Teachings of the Buddha

Though words are spoken to explain the Void, the Void as such can never be expressed. Though we say "the Mind is a bright light," it is beyond all words and symbols. Although the Mind is void in essence, all things it embraces and contains.

- The Song of Mahamudra by Tilopa

blogging from my blackberry

I'm in the Cash'd Out van heading to San Jose. We're playing The Blank Club in San Jose tonight, then the Uptown in Oakland tomorrow night. After that, we're driving home in the middle of the night. The Evangenitals are playing a fundraiser at South Pasadena music on Sunday night.

Monday I've got my "checking" for my new TM adventure in Beverly Hills, and on Tuesday I've got my 2nd major design meeting for the opera I'm directing up at CalArts.

I recently was informed that this will be the US premiere of the opera, which is exciting, and that the composer is actually going to come see the show. That's scary. This is the first time that I've ever directed a major piece by a LIVING author, which seems to bring with it a whole other set of considerations and feelings of responsibility.

I upgraded to the blackberry curve and got internet on my phone once again, which I'm trying to make the most of. So far I'm doing pretty good, I think, as far as upping my BAP rating, productivity and responsiveness.

George Bernardo is in the backseat right now, editing the tracks from the Evangenitals LIVE on KXLU that we're going to release on iTunes in a bit... So that's exciting. And the Evangenitals are revving up to record a new album back at Del Boca Vista studios... So that's REALLY exciting. I just discovered I can blog with my blackberry... So there's no more excuses for no updates on the road!

Boss Ass Pro!!!!

xoxo
Julio

Thought for the Day

As to salvation and all that... The greatest teachers, the true healers, I would say, have always insisted that they can only point the way. The Buddha went so far as to say: "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

The great ones do not set up offices, charge fees, give lectures, or write books. Wisdom is silent, and the most effective propaganda for truth is the force of personal example. The great ones attract disciples, lesser figures whose mission it is to preach and teach. These are the gospelers who, unequal to the highest task, spend their lives converting others. The great ones are indifferent, in the profoundest sense. They don't ask you to believe: they electrify you by their behavior. They are the awakeners. What you do with your life is only of concern to you, they seem to say. In short, their only purpose here on earth is to inspire. And what more can one ask of a human being than that?

- Henry Miller, Sexus

It's Nothing

Lisa Dee gave me the 1st season of Ashton Kutcher's "Punk'd " on DVD for Christmas, along with a Border's gift card (cuz she knowz I gotz to read!) and a pair of pink slippers that say, "I love my BFF" on 'em. It's a good thing her mom was in town to enforce Christmas upon her, as Deedle often likes to try to hide from the formal participation in holidays. :-)

My all-time favorite Punk'd is the one with Justin Timberlake, where they make him believe that all of his possessions, house, pets, EVERYTHING is being seized by a Tax Enforcement agency. Not only is the prank executed with such immense orchestration and precision that it is awe-inspiring... Timberlake's post-prank reaction is so beautiful and joyous and relieved and funny that it really makes me love that guy.

Today I was turned on to Stefan Bruggemann's "Nothing Boxes" by David Hurlin, who is one of the few people I have met who shares my intense obsession with nothing. I am grateful to have another set of eyes and ears out there on the front lines of art life and experience sending me reports whenever nothing makes its appearance.

At the end of the Justin Timberlake Punk'd episode, he finally picks up one of the boxes that he assumed was full of his stuff. They were all completely empty.

Absence is the new presence. Everything is connected. Nothing is real.

Happy New Year?

Love,
Juli

For the Love of the Damon

I know this video is uber-old news, but who cares! I was telling someone about it today and they HADN'T seen it, and the memory of it so delighted me that I had to look it up and watch it again. Then I figured I'd share it with YOU, too. It's Sarah Silverman's "I'm F@cking Matt Damon" song. And it's funny.



Now, I've never been particularly responsive to Sarah Silverman's comedy, which I know is blasphemy to some folks. Oh well. This video, however, is really funny to me, mostly because of how hysterically awesome Matt Damon is in it. That guy has made some interesting career moves and come out as a friggin' superstar. He kicked some major acting ass in The Departed and The Bourne Trilogy is just friggin' awesome. That's right. I love 'em all. Can't wait for the "Untitled Jason Bourne Project" to come out in 2010. That's almost as exiting as the coming of 2012!

The conversation that reminded me of the Sarah Silverman/Matt Damon video was regarding Alanis Morissette's version of the "My Humps" song (which, incidentally, I finally heard the original version of recently, whilst driving in my car, and was utterly horrified at how completely base and idiotic it was. Amazingly Fergie's "London Bridge" was a MASSIVE development in poetics and content from this banal piece of mediocre asininity.) In the end, the Alanis video was determined to be "not that funny" by those conversing on the topic, as it didn't really "go" anywhere after the initial "joke" was revealed. As a wise man once said, it "missed the rising action." :-)

i love my band

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i really, really do.

i love my band.

seriously.

love,
juli

i want what you want

reciprocally inspired by drummer tabla philosopher poet player enthusiastically inclined zen dada motivational speaker david hurlin of the drum theory and revelation blog i've decided to write this abandoned blog entry here now tonight at this very moment because i am to some extent or another what i would consider to be BEHIND SCHEDULE with THIS, my personal blog.

i will, however, now utilize some punctuation, which AT THIS MOMENT strikes me as a funny word in it's relation to punctuality and is something that i will now have to dig up the root on, define for myself in poetic fashion, and perchance make a graph determining the intersection and the direction of these two terms. if it makes a cross, i will not be in the least be surprised, yet utterly delighted at the repeating pattern.

so, what's what? life is good. the evangenitals are playing shows. i just got hired by my alma mater CalArts to direct a really wild opera. lisa dee is blogging again. i'm going to start learning TM tomorrow (today). my student loans came through, giving me the illusion of financial security for the time being. cash'd out gigs continue to be a blast for me and i'm becoming more and more of an essential part of the show. i'm reading more, feeling more, thinking more, writing more, loving more, feeling my heart open it's barn doors more, tasting and sensing and aching more acutely. and i smell a lot. :-)

i helped a friend move today. i read nietzsche today. i spent a couple hours in a bookstore today and ran into some folks i really like. i talked about poetry with a stranger today. i lifted a lot of boxes and moved furniture. i ate a spicy thai salad. i saw my old boss. i got pulled over by a cop for my headlight being out and he didn't give me a ticket. i watched a movie on netflix today. i got to see mister turtle's sleepy/closed eyes today, which is one of my great ecstatic joys of pure adorability. today was a good day.

tomorrow. today. it's late. same difference. the sun doesn't actually rise anyhow. :-)

love always. seriously.
reverend juli crockett

I Make The Rain

I love hot tea. I'm not sure if it's the agave nectar which I use to sweeten it, the warmth of the liquid, or the actual flavor of the teas that I make that pleases me so; whatever it is, it works a magic on me. I like the ritual of making tea. I like putting the loose leaves in my Japanese-style teapot and mixing weird combos to make a hot wet flavor experience. And I like the cups that I drink it from. I like the way they fit in my hands. I just like it all.

Some time ago, my teapot (the one I boil the water in, not the Japanese-style one) stopped whistling, so now when I boil the water for my tea, I have to stay generally alert as to the fact that there is water boiling on the stove, since the pot is not going to be so kind as to whistle and let me know. Alas, I am not always good at this.

More than I'd like to admit, I get distracted and totally forget that I'm boiling water. It has, on more than one occasion, come to pass that I will end up participating in the transformation of an entire pot of water into steam by neglecting the boiling water on the stove. This used to make me feel bad, as I thought I was wasting water, until I realized that perhaps I am playing a small part in the Hydrological Cycle, helping the big 'ol water wheel of the world with it's turning.

The way I see it, every time I offer up a pot of steam to the heavens, I'm helping to plump up the clouds, weigh down the sky, and bring the rain. And I like the rain, too. :-)

And another thing...

On the bagged tea tip: I friggin' love the teas (like Yogi Tea or Good Earth Tea) that give you some words of wisdom or a famous quote on the paper tag. I'm a sucker for lil' nuggets like that, and I appreciate chunks of literature and/or anything I can take as a sign and/or signal from the universe wherever I can get it.

I like music, yes I do!

I really like music. I especially like GOOD** music that makes me really HAPPY.

What is making me happy RIGHT NOW is:

• The fact that the King's of Convenience's ENTIRE ALBUM "Quiet Is The New Loud" is on Last.fm!
• The fact that an awesome band called "Hippie Cream" from Hemet, CA just found the Evangenitals on Myspace and I suspect that not only are we musical soul mates but we shall play together very soon!
  
• The fact that the Evangenitals just got asked to play ANOTHER show with Hello From Reno (at Mr T's Bowl on December 30th) and we friggin' LOVE those guys!
• The fact that Matt Reischling of Confessions of a Corn Silo is as good a PERSON as he is a MUSICIAN and that's PRETTY DAMN GOOD!
• The fact that Evangenitals drummer DAVID HURLIN is BLOGGING like CRAZY.
• The fact that I, too, have a new blog: One Book : One Week

Taken together, that is an awful lot to be happy about... and I am awful happy. AWFUL! HAPPY!

** It is in fact BECAUSE the music makes me HAPPY that it is indeed GOOD...
according to the general philosophy of ethics, morals, and WTF is goodness anyhow.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Rock Fatigue?
Originally uploaded by juliocrockett

Many thanks to Michael for taking pictures of the show at T's Bowl last night!

I've posted some gems to my Flickr account for your viewing pleasure and am writing a big 'ol blog post about our residency at Mr T's Bowl over on the General Genitals Blog: http://evangenitals.blogspot.com

Also, there are some new Evangenitals videos from LAST week's Evangenitals jam at the Bowl freshly posted on MySpace Videos, thanks to fiddle player Andrea Baker's family clan. It was our first show ever with accordion player Ari Desano and I'm real happy to have it documented in perpetuity on the interweb!

Much love,
Juli

An Evangenital in Spaceland

*** THIS JUST IN ***

Evangenitals drummer David Hurlin is going to be drumming with EZRA REICH (http://ping.fm/f4xDC) TONIGHT (Tuesday Dec 2nd) at 11pm.

Since I can't be there (I'm in San Diego recording Johnny Cash/June Carter tunes with Cash'd Out) I'm hoping YOU can go and see this rare spectacle. :-)

Ezra Reich's music is (in my opinion) like John Maus arm-wrestling David Lynch in a Technicolor water ballet. Yes, you can quote me on that.

Regardless of how you felt about the 80's, you will be sure to appreciate how friggin' TIGHT this act is. I'm talking ORCHESTRATED. With STRINGS, man.

So go do it, dig it, and support our dear David Hurlin on his fantastic voyage. :-)

Much love,
Juli Crockett & the Evangenitals

Awesome Article and Free Show to Boot!

The Evangenitals are playing a free pre-Thanksgiving "Thank You" show on Wednesday November 26th, 11pm at Mr T's Bowl that is sure to be SUPER-AWESOME.

Why? Because our alt-country hillbilly love punk rock revolution SEXTET is taking it to the next level (SEPTET!) with the addition of Killsonic Marching Gang accordion player Ari Desano on this glorious night! Yee-haw!

AND...

We just got an AWESOME write-up in the Pasadena Weekly that speaks in great detail and descriptiveness of what a spectacular LIVE act we are... so if you've been putting off seeing us in the flesh, THE TIME IS NOW!

Check out the article here:
http://ping.fm/X4lEo

Wednesday November 26th
Mr. T's Bowl
5621 1/2 N. Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042
Seeing Thingz, We You and Under the Asbury are also on the bill.
Evangenitals at 11pm
Call (323) 960-5693 for details

WE LOVE YOU IN THE GOOD WAY!

Juli & the Evangenitals
http://ping.fm/vKQej

Can't make it? No worries!

More upcoming shows:
December 3rd: Mr T's Bowl, Highland Park
December 4th: The Buccaneer, Sierra Madre
December 14th: Redwood Bar, Downtown Los Angeles

Poe's Proof

A Poem

There is a statue in Baltimore, MD of Edgar Allan Poe in which he is portrayed with an enormous penis, tightly packed in his slacks,
bulging & unmistakable.
I wondered, upon beholding this vision, if it was perchance stipulated in his will that he be portrayed thusly,
in perpetuity.

- Juli Crockett

Creativity and Encounter

"Creative people, as I see them, are distinguished by the fact that they can live with anxiety, even though a high price may be paid in terms of insecurity, sensitivity, and defenselessness for the gift of "divine madness," to borrow the term used by the classical Greeks. They do not run away from non-being, but by encountering and wrestling with it, force it to produce being. They knock on silence for an answering music; they pursue meaninglessness until they can force it to mean."

- Rollo May, Courage to Create

Amor... amor... amor....

I can't stop listening to Eydie Gorme and Los Panchos. All weekend I've been obsessed with this album. I want the Evangenitals to cover every single song on it. There's something about the Spanish language that is in my friggin' SOUL... even if it ain't in my blood (as far as I know)...



It is just plain depressing to me that I've forgotten so much of the Spanish that I learned when I was living in Guatemala. I spent 3 months in Quetzaltenango taking intensive spanish lessons, living with a Guatemalan family, and spending lots of time in "el mero mero" of the Guatemalan cultural hot spots (such as bars, strip joints, and las casas de mujeres). I drank sour orange juice from little plastic bags sold on the streets and ate more garlic knots from la panderia than any sane gringo should. It was delightful. I loved that town. By the time I left I was practically fluent, writing songs and dreaming in espanol. QUE PASO???

I got back to the states and got shy. Stopped talking. Stopped practicing. Started forgetting. Depressing.

There is still quite a lot of it en mi mente, though, and I've been starting to speak it more and more. I've been listening to 105.5 again. Singing along to the classics. Obsessing on Eydie Gorme. Reading Pablo Neruda on the Spanish side of the page. There is a storm brewing. I'm feeling some bilingual Evangenitals on the horizon. Breaking into the Bolero market. Watch out world. Mirame, mundo!!!

:-)

about a bout of drought

Yes, yes, yes... this is one of those stream-of-consciousness blogs whose sole intent is to break the non-blogging dry spell and let you know, dear blog reader, that you are, as always, in my heart and on my mind, and I in no way am intending to hold you without (out side of) my most innermost experience and day to day being/becomingness.

The fact of the matter is, everything I've been doing I've been doing, more or less, for you. For the betterment of our communication, getting myself one step closer to self-realization so that I can move into the grander more impressive production number known as "self-exposure"... however, I certainly want the self exposed to be my most GENUINE and EVOLVED self possible (at that very moment) and therefore I have to retired to my inner workshop, from time to time, to the "smithy of my very soul" as James Joyce, I think it was, once said, to batter myself with the hot pokers and anvils and hammers of my psyche and whip myself into shape so that I may meet you in the best possible way... 100% Juli Crockett.

Yes, I have been cleaning house... literally. Taking out trash, cleaning out the fridge, organizing drawers and cupboards, cleaning dishes, rearranging furniture, alphabetizing books in the bookshelf, GETTING MY OWN HOUSE IN ORDER so that THE ANSWERS MAY COME.

Answers to what? Well..... THAT, my friends, is still to come. More will be revealed, and it will be revealed tomorrow. I guarantee it.

If you love Johnny Cash...

You're gonna freak the f*ck OUT at this show!

Cash'd Out - the world's premiere Johnny Cash tribute band and the only JC tribute band endorsed by the Cash family themselves - is playing at the Viper Room TONIGHT (Saturday November 8th), and I, Juli Crockett, am their infamous "June Carter". I'm going to be opening the show, playing guitar and singing Carter Family songs, and then dueting with the Johnny Cash singer, who is friggin' unbelievable. It's really a fun show and I hope you can make it out to see it. And what's more, Evangenitals extended family member George Bernardo is going to be back there on the drums keeping it steady!

This is a rare LA appearance, as Cash'd Out is based out of San Diego and we mostly play there, Vegas, or other states. :-)

We play at 10pm. I believe it's $10. I may be able to get some folks on the list if you let me know you're coming for certain.

Saturday November 8th
10pm
CASH'D OUT
@
The Viper Room
8852 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Much love,
Juli

Brewing tea, listening to some good beats, and getting down with the 5 Rites in the sunlight streaming into my living room. Bliss! :-)

Testing out the Ping.fm, Great Lord of the Micro-blogging Aggregatortomitrons!!! :-)