Last year, the best “new year’s resolution” I could think of was “make better pictures.” I don’t know if I succeeded or not, but I had a new camera last year, so it seemed like the obvious choice. But this year, I’m back to my old tricks. The average person might announce, “I promise to lose ten pounds and keep it off at least until mid-November,” or ” I hereby resolve to finally begin and hopefully complete that tedious home improvement project that’s been haunting the bottom of my to-do list,” But I’m more inclined to redouble my efforts to shed attachments and cultivate acceptance of the inevitable. A lofty goal perhaps, but not exactly productive.
When I look at the world around me, I start to think this is less of a cop-out than it seems. More than ever, our entire physical, social, economical and political landscape seems ready to just fall away. What’s the point of announcing, “this year, I resolve to separate my recyclables more carefully and think twice before I use my car to drive up to the corner,” when it’s so clear that decades of distancing ourselves from responsibility has left this country all but circling the drain? Why try to delay the inevitable? And besides, it’s unlikely that when the boss up in Washington starts getting the itch to push that doomsday button of his, he probably won’t stop to remind himself that Derrick made a greater effort this year to print on both sides of the paper.
But these are all just excuses; better that I just say it and be done with it and get on with my life: “this year, I resolve to make a greater effort to do things that will make my life a better one to live.” Of course, what I really mean is “my best chance of making it out of this year in one piece is to lower expectations.” Either way, it’s all about sacrifice.
And now, we party:
“Love To Be Your Man” – The 13th Power
“Niagara Vizeses” – Tabanyi Mihaly Es Szolistai
“Young Girl” – The Raymonde Singers, Etcetera
“McCloud” – John Gregory Orchestra
“Yes I Understand” – The Flying Machine
“Rosemary’s Baby” – The Brass Ring
“If This Isn’t Love” – Dean Martin & The Hi Lo’s
“Tell Me What You Want” – Armada Orchestra
“The New Generation” – Sqibb Pharmaceuticals
“Glide Time” – High Llamas
Over the years, my brother Damon has left a long list of projects behind him — many completed, some not so much. Sometimes, the strain of trying to hold all the pieces together is just too great to sustain for any length of time. People lose focus of his quixotic vision, or he gets fed up with cajoling them into following his lead. Sometimes, there are feuds. It’s always gratifying, though, when you see people committed enough to see it through to the end, especially when you can’t pay them.
Back the late sixties, any time you’d see the likes of a Fonda, Nicholson, Sutherland or Redford up on the screen, chances are you’d also be hearing such “exciting” new artists as the Association, the Sandpipers, Simon & Garfunkel or B.J. Thomas on the accompanying soundtrack. This no doubt helped fuel interest in other members of the “now generation,” such as Neil Diamond, Glen Campbell, Three Dog Night or Blood Sweat & Tears. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that a whole generation was first exposed to the “now sound” at the movies.
I actually worked at the Luhrs Building on Central and Jefferson several years ago. During the lowest point of my last bout with unemployment, I spent a couple of weeks at ten dollars an hour cleaning out the office of a guy who worked behind the main building in the Annex. In addition to my hourly rate, I also got a ladder and a carpenter’s level in a swell case, as well as a handful of empty jewel cases. I also got a tour of a 
