1.  Download the Following

Saint Dominics Preview by Van Morrison

Jackie Wilson Said (Im in Heaven When You Smile) by Van Morrison

2.  Realize that it is Not Spring.

But it feels like it in Houston.  And yes, I have probably mentioned this to you already, but I have a tradition of marking the beginning of spring each year with the gorgeous and dusty old shoe that is Astral Weeks.

Here’s how the whole thing started:

Years ago, during an especially dark and soulless winter in Dublin, my uncle sent me a little white envelope with a cd inside.  He had taped a torn piece of paper to the disc, with an excerpt from a letter that he received sometime in the eighties.  It read something like:

“. . . but yes, I know that eventually, it will be spring again.  Astral Weeks will be on the stereo, and everything will begin anew.”

In the first few shudders of its opening bars, I understood.  Astral Weeks is spring.  And from that day onward, listening to the album became a kind of a holiday for me at the turn of each year.

3.  But, Like I Said, it’s Not Spring.   Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself.

This is one of the reasons why living in Houston can be impossible.  Suddenly, it’s 72 and sunny on January 18th, and I feel the urge to christen the springtime.  But I know that this is morally wrong for me to do.  It feels spring-like, but no, it is not spring.  This afternoon, I checked the weather in Jefferson, just to confirm.

DEFINITELY NOT SPRING.

So what to do?

I had the same problem last year in Rome, and Bridget suggested a solution to my dilemma.   She directed me to the 1972 album, Saint Dominic’s Preview, which is apparently an O’Brien family staple of some order.  To be honest, I’d never even listened to it.  But as I sat at a bus stop in Monteverde that day, watching the busses pass by and wondering how to get them to stop, a new tradition formed for these years spent in sunnier environs.  Saint Dominic’s Preview became my official Pre-Astral Weeks Buffer.

And no matter what latitude this finds you in, I suggest you give it a try too.

4.  Skip This Part, You Already Have the Music

I love this album.  It’s a much more unsettled statement than Astral Weeks - it pushes and drives and heaves along, where Astral Weeks is effortless and intimate.  Saint Dominic’s Preview is unsettled and tumultuous and maybe more dusk than dawn.  Its peripatetic lyrics blast across continents and time-periods like an argument between a poet and a journalist.  There are no love songs anywhere to be found.  The sound of the whole thing is too varied to be a single statement, but the entire work is too centered and driven and sinewy to be without purpose.  Miraculously, the rock saxophone is used to great effect.

Where Astral Weeks is an incarnation of something, and a kind of revelatory moment of earthy truth, Saint Dominic’s Preview is a stream-of-consciousness survey of everything: hope and imperfection.  Lester Bangs wrote that, even though Van Morrison was only 23 when he recorded Astral Weeks, “there are lifetimes behind it.”  The man who appears on Saint Dominic’s Preview seems to have lifetimes ahead of him.  Often in these tracks, he seems get his foot caught in a particular line or word-phrase, turning it inside out with improvisational and meditative repetition, blending sean nos and scat into a kind of prayerful and playful pleading. Where Astral Weeks moves and acts and creates, Saint Dominic’s Preview observes, celebrates and criticizes, and ultimately begs for the future to change.

Van evokes excess and greed, parties and funerals, the troubles, the war, a little boy and his dog playing in some redwood forest, and whatever else comes out.  According to Google, Van Morrison wrote the title track after reading an article about a prayer service being held at a San Francisco church.  They were praying for peace in Belfast.  This is that album, I suppose.  It sees the winter, and prays for spring.

5.  Turn it Up, and Commit to the Whole Thing

If you want it all, and you do, then you’ll have to spring for it:

But make sure you wait for the right moment for this one:

]]> http://wisdomalabeer.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/great-food-and-music-from-outer-space/ Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:55:20 +0000 Christopher http://wisdomalabeer.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/great-food-and-music-from-outer-space/

As anyone who has lived in or known anyone from a small town/community/not-even-a-dot-on-the-map will tell you, there are few things to do in those places outside of working the land and everyday things.  People generally focus on one of two things: cooking food, and playing music.

And if you do anything all the time…with enough time…you’re bound to get awesome at it.

At least, that was the impression I’ve always known throughout my life.

And I have to say, the food was indeed awesome. 

The music afterwords was…interesting.  I should have expected it though, given my current location and surroundings.  We ARE in a town without even a stop sign, you know.

Twangy.
Off-key.
Countryness.

It WAS coordinated, though.  I will give it that.  It was a coordinated twangy, off-key countryness.   And that was by the main band.  I thought I was going to bleed out through my ears.

And that was just the MAIN band.

You see, another feature of this after-dinner-weekly-music-extravaganza was that anyone can get up there and play.

Anyone.

There are seriously no known means of pre-requisite to this thing. 

Coordinator>>Can you sing? 
Aspiring Musician>>No.
Coodinator>>Great!  You can play up there next!

Coordinator>>Can you play an instrument?
Aspiring Musician>>That’s like a microwave, right?
Coordinator>>Great!  You’re up next.

Coordinator>>Have you ever played in a band before?
Aspiring Musician>>I see aliens. 
Coordinator>>…
Aspiring Musician>>They visit me regularly.
Coordinator>>…ummm…okay Uncle.  You can play next too.

That’s right.  The most popular (well, I guess I should say ‘infamous’) person around here is one that sees aliens.  Regularly.  We’ll call him…Chuck.  Uncle Chuck.  And yes, he was the uncle of the guy who was apparently running the show.

Lemme tell you…Uncle Chuck is FUN to play tricks on. 

Forget cow-tipping!  A fast moving truck and tying glowsticks to strings and swinging them around your head at night within view of his house is where the good times are REALLY at around here.

Well, until this fateful evening, I had never actually met the man. 

And let me say…my life is complete now.  What remaining brain cells I had after years and years of dealing with Isabelle were swiftly sent packing within a few moments with this guy.  He is seriously a vampire of brains.  He just starts talking and your IQ drops.

But, as indicated earlier with the extreme lack of pre-requisites for singing on stage…Uncle Chuck was allowed on.

Surprisingly Uncle Chuck was a phenominal artist!! He CLEARLY missed his calling!  I’m serious…the guy was AMAZING!

If, by “amazing” I really meant I’d rather hear someone skinning a cat.  And by “phenominal” I really meant…I can’t even think of a word opposite enough of that to do this guy justice. 

I think he needs to have a word with his musical mentor.

You know, E.T.

All I know is that I wanted to phone his ass home.

For the entire HOUR that he played.  Sixty long minutes of mind-numbing, ear bursting, cat skinning musical hell on earth.

You want a new way to fight Terrorism and interrogate prisoners?  Send them to this event when Uncle Chuck sings.  They’ll tell you anything you want to know.

Too bad inspiration and talent don’t always come together, haha. If talent for the arts comes to our children, it will not come from me.

While Tomis was playing computer games I attempted to draw him. When I was a teenager I wasn’t too bad with a pencil. Now you would never guess I ever possessed even an iota of talent, haha. Anyway, here is Tomis playing his game.

Here are the drawings I came up with

(Midget Tomis)

(Abstract Tomis)

(Full-body Tomis)

I am sure Tomis wanted to kill me for all the drawings, but he was a good sport and laughed

20 LED Flashlights

6 MP3 players – most – but not all – marked bad

1 very nice camera bag ($15 on Amazon.com)

1 solar gadget charger with many adapters

1 giant joystick

An assortment of chargers and cables for who knows what!

Grandma and Uncle Chuck came by today to celebrate Grandma Betty’s birthday. The seven of us ended up eating enough for for 15 people. We can only pray that soon scientists will come up with a way to make our arms longer, as our bellies will push us farther away from the dinner table and we won’t be able to reach our food anymore, haha.

Throughout the day tennis played quietly on the television in the background as the smell of spices circulated the house. Outside the weather bounced between stormy and ominous to bright and sunny, making the hearth of the house feel welcoming and safe. Everyone took turns being silly, and we all laughed together. Right before Grandma Betty and Uncle Chuck left for home, Tomis, Pookie and I all played an idiotic game of “spin in circles until you are dizzy and then try to walk”. Given that we had full tummies, it was an incredibly stupid game to play, but worth the laughs.

Now, Tomis and I are sitting on the floor in our usual positions. I am to Tomis’ right with my lap top, and Tomis has his hand firmly on the remote control. There is a bowl of popcorn between us, and soon we will curl up under a blanket and watch a movie.

All the love in the world to all those we love!!! Good Night!!

Lucille is a funny one… she chased Pookie around the house last night scolding him for being taller than her…

Yes… we are a tall family. We are just waiting to see how tall Pookie gets. His Uncle Chuck is taller than David… and their grandfather was taller than both of them. Grandma Betty is 5′10 (177 cm), and her sister is taller than her! Lucky for Tomis Koko didn’t grow to her full potential otherwise he would be looking up her nostrils

ignore the half naked man with beer can.