JSngry

Mind if I serve meat and alcohol and play loud music?

Oh, I do!!!

And they don't mean a fuck either, not as far as I'm concerned. But Larry's my friend, and I'm trying to talk him down from this bad trip he's about to go on. He'd do the same for me, I know. We actually talked on the phone once, so I know!

Well, of course they are, but...they're also "properties" up for grabs. And people like us, who have no interest in them in that way, we are not at all relevant to those whose only relevance is to see them that way, as means to another end. And the history of the world is that eventually, the ones who want to own lives rather than live them win. If not while you have a breath left, then after you don't. It's all but inevitable. The joke's on them, though, because what they think they own and what they actually own are two different thing. What they really want to own can never be owned, not like they want to own it, because it refuses to be owned. The very thing that they try to own is so often that which they try to stamp out in their time, the life, the spirit, the...everything that makes people do different things just to get away from all that bullshit. And they do get rid of a lot of voices, but they never kill that spirit, because that spirit is life and they are death. Life always wins over the long haul, even if we ourselves can't always haul it long enough to get it there. Somebody will. Somebody always will.

To be fair (I guess...), I don't really read the "jazz press" any more...I just see who's getting their name out there (somewhere) give a listen when possible and/or motivated, and decide from that. That's becuse the propanda is either way heavy or way light, and either way, it's propaganda, and as such, should be considered as bullshit when it's all said and done. Necessary bullshit careeer-wise, maybe/probably, but bullshit neverhteless. Like I said, I ain't loving any of these guys, but Iyler...I kinda genuinely dig how and what he plays. There's some meat there, I I like how it tastes. Perhaps if I took it with all the sauce, I'd not like it so much, but you know....sauces are tricky, and I've learned not to take what the chef offers w/o tasting first. You get a lot of good meat ruined by dumbass sauces, so it behooves one to be careful. Lehman...yeah, Braxton-Lite/Safe/Sane/Whatever, but...the guy's got his own vibe going on, enough to where I can feel some kind of individuality, like a guy who speaks fluent Spanish, just with a Texas accent, w/o really knowing the difference Odd, perhaps even...inappropriate, but in the end, it's a voice in and of itself, and a very fluent one at that. Ain't neither of these guys exactly rocking my world, but they ain't dragging it down either. Good -and fair - enough in a world where none of this music really matters on the scale that it once did (at least to me), although if Iyler keep it up, he could well end up with his head exploding, and then we'd all find out whether or not to be further interested. Until then, it's just a hunch.

Cloudy & lower 80s this AM, rain looked possible but never came...currently 98 & clear w/42% humidity, likely to hit 100, but not too much over...a veritable autumn compared to the last few months, at least for the first few minutes out in it...

Well, there you go - people trying to own the dead so they can rule a kingdom of zombies. For real. I don't know 'bout y'all, but I just don't/won't/can't fuck with this shit. It's not right, it's not healthy, and there's no happy endings involved in any way in trying to engage it. Just...walk away. Let the zombies eat their own, and go find a good party somewhere.

This is Warne & Red Mitchell, right? Two volumes, recorded live, HELL yeah!

Assuming that there ever was a party in the first place... All of that aside, though, I do like Iyler & Lehman, even though I don't "love" them, which truth be told is probably the way its meant to be, what with me being me and them being them and all. I don't need to love them, and they don't need me to love them, and no fights break out at whatever party is going on.

Not all tyrannies are murderous in deed, but most tyrannical thinking/feeling is murderous at heart. That's why stupidity alone doesn't seem (at least to me) to fit the cases we've been talking about on this thread (e.g. Hersch and Gennari). These are people who in the name of power or control or some such are out to more or less expunge the life out of specific human beings -- and vividly alive human beings, too. Yeah - and they'll gladly charge you to watch them do it. Just as the "guardians of the culture" will sell your own life back to you first chance they get. How it all ends up is them - be they the tyrants or the guardians (and as always, who is who gets defined by who's winning at any given time) - owning you by how they define you and your world. Once they can define your world, they can define your place in it. And your place is always going to be to serve them. I'm kinda like...own yourself and only yourself, and then do business accordingly. anyting else....I get suspicious it of pretty quickly these days. Somebody be wanting something of mine for some reason other than just to be friends... Who funds these clowns, anyway? None of them could - or would - do it for free, I'm sure,

If you buy a ticket, it's no longer a party, it's an "event". That's a big part of the blockage right there...too many events, not enough parties.

Oh. I was just thinking about the ownership of the past of music going forth, not trying to rule the world. Although, I suppose that once you own the cultural memory, anything's eventually possible, so killing it before it spreads is not a bad idea...and that means not buying into the hype, literally or figuratively. Good luck on that one, though...that genie's done left the stable.

A good honeydew is also a thing of joy, but around here, almost impossible to get. Or so it seems. Maybe the soil's not right for them like it is for the muskmelons (as my from-Illinois father preferred to call them). Best cantaloupe (yes, correct spelling, my pre-coffee bad on that one) was from a side-of-the-road vendor outside Tampa about 10 years ago, something called an Ambrosia... unbelievalby rich, complex flavor and scent, otherworldly, almost. But the guy was only there that one day, never again, and no other so-called Ambrosia variety I've found since then has even come close, so...maybe this guy was from heaven, or another universe, or something...whatever the deal was, I'd like for him to come back with some more.

I can hear that, for sure, but for whatever reason I respond to it anyway. Kinda surprises me, really, because the world is too full of stiff & theoretical players these days...but these guys...maybe it's just that their theories and their stiffness sync up in a way that makes their point say something to me that the others don't. What I really like, though, is the rhythmic underpinngs going on..it sounds more like "today" than it does "jazz", and I'm ok with that, very much. Then again, I live in an area where there's a lot of interesting (for me, anyway) "immigrant" programming of all varieties all over the AM dial and the only "jazz" programming of any note is stale college FM radio (there are two hours of non-cliched AM programming on Sunday afternoon, but that's coming from a whole 'nother place its own self...), so whatever "non-jazz" is coming to the table in this music doesn't not appeal to me, if that makes any sense. All I'm saying is that I don't know how much of the "stiffness" really is stiffness, and/or how much of it is just a place/way to feel that contrats with old notions of "swing". I guess that I'm enjoying it means that the latter is how I perceive it, but that's about as subjective as you can get, eh? The real thing, though, is this - are the non-marketing aspects of M-Base music starting to come out and into the "mainstream"? That would be very cool afaic. M-Base was marketed waaaaay before it was ready, I think, but the musical and conceptual concepts, they were right on time, and more or less still are.

I'm enjoying this one, a trio of Lehman, Vijay Iyler, & Elliot Humberto Kavee on Pi.

Report: Rangers are "interested" in Lance Berkman: http://www.bbtia.com/home/2011/8/29/report-rangers-are-interested-in-lance-berkman.html Now there's a clubhouse meeting I'd love to witness...

To them, getting your money is proof that they've gotten your soul, & truth be told, I don't know how wrong they are in thinking so, given all the Marketplace Militancy there is these days... When buying stuff is at least as much, if not more, framed in terms of "showing support" than it is giving fair value in return for fair value, then lost/gained $$$ probably do = lost/gained souls.

Yeah, but they'll settle for your money.

Because today's battles are about ownership, and ownership is all about defining, not spotlighting and encouraging. This is what happens when enough people die. Pretty soon critical mass is reached and even the still-living are up for grabs.

This has been a really good year for cantelopes in our area. The farmer's markets and roadside produce stands out in the country (but not the supermarkets!) have had a seemingly endless supply of locally grown melons that have that intoxicating smell that tells you before you even cut into them that you'll be lucky if they last until the end of the day, so buy as many as you can right now. In the ongoing debate of is there or is there not a god, a good cantelope is about as good as evidence as can be put forth not just that there is a god, but that it is a kind and loving god who wants us to enjoy life to the ultimate degree. Worship at the cantelope of your choice!

But...but....but...it rained hard & the winds blew...yet people came out after it was over as if nothing had happened! How can you possibly begrudge the focusing on such a touching triumph of the human spirit?

I'm reminded of how my mom would always take a little extra time (well, ok, a lot) to clean the beans before cooking them, rinsing them repeatedly, going through them handful by handful until the grit and rocks were all removed. As she said one time after I had asked her why she worked so hard on something as basic as beans, "There's really no excuse not to". You GO, Mom!

Bill Wendell

Everything else being equal, though, is there anybody here who does not agree that a really good shit is indeed one of the better and simpler pleasure of life?

Malcolm X Y.A. Tittle Rachel Z