Ayn Rand Redux

I've read a lot of books.

Watched a lot of television.

Seen a lot of movies.

Heard a lot of conversations.

In my life.

But I have never seen or heard anything that even closely approximates the dialog I have been reading in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead".

I have only a couple of hundred pages left in the opus and I am already feeling bad about the end of this remarkable late discovery of mine.

"Ine Baby" nailed the development of two extraordinary literary characters in her lifetime, John Galt of "Atlas Shrugged"' and Howard Roark of "The Fountainhead." If I would have read these books carefully in my formative years I might have been a different person; that's how profound they are.

I think I will be doing a wrap up post on the book when I have finished but I already know I will never be able to do it justice.

Also, there is another gifted (though unpublished) writer I have been reading the past couple of years. Her name is Meri Sender and her brief observations on life and self are an absolute delight. Her wonderful work is at: http://waitingforthebiggiant.blogspot.com/.  Only problem is, she hasn't written an entry since 2010!  C'mon Meri, you can do it!

Nope. I am not getting paid for this plug... by either of these remarkable authors! Although I should be right?!

Woodstock

I was wrong about Country Joe of Country Joe and the Fish.

Over the years, when I have been up against a stressful appearance of some kind, I have often taken comfort in the memory of Country Joe facing several hundred thousand people at Woodstock and saying, "Hey Man! I'm scared shitless!" or something like that. In fact, I have often told the story to sooth friends and family who find themselves coming up against something similar.

Here we are, some forty years later and I am watching a YouTube video of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young during Woodstock. Sure enough, it turns out that it was Stephen Stills who said it! It figures as CSN&Y had only one public session together before that performance and it was the largest crowd they would ever see.

I like it when we are referred to as the "Woodstock Generation"... that rings a lot better with me than "Baby Boomer". But then, our generation has stubbed it's toe pretty well on some pretty big deals... such as Iraq and such as the Recession...so I am not sure either moniker will go down in history as ringing well with anyone. Anyway, in setting aside those monumental muck ups for minute I can enjoy what the sounds of Woodstock meant to us and still means to this day.

Peace, love, understanding, tolerance and thoughtfulness are just a few of the attributes displayed en masse at that event. So, when you get a chance, pause for a moment to reflect on the pure joy of Woodstock. Check out this amazing video by Santana and note the great performance of his drummer, Michael Shrieve. Michael was only 19 at the time. Michael lives up in the Seattle area now and his band appears every Monday night in the Fremont district. What a dream for him and those who listened on that day!

Rock The House

July 30th and 31st, 2010

Location: Robbinsdale Lounge, Rapid City South Dakota

Two bands, with the same members, and a great venue with 16'x20' stage, large dance floor, and seating with tables for at least half the crowd.

Son Tyler's bands, Arden Park Roots (http://www.myspace.com/aproots) and The Livin's Easy (http://www.myspace.com/thelivinseasyband) would be playing both nights.

I am in town for two of the worlds' best reasons, to hear the bands perform and to take part in the Mother Of All Bike Rallies, Sturgis.

First night: Butch (Tyler's Uncle and my fellow Harley riding buddy) and I pull into the parking lot around 20 minutes before show time. The lot is packed with cars and we have to pull around way in back. When we get in, we have to scrounge seats from the gambling area of the lounge as everything else is already taken.

275 show that night. We are tagged with wristbands at the door and I don't know why until I find out they are tracking capacity as they have to make sure they don't go over 300. The first set is "Arden Park Roots - Award Winning Band from Sacramento" and, as they are unfamiliar with the music, the crowd mostly listens at first but there is unanimous applause. As they get more comfortable toward the end of the hour and a half session they take to the dance floor and get gradually louder. When the second set kicks in, they are recognizing Sublime songs from the first couple of notes played. They really get into it then, packing the floor and singing back the lyrics they have memorized long ago. At the end of the night, the band plays two encores and Ty finishes up with four acoustic Sublime solos. "By The Rivers Of Babylon" has them swaying like they are hearing a modern day "Kumbaya".

Second night: The word is apparently out that these bands are good... really good. The place is packed to capacity a half hour before showtime and we are glad we have arrived early. I get there an hour before to set aside a table for our group and do okay but don't get my choice. I later notice that there is a steady line of one to two dozen waiting outside for others to leave so they can get in. We have an idea we are in for something special that night and it is.

The crowd warms slowly, as they did the night before. (Tyler attributes some of this to the crowd's level of intoxication... I think this partly true... that they play off each other.) During the first set, Tyler coaxes the crowd to shout "APR!, APR!..." after the band's initials and records it with his iPhone - this is the recording:

When they hit the second set, around 11Pm, the crowd is fired up in anticipation and, according to Ty's prediction, the booze has released any inhibitions they may have had. As the first 2-4 notes of the first Sublime song are played, 50 or so rush to the floor. They remain there for the rest of the show, again with two encores. With the combined sets the band plays for 3 and a half hours - a feat of endurance that is Springsteenesque in it's length.

The crowd is mostly 20 and 30 somethings, largely due to the emergence of Sublime as a world-wide famous reggae/ska/punk band in the mid'90s. Their lead singer/songwriter Brad Nowell wrote around 40 songs and in 1996, died of a drug overdose just before the release of their most famous album. Since his death, a cult has grown around the music and hundreds of thousands have memorized the lyrics.

There are a few exceptions to the ages that night though. In the crowd there are some senior groupies including me and most noteworthy; Ty's Grandmother and Great Aunt. The two are close friends and excited about seeing Ty perform. To my great surprise, both stay until the final song has ended sometime after 1AM. During the show, Ty's Grandmother carefully removes one of the poster-sized show advertisements from the venue, rolls it up and brings it back to our table... a keepsake for the event. I am duly impressed. Grandmother Groupie swiped a poster!

I am also impressed with the music and during their play of one of my favorite Sublime songs, "Pawn Shop". I make my way to the dance floor and move through the seething masses to dance, a couple of rows deep from the stage. It was fun seeing the look of shock on Tyler's face when he noticed the old grey hair there, boogieing.

Yes, I have become perhaps one of their oldest fans. I have always been a fan of Ty's voice and music compositions and now I am a fan of Sublime. I may not agree with some of the themes of Brad's music but I believe he was a brilliant composer and I love the variations in his repertoire.

A few songs into the second set we see that Tyler has been lifted hand-over-hand through the crowd, out about ten feet and then back to the stage during an interlude. I think that demonstrates the gravity of the night for all of us.