something about the weather

Have just spent 20 minutes searching in vein (in vain? Vainly? Veinly? Futily. Without purpose. To no end) for the new Ray Charles Ives CD, Clandestine Pedestrian as I thought I'd listen to it while I wrote about their CD release party last night at High Mayhem. Where is it? Why can't I find anything? Well, the CD is great and so is the band. Duo? Group? I don't know. I don't even know how to describe them with anything resembling accuracy. It's difficult for me to describe music when it doesn't remind of other music. I guess this is why most reviews of anything are usually comparison reviews. You know, "If Jane Austen lived in New York in 1980 she'd be..." kind of thing. I asked Peter this morning how he'd describe rci and he said, "kind of happy jam bandy trip hop." Anyway, it is, I guess you could say, experimental and jazzy and what ambiant music might be if ambiant music were danceable. So they had a good crowd at High Mayhem and the weather held out (Dan, Jonanna and I were joking on our way out that it always seems to rain when there is a High Mayhem event and I was thinking to myself that it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Max Friedenberg actually controls the weather in Santa Fe). Somehow I managed to drink too much even though all I had were 1 1/2 drinks in the course of six hours. Apparently drinking less now means I can't drink anything. Part of it, I think, was that I had lifted weights for an hour 1/2, walked in the day with Marika from Chocolate Maven to Azulito Boutique and back in the blistering heat and then hiked with Dan at Aspen Vista for another 1 1/2 or so (that's the picture above. It's so beautiful up there. I wish I was an aspen. Also wish I could have videotaped Dan kneeling in the water by the Tesuque switchback asking me if he should try to swim through the storm drain), so it's possible I was exhausted and dehyrdated but unaware. This was made possible because Dan, after complaining about everyone getting tired all the time lately, had glommed onto my remark that perhaps we should drink some Red Bull, which we did. Red Bull will probably end up being illegal at some point, IMO, because it really does create the most ridiculously excessive exuberant energy burst. Unfortunately, in my case, this exuberant energy usually equals running of mouth and even-greater-inability to keep weird thoughts to self. As a result, if I'm not mistaken, I believe at some point during the night I told Brian from Ray Charles Ives that he reminded me of my favorite stuffed rabbit from when I was a kid. Sigh. Am hoping I actually just thought this and didn't say it, but my hopes are not high. At any rate, the CD is awesome and so are Brian and Paul, the band members who, in addition to being talented and very unique performers, are supremely nice people. Max has done this very impressive job of creating something totally unique for Santa Fe (and he's created it in his house which is sort an amazing act of selflessness I think) and the eclectic, interesting crowd he gathers at his events always gives me that nice cheerful boost of remembering all the creative people this town hosts. It's especially good to keep this mind when the weeks fill up with political hoohas and whatnots and I start thinking Santa Fe is a town mired in zoning issues. Although zoning issues are important and I've always felt a good project would be to require every single person in Santa Fe to read Home From Nowhere by James Kunstler but that's another story (I am not going to sit here on a Sunday and write about zoning. It's just too much).
I am going to get back to Best of Santa Fe now. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's dim, but I can see it. At least it's air conditioned in here and I think, if I'm not mistaken, I just heard some thunder. Bring it.