INTERESTING TIMES

These words were found in my father's handwriting:

THE HAPPY WANDERER

I. I love to go a wandering, along a mountain track,
And as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.

II. I tip my hat to all I meet, and they wave back to me,
And blue birds sing so loud and sweet, from every greenwood tree. 

IIII. Oh may I always wander, until the day I die,
And may I always laugh and sing, beneath God's dear blue sky.


VIVA LA COMPANIE

I. Let every good fellow now join in the song.
Success to each other and pass it along.

II. A friend on your left and a friend on your right
In love and good fellowship now let us unite.

III. Now wider and wider our circle expands,
Let's sing to our comrades in far away lands.

This young man is 21 years old and just starting his last year of college, and this is his second album. Each track has a different sound, except for the strong, honest, edgy vocals from HG. In person he is a little bit shy, but get to know him and you'll find a compassionate and humorous young man. The sadness, frustration and anger that come through in his music are less evident in person, hence perhaps the title.

If you ask me he is finding his voice. When I first met him he had a head-down posture of a subordinate sulking teen. In the last two years he has begun to carry himself upright and to meet my gaze, and to have his say when he wants to. This change in posture correlates with what a yogi might call an opening of the throat chakra.

His album is a commentary on the struggle of young adulthood to find meaning, solidify an authentic identity and rise above the limitations imposed by the judgements of others.

You can download the whole album for free right now at:
https://soundcloud.com/hayden-gehr/sets/voiceless

In Sanscrit, from the Upanishad, this is the mantra:

Om Purnam-Adah Purnam-Idam Purnat-Purnam-Udacyate
Purnashya Purnam-Adaya Purnam-Eva-Avashisyate
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

And this is the meaning:
Om, that is Full, this also is Full, from Fullness comes that Fullness,
Taking Fullness from Fullness, Fullness Indeed Remains.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

Modified for readability from:
http://greenmesg.org/mantras_slokas/vedas-om_purnamadah_purnamidam.php
Discovered because of a beautiful recording by Shantala on the album The Love Window

ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ

I didn't hear about these women until today. Perhaps you've already heard. Pussy Riot a Russian punk rock band who performed an anti-Putin song in the "main cathedral" of the Orthodox Church. Now they have been held in "pre-trial detention" for months. It is expected that they will serve years of jail time for the offense, which was, in a word, a sacrilege.

I don't know about you, but if someone did this in my sacred space, I would be offended. I don't mean that Russia's powers that be (government and church in cahoots) should be able to imprison people for years over this sort of behavior. I think not. I personally relish hearing the words Pussy Riot in the news, and am glad that women there feel powerful enough to do this. Putin's continuing reign is a far greater blasphemy than the most raucous of punk rock in a cathedral.

In spite of my sympathies for their causes, I would be totally pissed if somebody made this kind of noise in my sacred place. Blast that crap at the river? Get OUT. I understand anger, and suppression, and the need to eliminate Putin. And I understand the outrage against their methods. Too bad the punishment is so out of proportion with the offense.



Here's the NPR story: http://www.theworld.org/2012/06/anti-putin-punk-rockers-pussy-riot-to-stay-in-jail-await-trial/

This video is intended to inspire people to try yoga, but the music speaks even more loudly for peace. It's a reggae tune, I think by Trevor Hall. Pretty inspiring. =-]
( lyrics to the song: Where's the Love )

He's changing his name to Chrysler.

( lyrics by Tom Paxton )

When I grow up I'm gonna be a tree
Wanta make my home with the birds and the bees and
The squirrels they can count on me
When I grow up to be a tree
( refrain is: I'm gonna reach--another Misty River tune )