micah holmquist's irregular thoughts and links |
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Welcome to the musings and notes of a Cadillac, Michigan based writer named Micah Holmquist, who is bothered by his own sarcasm. Please send him email at micahth@chartermi.net. Holmquist's full archives are listed here.
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Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution) Aljazeera.Net English Blogs that for one reason or another Holmquist would like to read on at least something of a regular basis (always in development) Thivai Abhor |
Saturday, July 26, 2003
Power outages Four years ago this summer I was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was depressed to the point of being suicidal. To deal with the situation I would often listen to the David S. Ware Quartet’s May 2 and 3, 1996 recording Godspelized, particularly the title track. The tempo laid down by bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp combined with the expressive drumming of Susie Ibarra provided the perfect background for saxist David S. Ware to shriek like Ayler on Sunday morning and in the process soak up my pain for a little while. One early Thursday evening, July 8, I had just begun “Godspelized” when the power in my apartment went out. The temperature outside was in the 80s and it was humid. To deal with the heat I went to see Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam (1999). I had seen the film the previous Saturday and been moderately impressed –I thought it was Lee’s best work since Do the Right Thing (1999), a position it now holds in my mind even though I thought 25th Hour (2002) was a superior picture for a while- but didn’t figure I’d see it again on the big screen, if ever. But when the power went out I quickly knew I should go and see it again, in part because the fictional story of life in New York City during the summer of 1977 mentioned the electrical outages that the city faced but also because I needed the air conditioning of a theater and it would feel good to look at people who were at least as fucked up as me, even if their pathos and mine were different. Seeing it again was one of the smarter things I ever did for exactly reasons I did it. The power was back on when I returned to my apartment. *** Two years ago in May I saw Ibarra perform a solo set at the HotHouse in downtown Chicago. Afterwards I told her how much Godspelized had meant to me. Ibarra, who by the time was long of the “Parker Axis,” hugged me in response. *** Two, at a little before two p.m., the power went out again. I had been listening to Marzette Watts’ self-titled ESP Disk, which presents the results of a December 8, 1966 session featuring vibist Karl Berger, bassists Juney Booth and Henry Grimes, drummer J.C. Moses, guitarist Sonny Sharrock, reedist Byard Lancaster, trombonist Clifford Thornton and Watts bass clarinet and tenor and soprano sax performing primarily improvised music which seems like a precursor to the work of leaders like Peter Brotzmann in terms of its antagonism. When the power went out I briefly felt emptiness but pursued other activities, primarily reading. Roughly five and a half hours later, the power returned. |