BIG NOTHING

The "Big Nothing" is what persons, cultures and civilizations tend to or seek to forget. It is at times on purpose, most often it is a kind of necessary abnesia. Utah Phillips, radical folk singer & raconteur, said that "Long memory is the most radical thing in America." It took Howard Zinn to point out the convenient deletions in American history with his landmark & best selling "People's History of the United States." What is it about this time which not only encourages but rewards abnesia?

As a person who has lived a long and active life, who spend years at sea, and in travels, in several occupations, etc., I seldom get a question about anything, almost never. Could this be considered deference or manners? I doubt it. It has in part to do with the almost complete lack of curiosity in our society. Thus conversation is filled either with facts or trivia, or media updates. What could be a bridge to ones own memory and sharing of that memory is a kind of dead end.

So, if one is to share one's life and memories, it takes intervention into the "big nothing," and can be nothing short of the interruption of nothingness. Continuity which is the ideal of conversational sharing is made extremely unlikely, and thus one's attempt to share thoughts and memories in spite of this becomes an existential exercise ... often very uncomfortable. Some of the Stories which will be a part of this blog will cover ground in this area, and some will use fiction and fictious names to do this.

For those of you who have read about the origins of this blog you will know where some of my people curiousity came from. But it was also through my immediate and extended family, later by mentors, teachers, coaches and the like. For the twenty or thirty years my memory tells me that conversational life was an interesting free for all, and that one was challenged to question, comment, find out about the people who surrounded you, t h e w o r l d. An elderly Indian man (from India) showed up at the local playground and sat at a picnic bench. At first people wondered who he was waiting for, what was the deal? But he was just there waiting for anyone with a question or comment to share, and before long he was at times surrounded by an unlikely little crowd of neighborhood urchins. Sometimes when he was pleased with the questions and answers he would deputize one of us to go to the store and get some gum drops, or chewing gum or something to share. Today I suspect that the playground personnel would call the authorities and have the man's background check run. He remains one of the most fascinating people of my childhood. Should anyone else be interested, wonder what subjects were discussed?

Music

First recollections of music was with my Grandparents, the Roberts. Grandfather spoke of the "music of the Gods," and played a windup gramaphone with everything from opera selections to symphonies, plus singers of the twenties and early thirties. He wanted me to know that music listening should be a conscious act, not just something in the background. And then there were the popularized "classics" that my parents listened to (Freddie Martin, I think), and my mother's time at the spinet. Soon I would be trying to pick things out on that piano, and then found myself taking lessons on the accordian. We had music at school too, of course, chorus and the infamous harmonica orchestra in grammar school.

Later I would take piano lessons from an excellent neighborhood teacher, and I had the good sense to sneak into her yard and listen to her and her husband play beautiful duets for piano and violin. Luckily my school arranged for us to go the symphony orchestra rehearsals, and I became more and more interested in music, including jazz, mostly through a local musician, Eddie Hatten. I learned to play rhythm piano, and played with groups in high school (New Orleans, Dixieland). Meanwhile, my focus was primarily upon small group music, I could always understand the harmonics and such better than large bands and symphony orchestras.

So to this day chamber music is number one. And Mozart and Schubert (for example) are of more interest, as are small jazz groups. I truly feel deeply unhappy for people who are unable to have experiences in music which can reach deeply into their inner selves, persons who seem treat music as something in the background, a kind of muzak.

Example of what I suggest for listening? J.S, Bach's Partita d-Moll BWV 1004 for Violin Solo & Chorale, especially cuts 9 - 11: Giga, Den Tod ... & Ciaccona (plus other cuts for those who especially like chorale music), This music was composed by Bach while away from home making music for a living, and his wife died in his absence. This music was composed in the time after her death in the memory of her and their family. Recording: Mortimur, The Hilliard Ensemble, Christoph Poppen, ECM New Series 1765, 289461895-2. Some musicologists consider this to be the most beautiful musical theme in all of music.

It is difficult for me to imagine life without music. It is one of the things which makes existence work, to be a part of the whole of humanity. There are a lot of divisions in music, and it is amazing how few people in our society have heard music from Muslim countries, from Africa and Asia. When you listen to Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now" you hear music from around the globe, depending on the culture of content within the newscast. And on community radio in our region you hear indigenous music as well. A world of music, and next I'm going to take on i-toons

time

"Now" or the next five minutes? vs. the 7 generations, long view, forward and back. Or the "now" within the 7 generations, the sense of the present within the longer view. The "Be Here Now" title, Ram Dass, the insistence that when you carry water you carry water, when you chop wood, yes, you chop wood. My complications are many, especially with the nervous, self driven who want it all in the next five minutes or less people.

Grandfather Roberts did not go by the clock, when we worked in the garden often times Grandmother had to call us to dinner.
My Father too could get lost in a task that truly interested him; but the clock was always present, nearby. He and my Mother encouraged us to be "on time," to be cognizant of other people's needs, for you to be there when you had agreed to be. Otherwise someone might be inconvenienced, their sense of time violated.

At sea different clocks, not a repetition of twelves but on a twenty four hour basis. Watches (eg. 4 hours at the wheel, on the bridge) based upon revolving schedules. People who reminded me of the beginnings of time, of the relationships between authorities like "the Church," calendars and the like. Who controlled time in the past, who will in the future? Richard Jones had an interest in these things, & the perceptions of them. His was a philosophic interest

Later while in Venice, California I was able to see and feel the way different subcultures dealt with time: including the "time- lessness" of the drug culture, the so-called "manana attitude" (attributed to Mexican-Americans). postponement culture (why do something today when you can very well do it tomorrow -- sometimes attributed to Blacks), etc. Drugs and alcohol definitely played a part in all of this.

My interest in cosmology, another aspect of the "long view" of time ... eg. our universe being 10 billion years old, vs. the Biblical version (how has time changed due to science?). How long it takes for the light of the sun or from other planets to reach us. What is sidereal time? What about time signatures in music, "music of the spheres." Also, astrology.

The fragmentation of time now, the disturbing discontinuities which are largely assumed. Breaks in space and time. People seemingly unconcerned about the time frames of others, not that interested in whether they match up or not.