BOB'S JAVA JIVE

We went to Tacoma! In the white car with our sleeping bags.... just in case!
Jarrod and Emily (SOLVENTS) were part of a 4 band line up at the strange and beautiful Bob's Java Jive on South Tacoma Way. The exterior of the Java Jive is shaped like a giant coffee pot. The interior has a jungle theme, with flourescent murals under black light. There's grafitti everywhere and nice cozy booths with outdated, but exotic vinyl upholstery. The jukebox skips and the beer is NOT cold. It is very fine, indeed.

The Port

The fire went out in the night, sometime before the earthquake. Jarrod felt it here, and Teresa felt out at North Beach. I was dreaming about a bike wreck. Two bicycles collided on the fountain stairs and both riders went tumbling down. Related?

Come on spring. The robins in the yard say, "Yes!."

Baja is just sitting there. Check your bank account. No bueno.

We are all getting by. Emily and I went downtown last night to check out Steve's Thursday night DJ gig. He plays hip-hop, new school R&B, remixes of dance hits, etc. It is has an urban feel, that wipes a little of the seagull poop off of old Port Townsend. They have a pretty good sound system at Water Street too. I like to sit back and bask in sound. ahhh. The best cut of the night was a Flaming Lips track from the 'Clouds Taste Metallic' LP. Kickin' drums. yeah!
Also: Rosie is getting a Cougar (similar to student of the month) award at the school assembly today. I think she deserves it. What an organized kid.

-rf

when the internet pulls a fast one on you

facebook is so weird. i go to log on and i find this photo of my good friend anna benson who passed away when we were 17. so, so strange. lots of heavy memories rushing through me. lots of good ones, too.
i havent seen a photograph of her in years... and there she is, alive( so it seems) on facebook. like i could send her an instant message or something. like were still 17.
but were not. and she is truly gone. she was one of my best friends in the world.
its weird because the first thing i thought when i saw this was "how can she be here? the internet didnt even exist when she was alive." it confused the hell out of me. then i imagined trying to explain the internet to her. and the weirdness of "social networking". she would laugh as fumbled through the concept of a "world wide web" or instant messaging your friend who lives down the street. or how about a blog, anna? posting your thoughts on line so anyone in the world can read them.... i remember when we would trade our journals and read through each others lives, in the same room, then talk about it, eye to eye. teenage therapy? totally. anna helped me though lots of dark days. i named my first born daughter after her.
its really hard to believe how much has changed since she passed on. i wrote these lyrics for you, anna...

"found this old photo/you were so young/still wonder what you could have been or should have been/always forever/ always so numb.../i just want to run/burn like weeping sons/everything will change/remember me....

i will always love you for everything you taught me and for being such a bright light in a dark world. im so sorry for when i forget that you existed. i will try to remember you better. i will always be your friend.

oh, and anna..you should really check out my myspace page....

-J.B.

Rocky Mountain High

Another 24 hours... Another hard earned truckload of wood. & River heads back to Colorado after nearly two months on the couch.
-rf

I Just Wanna Celebrate

\

1.\The soda machine at the Westbay Auto in Poulsbo looks pretty good.
2.\In the television.
3.\Weirdo cats, stuck on the refrigerator door.

ANNA'S ROLLERSKATING OUTFIT

"Beverly Hills"

Potluck

Getting into it. In the garage. Potluck gone bad. Lots of people talking, smoking, drinking beer. The radio is on, cold air leaking in. Using an old television or a recycling bin for a chair. Guns and Roses, Lil' Wayne, idiotic Van Halen. Switch the station, we want to hear a good song. More people. Pull the door open and bring in the extra van seats. Scoot in closer so that we hear each other. Grab the folding chairs off the porch too. Hey, put on that ZZ Top tape. Oh yeah, and help yourself, there's beer on the porch.

everything

1.
Everything makes sense today. I see the spaces between the black branches. It is like reading tea leaves.
I am so grateful. For everything.

2.
The Free Store is open. Piles of hand knitted wool caps, coated in dog hair. A Guatemalan vest. A copy of The Muppet Movie on VHS.

3.
Take a photo of the house on the bluff. Bring it home, flip it around and bump up the contrast. Spooky.

4.
Sweet Truck.


-rf

Slayer

I want to stroll among the cacti on a hot, dry day. The climate is so moist here. Tonight, the cold weather has returned, and the fire is back at full tilt.
There has been a lot of hanging out in the garage, lately. We nestle in next to the wood pile, around a busted up old paper-board card table, and listen to my crappy little boombox. It is usually tuned to KZOK, the classic rock station. Last night we switched it up; Jarrod and I listened to Slayer's Reign in Blood on cassette tape. He told me about the time he and Charlie Burns went to a Slayer concert. The lights went down, the music went up and the fists, and elbows and boots started flying. Jarrod got punched in the pit.
I miss going out to live metal shows. Those audiences let it all hang out. Headbanging, crowded around the stage, punching into the air, hollering, loving it, feeling it. Really being in the moment.
I got a new bed. The bar downtown is going to start hosting karaoke. We had burritos for dinner. Someone left the front door open last night and the fog leaked in.
-rf

Untitled

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I talked with Gigi yesterday. She said we should just throw parties for cash. Not a bad idea. I enjoy promoting events. I am also pretty handy with cardboard, poster paints, crepe paper, and balloons.
Fruit punch, anyone?
---------------------------------------------------
I am working on an art project. It feels somewhat pointless, since there will be no financial return. But...I enjoy it! I am stenciling the screens of old television sets. You plug them in and the static glows behind the image. I will post some photos soon.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
....Here is Jarrod, playing guitar yesterday, on a rare
sunny afternoon. -rf

legalize it

i cant stop thinking about this record. its been buzzing through my head all morning. it was a fitting soundtrack to mr. obama becoming president.

i have to say the whole thing was pretty inspiring(besides the cheeziness...and all the god talk..)

and i really did enjoy watching obama walk bush to the chopper and send him back to texas. it must have felt pretty good for O. to kick that hillbilly to the curb.

hmmmm...what next?

on the home front:

getting low on firewood and propane. tensions getting high. nowhere to run.

the real queastion is...

how do we get paid?

-jb

Mystery Jug

I found this plastic jug in the garage. I put it on top of our recently acquired "pro-model" croquet set. POWER. ENERGY. HEALING. ETERNAL CONNECTION.

This photo was taken last night in our garage. River has been replacing the steering column in his recently acquired '65 Ford 100. Jarrod was out there, helping him. Love these guys. -rf

HELLO! LOVE, RUBY & ROSIE!

dreamboat annie

there is something so untouchable about this record. im not sure exactly what it is. i think its a perfect album. killer songs. sweet production. ripping guitars. world class vocals...

i just love it a lot. i truly believe in it. it is special.

i think that if all the world leaders got together and listened to it 4 times in a row, everything would be ok. no more hunger...no more recession...no more pain...

beyond dreamboat annie , things around the house are going good.

i went home sick from work, watched the never ending story and fell asleep. it was comforting.
-jb

JOY & PAIN

2 Chickens Left

I woke up at 4:30 am to the sound of squealing chickens. A trail of feathers down the walkway, out the gate, and onto the street. A coyote ate one of the big, brown teddy bear chickens last night.
We drank all 12 cups of coffee out of the coffee pot this morning. All the while listening to Pete Townshend's 1980 solo album 'Empty Glass'. An intriguing album.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_Glass
I have been enjoying listening to major label, keyboard heavy recordings from the early 1980's, lately. Like Phil Collins. & The Miami Vice Soundtrack( featuring Glenn Frey, Chaka Khan, and Jan Hammer.) I like to turn my ear freshly to old sounds. The 80's stuff is tasteless, but compelling. The guitar is often pushed to the background, the synth is dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, and then some demanding or forlorn saxophone is is forcing itself on the whole mess.

The Sacrifice of E.T.

U.F.O. sighting from the back porch.

the other night as emily and i were talking on the porch, i spotted a strange, "ball of fire" that was flying really weirdly and sporadicly. we both got really excited as it got brighter and brighter. we called ruby and river to come check it out. they witnessed the tail end of the event as the ball went out and disapeared.

it was sort of amazing.

then we about our business as if nothing ever happened....

just as it should be.

keep up the good work

I tacked up some writing and artwork at the library in their, "Poet's Corner" display case. Weird feelings, mostly because i should do more things like this. I should be making more artwork, writing more, and printing my photos, or making them into digital slideshows.
Get busy.
I added to this photo, with the Paint program on Jarrod's computer.

PHOTOS of PHOTOS

3 chickens left

The chicken is already gone. I cut it off the tree and wrapped it in a black garbage bag. My old co-worker Ty picked it up on his lunch break. He wants to practice gutting and cleaning a bird.

A raccoon, or was it a large rat(?) got into the coop last night and nearly ripped the leg off one of the chickens. After the kids left for school, Jarrod and Johnny(our overnight guest from Quilcene) walked out in the rain and snapped the injured chicken's neck. Following that, Jarrod took the big, wood handled axe and chopped it's head off. Then they wrapped twine around the chicken's feet and hung her from the apple tree over by the compost pile.

More rain, more sog. River tore apart the filthy white sofa bed yesterday. Another axe job. I walked into the garage and discovered him whacking away at it, then hanging from the rafter and kicking the arms of the couch, trying to separate them from body.

The newspaper came out today, like it does every Wednesday. The Help Wanted listings are about 5 vertical inches long.

Fire and Rain

guest blogger: jarrod paul bramson

hello! im jarrod and i live here, too!  im excited to be a part of the franklin and van buren blog. ruby and i were talking about starting a house blog and lo and behold...she went and did it. way to put yr. best foot forward rube!!

living in our house is quite a trip, i must say. there is a lot of crazy energy. we have 3 young girls(2 are 9 and 1 is eight), some chickens, an introverted, strange, and surly grey cat named marvin, and 4 highly opinionated (we are ALL always right)"adults". marvin and i are the only males.

life on the farm is good. things seem to run pretty smoothly. its really amazing, actually. we all get along fairly well considering we are up in each others lives, like 24/7. there are small fights sometimes but not as much as one would think. everyone tries to keep it as cool. i think there is a fair amount of pressure to NOT want be the annoying house mate, in the eyes of the others....

mostly, its a good time. there is always something going on. its a very social situation. people are cosistantly dropping by. sometimes this is hard for me, as i enjoy my very elusive alone time.

ive gotten used to it and i usually dig all the company and bottles of red wine.....

my favorite part of the house is the music room. sometimes i just go in there and stare at the beauty. its like this victorian fantasy studio! it doesnt make sense, but its real...

the whole house is kind of a fantasy world. i mean, we live in a victorian mansion!!!

how did some dirt bag like me end up here? thats another story for another time, i guess...

VALLEY BURGER

Another Sunday out at at Cindy and Steve's place, getting wood. Chilly weather, wind, and mud. Jarrod, Em, Riv, and I filled the back of the van, the civic, and 'Bucky' too.
We hit The Valley Tavern in Hadlock for burgers and beers after we finished. Inside the bar, my camera lens fogged up from the temperature shift. So, I got a nice hazy shot of Emily and Jarrod.
There was snow falling on the drive home. Now, the windows are rattling here at Franklin and VanBuren. When the weather is this heavy it is difficult to sleep. The storm windows bang around, the chimneys howl, and the trees slap against the house. I went to check on the chickens, they are all lined up on their perch, waiting for morning. The kiddos go back to school tommorrow. And I need to go out and find a job.