Draw a line ... and i'll cross it!

07.17.04 (8:38 am)   [edit]
Why is it that no matter where I call home I can always find the pub/bar I need?
I say need, not because I have some kind of drinking problem, but because I am a people watcher, a strange sort of social voyeur.
Always in the crowd, but never really part of it.
I drink, Oh yes I do, but most importantly I find the atmosphere in a pub very comfortable, see I spent a lot of time in that environment when I was young, and mama was tending bar.
Having a nose for interesting pubs I will admit is a small gift, …but still I think it’s an amusing little gift.
It’s been a practice of mine for many years that, once or twice a month I go out to feel around for a pub.
From the time I bought my first legal drink, I have always done this alone.
I travel alone always have, and I like it that way.
Not that I’m anti-social, it’s just my nature to seek new places and people alone.
If I were anti-social why would I be looking for a pub anyway?
No, I travel alone because I have found by way of years of experience that I meet the most interesting people when I’m alone.
So that’s the way I do it.

[b]Hey, do I look Irish in this![/b]
New Rochelle NY the home of two of my favourite fictional TV characters, Rob and Laura Petry an ice rink a mall and not much else.
The bar where I purchased my first legal drink was located in New Rochelle NY.

It was on my birthday, my legal drinkin’ birthday.
As I remember it, I had plans to meet up with a few of my friends to bring in my birthday right, but that was hours away and I was itching to exercise my government given right to drink myself stupid.

There was this bar in New Rochelle called “The Shamrock”.
The Shamrock had been there as long as I can remember.
Don’t know if it’s still there but all the years when I was growing up I can remember it’s blacked out windows & the green neon shamrock over the door.
Whenever my friends and I would leave our much smaller town of Mount Vernon & go to the New Rochelle Mall we’d have to pass right by it.
The Shamrock seemed to always be open.
It didn’t matter what time of day you’d always see someone coming out or going in.
It was just the kind of place my momma told me to avoid (in fact I’m sure I have a memory of my mother pointing at it and saying … “Don’t ever go in there!”)
For some reason I thought this was just the place.
I have always gotten a big kick out of going where someone says I shouldn’t.
I love crossing the line.
As I walked in through the cheap dark veneer door with the worn gold plated knob and took my first look in I thought to myself mama was right.
As I walked in on the right stood a very large Irish bar bouncer.

I only mention he was Irish cause he was so Irish, or what Irish meant to me back then.
Red hair. Cherry cheeks, barrel chest and more than a little confused by my sudden & very Afro-American appearance.
The floor was covered with those black and white marble vinyl tiles, the kind they always put down in diners.
It was only seconds till I began to feel the vibe caused by my entrance into this very insular environment, so I announced firmly but not too loudly that I had come in to purchase my first “legal” drink!
This announcement warmed the pub by at least 12 degrees, every one of those rosy red faces (all male) turned towards me showed a mixture if amusement, surprise and if I’m not mistaken a wee bit of malice.

The crowd watched as I crossed to the bar and ordered the best single malt scotch the bar had.
That scored some points!
As the bartender reached down behind the bar I removed my hat and revealed my heavy mop of Dred locked hair, surprisingly there was only a single gasp of “Oh my Gawd!”
Just in time my scotch arrived, I made it vanish as quickly as it came.
Just then I heard someone shout “Davey…Give us your darts!”
I savoured, smiled & ordered another.
This time, no ice if you please… Davey.
I think most of the bar’s patrons were waiting to see if I keeled over after that second drink and when I didn’t… the third was bought for me.
I drank all night at the Shamrock, played darts and made friends that I would never see again.
I walked out hours later, tipsy but with that warm glow you can only get from crossing the line…and scotch.

Step up Groover!

07.17.04 (8:26 am)   [edit]


It’s no mystery to anyone that life can be very complicated.
How do you get from here to where you want to be!
Yes my friend life is filled with uncertainty.
And then, other times… your path is very simple.
The how of your life & what to do’s become very basic.
If you’re lucky this will happen @ regular intervals in your life.
I have never known anyone that was lucky enough to have a life without ever wondering… am I doing the right thing?
That being said…
Sometimes the point is simply to groove!
It don’t matter much what the situation is, could be your life, could be your job.
You could be sittin’ in with a Jazz combo when it comes on slowly.
Suddenly the way is clear, the clouds between your ears part and you can hear the drummer laying some down, then you start to hear the bass, maybe some thick slabs of B3 come next.
[i](Stabbing horn section optional)[/i]
All this information start crawling around the bandstand and it all becomes so clear!
You’ve done the work & all the pieces are there.
So…you just groove!
Man…you are the groove!
All hot & slippery, solid & vaporous
Full bright light & joy.
Finally the light inside is switched on.
Everyone in the group is having their say, you can hear the conversation develop, then…when the groove is rock solid & you’re deep in it.
Then you start passin’ it around, tradin’ fours, eights.
Each in their turn says what they feel, what they truly feel, cause ya can’t hide nothing here…in this place at this moment there is only one truth.
You are there in the moment.
You groove, take it all in till finally eyes start to glance at your way and they have only one message…
Step up Groover!

Small world

07.09.04 (2:32 am)   [edit]
It is a small world!
We live in a world of much fashion but no sense.
Form but no substance.
Passion but no compassion.
A time when we have allowed more than one case of ethnic cleansing to go on unchecked has happened to our outrage,the feeling that we are here to do some good globally.
This a time when we give our hearts & minds over to men and women that we imbue with powers they don't have. Small people. People that feel nothing for us and worse feel detached from us.
Yes there is much evil in the world and what is worse much selfishness. In theory we have joined together in society to enhance the lives of ALL that live within it, our brothers and sisters under a common banner. In practice though, we most often find that banner cannot cover us all. We need a BIGGER banner.
Day after day those that we have chosen to administrate make choices that will excise those that in their opinion will not serve the banner, but i ask you who gave them the right to inflict upon us their opinions! These men do not serve us well with their opinions. Their job is not to develop opinions but to determine the consensus of we the citizens. We that share this society. This world society. It is only through disinterest that we find ourselves in this sorry state, and soon enough we will begin to realize that our lives are bigger than our differences. But will it be too late.Will we find that this world is only big enough for those that have the power.

Cultural Strangelove (continued)

07.07.04 (8:44 am)   [edit]

[b]Out onto Sidney's streets [/b]

Out the door, down the hill to Manly Warf…easy!
As I headed down the hill that day to take my first of many trips across Sidney harbour, I began to notice just how beautiful this neighbourhood is.
Incredible beaches and ocean on that side of the hill and rows of lovely houses with lush green lawns on this side of the hill!

On the way down the hill I began to feel my spark coming back, the spring in my step returning!
Listening to the Magpies singing and feeling the cool breeze from the harbour on my face…I closed my eyes and I exhaled!
I’d been waiting to do that!
When I opened my eyes after I don’t know how long, I saw two officers one male one female heading up the hill towards me.
Damn!
Had I lingered too long?
Had someone looked out their window, seen a dark, dread locked stranger and called the cops?
Oh well, nothing to do but play this out.
I continued down the hill.
As we got closer, to my amazement they both took a step to the side and let me pass between them.
As I passed I heard a voice say “G’day! …Do you need some help?”

[i](Did he actually say G’day?) [/i]

Whatever it was that he did say, for a split second I heard “Up against the wall!”

[i]Well… I am from New York! [/i]

However I resisted the urge to spread-eagle up against the nearest wall and instead said… “Just trying to make my way down to the ferry”.
He replied, “It’s just down there on the left”
Confused, I said “Thanks”
They turned and continued up the hill.
They must’ve thought I was insane!
I went down there to the left, found the ferry and in 30 minutes or so I found myself in Darling Harbour.
The place was teaming with people.
Some sightseeing, some others just trying to beat the summer heat.
I’m just there in the middle of all the new sights and sounds & smells, lovin it.
Realizing that just a few days ago I left New York as it was being covered in a blanket of snow! Yeah I was feeling pretty good.
That’s when I heard it, off in the distance.
That sound… Boom Tat! Boom Boom Tat!
The sound of Hip-Hop beats mixed with the sound of dribbling basketballs!
I let my ears lead me.
[i]Boom Tat! [/i]
Down the path, through the chain link fence.
[i]Boom Boom Tat![/i]
Until… just behind the wall in front of me, I knew there would be a scene I would recognise.
[i]Boom Tat! [/i]
Black top!
[i]Boom Boom Tat![/i]
And Black People.
What an idiot I was!
What I saw that day was the effect of Afro-American culture upon a group of Australian youths that saw no colour in the culture. Or more rightly… Their colour did not exclude them from the culture!

In my mind the voice – over said…
“All things are as they were… Only the colours have been changed …to protect the innocent!”

Cultural Strangelove: or How to stop worrying bout your color and realise that you're 'tha bomb!

07.06.04 (9:04 am)   [edit]
Color & Culture

Color or Culture

Does the fact that you have skin of a certain color automatically gain you entrance to the culture that is associated with that color?
Or is it necessary to live within a culture to truly belong?
Does color matter anymore in these times when we have all become underdog and oppressor? Hmmm? That's an awful lot of question there?
Maybe it's best to start with a story...
[b]1992[/b]
Sydney, Australia
A young man (this young man) from New York stumbles off a Qantas trans-hemispheric jet after 36 hours of flying hell.
Filled with joy because he is about to be reunited with his Australian wife, from whom he has been separated for the past six months!
I rush across the melting tarmac, barely noticing the heat or the brightness of the sun.
[i]*incidentally the summer sun in Australia was & is bright enough to burn the retinas right out of your head![/i]
Into the airport building, through the customs maze, present this, get that stamped and out into the airport proper.
Dear readers...please understand me!
I never judge anyone on the basis of race or color but... as I walked out into that airport i could not help but think...
"I have never seen so many Caucasians in one place in my life!"
An uninterrupted sea of white faces and I a small brown speck among them.
My Australian mates never understand why I would feel uneasy in that situation.
To most "Aussies" I represent the "American culture" which of course is true and how I've always wanted to be seen, but still...
As we travelled through the city to "Aunty Doe's" house which was quite a distance, over the bridge to the northern beaches and still no dark faces.
I felt really exposed, solitary, and very uneasy about those feelings.
Uneasy because from the moment I'd arrived it was like I was voted "queen for a day"!
Not one bad thing happened!
I had my wife back, the sun shone everyday, we were two seconds from the most beautiful beach & ocean and "aunty Doe" was one truly switched on octogenarian!
All that and it still took me nearly two weeks before I ventured out onto the streets alone!
[b]Out onto Sidney's streets[/b]
TBC...