From the Old Goat's Diary

From the Frippacious entry.

"Words presented on quiet journeying: talking is expensive."

My short experience with Fripp and company made me realize that words on a Guitar Craft course are more about utility and purpose than socializing. Certainly, talking with some people is more of a give than a take. It can wear you down quickly.

"A practical example from my own experience, in a professional musical context… Seeing myself looking out through the eyes of a particular group member, watching the movement of their hands & experiencing their experiencing; and recognizing their personal Blind Spot (which was what I had believed it to be). This, in a flash; but a Point Of Seeing is not into the functional world, where time is one thing after another. There is something creative involved in a Point Of Seeing, and in the creative world, creative time is of an entirely different order. A creative insight moves into our consciousness, and continues resonating."

I would never presume to be able to crawl around in someone's head and recognize their shortcomings. Doesn't this assume a superiority on Mr. Fripp's part? A Point of Seeing, in GC terms, is a sudden revelation about something- an insight that reveals something you might have missed before.

The pictures of the performers remind me of Heaven's Gate with the black uniforms. Guitar Craft is a very specific way of doing things, from the solemn looking, emotionless expressionless faces (all Zenned out as someone put it), the Ovation guitars, the different tuning, all playing in a circle which is defined as sacred with very specific rules as to how to enter/exit. They all look like Fripp. There's something about that that rubs me the wrong way.

"Leave our licks and tricks at the door! These have no part in what we do."

It's so easy for all those guitarists to dissolve into an entanglement of blues and rock cliches. I ran a guitar group for 16 years, I know that you must sometimes allow a little freedom from the strictness of the printed page, but any group must have a defined aim and goal or otherwise you have chaos. And not even good chaos. Crafters don't even talk about chords. In fact, Tony Geballe got defensive one night when asked about the GC approach to chords. He played a G and a C in rapid succession and exclaimed, "See? Guitar Craft has chords." This was to silence any further inquiry. Nothing must veer from the Master's Path. Again, this bothers me.

In fact, there was an attitude of being treated like a child. The staff walked around on egg shells for fear of invoking the Master's wrath, and not all, but some had this attitude of superiority. One teacher mocked my roomate openly for a comment he made. There was a distinct "you dumbasses" attitude from this one teacher. I suppose if Fripp was my teacher and I was part of the inner circle, I might be a bit arrogant as well.

During teatime, while socializing, I let out a hardy laugh. I looked over at You-Know-Who. He opened his eyes and then shut them. That's all I needed.

I will never be a hardcore Crafty. I can't afford it for one very practical reason.

But another:

I don't like Koolaid.