Loosely continued from here, sort of

picturesque verdure

Following one of John’s many edicts I spent the last week of August running around in the forest. Well, he didn’t say that exactly, but he does often encourage those of us who wish to align with nature to spend some time with nature, so we know what the heck we’re doing. Here are some things that I’ve heard about Nature and why we should align with it:

- it’s beautiful
- it’s beneficent
- it has a pattern

which I don’t disagree with per se, except that almost every conventional definition of those words is challenged by actually hanging out in uncultivated Nature for any length of time. Breaking it down further, it seems clear that Nature, while unquestionably “beautiful” for values of “beautiful” that include “wild” and “filthy” and “beneficent” insofar as it is “ruthlessly fair”, is not arranged for OUR benefit as humans. Nature is not always picturesque. It is far from kind. It doesn’t exist for our pleasure alone, although you can frequently get pleasure out of it. It utterly fails to exist according to our organized rules and dogma, and trying to get it to fit in there somewhere is high-maintenance. (more…)

You get bonus Southern Fried Rock points if you mention “hoodoo” or “jimson weed” or being “laid up in a ditch somewhere”, or if your name is Joe Lon.  Big Rock Friday does not support the Confederacy, but is weirdly nostalgic for the night they drove old Dixie down.

“All Right Now”, Free

“Mississippi Queen”, Mountain

There's something about this I just love

“Tush”, ZZ Top

“My Head’s In Mississippi”, ZZ Top

“Born on the Bayou”, CCR

“Saturday Night Special”, Skynyrd

“Whipping Post”, Allman Bros. Band

“Shooting Star”, Bad Company

“Rocky Mountain Way”, Joe Walsh

“Tuesday’s Gone”, Skynyrd

“Long As I Can See The Light”, CCR

Heh heh heh.

“Sweet Emotion”, Aerosmith

“Rock You Like a Hurricane”, Scorpions [!!!]

“C*m On Feel The Noize”, Quiet Riot [I shuddered just typing that]

"Troy, have you been using my shampoo?"

“Enter Sandman”, Metallica

“Paradise City”, GnR

“You Give Love a Bad Name”, Bon Jovi

“Here I Go Again”, Whitesnake [L0L0L0L]

“Come Together”, Aerosmith, who are in town tonight I believe!  COINCIDENCE!?!?!?  Yes, sort of.

“Angel”, Aerosmith

“Unforgiven”, Metallica

“Heaven”, Warrant

“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, Bret Michaels, for God’s sake

“Beth”, KISS

I’m excited and nervous.  I know I stopped teaching these classes because they got too crazy but now I kind of want them to be crazy again because this playlist is MADE OF WIN.  It contains the jams that inspired me to start BRF up again, as well as my new fave ["Miss You", a good song for practicing your underpants-strutting, pouts and Jaggeresque finger pointing].   Remember it’s at Yoga For The People, 4 pm.

“Listen To The Music”, Doobie Brothers

Like, just one rock?

“Up Around The Bend”, CCR

“Let It Ride”, BTO

“The Wizard”, Sabbath [grrrrr]

“Ain’t Talkin Bout Love”, Van Halen

“More Than A Feeling”, Boston [by way of Men Who Stare At Goats, M's new favourite movie]

“Good Times, Bad Times”, Zeppelin

“Have A Cigar”, Pink Floyd

“Feelin’ Alright [sic]“, Grand Funk Railroad

“Miss You”, Stones

“Ramble On”, Zeppelin

“Ohio”, Neil Young [yes, it's a bummer, but it's hard to find Neil Young songs that aren't]

“Wind Cries Mary”, Hendrix

“Mother Nature’s Son”, Beatles [this one's for Geordie]

“Sun King”, Beatles