Elsewhere

2010-08-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

Took my bike to City Hall and got new tags for my car. These are two-year tags and cost $50. Then took bike and Metrolink to Science Center along with a blank cheque for the September monthly pass... $68. On across Forest Park to Metrolink station and into Clayton to drop paperwork with my CPA and had lunch at Panera Cares Cafe'... the "suggested price" was $9.50 so i gave them $15. Off to the nearby Starbucks for a pound of French Roast. Hopped onto train again to Brentwood/44 station and road to Euclid Records for some window shopping- looking for Hallelujah by Canned Heat on cd but to no avail. Back to station to catch 30 Soulard bus and rode from Brewery home.

Tomorrow at dawn i plan on biking the Riverfront trail.

Morning.

2009-06-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

Wake.
Pee.
Kettle.
Cold.
Carafe.
Bean.
Grind.
Hot.
Pour.
Steep.
Cup.
Drink.
Wait.
Poop.
Shower.
Dry.
Dress.
Drive.
Work.

Devils work.

2009-04-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

I love you. No- I love you! This HAS to be love- I think about you ALL THE TIME! I love you! Please never leave me- you complete me. No- wait- don't leave me... WHY DO YOU TREAT ME THIS WAY?!?!?

It used to comfort me so, nicotine. But in the last few months it never seemed enough. More than that my legs would ache when i walk and my job at SLSC requires much walking. Last Summer i had a new bike and it was a pleasure to ride- i want to be able to ride it again without my legs hurting from lack of oxygen. I quit smoking on Sunday, April 5th at 18:16 when I ran out. I was driving home from work and decided I would not buy anymore. As i smoked the last one it occurred how painful smoking is. Inhaling deeply those last hits- I coughed and hacked and wheezed until i was able to breathe normally again... turned off into a Walgreens and bought a box of mint flavored 4 mg nicotine lozenges. When it gets bad I have one. It's still hard at times- but it's so much better than the prospect of playing my saxophone with an oxygen tank beside me. Come to think of it- i saw 3 separate visitors to the Science Center with oxygen tanks. Maybe that inspired me to finally be done with that shit.

Goodbye to my overflowing ashtrays. No more smoking in my house or in my car. When the weather gets a little warmer I look forward to opening all the windows for a final "airing out".

One last thought- I spent $8 a day at the end there... okay- let's round it up to $10... that's $300/month (a car payment) or $3600/year! Think of all the treats i can buy myself!

Hmmmm...

The "Dirty Fucking Hippies"...

2009-03-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of the most impressive videos i've seen in a while.

Enjoy!

DFH by joeyess

"Saxy Nights"

2009-02-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Performed by Modern American Dance Company (MADCO) of Saint Louis to music composed by Dominic Schaeffer and choreographed by Jennifer Reilly in February of 2003.

30 Years Ago Today-

2009-01-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

My friend Teresa was sitting on a wall with her friend listening to Stand Up by Jethro Tull when it all started...

Reminds me of a favorite verse of a song by The Clancy Brothers-

"Up the long ladder
and down the short rope
to Hell with King Billy
and God bless the Pope
if that doesn't do
we'll tear 'em in two
and send 'em to Hell
with thier red, white and blue"

January 20, 2009

2009-01-20T04:15:00.000-08:00

Coolest. President. Ever.

2009-01-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

President-elect Barack Obama drops in to Ben's Chili Bowl in D.C. for a chili dog.

The Band Practice pt 4

2009-01-10T00:53:00.000-08:00

Our Hero dreams of the concert he and his cohorts practice diligently for. When does the dream become life? One way is by living the dream, the other is by being shaken awake by ones bandmate.

The Music: "As Far As We Know" by David Udell performed by Earwacks.

The Lyrics: "Time may waste your dreams"

Earwacks are: Tracy Wynkoop: bass; Benet Schaeffer: drums; David Udell: guitar; Dominic Schaeffer: sax.

The Band Practice pt 3

2009-01-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

Part 3: Our Hero drinks before practice. Tracy: "Where's Dominic at?" Benet: "Dunno... Anyone been to his apartment?" Tracy: "I don't even know where he lives..." David says "Oh I know where he's gotta be..." David retrieves Our Hero and proceeds to work on the chord changes for "Listen To Me" then the band rehearses a portion of "This City" followed with "Cold Hans" in its entirety. Then it's time to party with crew, friends and fans!

Our Hero falls to sleep per chance to dream...

The Band Practice pt 2

2009-01-10T00:48:00.000-08:00

Part 2: Our Hero stops for coffee before work. He works in a restaurant so he can eat. After work he goes to a bar so he can drink before practice. Music: "92bpmloop" performed by Dominic and "The Trouble With My Treble Is The Space In My Bass" performed by Earwacks.

The Band Practice pt 1

2009-01-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Davids favorite song of mine brought to life in the film "The Band Practice" by Matthew O'Shea and featuring Earwacks.

Story: Our Hero does this. Every morning he does this. Goes to work. Every day. Rain or shine.

LYRIC BOOK

2009-01-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

Goodbye, 2008!

I'd say good riddance but there were some very good things that happened last year as well. Not gonna list the good/bad year-in-review here, you all know what is on that list- but there is one thing from last year i really, truly wish that i could undo.

I fucked up. A mistake anyone could have made. A permanent and un-fixable one.

I have always made a point of saving my work- music, drawings, writings, etc.. For instance, in 1997, when i was house sitting for Uncle Albert during their first six-week tour of Germany/Bosnia i made use of the recording studio and archived the 4+ hours of MIDI compositions that i completed to a digital multi-track ADAT tape deck so can mix them later. Shortly after the transfer EVERY sound source in my midi suite broke... Shwew!

SIDEBAR: For the non techy reader- MIDI is not music/sound/audio. It is a programming language that allows a composer to control a variety of sound sources simultaneously. Much like a player piano- a MIDI recorder is like a piano roll puncher- when the person plays the notes on the piano, holes are punched in the roll in the order played and, when the roll is put on a "player piano" it seems to "play" itself. With MIDI you can compose for multiple "player pianos"... But, these are not the notes themselves- only commands for when/which note is played. /SIDEBAR

So a couple years ago i took all those ADAT tapes to FoJammi's studio and transferred the multi track tapes to digital sound files i can work with on my home computer. Thanks to the new home studio technologies i have pretty much everything i have ever recorded in my life preserved for "the ages"... (like anyone else is gonna care- who the fuck am i kidding, really!?!? lol)

Back in the mid '80's began putting all my writing on a word processor. As life went along and i updated computer equipment i always transferred my writings along with everything else. It was in an ever expanding file called LYRIC BOOK. Whenever i needed to refer to it- it was always there.

In March of 2008 I purchased a 500 Gigabyte hard drive so that i could file away the ever growing psychotronics recordings and solo work. I did a very thorough job- also throwing out the redundant and superfluous. The whole process took about three days. Maybe it was too thorough...

January 1st, 2009 i wanted to have my first post be a favorite poem i had written called "69"... LYRIC BOOK was nowhere to be found. I have looked in every folder on every hard drive i have and to no avail. 30 years of writing erased.

I used to pride myself in being able to say i have no regrets. Well, now i have one.

Babaji

2008-12-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

I was at a Supertramp concert at The Saint Louis Arena. The "Breakfast In America" tour. Big Supertramp fan. Knew all the lyrics, who wrote what, loved what they'd done and- as this was the sixth album- saw that they had done all they would as a band and was mourning their demise at the top of their game. Usually it's three albums but for the sake of this piece I'll include"Supertramp" and "Indelibly Stamped" (the first two albums i have never heard). "Breakfast" was the fourth commercial success and had at least three radio hits. Anyway...

Roger Hodgson had composed the song "Babaji" on the prior album about the latest incarnation of the eternal manifestation of God in human form. Spiritual longing, questioning of "place" in life and giving ones self purpose, this song was always a favorite of mine. So they're playing this song and I'm all into it and like crying at the beauty and shit and there's this this guy next to me singing it word for word perfect- almost. I looked over at this guy and he was like all into it and crying at the beauty and shit and our eyes met and we acknowledged each other and then he sings "Barbara Jean"... WHAM! Totally crushed my groove. "It's Babaji!" "What?" "Babaji- it's about the most recent manifestation of Krishna- it's a spiritual song." "I thought it was a love song!" I waved him off as an idiot, absolutely ruining his evening, I'm sure.

Dude- you were right- it IS a love song. It's also a blues song, and a reggae song (if you adhere to Bob Marley's definition that any song about Jah is reggae) and, where ever you are- I want to apologize. My burden from this event has been that every time I hear this great song I'm reminded of your face when I so carelessly fucked over your reality. Who am I to "correct" you for your interpretation of a piece of art? I've grown a little since that night and do try on occasion not to be an asshole.

Dominic

SUPERTRAMP - Live - Babaji - Queen Mary College 1977

Snippets of my writings...

2008-08-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

The following are small pieces or parts of pieces i had written long ago.

Sell me some stock
and I'll give you a dime
but it's not worth the trouble
not worth the time,
and Love will soon prove
that the lemon's a lime...
Get Moving! Get Moving!
and the old man gets sent to a home.
-from the basement bathroom wall of Duff' restaraunt- 1975

"The Pontoon Flats ribaldo snorfer rides again!"

"The mind dog laps up information like a tongue sponge- Arf! Arf! "

"I'm a very weak person- i can only carry a grudge."

"Shit!"

more to come as i remember them.

Aegian Sea by Aphrodites Child

2008-05-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

AEGIAN SEA

I saw the souls
I saw the martyrs
I heard them crying
I heard them shouting
They were dressed in white
they've been told to wait

The sun was black
the moon was red
the stars were falling
the earth has trembling
And then a crowd impossible to number
Dressed in white
carrying palms

shouted amid
the hotless sun
the lightless moon
the windless earth
the colourless sky ...

They'll no more suffer from hunger
they'll no more suffer from thirst

They'll no more suffer from hunger
they'll no more suffer from thirst

They'll no more suffer from hunger
they'll no more suffer from thirst

Sea and Sand

2008-04-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

i go back to places where i was happy. places of past loves and joy but once there in situ and without the people that made it whatever it is i thought it was at the time, the place seems a shell. an empty one.

i was deeply in love with a gal named Alison. we met thru mutuals when she came to visit from New York. ended up on a couple of annual trips with them to the northeastern seaboard and NYC and seeing Alison was a big part of it for me. one of those trips included a group going to Martha's Vineyard for a weekend after the tourist season. had a wonderful time. nothing happened between us, ever.

but in my mind i held this infatuation for some time after and went up East by myself the following year. after an awkward visit with Alison and our friends i went to the Vineyard by myself. with nowhere to stay i slept on the beach. however nostalgic or romantic, it just wasn't the same.

Sea and Sand by Peter Townsend

Here by the sea and sand
Nothing ever goes as planned,
I just couldn't face going home
It was just a drag on my own.
They finally threw me out
My mother got drunk on stout,
My dad couldn't stand on two feet,
As he lectured about morality.
Now I guess the families complete,
With me hanging round on the street
Or here on the beach.

The girl I love
Is a perfect dresser,
Wears every fashion
Gets it to the tee.
Heavens above,
I got to match her
She knows just how
She wants her man to be
Leave it to me.

My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked
Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck
I ride a G S scooter with my hair cut neat
I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet.

I see her dancing
Across the ballroom
U V light making starshine
Of her smile.
I am the face,
She has to know me,
I'm dressed up better than anyone
Within a mile.

So how come the other tickets look much better?
Without a penny to spend they dress to the letter.
How come the girls come on oh so cool
Yet when you meet 'em, every one's a fool.

Come sleep on the beach
Keep within my reach
I just want to die with you near
I'm feeling so high with you here.
I'm wet and I'm cold
But thank God I ain't old
Why didn't I say what I mean?
I should have split home at fifteen
There's a story that the grass is so green,
What did I see?
Where have I been?

Nothing is planned, by the sea and the sand

anyone that is familiar with the '73 album Quadrophenia by The Who knows the story. a kid, too wrapped up in his past, facing the challenges of maturity. as a child of the late '60's/early '70's, letting go of the past is pretty challenging. why couldn't we be young forever?

it seems that with the exception of the Mod/Rocker riots in Brighton, and the Mod movement, the story line was pretty close to mine. lyrically and musically it was spot-on. a mixed up kid moving on from everything that made his youth exciting- a coming of age story that fit me like a second skin. Then in 1979 the movie was released and there was my youth splashed up on the screen. more accurately- blend Quadrophenia with Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous and that pretty well sums it up.

Almost Famous? that's a whole 'nuther post to be covered later.

there's a hole in the bottom of the sea.

2008-02-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

i am not particularly strong, but i wake up everyday to work and play.

though not what i consider handsome, i can look at myself in the mirror each morning and not vomit, most times. maybe i'm just too close.

at times i am at peace with the world. don't know what brings it on but the hole in the pit of mt stomach is replaced with contentment and a knowing that everything will be alright. with nothing changing externally hope arrives with no apparent reason. here i go quoting Robert Fripp again but how apt an aphorism-

"In desperate times, a reasonable person might despair; but hope is unreasonable, and love is greater even than this."

this would explain much in my life.

horrible people run the country yet i have so much hope for it and us. in my last post i wrote of the concept of a soul mate for me, not yet but here's hoping. though not by one singular person, i do feel loved. there are hard times ahead. there will always be difficulties. i deal with them with the hope that things will be better. unreasonable? yes. do what's right and good comes.

that's all i have for now.

Weeping at beauty

2008-02-17T18:28:00.000-08:00

There's cause to weep
at beauty
when something so perfectly
reflects the presence of God
like strong eyes
or silence
or knowing a glimpse of Truth

As there's cause to laughter
and cause for pain
each as valid as
weeping at beauty
but alas- tears of joy
evaporate before
hitting the floor.

More love.

2008-02-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Been working on my myspace page and the "middle bit" of Lauren Garbo began to play. My mind wandered back to the days when i wrote the song- days of innocence and exploration. The lyric is about waiting for my soul mate. I was convinced that everyone has a single "love of my life". Though at the time my freedom of spirit led me to going quickly from one girlfriend to another and occasionally beginning one before finishing with another. Guess i was a womaniser. Most likely just just young and stupid and selfish. Haven't found my soul mate yet. Perhaps i have, and tossed her aside for a prettier face. Looking back, there are at least 5 that fall into that category. Not to brag here but we're talking dozens of relationships from one night stands to those that lasted years. Why am i spilling all this now at the tender age of 50?

I don't know if i still feel that way about finding a soul mate. I want to believe it. For a long time i went in quite the opposite direction- that even if there is "one" person out there, it is of no consiquence. Should we meet up in this life, all the better but if not- it wasn't meant to be. But even that is living under the supposition that that person does indeed exist. As i write this i'm waffeling on that question- and believing most likely not.

Not long ago i thought i had indeed met her. I met "her" before. She had a different name then. Her first name was Mare, then Karen, then Alison, then Charlotte, then Pam, then on anon...

Since getting sober in 1988 my relationships have gotten fewer but more long-lasting. In the long stretches between I have become quite comfortable on my own. If i can't be with myself how can i expect someone to want to be with me? Besides- i have more time for music and work and more work and- waitaminute- if i have so much time for all that work why can't the time be shared with someone else? This is the crux- that someone has to want to... i can't make someone want to be with me.

Maybe one day someone will. Maybe not. La di da.

"... i know for sure you're out there
can't you feel my spirit bleed?
just to know that you exist is all i need."
lyrics for Laren Garbo by Dominic Schaeffer 1978

This pondering comes to you as a result of Hope. Robert Fripp has stated "there are times when reasonable people might despair. But hope is unreasonable, and love is greater than this..."

From Gore to Edwards to Biden...

2007-11-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

this is my reply to a post on Democratic Underground asking-

tsegat01 (1000+ posts)

Mon Nov-26-07 06:52 PM
Original message

Have you changed candidates and why?

Just curious. I've encountered a number of people who have switched candidates for various reasons. Some were disappointed in something their original choice had done or said, whereas others became more impressed with another candidate.

Gore was, and still is, the only person for the job. If he ran 3rd party I would drop my affiliation with the Democratic Party in a heartbeat. There are millions of us out here and Al knows it. He would split the party apart and would never do that. A pity, really. As much as a multi-party system is needed here, to do it now would be an automatic win for the GOP. So I'm left supporting Al Gore in all his works as "diplomat on the world stage"... and I DO support Gore in ALL his works and decisions- but DAMN IT, AL... WE NEED YOU!!! NOW!!!". Okay- three deep breaths and one foot in front of the other...

sigh... anyways-

Edwards looked good for a time but, honestly- I feel that he was speaking from sound bites and not from the heart. All candidates do the sound-bite thing to a certain degree and that's fine, but after a while it gets old to me and the more a candidate can get past it and go for the crux of the issues, the more secure I feel in making a choice about who to give my support. I have always been distrusting of the main-stream media telling me who the "front-runner" is- Hillary, Barrack and John Edwards. Up and down, back and forth, ahead then behind... the horse race with no substance. Ehh. Not to mention that I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to the "come from behind underdog". My support for Howard Dean in 2004 was unshakable. Then I saw Joe Biden give the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner speech. WOW!

Until then (and even still to a degree) I saw Biden as a "go along to get along" guy. Like when Randi Rhodes asked him why he couldn't call GWB for what he is- a liar. Biden replied that that was the hardest thing for him to do. A totally political cover your ass response. The Bartcop graphic of Biden dancing with Leahy and Kerry in the pink tutu's comes to mind.

But that happened years ago. I'm a sucker for a second chance.

At the J-J Dinner Joe talked like a human being. He spoke of issues and he spoke of the deep trouble we as a nation are in. Pulling no punches, he spoke truth to power. He did not strike me as someone who could be bought. Sure, some of his solutions are not the ones I would personally choose, but he's actually speaking to important issues that the other three are not.

But hey- this is what the process is all about- wheat from chaff. When the party selects it's nominee, he or she will get my vote. Period. I'm a tree-stump Democrat.

"No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There's too much work to do!" Dorothy Day

Blues

2007-11-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

i grew up on old Vanguard label blues records. todays equivalent of iTunes for American Music collections. Bukka White, Son House, John Hurt and others were faves. on one of the collections the liner notes were written by a guy named Leroy Jodie Pierson.

as a cook at The Broadway Oyster Bar, on Saturday nights there was a blues band that played on the stage/patio directly outside the kitchen door. i loved the raw, real country delta blues sound they had. "who are those guitar players?" "oh, that's Leroy." "but who's the other one?".... "oh, that's Leroy."

yup, Leroy Pierson, Russ Horneyer on bass and Geoff Sietz on drums.

i sat in with them a few times in a period of my life when playing music was a long distance love. drink and all that accompanies it were my companions in my basement apartment dwelling. guess you could say i was "living the blues".

but the blues is more than that. the blues helped me out of my depths. the blues let me play saxophone again. though i certainly sucked at the time, i knew enough to play a cliche or two. on 31, December 1987 i made the grandiose decision to quit drinking. no 30-day hospital stay, just straight to A.A. to try "90 meetings-in-90-days". on 15, April i bravely set foot into my old stomping grounds, ready to split if i got nervous, but anxious to play. i had phoned Russ earlier that evening at home and asked if he'd mind if i sat in- "Yeah that'd be great- just don't show up drunk!". Leroy spotted me from the stage and at the next song beckoned. "C'mon up, boy! Ladies and Gentlemen, i wanna bring up the dog bwah to play- this is a special day for him and we'd like to congratulate him on 90 days"... no one in the crowd had any idea what he was talking about but all the employees and band members did and it was thrilling. Leroy said "we're gonna play a tune by the great Gregory Isaacs called 'The Lonely Lover'... and i leaped into an opening line on the saxophone that i play to this day. an awesome gift from the blues. yeah sure- it's a reggae tune but what is reggae but the blues with a skanky beat?

i played with the Leroy Pierson Band through many incarnations. we played country blues, rock-a-billy, ska and reggae. Leroy was/is a wealth of knowledge and i learned so much about roots music from him. the old delta blues (as opposed to the more modern electric Memphis or Chicago style) was an early influence on my tastes in music.

some twelve years or so back our family was gathered for Christmas at my sisters in Oakland. i was sifting through her LP collection, finding many of the wonderful records i grew up with when i happened upon "The Great Blues Men". opening the double album i found the extensive liner notes were written by Leroy Jodie Pierson!

Please read this wonderful interview of Leroy Pierson by Micheal Kuelker

the Leroy Pierson Band Re-union at The Broadway Oyster Bar with (L-R) Russel Horneyer- bass, Dominic Schaeffer- sax, The Reverend Craig Spellmeyer- drums, Leroy Pierson- guitar and Ken MacSwan- guitar.

photo by Kathy Horneyer

My Good Heart

2007-11-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

Mon Bon Coeur

the sun is higher in the sky
these days
my thoughts a little lighter
mornings not so long to come
these days

the wind is softer in the air
these days
my heart a little warmer
time alone not that impossible to bear
these days

that little something extra
the icing on the cake
you pretty you
mon couer entier

not that long ago
it seemed so far way
but i find that it’s right here
to take with me when i go

take me with you
you pretty you
mon coeur entier
take me along

when i must leave
you're here with me
where ever i might wander
you are always here
mon bon coeur

December 9th, 2006

2007-11-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

Robert Fripp is playing tonight in Madison, WI so i thought i would post the poem i wrote after he played here in St. Louis last year and my life changed.

120906

in the basement i found life
possible to bare my soul to all
with no one person really watching.
oh, they see okay but they aren’t watching.

callous hands rub lightly love
i like that.
find myself home.

looking so long i never thought i’d find it.
but there it is, before me, joyous, quizzical, loving.
I know this is it.
easy to keep.
hard to imagine.

it rained that night. too many tickets in my pocket.
one man, one show, one guitar,
the feeling of monumental change about to occur.
but the happening itself so minute
if i blink
i might miss it.

a sense of presence. i was in the moment
the here and now of there and then
could be, who knows,
the street lights glistened
driving to that place in time.
so fragile a moment like this.
breath wrong and it breaks.
but the gasp that results when you realize
it’s happening- reflected in the silence
as i drove there in my car.

paying the way for four others
i descended the stairs to destiny.
with soul bared to the event,
i waited.
the light went down around me
the anticipation waxed as
the roomful greeted the vessel with applause.
He kissed the instrument
and placing it over his shoulders
rang the bells at the threshold to creation.

love

2007-10-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

what is it? why do we want it? how do we feel it? we cannot eat it yet it nourishes us. being alone is one thing, but love keeps us from being lonely. david crosby had a song which stated "music is love", not sure he was right, but i love music and music makes me feel love and many other things. do i love something or just enjoy it immensely? i love food. i love my house. i love my family and friends. i love psychotronics.

my favorite part of "All You Need Is Love" is, toward the end, just before the melody of "Greensleeves" is played by the strings, when John Lennon says- "Guess again".

one picture says it all

2007-10-25T04:39:00.000-07:00

yup, pretty much...

LaClede Town 1964-76

2007-10-25T03:30:00.000-07:00

LaClede Town: Impressions of a Native Son
By Dominic Schaeffer

In 1964 we moved from Creve Coeur into the heart of the city, in Mill Creek Valley, to the new housing development called LaClede Town. Our mother, Rita, recently widowed, needed to relocate closer to her work at St. Louis University — a move contrary to the urban flight that was beginning at that time. My first time there was prior to our move.

Rita took me (and Benet?) to go swimming at a friend's apartment complex. That was in LaClede Park, which was at the southwest corner of LaClede Ave. and Compton. LaClede Town was just being constructed on the adjacent corner. It was my first time in a swimming pool, and as soon as I stepped into it the water went over my head and I began to panic. I was quickly whisked out by the lifeguard on duty, Greg Burger, son of Jerome Burger, the manager of LaClede Park. A decade or so later, I would be one with the job of pulling people out of what we would call "The Peanut Pool." During the drive home I remember looking at brochures and newspaper articles about a new housing development that would be our family's new home.

3151 Laclede Avenue. That was the house our family lived from 1964 to '73. Occasionally when I'd mention to someone that I grew up in LaClede Town they'd don a quizzical look as if to say, "and you're proud of that?" More often than not the statement is met with a blank stare. But there have been magic moments when people reply, "Wow — I did, too!" When these occur with people I have never met it makes me realize that the whole "concept" of the community was real and not just some utopian dream of a seven-year-old.

The zeitgeist of that era was one of wrenching social change, and Jerome Burger's sense of community building was at the crest of that change. Bringing a diverse population to live together in LaClede Town — black, white and Hispanic; artists, musicians, poets; people from all walks of life — was his goal. And he achieved it, for a time.

In LaClede Park, there were two-story apartments that surrounded a courtyard with benches and a rectangular fountain, where there were often gatherings or parties, like bar-b-ques after softball games played by the LaClede Town Losers. The new "Town" was two- and three-story houses with courtyards around which neighbors would gather, though there weren't any events held at them like the Park courtyard hosted. But LaClede Town had The Circle.

Running east/west, from Compton Ave. to Ewing St. through the middle of the Town, was Lawton Ave. LaClede Town was built in two phases; the first portion ran from Laclede Ave. on the south to Olive St. on the north. The western border was Compton and Channing marked the east. "The Circle" was at the corner of Channing and Lawton. It was to act as "town square." With the Coach and Four Pub and the Circle Coffeehouse, The Circle became the cultural heart of the town. There was also a barber shop, two laundromats, and the General Store — a small grocer where I remember buying a Twinkie and a soda for 25¢! Some of the people who lived there in the early years were holdouts from Gaslight Square, bringing with them an interest in the arts and giving the place a "counterculture" feel. In retrospect, it's humorous to think that Burger, who called everybody "babe" and had a vocal style not unlike a beatnik, would designate a "circle" as opposed to a "square."

The Coach and Four Pub was where the grown-ups gathered, with its sidewalk cafe. The Coffeehouse was for the younger set. A rock band called the Crystalline Silence Band practiced upstairs. As young kids, we could hear them practicing above the Coffeehouse from the sidewalk and were even invited up once or twice when they took a break. This was the time when The Beatles were breaking new ground with albums like "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver." The so-called youth movement was gaining momentum on the West coast and there was a feeling that music, more specifically rock-and-roll, could "change the world." Having the Crystalline Silence Band in LaClede Town brought this home. We were impressed — so impressed that some of the kids living there at the time pursued a life in music. My brother Benet and I have been working musicians for the better part of 25 years as a result. Another among our group of close friends, Ike Willis, became a guitarist/vocalist of international renown as the front man for Frank Zappa. Before he died, Zappa met with Ike and personally "handed the torch" to Ike to carry on playing his compositions — a request that Ike faithfully honors to this day.

Jazz and poetry also found a home among the people of LaClede Town. Oliver Lake, J. D. Parran, Julius Hemphill, Floyd LeFlore and his wife, poet Shirley LeFlore, performed regularly as Black Artist Group (BAG) at the Circle Coffeehouse. They were highlights of the Spring/Fall Festivals that were held in The Circle featuring music, arts and crafts. Even the kids were able to perform. I remember seeing Ike playing the drums with Oliver Lake's group. In the early- to middle-'70s, the bands that us kids formed would also play the festivals.

LaClede Town was indeed utopian in those early years. Like many things that start out small and work well, the obvious next step is expansion. The more people wanted to move in, the more sections were built. In 1973, LaClede West and LaClede East were added. LaClede East was a high-rise apartment complex and Laclede West were prefabricated houses. These new areas held true to the community feel that Jerome Burger had striven for, but in 1976 things changed. Jerome Burger had left, and though his brother managed things for a few years after that, it was never the same. Things went downhill from there... and fast.

But there were so many great things about that time and that place. Unfortunately, the abandoned, boarded-up houses stood far too long, leaving the impression to those passing by that it must have been a failure, "the end of an error." But to those of us who were there, it was by no means a failure. Far from it. And the next time I mention to someone that I grew up in LaClede Town and get that quizzical look, I'll say, "and yes — I am proud of that!"

Democratic Lord's Prayer

2007-10-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Our DLC who art in Warshington
Dash-ed be thy kin
Thy Kingdom gone
Thy Will be wrong
For Earth as you are for 'Murka

Give us this day
Our Albert Gore
And forgive us our excesses
As we will get those
Who cast votes against us
And lead us not into complacence
But deliver us from Hillary

Amen

Saxofinus 20:07

Gore: "Politics requires tolerance for triviality, artifice, nonsense I have found in short supply."

2007-10-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

the above is a quote sited in the NYT: The Trivial Pursuit By BOB HERBERT
Published: October 13, 2007

Well, Al- MY level of tolerance for triviality, artifice and nonsense is NONEXISTENT!

I can tolerate it no longer. "We The People" can no longer survive like this.

American democracy is at a tipping point. Maybe we've passed it, hopefully it is recoverable. All I know is none of the current candidates are addressing the issues that matter with the same force, understanding and clarity that I see/hear coming from Al Gore.

Yes- the Earths climate is at a tipping point. Gore has made major strides toward changing millions of individuals awareness and lifestyles. This work is underway. Change is happening on a personal level all over the world. Despite resistance, derision and outright mocking of environmental consciousness from the corporate media, people have changed and more are changing still.

Al Gore is solely responsible for this. To a person, everyone acknowledges it.

Gore must be aware that he can lead in much the same way to solving the democracy crisis. With his book "The Assault On Reason" he has spelled out in detail the dangers We The People face today and given us solutions. TAOR ends with hope and a clarion call to the reader to work toward restoring our blessed democracy.

With this book and through his speaking engagements Gore IS making strides toward changing individuals awareness of what we have long suspected- "that something has gone terribly wrong". And again- this work is underway. Awareness is happening on a personal level all over America. Despite resistance, derision and outright mocking of Gore from the corporate media, people are waking up and more are waking daily. But awakening to what- looking over an abyss?

Just as the Earth needed an individual to take the reins and steer it away from the brink, America needs a leader who will stand for The Constitution and redeem our once great nation in the eyes of the world. Looking at the current list of declared democrats, I fail to see one that fits this description.

Certainly, the Democratic Party will win the presidency in 2008... but will We The People?

if you think Al Gore should run, please visit www.draftgore.com and sign the petition along with 200,000 other like minded voters!

psychotronics

2007-10-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

This is the band i play in with Curt Hendricks, Vince Hely and Jim Laverty. we play improvisational instrumental rock with a jazz ethic. early weather report and miles davis meet gong and aphrodites child. throw some king crimson in the mix and you have a pretty good picture of what we do.

guitar
bass
drums
sax
done

www.psychotronicsband.com is our official homepage.

www.myspace.com/psychotronicsmusic is our myspace page.

now visit The Official psychotronics Blog

The Prisoner vol. 1

2007-09-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

my favorite television show of all time (even over The Simpsons and My Name Is Earl!). Patrick McGoohan's 17 episode series about a British Secret Agent who, upon suddenly resigning his job, is rendered unconscious in his home and wakes up in an exact replica yet looking out the window finds himself in The Village, a charming little community from which there is no escape. why would anyone ever want to escape this lovely little place? written and filmed during the cold war era, one or the other side runs The Village, which one remains unknown throughout the series. also unanswered is the question of his resignation, the name of his character and- in a society where everyone is known by a number, his being Number 6, who is Number 1? does Number 6 ever escape The Village?

this is an enigmatic analogy for Society as seen through the lens of the the times- rebellion, upheaval, surveillance and runaway technology. McGoohan leaves many of the questions open to the interpretation of the viewer. More to come.

Begin

2007-09-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

preface-

i sit at my keyboard on an Autumn Saturday night and begin a blog. oh my.

with any luck i'll discern the line between public subject matter and that which should be kept to myself. fine enough to share joy, anger, bliss, incredulity, wonder and pain- but not at the expense of others.

music, politics, food, work, play, love and other subjects will be covered here. family, band mates, fellow musicians, friends close and distant, buddies and buddettes are welcome to comment and converse.

please, let's go!