Shouting Street

I read an article a little while ago on the continued efforts to dehumanize gays and lesbians. The new fight that will be used as a scare tactic by social conservatives is same sex couple adoption. I know this has been an issue, and has been for quite some time, but it looks like we will be hearing a lot more about it in the coming months. Republicans are losing ground when it comes to Iraq and rising energy and oil bills so they need something new to deflect questions away from the actual issues.

If you recall in the 2004 Presidential election gay and lesbian marriage became a major issue. Despite charges of lying to Americans regarding the rational for the war and numerous other critically important issues poll after poll listed same sex marriage and stem cell research as the most important issues for voters. I suppose it almost makes a sick sort of sense in that the war is so far out of our control that people would choose to focus on issues much closer to home. We do have a history of dehumanization during times of Crisis. Ask Japanese-Americans how they spent WW2 in this country.

It was an obvious tactic by the Republican party. A large portion of the campaign was spent doing everything they could to keep peoples minds off the real issue. Losing the war? Lets see how people respond to dictating who can express their love for one another! What baffles me is how people so desperate to keep Gays and Lesbians marginalized are also the primary market for WWJD paraphernalia. Maybe they just don’t know what WWJD stands for or probably closer to the truth, they just don’t think what Jesus had to say was very important to their way of life. I can understand a certain amount of conflict internally on the subject. While I believe that any two people can love each other and should be able to express that love as they choose, marriage is a religious tradition and decisions on the matter should be made wholly within the church. I absolutely believe that their should be no difference whatsoever LEGALLY regarding a same sex or opposite sex marriage.

It was an effective scare tactic. The Republican party took the election in a slim, possibly fraudulent, margin. Without the sleight of hand tactics regarding the major issues I believe it wouldn’t have been even close. And now they are looking to do it again. I imagine that it won’t be quite as effective since abortion isn’t quite the tradition that marriage is. None the less it is absolutely preaching the politics of intolerance and hate. In the end what these politicians are saying when pushing this issue is that they believe gays and lesbians are less than human and incapable of the love and responsibility of raising a child. They are telling their electorates that all this stuff about war and mounting energy crisis isn’t important because the real blame for how bad things goes to the gays for trying to destroy institutions. This is what happens when religion gets too firm a foothold in the politician arena. Intolerance rises and the concept of compromise goes out the window. There is only so far people can be pushed before mistrust and ‘family values’ turns over completely to hate, fear, and complete distrust. When a portion of society is on the receiving end so much blame for society’s ills that eventually something will break. And you know what comes then?

Concentration camps.

Well, I had some things in mind to write about today and they all just flew out of my head. I just read an article about Maui wanted to put and moratorium on EXPORTING Sand because they are concerned it will run out in five to seven years. Apparently they mine sand.

Ever read a news article and just completely have trouble dealing with it.

They mine sand! SAND! Why do you have to MINE sand? It is right there! It’s SAND!

I was already having trouble with this when the article went on to say that the major buyer of Maui’s sand is Honolulu. HONOLULU!

It just makes my head hurt.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060221/ap_on_sc/maui_sand

I’m not all that sure I can write anything after that. Sorry for the short entry but my head hurts now.

I’ve been a fan of Pete Droge for a while now. I never bought his album the first time around, mostly because I couldn’t find it, but I did get a VH1 compilation of all things so I would have a copy of his song ‘If you don’t love me (I’ll kill myself)’ which I loved from the first time I heard it. The next song from him I picked up was ‘Beautiful Girl’ which is from the soundtrack for the movie ‘Beautiful Girls’ appropriately enough. That song cemented him pretty firmly into my mind as an artist I would like. Oddly enough it was a while before I tracked down any of his albums. His fourth album, Skywatching, was the first one I purchased. This again was because it was the only one I could find. I loved it. Jen and I have since gotten a hold of Necktie Second and Find a Door. Necktie Second is probably my favorite of them although they are all good. We haven’t gotten his third album ‘Spacey and Shaking’ but we will soon.

The best thing about it is he has become an artist Jen and I share. I managed to turn her on to him with ‘Skywatching’ and I’m really glad. Thats always a great feeling when you find music that you both love. He’s far from the only one but he will always be pretty special to me for, if nothing else, Beautiful Girl which is probably a top fifteen all time favorite song for me. The movie is up there for me too so that doesn’t hurt.

Thats pretty much all I’ve got on my mind tonight. He is just one of those artists I want to share with everyone because I guess he’s pretty obscure. I knew ‘If You Don’t Love me’ as a pretty big hit so I always figured more people knew him, but just try and find his CDs at Borders. Considering how much attention folks like Ryan Adams, Jack Johnson, John Mayer and such get its a shame that he isn’t on the scene more. Its a similar style music and he is a terrific writer.

He’s got a website with some downloads, Droge.com. Worth a look.

Another rough draft poem. Figure I’ll toss it up, see what folks think. Still working on this one though.

New York

There are two New York Cities.
There is the one that I know and can visit
and then there is the New York of my imagination.

The New York I know is full of people
running around and not caring much
who they run over
It is the city of homeless guys
swearing quietly to themselves while
keeping warm on the subways
It is the place where the record stores
make you check your bags and
have never heard of the singers
I’m looking for.
It is a place where I can visit but
I just don’t think I would want
to stay.

The other New York is different.
John Coltrane still walks the streets in
that City.
Bob Dylan is positively 4th street
and I am positively captivated.
The streets are sometimes cold
forcing people into village clubs
to listen to Dave Van Ronk one night
and Miles Davis the next.
The rain splashes down on poets and
black and white photographs of
Jazz musicians in their glory
in the New York of my mind.

The truth is somewhere in between
There are still artists and energy
and sometimes the guy in the store
knows where you can find a bootleg
of a show he went to the other night
Somewhere the Free Wheeling Dylan is
forever walking down that street huddled
against the cold.
And somewhere Charlie Parker is
forever playing Bebop to people who
will always remember that time

I guess thats the great thing about New York
The Myth and the reality both exist
I guess it is just where you look

Bet you were expecting a poem here. Hah! I know I have been a bit lax on the actual entries lately. It isn’t that I have nothing percolating around upstairs it is simply that I’ve had poetry on my mind and that has been what is issuing forth when I sit down to write. I haven’t worked on my other writing in a while either. It really has been all about poems and playing the guitar lately. Not to worry, I will be back to writing general entries. I really am a very cyclical human being. I get on track with one thing and get off track with something else. What is important to me is that I am still writing and creating each day. That is what this blog is all about for me. It is less a forum than it is an exercise. So, just to irritate my brother its going to be another random thought night.

Jen got me John Denver’s Definitive all-time Greatest Hits. It actually says all that on the case. Despite the slight over-billing it really is a lot of fun. I know John Denver is not exactly what the cool kids are listening to (Not that I’ve ever much cared about what other people think about music I like) but he has always been a bit of an old favorite. When I was younger and spending large chunks of the summers at camps my father ran he was someone we listened to. When I hear his music I remember walking through meadows on the side of mountains in the Catskills with the sun shining brightly in the sky. I remember idyllic days wandering through the fields of Epworth with my brother or through the woods of Kingswood with my Dad. First time I put it on and listened to ‘The Eagle and the Hawk’ it was almost like getting hit in the gut with memories. I have a very visceral reaction to the music. I can just about smell the sweet decay of the wood and feel the loose packed dirt and stones of the roads that ran through the camps.

They are strong memories of good times. Times and places I think back fondly on often. John Denver takes me back there and makes me smile and think wistful thoughts. I remember sitting on the porch of the caretakers house during the two weeks my Dad, my Brother and I served as the caretakers. I remember sitting as evening came listening to the Yankee game playing cribbage and reading and just being together and outdoors.

His music also makes me think of the journeys my brother and I took with my mother. Although we weren’t really listening to him much at that point the places we went were the places he sang about. When he sings about Rocky Mountain Highs and country roads I can see and know what he was singing about. I can feel that deep love for the places where the magic of the land can reach up and touch us and grab hold of our souls.

I grew up in and near cities and have lived close to them my whole life. I love cities. Particularly Boston and New York, but also Sydney, Hong Kong and Kansas City. So yeah I guess I am a city boy. But there is a place within me that longs to get back to the wild and free places. That is the duality that has been in me since my parents first brought me to the sea and the mountains. Jen and I talk about where we belong often and the general assumption is that I am the city mouse and she the country but It isn’t that simple. The longing for those places is always with me. John Denver’s music for me is a soundtrack for that longing. He speaks for that part of my soul that wants to be looking out over the valleys and rivers of this world and not just the bustling bright lights of downtown. That duality makes me wonder if I will ever truly know where I belong, but I can say this with much certainty: It isn’t the suburbs.

Hmm. Less random than I thought tonight.

North

Looking out on the steel gray winter sky
I feel a tug at that place deep inside of me
that tells me where I should be
It is a frozen gravity that pulls at me
North, ever North.

I walk the streets of warmer climates
feeling a powerful intertia all around
This is where the world slows down
The sun beats down on me and I need to go
North, ever North

Down here things take their time
Warm breezes turn people towards
the sand and sun and water
I feel that same breeze on my face and think
North, ever North

I want to feel the cold wind numb my face
Up there where the landscape turns white
and stays that way for a while
The stark landscapes stretching
North, Ever North

I know I need to be moving that way
Every year that passes I feel drawn
a little bit more each time I see that sky
Time to walk those streets that lead
North, ever North

It finally snowed for real last night. We have not gotten more than an inch or two this year and we finally had a real storm. Ten solid inches. Excellent snowball snow I might add. Jen and I went out and played around in it a bit. Deep snow always makes me think of Rye, New York.

My father, brother, dad and friend of the family spent a blizzard there one weekend. I remember the snow up to my waist and the huge drifts. There is nothing quite as magical as a kid as snow that is piled up over your head. We strapped on the snow pants and headed out in the beautiful white fields. We built a two story snow fort and attempted to make our way down to Asland.

The property my father lived on was a huge estate. Behind it in the woods was an old fenced in garden. On one end of the Garden presiding like a King was an old statue of a lion. My brother and I were (are) huge fans of C.S. Lewis’s books so of course this Stone lion quickly became Aslan. It was a pretty special place as a kid. Even more special with two feet of snow on it. IT was a wonderful day. Big storms will always remind me of that day. Heck thats part of the reason I look forward to them.

I wonder if that lion is still there? Well, no matter I guess, it always will be in my heart.

Well, I’m exhausted so I’m not going to do anything much tonight. I figured I would just post another poem. This one however is sort of a work in progress. More so than the others. This is essentially me tossing ideas down on a page and seeing what stuck. I think I Will re-write it soon.

The mornings are grey and brown
My first impressions of the world outside
Are always of the dismal lack of color
The whole world sometimes seems like
A muted dull place where off white is king
Beige is the crown prince while tan waits
Plotting its boring revolution
I wonder if color isn’t what we are all searching for
Deep down inside of us
Hidden in those places we never talk about
Except on a psychoanalysts brown couch
Surrounded by colors designed to comfort
Why are we so afraid to show off our colors?

Some mornings when I go out to greet the grey
I am surprised by little musical shocks of blue
The streak around the underbrush
They could care less about the rules
There are five or six blue jays living in the brush
Outside my front door.
They don’t seem to realize how impolite it is
To be wandering around flaunting their bright colors
Their magnificent blue standing in stark contrast
To the polite grey of the sky
Surely it must be a faux pas
Maybe they are colorblind?

It is an hour before bedtime
John Coltrane is on the stereo
He is telling me a story
It is about a few of his favorite things

My guitar is lying on the couch
Its neck is propped up on a pillow
It is listening to Coltrane’s tale
Hoping to someday tell its own

The lights warm the room
Illuminating all the dark corners
Outside the stars are dancing
Twinkling along to the music

I can see dishes in the sink
And smell the leftovers
The mess will certainly wait
Now is not the time for cleaning

The day is very far behind now
The hard parts are over
At least for another few hours
Time enough for my mind to wander

She is down the hall in the den
We are on separate journeys tonight
Her imagination is running wild
To the sound of a tribal beat

Somewhere inside of us
We are both elsewhere
Striding through the night
Guided only by our instincts

Soon we will be cozy in bed
Warm in each others presence
Saying hello to our dreams
In the way only lovers can

I will need to sleep before too long
Weariness is creeping over me
For now I am content to ride
Nights rhythms for just little longer

I was going to write about the current firestorm surrounding the publication of some cartoons in Denmark but I keep false starting. I guess in the end I’m just confused by the situation. I read a few articles from Robert Fisk, one of the foremost Western writers on the Middle East, and they served to both enlighten and confuse me more.

I can understand, if not completely relate, to feeling so deeply about something that I am moved to action. However the action in this case seems to be excessive. There is no real reason to burn down embassies and riot. I understand that there is a lot of anger and frustration toward the Western World from the Muslim world. Just as there is a lot of anger and frustration going the other way. The firestorm in this case just seems generally unreasonable.

I don’t mean that being angry at something that is completely offensive to your way of life. What I don’t understand, and doubt I will ever understand, is the desire to punish the many for the actions of so few. Fisk discusses theaters being burned down because they showed ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’. The example is meant to illustrate the hypocrisy of our press in calling for tolerance from the Muslim world toward freedoms of the press and expression. In that respect it is a pertinent example. The problem is there is a difference between burning down a theater because it chose to show an offensive film and calling for the destruction of a country because one of its newspapers published a cartoon. Like everything else involving western views and the middle east it appears to be a matter of extremes. I don’t recall many calls to destroy America for a negative depiction of Jesus. No this reaction has much more to do with the brain dead guy at the bar saying we should just nuke the bejesus out of the middle east and be done with it.

It is a bad situation and it seems to be getting worse. There is some potential for good to come out of it. I don’t hold out much hope that it will happen but the situation might really drive home just how serious much of the Muslim world is about their faith. I know a lot of the western world has abandoned or lost sight of is various faiths. It strikes me as something of a parallel to decline of Roman civilization. Rome had long since relegated its religious practice to habit. There was no belief anymore. That listless lack of faith is a large reason why Christianity was able to gain such a foothold and spread as it did. I’m not sure we are seeing a repeat of that but the parallels do exist.

I need to learn more about Islam. I know only the basics and I think its time I spent a bit of time to learn. I know people are quick to write off the faith as nothing but a bunch of extremists and nutjobs. That is, of course, blatantly untrue. There certainly exists a vehement extremist faction in the faith, as there is in the other two Abrahamic religions. It is unfortunate that that is the only side we generally see in the media. I’m willing to be that the majority of Muslims in this world are like the majority of Christians, seeking to be the best people they can be and not wishing harm upon anyone. I don’t know if it would be a winning bet but I really really hope it would other wise we are headed for some very rough times indeed.