The Expletives

            It seems the great people in life die without much fanfare. I’m learning bass lines from old Motown tunes, and James Jamerson was a mother F-err. Pure genius. He was smooth and played with feeling and knowledge, a deadly combination. Jaco Pastorius was the same, but with Jaco you had the added element of fearlessness. Mike Bloomfield was a great guitar player. I don’t remember any news releases or media coverage when he died. I read about Jaco’s death in Rolling Stone Magazine, there was a small blurb announcing his death. I was devastated. James Jamerson died here in Los Angeles, but they shipped him back to Michigan when it was all said and done. It’s strange when you think about James Jamerson. He brought so much happiness to the world and nobody even knows who he is. He probably wasn’t even paid right when he was alive. I guess you got give what you've got before you go, you can’t worry about the expletives. 

The Walk and The Wind

I thought I’d take a walk. It’s a windy day here in Los Angeles. I’m trying to exercise for twenty minutes a day. I haven’t been very consistent. I walked down a steep hill and then up a even steeper hill on a dirt path to get a view of the city. If you live long enough you’ll see the wind blow in every direction. I think I’ve lived long enough, but I’m not sure.

I almost passed out from exhaustion when I got to the top of the hill. I was the one winded this time. The sun started to beat down some. My body was tight all over, and I started to slow down. I was walking up hill again, and I was getting thirsty. The terrain finally leveled off and I saw some kids seating at a table. I heard one kid say “lemon aid for sale,” and I thought oh no. I tensed up with thought of having to walk by them. An awkward feeling overcame me. I made up an excuse in my mind for not buying any. But as I got nearer the kids got more excited with the prospects of a sale.

            “Lemon aid for sale. Would you like some lemon aid?”

            “Oh no thank you…okay.”

            “It’s fifty cents!”

            I dug into my pocket and forked over the money. 

            “Would like ice with your lemon aid?”

            “Yes, that would be wonderful.”

            The kids were organized.

            “How about a orange wedge?”

            “Sure.”

            A little girl handed me a purple plastic cup of lemon aid. I took a sip.

            “Umm, delicious,” I said.

            “We squeezed the lemons from our tree and we made it ourselves, “ Another little girl said.

I stood off to the side and drank my lemon aid. I was still feeling a little awkward as I stood there. It’s was the perfect lemon aid and excellent recipe I might add. I said good-bye to the kids. The lemon aid was just what I needed. It was refreshing.

             

Kick a Buck

            I was back in the studio yesterday. I recorded vocals on a new track called I’ve Come Upon Hard Times, it’s a song about a dense billionaire. Yes, billionaire’s can be unintelligent. I can’t think of anything more asinine then dying with a billion dollars in the bank, on the other hand, think of the work it would take to get rid of it. A billion dollars goes along way, and to think that there are people in the world with billions of dollars. Steve Jobs was a billionaire. Did he give any away, more then likely he did. Did he take any with him, that’s a for sure no. It’s tragic when you think about it. Think of the good that could be done. But no, people want to save it for a rainy day. I can understand saving some just in case. It makes perfect sense, but at what point does prudence turn into recklessness and irresponsibility. Somewhere along the line it does. I say, kick a buck.

The Heat

I’ve been asked to join another cover band. That makes two. Everybody needs a bass player. I can use the extra scratch to put into my original project. As long as I’m playing music or doing something artistic as a means to support myself, it’s all right with me.

The only problem is, I have to learn forty or fifty songs. Its time consuming and my original project is what's important to me. I’ve always had the dilemma of maintaining my focus.  I’m writing a book. I’m writing songs, and now I’m in three bands. All I need is a baby to really turn up the heat.

Moby Dick

            I’ve given up on reading Moby Dick. I’ve been trying to read it now off and on for over a year.  I know it’s a classic, and that there are many people who revere the book, but frankly, I found it structurally inferior, and much of it’s content unnecessary, in a nut shell, it was over written. The fact that it’s a classic is mystifying. We must’ve really needed a classic at that point in American history, either that or people are afraid of speaking poorly about it for fear of rebuking the accepted norm. I think somebody at Harvard, or one those leafy green schools said it was a classic and “presto” we had ourselves a classic. I found the first hundred pages or so very interesting, but after that I couldn’t take the meandering anymore. If Melville had just told the story and left out the poetics, I think it would’ve been a better book. And that’s coming from the mind of a poet.  

Hoot Owl

I’m going into the studio again today. The plan is to record and release three acoustic tracks while I finish them up with instrumentation. I posted three tracks to sound cloud and I’m surprised that people are listening to them. The fact that the songs are being discovered in the first place is amazing, especially now-a-days with all the internet stimuli.

            It’s another beautiful southern California day, the birds are chirping and the coyotes are at rest. The coyotes have been real active at night.  When the sun goes down Los Angeles turns into a place for the nocturnal. The skunks come out, the raccoons start moving, why there’s even a hoot owl somewhere in the trees. And of course there’s the mocking bird, they’re back from down south, they came back a little early this year. Sometimes when I’m playing my guitar they’ll come around and start to chirp. I always know I’m on the right path when they do that. 

Mega Millions

            I’ve taken to playing the lottery. I heard someplace that the probability of winning is the same as being struck by lightening and a tornado on the same day. With those odds, I’m bound to win. Buying a ticket is like buying a little piece of hope. There’s something to look forward to for a few days. I don’t have to win the big prize, I’d be happy with third place. I’m not greedy. I tossed a losing ticket into the trash the other day, but retrieved it a few days later on a hunch that I had checked the numbers against the wrong date, sure enough I did. The ticket turned out to be winner. It paid two dollars American.