MR. MAX’S MESSAGE – APRIL 2010

WHY DO WE GO TO WAR?

I’m finishing up Why Do We Go to War?—a collection of war-related songs. I’ve added the subtitle "A Moral Dilemma" because that’s the main thrust of the subject covered. “How can we ignore Thou Shalt Not Kill?” is the moral response to the question of going to war.

The sequencing and mastering of the songs are being done with Jason Duguay at Project Sound. Jason has been a God-send to me. Our communication is clear and direct; he’s extremely talented with the understanding of sound and how to translate my ideas; and from working with him we have become good friends.

I watched Déjà Vu recently and saw that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young have been carrying a very similar war message to national audiences. They’re very aware of the different response they get when they hit the Red States versus a Blue one. I liked that they openly show how people and the media criticize them for taking their stance against the war and our government’s actions. On a smaller scale, I will (and have already) run into people who disagree with my stance against war. That is expected. Getting people to talk about the subject is a big part of the reason why I have pursued this musical project.

Asa Brebner, who recently released Sueños de los Muertos, created artwork for Why Do We Go To War? I designed two CD covers using two different pieces of Asa’s art and had many of my friends vote for their favorite. Luckily one piece of art won decisively. It was the piece that Asa specifically created for my project. Which one do you think it is?

FEEL TIME PASS

I planted some bulbs back in November, maybe it was September, and I’m not even sure what kind of bulbs they were. Now they’ve pushed up out of the ground and are shooting upwards! It’s pretty exciting seeing life spring from the ground. And the birds are finding places to nest to have little baby birds. Anne and I watched two mourning doves do a little ritual-mating dance. The Mourning Doves are so peaceful in their movements and in their subtle tone; both the verbal tones they coo, and the peach/pink tone of their breast feathers. My favorite bird in the yard is still the red bellied woodpecker. A couple of people have told me they’ve seen pileated woodpeckers in my neighborhood. These woodpeckers are big—15 inches long with a pointed back of their heads—picture Woody Woodpecker if he’s in your visual catalogue. I mentioned to Jason at the studio the other day that I saw a blue jay, a cardinal, a red winged blackbird, and a goldfinch all within four feet of each other and he laughed because he thought I was joking. He asked in amazement, "Do you know what all of those birds look like? So, yes, I’ve become a birder. Next time you see me I may be walking around looking up with binoculars and carrying a bird book in my pocket.