Lee.org

After way too much deliberation, I’ve decided to go with WordPress.

WordPress, don’t fail me now.

I’ll see what I can do about importing my old journal into this system as soon as I can figure out how to do it. It might take a while.

For the time being, my previous journal pages will continue to be available on my old journal pages.

Just got back. Mind blown.

I’m a burner.

More details soon.

With Stevie! They were fantastic. Stevie said it was the best concert he had ever been to. We both got excited and nervous at the same time when they opened with a medley of old tunes that we both knew and loved. “Uh oh. Is this one song their homage to the first 15 years of the band? Is the rest of the concert going to be jammed with stuff we’ve never heard?” Well, we weren’t disappointed in the slightest. The show was a mix of old and new and darnit if every single song they played sounded like a super-hit to my ears. It was like a 3 hr “Best of” show…. Most bands don’t have 3 hours of best-of material. But they did! :-)

After intermission, their second song was Tom Sawyer, I called Trav (who should have gone, he really should have) and held up the phone. It sounded a little like this.

Rush at Saratoga Springs, Monday August 9th, 2004!

Don’t they sound great on my cell phone?

At the request of a client, I contacted Symantec about some suspected pirated software I bought on Amazon zShops. I sent the Symantec legal department a juicy info packet on my purchase.

From: Chansonette Connolly [mailto:ccon.don’t spam her.nolly@symantec.com]
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 4:03 PM
To: [Lee]
Subject: Re: Report of Suspected Piracy of Norton AntiVirus 2003 from a Third Party on Amazon.com 4/21/04 – [removed] (zShop)

Dear Mr. Sonko,

Thank you for submitting to us the CD you purchased from [removed] (zShop) marked “Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2003” for evaluation, together with your documentation. We have examined the CD you submitted and believe it to be counterfeit. Therefore, and as I am sure you can understand, we will not be returning the CD to you. Our records show that this entity is not an affiliate or authorized partner of Symantec.

You may wish to contact your credit card / financial organization and find out what options you may have in a situation like this. We appreciate your taking the time to send us documentation relating to your purchase, which will assist us in continuing to investigate this matter further.

We appreciate the faith you have shown in Symantec’s products by purchasing legitimate software to replace any counterfeit software you might have had. Please be assured, you have made the right decision given the risks associated with counterfeit software, be it faulty operation, leaving your computer open to cyber attack or possible damage to your computer. Furthermore, legitimate software gives you the right to obtain updates generated by Symantec for that software. Updates are necessary to help protect your system from cyber attacks, which evolve on a daily basis.

We look forward to serving you as one of our valued customers and hope to make your cyber experience as safe and enjoyable as possible.

Sincerely,

——————————————————————————–
Chansonette Connolly
Manager, Worldwide Brand Protection
Legal Department
Symantec Corporation
Office: (408) 517-8045
Interoffice: 6 [408] 8045
Fax: (408) 517-8121

Email:
chanso.don’t spam poor Chansonette.nette_connolly@symantec.com

www.symantec.com

Any my response

When I wrote to Drakes (the company that makes Devil Dogs, Ring Dings and Yodels supermarket pastries) telling them about some bad Yodels I bought last year, they at least gave me a coupon for some free Yodels. When I wrote to them, all I included was a photo of some sorry-looking Yodels and a short explanation. When I wrote to you, I included a lengthy description that puts me on the spot vs. Amazon and vs. an Amazon seller, packaging material, and the actual product. You now have all the incriminating evidence you need to stop a major American pirate of your software.

For my trouble, all I got was a pat on the back. You can be sure that I won’t ever be bringing potentially pirated software to your attention again. You could learn a lot from a Yodel.

I just bought 2 tickets to Burning Man at $175 apiece. Last year I was lucky enough to get a “Low Income” ticket (embarrassing as it is to request such a thing, it really helped a lot to get the break). This year, I paid more and… hmm…. I don’t know who the other ticket is destined for yet (PPG? VC?) but I know that going with someone is a good thing.

I’ve been looking for items related to my grandfather’s businesses for a couple years now. I found the first item completely by happenstance. I did a search on eBay for “Ferranti” and BAM, there was a bottle! I wrote the following email to Brian at Brian’s Breweriana.com. Maybe posting this request to the internet will help. If you’ve got any info about such memorabilia, I’d love it if you contacted me!

Hi I just found your site at the recommendation of an acquaintance.

I’ve been searching high and low for breweriana from some of my grandfather’s companies. It would make me so happy if you came across anything of his. A few years ago, I found a glass bottle shaped like the old Coca-Cola bottle reading “Ferranti Bottling Company” and a promotional bottle opener reading the same thing.

I’m looking for anything from:
All companies were based in or around Scranton or Pittston, PA

Ferranti Brothers Bottling Company – some time after 1946
Yankee Brewing Co. of Pittston – owner from 1942 until at least 1946
Yankee Premium Pilsener (sic) Beer – Made by YBC
Old Stock Yankee Ale – Made by YBC
Lackawanna Beer and Ale Corp – owner 1935-1942
City Bottling Co. – owner 1923-1935
Ferranti Bros. Trucking Co. – owner 1930-1935

Here, let me show you an excerpt from the Italian Who’s Who in 1946 to give you a better idea.

Ferranti, Ernest
Brewer. Born in Jessup, Pa. June 11, 1907, the son of Mario and Regina (Becchetti) Ferranti, natives of Gubbio, Italy. Catholic. Democrat. Married Ida Weston, 1931. Three children: Dorothy, Marlene and Ernestine. Graduate of Jessup High School, 1923. President and owner since 1942, Yankee Brewing Co. of Pittston, manufacturers of Yankee Premium Pilsener Beer and Old Stock Yankee Ale. Production capacity, 150,000 barrels a year. Average production, 90,000 barrels a year. Past president, Lackawanna Beer and Ale Corp. (brewers), 1935-1942. Past owner, City Bottling Co., manufacturers of carbonated beverages 1923-1935 and of Ferranti Bros. Trucking Co., 1930-1935. Member Fox Hill Country Club; Scranton Club; Elks; Kiwanis; Scranton Chamber of Commerce; National Small Brewers Ass’n; etc. Home: 203 Grassy Ave., Jessup, Pa. Office: Main and New Streets, Pittston, Pa.

Have a great day!
Lee Sonko

Update 3-5-08
In 2003 I got an email from David Hagberg that might help anyone in their search for breweriana. Here it is:

Hi Lee,

David Hagberg here. I do not really collect items from Pennsylvania,
except for the Meyersdale Brewing Company (SW corner of the state in Somerset
County, near the Maryland border). I was just bidding on the tray to see
what it sold for and to maybe pick up a bargain. I mostly collect MD, DC,
VA, and WV items, along with the Meyersdale, as noted earlier.
There are a few other possible sources for you. I belong to several
clubs that may have someone who can help you. I recommend joining the first
two that I will list for you (ABA and ECBA) as they would be your best chance
at finding pieces and/or information/history. The third group that I will
list (NABA) is also good but mostly deals with advertising only, such as
lithos, calendars, signs, etc., and not as much with the smaller items such
as cans, bottles, matchbooks, and other give-away items the brewery may have
produced. Lastly, you may try the fourth group that I will list (BCCA) but
they deal mostly with cans only, though a lot of the members are branching
out into other areas of collecting. With each group that I list I will also
provide you with their website. Some are better than others, but check out
what information is provided and if there is a message board feel free to
post a message asking for information. The websites may also list other
groups (or chapters) that are local. If there is one in the area you are
talking about, ask them for information also. There may also be a listing of
upcoming shows to your area (or somewhere close). I highly recommend going
to the shows. Even if you do not see something that you want, some member
may have something at home or at least some information. You never know. I
will also list a website that has a contact for some people that do PA
brewery history. They may be able to help you. I have asked a few questions
from him before, and sometimes he does give me a good lead to contact. Next,
check out the local paper, especially the smaller, more “home-towny” ones.
They usually offer a “merchandise mart” section where people place
classifieds to buy and sell stuff, and some have a separate listing for
auctions that are in the area. I have found some neat items that, while not
my primary interest, I was able to pick up at a nice price and able to later
sell it for a profit. And lastly, check out the local antique stores.
Again, you may not find anything the first time, but you may find someone who
knows someone, or has some information. Good luck.

1). The American Breweriana Association (ABA): This club has great members,
several free sources for items (mostly new/micro) and has a wonderful lending
library with many books and a lot of good information. If you join, you also
get a members-only magazine 6 times a year.
http://www.americanbreweriana.org/

2). The Eastern Coast Breweriana Association (ECBA): This club, as you might
expect, deals primarily with breweries on the East coast. They put on a nice
convention in Frederick last year, and puts on a show in Somerset County (PA)
that I usually attend. There should be some members who can help you. If
you join there is a magazine that goes out to members four times a year and
is nice.
http://www.eastcoastbrew.com/

3.) The National Association of Breweriana Advertising (NABA): This club puts
out a nice magazine for members and has many wonderful members who are very
knowledgeable.
http://www.nababrew.org/

4.) Beer Can Collectors of America (BCCA): A good source for beer cans and
some members know a good bit about brewery history.
http://www.bcca.com/index.html

5.) Pennsylvania Brewery historians: This is the website with the member who
is nice, and answers questions to the best of his ability, or will point you
to someone who may be able to help.
http://pabreweryhistorians.tripod.com/

If yo have any further questions please feel free to ask.

Sincerely,

David Hagberg

American Breweriana Association member #6636
National Association of Breweriana Advertising member
Beer Can Collectors of America member #30956
Baltimore Antique Bottle Club member
Eastern Coast Breweriana Association member #2068

Here’s photos of Scott Perkins’ barrel turned lampshade. (see comments) What a find! He told me how (Scott, correct me if I’m wrong) he found it partially buried when he was 14 years old. Years later, he found the fourth ring that held it together. So in the photos 3 of the rings look different because they’ve been lacquered but the last one hasn’t been yet.

Scott writes

so far i know the keg was from between prob. 1935 to 1943 your Grandfather was pres. at that time. and the lion brewery which took over stegmier and is in wilkesbarre pa, in the old stegmier building, has a sales office in scranton. which I am told was the office of lackawanna beer and ale corp. so now ill have to trek off to see the building and mabe get some pics. but until then here is a full view of the lamp keg. pictures for your page so people can see the shade you mention.

The battle of the political titans continues!

I had written to the ARL moderator, CC:ing Paul:

>Paul , Lee, please take this offlne.

I apologize. I felt that Paul’s unprovoked attack on my character needed a rebuttal. My interest is still only in the topic at hand, H1215.

Paul writes back just to me, all politic-ing slick-like

With all due respect, I never realized that the following items were
personal attacks:

1. Residency in the State of New Jersey. (I moved here from New
Jersey in 1989, my mother’s family is from New Jersey, and I like the
state.)

2. Your political leanings, relevant in a political argument.

3. Your friendship with Travis.

All of which, I believe, are well documented by entries on your website.

I will not engage in long political discourse with non-residents on the
Arlington list, as I believe people should have the standing of tasting
the benefits or pain of the political decisions in order to engage in
the conversation. I also think it would have been fair to the list to
disclose your residency before engaging in commentary on Arlington
politics.

And, yes, I am a liberal. Please note that, as an officer in the
Massachusetts Association of School Committees, I advocate positions of
interest to a statewide constituency, regardless of impact on any one
municipality. H1215 is consistent with my association’s desire to have
stable and reliable funding for public schools.

All power to the main deflectors!

>With all due respect, I never realized that the following items were
>personal attacks:

Dude, we both know exactly what you were trying to do.

>I will not engage in long political discourse with non-residents on the Arlington list

Unless you disagree with my points specifically, my questions about the bill are valid, no matter where they come from. If you don’t address them, they will continue to drag your bill down. If you want to help Massachusetts schools and teachers get the money you think they should get, you’ll address the questions.

>H1215 is consistent with my association’s desire to have
>stable and reliable funding for public schools.

But if critics (like me) poke gaping holes in it’s language and you can’t mend the holes, then public opinion will likely turn against the bill. And that won’t help your cause.

I should also say that other ARL posters have written similarly critical messages about H1215 in the past few days. You’ve got to stand on your own here but you might be able to give this a positive spin… if you quit with the petty personal-character attacks and issue-dodging. Right now, it’s not looking so good.

So, take your time, think it through and answer the questions:
—————————-
– Didn’t the override vote fail? So what is Override v2.0 doing in the House?
– Doesn’t this bill take a major and permanent bite out of 2.5?
—————————-

I’ll be waiting for your response on ARL.

lee

I had a fun altercation on the ARL list today. In response to the override failing, Paul Schlichtman (President-Elect, Massachusetts Association of School Committees) introduced a bill in the MA House of Representatives (not under his own name of course). It would allow the 2.5% per year limit on MA government tax increases to be gotten around if the spending was for schools.

I wrote to the list:

Didn’t the override vote fail? So what is Override v2.0 doing in the House, besides taking up legislators’ time?

His terse response:

Mr. Sonko, you can write your legislators, though this is not a hotly debated issue in Trenton.

(his implication was: You don’t live in Arlington. You are irrelevant. Go away.)

So I turned on the heat and closed the windows:

We’re not talking about Trenton, we’re talking about Arlington. Paul, you seem to have a stake in this so I’ll ask you directly: why is is Override v2.0 in the House at all? Wasn’t the override defeated?

I suppose that your .sig. goes a significant way toward answering my questions.
>Paul Schlichtman
>President-Elect, Massachusetts Association of School Committees
>Vice-Chair, Arlington School Committee
>Population 42,389, 5.05 sq. mi., enrollment 4,470
>http://www.schlichtman.org & http://www.arlington-mass.com

I’ve been re-reading the proposed law. Although I’m not a legislator, it looks like it’s been designed to replace school money that “should” have come from the state, but didn’t… and instituting a local tax to replace that money.

But the whole idea of 2.5 is to prevent government sprawl by causing a budget crunch if government grows too fast. This budget crunch was directly caused by 2.5. In this case, schools were hit hardest. Local government could have moved a column of numbers, saving the schools and causing problems with police, fire, and library. SOMETHING had to give and it did. 2.5 did it’s job.

—————
So next year, when the police department wants a new cruiser, all the mayor has to do is take the money out of schools, declare a school budget emergency, raise taxes (via the new law), and bingo, a new cruiser.

Now I’ll grant that the new law can only be abused so much… “the difference between the minimum required contribution and the the town’s local contribution in 1993.” But this year, it can be said that the level of abuse would top $6 million dollars. That’s a lot of cruisers.
—————

That doesn’t sit well with me.

So I ask again:
why is is Override v2.0 in the House at all? Wasn’t the override defeated?

My source material:

Paul’s message:
> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in
> General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
>
> Paragraph (f) of section 21C of chapter 59 of the General Laws as
> appearing in the 2000 Official Edition is hereby amended by adding
> after the word “revenue”, in line 58, the following words:- plus the
> difference between the minimum required local contribution prescribed
> under chapter 70 for the current fiscal year and the municipality’s
> local contribution in fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three as
> defined in chapter 70 section 2.

The current laws
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/59-21C.htm
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/gl-70-toc.htm

Paul turned on the Flame Thrower (in a closed room! The fool!):

Dear Mr. Sonko:

The reason you should be talking Trenton is that you appear to be a resident of the State of New Jersey. According to the journal on your website, you are complaining that you do not qualify to get a teachers’ certificate in New Jersey. (6/19/2003). Your journal also references a callback from Assemblywoman Connie Myers (a Republican from the 23rd district in Hunterdon County NJ). You state on March 26, 2003 that you joined the Hackettstown NJ Chess Club.

I do not think you have any connection to the Town of Arlington, except for the link to one Travis James Ignatius Corcoran on your friends page, fourth line:
http://www.lee.org/friends/index.html
Travis also has you at the top of his list of friends, described as, “A friend of the highest caliber. I’ve known Lee since fourth grade. He was two years older than me then. He still is. Grrrrrrrr..”
http://www.tjic.com/friends.php

According to your politics page, you are a Libertarian. Thus, you seem to be seeking to inject your political philosophy into a town and a state in which you do not reside.
http://www.lee.org/politics/index.html

So, I repeat, I suggest if you have comments on state legislation, you should feel free to call Assemblywoman Connie Myers, Assemblyman Michael Doherty, and Senator Leonard Lance; you can reach them in Trenton. Join the Hackettstown e-list. And have a nice life down there in the Garden State.

Silly Paul, I was already wearing my asbestos underwear from my last post!

>you appear to be a resident of the State of New Jersey.

I am at that.

Being a NJ resident bars me from voting in Arlington but does not bar me from discussing Arlington politics, Arlington bug spray, or whatnot.

My posts on the list have been and continue to be on-topic. I refer to the list’s FAQ, “…information relevant to the residents of Arlington, Mass…”. I also believe my posts to be reasonably well informed. If you disagree, please say so.

I think that your attempt at character assassination isn’t going so well.

Since you’ve taken the time to research my journal (found at http://www.lee.org/journal), cross reference my friendship with TJIC, and post a vitriolic letter about me, could also please take the time to answer my first question?

——————
Paul, didn’t the override vote fail? So what is Override v2.0 doing in the House?
——————

In my further considerations about House 1215, it occurs to me that this would be the equivilant of a PERMANENT override for EVERY town in Massachusetts when it comes to school budgets. Furthermore, it seems that it opens a loophole that takes a major bite out of 2.5. That’s casting a pretty wide net, isn’t it? Paul, could you please address those potential issues?

If 2.5 is so bad, then maybe a vote to repeal it should be put up.

lee

I followed up a little while later with a more personal message to the list. The last part is quite introspective:

Paul, I’d like to answer the more comments you made about me in your post:

>According to the journal on your website, you are complaining that you
>do not qualify to get a teachers’ certificate in New Jersey. (6/19/2003)

Yup. it’s been a career changing nightmare for me for the last year and a half.

>Your journal also references a callback from
>Assemblywoman Connie Myers (a Republican from the 23rd district in
>Hunterdon County NJ).

Actually, she’s an Assemblywoman in Warren County but I see how her homepage might make you think otherwise.

>According to your politics page, you are a Libertarian. Thus, you seem
>to be seeking to inject your political philosophy into a town and a
>state in which you do not reside.
>http://www.lee.org/politics/index.html

I don’t understand the connection that you make. “Thus” doesn’t make any sense in your argument. But I’ll go ahead and explain a little bit about my Libertarianism….
As my page says, I call myself a “soft libertarian”. When looking at a situation, I find myself keeping in mind the philosophical bent of libertarian thinking. I’m definitely not a strict Democrat or Republican. Mostly because falling into either camp picks up way too much baggage… I.E. being Republican means being pro-life and pro-death penalty, two contradictory things… and not for any solid reasoning. I like the “feel” of libertarianism added to the mix of political thought. It helps me think out my position on issues. I use libertarian thought as a tool to carefully think out my position on issues. But I definitely would not want to live in a country completely controlled by a libertarian government!

I could write a lot more about this, but again, as my politics page says, “I could talk for a while about this but I’ve got more important things to do than argue over the internet. I’d rather yell at you in person.”

>I do not think you have any connection to the Town of Arlington

I left my heart in Arlington. It’s a long story going back to 1987 when I started Tufts and found myself in proximity to some of the most lovely and historic cities in the country. Several friends live (or lived) there, a very serious (ex-) girlfriend lived on Cleveland street. Arlington has always been a state of mind for me. It’s important. I left Boston a few years ago but I still reminisce about it and think about going back. I think the main reason I haven’t is that there are too many ghosts of my past that reside there. I want to live in Boston but I can’t. ARL lets me connect with Arlington without the discomfort of staring-down those ghosts every day.

lee

So far, the feedback on the list has been a mix of positive and negative. I received a private message from someone saying:

I appreciate you pursuing an explanation from Paul. I am anxious to hear his answer.

It’s very nice to hear that my words are valuable! I thanked the author profusely. Another poster (Lori Vollers Uhland) wrote to the list saying that he hadn’t dissed me. Yea, whatever. And another (Jerri Newman) said, because I was geographically challenged, “I am not interested in this or anything else you have to say”. Yea, whatever.

Garry, the guy that prompted that $3k bet showed his true colors when I tried upping the bet. Of course, he’s a kook. It turns out that one core aspect of his theory can be boiled down to, “As long as you drive your vehicle downhill, your engine can be greater than 100% efficient.” Well yea…… but then you’re stuck at the bottom of a hill. Why did I even put energy into having a discussion with him? A lot of other people had similar discussions with him, ending with Subject: lines like “Earth calling Garry . . . Re: Overunity, Back EMF, and Garry Stanley” dropping out several days after I did. To look at the bright side, my bullshit detector started beeping before anyone else’s on the list. You can find the discussion on the power-assist list, starting around message 10,651.

Trav mentioned The Personal Identity Game in his journal. It happily reminded me of college. What with my affinity for D&D’s psionics and such, it’s no surprise that I survived with my wily psychological reductionism.

I recently finished listening to The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I think I’d enjoy writing a doctoral thesis on this work. This is an important book. If I ever get around to it, I -will- write something about this on my Media page.

I’ve been flying the Zagi. I’ve been crashing the Zagi. Oo baby have I been crashing the Zagi. I already started oogling a more powerful motor. But to do it right is to get a $180 brushless motor and controller setup. Jeesh, I can get a whole other plane for that. And I don’t WANT a whole other plane. I just want to fly! I think I’ll just learn how to fly it as it is. Heck, with the dramatic crashes I’ve been having (some due to not having enough power.. hint hint. get the brushless motor!) I don’t know how long the plane will actually survive anyway. I still haven’t found my digital camera charger so no pictures yet.. It’s possible that Julia hid it but it’s been like 3 months so it’s time to buy a new charger.

Flying this thing is frenetic and fun. But I wish it were more stable. It’s got a huge wing, no weight, and only barely enough power so it tends to flitter about uncontrollably. I’d love to give the controls to a more experienced flying-wing pilot and have them tell me what keeps going wrong. But I haven’t found anyone at the club with such experience. So I’m going to teach myself to fly.

I’m 1/2 glad that the plane is so rugged and crashworthy. But at the same time, as Bob at the club put it, something like, “The more crashworthy a plane is, the less air-worthy it is.” He’s got a point.

No, I like crashing. It offers catharsis at this point in my life.

I’m subbing tomorrow: high school biology. Wish me luck.

A day in the life:

8:30-noon- I babysat Julia. Except for food breaks, we played straight through the morning! I pulled her around the house on a blanket, we played with toys in her room including a Dora LeapPad… she’s still getting the hang of it but starting to enjoy it… I loved playing with it, we told stories to each other with Dora colorforms, watched a couple minutes of Sesame Street and learned how to be a monster, I showed her how to play her flute (Melissa was happy at this.. she kept thinking you had to hum into it like a kazoo), we rode her horses around the house.

noon-2:30- Talked to my sister about her Forensics class, the war in Iraq. Her class was chatting about how terribly slow the war was going. She pointed out to them that it had been a “war” for just two weeks. This is a lightning blitz! In ’91, the US did 100 days of air attacks before walking away. Now we’re on the ground… you think 2 weeks is a long time?!?!

2:30-4:15- Got lunch, oogled over the cable modem I was getting ready to buy at Radio Shack. Then realized that Radio Shack sells Comcast cable modem service and I have Cablevision. Ixnay on the ablecay-odemay. Talked shop with the Radio Shack guys, all the while hoping to get to talk to the cute associate I spoke to last week. She had given me her business card even, but she had a customer in front of her and the phone in her ear the whole time I was there.

4:15-7:30- Went home. Considered how I’ve been waiting 2 1/2 freaking weeks for my battery charger order from Atlanta Hobby and 1 1/2 weeks for my wireless ethernet setup. Considered the Radio Shack guy’s suggestion of going to The Wiz and picking up a Cablevision cable modem setup today…. The Wiz which is closing it’s doors forever (again) in a week or so due to bankruptcy… I read their web site which had those profound words, “all sales final” and ordered cable modem service from Cablevision over the internet instead (Hurray!). Called Cablevision to try and figure out if we want to upgrade, dump, or keep their service comparing it to DirectTV; I got this really nasty rep on the phone. She pissed me off so much that I hung up on her after she put me on hold. I SHOULD have gotten her name and gone to her supervisor but it felt pretty good slamming the phone down. I’m pretty sure that we’ve been double paying for our cable boxes for the last 5 years. Called up MBNA and told them to never send us another frigging credit card application again. Our paper spam problem is almost as bad as my email spam problem (30/day+)! Tried to make the perfect omelet for dinner; made a mediocre omelet for dinner. Moped around the house and watched the last 20 minutes of The Fifth Element on HBO.

7:30- Struck out for a WNTI music concert at Centenary College, starting time, 7:30. I went into the wrong building and wandered through a dorm for about 10 minutes. It brought back a thick fog of fond memories that I could barely make it through. The feel of the building, especially the all-wood doors, brought me fondly back to Smith and Maura. I finally found the concert and listened in for a few minutes. Standard happy-folk fare. Singer-songwriter banter, wires tangled on the stage, those light and speaker stands, an audience that laughed in the right places, the fourth wall in it’s place. Don’t get me wrong, it was probably a really good show but I realized immediately that I wasn’t in the mood for it.

7:50- Struck out for Scott Eggert at Myhelan Cultural Arts Center, starting time 8:00. I walked in at 8:45 :-(. He was in the middle of his concert when I walked in. It all started out a little karmic.. as I approached the front door, I could see that he was just finishing a piece, so I could walk right in and … well not sit because all the seats were full! A totally full house at around 50 folks. He spoke for a few minutes and then played this amazing slice of the universe. Let me explain: He pulled out an Indian keyboard that’s given it’s breath similar to an accordion. I’ve seen these a couple times before and they can make quite a nice sound. Well, he started by playing and holding just two notes. With the accordion action, the chord had sort of a heart-beat feel to it. And then… I don’t even know when he started… maybe right at the start, maybe after a few minutes… he started to make this sound… it was DAMN, I can’t describe it! Ok, now if you’ve ever heard Tuvan throat music sung gently, in person, then you might know what I’m talking about. If not, well, let me try to explain. And I’ve seen the (kickass) movie, Genghis Blues but hearing it in person was a world away from just seeing a movie even! Ok, to describe it, start with that nifty flutter you hear in authentic yodeling, now crank it up 2 octaves (yes, -2- octaves), now it starts making a noise kind of like a fly near your ear, but not buzzing up and down, but the notes jump around in that purely impossible way a supra-alto-soprano yodeler’s voice might. With me so far? Ok, now, put a baritone human voice in way below it, resonating with sympathetic overtones to the super-high buzz and changing when the super high notes change. I’m not explaining this well at all, am I?

Let me instead try to tell you what it was like. First off, I got so lost in the song, I honestly can’t tell you if the song was 5 minutes or 15 minutes long. Honestly. Next, one of my first reactions to the music was to grab the molding of the doorframe behind me because I -knew- that there was a real chance of me falling over if I did one of those sleepy long-blinks that turn into sleep. You know the kind. Like when you’re really tired but have to stay up for something; so you crazily think to yourself that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if you just rested your eyes for 3 seconds during a blink. And then you suddenly realize that you’re head almost fell into your book or your car almost swerved into a tree. Of course, you instantly realize that “slow-blink” was a stupid idea but just 30 seconds later you’re thinking it might be a good idea again. Ok, well his song sent my fully awake mind straight into this mode. If I hadn’t been prepared for this, it really would have freaked me out. But as I knew exactly where I was, wow. I hung on for most of the piece.

After intermission, he introduced his Navajo (? I’m pretty sure he said Navajo) drum circle to us. After a song, and at his urging, I got up and danced. There was just two of us dancing and not much room for any more. So they stopped after the next song and rearranged the chairs so there’d be room for us to dance around the circle. There were about 20 people dancing around! Memories of my long-ago trip to a mid-western … (Navajo?) Indian reservation came back. I remembered sadly agreeing with my dad that we didn’t “get” the dances. They all seemed the same. Sure, the drumming and individual foot-work was a tiny bit different in each, and it was interesting to see that the dancers could apparently take their subtle cues from the drums. We guessed that because the dancers always seemed to be doing the exact same non-descript dance, but all the dances and drumming were still pretty much the same. We -wanted- to get something out of it but just couldn’t find a foothold. So Scott and another gentleman talked about the dancing. He said (and I’m going to miss something from his original) something like, “I was asked why all the dances look pretty much the same, we pretty much just go around and around. So I asked her about how the sun comes up every day in the same boring way.” He said it better. It suddenly struck me that most of the dancing isn’t for show but for meditation. This is similar to how Ewe dance moves force a kind of breath control upon the dancer, putting him into a hyperventilation-induced trance state. The Indian dance isn’t designed for the viewers, it’s for the participants. They likely use only slight variations in the dance steps because the participant can easily change and feel the difference without having to break concentration. So, thinking back to when I was 14 on an Indian reservation, why the heck were we just watching? I can now see why outsiders are reluctantly welcomed to Pow Wows. But I really wish that the tourists like me and my dad all those years ago were given some explanation as to what the heck we are watching. A pamphlet or something. I know that my dad lost a bit of respect for their culture on that day, and I can’t blame him. I can sort of understand that there is a feeling of cultural pride that doesn’t want to give away all the inside secrets, but come on, there’s also the matter of cultural survival. It took me (a pretty progressive guy) over 15 years to figure it out and appreciate the good in it. Most other Americans sadly, but justifiably just write it off.

I wish I could say that we danced until morning, as one drum member suggested we do. At his mention, I shouted hopefully from the audience, “We can make it. We’ve still got snacks leftover!” That brought a good laugh. They played while I danced in the circle for a bit over an hour. Their last song was one “for veterans”. They put several modern references in like WWII, the Korean War and 9/11. Very few danced to that one, but I remembered that the sun still rise and set on those days as well. It felt right.

What an evening!

Don’t forget to Spring Forward at 2am Sunday morning. For some completely unfathomable reason, 2:00-2:59:59am Sunday morning will be preempted. I’ve got to finish my rant about that someday.