b.rox

On Beyond Zeta

2020-10-31T01:05:11Z

Wednesday morning, I was asked to lead a centering meditation to open our meeting of the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition. The meditation draws upon the image of a tropical cyclone which had a certain relevance for us.

Our founder knew about the meditation I’d developed because of an essay published on Gaianism.org earlier this week. I never thought I’d see the day when a minister from the tradition to which I was raised, the doctrinally-conservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, would ask me to share a Gaian practice!

Later that day, Hurricane Zeta made a direct hit on our city. I guess this was only the second hurricane we’ve actually weathered in our 21 years here.

At our house we lost power at 4:45pm, as I was halfway through making dinner. Soon after that, the eye of the storm passed right over us. Zeta was a fast-moving storm, which is a good thing.

We were among 480,000 households that lost power in Louisiana alone. Over in Gert Town a man was killed by electrocution from a downed power line.

Mentally, I prepared myself for an outage that might last several days. My family all felt deprived. I was made aware, once again, of how my life is so entangled with high-tech devices, and especially the internet. It’s interesting to note how addicted we are to electricity, and all that implies.

We all know where electricity comes from, and that many of the sources contribute to the atmospheric gasses that contribute to the increasing greenhouse effect that contributes to the warming of the oceans that contributes to the formation of tropical weather systems. I’m sure I don’t have to connect the dots to this record-breaking storm season.

I was given pause to reflect on the Gaian creed, how we are utterly dependent on Gaia. We are also dependent on electricity — but not utterly, though sometimes it feels that way.

I went to the grocery and got a couple 20-lbs. bags of ice yesterday morning. I gave a bag to our neighbors across the street and moved the most perishable contents of our refrigerator to a cooler.

Just as I was texting my co-workers to complain and compare notes, we got our power back. That was 9:45am yesterday morning. So: seventeen hours without power. I was asleep for roughly half of those. Not a long period, really. There are still thousands without power even as I type, probably hundreds of thousands.

When Hurricane Isaac struck in 2012, we lost power for over four days. That was probably the longest period in my life without electricity (with the possible exception of a hiking trip my Boy Scout troop made in the summer of 1980). I wrote some more reflections at that time since I was still blogging regularly:

Revelations in Blackout

The upshot, for those in a hurry, is that we could still live mighty fine lives while consuming a fraction of the energy we do now. Further, we urgently need to consume less for the greater good. Nor can this be accomplished through the actions of virtuous individual consumers. Collective action is required. This is why I feel compelled to work with a number of climate justice organizations.

On Hearing Gaia’s Call

2020-10-06T17:52:56Z

I’m beyond excited to report I got an article published in The Wild Hunt.

Hearing Gaia’s Call

This is, in fact, the long-delayed fruition of an essay which branched off from “Awakening to Gaia” some five years ago and developed a life of its own. Maybe someday I’ll get around to part three, “Singing Gaia’s Song.”

I am generally happy with the new essay, but as always I have a few misgivings. Perhaps it suffered both from its long gestation and my rush to completion. In particular, after reading Bruno Latour and Bruce Clarke, I’ve grown suspicious of my uncritical references to holism. I’m more aware than ever of the limits of the organismic metaphor. Also, when I cited examples of Gaian thought on COVID-19, I might have put more distance between the sources and myself; I was merely trying to show that the linkage is being made, not evaluating its validity.

Prognostication Redux

2020-02-04T21:23:17Z

The American people will re-elect Donald Trump president this year.

I don’t want it to happen, but it will go down like this: Joe Biden gets the nomination of the Democrats. We’ve heard a lot about supposed Russian interference in our democratic process, but the Democratic party authorities themselves will pull out all stops to assure the “right” candidate gets the nod, in the name of beating Trump. There will be some decent third-party candidates, but they will be shut out of the media limelight and relegated to the fringes of our collective attention. The main contest will be Joe vs. The Donald.

Intelligent people said The Donald couldn’t win four years ago. They said he was delusional. He acts like this is some reality TV show.

The catch, as we all learned, is that our elections have become largely indistinguishable from reality TV shows.

So, I ask you, who’s better at this?

Mark my words.

Before you scoff, remember I correctly predicted the outcome last time.

Change of Address

2019-03-12T14:44:18Z

If you’re reading this at all, chances are you’re seeing this blog at a new web address. I maintained this blog at b.rox.com for 15 years, since its inception in March of 2004. Back then, I didn’t have any better place to put it. But now I do, and thus the move to blog.barteverson.com. Master of my own subdomain! It seems to make more sense here.

In honor of this stupendous occasion, I thought about embedding some music from the infamous Krokus album, Change of Address, but frankly I wouldn’t inflict that on my worst enemy.

Let’s try this live version of “Headhunter” instead.

Surely one of the greatest videos of one of the greatest performances of one of the greatest songs of all time. And you gotta watch it all the way through. You think it’s over, but then it just gets better.

My Top Albums of 2018

2019-01-01T16:27:05Z

Dionysus by Dead Can Dance
Lamentations by Half Pagan
Magnets by Motorhome
Persephone by Wendy Rule (technically not scheduled for release till February 2019, but I got an advance copy!)
The Sound of Music by Laibach
Struggle with Glory by Harry James Angus
Trench by Twenty One Pilots
And of course, let’s not forget The Unnaturals Face the Dreaded Kimono Dragon

See Me on Stage — Twice

2018-05-29T02:58:53Z

Summer solstice is coming up, and you know what that means. My band, Half Pagan, will be playing a show on the 21st of June. We’ll take the stage at Banks Street Bar at 7pm sharp. We’ll play a fairly short set, so come early and don’t blink or you’ll miss us entirely.

We’ll be rocking a few new jams and a few old favorites back at the Banks Street Bar. Join us in celebration of the longest day. I’m happy to report that for the first time our duo we’ll be joined onstage by some friends for a fuller sound. No cover for this show!

(Please be advised that Banks Street Bar is under new ownership. There’s a new website, but the old one lingers on, creating confusion. Same double identity problem on Facebook. Aiiee! To clarify, the new true site is banksstreetbarnola.com, and see @banksbar on the Book of Face. They’re on Instagram too.)

After the solstice, head north to catch me again on the 26th of June, as ROX returns to Bloomington, Indiana, for our Tarnished Silver Anniversary.

Yes, that’s right, this crazy TV show of ours has been in production for over 25 years. In fact, I just finished our 99th episode. But it’s taken us this long to get our second season online. Those are the shows we produced from 1993 to 1994, culminating with our most notorious episode, “J&B Get Baked.” At The Comedy Attic, we’ll be looking back at that second season of stupidity and playing some clips in a live unscripted performance. There will be drink specials and some weird surprises.

It’s a fundraiser for WFHB community radio, and tickets are on sale now!

For Mother Earth Day 2018

2018-04-22T23:27:04Z

For Earth Day, we offer up this humble gift as a free download.

Hymn to Gaia/Children of Gaia by Half Pagan

We are mere vessels, for the opening hymn comes from ancient Greece, in a new translation by Dr. Homan which aims to be faithful to the original text. The song that follows was originally written by Dark Sermon, an extremely heavy band from Tampa, Florida, and was released on their seminal 2015 album, The Oracle.

Please consider signing “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment.” See ecopagan.com

Hail the Great Mother! Hail Gaia!

Flickrtivity

2018-05-29T03:02:03Z

I now have 17,525 photos on Flickr, but by the time you read this that number will likely have changed. That’s because I’ve gotten serious about catching up with my photo backlog lately.

I was about a year and a half behind for quite some while, but I’ve knuckled down and I’m making progress, at the rate of about one month per week.

On this pace, I expect to catch up to the present by September of this year.

As I continue this effort, I continuously ask myself why. That is, why do I bother?

Some photos justify themselves. They are self-evidently beautiful.

Others have documentary or sentimental value. They capture a moment in time, a moment from my life. Some I didn’t even take myself, but they tell part of my story.

Some are funny, or pognant. They might make me smile or bring a tear to my eye.

Others are frankly boring, even ugly, but I publish them for other reasons.

I have 56,160 images in my photo manager (currently using Lightroom) and that number only continues to grow. I generally take several thousand photos a year, between 3000 and 6000. Again, I continuously ask myself why.

Do I really need to take a photo of everything interesting that passes through my field of vision?

It seems absurd.

But I keep doing it. I carry a camera around in my pocket just about everywhere, like many of my contemporaries.

The impulse continues to arise.

Where does it end, I wonder. For a while I thought, if I can just catch up to my 50th birthday (which took place in January of 2017) maybe I’ll stop there. Fifty years of increasingly well-documented living seems like plenty.

I passed that milestone a few weeks ago, though, and I’m still chugging. I’ve taken a few thousand photos between now and then, and goshdarnit, I just want to put them up there on Flickr.

Where does it end? I started using Flickr in 2004, the year it launched, but only became truly enamored — some might say obsessed — in early 2005. Flickr won’t be around forever. I wonder how long can we truly keep those server farms humming. It doesn’t seem sustainable.

Still, if you want to follow along, check my photostream.

Postscript: Shortly after I posted this rumination, Flickr announced it’s been acquired by SmugMug. It will be interesting to see what the future holds.

Everything’s Coming Up Springtime

2018-03-14T14:56:17Z

The vernal equinox approaches. Time to step into the light!

SECULAR SPIRITUALITY: Author Bart Everson will participate in a discussion with the theme “Can we derive a secular spirituality from the seasons?” from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at the Jefferson Parish Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. The discussion will be moderated by Charlotte Klasson, board president of the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association. Everson will draw on ideas outlined in his book “Spinning in Place,” which presents a this-worldly approach to spirituality for the scientifically minded. (more)
PAGAN ROCK: As the live oaks release pollen, so Half Pagan releases a fine dusting of musical irritants to aggravate your soul. We finally got our first album done. Give us a listen at HalfPagan.com. Better yet, join us at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, at Dmac’s Bar and Grill, 542 S Jeff Davis Parkway, New Orleans. We’ll play the whole album, but it’s a short set, so don’t be late. And come hungry — Dmac’s has a fabulous kitchen! (more)

Six Questions Out of Parkland

2018-03-07T16:03:45Z

I’d like to present a pertinent letter from an old friend of mine.

Six Questions for the NRA on Scribd

Note: I met Jeff Moebus back in pre-Katrina New Orleans through the Green Party.