I Coulda Been a Contender

It doesn't matter that no one really commented on the last blog. Just comment.

I mean, manifestos. Played, right? OK, here it is:

Can't more people be like this? Forward! Forward, forward, forward!

There's enough disappointment through all of us.

Or this: I coulda been somebody, which is what I am:

See ya on the other side, no one:

Don't Forget Me

There needs to be a power amongst people of youth. I'm only 24 and I feel like I'm slipping away. There needs to be the fire in eyes, and I don't see it. I see the kids my age taking a lot of pictures, flaunting them on Facebook. The pictures of food, of parties - is there nothing that we can capture that is of worth? Vegan food?

I recently read an article about the Peace Corps, wished to join it, and knew immediately that I am too cowardly to join. So be it. But I feel, wish, and hope that I can make a difference down the line.

I think we need to call it back to art and the community of art. Where is there a community? I may not be in the know or connected to the pulse or in the heart of it, but I've been around these communities, man, and these communities ain't nothing but shit. It's all outfits. I've seen it. I've been drunk and around and I find myself silent. I find myself out, looking, wishing for another drink. Is the next drink the answer? If it is, I am a community of one: when you drink, drink for that last one and never waste a living minute to get it.

No, this shit cannot stand. If someone is fashionably drunk again I'll drink two shots for him. If you're wasted and you pose, I will drink two to out pose you, doubly. Come on. Let it stand. Everyone is too educated. I never learned anything from a book that I didn't learn from a bottle and I'd never learn anything if I didn't read a book. I've got a ringing in my ears that I can only hope to drink into silence.

There is music from every era that can make me cry. There is only one love that makes me move, and it is a person. Let's all try and move towards that love. That's a community I'll get behind. Nothing cosmic, nothing political. Ask her out. Ask him out! And be real. Isn't that the only way you can get a date?

Email me at danielgrgas@gmail.com

Free Shit

Am I the only one not getting everything for free? I feel like everyone's getting free t-shirts, free tickets, free this and that - and then they're gloating about. Hey everyone, if you got something for free, I don't wanna hear about it over and over again. You're not special because you won a t-shirt. With quiet dignity, let me know about it. And then, I think, I'll be able to rejoice in your good fortune. But don't slap me in the face with it.

Don Van Vliet, RIP

I love ya, ya big dummy.

Just heard that the Captain, Captain Beefheart, Don Van Vliet, has died, due to complications from multiple sclerosis.

I'm upset about this one. Here is a man that, while he wasn't young (69 when he died) certainly wasn't old, in this day and age. And even though he no longer made music, he was a great painter, and was the type of person who would always have something to give, artistically.

It's funny that he dies now, just when I have gotten to know all of his material. In the last three months I've bought 4 Beefheart LPs, so I could hear them on vinyl. Some of the best musical moments I have had have been in the past half year, listening to the Captain, and getting to know his music.

His music is not for the faint of ear or heart; the Captain made uncomprimising music, and that's why his music was so great. Trout Mask Replica is an album that has taken me literally years to appreciate, and now I couldn't imagine living without it. One day it clicked, and then I needed to hear everything the man had done.

Anyone who reads this, if you haven't heard the Captain, I think you should. Start off with Safe As Milk, his first album. It's a blues record, but with the Captain's sensibility and the touch of his Magic Band. Listen to "Electricity". You listen yet? The Captain had a voice unlike any other, and that's just a fact. Now work your way through his catalogue.

The Captain was in touch with himself and nature. He wasn't conventional. He made the kind of music that I appreciate, the music that challenges and takes time to work its way into us. And when it does, it really hits home.

All my heroes* are going. RIP Don Van Vliet.

*12/21/10 - Here's what the Captain had to say about heroes: Speaking about jazzman Eric Dolphy, "Well, he moved me, but he didn't move me as much as a goose, say. Now that could be a hero, a gander goose could definitely be a hero, the way they blow their heart out for nothing like that." Love the Captain!

Also, when describing his music, he said that the art of Franz Kline was probably the best representation of what he was trying to do. He singled out this painting, Kline's No.7:

"...it's just totally speed and emotion that comes out of what he does."