Scottish Independence, Barcelona, Phyllis Lynch, Sonoma County Jazz, Niagara Surprise, Graton Ranchera, 23 and me, Memorial Hospital, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

It is as if I have dropped off the face of the earth, yet again.  This post is likely to be scattered and maybe even excuse ridden, but will give some insight into the scattershot approach that I have to my life.  My blog about the Borne neighborhood of Barcelona is still in my mind, and I have not forgotten. In fact just yesterday the Scottish Independence movement lost the referendum to become independent.  I have heard that Catalonia will do the same thing in October.  Let's hope that it will not begin another civil war in Spain.

One project inevitable leaks into another.  I have been stuck on doing my enormous web page for my aunt and uncle. At this point I am almost finished, but since I am honoring my Aunt Phyllis at the moment, I am looking for representative pieces of her pottery. We own a few and I may just photograph them. Yet I know that she took several hundred slides of her pieces and I fear that I may have tossed them. In light of my hoarding tendencies, it would indeed be unusual.

I am bumping elbows in the jazz world again, and my friend Peter is talking about starting a combo. We have gotten together with mixed results. We met today and half the band did not show up- but for good reasons- a funeral. Still I met a woman singer, who calls herself a professional. I will take one step at a time.

I had a major regression into my college years. Giselle published a number of photos from my college years.  Among the photos was one with me and a gorgeous young lady, who at the time was in love with me. Also at the time I was not ready.  She is now my Facebook friend- well, they both are my Facebook friends.

In October a big Indian Casino opened up in our area, ten minutes away. I love to gamble. Now you know one more personal thing about me. Not only do the rest of my family share this vice, but my ancestors worked with horses for hundreds of years.  I am by nature conservative in my gambling.  Since October 2013 I have been on winning and losing streaks.  Now I have been on a winning streak for about 2 months.  Although I try not to wager too much ($100 to $300 any time I go), I am about $2000 in the positive. It scares me a little.

Speaking of ancestors 23 and me has interested me in my genealogy again.  I started when I lived in Washington, D.C. and had my mornings free. Now there are enormous resources available on line. I found out that my great great great grandfather Charles Lafferty was born in County Tyrone, now Northern Ireland, just on the boarder with Donegal.

A dear friend of mine is in the hospital. He is ten years younger that I am, a vibrant, happy, involved firefighter, who just retired. He is very seriously ill. When I went to see him, it really shook me up. I saw how a person could go from being vivacious to one step away from death- very sobering.

And painting- I have started the largest pieces of my life. One is about 4 feet square, the other about 5 feel by 6. I am please with the beginning but I still have a long way to do.

Last weekend was the Denevan family reunion- at our house. I really loved it. I married into a great family...

I look forward to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on the first weekend of October.

I must have a photo that will illustrate one of these topics!

The Beat Poets

In my research about the Six Gallery the beat poets are central figures.  The beat poets are a loose configuration of poets originally out of New York City, many of whom came to San Francisco in the 1950s. Most went back to New York, but a few stayed.  Also San Francisco itself developed its own "beat" culture and had its "beat" poets.

When researching the community of beat poets 68 names came up, many of whom could in no fashion be considered beat. I am not really here to argue who or who is not a "beat".  The story of the Six Gallery is amply documented on the Internet.  I am looking for communities of artists and poets to clarify the social groupings in the sixties. My first attempt is to take the 68 names and cull out those who really do belong to a "beat" subculture.

Here are the first 30(in alphabetical order. I have noted with an asterisk those whom I would consider beat. Also the places mentioned are not necessary the places where they were born. Generally I chose the places where they lived a significant part of their working lives. (I hope that my columns survive.)

Beat Poets                 Born           Died                Place 1 Place 2      Place 3

1. Amiri Baraka     ( Oct 7, 1934 –  Jan 9, 2014                              NYC              (Everett LeRoi Jones)
2. Sinclair Beiles 1930 –              2000                    Johannesburg, SA     Paris
3. Carol Bergé 1928 –              2006                    NYC
4. Jane Bowles Feb 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973                            NYC     Morocco
5. Paul Bowles Dec 30, 1910 – Nov18, 1999                    NYC Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
6. John Brandi Nov 5, 1943                                    Los Angeles Sierra Nevada
7. Richard Brautigan Jan 30, 1935 – Sept 16, 1984                     Eugene, OR San Franciso, CA
8. Ray Bremser Feb 22, 1934 – Nov 3, 1998 NYC    Mexico
9. Chandler Brossard July 18, 1922-Aug 29, 1993                    Idaho Falls, ID NYC
10. James Broughton* Nov 10, 1913 – May 17, 1999                     San Francisco
11. Slim Brundage  Nov 29, 1903 –    Oct 18, 1990                       Chicago
12. Baird Bryant      Dec12, 1927 - , Nov 13, 2008                        Columbus, IN             Hemet, California
13. William S. Burroughs  Feb 5, 1914 – Aug 2, 1997                      St. Louis, MO            NYC                     Lawrence, KS
14. Carolyn Cassady*   April 28, 1923 – Sept 20, 2013                   Nashville, TN             NYC
15. Neal Cassady*   Feb 8, 1926 – Feb 4, 1968                              Denver, CO                San Francisco, CA
16. Neeli Cherkovski    Born 1945                                                 Santa Monica, CA      San Francisco, CA
17. Gregory Corso*      March 26, 1930 – Jan 17, 2001                   NYC                          San Francisco, CA
18. Elise Cowen          July 31, 1933 – Feb 27, 1962                      NYC
19. Diane di Prima*      August 6, 1934                                         NYC                          Oakland, CA (SF)
20. Kirby Doyle*          Nov 27, 1932 – April 5, 2003                      San Francisco, CA
21. William Everson  Sept 10, 1912 – June 3, 1994                       San Francisco; Oakland; Santa Cruz
22. Harry Fainlight* (British) 1935–1982                                       London, England
23. Lawrence Ferlinghetti*   born March 24, 1919                         NYC                          San Francisco, CA        
24. Michael John Fles           born Nov 11, 1936                            London, Eng               Los Angeles, CA
25. Jack Gelber (playwright)  April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003            NYC
26. Brion Gysin*   Jan 19, 1916 – July 13, 1986                              London, Eng               Morocco                 Paris
27. Anselm Hollo   April 12, 1934 – Jan 29, 2013                           Helsinki, Finland         Boulder, CO  
28. John Clellon Holmes  March 12, 1926,  – March 30, 1988          Hartford, CN
29. Václav Hrabě  June 13, 1940- March 5, 1965                            Prague, CZ
30. Herbert Huncke*   Jan 9, 1915 – August 8, 1996                       NYC
31. Ted Joans        July 4, 1928 – April 25, 2003                            NYC         Seattle, WA/ Vancouver, BC