Only relatively recently in our culture, about 500 years ago or so, did a distinction arise that cut society in two, forming separate classes of music performers and music listeners. Throughout most of the world, and for most of human history, music making was as natural an activity as breathing and walking – and everyone participated. Concert halls, dedicated to the performance of music, arose only in the last several centuries.
For his doctoral degree at Harvard, anthropology professor Jim Ferguson performed field work in Lesotho, a small nation completely surrounded by South Africa. There, studying and interacting with local villagers, Jim patiently earned their trust, until one day he was asked to join in one of their songs.
“I don't sing,” Jim said in a soft voice.
The villagers found his objection puzzling and inexplicable. The Sotho consider singing an ordinary, everyday activity, performed by everyone – young and old, men and women – not an activity reserved for a special few.
Our culture, and indeed our very language, makes a distinction between a class of expert performers (the Arthur Rubensteins, Ella Fitzgeralds and Paul McCartneys), and the rest of us. The rest of us pay money to hear the experts entertain us. Jim knew that he wasn't much of a singer or dancer. And to him, a public display of singing and dancing, implied he thought himself an expert.
The villagers just stared at Jim and said, “What do you mean you don't sing?! You talk?!”
It was as odd to them as if I'd told them I couldn't walk or dance, even though I have both my legs. Singing and dancing were a natural activity in everybody's lives – seamlessly integrated, and involving everyone. As in many of the world's languages, the Sotho verb for singing (ho bina) also means to dance. There is no distinction, since it is assumed singing involves bodily movement.
A couple of generations ago, before television, many families would sit around and play music together for entertainment. Nowadays, there is a great emphasis on technique and skill, and whether a musician is “good enough” to play for others. Music making has become a somewhat reserved activity. The rest of us listen.
-excerpt from This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
The singing telegram, utilized to celebrate birthdays around the world, just celebrated a birthday of its own. It’s 86 years old. Here’s the tale of a truly special delivery.
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Like a caterpillar preparing for its radical metamorphosis, I devoured 2018 with zeal. Over four hundred twenty singing telegrams were delivered via my singing telegram agency this year, the majority of which I personally performed (though mad love to my whole roster). I entertained in China for the first time (then returned a mere six months later), visited the Indonesian island of Bali and finalized my upcoming single “Butterflies” at Colorado’s Grammy-winning Airshow Mastering. Below is a smattering of highlights (words and images) cherry-picked from a bliss-filled year of playing dress up, enabling joy through music and hopscotching around Earth's curvaceous body.
Bathing elephants at Thailand elephant sanctuary
Booking world-famous belly dancer Sadie for a holiday samba gig
Carving Godzilla-shaped “Orangami” for fellow performers in Tokyo
Celebrating ten years of performing with world-renowned music promoter Insomniac Events
Character performance at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater for Seven Lions
Climbing Sticky Waterfall near Chiang Mai, Thailand
Clowning on stilts in China (twice) and Japan
Dancing on stilts at Washington state's stunning Gorge Amphitheatre for Paradiso Festival
Delivering singing resume to iHeartMedia office on behalf of creative job applicant
Driving camper van to California's Lightning in a Bottle festival with Suze Q
Experiencing Fungineers' Ice Cream Truck show with Alexandria Baker
Exploring bioluminescence exhibit at Denver Museum of Nature & Science with my nephew Kai
Filming EDC China trailer on seventh floor balcony of Shanghai's W Hotel
Facilitating 420 plus singing telegrams through my singing telegram agency:)
Finalizing my upcoming single “Butterflies” at Colorado’s Grammy-winning Airshow Mastering
Floating above the heads of Mexico City festival goers as a stilt-elevated fish
Greeting Denver Dia de los Muertos revelers - on stilts - at Los Muertos Fantasticos
Hovering six to eight feet above Bali’s Tanjung Benoa Bay on a water-propelled Flyboard
Impersonating Hunter S. Thompson at Cannabition Cannabis Museum in Vegas
Impressing Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella on the dance floor with Angelique
Imbibing bug bites in a cave restaurant near Mexican pyramid complex Teotihuacan
Imbibing dragonfruit in both Bali and China
Insomniac Thanksgiving banquet at China’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
Landing the cover of The Vail Daily as a stilt-enhanced Uncle Sam
Meeting Portland singing telegram / stilt performer / kindred spirit Jon Dutch in Aspen
Musically ambushing Fox 21 news anchors as singer Barry Manilow
Musically ambushing 9 News anchor Liz Kotalik as Cupid
Nicknaming Mexico's Chichen Itza Mayan ruins “Chicken Pizza”
Organizing nine singing telegrams in a single night for Colorado chapter of Young Presidents
Parasailing above Patong Beach in Thailand
People watching at Lefthand Brewery's voodoo-themed Nitro Fest
Playing EDM Unplugged in VIP speakeasy at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas
Practicing AcroYoga with my Flight Club family
Pretending to defecate on the dance floor at Bassnectar with Michelle
Rapping Cypress Hill at AEG Live Rocky Mountain offices as a tutu-clad gorilla
Seeing both Janelle Monae and Lauryn Hill live in concert
Singing Janelle Monae's “Yoga” for Buti yoga teacher Ashton August and her class
Shooting “Butterflies” imagery with longtime photographer friend Jonathan Shoup
Snorkeling in both Bali and Mexico
Taking my four-legged stilt unicorn on the road with Unicorn Whisperer Anastasia
Terrifying Escape Halloween haunted house visitors as faceless giant Slender Man
Three person ukulele jam session on The Great Wall of China
Winning Temple Nightclub's $500 Halloween costume contest with Future
Zip-lining through the jungle at Tarzan Adventure Phuket in Thailand
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Does this mushroom's color scheme remind you of anyone? A certain airborne holiday superhero maybe?
Make yourself comfortable, it's story time. Reindeer in the Arctic circle apparently enjoy munching on Fly Agaric mushrooms. The red and white toadstools in old school Smurf cartoons were likely inspired by the colorful fungus. Fly Agarics are known to contain hallucinogenic chemicals. No one knows how the reindeer are affected by consuming the mushrooms, but it turns out the antlered mammals of Christmas legend aren't the only fans of the fungus.
The Sami people, native to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, have been involved with reindeer husbandry for thousands of years. Lapps, or Laplanders as they are also known, utilize reindeer for many purposes, including transportation in the form of sled-pulling. In the past, Sami shamans imbibed Fly Agaric in their visionary rituals. They even drank urine from reindeer believed to be under the influence of the plant medicine. Did I mention they've been known to don red and white threads in homage to the speckled crimson entheogen they ingest?
To recap, there were living, breathing humans who wore mushroom-inspired red and white garb and rode on sleighs pulled by reindeer. Eat your heart out, Imaginary Santa Claus.
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