http://rapidshare.com/files/256492019/ALBUM.zip.html

I've come to a grinding halt, but my grind hasn't halted. Landed in desert some months ago. Santa Fe. At times now, unsure how I arrived. Asked what I highway I took in, and I honestly don't remember. It was late at night after all, and we did journey 2000 miles in two day rental car purchase. At times now I see the vast expanse of pink and snow capped mountains, and I wonder how I ended up in New Mexico.
Less than a year ago we drifted away from mother Portland in our bus, ill-prepared and foolish. Saturn's children drenched in lives full of light years, seeking our moment.
Our rubber-tramping took us many places; through all four seasons, most states, freezing in the desert winter Madrid nights, humid death Florida summer, breathing flies and mosquitoes with our cosmic comrades in Atlanta, fleeing state police over trumped-up agricultural disputes, masquerading as citizens in the flesh festival post Katrina Mardi-Gras, screaming in a tunnel through the belly of a mountain in Pittsburgh. Through it all we never thought we would land at the base of the Sangre De Christo range, burning Piñon to warm ourselves, breathing this thin rich air, and forging another unfamiliar path through the weave of the void.
Winter approaches. It have been a brisk 17-25 degrees out. High desert snow, and full moon wolf howlings in the hills above town. We reside in a 210 year old adobe house with 24" impenetrable walls-- impossible to hang art, no cell phone rays or sci-fi wi-fi signals, no space beam mind kontrol central nervous hacking systems. This place is grounded!
Sage grows on side of house. Three rain barrels in place for spring. Acequia Madre flows under passage to house. This is a spanish built ditch from olden times, made to carry water to farm lands down stream. The man we rent from, Brother Steve, a Christian brother in the Spanish tradition, and his family, Los Armentas, have owned this property since those days. They were here when this was not even the United States. They were expunged by the natives only to return years later and be granted passage into this privileged place. Brother Steve's great grandmother lived in the house where I now reside. At that time she was Deputy of Santa Fe, and ran a bootleg whiskey operation. History.
We have jobs now. Work and toil in a turmoiled economy, under the same blue sky that birthed us all, on this familiar planet that has fed us all these years, spinning our webs, working, dreaming, missing friends and family and finding our way.
To summarize, I sold my bus and moved to Santa Fe to manage a health food store. Everything is good. Zen. Creativity regenerating. Passion refueling.
Frustrated daily with state of world and political unravelings, unjust bail out job loss capital collapse, wolves in "change" clothing. I just choose not to hold (cyber) space for all that right now. What will be, is written.
The fire is fading, and my eyes are crossing at this emf screen. Take care and please reply.

Only 23 more days until the Christs' birth.

Help someone who needs it this Christmas.
Make friends with an enemy.
Make friends with a tiger.
Make out with insanity.
Make believe.

Make 2009 the year, you REALLY GO FOR IT. Whatever it is.No holds barred.No reservations.

I will do the same.

Say YES and KNOW!

one.









--

So much has happened.

Sold Bus.

Lived in Atlanta at the good ol' BIG HOUSE. Ate Eats. Drank Dranks.

Inspiration and contemplation.

Now stationed in Santa Fe New Mexico.

Amazing.

Soon working. Soon recording.

Thanks for keeping in touch. More soon.

At least you're aware of Saturn returning to his place in your natal chart, so you are already ahead of the game. Being forewarned is being forearmed, so half the "battle" has already been won - by you! Cool, run with that thought.

Saturn has recently (since September) entered Virgo, and will be there for another couple of years. I assume that you were born between late 1977 and mid to late 1980, the last time Saturn was in Virgo. Depending on what degree Saturn is in your natal Virgo will largely determine the time frame for what is going to be happening, so it will be better to happen to it, rather than it happening to you.

This Saturn through Virgo will be quite different than 30 or so years ago, as Saturn will be opposing Prometheus (Uranus) the next few years. The Saturn/Prometheus opposition is what I'm considering to be the over-riding astrological event in the lead-up to 2012, and the end of the Mayan calendar. No one knows for certain what 2012 will look like when it gets here, but I'm becoming more convinced that it will look like what we want it to - we who want to see a more sustainable world full of peace, justice, and
previously unimaginable innovation.

The Saturn/Prometheus opposition will have tremendous effects on all of humanity, as these two are considered to be outer planets. They only oppose each other every 42 years or so, and each time has "forced" cultural and political changes to occur. A look at what was happening in the mid Sixties, and 1918 - 1920, for two such mini-eras, will shed a little light on what is in store for all of us.

Others such as yourself and your sub-generation with a Saturn return will be going through this and much more, so it would probably be best to explain and define what Saturn means to the individual at this point.

Saturn is too often seen as the arresting cop, judge, jury, and executioner all wrapped into one, and has often been depicted by artists throughout history as a vengeful graybeard, an angry old man that everyone wants to avoid. The anachronistic Judeo-Christian God is often shown as having these same Saturnian features. However, the planet itself is arguably the most beautiful one in our solar system, with its' many glowing rings. People often don't acknowledge that the rings are perfect circles, and the circle is a Universal symbol for wholeness, completion, and the recognition that
all things are connected.

It's also important to know that those rings are comprised of ice, dust, gas, small rocks and huge boulders, and this "space junk" is actually what happens when comets and asteroids slam into Saturn, sending out debris that is captured in the rings. Those same comets and asteroids could have easily swung in toward the Sun, and quite possibly hit the Earth and wipe out all of life as we know it. Saturn is thus seen as the diligent father figure who goes off to work each day and takes the hits for his children (us), so that
we won't be destroyed.

More clues can be found out about Saturn by considering that he is the most distant and slowest moving visible planet, and our distant ancestors built a myth surrounding Saturn, one that would designate Saturn as the "Great Malefic." One of the most difficult and mysterious things for us to fathom is how we are still so connected to this ancient awareness.

Saturn's thirty year orbit represented a life passage for our ancestors, when his return to his place in their birth charts meant that a person had reached a milestone, whereby an adult became an elder. Their life expectancies were much less than what we can look forward to today, so it was also an indication that most of their lives would soon be coming to an end. A Saturn return for them was seen as a sign that death might be right
around the corner.

Our modern life expectancy is such that most of us can fully expect to see a second Saturn return when we hit 58 and 60 years of age, so those ancient fears of death should not be a factor when we arrive at the age of 29 or 30, but the subconscious memories are still there no matter what we might try to do to avoid or negate them.

Nowadays, the age of thirty - the big three-oh - brings on newer problems and issues. The questions are: Why aren't I married with 2.3 kids, in a suburban MacMansion, surrounded by a white picket fence with a million dollars in the bank? "Success" has usurped the image of "elder" for our species, and we have become no wiser by this displacement of values.

Back to the planet, by taking all of those hits from comets and stray asteroids, Saturn teaches us unconditional love - a love that is dispassionate about whatever life throws at us. Saturn then asks us to take responsibility for our own actions and opportunities. He has created enough breathing space for us to live, grow, multiply, evolve, and ultimately
prosper, so it is up to us to find gratitude in Saturn's level of beneficence. Most modern astrologers now refer to Saturn as the "Great Professor," kind of like your favorite high school or college teacher, only on steroids for a Saturn return.

Usually, when Saturn transits a natal planet or cardinal point (Ascendant, Midheaven, etc.), he's only asking us if we've correctly defined the energies of that planet. For instance, Saturn on a natal Venus might ask us if we're exemplifying the energies of Venus, our inner Goddess. The questions at this time might be: Are we exuding Venus' aspects of love, peace, intuition, harmony, etc.? If not, what can Saturn - the Good
Professor - do to help in the learning process? If we're being Venus-antithetical, Saturn will be the cop/judge/jury/executioner, and we'll have to pay the price - the price of us not being true to our source.

The same goes for a Saturn transit of our natal Mars. If we're not being true to our inner warrior/initiator, we're acting strictly out of a fly-or-fry paradigm, and we're screwed when Saturn comes calling. Saturn on your natal Neptune or Pluto are far more spiritual and karmic in their scope, and you won't have to worry about them for a while.

Saturn on Saturn - here's your main classroom. Forget about high school or college, this is about learning much larger lessons. Fortunately (let's keep a positive spin on it!), your Saturn return happens when Saturn will be opposing Prometheus (Uranus). A primer on this dude's qualities will be in order, especially if you have any natal planets in Pisces where Prometheus has been since 2003.

Uranus/Prometheus was discovered in 1781, at the end of the American Revolution and at the beginnings of the French and Industrial Revolutions - the planet is discovered when the Earth is "ready" for it's energies. A fairly recent NASA fly-by showed that his poles are pointed at (and away from) the Sun, contrary to all the other planets. This guy can shake things up for our planet, especially if he's opposed to Saturn, like he was in 1918 during the Bolshevik Revolution, and 1965 -1967 during Vietnam, civil rights, the hippie days, and the beginnings of the environmental movement and women's liberation. These two will next be opposed exactly on November 4, 2008, when the citizens of the US attempt to elect a new President, if there's a true democracy left for us to enjoy… Uranus would have been more appropriately named for Prometheus, the guy who stole fire from the Gods and gave it to us humans.

I wrote most of the above for my lady-friend's niece who is most probably your exact age. She is also "dreading" her Saturn return, yet she is already a socially active, vibrant and engaged person, dedicated to ending global warming and the oxymoronic "holy wars," and furthering other Progressive issues. She's already clearly working with the planetary influences of her chart, and I'd suggest that you follow suit.

There are currently far too many people who are living in fear (an unbalanced Saturn), who have turned their lives over to Saturnian father figures, and there is clearly no future in giving away one's sovereignty to those misguided and greed-filled household names. Saturn only wants you to reclaim your own inner Good Professor - the ultimate guru who wants us all to keep on learning - so that we might eventually become our own best guru.

We're approaching seven months on the road. Nearly two hundred and ten days. So much has happened.
Three weeks in Pittsburgh with Nicole's grandparents, two great people, alive and bright and hanging on. Blessed with stories of old time Pittsburgh, steel mills, slag and polish bars, three rivers joining, flowing down-to the north. Community in Pittsburgh, bike co-op, food co-op, re-building center (construction junction), beautiful city parks, bike paths, vegan cup cake shops, and trees, lots and lots of trees. Pittsburgh is a very green city.

Greensboro North Carolina. Arrived early Saturday morning, took bikes from bus and pedaled toward coffee. Nicole and I on bike for first time in months. Bikes on back of bus, rusting, a real tragedy. Finally fixed em' up, and now in motion. Came upon a place of interest, signs of life in Greensboro NC. A great little place that was once an antique store, of sorts. It is filled, floor to ceiling, with nostalgia. Toys from yesteryear, games, trees and wacky weirdness, a wonderful thing.
Check it out here...

http://www.elsewhereelsewhere.org/images.html

Demo tour for Sol Mate' took us from North Carolina back down to Atlanta. Stopping briefly in Athens for a nice dinner with our dear friend Klay. She lives in this house back in the woods down a dead end street in Winterville Ga. She hikes a mile through the forest to work on an organic farm everyday. A real inspiration.

Its strange. I don't really feel like I am writing with the passion of my earlier blogs. This trip has been so long. We have been so exposed for 8 months now. Hassled by police all over the south for looking like crazy hippies in the prankster bus. They dont know that we are just a couple traveling in our home made motor home, exploring life and attempting to search for whatever passion and adventure is left in this place. Lately we have been sleeping in hotels. We have this system, we get the room, check it for cleanliness then bring in our own down comforter and pillows, rip the top comforter off the bed and put our stuff on the hotel bed sheets, then crank the AC until the windows freeze and bundle up safely, away from that sticky dirty south humidity. Its insane in the bus in this weather. You really really cant breathe. The bus stays like 20 degrees hotter, and no matter how many windows we open, no air flows through. So, we get rooms alot now. and its expensive. and Im ready to settle down and make some more music.
although, im really kinda concerned about the state of everything right now, and i wonder if making music and art or money is actually more important than learning to grow your own food or forage, situating myself in a comfortable and safe place, maybe one with rain catchment, gardens, permaculture, all that! Thats what im ready for. So now we are supposed to be at this organic farm in pennsylvania by wednesday and its crazy, because that is a commitment and we have so used to no commitments. even though its what i wanted now i feel like i wont be able to record or do other things like biking etc. Its a tough decision. I just read a great article on reality sandwich...

http://www.realitysandwich.com/2008_the_return_chicken_little

alot of things going on. BIG THINGS, lots to think about.

hope everyone is alright.

oh one other thing,

I REALLY THINK ITS TIME FOR PEOPLE OF COMMON INTEREST TO COME TOGETHER AND LIVE COMMUNALLY AT ANY COST! THAT MEANS PUTTING DOWN SCHOOL WORK SELFISH INTEREST MUSICAL PURSUITS ETC. WE NEED TO UNIFY IN ONE PLACE AND SHARE AND GROW AND BUILD FROM THAT PLACE. A TRIBE. A FAMILY.

What will it take to wake us up, you have to be with those you love, $200 plane rides to visit friends for weddings and shit, is a thing of the past, pretty soon things will be very difficult and we will need each others support.

Thats all.

ONE

Keezy

--
"complaint is only possible while living in the suburbs of god" -Hafiz

Made it out of south and into DC area. Ate Sticky Fingers Vegan cupcake bliss, saw Devotchka at legendary 9:30 Club. On to Baltimore warehouses. Friends living giant loft space, lead asbestos rats and zombies. Parked between abandoned coat factory and ancient cemetary--saw grave of John Wilkes Boothe. Quite an amazing place, honestly. Stickers everywhere that read "BELIEVE." Even on police bumpers, everyone in city wanting it to explode to become something, again. Good Vegan soul food place-- Yabba Pot. Reminds me of Ginberg line,

"who thought they were only mad when Baltimore
gleamed in supernatural ecstasy..."

Through Philly---what can I say? Landed in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is grey and brown. Stone and steel and rotting in the past. Skeletal. Like Portland 1950's.
Like Baltimore but with more "sports-pride." Seeing all of Nicole's childhood haunts and birthplace. She turns 30 this weekend. I will follow soon after. Saturn returning for both its children. Accuracy in Astrology.

In Pittsburgh for week. Then camping, celebrating work completed.
Then off again, highways south. Have work in North Carolina, GA, SC, and TN.
Seeing family again. Brother in Statesboro and nephew. For those who didnt know, I found lost brother, or he found me. One year apart. Lost at birth now reunited after first third of life. Unabashed by time passed and comfortable being ourselves.
Finally Atlanta to play show on July 13. Keezy, The SecondhandOutfit and Astrea Corp (which is K the I??? from Mush records, Orion Pax from Hoverock, Frank from A Jealousy Issue, and an amazing drummer named Sandor.) Touring cross country playing shows, big show in LA, low end theory. Then up to Portland.

Then? into the void.

If you havent yet, try to set a moment aside and write a letter. I would like some pen pals while I am out here.

My address is

Kin Keezy
C/O
J.K.Smith
3439 NE Sandy Blvd. 530
Portland OR 97232

Still alive and well. Give thanks.

Left Portland over five months ago. Patchwork bus, no plan. Many stops along the way. Many fine people and many trials. mattress mold, puppies. Los Angeles manglers--threatening to take life, poetry stops, cameos, sunsets, beach and desert views from tree house bus nest, hip hop shows, close calls, rapturous adventures and tragic goodbyes. Recent stops in Florida, Atlanta, back to Florida, Atlanta again. Managed to get sponsorship from Dagoba Organic Chocolate, Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, Steaz, and Dr. Kracker. Also received generous donations from Mendo Mate and the wonderful glorious Mate Factor!!
Spent time with Mother. Long gone, now returned full blast. Built out interior of Bus with Nicole's father Wayne. Thought bus was dead, told valves blown, no hope. Got second opinion, amazed at $250 repair for a $30,000 problem. yes, they tried to charge us thirty thousand dollars...
Bus repaired and fresh running, spent time with Christy and Brian in Lauderdale, good folks--let us use their facilities and swim naked in pool while they were away. sun and coconuts. mystical.
Jasper in Lauderdale--endless creative genius too big for this world. Aurora angel of Hashim.
Mother in trailer under hanging moss old Florida tree. Working like bee to build a dream and complete recovery--drinking Mate' like a true old wise gypsy in carnivale.
Big house jamming. Lumber Jack and Gizmo in full ATL reunion. Saw Yelawolf and Skape perform, good show.
Music at Big House, show with Marching band and Dion Demon Slayer, wonderful time.
Currently in Asheville NC. Demoing. Toured Mate Factor-Factory. Twelve tribes people. Interesting, need more research on that.
They have farm in Asheville. Gave tour and fed us fresh food.
Traveling for next month, NC-VA-MD-PA. In Nicole's hometown on may 24. She turning 30 on the 30th. Then we depart again. Unknown. Possibly tour with K The I???
Orion PAX, the Secondhand Outfit... west coast dates this summer. More on that later.

Please keep in touch,

letters are great:
Keenan Smith
3439 NE Sandy Blvd BOX530
Portland OR 97232

I get that once a month. please send letters.

LOVE&LITE

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