Tuesday, December 16, 2014

I Can Be So Dumb...


So dumb…

I can be so dumb. It was about 20 years after first hearing "The Beatles" that I got the pun in their name. Seriously, I just thought it was a funny spelling.

Here is a list of some of the things I discovered or suddenly figured out, well after turning 50 years old:

Sudafed? Uh…that's short for "Pseudo-Ephedrine".

There are little indentations on the ends of boxes of plastic wrap that hold the tube in place so that the roll doesn't pull out when you use it.

 “Arby’s” is a way of saying “R.B.’s” which stands for Roast Beef.

The word “car” is short for carriage or horseless carriage.

Cops are called “the fuzz” because of the sound their police radios make when they’re nearby.

Nat “King” Cole has the nickname “King” because of the association with the song “Old King Cole”. 

Cardinals, you know the red birds common to the Midwest, the ones the St. Louis baseball team is named for, are called “cardinals” because they look like cardinals, the religious kind.

And it's also recently been brought to my attention that love is in fact the answer.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

The T'ai-Chi Body*




Is The Goal Of My Teaching And Practice

(*My friend and student Joe Fichter told me about one of his teachers in Takenouchi Ryu who taught that the goal of the training in that art was to develop a “Takenouchi Ryu body” rather than simply to memorize and master a bunch of techniques. This resonated strongly with me and I borrowed this phraseology to apply to T’ai-Chi. In the past I’ve referred to my approach as “principle based” rather than “form or technique based” but I like the “T’ai-Chi body” concept better.)

For me, the purpose of training in T’ai-Chi is not to perfect a bunch of forms, exercises and techniques. The purpose of training in T’ai-Chi is to develop a “T’ai-Chi Body”. The forms and exercises are important, to be sure, but not to the extent that they must be endlessly, obsessively perfected. The forms are not “rules” to be obeyed slavishly, but rather bridges that lead me to understanding the underlying principles of the art which can then be expressed as a “T’ai-Chi body”.

A T’ai-Chi body is neither hard nor soft but combines and balances the best qualities of each. Not to put down people who have hard bodies. Hard bodies are great for certain lifestyles. They are very strong, tough, powerful and tight. Soft bodies too, are very good for certain lifestyles. They are soft, tender, yielding and loose. But to bring the hard and soft together in one body, that’s what I’m after.
Here are some qualities of what I would call an ideal T’ai-Chi Body. These are the qualities that we aim for.

A T’ai-Chi body is all about unforced balance and is therefore responsive, adaptable, aware and “ready”. Since everything is in motion and constantly changing, and since maintaining balance means making the proper corrections, a T’ai-Chi body must be alert to when and how big a correction to make moment to moment. The difference between a novice and an advanced practitioner of any art is the size and frequency of the corrections. Beginners make a small number of large corrections. (Picture a beginner walking on a tight rope…the bar they hold tips high one direction and then high the other…) Adepts make many more much smaller corrections. (An expert tight rope walker’s bar is practically vibrating with tiny corrections that are almost invisible.)

A T’ai-Chi body is primarily rooted in the feet. That is to say, the feet have a firm and solid connection to the ground beneath them. They slide, adapt, lift, turn, twist and kick but they are always seeking a return to a neutral, flat, solid and rooted connection to the Earth.

A T’ai-Chi body has springy legs that are like pistons. Not twisting and “spiraling” but primarily driving in relatively straight lines out of the Earth.

A T’ai-Chi body has fluid knee/foot alignment. That is to say, the knees and the middle of the feet are always moving towards pointing the same direction. If the foot twists the knee follows. If the knee twists the foot follows. This is fluidly maintained regardless of the what else the body is doing.

A T’ai-Chi body has a loose relaxed waist that turns easily. Sometimes it moves with the hips, sometimes not. It can be very firm and strong but also very loose and pliable. Generally, it’s somewhere in between, waiting for what the body needs to do next.

A T’ai-Chi body has a spacious slightly lifted spine that is not tight, numb or compressed. There is always a bit of space and motion in the vertebrae.

A T’ai-Chi body can be very strong in the legs or mid-section or upper body, but not necessarily so. If strong though, that strength is always subordinate to the overall relaxed, loose and ready state of T’ai-Chi. It is never tight or bound up.

A T’ai-Chi body is centered in the lower belly, not top heavy. The lower body leads the upper body and the inner body leads the outer body.

A T’ai-Chi body works in this sequence generally: There is an intent to move. It might be an idea in the mind or a response that is needed to outside stimulus. This intent flows out into the body via the nervous system and connects to the entire systemic awareness of the body. This overall feeling sense of the body than leads the bones and muscles into action. The intent does not go from mind to muscles. It goes first to the overall felt sense of the whole body.

A T’ai-Chi body’s home-base is movement. It is in motion and occasionally takes a break and rests or sits. It is not sitting or resting and occasionally “getting up” to do something. Resting is the break. Motion is “home”.

A T’ai-Chi body is mobile, agile and graceful. Its movements are efficient and purposeful, not wasteful and random.

A T’ai-Chi body seeks the neutral, or “mid-way in the dimmer switch”. Firm when firm is needed, soft when soft is needed, but always returning to neutral when the time for firmness or softness has passed. All of its capacities are on dimmer switches so the proper amount of energy can be dialed in.

A T’ai-Chi body has tools to reach, to push back, to strike, to run, to jump, to kick, to avoid, to approach, to be sensitive, to be firm, to lift, to set down, to pick up.

The T’ai-Chi body is relaxed and alert…to danger…to beauty…to change…to currents…to events…to trouble…not in its own world, especially when out in the world.

When it comes to self-defense situations, rather than trying to apply a bunch of memorized specific techniques, the T’ai-Chi body brings all of its tools to bear on the situation at hand. Sometimes “not being there”, sometimes avoiding it, sometimes defusing it, sometimes getting physical. If physical, it does the best it can to defend itself and keep its balance while doing so.

These are some of the qualities of an ideal T’ai-Chi body. I’m sure there are many more, but these are the ones that come to mind first. To me, all the training games of T’ai-Chi are directed towards developing this kind of body. 

Sunday, November 30, 2014

December News



From Gene Burnett

Now that my double album “Crooked Love” is done and available for downloading free or with a donation at my website, I’ve been focusing on making videos of some of the songs. See links below in the videos section of this post. And here’s a link to a recent blog post with information about it: New Album I hope you’ll give it a listen. I’m very proud of this one.

We’re getting some much needed rain here in Southern Oregon this season and hopefully it will continue. A dry winter might be nicer for us humans, but it means more fire risk and smokier air next summer…so I don’t mind it at all.

I got to represent Taoism again at our local Thanksgiving Interfaith Ceremony. This year marks the 31st year that this wonderful community event has been happening. It’s always a pleasure to participate and I have a video link below. The theme was “The Benefits of Belief” so in addition to playing my song “Nothing’s Lost”, I also read my “Top 10 Benefits of Believing in Taoism”.

With so much violence, inequality and suffering in the world these days, I am continually reinspired to do what feels most deeply right to me: living simply, helping people with their balance, responsiveness and mobility through T’ai-Chi, sharing my music as freely as I can, and in general continuing to develop a knack for unforced balance, kindness, music and friendship.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!



So here we go…starting with the usual information about where to find my music, videos and pictures, including information about new projects, and then followed by information about local shows in case you’re in the Rogue Valley.

There is so much to listen to and watch on the net these days…I’m amazed anyone even gets this far in the newsletter let alone watches or listens to anything I’m doing. I’m sincerely grateful for every view, every listen, and every nice comment I receive. I’m happy if anything I post truly reaches even one person. I’m offering all this stuff in a “just in case you’re interested” spirit.


Recorded Music

My newest album is called Crooked Love and like all my other albums (31 so far…), it’s available for downloading free or with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com

Videos In General

Overall Mission: I post a lot of videos on youtube, over 1000 so far! I'm not trying to build a fan base...In fact, I'm not trying to build anything. I'm not expecting you or anyone else to follow what I'm doing or watch all of these videos. Posting videos is just part of my overall plan to make my music (and my T’ai-Chi and Nature videos too) as freely available as possible and see what freely comes back. I think of each video as sort of like a message in a bottle...and more I toss out there the more likely one of them will land on a friendly shore and something good will come back to me. So here are some video links in case you're interested:

How to Find My Videos: First of all, I've set up a "Videos" page on my website (www.GeneBurnett.com) with a menu similar to what you see below as well as a digital tip jar in case any of you want to contribute to my cottage industry. Every little bit helps and not just financially. 

I've also set up some blogs that make navigating and viewing my various videos much easier. You can go to any of these blogs and see thumbnails for all of the videos posted there. Scroll across the thumbnails and you will see the titles of each video. Click on it and a page will open that will let you watch the video right there without going to youtube. My latest videos are always in the upper left hand corner.

To see all of my Music videos in one easy to navigate place, click here: The Unforced Videos

To see all of my T'ai-Chi videos in one easy to navigate place, click here: The Unforced Movement

To see all of my Nature videos in one easy to navigate place, click here: The Unforced Nature

For a quick and easy way to sort through, listen to, or download all of my albums free or with a donation, click here: The Unforced Music

To see my regular blog “The Unforced Life”, click here: The Unforced Life

To visit my youtube channel and possibly subscribe, click here: My Youtube Channel

To see all of my youtube playlists click here: My Youtube Playlists 

New Videos

My “Doubles Hitter” youtube playlist. Includes videos for all the songs from my last album:

Here are some new videos of songs from my latest album “Crooked Love”:










Here’s a link to my presentation at our 31st Annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Ceremony:



One new Nature video:



I didn’t compete this month, but I did open the show for the Rogue Poetry Slam with a few songs (two of which feature songs from Crooked Love and are listed above):



And two new T’ai-Chi videos:





Pictures

I've stopped posting as many pictures on facebook, (for many reasons), and started posting them instead on Flickr, which I like much better.

Here's a link to my "home page" at Flicker: Photostream.

I have many photo galleries there but a few of my favorites are:

Small Miracles (mostly Nature related stuff)

The Dish Whisperer (I started posting a daily picture of my dish stacking work over a year ago. I recently crossed the 1000 straight days mark. I have no idea how long I’ll keep doing this. I’m so used to it, it hardly takes any effort at all to continue. I made a video for my song “I'll Do The Dishes Tonight” that featured a slideshow of the first year. I made it through my second year recently, and hope to create another video slideshow set to another of my songs. Stay tuned…)

"Head" and "Boot" (devoted to our two gerbils)






Upcoming Shows:

Monday, December 1st, I'll be playing at one of my favorite Ashland venues, Liquid Assets. A relaxed living room vibe with great service, excellent food and wine, and a really nice place to listen to music. I'll be playing from 7-9pm, maybe longer...

Wednesday December 3rdI'll be hosting my regular Themed Open Mike at The Wild Goose Café & Bar. Usually this happens on the First Wednesday of each month. This month's theme is our 4th annual “Holiday/Winter Songs” so musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and poems, originals or covers that are about or mention anything to do with winter or the seasonal holidays. We're never too strict or narrow about the themes for this event. The main idea is to focus our attention a little to hopefully inspire and motivate us creatively. These are always fun. No Cover at the friendliest bar in Ashland. Sign-up is 8:00pm. Show starts at 8:30pm. *A heads up for next month: Wednesday, January 7th, 2015: “Whiny Songs~Pissin’, Moanin’, & Complainin’”

Tuesday, December 16thI'll be competing with many other poets at the Rogue Poetry Slam which happens at Northwest Pizza and Pasta in Ashland. Sign-up is at 7:30pm and the show starts at 8. $5 cover, all of which goes to the winning poets. If you've never been to or competed in a Poetry Slam, I highly recommend this one. Come to watch, compete, or be one of the judges. Some people think of slams as hardcore hip-hop events or places where people are mean and talk trash, but nothing could be further from the truth. All kinds of poetry are welcome and people are very supportive. And it's so nice to participate in an event that is all about the words, or in my case, lyrics. For me it's really not about winning or losing, but just the fun of sharing my words with people and seeing what happens.

Wednesday, December 17thI'll be playing at The Wild Goose. Just me solo from 8-11pm. Friendliest bar in Ashland. Never a cover at The Goose. I usually play here on the Third Wednesday of every month.

Saturday, December 20thI'll be at The Downtowne Coffeehouse in Talent, playing from 10am-Noon. Great acoustics, super friendly neighborhood scene.

As of now…I don’t know if or when I’ll be playing at Paddy Brannon’s Irish Pub this month…and I’m set to play a few songs as part of John Elliot’s show at Oberon’s on the plaza in Ashland on December 12th…not sure what time that show starts or if there will be a cover…so as usual:

For more info on these and all of my shows, and to confirm that there have been no cancellations, click here: Calendar  

Since I'm putting this newsletter out once a month, it's possible there may be a cancellation of a given show by the time it happens. Please double check with my web calendar if possible to be sure the gig is still happening. I'd hate to have you come out for nothing. Also another gig or two might be added or times or locations might change, so do check the calendar for the latest info.  


Website

I continue to offer all of my albums for downloading, free or with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com I started doing this about 7 or 8 years ago and considered it a 5 year creative experiment. Well the 5 years passed and I decided to start calling it my "ongoing creative experiment" as I have no plans to stop. Since I returned to my folk roots and stopped climbing, or trying to climb, the industry ladder, I've been enjoying music in my life more than ever before. And enjoyment, rather than achievement or worldly success has always been dearest to my heart anyway. So now I focus totally on what I love most: writing, recording, performing and sharing what I create. If other people like it, so much the better, but getting other people to like me or what I do is no longer my goal or focus. I'm out to please myself first. I want to do my music exactly the way I want to do it and see who likes it that way, not figure out what people will like and try to do it that way. I put it out there freely and see what comes freely back. So far so good. I've never had more success and appreciation than I have since I started doing it this. Go figure. 


Thanks, as usual, for your support and well wishes even if you don't make to any shows.

GB

Saturday, November 1, 2014

November News



From Gene Burnett


The big news is that my double album “Crooked Love” is done and available for downloading free or with a donation at my website. Here’s a link to a recent blog post with information about it: New Album I hope you’ll give it a listen. I’m very proud of this one.

In other news, our local paper did a little feature about me in the entertainment section. Here’s a link: Ashland Daily Tidings Feature Article About Me

In spite of being busy with last minute production work on the album, I did manage to post some new videos this month. Video links are included below.

Fall is upon us and Winter is fast approaching…no more outdoor shows and the inner reflective season beckons. I’ve been stepping up my T’ai-Chi practice to a new level, adding hand weights to some of the forms I practice, doing more calisthenics and some light aerobic work too. I’m working on adding strength gently, without pushing myself, or risking injury. So far so good.

I wrote this last month, but it bears repeating: Life is going pretty well…I’m still enjoying teaching and practicing T’ai-Chi even after doing so for 30 years. Samarra’s getting used to being in grad school and I’m getting used to it too. I think she found a really good program for her needs and while it’s sometimes stressful for her to be back in school after all these years, she’s doing great and I’m very proud of her.


So here we go…starting with the usual information about where to find my music, videos and pictures, including information about new projects, and then followed by information about local shows in case you’re in the Rogue Valley.

There is so much to listen to and watch on the net these days…I’m amazed anyone even gets this far in the newsletter let alone watches or listens to anything I’m doing. I’m sincerely grateful for every view, every listen, and every nice comment I receive. I’m happy if anything I post truly reaches even one person. I’m offering all this stuff in a “just in case you’re interested” spirit.


Recorded Music

My newest album is called Crooked Love and like all my other albums (31 so far…), it’s available for downloading free or with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com

Videos In General

Overall Mission: I post a lot of videos on youtube, over 1000 so far! I'm not trying to build a fan base...In fact, I'm not trying to build anything. I'm not expecting you or anyone else to follow what I'm doing or watch all of these videos. Posting videos is just part of my overall plan to make my music (and my T’ai-Chi and Nature videos too) as freely available as possible and see what freely comes back. I think of each video as sort of like a message in a bottle...and more I toss out there the more likely one of them will land on a friendly shore and something good will come back to me. So here are some video links in case you're interested:

How to Find My Videos: First of all, I've set up a "Videos" page on my website (www.GeneBurnett.com) with a menu similar to what you see below as well as a digital tip jar in case any of you want to contribute to my cottage industry. Every little bit helps and not just financially. 

I've also set up some blogs that make navigating and viewing my various videos much easier. You can go to any of these blogs and see thumbnails for all of the videos posted there. Scroll across the thumbnails and you will see the titles of each video. Click on it and a page will open that will let you watch the video right there without going to youtube. My latest videos are always in the upper left hand corner.

To see all of my Music videos in one easy to navigate place, click here: The Unforced Videos

To see all of my T'ai-Chi videos in one easy to navigate place, click here: The Unforced Movement

To see all of my Nature videos in one easy to navigate place, click here: The Unforced Nature

For a quick and easy way to sort through, listen to, or download all of my albums free or with a donation, click here: The Unforced Music

To see my regular blog “The Unforced Life”, click here: The Unforced Life

To visit my youtube channel and possibly subscribe, click here: My Youtube Channel

To see all of my youtube playlists click here: My Youtube Playlists 

New Videos

My “Doubles Hitter” youtube playlist. Includes videos for all the songs from my last album:

I made three new sky videos of songs from my latest album “Crooked Love”:





Here are a couple of music videos I shot at home:




Here are a couple of new Nature videos:




I didn’t place this month, but here are two more Rogue Poetry Slam videos:




And two new T’ai-Chi videos:




Pictures

I've stopped posting as many pictures on facebook, (for many reasons), and started posting them instead on Flickr, which I like much better.

Here's a link to my "home page" at Flicker: Photostream.

I have many photo galleries there but a few of my favorites are:

Small Miracles (mostly Nature related stuff)

The Dish Whisperer (I started posting a daily picture of my dish stacking work over a year ago. I recently crossed the 1000 straight days mark. I have no idea how long I’ll keep doing this. I’m so used to it, it hardly takes any effort at all to continue. I made a video for my song “I'll Do The Dishes Tonight” that featured a slideshow of the first year. I made it through my second year recently, and hope to create another video slideshow set to another of my songs. Stay tuned…)

"Head" and "Boot" (devoted to our two gerbils)






Upcoming Shows:

Monday, November 3rd, I'll be playing at one of my favorite Ashland venues, Liquid Assets. A relaxed living room vibe with great service, excellent food and wine, and a really nice place to listen to music. I'll be playing from 7-9pm, maybe longer...

Wednesday November 5th, I'll be hosting my regular Themed Open Mike at The Wild Goose Café & Bar. Usually this happens on the First Wednesday of each month. This month's theme is our 4th annual “Political Songs” so musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and poems, originals or covers that are about or mention anything to do with politics. We're never too strict or narrow about the themes for this event. The main idea is to focus our attention a little to hopefully inspire and motivate us creatively. These are always fun. No Cover at the friendliest bar in Ashland. Sign-up is 8:00pm. Show starts at 8:30pm. *A heads up for next month: Wednesday December 3rd, 2014: “4th Annual Holiday/Winter Songs”

Tuesday, November 18th, I won’t be competing at the Rogue Poetry Slam which happens at Northwest Pizza and Pasta in Ashland, but I will be opening the show with a few songs and then sticking around to be one of the judges. Sign-up is at 7:30pm and the show starts at 8. $5 cover, all of which goes to the winning poets. If you've never been to or competed in a Poetry Slam, I highly recommend this one. Come to watch, compete, or be one of the judges. Some people think of slams as hardcore hip-hop events or places where people are mean and talk trash, but nothing could be further from the truth. All kinds of poetry are welcome and people are very supportive. And it's so nice to participate in an event that is all about the words. For me it's really not about winning or losing, but just the fun of sharing my words and listening to other people in my community share theirs.

Wednesday, November 19th, I'll be playing at The Wild Goose. Just me solo from 8-11pm. Friendliest bar in Ashland. Never a cover at The Goose. I usually play here on the Third Wednesday of every month.

Saturday, November 22nd, I'll be at The Downtowne Coffeehouse in Talent, playing from 10am-Noon. Great acoustics, super friendly neighborhood scene.

Saturday, November 22nd, I'll be playing at Paddy Brannan's Irish Pub in Ashland with The Graceful Losers a.k.a. any of my fine musician friends I can scare up to play the gig. I’ve decided that whenever I play with other musicians in a band setting, we will be called “The Graceful Losers”. We play from about 9pm 'til around Midnight. Stop by for a pint and some music. I've always liked the friendly and fun vibe of this place. One of my favorite places to play.

Thursday November 27th, Thanksgiving, at Wesley Hall across the street from Briscoe School in Ashland, the Annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration will take place from 10-11am. This is such a great event and I'm always happy to be one of the presenters. This year I will not be representing Taoism as I usually do because the presenters will all be under 30 years of age. However, I have been asked to perform one of my songs as a musical guest. It's usually packed so come early. 


For more info on these and all of my shows, and to confirm that there have been no cancellations, click here: Calendar  

Since I'm putting this newsletter out once a month, it's possible there may be a cancellation of a given show by the time it happens. Please double check with my web calendar if possible to be sure the gig is still happening. I'd hate to have you come out for nothing. Also another gig or two might be added or times or locations might change, so do check the calendar for the latest info.  


Website

I continue to offer all of my albums for downloading, free or with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com I started doing this about 7 or 8 years ago and considered it a 5 year creative experiment. Well the 5 years passed and I decided to start calling it my "ongoing creative experiment" as I have no plans to stop. Since I returned to my folk roots and stopped climbing, or trying to climb, the industry ladder, I've been enjoying music in my life more than ever before. And enjoyment, rather than achievement or worldly success has always been dearest to my heart anyway. So now I focus totally on what I love most: writing, recording, performing and sharing what I create. If other people like it, so much the better, but getting other people to like me or what I do is no longer my goal or focus. I'm out to please myself first. I want to do my music exactly the way I want to do it and see who likes it that way, not figure out what people will like and try to do it that way. I put it out there freely and see what comes freely back. So far so good. I've never had more success and appreciation than I have since I started doing it this. Go figure. 


Thanks, as usual, for your support and well wishes even if you don't make to any shows.

GB