Utah Phillips: Feb. 17,

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Feb. 17,

Good morning, I did drive up to Nevada City last night for the New Old Time Chautauqua show to benefit Hospitality House Shelter. It was amazing to say the least, a true Vaudeville act, juggling, tap dancing, Bubble Magic, yodeling and singing, it was a real whip cracking bang up good time, all accompanied by the Fighting Instruments of Karma Marching Chamber Band - Orchestra, need I say more? OK I will. Everybody was so nice and although the show was for the Hospitality House one got the sense everybody came out for or Utah as well. It's easy to see why dad choose to settle in Nevada City. The folks there have done what no other city in America could do, give him a place to call home. That means a lot to all of us, thank you.

I am going to head out and make the drive back to San Francisco. I will give you an update on Utah's health as soon as I can.
Duncan

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: Friends-

Last night we attended the New Old Time Chautauqua show at St. Joseph's in Grass Valley, California, which was organized by Utah Phillips, Joanna Robinson, Robin Worley, and friends as a benefit for the Hospitality House homeless shelter. In its last performance tonight--Sunday--it is a must see.

I suppose one way to describe this variety show is that it will make you laugh until you cry or wet your pants. Another is that a good number of the people involved have been working together for more than thirty years. Another is that the show's sense of social conscience and irreverent fun somehow embodies that of a whole generation: those longhairs who are now going gray. It is a moment not to be missed, one to be savored and understood.

Will you have another chance, while she's still performing, to see tiny Faith Petric, now 92 years old and a living treasure of the era of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and the Weavers, belt out a couple of folksongs without so much as a quaver in her voice and the whole audience singing along? When was the last time you saw the Flying Karamozov Brothers, whose zaniness, polymath instrumental skill, and polished comic timing is impossible to over-rate? The senior member of that group has been doing shows for 35 years. Did you know that Tom Noddy is still doing his "Bubble Magic" show? You had to be very loaded to think up this show, but then, you had to practice it straight--at least part of the time--for three decades to get it this good.

There are poignant moments--the richness of Jim Page's songwriting. And of course, the splendor of Haute Trash. I have left out three quarters of the show.

Do it for Utah and Hospitality House, but prepare to be wildly, richly entertained and leave with some clues about who this generation--now facing the kind of physical mortality that Utah is--are, and what they have contributed to what was otherwise becoming a brittle and moribund American spirit.

Jordan Fisher Smith; February 17, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks so very much, Duncan, for keeping all of us who love Utah informed about his condition. I'm thinking about him every day. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

ksternberg@acm.org; February 18, 2008 at 7:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Utah,
Hello. Sending you lots of love. When I last saw you in northern California at the Kate Wolf Fest, Pat took a picture of you that is so elegant and full of grace. Makes me smile every time I see it. Big hug to you my dear. Thanks for telling the stories and teaching us how by example. Holly Near; February 18, 2008 at 9:15 AM

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The Two Bums

This is a poem from George Milburn's book, The Hobo's Hornbook. You can also find it in a lot of old I. W. W. pamphlets and literature. It sums up a great deal of what I feel. It talks about the bum on the rod and the burn on the plush, which is just a simple way of saying that the kind of system we live in now demands that there be a poor people, demands that there be people out of work so that there will always be people willing to work for any wage.
Sure, a lot of railroad burns are parasites, but, like the poem says, they're just fleas who get an occasional bite, and you look at what those parasites at the top are chewing off. I know that there's a lot of talk these days about the welfare Cadillac; middle class people talking about those welfare gobblers down on the bottom who are afraid to do an honest day's work, and they're all driving big Cadillacs. And you hear over and over again, "Nobody ought to get something for nothing. " I've got to agree. You've got to work to eat.
I look at a factory. I see that everybody associated with that factory puts something in and they take something out. The workers put in their sweat and their skill, and they take out wages. The salesmen put in their skill and ability, and they take out commissions. The managers and foremen and people in the offices put in theirs, and take out salaries. But there's one group of people who take out more than they put in, and that more is called profit. I can't think of any other way to define it. That's a bunch of people who are getting something they didn't work for, and it's a whole lot.
If we're really concerned about people getting just what they earn, if we're really concerned about people not getting something that they didn't put in time and sweat for, let's start with the major offenders, and get rid of them. Then we'll gradually work our way down to the petty chiselers. It just makes sense.

The bum on the rod is hunted down
As the enemy of mankind;
The other is driven around to his club
And feted, wined and dined.

And they who curse the bum on the rods
As the essence of all that is bad
Will greet the other with a winning smile
And extend him the hand so glad.

The bum on the rods is a social flea
Who gets an occasional bite;
The bum on the plush is a social leech,
Blood-sucking day and night.

The bum on the rods is a load so light
That his weight we scarcely feel,
But it takes the labor of dozens of men
To furnish the other a meal.

As long as you sanction the bum on the plush,
The other will always be there,
But rid yourself of the bum on the plush
And the other will disappear.

Then make an intelligent, organized kick,
Get rid of the weights that crush;
Don't worry about the bum on the rods,
Get rid of the bum on the plush!

Internet Archive

I have started to develop an internet archive on my web page. It will be a collection of pictures, concert flyers and posters, concert audio and video, in short everything that I have collected during the last few years of traveling with dad. My hope is that it may one day become a central place for the world wide community to have access to an ever growing archive of Utah Phillips. I would like to encourage folks to add to the archive as well. You can either send things via e-mail ( friendsofutah@yahoo.com) or to my home address. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank You
Duncan Phillips
1392 e. 5935 s.
SLC, UT. 84121