WISDOM OF THE
SAGES
EPISODE TEN –
FALL 2015
Hello People of the World;
Running short on time for posting, so…
On that note, let’s get this month’s edition
started, shall we:
1
:[ I have
been listening to a lot of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone lately, and it has
made me appreciate the vocal talents of many women singers. I guess it began
when I watched a documentary about the life of Billie Holiday. Maybe, before
that with Ken Burns’ “Jazz” series a long time ago and seeing her story told in
a segment. Then, my interest was rekindled this year in watching that doc. Hers
is a sad and tough story. So, I decided that if I ever saw her albums in the
stores, I would buy it.
So, I ended up with two, “Lady Sings the Blues” and
“Lady in Satin”; sort of her “first” and her “last” records. I then subscribed
to a channel on the you tubes to hear more of her stuff and that is when I
started getting recommendations for Nina Simone. I sort of ignored those and
stuck with Billie. Then, one day in the coffee shop I heard Simone’s “Another Spring”.
It started with a simple piano riff and her
talking, then she starts to sing, then the tempo picks up and the song just
blew me away. I never forgot it. I do not have a smart phone so I could not
immediately look up or “shazam” the song. I did good, old fashion research and
found it came from a concept album called “Nina Simone and Piano” as if the
piano was a costar on the record.
I began paying more attention to those
recommendations and discovered her version of “Please Don’t Let me be
Misunderstood” and “House of the Rising Sun”. I recently went to see the
current documentary about her, “The Amazing Nina Simone” which I found to be
informative and an engrossing telling of her story. Just recently, I was told
about “What Happened, Miss Simone” which was produced by her daughter and was
on Netfix for a while. I will have to check that out. I found an album of hers
that I want to get now. I just have to get back to that store to see if it is
still there.
Nina has been more inspiring to me as an artist.
She ever fought off the labels of her work, such as I do. She fought against
the co-opting of social movements, which is what I see happening in the
community now. So, Nina Simone has become an important piece in my growing as a
human.
Billie and Nina made me look at all the other
singers that I have appreciated over the years. The earliest I remember was
Patsy Cline. My folks loved her. In my own lifetime I recall Toni Childs and
Sinead O’Connor, that I enjoyed very much, and Natalie Merchant both her solo
and “Maniacs” days. Then, I discovered Nikka Costa, who was very sexy and
funky; really great stuff. I then swayed toward the Cute Girl with a Ukulele
Zeitgeist with Danielle Anderson and her “Danielle Ate the Sandwich” brand. I
also love Alicia Keys and her music. Most recently, thanks to rediscovering
Billie Holiday and an ad on the pre-screening shows at the movie theater, just
found Andra Day, who sounds amazing.
So, that is my long journey of women singers that I
can recall. There are more that I am probably forgetting. I am sure someone
will let me know if I did. But I really dislike that warbling,
back-of-the-throat “singing” that has pervaded music and YouTube of late…. It’s
not cute or different….
2
:[ Once
again I had to frickin’ explain a “Large Hot Chocolate” to a barista.
Seriously. What is up with this stupid Starbuck vernacular? We have perfectly
good, simple, clean words to describe sizes. Come on….
3
:[ What is
it with those overly-excited, “Hey You Awesome Person, can I talk to you for a
few minutes”, phony, not-really-helping-the-problem Petition/Sign-Up Folks
standing around ready to bother you in the streets people? Do they really even
help the situation? They get in your face and try to make you feel bad because
you are not giving money to a cause that you probably already donate to but
they need to fill a quota or they will not get commission. So, they are in it
for completely selfish reasons. Besides, it’s not like they are protesting in
support of the causes they say they are helping. You won’t see these smiley
chatty knuckleheads chaining themselves to a tree to stop clear cutting, or
facing off against the Mounties to stop a pipeline, will you? No, because that
would be DOING SOMETHING!
4
:[ Sorry
guys, Playboy is going to stop publishing nude pictures. Yep, it’s the end of
an era. Where will you go now to see pictures of naked women and read articles
about the best vermouth? The Internet I suppose, but that is just is not as
classy…
5
:[ Coffee
Shop Adventures: I was in the B&N in the loop listening to these two
students complaining about how they were not getting their food right away and
how the bookstore needs to hire better workers to get them their food quicker,
and they ordered like, 20 minutes ago or something, and they really hate it here
and they don’t know why they keep coming here, and then, oh, they called their
name, they can get their sandwich now. Cool. This sandwich is so awesome you
should try it and what was I talking about before, how so-and-so and
whats-her-name were hooking up?
I love it when privileged people complain endlessly
and threaten all kinds of stuff, only up until they get what they wanted… then, it’s
cool… Sheesh….
6
:[ One of
the things in life that I try to wear on my sleeve and live comfortably with I
my own hypocrisy. I know it is simply a question of ego that makes being called
a hypocrite offensive to people because they think it belittles their
intellect, and if anything, people love LOOKING smart. Not, being smart,
LOOKING smart. I hate that. Why every month I ask people to call me out on my
shit so I do not get too big-headed and start to think I am some sort of
authority on stupid things like religion and politics, the two worst things
mankind has ever invented.
What I have been very hypocritical about is my
preference in Actors. Now, this stretches across all arts; music, film, and so
one. But what made me think about this recently was discovering the really
shitty things Sean Penn had done to Madonna while they were married. I was
shocked. I like that guy as an actor. He was great in “The Thin Red Line” and I
admired his stance on the lie of there being Weapons of Mass Destruction in
Iraq. He took a lot of flack going there him self to look. How many Hollywood
pretty boys would even think to do that. But hearing he tied Madonna to a
chair, beat her with a bat and assaulted her. I need to rethink my support of
him
Which made me think of Mel Gibson.
Mel Gibson was one of the biggest stars in the
world. He built a strong resume as an action star before branching out into
such dramatic roles as Hamlet, when his star rose. Then, he stepped into
directing with his debut film “Braveheart” winning big at the Oscars.
He was, and still is in some parts of the US,
fondly remembered for his portrayals of Martin Riggs in the “Lethal Weapon”
series and as Max in the “Mad Max” trilogy. (Indeed, for some of his fans,
there is no “Fury Road”.) Then, he was arrested for drunk driving and his
sexist, anti-Semitic rant was recorded and made public. His star fell hard. His
next film “The Passion of the Christ” came under fire for its perceived antisemitism and torture violence.
His third film as a director, “Aocolypto”, fell by
the wayside in his resultant divorce from his longtime wife. But the troubles
were not through with Mr. Gibson. His ex-girlfriend recorded and made public
his racist rantings during his next arrest for battery.
The question becomes: how can I still support Penn
while never being tolerant of Gibson?
I do admire both of them for their works. When I
was a catholic, I was moved by “Passion”, and even now can admire the direction
and style. I also recently rented Penn’s “The Gunman” mainly to support his
foray into the action genre. So, how do it live with such a contradiction?
As I said, this ranges into the other arts as well.
My primary non-support is of Woody Allen in light of all the allegations. I
mean, he is no Roman Polanski, a convicted rapist, (Whom otherwise sane people still support and admire for some reason; movies, I guess) but I also never liked
Allen’s movie making style. So, why am I so vehement about him?
I also have renewed support NWA, for the story of
NWA. While I know that their movie left out such things as their misogyny
towards women and Dre’s own assault on one, I felt that what they did in
regards to race important and their music is very important in opening the door allowing people of
color to express themselves. They had their troubles but they took responsibility
for them, unlike the others mentioned in this item.
But I choose to support them because they do take that responsibility. It does not erase what they did, nor do I think they would want what they did erased. But I can still tell it is hypocrisy for me to support their latest spotlight of fame. Can I still support
Penn based on his art, can I do so for Gibson? Why or why not? Can I let it go
about Allen? Probably not, I don’t know. But in any case, my hypocrisies still stand.
I wear them on my sleeve and share them here with you because in my search of a balanced ego I must wear them
openly. This is just another one of mine….
7
:[ Something
new I noticed happening now is this phenomena of pre-paying for your coffee or
holding your place in line at the barber. I mean, if you book time to be at the
barber, that’s fine, it’s called an “APPOINTMENT”!
What I have a problem with is this preferential
treatment of people who cannot get some place on time; THAT is stupid. So, now
this has become an especially horrible idea, especially when your business
takes walk in, for haircuts and coffee, like Starbucks. It is basically
socially-acceptable line-jumping.
How fair is this to all the people who have the
f*cking temerity to show up some place early, wait their time for 30 minutes or
more, then be skipped over because some jackass is too f*cking stupid to get
someplace sooner than a walk-in?
This is basically legalized discrimination against
folks who do not have smart phones or computers. Hmm. I wonder who else this
might affect…?
That will do it for this month.
As always, feel free to comment, correct, or
contradict anything you read here. My ego is such that I think I can take it. I
dare you. “Think you can take me? Well go ahead on. It’s your move.”
Until next month, remember “I try to show the
schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2015 Ernest M Whiteman III
