True Love Will Find You In The End

[I don't have permission to host the video on my blog, so you can follow the link above to YouTube to watch the full music video. Believe me, I tried.]

This song has been around for a while, but I heard it for the first time last night. It played out through a really dramatic closing scene of a TV show, and I just found it really powerful. I came across this version of the song, covered by Mates of State, and thought the video was really original and definitely worth sharing with you guys. Be sure to give the original version a listen as well though. Personally I prefer the original (which was the one played on 'The Big C' last night,) and I'll share a video of that version as well below.

The original music and lyrics are by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston. His song True Love Will Find You In The End has been covered by countless bands and solo artists, and is one of the most well known tracks in his discography. Johnston's rise in popularity can't be credited to one particular person or event; some of his exposure was actually thanks to the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Kurt would often be seen wearing a t-shirt with Johnston's album artwork on the front of it, reading "Hi, How Are You."

Although Johnston used to tour worldwide, his involvement in the music industry in recent years has been more behind-the-scenes. In 2004 he helped put out a two part album entitled The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered, which features a vast line-up of artists from Tom Waits, to Bright Eyes, to The Flaming Lips, to Beck, just to name a few. One disc features covers of Johnston's songs performed by these artists, while the other disc features his own renditions. Johnston suffers from bipolar disorder, but has managed to put out some really substantial tracks despite those difficulties.

Daniel's a really interesting character; in a 2002 interview with Pitchfork, he talked about his fascination for not only music, but old comic books, even Salvador Dali paintings.

"Now I'm really into Salvador Dali. I mean, I always was, but recently I got a bunch of Salvador Dali books and I bought some postcards and started hanging them on my walls. And like I'm listenin' to The Beatles, smokin', you know, and I'll be looking at these little postcard Salvador Dali paintings on my wall just freakin' out! They just look like they're movin'! When I'm high on... and I'm looking at the wall, it just freaked me out! I mean, those paintings are so loud."

It's nothing short of interesting to hear Johnston rant on about getting stoned, listening to The Beatles while Salvador Dali paintings come to life through the walls, like he's Hunter S. Thompson, and then listen to his mellowing anthem of undying love, True Love Will Find You In The End.

Take a listen.

breathing in november

i like when you stay

and i get to share

the thick not too hot not too cold

where did the humidity go?

who cares?

crunchy leaf city street

new york air

with you

i like writing lines for you

specially selected soaking with passion

dripping dropping words

that look simple on paper

but read like a map to Atlantis in my head

i like how you leave me tongue-tied bleary-eyed

but still up for the ride

hoping we'll get off at the same stop

and your hand will reach for mine

[photograph property of Moriza]

On The Road (Part Two)

The following excerpt is from Jack Kerouac's On The Road, (p. 209-210)

We were telling these things and both sweating. We had completely forgotten the people up front who had begun to wonder what was going on in the back seat. At one point the driver said, "For God's sakes, you're rocking the boat back there." Actually we were; the car was swaying as Dean and I both swayed to the rhythm and the IT of our final excited joy in talking and living to the blank tranced end of all innumerable riotous angelic particulars that had been lurking in our souls all our lives.

"Oh, man! Oh, man! Oh, man!" moaned Dean. "And it's not even the beginning of it - and now here we are at last going east together, we've never gone east together, Sal, think of it, we'll dig Denver together and see what everybody's doing although that matters little to us, the point being that we know what IT is and we know TIME and we know that everything is really FINE." Then he whispered, clutching my sleeve, sweating, "Now you just dig them in front. They have worries, they're counting the miles, they're thinking about where to sleep tonight, how much money for gas, the weather, how they'll get there - and all the time they'll get there anyway, you see. But they need to worry and betray time with urgencies false and otherwise, purely anxious and whiny, their souls really won't be at peace unless they can latch on to an established and proven worry and having once found it they assume facial expressions to fit and go with it, which is, you see, unhappiness, and all the time it all flies by them and they know it and that too worries them no end."

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Photographed above, on the left is Neal Cassady, (the real-life Dean Moriarty,) and on the left is Jack Kerouac (a.k.a. Sal Paradise)

'On The Road' (Part One)

I was sitting on the subway today reading Kerouac’s 'On The Road'; now, anybody that’s read it will tell you that it’s rather brilliant and vivid and throw in some sort of whimsical remark like, “it’s poignant yet raw.” It’s one of those books that when asked if they’ve read it, more than half of the people that haven’t read a line of it will say something like “oh yes, it was a while ago though,” in hopes that you won’t ask them anything about the book, or God forbid, ask them what their favorite part was.

So I’m sitting on the E train reading this book that I can hardly allow myself to put down, and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “wow, that Sal just has so much life in him.” Now for those of you that are not familiar with the book (and it’s alright if you aren’t, but after you read this, I expect you to fit picking up a copy into your schedule this week,) Sal is the main character. I found it interesting the first time that our narrator is referred to by name, which doesn’t happen until a handful of chapters into the book, but I found it interesting that his name was Sal, and not Jack. Mentally I just replace all the Sal’s on the page with Jack’s, and then it feels more like Jack Kerouac’s account of his adventures on the road, as he travels slowly but surely to Denver, Colorado.

I’m not very far into the book yet, but I already have this deep appreciation for, and connection to, this character Sal. He is an instantly likeable guy, sort of wandering through the country to ultimately meet his buddies from New York (his home) in Denver. That’s not important right now though; what’s important is the life and curiosity that this one character has in everything he does. I found myself thinking about Jack, and how most of what he wrote in this book is probably what really happened to him; most of the people he describes were probably real people. Names and certain details may have been changed in some cases, but for the most part left alone.

Jack Kerouac unfortunately died at the age of 47 due to cirrhosis of the liver; he essentially drank himself to death. If you flip to the back of the book, there’s a picture of young Jack, and a brief bio on the inside flap of the jacket cover. I thought, alright so he’s dead now, but his writing, his persona, his experiences and memories… those are still so incredibly alive. I feel more alive just reading them. I forgot until that point, that Kerouac was no longer alive; mostly because the book reads as if Jack is telling you this big long series of stories that all intertwine (and admittedly sometimes get confusing,) but always come back to the big picture. Jack referred to his style of writing as "spontaneous prose," which I think is a pretty accurate way to describe it. I'd say that it's an off-shoot of "stream of consciousness" writing. And I came to the conclusion that writers live on regardless of the date on their death certificate; maybe forever. They are alive now after their body has expired, because of the life they put into the words that they carefully placed on the pages of their books. That will live on forever.

This is my first post about On The Road, and I intend to write at least a few more, as I continue my reading, along with including some lines and quotes that I find particularly poetic and meaningful to share with you. And once again, I highly encourage you to pick up a copy of 'On The Road' if you have yet to read it.

Make Something Beautiful

Today's just short and sweet. I hope you're enjoying the beautiful day if you're on the East coast. And if you're somewhere the weather isn't making you smile, I hope something else is.

Click here if you're looking for something creative to do with a little bit of your free time.

Here's your chance to create something in the style of the artist Jackson Pollock.

Maybe you'll make something beautiful.

Once you get to the page, all you have to do is move your cursor around and you'll understand how it works. Click once each time you want to change the ink color.

Enjoy your day.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? What the hell?

I know it's been quite a while since I've updated, and I intend to start keeping up with my blog more regularly. I wanted to take the time today though to make people aware of the Senate vote happening tomorrow over the repeal of the 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy. Please take the time to watch the video below, and understand the importance of the decision that tomorrow's vote holds. The sexual orientation of an individual should have nothing to do with Americans' right to serve their country. In the year 2010 you'd think that we'd be beyond this point of naivety and bigotry. Some people may refute this video, because of the speaker being an entertainment star as opposed to a politician or known specialist on governmental policy, but that is not the point here. The point is that Lady GaGa is a huge icon in pop culture, and she is using her fame and position in the spotlight to bring attention to a matter that she feels strongly about. I feel just as strongly about this, and hope that the United States Senators make the responsible and ethical decision to repeal this archaic and ignorant policy. Gay, lesbian, straight, bi-sexual, transgender.. your sexual orientation, who you love, these things have no impact on your ability to serve your country. I do not personally agree with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I oppose the war, I oppose the fact that after the events of September 11th, 2001, the Bush administration used the fear and frustrations of American citizens as a scapegoat to rush into a war being fought under false pretenses. I have close friends that have bravely served our country in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and although I oppose the war, I support them and applaud their bravery. I think the military is a necessary asset to our country. My grandfathers fought in the Army and Navy. I have reasons to be proud of my country, but it's issues like 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' and 'Proposition 8' that make me ashamed and embarrassed that the United States of America, the country that is supposed to stand for "liberty and justice for all," is not even respecting the men and women that fight for our safety and freedom.

Katrina Now and Then

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans and began to carve its devastating path of destruction. Within the next two days, eighty percent of New Orleans was flooded; some areas were under as much as fifteen feet of water. Although the majority of the hurricane itself missed the city, the levees surrounding the city started to breach due to the immense amount of water coming toward the city from all the wind and flooding. According to a 2007 study conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the breaches in the levees were the most prominent cause of the flooding that occurred in the city of New Orleans1.
With the devastation and the evacuation of roughly ninety percent of the residents of southeast Louisiana, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina received the nation’s attention. Due to the severe weather and destruction, countless homes were damaged or destroyed. Many victims that did not escape the disaster in time were forced to seek refuge in their attics, or in some cases, on the roof of their flooded homes. Some were lucky enough to get into the Superdome, which was used as the main location for victims to take refuge if they hadn’t left the city in time.
Many of the local residents whose homes were destroyed by the hurricane lost everything. New Orleans’ Ninth Ward was drastically impacted by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The repair efforts for the destroyed homes are still slow and unsteady. Many residents are still waiting for insurance money and/or government aid that has yet to come. Without this money, the residents can’t make the necessary repairs to return to living in their old homes. A surprising number of people are still forced to live in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers or other areas and sometimes-harsh living environments.
One of the key factors that affected the severity of the damage was location. Depending on the location of the homes, some areas were wiped out, while others were only slightly damaged. North of Claiborne Avenue, which is part of the lower Ninth Ward, the current average number of residents that are fortunate enough to have a repaired home to come back to is about one person per block2. With such a lack of normalcy and without having a place to call home again, the money-tight people of New Orleans have few options.
Another major issue is the number of schools and businesses that were destroyed by the hurricane. Many businesses and jobs were lost, and children were left without a place to learn. The amount of time and money that it takes to rebuild and repair all of the damage that was done makes it very hard to move forward, and the residents are stuck in these unfortunate circumstances. Without the money coming in from the insurance companies and the government, the local people are being suppressed from any kind of economic or societal growth.
The cause of Hurricane Katrina is not the fault of the New Orleans residents, and they deserve the money that they are entitled to so that they can pick up where they left off and start their lives again. Another group that has been under much scrutiny regarding the true devastation of this tragedy is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who established the very levees that burst, causing the flooding of New Orleans in the first place. Numerous coastal engineers and scientists that warned of the lack of protection the levees were providing before the events of Hurricane Katrina have spoken out against the repair jobs that the Army Corps did3. The argument is that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using the same materials and systems that were used pre-Katrina.
Reports were conducted after Katrina to try and identify the exact issues the Army Corps may have been responsible for. It was concluded that many of the areas of the floodwalls were built on soggy soil and were ultimately left as flimsy barriers3. Between bad engineering and poorly conducted analyses, the floodwalls were sure to fail. Once the hurricane itself had died off, the media lost interest in the story, and ultimately the American people moved on to the next story; however, the destruction was still very real.
On September 12, 2005 Mike Brown the director of FEMA, resigned. He had come under much scrutiny by the critics in the media over the way he handled a lot of the situations regarding the Katrina aftermath. In a news release, Brown said, “As I told the president, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of FEMA.4” Another big issue holding back the progress of New Orleans is the lack of trust between the people and organizations.
As Michael Grunwald of CNN states in his Katrina anniversary article, “The Threatening Storm,” “But in the long run, recovery plans won’t much if investors, insurers and homesick evacuees can’t trust the Corps to prevent the city from drowning again.” I think that if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did a poor job protecting the city, leading to be a big cause of the gravity of Katrina, and they haven’t taken any significant efforts to revise their practices, then another organization needs to step in and take over.
Independent research needs to be conducted to ensure that every possible safety measure is put into place to avoid ever having a disaster like this happen again. According to hurricane experts like Ivor van Heerden, of the University of Louisiana, Katrina was not the worst possible scenario, and natural disasters like this could happen again. We need to be prepared for another hurricane, and we need to have the confidence that the residents will be safe and structures will hold. Hurricane Katrina needs to be taken as a warning and as a learning experience so that the safety and well being of the people of New Orleans isn’t threatened like this again.