“But that’s just what you folks need,” Bloody Chiclitz interjects. “Get some business people in there to run it right, instead of having the government run everything. Your left hand doesn’t know what your right hand’s doing! You know that?”
— Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
Category: Assorted Bob
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Io Saturnalia!
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Remove the wool that binds Saturn’s feet. It’s time to party.
Saturnalia has fascinated me since 9th grade Latin class at St. Anselm’s, when Magister Switalla would tell us about the Roman holiday that Christians coopted for their Christmas holiday. For some reason, one of the details that stuck with me was the idea of gift giving, specifically the idea of giving a pencil to the magister (teacher) in honor of the holiday (humble gifts were considered to be an inverse reflection of the importance of the friendship between giver and receiver). Magister also demanded that for that day we students would teach and he would be the student in the type of role reversal common during the Roman holiday where masters would serve their slaves.
An excellent Wikipedia entry on Saturnalia notes that parrots sometimes were among the Saturnalia presents. So watch out for your Saturnalia Cockatoo. It will be arriving in the mail. It’ll be the squawking box with air holes …
“It is now the month of December, when the greatest part of the city is in a bustle. Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you may hear the sound of great preparations, as if there were some real difference between the days devoted to Saturn and those for transacting business. … Were you here, I would willingly confer with you as to the plan of our conduct; whether we should eve in our usual way, or, to avoid singularity, both take a better supper and throw off the toga.”
— Seneca (as quoted in Wikipedia entry)
So from today through Dec. 23, io Saturnalia, y’all. Do whatever it takes to bring light to these darkest days bracketing the winter solstice.
Saturnalia
One of the many advantages to living in southeast Ohio is being neighbors with Jorma Kaukonen, the guitarist who fueled the musical explorations of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. He and his wife, Vanessa, created an oasis about 20 miles outside Athens that they’ve dubbed Fur Peace Ranch.
The ranch is mostly a guitar camp, which draws incredible guitarists to town to serve as instructors. This results in great shows at their intimate concert venue (a few hundred seats, at most). They also boast the Psylodelic Gallery, a collection of ’60s art and memorabilia that’s in silo.
But it’s their most recent endeavor that prompted me to jump in the car on a 10-degree day and drive out there: Pho Peace Ranch. Apparently, Jorma is a pho fanatic. Me too. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the ranch offers chicken, beef or vegetable pho out of its kitchen. I had the beef. Lara the chicken. Great stuff. Even better: Jorma and the incredible John Hurl serenaded us during lunch.
As a side note, I was wearing my favorite Steelers Your Face hoodie, and Vanessa instantly booed me, just as she had when she spotted me wearing the hoodie during a show about a year ago. I assumed she was a hapless Browns fan, but she’s a Patriots fan. We talked football a bit during lunch, and she confided that Jorma roots for the Steelers.
Another reason to love this place.
