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HOMEEVENTSALL CALLINTERVIEWSIN THE NEWSLINKSARCHIVECONTACT

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  AUGUST 10, 2006 @ 8:00 pm
"Nature, Nukes and Nationalism"

Nature, Nukes and Nightingales: Flashbacks at the Luna Star
Written by
Ricky Smith
Third Year MFA, FIU
rickysmith99@hotmail.com

Yes, it’s August, the dog days of summer. People are out of town or trying to get out for a couple of days before the fiscal year shit hits the fan. Just trying to enjoy a last two weeks of indolence during this lethargic time of year, and it would seem appropriate to at least mildly acknowledge the current state of general apathy regarding the complete incompetence toward national and international affairs on one side, and the evangelical American it’s-good-for-business jingoism we’re all so familiar with on the other. The wide polarization of a large part of the American public seems reminiscent of the ‘60s, a time when some people said, “Love it leave it…” (21st century translation: “You’re either with us or against us…”), while others used to get out in the street more often to speak their minds. Unfortunately, it meant a lot of cracked heads and some time in Tank-C. These days, even though most folks are at home on E-Bay, thank God some “old-school” people are out there still doing it (although the battle never really ends, does it?). On August 10th, The Luna Star Literary Salon commemorated this grass roots kind of community activism that we really need to see a little more of and produced a very retro, musically-enhanced ‘60s sort-of line up. And as a child of them, if it’s about the ‘60s, you know I’m interested. These days for me, it’s all simply one big black-and-white, star-studded prime-time rerun of them anyway. I get weepy just thinking about all the good-old-time dissent (a dirty word in the good-old-times).

Richard Ryal, celebrating his recently acquired MFA for poetry, not to mention his emancipation from FIU’s writing program, got the show started by passing around all manner and method of percussion, including maracas, tambourines, djimbe drums and things I’d never seen before but were awfully fun to shake, rattle and roll. Yes, I get the picture: let’s all make a racket and a ruckus and get involved…just like the ‘60s! Of course, nothing gets the attention of the authorities more than audience participation at these "commie" assemblages. Then RR settled into some nice, Zen/eastern-style chanting that he learned as a boy in the California desert at the ultra-mystical Joshua Tree. I like new-age religions (or are they really older?); they’re so applicable and less concerned with historical details like the old ones are. We had a different chant in the Byzantine structures of New Jersey as I recall, but no matter; we all desire to see the same results of word peace for our efforts. So all-in-all, it was a very timely affair. Did I see Richard accomplish that circular-breathing technique for a couple of minutes? I haven’t seen that done since Roland Kirk.

After some lines by Richard (and some more percussion), with complex opinion on matters near and far, Gil Pettigrew took control and offered up his own multi-enculturated world view, most of it off the top of his head. Oh yeah, touching on nature and spirit, his poetry wasn’t too bad either. (Is that guy really Native-American?)

Then it was Grant Livingston’s turn. He played guitar quite nicely and sang songs of death and dogs (or was it dogs and death?). Now here is an interesting novelty: He’s one of these talented people who are not only creative, but actually work as astral-physicists or archeologists or something (Grant’s an anthropologist. Go figure…). I love these people because they are smart enough to retain that day job and patient enough with it and the people involved, even if they can sing and dance, unlike all of the “serious” artists. His songs were witty and he had a novel approach to the chord changes.

Of course, there was accompaniment with Laura Sue, the Silver Nightingale, on flute. Actually, there was some newly-invented high-tech wireless device for amplification, which produced a sound eerily reminiscent of the mid-‘60s Blues Project’s “Flute Thing” back in the day. Laura Sue is closely associated with various “community-based” activities to try to save what’s left of what we’ve destroyed already, and some of her friends were there to urge support for those with enough strength and upright fortitude to stand up to the speculating creeps who are underwriting the future for the likes of you and me.