I’ve listened to hundreds—thousands—of rock and roll tracks. Good and great ones. Not the hybrid, genre-blending, genre-bending creative kind of rock. Just straight out unstoppable kickass guitar, bass, drums, maybe a piano, and aggressive or screaming vocals.
There are plenty of those tracks. But when the Martian asks, “What is rock and roll?” I’m going to play Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin IV.
Led Zeppelin played plenty of the other kind of creative rock, many of the tracks becoming so classic that they are almost cliches. But Rock and Roll is 100% as advertised on the label.
When the Martian asks, “Why has it been a long time since he rock and rolled and since he did the Stroll?”, I’ll just say, politely, “Shut up and listen.”
Shepard Fairey, who for years has been using art and clothing for change (most famously the Obama Hope poster), has a new item:
I’m excited to collaborate with the James Brown estate and Center For Common Ground on powerful initiatives to boost Black voter turnout ahead of Election Day this November. The Center for Common Ground, a non-partisan group, focuses on empowering Black voters in the South, where voter suppression remains an issue. This partnership not only celebrates James Brown’s musical genius but also his lifelong dedication to education and voting rights. His influence on both music and social change is undeniable, and hip hop wouldn’t be the same without his legacy.
-Shepard
While you are ordering the shirt or being inspired and astonished by Shepard’s art and activism , here’s a little James Brown to move you.
This clip is from the TAMI show in 1964. The YouTube description explains exactly what the TAMI show was.
If you are unfamiliar with James Brown, and don’t know why he is forever Mr. Dynamite, this should educate you. If you are not delighted, enlightened, excited and a little freaked out by this, check your eyes, ears and pulse.
Above is a photo of some of my tools, representations of some of my tools. Tools for living.
Why tools?
Tools of all kinds are how we live. If you think of tools as enablers, everything can be thought of as a tool. (Thinking of things as tools rather than just themselves is a matter for much deeper exploration not here.)
Why just some?
Over time, I’ve discovered and used a number of tools for living, of which these represent only a few. Some are too big to include in a simple small photo. Some are not easy to picture.
Why not stick to a limited number of tools, maybe just one?
One genius item from Buddha is the idea of upaya, skillful and expedient means. Things that move us along, sideways, or up are appropriate to the moment, what things are like in the moment, who we are in the moment, all of which is changing, whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not. The tool for now is the tool for now. When we have a nail we need a hammer, when we have a screw we need a screwdriver.
What are these particular tools?
Hebrew letter cards: Hebrew letters make up not only the words of the Torah but, according to one view, all of creation. In the system of gematria, each letter is assigned a numeric and religious interpretive value.
Tarot cards: Contrary to a view that Tarot is the frivolous pastime of amateur soothsayers, it is a well-developed tool of inspection and introspection.
I Ching cards: In terms of historic and cultural influence, the I Ching (pronounced yijing) rivals the Bible. It has been my constant wisdom companion for decades.
Dice: Gregory Bateson said that inside his holy of holies he would have a random number table. We get attached—over attached—to beliefs, especially belief in our own power. One way out of this trap is to adhere to a belief in chance. Chance may be uplifting, humbling or devastating. Besides generating random numbers for use in other divinations, a dish of dice is a reminder of how things really work.
Sun rises behind the hill Sets behind the mountains Sitting in the middle I see the arc of a bright yellow bird Fire above Fire below As the earth turns
“During times of darkness and danger people should cling to one another. When they do, things get brighter.”
Hexagram 30 Li – Brightness
The left half of this ideograph is an ancient animal named li; the right half is an ancient bird with bright yellow feathers called zhui.
The ancients picked the bright color of the bird to signify the character Li; thus, Li symbolizes brightness, though that is not its literal meaning. It is associated with Fire, the sun, and the most yang energy….
When falling into darkness, one is certain to attach to something. Thus, after Darkness comes attaching to each other and to Brightness.
The structure of the gua is Fire above, Fire below. The attribute of Fire is attachment as well as brightness. When two Fire gua are combined, the Brightness is doubled. During times of darkness and danger people should cling to one another. When they do, things get brighter.
Some years I post about Labor Day, both on the date of the American holiday today and on May 1, which is Labor Day in the rest of the world.
Reviewing those past posts, I found one from 2017 about the International Workers of the World (IWW), also known as the Wobblies. The IWW was the most widespread radical labor movement in American history, its viewpoint reflected in the vintage IWW image above.
I have also posted about Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most dynamic writers and political journalists of his (or any) era. His politics and philosophy were unclassifiable. He had the clear-eyed vision of someone askew, the talent to describe it unforgettably, and the mad courage to not give a fuck about what he said or how he said it. If Hunter is observing and writing from heaven and/or hell, let’s pray there is someone who can channel his coverage of the Trump years and campaigns.
Back to Labor Day and the IWW. As the quote above shows, Thompson’s experience taught him that American politics might lack sufficient humanity. And that organized labor might have the power to inject some of that into it.
Whether or not one agrees with the IWW analysis and criticism of capitalism, it seems apparent that American politics might do with some humane correctives. And that organized labor might help.
Bob Schwartz 