Cities in Rock 1: Winnipeg

Eunoia Solstice

My thirteen-year old texted me yesterday, asking (without any context),

What’s some good classic rock?

The question caught me flatfooted. First of all, Zane has, so far, been a non-discriminating listener, just as happy with Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj as he is with Randy Travis and Green Day. (And, charmingly, my own solo guitar things.) So I didn’t (still don’t) know where the question came from. Second, up until quite recently I would have told you that I hated classic rock — that I made my break with it circa 1980 and never much looked back.

But lately, I have found myself more and more often listening to KQRS, Twin Cities KQ, or, for those of you not blessed to be living in southern Minnesota, also known as the same fucking radio station that pumps out classic rock in every town in the U.S.A.

I’ve learned some things.

1. My…

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Little Billboards #1: For Maurice Sendak

May the wild rumpus live on forever!

Eunoia Solstice

May my crimes also

be my daughter’s:

Stealing flashlights,

reading at night.

(For Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012)

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Interview (Podcast): Joshua McClain

Interview with Josh McClain on Eunoia Solstice!

Eunoia Solstice

To kick off Eunoia Solstice’s audio interviews I talked to my long-time friend, Josh McClain.   He’s a musician, writer, and martial artist living in Oakland, CA.

I wanted to do my first interview with Josh because he played a pivotal role in maintaining my sanity while we lived in Nigeria.  I also wanted to gain some perspective on how he is juggling a day job along with his current creative endeavors.

During the interview I mention a site that is responsible for me eating light this summer.  Click at your own risk.

Below you’ll find links to his tracks on iTunes, a music video, as well as one of his more recent live performances.

Joshua McClain on iTunes

McClain Music

“Princess of the Plains” music video

Subscribe to Eunoia Solstice » Podcasts

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Interview: John King of The Drunken Odyssey

Write Drunk!

Eunoia Solstice

The Drunken Odyssey came to me at the perfect time. I had just had a baby and had started to write again after realizing that my chances for Wordsworthian recollection in tranquility were slim to none. I wanted to talk about books and writing, particularly with other writers, but with teaching, taking care of a newborn, and lacking the web of support (or commiseration) of an MFA program, I was having a hard time finding a time, place, and even people for these discussions.

Then I heard The Drunken Odyssey. I instantly became a fan and, full disclosure, a sometime contributor. For almost a year the show has been a part of my weekly schedule. I look forward to the discussions on craft, reading, and artists as diverse as David Sedaris to Miles Davis to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Thankfully, host John King was able to take some time out…

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The Goading: Breeders’ Theatre

Eunoia Solstice

I’ve always enjoyed creating prompts, but more often than not get stuck somewhere in the middle of the response. I feel like if I don’t find the piece in the first draft that I am left lost in the dig. “The Goading” is helping to shine a light on it.

I was listening to an episode of The Drunken Odyssey! this morning and one of the guest’s reasons for loving prompts is that they “kill the muse.” I’m not sure of the state of the muse on this one. Without a doubt, she forced me to practice and reach outside of my comfort zone.

Prompt:

A. Find a section from Domestic Animals.

B. Copy and Paste it in the cut-up machine.

C. Use any interesting string of words as inspiration to begin.

Original Text (Before Cut-up)

All breeding is founded on the principle,that like begets like. This is…

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Where I Come From

For Mother’s Day

Eunoia Solstice

It’s always raining when I go home. About once a month, I pack up my small daughter and we drive, across town, on two interstates. We take Coalburg Road to the new highway that everyone still calls “Corridor X” and that has been in the process of being built since before I was born. We head west to take my mother to the doctor.

We drive for an hour through beautiful countryside; it’s all rolling hills and evergreens and fast, shallow waterways cutting through them. And then, on the side of this new and mysteriously named highway, a giant white cross comes into view.  When I say giant, I mean giant. Remember, this is Alabama, so I have some perspective on the size of religious displays. It is lit from the bottom with bright white lights that make it glow through the rain. It is then that I think…

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Lessons from the End of the World

Eunoia Solstice

1. We are lucky to be here.
Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered — Shakespeare

The geese thing is probably a myth. The story is, a flock of geese somewhere up north was mistaken for Soviet bombers by radar operators in the U.S., and, just before we launched our atomic arsenal, somebody was able to figure it out. Like all myths, this story contains both a kernel of truth and object lessons for its audience. During the Cold War, we did have a number of false alarms that could have turned out badly: a burned out transistor here (as in Fail-Safe), operator error there. This apart from all the opportunities we had to nuke one another over misreadings of our opponents’ intentions, like the Cuban Missile Crisis or some real-life version of The Bedford Incident. Top-level investigations have been conducted into our nuclear safeguards…

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The Goading: Accidental Lyrics

Eunoia Solstice

Eric and I decided to test the idea by goading each other. His prompt and my response follow. Send us your responses to the prompt. (See our explanation for this column here):

MyTunes Remix

             a. Open iTunes and view your songs according to artist. 

            b. Sort them randomly. 

            c. Use the list as inspiration, reflection, or fodder for a found poem.

Upon Reading Kerouac, The Panda Haven Delivery Boy Begins To Write His Own Fortunes and To Secretly Place Them In the Restaurant’s Fortune Cookies

I.

If you see her, say hello
In a silent way

II.

One reporter’s opinion:
This ain’t no picnic

III.

I am the Resurrection
I am me once more

IV.

This is heaven
It tastes better than the truth

Live Improvised Verses Later Rejected By the Great Omaha Bluesman Dougie “Skinner” Swanson

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Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013)

Eunoia Solstice

The earliest artist I remember thinking about as an artist was Jim Henson. It’s secretly thrilling when my daughter shrieks with laughter watching new and classic Sesame Street. While I rarely react to celebrity deaths, I feel a pang of joy and loss when I hear Henson’s voice on those classic episodes.

The second artist I remember being aware of  is Ray Harryhausen. His stop-motion creatures sparked my interest in horror, sci-fi, and special effects at a very early age. To this day I love stop-motion films, especially those of Jan Svankmajer and the Quay Brothers.

Harryhausen was a friend of Ray Bradbury and outside of their impressive bodies of work, all three of these artists brought a youthful passion to their work which seems almost quaint in an era so inundated with sensationalism and cynicism.

He will be missed.

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30 Things I Love Right Now

Thank you TJ Beitelman for the inspiration for this list, which can be found here.

A friend also did it here.

30 Things I Love Right Now

(1) My Fox McCloud-look-alike’s smile when she has her face on my shoulder. | (2) The twisted mind games mother and son play on Bates Motel. | (3) My newly acquired vinyl of Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein: Putting on the Ritz! | (4) WTF Marc Maron | (5) The cool smell of Washington Park at 6:59 AM | (6) Something I love but wish I thought of first: Shipping Your Pants!  On the tip of my tongue, I swear… | (7) The Walking Dead | (8) Rediscovering Bonnie Prince Billy. | (9) My wife’s laugh, especially when I incite it. | (10) Reading through the canon with the Clurg.  | (11) Hemingway’s novels next to a glass of Irish whiskey. | (12) Zu | (13) Digging up this video | (14) And this one | (15) Taking my sweet-ass time reading Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces | (16) Upstate New York’s abundance of bagels and lox. | (17) The aromas and tastes of my wife’s baking (and cooking in general) | (18) Teaching | (19) Watching as many documentaries as I can on my day off.  One of the best I’ve recently encountered is Jiro Dreams of Sushi.  I wish I had his work ethic. | (20) Reading Redwall with a fifth grader. | (21) Over-the-ear headphones. | (22) PHILIPS HUE! | (23) The Drunken Odyssey! | (24) When my dog licks between my toes.  | (25) The first taste of morning coffee. | (26) JT Waldman’s Megillat Esther  | (27) Using my wife as a pillow. | (28) Being burnt by rogue pops of bacon grease, because it means that I am about to eat bacon. | (29) Nostalgia.  | (30) Living in the Information Age.