The Hills Are Alive ... With The Sound Of Wildfires

California is on fire. Again. It's pretty close to Venice this time, like you can see it in Malibu from the beach. It's super hot. The air is of poor quality. People have been evacuated ... my friend didn't even have time to grab her toothbrush. Shops are closed. Schools are closed. Animals are being evacuated from the L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park. And it's just another day in Southern California in 2018.

A friend of mine posted today that wildfires are terrorist acts. The devastating damage they do starts somewhere ... and it's usually because of an idiot who doesn't know better than to not smoke and toss out your butt. Or make any sparks anywhere when it's dry and windy and prime kindling for a massive fire. We should be better at avoiding wildfires by now.

This has already been an intense week, with the midterm elections (where basically no candidate but Bernie even discussed climate change and the results of it that we see and feel daily), yet another mass shooting (this one not far from the area being evacuated for the fires, as if they haven't suffered enough), and now all of this natural (but most likely man-made) disaster. THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY. Geez.

Get out there and enjoy the hell out of yourself, because we all deserve it. Be safe. Be smart. Be kind. Look out for each other. Love.

Jane's Addiction in Bethlehem - Pennsylvania

A fun drive from Syracuse on the tour bus that included learning poker, making up drinks ("Multiple Orgasms", anyone?), watching the beautiful, green rolling hills, and insightful conversation made the time fly by, and before we knew it, we were pulling into the site for the Jane's Addiction show in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The setting was straight out of a Tim Burton movie, with abandoned steel factories and small town charm together. The word that kept coming up for the outdoor "Steel Jam" venue was "ominous".

The skies added to that effect, as storm clouds alternated with blue skies and made no one sure what would happen this evening. We killed some time playing hoops and having more smart talks, and Perry sat down to reconfigure the set list for this show. He knew that people had purchased tickets to multiple shows, so it's important to him to shake it up a bit each night and give the folks something new.

The thing is ... musicians travel the world in a more unique way than most occupations you can think of, and see the conditions of places and the moods of people in a real and tangible way. They FEEL the places they play. Some of them just want to rock and party and that's all cool and part of the deal. but some of them also want to touch and help people - even if that just means stoking them senseless by seeing their favorite song played by their favorite band. That is certainly the case with Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell, shown recently by the announcement of Lollapalooza Israel in 2013 (And leave the politics out of it - people everywhere want to rock and hear great music. Walls and ancient grudges have no place in that fun. We're talking about building bridges, not burning them), and Lollapalooza in general, as created by Perry. That thing has been, since the first one - that I was at -  the most diverse, thoughtful, enlightening jamboree ever - and it has sustained! And then they did it again last night by bringing the full stage production of The Great Escape Artist tour to kind of out of the way Bethlehem, PA.

Band of Skulls opened the show, and as I'd just seen them at Lollapalooza, I opted to explore and chat and stuff as they played in the background. They're pretty good, but the fans were obviously there for Jane's (as was I).

Before they even took the stage, people were losing. Their. Shit. Smaller towns don't really get to see the bands they love as much without traveling a long way, so for these guys to be setting up in their town, the thrill was plainly evident on all the faces present. They were screaming out requests way before the guys took the stage ("OCEAN SIZE!!!") in the hopes that wishes would be granted.

When the lights went down and Pink Floyd came up, it was wild out there. I felt hoarse just listening to the yells. Then the guys walked on stage and all hell broke loose - MAYHEM! They opened with "Underground", and the sight of Etty and Steph up on their swings in their huge white skirts and Bubba in his bird man costume spinning from a rope and Jane's Addiction wailing out this new classic sent these Pennsylvanians into space. But then they started in on "Whores" and Oh. My. This was by far the most crazed I'd seen the people yet on this tour. That's really saying something too.

 

"Just Because" let 'em have it, and a fan let Perry have their cowboy hat, which he donned and made someone's whole year. Perry was in rare form, spinning and twirling and jerking and ON it, exactly how they probably imagined him.  "Been Caught Stealing"  really had them freaking out, the most yet, to the point where Perry said, "Bethlehem!! Babies are gonna be born from tonight, everyone's gonna be having sex!"

That's what it felt like, especially when I peeked out at the beaming faces and pumping arms on every single body there. The band was definitely feeding off of the crowd energy, and this was the most pumped up I'd seen them go at it yet here out east. Phew.

They hadn't yet played the new and massive "Irresistible Force", and it was indeed massive. Etty swan and sang from above and you could feel that force between her and her husband, even from a story or two up. They are great.

Dave was tearing up solos like he was possessed and Stephen and Chris kept the beat so heavy that you felt it through your feet and up into your heart. I love this stuff so very much, and yet it can't be anything compared to these people who have seen their factories closed, jobs shipped away, bank accounts dwindle, and they still come out and pay for a spendy-ish ticket and feed that part of themselves that is special and necessary to their soul.

Nothing yet compared to their reaction at hearing "Mountain Song" either. Whoa. I wish I'd taped the BLISSED out screaming when that one began its familiar opening, as a ringtone or something. I mean, it was a very happy place.

And then just as soon, it was off. I saw the backdrop come down and heard Perry say, "We're so sorry, we'll come back through, we love you, Bethlehem!" What?!?! Everyone was looking around, bewildered, including me, and then a guy came on the P.A. and asked everyone to leave, orderly and safely, as severe weather was coming through. An electrical storm was shaping up to be a doozy and the show was over. Boos to the skies rained down as the real rain kicked in, and we all looked at each other like, What. The. Fuck?! And again, that was nothing compared to what the fans must have been feeling after FINALLY getting to see this band live. People were going to hear "Up The Beach"! Everyone felt terrible about it.

Back on the bus, we had to wait it all out, as we were to drive through the night, so had to wait to load in and all that. Perry kept trying to come up with solutions and after some chat, was like, "Let's just sleep on the bus HERE since we have a day off tomorrow, and do this thing here again!" A great and generous idea, from a great and generous gentleman. But it didn't go over as well with the entire tour production, that is a train that has to keep moving. After talks about downloads and stuff like that, it seemed to be settled on that Bethlehem people could have their tickets honored at an upcoming Philly show, that's relatively close by. Still, a major drag for everyone involved. Man.

 

It's twice now in a week that a major show (first day two of Lollapalooza, and now this) has had to have thousands of people evacuated on account of weather - both of which wound up being wuss storms that blew over in none too gnarly fashion. I guess you just can't be too safe these days. Or can you? Frankly, I don't think a person in there would have cared to go out in that SHAZAM blaze of lightning bolt glory in that COMING down the MOUNTAIN! moment (and there was some impressive bolts, but still ...). But it's also the hottest summer on record in this country, crops are suffering, as are people, and we really gotta get our act together as a human community and revamp our situation with nature. I mean, C'mon. While we sort out exactly how to do that, and influence and implement MAJOR change by whatever means we can (and sometimes that's just starting the conversation, through talk or rock), we have to start caring more about what MATTERS.  I'm not going to preach, I'm just going to say that a whole lot of people spend a whole lot of time and money and their LIVES wasted on stupid b.s. Like petty differences over PEOPLE. Like fear over education. Like material over internal. Come on! We all see it every day, in so many ways. Just MATTER instead. In the best way you can. At least care.



More than that even, remember to go for it and have the best time you possibly can in every breath you're given ... because these are crazy times, and you better rock it while you can.

YEAH!

Norway - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Happy Syttende Mai, my Norwegians!

Yes, I come from an Immigrant family. My grandparents came to the United States from Norway. Today they celebrate their Constitution Day in Norway, and fly the red, white, and blue of their country in celebration, kind of like their Fourth of July. I'm flying my little flag here in Venice today too, as I grew up doing in Minnesota.


Most of us are proud of our heritage and realize that all our myriad cultures are what make our country different, great and INTERESTING, for Goodness sake. I can't believe how easily some haters forget that unless they come from a Native American tribe, we are ALL immigrants. How the Native Tribespeople can even bear to listen to the usually somewhat older white men spew about people coming into "THEIR" Country these days, I'll never know. We have a Statue Of Liberty we love, and that says right on it:

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the Golden Door!

So there. Solutions, not spew. Thanks.

Anway, YAY NORWAY!! We've always had great pride in our Motherland, and the good ideas they come up with over there, like Lefse, and the Nobel Peace Prize. But the best one yet in my opinion, is the genius idea and monumentally important undertaking of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, (also called "The Doomsday Vault") on Norway's Spitsbergen Island, 810 miles from the North Pole.


They have blasted deep down into the permafrost of a sandstone mountain, to create a place to store seeds from all over the world, in the event of a horrible natural (or Man-made) disaster that would destroy a country's vital crops. They take seed donations from anywhere at all, and the country remains in charge of their own seeds, though the building cost was put up by the Kingdom of Norway.


The seeds are safely stored deep underground, with the capacity to be preserved for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. There are three chambers, each with the capacity to store 1.5 million seeds (only accessible in the event that seeds are lost for any reason). You reach the vault via a long tunnel, entered into through a portal above ground, lit with Aurora Borealis-like trippiness. Stunning, in its beauty, and ingenuity alike. Ahh, thinking globally! How refreshing.


*You really should study more about it at the link above. It's pretty cool.




With the recent nightmare of the BP Oil Spill (CRIME!!!) we are more aware - I HOPE - of what can go so badly, and possibly irreparably, wrong in our natural world, and stop doing those murderous things. Unfortunately the Svalbard Vault only takes seeds, and won't be able to replace precious Gulf marine life. But their forethought is not only impressive, but necessary, as we watch the filthy oil execs scramble for fixes well AFTER the fact.

I was walking down my street this gloomy Venice morning, and ran into my neighbor, Sven (he's really named that, I'm not just giving the story a Scandinavian twist), and he was out putting a stake up for a wind-blown tree. Next to his curbside corn crop that is already knee high. We spoke only about natural stuff, and though he did have a Bluetooth thing in his ear, we could otherwise have been in anytime, anyplace, talking about the crops and weather. It was kind of great, and again, felt so much more real and important than anything else we could small-talk about. It IS important.

So thanks, Norway, for looking out for the rest of us. Thanks too for providing my ancestry, which I'm very proud of. And I'm not at all ashamed to say I'm an Immigrant.

SKOL, NORGE!!!