- Rest in peace, Roky Erickson.
- These are the driving sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators.
- Joe D's tribute set early this morning on WFMU.
- Roky Erickson and The Aliens *The Evil One (plus one)* one of dozen most listened to ever.
- My friend @symptomatic sent me the following two links:
- The author of a 2001 magazine profile of Erickson (a good one) tweeted it out today
- A 1980s Austin Roky story.
- Eleven more songs below the fold.
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and now for something somewhat different -
ReplyDeletenot completely different because the writer i am citing here - like roky erickson - has been through the psychiatric system and come out the other side still determined to keep working
i refer to dr. paris williams
earlier this week i came across his essay posted at dissident voice [by reading the blogroll right here at bdr] Reclaim Our Power or Face Extinction: The Choice is Ours in which he deals with two related issues -
(1) How do I find the courage to continue trying to make a positive difference in the world when so much is broken?
…and (2) How can “little me” make any real difference in the face of it all, especially considering that a select group of extremely self-centered individuals seem to hold all the power?
he considers a variety of issues and options, obstacles and advantages, and in his peroration, he concludes
After all, regardless of what may become of humankind in the future, we still have to live with ourselves and each other right now. Do we want to continue living in a society (and with states of mind) based mostly on fear, hatred, greed and disconnection? Or would we rather work towards a society and a personal state of mind based more on compassion, connection and kindness? Sounds like a no brainer to me!
There are certainly no guarantees that humankind will be able to pull through the extraordinarily destructive social and ecological patterns that we’ve set in motion. But as long as we’re still here, we might as well give it all we have to maintain our existence and fight for a world worth fighting for.
And if that doesn’t ultimately pan out, well… at least we can do our best to go down smiling.