28 June 2009
18 June 2009
Crow's Tree
If you are reading this, you're probably already aware that we lost brin metzendorf (aka madbunny, aka Samual Crow Walker), a valued member of many of Cleveland's edgier arts scenes, last month. This past weekend, a number of his friends and associates gathered in Tremont's Lincoln Park to plant a living memorial to him.
If you go to the gazebo in the center of the park and then head down the path leading directly out to West 14th street, you'll notice three younger trees on the left-hand side. The middle one of these, a cherry tree set farther back, is his tree. Crows like cherries, you know; and its a rather tall and skinny tree, for a tall and skinny fellow.
i'd like to ask people who are in and around Tremont to stop by from time to time. Whether walking your dog, catching some rays, or just relaxing on an afternoon, take a little detour to visit. Bring some water if it hasn't rained lately, but bring something else too. Bring the things you'd tell brin if you could. What are you up to lately, what are you working on, what have you accomplished? Play some music, read it a poem, work on a sketch beneath the branches. Consider it a sort of mailbox where you can drop off messages - and who knows, maybe receive some as well.
i know that not everyone who reads this will share my beliefs and ideas about things beyond the known, but that's ok. This can still be just a nice spot in the park, a living thing that needs all of our care and attention to thrive. But if you have Belief - and i know that brin himself did - it can also be something More. There are many things a Tree of Tales can mean, many ways it can manifest. i have my vision; i hope you all will add yours. And most of all, pass the message along. This spot may be most special to those who knew and loved him, but the idea is one that can grow past even his wide circle of influence.
Thanks, folks. To everyone who came out and helped plant, and everyone who will continue to nurture both the tree and the legacy brin left behind. And if you'd like to discuss any of the deeper concepts implied here, i can often be found on the patio at Edison's, at the theater, or sitting outside Civilizations. Just ask for the village witch.
If you go to the gazebo in the center of the park and then head down the path leading directly out to West 14th street, you'll notice three younger trees on the left-hand side. The middle one of these, a cherry tree set farther back, is his tree. Crows like cherries, you know; and its a rather tall and skinny tree, for a tall and skinny fellow.
i'd like to ask people who are in and around Tremont to stop by from time to time. Whether walking your dog, catching some rays, or just relaxing on an afternoon, take a little detour to visit. Bring some water if it hasn't rained lately, but bring something else too. Bring the things you'd tell brin if you could. What are you up to lately, what are you working on, what have you accomplished? Play some music, read it a poem, work on a sketch beneath the branches. Consider it a sort of mailbox where you can drop off messages - and who knows, maybe receive some as well.
i know that not everyone who reads this will share my beliefs and ideas about things beyond the known, but that's ok. This can still be just a nice spot in the park, a living thing that needs all of our care and attention to thrive. But if you have Belief - and i know that brin himself did - it can also be something More. There are many things a Tree of Tales can mean, many ways it can manifest. i have my vision; i hope you all will add yours. And most of all, pass the message along. This spot may be most special to those who knew and loved him, but the idea is one that can grow past even his wide circle of influence.
Thanks, folks. To everyone who came out and helped plant, and everyone who will continue to nurture both the tree and the legacy brin left behind. And if you'd like to discuss any of the deeper concepts implied here, i can often be found on the patio at Edison's, at the theater, or sitting outside Civilizations. Just ask for the village witch.
Festival drop
oh look. a computer. *my* computer, that is; which i've not used nor looked at in days. Been on other ones, primarily the windoze machine that runs the lighting board software. And a bit online as FB/myspz/twitter friends know. But not where i could sit and think in pixels uninterrupted.
So. yes. Currently suffering from a bad case of festival drop, or near as dammit. We put on one HELL of a show/party Sat. night. Depending on where i post this, some of you may even have been there. For those that weren't, well. i kept saying beforehand that afterwards people would/will be saying Damn, sorry i missed it; i'm expecting that even more now as word gets around. While it didn't go off flawlessly - at least one major technical hiccup, though it didn't interfere w/running the show - the flaws were of the sort that only the run crew would be aware of. For everyone else, it was an amazingly good time.
Should some be out of the loop, we did a major concert/performance/video shoot at the MC warehouse Sat. night, attended by over a hundred of our closest friends. The space belongs to bass player Frank, who realized somewhere along the way that this was his version of a midlife crisis. Glad he figured that out on his own; i wasn't going to break it to him lol ;-} Srsly, tho, if ya gotta have one, what a way to go about it. We have a stage thats inspired by the bridge of the starship Enterprise, 1960s version. We have a lightshow that maybe isn't quite Pink Floyd at the Stadium c.1978 - but knocks socks off some local concert clubs.We had four bands, tho two of them were different configurations of the Center for Rock Research, which in turn shared members with the other two (RYDR and Morticia's Chair). We had props, costumes, skits between bands and an overall concept underlying the whole thing. And one HELL of a good time putting it all together.
At this point, the days and nights have rolled into one for me; i'd have to consult my dayrunner to figure out what days i *wasn't* there. i think i lived there from Thurs thru Sunday; tho was i there Weds night too? i was, just don't recall where (if?) i slept. Several marathon sessions on the lighting console - i'm not ready to go pro with the thing by a long shot; otoh, i can now program a basic lightshow, which i couldn't do a month ago. And after staying up all night a couple nights in a row, i've gotten to where i'm itching to move on to intermediate level.
It was very apparent to me that the last songs in MC's set were much better lit than the first; evidence of my learning curve in action. i didn't even get to rehearse running their cues til they were live on stage - the drummer's had health issues, so their Weds. night practice was to the drum track of recent recordings, and i wrote cues listening to studio versions on an iPod. CRR fared better, as Frank had a bit more time to design some truly gorgeous lighting for the Radiohead set, much of it timed and themed to match the music. Their Rush set, well, matched the band name; but Matt got put in charge of running that and i think he was better up to responding to playing the console on the fly. Me, i need cuesheets unless i REALLY know the material - like i do w/ MC.
But now what? Well, car repair alas - aside from the audio glitch, the only other snafu of the evening was that someone tried to jack my car late Sat. after it was all over. i honestly don't recall leaving my window open enuf to fit an arm thru, nor my passenger door unlocked; but i must've done one or the other as that's how i found it. At least they were able to get in w/out breaking any windows. They smashed my ignition w/a brick but only succeeded in knocking the module out of the steering column; fortunately, they weren't then able to use the screwdriver trick to get it going; or else were interrupted, don't know which. Either way, the car was still there, not a thing stolen, only damage the ignition module. We can pop it back in and get the engine to turn over but it won't stay running; some internal failsafe i guess. Don't yet know if i can get just that fixed or if its going to mean the whole steering column; hoping the former coz its not like i have bucks to throw at car repair just now :-\
However, Big Love beckons - yeah, not that kind, don't get your hopes up ;-p Big Love is the summer play; rehearsals began last week so as of tonite i'm back at the theater every evening there isn't a performance. i'm housesitting over this weekend, which will mean unlimited access to internet; tho with this self-imposed fast, i find that after checking all main accounts & sites and doing a few updates, i'm too bored to sit around looking at anything else (the main reason i'm no longer active on Living Room Salon; i'd really prefer to hold conversations live and in person). Hoping i get called for an interview this week, tho if that can wait til after i have a car again, it'd be nice. i did have a phone interview last week so its not entirely wishful thinking.
Now, tho, i've a bike tire to put air into, a garden to check in on, stuff to do at the library, then eventually make my way to Tremont one way or another. All of which will have happened, in theory, by the time this posts. And the next thing i know it'll be Solstice, which already has several competing demands on my time; followed by Somebody's birthday weekend and ditto; then July 4th and - uh-yah, ditteaux it is. Which leaves one whole week before i fly to Colorado to surprise my folks, see my broheim and my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Who, aside from parents and brother, i haven't seen in - twenty years? Or so? Then Big Love opens when i get back and runs thru August and then summer's over and i'll be booking into fall before that happens. For somebody who was never too good with time to begin with, my concept has gotten both more flexible and more precise at once.
Anyhoo. Sounds like Bloo is repairable - magician to the rescue! - so i need to shower, dress, and make like a tree. Laterz, good people. Love ya all.
So. yes. Currently suffering from a bad case of festival drop, or near as dammit. We put on one HELL of a show/party Sat. night. Depending on where i post this, some of you may even have been there. For those that weren't, well. i kept saying beforehand that afterwards people would/will be saying Damn, sorry i missed it; i'm expecting that even more now as word gets around. While it didn't go off flawlessly - at least one major technical hiccup, though it didn't interfere w/running the show - the flaws were of the sort that only the run crew would be aware of. For everyone else, it was an amazingly good time.
Should some be out of the loop, we did a major concert/performance/video shoot at the MC warehouse Sat. night, attended by over a hundred of our closest friends.
At this point, the days and nights have rolled into one for me; i'd have to consult my dayrunner to figure out what days i *wasn't* there. i think i lived there from Thurs thru Sunday; tho was i there Weds night too? i was, just don't recall where (if?) i slept. Several marathon sessions on the lighting console - i'm not ready to go pro with the thing by a long shot; otoh, i can now program a basic lightshow, which i couldn't do a month ago. And after staying up all night a couple nights in a row, i've gotten to where i'm itching to move on to intermediate level.
It was very apparent to me that the last songs in MC's set were much better lit than the first; evidence of my learning curve in action. i didn't even get to rehearse running their cues til they were live on stage - the drummer's had health issues, so their Weds. night practice was to the drum track of recent recordings, and i wrote cues listening to studio versions on an iPod. CRR fared better, as Frank had a bit more time to design some truly gorgeous lighting for the Radiohead set, much of it timed and themed to match the music. Their Rush set, well, matched the band name; but Matt got put in charge of running that and i think he was better up to responding to playing the console on the fly. Me, i need cuesheets unless i REALLY know the material - like i do w/ MC.
However, Big Love beckons - yeah, not that kind, don't get your hopes up ;-p Big Love is the summer play; rehearsals began last week so as of tonite i'm back at the theater every evening there isn't a performance. i'm housesitting over this weekend, which will mean unlimited access to internet; tho with this self-imposed fast, i find that after checking all main accounts & sites and doing a few updates, i'm too bored to sit around looking at anything else (the main reason i'm no longer active on Living Room Salon; i'd really prefer to hold conversations live and in person). Hoping i get called for an interview this week, tho if that can wait til after i have a car again, it'd be nice. i did have a phone interview last week so its not entirely wishful thinking.
Now, tho, i've a bike tire to put air into, a garden to check in on, stuff to do at the library, then eventually make my way to Tremont one way or another. All of which will have happened, in theory, by the time this posts. And the next thing i know it'll be Solstice, which already has several competing demands on my time; followed by Somebody's birthday weekend and ditto; then July 4th and - uh-yah, ditteaux it is. Which leaves one whole week before i fly to Colorado to surprise my folks, see my broheim and my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Who, aside from parents and brother, i haven't seen in - twenty years? Or so? Then Big Love opens when i get back and runs thru August and then summer's over and i'll be booking into fall before that happens. For somebody who was never too good with time to begin with, my concept has gotten both more flexible and more precise at once.
Anyhoo. Sounds like Bloo is repairable - magician to the rescue! - so i need to shower, dress, and make like a tree. Laterz, good people. Love ya all.
08 June 2009
kick that habit man
So the staying off the computer exercise is having interesting results. i've been internet-dependent for about fifteen years now, which has become an expensive habit. i'm not missing that aspect of it. However, having set myself a 'job' that requires i be online - well, that part's a little more complicated.
To an extent, i'm doing what i did in Conneaut; getting everything written and ready to go at home, then uploading it all the next time i'm online. But with the lack of home internet, i find i have less use for the computer overall, or perhaps less interest. And when i'm not sitting in this chair, i'm - brace yourself - doing other things. Of such matters my w00t is made.
Which might sound like i am now ooh, productive; but one of the things i'm doing is reading books again so that mitigates it a bit. But i can look around and see tangible results. After two years, i am now settled in to my apartment and have it fairly well tweaked into a live/work space; at the same time (are you *sure* that moon's not in Gemini?!)(no, but its opposing it) i have lived in ways that were so far from optimal for working for so long i've forgotten how to be here to take advantage of it.
Another reason i'm on a computer-restricted diet right now is that i've had this notion kicking around for a while of picking up the life i left off living in the 70s. Or perhaps i mean living the life now that i envisioned i would one day live then. Of course i haven't built my own Art House out in the woods somewhere, but then again i've come to realize that unless it was in a woodland community of like-minded art people who i really get along with well, i wouldn't want to live that way now.
But in terms of being an Art Bitch a la CSS? Hrm, actually i'm sure they're hardly computer-free! Well, some synthesis, then. How *did* i live when i didn't have this little box plugged in between me and the world? It certainly wasn't boring then. Hell, a good many of my Adventures took place before i ever let this innocent little device take over my life. And the upside of all this is that i find i am connecting with the world again - not that i'd gotten disconnected, but i engaged less with the world around me. "No i never will neglect my world again." That's a line from the Tear Garden, who are the only thing i've been listening to other than 2112 and OK Computer for weeks (except for the occaisional dose of NPR). Another thing programming my headspace right now.
The important part about all this, tho, is that i *am* making things happen. Positive things. This is an experiment in programming the human biocomputer though i forget which circuit - the highest three always confused me a bit. Each seemed rather like the others; but i've also assumed that they were states one had to experience to really understand. i can say i feel i'm somewhere that isn't the first five which is really good enough for me. If i were online right now, i'd be googling a link to the Leary-Wilson Eight Circuit Model for readers who aren't familiar; but you're going to have to do that for yourselves, sisters and brothers.
As for me, i have to make use of the time i am allowing myself with this machine. i used to use it as a different sort of tool before the ubiquituous net infected it (me?). i'm working on reclaiming those ways now. Some people may be bemused to learn that i'm going backwards in operating systems to do so - i don't have the evil microsquash suite o'doom on here so i'm using Appleworks like i always did, and that has to run under OS9 'Classic'. My rant about that hasn't really changed - i found it a more productive way to use the computer than OSX for all its bells and whistles - but i'm acclimated now. (Insert snarky comment about my first experience with Vista tonight here).
And that, as they say in show business, means i'm outta here. i do check in nearly every day, so if there's anything you want to point my attention to, ping me direct. Hope your summer's off to as inspiring a start as i hope & feel mine is. Catch ya later, tweeps.
To an extent, i'm doing what i did in Conneaut; getting everything written and ready to go at home, then uploading it all the next time i'm online. But with the lack of home internet, i find i have less use for the computer overall, or perhaps less interest. And when i'm not sitting in this chair, i'm - brace yourself - doing other things. Of such matters my w00t is made.
Which might sound like i am now ooh, productive; but one of the things i'm doing is reading books again so that mitigates it a bit. But i can look around and see tangible results. After two years, i am now settled in to my apartment and have it fairly well tweaked into a live/work space; at the same time (are you *sure* that moon's not in Gemini?!)(no, but its opposing it) i have lived in ways that were so far from optimal for working for so long i've forgotten how to be here to take advantage of it.
Another reason i'm on a computer-restricted diet right now is that i've had this notion kicking around for a while of picking up the life i left off living in the 70s. Or perhaps i mean living the life now that i envisioned i would one day live then. Of course i haven't built my own Art House out in the woods somewhere, but then again i've come to realize that unless it was in a woodland community of like-minded art people who i really get along with well, i wouldn't want to live that way now.
But in terms of being an Art Bitch a la CSS? Hrm, actually i'm sure they're hardly computer-free! Well, some synthesis, then. How *did* i live when i didn't have this little box plugged in between me and the world? It certainly wasn't boring then. Hell, a good many of my Adventures took place before i ever let this innocent little device take over my life. And the upside of all this is that i find i am connecting with the world again - not that i'd gotten disconnected, but i engaged less with the world around me. "No i never will neglect my world again." That's a line from the Tear Garden, who are the only thing i've been listening to other than 2112 and OK Computer for weeks (except for the occaisional dose of NPR). Another thing programming my headspace right now.
The important part about all this, tho, is that i *am* making things happen. Positive things. This is an experiment in programming the human biocomputer though i forget which circuit - the highest three always confused me a bit. Each seemed rather like the others; but i've also assumed that they were states one had to experience to really understand. i can say i feel i'm somewhere that isn't the first five which is really good enough for me. If i were online right now, i'd be googling a link to the Leary-Wilson Eight Circuit Model for readers who aren't familiar; but you're going to have to do that for yourselves, sisters and brothers.
As for me, i have to make use of the time i am allowing myself with this machine. i used to use it as a different sort of tool before the ubiquituous net infected it (me?). i'm working on reclaiming those ways now. Some people may be bemused to learn that i'm going backwards in operating systems to do so - i don't have the evil microsquash suite o'doom on here so i'm using Appleworks like i always did, and that has to run under OS9 'Classic'. My rant about that hasn't really changed - i found it a more productive way to use the computer than OSX for all its bells and whistles - but i'm acclimated now. (Insert snarky comment about my first experience with Vista tonight here).
And that, as they say in show business, means i'm outta here. i do check in nearly every day, so if there's anything you want to point my attention to, ping me direct. Hope your summer's off to as inspiring a start as i hope & feel mine is. Catch ya later, tweeps.
01 June 2009
Working Things Out in Groups
First day of June and i started the day by closing my windows, turning on the heat, and crawling back under the covers until it was warm enuf to get out of bed. Doesn't bode well for a long hot summer, which everyone seems to be expecting somehow. Haven't consulted the almanac but my breath, i am not holding it.
So i am currently engaged in the experiment of living an internet-free life. OK, i haven't given it up *completely*; witness this blog. But my use has become minimal - check email, Facebook, maybe myspace; banking and bills and i'm out. i'm not reading Twitter, Walls, message boards, articles, other blogs - i'm reading books. And doing stuff.
It seems a logical progression, somehow. i've been actively on line for about sixteen years, now. And i think the internet, for me, has hit that wall that all the mega-apps ran into around the turn of the century - its now been tweaked right up to its capacity; anything truly new will have to come from some sort of breakthrough. Some way of using it that hasn't happened until now. Social media, of course, wants to be that breakthrough. Its got potential. Alas for it, it arrives at a time when i realize i'd just rather be out there living my life than sitting in front of a computer screen writing about it. Even in 140 character blurbs.
So what am i doing with all this fabulous life i now have time to lead? Doing what i do best, of course: keeping busy. i've gotten space in a new community garden that's started a little ways west of here. i need to put a new inner tube in my tire, but i intend to bike over there to work on it a couple mornings a week (if the weather ever warms up). Its gone from vacant lot to - well, garden - in a few short months. There's raised beds, a central herb spiral, compost pile, walkways and a shady seating area. Next week, there's going to be a pot luck which i'm looking forward to because we have a wide ethnic representation, a number of newly immigrated families from various locales.
i'm a big fan of Starhawk's novel "The Fifth Sacred Thing" because it strikes me as a very potentially *workable* utopia (even the politics, tho that's not what i'm talking about here). In it, Northern California has more or less seceded and become its own little functional hippie-socialist nation state. i won't say her ideals are perfect, but they make a hell of a lot more sense than the bloated, unsustainable consumerist model that's bleeding us all dry now. i love this garden, and so many like them, because they Feel like definite steps on the path to that sort of survivable future.
i'm on hiatus from the theater at the moment, or have been; i guess if we have read-thru tonight for the summer show, that's about to end as rehearsals start. Of course the troupe is its own little microcosmic tribe: we've had people pass through and others (like myself, i guess) take root. This month for the first time we lost one of our own with the death of brin metzendorf (aka Samual Crow Walker) who performed under the name madbunny as well. This is a loss i'm still personally processing, so don't care to say too much about here; but i will say that in its aftermath, people seem to be coming together again, making an effort not to let life drift us all apart. Whether ultimately this will result in more than a slew of new Facebook friends its hard to say, but i'm at least enjoying the impulse while it lasts.
Right now, my biggest project is working with Morticia's Chair. We are putting on a show in two weeks - and i don't mean 'hey kids, let's put on a show!' (even if it might trace to exactly that impulse) so much as we are puttin' on a muthafukkin' SHOW, a'ight?? And i just know that afterwards, there's going to be a whole buttload of people saying "Oh, i wish i'd've seen it, it sounds cool, blah de blah blah blah". Well YOU don't have to be one of them; you can go to Center for Rock Research and gitcher ticket raht *now* (June 13th, $10, private party, no sales at door, Midtown area).
Yes i'm pimping this as hard as i can, because we have put as much work into this as any production done at the Liminis. And its on the *scale* of productions there. Without seeing the space, its hard to grasp just how cool this whole damn thing is, so take my word on it, k? And if the fact that CRR is playing ALL of Rush's 2112 *and* ALL of Radiohead's OK Computer *AND* MC is playing *AND* RYDR is opening up *AND* there's skits between - if all that isn't enough, well, this is my very first foray into lighting design and programming, and i'm feeling pretty effing good about it. So ya better show up coz i don't want to have to kick your ass for not being there afterwards. i'm the butch one don't forget, i will, too.
Yeah, i'm excited bigtime about this. i'm jazzed about the show itself, but even moreso at the opportunity its presented me. i know i'm still a ways off from being a "lighting designer" but i feel i've crossed a line where i'm now more that than not. i spent a ten-hour marathon session on the board yesterday that went from Wait, how does this work again; to having fifteen pre-sets programmed in. Given that before we started this, i knew how to hit lighting cues on time *and that's all*, i'm proud of myself. Even more so because this isn't just gels on par cans. We've got LED cans and half a dozen specials (including a lit arch over the 'bridge', floor specials, smoke, and the OK Computer itself) and scanners that can make daisies or stars or pinwheels in damn near any color you like and and and. And and, there's about fifteen different ways to make any given effect happen, so making the transition to where i Grok it is a big one. Its a really good feeling for me, so i hope some friends show up i can show off my hard work to!
You say you want some more, well, here's some more. i'm going to be performing as a living statue at the Murray Hill Art Walk this coming Sunday; another thing i'm excited about. i've done this a couple times (life modelling as well, which i'm also doing once a week) but this is my first gig doing it on my own. i'm thinking to be a sort of Spring/Summer Goddess type figure.. of course if it were authentically Graeco-Roman i'd have to do it w/one breast bared but i think we won't quite go that far. Still, as soon as i write this i'm off to the thrifts in search of costuming. If you're in Cleveland, stop by sometime; i'm supposed to be on the south side of Mayfield just below the hill, hoping it neither rains nor freezes nor gets beastly hot! Hm, i might need a helper to come by and feed me water every so often - who's free on Sunday?
i think that's about got me covered for the next two weeks. We'll be going in to rehearsal on Big Love soon, which opens at the end of July. We're planning a tribute/benefit in brin's memory which will also likely happen end of July. At War for the Forseeable Future will be doing a one-time reunion gig for that show, which i'm highly looking forward to. i'm going to Colorado that month for a family reunion, the first time all of us minus my girls will have been together in twenty-plus years. My family isn't very big; i've got two parents, two kids, one brother, one aunt, one uncle, and two cousins. That's it. So to have eight of the ten of us together is kind of a whoop-de-do. And i'll have a piece in a show at the Asterisk for the July ArtWalk (and probably be set up outside Edison's as well).
Big Love will close at the end of August, and then it will be time to start gearing up for Recycled Rainbow. i'm still planning to run a workshop tent - a Chatauqua - for that, which will mean re-building my pavilion but hey. What's a little thing like that in the larger scale of things? (btw, if you are interested in presenting something - anything - contact me). That's in September, and i'll have another piece in a show at Doubting Thomas that month too. Its only conceptual right now, but it involved ladie's undergarments, so you might want to remember that one.
i probably will have another blog up before i'm through all that, but if you wonder why you aren't hearing from me online - get out from behind your computer and take a look around town. i'm the one doing all those things i wanted to when i was younger but never could "because..". Maybe its time you were too - ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)