Show #218

Hello Friends of the Garden!

Well this is fun and different! I'm sitting in a Peet's Coffee shop in Berkeley on Shattuck Avenue as I write this! Like a swallow returns to San Juan Capistrano, like muslims going to Mecca, the Gardener must make a trip to see Widespread Panic! I'm certain I have seen WSP at least twenty times which isn't all that hard to do when see them in two and three day chunks each time! And this time was really, really good! I feel satiated!

I love Berkeley! It's got it's problems like anywhere else but it seems so vibrant and alive. Sure, separated by only a few feet and a big piece of glass, homeless people are begging right in front of me. In the exact same moment I get a sense of great creativity at a multitude of levels that connote a feeling of hope and purpose. I feel like this would be a place that artists, writers, and musicians would congregate like during the Bohemian period in Paris.

I guess it sounds glamorous to talk about artists, writers and musicians while a homeless person rummages through the garbage right in front of the window in my safe little franchised coffee shop. It's so hard to reconcile my feelings about the homeless! It's overwhelming when your mind tries to conceive a solution to this pervasive issue that confronts not just our society but the world! How did they get where they got to? What circumstances led them to this? Is there fault that needs to placed on the homeless and does that even matter? Harder still is, how can I make a difference on this issue?

I believe fear has a lot to do with the way we deal with the homeless. When we see what we ascertain as pitiful we forget about our blessings and instead covet them. We fear that the homeless will somehow take them from us as we encounter them. Worse still we judge them against our own success not taking in to account the hurdles they face and discounting our own safety nets of security that we take for granted! We recognize the homeless as lazy, shifty, dirty, helpless, drug addicted and generally a nuisance.

Trouble is that we don't really have a good track record for dealing with nuisances! We tend to deal with them as we do pests, like bugs and rodents, eradication is easier than a real solution. It feels like an insidious subtle way of unconsciously dehumanizing a problem to make ourselves feel better about "our" way of reconciling their plight. I know I get caught feeling this way all the time! Dealing with the issue of homelessness as someone who isn't feels like a real conundrum.

I know it's an overly simplistic notion but, it seems to me that in order to be of any help to your family and friends you need to have your "own house" in order. At a personal level, if you intend to help someone you need to have your own act together first. We should figure out how to take care of our own first, the aged, the in-firmed, the veterans, the poor and the homeless!  I think we would be a better nation if looked at our issues at home more than the world.

And yes, it's important to address terrorism and world issues but if you consider our best solution is to indiscriminately bomb people with remote drones you have to admit it's not a very enlightened solution! Seems to me that people that develop a true sense of community are the foundation of the solution. Our answers to these and other dilemmas we face are all rooted in our ability to come together and truly seek common ground with a dedication to forging the most adequate solution for all parties! 

Still, it's a frustrating thing to witness! I love Berkeley but this town just doesn't have enough quarters because everybody here seems to need one! I don't have an answer, I just know I want one and I'd like to talk with more people that feel like I do. Maybe then we can figure something out together, that'd be good!

On to Show # 218! This is the first time I've ever put together a show in a relatively unfamiliar place, from my hotel room, kinda weird really! There's a lot here though, new stuff from The Rides, more from Black Pistol Fire, brand new stuff from a new Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle cd, The Shelters brand new to the SGP, and Shinyribs, There's a nice reggae set. Everything else is cemented together with your standard SGP melange of the ridiculous to the sublime, fun!

Robin, I think I'm on my way after the show! Jerry, I'll see you soon buddy! Thanks for hanging with me in the studio last week! I can't wait to tell you both about the Panic show, IT WAS AWESOME!

Thanks to all you listeners! I appreciate each and every one of you! Please feel free to contact me in any way you can to give me your take on things or if you'd like to request anything!

Peace and love to you all!

Mike