A day of note

Jeff Porter’s birthday
A musician’s musician
Playing them his way

He’s a working stiff
“Just” an American dad
Chasing a dollar

But words from his heart
And music from his fingers
Fill in his story

Singing uncle spun
Melodies, pilot dad traced
Vapor trails for him

Mystery and beauty
Fleeting fame, lasting longings,
Hearts like birds take wing

His down to earth songs
Sketch laugh-out-loud flaws, foibles,
Spankin’-good romance

Magic each Wednesday
Gigs with his pals Bob and Norm
Always some surprise

Folk, rock and reggae
A little country — he can
Sing and play it all

Newest Rainmaker
Helps Bob, Rich, Pat get it right,
Fåvang to St. Cloud

A fine guitarist
Knockout keyboard player, too
That’s our Jeffy Lee

Happy birthday, Jeff
Your fans are blessed to know you
Friends, luckier still

P.S. If you aren’t already familiar with Jeff’s music, you should be. His “15 Miles” CD is available at Amazon and iTunes, ditto the “No Abandon” CD with Bob Walkenhorst, which includes “Hey Bird.” Amazon also has “Norway No Abandon,” a great DVD from Bob and Jeff’s 2010 Norway tour. Jeff’s also the lead guitarist on the Rainmakers’ 2011 release, “25 On.” And come to the Record Bar in Westport almost any Wednesday; Jeff and Bob, usually with Norm, hold court from 7 to 9. Heck, they’ll even let you buy ’em a beer — and I think the above mentioned products usually are available, too, at the sound board.

The best is yet to come

The Rainmakers have a new video out. I thought there might be one or two people reading this who haven’t seen it. So there it is. It’s also a good excuse to post some more semi-related pre-blog stuff. Again, chances are good if you’re reading this you know the Rainmakers were a 1980s and ’90s band from Kansas City that got back together this year, 25 years after their first album, and cut another great album, “25 On,” pretty much in five days. (Get it here: http://tinyurl.com/655s34s.)

Anyway, as I get older it’s inspiring and heartening to see people my age and older doing amazing things, and to feel that I’ve never been quite so alive and capable and creative. Thus, “Old Guys” haiku, from March 16:

Old guys have the chops
Rainmakers “25 On”
Better than ever

Old guys really rock
Neil Young, like a hurricane,
Still blows us away

Old guys have the goods
Neil Young showed the way, out-grunged
Every new grunge band

Old guys have Mojo
Like Tom Petty cranking out
His 15th album

Old guys have the touch
Land a plane on the Hudson?
Sully was no kid

Old guys have vision
Frank Lloyd Wright in his 60s
Dreamed Fallingwater

Old guys have the ear
Janacek wrote his classics
At 70-plus

Old guys kick your ass
Then effortlessly drink you
Under the table

Old guys keep going
They were just born to outlast
Punks and pretenders

Old guys do it all
At least the ones who really
Could in the first place

The only thing that
Really gets old is people
Hung up about age

And here’s a little Rainmakers addendum, from April 13, reference to Hendrix’s saying, “Oh no, I’m out of tune again; well, only cowboys stay in tune.”

“Tuning’s for cowboys,”
Jimi said; Rainmakers say,
“Rehearsing’s for kids”

Pretty pictures haiku

Check today’s Google doodle!

The artist Mary Blair
Born 100 years ago
Light, motion, color

On Disney’s canvas
Brought our fairy tales to life
In 1950s

From “Cinderella”
To “Alice in Wonderland,”
“Peter Pan,” “Dumbo”

Her storied career
Continued with Golden Books’
Bright illustrations

On laps, TV screens,
From story books, DVD’s
Her gentle flame glows

Bright idea haiku

Thomas Edison
In 1879
A light bulb came on

Electric moment
Banished darkness forever
With incandescence

Edison, who said,
“There are no rules here,” made light
Of his glowing feat

Before his light bulb
What popped up over folks’ heads
When ideas came?

More efficient lights
Taking their place — Edison
Would want it that way

Rapture (as in feeling fine) haiku, redux

Harold Camping says
He was just 5 months early
World ends tomorrow

So it’s my last chance
To share these haiku from May
When he foresaw doom

From Friday, May 20:

Oakland minister
Says Saturday’s the Big One,
Beginning of end

Harold Camping out
Of his cotton-pickin’ mind
Predicts Judgment Day

Harold Camping out
Past reality’s edge, where
The buffaloed roam

So he was wrong back
In ’94 when he said
This before. So what?

Is he any more
Off than any preacher who
Claims to have THE truth?

Is he any more
Immoral than others who
Sell false certainties?

This geezer’s gonna
Stop our party? Yeah, him and
What Armageddon?

Aren’t these the same folks
Freaked about the deficit?
Explanation, please

The ones who say God
Will protect and save them but
Are armed to the teeth?

Atheists are poised
To rub their noses in it
When Sunday dawns bright

No gloating for me
But if some folks wise up I’ll
Toast their end of daze

End of the world? Nah.
Apocalypse whenever,
I say. Meanwhile, Peace!

Revelation addendum:

On the other hand
If you’re gone and I’m still here
Can I have your car?

—————————–

Since the original prediction, R.E.M. has broken up. Could THAT be what Harold Camping was picking up vibes from? We’ll never know!

Food haiku, redux

Harvard has a new food plate, and it looks better than the USDA one that came out in June to replace the food pyramid. Here’s my take on that first one, from June 3.

Food pyramid? Dead!
Replaced by a carved-up plate
Appetizing? No!

Maybe that’s the point
So we’ll eat less, but I have
So many questions

Wine must count as fruit
And beer’s under grains? I know
That’s where doughnuts go

Carrot cake’s under
Vegetables, that’s obvious
With zucchini bread

That dairy circle
Is ice cream, right? Expanding
Waistlines want to know!

Hosni Mubarak’s
Gotta be bummed. First his job,
Now the pyramid

And does this mean all
Middle Eastern food is out?
Cancel the hummus!

What about tapas?
How many small plates will fit
In this danged big plate?

Too many questions!
I’ll keep the pyramid — with
A cherry on top

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/

10-20-50 birthday haiku for TP

Such a skinny guy
To cut such a wide, wide path
Through the world of rock

On a movie set
He met Elvis one fine day
It’s good to be king

On a TV set
Saw the Beatles rock U.S.
Knew what he wanted

Unlike so many
Tom Petty made it come true
Running down a dream

He’s had lots of help
Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell
Always have been there

Fought record labels
Hey, he was born a rebel
And he won’t back down

Once he made his mark
Dylan, Harrison, others
Gladly worked with him

60 million sold
That’s a lot of hearts to break
Wilburys traveled

Classic synthesis
Fusing the Byrds’ chime and twang,
Stone’s rock, Beatles roll

And Heartbreakers are
The great American band
35 years on

What’s your favorite hit?
“Refugee”? “Here Comes My Girl”?
“Even the Losers”?

Maybe “Free Fallling”
“Learning to Fly” or “Down South”
TP, you wreck me

After work I’ll play
‘Em all. Till then, the waiting
Is the hardest part

Random haiku

Cold air, frosted ground
December morning wanders
Into October

Olive oil question:
How is it that something can
Be extra virgin?

October’s the month
To adopt a shelter dog
Diamonds in the “ruff”

Roll over EVERYBODY

Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ roll!
Your daddy was born today
Talkin’ Chuck Berry

Chuck was rock’s first king
‘Cause he was no prince, always
Pulling some nonsense

Weapons rap headline
Read: “A gun in his pink car”
Chuck was hard to miss

Duck walkin’, duckin’
Taxes and morals charges
And cops hassling him

Yeah, Chuck was a pain
But could he write, play and sing
Handsome devil, too

“Maybelline” started
String of hits, “Johnnie B. Goode”
Proved Chuck was real deal

He was hard to love
And is to this day, but he
Paved the rock highway

So just give me some
Of that rock ‘n’ roll music
And give Chuck his due

Dibs on all the dance moves on this one:

A bow (bou), a bow (bō), a birthday

Play a birthday tune
For Shinichi Suzuki
Say, “Twinkle, Twinkle”?

Suzuki bowed out,
99, in ’98
His lessons live on

Suzuki grew up
Working father’s factory
Making violins

Taught himself to play
Though father thought performing
Unworthy pursuit

German study trip
Gave him chance to know Einstein
And think bigger thoughts

Bombs of war destroyed
Family violin factory
Poverty threatened

Suzuki worked hard
Taught orphans to play, took one
As son, persevered

He didn’t worry
(Violinists have no frets)
He just kept working

Developed theory
Of Talent Education
For music — and life

Start early, repeat,
Have parents and teachers who
Keep learning, growing

Now youthful millions,
Often playing violin,
Develop themselves

Unlock potential
And appreciate beauty
Of music — and life