The Harmonica

I found my harmonicas. Last night I drove the hills of Los Angeles with the moon peeking through the clouds, blowing a blues harp in C. It has to be one of the loneliest sounds god has ever created, but there’s something soothing about it as well. It requires the breath and when I’m thinking about the breath I know I’m living. There’s a simplicity to the instrument, anyone can play one. All you need to be is living to play. Just blow right into it and move it around your lips. I was playing at red lights and noticed pedestrians looking at me while they stood on the corner waiting for the light to change. At first I was kind of shy about playing in front of them, but what’s the shame in creating music. It brought a smile to one woman who was the unlikeliest of sorts. I recommend the harmonica for most applications. It travels well and it’s rare that someone will become irritated by it. It’s not like a guitar. A guitar is trickier to present. If you whip out a guitar you better know what your doing. You can’t be bashful with a guitar, but you can with a harmonica, you can sit there and blow it softly, or get crazy with it and blow it hard. It has a circus quality to it that makes sense in most situations. It’s the instant Leaprecon that you can carry in your pocket. Give it a try.

Tu Fu

I’ve been reading poems for a Chinese poet by the name of Tu Fu, from the Tang Dynasty (713-770). I’m enjoying them. The poems are lucid and easy to read, not too heady and clever. I tend to like poems that don’t require me to think too much, but after reading a good poem I’m thinking a lot.

When I was young man writing a poem was a chance to demonstrate my poetic abilities, my voice was formal and my ideas were not as clear. I was more romantic in my word choice, only to realize years later that a good poem in my view is a good story communicated as simply as possible. Intelligence is pointing out the obvious. Pointing out the things that are right before your eyes that you see every day and wonder about, but for some reason you can’t put it into words. That’s what makes for good comedy. A comedian who can point out the obvious is generally funny. And that’s what makes for good science as well. Intelligence is just a stones throw away from stupidity. The genius of E=MC squared is it’s simplicity. Great writing on the other hand can be many things to some, but to me, it is simply entertaining.