welcome to the atlantic, ta-nehisi. i stumbled upon your words here and there before but now it’s nice to see you there alongside sullivan, keeping him in line. or vice versa.
so, yes, today is friday and tv on the radio rocks absolutely. nada mas y nada menos. looking forward to seeing them live for the second time at stubbs here in austin. here’s the vid posted by ta-nehisi today…because it’s friday. nada mas y nada menos.
It’s been a good summer here in Austin but it is coming to a close. And, to close it out in style we’re headed to Houston for the weekend! As crazy as it sounds, I already miss that crazy city. Crazy.
said simple lying
on the
parched porch waiting
for water
for something
like lightning that teases
so lightly simple
not simply said
just
simple said
no, never quite simply
just a simple porch
soon to be
not quite so parched
by that same water
not quite yet there
nor here
not yet arrived
just teases lightly
like the lightning
never quite yet here
just there
said simple
to the well rusted bench
bent simple
sitting on the parched porch
both simple waiting
for the water that teases
but not simply never simply
just simple water teasing
stating, that in time
it’ll find
both bench and porch
all parched no more
for the water waited for
sits simple now
upon them both
as a former coordinator (basically, i just opened up the place at 4am) of a day labor site, i got a special laugh out of this one. especially the “gotta speak java” part…
searching for a decent mass experience here in austin.
last week, lina and i attended the 9pm compline at st. david’s here in austin. it was the first time she had ever attended an episcopal church. i, on the other hand, have a story there somewhere with the piskies.
“Every Sunday night, anywhere from three to a dozen singers, drawn from Austin’s finest, prepare and sing the ancient monastic office of compline, a collection of prayers, hymns, readings, and psalms that sanctify the close of the waking day. Every word of the office is sung a cappella, set to chant or to polyphony. English and Latin renaissance masterworks comprise the majority of the choir’s repertory, which is determined according to available voices a couple hours before the office and rehearsed with a short break for greasy hors d’œuvre courtesy of the vestry.”
definitely not your usual episcopal service, however, considering our share of visits to catholic churches in town, not your usual catholic service either. we loved it and it seemed to be the kind of peaceful, tranquil experience we were looking for. i definitely look forward to returning and starting off my weeks there. a throwback to benedictine and basilian exploration times.
i first discovered alejandro via his thirteen years and with these hands albums that i stumbled upon at a used cd shop in minneapolis.
i bought both and was hooked.
when i arrived in houston, i quickly purchased the more miles than money anthology. my grandmother had just passed away and i needed music that sounded as real as possible. written in blood as my good friend nietzsche would say.
although i did miss bruce cockburn at the duck when i first arrived to houston (that chance will never come again again said the owner—one can’t live in regret), i did get to see alejandro live there about five times.
i celebrated my birthday there on the bourbonitis blues tour with my friend sue croak. i had a really cool conversation with the cello player in the dart room after the concert. he wasn’t too crazy about the cold treatment they received in minneapolis from the jayhawks, who seemed to be ignorant of alejandro’s place in music history.
it was always a beautiful acoustic set when they played at the duck.
and now, i’m living in alejandro’s hometown of austin and he’s on his “real animal” tour in where according to some critic he sounds, “…joyously saved, if a little cursed…”
