Getting Gruntled

In the past couple of years, my sister has suggested an activity that is becoming a staple in our family gatherings, especially when our relatives from out-of-state are here. The first time around, it was on Thanksgiving Day, and after we had filled up on the bounty, we packed all of the teens and kids into the car and went to hike Stone Mountain. This was a great activity, and here in GA, it’s really still rather mild in late November. This past weekend, we went for that hike again, the first where I have taken the girls. It’s a very different challenge during the summer, but is great excercise as well as a bonding experience for all of us.
I really wish I’d packed more water for the ascent this time, and think that they should consider making some water fountains available at the pavillion that sits halfway up the trail to the top.
I was looking at the Atlanta paper today, and there was an article about some local clubs that have been organized over the years who go and climb the mountain every day, which is marvellous if you have the time and means.
After our climb back down, we took some blankets to the lawn and saw the laser show (I used to go all the time, when we lived in the area during my younger years, but I hadn’t seen it in a long time). There is a new company in charge of the whole production, and they are using a lot more in the way of projections, pyrotechnics, and the like. It’s not a bad show at all. If you are visiting the Atlanta area, you should add it to the “see list” for one evening.

On an entirely different weekend evening from the Red Letter Agent show, spent appearing at work-related functions, I wrapped up and blazed into the chilled wind, I got to the parking deck and found with great relief that I’d had the foresight to put comfortable clothes in the car.
The clock had already been ticking for a while, and I had seen the Ga Music Concert Series listing, and wanted to be able to see as many bands as possible.
Yes, this one was at Vinyl. It’s a neat venue. The only downside to going to the “cw complex” is that the parking for the building is pretty high. Parking within a block or so is really cheap, but they usually lock up and go home by midnight. So if you park cheap, you have to leave to show really early.
I went through the wardrobe quick-change of magical proportions and drove down into midtown.
After getting parking, I went inside to find that Tendaberry was on stage and in the middle of “Cold Boy”. Hmm. Only two bands for me tonight. Tendaberry is a Post-Punk and Soul inspired band who forged their bonds on the campus of Morehouse College here in Atlanta. I can definitely hear the influences of the Kinks, Sly and the Family Stone, and Arcade Fire. Here are some pictures I snapped:
    
The keyboardist, Shane, was missing that night, but the remaining three showed bare temerity in their play. The Cold Boy and Righteous Waiting tracks got the crowd moving and Jonathan playfully injected some ’60s Soul lyrics into the mix (1967 to be exact), which the crowd really loved.

Now if I appear to be carefree
It’s only to camouflage my sadness
And honey to shield my pride I try
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
But don’t let my show convince you
That I’ve been happy since you
Decided to go, oh I need you so
I’m hurt and I want you to know
But for others I put on a show
Just like Pagliacci did
I try to keep my surface hid
Smiling in the public eye
But in my lonely room I cry
The tears of a clown

That’s him in the white coat there in the second pic.
After Tendaberry, the last act of the night was The Ski Club. After setting up, they started to play, and the energy level in the place ramped right back up again. John And Kyle more or less tag team the lead song by song, and there are plenty of stage antics going on for the whole show, including smashing of guitars, spilling of drinks, and good-natured tomfoolery. At one point, Cliff tossed an empty PBR can off the stage and actually hit his mock target. Whoops!
Barcelona and Happysad are really good tracks to check out if you haven’t heard them before.
   

      
Overall, it was a great show, and I’m glad I got to see both bands. There were a couple of other bands I wanted to see, but since they are all local, I’ll be sure to catch them another time.

It’s not exactly like a time agent or a secret agent.
A few weeks ago, I had a weekend where I was doing a lot of stuff for work, and really needed a break, and after getting to the Five Points area in Atlanta, stopped in at the Star Bar. There was a really good turnout, and they put on a high-intensity show. Red Letter Agent is local to Atlanta, and their current tour includes Los Angeles, parts of NV, TX, NM, AZ, LA, and TN before coming back to GA. Their sound is described mainly as brit-pop, and is reminiscent of Dishwalla, ColdPlay, and Kasabian. The songwriting is very tight, using great hooks that don’t feel like hooks, and guitar melodies that bolster the smart lyrics and strong vocals.

My favorite track from RLA is “Burn the Good Ones Down”. They have had a couple of tracks used in both television shows (Kyle XY) and commercials(an E! promo), so their sound might already be familiar to you.

Burn the Good Ones Down

Watch it all before in the bright lights, do you
Burn the good ones down ’til they’re nothing
But you’ll never keep them out

Could it be the last of the blackouts of the darkness
Heard a young one’s cry for the heartless
They’re bleeding to the bone, alone

Say tonight you’ll listen to their hearts

Watched you bend your knee on a dirt floor, so you
Offer what you have in a spotlight
Never to be shown

We could be the spark to ignite them, higher
Hear this one’s cry for the hopeless
They’re begging to be free, believed

Love is the only cure for you
Love is secure enough for you

I ran down to The Loft for what is referred to as “an industry event”. It was put together by a group called Badd Lemonade, which I wasn’t able to find much out about.

The evening featured a rapid-fire sampling of ten bands local to the Atlanta area. The bands playing included:

1. Leaving Araby
2. Kalvin Nova
3. The Rein
4. Xzamen
5. 1994
6. Fact Not Fiction
7. The Love Willows
8. Unusual Suspects
9. The Honor Roll
10. She Came From Above
11. Fox Trot November
12. The Pennies
13. The Nerd Parade
14. Auditioning Alice

I missed four of the acts, mostly due to my parking option not syncing well with the event. The staff at the parking deck were chatty and helpful, though. I’ve been to several shows at The Loft over the past couple of years, and it is a good, flexible space for various types of events.

The organizers of the event were ensconced in a roped-off area, and were all hurredly scribbling notes as each act started to play. The format allowed thirty minutes for each band to set up, sound check, play (most of them played about three songs) and then clear off, including equipment breakdown. After seeing a couple of rounds, the personalities of the bands began to shine through, and certain things started to become much more clear. Primary of these things was stage presence, including segue and mic banter. Only having a true ten-15 minute block performing, those small bits of space between songs are the only bits you have to drive home the connection with the crowd you have laid down with your instrumentation and delicately laid lyrics. I’m not certain if the Badd Lemonade people were actively judging for record and promo deals, or if anything was really at stake, but the crowd was full of die-hard fans and family of the bands for the most part.
Here are links I found for several of the bands. I have snapshots, and if you check out this page of unedited photos, you can see the progression of the quality of the pics as I fine-tuned the camera settings, finally getting it everything right for handling upshot stage lighting. I also dug up links for most of the bands in the list, so be sure to check them out if you live in or visit the Atlanta area.

The Love Willows Made an impression as they transformed the stage from mostly blacked out to a glamor-splashed, candy-striped high fashion scene. This band played well, and is highly memorable due to the incredible contrast in both visual and musical style from the rest of the bands playing. reminiscent of a Gwen Stefani show, the songs played were very upbeat and loaded with energy, and are ones you could listen to with the kids in the car. They even wrapped up with a song all about having an acute shoe fetish and being okay with that.

The Unusual Suspects have a sound that is very hook-laced and clean, with a careful eye on traditional production values and meter. The track “People, Pills, and Problems” will have you hooked in a single dose.

Athens-based The Honor Roll came in like a thunderstorm… This is the kind of storm where you just want to see how it goes down, a train wreck of hyperbole and angst that is beautiful in its references to our stalking of each other, as well as the social impact of your myspace telling on your fibs. They opened up with “Bedroom Politics”, storming and pacing the stage in barefoot pissed-offedness. And the bass player is kinda nuts, too.

She Came From Above delves into the screamo metal area, though the guitar riffs remind me of the early speedmetal riffs that Metallica and Megadeath popuarized.

Fact Not Fiction really made an impression on me. From Hartwell, GA (outside Athens, at the SC/GA border), their sound is someplace between post-punk, and rolls near the melodics of true indie rock. There is a definite Anglo influence, with well-read lyrics and a mock English accent, you almost get the gist, then they throw another twist in the next song that gives it more dimension. “Here at Hartmin” and “The Ballad of Jack and Amy” get the must-listen tag.

Foxtrot November was much more at ease as a band. They seemed to ruminate and relax as they played, and I think giving off this vibe made the band members seem older and more serious about the music than they were about being seen on the stage. The vocals –for whatever reason– remind me of Kenny Loggins. The general sound of the songs are very unique, but similar to Wilco, and maybe Coldplay. Definitely check out “What if We Don’t Carry On”.

The Pennies This was the last band I saw for the evening, and they got a lot of reaction from the crowd. The sound is solid rock with Irish-inspired female vocals that range between a delicate lullaby and a soul-bearing wail that wends its way to your primal foundation. If you like bands like Evanescence or Dido, you should hear them. Check out “Love Me” and “Shine Within Sadness” for sure.

The Nerd Parade. I had been looking forward to seeing these guys, but had to leave before they finished setting up. Maybe I’ll be able to catch them some other time.

Now that I’ve been sorting the night back out from memory, I’m thinking I should have been ensconced in a roped-off area scribbling notes, too….

at the end of the day yesterday at the office, a couple of people came around asking those of us who hadn’t headed for the hills at noon if we would be interested in tickets to the Nutcracker at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. I put my name in the hat, as usual, and thought of how I’d been telling myself for about three years now that I’d get tickets and take the girls to see it during the holidays.

They drew a name from the hat, at the tickets went to the controller in the financial department. I congratulated him and started to get my things together, then he showed back up and said that his son would not be available to go, so he wanted me to have the tickets. It was incredibly nice of him to pass the tickets along.

It was 5:30 at this point, and the girls had been at my parents’ house, and the show started at 7:30 sharp. I called my mom, and asked her to meet me halfway between my work and her house so that we would be able to make it. It being Friday, there seemed to be tons of extra traffic, and being winter, it was already rather dark by then. I was coasting diligently through the four-way stop that is always highly congested, feeling much better about the car because I had to get new tires at the first part of this week. The old ones were suffering from band separation, and could have blown out at any moment. This condition was the cause for a really rough ride, too.

I criss-crossed my way along county roads, bypassing the Friday- and holiday-congestion I knew would be on the freeways heading away from the city, and finally made it to the meeting point. Got the girls and their things, and we were off like a shot. Fridays are more casual in the office, so I had jeans and sneakers on, and a collared long-sleeve shirt. The girls had only been playing all day. The clothes matched, but the shoes were just way off. No stopping now, though.

The seats were incredible, front row of the balcony, just left of center. Perfect for the girls’ first ‘true’ ballet experience.

The show was amazing. The dancers were awe-inspiring, the costumes and sets were fantastic, and I kept seeing inspiration and imagination filling the girls’ eyes as they sat riveted, watching. It could have been the stars glowing from the ceiling, or maybe the snow coming from the rafters, but I thought I saw a little bit of magic in their eyes as well.

The path to Pasaquan was, like most worthwhile journeys, elusive and tenuous. As we left the metro Atlanta area heading south, there was a severe backup of our primary route. There were signs warning of construction happening, but the backup of the freeway suggested that there was also a major accident going on. We were moving along at a glacier-like clip for quite a while, and when we got to the next possible exit, made the detour, and abandoned the carefully picked directions scribbled down the back of an envelope. Turning to the “Georgia” page of the road atlas, we quickly located a full detour route that went though several small towns, all of whom were having a Fall festival of one sort or another, like Barnesville, Thomaston, Talbotton, and Geneva. We also stumbled onto…. The Rock.

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That’s got to be one of the cooler names for a town ever…. The Rock, GA. There was immediate rush of “the rock” quotes, including “Can you smell what The Rock is cookin’?” and “Can’t stop The Rock!”, followed by a stream of references to rock music, Alcatraz island, and various action movies.

It took quite a bit longer to get to Pasaquan than anticipated. Once we arrived, we found that the journey was well worth it. Not only did we get to explore all of pasaquan, but there was also live music, and other folk and local artists displaying pieces as well. I got some really good pictures, shared above.

Walking around Pasaquan, Eddie Martin’s philosophy (a blending of Eastern and western thought combined with a healthy dose of both Shamanism) pervaded. Any place on the whole complex that you would look was enhanced by design: paint, hammered tin, beads, felt, carvings, statuettes… The images of people, gods, suns and moons, planetary systems, cities, flowers, and more. The magnitude of all the thought and effort instantly draws you in. The connection between human mind and nature, between ancient thought and modern thought, and between the beliefs of civilizatons all around the world seem to be fragmented in our daily lives, but at Pasaquan, one can see them all come together in jigsaw fashion, in balance, in Zen.

Yesterday was the last day of the year for Pasaquan to be open to the public until the spring. We’re already planning a return road trip. With three possible routes scribbled on sticky notes, fluttering in the wind.

Time for a road trip! The cool weather has returned, and those crisp mornings are calling… Dust off your rucksack and grab a travel coffee mug and a worn-out college sweatshirt!

On Saturday, November 3, 2007, Pasaquan will host artists from all around the South for an exciting day of creative celebration at an event called “Artists for Pasaquan”.

Fifty or more artists - students, amateurs, professionals, eccentrics, visionaries - will participate in the celebration. The varied conglomeration of sympathetic artists will join together at Pasaquan to demonstrate their support for the restoration and preservation of the noted visionary art site. Participating artists will bring their own recent artwork to show and to sell and a lineup of musician friends of Pasaquan will entertain those who attend the gathering.

“Passa-what?” you say? Well, according to Jonathan Railey at Flagpole Magazine:

If you haven’t heard that name before, well, suffice it to say that he’s just about the weirdest cat you never met - so weird he refused to be airbrushed, alloyed, snow-jobbed or beaten into conformity by the forces of authority that get to most of us early on. So bizarre that he took to the open road rather than subject himself to the tyranny of a cruel and oppressive father. So eccentric that when he finally settled down, he tried to make a homestead for himself that suited him and embodied his highest ideals…

Looking at the art at Pasaquan, you immediately get the feeling that you are in a tribal place, sacred, communal. The sense of interconnectedness with nature, philosophy, the human experience pervades.

There is quite a bit of information available online about Pasaquan and Saint EOM (née Eddie Martin), including writeups by Mike Segers and
Interesting Ideas, and there was even a PBS Special!

I should be getting some good pictures, so more on this after the weekend!

Where is it? (Click for Gmap love) Near Buena Vista, GA (between Columbus, GA and Americus, GA), which is also home of Georgia Rural Telephone Museum.

Yesterday I took the day off from work in order to appear in court. I was listed way, way down in the calendar, so I spent the majority of the day there, listening to the sordid details of various cases and the circumstances that people (everyone) get into sometimes.
When it came to my turn, I found out that some other legal proceedings had gone under my radar, and that my being there was a moot point.

If I had known that, I’d definitely have taken the opportunity to go to Centennial Park and/or Emory University to see the Dalai Lama.

His Holiness was given an honorary professorship at Emory, and gave a couple of talks, including one on the subject of using guided Tibetan meditation in the treatment of clinical depression.

Check out the video on this page, which is an open press conference/interview with the editors of Emory’s school paper.

Metta, Y’all.

Mindfulness and Metta.