Taking it to the Next Level?

So, the guy that heads up my theatre group is interested in finally breaking off from the community education classes through which the plays have been produced (which has allowed us practice and performance time-albeit limited-on a stage). He would continue to run classes through that venue, but would form an independent theatre company-The Camden Civic Theatre. He asked me and a couple of others if we would be interested in launching into this, and I'm torn.

It would be awesome to explore this artistic venue for awhile; but, as I remember the pressure & annoyance of having to bring a "business edge" into trying to make it in a band, I'm not so sure I'm fired up for a duplication of that experience. Promoting, grant-writing, call-making, etc. Ugh.

The upside, however, is a very wide-open artistic space in which to explore this craft and the excitement that comes with performing live & the possibility of "catching a break."

The practices would be more & longer on plays that we perform. On one hand, I dropped out of college because I wasn't getting enough time with my family. On the other hand, I dropped out of college because I didn't have enough time for personal projects...

Other X-factors:
Am I living here 7 months from now? I guess I'd better tell him about the possiblity of Zephyr before he counts on me too much, long-term.
How does this affect my tentative plans to take a class or two at "Brave New Workshop?"
How does this affect my recording schedule?

Much to mull over. Anyway, don't know if I mentioned it, but our current play we are getting ready is "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. You may remember it as a short story from an intermediate school reader, but it's a real dark show. So much so that we're planning on a Q&A with the audience afterwords to cool those who may get a little disturbed by the ending. Hopefuly kids won't be in attendance.

http://home.mn.rr.com/jjredman/

Minnesota Zephyr

Another Zephyr weekend. We went down on Friday morning to check out a K-8 Montessori charter school in Winona (the first of its kind in the nation), and it was wonderful. We then hung out for the day in town, doing a little more exploring and trying to get a little more feel of what, according to residents of the coop, is the "lifeblood" of everyone in the rural communities of the area. An amazing little town, Winona, for being only 27,000 people big-but I may have documented that already.

We spent Friday night through Sunday morning at Zephyr, and the our mood, for the majority of the time, was actually just a little down from where it had been for our last couple visits. We had a breakfast with some residents in which we discussed some of the difficulties in obtaining house loans for building houses without "property" or deeds, and then everyone had their various daily responsibilities to which they needed to attend. It was spitting rain & pretty dreary.

We still went for a hike, having not circumnavigated the large south bluff yet, but still weren't able to make it all the way around. We came across a hunter at the extreme far southern end of the property, up on a bluff top. Hunting would be one of the weird things to get used to at Zephyr. It is very common down there, as it is in the midst of a large state forest; and hunters abound in the properties-both wooded and farmed-surrounding the coop's land. I've never been as supportive of hunters, from an ecological sense, as I currently am. That is, if they are conservation-minded and follow regulations and so on. I do fear that the majority (and I really do mean the majority) of hunters that are out there are there for all the wrong reasons, and do not care the least bit about conservation, ecology, or even simple human courtesy. This guy was technically legal, with his tree stand being set up just on the other side of the property line; but even I know enough to know that's really bad form. Especially considering the bluff top-all Zephyr property-is a big open field. Open sight lines. In other words, he intends to shoot the deer on Zephyr then run over & get them. And the path we were on would have taken us right by his feet. Lucy was snoozing in the backback and we just didn't even want to deal with the hassle of a confrontation (especially since it's not even our land that we're dealing with-yet), but we left the hill feeling more sullen than ever. Later we confessed that we were both sort of gearing up for the "what are we doing, anyway" conversion we would have in the car on the way back in the morning.

Anyway, morning came around and we headed over to drop off some orange vests at the house of this woman, who happened to be entertaining a couple of friends that had dropped in from Iowa (she's originally from Iowa City). They invited us in for a pancake breakfast, and we couldn't refuse. It was a sunny morning-with sun hitting the bluffs in the most stunning and beautiful way-clouds rolling by just above the hilltops, and there was an ease and hospitality in the air. Pancakes were big & awesome; coffee was steamin', and syrup was real maple. Lucy (who is totally at ease down there) just started running around doing her own thing while we all talked after eating-great conversation. Went from blood sausage to the ills of Wal-Mart (kind of a big issue in Winona, where they're a fairly recent presence). As things were wrapping up, I was like, "wait a minute-what's that music?" and I realized it was "Concerning Hobbits." Our host's 10-year old son had the Fellowship of the Ring CD in the stereo while he was making his way through a first reading of "The Hobbit." As it turns out, he & his mom are big fans. We talked just a little LOR (mainly books vs. movie-the standard conversation), then he showed us how he has the sheet music and started playing some on the piano. I ended up getting some video of him playing that Shire song while I panned the camera around the room and out the windows to the landscape in the distance. I'll try to set up a link or something so you guys can check it out.

Anyway, we left with an "anything is possible" attitude, and that's maybe where I am as the trudge & bludge of a workweek in the cities is upon me once again.

Wellstone! & Clint!

Monday night, Sharon & I watched a documentary on the life of Paul Wellstone, a two-term Minnesota Democratic/Populist senator until his death in 2002. Any words I could try to come up with for the man would fall far short. I will simply say that he may have been the most conscienable, genuine, and passionate congressperson in our nation's history. If anyone ever has the opportunity to learn more about him, I urge you to do so. I would even be happy to find a way to get you the VCR tape on which we had just recorded the PBS special. Man, the crash of the plane he was on may not have been orchestrated by the Bush regime, but if you consider what we know about this administration's tendency to use whatever means to achieve its ends, combined with the timing (shortly before Wellstone's re-election bid vs. a hand-picked Bush lapdog; also very shortly before our Iraq invasion); well, I don't think there's a person left of center in this state that hasn't considered it as a possibility. One other possibility is that we really ARE heading for the rapture and that everything that has happened, politically, in the past 6 years is God's way of telling us: "Don't bother. I WANT you all to be fucked."

A couple days before viewing the non-violence preaching Wellstone, I indulged myself with a viewing of the violence promoting Clint Eastwood movie, "The Eiger Sanction." For some reason, I had some totally way-off base idea about this movie. Somewhere along the line, years ago, I had gotten this idea it was considered one of the all-time great suspense thriller movies, along the lines of Femme Fatale, The French Connection, etc. And while the movie did offer some thrilling mountainside action sequences, it was for the most part a campy, rompous, over-the-top affair with crazy numbers of one-dimensional characters, funky 70s settings (complete with a desert training run in jeans & long-sleeve shirt), and enough one-liners (some OK, some putrid) to fill 20 movies. It was very much like a Roger Moore James Bond-which isn't always terrible, as long as you're not filling your DVD shelves with it. So, if you guys are looking for a movie to see that is an enjoyable way to pass time and that your wife won't mind missing, this may be the ticket.

I Hope I've Not Just Taken a First Step into a Bigger World

I just posted a "reply" on a Yahoo! message board. Usually so full of vitrol & hate & perjoratives I cannot even stand to read the subject lines, I have a policy of not ever, ever opening one that is directly political. Too much danger of getting sucked in and actually caring about the words of someone who may or may not even mean what they say, and is using, perhaps, the most cowardly forum ever known to humankind in which to have a "voice."

That said, I took my first post pretty seriously. hylton44 is pretty much my thing, so if I was ever "Googled" or researched in a smear campaign, it probably wouldn't be too hard to put all the pieces together. The subject was actually one of WalMart vs. the other "big boxes" in consumer electronics for the upcoming holiday season. Very, very interesting to you-I'm sure. But it was an article for which I had both a professional and person (personal being my hatred of WalMart). I checked the message board since there were only 20 posts, and I wanted to see what the general vibe of the discussion was. Pleasantly genial and, for the most part, WalMart haters. The only two "dissidents" were two people that were using the ol' "I go where I get the best deal." One guy, in two separate posts, made two patently false statements (one, about Best Buy and Circuit City employees getting commission and both of them marking up products 30%-40%) that, weird to say, compelled me to answer and refute (genially, also, I hope).

I did add this tidbit at the end, however; which I like so much I may recall for future use...

For those really interested in saving that extra 1%, consider the extra money you contribute to subsidize public health assistance for their 50,000 some-odd workers in your state.

Inexplicable Motivation

I've been really motivated to get down into the studio & record for the past week or so. It's great while it lasts, but motivation to do this (or running, or anything else) is a bit confounding in general. Is it just a feeling of "OK, I've had enough of this lollygagging" or what?

Anyway, I've been down there, and I am currently well on my way for the 4th song from the upcoming "The Secret of HIM."

song #1: 100% done, except for final mix
song #2: 95% done
song #3: 80% done. Possibly more done, but I have some hard decisions & possible re-work on some vocals
song #4: 50% done. Everything except some original drum pattern programming has been done in the past three days, so I'm cutting a pretty good pace.

So far, so good. I'm really excited about the direction of the new album. I promise the "most Dan-like" collection of music you will have ever heard. Rock, and maybe a little "poppier" & catchier than Camden Garden. Explore as I might & be inspired by different genres as I might be, rock is really rooted deep in my soul. When I write songs, they simply go in the direction of progressive/alternative rock, and I'm not sure I'll ever do much sustained work (original, anyway) in another style of music. Hopefully, though, the influences of these other styles are in there and will shine through in their own way.

You Went WHERE????

Wisconsin. It was Sharon's & my first night away from Lucy; a belated anniversary celebration. We wanted a spot within an hour or two, and a way to enjoy fall colors,. We ended up deciding to head to Hudson, Wisconsin (right across the St. Croix River, about 40 minutes from home), and had ourselves a nice little time. Hudson was a quaint little river town, but (like all quaint communities within arm's reach of Twin Cities commuters) is struggling with the influx of new disgusting subdivisions and expansive, culturally-bankrupt homes. The heart of the city, though, includes a beautiful riverfront and business district, where we stopped first.

We had sandwiches & coffee at a coffee shop. Coffee shops are a part of most of our visits to a new town. The vibe in such places is pretty consistent throughout the places we travel, and this was no different. There was a display of "protest art" painted by Hudson High Schoolers. Some were quite good, and some were quite funny. There was one that reminded me of 3rd prize in the Springfield Art Competition in the "Marge Painting" Simpson's episode; the one where there was a smokestack sending pollution into the air & a unicorn with tears in its eyes and a thought balloon with the word, "Why?" It had two guys shaking hands to conclude the purchase of an SUV with a starving African child superimposed in parking lot next to them. Again-kind of funny in it's insubtledy. Anyway, nice lunch.

Next we headed off for the main activity of the day, which was a fall color bike tour, doing a loop that took us off into the country-amazing rolling hills of the "driftless region" there-down pretty much to River Falls and back on byways and country roads. Wonderful day of biking. 60-70 degrees & sunny & fall colors were definitely at their peak.

We also had about the best meal at a restaurant that night that I can ever recall. Not much else to say about that.

Rumination: T.V. Land is my addiction on vacation. Cable-less at home, it's a total fixation for me when traveling (though, not something I've been able to indulge much since Lucy's been around). My entire understanding of SportsCenter, for instance, is based on what I've experienced on vacations, but T.V. Land, is where I always end up. Saw an episode of Three's Company Saturday night that involved the cast getting into a misunderstanding of some sort.

The Hunting of the President and Other Modern History

As I was either not born or not yet following the intricacies of certain events from recent history closely at the time, my understanding of what transpired is not very clear. And, since the events occurred in the past couple of generations, history has not yet sorted out the definitive account. In other words, it's almost impossible to find a truly objective source for the facts. A little farther back was that weird episode in which Edward Kennedy supposedly drove drunk into a pond and left his female passenger to die while he went and had drinks at a bar. At least, that's how my mom tells it. Something makes me think it is possible that there are some parts of the story that are not being made evident in that version...

Anyway, another one that is more recent, and perhaps far more relevant to the workings of our country is the whole Kenneth Starr-Bill Clinton thing. At the time, I think my assumption was that he was brought in to investigate the whole Monica Lewinski thing. Later, I realized that he was brought in to replace an investigator who had previously found the Clintons not guilty of any crime in the Whitewater case (which I also did not really understand at all); and that Starr spent $50,000,000 over four years poking around further in Whitewater, not uncovering anything illegal. But then, by chance, he discovered the whole Monica Lewinski thing and he started pursuing it, under the guise of it being perhaps linked to Whitewater. What I understand (based on my "liberal" sources, anyway) is that there was never any evidence that Whitewater & Lewinski were linked in any way, but that Starr (who had, incidentally, contributed to Republican political campaigns in the past and had been offered a post to be the Dean of a Law School owned by a billionare Republican operative-this is what I learned just last night-see below) knew that would be his only opportunity to put Clinton in a position to commit perjury.

Anyway, I have had an interest in reading "The Hunting of the President" by Salon writer Joe Conason (for whom I have a great deal of respect), but opted instead to borrow the documentary from my local library. Crappy documentary! I hope the book is better, but I did feel like the documentary was so spottily sourced, in places, and blatantly sensational, I really found it disheartening. My assumption and belief is that, for the most part, progressives in this country have reality and truth on their side. Sensationalism and spotty sources should be left to political camps that having nothing else to go on.

So-what I'm left with...I can pay attention to facts in the here and now. But what can a man do to get an accurrate version of history, save spending countless hours scanning microfiche of 1996 New York Times articles?

Thumbsucker, The Continuing Cultural Elitification, and Uptown Overrated???

We had a long-overdue and much needed opportunity to have a few hours away from Lucy Saturday night. Grandpa Ken came over and Sharon & I headed off to catch a movie at the Uptown Theater. While the main draw to that area are the films you can't see anywhere else in town, there's also this other sort of cultural draw there. Or at least, there has been. I think it's some combination of memories I have of the area (I was there a lot more often in my early 20s) and some sort of expectation I have in leaving my neighborhood (& neighbors) behind for awhile and being in an area where I have some vague notion of feeling more at home. The reality is that every time we go down there, we are reminded of the tension between the Uptown purists, and the various weekenders, interlopers, and posers that outnumber them greatly and are drawn more by the idea that "something's happening" than anything else. The fact that a Famous Dave's now anchors Calhoun Village tells you everything you need to know.

And when we do go down there, we have always had this idea that there's going to be eateries suitable for us on every corner and in between. But it's just not the case. Most of the restaurants now are (like F.D.'s) chain crap, or else way too trendy and "chic" (& expensive) for our tastes. So, like this last weekend, we got there about 45 minutes before the show and then wandered around not finding anything that would be modest enough, quick enough, or tasty. Finally, with 20 minutes to go, we swung into a Panera's. Sharon got a half portabello to go and I got a PB&J with milk. It took them an unbelievable amount of time to make the order, and then we ended up chowing down everything, en-route to the theater, with about a minute to go before the movie started. As I gazed about at the various groups of frat kids, divas, and 20-something socialites on the way, it struck me as suddenly quite hilarious how (in this place where I was presumably "at home") how out of place I really was in my wind-pants and tee shirt, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at 7 pm at the corner of Lake & Hennepin. But I guess that kind of diversity is what Uptown is historically all about, right? Anyway, next time we eat somewhere else in town then drive straight to the theater.

Anyway, we saw the movie "Thumbsucker," about a boy who is 17 years old and has an issue of sucking his thumb. While the movie definitely has a comedic tone to it, it was faced with the challenge of not letting the premise send it into the realm of ridiculous. It was a character film and you had to get engaged with the people in it; not dismiss them. It took me awhile to warm up to what was happening, but I ended up thinking it was really, really good. Some great performances and characters. Keanu Reaves & Vince Vaughan actually found their way into this little indie film (neither in particularly big roles); probably good career & personal moves for both of them.

Zephyr Update

As I look back over my general thoughts on moving in the past few months, I think I can see that the desire I feel to make a change from my current living situation has made any given option, at any given time, seem particularly appealing; and has, to a great extent, led to my wavering and indecisiveness. Every time I think of those pockets Minneapolis in which we could be happy (Linden Hills, Bryn Mawr-provided we could ever actually afford houses in those areas), or those elements about living in the city that I like (progressiveness, diversity, arts, abundance of coffee shops, etc.), the pendulum has always swung back in the direction of staying in Minneapolis. But what I'm really trying to internalize is that it's not like it's a choice between black and white/good and bad. The reality is that we could be happy in any one of a number of different directions we choose to take our lives-so theoretically, our choice is between good or better. Another way to look at it is that we're giving up things, either way we go. The issue really becomes about quality of life. So what are those qualities which most make up my quality of life?

In many ways-the way in which the connectedness to nature and the community in which we would live-Zephyr would be very conducive to the type of self-exploration, indulgement in personal pursuits (reading, writing, music) of which I am fond. I certainly indulge in them now-but I always feel that there is a tension between my attempts to gain a peaceful state of mind and the constant buzz & hectic nature of living in the city. Certainly, there are some places better than others here in Minneapolis, and perhaps I'm not in the best spot I could be now. But people and density is pretty much a constant. Great park system notwithstanding, you gotta really travel to get out of the city.

Health-a more recent, but rapidly ascending priority. I visit I just had (20 minutes ago) with my doctor more or less affirmed my suspicion that it is the smog and the particulates in the city air that has been slowly eroding my respiratory system over the past 12 years-especially considering my tendency to embark upon distance runs from time to time. The prospect of Lucy growing up as an athsmatic child makes an unbelievable case for moving out of the city. There may be a time in the future "whole cost" issues carry more weight in our political world, consumption & waste subside a bit, and where the true welfare of individuals takes precedence over the ability of companies to make profit, but until then our big cities are just killing us. Literally.

Living in my current house/current neighborhood is not an option. I've been saying that for awhile and-interesting-I've always been sort of a karmic person. Not sure I could articulate what the "rules" are in this worldview of mine, but it's kind of an "I know it when I see it," and I've felt like this whole last month & a half, with the storm damage and the family-wide sicknesses is that we are just living in a house that is, and will continue to be, bad karma until we leave it. So, the reality of staying in the cities: we move to a better house/neighborhood. This will either require Sharon to work full time, or me to get a raise and continue to climb the corporate ladder at Big Buy. And, honestly, I'd like to think the latter is not an option. At least, in the long-term. But there's simply no means by which I could currently make a lateral move and be paid in the realm where I currently am. Yet our expenses continue to rise, year by year. The move to Zephyr could be considered risky, though when I consider investing in a house that costs $220,000 or some insane amount like that (a little below the median in the Twin Cities)-I think the idea of Sharon & I having to maintain a combination of jobs that allow us to make payments on that mortgage to be a pretty damned risky one.

Back to karma. As I've said, the older I get, the more obvious it is that "crowds of my sort are smaller, and more scattered." I go from a neighborhood where I don't fit in, to a job where I don't fit in, to a number of public places where I don't fit in. Outside the walls of my house and a couple of neighborhood pockets (coffee shop, theater), I don't find very much fellowship. And THAT is killing me, to a point. Zephyr is my crowd. And, to a lesser extent, so is Winona (a 20,000 town with a co-op). The fact that I've talked about living in the country for years and that this opportunity is there. How perfect & idyllic the land, there. The fact that, among the 17 adults currently there, three are returned Peace Corps Volunteers (like Sharon). The fact that Sharon has actually talked about a desire to work on an organic farm, and there is one at Zephyr. Cory said it well: "It sounds like the Shire." I say it's like the Shire mixed with Rivendell. Good lord, if God has given me the last month to punish Sharon & me for being saps (as I have suggested), then surely he is placing this feast before us and pushing our chairs up to the table while whispering "eat...eat..."

Goodbye September, I Hardly Knew Thee

Well, my first September not as a college student in a few years is just about gone-just like a blur. Having been sick since about the first day in and without power for the last week and a half, I've not really been in a position to enjoy it. I did manage to make my way all the way through a book on explorers of the Mississippi (one that I'd checked out for my Pike deal).

Some very, very interesting stuff. Some takeaways in brief: as we suspected, the Spanish were genocidal assholes, and the French were by far the best in terms of their relations with the Indians. Father Louis Hennepin was a fraud and a blowhard, and if anyone ever has the opportunity to read an account (a real one-give Wikipedia a rest) of an Italian by the name of Beltrami (for whom a Red River county is named), do so. He is a funny, crazy, man-out-of-time.

Anyway-today was the first day with power, and I finally had the opportunity to get my car out from the garage and make a trip into my clinic. Bronchitis AND sinus infection. Good Lord! I feel like Theoden when he's getting started down by 10,000 Uruk-Hai and THEN it starts to rain. I'm on antibiotics, so I should see a turnaround soon, but good golly what a sucky fall this has been so far.

On a side note, Lucy knows I get canker sores sometimes, so when she knew I was hurting from my sinuses, it was only natural for her to ask if I had-Sinusaurs! (sinus sores) Based on my reaction, she was saying "sinusaurs" for the rest of the day, trying to get people to laugh.

In the Midst of Tragedy, New Life

Albeit my own, minor, personal "tragedy" of the past week. Just wanted to mention something about Riley Connell Gallagher.

For those that don't know the saga of Shawn & Helen, they have (for a multitude of reasons) been unable to conceive. Through years (and possibly tens of thousands of dollars), these two potentially amazing parents have had to suffer the ordeals of surgeries, efforts at invetro-fertilization, and seemingly countless other failed procedures before finally electing to go the adoption route. The ordeal was cruelly ironic in that Helen's career is based upon counseling unfit mothers, but Helen & her admirable devotion to her various callings could easily be a topic for another post.

Anyway, in the first break they have gotten in the whole ordeal (and a major break it was), a child became available to them almost immediately. I never realized that the whole adoption wait wasn't a list so much as having an expectant mother choose the prospective parents. But so it is; and, though her sister, Helen got hooked up with this 7-8 month pregnant woman. Not much time to get ready, but many details were worked out and Shawn & Helen headed out to nowhere else but Terre Haute (get that baby outta there!!!) to be present for the birth and work out final details.

The birth was about a week ago, so of course it's been really tough for us to make much contact; though Sharon had a really good talk with Helen last night. They've been staying alternately with Helen's sister who lives there (in a small house with six kids), and out of a suitcase in a hotel. Not exactly the post-3 or 4 bridal showers-, getting the nursery ready for 9 months-situation that many of our peers have the advantage of; but then again, Helen isn't having to care for a newborn after having just lost 800 ml of blood and having not slept for 40 hours.

Anyway, when they make it back to the Twin Cities, there will be a major shopping spree in the Hylton attic and Lucy will have an exciting meeting with her newest "cousin." We are so happy for the Gallaghers we could just about backflip.

Day 8

Without electricy. Quite a challenge for a blogger and recording artist with 3 email accounts and a tendency to stay up till after midnight.

We've been hanging in there, but I'd like to cock-punch about 50 people at Xcel Energy, from the original guy that told us last Friday there was no damage to our incoming lines (thus preventing us from getting it repaired before the crew made it out on the "final" day of their repairs), to the people responsible for putting North Minneapolis at the end of the list of repairs (and, for media and P.R. purposes, on no list whatsoever), to the phone reps that told us we'd have a crew out yesterday.

The Dangers of Being Technology "Early Adopters"

Well, we're in the midst of the "I-Pod" craze. I thought I'd get a step ahead of everyone else and get a "Bi-Pod." Things were going great until it raised itself up on its skinny legs and ran off.

Ethical Zingers and Brain Stingers Vol. 1

I'm trying to answer these specifically for myself-and I can't, totally. But feel free to broaden out the philosophy in any responses.

1. Why do I not attend an exclusive John Mellencamp performance being staged for my company's corporate employees right outside the window of my office? Why was there never a doubt in my mind that I would not go? And I even kind of like John Mellencamp. I sort of am on the cusp of the answer to this one, but I'm not sure I could articulate it very well.

2. Why would embezzeling funds or ripping off a cash drawer (even for a paltry amount, like 50 cents) seem wrong, wrong, wrong, yet taking silverware home from the cafeteria or extra office paper is totally fine? This is actually the much tougher one to answer.

Mississippi Heritage Festival: The Much-Awaited Follow UP Post

It was pretty cool-if sitting on haybales and watching re-enactors tell tales about the Mississippi River's History is cool. With the Hylton household being pretty much out of action last week, it was really difficult for me to spend time working on my riff. So difficult, in fact, that I never had the chance to do a successful runthrough for timing (supposed to be right around 15 minutes) prior to coming on. But it worked about as well as I could have hoped. The Native American speaker finished and I emerged from the trees by the riverbank (wearing my period costume I was borrowing from Historic Murphy's Landing).

The set was similarly cool-we had a firepit going and a haybale backdrop throughout the succession of storytellers, which went from dusk to dark. For the most part, I made Zebulon Pike out to be a nincompoop, and it raised an ethical question with me. Most characters in history can be viewed in many different ways, depending upon your interpretation of events. Even among the histories I read, there were those who thought he was an ass, and an incompetent one at that; and those who thought he was a great explorer. I personally believe he had almost superhuman endurance, was a great and loyal soldier, a good spy, a questionable explorer (if you could consider him an explorer at all), and an ass. I played up the questionable explorer and ass parts, as they made good theater, but it did get me wondering:

who was I to paint the audience's view of the man based upon my interpretation (or worse, based upon what I thought would help the performance)?

A question better left, perhaps, to the next generation of historians.

The Most Challenging Role of My Career?

Tomorrow, I will be performing for the second time since my re-entry into the field of acting. Camden Civic Theatre was brought in by Three Rivers Park District and Lind-Bohanon neighborhood to have storytellers portray historical Mississippi River figures during a Heritage Festival tomorrow:

http://www.geocities.com/hylton44/heritagedays.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/hylton44/HeritageStorytelling.doc

I will be assuming the role of Zebulon Montgomery Pike. I will emerge from the trees and speak to an audience (hopefully) gathered around a fire about my exploits in securing the land upon which now stands Fort Snelling (where I "negotiated" with Native Americans that had no concept of land ownership) and my attempt to determine the source of the river (which I incorrectly identified as Leech Lake).

The performances will be aired on community television, I think...

Just Dyin Over Here

Everyone in our house is sick. While Sharon & I were trying to get a little sleep last night, Lucy was waking up in tears, complaints, and/or screams every 10-15 minutes. Sharon & I deemed it the most difficult night since Lucy's birth.

Laying the political establishment bare

This started out as a comment sort of in response to T-Clog on my most recent post, but got so long and off the original track that I feel it warrants its own post.

I may have sent out confusing messages in the past concerning my political leanings. Having voted nearly straight Green Party in 2000, I have come back to the fold of the Democrats, based largely on a couple conclusions I have made:
1. Seeing the damage that a spoiler can play (e.g. Nader in 2000). Understand, if we move to an instant runoff election system, I'm probably back in there voting Green and other "third party" or independent candidates very often in the first round. THAT should be what Nader should be pushing for-the fact that he is focusing more efforts at being on the actual ticket, rather than reforming the election process itself has got me thinking he most be either certifiably insane, or simply not the same man he used to be.
2. A recent philisophical realization (based on a position taken by a reformist Priest, Matthew Fox, that you can affect change on an organization more effectively from within, rather than if you quit). And I think it is a very, very powerful idea. Kind of what I was saying recently to T-Clog concerning his religion. It may well be that his calling is to be a credit to his religion-to challenge, where necessary, and reform. Stuff he would not be able to do as effectively if he renounced it over things he found irreconcilable with his personal beliefs.

Anyway, in response to comments in my last post (and this is also directed to Independent Aaron) I will absolutely agree that any political party is prone to corruption and human failings to which any organization is prone when it gets large and/or powerful enough. I think there was a lot of less-than-desirable crap going on in the Democratic party when they were the dominant party in Congress in the early 90s.

That said, I don't buy the "both parties are the same" thing purported by many independents and the Green Party folks. A quote from a "conservative" website going after liberalism in public education pretty such sums up the stance of the Republican party at large these days:

"...(sustainability) assumes we're burning too much fossil fuel, we're not eating healthy foods, we're not respecting workers' rights, we're wasteful, and we're spoiling the environment. Those are serious and controversial charges against our culture."

Anyone who considers those charges controversial is either in denial or a total bastard or both. And that is the reality of the Republican party in 2005. It is the party of instant gratification, judgment of others, and selfishness. Whether or not you always like the cast of characters and machinations of the establishment, the DFL is the party of the little guy and of freedom. I honestly don't see how a thinking man cannot see this.

Fool me once....(way to go, residents of St. Paul!)

For anyone who care about Twin Cities politics, or believes that the ways certain political scenarios play out are universal...

From today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly could be in for the fight of his political life after receiving barely half as many votes as former City Council Member Chris Coleman in Tuesday's primary.
Coleman outdistanced Kelly by 52 percent to 27 percent, with Kelly coming perilously close to dropping behind Green Party candidate Elizabeth Dickinson, who received 19 percent.

A little background. Gladhanding, creepy, Bush-lapdog US Senator Norm Coleman was once the Mayor of St. Paul. After being elected on the DFL ticket, however, he switched parties-something that is considered a bit of a betrayal when 87% of your city's precincts vote Democrat. People in St. Paul still feel burned and pissed, so last fall when out of the blue, current "Democrat" mayor Randy Kelly endorsed George Bush for President, his constituency was up-in-arms. What seemed to him to be the perfect opportunistic move, to follow the move of his successful predecessor footsteps, ended up being political suicide, apparently. Lovely to watch him go down in flames. While I still don't fancy spending a lot of time in St. Paul, I certainly am on more amicable terms with Minneapolis' sister city these days. We urbanites need to stick together in these times.

On the Minneapolis side of things-our Mayor Rybak has been in a bit of a fight in the DFL primary. Things have been tough the last few years, but I honestly think that he's been in about as much of a no-win situation as the city has seen for the last 25 years or so. On top of the recession, our city incurred millions of dollars in Lcoal Government Aid-part of the all-out suburbanite Republican assault on core cities, that is only now beginning to be restored a bit. Not a career politician (one of his most attractive qualities), Rybak is also amazingly socially progressive, accessible to the people (as far as I know), and has made some tough decisions, fiscally, that have lost him a lot of supporters, but gained a measure of my respect. He's been in a primary fight against a guy, Peter McLaughlan, who is firey and pushes all the right buttons a lot like Howard Dean, but who has been attacking Rybak relentlessly sometimes without substance-more like a Karl Rove-orchestrated campaign. Rybak (for whom I just voted yesterday) ended up winning the primary by about 10%-and here's a funny quote by him:

"The sitting mayor is thrilled to have won by a decisive margin after an unprecedented wave of negative attacks, and I'd sure rather be up by 10 percent. Delmonico (a Police Federation president hired by McLaughlan to attack Rybak in radio ads) and his swift boat full of special interest attack dogs has sunk."

Mouse Pillows and Big Noculars (and other camping observations from a two-year old)

Mouse pillows being marshmallows and big noculars being binoculars, of course.

It was a very enjoyable trip up North. We had a cart-in site pretty much right on the shore of Lake Superior and, after an initial three hour thunderstorm which began moments after our tent was set up (it really wouldn't be a Hylton camping trip without some precipitation at some point), the weather was beautiful.

Outdoor-guru Cliff Jacobson speaks about how it can be difficult to hike with small children or the elderly if you're in the prime of your life. Not so much because of differences in physical abilities, but because people of this blogger's age tend to think of hikes in terms of goals and destinations, whereas young children and the elderly live almost entirely for the moment. And I suspect I am at the far end of that spectrum, in terms of goal-fixation; so overcoming that "tension" (all tension totally within my own brain) is the biggest challenge for me on a trip like this-especially in arguably the most scenic park in the state. There would be no hike to Shovel Point; no hike to The Cascades. Of the park's 26-some odd miles of trail, I would guess we covered about one to one-and-a-half.

We did make it down to the main outlet of the Baptism River into Lake Superior, which was beautiful, and spent a few hours wading around, looking at rocks, and so on. We were also able to park at a trailhead a little farther into the park and make it to the High Falls (the highest waterfall contained entirely within Minnesota). But all-encompassing vistas are not what float Lucy's boat the most. She like rock climbing (as in, climbing individual rocks), finding caterpillars-two of which we were unable to identify even with a field guide, and telling Momma & Daddy where to stop & when to go all the way along the hike. There are moments of frustration & the inability to truly unwind due to having to be constantly vigilant, but the reality is that we're really pretty spoiled about Lucy when it comes to camping. She now understands pretty much everything that goes into setting up camp & making things happen and at least attempts to help with various tasks. And she just plain loves being outside.

A few highlights from the trip:
- Piecing together bits of information she'd been given, Lucy explaining to me that a bear is going to come into our camp and get toothpaste out of the fire pit and put it on their toothbrush.
- My opportunity for an early a.m. hike (before the women got up Sunday morning). In future camping trips, I think I want to begin bringing running shoes. If we're not going to cover a lot of ground as a family for a few years, I'd love to get in a trail run and get some of that energy out of my system. Plus, with my love of trail running, it would be a shame to not take advantage of doing it in some of the neater places we go.
- Saw the Aurora Borealis for only the 2nd time in my life (other time, oddly enough, was at Johnson Street). Not a particularly dazzling display-mostly greenish-white, but a display nevertheless.
- View from Palisade Head (2 miles south of the park-we drove up there on our way back)
- A new type of bread that Sharon introduced. Forget what it's called, but you make it like I guess pioneers used to (except we used powdered milk)-mix the ingredients, then cook it on a stick over the fire. AMAZING. Sure to be a part of nearly every future camping trip in which there is a camp fire.
- Sights of the beautiful mountain ash-a tree that grows in the park with amazingly red berries that contrast beautifully with the grey rocks.
- Going down at dusk-Sharon had already retired with Lucy-to a rocky area down below our camp by the water. Watching the moon come out and begin to shine on the water while the water rolled up all along the shore.
- The time we spent at that Baptism River/Lake Superior confluence.
One other thing about the trip-it got me hungering for a good ol' backpack trip along the Superior hiking trail. Yellow River State Forest is well & good, but it just doesn't compare.