I Bop For Life
Sunday, February 18, 2024 (Wallace Berman's 98th birthday, and 48 Years since he died).
I went through a medical procedure that reminded me of stories I have heard of people who were kidnapped by aliens and taken to the mother ship, where they do ghastly experiments on their bodies. That was my thought when I entered the examination room, and I kept my eyes closed during the entire process. It wasn’t painful (just an ouch here and there), but it was more weird than anything else. I tried not to think about it, but of course, I used ChatAI and google to get more information about the procedure. The trick is to be totally bored by the information until it becomes wallpaper. Boredom is a suitable method for getting rid of anxiety feelings. The other thing that kept my mind off the medical procedure was Charlie Parker.
I’m starting to do an in-depth study of this exceptional musician who made genius-like music. Still, I am also interested in his life because it focuses on my dad, Wallace Berman, and his relationship with The Bird. History is fascinating to me when it is personal. And living in Los Angeles for my entire life has given me insight into the landscape around me. It’s not the narrative itself but how one tells the story, which is the technique I used for writing my memoir Tosh: Growing Up in Wallace Berman’s World. Like a musician who plays his instrument and makes a singular aural home, a writer is also unique in their art and can remind readers of other writers/artists. However, that particular writer is doing their magic on that paper or computer screen that is distinctive to their world.
An intriguing box set came out in 2021, a collection of performances by Charlie Parker and others, such as Dizzy Gillespie at Billy Berg’s Supper Club on Vine Street in Hollywood. And other locations, and interestingly enough, at a private party where some people took their clothes off while Parker played. He dropped his pants during his playing. The sound quality is far from excellent, but as an art and documentation of a time in Los Angeles, it is ghost-like in its presence. For me, the past is my fuel for the present. At 69, I know I’m approaching the final third act. What fascinates me is that life becomes more intense as one grows older. I have always thought youth was the foundation of feelings and experience, but aging or being old is way more intense and complex than one’s youth. It’s no mistake or coincidence that I recently purchased two albums by The Pretty Things - Get the Picture? and Emotions. Both records are from the '60s, which I thought had to do with youth, but now, I think it's work that's for older people.
Art is a reflection that stops time to comprehend and study whatever is in front of you or on your mind. Art doesn’t give answers or questions, but it is a Zen-like approach to one’s world and one who places oneself in such a landscape. Reading books and listening to music are essential to my well-being and set me off on those who don’t read or take music seriously. It would be impossible for me to talk to someone like that. These are the things I thought about while in the operation room at Kaiser on Sunset Blvd.
Which comes to mind today is my dad’s birthday. Born and died on February 18. (1926-1976)
I'm putting the idea out there for a massive exhibition of your dad's work in 2026 for his 100th birthday.
Yes to no questions or answers. It’s zen!