Shuffle Synchronicities: Volume 1 - #240

Guest Post by Sean O'Neill + "あのコはキティ" by Chai - 09/14/21

Dave Cowen

Sep 15, 2021

Today we have a guest post from The New Yorker cartoonist, Sean O’Neill!

Sean has illustrated or designed a number of my self-published books, which you can buy on Amazon.

Here’s a couple of examples of covers we did together:

And some of his cartoons:

Here’s a more formal bio!

Sean is a New Yorker cartoonist, Musician, and Postural Alignment Therapist. Cartoons on Instagram: @SeanOgCartoons. Music on Spotify: Otis Heat (IG: @OtisHeat). Posture Tips on Instagram: @PortlandPostureClinic. Get a Free Posture Assessment at PortlandPostureClinic.com. Virtual Sessions Available. Personalized Workouts with video and picture instructions. Become Pain Free by treating your posture.

Okay, take it away, Sean!

SCAMMED BY A KINDERGARTNER by John Williams

From the Home Alone score by John Williams, I can’t help but wonder why or if Macaulay Caulkin would keep so tight lipped about being so loose… with Michael Jackson. That may sound incredibly insensitive. And it is. Probably not even funny to a lot of people. But I’m letting it flow, stream of consciousness style. And, obviously, the first thing I like to do when I meet new people, or introduce myself through writing, is bring up pedophilia, especially a controversial story about it. So, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about something else… but what? We’ve fired up this hot topic, and it has so much presence in our world these days. Are kids even allowed to leave their yards anymore? The fact that Kevin McCallister was home alone for as long as he was, living independently, eating all the candy and pizza he wanted, inspired a generation of children who longed for freedom from the tyranny of parenthood—wait. Macaulay Caulkin recently formed a pizza themed band that toured playing Velvet Underground covers. Why the pizza theme? This is just occurring to me now and I kinda want to revisit the Pizza-Gate/Podesta Email YoutTube rabbit hole. It’s quite… Entertaining? Scary? Sad? Absurd? Compelling? Sorta believable? I dunno, but it’s getting late. So I won’t. Anyways, it’s ironic that the actor, who played an accidentally misplaced child, was knowingly allowed to sleep in the same bed as Michael Jackson. And Epstein didn’t kill himself, amirite?

*Disclaimer: I can neither confirm, nor deny any of these theories or allegations. Although they are interesting to explore, I choose not to commit to theories or hunches that require my faith. To do so, strikes me as anti-intellectual, and I much prefer an investigation to a resolution for the sake of a resolution. Nevertheless, my privileged life allows me to enjoy such a position of observation, as I do not have much of a horse in the race. Still, this, no horse in the race stance, has problems of its own. “Silence is violence” as some claim. A rally cry that is meant to incite individuals to choose a side, and fight against an opposition. Though certain positions can appear to be in the spirit of good versus evil, I recall my experience in the sport of wrestling. When grappled up with an opponent, the slightest shove or push into their body could generate an oppositional force. This oppositional force is instinctual, and could be used to draw your opponent off balance. With experience, training, and a matured understanding of physical dynamics a wrestler can compromise their opponent with less energy, by baiting certain reactions. This facet of interaction is harnessed in most combat sports. In the American Revolutionary War, the conventional head-to-head warfare was exploited by the guerrilla tactics of the Americans and played a significant role in the war’s outcome. In physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. From this fundamental occurrence, complex interactions occur. A better understanding of this is valuable in competition and persuasion.*

REPTILIA by The Strokes

I once put this song on my college lacrosse team’s warmup tape. I don’t think anyone liked it but me. I remember going through drills feeling hot, hyper conscious of the energy on the field, wondering how the songs were going over with the other players. The former warm-up tape was quite good and inspired the team to run around, throw a ball, and whack each other with sticks. We returned to the former warm-up tape the next game.

During the warm up drills, there was an upperclassman, we’ll call him J1, who liked to bully a lower classman, J2 (They both had names starting with J). J1 would deliberately chuck the ball into J2’s face with an uncatchable pass from close range until J2 would switch lines. Not nice. The next year, the bullying was coming to a head. I could see it wearing on J2. I told J1 that it needed to stop. He didn’t respond to me, but he did stop. Bullying bothers me. I have, both, bullied and been bullied. Both suck. I don’t know if the shame of having bullied, or the pain of having been bullied makes me more averse to it. Both were formative experiences, for better or worse.

DIRTY WORK GOING ON by Magic Sam and Shakey Jake

I don’t know of Magic Sam or Shakey Jake. I must have heard it sometime, or decided to just like an album I shazamed while in a coffee shop or bar. My Spotify Liked Song list is bloated beyond it being any resource of pride. I wouldn’t take my chances with it during a party in need of music. I only have two playlists that I’d use for that sort of instance. But, for this exercise I’m using this large list, so the Shuffle gods may generate some spirit of self-discovery.

In meditation, if I regularly practice, potent memories surface like a bloated body from a river bed. Bloated playlists give rise to bloated memories of a potent past.

MUSIC MAKES ME by Fred Astaire

If I could dance like Fred Astaire, I’d certainly be able to get attention at a moment’s notice. My downstairs neighbors would probably complain too. Tap dancing is quite natural. Our bodies are complete instruments. Stomping, slapping, and vocalizing can entertain a room of people or provide catharsis in solitude.

RIVER BOY by Willie Nelson

When Willie Nelson wore a suit before becoming an “outlaw” he wrote all his best tunes, ie: Crazy, Night Life. I wonder if he smoked weed back then.

It seems musicians get hauled in on back taxes all the time. Knowing the musicians I know, it doesn’t surprise me. The best musicians I know are so purely focused on music—maybe alcohol too, but that’s just to momentarily distract them from music. Most other things are let to slide—taxes, especially.

THESE ARMS OF MINE by Otis Redding

I think it was Otis’ birthday last week. My band, Otis Heat, has no relation to Otis Redding. I’ve clarified this many times, to many people. Neither do I have an intimate relationship with this Otis Redding song. As good as his songs are, as good of singer as he is, and as in-line with my musical taste as he is, his songs don’t penetrate me. It’s strange. I like his music. The songs are great. But his sounds glance off me. Perhaps this will change someday.

NEW YEAR’S DAY (live) by U2

Remember when U2’s album was distributed to everyone’s iPhone music library? The controversy that ensued made me lol. I kinda wanna skip this song. Is that fair? No. I should let it play out. It’s a live version too. You can really hear Bono’s smugness permeating. Is it the fault of South Park that Bono was solidified in many minds as a “piece of shit” (the largest piece of shit in the world, according to the Vatican). He was solidified alright—Ha! He can really howl though.

But moving on, it must suck for Edge to always wear a beanie even in the summer—while on stage! If Elon Musk has a whole head of hair after having gone almost bald, why can’t Edge just show up having hair one day and be like “I just wore that beanie, because I liked how it looked.” Wealth can buy a full head of hair nowadays.

RIGHT DOWN HERE by J.J. Cale

J.J. Cale is all I need. Any occasion. Give me my four favorite J.J Cale albums and I’m good on music (Really, Troubadour, Okie, Naturally). I’m fine with either J.J. Cale or silence. When I lived in Berkeley, CA the summer after college, I rented a house with a few friends. The landlord left his record collection, which was quite a robust collection of quality. Within it were those four J.J. Cale records. My friend called 1-800-POT-DOCS and said his back hurt. We now had a prescription for cannabis, a record collection, and a wide assortment of smoking devices. I listened to J.J. Cale and learned how to play the guitar that summer. During a visit from my friend’s mother, she heard me singing and, in passing, said, “You sound great. You should make a CD.” Hence, she’s largely to blame (and thank) for my choice to embark on a musical career during my 20s. You never know what words will stick; but, apparently, my love language is Words of Affirmation.

CONTROL by Broken Bells

I live in Portland, OR. This band was popular on the local radio stations when I was driving a cab—before Uber. I always liked when they came on. The singer, from The Shins’, has a rich voice. A lot of control and freedom. It doesn’t sound of affectation. I’d imagine he had vocal instruction as a child. Voice lessons are a beneficial training for anyone, especially younger people. The understanding of vocal projection inspires confidence, expressiveness, and bodily awareness. Diaphragmatic control provides the ability to manually operate one’s nervous system and move between a sympathetic to parasympathetic state. A weak diaphragm is indicative of chronically shallow breathing patterns, fight or flight, and can have a severe effect on one’s posture. This is a recipe for pain and anxiety, which can lead to a, seemingly, inescapable cycle of suff.

STRAWBERRY FIELD FOREVER by Richie Havens

My father had the same dentist as Richie Havens for a while. He introduced me to his music. You gotta see Richie Havens play the guitar with his huge hands. Waim play Freedom at Woodstock.

It’s raw. He uses his massive thumb over the top of the neck. I’ve never seen anyone play the way he does. The character of his voice and rapid strumming style allows him to play with minimal accompaniment. He’s got great rhythm on the acoustic guitar, providing a lot of percussion.

I once met a guy playing guitar in the NYC subway who told me the most important thing when playing guitar is your rhythm hand, not your fretting hand. Richie Havens justifies that. And that one brief teaching moment was a major help to me as a guitar player—yet, another, small interaction with a large impact.

HOW WILL I EVER BE SIMPLE AGAIN (#1) by Emmylou Harris

I need to remove Emmylou Harris from this playlist.

Thank you, Sean! Quite a tour through your mind & music & life! For some reason, I’m picturing you tapdancing as Fred Astaire while voice training like the Broken Bells’ Singer, while rhythmically strumming like Richie Havens, all while you’re a little kid like Macaulay, who is bullying Emmylou Harris with a lacrosse stick ;)

That second Strokes album, which ‘Reptillia’ was on, is one of my favorites of all time, and I think was quite underrated at the time of its release.

This song came up recently:

“Under Control” by The Strokes

As it was covered by Rostam:

“Under Control” by Rostam

And sent to me by (ex?)-wife.

The lyrics like usual ‘struck’ a chord:

I don't wanna waste your time
I don't wanna waste your time
I just wanna say
I've got to say
We worked hard, darling
We don't have no control
We're under control
I don't wanna do it your way
I don't wanna do it your way
I don't wanna give it to you your way

And Richie Havens’ cover of The Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun”

Was either the choice for the song she walked down the aisle to or it might have been Nina Simone’s version:

Guess I should know, huh?!

I’m pretty sure now it was Nina’s ;)

So what song did I get today and how does it synchronize with Sean’s post?

"あのコはキティ" by Chai

Chai are a Japanese rock band, consisting of four women—Mana, Kana, Yuki and Yuna. Formed in 2012, the band released this debut studio album Pink in 2017.

Yuna introduced the other band members to Japanese music that did not easily fit into the traditional definition of “J-Pop”, such as the band Cero or Kimyō Reitaro.

The band's name comes from Russian tea (known as chai). Kana drank the tea with jam with her Russian literature professor at a Russian restaurant, which she thought was cute.

Chai had decided from very early in their careers to pursue music globally, and they considered it strange that many Japanese musical acts only focused on selling music domestically.

The band has toured with Superorganism, whose song “Everyone Wants To Be Famous”, is one of my favorites on my long sentence book playlist.

And they collaborated with Gorillaz and JPEGMafia on "MLS”:

Anyway, back to Sean’s post and my song, the association I had in my mind is that Sean’s writing was memoiristic, but light and about more of the mundane than the extremes of life.

The translation of Chai’s song is “Fried” and it’s about food (in a way):

Conflicting Beef & Fish
conflicting beef and fish
revitalization revitalization revitalization Yes

Ha Ha Ha ..

love love so oil
love love so oil
revitalization revitalization revitalization YES

Today, I am in Pasadena getting my car repaired after it was broken into on Saturday while playing tennis.

I went looking for a place to eat lunch and chose between an acai bowl spot and a hot dog spot.

I went with the hot dog (and tater tots).

Which I kind of immediately regretted.

The meat was not particularly ‘revitalizing’.

Neither was the ‘oil’y tater tots.

And yet at the same time, I didn’t and still don’t think, just eating an acai bowl would have sustained me through the relative hellscape that is sitting at a Honda repair shop for hours on end.

As Chai sings:

Oh YES!
If everything is fried, it's
almost so good

Indeed, Chai, fried food and meat is ‘almost so good,’ LOL.

Oh YES!
Make everything me up
Big Girl Big Boy

I’ll admit after the disappointing hot dog and tater tots meal, I did indeed get a small acai bowl to eat later, to make up for it, health and pride and revitalization-wise.

my pride, I'm a
little fat, I
want to go to pick you up, I
don't leave a little bit,
my pride, I'm a
little fat, I
want to love you

OK, just had the acai bowl for an early dinner, much better :)

Chai (pictured above) plays with the concept of beauty in Japanese pop culture. They aim to redefine the definition of kawaii ("cute") as "neo kawaii". Feeling that everyone around them was striving for a narrow definition of cute, they believe everyone is cute in their own way, and wanted to express this through their music.

As Yuki says, “There are as many happiness as there are people!”

Sean O’Neill finds happiness through cartoons, music, and posture, among many things ;)

What about you guys?

Shuffle Synchronicities 🔀✨

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