Return to Events

Subjective Experience: January 24, 2001

date event location
01-24-01 king’singers the barclay theatre – irvine, ca
01-21-01 annual flag football game valancia high school – plancentia, ca
01-19-01 dave mason sun theatre – anaheim, ca
01-19-01 -la
louver (ken price, john goode)
(contemporary art museums)

-griffin
(enrique martinez celaya)

venice beach, ca
01-19-01 dresden staatskapelle

-beethoven: 

 symphony no. 8 in F major, Op. 93

-strauss: ein heldenleben, op. 40

orange county performing arts center

costa mesa, ca

01-18-01 -voyages and visions: early photographs 

 from the wilson family collection

-mexico: 

 from empire to revolution (part #1)

the getty museum – los angeles, ca
01-17-01 -edward s.curtis:  sites and structures

-chris burden: a tale of two cities

-women in print: 

 recent prints from women artists

orange county museum of art

(main and south coast plaza locations)

newport beach, ca

01-16-01 california
institute of the arts
valencia, ca
01-14-01 casino morongo cabazon, ca
01-13-01 dayton contemporary dance company luckman fine arts complex

cal state la – los angeles, ca

01-13-01 museum of jurrasic technology culver city, ca
01-10-01 -museum of contemporary art

-la public library

downtown los angeles, ca
01-09-01 los angeles zoo los angeles, ca
01-07-01 sundays live: los angeles mozart 

orchestra chamber players

la county museum of art
01-05-01 she stoops to conquer knightsbridge theatre – pasadena, ca
01-04-01 ronald
reagan presidential library
simi valley, ca
01-03-01 rose
parade float viewing
pasadena, ca
12-31-00 p-funk
allstars/grateful dead
the arena – oakland, ca
12-29-00 fellowship
riverside gardens
mill creek park – youngstown, oh
12-29-00 bulter institute of american art youngstown, oh
12-27-00 mooney vs howland (9th gr. b-ball) cardinal mooney HS – youngstown, oh
12-24-00 steelers vs chargers jack murphy stadium – san diego, ca
12-20-00 nutcracker – moscow classical ballet pasadena civic auditorium – pasadena, ca
12-19-00 richard
nixon library
yorba linda, ca
12-14-00 nutcracker – pacifica ballet the barclay theatre – irvine, ca

 


more events
 


nutcracker
dec 14, 2000 ballet pacifica 
 
ballet is beautiful. sometimes in musicals the fluid motion of the
stage and actors 
is in time with the music. in ballet its all the time. its like a group
of  music 
synchronized mimes telling a story. the way the girls flowed with the
music-
there was 2 brothers in the whole 1200 person audience, me and what
seemed
to be the 2nd lead male dancer who played the snow king. it was beautiful
how he elevated the slender white female as she ran so it seemed like
she was
flying to the music. sculptured poses. feminine but healthy physically
tone. 
thin but very graceful and swam like.
girls of all ages. 3-4 year olds playing mice. the stage darkened then
one
little girl in a very cute white mouse costume with tail and ears ran
across the 
stage. then another and another but one at a time then they  flowed
on to the 
stage until there was 9 of them. they were doing a very simple step
but to be
3-4 years old and on stage it was good and it was to the music. the
other age 
groups seemed to be middle (8-15 teens) and then the older more experienced 
dancers who did the more serious moves.
very very pleasant to watch. 
to see humans in rhytmic synchronized motion to music.

the dancers also moved in patterns that gave off an illusion. 
i was tickled more than once. 

graceful female form to music
soft gestures, smooth

ballet may be better if viewed from a distance. definitely liked seeing
the 
whole stage. being far enough back to see groups of dancers move as
one.
had row r but the theatre is real cozy, not small but not big so r
was relatively
close, had aisle seat left. opening night. 
 


nutcracker
dec 20, 2000 moscow classical ballet 
 
ballet is beautiful. 
the pasadena civic auditorium is beautiful.
life is beautiful.
this performance seemed to focus more on dancing and fundamentals. 
the set was a lot less fancy and there were less scenery changes
than the performance by ballet pacifica. also pacifica’s performance
was more “fun.” but what they lacked in theatrics they made up for
with dance. fluidity, gracefulness, and pure athletic ability…
slender and graceful russian girls 
flowing with a live classical orchestra…

the queen of the mice was my favorite, natalia korneeva. her 
movements had a slight “drag” which was ever so slightly sensual.
her part had a lot of “flying” and her being held high by a group 
of mice men while she stretched her body gracefully into artistic 
posses. i love the female form and to see this cute russian girl
move her body with the music while being carried across the stage
was very very goood. curved arms, feet and hands flowing gently… 

i found that the “single ticket law” may work too well. there
is such a thing as being too close. i could have gotten a row
4 ticket but passed for row m dead center. i think it was a 
good choice. i could see the movement of the stage as a whole.
and wasnt close enough to see the realities of the performance
(bad make-up, torn clothing, sweat, etc). could have used some
binoculars to see deeply in the performers eyes to see their
expressions though…

i saw andy garcia on the way in. we made eye contact. then
during intermission while walking up the aisle he tripped over
foot. he said “excuse me man” in a voice that sounded genuine
and cool (not fake). he touched my back as i said “no problem.”
i had peeped him coming up the aisle and knew it was him so
all this happened without any eye contact. for some reason
when i get close to “big stars” or whatever, im not aggressive.
i kinda let them bring it to me. though i usually slightly 
impressed i never fall allover them. in fact, i ignore them.
(i do the same with the pretty pretty girls too). 


steelers
vs chargers 2000photos

dec 24, 2000 jack murphy stadium
i danced all day long. we drove the 37ft rv down the night
before and found we couldnt park in the lot. so we parked 
at a walmart and slept till the 7am…
we were like the 2nd people in the lot so we parked
relatively close to some poeple who set up a big steeler sign
and a cool xmas tree. people had their stuff set up so nice 
it was like “displays” of food and steeler stuff all over…
we had a kitchen so we (jesse) cooked breakfast-
eggs and salmon croquettes.  got my plate and was
steeping out the rv as these brothas bumpin funky
music pulled up right beside the rv. the windows were
down so i stepped off the rv like i was comimg to
meet them. i said what up to airbody in the ride,
spun around so they could see the p-funk on my
back and the party was on. they bumped the beat
for the next 4 hours while folx grilled drank and vibed

so much steeler gear everywhere!!

seemed like more steeler fans in the stadium 
i was walking around asking (screaming) “who’s house is this?”
this stadium was steeler home this day…

i wore myself out like a little kid. during the 2 and 3
quarters of the game i just sat and watched, i was wore out!

at the tailgate party, brothers was just vibin and groovin together
it was cool to groove mid tempo with other brothers. 
it was good to see brothers “dancin” with other brothers. 
there were no sistas, only white & hispanic girls…. 

after the game i was groovin when
me and another homey got in rhythm. then some
other brothers started doing a little vibe step
thang and we were all on the same grooove. we werent
in a line or nothing, we were scattered randomly but 
all tight on that same groove, same bounce. it was
good. most of the white white people had left,
but some of them saw how we do it. how black folx
flow. how urban ethnic brothas listen to semi hardcore
rap could be friendly and outgoing. this was a 
good group, everyone was pleasant, clean cut and
mannerly. lots of food

good mix of people. those white white bred pittsburghers
side by side brothers from the hood bumpin semi-hardcore
rap. music was good to vibe and dance too snoop, xhibit, etc–

everybody drinking and grilling and eating, a very very good party

in the rv we had a tv so we could watch the baltimore
game and pitt needed baltimore to win. so we were one of
the only sources of updates for the game. i would go
out and announce score changes. baltimore got a safety so
i went out and did the PFUNK1 version of a referees saftey call,
dancin all the while. it was cool cause people would see me coming 
and knew it was a scoring update. then i could see the information 
being passed thru the parking lot

lots of folx were in and out of our rv
we had a bathroom so all the girls stopped by

i felt really good, really relaxed, my vibe was on full

lot of people calling “p-funk” got to the point i got use to folx in
the crowd
calling me as i drifted around…

my vibe confidence was at its highest. i walked
thru the crowd and was able to let anyone i wanted
feel me. folx was calling me “p-funk” and i would
gesture or walk big or do a little dance.
one dude called me from like 200 feet away and
we vibed and clowned all the way over the crowd as 
they watched…
 

got to the point i was all vibed out.
so much stimulaion that it became a non novelty.
i was able to “drift” with so much vibe energy
around me. get lost in it. just be silly and relaxed
with gaurd down just floating with all this potiential
vibe energy around me. i knew that if i walked 
10 feet someone would call “p-funk!” i knew someone
would vibe me. i knew i was “on display” so i walked
and waded in it…the energy was tangible cause i knew
could influence it very easily.

i had a ticket that was damn near on the 50yrd line
but so low you couldnt see the field cause the 
steeler players on the sideline and bench were
in the way. it was cool to see them that close.

it was cool to see kordell’s reaction after he
threw an interception. how he came to the bench
and sat off by hisself and had what seemed to be a
“hat boy” standing by him holding a baseball cap if
he needed it after taking his helmet off. nobody
talked to him for awhile.

i was able to see kordells demeanor as he talked
to other players. he seemed instructive. never mad
or cussing. mostly smiling, very easy going. didnt
seem shy or nervous. didnt seem to get mad and blame
anybody. he just seemed instructive kinda

i saw the reaction of the defense as it had to go back on the field
after a turnover.

saw shelly from clancys, she looked good
met a guy who told me he had been to my website
hung out with old clancys buddy and his girl

lots of compliments on my jesters hat and my santa claus hat,
jersey too. you see lots of steeler jerseys with the popular
player’s numbers (10, 99, 95, 58) but my jerseys are unique
(personalized P FUNK 1)  and rare (o’donnells 14)

it got to the point where it was hard to describe
the feeling. i felt really good. i had a surreal time.
i danced all day long. the good feeling lasted so
long at such a high level i became numb to it. euphoria,
nirvana, whatever you want to call it. it is intense
at times, but the time in which it lasts is probably
the most incerdible. 

i really enjoyed dancing all day. chillin in the rv for
a bit then just stepping outside and dancing. 

being with all the steeler fans, so many people with
a common love. all dressed similarily. so much energy
from so many focused on one thing. all of the black and
gold, all of the terrible towels. 

there were no black females at the tailgate party,
lots of white and some hispanic.
the only noticable black female showing was what seemed 
to be family of joey porter. a number of black female 
wearing his jersey number inside the stadium. 


butler institute
of american art
photos

dec 29, 2000 youngstown, oh
last time i was here was like 30 years ago on a school field trip.
im thinking
ive been to the finest art galleries in the world. im thinking: youngstown
art? 
yeah right!  then i see that this museum specializes in american
impressionism.
neither of which are any where close to being one of my favorites.
but i have
to admit, i was impressed. the best thing that could have happened
is that i 
learned something new. and i did. i really liked the paintings of american 
impressionism. it had the “fantasy” of impressionism with an american
realism.
the style was realistic enough for me to appreciate it. also, the building
was 
modern and brand new. having hung out in the poverty of the southside
for 
a few days it was good and strange to see a beautiful modern building
in this
dying city… 

she stoops
to conquer
  jan 5, 2001
knightsbridge theater

a friend turned me on to ticketclub.com where i found tickets so cheap
i
had to check this out. i was also impressed by ticketclub cause one
of the
ad thingys was that they had tickets to see the p-funk allstars last
sept 
for half-price. anywayz the knightsbridge theatre is nestled (it actually
is) in
pasadena’s old town right behind the muse (funky club). it has a very
quaint
lobby area decorated to give an authentic old small theatre feel. it
was cool.
the actual theatre holds about 100 seats and is small, dark and the
stage is 
barely above floor level so it has a real close & cozy feel. no
leg room though.
the productions here have history and have been written up in newspapers.
the play she stoops to conquer was written in like the 1870’s
but is
considered racy and nontraditional for its time cause it didnt take
the soft
approach and has worldy issues. the clever thing that the director
did was
to set this play in a 70s “three’s company” sitcom  type setting
while keeping the 
dialect of the period. before the show tv themes song played over the
audio
system (some good old ones that brought back memories). and they used
faked applause and played authentic audio from old commercials throughout
the 
play. the characters were costumed in 70’s style clothing with a 70s
style set 
but spoke traditional old english with that shakespearen type accent.
i may 
have been tired cause i thought it slow at first, but as the plot developed
it got
better. it is a very very complex and entertaining plot involving sex,
lust, money 
and love in a dramatic comedy. overall, this kinda thing may be kinda
dry for 
my tastes but i enjoyed the experience just the same. 

sundays live
jan 7, 2001 lacma
mozart: sonata for violin and piano in b flat major k 454 – piano and
violin:
largo; allegro, adante, allegretto
faure: piano quartet in c minor, opus 15, piano, 2 violins, viola,
cello:
allegro molto moderato, scherzo: allegro vivo, adagio, allegro molto-
what all that means i dont know, but one day ill look back and i will…
the 1 hour performance was kinda dry, but had a couple of good moments

los angeles
zoophotos

jan 9, 2001 
as far as zoos go, this seemed like a cool one. but the thing that
struck me was
how “unhappy” the animals looked. it was kinda depressing. they looked
really
lethargic. they had no life. no spirit. all movements were slow and
the animals 
appeared sedated. i imagined these big strong creatures running or
fighting for 
their lives in the wild and then i see the same half alive animal…its
good for kids 
and folx to see these animals, but i think we have to re-think the
whole concept 
and structure of our zoo system…

museum of
jurrasic technology

jan 13, 2001 culver city, ca
the museum of jurrasic technology is the most
intellectually deepest museum i have ever been in.
it is small and it is also the darkest (literally).
it specializes in the lower jurrasic (whatever that
is) and basicly showcased items from 2 or 3 great
but unrecognized thinkers. these were very smart
men who thought way outside of the mainstream 
and didnt achieve the fame others did. this 
made me think that there are many many great
thinkers who dont achieve fame so therefore
go without notice. and i thought of all the 
knowledge that they have that goes un noticed-
(thank god for the internet!!!)
the museum is relatively small and VERY dark.
it is set up in kinda a maze with no set path
to walk thru, though things are organized in
sections. there are displays and booths using
video and 3-d glasses for effect. there are
numerous phones that play recordings of information
about each display. deep concepts are displayed 
in an almost eerie setting and the effect is very 
very deep.
 
i am happy when i learn something new. i get excited
when i learn a new concept and i learned at least one
thing for sure at this place. it was a concept by geoffrey
sonnabend called the “obliscence: theories of forgetting
and the problem of matter.” it was so good i bought the
$2 handout. roughly what i got from it is that the 
past does not exist. it is something that we create(d) 
in our minds. memory is an illusion. he used a “cone of 
memory” by which all living beings experiences experience.

this cone intersects with the “plane of experience” at
different angles to produce different kinds of memories.
memories with varying signifigance, memories that last
longer than others.

another thinker in the museum was athanasius kircher’s
“the world is bound by secret knots.” as best as i can
remember, he believed everything in the universe works
together and is joined together by magnetism. i also learned
(or realized the degree of) that all learning was controlled
by religion at one time. to go to a school of learning
you had to be a jesuit priest and be accepted. you had
to pledge allegiance to god and the sect and they greatly
influenced knowlege, science and fact. realizing this
was kinda deep…
 


dayton
contemporary dance company
jan
13, 2001 luckman fine arts complex

ticketclub.com is god. i scored this ticket for free- $4 service service
charge and it was row 3 aisle
far right. my info is stored on the website so all i have to do is
click 5 times and the ticket is 
purchased by my checking account, held at will call and a confirmation
e-mail with all information 
is sent to me. i am notified of events via e-mail also…
when i get there the will call girl (she was cute) couldnt find my ticket
cause it was listed as jeffery 
with no last name. so i asked her what day it was and she said 12th.
i said, ooooooops. my ticket 
was for the 13th. so i hit the bathroom and planned how i would comeback
tomorrow. but before i
left i checked my cell phone and it said jan 13. (and yes, my life
is so good i forget what day it is alot)
so i go back and show her the phone and she goes, ooooooops- then i
see my name on the list at 
the top cause its listed without a last name…
the harriet & charles luckman fine arts complex is hard to find
in the dark. but when i did i found a 
very cozy modern place. a slightly sterile modern style using cloth
tones. very comfortable though.
there were lots of empty seats upfront and i ended up sitting row 2
a little close to the midddle.

whats cool about this stuff is the ethnicity of it. it was like ghetto
ballet. it had that flare and groove 
that black folx have but is definitley based inside a western civilization
fine art. the dancers are have 
a groove. sometimes the dance moves were multiple simple movements
to complicated rhythms.
sometimes they were complicated dips and turns as a group all on the
same beat. groups of dancers 
would groove to different rhythms of the music on different parts of
the stage. so it was like seeing 
music. it flowed like ballet but with a funky step. 

the dancers also had body: legs, calf muscles and booty. the girls were
built solid and had attitude 
in their form. the first set was done to upbeat jazz music. it was
playful and full of energy. it had a 
lot of movement and rhythm. a large number of dancers on stage at one
time or another groovin. 
it had lots of positive energetic motion  they did 4 sets with
a pause between 1 and 3 and an 
intermisson after the 2nd. 

during the intermission a nearby gallery had a showing of technical
drawings, video displays, pictures 
and models of different parts of los angeles. very detailed stuff showing
streets, buildings and terrain.
it was very entertaining and informnative.

the 2nd set had a serious tone. it was 6 dancers; 3 male and 3 female
at a high school dance. the music 
was motown- supremes and stuff. they danced a story showing boy-girl
interaction at a dance and 
then the boys rape a girl. they danced the emotion of that event… 

the 3rd set was a solo performance of a warrior doing an ostrich dance.
it was good and powerful. 
watching this man move moved me. his gracefulness and the fact i could
feel him so deeply almost 
brought joyful tears to my eyes. i also realized how beautiful the
black male body is. it may be the 
most beautiful of the males on this planet. the proportions of leg
length to torso length. the lines, 
curves, angles and definitions are different than any other race. even
the white couple behind me 
commented on how beautiful his body was. and his movements were so
spiritually deep… 

and ofcourse i had a favorite, she looked puerto rican or something
and she had soft colored but
powerful thys and bulging calves. i noticed her in set 1 and she was
also in set 2… 

i was very impressed by this art form and will definitley be seeking
it in the future…


casino morongo
jan 14, 2001 cabazon, ca
the casino morongo is on the indian reservation in cabazon. i messed
up by playing $5 blackjack 
and $1 video poker on a $100 budget. money went way too fast. the blackjack
is the same with 
a few added payoffs for 3 blackjacks in a row, 7-cards under 21, etc.
but ya have to pay the 
dealer .50 each hand to play. 
the game i should have played all along was 25 cent video poker. at
a layover in the vegas airport 
a guy playing next to me hit for a grand. he hit a royal flush. thats
when it hit me that my strategy 
was wrong. a royal flush on a 5 coin bet ($1.25) pays $1000. (a grand
is “alot” to me right now 
and $1.25 is nothing. so the payout and price per bet is perfect for
my current economic standing). 
jacks or better gets your money back so you dont loose anything and
get another shot at the royal. 
so if you are dealt facecards, aces or 10s of the same suit you keep
them to go for the royal flush. 
and since you’re keeping facecards you have a chance for jacks are
better also to get your bet 
back. ofcourse, if ya get dealt 3 of a kind or a possibility for a
straight, you go for the payout and 
skip shooting for the royal. i never knew this and my strategy was
to go for jacks or better by keeping 
only one face card or any pairs…
i am a people watcher so after i tired of gaming (got broke)  i
just sat for an hour while mom and sis 
continued to gamble. i love people, ok i love girls. i study people,
ok i study girls. i watch there 
mannnerisms. i see their curves and shapes. i notice angles and slopes
of their faces. i see the lines 
of their hair. i look at girls cause i love them and i study them so
i can draw them. sitting there i 
wished i had paper and pencil to draw but was too lazy to hunt them
down.

i noticed the people out there are different than the skinny, beautiful,
squeaky clean shaven manicured
pretty people of westside LA and santa monica. the girls here were
heavier, much more hips. more 
“plain” looking. i feel much more attractive in this crowd and a lot
less fat. i like hips and a big butt 
always catches my eye so i enjoyed looking and being looked at…


ocma
jan 17, 2001 newport beach, ca
tale of two cities was 2 cities at war depicted using toy cars, boats,
soldiers, etc. it also used 
common items like boxes and wine corks to imitate buildings and other
stuff. it took up a whole 
room and is very very detailed and saturated with stuff. i looked at
it first for a few minutes and 
then i used the binoculars that are provided. when i did i saw the
work had such great detail that 
it amazed me. 
overall the museum leans towards the modern and there were some works
that helped me better 
appreciate modern and contemporary art. more and more im starting to
like it cause it uses modern 
media to communicate- video, lights, modern photography, etc…two
galleries were closed so the 
lady gave me a free pass to come back feb 3 when they opened.
the cool thing about museums is when i can be there alone and i love
that. i was able to walk 
completely undisturbed and really concentrate on what i was seeing-
(i love flying solo) when i 
can do that i can open up and be more sensitive to the works. 

ocma has two sites, the main one above and one in the south coast plaza
which is right across from 
the performing arts center i was going to. the coast plaza site is
one room with a gift shop attached 
and the exhibiton was by women artists. it was cool and i saw pieces
that i liked, and some i didnt. 


dresden staatskapelle
jan 19, 2001 orange county performing arts
center

the roots of this german orchestra go back 450 years. it has a very
rich history. many of the
great classical performers actually commented about it when they were
alive. it was good
seeing something so rich in tradition. and the fact that its from europe
(it has to be to be 450
years old and western) made it even more exotic.
before the concert they had a 1 hour preview of the concert that night.
i think it was 
done by the same guy who does the sunday concerts that i go to at lacma
on the radio. 
he explained the history of bethoveen and strauss and it was cool…
there seemed like over 100 musicians in the orchestra. lots of violins
and only one drummer. 
i found this interesting considering most popular music is drum driven.
there even was a guy
who stood there very attentively for 10 minutes just to clash the hand
cymbols once.

the whole thing is very very regimented and formal. almost too formal.
there is also a lot of 
formality in the performance. everything is strictly organized. the
way the musicians come on 
the stage. how the guy who was was obvisously second in command would
standup then the 
orchestra would tune-up. then the conductor would come on stage. very,
very formal.

i also wonder about the condutor leading the orchestra. it seems his
commands are one beat 
(or sumn) before the notes are played. so you see him actually give
a expressive command 
and hear it played a split second later. most of the musicians didnt
look at him at all except
for the cymbol guy who watched very attentively for his split second
performance. 

they did two “sets.” the first was bethoven’s 8th. it was kinda dry,
almost boring. the second 
was strauss and this boys stuff moved. in the preview before and in
the program it explains 
what the different parts represented. one part portrayed him (the hero).
another was his wife.
another the “oppressive” critics of the time. one was the “war” or
struggle between he and the 
critics and so-on.

the sounds of the music express feeling and even describe the characters
it portrays. like his 
wife’s piece was soft strings playing a light melody. but it had some
clashing hard notes to say 
that she could be abrasive or demanding. 

the music could show strength, sorrow, love and triumphant victory.
i always knew music 
conveyed emotion so when i was told what the parts represented it became
very clear. i then 
understood that music of that time told different stories. like of
comedy or of love. it could be 
political and make very bold statements about the current events of
the time. (remember there
was no tv, radio or much else)

you can say alot of things about life behind the orange curtain, but
them white white folx down 
there love and do their art right. the orange county center for the
performing arts is a huge 
beautiful structure. very modern with sharp lines and fairly subtle
futuristic colors. a good 
portion of the evening is to enjoy the magnifigance of the building
you are in and i did.
coool thing i noticed abou this building is that everything is not
symetrical. there is a beautiful
sculpture in the front using wires and shapes with sharp corners that
looks like an eagle flying, 
but in a very abstract way. this piece was not centered or did not
appear to be in the traditional
middle of the building. also the balconys inside were not “straight.”
the left balcony shot out 
over maybe 40% the orchestra seating and the right side was set back.
i guess there were no 
true squares or rectangles in the place. very few 90 degree angles.
my ticket was free thru 
ticketclub.com


dave mason
jan 19, 2001 sun theater
dave mason played with a group called traffic and i think fleetwood
mac. he is a good 
guitarist and i could tell by the crowd he has a solid following. the
sun theatre is a 
goregously modern building that uses big structure. it has colorful
lights outside, huge 
posters, spotlights and a big open air area in front with heaters and
tables to stand by…
the big big big thing about this concert was the characteristics of
the demographics of 
this crowd. it was all white- maybe 2 other black folx out of maybe
1500. i had been
here for funkadelic so i was suprised to see seats all the way up to
the stage. usually 
there is a pit to dance and stuff, but they had seats so tightly packed
up there it looked
hard to walk thru…
the crowd was a mix of white country and white pop folx. a coulple of
warm up bands 
played and their music had good movement. dave mason played a blue-eyed
soulful
music that leaned heavily towards blues. the sound system and music
sounded good.

as these groups played i stood and looked back over the crowd. hardly
any movement!!! 
very, very, very few heads bobbing or dancing or anything!! i was amazed.
the music was
moving, it had groove and this huge group of people just sat there.
they were paying 
attention cause you could see them sitting up and looking straight
ahead. but no body 
movement to the music!!!! i was so amazed that i studied what i saw.
it was amazing!!!

dancing for me comes from the inside out. an energy or spirit in me
forces my body to 
move. this is why i dance sometimes without any music (more than once
white person
has asked me “what music are you dancing to?” and were really trying
to know how i 
danced without music “he has his own music”). 

so it is hard for me (especially lately since im so happy) to sit still
when there is music on. 
anykind of music. hell, even if a car engine knocks at a steady rate
i will dance. 

now i know this aint my neighborhood. i know this aint my house and
these white folx 
(or any folx) is drinking. so im smart enough not to antagonize nothing.
i know a lot of 
these guys who dont dance brought women who would watch me curiously
as i moved 
to the music. and once i lock into a groove that movement would become
very sensual.
being watched when im groovin like that is a thrill, and its a special
added thrill when its 
another man’s woman and i look back and see her looking at me and him
looking at her.
thats when i shoot that quick eye contact and smile and do a little
sum sum extra for ’em. 
and that little extra comes from inside because of the energy i get
from the attention.

anywayz, it was like i gave respect to the home team by not showing
off and being 
careful not to do this or antagonize nobody who might be drunk. like
i said, these folx 
was drinking… 

but when dave mason started groovin it was tough. i didnt stand up but
i chair danced my 
ass off. the band was movin and mr mason did a guitar solo that was
hittin. i felt the
energy inside me build up, but i had to hold it. forcing myself to
sit increased the intensity 
of it all. i had my eyes closed and focused on that energy. i let the
energy’s intensity go all 
thru my body. i deliberatly focused to amplify it. at one point i knew
i could maintain 
enough concentration to make myself cry, literally. i could bring the
excitement type
energy up in me to the point it makes my eyes water. the feeling that
deep love brings.
like seeing your kids do something that your so proud of. or feeling
intense joy.

i knew that even in my chair i was jammin my ass off. i knew i was moving
sensually 
and i knew i was being watched though i never checked, i knew. knowing
this adds to 
the energy.

i really want to interview some white people about how and what they
feel when they 
hear music. is it like the connection from their emotions or something
got disconnected
from their physical and they can feel something but not the desire
to move? could it be 
something in the nervous system?

this non dancing thing is cut so sharply on racial lines that to think
that the races are the 
same cant be true. maybe even to say the “races” are different species
or breeds. the 
differences are so great that it is obvious that there is something
majorly different between 
different colors of people. way beyond socializtion or cultural- geneticly
and inherently 
different. and if ya know me, this is the stuff that moves me…


annual
flag football game

jan 21, 2001 plancentia, ca
on the last play of the second game, which was the last play of the
day,
i threw the winning touchdown pass.

king’singers
jan 24, 2001 barclay theatre
the king’singers are 6 men from cambridge, england. they are a world
renowned 
acapella singing ensemble. they were good. the harmony was beautiful
and they
all had very very pleasing voices. 
the range of volume and tone. the tight harmonies. at times it was body
tingling. 
a couple times they did very deep harmony that faded to such a smooth
soft
and quiet whisper that it gave me chills-
of all my experiences in orange county as of late, i have been one of
very few black 
people. but this night i was the only one. this was VERY conservative
and older 
crowd of about 500. i may have been the only male wearing an earring. 

so it was not surprising that the jokes were so conservative that they
were remedial 
at times. the lack of aggressiveness in the humor kinda irritated me
at first. (irritated 
may be a strong word, but something like that). the “show” part of
the ensembles
performance was good though and they had jokes that were CA specific.
like one 
was saying in england the weather was bad and they were glad to be
here in CA, 
“even without electricity.”

they also made comment about seeing on tv how the orange county coastline
is a well 
kept secret. that i had to agree with. earlier that day driving laguna
canyon rd and PCH 
i was struck by its beauty. it was just plain absolutley goregous.
i was literally stunned
by the beauty of the landscape…

one thing about this performance got me. i was knda put back by how
much comedy 
and gimmicks were used. these men had harmony and talent so rich it
was spiritual.
i wanted to ask them if they ever sang serious and deeply spiritual
music. they had 
the talent to deeply move people but they kept the evening mostly light.
most songs 
dealt with the infidelity of sailors or scorned lovers, but they were
kept very light 
hearted. kinda like cirque du soliel- disgusing a deeply spiritual
message in a circus 
that is easy to market to a public that doesnt necessarily wanna deal
with the deeper 
issues of life on a night out. or will spend money on a ticket; business,
profitability…

but considering how small this ultra conservative crowd was and the
fact there was 
no real music, i did see some head-bobs and physical movement to the
music… 

  

 

 


 


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