Inspiring Laughs

Last night I was watching a series of 20 TED talks, called Smart Laughs.  The presentations were funny and in some cases, endearing.  One fellow by the name of Ze Frank is crazy passionate about connecting with humans on the internet.  He does a lot of collaborative projects over the internet.  The one that really got me excited was The Chill Out Song, and the story behind it.  It's an example of the power of connection and community, and that connection is no less powerful because it takes place over the internet instead of face to face.  I encourage you to read the story behind the song, and then take listen.  I think you'll be delighted.

He also has a web project called "Young Me/Now Me" where people send in childhood photos and re-enact them as adults.  Some are quite touching, especially scenes with babies and parents.

I admire the way this guy plays.  We all need more play in our lives.  We need to chill out, relax, drop the story line, and laugh a lot.  Comedy looks like a lot of fun, but I also know it's a lot of work.  Just ask my friend Linda Lou.   By the way, her very funny book "Bastard Husband" is available at Amazon in either book form or Kindle.  I've now read it twice, and it's a page-turner that is difficult to put down.  Her life was a train wreck (mostly thanks to her husband) and it is fascinating to watch her process from victim wife to self-possessed Las Vegas stand-up comic. 

She proves that you're never too old to make the life you want, instead of the life you happen to find yourself in.

Do you believe it? 

I've recently made some changes, leaving behind old habits that don't serve me well.  Today the sirens sent their hypnotic song out to me...and nearly brought me crashing into the rocks.  Like Odysseus I lashed myself to the mast by keeping busy in the kitchen and listening to some kick ass music.  Now, not only do I have a batch of delicious almond cookies and dinner in the oven, I have the great good fortune to feel positive and proud of myself.  And I give all credit to "The Chill Out Song." 

Thank you, Ze.

SC Blues Festival 2007

SC Blues Festival continues today; I was there yesterday and enjoyed the whole damned day. The biggest surprise though, was a young artist named Jackie Greene. Originally from Monterey, he now lives in Sacramento. He rocked the house, I'm tellin' you! Astonished us completely. When I went to the booth to buy a cd, they were all sold out! Right after the performance. No shit. This kid is channeling someone who is a very old soul...he's 25 but he looks about 14. A real doll. I got to see him up close and personal at the booth where he was signing copies of his latest cd, American Myth.



This photo is from dig music website -- Jackie looks as if he's in the great music store The Beat, in Sacramento. Check him out. Especially sample 'Hollywood' and 'So Hard to Find My Way.'

The festival was populated by the over 50 crowd - a bunch of us oldies with white hair blowing in the wind and lots of wrinkled skin! Tye dye in abundance. A great vibe -- 5 minutes into the opening act I detected the whiff of mary jane. Duh. I was a little worried when I saw people around me consuming their fourth beer at 11 a.m. Guess it's to be expected at these things. They didn't get too wild until late afternoon, then they were annoying.

Standing in line for the porta potties was a scene...one time I was next to a couple of 50ish guys who grew up in New Jersey (they didn't know each other). Turns out we shared several connections in various NJ locales. We spoke about how beautiful NJ is, and how maligned. One of the fellas had been drinking - uck - wine coolers all day and between that and his prostate issues, was pretty miserable and desperate to get into a stall fast. I think the most common refrain of the day was, "Well, we're gettin' older!"

Los Lonely Boys headlined about 5:30 pm and they were amazing. I wanted more vocals and they were into long and intricate instrumentals. Great stuff, but they have such sweet voices and I wanted more! What a stage presence - and they are all so intuitively connected and watching that play out in front of you is a thing to behold.

I took the handicap bus (ah yes, the short bus, the ABC yellow bus) from the shuttle parking lot to the festival. On the way back, one of the riders was a very drunk old woman, who looked as though she'd had a hard life. She was inappropriate and out of her mind, but everyone was gentle with her. I had seen her dancing around earlier, really living it up. As she stood in line for the shuttle, she moaned and groaned so as to inform everyone of her need. It was quite the scene: a bunch of tired, sunburned, over-drunk people with canes, wheelchairs, walkers and the fairly able bodied like myself, whose disability is hidden beneath my pant leg. A few of us got to talking on the ride back about our leg surgeries, and we had some good laughs about the ridiculousness of it all. My able-bodied companions had a new experience of riding this special bus, and were amazed at the level of humor on board. Hey, gotta laugh, right?

What a crew we are - we humans. My cohorts in their 50s 60s 70s are aging while keeping their freak flags a'flying. Even Wavy Gravy was there, sitting in the front row with his red nose on. I haven't been to very many musical festivals in my life, and the last time I went to one I was considerably younger, and so was the crowd. As I sat in my beach chair watching the people around me, I could not help but flash back 30 years to similar events, and experience an odd feeling that time had raced by in an instant.

I noted that Jackie Greene, at 25, could easily have been my child. At 25, this man has a mature musical vision that comes from I don't know where. He claims many genres: blues, folk, rock. He sings 'All Along the Watchtower' in his own clear original voice, and 'I Don't Care About My Baby' like old blues man. If you go to his website jackie-greene.com remember the 'e' -- I dropped it and had a helluva time. Sheesh. I must be gettin' older.