Shoo-Booty

D-Day

2011-04-01T23:02:00.002-05:00

Hi, it's been years. Literally. I am real curious if anyone will read this. I have double D-Days coming up. I will be blogging about it here. Just want to see if this still works.

Declaration of Peace Concert Wed. Sept. 20

2006-09-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

It was the kind of night where you remember everything that happened without the names or places. I had just completed a DePaul class on E-Commerce technology. It was raining. I love it when it rains gently like it did that night. It was a year or two into W’s first term. I was working on a bender with some of my classmates. It was our final class we were celebrating-- on our way to second bar near Chicago Ave. and the Brown line. Yeah it was that kind of night.

The guy in the cab next to me was talking politics because I started it. I commented that the media was strangely skewed to the right and that the democrats seemed incapable or unwilling to speak out. I told him I felt like a ghost. I could see and hear everything around me. I could see the train wreck coming and started screaming out but no one could hear me or cared to listen. He just looked at me and said, “Now, you know what it feels like to be a conservative.”

In retrospect I didn’t really get it then but I did eventually learn what he meant. It has been really hard listening to rhetoric that I don’t agree with take shape as action that I cannot personally do anything to stop.

I have been thinking pretty hard about promoting this event. Deciding to do the gig was simple because I really want to stand up for what I believe in. I have a lot of friends who are not democrats, a lot. These people are good friends. Lately, the friendships are more important than where they stand on the issues. So I wanted to post this because so many of us fall on different sides of the same line these days.

The concept behind this event probably seems very partisan but we know the issues on the table go way beyond the checkers game of “Liberal vs. Conservative”. We have got serious issues to deal with way deeper than which side of the board you sit on.

So please come out and hang out with some people that you may or may not agree with. We will serve ourselves best this evening by spending time with one another. You know, we need to share some food wine and good times. We have hard work ahead of us. Let’s spend the night together. It is my guess that whether or not you share their beliefs you can at least understand where they are coming from. Look them in the eye and realize that they are just as concerned about things as you are.

Come on out and dance and show me how does your light shine…we're on the road to Shambalah!

Mastering Music

2006-07-11T08:19:00.000-05:00

It is unclear to me whether or not learning to be incredibly good at something doesn't defeat the some part of the overall purpose. I was thinking, comparing the inspiration that first makes you want to pursue something, the way one might sit and worry over a chord book until you can play the song, with the requirements of being truly good at it-- the discipline of the practitioner. They are different ways of approaching the same goal-- like the difference between having a baby and making a human being from scratch. I guess it is a good analogy because my question would go something like this: Do musicians get any closer to making music than scientists get to making life?
Specifically, do guitarist have the same relationship with early bluemasters/musicians as doctors have with say witch-doctors. If you think about it there are a lot of similarities. Both disciplines have benifited from study and the sharing of knowledge in ways that they never would have if left to the etheral persona of witch-crafting. I have a friend who was just become a professional mid-wife and I told her I was very excited for her. We talked about the work she had done to get there and I realized that she knew a lot about the human body and was qualified to work as a nurse. I thought I was encouraging when I said, "So, why don't you get your PhD?" she didn't snap or anything but she had a very interesting answer that I will paraphrase here. She said that the discipline required to become a doctor included some work ethics, ways of viewing patients that she did not ascribe to. She continued that she would in fact have to behave in ways that she felt were contrary to her profession or at least her personal ethic. That becoming a doctor would require her to act differently with patients-- it would change her bedside manner. Needless to say the comment stayed with me.
It is not like you really have a choice. If you want to be good at something you have to pursue it. You have to take on the discipline and sit at it's feet and wait on it hand and foot. But the discipline of mastering a thing can change the way you experience it.
It reminds of what it was like to practice magic. I was a magicians assistant in the early days. My greatest trick was the "Metamorphosis". I would put the magician in a straight jacket, tie him in chains, put him in a canvas, cinch it with chains and close padlocks through the links. That last part was done while he stood in the open trunk. Then he was pushed down and the lid was closed. I then stood on the box raised the curtain up around me with my arms-- I would count to three and he would finish the count to five. The box would be opened and I would be let out of the bag & padlocks & straight jacket. When I see magic done today it never really grabs me the way it used to. But I have a few card tricks that I enjoy doing for people. It is so cool to see the look on the faces of people who really are amazed. It is not like you really have a choice. If you want to do the trick you have to learn how it is done. And so in some sense it that magic stops for you.
What I am thinking about today is how you have to go beyond the discipline to achieve your original goal. You have to take everything that you have learned and turn it back into magic. Sometimes I think my sense of what empiricism is focuses to heavily on it -- logically obtained knowledge of things-- practice processes. In the end the magic is in the story your ability to draw them in-- to relay your passion about your discipline in such a way that it looks-- simple. That is why it is one of my favorite quotes, Edward Albee, The Zoo Story:

"Sometimes, you have to go a long way out of your way in order to come back a short distance correctly."

You go through the whole in the wall but when you come back you are not the same. Serious Ying and Yang stuff man!

Dear Nate

2006-03-03T20:36:00.000-06:00

Dear Nate,
                    I just finished the John Mayer DVD. He is a hot guitar player. He reminded me a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughn but I definitely heard Roxy Music overtones in there as well. He has a large library of music to draw from and does so. He is quite the showman. Reason enough to be wary of him as a polished entertainer. I mean—he just doesn’t make any mistakes. Every lead is a finished idea—no meandering.
     “I’m just a crazy guy caught in a crazy world” he said while bantering with the audience. If you are not careful you could miss his integrity completely. “I know a girl she puts the color inside of my world”. One really has to look at him through a Stevie Ray filter i.e. he really is as good as he is pretends to be. This MF can play the hell out of the guitar. And he can sing his a—off. He has a sweet sense of emotion that is always present. He can be playful with his own tunes. He sings like Stevie Ray and he has a lot of really good blues skills of his own. He writes a good lyric. I would never describe him as amazing but he is very original, very talented, and has some really good chops.
     He is a little unbelievable. His voice has that raspy quality that we all like, he writes in any style he wants to. He is handsome and personable. In short, he is a marketing dream. The funny part is that he seems to genuinely rebel against all of that. This is most evident in the song, “Who Did You Think I Was”, where he challenges his listeners to check their prejudgments of him and his music at the door. I hope I don’t presume to much when I say that the line from that song, “I got a brand new blues that I can’t explain”, belies a sense that he has that his work is greater than he is. And sometimes when I listen closely he seems to be channeling 3 or 4 different singers and guitarists at the same time. You know, like maybe some of the stuff comes out faster than he can write it down.

I dig him. See you tomorrow…..

bill

Sitting

2006-02-05T10:59:00.000-06:00

The thing about sitting on something is that eventually you have to get up. I have stuff to post I just don't want to put it out there. See you tonite.

Happy Holidays!!!!

2005-12-23T09:32:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays to everyone! Please take care of yourselves and have a happy holiday season!!!!

Progress Report

2005-12-18T17:56:00.000-06:00

Open up the comments section on my main Blog. - Done
Put an explanation of the name ShooBooty on the main blog. - Done
Put up song sheets on the main webpage for my classes.
Talk to SarahB about the security piece again. - Done
Do follow up on the contacts I have made regarding booking for Groove Cognizance. - Done
Work on Changing the name of the band Groove Cognizance. - Yeah Right!
Work on the BLT bookings for the holiday season. ( there are currently none ) - See You Next Year
Start booking my singer songwriter series at the new space. -
Nail down a time for guitar lessons and practice with my daughter.
Nail down a time for guitar lessons and practice with my son.
Post my technical resume on my website.
Post my artists resume on my website.
Put a link on my website to my chicago public school website for my little guys.
Do a write up about SarahB and Steeldog on my website.
Write a response to the feedback I got on the Shimer College Blogsite. - Done
Add feedburner for blogsites - Done

Progress Report

2005-12-17T20:48:00.000-06:00

Open up the comments section on my main Blog. - Done
Put an explanation of the name ShooBooty on the main blog. - Done
Put up song sheets on the main webpage for my classes.
Talk to SarahB about the security piece again. - Done
Do follow up on the contacts I have made regarding booking for Groove Cognizance. - Done
Work on Changing the name of the band Groove Cognizance. - Yeah Right!
Work on the BLT bookings for the holiday season. ( there are currently none ) - See You Next Year
Start booking my singer songwriter series at the new space. - Done
Nail down a time for guitar lessons and practice with my daughter.
Nail down a time for guitar lessons and practice with my son.
Post my technical resume on my website.
Post my artists resume on my website.
Put a link on my website to my chicago public school website for my little guys.
Do a write up about SarahB and Steeldog on my website.
Write a response to the feedback I got on the Shimer College Blogsite. - Done

2005-12-06T14:28:00.000-06:00

Bill said... Me commenting on my own post! All in the family was how I knew what was going on on the other side of the fence. Dating was hard and I heard a lot -- a lot of racial epitaphs. Some days it seemed like everyone in Joliet was racist in one way or another. It was not true but there were some scary times. Archie Bunker made the people I was afraid of as a kid seem more approachable, less scary. It gave logic to the racist behavior that came from seemingly reasonable people.

In reality, some were racist, some were truly full of fear and suspicion. That show, "All In the Family" helped me see that there was a distinction worth making.
When I was in the Men's Group, Chicago New Warriors, they used to say when you go into battle put your fear on the end of your sword-- out in front where you can see it. Hence the name "ShooBooty".

Shoe Booty by David Steven Cohen

2005-12-06T12:17:00.000-06:00

...is an episode of All in the Family in which Archie and Mike wind up locked in the basement with nothing but their mutual suspicions and a case of liquor. Liberated by libation, Archie reveals that Shoe-Booty was a nickname he endured as a child because of his mismatched footwear. Layers of character are delicately revealed as Archie spirals into the tangle of his psyche. Situation comedy evolves into character comedy.
Yes, sitcomic contrivances visited the Bunker household on occasion. Sammy Davis, Jr. made an improbable appearance at 704 Hauser Street. Archie and Edith entertained a couple whoseraison de visite was to swap mates with the unsuspecting Bunkers. These things happen to real people about as often as I get my Funny Body Part "A " stuck in Comic Object "B " when I'm due to appear at Important Event "C. "
But Archie evoked laughter through character, not situation. Writing for such richly textured and well played characters raises a writer's standards. No longer can you, in good conscience, move jokes around the page, from one character to another. You might even stop writing jokes and start writing dialogue.
This became clear to me while working on the Fox showMr. President starring George C. Scott. (Yes, it was a sitcom. Conrad Bain was also in the cast.)Mr. President served a term of scarcely more than a season; the characters in the series did not have the chance to explore themselves over years as Archie did. Nonetheless, the actors' skills, their depth of performance, provided the writers with incredible opportunities.
George C. Scott was magnificent as the Commander-in-Chief. He brought scripts to life with his amazing range, moving easily from fate-of-the-world weight to Gleason-like burlesque. Conrad was damn good, too.
And Madeline...
Midway through the series' short run, Madeline Kahn joined the cast as the President's sister-in-law, taking over First Lady duties for her sister, the President's wife, who had left him. (This mind-numbing contrivance was best addressed by one producer: "Don't think about it. ")
Crafting stories, words and moments for Madeline was like folding a paper glider and launching it from a rooftop. An exquisite wind takes your page and carries it through slow climbs and roller coaster descents, whipping turns and loop-de-loops. And, finally, a graceful landing in the most unlikely-and perfect-spot.
Writing a television series has the potential of sucking the oxygen out of your immediate environment. But, if the wind is right, it can instead bring you the writer's ecstasy of sharing a character's heart and soul with an actor.
I wish I had the chance to write for Archie. I cherish the stories, words and moments I shared with Madeline. Paper in flight is a beautiful thing.

Focus and Connections

2005-12-05T14:48:00.000-06:00

I have to keep reminding myself that the strange postings are where my songs come from. More importantly to remind my self to look at them that way.

Open up the comments section on my main Blog. -- done.

Someone close to me is dying. I am not listing their name out of respect. The person is older and their passing requires more than a little pause. He is a war veteran from 1st world war and a man of god. Knowing him fired up a lot of my thoughts.

I am with my kids tonite. The schedule is really wacky but that's the way this has been going.

It is funny how a blog lives in this wierd space between public, private, vanity and sharing, depending on who and when you are.

It really and truly is the little things in life that count. But little in day to day life supports that and there is much to dispute it. You have to be strong enough to know it, that the little things are the most important and wise enough to teach it too your children, clever enough to know the difference between preparing for this reality and fear, and spiritual enough to trust that it is true.

There is a lot to life that is luck and a lot that is not. When you are walking down the street wondering "how can anyone be so stupid?", remember to stop and think. And when you are walking down the street saying " some people are just so lucky" stop and think.

Think about the work that goes into being in the right place at the right time to get the lucky break and have an enriching life. Think about the people who made the right difference in your life early enough for it to stick.

This week I watched Jimmy T and his son Cozmo play a song together on stage. I have a friend in Battle Creek who taught his son to play guitar. When I think about the two of them I can see how people might see their situations as "lucky". Lucky to have the knowledg, lucky to have a son that understands the value of sharing that, lucky etc. I just see lots of hard work and dedication, a day after dat week after week effort, perserverance, endless hope, forgiveness, belief and finally a letting go.

You have to be focused and stay connected. If you drop the ball, pick it back up and get focused, stay connected.

Comment on Posts

2005-12-05T14:44:00.000-06:00

Please use this space to comment on previous postings. Subsequent postings should automatically have a comments section.

To Do Lists

2005-11-26T16:00:00.000-06:00

There are these things that I have to do. There are many ways of going about doing them. I find that I like to do all of the things that have to do with doing a thing. However, I experience some difficulty with the actual doing of the thing. There is a finality to doing something. Once you have done it that is. Until you do the thing, though, it really is not done and that is all there is to it.

Here is my list in no particular order because that is a different thing to do called prioritizing. It would be just like me to spend hours prioritizing and brooding over how certain things got to be first. So, like I said here is the list:

Open up the comments section on my main Blog.
Put an explanation of the name ShooBooty on the main blog.
Put up song sheets on the main webpage for my classes.
Talk to SarahB about the security piece again.
Do follow up on the contacts I have made regarding booking for Groove Cognizance.
Work on Changing the name of the band Groove Cognizance.
Work on the BLT bookings for the holiday season. ( there are currently none )
Start booking my singer songwriter series at the new space.
Nail down a time for guitar lessons and practice with my daughter.
Nail down a time for guitar lessons and practice with my son.
Post my technical resume on my website.
Post my artists resume on my website.
Put a link on my website to my chicago public school website for my little guys.
Do a write up about SarahB and Steeldog on my website.
Write a response to the feedback I got on the Shimer College Blogsite.

This is 2 days work, okay maybe four. But if I were working for someone else they would expect it done in 2 days and that is when I would have it completed.

Chris Whitley Passes On

2005-11-23T00:36:00.000-06:00

Prelude

My life has always been sprinkled with reminders that there is a spiritual realm. It's not that I don't know what to call it. There are plenty of things to call it -- I just haven't picked one. I am haunted by the way that religion and spirituality are twisted by forces that wish to spur people on to action. The older I get the more useless this insight feels to me. It is almost as if there is a test in the universe. Isn't it just like evil to take faith, hope and spirituality and confuse them till no one will believe in anything? Or is this what people mean when they talk about a circular argument?

Act 1
I taught my Guitar 2 class tonight. I was in the mood to just be silly and really enjoy being a teacher. I played a little and started talking about my blog that no one reads. I was talking about how people post on their bogs everyday-- saying that I tried to post everyday when one of my students -- John -- started cracking on me because I haven't posted in almost a week and a half. It was really very funny... The class cracked up at any rate! I was embarrassed and complimented at the same time. I mean, I actually had stopped posting because I thought the whole thing was so vain. I found it especially vain since no one was reading it. Then low and behold "John" appears. It is at least interesting enough to him to pull my chain about not making regular entries. So, I thought-- "What the hell?"

Act 2
Being a teacher is a joy but it is a far cry from IBM and Bank of America where I used to work. I have been here before, though. I used to teach full time and changed in order to take better care of my family. Well, several years, 2 children, 1 divorce, and 1 ill timed layoff later, I am living on a teacher’s salary again. It is hard. Sometimes I have to make choices between which of my bills to pay-- so who doesn't? This month I let the internet and the cell phone lag. I called them up and acted mildly indignant ( for the sake of my ego) and payed them late. When the phone started working I needed to check messages and that is why I got SarahB's message shortly after she left it and returned it even though I am leaving for Boston tomorrow. I should have gone straight to bed. I had to pack though and thought I'll make an evening out of getting things in order before I leave. "Hey! It's Sarah give me a call." She was calm, unauthoritative and she called herself Sarah, like she used to. That and the fact that she is my webmaster made me want to call.

Act 3
After she told me that Chris Whitley had died, we chatted. We have been working on this together actually. She told me how things were going in her life and I tried to tell her about mine in between coughs. Our lives are intertwined in the way that dreamer’s lives are intertwined. We both wanted to be successful singer songwriters. And now Chris Whitley had died. It was like a marker, an alarm going off. She said, “I thought you might mention it on your blog. You haven't done anything there recently" (Ouch!)

Act 4
If you have never heard Chris Whitley play guitar and sing, you have really missed something. Especially, his first hit album, Big Sky Country. To put him into context you have to imagine Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal and Muddy Waters getting together to teach some unruly child to play guitar-- imagine that he listened and kept on being as bad as he wanted to be. Imagine he could sing any note anyway that he wanted to. And then imagine that you could hear weeping and joy in every lyric that he uttered. Imagine a rusty and authentic National Guitar. Imagine he plays the guitar the way he sings. He was amazing-- he was so amazing that as male singer songwriters go there hasn't been anything as genuine since then on a major label.
I guess I should say what a tremendous loss and blame the tobacco industry or something. I think I would rather say that he inspired so many people that his family and friends should be proud of him. I think that for an artist like Chris there is no need for an audience. There is so much joy in the doing of the thing that it is reward in and of itself. That being said, to be an artist of Chris's caliber and play to an audience that is moved by what you say-- that hangs on every word and move of the thumb pick. That had to feel good.

Epilogue

I saw Chris play live at Martyrs on Lincoln Ave, in Chicago. I was digging him and wondering about my life and family. I remember thinking that I had gotten things out of order. Children before career, talent before skill, dream before plan. Artists do this to themselves, not all, but some. He was killing some guitar licks. I was shaking my head and lamenting something when he said "And now I would like to introduce my daughter, Trixie!" It was almost funny to watch if it hadn't been so touching! She was just like Chris-- skinny as a toothpick with stringy hair to match and the energy--- Jesus she moved like a nymph. Not sexual, just light footed with abandon and this sense of filling the entire space that she was in. She was very at home on stage. Chris sang one of his songs, and she sang it with him note per note, every inflection, every quiver, and every emotion. I knew that feeling; my daughter had done it to me. She could take everything I was and do me like "Rich Little" doing "Jimmy Cagney"-- with this caveat: My daughter was deeper into me than anyone ever could be.
It was so special watching the rock and blues superstar share the stage with his daughter to see her dancing inside of his dreams and his reality. I had almost forgotten that. My life has always been sprinkled with reminders that there is a spiritual realm. It's not that I don't know what to call it. There are plenty of things to call it -- I just haven't picked one.

Thank you Chris & Trixie, bon voyage to you both

I love you China and Time, bon voyage to you both

Morning Prayers

2005-11-13T11:44:00.000-06:00

Bless me father for I have sinned. It has been a bunch of days since my last blog.

I played Annie Miles's wedding last night. Her father is Michael Miles. Michael is a long time friend and a the reason that so many of us folk/singer songwriter artists know each other. I have known her since she was just a kid and now she is all grown up and married.

After the wedding I played with some friends at a place over on Lincoln Ave a block and a half north of Wilson under the L tracks. The band plays funk and is lead by Mike Simirod ( sorry if I murdered the name Mike ) -- we did okay for never having played together before.

I got an email from my friend John Peacock in England. I am hoping he will come out to visit or else I will go there. L8tr days.

Word Plug In

2005-11-09T08:02:00.000-06:00

This is the new MSWord plugin for blogger. Testing it out this morning. Then I am off to clean my room so that parents can check it out when the come to pick up their kids grades.

I will have to blog off about where I teach public school sometime.

( It won’t do images yet Damn!)

(Just tested the update portion. This is slicker than whale sign.)

Geeks and Gear Man, Geeks and Gear!!!!

Muah ha ha ha ha ha ha!

G’morning.

Burning Desire

2005-11-09T00:25:00.000-06:00

There is no stroy as scary as reality. There is no laughter like the kind that makes you cry. Being old is the best way to feel young and alive.

I called the webmaster today and got an email back. The security piece on the website is underway. That should be pretty cool when it is finished.

I saw Hope Litwin perform tonite and learned something about drive and determination. I met her through some twisty connections at the Old Town School here in Chicago. She is truly gifted and one hell of a guitar techinician. Self motivated with discerning tastes in music, friends and connections.

It is a strange thing to watch happen. It explains a lot about being hungry for whatever one is hungry for when one is hungry for things.

Basically, networking is really bizarre stuff to some people and not to others. "That's the way of the world".

I saw the new location for ERP otherwise known as "3030". It is cool.

G'nite.....

Fires In France

2005-11-08T01:40:00.000-06:00

This is so sad. It is the kind of thing I wish I could write a song on the spot about it. I don't think it should be dismissed as crazy angry people who don't care about where they live. I think it's time to quit reducing things to people feeling sorry for themselves and admit that everyone wants some happiness.

I didn't work on the web page tonite because I have too many emails to read. I am off to bed and hoping I don't dream about France or the Soprano's episode where they blame everything on black people--- too funny. What great commentary about who we all can be sometimes.

G'nite

Getting Under Way

2005-11-07T00:54:00.000-06:00

This is my first blog ever-- obviously. Who knows how honest one should be.

Today I made a few changes to the website and the blog. That is always a way to motivate myself.

The next things on my list are to work on some bookings and get the security piece to the web page underway so I can post for my students. After that I have to start working even more seriously on my songs. I have about 10 new ones that really need my attention. Putting this stuff up addresses one of my other milestones which is getting a Blog going. Next I have to get some promo stuff out to a buddy of mine near Chicago.

I called Brad today and left him a message about some security stuff. I forgot to call the webmaster.

I didn't have the greatest Thursday but Saturday was pretty awesome.

This blog stuff is a little confusing to me. I wanted to post my picture but I can't figure the bizzaro free hosting thingy or the audio file link. I will have to spend sometime reading ---

Welcome!

2005-10-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

Hi All,
I am starting a blog for my students and friends. I hope you like it. Like everything else it is an ongoing process.