On The Road With Al and Ivy: Archive Site

Friday, March 31, 2023

Delta Snake Review: April 2023 Issue

A MONTHLY ONLINE PUBLICATION

EDITOR & PUBLISHER: AL HANDA

deltasnake@yahoo.com

APRIL 2023 ISSUE:

The Top Ten Albums That Influenced The Americana Movement: Part 1 - John Fahey

Classic Album Review: Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry (1969)

Gear Review: Depinto Galaxie 4 Electric Guitar

Quick Takes: Will AI create another Victorian Age or just more Big Brother?

How long will the film market be dominated by special effects films

Classic Review Shorts: NEW FEATURE! Instant 10 second takes on Classic and Current Music, Film & the Arts that will be updated every week throughout April. Check back every so often.

The Top Ten Albums That Influenced The Americana Movement: Part 1 - John Fahey

Americana, or Roots Music, covers a lot of genres and influences. It's expansive enough that my list of the most influential albums might not apply to some of the Americana on Spotify and other streaming services.

At my age, these albums weren't just influences. I saw many of these artists who recorded those live and owned many or all of their albums. All were direct inspirations.

I'll define Americana for this list. It's American Primitive or music that has distinct cultural ties to this country. An artist who emulates Mozart or medieval music isn't an Americana artist (at least in my eyes). One whose inspiration is Muddy Waters, John Fahey, or Cajun, is.

So, here's a list of albums that were influential to the Americana movement. We're really talking about the artist, but listing the albums gives you something specific to listen to if you are interested.

So, in no particular order, here are the albums:

1. John Fahey: Blind Joe Death (Takoma)

The first time I saw John Fahey was in the early 70s at the Paul Masson winery in California, which had begun to stage concerts. The interesting thing was that Fahey didn't do a formal set. He just started playing and only occasionally stopped to introduce a number. Other than that, it was entirely improvised.

I was familiar with country blues and folk as an avid record collector but had never heard someone blend all those genres into a single instrumental form. The music had clear influences, but even then, I couldn't imagine how anyone could copy it without sounding like him.

I'd heard a lot of inspiring music before that concert, but Fahey was the one who inspired me to go out and buy a guitar immediately.

...the seminal one...

I have all of his music, but the first album, Blind Joe Death, is seminal. It originally came out as a self-released record in 1959 as a limited pressing of 100 discs.

Fahey reissued the album in 1964 (which I owned at one time), with some of the cuts re-recorded, and again in 1967, this time was completely redone. The earlier version is rawer and had powerful energy, but the last version is what most people heard. The later reissues in 1996 on Fantasy/Takoma contain both the early and late 60s versions.

The 1967 release has one of his most well-known cuts, a cover of an old hymn, "In Christ There Is No East Or West," which was later covered by Leo Kottke on his "Greenhouse" album. One interesting thing about Fahey is that he covered a lot of old Hymns but wasn't personally religious (at least in the conventional sense). The other thing was his versions were always impressive, like with "Uncloudy Day," so he did draw some inner calm or inspiration from those hymns.

Other well-known cuts include his versions of "Poor Boy" and "John Henry' which had an expansive and mysterious mood, as opposed to being spacy. There was always a deep folk-blues feel to his music.

Numbers like "The Transcendental Water Fall" and "Sligo River Blues" were takes on numbers that were always improvisational in concert. I saw him play twice, in the early 70s and the 90s, and heard parts of these numbers in his improvisations. Obviously, those were themes that he loved and continued to explore over time.

...more details...

I once conducted a one-hour interview in the 80s with one of his friends, Bill Barth, and learned more about Fahey's 60s work as a musician and musicologist and realized that only a book would do him justice. Unfortunately, the tape was lost before it could be transcribed, but the stories Barth told me are cherished memories.

One of my most prized possessions isn't a guitar or object. He once sent me an email explaining what guitar tuning he used on his "Fare Forward Voyagers" album, which is my favorite, and I've always ensured it's kept safely archived.

...coining a phrase...

John Fahey was the one who coined the "American Primitive Guitar" phrase, discovered Leo Kottke, Robbie Basho, Peter Lang, and George Winston for his Takoma Label, and was the original template for the American solo acoustic guitar player; from a man who never recorded a gold or platinum album, and who could have cared less.

On a personal level, he's the one who turned me into a guitar player. In my case, that's a Guitar God if there ever was one.

Coming in Part 2: Leo Kottke and more.

Classic Album Review: Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry (1969)

Laura Nyro was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2012, and I saw the same wide range of opinions about her as in 1967, from an acknowledgment of her genius to puzzlement by obviously younger writers who had to look her up on Wikipedia.

Nyro has a solid legacy now, particularly with female artists who saw that she was a true rock pioneer and a woman artist during a time when even the hipper 60s audience tended to marginalize them.

“history” can be problematic because it quickly becomes accounts written by people who weren’t at an event or knew the person being written about. History quickly becomes a compilation or editing of available written sources. That’s why the reputation of a King or whatever can change over time if new sources are uncovered.

For example, many medieval accounts of Kings and events like battles are inaccurate because the writer was, more often than not, what we’d now call a publicist. Historians will sift through the data and amend things like unrealistic feats and numbers, which improve accuracy but introduce bias or agendas.

There’s plenty of criticism about the Internet and the amount of false information and propaganda, but historians will welcome the vast body of documentation. People in past eras had the same mind-numbing mass of opinions, half facts, lies, attacks, Mansplaining, and serious and trivial concerns that the Internet has made immortal but rarely documented.

So historians might say this or that King was loved by his subjects, which most of us know is a load of bull (find a U.S. President that was loved by 100% of the people), and that judgment will be based on what are available written accounts.

If The Internet existed in Medieval times, it’d look remarkably similar to how it looks now.

…the common line…

In regards to Laura Nyro, the most common line in the 60s was that she was a gifted singer and songwriter whose songs were performed by major artists such as Barbara Streisand, Fifth Dimension, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Three Dog Night, but whose rising star was dimmed by a disastrous live performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where she was allegedly booed off the stage.

It was said that she never quite recovered from that, and her career settled into cult status after recording an album called New York Tenderberry, which was seen as obscure, intensely personal, and appeared to accentuate what critics felt was her biggest weakness, a tendency to over emote (due to her very wide technical range).

Another factor was that her songs became Top 40 Hits and considered unhip or whatever they called a pop hit back then. The irony of that alleged debacle at Monterrey was that were groups there who were more commercial or “pop.” However, dressing like Hippies and Flower Children helped audiences relate to such far-out sounds.

Laura Nyro’s so-called disaster at Monterrey Pop remained a mystery and took on the shroud of myth. However, over the years, details did come out. The full-length documentary of the concert, which showed her performing, made it clear that it might have been a traumatic experience for a young woman who had written and recorded so many hits by the age of 19 and was more familiar with the New York City music scene.

If one views the documentary, it’s evident that her act was a Cabaret-style musical show that wouldn’t have been out of place in New York or any major city, and she was hardly booed off the stage. One of her deep songs, “Poverty Train,” was lyrically just as hard-hitting as Janis Joplin’s blues rock, but given her early pop success, she was probably already in a bad contract with out-of-touch management who were tone deaf to the changes in the 60s music scene.

…Monterey…

Her act at Monterrey wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in the 70s or to an open-minded audience. Plus, when it comes to America, it doesn’t take much for an audience to start acting like 18th Century Beaver Trappers at a saloon show, even ones where many are wearing love beads and getting together and loving one another.

The Album, New York Tenderberry, is seen as one of her most significant works and a milestone in Women’s music. The lyrics were highly personal, though most women who heard the Album probably saw it as a work that expressed themes understood as feelings that women had and rarely expressed that way in popular music.

In other words, it could be called a milestone in feminist music (though not the political kind) and in a direct line from the classic 20s blues of Bessie Smith or another’s whose feminism and Lesbian attitudes were muted by the Industry but were quite openly expressed at the time. Listen to full collections of the old blues by women singers, and it’s out there, plain as day.

…a single…

The Album did have a single on it, “Time And Love,” which was a hit for Barbara Streisand, and it might have been a concession to the label as it sounds like a cut that would have fit into the earlier “Eli And The Thirteenth Confession” Album.

Before this Album, her forte was incredibly catchy soul-pop, with a few extraordinarily dark and tough songs added to each Album, like “Buy And Sell,” depicting a stark look at street life. In hindsight, such early songs telegraphed that an entire album of such music was coming as soon as she had any control over her career.

…the title cut…

I’ll discuss some songs and focus on the sonic change in her style. For me, the masterpiece is the title cut, which is lyrically introspective and musically adventurous. It floats along, right on the edge of having no conventional structure, and like a late 60 Miles Davis jazz piece, is keyed to the melody line, which the band follows. It was a pretty advanced arrangement for the time, certainly above the level of most 60s rock. That’s not just fan talk; try to duplicate it on a guitar or piano, and it’d be easy to flounder or lose momentum.

The meaning of the lyrics is cryptic, the imagery is highly personal, and the line “And the past is a blue note inside me So I ran away in the morning” is flat-out poetry, haiku-like, and lends itself to different interpretations in the mood and intent.

The song opens with a languid piano, almost pure sound, note by note (technically, one would probably say that it was a modal structure like a late 60s Miles Davis record). Her voice is low, and very rich, and the tone is introspective, not full of pain. It builds to an emotional middle section, then floats back to the original mood. The voice and imagery are such that people would probably see it differently depending on their own experience. In my case, I saw it as a woman singing to herself, if that makes sense, and the images a stream of consciousness where the theme is escaping.

It’s a type of song that John Lennon or Dylan could have done and garnered a lot of praise for, but in 1969, even Joni Mitchell, who was also a lyrical genius, could only gain cult status for that kind of work.

…Miles…

My reference to Miles Davis isn’t a random observation. I’ve read here and there that he was at the sessions, and the title cut does have a feel that suggests that room was left for him to overdub some trumpet. However, after hearing the cut, he said that her vocal said all that needed to be said, which is true. If you follow the song, any extra instrumentation would have sounded intrusive. Miles was a genius who always had good instincts, and knowing when not to play was a hallmark of his style.

Also, in the late 60s, Miles moved into ethereal, modal-style music with “In A Silent Way,” which featured long improvisational jams that, on the surface, sounded “spacy” and otherworldly. It was one of many times he changed the face of jazz. That Album was listened to by quite a few rock artists and certainly Nyro. I’m not assuming she was directly influenced by Miles’ late 60s sound, but New York Tenderberry certainly had parts with the same feel (and she was technically proficient enough to comprehend jazz).

…you don’t love me…

The opening cut, “You Don’t Love Me When I Cry was the kind of song that wouldn’t have been out of place in the 90s with the rise of young female singers and composers, but as simple as the title sounds now, it wasn’t something that was commonly heard in late 60s rock. Back then, it was still love songs and women crying about losing men who had to go ramble and be free as the birds. That was very deep for rock in 1969, and the fact that it’s a common notion now makes the lyric prescient.

The Album signaled a change in her artistic direction. The sensibility of New York Tenderberry was jazz, which influenced her later albums. By the time she passed away, her most recent albums were either solo performances in the vein of Tenderberry or jazz-influence pop and rock that would have sounded just fine on a Michael McDonald or Diana Krall album. Her “Live At The Bottom Line” is as good as jazz-rock gets.

If you delve further into her legacy, it’s apparent that she’s one of those artists whose reputation and assessment of her work seem to keep improving. Her persona and music were multi-layered, and time has been very kind to Laura Nyro.

When one goes down the list of NYC artists who forged legendary reputations as musical street poets, such as Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Jim Carroll, and others, any such collection would be incomplete without the woman who combined romantic street verse with one of the best voices of her generation—a singer who had the chops to match her ambition and vision.

Laura Nyro not only belongs on any such list but should be placed among the first to successfully put the tough but romantic side of 60s New York City life to music.

Gear Review: Depinto Galaxie 4 Electric Guitar

I've always thought that the oddest observation that electric guitar players make is that this or that model is weird or radically different. The reason is that all electric guitars are strange looking with various shapes and colors.

For example, the Fender Stratocaster is considered one of the "traditional" designs. Still, for most people who aren't guitar players, it's a radical design that looks like it's from outer space. I know that the shape, particularly the front "horns" or whatever are there for balance, but it still looks odd.

Gibson created two shapes to compete with Fender, which were commercial failures but ended up being "classic" designs. The Flying V and the Explorer were even more modern arty'ish and are looked at as being more radical looking than the Strat.

However, if you go to a guitar store and look at the racks, and forget that the start is a "standard" shape, all of the guitars would look pretty wild.

That weird or radical label was applied to the DePinto Galaxie 4, which came out around 2014, but in terms of style, it was actually a retro design that fits the image of the most well-known band that endorsed it, Los Straitjackets.

…fits the mold…

The DiPinto Galaxie 4 surf guitar is in the mold of modern or retro surf, as exemplified by the much-missed Japanese band the Surf Coasters or the trashier tones of Link Wray.

The classic tone of traditional surf is the sound of Fenders like the Jaguar or Jazzmasters (or strats, of course) or Mosrites and, in general, the heavily reverbed "clean" tones (though not in the sense you would think in jazz or country).

Sometime around the 80s, a sub-genre of surf developed. Groups like Agent Orange and a host of young bands took traditional surf and added a punk sensibility, even if their sound was more retro than thr hard-core bands.

This subgenre didn't come out of anywhere. You can trace it back to the Ramones, who rocked out a lot of surf songs.

Add to that the early 80s cult legends, the Barracudas (ironically an English band), and surf music became harder, louder, and faster.

There still is a surf music scene. It was there before the Beach Boys made it into a pop form, and there still is one now, as exemplified by bands like the Mermen.

…Los Straitjackets…

The current surf scene is too detailed to discuss here, but one of the emerging bands is Los Straightjackets.

Los Straitjackets are a band whose lineage probably comes from the Ramones and Barracudas side of things, and they not only have a distinctive sound but sport one of the coolest looks on the planet.

A surf band that wears Mexican wrestler masks plays a lot of loud, trashy surf but with enough authentic tone and technique to make it clear that this is an excellent surf band.

The DiPinto Galaxie 4 is a distinctive retro-style guitar they've endorsed. It's a very cool cross between the old cheap Japanese guitars of the 60s with their multitude of pickups and buttons and the classic body lines of the traditional fenders.

Think of a Fender Strat or Jaguar, but with sharper pointed horns and four single coil style pickups, each with an on-off switch in the old 60s Japanese style, but with standard knobs and Fender style five-way switch.

That's twice as many pickups as a Jaguar or Jazzmaster and one more than a Strat. It's stylistically closer to a 60s Japanese Teisco-Kawai.

Although the DePinto's are generally listed in the 650.00 category on the Internet, this guitar is relatively easy to find, priced as low as 500.00 on the street, if you can find one.

Once again, you can get the detailed specs on the Internet, it's not hard to find, but the heart of the guitar is the mahogany body with four single coil square pickups (instead of Fender alder wood), maple neck that has an angled headstock (so you don't have to use the fender style string tree) for better string tension at the nut, a Fender Jaguar style tremolo bar, and bright cool colors with sparkles.

One of its primary selling points, besides its sound (which I'll discuss soon), is that it's at a price point well below what Fender charges for the top-of-the-line versions of the guitars mentioned above and only a fraction of the price of the vintage models.

…modern Fenders…

Fender does make Jazzmasters and Jaguar versions in the same price range as the DiPinto, but they are generally modernized and geared toward the rock and alternative market. Indeed good enough for surf, but that makes it harder to get those classic surf tones, particularly in the case of the Jaguars, which often have humbuckers instead of the traditional single coils(which is a nod to the Grunge genre).

The best Fenders with vintage style hardware are more expensive, and the best value in terms of an authentic recreation is the lower line Squire vintage modified series Jaguar at around 300.00 (note: that price has changed in 2023).

The Galaxie 4 isn't a guitar for the person who wants to play traditional surf like the old Ventures, etc., but perhaps closer to the more modern sound of the Mermen (who use strats) or Dick Dale (as he plays surf now).

The real purpose of this guitar is to play surf the Los Straitjackets way, a combination of the traditional sound but a beefier, flat-out trash guitar tone with a punk edge.

So, on the one hand, I say it's related to the Fenders, but the intent's a little different. If you buy a DePinto, you probably love surf, but you probably want to play it louder and harder. The Galaxie is a nice guitar to hold and play. It's a bit lighter than the Fenders, and the pickups are hotter and more versatile than the ones on the old 60s Japanese guitars.

I think most guitars have a particular sound that defines them. In the case of the Galaxie, it's the far-back pickup. It has a sharp, full tone that's clear, rounded, and unlike any I've heard. When you turn up the gain and volume, it has the trebly attack of an old single coil Gibson SG, but sharper, with a little bit of that excellent cheap pickup sound.

Playing around with the four switches is fun; turning the various ones on and off produce a wide range of tones useful for surf, surf punk, and trash rock. Crank it up even louder, and it'll do fine as an alternative music guitar.

Combine that with retro styling, and you've got one of the best mid-range price and style alternatives to Fender on the market.

…look around…

That said, like all guitars, you should try it alongside other brands and types in the same price range. If you want to play hard rock, it's not entirely suitable for a sound that might need some metal. If you play a similarly priced Gibson SG Junior alongside it, for example, I will tend to take the P90 Gibson sound over the Dipinto, but that might show my age more than anything else.

If you want to play a hard-core Surf sound, it's worth trying out the vintage modified Squires. Those are excellent values for the money also, with the Duncan-designed pickups doing a more than adequate job of reproducing that vintage tone, and cheap enough that you can add stock Fender pickups (and still be in the mid-price zone).

What DePinto did right was not trying to reproduce any of the above sounds slavishly. Its stylistic sensibility does stem from the 60s, but they went for a sound that's identifiably surf but with a juiced-up sound where even the clean tones have a nice punch (and doesn't distort into a pure alternative or metal tone).

It's got excellent 60s mojo, distinctive style, a sound of its own that's still surfy (as we know it today), and at an excellent price point. A used copy would be a fantastic bargain for the money.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a first-line surf guitar or the only one you should have. It may not fit the type of surf music you want to do.

But any search for a surf guitar in this price range should include this one as one of the choices. If for no other reason than if you get a Fender or Mosrite repro, you could find yourself sounding like everybody else.

The DePinto Galaxie 4 will make you sound at least a little different. Any true musician would check out a guitar if there were a chance it could do that.

If they had included a Mexican wrestling mask, I would have given it an extra star for a guitar that's already pretty cool.

Will AI create another Victorian Age or just more Big Brother?

The short answer is "No." The Media already enforces language usage standards, and like in the Victorian Age, the spicy stuff was there if you knew where to look. It was a male-dominated era, and men have historically never closed off avenues of illicit sex and other thrills.

The long answer is, "Maybe Sorta Kinda, Yeah." If you have AI search bots policing moral standards, then not only will those algorithms (that's what they are, not a conscious life) police search and answer requests, the person making the query will almost certainly be reported to relevant agencies and law enforcement. Inquiries about terror-related tech or criminal activities won't just be flagged; the AI will immediately send a report.

Even if official sites guarantee anonymity, there'll be rouge and third-party sites that will. Also, we're only seeing a few official Bots now. You can control those. There's plenty in development that hasn't received funding yet but will hit the market and dark web.

The potential for good is there, but humankind has never just used new technology for good. There are always bad actors; once the technology hits the street level, it'll be used for every imaginable purpose. Even the Bible has been used to justify war, so the tech applications will only be as good as those using it.

So, I doubt AI'll bring on a Victorian Age-type atmosphere. Big Brother and lawlessness, that's another story.

How long will the film market be dominated by special effects films

These special effects extravaganzas with superheroes will eventually begin to lose money and fade away. If you look at the history of cinema, it's obvious that nothing lasts forever. The genre will keep changing and evolving. These current super films will only survive if the next wave of young moviegoers like them. If not, that superhero genre will get smaller budgets and keep cranking out for that age group as it gets older.

NOTE: THIS IS A NEW ONGOING FEATURE. I’LL BE ADDING NEW ITEMS EVERY WEEK THROUGHOUT APRIL, SO PLEASE CHECK EVERY SO OFTEN.

Sgt. Pepper Album (Beatles)

The PR for a new reissue of a classic album now follows the Social Media model, and suddenly a multitude of media voices appear online to amplify the message, like how hundreds of Twitter accounts go into Bot mode and pass on the link or age. If an album from a past era is discussed on many sites, I assume a new vinyl box set of practice takes and other scraps that the group didn't feel were worth releasing has come out. It's a landmark album, but I'd recommend Revolver instead. If you're under 30 or thereabouts, just ignore the hype. You're not the target anyway.

I Can Tell (Johnny Kidd And The Pirates)

Kidd's first big hit in the early 60s U.K. Charts was "Shakin' All Over," a song that inspired later groups like The Who. After that, he hired a band with Telecaster guitar master Mick Green and came out with this hard-edge cover of a Bo Diddley song. They say the first Butterfield Blues Band album with Mike Bloomfield was the primer for telecaster players.

Guitarists like Pete Townshend of The Who used Mick Green's playing as their model. Check this song out on your streaming service or YouTube; you won't be sorry.

All Quiet On The Western Front (2022)

It's not the same film as the two earlier versions, mainly because it doesn't bother to follow the book. It's well made and has good acting, but for this kind of brutal anti-war movie, I'd recommend Samuel Peckinpah's Cross Of Iron instead. The same basic theme but more story. Though I should note some might find some scenes hard to watch.

Traffic Live In Santa Monica

This early 70s concert by Traffic is only available on YouTube. It's similar to the show I saw as a teen at Winterland in SF. Why this hasn't been released is a mystery to me.

SOME PREVIEWS OF MY VELLA BOOKS ON AMAZON:

The Boogie Underground Think Tank: How To Survive The End Of Civilization Update

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BG6LNXTG

This one is a revival of an old humor column I ran in my old "Delta Snake Blues News" publication in the 90s and 2000s. The slant is about survival in the upcoming hard times, but it really will be topical and cover subjects that are offbeat but relevant. The next one coming in a few days will be "How To Shop For The Perfect Expert," which obviously will be a humorous commentary on the use of experts in general.

The ebook “On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Anthology Volume 1 2016-2018 is now on Kindle Unlimited!

Please check out and listen to my music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and other music sites. Please add any cuts you like to your playlists!

Friday, March 10, 2023

On The Road With Al And Ivy: A Literary Homeless Chronicle - March 2023

- Al HANDA

deltasnake@yahoo.com

And every morning, perched on our stays, rows of these birds were seen; and spite of our hootings, for a long time obstinately clung to the hemp, as though they deemed our ship some drifting, uninhabited craft; a thing appointed to desolation, and therefore fit roosting-place for their homeless selves.

- Herman Melville (Moby Dick)

SOME THOUGHTS ON VAN LIFE AND NOMAD LIFE VIDEOS:

One of the topics on Tik Tok and other social media is "Van Life" and other nomad-type trips, and the contents range from helpful tips and observations to complete disconnects from reality that could only happen if the person was well financed or on a lark to become a social influencer. Many of these brief glimpses are about that kind of life when everything is going right or the kinds of obstacles that come up really are more like vacation hassles (that can seem more serious to a homeless person whose short on cash).

I won't do a formal essay; I'll just riff on the idea in general terms and not get too much into critiquing these videos and shorts. One reason is that van life is a diverse scene of which homelessness is only one subculture. That lifestyle is mainly in the recreation and travel category which really is another subject. There’s no reason to write a piece that surveys the whole scene. Plus for many of the homeless, watching a vehicle travelogue is as real as watching a Foodie cooking show or a demo of the perfectly equipped RV or Van.

…new…

The famous American author Jack London decided to live as a homeless person in London and write a book about it. As far as those kinds of investigations go, he probably came the closest to living that life as it was. Even so, he took the precaution of setting up a safe house, which he had to use when the effort to find shelter in bad weather failed. In other words, London had an "out." He could have walked away at any time and, to his credit, was honest enough to state that in his book.

The thing is, there is a huge psychological difference between being stuck there and knowing there's an out. One of my most powerful moments was realizing, "This could be my life from now on." When there's still some cash, and it's all very new, it can feel like an adventure or camping trip.

In my Vella books, On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Novel (all three), this realization will be examined in great detail. In Book 2, the character will see that he was at the same crossroad his Grandfather was at while in a concentration camp during W.W. 2; that a decision to face the present and live an unpleasant reality is the only way out of it, even if acceptance felt like surrender. In the case of the main character, that meant not neglecting the small steps that needed to be taken for survival and making he didn't hit bottom.

The notion of “hitting bottom” is partly myth. I realized that, yes, short of death, it can always get worse. I was living in a car with my dog, but if my life descended lower into backpacking, I'd have lost Ivy and most of what I still owned. Maybe I mean that the "hitting bottom moment" is when you realize it's time to stop the slide, even if moving upwards isn't possible at first.

...time has come today...

One thing I don't see in many of the videos and shorts is the element of time and the related problems of fatigue or emotional distress that the homeless deal with. A little problem that a vacationer will deal with as an annoyance or bump in the road can feel like a disaster to people dealing with depression or mental illness.

For example, one person demonstrated an electrically heated sleeping bag and jacket, making it seem like a successful hack for sleeping in a vehicle in winter snow. As far as success, yeah, kinda, sorta, maybe...but sleeping in a vehicle even when it's only 30+ degrees is colder than you can imagine. A good sleeping bag helps, but even allowing for a heated bag or jacket, here's what can happen throughout a winter, which would be maybe two or three months, 60 to 90 days in a row.

1. Can't find a safe place to park that night. You don't dare get too comfortable.

2. Money's tight that day; you've had to choose between batteries for a heating device at today's prices, food, or gas. I'd pick batteries in a severe winter, then gas and food last. I go to bed hungry.

3. Heating devices like these do fail. Do you have the cash to replace it that day, or is it a mail order item. Do you even have a mailbox? If not, do you know where the nearest shelter is, safe or not, as a place to retreat to? In warm weather, no big deal. We're talking about months of cold that can kill you in winter. These devices have to work every single day in weather where a few people die every year from exposure in cars if they get stranded.

4. A druggie gets pissed at you and puts a rock through one of your windows. I've seen that happen. If your insurance deductible is too high, you'll have to use precious cash to fix it ASAP in the snow. Until then, it’ll be a garbage bag or cardboard, and your car (and you) will be wet (and very cold) inside after cleaning up the mess.

Also, can you cover the motel bill if the car has to stay in the shop?

5. Your car battery dies. No charge for a bag that uses 12V until you get a jump, run the car and waste valuable gas, and that's for a battery in good condition. If it's near it's "end of life" and doesn't hold charge well, I wouldn’t run a device off it.

The list could go on. Having lived through a few winters in the Midwest, if I had to live in a car, it'd be time to head South where snow would be the least of your problems. The margin of error when the temperature goes below zero is too tiny to try 60-90 days of it. No reputable survival expert would make it seem like a simple matter of some clever hacks.

...idiots...

There's one other element that these videos don't cover; we called them "idiots," or the party pooper or toxic types that always show up and ruin everything. A common phrase out there (in the areas I was in) was, "Things were fine until the idiots showed up."

I'll give an example from my Vella book. There was a parking lot that was known to be "quiet," and store management and police would turn a blind eye to the occasional overnight Camper if they didn't make trouble. It was a good backup when things got too rowdy in the primary place I was staying. One day a large party, called "The Caravan" in my novel, arrived and set up a large, sprawling camp right up against the side of a store. Around a dozen in vehicles slept there, and maybe another dozen came and went on bikes, many of whom were young drug runners. I'm sure you get the picture.

They caused so much trouble that the lot was closed to any homeless within a few days, and Private Security was hired to patrol and question anyone in the lot after dark. That group hit every place where the homeless stayed, and within a month, people like me had to head for another city. It wasn't just groups; it could be individuals who would show up and pull crazy stunts that the group there couldn't control and would force the cops to clear out the area. Unfortunately, nomadic life and homeless videos don't generally cover this subject for various reasons, some of those being common sense to avoid retaliation.

It's not just a homeless thing; most groups, bars, or events see this type of personality at some time or another. You may not hear about idiots in the videos, but they're there, and macho warrior ass-kicking or confronting them often doesn't work (just like in respectable life).

...getting back...

Getting back to the general subject of nomadic life, it was a way of life for most Native American tribes, migrants, settlers, hobos, and mountain men. In 2016, the homeless scene in the four main areas I inhabited wasn't just meth heads in tents pitched on the sidewalks. The scene encompassed a variety of types; RV, Van, campers, cars, to different subcultures of "backpackers" (homeless who lived out in the open, which included those who had their belongings in shopping carts).

I avoided tent cities and large camps. Those places are basically anarchies ridden with crime and often run by cliques. Plus, those can harbor bike chop shops and other illegal activities, bringing trouble.

...classes...

There were economic strata. Most of the RV'ers were retirees or had some regular income. Van, Camper, or car homeless generally had at least an irregular source of cash, and many had jobs in retail which wasn't enough to get a roof over your head in Silicon Valley. If anyone in a vehicle was a heavy drug user, it was only a matter of time before they dropped into the backpacker life.

The Backpackers were generally people hitting the end of the line, many having had a vehicle in the beginning. Some groups were ad-hoc gatherings of runaways or drug users, mainly young. If they didn't end up trafficked, they often moved on with other runaways heading north to the Pacific Northwest or south to Southern California, returned home, or entered the penal system.

Drug use wasn't a universal trip in every area. Many used it; many didn't. Those you see in homeless stories in the media are the ones who can't move away from a camera, and not all are stoned. If nobody else, at least the ones running bike chop shops in a tent city are generally straight. I went the full 13 months without taking a drink or using. It wasn't hard, because even at my lowest points, I could see what catastrophic damage meth could inflict and more to the point, it was apparent that walking around drunk or stoned was a hazardous thing to do out there.

... R.V...

Even RV'ers with fixed incomes didn't have it easy. The older vehicles could break down and be stuck for days. Some groups would have a guy who could fix the common problems, but one couple I knew had to sell theirs off and go back to living in a car when a breakdown was too expensive to fix.

…Walmart…

As far as these Van Life videos, it reminds me of the time when the media did a stupid thing without regard for who it hurt. Not all, of course, but more than a few.

Several years ago, a story came out where Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas mentioned that he loved to travel by R.V. across the county and stay in Walmart Parking lots to save on motel bills. Countless media outlets eagerly passed on this tip, and soon afterward, cities began passing ordinances forbidding overnight camping in Walmart (and other) lots.

This unofficial refuge had been an open secret among travelers and homeless who followed an unspoken and occasionally documented etiquette to only stay one night. Still, after the publicity, five thousand places to sleep overnight were essentially shut down, and overnight camping was criminalized in those places. Even in 2016, many businesses would try to turn a blind eye to the practice, but the now larger crowds included people who set up bbq grills, stayed until kicked out and dumped their sewage on the pavement as a screw-you to store management. Those are all things I saw out there.

...media attention...

Same with media stories on homeless camps. As a general rule, when we heard or saw such stories, that was the signal to avoid the area, as it was only a matter of time before the crackdown came. These Van Life, videos and media stories are going to happen. Tens of thousands of tents on L.A. streets can't be ignored by the media, and some good can come of social media shorts and news stories, but watching someone in a well-equipped van demonstrate hiding in a parking lot that forbids it doesn't teach much. It’s advice on how to break the law, and following it in the wrong place or time might be just a speed bump for a traveler, but for a homeless person, any legal trouble can seriously disrupt his or her life.

Many of those videos aren't in places I've been in where the vehicle could get jacked or broken into. There were at least two attempts to break into my car that I knew of, for example, in relatively safe areas.

...first hack...

The first hack I'd demonstrate if you want to live in a van for a year is how to make it look like such a piece of crap that no one would think it has anything valuable in it. The problem then would be that some might think you're a low-level dealer, and the cops would start paying attention, as would druggies who'd think you were carrying.

If you have the cash, the advice to camp in national parks is viable. However, in California, for example, most nice campsites with good facilities are nearly as expensive as motels. There was one that was very cheap but so dusty and hot that dirt bikers were mainly the ones who used it, and the descriptions of the place at night by other homeless scared me off.

...considering...

Don't just watch the videos if you want to consider Van Life. Also, get the scoop from those who tried it for a long period and either quit or will tell you the hard truth about the upside and downsides. I did 13 months out there. By the last month, I was at the end of my rope, though it might have been different if I'd ensured I was in an R.V. or Camper right from the start. However, I didn't want to stay on the road and decided never to invest in any more comfortable arrangement that could make me feel settled down. Nomadic life might be viable and worth a try, but if you do, be like Jack London and ensure there's an exit back to regular life. Otherwise, it can be a hard road back.

One final note: You may have noticed that I never give specific advice. Info from a video that's even just weeks old can be very wrong.

One good example is a short that showed a good way to park in lots that don't allow overnight camping. The problem no matter how clever the tips are, as a general rule, store management, and employees do know you're out there. Especially if others have taken similar advice and several vans and campers now are parked there with you. If an R.V. arrives to join in the fun, forget it, that's like a huge banner that will draw attention from management. Even if it doesn't stay, it'll be spotted and watched along with the other cars.

Always assume that the influencer on video isn't the only one on that street or lot.

…camouflage…

The worst tip was immediately covering the windows to allow one to keep inside lights on and not be spotted. The idea was that it'd blend into the darkness. However, most lots are now well-lit as a safety measure, and a vehicle with covered windows will be seen and immediately flagged as a camper. Plus, for safety, you should park in lit areas and near cameras if possible, not in dark corners.

There's also a myopic view here. The influencer was focused on evading management and staff, which is wrong. Most staff aren’t obsessing about the homeless; they're busy running a business. Most of the time, you'll be flagged by a passerby or customer who'll bring it up to the manager or call the police.

Plus, if there's Security, they may not bother you but will note in their report they saw a probable homeless person in the lot, with description, time, and license plate number. Virtually all Security forces keep reports, and if there's an assault, car break-in, or robbery in that lot, the police will check those reports to see if any suspicious people were there.

So you could end up a suspect or witness. Again, for a traveler passing through, not a huge deal. For a transient, there’s a reason why it could be a serious matter to be a witness. You can guess why.

In another place, like a hospital parking lot (which I’ve seen recommended), covering all of the windows is very dangerous as you'll lose situational awareness, as those places have a higher incidence of assault and rape due to nurses walking back to their cars at all hours. Security generally escort nurses out and will spot a covered vehicle. If you're male, you can become a suspect in the wrong place at the wrong time. If female, you'll be a convenient alternative for a rapist if no nurses are in the lot. That’s not just a scare story. I was in Security for six years when I was younger, and knew guys who worked at hospitals, and it’s a good idea to avoid using those lots to sleep in.

My point is, don't take these videos' tips and hacks at face value. Their success on camera could be sheer luck; believe me, areas where the homeless congregate can be wildly different in culture and level of safety, both of which can change instantly.

There's the old advice not to believe everything you see on the Internet. That's true for Van Life videos.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: WHY CLASSIC BOOKS CAN SEEM BORING

Suppose you published a book, and the readers demanded that it be rewritten to be more funny, sexy, or "authentic." Add to that if readers felt the work failed to capture the true flavor of the era or situation and referred people to a fan fiction version of your book that was supposedly better.

That would strike most authors as outrageous, right? However, that happens all the time with translated classics, though in a slightly different way.

I recall checking out the reviews for a particular classic and saw that people would claim that this or that translation was the best. For example, one person claimed that none of the versions was perfect, but the one by an Englishman did the best to capture the satiric intent. Another felt that a more modern edition was more readable and more faithful to the original author's intent. The book was Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes, and personally, I've never particularly liked the book. However, the version by Tobias Smollett came the closest to being likable (for me). One reason is that I enjoyed his original novels, which were hilarious if you liked 17th Century humor.

I also admit that my view is skewed from watching the Mister McGoo cartoon version as a child.

When perusing translations, it can feel like reading different books, particularly with the Iliad. Due to the difficulty in interpreting ancient Greek, a translator can create a non-literal interpretation due to elements like different grammatical rules or cultural bias. I could describe how the Iliad has been translated, but the best way to illustrate the point would be to show some examples. So I picked several versions and will show you how the different opening paragraphs of Homer's work look. These excerpts say the same thing but with varying approaches to interpreting the original Greek.

Iliad Translations (in no particular order):

"Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing! That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;

- Alexander Pope (1715 trans.)

"Of Peleus' son, Achilles, sing, O Muse, The vengeance, deep and deadly; whence to Greece Unnumbered ills arose; which many a soul Of mighty warriors to the viewless shades Untimely sent;

- Edward Earl of Derby (1864 trans.)

"Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures,"

- Samuel Butler

"Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians, hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs, of all birds,"

- Richmond Lattimore (1951)

"Sing, Ο goddess, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Greeks, and hurled many valiant souls of heroes down to Hades, and made themselves a prey to dogs and to all birds [but the will of Jove was being accomplished],"

- Theodore Alois Buckley (1873)

"Sing, MOUNTAIN GODDESS, sing through me That anger which most ruinously Inflamed Achilles, Peleus' son, And which, before the tale was done, Had glutted Hell with champions—bold, Stern spirits by the thousandfold; Ravens and dogs their corpses ate."

- Robert Graves (The Anger Of Achilles 1959)

"Alpha the prayer of Chryses sings: The army's plague: the strife of kings. Achilles' baneful wrath resound, O Goddess, that impos'd Infinite sorrows on the Greeks, and many brave souls los'd. From breasts heroic; sent them far to that invisible cave That no light comforts; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave;"

- George Chapman (1598)

"Anger be now your song, immortal one,

Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,

that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss

and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,

leaving so many dead men—carrion

for dogs and birds;"

- Robert Fitzgerald (1974)

"AN ANGRY MAN—THERE IS MY STORY: THE BITTER RANCOUR of Achillês, prince of the house of Peleus, which brought a thousand troubles upon the Achaian host. Many a strong soul it sent down to Hadês, and left the heroes themselves a prey to dogs and carrion birds,"

- W.H.D. Rouse (1938)

"Rage-Goddess sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion, feasts for dogs and birds,"

- Robert Fagles (1990)

"I Thée beseech, O Goddesse milde, the hatefull hate to plaine,

Whereby Achilles was so wroong, and grewe in suche disdaine,

That thousandes of the Gréekish Dukes, in hard and heauie plight,

To Plutoes Courte did yéelde their soules, and gaping lay vpright,

Those sencelesse trunckes of burial voide, by them erst gaily borne,

By rauening curres, and carreine foules, in péeces to be torne.”

- Arthur Hall (1581)

"Anger--sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that accursed anger, which brought the Greeks endless sufferings and sent the mighty sould of many warriors to Hades, leaving their bodies as carrion for the dogs and a feast for the birds;"

E.V. Rieu (1950)

As you can see, these excerpts say the same thing, but most writers can tell that most of these aren't literal translations but phrases that the translator felt expressed Homer's intent in modern English. Those who aren't used to reading classics might even think these guys are writing a new story but making sure the essential plot points are covered, which is probably true.

For example, Pope's version isn't literal, but he intended to change Homer's verses into modern poetry (for his era). Rieu intended to create a prose version as he felt it'd be more accessible to readers. Graves wanted to capture what he felt was the way the story was told back then, which was as a satire. Some of the writers reinterpreted an earlier translation, and so on.

Generally, if I find that a particular classic seems dry or (gasp) boring, my first step is to see if another translation is available. Many classics that started as non-English literature are only as good as the translator, and that can mean that one is looking for one that pleases you just as much as being true to the original author's work.

I had that problem with the Odyssey or the Tale Of Ullyses as some know it, in finding the various versions a bit dry or dull. Many people prefer it to the Iliad as the complex story appeals to modern readers. It might have struck a different chord if the story was more like Graves' assertion that the translations are bowdlerized from earlier, very rowdy folk versions.

It's plausible that the Odyssey was originally a ribald tale like Chaucer's work. Most people know "1001 The Arabian Nights" as a collection of fairy tales, but the translation by Sir Richard Burton (the explorer, not the actor) is a saucy, erotic version that makes more sense if the woman was telling the stories to distract the King who married women and executed them the next morning. Burton's bacchanalia, or romantic Hollywood love story, is technically a translation, and a reader can pick one or both.

One thing that can make a classic seem dull is if you see a movie version first. The stories in older literature often unfold at a slower pace, and films often stress action, insert values from a different culture, focus on stars, or do not even bother with being faithful to the book. For example, the movie "Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" (and "Gladiator" which had similar plot elements and characters) is only vaguely similar to the book, which was a non-fiction history book by Edward Gibbon, whose interpretation of events was in turn considered inaccurate by some critics.

One interesting situation is where the book and movie are different but excellent. "Ben Hur" by Lew Wallace is a good example. The movie version starring Charlton Heston is considered a classic, but most who've read the book find Wallace an excellent storyteller. I say "most" because there'll always be someone who won't like it.

One classic example of the book and movie having a different interpretation is "Last Of The Mohicans" by James Fenimore Cooper. The film was a hit, and I remember one review that claimed that it modernized and breathed new life into a "hoary old book."

As someone who loves the book so much that I've always kept a copy in my library, there are a few problems with that critic's statement:

1. The real Pathfinder was an older man who had an atavistic, almost pagan view of Christianity and had constant debates with a young preacher who wasn't in the movie. Those debates were unusually philosophical for the era. The older man was a crack shot and an experienced frontiersman who was eccentrically philosophical and entertainingly feral. He was a fascinating character.

2. The two Mohicans were, in many ways, the real heroes of the book. The father was extremely smart and proficient in hand-to-hand combat, and his son, Uncas, was dynamic and heroic. His death was a significant event. The Pathfinder character in the movie was a combination of the three, particularly Uncas, and the two Native Americans were transformed into stock sidekicks like Tonto of the Lone Ranger TV show. Add a little horniness and Braveheart-like macho, and you have the movie version in a nutshell.

3. The book was also about Mohican culture's extinction, represented by Uncas' death. Cooper did fall into the trap of having good and bad Indians, which corresponded to which tribes were allied with the British or Americans. Still, many book scenes featuring detailed conversations with or within the tribes were left out. It was very much a book about Native Americans.

Of course, that's my opinion. You might feel differently about the book and movie. However, the difference in interpretation between the movie and book examples isn't unlike the process of translation of classics. The English version can result from many factors, including the translator's command of the foreign language, what they think is the author's intent, any bias (like inserting a Christian view), how literal it should be, and the agenda.

The agenda is an essential factor. For example, the book and movie about "Spartacus," the Gladiator who led a rebellion against Rome, portrays him as a sensitive, monogamous Freedom Fighter who fought against the tyranny of Rome. The intent was to create a good versus evil tale. But, like most ancient wars, the real battle was probably brutal, as Spartacus must have understood what would happen if he lost.

My point is that's how Spartacus was portrayed in the 60s. I'm sure the tale was told differently in that era. If one sees how the perception of Native Americans evolved from barbarians to human beings, the different attitudes in each stage would be a bias that could affect the translation of any tribal stories or philosophies.

So, if that classic book you're reading seems a little dull, it may not be the original author's fault. But, on the other hand, don't get me started on Balzac or Tolstoy; I'm not sure any translation will make me want to read those books. Sometimes, you're just not going to like the author.

ON THE ROAD WITH AL & IVY: THE NOVEL

Reprint of Episode 2: Police Manhunt And A Visit From A God

Eleven-Thirty Saturday Night

Your face presses down on dirty wood,

dodging hot lead skimming over the dance floor

very sudden like,

A lead slug can show you quick

if the preacher's right on questions

you don't want answered right now,

One scared young dude

caught in bad company

in a juke joint full of souls running drunk.

- Manuscript Excerpt from Jook (June 1986)

Gleemon Street is lit up like grand opening night at a used car lot. The levee fence looks like an eerie grey screen with a black curtain behind it. No flood light can pierce the darkness behind it.

Another patrol car skids to a stop at the edge of the grass area surrounding the entrance. The cop is there to close it off as an escape route.

There are only two ways to go. If you're camped out on the West Bank of the Slough, then there's a dirt road heading west towards the orchards that run along the bank further down. If you're on the east bank side next to the fence, it's foolish to try and go down a 20-foot slope to cross the creek bed in the dark, so you head south and cut right at the fork towards the water pump station next to Highway 152 a half mile away.

You can hop the fence into a large cabbage field that borders the next shopping center, but the cops know this and already have a car stationed there. There's no point in coming back out. If you stay in the dark, you can move faster than the police can search.

My night vision returns along with a regular pulse; it wasn't me they were looking for. There are over a dozen police cars now. Some are in the adjacent parking lot with officers on foot searching with shotguns. Others are about a hundred yards off near the access gate, sealing off the main levee road entrance. I see flashlight beams moving south into the Slough, some stopping as they begin to come across the camps.

It's a manhunt, probably another armed robbery downtown. The police will try to herd the fugitive back into the parking lots or farm fields further south. Leaving isn't a bright idea. There'd just be more cops and lights in my face, each one having to decide whether to search me or shoot. If they're looking for a suspect on foot, then I'm safer parked between two police cars than driving off and possibly running into an armed dude who needs an escape vehicle.

The search continues for half an hour. Finally, I decide it's a good time to move into the North parking lot of the store but see that several other homeless have already done so. Too many, including one I suspect is a dealer, so I head over to the other side and patiently wait out the cop there that puts me under surveillance.

There's no point in moving about; I'll keep running into police screens. The best thing to do is just act like the homeless person I am, so the window shades go up, and sure enough, that's routine looking enough to satisfy the cop, who then drives off. Only a homeless person would sack out in the middle of a dragnet.

I can't stay here. This lot section is a transit route for the druggies who come out to begin the early morning ice or ecstasy ritual of whooping and hollering, throwing off clothes, and getting into arguments with truckers and third-shift store employees out collecting carts.

As I begin to leave, a tall young-looking homeless guy comes through a break in the fence line, known around here as the south gate, walking towards me and mouthing some nonsensical words. I don't stare or do anything that could be interpreted as aggression.

The angry ones are easy to avoid, you can hear them coming, and they're already pissed off at something else. The ones that just stare and smile scare me; they're still looking for trouble. I watch as he saunters away, taking off his shirt, throwing it on a small tree, and singing some song at the top of his lungs. Molly's got his blood boiling, and he'll keep stripping until the cops pick him up.

I return to Gleemon Street and see that the squad cars are gone, so I park in the same place. I don't have a better plan anyway. Besides, after all the excitement, the area should be quiet.

I look over and see that Ivy has fallen asleep, which means no trouble. She stays wired if there's any disturbance within fifty yards. This isn't a good night to stretch out in a sleeping bag, so I curl up in the front seat and stare at the old cloth canopy starting to come down like a big brown bubble.

After a few months in the car, I've begun to hear voices, like a conference call with God, Ivy, and others speaking in and out of turn. I don't get disturbed hearing them, I've talked to myself often enough to know which one is me, but God help me the day I can no longer tell. There are a lot of people like that out there on the levee.

I carelessly open a window to let in cool air. A tall, muscular bald guy, kinda biker-like, suddenly comes to view in front, stands off about ten feet, then shows his hands and hails me, "Hello Car," in the old Wild West Style of approaching a strange camp, begins to approach slowly. That's how a stranger tells another on the street that they mean no harm. If it was an attack, it'd have come suddenly from behind.

I silently curse; it's a rookie mistake to open a window without checking, but suddenly closing it could be seen as a sign of fear or panic. You never know how a stranger will react to that. I act nonchalant, which is a safe move as it won't trigger any defensive reaction. He's probably scared, too. Even the big bulls can get humbled right quick out here. I smile and greet him with the casual air of a fellow street urchin but don't show my hands. It's better to leave a little doubt, and that makes him hesitate and stop a few feet away.

It's just a meth head still in high gear, and now comes a ten-minute speech about how harmless he is, which is good to hear from someone who looks strong enough to twist my head off. He continues with a long monologue punctuated with broad sweeping hand gestures and, at one point, pretending to run somewhere. It sounds like he's having a good night; the verbal riffing moves along like a rock and roll anthem with a great guitar solo in the middle.

I lay back in the seat, right hand discreetly covering a metal bar and pepper spray, listening to Ivy's snoring, and gazing at the stars as he drones on and on. It's stupid to use a knife out here. If I bruise his head or hands with the baton, that's the end of it. He probably wouldn't even remember how he got it. A stab wound gets reported, and we both end up in jail.

The meth must be nice and soft because he's soaring, feeling like a benevolent God, and tonight we're under his protection. The monologue slows down, and I sense it's safe to pretend to yawn and close the window. He nods and moves on, still talking, and the night becomes quiet.

I'm drifting off, beginning to dream, regret, blame, and wish for things. I'm exhausted but prepared to drive off if I see the guy coming back. He'd be coming from the rear this time and had a good look at the car and its contents. I only average three hours of sleep a night, so staying vigilant's a struggle. Sometime during that process, sleep comes, and then it's just the dreams.

This one dream comes often enough that I remember it after waking. I'm on a stage, playing music, and there's no audience, just blackness. The band members vary over time; sometimes, friends or family, strangers, the faces change. Other times I can see an audience, but I'm alone, playing this acoustic guitar with my ear pressed to the sound hole, listening to the echo. Lately, it's been with past friends with a packed audience, all in a happy mood, but I'm standing there, indifferent to it all, and there's just silence. Finally, I walk off the stage and then wake up, and for the rest of the day, the music that usually runs through my head is absent, with no desire to hear any.

A few months ago, a night like this would have made me look elsewhere for a place to sleep, but now, in the sticky hot summer of 2016, I know that this is as good a place as any, and settle down for a stay that'll last until this seam closes and it's time to scatter with the other homeless to find another crack in the wall.

END OF EPISODE

Read Episode 3

UPDATE ON ON THE ROAD WITH AL & IVY: THE ANTHOLOGY VOL. 1 (2016-2018)

I’ll be pulling this ebook off Kindle Unlimited sometime this month and will resume free distribution on other sites. The main reason, besides shifting the focus to wider readership is that this Anthology will come out as a revised version sometime this year. I’ve obtained most of the social media posts from this period and will insert edited versions into the book in chronological order. This adds the day to day observations and activities which will add continuity and many of the blog entries will make more sense in context. Also, I’ll add new commentary to make this volume feel like a chronological account of the period. Until then, it makes sense to make this version free to increase interest in the new edition.