The House of the Setting Sun

Chogyam Trungpa wrote that we should look not to the West but East facing the future and never looking back on the day as finished nor done. I have viewed this many ways since the first time I read Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. As a pathological pessimist the East seems the solution, yet that inward navel gazing will not do the job. Always gazing West is also pathological as the sun also rises and never sets therefore endless summer of the evangelical polarity, an extroversion predatory capitalist personae.
As I watch the sun go South and add to the sunset effect I dread the evening sun. I lie waiting for light to come again. Now until February. The long dark night only tempered by the warrior facing always the Western sun. What has the Summer left? What have I gathered to weather this time of cold and barren earth.
Dare I speak now here of the oceans the glaciers and our fellow beings dying in such numbers? I will be that soon enough. Thank you Universe for this day to stay free to dance and to weep.

Why is there so much resistance to healthcare?

Polarity is the rule in American society. I guess we can blame this on a lack of leadership. But not in the same perspective of the conservatives who blame things on PBO not leading us as they deem fit, I lay blame clearly on the corporadoes who bought enough democrats to detour single-payer Medicare for all and sell us the hedge deal (ACA)made  that there will be no limits on lifetime  expenses and elimination of "pre-existing" exclusions.

 I understand it is not a sweet deal for those(unions) who have theirs.  To others, the ones who only have the "death or emergency healthcare option D", anything is an improvement. To those who feel the pinch, I recognize your suffering. It does not excuse our collective responsibility to the 50 million who have no healthcare.Be holy,(Holy) call on whatever religious tradition you choose, but do not ever say to me that the system is just fine as it is. The "Man" fears universal health care  not because Juan Valdez has a an anchor baby on your dime but because the worker wins, the young win and the Man gets to pay his tab finally after 30 years of Reaganomics. Get on the right side, The Left.

Buck 65 9-26-13

Yesterday I drove many miles across a barren landscape to see a man with a word and a beat. I am not a regular at hip-hop clubs but taking exception here  to have the experience. I first heard of Buck 65 on the internet listening to CBC radio and thought “wow this white guy is throwing down about 50cent´ and then the …banjo while rapping about poverty and drug addiction. Totally unique and true artistry, just what a poet does, reflects upon the socio-political environment , in his case the province of Nova Scotia and Eastern Canada.

 Central/Eastern Oregon highway 97 in fall is a brown and dreary place on a cloudy day. The four-hour drive on mostly two-lane roads was broken by frequent stops to alleviate Toetoe Martin’s(picture) anxiety on her very first road trip.

I had tweeted to Buck 65 about attending the 9-26-13 show at the Annex in Bend, OR.  I had planned to see him two years ago @ the Doug Fir Lounge.  He was to play in PDX and cancelled that part of tour. This time I had a rehearsal on the night he played in PDX so Bend was my only choice.

Propane is now Kamen Pink.

I arrived too early (like 2 hours old man in the club syndrome) and got to know the bartender and asked about maybe playing a little flute. The sound man said, “that’s up to Buck.” I left it at that, ate my cookie, drank another latte, and watched the opening acts.

 (insert videos here) The first guy (Driftwood Insomnia) link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ph7T3-Zus&feature=youtu.be  “local guy that opens for major acts,” got up and dropped about 387 f-bombs about hypocrisy, posing, and the class wars of today’s youth.  

The second  guy , Open Face Mike, had effects pedals he punched by hand. He live-mixed and looped as he rapped with amazing facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIqtaE_MmNE&feature=youtu.be

Mr Buck65 had taken the stage while I was outside getting my camera. His crowd was small and very  enthusiastic (cute too) and knew every song that he spit out except a few surprise bits and jabs(Coco) at his roots and life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCaqRgJ8p3g&feature=youtu.be   I filmed and watched him perfom while playing a few riffs on the flute.  The mix was not that loud and the crowd started to react to the flute and on one tune he came over with the mic and I got to be inside with the mighty One. All those years in the practice room gave me a passport. Grace they call it. 

 Happy I could do that. Travel, see live music, and be part of the hip-hop phenomena named Buck 65. I hope the video turns out.

It was a welcome relief to forget  my mother’s  death for a while. Music is an awesome salve but it needs to be applied often and in my case, generously. I was served a generous portion of LOVE last night. That man, that thin thin man from down East, delivered.  Not sex. Better. Much better. BCM

Arrivederci Pope Benedict

Good Good Bye to a man not quite as infallible as the church doctrine would force you to believe. Under his leadership over 100 priests have been ex-communicated for teaching liberation theology. The Church of the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Office of the Inquisition will get Mr Ratzinger back because, rumors abound, he is charged (EU/Italy) for multiple charges of facilitating child abuse and covering up priests by moving them to different dioceses to avoid legal problems. Now he must "enter a life of prayer within the Vatican". Or else, risk being arrested and tried Pope of the pedophile. That ends the notion of infallibility slipped in unbeknownst to our lord and Savior JC of Nazareth. This is what bothers me about religion. The books are holy and complete works of G*D but need "councils and colleges of Cardinals" to perfect the doctrine. Bullshit. Benedict is a disgrace to all catholics and Christians as well. Fundamentalism and nostalgia for the "old ways of the church" are only signs of a dying role of religion in the establishment of power and justice long since lost and blamed on liberation theology and leftist ideology. We who think outside the Book think the Crusades and the Inquisition are not suitable endeavors for our leaders. Unfortunately, these power systems are integrated into our courts, our schools, and ultimately who works and teaches in our society.