Three photos of the monuments built for three great men.
Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King.
This was my first time in Washington. It will not be my last if I can help it.
I have heard all the horror stories of ‘Oh, D.C. ….yeah done that, lots of walking and no place to park….it’s OK if you like that history stuff I guess.”
Anybody that visits this city and does not take time to admire and reflect has lost an opportunity.
I will leave you with three photos and at the risk of becoming another photo or travel blog (nothing wrong with that by the way) and alienating my 5 or 6 dedicated readers, I will just admit to a brief vacation that we all need from time to time. Plus—-I really, really, really like taking photos.
This song took a while to grab me…I bought this record when it came out and really wanted to like it-I was OK with “Killing the Blues” and I knew the music was good but I just did not have a taste for it. It was not the music that needed to change-it was something about me that was missing it. This is not a crisis –there is no way a person can get everything on first or even 100th listen-music is the universal language but sometimes we just have trouble with dialects that are strange to us.
Then something changed about me.
I love beer-I love good beer-Beer is the tonic of the working man-Beer is what I almost started a blog about (and still might)-I do not trust people who do not drink beer-I do not like self righteous people that tell me beer is bad. My hero, a Mr. C.S. Lewis, once drank beer down the pub with his buddy J.R.R Tolkien as they exchanged stories….yes bitches-beer was helping make “Lord of the Rings’! I love beer!
Then I stopped drinking beer and started going to the gym a few weeks ago. I am not going to list all the reasons this happened (I truly do need another blog or two of an anonymous nature to really crack this egg and make a web omelet)-lifestyle changes can be difficult and necessary-and often changing one thing leads to changing eight more things-
Let’s go forward.
I am on the elliptical working out and “Nothin” plays in my headphones…It was like liquid lightning fueling my brain….Wow!!!!….Crank this up-this is an amazing song-This is electric bluegrass-this is organic hard rock—-this is like the best Led Zeppelin song ever written for a grownup-this is talking to me!!! I can hear it now. “I’m not using nothin’” tell my friends in the hall-I’m not using nothin’. I was blown away and blasted to bits—I get it now.
My level of addiction is not comparable to what destroyed the life of Townes Van Zandt who wrote this song. My stormy sea of troubles is nothing compared to some who have suffered much more. But the growth and evolution of my being is enough that this song slays the dragon of repressed emotion in me with every listen.
That is what great art can do if we understand the language which gives it meaning to us. And it does not have to be the exact meaning that the writer intended. “I’m not using nothin”
On vacation in the nation’s capital this week and took a ton of pictures (wish I took more). This one fits the photo challenge of “on top”. For someone like me that loves history, words and great images- D.C. is like crack cocaine flowing directly to my cerebral cortex. And coincidentally there are tons of great places to buy the aforementioned drug, if you choose, in the District of Columbia.
I was in awe at every turn- even in the biggest house of bones ever assembled known as the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
I still have a blog about Rock n’Roll relics- here is Marc Bolan and the boys, Tyrannosaurus Rex with a classic. T-Rex may have started glam rock but this does not sound too dry and historical yet.
They call it trip hop and I call it old guy suave- this dude is almost 40 which is about 120 when you translate rock music to regular years —— it goes the opposite way in jazz —the older you get-the cooler you get. I like this music. It does not pound you in the head; it seeps in the brain like a rising tide of sophistication. Must be a French thing.
This is closer to bebop than hip hop-
Rock music is young people being inspired and all over by the time you hit 28 (or don’t hit it). That is largely true because even the geriatric rockers are still playing songs they wrote when they were young. The typical fan is yelling “play the good stuff—-from the first two records—-not that crap you guys did when you got older!!”—- O.K. they don’t exactly say it like that—-but that is what they mean.
Then you have this guy making good music and even new music that you want to hear even though he is not still a puppy. The paradigm has shifted in a cool way. Art should improve as you gain experience. It happens in folk music—–it used to happen in country music (Country music adopted the young and gun model from rock and added the “have to be good looking- no exceptions” clause to it for new country).
Wax Tailor and a really cool frozen
Disney is ubiquitous and that song about the cold never bothering a true princess bothers me a ton. It bothers me because it is and cookie cutter emotion. It takes kids and unsuspecting adults on a journey that makes them feel emotion just to feel emotion. There you felt something so you can say that you felt something. I love animation but I hated the few minutes that I was exposed to this “Frozen” movie—-That is OK because it is not for me-Wax Tailor is for me and when he does essentially the same thing as Disney and manufactures fake emotion in an alternative slightly edgy but mostly the same cute way as Disney—I am eating it up—I am a little princess myself!
Wax tailor and the girl with the really bad henna dragon tattoo
I figured I would leave you in a jazzy strip club to finish up this post. It also has dragons in it which seems to be a new theme around the cave.
I am glad I found this dude and this type of music.
Music that old dogs can dance to without having to learn any new tricks.
I may have to start a page for art-type stuff on my site or not. After I did my little sketch for the dragon loyalty award-I thought it might be a good idea to throw it in Photoshop and add some color. I am not kidding when I say that I never really tried to paint something in Photoshop before-but I liked it—–I liked it a lot! I have noticed a trend of people just putting the crappiest art they can make, adding a few un-thought out words and boom-bang-pow…We got a blog post!
I guess this is my attempt at that.
Below is the pencil sketch from last week- I might do a few more and start a page. I am at this point in my life where I am just going to do stuff and then post it—-worrying if it is “post-worthy” or if it will muck up my blog will come later. I write about music but I dabble my toes in many different ponds. And I don’t mind getting wet up to the ankles to try new stuff out.
Nothing mystical here except me thinking about what it is like to really face a dragon….because my experience tells me that no matter what you think something is like—-it is always different once you really go through it-there is no substitute for the feet on the road and the eyes on the prize! Nothing is ever what it seems.
Straight ahead and pure rock with no artificial ingredients today kids.
There are some songs that always have to be played together or you will be left wanting more.
Like two stars in orbit around each other lighting up the rock n roll galaxy.
ZZ Top.Waitin for the bus/Jesus just left Chicago
Is it conflict and resolution?
Queen.We will rock you/We are the Champions
Is it one long intro and one song?
I don’t know why…part of it is they followed each other on the albums and they worked together like peanut butter and chocolate—-and in those L.P. days-if you tried to stop the record without playing the second song, someone would throw a beer bottle at you.
Led Zeppelin. Black dog/Living Loving Maid
OK you got me-not exactly Led Zep but a bunch of kids having fun. This school of rock phenomenon- I have mixed feeling on—on the one hand it is great that kids are keeping the music alive and are staying out of trouble by hanging out and staying off the streets. And on the other hand- kids are using rock to stay out of trouble and learn something—–using rock music as a thing that is learned instead of doing it because “what the hell you are angry and broke anyway” so let’s go for it.
I am cool with that and Led Zeppelin is a good place to start—-and knowing that these two songs always go together because it is a rule of the rock n roll universe it an important lesson learned.
If you list the greatest singers of my generation-that list has no validation if her name is not at the top.
She gets no love and I never understood why.
I liked her as a country singer and as a pop singer.
She is more than that.
She is a pure voice with pure talent that should be strong enough to break through all the barriers that narrow minded genres and narrow minded people place in her way.
Because this Chick can flat out bring it. All the time- anytime.
Here she is with a song from fellow Canadian- Leonard Cohan
This version wrecks me every time.
If it does not hit you like a sledge hammer to the heart then I feel sorry for you-because great talent is a gift that should be felt by everyone.
A loyal blogging friend nominated me for the dragon loyalty award and even though I am not going to really do this award to pass it on in the prescribed way –it will generate a post and has already generated a sketch.
I sketched for an hour-just me and my imagination—I wanted to get the feeling of meeting a dragon and then wondering what to do about the slaying part. I don’t wish ill on any creature and even though dragons have a bad reputation—–getting rid of them is always a tricky thing.
I don’t know where it came from and I don’t know if I am up to the task.
And does this dragon really need to go anyway?
Enough about my conflicted soul and back to the award that I am not doing.
Loyalty is a rare and special thing – I am mentioning two bloggers that have been with me through thick and thin.
Mike http://mikeladano.com/ always drops by and like the friendly neighbor in any good sitcom-the show simply can’t go on without him- so I thank you my friend.
And also http://peacelovegreatcountrymusic.com/ who nominated me for this award-I thank her very much for the support because there was a long time that I was writing and felt I could not write well enough to stay here on WordPress. It is ironic that a country music fan would help keep a rock fan afloat-but she always does.
I don’t think I would have been out here long enough to gather all these followers without a couple good people in my corner. I really mean that.
Now I will do the 7 things about me part.
I listen to hip hop when working out- Biggie for cardio and Slim Shady for weights.
I am fascinated by birds that migrate enough that it affects my driving.
I am not a good driver.
When I look at the stars –I imagine that I am on a big rock hurling through space.
I don’t get “The three Stooges”.
When choosing between cheap beer and no beer- I go thirsty.
Oh sweet mystical frozen land that everyone flies over going to other places!
Oh beautiful Holy Grail of no blogging hits!
You don’t know how one accidental visit can make a guy happy.
I don’t know what brought you to my site and even though I am curious-I am ok with a quick hit and no explanation. It is fine because I have been waiting for you for a long time.
You have made my day! I can see the northern lights dancing in my head right now!
I can hear a polar bear moaning for its mate on an ice floe.
I can almost see a seal popping his head above the waterline to see if I am friend or foe.
I am a friend! I Love you Greenland!
I am not one to brag about this and that on WordPress
I appreciate every single follower and every single like button. They are like little drops of candy from the sky that keep this blogging thing so sweet. I do have a bunch of followers and a few regular readers but I am not really into throwing a badge up for the numbers. I think that a good honest blog with 10 regular followers and readers that are engaged is a successful blog.
And I also think that most bloggers give up too easy when they don’t see good numbers.
If you enjoy writing and do it on a regular basis-you will find yourself getting better and also find a voice that starts to speak to others. When that starts happening: people will find you.
All us bloggers that people think are good started out as a jumbled mess with 3 or 4 followers and no like buttons. We all get better as we go along.
I have not been Freshly Pressed
I’d like to think I have been close with maybe a misplaced comma or an image that could have been a bit stronger making the WordPress gurus winch just enough to not check that box. Or they may not even know I am here! Either way-don’t have that badge.
I am an Award agnostic
I love the fact that they engage the whole community spirit of blogging, but I hate the chain-letterness of them.
But Greenland baby- Greenland- all you bloggers that have ever stared at the world map and seen that big white blank island at the top of the world know what I am talking about .
And I hope you can also reach this blogging Nirvana .
It is a beautiful thing.
Let’s play a happy song- some bouncy major chords and a feisty little drum beat.
Roxy music can be enjoyed by discerning heterosexuals all over the world.
It also has a few tags associated with it like Proto Punk? … Really?, Is this art history with you music critics? And sort of gay? – Which is what I will try and write about next-
I think it means if you play “Avalon” at 3 in the afternoon in a random gay bar somewhere in the world- they are not going to throw beer bottles at you.
As a proud straight man that likes women and loves one woman very much, I feel the need to write what nobody else will write. I have loved art and loved great music my entire life-and I have been suspected of being gay because of that for my entire life. This may be just my baby boomer generation that likes to pigeon hole everyone based on the few attributes that they see on the surface. I pray and hope that kids now can let other kids just follow their passions without making general assertions.
Like the stranger that rolls into town in an old west movie who everyone assumes is a gunfighter and wants to give him a try. “I am not pulling out my six shooter to go one on one with other dude —-I am not that cowboy!”
This is going to sound bad and it is going to sound a tad homophobic of me and I want to dispel that. I don’t have a problem with people loving who they want to love. I admit not understanding it completely, but that does not mean that I automatically hate and fear it. When we fear another group and give them a name to remove any connection to us as humans –bad things always happen. Bad things are happening.
It may be a good thing that I only have 10 nor 12 regular readers at the moment.
Music should always bring us together and not separate us-
Roxy music gets forgotten among the great bands of all time. Brian Eno and Brian Ferry have both achieved much success on their own. They are a pop band with clean sophistication. They don’t break up when they go on hiatus-they simply choose to arrange other things in their lives and then rejoin when it is agreeable for them to do so. They don’t try to put out re-heated weak new music, their catalog is good and Avalon is a good place to stop.
From an artistic point of view-this is also one killer album cover
This one is an old favorite:
I will end this post with a song that went the other way and ended up in the pop world.
There is cross-pollination among music all the time and that is a good thing.
Cave of Fame 