Monday, April 6, 2009

death valley '69



Two of four improvisations by Jerry Garcia - produced for the original "Zabriskie Point" score - which never made final cut.

Jon made a point regarding a certain Navajo Indian's mistrust and "low opinion" of Brujeria, and Carlos Casteneda's meddling with those potent primal forces which reign out in the desert. Between cactus buttons blistering in the sun and the roots of jimson weed scrabbling down through the dirt, shadows lengthen or suddenly disappear:

"
The desert demands that your movements be slow and purposeful. Your attention has to be external. You must pay attention. No wool gathering. The funny thing is, there isn't that much to pay attention to. I've found that, when moving slowly through the desert, paying close attention to small things, my emotions detach themselves from the anchors of reason. I have found myself suddenly caught up by vast and solemn joy, or just as suddenly pulled under by a sense of truly cosmic menace."
Myself, I have never made it out into that arid wilderness where tourists lose themselves in ailing camper vans.

The place of shamans and Old Testament prophets.

The atmosphere up here in the north is tubercular with precipitation; a seeping rain which collects in bones and rheumatoid joints. Leafy green. Thick with mildew and moss.

And in the autumn only, psilocybes and amanita muscaria; druids behind shades.


JERRY GARCIA: LOVE SCENE IMPROVISATIONS (v.3) from "Zabriskie Point (Remastered + Outakes)" 2 x CD (MGM / Rhino) 1969/1997 (US)
JERRY GARCIA: LOVE SCENE IMPROVISATIONS (v.4) from "Zabriskie Point (Remastered + Outakes)" 2 x CD (MGM / Rhino) 1969/1997 (US)

4 comments:

Your driver said...

Thanks for the link brother. Henry David Thoreau said something to the effect of, "There is enough to be seen in five square miles to hold the attention of a sufficiently attentive man for a life time." All I know about Scotland comes from a few movies and some photographs. From that little base of knowledge I still suspect that you could take public transit to someplace large and empty, albeit wet. That might be all it takes to have some cherished prejudice torn out, smashed and handed back to you as a joke.
I think that we (you and I) live too much in our heads. It is a grand thing that the real world can sometimes intrude and fuck that up.

emmett said...

Jerry G. and The Floyd in an Antonioni Film... heady days indeed. Can't remember whether I've actually seen Z.P. or not; I believe I have.

I've been to the desert but I've never eaten peyote, so, 1 for 2 I guess. :)

LV said...

I love the naturalism of this film!!
I love your writing Ib..
and your choice of music..
errr...oh your blog looks very good too..
One thing that always lingers from travels is the colour of the soil, especially on the soles of my shoes!
I think it is important to feel the soil and recognise it..too many people I know go travelling and get too stoned and then when it comes to recollecting the soil, they have no idea because they were too busy getting high to notice the ground they were walking on!
sorry i aint commented for ages! been so busy with non internet based activities; but I am always following my favourite blog!
best wishes and thanks for the grains of beauty!

ib said...

Emmett: I have seen home cultivated peyote in its infancy, but never the mature plant.

The one thing I think the Floyd and the Dead had in common in their early incarnations was the innovation of their light projections.

LV: Cheers! I am glad to hear living in the flesh has gained the upper hand of late, albeit I miss your regular posts on What It Isn't; Jon may have a valid point about us living "too much in our heads". Thanks for the earthy observations.