Not All Effigies Are Created Equally

Did you hear about the Hollywood Halloween prankster with the Sarah Palin effigy? This seems to strike most folks in a comedic way. Seeing Sarah with her Neiman Marcus designer suit, expensive hair and make-up, all $200,000 worth, dangling alongside other mock-scary Halloween monsters---this is a hard to mistake as anything other than a joke from America's capital of irreverence.

Sure, Sarah's supporters won't see it that way but they aren't known for abundant senses of humor. In fact, they are generally challenged with all things involving sense, so we can depend on them to take umbrage. "Oh, the horror!"

Effigies of Barack Obama---are they the same or different? To some, I suppose an effigy is an effigy. But this is wrong because it ignores our national history. Given our shameful behavior patterns of bigotry and violence toward African-Americans, KKK lynchings and burning crosses, a Barack effigy connotes something far more sinister and despicable than dangling Sarah.

Imagine having a conversation about this with Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly. I can see them bursting a vein at the very suggestion that there's a difference. But as with most things, knowledgeable people know better.

The campaign is quickly coming to a close. And closure is good. Especially if the outcome is the one you want. This time, the world is paying closer attention than usual. I pray that we do not disappoint.

Songwriting 101: Finding Inspiration

Writer's block isn't just for novelists. It afflicts songwriters too. At least that has been my experience. How to solve the problem? Here's an easy answer: lower your standards. Oh wait, I already wrote that song. Seriously, it's on my first cd.

If there's a trick to songwriting, it probably lies in ones ability to find inspiration. Imagine a songwriter sitting at the table, day after day, trying his best to crank out new tunes. Without inspiration, chances are quality will suffer. We've all heard enough crappy songs to know that songwriting isn't easy.

But inspiration can be divine. Consider your favorite songs and try to imagine what is was that led the writers of these masterpieces to write them in the first place. Songs are not generally not like science projects, things you can start on from scratch and build on over long periods of time until you've finally achieved a complete result.

Most of the time, the inspiration for a song does not spring from nothing. I've tried to just sit down and write songs---for me, anyway, the process of devoting time to creating new songs rarely yields satisfactory results. More often, I get hit with an idea. It can emerge from personal experience or it can just pop into my head. When it comes, the first thing one must do is to recognize that you're on to something. That's harder then it sounds, because inspiration lies before us constantly and we generally fail to see it.

Sometimes in the early morning hours, like when I get out of bed because I need to pee, I have trouble getting back to sleep. Sound familiar? You start thinking about things, and before long your inner monologue becomes a noisy chat room and your chancing of getting reunited with sleep in the next hour look increasingly dim. Sometimes, in such moments, song ideas occur to me. But there's a dilemma: do you get of bed to start working on the song or take a chance that you'll remember your great idea when morning comes?

I actually have gotten out of bed a few times to write down my ideas. More often, I don't and the song idea has vanished by morning, just like most of my whacky dreams. Such a shame, such a waste. But damn, if you get out of bed and start writing, what are the chances you'll rediscover slumber anytime soon?

A couple nights ago, I managed to break this dreadful pattern. Yup, I thought of a song idea in the middle of the night and somehow managed to remember it the following morning. The song is called "My Restless Brain", and it's about how the A-side of the brain keeps me awake while the B side wants me to have a nice dreamy sleep. It's a funny little song. The last verse goes like this:

The A side needs the B side,Knows the B side is his soul, And the only way to get there, Is through his tight A-hole.

Last night I got to see Dar Williams and Sean Mullins, two very accomplished songwriters. They played at The Shedd in Eugene where I'll be performing on January 31. Great show. Now there was some inspiration, so if you'll excuse me, I've got to start writing down my new ideas before they evaporate.

The Elusive Sedona Vortex

Lots of folks swear by it. Some claim it changed their lives. For the better of course. Others leave unhealed and disappointed. I'm talking about the vortex in Sedona, Arizona.

I had never been to Sedona but the photos I'd seen looked spectacular. More massive red rocks than you can believe, all right outside your window. Then there's the buzz about the vortex. So when I arrived in Sedona last week, I was determined to learn all I could about the vortex.

First things first. Just what is the vortex? After asking a few people, it seems to be this: Some believe that the Sedona area possesses a unique healing power and that this has been recognized for centuries, first by the Native Americans. According to their oral history, Native Americans did not live in the red rock area surrounding Sedona because the spiritual forces were TOO powerful. Instead, they would come to this area for spiritual cleansing and growth. No doubt the combination of red rock and peyote generated bucketfuls of enlightenment.

Ever the skeptic, for me, talk of the vortex all sounded a bit like so much New Age hocum. The notion that by standing in particular places, I could experience some sort of healing strays so far from my personal experience that for me, this was a tough sell. Many Sedonaites and New Age devotees see things very differently though. In fact, the leaders of the New Age movement believe that Sedona is one of the world's best sites for achieving a state of spiritual and even physical healing.

I felt the legend of the Sedona vortex eminently worthy of further investigation. So I talked with quite a few folks, especially bartenders, about the vortex. From the bartenders, I learned that lots and lots of people move to Sedona to get healed. They just keep on coming. Drives real estate prices through the roof. Optimism runs high. Apparently results are mixed. Many leave unhealed. But that doesn't stop others from coming.

I wasn't expecting to get "healed". I had a big problem---I wasn't sure what condition I had that needed healing. But I did love the place for its natural beauty. The air quality is high, and not just in some pristine scientific way. OK, here I know I'm sounding a bit New Age-ish but I'm telling you, Sedona is a place where the inclination to indulge your creative muse runs strong. I felt like writing a bunch of new songs. But our time was quite limited, so we did plenty of hiking instead while thoughts of new songs danced around my strangely active brain.

I had the opportunity to perform and meet some wonderful new folks. Then we headed north to the Grand Canyon, but that's a story for another time. So here's my ultimate recommendation: go to Sedona. Don't expect to get healed. You're better off to keep your expectations low---that way you may be in for a very pleasant surprise.