Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Artist's Bliss


The post came late last week. Was I up to seeing him perform at a small small gig in Jersey? It came from my cousin Tommy, Tom Prasada-Rao or TPR as he's known in the biz. The answer was a no brainer. Hell yeah.

I've always loved his voice. Heck, EVERYone loves his voice - throaty, sexy, surging over you like a wave of Mexican hot chocolate, dark and sweet, flecked with bits of spice. Any chance I get to hear him sing I grab. And here he was minutes away from my own little casa. I didn't know the circumstances that brought him to perform, especially after he closed a chapter to his touring life and embarked on the less traveled road of producer. I do know he sat in public transportation for at least 8 hours, in various modes of transport involving trains, buses and automobiles to get there. I do know an eager audience sat patiently awaiting him in the basement of the First United Methodist Church in Westfield, NJ.

The church provides a venue for Coffee with Conscience, a concert series in its 10th season. The original intent was to provide the congregation with a vehicle to service the greater community. The coffee house setting provided the ideal venue to showcase musical talent with a folk bent and raise funds for local charities. Mostly a 40 - 50ish congregation that has been exposed to world-class songwriters and damn good singers. They gather Saturday nights to sip coffee provided by Ahrre's Coffee Roastery

I flatter myself into thinking he started off with Sleeping Beauty because he knew that was one of my favorites. Followed by songs I know well and others I don't. Smoke and Mirrors, a collaboration with his wife Carey Cooper. The Randy Travis song, Indigo and a sweetly raunchy song featuring Barbara Eden and his boyhood fantasies: "Call me master. Do it faster." And of course my hands down favorite Rishi's Garden, a tribute to Ravi Shankar in which he convinces his guitar to imitate the passionate moaning of a sitar.

Punctuated between songs are Tommy's wryly delivered but intimate observations about fatherhood, being a husband, the homeless, his grandfather, his parents, his ancestry. Some of these I have insight to, as I've been privy to the same childhood. Others are as new to me as the rapt audience of coffee sipping music lovers.
I've known artists in many genres. Some happy, some rich, some bordering on Van Goghism. My question has been can you devote your life to the expression of yourself and live a fulfilled life of abundance? Chock full of sexy photo ops, gushing adoration, 1000 friends on Facebook, oodles of money in the bank, critical acclaim?

Watching Tommy give of himself for 2 solid hours, share his insight, his vocal and musical talent, his love for himself and his life I realized the artist can live abundantly. And surely then, this is a life of bliss.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

From Nobel Prize to War with the Moon

Last week's headlines were abuzz with news of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize award. While I think it was premature, I found the timing extremely ironic given the NASA expedition to "impact" not explode rockets into the surface of the moon.

Experts like Christian Science Monitor assures us the intentional detonation was the moon's equivalent of a mere flesh wound.

How would the moon have felt about it? It’s hard to ask an inanimate, non-sentient object. But using Sir Isaac Newton’s action-reaction law — the one that describes why a rocket moves one direction when its exhaust flows out the back in the opposite direction — researchers estimate that the two collisions combined would have the same effect on the moon that dropping an eyelash in the aisle would have on the speed and direction of a Boeing 747.


All this in the hunt for ice water reservoirs in hopes that the moon can support life. Scientists expect the impact would release a huge plume of moon dust and debris. The moon dust blast should be large enough for amateur scientists to view from Earth through normal telescopes.

All this lunar activity has caused an uproar. Numerous petitions to stop the moon bombing pop up everywhere like this one.

Time will tell if the impact of rocket Centaur will have a repercussions on the moon and the lunar bodies surrounding it. Will it throw off the tidal pull or monthly moon cycles? What about its relationship to the zodiacal sister planet? and astrology in general? Time and the moon herself will tell.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Back in the old country

When my cousin Patty returned from Tanuku, India after teaching English to grade schoolers for a year what I remember most of her recollections is her commentary about trash. Basically, there isn't a trash can in the smaller, rural villages. Organic matter is composted, if paper is used, it's to write on and Bounty doesn't exist. Compare this with the 2 hefty bags of trash I easily generate on a weekly basis. And this is after recycling plastic, metal and even some organic matter to my compost heap.

What's more disturbing is the prevalence of refuse created by my parents, despite the fact that they used to live in the very same village mentioned above. What's happened? Does America foster a careless home disposal policy. Do people not care how their lifestyle effects nature and the flow of life in general? Of course they do. My parents are avid gardeners and revel in the cycle of soil to plant to plate and back to soil. I think it boils down to the predicament of unawareness. Folks aren't aware of the options for rubbish disposal, so they follow outworn methods that reinforces the problem of increasing garbage and dwindling land.

Here are a couple ways I've unearthed to combat the issue. They include composters, leaf suckers (not blowers!) and recycling tips. Send your own and I'll add to the post.

Composters: Costco has a pretty decent array of wood, plastic and metal composters.

Suction mulchers: Combines leaf blower, mulcher and a yard vacuum. Can't wait to try it!

Recycling: Some handy tips on recycling various plastics, metals and paper.