in the presence of...

Last week was above and beyond the usual. I had the opportunity to be around or interact with two inspiring artists.

saw sting and his killer band from the fourth row. dominic miller is such a killer guitarist, and josh freese proves again that having a big hitter on the kit is always a good thing.

as for sting -- what can you say? i was so glad to see him in the stripped down form. no keyboards, no shmaltzy lounge versions of his better songs. i've witnessed this guy screw up more of his own music than other people have so i truly appreciated a back to basics approach. he sounded great and was obviously having a good time.

i also got to witness saul williams in the creative space vs the performance space. hanging out in the studio with saul while he put his stamp on a stuart davis song was a lot of fun...especially when several lines of lyrical beauty were delivered where they hadn't appeared moments earlier.

thanks for the opportunity to be there, guys.

and stu's new record is going to be really cool. stay tuned. btw...he hit a 39 on the back nine last thursday -- from the ladies' tees.

Humor & Shadow

We're having to say goodbye to Mitch Hedberg today. I love comedy and Mitch was one of my favorites. It's no secret he had his problems with drugs, but i felt that his heart was always right there -- check out "Strategic Grill Locations" for an example.

This reminds me of the last post I wrote, the one about artists being stereotypically fucked up. Out of all of the lines of development that get thrown around in integral discussions, it's weird that humor hasn't found a way into the spotlight. I believe humor and the ability to make others laugh is an amazing gift to our existence. Just think about how laughing connects us, helps us learn, opens our minds and busts through barriers of all kinds.

But it seems that Mitch's gift fell short of reciprocation.

So long, Mitch. Thanks for the laughs.

Are artists doomed to be fuck-ups?

I've had this topic sitting around for a while...this notion of raising the bar for our potential as humans and then creating art from this space.

It seems to challenge what most of us actually want from art.

A while back I rented and watched Metallica's Some Kind of Monster which is a documentary of the band as they struggle through demons, etc. Most notably we get to watch lead singer, James Hetfield battle his alcoholism. I grew up with Metallica and appreciated Hetfield's candor and rigor through his process. This guy flew up the spiral and it was inspiring to watch.

But then they had to write an album from this place. And well, let's just say it's not my favorite Metallica album. Could it be that these guys are getting older, having kids and buying expensive toys while trying to capture the angst of youth? Or maybe it's that their development has taken some of the spark out of their creation? Maybe this new balance has seemingly robbed them of their edge.

But I have to admit I haven't really connected to Metallica's music in years. Hell, this is probably all projection because I've lost my own desire to make hard rock.

So tonight I watched David Deida speak about Art & Therapy (and sex, of course) and he makes this point that the best art usually comes from a great imbalance...from the greatest of the fuck-ups. And he's right. Otherwise John Tesh might end up being the voice of our endless questions, our finger pointing to God. That's fucked up.

And so...what is Integral Art? I've heard this question asked so many times and usually it made me want to puke. Why? Because it was usually asked from a headspace that thought it could conveniently define and file away something that was too big for the drawer.

Perhaps it was because my favorite art professor (and one of the most powerful personalities I've ever encountered), Ed Love refused to define art by saying, "If you can't define some shit, then don't use the word. As far as I know Art is some guy from Wisconsin who sells soap." He was way more into Being and I could buy into that. I still do.

But here I am, part of this wonderful movement to bring the best and brightest and latest and greatest to the table for artists to use. All of the practices, the awarenesses, the therapies, the wisdom, the tools to help us get out of the way for God to shine through and I can't help but think...

I like watching artists fall down.

Do I really want them to get back up?

you know you're a redneck if...

...you're in an obscure video of various off-road vehicles tearing up a mudhole.

check it out.

i'm in the passenger seat of that yellow jeep ("yella jeep" to be exact) on the right. the year is 1993 and i'm with a few of my buddies ripping it up at our hometown culture-fest, the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Never mind the fact that it's a prestigious car race where high culture and cutting edge technology bask in the warm Florida sun...no sir, it's really about rednecks getting drunk and doing crazy shit they didn't get to work out as a teenager. The link? Endurance.

You try to run a car a top speed for 12 hours without breaking down OR being the spectator that spends three days drinking and eating fair food with the bottom end of the human food chain. It's tough.

Getting caught on video is a pretty common, almost admirable occurance these days.

So, yeah...I'm a redneck. And I'm even proud I got caught being one.

Yella Jeep Forever!

whatcha listening to?

Just thought i'd share some of the songs that keep getting played around here lately and some remarks in ()...enjoy:

Bent "Beautiful Otherness" (just sounds cool)
Cassandra Wilson "Fragile" (what a voice)
Chris Cornell "Sweet Euphoria" (what a lyric and performance. he has so much more to offer than Audioslave)
Curandero "Prayer" (this will induce an altered state)
David Bowie "Blue Jean" (check out the over the top chorus. what a star)
Elbow "Any Day Now" (driving through italy)
Failure "Another Space Song" (orbiting earth)
Fleetwood Mac "Hypnotized" (another spacey one)
Fu Manchu "Eatin' Dust" (this should be in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame - it will blow your ass off)
The Go Find "Over the Edge" (i might be gay, so what?)
Helmet "In the Meantime" (bow to Helmet -- the greatest riff ever)
Incubus "Sick Sad Little World" (love the chorus)
The Joy Circuit "X's" (new band that sounds like old U2)
The Mars Volta "The Widow" (finally a song from MV at a human tempo)
Miles Davis "Flamenco Sketches" (makes me want to play piano)
Nine Inch Nails "La Mer" (makes me want to drift down a river)
Notorious BIG "Big Poppa" (makes me want to be a pimp)
Pantera "I'm Broken" (makes me want to break something)
Patton Oswalt's 'Feelin' Kinda Patton' Album (a hilarious rising star)
Radio 4 "Dance to the Underground" (shake it)
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Suck my Kiss" (brilliant cock rock)
Robert Plant "Little by Little" (such a fun bass line)
Rush "Xanadu" (live from Exit...Stage Left -- takes me back to high school)
Ryan Adams "Monsters" (brilliant. makes me think i should quit writing songs.)
Seal "Fly Like an Eagle" (makes me think of his wife Heidi Klum)
Snoop Dogg "Drop it like it's hot" (you get the beer, i'll fire up the grill!)
Stevie Wonder "Lately" (it breaks my heart to hear Stevie's heart break. someone needs to whoop her ass. you can't do that to Stevie!)
Sting "When the Angels Fall" (it's like flying -- i hope Sting returns to this "place" sometime)

coins vs footballs

don't ask me why i was thinking of this during meditation this morning, but i wondered if it will ever be possible to look at our political system as a football vs a coin.

right now it's like a coin, right? flat, polarized with little room or depth to take a stand in the middle.

a football, on the other hand, puts the wacko extremists out on the little tiny edges and gives plenty of room for growth and depth as you move towards the "middle".

i think it'll be possible for this to happen whenever both "sides" own their own pathologies and blind spots.

i'm off the soap-box now.

what's new & good

the lack of words from me is disproportionate to the amount of stuff happening in my life as of late.

since most of it is too personal to share here, i am excited to write about other things. for the last month and a half i've been in colorado -- denver to be specific. and although i'm growing to miss my friends and extended family back home, i am more aware of what it means to live one's life closer to his edge.

(click to read more...)

a quick note...

the screaming witness website is up and running at:
ScreamingWitness.com

watch videos, listen to samples from the record and be sure to sign up for our email newsletters. do it!

more stuff soon...

long time...

someone wrote me and mentioned there were cobwebs on my blog. 'tis true.

lots of stuff going on in my life but not much of it is appropriate to share here. sorry to be a snob, but after reading ottmar's journals i'm inspired to write some more.

along with stu davis, matt rentschler and alex gibson, i've been named a co-director of the Integral University Art Domain. (read more...)

holiday, what?

it's been a whirlwind for me and i hope to share more *real* stuff very soon. i'm shedding layers and moving forward at lightning speed. did i mention i hope to share some *real* stuff soon? yes, indeed.

but i want to welcome my brother in crime, alex gibson to the blog world. be sure to visit his journal.

in case you're wondering, alex is my creative partner in Screaming Witness, and we both look forward to sharing our new record with the public soon.

the fear game

Last night's men's meeting we tried something different. We decided to cook up a bit of trouble...

itp group update

i have to brag on my boys...while i was away in LA, my men's group took the initiative to dive into the lower left by donating time with our local Habitat for Humanity. we're set to do some more work next week.

also, we've updated our "currency" for staying on task with our practices. let me explain...

a not-so-traditional holiday

Normally for Thanksgiving, my family gathers out in the middle of the woods and has a huge meal -- Southern-style. Eighty or so people are usually in attendance, but this year we were forced to do something new because our gathering spot had been destroyed by Hurricane Charley -- this year we went to the Keys...

whew...

wow, it's been a while since i've written, but i'll do my best to catch you up on what now seems like a blur...

comments

i had to do it...i had to kill the "comments" option on the posts 'cause the spam-jerks had seized control and insisted on selling me large quantities of ambien, viagara and real estate.

so, let's keep our exchanges flowing the old fashioned way -- with telepathy -- until i come up with something new.