From my Window: Shambhala Day

The bass drum, cymbals and chanting began at 8:15 on this dreary, cold and wet Saturday morning in Chicago.

It is Shambhala Day--the Tibetan New Year--and the Shambhalans were holding their 'Lhasang' purification ceremony in the parking lot. It's 33 degrees with a 21 mph North wind, and the rain is mixed with snow...UGH!

From their website:

SHAMBHALA DAY marks the beginning of the New Year, and represents one of the most important traditions of Shambhala Buddhism.

Based on the traditional Tibetan New Year's celebration of Losar, the day is calculated astrologically according to the Tibetan lunar calendar, and changes every year to coincide with the annual lunar cycles.

Shambhala Day is a time for us to express the wealth and richness of our spiritual and cultural heritage through feasting, conviviality, elegance and pomp.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who will be coming off his year long retreat will address the worldwide Shambhala community on Shambhala Day through an onlinehook-up, which includes centres and groups from six continents and over thirty countries around the world.

The day typically begins at sunrise with a Kyudo demonstration, referred to as the "First Shot" to signify the beginning of the New Year.

A morning Lhasang (purification ceremony) is conducted, followed by breakfast, and The Exilir or Life Sadhana.

The Sakyong's address will begin promptly at noon, and will address the communities responses to the Letter of the Morning Sun. Lunch will be served afterwards.


In case you're wondering...

Lhasang is a smoke offering and purification practice from burning juniper and is traditional in Tibet.

In Shambhala, we offer lhasangs for the Shambhala Day and on other special occasions.

Sometimes a lhasang marks the beginning of a large practice program such as seminary.

A lhasang may also be used to recognize the sacredness of an object before it is offered to a practitioner, for example before students receive a terma text.

With a home practice, small bricks of charcoal are lit and dried juniper is added.

A lhasang chant can be said additionally.

For large programs, usually a fire is prepared in a firepit and entire branches of juniper are added atop the fire.

Dipping the branches in a little water before adding them will increase the smoke.

A longer lhasang chant may be performed, and additional offering substances like a torma and alcohol may be purified (such as using the Vajrasattva mantra) and then offered in the fire at specific points during the long lhasang chant.

After 15 minutes, everyone began to head back inside.

Oh, one last thing...instead of hiding out in the parking lot, I wonder why these ceremonies are not held in their generous, and much more welcoming, front yard--right at the corner of Sheridan Road and Sherwin Avenue?

It would certainly be more inspiring than a parking lot, which is next to another parking lot!

Just asking....

While you was makin' Motown so big...

...there were more people out there contributing to the United States of America's music.

You might know them, Mister pResident, if you and your wifey had any concept of US history.











And, because neither Obama knows very much about the history of music in Chicago, I leave you with this:



Then, there's my favorite, because when I was a production Artist on "The Blues Brothers" in 1979, someone high up made a mistake and I had to kerosene-clean the character's car.

The character was CURTIS, played by Cab Calloway, who came up to me and asked, "Baby, What you doing to my car?"

I replied, shaking in my shoes, "Erm, Mr. Calloway, sir...someone wanted it aged down, but Mr. Landis wants it perfectly clean."

"Well, baby, can I help you?", Mr. Calloway asked.

"No, sir...that would be against union rules, sir.", I answered.

But he hung out with me anyway, and watched and talked as I gave his 'funeral car' two kerosene washes, a couple of Tide washes, and the final Windexing.

My mother, for some reason, loved this man as a performer. Me? I just loved him for who he was that day. Talk about COOL?



And, lest we forget the man--Ray Charles! If Ray was still alive, I'm certain he could teach Barky O how to dance, don't you think?

It's getting late for me...

...but, as I scrape the last remains from the Nutella jar, I wonder just why the MOO is trying so hard to look like June Cleaver?

She wasn't even a twinkle 'on Daddy's lap' until 1964 (the year I graduated from High School--so she doesn't know anything, as I went to a private school in Milwaukee, and she went to lowest-rated Chicago public schools.

That is why, at 47 years old, she is FIRST BEGINNING TO LEARN about nutrition!

All this garbage because she is black, and apparently she thinks blacks don't give a crap about nutrition--that is what she is saying.

I have a few black friends who say differently: they know and understand nutrition...and could take down this MOO at a moment's notice!

Bill the Cat is wondering why MOO salutes SEIU, because he misunderstood and brought long his 'Easter bonnet'! And he's also wondering why the back of her dress (which you cannot see) is, in fact, SEIU PURPLE, just like Jill's outfit!

Then, I wonder why her hubby, Barky, looks so ill lately (as though he may be HIV POS);

it's not as if he didn't know his daddy...just take a good look at his oldest daughter; you'll see Malcolm X (Little Shabazz) right there, alright! Butt...he's been a play-around-boy, especially here in Chicago, so many say.

Many say, you ask? Why not check out what the boys at www.hillbuzz.org have had to say in the past, re: Barky, Man's Country and, yes...Rahm, the mayor-elect of Chicago. (NOTA BENE: Hillbuzz is trading over to their new, improved website, so be patient. I am certain their archives will be available shortly.).

I'm also wondering why no one seems to understand Governor Scott Walker and his entire position re: the Dem-idiots who ran away.

Just wonderin'...like a normal citizen of the United States of America should be doin'--RIGHT?

I ask, again, for a few more minutes of your life...this could be the antidote to the Obamas

Watch...and listen.

You all deserve a break...today...tomorrow...and every day!



Outside the box of playing guitar...and beautiful music...has entered our Universe!

Beautifully produced, and even more beautifully incepted!

And 'fingering' is fast becoming a lost art, I fear.

Got a few minutes?

You might want to 'make time to take time' to watch this very--no--extremely well-done presentation. I found it at http://alwaysonwatch3.blogspot.com/ . You can view it here:

Then, watch it again, take some more time, and REALLY think about Liberty and Freedom, won't you please?

Sometimes...

...it's just better to stop--and play Solitaire, isn't it?

I consider myself 'a thinking person', as do many of you. Yet, at times, I have to let the brain calm down--and what better way to do it than play Solitaire, which, though boring, seems to relieve a lot of stress, and still allows enough of a challenge to keep the brain functioning?

This past week, the entire world seems to have gone 'off its rocker', hasn't it?

The Moslems have gone nutzoid, as have the unions and all the Democrats, including Obama re: the DOMA situation.

This doped-up Prez MUST realize (and come to grips with) the fact that HE is not the Judicial branch of the government of the United States of America.

HE is merely the head of the Executive branch...and MUST LEARN to conduct himself accordingly.

He (and his wifey!) must NOT be allowed to think he is our DICTATOR--ever!

And personally, I think he is a PUTZ!

It was a Sunday morning...

...in 1979, when I was working as a Production Artist here in Chicago on a film called "The Blues Brothers".

I had a boss, Gary Osborn, and his second-in-command, Jerry Palermo, who were members of the Studio Mechanics union out of Los Angeles. We were all working for Universal Studios on this film, but we found some spare time to walk around and shoot photos. Gary was very interested in photography. As a thank-you gift, I bought him a new lens for his camera. He was thrilled.

These are my pix, from a Sunday morning along S. Halsted Avenue, showing a couple of what we then called 'bums'. I wish I had Gary's shots!

The necessary bottle

The necessary 'air' guitar

Just why the crib was out in the middle of nowhere, and just what was written on the head and footboards...I have no idea any longer.

Just thought the whole post might be of interest to someone...somewhere?

A message from a troll...

...and I laugh.

"You'll never hear from me again"--Anonymous

Oh, the dichotomy!

Instead, if you'd like to know more about me...you might watch, and listen closely to, this:

I'm certain it's still there...

...somewhere near Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Fences, these days, seem to block out everything in the name of 'privacy'. This fence was welded, piece by piece, and became ART.

These are 35mm film shots, scanned, and with no retouch, turned into digital photos. I took them with a borrowed Pentax in 1979. The negatives have been stored away in glassine envelopes all these years. There is no evident deterioration.

And...it's really nice to see these! I can finallly print some of my favorites from a time when I was exclusively shooting black and white!