And, now for Something Completely Different

Ching says:

It is time to diminish the ego and decrease activities.
Blaming and criticizing are wrong ways to diminish;
offering up and giving away are correct.

If one reduces one's faults,
assistance will come.

Reduce desires,
discard trivial things;
be frugal, sincere and honest.

Desires, anger, arrogance and anxiety
are obstacles to a peaceful mind.
Curb anger and appetites,
develop resolve.

If you desire only profit,
you will create disaster.

Let go of pain,
let go of bitterness.

Remove the unnecessary,
grow, persevere, enjoy.

Even with nothing,
the sentiment of the heart
can be expressed.

Sincerity makes simple offerings acceptable,
and blessings follow.

Don't be negligent,
but relax.
What's needed is in place.
Let go.

Go straight to the heart,
realize Tao in action,
becoming what is meant to be.

Begin.

Devious people block harmony in world affairs.
Use criminal law to remove obstruction,
bringing peace.
It is beneficial to use imprisonment.

Thunder stirs things up.
Awareness spreads.
Suddenly, one sees clearly
and overcomes ignorance,
as the essential is revealed.

Kitchenpoet responds with a haiku:

Storm clouds and lightning, 

absurd satori flashes, 

and still there are stars. 

Olshittay visits Bob Wire @Union Club

Linden How, of MAM, turned the camera on the old kitchen poet, when he visited the Union Club to see Bob Wire.


"When Johnny showed up late to work and called his boss a fucking jerk, his boss could smell the whiskey on his breath."



Bob Wire is always a hoot, and the dance floor at the Union Club fills quickly with his fans. For more images from this night, check the flickr archive and click the slide show toggle.




All right already. Yes, I heard complaints there was nothing new on the blog. I have been a little out of it, after having my camera stop working again and then falling on the ice. I'm coming around. I'm learning to use the new loaner from a friend. All these images came from that camera. I have approximately 90 minutes of Zeppo video to look at. I've downgraded that project from a 30 minute television spot to a 3-5 minute Youtube video, when I get around to editing it. That will be quicker and easier, and when I have one I like, I should have enough material to make another.

I have a collection of my photography called "Summer Colors Cure Winter Blues" within a whisker of being ready to show and sell. It is a collection of summer things, butterflies, flowers, birds, bees and dragonflies, some of them very close up and personal. I'm also finally working seriously on an exhibition of my photography covering the zootown music scene. It will be a survey of 2008, starting with the PBR battle of the bands in the spring. I have some poster-sized test prints coming back from Fuji any day.

Amanda wants a cover for her next CD, and Wolf Redboy wants two shots for inside his CD. Things are looking up.

Disclaimer: It should be obvious, but let me state plainly that none of the Martin Luther King tribute, posted immediately before this, was original with me. The words were all the preacher's own, and I stole the photos from Time/Warner, the guys who bought Turner, turned CNN into People Magazine and sank Netscape, the dandiest little web browser ever made.

I miss Netscape. I've mentioned more than once here how much I hate Windows protocols and refuse to use Internet Explorer. Now, I am increasingly annoyed with Mozilla, the constant updates, the orphaned password banks created by the updates, and the increasing slowness as more gadgets are added. I wax nostalgic for some old school, elegeant and simple software. I don't want programs designed to do everything but wash the dishes.

Speaking of simplicity reminds me of the latest from Ching. The oracle says; "Manifest plainness; embrace simplicity. Modesty, patience, fairness and generosity are called for here. Blossoming and Ripening will follow."

That last line is a reminder the solstice has passed and spring is on the horizon. There will be planting soon and flowers leading to the harvest. This is also a metaphor of truthful seeds growing in our minds, and the ripening of relationships with fellow humans, animals and plants.

A Warning from the Oracle

The Ching said I was becoming alienated, and, if I didn't reverse the process through calmness and gentleness, I would sink into misanthropy and ill-humor. Too late!

When I get depressed, I develop a negative self-image and just feel old and in the way. Just having to get a job-job to pay the bills, put me in a starving artist state of mind. Then came searching the labor market for positions. I really didn't want to do retail anymore, after 20 years of it in my life. Getting desperate, I took the first job I could get, and it didn't fit, or I didn't fit. I can count and do math well, but counting every item in a big-box store is a huge project. Reminded me of how old and slow I've become, and of working at Wal-Mart, under the same lights, with the same advertising blaring. Since I'm a pussy, I quit ASAP and enrolled in the jobs program for old coots.

Yes, there is training available for old farts, such as I, to update our job skills and job hunting techniques. Training will consist of working 20 hours a week, at minimum wage, for a non-profit or government agency in Missoula. I think I can handle that. There are a lot of non-profits I would like to work for. Any office that deals with the history of Missoula, or the current events, would be satisfying. Learning something new in media, publishing or broadcasting. There's opportunity for that and maybe a computer class, too. Oh boy, I'm excited at the prospects.

The fog is lifting, and I have something positive to put on the blog. Honestly, the counting job tore me down. I wasn't worth a shit for days. Now, I'm ready to do a little photography and practice my true craft. That's part of the Experience Works program, too. They try to put us old guys into jobs, which make us happy instead of miserable. I'm ready to blog again, and I have a bunch of photos almost ready to go.