Music

I’m sitting at home listening to the Old Crowe Medicine Show trying to figure out something to write this journal entry about. The Old Crowe Medicine Show is a pretty awesome bluegrass band. The song that got me to start listening to them was their rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘Wagon Wheel’. I have been stuck on this particular album; it’s their self titled album, ever since I bought it a couple of weeks ago. This doesn’t mean that the Old Crowe c.d. is the only one I’ve been listening to but when I get stuck on a c.d. I tend to listen to it at least once or twice a day. This will go on for about a couple of months or until I find something else that I deem worthy for my ears and mind to be filled with. Sometimes I’ll get stuck on more than on c.d. at a time. When I am finally done with a c.d. I’ll either go and get a new on or ill go back to one of the ones in my collection that I haven’t listened to in a while. If I am board of all of my music or I am a way from the c.d. case I will listen to the radio but I try my hardest to steer clear from the FM radio stations around this area. I don’t know what this world would be like if music never existed. All I know is that is a world that I would not want to live in. Everything would be very dull, no inspiration at all. I can’t even think of anything to write about unless I have music going through my ears to spark my thoughts. So in my opinion music is the most important thing in the world.

A Consert Report I Did Recently

Split Lip Rayfield Concert

My buddy Thomas and I had planned on going to a party that night, but we heard that this other friend of ours was celebrating his birth day at Patton Alley Pub. There was going to be a show, so I decided that that seemed more interesting than a party without live music. I had never heard of Split Lip Rayfield before, other than they were bluegrass, so on the way to the bar Thomas played some for me. I thought that it was pleasant to the ears, which made me more excited to go.
When we got to the bar the opening act had already started. I didn’t catch their name, but they were a two man band that fused indie rock with bluegrass. The two musicians relied heavily on their string instruments. They both played acoustic guitars, chordophones, with call and response between each other. One of them used a tambourine, an idiophone, on his foot and stomped the stage, also an idiophone, as the precision in the performance. They took turns with the lead singer position. Their voices accented each other well.
The people who were at the bar were just arriving; they were finding their spots, like picking a home for the night. While the opening band was playing there weren’t a whole lot of people dancing out in front. Most of the people were sitting at the surrounding tables, booths, and at the bar. They didn’t seem to enthusiastic about the opening band. I believe that the reason was that most of the people that were there, were there to see a blue grass show. That was not what genre the opening band aspired to. I still enjoyed them though.
Toward the end of the opening band’s performance the red-haired guy took a break for a couple of songs and the dark-haired performer did some solo work. One of his solo songs was a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Cocaine Blues.” The structure of this piece was polyphonic in rhythm. “Cocaine Blues” is a song that as far as I could tell was in triple meter and was somewhat of a segue into the next band because it was more country and upbeat in comparisons to what the opening band had been playing. This is about the time that people got up and started to come closer to the stage and dance around.
By the time Split Lip Rayfield came onto the stage it was getting late, and everyone was getting pretty loose and drunk. People were applauding as the stage hands finished doing the set up for the band. From what I could tell the musicians in Split Lip were in their mid to late forties. After the show I looked the band up, and they have been together for about fourteen years. You could tell from the rapport of the group that they get along well. It felt like they had been playing together for all of their lives.
Split Lip is a trio of musicians. The one on stage left seemed to be the oldest and played an incredible acoustic guitar and a mandolin, which are both chordophones. The man at center stage played an old muffler that had been modified into a stand up bass. The neck of the bass was the exhaust pipe. The resonator was the bulk of the muffler, and the connector pipe was the stand for the bass. This unique adaptation of a stand up bass was a chordophone. They guy at center stage also had a kazoo attached to his microphone with scotch tape. About half way through the show they took the kazoo off of the microphone. The kazoo was the only instrument in the performance that wasn’t a stringed instrument. Instead the kazoo is an aerophpone. The songs that featured kazoo had an odd yet pleasant twist. The kazoo added some timbral variety to the pieces. The man that performed on stage right played a banjo (a chordophone). In my opinion the banjo is the essential part a bluegrass ensemble. Most of their songs included themes of drinking, women, running away from the law, heart break, and having an outlaw life style. Their voices had a bit of a southern twang and went together very harmonically. The blue grass that Split Lip Rayfield performed was up tempo and seemed to have some rock overtones.
There were not too many social institutions represented at the concert, but the ones that were there were prevalent. The bar itself was a social institution in where people come to the establishment solely to have a good time and forget about the hardships of life and to socialize with people that they have similar interest with. The interest might be similar music taste, or it might just be the enjoyment of drinking. There is also the social institution of the concert with a stage and audience dancing out in front of the band. The bar made sure to honor this institution by setting back all of the tables to make sure to leave ample room for people to pack into. The way the secular concerts are set up is to honor the band that is performing by setting them on a pedestal or stage in this case, raising them above everyone in the room. Even the way that the speakers are set up is a part of this social institution by creating an embrace that the audience can fit into and be surrounded by the music.
The identity of the musicians seemed to be that of people who might be on the outskirts of the normal social order, where musicians have become so commercial that they all end up sounding the same. They have somewhat of an older sound, which is why I believe that I enjoyed them as much as I did. They seemed a little rough around the edges but all in all morally good individuals.
People at the show ranged in ages dramatically from people that were my age, twenty-one, to people who were in their mid to late sixties. The one thing that I enjoy about going to these types of shows is that you’ll never see any people that act and dress like gangsters and thugs. You can always tell what kind of people are at a show by the ability to get to the front of the stage. If you go to a rock show, it’s like hitting a brick wall when you get up anywhere close to the stage but at this show people would just move aside and let you get as close as you want. The type of music from the book that most resembles the type of music that Split Lip performed would have to the Irish Celtic chapter because of the relationship of dancing to the music. Overall I enjoyed the concert. My only problem with it was that it didn’t last quite as long as I would have wished.

Pushing Away the Pusher Man

?????????

Nature's Meaning to Me

Nature to me is everything that is sacred in this world. If it wasn’t for nature we wouldn’t have anything. Music, art, food, and religion would be out of existence if the world didn’t supply us with them. Most people don’t appreciate nature as well as they should. I believe that animals and weather spawned music into the minds of humans. If you ever go out into an open field and hear the crickets chirruping, the edge of an ocean and hear the seagulls and the waves crashing, or in the middle of the woods and hear all the animals scurrying and calling out to each other forming a joyful sound, you know what I mean when I say nature created music. Then through music man could communicate with each other witch eventually turned into words and words are what we base everything after, for example intelligence and expression of feelings. Most art is mimicking natural phenomenon such as animals, plants, mountains, oceans, and human beings who originated in nature no matter how domesticated we get. We still have primal animal instincts deep in our subconscious. We still kill out of necessity. So without nature we would starve because all of the food that we eat comes from killing some living thing in nature no matter how processed it is. I also believe that without the stars and the sun to give us a greater consciousness that just to live, eat, shit and die. To think there is something looking down upon us that is larger than we could even imagine. Originally the sun was the one god that looked after us all and protected us from the cold and predators of the night. The stars were the spirits that showed us the way in the dark but they could be misleading so it was better to follow the one, the sun, so you were always safe. When it is said that man was created in god’s image I can see the truth behind that statement because all people have good warmth inside as well as a dark side. Everyone has nightmares or at least has had one. So all in all I believe that without nature we would all be lost in existence and would probably be eaten by some predator that was bigger that us if we weren’t able to communicate how to get away from them. And we would be lost spiritually or that least more lost.

Some of My Favorite Song Lyrics

Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream. – Beatles

Cause when you stop dreaming then it’s time to die. –Blind Melon

I’m the man and you’re the man and he’s the man so you can shove that fucking finger up your ass. – Tool

Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true, wanted a woman never bargained for you, lots of people talkin, few of them know the soul of a woman was created below. -Led Zeppelin

You can’t write if you can’t relate, trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate. – Beck

Well this ships a sinkin something tells me thing aint right, hey its almost like a dawg gone plight, yeah could use a little piece of a mind. – Backyard Tire Fire

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama anyway you feel, rock me mama like the wind and the rain, rock me mama like a south bound train. – Bob Dylan

Baha, can you dig it like a spigot? My guess is yes you can like can I kick it wicked. – Gorillaz ft. MF Doom

Now Amos Moses was a Cajun who lived by himself in the swamp, hunted alligator for a living, just knocked them in the head with a stump. – Jerry Reed

Jerry was a race car driver, he drove so god damn fast, never did win no checkered flag but he never did come in last. – Primus

lyin' in my plastic bed, thinkin how things weren't so cool to me, my baby likes to shoot pool, I like lyin naked in my bedroom, tyin' on the dinosaur tonight, it used to be so cool, now I got the needle, and I can shake, but I can't breathe, I'd take it away but I want more and more, one day I’m gonna lose the war. – Bradley Nowell

Mother earth is pregnant for the third time for ya’ll have knocked her up, I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the human race and was not offended for I knew I had to rise above it all or drown in my own shit. – The Funkadelic

Whiskey wont you come and take my troubles, cause I can seem to do it on my own. – Trampled by Turtles

Weather to Behavior

Do you ever notice when it rains for a substantial amount of time you get in somewhat of a funk. I have a theory that weather effects people more than they know. For instance I believe that people from Missouri are pretty crazy and unpredictable and I believe that mostly for the reason that the weather is crazy and unpredictable. One day it will be below freezing and cloudy overall just a shitty day then BAM the temperature will shoot up into the mid seventies and be beautiful. Then there places that it rains constantly were you can find a lot of downers for example in Seattle there is the highest rate of suicides in America. At the other end of the spectrum were it never rains and is hot all the time people seem to become very angry. People in Africa and the Middle East always seem to be in the middle of some wars or massive genocide. But when the weather has an even balance and a steady temperature, not to cold or hot, this climate produces some balanced people for the most part. I came to this conclusion one day while sitting outside on my front porch enjoying the beautiful day when all of a sudden the clouds came pouring in and covering the sky. Then with a crash the rain started coming in a downpour. For some reason I stared to think of the Ozarks being famous for the highest rate of meth labs in the US. So though the progression of my thoughts my mind when to the meth heads that I knew and realized how crazy they were. I’m not saying that the weather is the reason behind their craziness but you’d have to be pretty crazy to cook or even try the drug so I think that their decision to even try the drug was influenced by the weather. I would like to see if there has been any studying on the subject on weather and how that it relates to people’s behavior.

Typing vs. Writing

Looking at a blank computer screen is way different that looking at an empty sheet of note book paper. For one on a sheet of paper usually there is lines and is already structured in a way where as the blank computer just sits there waiting for someone to disrupt its complete whiteness. So when I start on a piece of paper the lines tell you were to go and the computer is aging on that it is blank. The pen is way more personal because one in the world writes exactly the way that you do. There are only a few different fonts that you can choose from. So I think that writing something out on paper is a lot more personal. Words for me also seem to come out of my head and on to the paper a lot easier and fluent when I hand write them. I seem to get stuck a lot easier when I’m typing. Even now after every sentence that I type I have to stop and think of what I am going to write next. Mostly because this is a journal entry down on paper before I started typing. So this comes to the end of what I have to say on this subject I know that telling you that this is the end is not the right thing to do but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Be Careful at Festivals

Mike and I are walking down this hill to go and chill out at a buddy’s campsite because it is in the wood where there is shade. So we can cool off before the next show. When we get to the bottom of the hill there is a pack of three or four kids walking up the hill toward us. When out of no were one of them collapses to the ground and starts convulsing into a full blown seizure. Mike and I instantly switch our mode of thinking and go up to them to see what was wrong. As we rush over we see that he is foaming at the mouth. “He’s fishing out” exclaimed Mike. Seeing how neither of us had any medical training and his friends didn’t know what was going on because they were as high as he was. Mike ran to go and find a medic. The medics were driving around in gator like vehicles all around the campsite so he knew that he could find one. I stayed with the guy trying to pour my bottle of water into his mouth because I thought that he needed to re-hydrate. Before Mike got back with the medic the guy snapped out of it and stood up not knowing where he was, who he was or what had just happened. While I stood there and stared at this dazed individual I thought to myself, I’m am never going to get to that point. After I made sure that he was alright me and mike continued with our journey to Chance’s camp site. I don’t remember that guys face and I doubt that he remembers me but I will never forget what happened. This shows you to never mix drugs with blistering heat and be careful what you buy from people at a festival.

Waffle House

I walk into a cloud of smoke. Its 3am. I’m stumbling and I can barely keep my head form spinning. Wondering how the hell I got here. Me and my friends grab the closest empty booth. I try to look at the menu and my eyes cross. It seems like I am holding two very blurry menus. I know what I want so I don’t really know why I am staring at it. The waitress comes across to the table as my head hits the smooth wood of the booth. “Can I get you anything to drink” she asked in a politefull manner. I lift my head and ask for a glass of water. After she finishes taking my friend’s orders I light up a cigarette. Thinking this will slow the Waffle House from spinning. It works momentarily. When I get my water the cool liquid rushing down the back of my throat I feel refreshed for a moment. Before I knew it the waitress was back at the table to get the food orders. I ramble off the same order I always do. It has been hard wired in my brain because for every restaurant that I go to readily I have a favorite dish that I get and stick to. This is never wavering. For this particular establishment it is double hash browns, extra crispy, with tomato, cheese, ham, and jalapeños. As I wait for my food I light up another cigarette. I have no will power when I’m fucked up. When my food comes I eat it with the intensity of a person that has been deprived of food for weeks. The spiciness of the jalapenos wakes me up of this foggy haze of my drunken state or at least good enough to read the ticket as the waitress hands it to me. I give her a five dollar tip on a four dollar meal and walk out the door.

Mondona was her name

Mondona was her name. I worked at a retail buy and sell video, cd, and video game store and this store defiantly attracted some interesting characters, freaks, geeks, and crazies. But by far the strangest and most certifiably insane out of all of them was named Mondona. For a long time she regularly visited the store and everyone called her Barbie because they didn’t know her name. just to give you somewhat of an insight in to her delirium she once called herself Santa Clause, a super model who was paid billions of dollars a day, and a secret agent who jumped off of the Eiffel Tower and landed on her feet. I believe that she believed every word that she said as well. One day around Christmas some of my co-workers decided that they would tell Mondona that I had crush on her. So that whole week at work she would not leave me alone. She would disrupt my conversations with other customers, one time I was talking to a friend that was a girl so I think Mondona got jealous and came up with a picture of a baby and told my friend that it was my baby. She even brought me a Transformer doll from a McDonald’s happy meal and said it was my Christmas present and that I had to get her one as well. Most of the time I went along with her just because of the crazy and off the wall things that would come spewing out of this crazy lady’s mouth. So told me that we were going to meet up on one of my days off for coffee I said ok not actually intending to follow through with it. But when I got to thinking about the repercussions for not showing up without telling her I got sort of frightened because I could see her following me to my house then coming at me with a steak knife or something. So I decided to try and let her down gently. That did not go over well at all she asked me if I even wanted to see her at all. And I had to be honest. She asked for the doll back that I had left on one of the shelves behind the counter. So I handed it back to her and with great intensity she slammed the doll on the counter and yelled “NOBODY MESSES WITH MONDONA LIKE THIS!!!” then walks out the door never to step foot in the store again.

Flower With Tree as Roots

Bad News Cures All Things

There is a proverb that says bad news cures all things. When I first examined this passage it didn’t seem possible. It seems to me that bad news always makes things worse, but the more that I look and think about it, it starts to make more sense. Think of the worst possible news that you could receive. To me this would be the sudden loss of someone that is very close to me. This seems horrible but no matter what you go through or any bad news that you might get in the future won’t ever compare to what you have been through. If you can make it through that piece of news you can pretty much handle anything that life troughs at you. This makes life not seem so difficult. Bad news always brings on a new outlook on things. To be more positive and go back to the bad news and pull strength from passed experiences to make it though the next hardship. Another way that bad news cures all things is if you get the news about a failing grade this will motivate you to try harder next time so that you will get a better grade. One of the other ways that bad news cures things is, say if you and another person were not getting along so well some bad news has a way of bringing people together in a crazy bonding experience. To suffer with someone will connect people forever making the closer. Bad news also brings out the best in people. Say after a natural disaster or a terrorist attack happens. People from all over the world will come to volunteer their services and help to try and rebuild whatever was destroyed.

The Worst Place to Vacation

Last year about this time me and my grandma decided to go to Liberal, Kansas. My mom was a travel nurse at the time and that is where she was stationed. At the time my sister and her baby girl, Audrey, were living with my mom. It was my niece’s first birthday and my grandma and I didn’t want to miss it. We decided to drive nine hours without telling anyone to surprise my sister and Audrey. Kansas was all right until after Wichita. Then everything after that was pretty shitty. Kansas highways are only one lane and when you pass someone it is a gamble every time. It felt like every time I did pass someone that I was going to go head first into an oncoming car or semi truck going upward to 80 miles an hour. When we finally came to the beginning of town there was this wretched stench that burned your nose and almost made you lose your lunch instantly. I found out later the Liberal had a meat processing plant. If you have ever been in a ten mile radius of one of these meat processing plants you know what I am talking about. I was excited to finally get to the house that my mom was living in because I hadn’t seen my niece in three or four months. Seeing my family that I hadn’t seen in a while was the only plus side of being in Liberal, Kansas. If you don’t know any one that lives there my suggestion is to steer clear of this place, Kansas all together actually. The whole town seemed to die at about 9 pm. The only thing to do there was to go to Wall-Mart and I didn’t have that much money so that didn’t go over so well. They don’t even sell hard alcohol in this county. I had to get drunk on low grade beer the whole time that I was there so that I wouldn’t pull the eyes out of my sockets from boredom. It wouldn’t have been so bad if outside would have been pleasant to look at. Instead it was flat and boring for miles around. When we left a week later, it seemed like a lot longer though, I was never happier to see the hills and trees of Missouri.

Reasons not to Bathe

There are many reasons to bathe. Rarely do people talk about the reasons not to bathe. Well I have a few reasons, first of all would be the lack of time management. For example ill sleep in some days that I had forgotten to shower the previous night and I have ten minutes to get dressed and out the door. I just won’t shower instead ill just pop on some deodorant and rock the stench for the day. Reason two; say you are camping and you refuse to use the facilities that are provided by the camp grounds. This could be for a number of reasons like cold showers, fear of fungal infections, or lack of privacy. You would be surprised to find how much you enjoy your musk after about three or four days of grunginess. The third reason for someone how doesn’t shower would be to save the environment. People don’t realize how much water they waste every time they take a shower. You’ll usually waste at least a couple of gallons of water every time that you warm up the shower. This brings me to reason four for not bathing; to save money. Even if you shower every other day. That cuts your water bill almost in half. Just think of how much money is spent on shower accessories such as shampoo, conditioner, and soap. The fifth reason that I could think of that someone could give for not bathing would be the fear of water, hydrophobia. Trust me this phobia is out there. It is not that common but never the less a valid point to refuse to take a shower or a bath. Those are my reasons for going the filthy route it is not for everyone but you should try it every once and a while.

Created with Blues Traveler