Tarot Card of the Day for September 27, AT5

The Emperor

He's the big cheese, the man in control; decision maker.
As the active physical principle, he indicates a point in the spiritual journey of the Tarot at which the soul has mastered its worldly works. This card is about mastery of one's realm in all aspects.
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This card is so not me, so I'm guessing that it's telling me that I need to take my realm more seriously; i.e. clean the frakking house.
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What was that Scarlett O'Hara said?...
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Oh, yeah...
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'Tew-marrah is anothah day.'

Powell Hall's Ash Tray

Photo taken 9/26/8

This is the current art installation next to Powell Hall. I've tried googling it to find more information, but Grand Center seems by far more interested in selling tickets than promoting art.
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From a distance, it looks intriguing, but don't get too close. For starters, there's evidence that the gravel was raked, but no effort was made to grade it. The work itself is sloppily-constructed. The DNA helix is made of rope lights, plastic tubing, and plastic water bottles stuck together with messy globs of hot glue. The orange and yellow cylinder is bits of paper on ladder-type masonry reinforcing with paper clips, but the clips are not all put on the same way and the wire sections are tied together by their ends with no effort made to trim the exess. They're just coiled around each other until the wire ran out. The stack of discs has fingerprints and smudges of marker on the surfaces. The green cylinder is tubes of plastic sheeting randomly stapled or paper-clipped together.
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Is this the height of St. Louis's artistic talent--an intesting idea wasted on poor craftsmanship?

Tonight at Powell Hall

First, let's get some housekeeping out of the way--literally. As I walked into the auditorium down the south hallway, I saw a housekeeping worker thru the half-open door of a janitor's closet and his cart in the exit way at the far end of the hallway. These things, the public should not see--ever.
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But wait, it gets worse. As I sat in my cheap seat on the right aisle [K30 for the curious], I heard several loud bangs during the first part of the concert. At intermission, I exited the side door on my way to the 'smoking lounge' and the cart was still there, where people had to walk around it to get to the exit door.
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And that's not bad enough. In the second part of the concert, after more bangs and just as the orchestra reached a pause in the music, the janitor decided to move the cart. The wheels were loud enough to overwhelm the last few notes of the movement in their atonal screech. Later, there were three thundering booms that sounded like the ceiling falling in, and more smaller bangs throughout the rest of the performance.
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As much as I admire the symphony as an organization, this is inexcusable. There is often noise from the hallway as people use the adjacent stage door, but it is intermittent and doesn't happen at every performance. To even have the janitor in the public spaces during the premiere performance is a management fumble of epic scale. At least give the man the dignity of a uniform that blends in with the ushers if he has to be there, and I'm sure there must be a more formal alternative to yellow rubber gloves.
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I noticed this as I was scanning the foyers for kodak moments. It's a velvet dixie cup dispenser! Maybe a velvet housekeeping cart could be justified in the budget...
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Finally, on to business.
Tonight's bill promised a spectacle, and it almost delivered. We heard John Adams's 'Guide to Strange Places', Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto with Yefim Bronfman on piano, and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. David Robertson conducted the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
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The concert started with a pleasant surprise in an appearance and short talk by Adams. The highlight of his brief speech was when he said [and I paraphrase] that one of the things about being a composer is that your work appears on the program with the world's greatest masterpieces. Adams's work stood up to the Rachmaninoff extremely well, in my opinion. Adventurous and mysterious, 'Guide to Mysterious Places' takes the listener on, according to Adams, a Fantasia-like journey thru sound. His minimalist style is distinctive for its bold rhythmic structure, but in this piece, the rhythm didn't drive the music as prominently as it does in his other works [many of you know his stunning 'Harmonielehre' from its excerpts quoted in 'The Matrix']. I was immediately reminded of Richard Serra's notorious 'Twain' and pictured myself running around the minimalist sculpture being assaulted by the corporate monoliths that surround it. Fortunately, this imagery faded as the music demanded other visualizations in its constantly-twisting sonic journey. The Symphony nailed the piece, for the most part. I'm no professional musician, so I'll spare you the pretentious musical references and analysis of the conductor's technique, but the musicians played as one just as we expect them to and Robertson did his usual excellent job of bringing the music to life. I just wish the horns would get their act together. I think they call it 'attacking' when the horn comes in too strong, but it's a recurring problem with the SLSO rearing its ugly head again [I missed all of last season, but in the previous season, the horns were perfect, so I'm wondering what happened].
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Rachmaninoff's 3rd has never been one of my favorite pieces of music, and this performance didn't change that. Bronfman was technically spectacular, but thru the first two movements, he was missing a lot of the nuance. A few times, he lost the melody in Rachmaninoff's luxurious runs of scales [there's a musical term for these, but I don't know what it is and expect my readers don't either]. But in the third movement, he hit a home run. It's as if he finally came alive and realized there was more to it than hitting the keys in sequence. Again the horns hit sour, and the standing ovation seemed a little over the top. I broke my normal respectful protocol and left before it died down.
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I quickly lost interest in the Bartok and slipped into my usual distraction of figuring out what shades they need to add to the paint scheme to do justice to the hall's beautiful plasterwork. However, the orchestra was noticeably more on its game for the Concerto for Orchestra. The horns were especially good and deserved their eager applause. The piece deserves it's reputation, I'm sure, but there's just very little from the 40's that interests me musically.
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The biggest surprise of the evening was the audience. It was the most respectful audience I've encountered in St. Louis. There was very little coughing during the Adams, most notably a woman behind me who couldn't be bothered to control herself thru the first five minutes of the piece. They were rapt thru-out the Rachmaninoff, and there was practically no coughing at all, but they made up for it somewhat after intermission. The talking was so quiet I could only barely hear it [and that just doesn't happen with a St. Louis audience]. On the downside, the walking ovation after the Bartok was a civic embarrassment as half the people surrounding me bolted for the door as soon as Robertson put down his baton. People in the aisle in front of me were even rude enough to strike up a conversation with the people they were crawling over.
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And if janitor noise and screeching brass wasn't bad enough, somebody just had to top off the evening by farting in the aisle. It lingered thru the entire ovation, and it smelled like a sewer.
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I wonder if there'll be Lysol on the new velvet janitor's cart.

A fleur-de-lis for Christian [sorry about the blur]

Photos taken 9/26/8

Left Bank Books Downtown!

Lofts@315

Soon-to-be home of Left Bank - on the Right Bank [of the Mississippi]

I'm so excited! Left Bank Books is opening a second store at the corner of 10th and Locust Streets. Finally, a conveniently-located cool bookstore. I feared Borders or Barnes & Noble would beat them to it and steal the market. There's more, but I'm not sure how much I can divulge. But trust me [you'll have to at this point], it'll be swell.

Loft developer Craig Heller, who has provided space for City Grocers, UMA, and a number of other local businesses and who was brave enough to stand up to the Slay machine on the Mistake of the Century [nice fictionalized smack-down, mayor], is leasing the space to the bookstore. Now can we please have a nice, locally-operated pharmacy downtown?

I feel the burden of the big box lifting off my shoulders as I type this!
Photos taken 9-23-08

Baddite Proverb of the Day

Fluffy is as fluffy does.
[with apologies to Forrest Gump]

This Week in Timmianity

Baddites, rejoice! your Prophet is finally going to write something relevant to this blog's status as the Official Blog of the Church of Bad Tim of Latter-Day Reincarnates. We're going to start with the Greater Laws, and then go into the two ranks of Lesser Laws, which parallel the Greater. That's twenty-seven posts of material drawn directly from unwritten parts of the Book of Baddite [yes, dear Baddites, your Prophet is writing your Holy Scripture in a blog][deal with it].

The Law of Unity

As you read this, picture the Fool from the Tarot; he is the Avatar of Unity.
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The Three Musketeers almost got it right; they should have said, "All is one, and one is all." The Law of Unity is the basis of all that follows it, and the key to true understanding. Everything you see, touch, hear, smell, and taste is part of the single organism of the Universe. It all emanates from the same Source, and taken to its most fundamental level, every thing is made of the same basic building block--a subtle pattern of energy that is the Universe Itself. The mystery of Unity is to understand that the things around you that seem like distinct objects are part of your being; that the person who angers you is you.
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The Law of Unity demands that you embrace the world and all it has to offer, since to understand yourself, you must understand those parts of your ultimate self that appear distinct in the mortal planes. Experience is self-realization; it is a vital part of your journey toward enlightenment. However, this is not to say that the world exists for you to use as you please, with no fear of consequences. As the Fool is both the first and last card of the traditional Tarot Deck, the Law of Unity is both the first and last of the Greater Laws. The ninth Law, Equality, at its most fundamental level, is a restatement of the Law of Unity. All is One, and all is Equal in the mind of the Universe. Because everything is composed of the same fundamental energy pattern, then on its most basic level, everything is the same. A pile of stone rubble is the equal of a sculptural masterpiece; a beggar is the equal of a billionaire; a bigot is the equal of a prophet. Therefore, what you do, you must do with the respect that you would expect to receive from the object of your action.
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In this way, the Law of Unity is the highest moral law. You are responsible for the consequences of your actions simply because what you do effects the energy pattern that comprises your being. What you put into the pattern is available for someone else to use toward you. Your frivolous action becomes some body's recklessness; your necessity becomes some body's livelihood. That plastic bag you let blow away in the wind is the plastic bag that a sea turtle will suffocate on in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; but that chicken Tyson killed for your sandwich is the chicken a coyote needed to survive. They are not perceptually the same objects, but the consequences they create are exactly the same.
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Likewise, the Law of Unity requires you to live in harmony with your environment. Because everything that surrounds you is part of your ultimate self, you must take care of it as you would take care of yourself. This is true whether or not you believe that you have a right of ownership or that a thing is useful, attractive, or valuable. When you allow waste, then waste becomes part of your vibration--which brings us back to the Garbage Patch. The negligence of humans jeopardizes the other inhabitants of the planet. It is the emissions from your car that cause global warming, just as it is your shopping bag that suffocates the sea turtle; responsibility starts with the individual.
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Moral codes that are not based on the Law of Unity fail because they are unable to make this connection to the whole. 'Thou shalt not kill' cannot be an absolute; 'thou best be respectful in what thou doest lest it cometh back upon thy ass' is more realistic.
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So, how does the Fool fit into this mess? He is both naive and enlightened beyond the need for understanding. He is as one with the Universe; whether that is from ignorance too deep to know the difference or from understanding too sublime to see the difference does not matter. Travelling the world with his few possessions, unaware of the precipice at his next step, he is carefree. His little dog jumps on his leg to get his attention, but in vain. The Fool is the dog and the precipice; either he will perish at the foot of the cliff or, in total unity with all around him, he will continue unharmed. Either he has achieved the highest level of understanding and is imperishable, or he understands nothing and will begin again. His card is numbered zero because it cannot be clear whether he is at the beginning of his spiritual journey or the end.
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By embracing the Law of Unity, you can become the Fool. Strive to see yourself in everything around you. Take care of all within your reach. Get yourself some reusable shopping bags and save a sea turtle. Use public transportation. Stand up for environmental reform. Plant street trees; the shade will reduce energy consumption and provide a refuge for birds and for your soul. Refuge for your soul is the same as refuge for the Universe.

Tarot Card of the Day for September 11, AT5

King of Pentacles, Rev.

Poor financial decisions.

I know exactly what the cards are saying in this case. I'm putting all my rehabber money into a project that doesn't really need to be done right now. The problem is, I don't know what to do about it at this point. I can't cut the project off now, but I fear it's going to bleed me dry. I still have a wall that needs tuckpointing, so at some point, this has to stop. It's already getting critical.

Baddite Proverb of the Day

If poor taste were illegal, we wouldn't have Las Vegas.

Tarot Card of the Day for September 8, AT5

Page of Cups, Rev.
OK, so last week it was Pents, this week, it's Cups. At least the Pents were polite enough not to repeat themselves. But, I guess when you're as emotional as Water, repetition is considered a good thing.

Either I grossly misinterpreted yesterday, or I'm being willfully ignorant. I don't know.

pa-dump-dum