Funk Babblings

Got to ride my bike to Comfest. In the rain. It actually felt good. But it seemed to rain hardest when I was riding.

Saw Kate perform her poetry in her very own timeslot. The announcer wasn't clear at first that she was a poet rather than a singer. Eventually she had more than two people in the audience, but I believe it took her Breasts poem to make that happen.

Hung out with chronarchy and singingwren (and later styskel and ceolnamara) at the Three Cranes Grove booth most of the day. (Despite not being at all involved with ADF.) Enjoyed the scattered-microbits of a solstice ritual they did periodically throughout the day, especially the Nature Spirits part. Finally met some people I keep hearing mentioned.

Sun finally came out in the evening. That big ball of fire in the sky, not the band. Well, they did too, but that was after the first Sun went down.

Attempted to go see Marcy Mays perform, discovered she'd been replaced on the schedule with someone quite unlike her. Rather disappointed.

Made up for missing Marcy by checking out Hope Vitellas on a whim, even though I didn't think I knew anything about her. She was really good. Husky-voiced almost-solo-acoustic (she did have a backing electric guitar on most songs). And I realized that I've not only seen her play before, but even have a CD single (of one of the songs she played tonight), but both were with her full band, Camora.

Also saw The Sun (the band this time) play. Five guys in white playing slightly psychedelically-tinged rock. There was definitely a 70s vibe going. I decided I like them better in the studio than live, though I did stay to hear my favorite song of theirs, "Justice".


Tomorrow is lots more music and lots more people to talk to. Better get to bed.

The schedule for Comfest has been posted!

Friday through Sunday, June 23-25, I'll be in Columbus spending almost all my time in Goodale Park. Here are the parts of the schedule that currently have the most interest for me:

Fri noon-1 (Live Arts Stage) drum circle
Fri 2:30-3 (Live Arts Stage) Kate Weilnau (poetry)
Fri 7:50-8:20 (Solar Stage) Marcy Mays (ex-Scrawl)
Fri 10-11 (Bozo Stage) The Sun

Sat noon-1 (Gazebo Stage) Room Nineteen
Sat 1:30-2 (Solar Stage) Michelle Lundy (ex-Dogrocket)
Sat 4-5 (Offramp Stage) The Townsmen
Sat 6-7 (Bozo Stage) Watershed
Sat 6-7 (Jazz Stage) Circus of Cool
Sat 7-8 (Bozo Stage) Willie Phoenix Band

Sun 5-6 (Live Arts Stage) Poetry Slam
Sun 6-7 (Live Arts Stage) drum circle
Sun 6:15-7 (Offramp Stage) Red Dahlia

Obviously there are a couple evenings when I'll have to make a decision about what to do....

Update: I somehow missed Marcy Mays on the Solar Stage when I first looked at the schedule, and was surprised not to see some Scrawl presence. Too bad Manda And The Marbles are still missing; I think they're trying to figure out who their guitarist is. (Watershed and Willie Phoenix are others I'd be surprised to see absent from the schedule, but happily they're there.)

Yesterday we got to see a close friend of mine who I've rarely gotten to see since she moved to Michigan a few years ago. We first met nearly eleven years ago and there's lots of dramatic history with her, but now it's to the point that we're just comfortable with each other. It's a nice feeling. It helps that she's gotten her life to such a positive point, having rid herself of most of the negativity that had been haunting her for so long.

One of the things that we used to talk about a lot when we first met was the possibilities and implications of quantum reality and related philosophical issues. She would lend me such fascinating books as Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah and Space-Time and Beyond (which, according to Brian Greene, includes some quantum physics information no longer considered accurate, but hey, it was published in 1982).

So when nontacitare suggested going to see What the #$*! Do We Know!? Friday at the Drexel (based at least partly on braider's recommendation), I knew my old friend, also in Columbus for the weekend, would enjoy it too, so the three of us went together.

The film was pretty cool, though I occasionally found myself getting bored by the talking heads and wanting to get back to "Amanda's" (Marlee Matlin) story. The wedding reception scene was a hoot. But I'd be pretty frightened if Armin Shimerman (a.k.a. Quark and Principal Snyder) started haunting me.

I found that I was watching it with (at least) two minds simultaneously. On the one hand I already knew and/or believed in most of the things it was saying. (I have a shelf full of books on this stuff, including two written by one of the scientists appearing in the film.) On the other hand my skeptical side was feeling unconvinced, and a bit turned off by the crediting of one interviewee as "Ramtha, channeled by JZ Knight"; this may be one reason the interviewees weren't identified until the end credits. Often I was simultaneously agreeing with (most of) what they were saying and asking what credibility they have.

It's not often that my dual worldview is demonstrated to me so clearly. I believe that there's more to reality than any of us can possibly imagine, but also that saying "this is definitely the way it is" requires some rigorous proof. I believe in good luck and positive thinking but not bad luck, and that that keeps me lucky, but I don't claim to know the mechanism involved, and am skeptical of definitive explanations.

Watching the film, I also realized that it has the ability to give very different impressions to different viewers. Watching it with two women I know very well, I could easily see how it could provoke different thoughts in each of us because of our varying experiences and backgrounds.