i'm often struck by the seeming disparity between how we're taught to think and feel and evaluate (and treat) each other in society at large (based on perceptions of appearance, wealth, "talent," "efficiency," "profit," etc.), and how we feel emotionally, internally, when we ourselves are judged or misunderstood or underestimated. sometimes we have a serious double standard there, don't we? seems so. and what's that about? i wonder.

i guess it hints at the larger question (or irony?) of how and why we perpetuate (or at least tacitly tolerate) a surface system of values that inherently limits our humanity and ability to connect and create community with each other. why do we put so much value on status and money? it's weird right? seems like we know better, yet we still do it. i obviously don't get all the twists and turns of the psychological processes and needs that underpin all of this - but it does concern me - and interest me. i want to understand. and work toward making it better.

i cribbed the idea of "a new bottom line" from rabbi michael lerner - cuz it's a beautiful concept - the idea that we can actually, consciously, cultivate and appreciate the value of compassion and kindness and love and community together. since this is the real stuff that keeps us alive emotionally, doesn't it make sense that we should make space and time and give respect to the truth that life is truly bigger than society allows for, and that "success" is far more than a job, or a tax bracket? i think so. in fact, it seem crazy not to. and - deeply - i know for sure that when i'm gone - the stuff i want to be remembered for is the human stuff - the love stuff - the friend stuff. that is the bottom line for me. and i need to get better at living like it.

i really hope you'll share episode 40 with me! i'm curious how you see it. and i hope you'll let me know.

oh, and if you have time, hope you'll check this week's links:

slyway - www.slywaymusic.com
the cobalt season - www.thecobaltseason.com
wikipedia article on rabbi michael lerner
the commonwealth club - www.commonwealthclub.org
commonwealth club podcast

love,
russell

ps - xtra special thanks to this week's musical guests: julius caesar, the cobalt season, and slyway. click their links (above), ok?

Posted by russell at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (49) | TrackBacks (0)

just want to mention that i'm playing drums with slyway tomorrow night (tuesday), may 29, at ireland's 32 - 3920 geary st., san francisco. we're honored to be playing with "wee the band," so it should be a fun night! show starts approx. 9pm - we'd love to share it with you...

oh, also, if you have time, be sure to visit www.weetheband.com and www.slywaymusic.com.

thanks,
russell

Posted by russell at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (54) | TrackBacks (0)

as i promised in episode 39, i uploaded a bunch of free mp3's to simplemuzik.com. i hope you'll check 'em out, download, and tell your friends! i mean, for real! there are some incredible songs here... totally free! :) check it at: www.simplemuzik.com.

hope everybody has a great memorial day!

russell

Posted by russell at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (49) | TrackBacks (0)

episode 39 is here! i've spent the past week with my family, non-stop, go go go, so i'm feeling a little out of it tonight... tired... out of my head due to constant activity... in need of sleep. in ways, this week's show sort of feels like a reflection of that. i recorded it with my sister amanda, "live" on location up in the sierra nevada's. as you'll hear, mostly, it's just us hanging out, thinking out loud, talking about the summer that's on its way, listening to music. and that's pretty much it. a simple show. yes. with great music!

if you have time, i hope you'll join us, take a listen, let us know what you think. and, as always, i hope you'll take time to seek out the featured artists: the cobalt season, the mannequins, and jonas.

thanks for listening!
russell

ps - in rethinking the title, i guess the show isn't really so much about life lessons. or, well, maybe tangentally - marginally? but i do wonder about how we learn over time, how family fits into that, how we see where we've come from, etc. curious, isn't it? i'll keep that idea bubbling and promise to revisit it someday soon...

Posted by russell at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (45) | TrackBacks (0)

i just uploaded this week's podcast, and i'm not sure exactly how to summarize the feeling - or idea - other than to say that i think it's about love again. yes, embarrassingly. more about love. rightly so too. i think. i realize it may be cliche to ask "what is love?" again and again. or, well, ok, i know it's cliche - yes - but isn't it possible to ask cliche questions in a way that transcends what makes them cliche? i hope so. and, regardless - cliche or not - i know it's important. it's important to me because i want to be involved in the real thing, with you. and i want to push for it in my relationships, and give it. so, honestly - despite how the words might seem - i don't think it's possible for the real reality of it to ever become cliche.

as i mention in the show, i think (one of) the deepest forms of love is to realize the perspective(s) of the people around you - listen and hear where others are, what means most to them - and to try to love from that perspective. really, i can't imagine much more or better. which, of course, isn't so simple. it's hard to know how, obviously. and we're often wrong (or i am) with faulty hearing, full of our own projection, etc. there's not much we can do about that, i guess? except keep trying. and hopefully we'll get closer. and hopefully the people we love will be touched and moved and affected and helped by our attempts, and we'll learn and grow too. and hopefully they'll help us understand more, and we'll inch toward the real thing together.

i don't know much. but that seems worth giving my heart and life to. so i'm gonna.

and, alas - as promised - continuing from last week, i play more beautiful music by our friends. this week we share with the cobalt season, julius caesar, and cindy o'neill. all three have an incredibly beautiful sensibility, and songs that deserve your listening. i hope you'll explore them more, and support their work. check the links...

the cobalt season - www.thecobaltseason.com
cindy o'neil - www.cindyoneil.com

thanks,
russell

ps - also, for those of you who are fellow fans of the cobalt season, please be aware that they're releasing a new cd "in search of a unified theory" next weekend. they're doing 3 bay area release parties, and they'd love to share it with you. check thecobaltseason.com for details. the san francisco show is on sun. may 27 (see below)...


pps - oh, and also also, as mentioned on the show - i'll be out of town for the next week, so we won't be on the regular schedule next week. there will be a show... but it will appear mysteriously (and probably later than normal). until then, hope your week/end is peaceful and warm. :)

Posted by russell at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (61) | TrackBacks (0)

i'll be playing with liz angelucci this upcoming tuesday night (may 15) at el rio - 3158 mission st. @ cesar chavez, san francisco, 8pm. it's a fun venue in the mission (same place nick g. and shirt played last month), + accessible by bart (24th st. is the nearest station). i know shows on school nights are hard to manage sometimes, but it would be wonderful to share it with you if you can make it!

if you don't already know liz's music, i hope you'll check out episodes 004 & 023.

oh, and don't forget liz's site - www.elizabethangelucci.com
and liz's myspace - www.myspace.com/elizabethangelucci

hope to see you tuesday!
russell


liz and me at blondie's - apr. 4, 2007

Posted by russell at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (47) | TrackBacks (0)

if you get a chance, i hope you'll take a listen to this week's podcast. it's about love. and doubt. when it comes down to it, personally, i think love is about us - you and me - here - now. and that's all it ever is - for better and worse. i mean really. it's not like god's gonna force it on us, right? we have to want it. and, even more, we hafta do something about it. it's an active thing - not something we fall into, or is given to us - but more, something we dive into and run toward and seek and create.

i know i sometimes (ok, often) come-off pollyannish about idealism and hope and optimism. i'm a little embarrassed about that, but guess it just is what it is? i want what i want. at the same time, i do hold respect for (and see the truth of) cynicism and brokenness and desperation. in fact (contradictingly?), i think understanding pain, and experiencing pain (i mean the real kind, where there's no answer, and it just hurts) is essential to any approach or potential for meaningful hope. because real (meaningful) hope seems inextricably linked to the counterweight of "the other side" - which is to say: hopelessness. it's weird, but, in this sense, the cynics are right. real hope has to respect and deal with the complex and difficult truth of the world we really live in - the one where being sensitive and compassionate and loving is most-often met with loneliness and rejection and violence. it's hard. but, i mean, what good is hope if we can't touch it and feel it and use it? i see that.

it's in this sense, i submit episode 37. yet another variation on the theme of engagement, presence, and being honest even when it's scary. it's far from complete, i know. i'm blind, incompletely trying. and i just don't see any other alternative (thus the connection to desperation, perhaps?). so, i'm here - giving my whole self to the possibility. hoping. at least as much as i can. and so my answer about love, hope - and everything - is yes. i want it, so yes. we need it. so yes. i'm in. all the way. that's the short answer, anyway. ;)

this week's show is also filled with lots of beautiful music by people who've been kind enough to share with us. it's amazing, really. there's some great stuff in here! i'm completely blown away by the generosity, and honored to be able to share the music of djtg, julius caesar (ryan), gates of light (mike welch), and mythica with you. a huge grateful thank you to all of them! and i hope you'll take some time to explore their links (below)...

djtg on myspace:
www.myspace.com/djtgmusic

mike welch (gates of light) on myspace:
www.myspace.com/mikewelchsf

mythica at soundclick:
www.soundclick.com/mythica

thanks,
russell

Posted by russell at 05:50 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

thanks to everyone who came out to see us last night! it was lots of fun. pics below! unfortunately, i didn't get a shot of the slyway performance... apologies to patrick, alex, and anna... in lieu, be sure to visit the slyway site at: www.slywaymusic.com.


kris hauch on piano


nick guerrero rocks the mic. + andrew on mandolin!


hey, that's me! :)

thanks again to patrick, alex, anna, kris, nick, and andrew for sharing the night with me, and to everyone who took the time to be there with us. it was a total joy and honor. let's do it again soon, ok?

happy sun. night,
russell

Posted by russell at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (43) | TrackBacks (0)

just another reminder - tonight's "cinco de mayo" show is almost here! hope you can join us. simple pleasures cafe is at 3434 balboa st., san francisco (cross street is 35th ave.). nick guerrero, kris hauch, and slyway, will all be performing with me! the show starts at 8pm sharp (for reals). we'd love to see you there.

thanks,
russell

Posted by russell at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (47) | TrackBacks (0)

in contrast to descriptions of life-experience i hear all around me, i find that i'm actually getting more idealistic as i get older. which is weird. it's supposed to go the other way, right? or is it? i wonder. but i gotta admit, i'm a little self-conscious about it. i doubt myself. maybe i'm drifting more and more out of touch??? or, maybe not? maybe idealism is appropriate? i don't know for sure. but i do know that i'm siding with hope. cuz i know there is. it's a conviction, really - a faith formed of emotional necessity, dreams, intuition. and, ultimately, it comes down to us. you and me. don't know about you, but i really really really need there to be hope. i really need change to be possible. so, yes. guess i insist on it? ;)

episode 36 is sort of about that, and the idea of internalizing social criticism. why do we doubt ourselves so easily? i do it all the time, naturally, subconsciously. and, on the other hand, i know that all-powerful common "sense" is way too often fearful and small and limited and selfish... not to mention just plain wrong! like - the exaltation of surface value ($, appearance, status), or might makes right, or the idea that we gotta close our hearts toward each other in order to be "safe." wrong, wrong, wrong. and somebody's gotta say no. somebody's gotta say, "sorry. things can be better and we're gonna go do it." it's an issue of vision. pure and simple. if we want an empty, cruel, passionless, world, there'll always be endless self-fulfilling proof available. no doubt. but the opposite is also true. and that's the life i want. i want us to be that somebody. and we can be.

if you have time, i hope you can take a listen to this week's show. i blab on about such things, and play some songs. i'm currently trying to put a set together for this sat. night's show at simple pleasures cafe, so it's like eavesdropping on a little podcast-practice. i play some stuff i'm working on - some oldies, some newbies, some hybrids of both. if you have advice or ideas on what i'm doing, i'd love to hear your perspective. thanks. hope your week is well...

love,
russell

ps - reminder! this sat. night's "cinco de mayo" show is gonna be fun! i hope you can be there. simple pleasures cafe is at 3434 balboa st., san francisco (cross street is 35th ave.). nick guerrero, kris hauch, and slyway, will all be performing with me! show starts 8pm. we'd love to share the night with you.

Posted by russell at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (43) | TrackBacks (0)