Moments

Journal. Events and observations of the day.

Amidst the destruction of a way of life, it’s the little events you didn’t realize would change, that really cut you. One is bowled over by the immensity of the wide-angle perspective, but knifed by the little realizations.

And felt even more dramatically by people of privilege like myself.

Right now, I’m trying to imagine how this species will celebrate its technological advances if after all, the first humans to venture out to the stars and inhabit other worlds…are Nazis.

Cover of the original version. Yellow and red with white lettering. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

I thought I had read Death of a Salesman, but having read the whole play today, I think maybe I just knew the story. Very powerful.

At the end, the dreamed voice of his brother Ben as Willy makes his choice. “It’s dark there, but full of diamonds.”

I seem to have made myself a special day for having just read Letters to a Young Poet. Full of wisdom and thought provoking ideas on art and the nature/benefits of solitude. Also unexpected expositions on sex and sexuality.

Loved The Letter from the Young Worker which ends the book. The idea (if you are inclined toward the divine) that one should not let Christianity separate you from God.

Was our constitution really this fragile? Yes.
Why has it not collapsed before now then?

Because we used to have control over our own avarice. We fought to preserve its tenets.

No longer. We have become complacent, weak, and fearful.
The constitution hasn’t changed. We have. The institutions and safeguards we created only worked when we weren’t so craven as to allow criminals to subvert them.

Otherwise, Elon Musk would have been dragged out of the building in cuffs, and if he managed to survive the wrath of the people, he’d be the one in Guantanamo. Trump would be losing his 3rd impeachment battle and most importantly, the politicians who were supposed to be on the side of the people would be on busses back to their home states, their heads hung in shame.

Perhaps life really is a to-do list with only one checkbox.

“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one, that has frightened and inspired us, so that we live in a Pearl White serial of continuing thought and wonder. Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. I think this is the only story we have and that it occurs on all levels of feeling and intelligence. Virtue and vice were warp and woof of our first consciousness, and they will be the fabric of our last, and this despite any changes we may impose on field and river and mountain, on economy and manners. There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?”

~ John Steinbeck, East of Eden

What do you have a better chance of being able to open? A computer file you created 12 years ago, or a book that was written 400 years ago. Get books. Read them and you will be reminded of parts of yourself that deserve to be remembered and appreciated.

I use the term Democrat only to indicate the group of current politicians who are nominally opposed to the loss of democracy.
Democrats, show us something. Anything.

Can you justify your continued participation in our government or are you going to give everything away to preserve your own status?

I do not give a damn about your political career. I am not interested in hearing about how you can’t make a difference if you are not in office.

This is the moment when you spend whatever political capital you have to fight for what is good and right. If you can’t do that, then stop pretending. We won’t be needing you going forward.

Black and white photo portrait of bassist Kham Meslien.
Bassist Kham Meslien

Most (musicians anyway) have heard this old joke.

An anthropologist is studying an indigenous tribe in the jungle. He hears drums playing off in the distance. He’s a little worried about what the drumming might mean. He asks the native chieftain about it and is told, “It’s ok, but very bad if drums stop.” The drumming continues for quite a long time, and the anthropologist notices everyone around him becoming agitated. He enquires again about the drumming and is told again, ‘Very bad if drums stop.’

Suddenly the drumming stops. In a panic, the anthropologist yells “The drums stopped! What happens now?” The chieftain replies, “Bass solo.”

This video gives the lie to that old slam. Both the playing and the venue are sublime. Kham Meslien⤴︎ gives a mesmerizing solo performance. Watch it here:

Kham Meslien - Cosmo Jazz 2023 - ARTE Concert

I had a “How I quit worrying and learned to love the bomb” moment last night. Better now, back to my usual level of worrying. Still ready to resist.

People on social media are encouraging each other to “fight back,” but I’m wondering if we’ve realized how much we’ve already lost. Protesting in the streets is going to require much more courage and risk than it did just a week ago.

Russell Vought. Remember that name. He is orchestrating the plan to allow the US Military to respond against protesters. Trump showed in his first administration that he thinks this is fine idea, and now he believes he has permission to do it.

Like any vermin, once they’re in, it’s hard to get them out.

Here’s a treat. Jason Parker Quartet giving us beautiful renditions of Nick Drake songs.

Great vocals from Michele Khazak.

Does Trump understand when he says individual states should provide their own disaster relief and he’s going to shut down FEMA, that red states have no hope of being able to afford that? They can’t even afford to maintain the infrastructure they have now.

Just had a friend call specifically to ask me if using Signal, getting off the silos, creating private communications networks, etc. was overreacting.

I said “No.”

It’s time to start using every available act of subversion we can against these rat-***kers. They are coming after people we love. They get no quarter. Software is just the tip of the iceberg.

A nice moment to start the day.

This get-together was recorded about 37 years after Love, Devotion Surrender. LDS was a tribute to John Coltrane. Santana’s fans hated it (not ready for it,) but it is amazing. The Montreux performance is a great showcase of Santana’s lyricism matched with a harmonic master in McLaughlin.

In keeping with this observation about forgetting, I’m going to use some discretion in back-filling the moments section of this site with posts from my old site. Not everything has to be preserved. I think I’ll focus on images and music.