A Clean Goat Needs No Water

A big old flower opening up, a painting finally taking shape. I've been going out into it with the most interesting results. Here's the report:
One of my absolute best friends, (it's not who you think!) insists on calling them Big B.M. -- me & Gin went to see what the fuss is about. Some interesting song structures, a Sonic Youth influence I should stop being surprised to hear, and if the chick bass player is gonna wear tight shirts and short skirts I really think the guys should be required to "work it" a little harder as well. The drummer did some smart stuff. Dave Fera is committed to his songs. They delivered the songs. The crowd was absolutely nerdish (my friend said they'd be "goony"), just standing there, inhibited white people, no dancing, no hootin', no physical engagement. Which in my book says two things --um, I should go see honky tonk legend Dale Watson and --this town is desperate for "new" music cuz if this is the hottest thing we've got going we're pretty green on the terrorist alert chart. That's not to say that I'm not glad that they're out there doing their thing: more power to ya' BBM -- just cuz I'm not buying it doesn't necessarily mean a damn thing. Plus Luke made us some absolutely divine margaritas and when we motored over to the Mermaid with Nate in tow it was nice of Art to wait till noone was around to let us in for free.
I went back out to pay just in good conscience because wow. To see some real hard conviction, to see actual country musicians playing actual country music: Dale Watson Honky Tonk Hero! It was like our own private jukebox but better cuz it was live! I'd not thought about Charlie Pride in such a spell! And the dancing was, Ginger, as usual, sublime. We figured out why people, boys & girls, freak out when we dance, thinking & saying we are lesbians (cross my heart, happens to us all the time): when most girls dance they're doing it to get attention from boys/men, even if they're dancing together. Essentially they want boys/men to cut in and save them from having to dance with their best friend. Or at the very least stand there and stare at their tits. Ginger & I, on the other hand, news-flash, are way beyond that. We dance, we dance with eachother because we love to dance with eachother, we don't care, it's wild. In this regard I can say that we are truly American Women (that other shit is so Olde World). This is not to say it isn't a pleasure to pass a few songs with a man who really knows the pleasure of the dance (it was my pleasure, David Rhoden). That said, that last song we spun around to, Ginger, after the Indian war chants, after the stompin and splashin the beers, bringing those men back grinning for more, THAT was A #1 Grade A original country music dancing at its absolute finest.
Coming home was amazing too, arriving, this oasis, and my hours spent drawing. And then:
a Saturday of maundering: a sub-par breakfast with an above-average companion, playing that Tip-It game on the floor of Bargain Center while it poured the rains down outside, Barq's at Liuzza's, and "the rest of all that" was if I'm not mistaken the definition of our very own personal definition of friendship-nice.
Then FARENHEIT 9/11 ................... Everybody must see this film. It is the most gut-wrenching inspiring piece of propaganda I have ever seen. His treatment, filmically, of September 11 had me absolutely riveted, tears streaming down my face. The movie, yeah it's funny, but it is DEVASTATING. Devastating to finally see footage of Iraq, to be given personal stories of the trauma that the Bush Regime has WITHOUT CONSCIENCE doomed so many innocent people to. To see the whole trajectory from 9/11 to now. It reaches in and adroitly grabs the heart & pulls your heart out for you to do an inventory of. What am I really DOING? I don't know about you but I have to do more than just talk and cry. The whole horrible disenchanting experience of Bush "becoming President" really exhausted me and September 11th created a gigantic rift in all of our spirits. As a result I've not been able to do much more than stay abreast of what's going on, stay committed to thinking about it & seeking out the stories - which is very unlike the radical activist worker's daughter from the North that I used to be. I left this movie with a hunger for action and am beginning the preliminary gestures toward that. Registering voters, Move-On meetings, letters of protest, but for me most important is to begin sending books and letters to the soldiers who are trapped over there. So hooray to Michael Moore for creating what, artistically, I recognize as a flawed work but socially and emotionally I embrace whole-heartedly. If it can work on any level to balance the scales, to galvanize us to get that lying murderous pathological chump-ass punk out of office, then we may be returning to the best things about idealism in this country -- that it is a common, daily, participatory act requiring us all to be rigorously honest with ourselves.
alrighty then! The Black Bonnets recording session last night was as good as I knew it would be. All the work we have been doing paid off ten-fold. Listening to the playbacks not only got my imagination going but confirmed my belief that we are doing something (real singing, 3 part harmonies, 3 great voices doing great things) that nobody else is doing right now. It's a gift, we've got a real gift! I'm in awe of it - as a musician who has been around for a long long while, making records, touring, performing, and especially: listening . . . I am blessed to be able to sing with Andy & Gin & experience this. For three singers to be able to sit in a room and nail, live, three original vocal lines, to nail our parts and with real emotion, not onstage but in front of a very very hot mic . . . it's kindof like I'm not me, not in my body, when I listen back. I'm just this person with really great ears going "Fuck! Who the fuck is that? That's uncanny!" So cheers to The Black Bonnets for confirming my suspicions. I'm super committed and inspired and ready to do whatever it takes to keep this odd ball rolling.
On top of that: a great great solid night's sleep, some fab iced coffee, this day ahead and holiday ahead and yeah. Anybody want some hot homemade biscuits?

Comments

I want to hear the Black Bonnetts! and see ya'll perform......I'm so glad to hear you are comfy in your body and the space around it like a European woman...able to dance and walk arm in arm for self and eachother and No it does not have to be sexual or a show- that whole perspective comes from patriarchial confines...F/911- I too cried - from start to finish...on to Do Something...

[On the road again still]

We're all going to see F-9/11 tomorrow in Denver. It's all pretty exciting. I can tell you that this country is getting really stirred up by this movie. I for one am so pissed off that we've all been getting screwed over by G.W., that man has got to GO.
um, Big B.M.? That's pretty stupid ... is that a band name? What do the initials stand for? I like your writing/critiques alot - I feel like even though I'll never see this band that I've gotten a fair assessment. Dale Watson? Man he is a man on fire. Lucky to have you there dancing I would say.
And you are recording? Damn you are busy.
And open. Thanks for this blog. I for one have come to depend on it.
Sincerely,
Out Here In The Van

[eli]

We are so lucky to have M.Moore ... not alot of people can maintain such devotion to this kind of work. He just gets those movies made - pretty fantastic. I know people who can barely make their own supper.
B.B.M. = Big Blue Marble. What do you think of that name? I was at a table where folks were discussing how this name has influenced how they perceive this band ... would like to know what someone who knows nothing about the "scene" here has to say about this ...
I keep getting told what an online journal is "for", what it is "supposed" to be - w/the implication that I am not "doing it right", being "too real". Isn't it possible that whatever we can imagine is possible is appropriate? Isn't it possible that anything can be anything? Regardless, thanks for the pos. feedback. It's nice to know that this writing isn't just going into a void (though it's nice to know that it is, as well!)
Truly,
Dreamt I Had A Studebaker

[e caskey]

DO NOT FEAR THOUGHT PROVOKING ART
http://www.caedefensefund.org

[The Road Still Moving]

The name, Big Blue Marble, my take on it? Makes me think of a novelty band. Or a Dave Matthews "alternative rock" band. Kid's stuff. A band that would go over big in Ohio ...
the pos. feedback is well deserved - who can say what a blog is supposed to be? Maybe someone who just wants things to stay light & superficial. Your blog is deep. Some of us just dig that.
Off to the movies -
Is it really hot there yet?
Sincerely,
I Like You.

[tami]

i saw you at the movies.

i was crying behind my huge sunglasses.

[elizabeth]

aw I wish I'da known you were there

it woulda been nice to hug you after all that