Finally after a week I have a chance to post a few comments about last week's NY fest at Judy's Chelsea in NY. I had other plans cancelled, and late in the week realized I really ought to go and meet some JMDL'ers, so I got in touch with David Lahm by e-mail, confessed my lateness to and ignorance of the party plans, etc, but he extended a warm welcome anyway, and I was starting to feel I would be right at home, and sure, I could bring my guitar even though I wasn't prepared to play anything formal. I figured it was really nice of him to go out and rent space in Manhattan for a gathering like this, so that we could all get together and meet each other and play some on an informal basis, etc. He must have thought it was pretty cute, and figured he'd play along with my naivete' by not telling me JC's was his place. So, I find out when I get there Saturday afternoon, and right off the bat I get to listen to him play a few songs and oops - no wonder it's his place (or is it really Judy's - I know they're in this together, but in my family I have limited rights of ownership) - he's a real musician ! And David's real nice, and asks me if I plan to play, and I say not really, but if someone wants to sing California I'll try to put on a JT style accompaniment that I started to figure out last night, if the timing is right or whatever. So, for the next six hours I get to meet a bunch of JMDL'ers in person (my first such group - it was exciting for me to meet you all - especially David, Rose, Sue, Nikki, Kay (?), Debra and Roberto - another musical talent). I also have the honor to meet Judy, who has a few opinions of her own, I gather :-), and who wasn't too interested in the fact that I was a Joni Mitchell fan, but warmed right up when I mentioned I had enjoyed seeing Peter Allen in a cabaret about 25 years ago - and then proceeded to remind me where I had seen him (at a place called Reno Sweeney's, in NY). "How'd you know that" I asked, and she smiled sweetly (but with perhaps just the slightest hint of deserved condescension) and replied "well, I am in the business". ;-) And, I really enjoyed all the music, as well. And at night, there are real patrons as well as us JMDL'ers, and near the end David nudges Alison up there to sing California and then tells her that I am going to accompany her on the guitar (pretty sneaky - I assume Alison thinks David's going to put some pretty piano line on the song). Anyway, Alison sings the song so well it distracts me, and I miss about half the notes, I think :-( - yeah, that must have been why ;-) - but everyone seems to agree with me about what a nice job Alison did, so there is applause at the end anyway. Alison - if there is a next time, I promise to get it all right, now that I have finished learning it. Anyway, you were terrific. Which brings me to the other stuff. Sue McNamara (of JMDL guitar TAB creator fame - great job there by you, Sue, and by the other tab posters - and "doesn't it feel good" ;-) to get a little public recognition for the really wonderful job you have done), in an earlier post, said "As far as Joni is concerned, if she had said I am not a feminist, I'm a humanist, it might not have hurt so much, but as much as I love the woman, Joni is a Joni-ist. Her goal was/is to further the art, so that didn't leave too much time to support other women (read competition). Her philosophies seem very power-oriented (in an individualistic way [dogeatdog]). David Crosby said she was as shy as Mussolini and Dylan called her a man!! :-) ha ha. She is definitely not a feminist (in my opinion). " Well, I agree and yet I disagree. Joni does appear to be an egoist (there's that label thing again), by which I mean she has a big ego, and that is not in my mind's eye a negative. It is, rather, a necessary evil of sorts (sort of like captialism, in my opinion). It is a driver (not the only one, of course) of performance, creativity and excellence, but it can be destructive if allowed to get out of control and dominate. And she knows it. She has confessed over and over of her wrestling with it, of her struggle for higher achievement, etc. etc. Need I quote the lines ? I don't think I have to for this list. However, is that necessarily mutually exclusive with being a feminist ? Again, this may depend on definitions and semantics, but I don't think so. Surely the self anointed leaders of the feminist movement have been egoists - or worse, in my opinion - and talk about a philosophy oriented toward power ! If feminism is "the doctrine advocating social, political and all other rights of women equal to those of men" (Random House Unabridged), then Joni probably is a feminist if that term is defined as 1) one who agrees with or morally supports the doctrine. If to be a feminist 2) one must be politically active in support of the doctrine, or must agree with political extensions of the doctrine - such as separate as well as equal, or better than equal, or entitled to affirmative action to impose some sort of supposed statistical equality, or entitled to preferential treatment in the job market because of such status - then I suppose she is not. When she said she is not, I suspect she was applying the second definition to the term, rather than the first. And I suspect that you may have been, too. Anyway, I prefer the first definition, myself, so that I can pretend to think of myself as a feminist, despite my aversion to and disassociation with many aspects of the second definition. Anyway, we all agree that ongoing atrocities against women are abhorrent - but we seem to be not sufficiently motivated to collectively take action against it. Is this cowardly or wise ? This may be a more difficult question than it appears on its face. Is it worth waging war over ? Will there be more pain, or less in the short run ? In the long run ? That Yeat's poem variant "Slouching" haunts - 'the best lack conviction, given some time to think, and the worst are full of passion without mercy". Speaking of which, Colin, I agree with you that sex offenders, and others whose crimes are of such a type that recitivism is likely to be the norm rather than the exception, need to be locked up and kept away from the rest of us (not to mention from their earlier victims, if they are still alive). And there is no reason for you to feel conflicted about this. The criminals put the rest of us in a position where we must choose from the lesser of two evils - 1) to allow the perpetrators to go unpunished and/or continue to terrorize the rest of us, or 2) debase our spirits by locking them up, or executing them in certain cases, acts we also find abhorrent. Well, I for one do not think this is a difficult choice. Just a rotten one. The answer is simple - stop committing atrocious crimes. And like you said - be a good parent. Finally, just finished playing in a bridge tournament this week in New York - a game full of beauty but tarnished by ego - there's the serpent and the ealge again. Again, it will be an all men's final (although one team of 4 women and one team of 5 players with 2 women made the semi-finals this year). Not like golf, but still a male-dominated game. Hard to hypothesize exactly why - especially in this political climate, where some subjects are taboo. Not on the list, though :-). Any takers ?
