Monthly Archives: January 2017

Roads Have Power

27 Friday Jan 2017

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A man in a sharp yellow shirt with a crisp, pointed collar and a smile that is too wide sits down next to you on as the bus rattles down Route 66 and begins speaking in a casual tone.

I love roads. I absolutely adore them. The sheer subtle brilliance of the idea of codifying travel. Of facilitating and restricting it at the same time. I thought railroads were the tops when they started cropping up, but nothing, and I mean nothing, beats highways. You know why? Access, sure, and convenience, but most of all choice. Or the illusion of it anyway. It is brilliant! It is gorgeous…

It used to be if you wanted to get to from here to there you’d walk. Or ride, I guess. I’m not that old. Sure there were paths and even some roads. Romans loved their roads, after all, but if it wasn’t the fastest route, most people had no problem setting out across country. Railroads were a nice step, but no one ever really believed they could go where they want. Everyone knew if you wanted to get to Santa Fe you’d have to pass through Topeka, regardless of whether your riding Rock Island or a Chief. There was something to be gained in the way rails could doom or ensure the future of townships, but that ended after the early years. A love affair grown stale.

But now there are highways. Perfect highways.

Each one winds here and there following a combination of half-remembered migrations from the past and the arbitrary restrictions of ownership and right of way laws. Plain to track, track to path, path to road, road to highway. Each step writing itself into the public belief. Each one solidifying itself as it grows and stagnates. And now each one beckoning to every individual with a car “Look at me! Follow me! I can take you anywhere!” Which is, of course, patently untrue. Delightfully so. An untruth that Americans have so completely bought into that your makers have started selling you automobiles based entirely on the premise of Freedom. “See the land! Have an adventure! Explore!”

Yes. Explore the same blacktop every other local pursues. Follow the path that countless men toiled to prepare before you while celebrating your bold nature. Be led down the identical routes as everyone else, never looking for what exists beyond the median and a few nice vistas beyond your windscreen. Chose to abstain from choice and follow the easy path.

That’s what I love about highways. Blinders, bindings, power, and placebo all rolled into the same package, and all inflicted on yourself. It is baffling. It is beautiful! It is so, so gorgeous…

Instruments

11 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in World Fiction

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After you finish asking your questions the man in greasy coveralls and a brand new Stetson takes a deep pull from his beer and leans back on his stool

Well the first thing you gotta understand is that the Music isn’t meant for us. Well, not meant for us to hear, anyway. Not in the way you think of when you hear the word “Music”. It’s more like…like the engine that keeps things running behind the scenes. Most folks just turn the crank on their model T, hop in, and head on out for a whirl. Living their life, heading wherever they are set to go. If they hear they rattle and roar of the engine at all, they quickly tune it out as background noise. Incidental to their hopes and dreams.

But is isn’t, is it? The pitch of an engine can tell you everything you need to know about the health of an automobile, whether you should get in it or not, whether you stand a chance in hell of outrunning it. Anyone that’s ever heard a straight six can tell you it is a whole different world.

The Music is like that a bit. If you’ve got the ear and if someone’s taught you what to listen for, you have a chance of knowing a bit about what is going on underneath the hood without having to pop it up and take a look. If you want to do something about it, though, you gotta get in there and get your hands dirty. And you’re going to need tools. I’ve heard rumors that some of the Shining Ones or other crossroads folk that can just hum and coax the engine around that way, but you and me have to get about it the hard way. Like I said, Music isn’t rightly meant for us.

So you’ve got your engine and you’ve got the tune you want it to play, the pitch you want it rattling at. How you get them to come together is where the tool comes in. You wouldn’t use a ball peen to tighten up the breaks. Gotta find something that matches your purpose. Your intention.

That’s really all an instrument is. Just a tool you pick out to help you match your song to your intention. Could be just about anything, long as it picks up a bit of the rattle of the world. I’ve seen everything from banjos and trumpets to candles and books. Even saw a gat once. It’s song scared me stiff.

Simple in concept, though. Just find what works for you and start tuning. Easy as pie, as long as you’ve got the ear for it. And the wherewithal to deal with what happens if you break something monkeying around in someone else’s engine.