Thanks to Mierle

Today had a root canal and had to file taxes. 2 of my least favorite things. Yet after experiencing and thinking about Mierle Ukules "Maintainance Art" show we saw Sunday, I had a much better attitude about it than usual. The show (at the Queens Museum) has the cumulative effect of somehow getting you excited about taking care of business as a way of living art.

It's as if you were a sanitation worker, and she were saying to you, "Thank you for keeping this city alive."

48 a new peak

My 48th birthday weekend was as if I had imagined it myself, but better.



A hard lost tennis game to Kevin in the morning.

And then spend the day preparing for party. Around 4:30pm friends come to the park.

And other friends and family. Dexter brings a bottle of Hudson Valley Bourbon. Best bourbon I've ever tasted, with a burnt caramel flavor, wood smoke. Pass it around. Get a magic 8 Ball from one of them, KC Trommer, Lilla brings a peach tort from patisserie, Amy brings a peach pie, Cristina brings fancy snacks and socks, Therese a painting of a hummingbird, Catherine a handle of rum, Nonna and Papa some delicious boursin cheese, Marco oak aged beer, Quinn guitar strings, picks and a pear, Tyler and Karen, wine and a watermelon: and more I'm forgetting suffice to say superabundance.

Strikes me that 3 of the neighborhood friends, Justin, Tyler and KC I also happen to know through poetry circles, Venn Diagram bonanza, friends, parents with kids the same age as ours

Big jazz band plays for an hour. For awhile I throw the giant frisbee into the air so that it comes back to myself, as if I was playing catch with the sky, while dozens of kids swirl around me trying to catch it too.

Then after jazz the Brooklyn Raga Collective plays raga versions of Beatles and Led Zeppelin, with the great Pyeng Threadgill singing. (She's the daughter of jazz great Henry Threadgill who just won a pulitzer!) I danced with Lucia in front of the crowd and she was great. It was the highlight of a night filled with highlights.

Then my favorite new band The Flushing Remonstrance played soundtracks to old experimental films, including George Meliers' Trip To The Moon.

Followed by old Felix The Cat Cartoons. 10pm and the girls are lying on me while we watch cartoons outside with neighbors, friends and family. Perfect warm night with a cool breeze. Full harvest moon! No bugs!

Better than I could've imagined, like when Whitman says, " O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you-yet I love you; You express me better than I can express myselr; You shall be more to me than my poem."

Or when Seamus Heaney says "ANd hat happens next is amusic that you never would have known to listen for."

End the evening drinking port that brother-in-law Matthew brought me from Portugal, Dow special reserve. Best port I've ever had, with distinct flavor of strawberry, raspberry, plum and chocolate. And eating peach tort from patisserie from Lila.

That's the life!

Not to mention lots of love from Genevieve. My favorite.

EDIT:

Friday night watched Popstar: Never stop never stopping" in bed with Gen, loved it.

Sunday, Dobogiallo style doubles tennis tournament in the park (can you believe this park?) as a relief for earthquake in Italy.

Then off to see the opening of Mierle Laderman Ukules at the Queens Museum, thanks to a tip from Noel Black. Gen and I were so tired after epic night at park and doubles tournament that neither of us really wanted to go. But we rallied and so glad we did. So great. So inspiring. And doubly great to meet her! Lucia got an autograph.




My 48th birthday was better than what I could've imagined.

When I blew out my birthday candles it seemed a sacrilege to wish

for anything, for anything beyond the moment itself. I just blew. No wishes...

Friday night watched "Popstar: Never stop never stopping" in bed with Gen. Laughed.

Then a hard lost tennis game to Kevin in the morning. Would rather lose than win.

And then spend the day preparing for party.

Around 4:30pm friends and family come to the Sunnyside Gardens.

Dexter brings a bottle of Hudson Valley Bourbon.

Best bourbon I've ever tasted, with a burnt caramel flavor, wood smoke.

Pass it around. Get a magic 8 Ball from KC Trommer,

Lilla brings a peach tort from patisserie, Amy brings a peach pie,

Cristina brings fancy snacks and socks, Therese a painting of a hummingbird,

Catherine a handle of rum, Nonna and Papa some delicious boursin cheese,

Marco oak aged beer, Quinn guitar strings, picks and a pear,

Tyler and Karen, wine and a watermelon: and more I'm forgetting

suffice to say it was superabundance.

Strikes me that 3 of the neighborhood friends, Justin, Tyler and KC

I also happen to know through poetry circles, Venn Diagram bonanza:

friends, parents with kids the same age as ours and poets. 3!

Just so happens that Flicks and Jazz in the Garden is scheduled on my birthday.

Hard not to take things like this personally. Because it feels personal. 

Big band jazz plays for an hour. Meanwhile I throw a giant frisbee

into the air so it comes back to myself, as if I was playing catch with the sky,

while dozens of kids swirl around me trying to catch it too.

After the big band jazz the Brooklyn Raga Collective plays versions

of Beatles and Led Zeppelin, with the great Pyeng Threadgill singing. 

(She's the daughter of jazz great Henry Threadgill who just won a pulitzer.)

I danced with Lucia in front of the crowd and she was so fantastic!

It was the highlight of a night filled with highlights.

Then my favorite new band The Flushing Remonstrance

played soundtracks to old experimental films,

including George Melies' Trip To The Moon.

Followed by old Felix The Cat Cartoons.

10pm and the girls are both lying on me comfortably

while we watch cartoons outside in the park. Perfect.

A wild Austrian neighborhood kid named Hans is hanging around my neck too.

I hardly know him, but it seems natural, and no one, least me, objects.

It was warm night too, with a cool breeze. Full harvest moon! No bugs!

Yes, better than I could've imagined, like when Whitman says, " O public road!

I say back, I am not afraid to leave you-yet I love you; You express me better

than I can express myself; You shall be more to me than my poem."

The night expressed me better than I could've expressed myself.

Or when Seamus Heaney says "And what happens next is a music

that you never would have known to listen for."
\
We end Saturday evening drinking port that brother-in-law Matthew

brought me by hand from Portugal, Dow special reserve. Best port I've ever had,

with distinct flavor of strawberry, raspberry, plum and chocolate.

Pairing it with Lilla's peach tort. Now that's the life!

Sunday, the weekend extends still further with a Doppio Giallo style doubles

tennis tournament in the park (can you believe this park?)

as a relief for earthquake in Italy. I'm curious what Doppio Giallo means

and Carlo says it means Double Mystery. But isn't Giallo mean yellow

I ask? Carlo says yes, but yellow in Italian also means mystery.

Do you know why I ask? But he doesn't. So now we have a giallo

giallo, why is mystery the color yellow? Afterward off to see the opening

of Mierle Laderman Ukules at the Queens Museum, thanks to a tip

from our friend Noel Black. Gen and I were so tired after epic night at park

and the doubles tournament that neither of us really wanted to go,

but we rallied! And so glad we did. Such a great show. So inspiring.

And doubly great  that we got to meet her! Lucia even got an autograph.

Now thoroughly tired, and pinching myself to see if this a dream I go to sleep.

366

Incredibly in sync dance with Diandra at Matthew and Monica's house in front of fire place. Hard to believe how synchronized a dance can be, how expressive, how mutually creative. Kept me up too late, but well worth it. An unexpected (and needed) gift from a personal God.

Golden to Arvada to Denver to Boulder to Loveland

Woke up at Matthew's place in Golden

went to Marley's game
girls play on nearby playground zip line for hour

then Disc golf with Jeff and Matt: six under...

then Lunch in Denver, sushi burritoes

dancing with girls to Wonderlic at Skyline park.

then to Diandra's new flower shop. Girls get bows. Check out what's become of D Note. See the mouth of logo is only thing left.

Then off to Boulder to see Carmen under the bandshell. Girls drinking fresh squeezed watermelon cherry lemonade. All of us perfectly happy for that minute. Carmen! Free! Outside in the Mountains!

Quick stop afterward to see Tom Peters at the Beat Bookstore on Pearl Street Mall turns into half hour. He berates kids, nervous whole time, begrudges them even the pennies they find on the floor. Complains about everyone, from personal friends of mine, to parents who don't watch their children, Then guilts me into buying two books. One was homage to Phil Whalen book. Not a terrible purchase by any means, just a bit rich right now.

Back to Loveland.

Dream

At a concert Gen sent me to. Band called hoohawhow (Robert hoohaw.) bored. He was phoning it in. Turn to girl next tome and tell her this is third time I've heard this song today, (arrowsmith cover used for Walmart olympics commercial.) Girl's got a sparkle in her eye. She gives me her Blanket. It's Made out of some sort of sea material. Crackly. Retains its warmth. She remembers my name. I had forgetten hers. Or that I had even given them mine. Intermission. I take blanket and move to the back of venue.  Another woman pulls blanket away, Jewish. She just wants to look at it she says. She tells me she's attracted to it, and that the blanket was curious about her, it was "sniffing" her leg. I'm intrigued. Then same woman has taken her seat again and she's listening to a man on a radio. I overhear. He tells her, "you have to pretend to believe until you feel engaged." I interject, shout back, "that's excellent advice!" Then he says, "thanks for calling in, listener, you've been listening to Small Table on KCCR, please join us again next week."  I decide I want to write all of this down. I ask the girl behind me for a pen, the one in front of me for paper. She only has a few sheets left, but offers anyway. No no, I tell her. I look around and ask someone who has a lot. But then I need a hard surface so I grab the book of boy sitting next to me. Young crowd. He says that's my book. I say I just need it for a writing surface. He is nerdy and shy and says, ok, he says,  and then, that's a really good book, I think you'd like it. short stories. He points out the author's name. Thanks I'm always looking for something to read,  I tell him, but I'm lying. I take note of the name anyway. Looks Scandinavian Wahr, or something like that. The cover has glowing moons on black. Cool cover I tell him. I start to write everything down. At which point I wake up and grab my phone and write everything down.    

Plan of action

first 2 #cousinrich productions both got off the ground on this same day. 

Fischer set a date to record. And Dantex sent me their first script. Which is worthy of the endeavor. 

Next stop Peace Club. First rule of Peace Club. Everyone talk about Peace Club. 

First project. Oysters in the Hudson. 

Cousin rich also launches:

World's Fair Festival 

Sound&Vision Film Festival

(Start small and manageable. Slow growth. Sparks will catch in NY. In NY you can be a new man.

Free teacher

And Sound&Vision 

Good Vibrations

Dear Brian and Sheri,

This letter goes out to you. Because every good one needs one. I wrote that last sentence partly because of Emily Dickinson. But that's another story. She's good at riddles. I know you don't much care for them. One means missive and one means you.

That's enough of that. But it's important as we shall see.

So today I watched Love and Mercy, the biopic of Brian Wilson starring my old crush, John Cusack, someone I fashioned myself after, in a fashion. That last fact is just one small significant thing in the whole thing. Also that you are Brian, too.

It was an okay movie, better than most really. Weird disconnect between the younger Brian, who was awesomely played by Paul Dano, and the older one, played by John Cusack, who had somehow turned into a mash-up between John and Brian. (In some alternative version John plays me.)

Four films really, one about the music, and one about abuse, madness and recovery. And a third about gurus and psychologists manipulating the weak for their own gain. And a love story to boot.

I enjoyed all of them, but the one about the music was my favorite. I learned a lot about the music.

And I realized after watching it, that I have somehow never listened to Smiley Smile, which is weird, because I love weird, and I love The Beach Boys and this is the weirdest of the Beach Boys albums.

So I listened to it while doing the dishes tonight. It's so silly and funny, but also so carefully wrought and, ultimately, sublime. It starts with a little minute long musical vignette stating the theme of the album; to remember, all day and night, to whistle.

Then the album continues with a meditation on heroes and villains, the good and bad. And, already, stories are unfolding and categories are starting to unravel.

Then the album gets super silly and fun with a child-like love song to vegetables. But really, what could be more profound?

Then it stays silly with "Fall breaks and Back to Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony)" which is one I want to think about more, what the title means, but my instant take is dark music made light, or light music made dark. Cartoon winter gloom.  But mostly this is just an instrumental aperitif.

"She's Going Bald" ramps up the ridiculous, and also seems to be a shout out to The Beatles. The movie points out that Brian felt he was in competition with John Lennon and the boys (Another John I heavily relate to.) And you can feel the John Lennon in this song with both the playfulness of the lyrics, the way it runs through styles, even through early Beatlesque blues, with John's irreverent humor, and depth, as it seems to say something about the importance of a woman's hair, and the tragedy of its loss. Which, though sgrounded and visceral, is also symbolic of loss of beauty, even life. But like in the previous song, when fall was breaking back to winter, the music keeps it light, and, in fact, hilarious.

But then comes a sweet one, for me. "Little Pad."

"If I only had a little pad in Hawaii."

It starts with the boys cutting up, laughing in the studio, singing the song in goofy voices, but then gets a little more serious, and pretty, the fantasy starting to come through.

Of course I couldn't help but think of your wedding in Hawaii. NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT MIKE EFFING LOVE WAS THERE AND SINGING SONGS FOR YOU! That's some super thick glue right there. And of course Mike Love is one of the "villains" in the "movie", a foil to Brian's hero. Though he's made out to be a villain, really, you totally understand where he is coming from. Brian was so far in his own world that Mike Love (Make Love?) was no longer part of the equation, just a voice.  After all, it was supposed to be The Beach Boys, not The Beach Boy.

"dit du du, da da da do do, dim duh did doo
did did did doo dim duh dum did doo doo do
By the sea that's where I'll build a pad in Hawaii"

and I could hear Mike Love singing this, in my imagination, on your wedding night, as you make love. On the beach, in the rain, not a cloud in the sky. Or was that me?

And I could picture your pad there. Though somehow it hasn't been built yet.

And then the next song came on. Good Vibrations. And all the sudden this funny weird silly album became, by dint of that one song alone, one of the greatest albums ever made. Because this song is so undeniably great, one of the great masterpieces of art. Wave after wave of hooks, and musically like nothing ever heard before, kettle drums and theramin aflare, and the balanced harmony of the whole.

But best of all, for this listener, that one line, "Gotta keep those loving good vibrations happening with her."

This is THE mantra. The only mantra one needs. The single greatest line of music ever written in my opinion, where words and music coalesce. I used this line to raise both of my daughters. And to ease my marriage. I have sung this line to my girls, and myself, hundreds of times when they were upset. And I still do. Over and over again. It was not only my protection against slipping into bad vibrations myself, but a reminder that I had to keep the good vibrations going for them, at all cost. And what better way to keep good vibrations happening than through music? The key is in the music, the key to the whole deal, to joy, was in this one line framed in this one exceedingly great song, which is in turn framed in this great album, which is is in turn framed by the entire ouvre of Brain Wilson.

Writing "Brain Wilson" was a typo. Bu it reminds me of when you accidentally wrote your name as "brain" in the drying sidewalk cement between your house and mine on Goddard Street in Overland Park KS. Haha. You made a mistake and then signed it "Brain." That's such good irony. I never realized how good until writing this right now. It further reminds me of when your son found a feather and you told him to blow it off his hand and make a wish. Then you asked him what he wished for and he said "To have the feather back."

Maybe it wasn't a typo after all, writing brain?

So listen to rest of the album. The next song With Me Tonight

The way I broke your heart very literally
This ghost haunts me more than it should be
I'm not gonna walk away or turn my head in shame
I never thought it could kill me

A clean slate, one more day further away
I want you, you don't want me
My mistake for wasting yours and mine
I want you but will you stay with me today, with me today?

Just let me make some time to take it back a little
The way you smile shines the heavens above me
I'm never gonna let you go, I want you all the time

I've gotta prove you can trust me."

Oh the depth of those lyrics, I can't believe I've never listened to some of these songs before tonight.

The next song I HAVE heard though. Wind Chimes.

"Hanging down from my window, those are my wind chimes."

It all comes back to the vibrations. To the beautiful sounds. The song moves from "tears rolling down my cheek" and turns toward the peaceful sounds of the wind chimes and then the peace turns into playfulness by the end of the song, and we're okay again. Healing through sound. Ends with various voices singing, "Tingling," culminating in a goofy voice soaked in heavy reverb, and fades into light tinkling voices harmonizing at a low volume.

Then the album ends Wonderfully, of course. Very pretty,

"Wonderful"

She belongs there, left with her liberty
Never known as a non-believer
She laughs and stays in the
Won- won- wonderful

She knew how to gather the forest when
God reached softly and moved her body
One golden locket quite young
And loving her mother and father

Farther down the path was a mystery
Through the recess the chalk and numbers
A boy bumped into her

Won- won- won- wonderful

Hey bobba reba
----Everybody should
Wa bobba lee
Just start collecting
Hey bobba reba
Oh yeah
Wa bobba lee
Kept a-comin on
Hey bobba
Just to be a cool guy
Hey bobba
He bobba reba
Don't think you're God
He bobba reba
Vibrations
Go for a ride
Wa bobba lee
Just go for a
He bobba reba
Just keep goin
Wa bobba lee
Said it
Just keep goin'
Hey bobba
All you gotta do is
Hey bobba
Cool it vibrations
He bobba reba
Ah just gotta do i

She'll return in love with her liberty
Never known as a non-believer
She'll smile and thank God
For one won- won- wonderful"

Just listen to the album though. It's all there in the music. And more. 

Love,

Adam