tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91281629146723153682024-03-13T10:46:18.549-07:00Gary Lee JoynerGary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-39351680622481215112017-11-29T08:05:00.000-08:002017-11-29T08:05:40.744-08:00"Time To Talk"<br />
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This is my nominee for Person of the Year. The
contemporary person leaning forward from previously occupied space to
take a stand despite the fact that it's an empty gesture.<br />
<br />
I would also submit it as a design for a US postage stamp.Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-78087674211322503192017-05-01T10:23:00.000-07:002017-05-01T10:26:38.570-07:00Gary Lee Joyner—Atomic Guitar<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gary Lee Joyner—Atomic Guitar</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">© 2012, 2017</span></div>
<br />
<br />
The intention and goal of the content and form of my Atomic Guitar videos is to shake loose ideas about how to learn, how to experience music, how to play guitar, how to think, and so on...to, in fact, play guitar rather than be a "guitar player"...taking the experience toward Husserlian phenomenology, stripping away received baggage and nonsense in favor of simple clarity about the activity. As I said in one of the videos, the name "Atomic Guitar" isn't intended as the sort of explosive hyperbole we have grown accustomed to in today's consumer-driven marketing world. Instead, it refers to the tiniest particles—building blocks.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW4fb98jnfg&t=5s" target="_blank">Session 1</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJkFKyMSoqg" target="_blank">Session 2</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om_4g3zVVno" target="_blank">Session 3</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX9FdwAJsqw" target="_blank">Session 4</a><br />
<br />Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-4806181245015074192016-06-20T10:53:00.000-07:002016-06-20T11:01:43.249-07:00Gauging Your Choices In Guitars and Strings and Life<style>
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This message came from someone who has participated in a number of my guitar classes:<br />
Hi Gary Lee Joyner, guitar teacher extraordinaire,<br />
What do you think of light-medium gauge steel strings for acoustic guitar?<br />
An acquaintance of mine has this preference in strings.<br />
Martin MSP4150 SP Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings, Light-Medium<br />
<br />
My response:<br />
When artist Edward Gorey was asked one time for a list of his “most
admired or adored” books he said, “I am almost never invited to tell
the world at large what it ought to be reading.” I love that quote.<br />
<br />
For similar reasons, it took me a couple days to respond to the
string topic. I balk at the prospect of anyone thinking that any
thoughts I come up with might imply a directive.<br />
<br />
I first had to follow your link to find out what “light-medium”
means. I think of strings in terms of specific gauges and never quite
trust the consistency of general product names. And so I now know that
Martin SP phosphor bronze light-mediums are .125-.55. Interesting.<br />
<br />
In the days when I offered guitar lessons at various music stores
and played four hours and more a night, many nights a week, in bars and
coffeehouses filled with string-destroying smoke, I had the need and
employee-discount-opportunity to change strings very often. Every four
days or so. It gave me the chance to experiment. A lot. If I were to
suggest one directive it would be to experiment as much as you can
manage…and discover what works for you. Not only gauge (including
creating your own sets), but also brand, composition, winding, etc.<br />
<br />
After that halcyon period I tended to get into a specific set for 4-5
years at a time. I had to have the current choice. Then I would suddenly
find myself totally dissatisfied with that choice and have to find a
new one that I would then stick with for another 4-5 years.<br />
<br />
Shortly before we were at Blue Bear School of Music I took a real
left-hand turn. It had to do with my getting my first good quality
magnetic pick-up for one of my acoustic guitars. (I had owned a DeArmond
monstrosity in the early days…weak, unbalanced, noisy, clunky, and it
chewed up the underside of my guitar’s soundhole. I wish I still had
it!) I had mostly used phosphor bronze strings for a long time up until
then. But it occurred to me that electric guitar strings might respond
nicely to my new pick-up. I didn’t notice any real difference in terms
of the pick-up. But!...I found out that I really liked the acoustic
sound of the nickel strings. I loved getting away from the full warmth
that is generally associated with phosphor bronze. The sound is…cold…in a
way I like…a lot. And oddly enough, I never had as many positive
responses regarding my sound before the switch as I have since. And
people are surprised by my explanation. “That’s ‘wrong’! You’re not
supposed to do that…”<br />
<br />
At that point I was teaching in a music store in Petaluma. (Charlie
Cowles’ great Tall Toad Music.) So I again was able to do a bunch of
experimenting. Along the way I found myself drawn to “.13s” for the
first time since my early years of playing. Which is how I found my way
to D'Addario EJ22 Nickel Jazz Medium strings. It has caused problems on
the road because a lot of music stores don’t carry that particular set.
20 years later I’m still using them on all my steel string guitars,
electric and acoustic. For a while I even concocted my own set for a
12-string that I tuned down to C—starting with EJ22s. Lately I’ve gone
back to “.11s” on that guitar in order to bring it up to standard
tuning.<br />
Some assorted recent circumstances have forced me to vary other things a bit, as well.<br />
<br />
I bought a Yamaha Silent steel string guitar for travel. It came
with a set of “.10” phosphor bronze, including an unwound G. I’ve never
liked an unwound 3rd on any guitar. It’s gotta be wound for me. So after
asking around about safety for the guitar I put EJ22s on it. The neck
and structure could take it, but a series of perplexing problems
occurred with the piezo pick-up. Bottom line—it seemed that the gauge
was causing the problems. I searched around and found a D’Addario set of
nickel “.11s” with a wound 3rd. It’s working out nicely and I’m
enjoying the difference in gauge. It’s imposing some alterations in my
playing approach on that guitar.<br />
<br />
On another front, some physical issues made me try moving to EJ21
“.12s” on one of my acoustics. I do miss the string resistance on that
guitar so I might go back.<br />
<br />
Picks create another element that influences gauge choices. These
days I am constantly switching my pick combinations. Thumbpick and bare
fingers, thumbpick and four metal fingerpicks, flatpick and bare
fingers, flatpick and three metal fingerpicks. Each combination makes a
different demand on string gauge. And each brand and size of thumbpick,
or each size and thickness and make-up of flatpick, strikes the strings
differently. A large thin Fender flatpick hits the strings very
differently than a Tusq, or a Dunlop <span data-offset-key="959ov-0-0"><span data-text="true"> Ultex</span></span>, or a tiny “jazz” pick. And I like
to try them all. Varying sounds. Varying feels. Varying demands on
string gauge. It’s all so much fun.<br />
<br />
Tunings also affect gauge choices. And playing slide guitar
(bottleneck or bar). Some of us like heavier gauges for lowered altered
tunings. On the other hand, guitars probably aren’t gonna like being
tuned higher while they are wearing heavier gauges. Martin Simpson told
me that he used a .15 (!!) for his 1st string because it supported his
slide in a way that he liked. He also stipulated that he would never
tune it up to standard tuning.<br />
<br />
So you aren’t going to hear any rules or dogmatisms out of me. No surprise there, right?<br />
Summation: There are no laws in my art world. It all depends on the
needs of the player. Physical issues, sound objectives, style, strength
of attack, etc.<br />
<br />
I guess I didn’t actually answer your question about light-mediums.
I’d try ‘em. Especially if I could find them in a nickel electric set.<br />
<br />
Now…nylon strings…that’s were choices really get complicated for me...<br />
<br />
By the way, Raymond Queneau’s “Exercises In Style”, Sylvia Waugh’s
five “Mennyms” books, and Robert Musil’s “The Man Without Qualities”
topped Gorey’s list. Great choices. We all OUGHTA read them. :^)</div>
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Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-87992004187851388842016-06-15T14:29:00.000-07:002016-06-15T14:29:56.823-07:00Folk Music and Cowboys and How Did We Get From There To Here?<img alt="" class="spotlight" src="https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13428596_10206590091456487_3195962573437991268_n.jpg?oh=c920b08b8ab916594b24db4ab08014b4&oe=57FD185B" /> <br />
Here's another view of GLJ explaining the nature of sound to the
Minneapolis Police Department on Lake Street. Back in those days there
was an objection to live music at the Uptown Art Fair...businesses and
artists believed that it hampered the entrepreneurial activities of the
event...hard to believe such a thing now when people don't know they're
having fun unless they're being bombarded by decibels.<br />
****<br />
May I digress? The cowboy on the left is a-hankerin' to slip his hand<span class="text_exposed_show"> over to the blunderbuss on his hip. And me there holding my lethal guitar. </span><br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
It reminds me of an episode that occurred when I was 4. I met a
real-life cowboy who was working for Billy Graham...rustlin' up some
souls. His name was Redd Harper. The BG film company had made a movie
about the guy and Redd himself made an appearance at a showing that I
attended. Four year old me sashayed up to the varmint and asked,
"Where's yer gun?" He looked around, grabbed a Bible and waved it in my
face. "Why it's right here, ya little sidewinder!" I stumbled away from
the ravine, confused, disappointed, and eager to get back to my Lone
Ranger/Rifleman/Wyatt Earp on TV.<br />
(The moral of the story: They
were indoctrinating us 'merican children already in those days via TV
and movies and radio...convincing us that the only real convincer was a
piece of weaponry. It's buried deeply and subtly in our culture. Clayton
Moore as The Lone Ranger had his two six-shooters and those silver
bullets. Chuck Connors as The Rifleman had that tricked out Winchester.
Hugh O'Brien as Wyatt Earp had the strangely hyper-extended revolver.
Doc Holliday had a big mustache and a double-barrelled shotgun that
could take down the side of a building. Steve McQueen as Josh Randall,
and Nick Adams as Johnny Yuma, had their curiously sexy sawed-off
shotguns. Johnny could spin his around his finger in a fun way. I used
to think that these were all nothing more than painfully obvious phallic
symbols. Now I realize that they are also simply and blatantly intended
to implant a subconscious love for guns. )<br />
************<br />
The pivotal point of my recollection is not Redd’s response…which was quite predictable for a missionary evangelist.<br />
No, it hinges on the question that preoccupied my undeveloped
four-year-old mind. I didn’t stride down the noonday street with the sun
glinting in my eyes and ask the imposing rounder “Where’s your horse?”
or “Can I see your guitar?” or “Do you eat your campfire beans right out
of the can or off a tin plate?” or “Does it hurt the cows when you
brand them?” <br />
Firearms were nonexistent in my household—not even a
hunter in the family—but I was programmed to think about smoke-wagons.
“Where’s your gun?”</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-53517674054157304482016-06-15T14:25:00.000-07:002016-06-15T14:25:17.618-07:00Who's Judging Whom?I've been performing an experiment today.<br />
<br />
Randomly throughout
the day I've been turning on the radio. Every time...every single
time...the first words to come out of the speakers have been Orlando,
massacre, guns, or shootings.<br />
<br />
Once the ecstatic self-serving
media frenzy dies down, like the after-gloom of an unsatisfying episode
of sex, things will go on. Nothing will change. We'll go on being cowed
by affluent monied corporate interests, and voting in people who make
the sta<span class="text_exposed_show">sis inevitable.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
We're getting what we deserve.<br />
<br />
Certain bizarre right-wing media mouthpieces are once again ranting
about "God's judgement on homosexuals". If Americans are under
"judgement" it's not because of our sexual choices. It's about all the
evil being done in our name all over the world...as well as here at
home...things that are being advocated and supported by those same
mouthpieces. They have a peculiar vision ailment that only allows them
to see the "sins" of others, and never their own. And some of you will
recognize what I'm talking about here...they still think that Rev. 3:20
is a "salvation verse". Claiming to understand and live by the Bible
they are completely missing it.</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-16030155572508397282015-10-01T19:21:00.000-07:002015-10-01T19:38:41.161-07:00Banjo RightsLinus van Pelt once said that the world would be a better place if everyone was issued a banjo at birth.<br />
<br />
So here's my thought...<br />
<br />
Abolish the NRA. Replace it with the National Banjo Association. Make
it easy for people to get banjos without a background check. Sponsor
unregulated banjo shows. Create a class of high-paid banjo lobbyists.<br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
Some say (some say!) that people should need a license to operate a
banjo in the same way they need a license to drive a car. I disagree.<br />
<br />
Some people just like to take their banjo to a picking range. And as
citizens they have that right. It's a social thing. They don't want to
hurt anyone with their banjo. They just get off on making noise and
hitting a target note. And they always wear proper hearing protection.<br />
<br />
There's got to be an amendment somewhere that can be twisted enough to apply to banjos.<br />
<br />
As far as I know, there has never been a mass murder committed by someone holding a banjo.</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-4278778674470869282015-09-19T09:00:00.002-07:002015-09-19T09:23:21.001-07:00Look Into My Eyes...You're Getting SleepyThis is the most important aspect of everything that is going on around you in current political "news".<br />
<br />
It is infinitely more important than Trump's latest inanity or why Bernie chose to give a speech at a Christian university.<br />
<br />
As an example for my point I'll use a recent article that <a href="http://latest.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Latest.com</a> posted about Bernie Sanders' visit to Liberty University.<br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
One line in their article:<br />
<br />
"Oddly, the response to this news was not impressed with Sanders
reaching out a group he didn’t agree with, but questioned why he was
going."<br />
<br />
When media tell you what people are thinking, how people
are responding, it is all a fabrication. Media are the transparent
creators of what you think.<br />
<br />
You don't even know that you see the
media. You think you are looking at the topic of the moment, but you
are seeing, hearing, and thinking what they want you to see, hear, and
think. They are controlling you. You are only seeing ideas that they
want to impose on your mind. It isn't exactly subliminal, but it is
powerful and it is devious.<br />
<br />
People take in the statements. The
statements play upon innate drives to be a viable part of whatever is
"trending" (a ridiculous concept to begin with)...and those drives have
previously been implanted using the same methods.<br />
<br />
Upon
consideration the statements would reveal themselves to be vague and
meaningless. Ask questions. ASK QUESTIONS! Who is responding this way?
Was I responding this way before they told me how to respond? Are they
forming my response without my even being aware of it? And what AREN'T they telling me?<br /><br />Two words you should always mistrust when you hear them used together: "Some say..."<br />
<br />
Yes, this is going to entail some activity on your part because you are going to have to find your own answers.<br />
<br />
And those
of you who are capable of more abstract complex thought...consider this:
There is no such thing as an "objective documentary". The moment
someone decides which way to point a camera and when to open the shutter
subjectivity is running the show.</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-309452210141282832015-09-01T13:16:00.000-07:002015-09-01T13:35:12.224-07:00This Little LightYou may be asking yourself, “Has GLJ gone off the rails? Has he
abandoned his life to sit drooling over a keyboard and ranting like a
maniac?”<br />
<br />
Oh ye of little faith.<br />
<br />
First of all, I hope that
my posts and blogs don’t come across as rants and rages. Someone told me
I need not fear, that my concise, focused, well-honed writing wouldn’t
be mistaken for “rants”.<br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
I hope he was right.<br />
<br />
I’ll tell you a story.<br />
<br />
I really wanted to volunteer for the Bernie Sanders campaign.
Circumstances did not allow me to participate in the categories that
were specified at his campaign website. So I looked around and asked
what CAN I do?<br />
<br />
Here’s what I came up with:<br />
1. I’m a deep thinker.<br />
2. I’m a highly skilled writer.<br />
3. I’m a highly skilled communicator.<br />
4. It’s been proven repeatedly around the world that social media are
effective tools for spreading messages, advancing causes. The Sanders
campaign is benefiting hugely from this.<br />
<br />
So this is what I can do…I can participate in this way.<br />
<br />
I know that my audience is comparatively small. But we sang a song in
Sunday School…“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”<br />
<br />
And even if I'm only preaching to the choir, I hope that the choir finds some encouragement. <br />
<br />
You can help by sharing my FB posts and blogs when you appreciate them.
“Likes” are encouraging and greatly appreciated, but “shares” put the
ideas on the road.<br />
<br />
From now on when you see one of my posts I hope you think, “There’s GLJ doing volunteer work again. Now what can I do?...”<br />
<br />
And by the way, I’m writing songs and making visual art like a madman. A new set of songs will be available soon.</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-50855958109615544102015-09-01T11:46:00.002-07:002015-09-01T12:12:28.018-07:00Sympathy For the VictimsIt's clear to even a passing glance that the current Republican Party is completely different than that of our parents and grandparents. It's similar in name only.<br />
<br />
I've heard it put this way:<br />
<br />
Today's Republican Party is made up of three classes.<br />
1. Those in control. (The oligarchs, the One-Per-Centers, the corporations, the banksters.)<br />
2. Their hired shills, (Politicians; the pundits; the media. Mercenaries who are being well compensated for their participation.)<br />
3. The suckers. (The real people "on the ground" who are being tricked into thinking and voting in ways that serve class number 1. They are fooled with emotional triggers that get them heated up and blinded to what's really being perpetrated. Issues that are usually based around race, gender, birth choices, and all sorts of misrepresented "rights". Stink bombs. Trojan horses.)<br />
<br />
I don't like the term "suckers". It has an unuseful pejorative tone. Sometimes "The Duped" is used in an attempt to be more conciliatory. I prefer "Victims". They are good people whose own better natures are being turned back to knife themselves in the heart. And they are coerced into grabbing the handle of the knife to help drive it in.Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-66351843287437862472015-08-19T10:38:00.000-07:002015-08-20T12:11:19.268-07:00The Mahatma and Bernie<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then
they fight you, then you win."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mahatma Gandhi</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Think about that as you consider this:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bernie Sanders is consistently drawing 5,000 to almost
30,000 people per event. One evening a couple weeks ago 100,000 people gathered
at the same time in various American homes to support and/or express interest
in Bernie. That event has been called the biggest political event in American
history.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People are flocking to Bernie Sanders because he is speaking
the simple, obvious truth that we are all dying to hear. He hasn't changed his
message. He's been talking about and acting on the same values for over 40
years. He lives the way he speaks. While other candidates are flying around in
private jets Bernie is still flying tourist because he doesn't want to lose
contact with real people. He can be seen walking to work in DC. (Obviously, at
this rate he's not going to be able to keep doing these things. And it's clear
that he won't be happy giving them up.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yet, the media are not telling you about any of this.
They are telling you about buffoonery, lies, and nonsensical proclamations in
campaigns and faux-campaigns that are thriving on the publicity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The media are owned by people in power who DO NOT want you
to hear the truth. Even the Democratic party is "owned" by political
insiders who don't want to yield their power to an outsider like Bernie Sanders.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Clinton, or Trump, or Walker, or any of the clowns out
there drew a small fraction of the people who are flocking to witness and
respond to Bernie you would be hearing about it around the clock.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They aren't going to be able to keep ignoring him. So watch
for the next step in Gandhi's model. They will ramp up attempts to mock him.
It's already beginning to occur.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the face of all this, support for Bernie is growing at an
amazing rate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notice that the title of the link below says "crowd of
20,000" while in the next line it says that he drew a record 28,000 that
night in Portland, OR. This is not a typo. It is not obfuscation. 8,000 people
had to be turned away because the venue wasn't big enough to hold them. This is
consistently happening day after day. No one was prepared for the quick rise of
interest in Bernie Sanders.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last night he drew 10,000 in Madison, WI. If you are
thinking "well, sure...Madison...left-wing college students"...this
morning he drew almost that many in Rochester, MN. This was the second time he
drew that many in Rochester in the last month or so. Rochester is known to be a
Republican enclave.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bernie Sanders is drawing people across party lines. They
know the real deal when they find it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t32JN7ShLJc</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-25571093593127417752015-07-09T11:33:00.000-07:002015-07-09T15:12:11.710-07:00Heard and Not Seen<style>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Heard and Not Seen</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">© 2015 by Gary
Lee Joyner</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
kind of guitar do I like?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you
mean a certain brand or style?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Or one
particular fetish object?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Listen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Listen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
guitar needs to stay out of my way</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
guitar must not get in my way</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Transparent</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As soon
as I notice it I don’t like it</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I like
to make love in the dark</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
touch that isn’t there</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
touch that’s so elemental</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It may
not even be there</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Listen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Listen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s
the truth</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s
the deal</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is
how it is</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It may
not have the romance you’re looking for</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
listen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Listen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve
been married to guitars for 48 years</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No
divorce in sight</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Three
things become clear over that length of time</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
now look like each other. (Check out Segovia at 90)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
hard to be in the same room together for any length of time (ignoring each
other helps)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
accept that you are stuck with each other for the duration</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">OK,
four things</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don’t
you touch her without asking</span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m standing right here for god sakes</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Listen again</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we both know</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If she ever did leave</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I would sit every night at an open window</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With a cold-burning candle</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ready to guide her back home</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Complicated, isn't it?</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-42841554416838091772015-07-05T15:45:00.000-07:002015-07-09T11:37:18.156-07:00Not Your Father's Guitar Capo<style>
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<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">© 2015 by Gary Lee Joyner</span></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.garyleejoyner.com/" target="_blank">www.garyleejoyner.com</a><br />
<br />
A former participant in my guitar classes at Blue Bear School of Music, San Francisco, who is now a geographically distant friend recently asked my impression of guitar capos. Here's his question followed by my response. By the way, his name is also Gary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Question?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gary, What are your thoughts on capos?
Playing guitars with a friend, he was of the view that with acoustic guitars,
we should play in first position. I occasionally capo for singing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Response:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hey Gary</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My first thought is how good you are at
bringing up interesting topics.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I love thinking about capos. I have led
lots of workshops about capoing, often under the title “This Isn’t Your
Father’s Capo”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And I like bringing different ideas
together…to expand ways of thinking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For example, in a tangential way one
might compare capos to the movable frets of a sitar. Similarities, differences,
parallels? Fun to think about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Or…since capos are in fact simply
clamps they might be compared to clamps in a workshop…or in surgery. Holding
something together…keeping something at bay…musical sound as glue or blood
flow…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Or…more directly…capo usage can be
compared to a transposing instrument. One can play and think in C while
actually sounding in Eb by capoing at III. This tidy benefit led to guitarists
being seen as poor musicians when they had trouble communicating with other
musicians. A pianist isn’t impressed when you say “I don’t know, I’m playing in
C” when he/she is hearing Eb.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These days I encourage people to think
in terms of the key they are actually sounding with a capo in the mix…rather
than the forms they are playing. It’s really not that hard. A thorough,
accurate understanding of the CAGED concept is all it takes. Sadly, talk about
CAGED tends to be ill-informed, not thought through, or polluted by fear and/or
arrogance. For starters, calling CAGED a “system” leads to confusion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The term “system” can be conceived in a
couple of significantly different ways. I suspect that people hear “CAGED
system” and misunderstand it to be a proscribed methodical approach to
something, similar to the “Stanislavski System” of acting or “the 12-tone
compositional system”. It may be less confusing and even useful if one compares
the CAGED “system” to a plumbing system, a matrix. An understanding of an inevitable
structure can help one function. But you don’t need to know about it to turn on
the faucet. </span><span data-offset-key="f5rg5-0-0" data-reactid=".15.1:4:1:$comment10206690344354277_10206701364349770:0.0.$right.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f5rg5.0:$f5rg5-0-0"><span data-reactid=".15.1:4:1:$comment10206690344354277_10206701364349770:0.0.$right.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f5rg5.0:$f5rg5-0-0.0">Musical sound as water...</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But I digress. Picking up where I left
off about capos…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A curious thing is that sitar playing
or building a birdhouse in a woodshop or vascular surgery or Eb alto saxophones
don’t arouse the dogmatism, argumentation, arrogance, or misconceptions that the
proposition of capos arouses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s the deal. If you never use open
strings when you are playing guitar a capo won’t be of any use to you.
Actually, that’s not even true. Let’s say it won’t be of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>musical</u></b> use to you. There can be physical applications. For
example, if you are training yourself to play something with wide stretches in
the fretting hand it can be helpful to capo at V or so and slowly work down
over time as you become more limber. Another example of a purely physical
application—a capo can make the action feel “lower”…that is, the rise of the
string above the fingerboard is higher off the nut than it is over a fret. In
another way, a purely sound-related application can be demonstrated by playing “Here
Comes the Sun” in the key of D without a capo and then playing it with the same
chord forms, but capoed at VII (which means you are actually sounding in the
key of A). The sonic/timbral difference is immediately clear. You were playing
on a “big” guitar with long strings. Now you’re playing on a “little” guitar
with much shorter strings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But strictly speaking, if you don’t
utilize open strings a capo won’t be of any direct musical use. And that
musical use is essentially transposition. Jazz guitarists don’t seem to
gravitate toward capos. It’s not because they are more highly evolved human
beings. They just don’t tend to use open strings. Using a capo with awareness
of true keys and musical effects is very sophisticated in itself. A grounding
in transposition is a great place to start.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Ironically, Peter Einhorn, a jazz
guitarist, has developed one of the most brilliant partial capos on the market.
See next paragraph.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s a related topic that has excited
me for a bunch of years now—partial capoing. This has to do with capoing only
selected strings, often at different frets using multiple capos. (The sitar
analogy becomes even more apt.) This can be approached simply or deeply. There
are a number of partial capos on the market that offer a place to begin. I
customized a couple dozen different variations for myself before Peter Einhorn
created his universally applicable Spider Capo. Shubb Capos are particularly
amenable to the alterations I experimented with on my own. I still use a bunch
of them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Depending on your guitar neck, it might
work to begin by simply flipping a standard Kyser capo over to simulate both
Esus and A partial capos. The piece that was on the back of the neck is now on
the front. Or you can simulate Drop D tuning by clamping your Kyser from below
and leaving string 6 open.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Confusion has entered the scene because
partial capo manufacturers advertise partial capos as quick ways to altered
tunings. This is wildly inaccurate. Standard tuning, altered tunings, and
partial capoing are three separate and distinct approaches. Each one is a
completely different entity—evidenced by people like David Wilcox, and myself, who
have combined altered tunings with partial capoing to create yet another
playing environment. </span><span data-offset-key="6gkps-0-0" data-reactid=".11.1:4:1:$comment10206690344354277_10206701364349770:0.0.$right.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6gkps.0:$6gkps-0-0"><span data-reactid=".11.1:4:1:$comment10206690344354277_10206701364349770:0.0.$right.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6gkps.0:$6gkps-0-0.0">But the beauty of basic partial capo usage, i.e. a partial capo used with standard tuning, is that you still have all your familiar chord forms while the “open” strings offer wonderful new combinations of sound that can be surprisingly and happily disorienting.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(There are many topics touched on above
that need meta-hyperlinks because they each open entire new cans of worms. Pomo
guitar ruminations. No time now.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A final thought. The idea “he was of
the view that with acoustic guitars, we should play in first position” really
has me scratching my head. I operate with the idea that “shoulds” and rules
don’t serve art/creativity…preferring to think in terms of what is useful in
pursuit of a desired result. Any rule is useful only for achieving and/or avoiding
what the rule is about. If you want the opposite effect the rule needs to be
reversed. The “rule” your friend mentioned strikes me as particularly
ill-considered and self-limiting. Acoustic guitars sound wonderful in first
position, but a lot of fine music wouldn’t be achieved if we limited ourselves
to that area. Maybe there was an implied intent that I’m missing…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A final-final thought. I once heard a
drummer interviewed about working with saxophonist Wayne Shorter. They were
dealing with some predictably difficult music, and she was having a hard time
with it. Really freezing up. Starting to cry. She said that Shorter stopped
everything, took her to another room, and gently said, “Relax. It’s only
music.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a href="http://www.garyleejoyner.com/" target="_blank">www.garyleejoyner.com</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-70214446980914592482014-09-26T09:18:00.000-07:002014-09-26T09:26:37.161-07:00The Great Gatsby—Great or Grating?<div class="MsoNormal">
A certain stratum of Twin Cities “intelligentsia” loves to
grovel before “The Great Gatsby”. Three women on Minnesota Public Radio are at
it again this morning. They aren’t only calling it the greatest American novel,
but the greatest novel period.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"What makes it so Great? Why does it endu-u-ure? Why do
we keep rereading it?"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I've read it several times. It's on my shelf right now. Why?
A repeatedly unsuccessful search to catch a glimpse of any latent transplendence.
To me, it's dull, shallow, cheap, simplistic melodrama that I have to slog
through. The only thing that lingers for me is the billboard with the
"watchful eyes".</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some prof-type talked about "The best seven pages that
have ever been written about America" lurking somewhere in
Gatsby...??!!!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The host and guests on the radio show vied to outdo each
other with the overwhelming ravishment each experienced the first time she read
Gatsby.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, these folks have to make a living, too, and this is
one way to go about it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it makes me think that even though they read a lot, they
must not read widely. It's "greatness" pales in the presence of...for
starters:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anything by Robertson Davies. (Not an "American"
because he's Canadian? Our friends to the north would argue that provincial
view.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's
Court".</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"The Subterraneans" and "The Dharma
Bums" by Jack Kerouac.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Women" by Charles Bukowski.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Clem Anderson" by R.V. Cassill</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even Herman Wouk's "Youngblood Hawke" is more
compelling in all its popular novel-ness. That potboiler was fun both times I
read it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And Henry Miller's gigantic "The Rosy
Crucifixion". This massive trilogy is set in the same era as Gatsby. If
you want to talk about having one's world shift while reading it for the first
time...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That covers a few “great” American novels. If you’re
claiming global greatness for Gatsby the list of contenders multiplies. Musil,
Gombrowicz, Broch, Kundera, Kafka…and on… As the N’yawkas like to say, “fugedabahdit!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what’s this compulsion to establish greatness? There’s
some masturbatory, self-serving element to all this. If you like it, it’s good.
Like wine. Evangelistic browbeating is pointless. Oh, right…everybody has to
make a living. Even Jay Gatsby at some point, as I recall…but I think my mind
was always wandering by then…</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-12619772543655837072014-05-15T12:51:00.000-07:002014-05-15T12:51:42.411-07:00Good News For Consumers<div class="_1x1">
<div class="userContentWrapper">
<div class="_wk">
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Pay attention to the media that you choose to access.<br /> You are no longer a human being, a citizen, a person, or even a Communist "comrade".<br /> You are a consumer. That is the identity and role assigned to you. That is your function.<br /> "Good news for consumers today...."<br /> "Consumers are asking...."<br /> And so on...<br /> <br />
I'm not hearing anyone talk about this. Not in my world, anyway. And
when I bring it up to individuals face-to-face the reaction has been:
"What? Oh. Oh.... Wow! Yeah..."</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-85340325224811104422014-04-29T08:08:00.000-07:002014-04-29T08:08:35.654-07:00Snow Never Stops Falling
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SNOW NEVER STOPS
FALLING</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">©Copyright 2010 by Gary Lee Joyner</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The air is warm, but the sky cold gray</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We finally rise to face the day</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Search for the hint of a hopeful ray</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the Snow Never Stops Falling</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Collecting in boxes on silver chains</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Across dead grass and sidewalk stains</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hiding memories of summer rains</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Snow Never Stops Falling</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Canvas faces surround us here</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Faded paint blurred by tears</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unblinking eyes, a hint of fear</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the Snow Never Stops Falling</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Snow that falls this slowly</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Never touches the ground</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The earth takes it into her mouth</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And swallows without a sound</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She’ll gently use her tongue</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To guide its journey down</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Come back to this bed of flannel sheets</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or leave me alone to sleep in peace</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To dream in a world of imagined feats</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because the Snow Never Stops Falling</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lion crawled into my room</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sniffing like a dog lost in a tomb</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before slipping away at the first scent of doom</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the Snow Never Stops Falling</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a soul that’s bleeding blue</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like faded ink in an old tattoo</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can we bring back color and make things new</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Will the snow ever stop falling</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Snow that falls this slowly</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Never touches the ground</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The earth takes it into her mouth</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And swallows without a sound</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She’ll gently use her tongue</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To guide its journey down</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One walks out, another steps in</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A moment of relief and then</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take a breath, begin again</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the Snow Never Stops Falling</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-90425796440316940342014-04-10T07:48:00.000-07:002014-04-10T08:22:28.452-07:00Thursday, April 10, 1986Imagine getting up tomorrow and finding today again.<br />
<br />
In a way, we do this every day, but...I actually lived Thursday, April 10, 1986 twice.<br />
<br />
I was working in the entertainment department on a cruise ship heading east from Japan and we crossed the international dateline. I was prepared for the oddness of doing April 10th twice, but the utter weirdness of doing two Thursdays in a row caught me off guard.<br />
<br />
The cruise line paid the staff for one day's work saying," It's April 10...it's one day," while they charged passengers for two...Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-28272318861481068862014-02-13T14:02:00.001-08:002014-02-13T14:02:02.533-08:00Album 1700<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Once
upon a time in the distant past a tall, lanky, gorgeous, Swedish blonde
bass player with a sweet name stole my songbook for Peter, Paul, and
Mary's "Album 1700". I recently found a used copy of the book.<br /> <br />
Peter, Paul, and Mary played a significant role in my beginning guitar
years. I eventually had a personal connection with Paul (hipsters call him Noel) that I'll tell
you about sometime. Still further along the way <span class="text_exposed_show">my interests went in other directions and P,P and M became irrelevant for me.<br /> <br />
Rediscovering this songbook sent me back to the old vinyl albums. (I
had to go to The Electric Fetus for copies of a couple because I wore
the originals out in high school.) I'm having fun looking and listening
from a different lifetime perspective. There was a lot of commercial
nonsense (after all, they were created artificially by Albert Grossman
to meet the "needs" of the current commercial folk market), but they did
some very nice vocal harmony work. And sometimes their acoustic guitar
sound was quite full and good...for the times.<br /> <br /> Two of the
albums ("Album 1700" and "Peter, Paul and Mary Album") occasionally
approach real hipness because their back-up band was...are you ready for
this?...The Paul Butterfield Blues Band...including Michael
Bloomfield!!<br /> <br /> God only knows the wet dreams that
Mary inspired.<br /> <br /> And I must add that the more I reconnect with the passion for music-making that P, P and M inspired in me the better off I will be.</span></span>Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-71288554074341238482014-02-05T12:12:00.003-08:002014-02-05T12:40:59.855-08:00The New Gateway: Putting the "War On Drugs" Focus Where It BelongsThe lamentable death of P.S. Hoffman has everyone talking about heroin, of course. The media (a plural word) thrive on this sort of energy.<br />
<br />
In the process, information is coming out that the biggest drug problems in recent years (death, addiction, crime, etc) have revolved around prescription drugs. This isn't news, but it is brought into a new focus.<br />
<br />
There are also reports about users moving on to heroin when their Rx drugs run out because heroin is now cheaper and more readily available than the prescriptions. <br />
<br />
At the same time, new reports are out about the incredible and barely graspable corporate profit margins for the drugs that are constantly being pushed at you via the media (a plural word).<br />
<br />
Here's a reasonable conclusion that you won't be hearing in corporate-controlled media (a plural word) because it doesn't serve pharmaceutical profit purposes (even though the same thinking continues to be disingenuously and artificially used as
an excuse for maintaining a criminal status for marijuana): Rx drugs are now clearly established as "gateway" drugs. As such, they should be criminalized.Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-68406308062276122782014-01-29T09:17:00.000-08:002014-01-29T09:18:29.638-08:00Aspen Magazine<span class="userContent">In the mid-70s a friend of mine showed me his
issues of Aspen Magazine. He had seen an ad in another magazine and
decided to send off the $5 required for a subscription. Given the times
and our financial situations this was an admirably bra<span class="text_exposed_show">zen
move on his part. His guess that it might be a scam was supported when
nothing showed up in the mail for awhile. But eventually things did
appear--unpredictably and irregularly. Each issue was in fact a magical
box of art pieces, recordings (things like Neal Cassady chattering at an
SF Acid Test in the 60s), poetry, printed materials, art manifestos,
and so on. It all reflected maverick approaches to art, maniacal
collaborations, and other marvels that enflamed one's creative passions.
He let me borrow these treasures for awhile and I photocopied various
things, made copies of the tapes. I discovered ideas that affect my work
to this day.<br /> <br /> And speaking of this day, I looked up Aspen
Magazine on-line this morning and found an issue for sale at Abe Books.
The cost? $22,500...<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/aspen-magazine/sortby/1/page-1/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/aspen-magazine/sortby/1/page-1/</a></span></span>Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-74208411349905585432013-11-22T10:11:00.000-08:002013-11-28T14:32:15.494-08:00JFK’S MOTORCADE: THE JOYNER FILM<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
JFK’S MOTORCADE: THE JOYNER FILM</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm
writing this on Friday, November 22, 2013. </span>Today people of a certain age
are remembering what they were doing 50 years ago. We attribute a certain kind
of importance to specific measures of time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My personal
experience of JFK involves a November, but it was 1962. I don’t remember the
day of the week or whether I had to skip school to execute my plan.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
was living in Minneapolis, and the president was in town. I decided that I
wanted to see his motorcade drive down Park Avenue. I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">needed</i> to see the president. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This was not the
first or the last shameful impulse I brought into our right-wing, evangelical
Republican home—meaning I wasn’t free to talk much about my intentions. (“The
pope’s running the country now. THE POPE’S RUNNING THE COUNTRY!” Bang went the
fist on the table. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>Nixon, Nixon, he's our man/Kennedy goes in the garbage can.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I told my
mother I was going out. I hopped on my red single speed bicycle with 26-inch
tires, and headed toward Park Avenue. It was the longest bike trip I’d ever
taken. I wended my way further and further through unfamiliar urban neighborhoods.
I remember it being chilly with a familiar bone-deep loneliness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The avenue was already lined with
people when I arrived. I jockeyed my way to the front and stood with my bike at
my side, gripping the handlebars. I’m not sure how long we waited on the wide,
empty one-way street with our necks craned to look down the road. Expectation and
excitement filled the air.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Finally we
saw distant motion and heard the faint rumble of approaching motorcycles under
the increasing swell of cheers. A couple other cars came first carrying
assorted dignitaries who weren’t the least bit important just now. And then…there
he was…passing a few feet in front of me…sitting on the back of the rear seat
of his limo…young and strong and in control…confident and out in the open…the
famous tousled hair over the square face, the droopy eyelids, the compelling
smile, the visible humor, the easy shift of the body that he’d shown in press
conferences on TV, the simple wave. It was fast and it was powerful and he was with
us and then he was gone.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The crowd quickly dispersed. I climbed on my bicycle. As I made the long ride home I enjoyed my familiar solitude
and I tried to absorb the experience—the anticipation and then a flurry of
activity that only lasted a couple of minutes at most…or was it two and a half
years?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
He was real…and then he was gone…</div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-10963789670925478862013-10-21T14:44:00.001-07:002013-10-21T14:44:44.525-07:00No More Billionaires?<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent">Some
of us keep asking why the billionaires want even more money. (For
example, the Koch brothers = $71,000,000,000+. How many times can they
upgrade their bathrooms? Is there a restaurant that they can't
afford?...afford to eat at?...afford to own?...)</span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"><br /> The answer finally occurred to me while I watched the last few weeks unfold.</span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"><br />
It's about power. Even that thought seems self-evident, but recent
events have brought it screamingly into focus. The right-wing extremist
billionaires (a very small community) want...they NEED...to control even
more of the money...<br /> They have made it clear that they already
control a significant piece of our government...i.e. our lives...now.
And they control it by buying it. Anyone who doesn't recognize this is
either willfully/ideologically in denial or simply uninformed/stupid.
But if they control even more of the money they will further solidify
their control of everything...everywhere.</span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"><br /> They will do anything...anything...including destroy your country...to eliminate the competition.</span></span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3,"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent"> <a href="http://www.nobillionaires.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nobillionaires.com/</a></span></span></span></h5>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-47608014435914772292013-08-27T20:54:00.002-07:002013-08-27T21:11:25.253-07:00Blood On the Portrait<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">I lived in Mpls on the day that Blood On the Tracks was released.<br /> <br />
(I have personal stories about the night that the Mpls album tracks
were recorded at Sound 80...I'll save the stories for another time.)<br /> <br />
I was at the door of record shop Electric Fetus when they opened on
that day. I crawled over the glass counter and bongs and papers to get
to the shipping cases that hadn't been opened yet. I rip<span class="text_exposed_show">ped
them open myself to get at the first available copy in the Twin Cities
of this album. I was desperate after lamentable tho' oddly interesting
years of Dylan odds 'n' ends that included Self Portrait.<br /> <br /> Today
I'm in the Twin Cities again when Bootleg Vol 10 Another Self Portrait
is released. And 40 years later I find myself at the Electric Fetus
looking to buy the new release of Dylan ephemera from that Self Portrait
era. I walk into the store through theft detectors, surrender my bag to
a clerk, and find my way to the shelf of new CD releases. The new Dylan
is already there as expected and costs $19. A sign suggests asking at
the counter about the "deluxe" version. I encounter some stiff, arrogant
clerks who show me the $100 deluxe version in a big box with a book and
other stuff. I politely offer my credit card and obediently walk out
with my $19 purchase. </span></span>Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-20035752884131215572013-04-23T11:08:00.000-07:002013-04-23T11:10:52.358-07:00Zeitgeist Strikes<div class="MsoNormal">
A colleague and friend currently has this quote from
composer Charles Seeger in the signature of his email: <span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“If you judge the musicality of a nation,
don't judge it by the presence of virtuosos. Judge it by the general level of
the average person to make music.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">It
got me thinking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">When
the band Kiss showed up with their stage make-up a fan of mine sought me out to
say, “So what? You were doing that a couple of years ago.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">When
Bob Dylan showed up on stage in Renaldo & Clara wearing a mask someone
leaned over to whisper to me in the theater, “Hey, look. Just like you do.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">When
I watched the Residents from backstage in 1990, totally enjoying their
stagemanship, the startling realization hit me: “Holy shit! This is just like
what I was doing in 1972.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Am
I brilliant? Sure, but that’s not the point here. The nature and realities of
media make them focus on singularities, but in fact the Zeitgeist strikes in many
places at the same time.</span></div>
Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-19089307607709246532012-11-26T16:44:00.002-08:002012-11-26T16:45:25.231-08:00InvisibleINVISIBLE<br />
© Copyright 2012 by Gary Lee Joyner<br />
<br />
Doctor: And how are we today<br />
<br />
The images I mount around me<br />
Don’t work anymore<br />
They don’t quell the burning flame<br />
The rising volcanic pressure<br />
And I remain Invisible<br />
<br />
Doctor: Invisible, you say<br />
<br />
Invisible as a magician’s hidden payload<br />
Invisible as pre-miracle silk scarves stuffed up a sleeve<br />
Invisible as a terrified rabbit beneath the false bottom of an upturned hat<br />
A blinding burn of flash powder and I remain Invisible<br />
<br />
Doctor: I want to hear more<br />
As a person, aha<br />
As an artist, oho<br />
As a creator<br />
Whose gift and contribution<br />
Is ignored by society, oh my<br />
On the street people look through you<br />
At a party people walk through you<br />
At home your girlfriend sees through you<br />
So you must be Invisible<br />
Ah, but have you considered<br />
The benefits of invisibility<br />
You can live in a fog<br />
You can come like the wind<br />
And slip away in a mist<br />
Think of what you can achieve<br />
Think of what you can get away with<br />
Most important of all<br />
Think of….<br />
But our time is gone<br />
We’ll take it from there next weekGary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9128162914672315368.post-13125019287949469192012-11-24T16:22:00.001-08:002012-11-24T16:22:18.987-08:00Exquisite Media CorpseIf...if !!...you'd like to feel an impact of media (a plural word) bizarreness...<br />
<br />Put on a television broadcast with the sound down (you choose which, but a "news" show is a good place to start)...play a CD/mp3 album of your choice while watching...enjoy the ensuing antics/displacement/expanded-awareness that ensues with this truly surrealistic game in play.<br />
<br />It's not a comfortable activity of the sort the media (a plural word) want you to "enjoy"...<br />
<br />I'm doing it at the moment with ancient replays of The Lawrence Welk Show mixed with "today's news" while listening to Nic Bartsch's Ronin...Gary Lee Joynerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619442394226288305noreply@blogger.com0