Saturday, July 28, 2007
Sitting Zazen on a Motorcycle
Hubby and I went for a motorcycle ride today. The ride was a benefit for a nonprofit organization. Benefit rides are quite popular among motorcyclists, with so many being scheduled during pleasant weather that you could go on one every single weekend through the summer if you like. When hubby and I first starting riding motorcycle, I felt so European on the back of the bike. Now that we've been riding for several years, it feels like I'm sitting zazen. When I'm on the back of a bike, I can't get out of the position I've willingly put myself in. I can barely move and my muscles cramp up. I stretch as much as I can, but mostly I have to just live with the discomfort. (Ever get an itchy ear when wearing a full face helmet?) Couple the usual physical discomfort with today's stickety-stinkin' heat and you've got the makings of a great zazen practice.
The mind rolls with the miles . . . look at the cows . . . watch out for the road kill . . . someone piled rocks from their farm field in a long pile by some trees . . . just like in Shawshank Redemption . . . ice cream . . . if I could create a Ben & Jerry's flavor, what would it be . . . Mary, Mary, quite contrary . . . Mary, Mary, Quite Raspberry . . . Crocodile Hunter . . . not the young one, Steve Irwin, the other one, Crocodile Dundee . . . didn't he marry his co-star after the movies . . . oh, we just crossed a river . . . check out the sunflowers . . . what am I going to blog about . . . Ben & Jerry's . . . sitting zazen on a motorcycle . . . God, my shoulders ache . . . .
By the end of the ride, the mind empties and you can't think of anything anymore. The wind just keeps rushing by.
The mind rolls with the miles . . . look at the cows . . . watch out for the road kill . . . someone piled rocks from their farm field in a long pile by some trees . . . just like in Shawshank Redemption . . . ice cream . . . if I could create a Ben & Jerry's flavor, what would it be . . . Mary, Mary, quite contrary . . . Mary, Mary, Quite Raspberry . . . Crocodile Hunter . . . not the young one, Steve Irwin, the other one, Crocodile Dundee . . . didn't he marry his co-star after the movies . . . oh, we just crossed a river . . . check out the sunflowers . . . what am I going to blog about . . . Ben & Jerry's . . . sitting zazen on a motorcycle . . . God, my shoulders ache . . . .
By the end of the ride, the mind empties and you can't think of anything anymore. The wind just keeps rushing by.
Labels: ben and jerry's, blog, buddhism, discomfort, husband, ice cream, minnesota, motorcycle, weather, zazen
If You Could . . .
If you could create your own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, what would it be?
Mine would be "Mary, Mary, Quite Raspberry." It'd consist of raspberry flavored ice cream or sherbet (if B & J's makes such a thing) and dark chocolate candies shaped like tiny raspberries, with a bonus of raspberry goo inside the chocolate.
Your turn. What would your flavor be? And don't forget to come up with a funky name.
Mine would be "Mary, Mary, Quite Raspberry." It'd consist of raspberry flavored ice cream or sherbet (if B & J's makes such a thing) and dark chocolate candies shaped like tiny raspberries, with a bonus of raspberry goo inside the chocolate.
Your turn. What would your flavor be? And don't forget to come up with a funky name.
Labels: ben and jerry's, chocolate, create, ice cream, raspberry
Monday, February 12, 2007
Dave Matthews Band - Woo
I had an idea for the Dave Matthews Band, the Masters of Repackaging. The band is continually releasing albums that are compilations of previous songs, most of these compilations being live versions of songs because the band has a reputation for good live performances. I ran across a comment in the Two Knives blog that got me thinking about this. A poster named Wayne Wenzel describes how he used the music of Dave Matthews Band to pick up chicks. Then I heard the statistic that 51 percent of women in the United States are unmarried. Putting two and ten together, I thought that maybe the band should create a compilation album of their romantic songs specifically for these audiences. When I considered it further, I thought maybe this idea was silliness incarnate, but then again, maybe not. Here's how I see it. Wayne and other guys who've figured out this DMB dating strategy have hijacked the band's music for their own purposes. I'm sure the band didn't exactly intend for this to happen, it just happened. This is what is called a brand hijack. Of course, if the band's music already appeals to the ladies, then repackaging the romantic songs will surely hook them further.
The songs I'd include on such a compilation would be (in no particular order)
Crash Into Me, Captain, Crush, Dream Girl, When the World Ends, Lover Lay Down, Hunger for the Great Light, Say Goodbye, So Right, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, and Angel
I'd include a couple of brand new songs because when I'm shopping for DMB compilation discs, I look for ones with songs I haven't heard before. I'd create album art that was primarily smoky red, like rose petals or the foil wrapping on chocolates. Going a step further, I'd offer a little something extra with the album, both for the guys trying to get girls and for the girls to treat themselves, if they so choose. I'd offer a small box of chocolates in a collectible tin, along with a charm (probably the headless dancer that Steffan Lessard, the band's bassist, designed). Following the band's choice in Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors, I'd make the chocolates a blend of raspberry and chocolate - or raspberry and fudge. (Their flavor is called Magic Brownies, in case you want to rush out and get some. I have the empty container sitting on my desk as a keepsake. Silly, no?)
I was trying to think of what to name such a compilation and the first thing that came to mind was "Get the Girl," but that would come off as too crass for the single ladies purchasing the album for themselves. Something like "Romance" or "Love" is too sappy. Many women are not about pink lace, frills and lavendar perfume. Yech! Then, I hit upon the title "Woo." An old-fashioned word, a little off-beat, but simple. It's also said a lot at concerts - not in the old definition of the word, but as in Woooooo-hoooooo!
Do you ever do this, reader? Come up with an idea for your favorite band? If so, please feel free to share.
The songs I'd include on such a compilation would be (in no particular order)
Crash Into Me, Captain, Crush, Dream Girl, When the World Ends, Lover Lay Down, Hunger for the Great Light, Say Goodbye, So Right, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, and Angel
I'd include a couple of brand new songs because when I'm shopping for DMB compilation discs, I look for ones with songs I haven't heard before. I'd create album art that was primarily smoky red, like rose petals or the foil wrapping on chocolates. Going a step further, I'd offer a little something extra with the album, both for the guys trying to get girls and for the girls to treat themselves, if they so choose. I'd offer a small box of chocolates in a collectible tin, along with a charm (probably the headless dancer that Steffan Lessard, the band's bassist, designed). Following the band's choice in Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors, I'd make the chocolates a blend of raspberry and chocolate - or raspberry and fudge. (Their flavor is called Magic Brownies, in case you want to rush out and get some. I have the empty container sitting on my desk as a keepsake. Silly, no?)
I was trying to think of what to name such a compilation and the first thing that came to mind was "Get the Girl," but that would come off as too crass for the single ladies purchasing the album for themselves. Something like "Romance" or "Love" is too sappy. Many women are not about pink lace, frills and lavendar perfume. Yech! Then, I hit upon the title "Woo." An old-fashioned word, a little off-beat, but simple. It's also said a lot at concerts - not in the old definition of the word, but as in Woooooo-hoooooo!
Do you ever do this, reader? Come up with an idea for your favorite band? If so, please feel free to share.
Labels: band, ben and jerry's, charm, dave matthews band, idea, music, romance, steffan lessard, two knives
