Good afternoon My Gentle Readers. I’m still procrastinating but at least I’m writing while the sun is out, even if it is hiding behind clouds and raindrops. I wrote that, the phone rang, and now it’s an hour later. After commenting that I had not used my voice in days I’ve now had 7 phone conversations in the last 24 hours. Three were with the same person and one was therapy. I also had to reject one call because I was on another but when I called him back got his voice mail. Looks like one more conversation today.
Two of my conversations were about fact checking yesterday’s blog, The Man with the Puppy Dog Eyes. I wrote about the Chicks with Dip new EP, Stomping on Eggshells. I called Carolann for the information, she didn’t answer so I called Katherine. Carolann called when I was talking to Katherine and I called her back. I’m an intrepid journalist who will go to great lengths to make a story accurate. After that I watched the Chicks do a show on Facebook Live. I told Katherine and Carolann that I’d see them later even though they wouldn’t see me. I feel like I could. This was very much a folk-family affair, I knew not just the performers but the other audience members. I was never one for streaming concerts, but this is the only way I get to experience my folk community. You take what you can get. The people are still wonderful; as is Stomping on Eggshells.
The Chicks have gone political but do it without hitting you over the head. Perhaps they aren’t all political; I can’t imagine who Miles & Mafale’s Snake Oil Salesman might be about. Nope, that’s just about some traveling medicine show conman. Allison’s Invention aka Allison Tartalia does a sensual rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner; the right does not have a monopoly on patriotism. As Existential Bell, Katherine Etzel rocks a cover of Red Rider’s Lunatic Fringe. Sadly 39 years later that fringe is not only still there but has grown. Elisa Peimer does a folk-rock anthem, I’m Gonna Start about shutting out the clamor of social media. The other Chicks wanted to wave their lighter apps, that’s how Elisa’s music affects people. Meg Braun’s powerful tale of a woman being drugged and assaulted should not be political, but unfortunately it is. No, it’s not just locker room talk. Chick Allison Scola’s duo with her husband Joe Ravo, Villa Palagonia’s Breathe Free is a tale of America’s promise to immigrants based on Emma Lazarus’s New Colossus. That too should not be political; It’s what America is about. It is as patriotic as the Star-Spangled Banner. Karyn Oliver has been writing many angry songs since November 2016. Stand Up takes the healthy approach to anger, turning it into self-empowerment, not asking to be rescued, but rescuing ourselves. Carolann Solebello’s Lady in Waiting bookends Breathe Free as it too quotes the Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty. It’s a song of hope, asking us to look forward to the more welcoming time to come.
I just listened to the entire album again and I’m amazed at how good it is. Not one of the songs falls into the Tom Lehrer’s Folk Song Army trap of singing, “I’m against poverty war and destruction, not like the rest of you squares.” None of them expect you to like the song just because it says what you want to hear. They all make you think. More importantly, they all work as songs. My only complaint about the album is that I couldn’t listen to it as background as it kept grabbing my attention. I know don’t need any added inducement to buy it, but all the proceeds go to the ACLU. That’s an inducement to pay more than the minimum of $7. Now go to Bandcamp, buy it. Here’s the link to the Bandcamp page, Stomping on Eggshells. Buy it now but don’t listen until you finish reading this as you won’t be able to pay attention to what you are reading.
I made the mistake of munching on peanuts during the show and wasn’t hungry afterward. I finally got ready to eat at 11:05 and was about to put the computer down when I got a notification that one of my musician friends was starting a live video. It was such an odd time that I figured she as just testing something out or perhaps making an announcement. When I got to the video I saw a closeup of her neck and then she turned her back to the camera and walked to the other side of the room. I commented “Do you know that you are live?” By the time I was finished typing it was clear that she didn’t know. She had somehow gone live by accident. I got out my phone and called her. I was going to tease her by acting like we were in a horror movie, and say, I can see what you’re doing and describe what she was wearing. Then I decided that would be mean. I’m a saint. Thanks to the delay the phone was ringing, and she answered before I could see her doing that on the screen. I explained what happened and she turned off the live feed. Good thing this was a friend who I know well enough that she’s going to answer my call at 11:05. Imagine if it was someone that didn’t have me in her contacts, and it was a strange number calling. In the two minutes she was on the air she had nine viewers! Shows you the power of Facebook. Two others commented, one of which I knew. There’s a lesson to be learned here. If you use a streaming app make sure it doesn’t automatically stream to Facebook if you accidentally touch it. That’s what happened.
Of course, once we got the video taken care of we didn’t hang up. My friends are like me. I put off eating and she put off working and we talked. That’s another one of my conversations. I was in a good mood because of all the socializing and that’s what we talked about during my therapy. Her two conclusions were that I don’t have Dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder) and I’m not a homicidal maniac. Isn’t that good to hear? In her professional opinion I’m a kind person. That’s right up there with my surgeon telling me that I didn’t die. I’m not like Trump, I listen to the experts.
Now I’m going to make dinner at a reasonable hour, it’s 5:43. A Cajun chicken breast sandwich is calling me.
Wise Madness 