Sun Ra

Wednesday May 22^nd, 2013 – Fox Lake, IL

   Today would have been the 99^th birthday of one Herman Poole Blount – aka “Sun Ra”. He was born in Birmingham, AL but claimed to be from the “Angel Race” – not of this planet. That alone makes him one of my all time favorite entertainers, but his showmanship is what I admire most.

   He was the leader of a huge band that he called his ‘arkestra’, and the name of it changed about as frequently as his musical directions. There was the ‘Blue Universe Arkestra’, the ‘Heliocentric Space Arkestra’, the ‘Solar Myth Arkestra’ and many many more. He was an eccentric fellow.

   There’s good weird and bad, and he was very good. By all accounts, he and his band were drug free and upstanding members of the community wherever they happened to be living at any time. They were based for years in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, where Sun Ra died in 1993.

   I never got a chance to see him live, but I’ve seen some very interesting video that puts me in a fun mood every time I see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7_JUShK4n8&feature=related is one link. There’s also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMMWNwVhq5k&feature=related

   Sun Ra was a true original, and those are difficult to find. George Clinton borrowed a little bit from him and also set up shop in ‘outer space’. The whole ‘Mothership Connection’ concept and costume came out of Sun Ra’s shadow and I freely admit that’s where I got The King of Uranus.

   I remember the first time I saw him on TV when I was a kid. I didn’t know what I was seeing, but it captured my undivided attention as I watched it with my grandparents. Gramps looked like he got it, but my German grandma wanted to take a rolling pin to either the TV, Gramps or both.

   Grandma was not very open to anything new, different or artistic. If it wasn’t a Lawrence Welk ditty or a polka, she didn’t want it within five miles of her. Seeing Sun Ra and his ‘arkestra’ sent her farther into outer space than Sun claimed to be from. The greatest ones are loved and hated.

   I loved the fact that he incorporated outer space themes into his music, and that made me want to know more about him as I got older. He was a remarkable personality to say the least, and his claim of being taken by aliens to the planet Saturn made me like him more. He made that claim a long time before UFO abduction stories were popular, and he stuck by that story his entire life.

   I don’t know if he was from Saturn or not, but I do know he was an underappreciated artist and too eclectic for the masses. He was a recording machine, and it is said he’s the the 20^th Century’s most prolific musical artist with over 100 full length albums. Wow! That alone is one major feat.

   It’s also notable that he’s a ‘22’. According to numerology, people born on the 11^th and 22^nd of a month are allegedly the strongest personalities and most influential people. Sun Ra was born on a 22^nd, as was George Clinton (7/22). Rodney Dangerfield was too. (11/22) There are all kinds of entertainers, politicians and celebrities born on 11s and 22s so there may be some truth to that.

   I’m not a ‘22’ or an ‘11’ unfortunately. I’m a ‘pi’ (3/14). I don’t know if any of it means a dang thing, but I do know I am a fan of Sun Ra and not nearly enough people know who he was to pay tribute to a unique performer who had the guts to follow his creative vision for decades. That’s at the top of my list for people I admire most, and he’s up there with the very best. He spent his life entertaining this planet – whether he was born here or not. What better way to invest one’s time?

Sun Ra

The King of Jupiter?

 

One Cosmic Cat

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Does Fun Count?

Sunday October 28^th, 2012 – Burlington, WI/Kenosha, WI

   Does it matter in the big scheme of life that I am having an absolute blast and doing practically all the things I really enjoy? Unfortunately not in the least – but it sure does to me. I might not be rich or famous on a national or worldwide scale, but I’m squeaking by and I’m known enough to be able to keep doing the things I want to do. It might not be perfect, but I am living my dreams.

I really don’t think it would take all that much to put me into a very good place that would last the rest of my life. My needs and wants are laughingly few, and I’m old enough now ‘the rest of my life’ isn’t all that intimidating. If I had to put away money to live comfortably ‘for the rest of my life’ it wouldn’t put a dent in what most rappers probably spend on jewelry and dental gold.

A modest living arrangement that meets my simple needs and a reliable car are pretty much all I’d want, and that’s all I want now. I’ve never had extravagant tastes, and if I ever do hit that big money pay dirt windfall I’ve always been waiting for I’d probably end up giving most of it away.

I truly think that would be much more fun than spending it on myself. I’d love to be able to get up every morning and look for ways to make people’s lives better. I try to do that now, but it can get a little distracting having to constantly worry about if I’ll have enough to pay bills this week.

Today I didn’t worry about anything other than having fun doing what I enjoy. I took a ride up to the Sci Fi Café in Burlington, WI to attend the final day of the Burlington Vortex Conference, and it was worth my trip and then some. I got to take in some fascinating speakers including Don Schmitt who has been a friend for years. He’s an authority on the Roswell UFO crash from 1947.

Don is living his dream, and his book ‘Witness to Roswell’ is one of my favorites. There was a movie made based on it and another one is close to being finalized for production in 2013 which is very exciting. I always love hearing Don speak, and it’s even more fun knowing he’s a friend.

The final speaker of the weekend was a fascinating lady named Bonnie Meyer. She blew us all away with her presentation, and had some video clips of people’s UFO encounters. Bonnie is one of the most credible people I could imagine, and that’s what makes her story even more amazing.

She claims to have been visited by aliens thirty years ago, and they still come to see her once in a while. I know it sounds crazy and I can’t prove it’s real, but she sure does tell her story without flinching. She was one of the best guests we’ve ever had on the air, and she was even better live.

I’ve got her two books ‘Alien Contact’ and ‘Unholy Alliance’, and I recommend you check the both of them out. You don’t have to believe, but I guarantee it will get your brain spinning. I love everything about topics like this, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It’s outstanding entertainment.

That carried over to The Mothership Connection radio show on AM 1050 WLIP.  We had been talking about doing a Ouija board demonstration for years, and tonight was the night. It made for a riveting radio bit, and all I could think of was how much fun I’m having with all I’ve got going.