Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – It’s easy to lose sight of in this sunny city by the sea, but there’s no such thing as “paradise”…anyone who says there is has been entirely removed from the experience of being human, and should probably carry more shame about it.
Even the alternate name for paradise, “utopia,” gives helpful hints about the viability of such a foreign concept at this time by translating to “no place.”
That is to say, there is no physical place on this planet where the problems of the world will not impact you in some form or fashion…and that’s the theme of this Very Special Episode of “Vibrant Vices,” best enjoyed from your rooftop lounge.
Sunday 10/8 – With The Pleasant Uprising’s next practice throwing sparks over the horizon, the week certainly started off in fairly standard fashion, at least typical in these lines of work.
Pamala, one of ZiZi’s vocal students, had a birthday party at La Catrina Cantina. The room was filled with familiar faces celebrating the one they call “Pamama,” and maybe it was the brownies, but you could really feel the love in the air.
As long as I was hanging out wearing a bunch of bracelets, I decided to offer the general public the chance to make their wrists prettier as well, just in case anyone wanted to join me in looking especially cool for the occasion.
Tonny Tk and Chris Lopez pulled out their rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Superstitious, which seemed like an opportunity to perfect some of my stage jigs. An invitation to dance with the birthday girl soon followed. I accepted, as is required by law.
A damn good time was had by all.
Now, before we get to this next segment, I share my beliefs with the aforementioned song: ‘when you believe in things that you don’t understand then you suffer… superstition ain’t the way.’
Still, little did I know that on this week of Friday the 13th, Pamama’s b-day celebration would be about the last thing to proceed as planned.
10/10 to 10/14 Lidia’s Day – The moment Hurricane Lidia made landfall on our sandy shores as a Category 4 storm, labels such as “Tuesday” and “tomorrow” lost all meaning. The storm would decide what day it was, and which if any events would take place.
For starters, you never really appreciate quite how dark it gets at night until the power goes.
My place right alongside the Rio Cuale came actual centimeters from being inundated with every drop of mud on the mountainside as the road right outside my front door became a temporary tributary to the Pacific Ocean.
I’m not talking some casual breach of the banks here either… the water in the street transformed into a raging rapid, erupting multiple meters in the air as I looked on, helpless and mesmerized.
Footbridges were swallowed whole in the deluge, pedestrian paths crumbled as their supports were swept into the sea, the lights may still be out in some of Vallarta’s residential neighborhoods when you read this.
I even got to find out for a fact which household items I would save in an emergency evacuation… among them are a few favorite shirts, my guitar, a big container of pasta I just made, half a box of wine, and a special household blend of herbs and spices.
A long, dimly lit few days followed. The electrifying rehearsal session? Powered down. The big radio interview with the fabulously charming Jessy? Postponed. All the big events and grand plans? Flushed out, rinsed ragged, left soggy.
Paradise, it definitely wasn’t.
Still, I count my blessings at even being left alive after the massively powerful storm brought some serious froth to the Banderas Bay. Not everyone was.
Hell, if you have to have some less-than-ideal days, they might as well unfold where the weather is (mostly) nice. Here in Vallarta, the Sun was shining bright the very next morning… it even stayed mercifully cool the rest of the week for some reason.
At the back end of the ordeal, I did manage to make up some of the lost ground. Being offline for the week was a challenge, especially while trying to promote all these various and sundry endeavors, but growing up in the last generation not to essentially be born with access to the Internet has had its perks… it was high time for some good old fashioned pavement poundin’.
After a Saturday afternoon sojourn at the always welcoming Nacho Daddy to charge up (and check on bandmates, of course!), I caught some of “The Availables” set over at Awaysis and that’s where I met Angel, whose skill with a saxophone sometimes makes him appear a bit older than his years.
How many years? “Enough,” apparently, which is adequate for my interests.
At any rate, always looking for ways to sprinkle a little more spice, I seized on the opportunity to feature the prodigy in our performance… his horn was the missing ingredient in our recipe for “Uptown Funk,” and should also put some extra weight into one of our many social-statement selections… you know me, never shy about mixing my world view into the creative pursuit.
Some say that’s what art really is and the rest is just hotel decor.
Anyways, “The Pleasant Uprising” also has its first regular gig, at the monthly Kasava Karnival along the city’s Libramiento Tunnel Road! The event series is set to start off in early November – barring, of course, any further acts of an indifferent Gaia – so stay tuned to this space for updates on our little fun fair.
Of course, the push to the Uprising’s first big gig on the Isla Cuale November 1st continues undeterred! I was happy to discover last rehearsal that our individual instrumentalists are taking the time to hone their parts of our songs on their own time, which just isn’t something you can make people do so I really appreciate them taking it upon themselves to do.
That kind of dedication will really help us workshop that first original this week… song’s called “Expat Rock” and if I have my way, you’ll hear it sooner than you think.
That all being typed, this week has definitely been a stark reminder of the limitations to planning, so we’ll see what happens.
What I do know for a fact is that at some point that weekend, sitting on the sidewalk in a more fortunate neighborhood with a cold caguama and somebody else’s WiFi, I felt the satisfaction that I had done all I could do… and that’ll have to keep ya afloat some days.
Between the Uprising’s latest slate of rehearsals, ZiZi’s group singing class at CCV, and plenty more pop-ups on the schedule between now and the next “Vibrant Vices,” I’ve given myself plenty of tickets to plenty of rides.
Probably see ya around.
AJ Freeman has enjoyed Vallarta’s warm welcome for over 5 years and hopes he has done some good during his time here. Passionate about self-expression and human potential, he combines these interests in weekly wrap-up “Vibrant Vices.” AJ also shares a body with Warflower Jones, ringleader of The Pleasant Uprising… which is totally just a local party band and not a political organization of any kind as that would be against various jurisdictional laws.