Friday, October 30, 2009

yoga quiz

I took a quiz over on Yoga Dawg's website; got a nice chuckle to start the morning with (although, knowing Yoga Dawg (or his/her website, anyway), probably everyone gets this response):


    You are God. You love to sit back and watch the deluded masses do yoga. You love making snarky comments with the ascended yoga masters about what is going on in the yoga scene in America today. The Holy Yogis are the most amusing to you. You have a good old time every time you hear a Yoga Star spouting philosophical hooey, hokum, hogwash, hype and hocus-pocus regarding yoga. Most amusing of all is how you set up the GreatTranscendentalYoga SuperStore to see who was smart enough not to fall for all the cheap tricks of the Yoga-Industrial-Complex (not many and those that don’t seem to live in Kansas and Iowa).

    You are endlessly amused from the scandals involving Yoga Stars and the rivalry between the style of yoga and especially all the crazy branding of yoga that is being invented daily. But most amusing of all to you are the yoga zealots who claim to have all the answers but somehow turn out to be complete ass-hats who are drowning in their self-piousness.


Well, if that doesn't hit almost all of my yoga buttons, I don't know what does. I love the fact that there are (other) yogis out there who recognize the deep irony of yoga marketing (the yoga-industrial complex) and who don't hesitate to call others in the community "ass-hats" when it's warranted.

"Drowning in their self-piousness" - that's going to have me smiling all day!

PS - I'm back. I think.

Monday, October 19, 2009

the Tragically Hip, 15 October 2009, Albany - a review

About two weeks ago, T and I drove up to Albany to see the Tragically Hip. By far, it was the best show I've ever gone to. The Hip's front man, Gord Downie, is a maniac, and I mean that in the best sense of the word. His stage presence, jumping around, dancing, engaging with the audience, was incredible. Several times throughout the show, he walked out into the audience on the backs of the seats as far as his mic cord would allow him (he came within 3 feet of us at one point). The Hip have been together for 26 years; I've seen a lot of shows by other bands that have been together for that long, and most of the time their performances are very predictable and uninspired. Not the Hip. On stage, they acted like it was their first tour. They were present, even when playing songs that they've probably played thousands of times. A reflection of the energy they had on stage - this was the first concert I've been to in a long, long time in which the entire audience was on its feet throughout the entire show.

I know it sounds weird, but I felt somehow validated by their performance, even more than I feel validated by their recorded music. There's an emotional rawness and honesty to Downie's writing and performances. No artifice or disconnect. I tried to explain it to my therapist, and she said, "He's doing what you're doing." Probably the nicest thing she could have said to me. Yes. Exactly. Gord Downie is doing what I am trying to do; he's not hiding the things that might be uncomfortable to sing about or write about or talk about in public; he's airing it all. That sort of honesty can't be faked.