Walking in the woods: Life in the spirit as it as.

I am going to get religion or come to any new enlightenment in the middle of caring for two toddlers? With kids in the home own your time isn’t so much about you "want" as much as it is “what do I have to do“. I know I can be proven wrong, but it seems in this moment of time in my life institutions of the soul are not easily navigable with children in tow. Often it seems that churches along with art museums, conventions, concerts, theaters, and seminars are set up to convene during our children’s naptimes, feedings, misbehavior, and bedtimes. Books of enlightenment are hard to take in when you’re so very tired from taking care of little ones and even films and videos aren't really an option. With the whirling dervish of responsibility going on in a house with toddlers, entertaining the self or exploring the soul seems first impossible and then a bad use of time or it is really something selfish to do. So how have I at least stirred my soul in an enlightened direction lately?

In-between the moments of diapering, feeding, and chasing around our first born, I found was still thinking and debating in my head about world events, friend’s opinions, and matters of God and spirituality. In this time period I had a realization that my Christian faith was often more centered in moral and cultural debates rather than on a life in the spirit. At a time when church for me often meant standing in outside the sanctuary with a crying or hyper child, there wasn’t much intake of message or solace in prayer time. Using technology as a bridge to spirituality is certainly far from the end all of getting the spirit, but thankfully I entered into this period of yearning for spirituality, and my introduction into parenthood, during the continuing revolution of the Internet with its ever expanding content. During my mile and half walk to my office each morning my iPod has always been a companion. Giving online podcast and books a chance has opened some doors in some unexpected ways. While it isn’t about being  in the community or isn't for me a replacement of the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, I found the daily readings for morning mass are online via a Podcast. These are the same exact readings of daily mass. My understanding is that a person could actually hear the entire bible, Old and New Testament, in three years with seven days of readings at mass each week. A total the consumption of the bible is not my goal, however it is meditative to walk with verses for a while. My daily church is the canopy of a forest as I walk through a large wooded property of Emory University’s Lullwater Park (see the photo above). The walk is thirty minutes and the daily readings are about two minutes.

The daily readings I admit are not a regular occurrence as I would like; I do have to remember to replenish the iPod with these readings. I have ventured in recent times into the podcast of homilies, church workshops, and complete books. Franciscan Priest Richard Rohr is most often my homilist on my walks. As a Catholic I have, for reasons almost unknown to me, drifted towards writings of either Franciscans or Trappist monks. Since I was a teen I have been intrigued a contemplative lifestyle, though I actually knew nothing of it. Whenever I read works by Thomas Merton I found his perspective on my Catholic faith compelling and new. I recall talks by Fr. Tom Francis while on a retreat at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA  ten years ago about Centering Prayer, but this form of prayer and  its way of thought seemed like a distant proposal for life. Through Podcast with Richard Rohr, Thomas Keating, Dr. Jerry Webber, Rob Bell and David Stiendle-Rast, I have at the very least stirred a good desire to explore the contemplative side of Christianity. Christian writers are not the only people I am listening to and reading these days, often I find similar message across a wide philosophical and religious spectrum, for example I have found great wisdom in Jon Kabat Zinn’s Zen viewpoints on parenting. Through many mature sources I am slowly being taught to have an active awareness of being present through spirit in all moments without opinions, anger, darkness, and worries blocking the gifts of the those moments; all this helps when you have toddlers living in your here and now. To go back to the original question about enlightenment with toddlers in the home,  I find they are great teachers and masters of enlightenment to me. They pose the questions and put challenges before me that I never expected. My future with my children is untested and with unexpected insights whether I like or not.

I haven’t ever written about faith before on my blog. Faith writings can sound kooky especially when you are not used to me, Steve Witte, speaking on these things. Oddly there is controversy amongst many people about the works of those I have named in this post. I can assure you that this is about me not knowing more than knowing. I have discovered that during my listening to spiritually ordinated podcast and in my readings I often feel bombarded with astonishment and revelation to the point I can’t order it into anything cohesive enough to speak about. I certainly can’t hold apologetic sessions on or about my thoughts and life nor should I. I wanted to bring spiritually to this to the blog  because these explorations is where I reside right now during my busy and always changing life.

Soft Facebook and hard news

There is a contrast in my media viewing of the last 15 hours which I am struck by. Last night around 11:00 PM after viewing on television people being viciously beat up and hearing the amplified rounds of gunfire in the early morning streets of Cairo, Egypt, I turned off the set and checked in with Facebook to find sunshine and humor joyously running rampant on all subjects but revolution. This is more of an observation than a condemnation and I can’t declare with ease that anyone is oblivious to major world events. I am just chewing on this from a lone perspective while knowing that Facebook is not the best medium for decent critical thinking or news analysis with its short statements and pokes. It appears life could be crumbling into chaos on television and various internet news sources, but still babies have birthdays, You Tube has real life slapstick, and posted statuses must go on with cryptic meanings. I am not sure that I am actually campaigning for Facebook postings of angst, doom, or sympathy for the human condition. In defense of Facebook as a whole, word is that the protests in Egypt were partly arranged via Facebook and there is real power in social media. Perhaps the public side of my Facebook pals by choice remains privately concerned about certain world events and believes that sunshine and slapstick should prevail as relief to broadcasted chaos, but still what a contrast I see now electronically delivered into my world, at least at this moment.

Pylon - Chomp

I am thrilled to see the CD reissue of Pylon’s Chomp album. It arrived in stores and on the internet yesterday. I didn’t buy the vinyl version back in 1983 because I only had my lawn cutting money as discretionary income. Too bad guitarist Randy Bewley didn’t live to see the release. Randy died of a heart attack in February.

New Orleans comes around Decatur

I have an interest in New Orleans and a few weeks ago I found yet another source by which to experience New Orleans – albeit from a distance. At the Decatur Book Festival held three miles from my home was a featured book reading by New Orleans musician and author- by surprise, Paul Sanchez. He came to read from his book Pieces of Me and to play his music to other New Orleans worshipers, owners, and people like me perhaps who can be called proud borrowers of the city.

It’s hard to own something when you’re not so sure you really own it. Actually, if you are not a native of a place, you don’t reside there, and you don’t plan to do more than just visit occasionally, then just how much interest should you have in the place? Does simply adding up a place’s significance in one’s life give you some degree of ownership? I do struggle with my ownership of New Orleans. I have been a visitor there since I was about was about three years of age. My major connection to the city is my parents; they owned the city in their hearts since they met there while in college; it could be said I really owe my existence to the place. With the availability of news from the Crescent City on the internet and a growing list of available books - not only on the recent disaster of Hurricane Katrina, but on the unusual culture of the place, it has become increasingly easy to become a devotee of the place while only getting one real visit per year. This book festival event was probably full of true New Orleanians many of whom perhaps remain in therapy because of Hurricane Katrina, and so this event with Paul Sanchez was spiritual to many in that room.

Sanchez is a native New Orleanian and he was chased away, at least for a time, by the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina. As a musician who used to be in a fairly well known New Orleans band, Cowboy Mouth, Sanchez can draw crowd just for his songwriting, guitar and voice, but the storm made him an author. Displaced from New Orleans he started an internet blog and in time someone who could get him published took notice of this. Between doing songs from his career on this day, Sanchez read from his book Pieces of Me and held his audience’s attention with his stories of place, displacement, and being home again. Those in attendance joyfully responded to his narratives, like the one about folks owning a pet goat in the French Quarter’s urban setting as if it was just another dog. From the book, another story about a fruit and vegetable vendor who creeps through the streets via a pickup truck while announcing his products in songlike cadence over a loudspeaker, only occasionally this guy forgets to silence the microphone for a call on his cell phone, therefore further entertaining the neighborhood. And then there is a hard story for Paul Sanchez to tell, about his changed life after being hit by a taxi cab during a Chicago bike ride while on tour. This accident caused him to black out for months at unexpected times all while trying self diagnose and hide these occurrences from friends and family; tough stuff separate from losing a home in a flood.

People around me at this event were rattling keys and clicking their fingers with approval to the stories he told. I heard yeses uttered as he spoke, almost like it was a lively church service on a Sunday. These were human stories with a sense of place that many recognized could only happen in New Orleans and sadly some of these stories could have been told after Katrina nearly washed the place away.

I bought Paul’s book and a CD called Stew Called New Orleans that he recorded with another New Orleans musician, John Boutte. After the reading, I went back outside and I ran into someone I knew at a book booth out on the street. As I related the story of this Paul Sanchez book event, just talking about it seemed to be oddly poetic to me; New Orleans has that effect even in casual conversation.

I remember days after Katrina defending this city below sea level with its contrasting mix of wealth and extreme poverty. At times New Orleans seems to have only have history and culture on its side in a country conflicted in a constant debate on worthiness. I will stand by my understanding of the place and my awkward ownership like the people with me at this book reading. I told Paul Sanchez after he signed my copy of Pieces of Me, thanks for coming here. Yes Mr. Sanchez, thanks for bringing a piece of New Orleans in you to Decatur, GA for an afternoon
.

iPod on Shuffle One Morning Walk 8-24-2009

Thankfully Amelia likes to dance so I can play music at home with a purpose; however really delving into music for serious listening is hard to do at home with toddler duties at hand. Each morning during my thirty minute walk to work I put the iPod on shuffle and hear what happens. With the current 10,125 songs on the iPod, I never know what to expect, but often it’s more glorious than horrid.

Nick Drake- Sunday OK, so it’s Monday, but a track entitled “Sunday” is the introduction to the day. This is an instrumental which is odd coming from Nick Drake whose soft vocals really make mood of his work. The music is nice, but it seems dated without Drake’s voice. This is circa 1970 from the classic Bryter Layer album.

Café Tacuba- Que Pasare I turned up the iPod to hear Nick Drake only to get my ears blasted by a hard rocking Café Tucuba song. These guys are the Radiohead of Mexico, though they are more diverse in style. I had the pleasure of seeing them once at the Roxy Theater in Atlanta. I was one of maybe ten Caucasians in attendance at this sold out show. They don’t ever sing in English even though they are fluent.

Billy Tate-Single Life I had to look down and check to see what this was. The instrumentation is just like a Fats Domino song, which of course makes sense since it’s a Dave Bartholomew production and most likely it was the same backing band that played on Fats’ records recorded in New Orleans in the early fifties.Dave Bartholomew wrote this song and he also wrote many of Fats Domino’s hits.

New Orleans Social Club- Walking To New Orleans Another song related to Fats Domino. This was a hit for Fats Domino, but written by Bobby Charles. This version is sung by Dr. John as part of the Post-Katrina ( August 29 is coming up) New Orleans super group New Orleans Social Club. I saw Dr. John sing this at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2007 during a tribute to Bobby Charles at which Bobby himself was supposed to appear, but he didn’t show due to fear of being shot oddly enough, that’s another story.

Jewel King - 3 X 7= 21 New Orleans again! Another Dave Bartholomew production. This was Jewel King’s lone R&B hit in 1950. She disappeared from the scene by the late fifties.

Dicks- Rich Daddy Someone gave me this one. This is a decent punk rock anti-rich girl song- if that’s a category - “ I never had a rich daddy!” OK.

The Shaky Hands- Whales Sing I picked up this band’s CD on recommendation from Jackpot Records while in Portland, OR in 2007. They have a garage band sound, but it’s not 100% in the retro sixties sense which one normally is used to hearing.

The Go-Betweens- Darlinghurst Nights Great stuff from the Go-Betweens’ last record Oceans Apart. It’s a Robert Forster track about finding a diary from a particular time and place. The horns at the end are perfect for the song and they give the piece added substance.

Chris Stamey- Never Enters My Mind Pure pop perfection! This one never gets old. The piano is played to its highest notes which the guitar jumps around a bit. I don’t know how to explain, but this captures being in love and least in my mind.

The Congos – Congoman Via the Big Takeover magazine I learned that at least one person thinks that the The Congos produced one of the greatest reggae albums of all time, Heart of the Congos. It is good stuff indeed, complete with animal sounds in the background of many of the tracks. And so ends the walk to work.

Beck does the Velvet Underground

Beck has this great website called Record Club where he covers full albums by various artists. I don't think he has completely covered a full album yet, but he is getting close. His latest endeavor is to cover the first album the Velvet Underground. Click here for the site.

Virgin Megastores gone

Obviously there are other sources for music now, specifically on the internet, but the closing of Virgin Megastores in the U.S. by summer’s end really is the end of big retail music stores featuring a deep catalog of product. Another large music retailer, Tower Records, closed all of their stores in late 2006. The only remaining exception in the entity, a store with a lot of square footage devoted just to CDs and records, is Amoeba Music with stores in San Francisco, Berkley, and Hollywood. Amoeba Music is certainly different than Virgin, as the employees at Amoeba seem to be enthused about the product and not just there for a job.

The outrageous prices of CDs at Virgin, often at a list price of 18.99, made it less desirable to even those still keeping to the legal side of collecting. Virgin stores were a destination for me for imports that I often didn’t see elsewhere; something like a rare CD by New Zealand’s Mutton Birds on the Virgin label perhaps. I think it was their tie to Europe that brought in the hard to find stuff to the import section. Their music book sections were often pretty good. At the Virgin Megastore in Las Vegas, I once found a book with nothing but mid-60s articles on the Beach Boys' progress towards what became the unfinished "Smile" album.

Smaller independent music retailers remain, but even they seem to be disappearing. Often the response from my music loving friends to a record store’s disappearance is that they don’t darken the door of the places anymore. iTunes has increased the bit rate, Amazon is cheap, trading amongst friends is simple and there is free stuff on the internet, so who needs a building full of music geeks? What is missed is the one on one, the shop talk, and sharing of information. The future may be , as one friend suggested, nonprofit stores for preserving the culture, or as I’ve seen in one place, a shop only open on weekends in a rundown building behind a junkyard. My toddler daughter may never know what record shop is, outside of what the Smithsonian may setup and she will find it to be an odd artifact as she looks at it from behind the glass display window.

Mardi Gras Indians

I always have a hard time telling people what New Orleans' Mardi Gras Indians are. Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans gathered Sunday for the annual "Super Sunday" extravaganza.

Mostly made up of African- Americans, Mardi Gras Indians have been parading in New Orleans since the mid – 19th Century. The chants and calls can be found in well known New Orleans music such as in the song Iko Iko. I was enthralled with them at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2007. They only come out three times a year, Mardi Gras morning, some during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the Sunday closest to St. Joseph Day on March 19th called “Super Sunday”.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune website has a great slide show on the Mardi Gras Indians today.I recognize some of the Indians in this presentation from seeing them at Jazz Fest. The picture above is one I took at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2007. Click here for the slide show.

Another missing link of Punk found

So the name “Death” didn’t work for these guys back in 1974, but I am glad someone found the demo tape in the attic. This is a good story and the kind of stuff I love. By the way, the metalheads reviewing albums on iTunes are really confused over this little known band with same name as one of their favorites; sorry dudes this predates your band, only no one knew it! Please see the link to the story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/arts/music/15rubi.html

Andrew Bird : Measure for Measure

One of my favorite musicians Andrew Bird has written a blog for the New York Times on the making of his latest album Noble Beast which is due out on January 20th. The Measure for Measure series is excellent. Along with the articles, there are samples of songs showing their development through the writing and recording process. Other artist included in the series include Suzanne Vega and Peter Holsapple of dB's fame. Here is a link below to Andrew's blog piece. Andrew Bird plays in Atlanta on February 4Th.

http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/hot-math/

The Old Man and the Storm

Mr. Gettridge of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward is one example of the great and humble people of New Orleans. Mr. Gettridge is part of the gift New Orleans offers our country. He is an individual of true grit and determination. New Orleans needs more of his type to influence the lost youth of this city caught up in a cycle of poverty and violence. I always enjoy seeing Mr. Gettridge on CNN when interviewed by Anderson Cooper during Anderson's occasional checkup of the city’s’ progress since Katrina. PBS has now told Mr Gittridge’s story on Frontline. It airs for the first time this evening.

Blogging and what entertained me last year.

Before I get into the list making of the best entertainment of the past year, allow me a few words about this Kudzu Farm blog. This blog in 2009 is three years old and is my outlet for whatever subject I wish to discuss in a blog form. How many even knew it existed? In three years time I never felt the kudzu Farm was mature enough to tell my friends, or much less semi-strangers, about it; welcome to my secret world I suppose. On my end, there was little time or patience to perfect it into something really decent, or even grammatically correct, to read. We have a toddler at home, and I found writing the baby blog Itty Bitty Witte much easier. With friends and relatives, our young daughter is obviously a popular subject for a blog. Kudzu Farm, as it was, has always languished off to the side.

As of today, after printing out all of the previous entries of the Kudzu Farm, I erased the whole thing.Now,I am completely starting over. I will see where it goes from here. During the past election year I considered writing about politics, only I chickened out after considering the wide diversity of opinions amongst my family members, friends, and co-workers. I feared an argument I couldn't finish properly. I will find things of interest to write about this year. Mostly it will be about my favorite topics, music, art, family, the places we travel to, the things we eat,ghost towns - maybe ,and life observed. If I get brave enough, or occasionally mad enough, there could be a blog on politics.

As I write, I am in the happy holiday vacation bubble of time where there is time to stay up too late and create. Later I will see if I have time for this sort of thing. I really hope I can see this blog through, but see you back on Facebook in the meantime.

My Entertainment in 2008.

Much of my entertainment in 2008 consisted of keeping our daughter entertained and out of trouble. I recall seeing four films in a theater in 2008. All the films I saw I enjoyed, so they all make the list of course. And yes, not all of these films came out in 2008, but I saw them in the past year.

Film

No Country for Old Men – the most famous of the films I saw.

Control - film about Ian Curtis of Joy Division.

Trouble the Water – a documentary on Hurricane Katrina partly filmed by non-filmmakers in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward as the flood happened.

Little Children – saw this at Emory. I will never go to the playground again without thinking about this one. Dark film, but funny too.

Music

Music has always been my principal form of entertainment. With a toddler in the house there are limits to proper listening time. Music does get played at home and our daughter often moves to the beat when in close vicinity. For me there is less headphone- type/concentration time for serious music listening except late at night and thankfully during my daily thirty minute walk to work.

The iPod serves as my main conduit for music these days. When placed on the random mode, or shuffle, the iPod is an amazing DJ and my favorite station. Of course I put the music on this thing. The mixes by this device are often so good; I have taken to writing them down and then even putting the accidental mixes into a permanent playlist on the Pod.

I continue to find new and old music to enjoy. The student workers in my office have turned me on to more international music; it has been mostly South American music in the past year. Radio over the airwaves, via satellite, and on the Internet, plays a part in my taste making. Radio Paradise, WFMU, KCRW, WNCW and WWOZ are all online favorites. Over the airwaves the stations here in Atlanta, such as WRAS, WREK, WRFG and WCLK are decent sources of good taste.

Within print media, I have subscription to the excellent music publication the Big Takeover. The editor of Big Takeover ,Jack Rabid, is often so close in his taste to my own that it is simply uncanny. I guess are both men in our forties who still enjoy new music as well as old. Whatever music he finds and loves beyond my own knowledge is usually something I'll take to as well. Other music publications I enjoy include, Magnet, Ugly Things, Paste, Mojo, I just found Shindig from Britain and though no longer in print form, No Depression magazine is still excellent even online.
Favorites of 2008

Darker My Love -2

Pas/Cal – I was raised on Mathew, Mark, Luke & Laura.

Irma Thomas – Simply Grand

Dungen – 4

Henry Butler - PiaNOLA Live

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen

Lucinda Williams - Little Honey

Magnetic Morning – A.M. Friend or Faux

Brown Shoe - Jackalope

Calexico - Carried To Dust

For Against - Shade Side Sunny Side


Not new, but either discovered or found in 2008

Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses - Various Artist 1968

Plastic People of the Universe - Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned 1974

The Dogs - Different 1979

The Dogs - Too much class for the neighbourhood 1982