For these hard times

 "Tommy at last realizes he’s not a spiritual guide, he’s one more human being, who needs to learn from other people, from all humanity.  At last, he sings triumphantly, “Right behind you, I see the millions." Ascending to the mountaintop, he reaches the peak and triumphantly greets the rising sun, a huge, warm, reddish sphere that en-haloes his entire body in a victorious stance, legs apart, arms spread in exultation. This is only the second time the full circle of the sun has appeared in this movie filled with shiny spheres and moons. The first time was in the first scene, where Tommy’s dad, in mountaineering garb, reached the peak of the same mountain at sunset, and then began his descent, as we know, into death. Tommy returns to the mountain and the sun reunites him with his father and his vital inheritance as a living human. 

With this closing scene, Russell has literally fitted the entire opera between the two celestial spheres, the sun and moon, raising every human’s battle to break out of the lies that conceal reality to an epic level. Transcendence, Russell seems to be saying, isn’t achieved by playing human games like pinball, in which you progress through a linear pattern to higher and higher numbers, and judge your success by popular acclaim.  Rather, it is an adventure that you do not begin until you throw over the oppressors that prevent you from speaking the truth.  Russell concludes a work that takes over your senses at high speed and high volume with a message that, although born from the turmoil of the sixties, will resonate meaningfully for generations to come" - by Charles Carreon

 

 THE UNIVERSAL MESSAGE

Meher Baba

I have come not to teach but to awaken. Understand therefore that I lay down no precepts.
Throughout eternity I have laid down principles and precepts, but mankind has ignored them. Man's inability to live God's words makes the Avatar's teaching a mockery. Instead of practising the compassion he taught, man has waged crusades in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed and violence.
Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present avataric form I observe Silence. You have asked for and been given enough words — it is now time to live them. To get nearer and nearer to God you have to get further and further away from "I", "My", and "Mine". You have not to renounce anything but your own self. It is as simple as that, though found to be almost impossible. It is possible for you to renounce your limited self by my Grace. I have come to release that Grace.
I repeat, I lay down no precepts. When I release the tide of Truth which I have come to give, men's daily lives will be the living precept. The words I have not spoken will come to life in them.
I veil myself from man by his own curtain of ignorance, and manifest my Glory to a few. My present avataric Form is the last Incarnation of this cycle of time, hence my Manifestation will be the greatest. When I break my Silence, the impact of my Love will be universal and all life in creation will know, feel and receive of it. It will help every individual to break himself free from his bondage in his own way. I am the Divine Beloved who loves you more than you can ever love yourself. The breaking of my Silence will help you to help yourself in knowing your real self.
All this world confusion and chaos was inevitable and no one is to blame. What had to happen has happened; and what has to happen will happen. There was and is no way out except through my coming in your midst. I had to come, and I have come. I am the Ancient One.

Rejoice in Ken Russell while we miss him

For those who want to pay their respects, you can visit Ken Russell's public Facebook page and leave a note. Many of us have been posting photos and sharing memories there. The best obituary so far, by a country mile can be found here at Indiewire, written by Ken's friend, Shade Rupe.

My beliefs entail that one stays as positive and happy about the dearly departed in the first days and weeks. I am of course very disappointed in the BBC (which both my husband I pay for yearly) and their bizarre behaviour in thus far lining NONE of Ken's work up for scheduled programming. Their attempt at a proper obituary was nothing sort of embarrassing.  The Times of London also ran two thinly veiled hatchet pieces. Rubbish when The Sun and The Daily Mail actually come out looking better than the "top shelf" (whatever that means...) papers. Had there been no internet, as with Paul Robeson, I sadly belive that the mainstream media would have also erased Ken if they could.

Well too bad because now we have the web and great artists will never be obliterated again!!!
HURRAY!

Look at those who have lionized Ken and paid tribute: Pete Townshend,  Ann Margret, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Michael Winner, Martin Scorcese, Lord Melvyn Bragg, Roger Daltrey, Twiggy and Ben Kingsley to name a few. Particularly wonderful has been the many technicians, extras and writers who Ken worked with throughout his career who of their won volition are pausing to leave their sentiments and pay their respects on message boards and threads. Even those who took his Walthamstow Tech photography class before he was employed in the industry have paused to toast the man.

Ken Russell's death  is the passing of a major and important artist who's influence is inexcusably unacknowledged and underrated.

More rejoicing to come!!

Tommy Overture 2: Vacancy at The Morrison Hotel

2. Group Captain Walker called off to war, bombing and plane crash

(the showgirls get their own separate post!) The blossoms of Borrowdale and Lodore Falls melt into a resplendent chandelier and the image of Nora in a light periwinkle ball gown and Captain Walker slow dancing; deeply and sensuously in love. At first they to seem to be in a glittering ballroom but when the phone rings the camera pulls back and we see the Ken's first diorama.

Diorama One: What looked like the London Palladium is actually the bedroom of the Walker home prepared for any potential bombing. Furniture piled up and drop clothed, a Morrison Shelter and only a sparse amount of necessities. Group Captain Walker is now out of his Glen Alpine tweeds and in his full RAF uniform as he's told to report for duty.

Diorama Two a bombed out London including a building where Captain Walker and Nora see the deceased body of young boy (a clear foreshadowing of the end sequence and of the living death their son will endure).

Diorama Three- the train station and Walker's departure. Two silhouettes in unison and that spectacular velvet Russell-vision and keen lighting set a classic Hollywood farewell. Anyone who would accuse Russell of gratuitously going for a cleavage shot with AM's Nora is a hater. There is nothing "for the lads" about the shot.

At this point things become almost Magritte like. What time of day is it? What world, what universe are we in? Captain Walker looks down commandingly yet we feel he is acknowledging Nora who is staring up at the sky unflinchingly rather than at a member of his squadron. Resigned to his duty while she is mentally "gone".

Diorama Four- Now the aforementioned Morrison Shelter with it's steel plate “table” top, welded wire mesh sides, and a metal lath “mattress”- type floor is the tight focus. For most Americans it appears to be part of Ken's arsenal of creative campy tricks when in reality the historical accuracy is beyond sobering. Nora withstands the bombing and Captain Walker is shot down. His National Service booklet lying beside his broken photo.

Paint Nora's hand imprint  as clouds and one has a Magritte painting brought to life. Even "as is" it is still uncannily close to the great Belgian Surrealist.

British Word of the post: Morrison Shelter

Tommy's Overture 1: Our Hearts Were Young and Cluster Bombed

1.Opening sequence
A Film By Ken Russell TOMMY by "The Who"

The opening shot of Tommy is stunning. I was about 10 years old when I first saw Tommy and the first fifteen minutes or so, as I previously mentioned is where people either can't deal or get pulled right in. For me, as a child, I could see the staging was like an opera as soon as I saw Robert Powell turn around from the full moon passing down in front of him (some say the image is of a fantastical sun, some think this is a moon). The two adults (in reality recently just children themselves) seemed very in love which of course as a kid is "gross!!"  As a teen, I got high and laughed at Tommy. "This movie reminds me of my mother" my best friend said at the time we were both tripping. Here I am now and a mother myself and the film has a radically different effect. Now the film to me is very moving despite the grandiose camp.

Robert Powell who also starred as Gustav Mahler and played Jesus Christ for Zefferelli rather convincingly is paired successfully with Ann-Margret who matches his fine, almost petite facial features with her own. As they read a map of the Lake District with Derwentwater and St.Herberts island ( the setting for Beatrix Potter's 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin') in the back ground, they are young and and in love forever. The film quality here is like velvet with love making in waterfalls and blossoms billowing down as they go for round two. The diorama effect I previously mentioned has not begun yet as this is a very romantic holiday and must flow from one inter-war oil painting to another.

To many viewers the waterfall is clearly where Tommy is conceived out of love and even if it is only an assumption by the audience it is an important one. Tommy is a wanted child and is created by two people who love each other let sadly don't know themselves yet. (Perhaps, Captain Walker knows who he is through duty?) We should not forget that Walker is a Captain and the possibility of going off to war was always a given. Were this left many young women and children was in a kind of hellish limbo always disguised by the mantle of "soldiering on" and "manning up". There were only letters to exchange while people waited.  Tommy is a quintessentially English story and Pete and Ken are making a clear statement in the film about an entire generation of indigenous Brits (many still in their teens) who was forced to make emotional and physical sacrifices and the even younger children who were often left to pick up the pieces and negotiate with needy adults while they themselves were still helpless. These moments in the Lake District are what Nora will seek to recapture her entire life to feel human.

(Note: all photos can be enlarged and should be as this film is cinematic magic. A huge thank you in advance to American Buddha who has a beautiful Tommy film study page and who provided the screen caps of Ken's masterpiece.) 

The Dioramas in Tommy

As mentioned a few posts ago, I don't see Ken Russell's film of Tommy as a "POP art musical" and I do not see it as a long form music video/precursor to MTV either. (To paraphrase Jello Biafra, it took MTV one year to sink as low as commercial TV had in 25. MTV was and is 99% rubbish.) I instead see Ken Russell's film of Tommy as a series of living, breathing life size, three-dimensional storyboards. Illusion through depth perception. Without one word of dialogue and without sub-titles, I see this diorama format extending into the acting as well.

The mise-en-scène is what allows the actors in Tommy to bring to the screen the corrupt and flawed adults that are around all children. In any film (provided the script is good), with even the weakest and phoniest of characters, we are "reassured" via their spoken dialogue that the characters are somehow "trying" and worthy of empathy even if they are screwed up. In Tommy however, the adults can't talk their way out of their failures. For example: Uncle Ernie winks at Tommy's step father Bernie while reading the "Gay News" heralding "Obscenity Triumphs" with a garter belt on his head and Tommy lying in bed nearby. He can't talk his way out of being a child abuser and rapist. Bernie stares at him and sets his paper on fire, effectively burning (and thus erasing) the truth away to ashes. The lack of dialogue does not give Bernie the chance to feign concern, express anger or speak with indifference.

Here are the scenes broken down that we'll be studying:

1. Opening sequence

2. Called off to war and plane crash

3. Ball bearing factory, birth of Tommy and cenotaph

4. Bernies Holiday Camp

5. 1951- Tommy's father's murder-What About The Boy

6. Amazing Journey

7. Christmas

8. Eyesight to the Blind

8. Acid Queen

9. Do You Think It's Alright? (1) Cousin Kevin

10. Do You Think It's Alright? (2) Uncle Ernie

11. Do You Think It's Alright?(3) Sparks

12. Extra, Extra (1)

13. Pinball Wizard

14. Champagne aka Beans and Chocolate

15. There's a Doctor

16. Go to the Mirror

17. Tommy, Can You Hear Me?/Smash The Mirror

18. I'm Free

19. Mother and Son

20. Sensation

21. Extra, Extra(2)/Sally Simpson

22. Welcome

23. T.V. Studio

24. Tommy's Holiday Camp

25. We're Not Gonna Take It

26. See Me, Feel Me

27. Listening to You/End

Background Details on Tommy

So before we start breaking down the scenes and studying the masterpiece that is Tommy here are a few details and observations:

*Pete Townshend spent countless hours and time perfecting the film's soundtrack and working on the new songs. As far as I know he received no extra money from the film producers for doing this yet worked tirelessly for the better part of nine months. Such was the era. Had this been today, he'd have walked away with at least 500k for all the extra hard work, perhaps much more given Tommy's unprecedented stature. Something to consider.

*A new linking song, "Extra Extra", narrates Tommy's rise to fame and introduces the battle with the pinball champ. It is set to the tune of "Miracle Cure". Both are performed by Simon Townshend, Pete's younger brother. We will study the changes, additions and differences in the soundtarck as opposed to the album in the upcoming days.

*The film version of Tommy differs in numerous ways from the original 1969 album. The primary change is the period, which is moved forward to the post-World War II era, while the original album takes place just after World War I. As a result the song "1921" is renamed "1951" and the opening line "got a feelin' '21 is gonna be a good year" changes to "got a feelin' '51 is gonna be a good year". The historical alterations allowed Ken to use more contemporary images and settings.

*Much of Tommy was shot on locations around Portsmouth, including the scene near the end of the movie featuring the giant 'pinballs', which were in fact obsolete buoys found in a British Navy yard, which were simply sprayed silver. Several other segments, including part of the Bernie's Holiday Camp sequence and the concert scenes in the 'Sally Simpson' sequence were shot inside the Gaiety Theatre on South Parade Pier at Southsea in Hampshire.

*On June 11, 1974, the pier caught fire and was badly damaged while the production was filming there; according to Russell, the fire started during the filming of the scene of Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed dancing together during the "Bernie's Holiday Camp" sequence, and smoke from the fire can in fact be seen drifting in front of the camera in several shots; Russell also used a brief exterior shot of the building fully ablaze during the scenes of the destruction of Tommy's Holiday Camp by his disillusioned followers

The Composer, The Avatar and The Director Who Heard Tommy

(3:54 Underture)

In "The Story of Tommy" documentary from the mid 90s, Pete Townshend makes what I once thought was a funny, lovingly pejorative quip about Ken Russell:

"We did a production of Tommy with the London Symphony and  Lou Reizner and it was a great success. And it led directly to Ken Russell's film because I don't think he could have understood Tommy without hearing it played by a symphony orchestra."

I always thought Pete meant that Ken's big personality is so bombastic that he needs a big production to be satisfied but I was incorrect in this case. Pete meant that Ken's love of classical music runs so deep and so passionate that it is the standard by which he judges all music and most art. Apparently the Who's 1969 Tommy album Ken found boring. It was only after going over the orchestrated music that he pointed out to Pete:

"...if one was going to do it as a film, that there were huge gaps in the story of the deaf, dumb and blind boy who finally gets to see the and see the light so to speak in many ways. You never knew who the father was, why he was killed, why the boy went blind, deaf and dumb. It's almost as if his album started half way through the story and the other half was in his mind and had not been written down."

And thus the main framework of Tommy's narrative as we know it today and what would eventually become the mega-watt stage production performed all over the world today was created by Pete and Ken. The two great men who inspire so many are forever linked by Tommy.

Where does Meher Baba fit in here? Well, it is clear that the ground based spiritual teachings of Baba gave Pete a new direction and purpose in all aspects of his life. Meher Baba's influence on those of us who love him is very personal so I cannot interpret this, I'm just glad Meher Baba's teachings made it to the West while he was still alive. 

"The experiences are so innumerable and varied, that the journey appears to be interminable and the Destination is ever out of sight. But the wonder of it is, when at last you reach your Destination you find that you had never travelled at all! It was a journey from here to Here." -Meher Baba

That quote to me sums up Tommy and I feel the lives of those of us who had dramatic and traumatic childhoods. As in the film there is a circular narrative to those words of Baba. Tommy, flees as flames engulf the Holiday camp. He escapes and arrives at the same place in the wilderness in the beginning of the film where his parents spent a romantic day together (presumably the day he was conceived). Though now alone and no longer a rich and famous messiah, Tommy attains an even greater sense of self-awareness and one hopes freedom as he faces the rising sun and a new dawn. His arms are outstretched to face the sun as his father's were in the film's opening scene.


Here are a few blog cross posts on Tommy being influenced by Meher Baba and how it helped form the foundation of the work.

Dioramas Viewed Through Kaleidoscopes: Ken Russell's Film of Tommy

                                                        His eye is on the sparrow.


Good morning converts! I have no doubt that we'll be able to break some new ground here by studying  "Ken Russell's Film of Tommy." Despite being thee unrivalled rock opera to end all rock operas and talked, written and performed endlessly,  Tommy never stops morphing. In my lifetime thus far, Tommy has gone from a wild film on cable to a classic album you stole, begged or borrowed as a tween; then a 20th reunion revival act "featuring The Who and guests"; to a Tony Award winning Broadway play; various remastered cds, laser discs, dvds, blu rays and soundtracks galore; all the way to the present where Roger Daltrey and friends are performing it live and in classic original unadulterated style as we speak. Yet, the preceding was only a fraction of Tommy's many incarnations. It is one of the reasons why, in about two  generations, that Tommy along with The Who as a band will be reappraised and as popular as ever much like The Doors were a decade after Jim Morrison died. Many will continue to perform the rock opera but no one will approach a remake of Ken's film.

The first view many of us Who fans ever have of Ken Russell is in the Kids Are Alright when his flamboyant TV interview precedes the Tommy segment:

"This countries' in a weird, feeble grotesque state and its time it got out of it and what could get it out of it is rock music. And I think Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle and Moon could rise this country out of its decadent , ambient state, more than Wilson and those crappy people could ever hope to achieve!"

When many of us saw the film as children we either were scared and could not deal or watched it on repeat over a dozen times (guess who?)  I'd seen many live action Disney films and masterpieces like "Willy Wonka" with wild clothes, giant mushrooms and flying cars but Tommy to me was so uncluttered in comparison. Each segment was a impeccably laid out, dazzling diorama box viewed through a lavish colour dipped lens. Not psychedelic, not the messy breathing paisley blanket yet not sparsely Pop Art either. Sure one could use all those adjectives and be accurate though none of them are technically true. So much of the film mocks the convention of the adult world; the false stances, the neediness, the poses to impress the neighbours. As a child I picked up on that at once. I also had no problem working out that Tommy was "shocked" into deaf/blind/mute submission.

In the coming days I'll show how Ken lays each song's scene out so methodically that the essence of the corrupt adults in the film simply seeps through.

Delius and The Artist as Survivalist

(Due to the world events of the past few days, I took a few days off to try to make sense of the senseless. I am thankful for the peace and sanctity that myself and my friends and family enjoy. If you live in London then Amy Winehouse is like family and we lost a daughter on Saturday. If you believed as I once did that Northern Europe had attained within it's borders the most peaceful society in the world then Norway is a paradise now lost. So much freedom was just shattered for so many and yet through art and the examination of what great art is, we begin to find solid ground amidst the unravelling of the human experience. A way to regroup away from the static via a journey through the artist's way. Back now to Ken Russell who is our guide.)

(Contains film plot spoilers)

If "Delius, Song of Summer" conveyed one important lesson to me it was that certain artistic geniuses are survivors and others are not. We think of all the great artists dying young but this simply is not the case. I think the single focus will to continue onward in the face of depression, self hatred, heart break, addiction, hounding and even being rejected by the public is perhaps preordained by nature. It is at least unexplained as much as being gifted is.

Delius was willing to live through the horrible and debilitating disease of Syphilis so that he could continue composing. His living spirit was bolstered by being demanding, rude and annoyingly honest. A German minder would haul his usually ungrateful ass upstairs to comfort and safety when he said so. He never faltered when it came to composing. He never faltered when being a supreme and wholly charming egotist too. I believe it was Delius's super human focus on his art that led Fenby to be such a harsh critic of his own work. Perhaps he felt he could never measure up to Delius or perhaps he simply felt his talent was put to better use as an amanuensis par excellence. This is a shame, as Fenby sadly destroyed many of his early compositions which would have undoubtedly found an audience today.

Jelka Rosen, Delius's wife proves my recently made point about gender differences in artists. Unlike Delius, Amy Winehouse was alone when she died. Yes, a minder was in the house but no one lay next to Amy in bed to perhaps realize she'd stopped breathing in time to save her life. Delius lived to be 72 and Amy 27. Male artists have women who will do anything for them and be there till the end, NEVER walking away or leaving for too long. Few female artists get that luxury as most men are too selfish and yes, too sensible to live in the shadow of a crazed genius.

But if art knows no frontiers than it also knows no pity and no vanity in death. We cry, we mourn, we pity but subconsciously we know they were in part geniuses because they were not afraid of death. All great artists have regret and fear-fear is an essential component to life and even lust and romance-but when faced with paying the highest price of all we want our artists as heroes or anti-heroes, never as martyrs. After a quick review I realized that for my most cherished icons of artistic genius, a long life has been won. Paul Robeson, Pete Townshend, Sophia Loren and Ken Russell.

Robeson faced down the destruction of his global fame, his art and then his personality via electroshock at the hands of four doctors all later proved to be CIA contractors. He lived the last decade of his life in Philadelphia, a melancholy and weakened man but a defiant and unapologetic one. Outliving all the henchmen of the red scare including J.Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy himself. As far as battles go that would kill the less hearty, Pete Townshend has competed only with himself to all manner of results. Looking astonishingly younger than his years despite suffering many of the same addictions Winehouse did (and recovering) one never knows what he'll do or say next. I do think he'd like to live forever if he could.

Sophia Loren continues to break new ground regarding how sexually enticing a woman can be as she ages in the eyes of media and a global patriarchy that still wants women terrified of ageing. As a very young child living in extreme poverty she living through the bombing of Italy and the Four Days of Naples uprising. War and death was a daily reality of her childhood not an imagined concept as it is for most of us.

Ken too has survived and at 84, looks to outlive everyone. He drinks champagne, enjoys his chocolate when his wife Lisi says so and seems to have magical genes. I think he's survived because as he's put it, he's always been a voyeur. Watching and not joining in is a lifesaver. Some make the back ground music for the soundtrack of the world while Russell has made the actual films that accompany the music. It sounds simplistic but hear me out. Ken said himself he never pushes his working class background, does not appear too political or to esoteric. His genius is to bring the world, it's follies and it's colours to life; the geniuses like Delius back from past, the human experience eyeball to eyeball with our own. I could see Ken being just as feisty today as Delius was, with a line of hopeful amanuenses stretching around the block were he making a new film.

One last key element of all truly great artists (survivalists or not) is mystery. Despite my devotion as a loyal uber fan there is a great deal I will never know about the lives of the artists I revere. They will remain people whose "coats have thousands of pockets". It goes without saying or explanation why this is so critical.

Amy Winehouse had that too.

"Baba wept while listening to Robeson"

It shows what I miss for years and years when I just see stars and names I think I understand. Books I pretend to have read or think I've read and people I think I know. People I missed meeting , missed knowing because of my own fear and laziness.

There they have been.

Together.

All along.

And I had no idea.


Baba gave me this gift on the 42nd remembrance of when he dropped the body. Our little son carries a small framed picture of Baba and usually leaves it in front of the Happy Birthday poster or he chews on the corners and hides it with his stacking toys. He knows him better than I do.


Less yelling and less talking now.




For seven days following his passing away, people from all religions, creeds and castes, from the East and the West, entered Baba’s samadhi (tomb) for a final glimpse of his body before his coffin was sealed. And from April to June 1969, the Great, last darshan that he had promised took place in Poona and at the samadhi. Thousands, including many young westerners who had just heard about him, came to sing in devotion or sit in silence. Though it was the end of Meher Baba’s physical presence on earth, these darshans signified the continuation of humanity’s yearning for God.





THAT FIRST DAY, many people came to see Meher Baba. Among them were Maggie Barton, Kitty and Herbert's older sister Martha May Cluse, Horace Fleming and a Japanese jujitsu teacher named Koizumi. Baba met them all individually and then stopped seeing visitors, deciding to have a private meeting with Herbert, Meredith, Kitty, Margaret and a few others. During this occasion, Paul Robeson records were played.
Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - Vol.4 p1410

2nd Oct. 1931
During this last night, Kitty, May, Delia, Margaret, Kim, Minta, Tod and Purdom stayed with Baba until one in the morning. They wept most of the time in Baba's presence. Baba looked so beautiful and they were so sorrowful at his departure. Addressing the mandali, their hearts sobbed, "You are taking our beloved Baba away! Don't be cruel! Don't take him with you. Let him stay here with us." After records of Paul Robeson's songs were played, Baba dismissed the group.
Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - Vol.4 p1453

18th Dec. 1931
On December 18th 1931, Baba, Chanji and Agha Ali boarded the English ship S. S. Narkunda for their voyage to India. Baba had taken the Paul Robeson records back with him and would have them played in his cabin. On December 23rd, it was observed that Baba wept while listening to Robeson sing Feed My Sheep – thinking of the new lovers he had left behind and their grief at his departure.
Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - Vol.4 p1510

May 1932, Baba would occasionally take walks on the deck outside for an hour in the morning and evening, and he played ping-pong with one of his companions. Every afternoon, he visited the movie theater on board. Otherwise, Baba remained in his cabin, either discussing future plans with the mandali, listening to Paul Robeson records, or having general or private meetings with Tod, Meredith and Margaret.
Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - Vol.5 p1614

Mid May 1932
They had brought the gramophone and played Hawaiian and Spanish records and the songs of Paul Robeson. Baba gave them wine to drink and told them that when a Master distributed wine, it had special significance.

They had another picnic on August 11th in Portofino. For his gopis, the times in Santa Margherita were happy and enjoyable days in their Beloved's company. It was a very intimate time. Every day, Baba would sit on the rocks by the seashore as the group sun-bathed and talked. Once, while they were discussing books, Baba smiled and gestured, "Learn to read me, for when you understand me, you will understand everything!"
Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - Vol.5 p1614

May 1937
Before leaving that afternoon, Baba called the Westerners into the living room and asked Tom Sharpley to play some phonograph records. After listening to a few, Baba indicated he would like to hear a certain song by Paul Robeson. Baba then instructed the group, "As you listen to the music, try to picture me hanging on the cross. Try to visualize it. Don't force it; just try to see it in your mind's eye."
Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - Vol.6 p2174

Numerous records were played on Baba's first day in London at Kitty Davy's family home on the 12th September 1931.
Paul Robeson songs played were ; "Steal Away, Steal Away to Jesus " , "Swing Low, Swing Chariot " , " My Lord, What a Morning", "Hear the Lambs A'Crying ".

You Tube Bodhisattvas and Player Hater City

It's going to be very hot and sunny soon and I'm ready. There is a pool nearby and a

friendly neighbor

who stops by and sometimes stays over. All of these pictures (including the one with the fangs) are with me and my real hair, just out of the salon (no extensions or Super Amanda wig). I'm gradually going back to darker hair as everyone seems to like the gingham bra look and darker hair means closer to nature. I rarely look this perfectly coiffured, which so sad that it's so expensive to look sleek but I'm saving for bigger things. I hate everyone who thinks you have to have straight hair to be sophisticated--I HATE YOU!

For my birthday on the 29th I'm filming a cake and pie fight for YouTube along with the videos for

Third of Never

Speaking of hate, You Tube has been very going well with one of my vids at almost 1 million hits in 2 months but I'm finding the situation of "haters" and "hating" to be very tiring and perplexing. If some crazy freak leaves a comment here or even on My Space (which almost never happens) it's simply a matter of delete but on YouTube I find the effect of someone's nastiness is a VERY different story.
There you see the actual person visually or at least what they enjoy watching on their own channel as tons of energy and attention is fed from all over the world into the public viewing of all kinds of moving images; that somehow makes them more "effective." On You Tube I tend to fight back when someone leaves a really nasty comment but even when I try to burn the hater I know in my heart it's been a total waste of time.
What I don't consider a waste of time is when I hit back at channels with hate speech videos or total idiocy like a toddler in India left with a live Cobra who keeps biting her on the head but even then what's the point? The true Bodhisattvas of YouTube just allow any and all comments any place on their channels and videos and don't give a shit or allow themselves to be tweaked; invariably they are always guys. The girls always moderate their comments...

I'm learning about and refining a lot of unflattering aspects of my own attitude not only towards the rogue viewer but my fellow (and more popular) You Tubers. A woman with bible quotes who calls herself Ysbella Brave and sings karaoke style sits at the top of the charts and seems to me to be a Prozac glutted pro-life vision, cooing very decent but fauxish jazz and Marilyn Monroe mimicry; she also has twenty times the subscribers I have, is always featured on the front page and was just signed to small Warner label so she's particularly weak. Her attempts at rock are beyond the realms of Osmond and her separate vlogging channel on which she espouses heartfelt advice on 'pain and suffering' in between references to her animals being spayed is like hearing "Tammy Faye: The Early Years" book on tape read by Carol Channing wigged out on Quaaludes.

Most subscribed musician, Mia Rose, is an American Idol finalist type with a Charles Dodgson approved silhouette and a syrupy "bah bah goo goo" delivery of both original and covers including "Looks Like We Made It" performed with her hunched semi-prepubescent frame planted "golly gee" style on a twin bed in some anonymous room in God knows where USA. She just 'signed' with a small independent label and a crafty sounding bloke appeared in her latest video talking about how "great her successes will be" while she nodded approvingly alongside him like Humbert Humbert's take on C3PO. At least she can play guitar...

So I guess I'm a hater now too, articulate but still a complete and utter player hater.
Help me repent bitches! HELP!!!

What would Baba say?