Month: August 2018

Facebook Post: 2018-08-30T18:36:28

I’ve heard so much music in my life, most of it fairly pedestrian in hindsight, and for the most part, there’s so little juice in most things of my own generation, and less so with even newer things. The power of the song just wears off after a while.

But for some reason, this song still works every fucking time.

Facebook Post: 2018-08-30T08:47:37

For my own sake, I’m trying to parse the various kinds of behaviors that exist in the world, and put them on a spectrum. I think (not sure, but bear with me) it will help me understand the nuances of current politics / cultural trends.

I think I’m missing a number positions on the spectrum, and perhaps they’re in the wrong order. But I need to start somewhere.

My hope is by unpacking this more, I can start to make sense of the way people behave in public, something I regularly struggle with. Maybe it’s foolhardy? Who knows. But perhaps you can help me flesh this out? I really want to make sense if this.

Cultural Behavior Spectrum:

Chaotic Net Positive
Heroic / Altruistic
Positive Behavior
Only concerned with extended friend group / family
Only concerned with direct friend group / family
Passive
Neutral
Only concerned with self
Blindly pleasure-seeking
Passive-Aggressive
Asshole
Agressive
Illegal
Theft
Violence
Sexual Assault
Murder
Genocidal
Chaotic Evil / want to see the world burn

What’d I miss?

Facebook Post: 2018-08-30T06:07:05

I’ve been thinking about the difference between things that are against the law, and the way people behave in public that is “illegal” but basically unprosecutable for a variety of reasons. This is certainly informed by the gun-in-a-bathroom event from the other day. I’ve essentially received a torrent of messages about what laws were broken that night, and what I should have done.

But in reality, what could we have done to get actual justice, short of trying to serve it in some way ourselves? Laws are abstract until enforced, and without a mechanism for enforcement, the law is pointless. Usually, police are left to enforce law, but without them around, what do we do?

There are a lot of laws being broken at every level of our culture, but as we have seen with our government, it is really hard to pin actual crimes to guilty people, even with evidence and the right mechanisms to enforce laws properly. Police and passing laws are only part of the equation. How do we enforce law the rest of the time, especially non-violent, non-theft scenarios?

I usually want to do the right thing, anymore because it is contrary to popular culture. How do we get everyone else on board?

Facebook Post: 2018-08-29T11:00:01

Perhaps I have controversial or extreme opinions, make comments that are puzzling and hard to parse, and even my sense of humor can seem crude in comparison to things I feel deeply and worry about often.

But, consider who I am and what I do. I’m an artist and musician. I work in journalism and radio. I work with kids and in classrooms. I spend a tremendous amount of my life listening to people without mainstream voices. I take in the world around me and I try to synthesize it in some way that makes sense to me. I have to pass an ethics tests to work with kids in Oregon, so I would hope I’m not some sort of monster. But when it comes to divisive issues, it’s likely I’ll say something that will bother someone.

So, just remember: I’m some silly artist who once was seriously in a band called “Cathead.” Are you really gonna let my opinions get to you?

Facebook Post: 2018-08-28T21:42:53

I was playing a show tonight and one performer found a gun in the unisex bathroom. The next person in the bathroom brought it to the bar. The owner – a drunk motorcycle enthusiast – started asking if anyone found anything in the bathroom. The bartender handed the gun to him in a paper bag, and explained that this was the third time, and because of that, he is not welcome in the bar. The patron, upset, left the bar, drunk, on his bike.

Welcome to Trump’s America.

Facebook Post: 2018-08-19T19:24:22

When I lived in Eugene in the ‘90’s, the Fountain at the downtown mall no longer worked, and it was essentially a place for punks and homeless kids to hang out. Colin, Kiisu & I used to spend time there – late at night, occasionally on acid – where we would perform ceremonies for The Church of Blasphuphmus (Not Jesus), and in general, be weirdos for the sake of being young and bored.

By 1995, Eugene decided to get rid of the mall, by re-opening Willamette Street, which meant that the fountain was being torn down. The thinking was that this would save the businesses downtown, which had been in decline since the late ‘70’s. If the roads were open, and parking was easier, it might help revitalize the businesses in the area of the mall, and improve Eugene overall.

Flash-forward to now. The businesses downtown are still in decline, in-spite of Willamette being re-opened, which was a little depressing for the locals, who were hoping downtown would be cleaned up. (wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Mall) So now, 20 some years later, there’s still weirdos hanging out where the fountain was, getting high and talking about philosophy and politics.

Some things never change.

Facebook Post: 2018-08-10T14:25:26

I’m getting a little insight into the parental brain. They wake up tired, hungry & confused, and then are dropped into constant service to those who need you to survive. So you continue to help them, tired and hungry, and then you sit through TV and music that doesn’t particularly do it for you. They want to play complicated games you don’t know how to play, and they don’t like your old-timey crap, making you feel old and out of touch. They say mean things and laugh at you. They don’t seem to mean it when they tell you they love you, then they fight with you on everything, constantly negotiating until you cave because you have no energy anymore. And then you get a few minutes to yourself – usually in the bathroom – and you can’t remember anything or think clearly because you have to think about the next several hours.

And when you’re done, and they are asleep, you have 37 minutes to fit in everything that didn’t get done the rest of the day, before you fall asleep anyway, even if you don’t want to. If there’s some of that 37 minutes left over, maybe you can do something creative or read a book, if you can even wrap your brain around the notion.

And that’s if there’s one full time person giving up their life for one other to be raised well. If there’s two kids, you’re basically screwed.

Now… why is it that we should all have big families again? I forget… I’m too exhausted.

Facebook Post: 2018-08-10T13:38:32

We had our first bloody nose emergency today. She was screaming, I came running, it was a bit of a gusher, she’s crying. It’s getting on my shirt. I got in there, not panicking but certainly moving quickly, moved her to the living room, she’s lying on the couch, I find TP, I’m wiping carefully, trying to laugh and smile to calm her down. It was touch and go. She calms, things dry, it’s all relaxing. I start cleaning up. She’s laughing again, so we go back to her bed, she’s actually ready to nap. I close the door, and sit down.

The older boy calls down. “Bloody nose? She does that. We tell her to stop picking it, but she’s three.”

I need a drink.

Facebook Post: 2018-08-10T09:08:15

Growing up, I never heard a song recorded before the ‘50s in public or on the radio, but heard mainstream ‘70s music almost exclusively through to the early ‘90s. These days, I hear almost nothing older than about 1975 in mainstream culture, with a few specific examples (Beatles, Zep, etc.)

The tragedy: there’s almost 100 years of recorded music from before 1975 that we rarely hear anymore in public. Popular culture seems to think culture started in the ‘70s, like when I was a kid and popular culture seemed to start in the 1950s.

The past is interesting. Why don’t we share it, pop culturally, with the world at large?

Facebook Post: 2018-08-09T09:27:09

Thinking about checking out No Me Gusta, Waking Things (Seattle), Summer Eyes, & The Sheen next week, but you’re not 100% sold yet? Here’s some tunes and a conversation with Chris of Waking Things to talk about what makes his band tick. If you like the chat, come, support the show! It’s gonna rule.
https://anywhereanywhen.wordpress.com/2018/08/09/chris-sicard-of-waking-things-i-dont-like-to-write-the-same-song-twice/

Facebook Post: 2018-08-04T07:20:02

My next live performance will be in Eugene, playing at The WOW Hall on August 18th, as part of The Eugene Noise Fest. This show is significant for me because I lived in Eugene for years, saw tons of WOW Hall shows, and love the experimental / noise scene there. So a chance to play a show like this means a lot to me. The line-up is ridiculous, so come on down! I’m on late, so come early and hear a ton of folks. There is a cover, but if it’s a hardship, message me. We’ll work it out.

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/the-community-partnership-series-presents-wow-hall-tickets/8605535