Serenity in Three Part Harmony

We are one full day into the New Year. Yesterday, I celebrated, but in a subdued manner as far as those things go.

Schmoop and I began the day as most others who celebrate the New Year. Food, drink, football on the TV, and hope for the future.

But…It wasn’t until about eight o’clock New Year’s night that I discovered what the future is about.

It was about then that I put a CD on. It was, The Best of Pete Seeger. That sounded good, so after that, I put on a two CD collection of The Kingston Trio.

Just before Schmoop went to bed I played a compilation CD of Folk musicians. Ironic. Here we were celebrating 2010 and I was playing music from the 60’s.

And not just any music…I was playing low tech, bare bones and soul, hobo traveling folk music. Oddly enough and in spite of the “advanced” decade in which we now live, it made sense.


Pete Seeger was singing, Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.

He sings it in a way that describes the arduous journey across the river Jordan with optimism in his voice, and it takes me back to the carefree feeling of sitting on the cold, hard, tile floor of my second grade classroom.

All of us eight year olds holding hands, smiling and singing…our only concerns being what we would do at recess and what mom packed us for lunch.

When I put The Kingston Trio on, it wasn’t so much their humorous lyrics and great harmonies that struck a chord with me, it was the fact that Schmoop had bought the CD for me some four or five years ago.

We are not big on buying Christmas gifts for one and other but that Christmas some years ago, she knew that I liked them and she got the CD for me. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to.

Last night, with beers in hand, and trails of smoke coming from the ashtrays on the coffee table, we sat next to each other on the couch and in discordant harmony probably only pleasing to us, sang the, Reverend Mr. Black along with The Kingston Trio.

We smiled…a lot.

After that was done, I played the Folk CD and we sang along with the likes of Ian and Sylvia, Joan Baez, Donovan, and my fave, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot.

After that, Schmoop got up, I smacked her on the ass, she smiled, and then went to bed…without a word.

She didn’t have to say anything.


After our brief New Year evening singing engagement, the smile that she threw me was an indication that no matter how good or bad this coming year may be, we both have a crutch to lean upon should we need one.

And I hope that this is the case for all of you as well.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to put some Johnny Cash on. Just like the other groups I mentioned, the man is good for the soul.

Cheers, and once again, Happy New Year!!

New Year's Eve 2009: Blog-a-Palooza with Matt-Man...The New Year Cometh

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

MATT-MAN, SCHMOOP, AND KELLY

CHEERS!!

Al-Hijra: Happy Islamic New Year!!

Shoot those fireworks and bang those pots and pans Bitches, today is Al-Hijra, the Islamic New Year!!

Wait a minute…pots and pans? Fireworks? Muslims? Let’s start over…

Fire off those AK-47s and detonate those IEDs Bitches, today is Al-Hijra, the Islamic New Year!! Yeah, that’s more like it.

Today, Muslims around the world will be entering another new year filled with the same old bitterness, self-loathing, and not knowing the joy of eating a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

Al-Hijra marks the day that the prophet Mohammed (or is that, Muhammad?) migrated to the city of Medina. While Al-Hijra is not a big day of celebration for the Muslims, it is a day that began a tenet and belief among many Muslims.

You see, when Mohammed arrived in Medina after a long, hot journey, not only was he hungry and thirsty, the schismatic bastard was hornier than hell.

He stopped at each tea house, brothel, and every 7th Century al-Disco club that he could find. He would say to the ladies, “Wanna come back to my place and watch me talk to God?”

Oh yeah baby…Mohammed or Muhammad, whatever, was killin’ with the Arabian babes. He took a slew of them for a Magic Mohammed Carpet Ride. By the break of dawn the next morning..?

Mohammed had done the nasty in camel style with six dozen hot, saucy Saudi chicks. Upon pulling his Muslim Meat Ka-Bob from the last of the six dozen babes he looked skyward and screamed:

“Praise be to Allah; I feel like I've died and gone to Heaven!!”

That is why today, Muslim men think that if they die in the name of Allah they will go to heaven and be received by 72 virgins.

But, other than that and like I said, the Islamic New Year is not a big deal to most Muslims.

Some mark it by drinking a special tea, others with a small gift, but most Muslims simply celebrate the day by taking the only bath that they'll have all year.

I guess it would be difficult for many Muslims ‘round the world to get excited about a new year. I mean, they know it will be just like the last...

A diet of dirt and hummus sandwiches, no alcohol, and the only entertainment is to listen to the incoherent wailing and shrieking of Islamic music on the radio.

Yeah, I can see their indifference to this holiday.

Hell they don’t even have a Baby New Year like we do in here in the States…

Isn’t he cute? Of course if the Islamic world did have a Baby New Year to mark this day, he’d wear his diaper a little differently…

Anyhoo…To all of my Muslim friends out there, of which I have none, Happy Al-Hijra. May all of your wildest dreams come true and your flocks be reproductive.

And now for something completely different…

I will finally get to watch Ryno play tonight. His High School JV basketball team takes to the floor at 6 P.M., and I will be there to root him on.

How will I know which player he is? Because he will look exactly like this…

Boo Yah…What a King of the Court he be.

Cheers!!

P.S. Was it wrong of me to have sent a link of this post to the Royal Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C? I don't want to start an international incident or anything. Just asking...

Charcoal Drawings and Watercolors

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year…it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols. ~Thomas Mann

The words of Mann are true, but…when I read his passage, I wonder about the spirit in which he wrote it.

Is it merely a statement of fact, or is he also mocking human behavior and its attempt to harness time…to take time, and somehow, define it?

I think the latter. Mann is, in all of his stoic, efficient, German manner, correct about the ambiguity and elusiveness of time.

However, “we mortals” have good reason, or at least a reason to mark the New Year with bells and an alcohol induced blaring of trumpets.

New Year’s Day is a time when many people gather to watch football, feast on pork and sauerkraut, and publicly (and foolishly) announce their resolutions for the coming year.

Some people view the day as just another day off from work.

Those same people oft times say that anytime of year is a good time to take stock and better yourself without the confines of a once a year resolution.

I myself, enjoy the festivities surrounding the New Year, but also understand the reasoning of those who eschew the tradition of making once a year promises.

My reason to celebrate, or at least observe the New Year, lies somewhere in between the aforementioned reasons, and it relates to the statement made by Thomas Mann.

I think…okay, I feel…that between 8 P.M. New Year’s Eve while partying, and 9 A.M. New Year’s Day when one wakes up (or is finally going to bed), time does, in a way, stand still.

As Mann said, “Time has no divisions…”, but during those precious few hours, we can harness the power of Janus and look both forward and backward.

We can visualize everything we have ever been and ever done in the stark and sometimes brutal contrast of black and white.

We can also see everything that we want to be and want to do in color…bright colors, that sometimes elude our sight because we do not take the time to notice them the other 364 days of the year.

The transition between the old and the new year is a razor thin balance between Rationalism and Empiricism, between regret and hope, between charcoal drawings and watercolors.

To me, it ushers in my view of life called, Simplisticism, and that view can be illustrated by the following picture.

The above picture is more than that of a kitschy, 1974, Six Million Dollar Man lunch box. It is a Christmas present from my antique show frequenting brother, Steve and his wife.

I laughed when I opened it up Christmas Day…more than laughing, I smiled because it reminded me of being nine years old watching the show with my brothers Steve and Marte’.

Rooting for Colonel Austin and Oscar to defeat the bad guys, we would share a frozen pizza blanketed in hot dogs and Velveeta and color the air with laughter over the bad acting and even worse dialogue.

It was the best of times.

It was a feeling of innocence I will never forget.

And while I have no desire to be nine again, it is a feeling I long to recapture.

And that my friends, is what my New Year’s wish is for me and for you.

I hope that we can all cut through the drab, dreary, and sometimes painful black and white screen of this world, and see the color, taste the innocence, and hear the laughter.

If we can do those things, the rest of 2009 will fall into place.

Be safe…Kiss someone you love at midnight…and Happy New Year!!

Cheers!!