emmettchapman.net musings	biography	music	innovation	astrology	fun/games

	"On the Other Hand" Emmett's Blog and Essays
	February 26, 2012 Favorite Pursuits a perfect afternoon Practicing tennis against the backboards at Pierce College on a not too busy Friday afternoon, I like to stand at rest facing the sun with eyes shut tight, then I talk to my two deceased brothers and my Mom and Dad, also my original Dad, all the while observing images that appear out of the red and yellow glare - my crystal ball. Happily fatigued from simulated tournament duals against the board, I've found a way to meditate at complete rest, waiting for someone to talk back. The sun is a big part of it and sometimes I like my back to the sun. Alone at the courts, back to the sun and facing Winnetka, I dared to direct a question beyond my immediate family to a higher being, "Are my words powerful enough that you can hear them and provide an answer?" I opened my eyes and across the campus grass nothing seemed to change on distant Winnetka Ave. Then an almost subliminal change, a blink, some change in color. Focusing more sharply I saw it, an electronic marquee, flashing from red to blue to blank. I promised myself that I'd read it closely while driving home, but I forgot and instead decided to shop for Yuta at Bed, Bath and Beyond on Victory Blvd. (I joke with Yuta about the "Beyond Department", but no particular significance here.) Driving west on Victory, I became absorbed in my current favorite CD of Gary Husband's solo piano work, "A Meeting of Spirits", with subtitle, "Interpretations of the music of John McLaughlin". One song in particular had a faster pace with that subtle high energy so characteristic of McLaughlin and totally rearranged and improvised upon by Husband - mystifying! I became curious as to the name of the song but had never been able to locate track numbers without stopping the song and going back to the beginning. This song had momentum and was too good to stop, so when I finally parked at B,B & B, I took the time to find the button on my digital Honda radio that displays the song list number while the song is playing. It was #5, "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters", by John Mc Laughlin. For the past week, I've been rereading Walter Cruttenden's "Lost Star of Myth and Time" and his theory of the sun as a binary star co-orbiting with a nearby bright and dense star system, possibly Sirius A and B. He explains how the sun's curved trajectory would elegantly account for the observed precession of the zodiac and all stars (except Sirius) over an approximate 24,000-year cycle. With my back to the sun, my question to whatever higher being might be listening was generally along the lines of, "Wow, what's it all about?" It seems that through the medium of my two favorite musician mentors, an answer came through. On this planet and in this solar system we're all going somewhere (commuters to a golden city?) Anyway, I had a good workout, practiced some innovative two-handed strokes, and got a good suntan front and back. Music, mysticism, cosmology, family, tennis and the sun - all my favorite pursuits. Emmett

If you'd like to contribute something, please send an email to [email protected]