Wingnut Interactions

We've a wingnut in the office. He hasn't had much to say about Iraq lately, now that the CIA has reported finding no WMD. He could be heard about a month ago loudly proclaiming to one of his coworkers that global warming is a "myth." As no terms were defined it was difficult to know what he was attempting to elucidate. This Q&A with Elizabeth Kolbert related to her New Yorker articles on global warming is worthwhile. Cut through the hype and all she is saying is that we're increasing the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and that average global temperatures have increased during the past 30 years. Huge ice sheets at the poles are melting. There could be lots of arguments about why average temps have increased I suppose, including that it's a natural fluctuation. Kolbert says there is broad scientific consensus that human activities are driving climate change, and that there is a well-financed disinformation campaign to convince people otherwise, i.e. that there is no consensus.

Playing the Market

Awoke Sat. a bit tired from Fri. late night watching "Zen and Avant Garde" at Cherry Street Artisan. Well worth it though. Seido Ray Ronci read from his poetry accompanied by Mike Barber on bass, Jesse Lynch, piano and Richard Cravens doing computer generated images. Brewed coffee for Farmer's Market on Sat. and then helped Steve set up for the show. Beautiful blue morning, and we played from a little after 9 a.m. until about 11:30 a.m. Our rhythm was pretty strong, judging by the toe tapping and the kids dancing. I got to sit next to Buddha, the bass player, and his amp was right behind me. It was neat to be in the bass pocket. I'm not 100% on all the chord changes, so I've got to be sure I can at least see S's chords, which is a little more of a challenge with D holding down harmony vocals now and usually sitting next to S. Must learn stuff by heart now - alas. J's first weekend of work, a milestone of sorts. Nuttin but Noodlz. She came home with some cool stories aboot the cru there. You go girl!

May sights, sounds, scents

The irises surprised me. One day they looked ready to burst. The next they were dressed for the prom in their gaudiest outfits, white, purple, yellow. F's garden sports giant, monstrous blooms. Nose candy. Roses are beginning to open their petals. Last week I sat here watching the tree outside the office window, where a little bird would open its mouths and another bird, presumably the mother doing a feeding, would stick her beak inside. The grass is growing like mad, fed by frequent hard rains.

Tis prom season. On the way back from dog training last night V was telling me about her high school prom ordeal of long ago. Her date stood her up, and she ended up going with her best friend and her best friend's boyfriend, who hit on her. J's friend also had an interesting prom experience this year, a breakup on prom night from the sound of it.

Dog training at the Canine Sports Center. Interesting. Industrial butler building that gets very hot. Poor acoustics, which amplify voices and barking, making it hard to hear much of anything. I think Ed and Fluff must have worn C out, because she really wasn't interested in much except a couple of the dog toys outside the training ring. She'd run off at every opportunity.

Down and Out

Feeling a bit down today. Maybe it was the midday trip to the local Veterans Affairs Hospital to play for Nurses Day. They do a weeklong celebration every year for their nurses, and it always culminates on May 12, Florence Nightengale's Birthday, with an awards ceremony. The nurse admin spoke, as did the head of the hospital, and there were quite a few plaques earned. S, guitar/vocals, worked as a VA nurse and B, mandolin/dulcimer/vocals, still does, so we played afterwards. Prine song, "Hello in There," sort of a sad song that moves to the 7th on the chorus and walks down from the relative minor of the root to the 4th. There was a slide show going, and S, B, and D (far from being silent and deadly) were harmonizing. We were up on the second floor of the hospital, the offices and such. Walking along the corridors on the first floor saw folks being wheeled in stretchers, amputees, wheelchair bound people. J didn't feel like seeing Arthur tonight but get to go to V's dog training class with her and Cetu. Looking forward to that!!

Ozomatli in Columbia

At Js prompting we caught the Ozomatli show last Tues at the Blue Note. She likes to get to shows early, and the Blue Note runs on its own time, so we compromised and got there at 8:15. The opening band was 40 Thieves and they were pretty good. Strong drum n bass section. The front man rapped.

Last year Ozomatli played Columbia on a Saturday night in May and the show was packed. This time fewer people showed and we got right up by the lip of the stage. So close we could see the set lists the band had taped to the stage. We were standing in front of the bongo guy's station, and it was cozy enough to feel like there was a warm welcoming crowd, and there was plenty of space to move to the music.

They put on a hell of a good show. The music is part of it. Upbeat, and great percussion. The guys in the band seem like they get a kick out of playing and performing. The bass player had an infectious grin, and the trombone player grooved to the music when he wasn't playing his lines. The band got a couple of the women in the audience on stage for their songs, and did their trademark conga line finish, out into the center of the crowd, forming a nucleus of sound, then leading us out into the foyer. It was wierd standing there and seeing J coming around as part of the line. Ever the gentleman, she stopped and offered me a space, which I stepped into and then it was off, snaking through the crowd to the traffic jam in the lobby, where the peeps were clapping and shouting.