Wednesday thoughts and ponderings....

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Charles W.Cushman 1930's
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I have to believe in "Better Days" ....( music by the Goo Goo Dolls )

Baltimore....(or how Randy Newman stopped a Riot during a Snowstorm)

The Story Behind the Song....

I was telling my son about Baltimore, I have many stories from that era of my life....and I was telling him about my First Randy Newman Concert. It was winter,many years ago and it was bitter cold and snowing....It was in an old Dance Hall, and people showed up mostly for the Main Act which was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Now This was the same year that "Short People" came out and believe it or not Little People would come and protest at Randy's Concerts.

So outside waiting in the snowstorm was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Fans ( alot of Bikers ) and then the Protesting Midgets and Dwarves. And I am not sure why, but they were not getting along.So then the Parrotheads arrived, somehow they were there to see both bands. So they were in their Full Margauritaville Gear with Hawaii Shirts and funny hats. So The Management let all of us in. I was with my sister who was in a DISCO phase and really pissed at me for dragging her to "this dumass circus of a concert". There I sat in my Hippy gear, patched jeans , Indian top, and 2nd hand coat and clogs smoking clove cigarettes. It was not a Sisterly loving event. ( I invited her because her date cancelled and I had an extra ticket.)

So the Dance Hall is packed every old battered wooden theater seat is full and Everyone has made their way in, the Pissed Off Little People, the Rowdy Bikers, and the Parrotheads.... So the waiting begins.

Well, it turns out that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was not coming...and would not be coming. And that supposedly their Bus had broken down somewhere. Now the Audience had to be told this....So there are Pissed off Little People marching up and down the aisles, and then now the Bikers were about to be given a bad blow. So a little tiny wisp of a man came out to deliver the bad news....

" I have some troubling news, I am not sure when or if the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is coming. But if you want to wait for them, because they had some bus trouble, then I am sure they will be here when Randy Finishes playing, Maybe"

His voice cracked and rose off and on, sweat ran down his little face. By the time he was done the Bikers were on their feet yelling " We want our Godamn Money Back NOW !!!!

Meanwhile the Parrotheads have all settled in to watch the show- and are getting stoned and blowing up HUGE Beachballs and bouncing them around the audience. Meanwhile the angry little people are still stomping around the aisles.And the Bikers are now stamping their feet and Yelling and getting ready to Break Something.

My sister sitting there in her leather pants and her Donna Summer tube top was looking disgusted, and " I wish I was anywhere else!!". Someone handed her a Flask and told her " Here Darlin' have some Courage", She mellowed considerably.

And while the Tension rose and the Noise got louder, the Little Man on the stage said, "Without Further ado- I give you Randy Newman".......

So out comes Randy, still putting on his jacket, looking a bit rumpled like he just fell off the bus....He quickly gauged the room... and came out on stage and sat at the Piano and started talking....as soothing as a Fine Southern Gentleman , telling the Bikers not to worry that he would keep them happy until The Band arrived, and apologizing to the Little People, and even making nice jokes about his gratitude to the Mysterious Parrotheads and their doobies and beach balls. ( No one was even sure why they were there...). He had a rambling style like a traveling Medicine Man offering some sweet bottled Sunshine and promises out the back of a wagon as he stroked the piano keys.

He sang it all Blues, Ray Charles, Some Jimmy Buffet, and some Willie Nelson.....all of it...He used his music to make peace that snowy night.....

And this Song was how he began his show....".Baltimore"....a much longer version....

And no the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band never showed....but 20 minutes into Randy telling stories and singing songs Something Wonderful happened.....

Peace in the Garden...

My Oasis....

Zen Meditation Journey.....

Soothing Walls.....

Sunday Soulfood:::Beautiful Video

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I worry we are not listening to each other...
Our Children..
Our Elders...
Our Hearts....
Our Animals.....
Our Earth....
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Hopi Prayer Video

Have a sit....stay awhile...

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I will put the music on..and some Sun Tea...Red Zinger today.....and Peter Gabriel..."Sky Blue"

Saturday Night : Requieum for a Dream....

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Imogene Cunnigham took amazing photos....and at the turn of the Century...mostly of Friends and families and she was one of the first photographers to take Nude Photos....Please see the one above of a friend at a lake on MtRanier.....it is lovely magical and mystical...Imogene believed that photos could be taken that represented Dreams.......So Lovely....

Music....Requeium for a Dream....( yes, from Lord of the Rings...but still sweeping and beautiful).

Thursday Night Music....."Falling Softly"

I love this photo..I am sure for it's time 1917...this was considerd so naughty...but the bounding surf..the rocks..so wonderful.....you can almost feel the water...and the wind .....You can't help but fall softly back in time...

"Falling Softly".....lovely song...

Saturday Morning Soulfood....8.09.08

Three videos about Meditation and Soothing Zen Moments....and finding some calm....
Stone Sushi and Meditation......

Zen Meditation....

Northern Lights with Native American Music...

WE THE PEOPLE....

WE THE PEOPLE...
These people are OUR people..there are US....and yet we have over 5.1 Million Homeless in this country..OUR Country. this is just so wrong.....it is Our Greatest Shame....


The Video was a collaboration with Mandt of Agitdiaries, it was a wonderful collaboration....the Photos are from all over, NY, SF, DC,LA, Portland, Seattle, and yes, Cleveland. The Song is called "TearDrop" by Massive Attack, written by Liz Frazer.

Saturday Soulfood....

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So last night amidst Blogger Woes...and a Huge Skycracking Thunderstorm, I fell asleep on my son's floor reading Pema Chodrun by a dim flashlight...so I thought I would share some of her wisdom with you....I had wanted to write a post about Buddhism since CNN is doing a special this weekend called "Buddha's Warriors", but this post is all I have gathered for now due to circumstances well beyond my control. Last Night was definently a lesson in Patience with the Flow...So I give this post for you to ponder...and you can sit in my 3 Dollar Urban Oasis (my backyard garden) and listen to the music of Enigma while you reflect and soak in Pema Chodrun. Namaste.

"It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive."

"An analogy for bodhichitta is the rawness of a broken heart. Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment, and blame. But under the hardness of that armor there is the tenderness of genuine sadness. This is our link with all those who have ever loved. This genuine heart of sadness can teach us great compassion. It can humble us when we’re arrogant and soften us when we are unkind. It awakens us when we prefer to sleep and pierces through our indifference. This continual ache of the heart is a blessing that when accepted fully can be shared with all.”

" We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves."

" When we start out on a spiritual path we often have ideals we think we're supposed to live up to. We feel we're supposed to be better than we are in some way. But with this practice you take yourself completely as you are. Then ironically, taking in pain - breathing it in for yourself and all others in the same boat as you are - heightens your awareness of exactly where you're stuck."

" If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher."

Music by ENIGMA...Return to Innocence...with really soothing video:


Pema Chodrun Books:
(1) The Places that Scare You : A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)
(2) Practicing Peace in Times of War

Mini Biography on her ( from multiple Internet sources-pieced together):
"Pema Chodron, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown. She studied Buddhism in the French Alps and London, where she was ordained. She worked with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche from 1974 until 1987. She was ordained in the Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981 in Hong Kong. Since 1984 she served as the director of Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She has taught lectured widely and has written several books on meditation practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition."