near) her business.

She would not be a good fit at our house.