Well, I'm off to play a concert at Bridgeport Village tonight at 6pm. If you're in the Portland area, come on down and help stimulate the economy.
After the concert is over, Matt and I are scurrying over to Stub Stewart State Park for Field Day 2009. If you happen to be into amateur radio, listen in and try to find "W7OTV" out of the pure chaos as people around the world test out how to keep the lines of communication open during a state of emergency (solar power and generators, for our group). We like to take the night shift (except for the generator noise). So from 9pm to 11am, we'll be calling out "CQCQ" and talking to people around the world. I love bringing my camera and taking pictures right at sunrise, since the park is so amazingly picturesque. The radio operators are also funny to photograph at 5am.
Which means tomorrow we crash and sleep all day. I like that plan!
Monday is a special day. I'm fixing dinner for a lady in my band name Kristine who gave birth to a baby who will not survive long. In fact, she wasn't supposed to make it to birth, but by a pure miracle little Leah Grace has lived three months.
Please read her story here, but have the tissues ready:
http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=124408039674470200
It's a joy and agony to Kristine and her husband, holding their child and never knowing when her time will be up. Her church and our band joined forces to fix dinners and pitch in donations for house-cleaners to help the family. We have no money, but I sure can cook! I'm going to make my special parmesan-chicken-ranch-basil-pasta-casserole thing (I have not come up with a name for it yet). Matt has fallen in love with it, and it is super simple, so I can make enough for them and us.
Tuesday is band practice. I had a cold sore last week and couldn't play, so I'm looking forward to this week.
Then Thursday, July 2, is our "dating anniversary," eleven years as a couple. I have no idea what we're going to do, since money is tight. Olive Garden is our traditional dinner. yummmmmmm!
Then comes the Fourth of July. We have a parade in the morning, then we're playing for the Tigard Fireworks Show, the biggest fireworks display in the western suburbs. It always draws a massive crowd. Lots of Sousa and patriotic music for that day. And we get to watch the fireworks, so it's all good!!!
So, that's going to be my week, minus all the joyful surprises that pop up. Looks like this summer will be eventful.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
History Repeats
My husband and I were discussing politics, mostly him complaining about the turn toward socialism our country is taking. He wryly asked "What happened when Rome fell?"
Never ask a history buff a question like that!
That led me to a huge research bonanza on the collapse of the Roman Empire. Of course, the theories as to what triggered the fall are varied, as there can be no single source for something so massive. Plague, drought, economics, wars, religion, all play some role in the massive stage of this tragedy.
Instead of boring you with my research, let me point out one issue that piqued my interest.
Most historians agree that the beginning of the end began in 234 CE, with the "Crisis of the Third Century," a time of economic meltdown that makes the Great Depression look like a bounced check. It led to a shift in military and civilian life, which led to political anarchy.
A quick summary: the Sassanids of Persia threatened the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. Rome sent 20-25% of its military to the Middle East to deal with it. To accomplish this, they expanded the military by 1/4. Roman citizens did not want to fight a war far from home, so Rome was forced to recruit from the Germanic tribes to the north. In order to pay these new soldiers, they changed their coinage. Instead of pure silver, coins were made with cheap fillers. This caused a hyperinflation. Money became worthless. Trade was carried out in bartering. The imperial network of trade and economy collapsed, since they could not purchase items with their worthless coins. This led to a shift in policy, as Rome became most socialistic. People were ordered where to work, no choice. To force them to remain, workers were organized and forced into guilds, while businesses were grouped into what was called collegia. Laws forbade citizens from moving out of cities into the country to find work. Farmers were also tied to the land. Taxation became so inflated, people fled this life, regardless of the laws, and came to rich landowners seeking refuge, becoming a half-free class of citizen of coloni, what we call today "serfs." This directly led into the de-evolution from the world of Antiquity to Medieval feudalism.
Got all that? I know, it's a lot to digest. Cliff Notes: Rome fights Persians with Germanic soldiers, taxes the hell out of citizens, pumps their money into "foreign investments" (aka mercenaries), and collapses the economy in the process.
Meanwhile, the Persians took over the area around the Black Sea, pushing the Huns out. The Huns invaded northern Europe, pushing the newly-enriched German tribes southward, leading to many conflicts between these Visigoths and the Roman Empire, which led to the Sack of Rome in 410.
So... Rome responds to a threat from the Middle East, focuses a vast majority of its military there. Persia pushes on the Huns, who push on Europe. Meanwhile, Rome has given the Germanic tribes money and weapons. Once the wars cause Rome's infrastructure to teeter (leading to a spike in taxes, a turn toward socialism, and resulting in anarchy), the Visigoths use those weapons against the ones who provided them and strike from the north while Roman troops are focused in the Middle East.
Hmmmm!!!
America responds to terrorist threats in the Middle East, focusing many of our soldiers there. The Middle East pushes against India. India increases its military, which then makes Korea feel threatened. Meanwhile, America gave Korea a nuclear reactor back in the 70s, which recently led to Korea stating it is going to start building nukes. One missile they launched hit Alaska. (Anyone remember that? I bet Sarah Palin does!) Once the "war on terror" causes America's infrastructure to teeter (leading to a spike in taxes, a turn toward socialism, and likely resulting in anarchy), Korea strikes us from the north while American troops are focused on the Middle East.
OMGZ, it's the Sake of Rome all over again, but with NUKES!!! Run to your bomb shelters!!! WAAAAH!
Okay, comedy aside, I do believe history will forever repeat itself, and if we don't watch out, we're going to see something bad happen to this country. Maybe not immediately. From the Crisis of the Third Century to the Sake of Rome, almost 180 years passed. But events happened slowly back then. One could say our critical error was giving nuclear power to Korea, and that was Carter's administration. 30 years later...
I told all this to my husband. He says I should put in an application to be Obama's Historical Adviser. I wouldn't be good at that, for the same reason I'd make a horrible teacher. I'm prone to whack information into someone... literally.
Can I get an avatar of Obama being whacked over the head with a history book? :D
Never ask a history buff a question like that!
That led me to a huge research bonanza on the collapse of the Roman Empire. Of course, the theories as to what triggered the fall are varied, as there can be no single source for something so massive. Plague, drought, economics, wars, religion, all play some role in the massive stage of this tragedy.
Instead of boring you with my research, let me point out one issue that piqued my interest.
Most historians agree that the beginning of the end began in 234 CE, with the "Crisis of the Third Century," a time of economic meltdown that makes the Great Depression look like a bounced check. It led to a shift in military and civilian life, which led to political anarchy.
A quick summary: the Sassanids of Persia threatened the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. Rome sent 20-25% of its military to the Middle East to deal with it. To accomplish this, they expanded the military by 1/4. Roman citizens did not want to fight a war far from home, so Rome was forced to recruit from the Germanic tribes to the north. In order to pay these new soldiers, they changed their coinage. Instead of pure silver, coins were made with cheap fillers. This caused a hyperinflation. Money became worthless. Trade was carried out in bartering. The imperial network of trade and economy collapsed, since they could not purchase items with their worthless coins. This led to a shift in policy, as Rome became most socialistic. People were ordered where to work, no choice. To force them to remain, workers were organized and forced into guilds, while businesses were grouped into what was called collegia. Laws forbade citizens from moving out of cities into the country to find work. Farmers were also tied to the land. Taxation became so inflated, people fled this life, regardless of the laws, and came to rich landowners seeking refuge, becoming a half-free class of citizen of coloni, what we call today "serfs." This directly led into the de-evolution from the world of Antiquity to Medieval feudalism.
Got all that? I know, it's a lot to digest. Cliff Notes: Rome fights Persians with Germanic soldiers, taxes the hell out of citizens, pumps their money into "foreign investments" (aka mercenaries), and collapses the economy in the process.
Meanwhile, the Persians took over the area around the Black Sea, pushing the Huns out. The Huns invaded northern Europe, pushing the newly-enriched German tribes southward, leading to many conflicts between these Visigoths and the Roman Empire, which led to the Sack of Rome in 410.
So... Rome responds to a threat from the Middle East, focuses a vast majority of its military there. Persia pushes on the Huns, who push on Europe. Meanwhile, Rome has given the Germanic tribes money and weapons. Once the wars cause Rome's infrastructure to teeter (leading to a spike in taxes, a turn toward socialism, and resulting in anarchy), the Visigoths use those weapons against the ones who provided them and strike from the north while Roman troops are focused in the Middle East.
Hmmmm!!!
America responds to terrorist threats in the Middle East, focusing many of our soldiers there. The Middle East pushes against India. India increases its military, which then makes Korea feel threatened. Meanwhile, America gave Korea a nuclear reactor back in the 70s, which recently led to Korea stating it is going to start building nukes. One missile they launched hit Alaska. (Anyone remember that? I bet Sarah Palin does!) Once the "war on terror" causes America's infrastructure to teeter (leading to a spike in taxes, a turn toward socialism, and likely resulting in anarchy), Korea strikes us from the north while American troops are focused on the Middle East.
OMGZ, it's the Sake of Rome all over again, but with NUKES!!! Run to your bomb shelters!!! WAAAAH!
Okay, comedy aside, I do believe history will forever repeat itself, and if we don't watch out, we're going to see something bad happen to this country. Maybe not immediately. From the Crisis of the Third Century to the Sake of Rome, almost 180 years passed. But events happened slowly back then. One could say our critical error was giving nuclear power to Korea, and that was Carter's administration. 30 years later...
I told all this to my husband. He says I should put in an application to be Obama's Historical Adviser. I wouldn't be good at that, for the same reason I'd make a horrible teacher. I'm prone to whack information into someone... literally.
Can I get an avatar of Obama being whacked over the head with a history book? :D
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Indiginous People Around the World
As some of you know, I've been intrigued with Native American culture since hearing that my ancestor was George Guess, aka Sequoyah, claimed to be the inventor of the Cherokee writing system, and yes, the redwood was named after him. This dubious ancestry has since been proven false.
"Sequoyah," really a portrait of Thomas Maw. Sequoyah was branded on
the forehead and had his ears cut off by White Men.
By the way, the story you may have heard in elementary school of Sequoyah is totally made up by White Men. Please read the true and gruesomely tragic real story of Sogwili, also known as Tahlontisoge, Sequoyah, George Guess, and other names. It is a good view into how White Men made up stories to cover up their barbaric deeds.
http://www.ani-kutani.com/nativeamericanfacts/tahlontisoge.htm
I do have Cherokee ancestry on my mother's side, which I uncovered in my genealogical research. My great-grandmother was Cherokee and had possession of Native lands in Oklahoma. At least, that was HER story, as told by my grandfather. Other members of her family stodgily deny any Cherokee heritage and insist she was descended from a famous British captain. Considering many people during that time period tried to hide any indigenous roots, I doubt Great-grandma Sada was lying.
Despite all this confusion, my interest in indigenous cultures continues. I studied Native American Anthropology in college and fell in love with lithology. Studying the various styles of arrowheads and the way they were formed is my favorite, and my professor was extremely impressed with my collection. She even allowed me to borrow her special collection of stone utensils for photography records. Prof. Bogdan was awesome like that!
This interest is slowly expanding. First, due to a book I was writing, I became intrigued with Australian Aborigines and their concept of Dreamtime. Then I fell in love with Tuvan throat-singing and began studying them and the Inuits, with their unique katajjaq.
Tuvan throat-singer
From there, I read about the Ainu people of Japan and their sadly lost musical art form known as rekuhkara. This technique was lost over thirty years ago. It's a case of a dominate society forcing a minority to "integrate" by forbidding their heritage. This is a common theme amongst many indigenous groups.
Ainu have lighter skin and wavy hair. Their thick beards are a sign of beauty,
so that women tattooed mustaches on their lips.
I'm also looking into indigenous groups of Europe. That gets to be a little harder, as tribes wandered all over and conquests occurred frequently. For instance, the British Isles were cleared of inhabitants by the Ice Ages, but after the glaciers pulled back, the first inhabitants to enter the land were of the Aurignacian culture (yes, I am a British history buff). Gaelic culture is also intriguing, especially since my grandmother was Irish. According to Wikipedia (I had to make sure I was right in this), the Britons are considered the indigenous group of southern Great Britain, and even they replaced others.
Conquests and dominance, that is the history of our world.
The Basques especially intrigue me ever since I read Shibumi (a novel which influenced much of my writing, even though I'm not into spy novels really). I've also found myself reading many articles on the Sami people of Scandinavia. It's ironic that these "white natives" are discriminated against even by other indigenous people... until you hear them sing a joik. Google it, it is so beautiful!!!
Sami family, circa 1900
I'm not sure what I'm rambling about now. I suppose my point in all this is to expose people to other indigenous cultures. Perhaps when you hear "native" you think Cherokee, Lakota, Apache, and Sioux. Many Americans do. They ignore the fact that most Mexicans come from Aztec and Mayans people, making them as "Native American" as the Gabrielino (the Natives of the area that is now Orange County, my hometown), and the Clackamas (the Natives of the area I now live in Oregon).
No matter where you go in the world, these old traditions have been persecuted, the dominant race eager to stamp them out or "integrate" them. Be it Aborigines, Tuvan, the Ainu, Basques, or the Sami, these ancient cultures are being threatened, and many are lost to us. This is a sad cycle, repeated over and over, one tribe defeating another, one race pushing out another, one country dominating another. In the struggle for power, the small are lost, but I hope they are not completely forgotten.
"Sequoyah," really a portrait of Thomas Maw. Sequoyah was branded onthe forehead and had his ears cut off by White Men.
By the way, the story you may have heard in elementary school of Sequoyah is totally made up by White Men. Please read the true and gruesomely tragic real story of Sogwili, also known as Tahlontisoge, Sequoyah, George Guess, and other names. It is a good view into how White Men made up stories to cover up their barbaric deeds.
http://www.ani-kutani.com/nativeamericanfacts/tahlontisoge.htm
I do have Cherokee ancestry on my mother's side, which I uncovered in my genealogical research. My great-grandmother was Cherokee and had possession of Native lands in Oklahoma. At least, that was HER story, as told by my grandfather. Other members of her family stodgily deny any Cherokee heritage and insist she was descended from a famous British captain. Considering many people during that time period tried to hide any indigenous roots, I doubt Great-grandma Sada was lying.
Despite all this confusion, my interest in indigenous cultures continues. I studied Native American Anthropology in college and fell in love with lithology. Studying the various styles of arrowheads and the way they were formed is my favorite, and my professor was extremely impressed with my collection. She even allowed me to borrow her special collection of stone utensils for photography records. Prof. Bogdan was awesome like that!
This interest is slowly expanding. First, due to a book I was writing, I became intrigued with Australian Aborigines and their concept of Dreamtime. Then I fell in love with Tuvan throat-singing and began studying them and the Inuits, with their unique katajjaq.
Tuvan throat-singerFrom there, I read about the Ainu people of Japan and their sadly lost musical art form known as rekuhkara. This technique was lost over thirty years ago. It's a case of a dominate society forcing a minority to "integrate" by forbidding their heritage. This is a common theme amongst many indigenous groups.
Ainu have lighter skin and wavy hair. Their thick beards are a sign of beauty,so that women tattooed mustaches on their lips.
I'm also looking into indigenous groups of Europe. That gets to be a little harder, as tribes wandered all over and conquests occurred frequently. For instance, the British Isles were cleared of inhabitants by the Ice Ages, but after the glaciers pulled back, the first inhabitants to enter the land were of the Aurignacian culture (yes, I am a British history buff). Gaelic culture is also intriguing, especially since my grandmother was Irish. According to Wikipedia (I had to make sure I was right in this), the Britons are considered the indigenous group of southern Great Britain, and even they replaced others.
Conquests and dominance, that is the history of our world.
The Basques especially intrigue me ever since I read Shibumi (a novel which influenced much of my writing, even though I'm not into spy novels really). I've also found myself reading many articles on the Sami people of Scandinavia. It's ironic that these "white natives" are discriminated against even by other indigenous people... until you hear them sing a joik. Google it, it is so beautiful!!!
Sami family, circa 1900I'm not sure what I'm rambling about now. I suppose my point in all this is to expose people to other indigenous cultures. Perhaps when you hear "native" you think Cherokee, Lakota, Apache, and Sioux. Many Americans do. They ignore the fact that most Mexicans come from Aztec and Mayans people, making them as "Native American" as the Gabrielino (the Natives of the area that is now Orange County, my hometown), and the Clackamas (the Natives of the area I now live in Oregon).
No matter where you go in the world, these old traditions have been persecuted, the dominant race eager to stamp them out or "integrate" them. Be it Aborigines, Tuvan, the Ainu, Basques, or the Sami, these ancient cultures are being threatened, and many are lost to us. This is a sad cycle, repeated over and over, one tribe defeating another, one race pushing out another, one country dominating another. In the struggle for power, the small are lost, but I hope they are not completely forgotten.
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