Sunday, October 31, 2010

If you don't like it, we were only Joking



Indigo Girls sing-along on a sunny Georgia day

Our Mexican family was clapping and bobbing along (and even called for an encore!) We had a lot of happy tables out at Peek's Park that day.




Some photos courtesy Austin and Ciara Clark; can you guess which ones?







Peaceful Easy Picnic





Poppa Bear led us in "Peaceful Easy Feeling" at the end of evening in Peeks Park.
We see each other so rarely, it's a special treat to go back and spend time together.


Behind Heaven's Door is a picnic


The crowning achievement of our vacation was pulling as many people together as possible---there are many, many reasons a lot of likely suspects couldn't show---to have one big time in the outdoors, where the kids could run and the trees could scent the air. I was incredibly happy the day became a reality!


We have about five seconds to commemorate "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town"---a title longer than the footage :-D and later I'll put up "Joking."



The people who gave us the "Cecilpalooza" name came home to their water, shut off with no explanation; they were missed!



My friends the Holts had been anticipating a big trip to Lake Winnepesauka, Northwest GA's own amusement park, for Amy's birthday, and I certainly didn't begrudge them their rare log plume ride. So they, with their Woodstock friendship and fun, were there in spirit, along with 2012's neighbors the Daniel family and many more.


Knockin' On Heaven's Door with Andy and apparently everyone
Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Saturday, October 30, 2010

songs



Something Not Quite There
Dreams
Luck
The Stars
U R Me
Say What
2 Left Hands
Hey, Hey My My

Accept, Explain
and possibly another song before dinner!
Dozens of park attendees enjoyed the songs as well.
Pork Chops, Burgers, hot dogs and boneless chicken breasts were deliciously grilled by Charlie and Dixie (who brought sweet tea), courtesy Anna and David. We brought cases of soda and some ice, and Mom and Dixie each brought a chocolate cake for an early birthday celebration for Angela, too.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain? Knockin' On Heaven's Door a bit of Straight to Hell by Drivin' n 'Cryin'...wasn't time before dark, and we still had the spirit! Joking's the last one I recall playing myself, and then I stepped over to where Ron had played some Bee Gees and now put on "Peaceful eAsy Feelin'". I'll think of that as where it all came to a happy end.

Boy it was hard to squeeze in home cooked food and singing! We sang Happy Birthday to Angela's brother in Virginia, too.


Poppa had checked the laws on riding Angela and I in the bed of the truck, and just as we headed out, down came a patch of rain. The radar suggested we could wait it out, and soon enough we had a tarp put down and drove off to round up drinks and gas.



After dinner I played "Joking" by the Indigo Girls and the sisters came together to sing again like old times. Papa Bowman played us a number of Bee Gees and Eagles tunes; I taped "Peaceful Easy Feeling" on my camera myself!



Because we announced the date and location so late (in an effort to open it to as many people as possible) some of my friends had other plans, and the person most likely to play videographer was home with no water and no answers...but we improvised with the cameras and many people we had, as you can see.








(Added later)




Finally, it's dark, and we're loaded up in the truck for Dixie's. The kids spend the night, too, and David suggests a rousing game of heroes versus villains played in the moonlight of the Cedartown front lawn.


Friday, October 29, 2010

Cecilpalooza indeed


Cecilpalooza '10









Kudzu Mountain Party Time

The afternoon as we walked and came back and played songs on our guitars, Poppa told me about refurbishing his Dad's two guitars. I learned the old house isn't set up for practicing any Pete Townshend-style leaps, though since I stopped after one, I merely listened in on Poppa's strategy to get the house leveled again. He's come up with a lot of things that work, and I've seen him fix a lot of things in day-to-day life. He loves problem solving and be friendly in general. Just classic.



Making things up as they went along, a call to Andy was something I took too seriously. I was sure we'd end up talking a long time, and sure enough we finally did as I watched the nephews and niece play at the park next to their house in Goodyear Village.

I wanted to give him a time and place and really practice and prepared to be prepared. Andy is so easy going, he puts me to shame. He took time to come over; he found CiCi and I in the park as I stayed on the phone with him towards finding us. We got out the instruments but had about an hour to go through messing around on instruments. It became quite fun for everyone: Christina sang a song she's practiced for Angela, the kids all tried out the instruments, and Andy and Poppa hit it off famously.


Boy would that flower of an hour pass away on the stream like a floating petal. Andy liked my songs; we'd even been working on a similar progression and rhythm for one each. Too bad I couldn't catch up with him earlier in the week, but I was sensitive to people not feelin left out. But I'd geared up for a coffeehouse type show over at the Gypsy Cave, and I figured we'd keep taking turns playing stuff and see if, since I was the one wishing to showcase our Integr8d Soul Songs.

I think with three or four practices we would've had a pretty good show together. I liked swapping out playing songs, and of course Sabrina had lots of iTunes on hand, as it is a Cave staple.


In the effort to make it nice for everyone, I got Mom to come down from Rome; she said she'd even take the kids back to Rockmart, so I got an additional wish: the Clark Kids would get to come. We'd get to spend the night! And maybe we could get some other friends to come over.




Well, it turned out we had plenty of people. Mom stayed a little while but had already decided, while driving Angela and CiCi over behind Andy, Me, David and Austin, she would just drive home by herself soon. Poor Angela, she felt pretty sad, and i was up in the car ahead. I actually had to be neutral to fit in, because Andy and the Clark Brothers were on the level together cracking up and making twenty miles of jokes all the way to Cave Spring.



Still, I was so glad the Clark Kids got to visit Gypsy Cave. First, we all had pound cake together and it was a real party atmosphere in a sweet sort of way. You cannot help but find the Cave stimulating! Andy and I talked about how much John Lennon would love to be there.


Well, soon we got Mom backed out and headed to Rome around dark. The children were playing with Finn; they found the house on Kudzu Mountain a wonderful place to run and play games and there was so much energy, riding down the driveway. CiCi visited Darby a little while, and they played dolls. Five minutes later, CiCi told her, "you don't play them right!" Sabrina, upon hearing of this, said Darby used to say the same thing to her sometimes at that age.




I made sure we played Angela's "Double Jeoparme" and "Luck", also the first song I played when invited Monday. "Somethin Not Quite There" evolved when we blew the dust off it for a few days before travelling; it's close to a nice recording.

I got a chance to play as many songs as possible up to about 11:30pm; Anna was glad the Clark young'uns were having a good time and it sounded like we'd make it back at a reasonable time. There was a bit of kicked back, exhausted confession, too, as my bond with Eric just continued to reveal itself. I was actually ready for a day of study and work! Yet how could I begrudge my family and friends this time to bond together, establishing bonds that could echo in meaning and love in times to come?

Before I got to "Times Like These" time and time again, David was on the verge of tears with regret at leaving. That was a really honest reaction. Poor Eric probably feels that way a bit at some point every day, having found all the heaven on Earth necessary for him to continue on. David didn't want this great time to close, for this was uncommonly good. Angela consoled him, and let him know we will make more times together. He felt better. Resiliant David.









Andy drove cool as he could, to avoid us being pulled over without a seat for every child, which we almost had, really, by an half-ass. Three kids and an adult was just a bit more than Andy had come prepared to drive with, but in his good natured way he hung in there and we cut up about half as intently on the way back from a place he dearly loved.


Ron and I ended up in a conversation about our original way of becoming aware of sex in our non-communicative upbringings, and how he'd sat all the kids down of age at once to do an Afterschool Special. Did I mention the Clark kids got to spend the night? They all out lasted me. While Angela and her mom got a rare chance to sit up and talk a couple of hours, I read the very first X-O Manowar story in a trade I'd brought with me and conked out hard, preparing for the big picnic.



Dark character and light times with Newy


" At least I died doing what I loved"
I was reading about Fu Manchu...in space...when I thought about his motives (raise a new Old China after knocking the moon out of orbit), and moreso, the motives of my own villain of the new piece. I have written many stories without "villains" but I seem compelled to place his agency within this story inspired by my novel TRANZ.

Why is this futuristic man come to Earth, and do I need him to tell the story of inner-dimensional energy vampires called Voidons, as they follow a fallen meteor in becoming linked to humankind's emotional vulnerability?

I speculated how this would-be star traveler, snatched away from escape velocity to suffer the emptiness of the Zavox, Sulinar Vix, might anticipate the end of our world and so want to take of its energies...he is not sure how the world went from what is in our day to his. He thinks of his as the better world, but it is a cruel mockery. He believes all of Kolpar is headed into the zavox trap and so he strives to take away the starship self destiny? He trusted completely. Does he now LOVE the Zavox? He worships nihlism, and so he would sooner see the fabric of the veil of illusion torn asunder to reveal the physical hell that awaits everyone? Existence is an illusion, meant to be destroyed?

Presently, I'm considering taking him out of the picture, save for a shadowy cameo, and staying away from his fully-explored motives. The bigger picture scope is explored, actually, in my Marvel pastiche stories with Tranz. I believe this is a spoiler of sorts, pasted here first as though by accident, then leading me to flesh out the concept of the character, just before deciding to wrap him in obscurity, letting the human cast grapple with their own emotional issues. There will be at least nine of them with lines.

The symbolic planet Sulinar Vix sees features a humanity nearly frightening themselves to death; they are his inspiration, the template for siphoning the vibrations of Kolpar, the future world in which the Zavox gains increasing sway. The agents, the Voidons, nested here on Earth, grow stronger for return to siphon away more of the life forces in Kolpar.


Counting three days 'off' (including this one) and writing intently on "This Star Fallen" every other one, you can share some fun coming this weekend, a good time weekend a month before, even Stuckwayze, in this spot over the next week! I'll even script a scene of "Free of the Fallen Earth."

Meanwhile, a garden in space provides a great visual for an otherwise disembodied force, in the Voidons.

haha, originally I thought I was dropping in this

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Time Together

I slept morning after Holt! 's and read that afternoon until Papa Bear trucked up to Rome to fetch us down to 2112 (First Avenue).
He loved talking with us about Woodstock and the new Hendrix recordings. He still has that excited teenager inside. Definitely the best ride down 101 in many years at least, and maybe, because here we are together again, even the best ever! After all, now we were heading to a house soon to be bombarded with triple kid energies.

These fine people took me to their homes and all through the neighborhood to meet everyone they knew that they could find.

We hung out all weekend! They were my Crew.


These people here took me walking everywhere. We practiced inking. We played some of our favorite songs.