Chicago: efflorescence
and temporary waves of waning I was talking with my friend Chef John Manion tonight about Chicago and
our impressions of the city in the early 90's. He said that "you could feel the weight of the city upon it".
And I knew what he meant - it was a Nelson Algren era Weight - and you could feel it (in the way you can still feel it in
the up-town Lawrence Ave. area now). It was a bit desolate, however still a connected village yearning for something. And the city did in fact blossom with new vibrant possibility over the years, The city has grown so fast, And,
in fact it went through a beautiful efflorescence in the mid to late 90's to the early 2000's, (to the point that I wondered
how they would ever fill the condos they were building!) You could see it's vitality in the restaurants, bars and nightclubs
that opened in this period and hoped for the big dream. It was a sort of beautiful explosion.
But, I feel,
the city has wilted since 2003, and is quietly napping now. One by one those hopeful places are closing down.
You could almost miss it if you didn't know what was there before, but the city is going through a waning phase. I hate to
say it, because I love this city, but it is - AND I BELIEVE ONLY TEMPORARILY - losing it's spark. It will get it back
- I have no fear - but I notice it. I'm sure it is the same for many North American cities.
Chicago,
I love you. But, I want you to DREAM BIG - as the beautiful ARTIST you are - (not the developer you think
you might be). And for God's sake... stop thinking "second city". Start loving yourself as a city, and
revel in yourself - you deserve it. (I'm not a native son, I'm Hawaiian by orientation, I'm just giving an outsider's
perception - and this is out of pure affection for the city - I've been here for 17 years, & I feel I have the right to
say so). Tuff Love.
Timidness versus Vivaciousness
I would like to see this modern world lose it's timidness. I would like to see the Beauty / Creative
/ Reckless Truth Spirit World get broad minded. This new world is plenty bold in flash & bombast - but seems
to have lost it's luster of real life truth simmer. It seems to have lost it's explosion of "Hell if I know , but
this is what I feel, & here goes"... for the pure fucking Bliss / Joy / Shimmer of it! This new world
seems to have traded this "ELAN" for some twisted 'extreme' "realism" facsimiles of relative truths.
I think the 2000's Bush / 9-11 / Iraq world has shell shocked the free thinkers. I think the
bold expressionism of free truth spirit is asleep. I miss it's freedom call. I miss Vivaciousness. I miss
Vivaciousness. I miss Vivaciousness.
The Russian Poet Anna Akhmatova: I watched a documentary on the Russian Poet Anna Akhmatova today, She and her contemporaries had to exist - and suffer
through the Stalin era, And it struck me that one needs to be one's self, in what ever era of your life that you happen
to be in... Speak your mind in the time and age you are in... That is the most important thing. When I see what
Akhmatova and her artist contemporaries had to got through to do this in their era, I feel like a total fucking pussy
for not doing it for myself in this dopey, docile & drifty era. They had balls, I do not. Yet. Ronnie Sloan (House-o-Matics leader) My friend just got out of prison for something he
didn't even do - 13 years. He is a stone cold brother. He know works with me at Platetectonic Records on a daily basis
- I am stoked.
My father's work as a solar physicist took him
around the world (Bolivia, Mexico, India, Puka Puka etc.,). I used to love when he came home because he would bring back gifts
for all of us (ponchos, jewelry, carved wooden objects etc.,) and the currency of the different countries was evocative too.
To this day I love to collect any beautiful bills and coins (when ever I can afford to keep them) when I travel. I keep them
in a cigar box. I also give them to my nephew and to my godson - because I know it will plant the seed of intrigue for travel
in their mind.
It strikes me how paper money around the world is often somewhat symmetrical and beautifully
ornate, and so I set out to do a series of "new money" paper bills of my band members and fellow artists and friends
as a way of saying thank you. This is an on going series. I never know why I do something, and I never really ask, I prefer
to try and just follow an idea like a child at play. CLICK THE PHOTO ABBOVE TO ENTER
Don Tiki's Lloyd Kandell and Frank have a Brazilian music summit
meeting in Honolulu
JORGE BEN "Forca Bruta" Strings, brass, percussion (via Trio Mocoto) & Jorge's Voice and Guitar... an occasional bass "...almost like a
spontaneous expression of genius"... A Perfect Album.
Me with Seu Jorge & Ukulele in
Austin Tx., on tour with Thievery Corporation
photo: Rob Myers
Frank Orrall with his Ukulele on 47th
st., in New York City 2008
I liked his verve for life. You could feel it in his writing, like blood between your
fore finger and thumb; it was free form, passionate and rolling in the moment. Life was moving fast before his eyes,
and he was just trying to get it all down. A modern day beat punk poet for sure. And his passion led him on, sometimes into
what seemed like trouble. but he rolled on (even with a devastatingly hurt heart after the Clash break up, that he led), and
roamed his nomad way till he found his new soul's way. "Joe Strummer: The future is unwritten" is an amazing
movie. Julien Temple did a fucking fantastic job sketching Joe's free wheeling ghost. I cried when he died and I cried
when I watched this. I didn't like the way I felt after I saw the Clash documentary "West-way to the World"
because it focused on the ultimate demise of the Clash, and the story was not done yet. But the documentary "Joe Strummer:
The future is unwritten" finishes the story showing Joe in his post break-up wilderness, and then finding his post Clash;
even further Voice, with the Mescaleros and Raves. It's not a "spit / polish" story, it is full of grit.
There will always be a pack of smokes and a bottle
of wine waiting in my house for Joe... Like a light in the window for an old sailor; should the heavy seas drive him to port
for the night. He's always got a couch here.
Funny story - but true: I walked into a record
store in los Angeles (in '83) looking for 2 singles: The Rolling
Stones "Undercover of the Night" & "Orange
Juice's - "The day I went down to Texas", I found
'um and brought them to the register, and the guy behind the counter refused to put them in the same bag. He put the 2 records
in 2 separate bags and rang me up at the register. He didn't want them in the same bag! He was a solid orange Juice fan for
sure. And he let me know it!
It made me laugh out loud.
I liked him right off. His name is Michael Meister. He later started a record label called TEXAS HOTEL, and they signed
us (PDP) to our first record deal. We later found out that we went to the same high school in Hawai'i, Kaiser, and lived 2
blocks away and had met as young men back then! I remember him as the guy with all the cool rock records and posters in his
room. He has remained an inspiration to me throughout my life,
taking me to visit folk artists and turning me on to new music and ideas. I'm lucky to know him. His art forward sensibility
has inspired me over and over again.
I love this story.
(We still love the Stones too!) FQO.
The Rolling Stones "Undercover of the Night"
"Orange Juice's - "The day I went down to Texas"
Rememberances of surfing,
bicycle moto-cross and
Vespa
Mod days
Skateboarding in my drive-way: 1973
Barack Obama our man from Hawai'i in hyde park, Chicago
This album is a stunning master piece
- some have called it her "astral weeks"
"LES FLEURS" from Minnie Riperton's album "Come to
my garden"
2 versions of a most beautiful song "Cucurrucucu
Paloma"
PEDRO INFANTE - CUCURRUCUCU PALOMA
Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucu Paloma
The Artist that I'm Really enjoying right
now: Seu Jorge here he is singing "Tive Razão". I met him while we were touring together with Thievery Corporation.
A beautiful man and a pleasure to travel with - an Amazing Artist,
beloved in Brazil and all around the world. He was
the man singing the Bowie songs in the movie "The life Aquatic"
Some records I would not want to live without
STAN GETZ & JOAO GILBERTO
W/ TOM JOBIM "Getz / Gilberto"
to have and have
not the scent of green papaya (Tran Anh Hung) wings of desire (wim wenders) baraka 8½ (Fellini) Ikiru (Kurosawa) Wild Strawberries (bergman)
Talk to her
( Pedro Almodóvar )
Stardust Momories (woody Allen)
Rockers
City of God the battle of Algiers rififi (Jules Dassin) north by northwest
(Hitchcock) to catch a thief (Hitchcock) v for vendetta Rear Window (Hitchcock) chinatown The Third
Man Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog) Citizen Kane
A
High Wind in Jamaica the good thief ( based on the classic - Bob le Flambeur)
Au hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson) five
summer stories (1972 surf classic) zorba the greek the god father 1 and 2 Rashomon (Kurosawa) Koyaanisqatsi,
Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi (Godfrey Reggio) finding neverland endless summer (60's surf classic) don't
look back (Dylan documentary) the Apu Trilogy (satyajit ray) blade runner royal tenenbaums The Insider
an unfinished life Casablanca Stop Making Sense Grizzly Man (Herzog) Umberto D The Bicycle
Thief slap shot Silence of The Lambs the replacement killers The Professional The Shawshank Redemption
Lawrence of Arabia American Beauty Million Dollar Baby Strangers on a Train (Hitchcock) On the
Waterfront 101 dalmatians (the disney original) the emperor's new groove Pirates of The Caribbean the
hunt for red october Jeremiah Johnson pulp fiction
