jimbob's journal/re:me/1

DON'T BE SAD , EMAIL JIMBOB AND BE GLAD

INTRODUCTION EARTHLY
GOALS DISLIKES FEEDBACK

COURSE
OF LIFE EGOROTICA MY MISSION
PRODUCTS

MY
SKILLS HEROES WHAT'S
UP WITH.. ODD
OCCURRENCES

MY GIGS INFLUENCES NICKNAMES
ALTER EGOS TO THE
YOUNGSTERS

REFLECTIONS /
OBSERVATIONS LIKES POSSIBLE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY TITLES

INTRODUCTION

Hello, My name is Jim Harris. I was born the shy, curious only child of a hard-working single mom. Baby boomer, flower child, product of my time and place. I began keeping journals at around age 15. Mostly funny thoughts or odd word combinations that popped into my head. I wanted to share them, but I didn't know how (bringing people into my living room & handing them a box full of papers didn't work). Then, POOOOF... the internet. So, here I am - after all these years - dumping decades of demented daydreams on your digital doorstep. Fifty-plus years of livin' in a tree (my head) and takin' notes. This is where I can gather my thoughts into neat little nutshells and plant them in your brain. What a world! (what a world)
`-``>` Establish Visual Contact

My three Great Passions (in order of discovery);

ANIMALS - my first friends. The fascination and admiration has never waned
MUSIC - Listening, playing or creating. All styles. Pure emotion
WORDS - I love the way they feel and sound and fitto gether. They shape our perception of the world

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COURSE OF LIFE (jimbob's journey)

1947 - Born, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
1957 - 63 Attended Catholic parochial schools. Beaten up by students and teachers
1962 - I start keeping this stupid journal
1958 - My first electric guitar. My first group, the Dirtbombs, is formed.
1964 - Quit high school (hated it.) . I decide to get a job and pursue a musical career.
1965 - begin playing professionally (mostly bass guitar)
1966 - Go to work for U.S. Post Office (no, I never killed anybody, but I did go nuts). 10 years of getting up at 5:30 am
1967 - Begin 'cello lessons. Start studying composition from books & periodicals
1968 - When RFK died, my idealism died with him. The seeds of self destruction were planted
1972 - Begin studying and composing "classical" music. Become a vegetarian
1976 - I quit the P.O. to devote my full time to music. My personal declaration of independence
1977-88 - On sabbatical to research the mind-expanding properties of alcohol (I finally concluded that there were none)
1980-81 - Mascot for Philadelphia 76ers basketball team. Got fired (See "My Most Embarrassing Moment")
1986 - Film & video classes. Make a few music videos & documentaries on various topics, including animals, local history, and community activities
1987 - My personal bottom, and a shallow, uninspiring year in general
1988 - New leaf - second wind, disciplined. Rescued by angels
1989-93 Volunteer at local historical society library. Learned some of my roots, sparked an interest in history
1992 - Playing old favorites at nursing homes to entertain those good people, and to get my 6-string guitar chops ready for playing originals
1994 - Record my 1st album, Expressing. Get my 1st gig playing originals at a festival in North Carolina
1995 - Bonding with my new computer, learning the internet & digital audio recording, compiling material for another album, creating my website, Playing gigs alone & with Jake Michael (as "King Platypus" folk duo).
2003 Record my second solo album, "A Force of Nature", a pop operetta. Begin writing and performing with the Saint Mad Trio (myself, Martha Michael, and Molly Mahoney).
2005 Co-founded Public Eye:Artists for Animals. Began producing arts-based events promoting non-violence and compassion for animals.
2007 Began writing a column in the Chestnut Hill Local newspaper entitled "Life So Far". Check out a few of my colums, along with some of my essays HERE

Awards
1996 - 1st prize from Virginia Organization of Composers and Lyricists for "What Else is Kindness For"
- Voted a spot in the Philadelphia Folk Factory's annual "People's Choice" concert
1997 - Runner-up ; American Songwriter Magazine lyric contest for "The Wisdom of my Youth"
- Honorable mention, Song Spree III lyric competition, for "The Wisdom of my Youth"
1996 - The "Von Stueben Medallion" For entertaining German tourists at Otto's Beer Garden. (I think it's really just an ornament they tore off the hood of a car during a drunken rampage, but I acted honored to receive it)
2001 - Silver prize - Mid Atlantic Songwriting Contest, for "God Gives You What You Need"
2003 "Outstanding National Activist" award from the Culture and Animals Foundation, Raleigh, North Carolina

Titles
* Board certified member of the American Academy of This N' That
* Chairperson Emeritus of the "Bite Me" Foundation
* Honorary PhD in Clown sciences from Prague Institute of Learning
* Distinguished Fellow of the Center for Advanced Hairdos
* Royal Order of the Dicky
* Co-Founder, The League of Reasonably Concerned Mutant Power Smurfs
* Bachelor O' Farts degree, Flatulata College
* Director of the Group for the Study of the Study of Study

Proudest Achievements
* Have not bought any new clothes since 1967
* In 1979, God appeared to me and said, "Thanks for not smoking". I didn't have the heart to tell him.
* I pulled into a gas station, and realized that my gas tank opening was on the other side of the car, so I pulled around to the opposite pump, but it was still on the wrong side. This kept up until I ran out of gas, so I had to buy a can and walk the gas the ten feet to the tank opening. It was then that I finally admitted that I was topographically challenged/

Obstacles Overcome
* Many, many hurdles erected by me, for me, of which I am now pompously proud to have conquered
* I was always told that I was adopted. It wasn't until I was 43 that I learned that my parents actually were my parents

ANNOUNCEMENT
Mr. Jimbob and his imaginary wife, "Tiffany", are proud to announce the arrival of a new member of our little family. It's a six pound, two ounce folding chair appropriately named Jimbob Junior. He arrived at 9:30 pm on April the 14th, and was welcomed warmly by Jimbob Senior, Tiffany, and Jeffrey, our two year old cinder block. We will love him and cherish him for ever and ever. Somebody help me, please, I have no life at all and I'm grasping at straws here.

MY SKILLS

> Music : Composition (most styles) / performing; guitar bass guitar, cello, vocals / MIDI programming, arranging & recording / scoring for film & video / I have written several computer programs in BASIC that generate musical ideas and perform operations on existing ideas
> Video : scripting / scoring / /directing / editing / research / camera work
> Writing : humor / song lyrics / short stories / poems / editorials / special interests / animals,/ American pop culture / history / biography / inspirational 1

MY GIGS

VIDEO
1987-8 : Took anti-drug program into Philly public schools. Helped kids make their own music videos at assemblies
1987 - present : Have been shooting and cataloging video on my neighborhood's past and present history, which I hope to leave to a local historical society
1993-4 : Produced two videos about Philadelphia's Wissahickon park for The Friends of the Wissahickon
2003 - 4 produced two comedy video shorts - "The History of Human Civilization in Three minutes", and "Like God to Ants", for presentation at the Compassionate Living Festival in Raleigh
- - - -MUSICAL
Past : 10 / 94 ; Compassionate Living Festival, Raleigh, NC, Culture & Animals Foundation
1 / 95 ; Memorial service for 23 primates killed in a fire at the Philadelphia zoo
4 / 96 Chamber music concert, Composer Services, Inc.
8 / 96 Veggie Fest, Delaware Action for Animals / Homeless Animals' Day , Delaware Humane Association
10 / 96 Pet Care Fair, Delaware SPCA / Vegetarian Thanksgiving, Coalition for Animal Rights & the Environment
1997 ; Church service for Philadelphia families of murder victims
5 / 97, 99, and 00 ; Great American Meatout, The Capitol, Washington, DC
10 /97 Homeless Animals' Day , New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance
6 / 99 "Direct Action" conference, United Poultry Concerns, Machipongo, VA
8/99 ; Ruthin Acoustic Music Club, Ruthin, Wales, UK
9/4/99 The Ellipse, Washington DC, Committee to End Primate Research
9/25/99 ; Healing Art Thing, Philly
> 1 / 6/ 00 Phila. Area Songwriters' Assoc. CD release concert, The Point, Bryn Mawr PA
> October 2002/2003/2005; Compassionate Living Festival, Raleigh, NC, Culture & Animals Foundation
Future:
> working on shows for Public Eye:Artists for Animals, and playing with the Saint Mad Trio for good causes.
- - - -WRITING
> Have written for local papers and newsletters on topics related to animals, history, and community affairs
> Done biographical interviews with senior citizens
> Short essays on compassionate living for "Health & Harmony" magazine
> Pamphlets, flyers, signs, greeting cards & fact sheets for animal rights groups 1

REFLECTIONS / OBSERVATIONS

> Maybe I did ask to be born
> I'm too poor to be this busy
> I only do what atoms can do
> I've never been as sad as happy
> My mind has a mind of its own
> I'm still lookin' for my holy spot
> I was nuts when nuts wasn't cool
> Living in sin isn't all it's cracked up to be
> I'm not weird, life is weird. I just reflect it
> My happiest moments were all in my mind
> I took my entire retirement early (age 30 to 40)
> I don't know what I am, but I know what I feel
> I'm screwed up, but it gives me something to do
> I find people distracting, and I'm too easily distracted
> The long-term me & the short-term me don't get along
> So much moss grew under my feet, they called me Pete
> I'm no longer in touch with reality, we broke up in 1977
> I believe in fate, romance, and the value of all experience
> I don't even remember what it is I'm trying to remember
> I am convinced that people can fly by flapping their arms
> I believe for every drop of rain that falls, something gets wet
> I missed the Love Train, now I'm just waiting for the Sex Train
> I didn't have to be high to have a good time. I just had to be high
> I do have an optomistic side, but the cynical side always beats it up
> Mankind is my father by default (Oh my Papa, to me he was anonymous)
> We're born alone, we die alone, we mingle in between (That one's hard to take)
> After fifty-plus years of life, I finally feel as if I'm in the right place at the right time.
> My dilemmas 1. I'm driven, but everything's an effort. 2. I'm afraid of winning and losing
> Whenever moments of historic import roll up to me, I'm in "everyday" mode (& vice-versa)
> Not only am I not too proud to beg, but I find it a rather easy and enjoyable way to get what I want
> I often reflect on myself reflecting on myself. This puts me on a higher plane of existence than ordinary humans
> The older I get, the more integrated my emotions and intellect become, & the more my writing reflects the real me.
> I suffer from "Goldfish syndrome". I will consume as many flakes as are deposited in my bowl, even to my detriment and demise
> I suspect everyone of wrongdoing, but I can never quite prove it. Maybe I'm watching too much TV. Maybe I'm not watching enough
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -`> I've heard Beethoven in the clouds. I've been to many places where I felt that mortals don't belong, but those places were beautiful, and I'm grateful. I must ask myself, however where do I belong, in a tree with my simian ancestors?
> Sometimes I turn out the lights in my room and look at all the little power lights from my electronic gizmos glowing, and imagine I'm running the world from my command post. Y'ever do that?
> I've found that the inhibition-mitigating power of alcohol is only a placebo effect. Real self-confidence can only spring from a clear head, a ready head. It takes time & love & luck (the love of Nature). There's nothing you can do drunk that you can't do better sober. Have faith
> I believe we need to send baseball missionaries to those needy parts of the globe that have not yet discovered the Ultimate Pastime. It truly saddens me to think of human beings running around kicking things when they could be playing or watching the One True Game. Feet are merely appendages of gross ambulation. It is largely the development of the arms and hands that propelled man to the forefront of evolution. Many creatures can dance and sing. Only one can throw a curveball.
> I guess that most writers, after a while, become aware of themes that run through their thoughts.- prime motivators. One of mine is "fragile beauty". Some examples; A spider meandering across the floor at a General Motors board meeting / A squirrel blithely burying a nut by the side of a busy highway / A nest in a tree on a medial strip / A kitten lost in the city / Starlings pecking for food in traffic / An anthill on a driveway / A weed growing from a crack in the cement / The Bull (not the china shop) / A brilliant blue bauble in the boundless blackness of space / You & me, brothers and sisters / I write about this theme in To The Earth
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -`> The road has always risen to meet me. Whenever I really needed something to keep my tenuous venture afloat, the technology would appear, the internet being just the latest example. I doubt if I could have survived in any other era. Other humans would have eaten me. I'm still not sure they won't (someone squirted whipped cream on me once, in Times Square, but i got away)
> You know that stage that infants go through when they're fascinated with their bodies? I never got past that. What really scares me is that I think maybe love (and perhaps all emotion) - unlike rationality - flows as much from the body as from the mind. And of course the ultimate fear is that mind does not exist without body. ("Free from clatter / mind is merely matter"). Of course this train of thought implies that putting feathers in the proper order would give you a chicken. The resultant structure, however, would lack the Momentum of the universe. Even if it quacks like a man, it could still be a parrot

> The mind in my head ( the "house" mind) and the mind outside of it (the "field" mind), while tenuously connected, operate, to a large degree, independently. I'll be having a dialogue "inside" while doing some perfunctory physical chore "outside", and suddenly hear words come out of my mouth, such as, "why do you think that is?", and have no idea what it's referring to. Sometimes they talk back & forth. The inny will make some statement, and the outy will respond, "me too". Then a different outy will say, "who said that?". I don't think that I have multiple personalities, but rather that my personality is composed of many "bit players".
A point I am trying to make here is that, to bring thoughts from the other side of the axis into the physical world is my joy as an artist. It is a delicate, painstaking operation, requiring great tranquility and luck, but it's Heaven when it works. It's what my song "All Night Long " is about.
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >`Messages from the front; Harem in shambles / Ducks running wild / Therapist insane / The rainbow has no end / Master plan has bugs 1

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