Alex Stojsic's PA (Pretty Awesome)

I think the first time I met Alex, we were in the middle of the desert, dancing our asses off at my first rave.  I was introduced to him and Venus through my friend James Henry who some of you may know from Tower Records.  I remember thinking, Now I know two long-hairs who like EDM! 

I soon learned that both Alex and Venus shared my passion for music, and over the years I’ve had the pleasure of their company not only at raves and concerts, but in my home for barbeques and parties. I always loved when Alex would make his delicious homemade Cevapcici, and I’ll never forget when James and he made it in my kitchen. I walked in and saw that they had molded Meatwad out of the ground meat mixture!

Alex is also one of the reasons my Laborless Day Party became an annual event.  I wanted to have bands play in my backyard for the party, but I didn’t have a PA system.  Alex kindly offered to lend me his.  Thus a yearly tradition was born.

And that PA has been an absolute godsend ever since.  Over the last decade plus, more than a half dozen bands have benefitted from it.  Whether it’s practicing in my garage or playing live somewhere that has no sound system, it’s been perfect - portable but powerful.  That’s not to mention all the cash it’s saved my bandmates and me which would’ve otherwise been spent on renting rehearsal space.  And as a drummer, being able to have band practice without loading my drums in and out is the absolute ideal.

In short, that PA has improved my life immensely. 

And that’s all because of Alex’s generosity.  He didn’t want money for it, and anytime I offered to give it back, he’d decline.  He told me he was just happy that someone was using it.

Thank you, Alex, for the gift that keeps on giving.  Long may it continue to rock in your name, reminding me of your kind and magnanimous spirit. 

Rest in Power

XMAS 2020

9:09 pm, 25th of December, 2020 ~ Post Festivities Reflections

I’d say that’s about as good as it can get during a global pandemic.

Exhausting in the best possible way - 

Family fun, food, festive drinks,

A delicious dinner of ham and homemade Cantilone,

Napping with the NBA on TV- 

Lakers giving us fans want we really want for Christmas.

Not a bad way to end a now going-on 14-hour celebration.

7am was certainly not an unreasonable time to begin.

Actually, it was foreseeable, as Mel totally called it,

But any lethargy felt was quickly dispelled by Tilly

Tearing into her stocking and Santa booty.

The race track and walkie talkies - immediate favorites -

Will definitely make the trek to the Babbas later,

But not before one of the race cars gets tangled in Tilly's hair.

Last year’s big present and recent Toy du Jour, the scooter,

Won’t even make it out of the trunk of the car today.

No helmet necessary for any Zooming we’ll be doing later

When the full, 4-family clan gathers online

To exchange holiday cheer and battle for Kahoot glory.

First time in over a decade we’re “together” on Christmas day,

Grandpa notes, a significant silver lining.

By the time Tilly opens the Babbas’ gifts, she's overloaded.

Despite her massive spoils, she still wants a toy garbage truck.

“Tilly may not know it yet, but the best gift is the hugs,”

Brian comments on a FB picture of her embracing the Babbas.

I couldn’t agree more. 

Amidst the epic devastation this year has wrought,

We’re so incredibly lucky for these lovely moments together.


Merry Everything, Everybody!!

Happy Juneteenth

Privilege is learning about racism through books, movies, and music instead of experiencing it your whole life.

My Response to a Conservative Friend Who Said Black Wall Street and The Tulsa Race Massacre Don't Matter Because They Happened a Long Time Ago

Maybe you and I were too busy throwing tidbits in class to remember, but when were we taught about Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre?

Despite your feelings about my motive, that’s the reason I posted this - BWS was something I’d heard about from artists like Prince and Miles Davis but never knew too much about, so I thought others might find it as fascinating (and infuriatingly sad) as I did.

I guess you didn’t feel the same way.

Actually, as an educator and life-long learner, I’m surprised every day by the knowledge I acquire when I open my mind and heart to listen to others whose experiences differ from mine, especially people of color who have suffered for centuries (and continue to suffer) a brutal, racist legacy in a country ironically founded on the principle that “all men (sic) are created equal.”

But since it’s graduation season, and I’m tired from the years of leading you to the water while you stubbornly refuse to drink, I’ll leave you with one last attempt to appeal to your better angels before I block you from your obsessive, Pavlovian instinct to comment on everything I post.

You purport to only deal in “facts and logic,” so here’s a fact we’ve discussed before: racism is not the same as bigotry or prejudice.

Despite your feelings about it, racism is not a two-way street. It flows in one direction - from the dominant culture to marginalized cultures. Your attempts to call my (or MLK’s) words “racist” reek of ignorance. Maybe if we lived in Wakanda you could say that, otherwise, to put it kindly, you’re just being purposely obtuse.

Also, again for you (and others that have found this hard to grasp): the BLM movement (and Kapernick’s peaceful protests that you also thought were “disrespectful”) are about police brutality against POC.

That’s the simple fact. Your feelings about what they should focus on are irrelevant.

Trying to “throw more tidbits around the classroom” and change the subject from police brutality to abortion or inner city violence is not only illogical, it’s a convenient, if not unempathetic way to rationalize the horrible treatment - indeed unjustifyible deaths - of POC by the police in this country.

Besides, for two decades I’ve taught the hard working, kind, loving families in marginalized communities. What have you done besides use them as a deflective talking point?

So as you graduate today, I leave you with one final quote that I hope will inspire you to listen to, reflect on, and learn from POC: “Ignorance is not saying, ‘I don’t know.’ Ignorance is saying, ‘I don’t want to know.’”

Good luck, old friend. I truly wish you the best.

Sonnet 76 In Which W.S. Writes About Cannabis

Why is my verse so barren of new pride,
So far from variation or quick change?
Why with the time do I not glance aside
To new-found methods, and to compounds strange?
Why write I still all one, ever the same,
And keep invention in a noted weed,
That every word doth almost tell my name,
Showing their birth, and where they did proceed?
O! know sweet love I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent:
For as the sun is daily new and old,
So is my love still telling what is told.

Happy 4/20!!

Panther Heart Live

I can't believe this was almost 8 years ago...
but the Legend of the Dire Wolf began a few years before that.