[dar-list] New Joni CD (Shiny Happy People - R.E.M.)

[Susan Moss]

Hello, All -



sharong (my sistah Joni lovah)B posted:



Its not Dar but its as close as you can get to one of the inspirations
o and for Dar Williams. I think she would concur and send you right
o your local starbucks or a lunch and listening party......
H yeah, its like the DAR WILLIAMS DVD viewing party but only at
tarbucks and only its Joni Mitchell...




Long time, no post - crazy life (surely a redundancy, eh?)...


Since Starbucks is basically the reason this new Joni disc saw the light of
day (no pun intended), I figured Ibd stop at the one directly on my route
home from work to buy Shine b I walked in, looked on all the countersb& and
the music carousel... and didnbt see it. I asked the nice young barista, who
looked puzzledb& and then apologetic b bwe definitely have the CD, but I
just forgot to put it out!b.


I politely but emphatically told the guy, bthis is a very big deal b
itbs been ten years since Joni recorded an album of all-new material.
Starbucks all over the country were celebrating the occasion today between 11
a.m. and 2 p.m. - I canbt believe I am the first person asking for it, at
6:00 p.m. on the release date.b He pointed to a 7b x 9b poster
confirming what I had just stated b rather than treat me like an
obsessive-compulsive fan, he seemed to understand. He called someone else to
staff the register while he went in search, coming back with one for me and a
handful to display front and center, temporarily replacing something else b
I then asked him what theybd be doing with the poster after today. He
slipped it out of the frame and gave it to me b I grinnedb& broadlyb&


As I was paying for the CD, as well as a venti Pumpkin Spice Latte (cinnamon
freak that I am b yum!), I made sure to get eye contact with him, placed my
hand over my heart and said, bthank you so muchb b he smiled backb& and
Ibd like to think maybe hebll do a bit of PR the rest of the
night/week/month on this most auspicious musical offering (or he could very
well get lots of mileage talking about the old hippie chick Joni freak nutcase
that came into his store earlier tonightb& :-)


I listened to the first song, an instrumental, on my way home and just wept at
the beautyb& of the notes and of her gift to us b itbs definitely Ms.
Mitchellbs "voice", even without the wordsb& and I am so looking forward to
hearing more...

P.S. I'll go up to Best Buy later to get the new Herbie Hancock "River:B  The
Joni Letters", also released todayB - he can wait...


P.P.S.B  I ran across the following poem yesterday, which seems to perfectly
complement Joni's intentions on the new CD - "in order to be optimistic, you
have to be irrational" indeed... and I was synchronistically reminded of
"that's when you knewB this world can't be saved, only discovered" (thanks,
Dar...B  <3 )


Testimony by Rebecca Baggett (for my daughters)
B 
I want to tell you that the world
is still beautiful.
I tell you that despite
children raped on city streets,
shot down in school rooms,
despite the slow poisons seeping
from old and hidden sins
into our air, soil, water,
despite the thinning film
that encloses our aching world.
Despite my own terror and despair.
B 
I want you to know that spring
is no small thing, that
the tender grasses curling
like a baby's fine hairs around
your fingers are a recurring
miracle. I want to tell you
that the river rocks shine
like God, that the crisp
voices of the orange and gold
October leaves are laughing at death,
B 
I want to remind you to look
beneath the grass, to note
the fragile hieroglyphs
of ant, snail, beetle. I want
you to understand that you
are no more and no less necessary
than the brown recluse, the ruby-
throated hummingbird, the humpback
whale, the profligate mimosa.
B 
I want to say, like Neruda,
that I am waiting for
"a great and common tenderness",
that I still believe
we are capable of attention,
that anyone who notices the world
must want to save it.




Susan
www.labyrinthcafe.com B 

"and we come by design by the workings of grace
to the scene of the crime and we cut to the chase
we come to this time entwined in this space
Ibve been working through lifetimes to find..."
~ Nick Annis




________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! -
http://mail.aol.com