California Coffeeberry

   No, it’s not coffee at all. It was just named that due to its resemblance. It is a wild shrub in California, and has an attractive foliage all year long, and at times has these very attractive berries that are food for much wildlife. We have many of these plants on our property, they are one of the plants I resist removing or cutting.

   This is not a plant to eat… the berries will cause intestinal problems that can only be resolved by sitting on the toilet for many, many, many hours…. and you might wind up in the hospital… so don’t eat these!

 

 

   You can click the image to see it much larger.

   This is the ‘Rhamnus californica’  subsp. occidentalis   species

~David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Paul Kantner~
‘Wooden Ships’

If you smile at me, I will understand
‘Cause that is something everybody everywhere does
in the same language.

I can see by your coat, my friend,
you’re from the other side,
There’s just one thing I got to know,
Can you tell me please, who won?

Say, can I have some of your purple berries?

 Yes, I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now,
haven’t got sick once.

Probably keep us both alive.

Wooden ships on the water, very free and easy,
Easy, you know the way it’s supposed to be,
Silver people on the shoreline, let us be,
Talkin’ ’bout very free and easy…
Horror grips us as we watch you die,
All we can do is echo your anguished cries,
Stare as all human feelings die,
We are leaving - you don’t need us.

Go, take your sister then, by the hand,
lead her away from this foreign land,
Far away, where we might laugh again,
We are leaving - you don’t need us.

And it’s a fair wind, blowin’ warm,
Out of the south over my shoulder,
Guess I’ll set a course and go…

 

 

 

 

The Harbor in San Diego California hosts a meeting of the big masted sail ships every year. A fellow from there took video of some of the ships, and put it on YouTube with the song ‘Wooden Ships’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  The song is great, the video is pretty well done, and the ships filmed are impressive…. if you ever get a chance to go to San Diego, do go. It is a fun town, and the weather can be counted on to be great. The harbor is fine, the people seem to enjoy to party… it’s a different kind of town… I’ve enjoyed it any time I’ve been there.

Corvus Corax - Lingua Mendax

Lyrics: Latin
Lingua mendax et dolosa,
Lingua procax venenosa,
Lingua digna detruncari
Et in igne concremari

Lyrics: English
The mendacious and crafty tongue
The bold, venomous tongue
The worthy tongue is cut off
And is burned by the fire

Corvus Corax is a German band that plays music with an elemental twist,
and their lyrics are often in Latin or other ‘Romance Languages’.

In this video, some has wedded some images from computer games to the magnificent song called Lingua Mendax. It is just so great to see how much creativity humans can have. Would that we as a species were to spend it more fruitfully.

This video is so much like my dreams.

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

  I had a chance to visit Jerusalem in the seventies, a friend had family there, and we weren’t too far away, but I turned the offer down.. and now so many years later, I wish I had gone to such a  special place.

   Here we have the Reggae artist known as ‘Alpha Blondy’ putting out a great song about Jerusalem…
He sings it in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

~Nina Hagen~
‘So Bad’

I can be so strong
Like a lion on a mission
I can do no wrong
I can fight day and night
That’s my decision!

(So bad) Like diet soda
(So bad) I’m counting 37 wars
(So bad) User friendly
(So bad) We lost the singer of the Doors
(So bad) Genetic obsession
(So bad) Misused atomic energy
(So bad) Surprise, surprise, the culture industry
(So bad) Helmut Kohl!

You can do no wrong
If you fight on my side
If you make that decision

Because the world is…

(So bad) I.R.A. and R.A.F.
(So bad) Are we really blind and deaf
(So bad) The Yogoslavian rape
(So bad) And no one can escape
(So bad) The Nazi lunacy
(So bad) Artificial extasy
(So bad) I hate my T.V.

So bad..bad…bad

In October 2002 we went to the third annual didgeridoo festival in Joshua Tree California.
The Didgeridoo is one of the oldest musical instruments on Earth.
I am just a novice didge player, and was quite impressed with the high quality and talent at this musical festival.
For the official Joshua Tree Didgeridoo Festival you can go to Joshua Tree Didgeridoo Festival
And to go direct to their really cool photo scrapbook for 2002 go to Joshua Tree Didgeridoo Festival 2002 photo scrapbook

HYPNOTIZED
~Written by Bob Welch~

It’s the same kind of story
That seems to come down from long ago.
Two friends having coffee together
When something flies by their window
It might be out on that lawn
Which is wide,
at least half of a playing field
Because there’s no explaining
what your imagination
Can make you see and feel

Seems like a dream
They got me hypnotized

Now it’s not a meaningless question
To ask if they’ve been and gone
I remember a talk about North Carolina
and a strange, strange pond
You see the sides were like glass
In the thick of a forest without a road
And if any man’s ever made that land
Then I think it would’ve showed

Seems like a dream They got me hypnotized

They say there’s a place down in Mexico
Where a man can fly over mountains and hills
And he don’t need an airplane or some kind of engine
And he never will

Now you know it’s a meaningless question
To ask if those stories are right
‘Cause what matters most
is the feeling You get when you’re hypnotized

Seems like a dream They got me hypnotized
Copyright © 1995-2002,
Martin and Lisa Adelson All Rights Reserved.

This song seemed to fit the mood I
felt during my weekend in the desert.
The melodic sounds of Native American flute
filled the Air, and the incessant
drumming all night and through the day was
filling the land with a surreal urgency.
The nights were spectacular,
and I felt as if I had been
transported to a time long ago.

It was a thrill to walk a ways out into the desert alone, the full moon shining down bringing the entire valley into a soft glow…. across the large campsite, a dozen small fires glowed, and from each glowing nook came the sounds of drums and didges… dozens at a time all together in some huge discordant rhythm. Primal, elemental….very natural… very human…. strangely animal…. vaguely Manimal.

A photograph of Joshua trees in the High Desert of California.
In the desert the evenings can often be so beautiful.
The dry air has no water vapor to shield the view of the evening sun glancing off the atmospheric dust.
The colorful evening displays can make for great sunsets!

  A special treat was the fire dancers who entertained the crowd with an exciting display of athletic and artistic ability with their thrilling twirling of flame tipped chains, batons, and fire swallowing.

Playing the Didge’

Here is the reason for the Didgeridoo festival. Playing the Didge!

Here is the tent where LA Outback sold their didges, tapes and CD’s as well as Australian arts and crafts works.

Everyone had a great time at this didgeridoo festival.
The crowd was well behaved, no fights or conflicts were seen.
People picked up the trash and kept the area clean and safe. It was a good safe family oriented weekend.
There were a half dozen bands that played on an illuminated bandstand in a large tent.
Many of these bands were very large, world known bands playing at this small intimate gathering in a very friendly atmosphere.

Here are just a few of the great bands and performers that highlighted the festivities this year,
and there were many more great people to keep the action lively, and the spirits running at a natural high level.
Lewis Burns
Brother
Rob Thomas of Inlakesh
David Blonsky
Pangaea

  Nina Hagen has one of the most amazing voices, even though I don’t always like the song itself, I can listen for some time to her purring roaring guttural rolling voice… and maybe that means that I kinda like her music, as odd as that may be.

   Nina was hot on the scene when I was in Europe in the late seventies.  I never saw her in concert, but heard a bit of her music, just enough to leave me wanting to hear a bit more. Then for twenty years or so, I heard nothing of her… then along came YouTube, and now… every few months… I listen to her, and watch the strange antics of Nina Hagen…. and yes, maybe that means I really do like her music.

Nina Hagen’s rendition of ‘Ziggy Stardust’ is entrancing… and odd.
But it’s always the first of her videos I tend to watch when getting my quarterly ‘Nina-Fix’.

This next one, called ‘Naturträne’ is a strange one when seen initially, but does it ever showcase the amazing voice she has…. her range is phenomenal! Her facial antics are strange and maybe a bit unsettling, but she is a performer, perhaps performing for different type people than us hillfolk.

But what really shows the essence of range, is when a performer can go from one extreme to another, taking on totally different faces and roles, and Nina does this so well… in the other videos above she performed in a Punk or Raver style, now in this one here, she performs the traditional ‘Ave Maria’ with a strength seldom seen, and with a strong rock twist that doesn’t become apparent until half way in, then it gathers strength culminating in a Rock-Style Crescendo that ends the song NOTHING like it started.   Oh yeah, this is one fine ‘updated’ version of a traditional tune… it is not like you’ve likely heard Ave Maria done before…. but I wouldn’t be surprised if you like it.

And then you have the band Apocalyptica joining with Nina for a most interesting little ditty called ‘Seemann’. 

‘

Spill the Wine’
~Eric Burdon and War~

Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl
Spill the wine and take that pearl, S
pill the wine and take that pearl

I was once out strolling one very hot summer’s day
When I thought I’d lay myself down to rest
in a big field of tall grass
I lay there in the sun and felt it caressing my face

And I fell asleep and dreamed
I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie
And that I was the star of the movie
This really blew my mind, the fact that me,
an overfed, long-haired leaping gnome
should be the star of a Hollywood movie

But there I was, I was taken to a place,
the hall of the mountain kings
I stood high upon a mountain top, naked to the world
In front of every kind of girl, there was
black ones, round ones, big ones, crazy ones…

Out of the middle came a lady
She whispered in my ear something crazy
She said:

Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl
Spill the wine and take that pearl, S
pill the wine and take that pearl

I thought to myself what could that mean
Am I going crazy or is this just a dream
Now, wait a minute
I know I’m lying in a field of grass somewhere
so it’s all in my head
and then.. I heard her say one more time:

Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl

 
I could feel hot flames of fire roaring at my back
As she disappeared, but soon she returned
In her hand was a bottle of wine, in the other, a glass
She poured some of the wine from the bottle into the glass
And raised it to her lips
And just before she drank it, she said:

 
Spill the wine and take that pearl, Spill the wine and take that pearl
Spill the wine and take that pearl, Spill the wine and take that pearl

Photo in my ’study’ of some old friends, 1982
Yep, some years have gone by.

~James McMurtry~
‘Just Us Kids’

“I’ve had enough of this small town bullshit
I’m not stayin’ in school
I’m makin’ good dough workin’ with my brother
Cleanin’ out pools
I’m going out to California
And man it won’t be long
As soon as I get my license
Color me gone”

“Oh knock it off Johnny
Man, your livin’ in your head
You ain’t even got a car
And those chicks don’t believe a word ya said”
But you’re doin’ all the talkin’
So I just keep quiet
And this’ll probably go no where
But I can’t blame ya for tryin’

It’s just us kids hangin’ round the park at night
Hangin’ round ‘neath the vapor light
We got no drugs and we got no guns
Not even botherin’ anyone

I” don’t have to wear a necktie
I don’t have to punch a clock
I started up a dot com company
And man it rocks
Won’t you come with me down to Mexico
In the winter with some friends?
My divorce will be final
Along about then
Meanwhile I got a gram and a real good ride”
And don’t you know I hurt way down inside?

Just us kids in the parking lot
Out here givin’ it all we got
We don’t want to get old and die
And there ain’t nothing we wouldn’t try

Ya know we could really have it all
Our kid’s gonna graduate next fall
I could take retirement in 10 years
It’s a damn short movie
How’d we ever get here?

Just us kids hangin’ out today
Watchin’ our long hair turnin’ gray
Not so skinny maybe not so free
Not so many as we used to be

 

Red Steagal
‘Dear Mama, I’m a Cowboy’

There’s nothin’ left, but ashes
The fire is gone for good
I’m trapped here in this cabin
Too cold to go for wood
I thought I’d write a letter
Let you know that I’m ok
Though my leg still hurts a little
From a bad spill yesterday

Dear Mama, I’m a cowboy
And I know that breaks your heart
All the things they wrote about me
Must’a torn your world apart
So Mama please, forgive me
Though I drove you near insane
I never killed nobody
‘n’ I never robbed that train

We found him in the springtime
At the table where he died
Tears had stained the paper
When he bowed his head and cried
We all just bawled like babies
As we read it one by one
And thought of our own Mammas
And all the things we left undone

Then we rolled him in his blanket
And as the boys all gathered round
I read his letter one more time
As we placed him in the ground

Dear Mama, I’m a cowboy
And I know that breakes your heart
All the things they wrote about me
Must have torn your world apart
So Mama please forgive me
Though I drove you near insane
I never killed nobody
‘n’ I never robbed that train

I never killed nobody
‘n’ I never robbed that train

A Turn in the Weather

We’ve had a hot summer so far, and our hottest time of the year, September is still to come!

But for now, a hurricane in Mexico is blowing some topical moisture north to us ‘Yanquis’.

The coastal areas are encapsulated in a cocoon of foggy moisture, and the coastal hills keep the fog from our hotter valleys and canyons.

 Here we see a tantalizing vision of cool shady foggy countryside,
just on the other side of the thousand-foot-plus hills.
So close, yet so very very far away.

Yet, even this close coolness has it’s effect on our local heat… our temperatures yesterday never got above the low eighties, ahhh, redolent crisp sprig-time like weather!

It’s funny how I now think of weather in the low eighties as being great and fine… but it is compared to ninety plus.

 The view from our cactus patch….
yep, perhaps this is why we have such fine cactus, they have such great views to look over!

   We really do live remote, this is why we do not list our address as anything other than a Post Office Box, anyone trying to find us is likely to get lost. We’re definitely not in a location for street and foot traffic; we’re a remote little family farm in a remote part of Central California. This canyon only got phone service in 1972. Cell service is non existent in most of the canyon bottom, and if you want television and Internet, you pretty much have to go with satellite.

 ~Faith No More~
‘As The Worm Turns’

One day you’re thinking that maybe you’re feeling better
And you’re probably an OK person, if only you had a job…
Through the hollow tombs can see them
Through their mouths I can hear them praying for pain
But it’s only a game

Listen, man, I know
That things are really rough
And everybody gets you
And life is really tough
But I know that deep down inside
There’s a feeling that rides
All the way to the end

Thursday you sit in your room with the lights turned out
And you don’t answer the door
Friday morning looks sunny and bright
Like it’s going to be a good day
And it would be if only you had a job

Time is on your side, you’re young
Don’t waste your time today

~Ray Wylie Hubbard ~
‘Cooler-N-Hell’