My guess is that the majority of folks out there, though declining in numbers they may be, are still pretty soft on the whole Christmas holiday ordeal. I mean that most of us, no matter how hardened by the relentless march of time, get a certain refreshing childhood joy out of Christmas trees and lights, various decorations and gatherings with friends and families, presents wrapped colorfully and cards in the mail with assorted artistic renderings that attempt to capture the "true" spirit of Christmas. From the religious to the pagan to the weather oriented themes, and the just good old kind-spirited messages of peace and good will. They tend to weaken the knees of most of us still, I think. Maybe I'm wrong, as I see the stream of holiday cards continue to decline steadily, the party invitations wane, the messages becoming more generic and less intense in commercial and personal terms alike. Or maybe I'm just becoming old and unpopular! But here we are in the aftermath of yet another season of the Christ Mass, all born of some odd mix of druid ritual, post harvest and a clashing of multitudes of other coincidental celebrations generally focused in the western world on the baby in a manger, the hope and quiet of a black-blue night illuminated by an unbelievable light, the peace of the knowing animals and the awesome sight of angels and inconceivable love and compassion. Where is faith in all this, what is the consensus of mankind, where do we as individuals end up in this incredible picture of what we might all hope? Well, for the time being it is right here, 2009 AD, a largely ignored posting in a largely inconceivable internet world, a trail of Bing Crosby and Manheim Steamroller tunes fading into another new year. The cookies and the expanded waistlines taking their place in the reality of a familiar but uncertain calendar, a procession of more holidays, more, or less, cards, and so much unfathomable humanity piled into our anxious hopes for happiness and our endless fear of the unknown. So the Christmas season has stroked our unsettled hearts once again, come and gone like Santa, like the 24 hours of "A Christmas Story", like my friend Eric who died at the age of 49 in a shocking moment hidden innocently in the afterglow of holiday revelry. Christmas reminds us so much of how human we are, of what we have come to expect and what we will forever miss. It is like gasoline on a tiny fire that burns off so quickly. We huddle in the warmth pretending that it might not extinguish, knowing full well it will, knowing, long before the flame settles. And for me, there in that momentary swell of brightness, there is the image I have crafted of my life. Be it Jesus, or my father, or my very own countenance superimposed on the elusive volume that recounts my story, there burns the sum value of what erupts year after year, December after December, before and after, until the dinosaurs return I suppose. Christmas is just a painting that we perceive deep within. It's purpose is to remind us of what most comforts us before tackling the next spanse of time and energy. It's a dreamlike state that puts the old year to rest, with all it's memories and all the memories it had put to rest before it, and so on. Ideally it hits each of us hard at some striking of the clock, where we stand trembling in our bed clothes, cold from the darkness yet warm from the faith that we vaguely understand the goodness in each of us. Life will never be all together perfect, of course. Nor will Christmas and it's ongoing story. But we do know the story, we look forward to it every year, we need it to replenish. Whether it be Charlie Brown, Ebenezer, or the candle glow of a midnight mass, we reach for the star that seemingly parts the darkness. We wonder if we feel it's warmth, we hope for those who have gone before us to be waiting, we breath perhaps our last as another Christmas season is lost in the dying flames. And with that I offer you another little piece of myself, some "home grown" free form music I created with my friends Matt & Mike of Mittimus. I'm the obnoxious guitar in the forefront most of the time while Matt provides the highly tasteful other guitar and bass parts and Mike lays down some awesome drums & percussion. This is a departure from my primary purpose here on the DYHWIH blog, but I thought someone just might have an interest and leave a comment that isn't obscene. This was recorded on December 7th, 2009, Pearl Harbor, Christmas tree having just been erected, and it was a particularly fine one this season.........
Mittimus and Durge - Objects Below
(derived from "Hot Cookies" - 2008)
Cow
Beer Cookies
Noise
Bass Blow
Loop
Whatami Playing
Lanushka
