I'M NOT WORRIED AT ALL...
I have been sleeping with Moby. For the security. Knowing well the unlimited capacity for human stupidity, these dark days have me spooked. I find myself passionately attracted to things that give me a sense of undeniable well being, womb-like security and sheer comfortability. These feelings I call SheerComfort. The sweet strains of Moby's last album "18" are as reassuring as being hugged, longingly and lovingly. His score does that for me; it knocks me out; it puts me to sleep. It carries me over the turbulent river Styx and harbors me deep in the Land of Nod. My favorite piece, sung by the Shining Light Gospel Choir, is titled "I'm Not Worried At All." It's bliss to go to sleep to the loving voice of a sweet old grandpa singing "I'm not worried at all" with soulful authority. I believe him. This calms me for I am worried about poverty, war, personal and painful injury, death, oil field fires, nuclear fallout and Michael Jackson's nose. The unworried singer has the voice of a man who truly understands, and finds comfort in the fact that Life is a slow and unrelenting river. It is a voice of great worldliness and peace. The song gives me a feeling of complete well being when world events do not. "I'm not worried at all." I lap it up like a cow on a salt lick. "I'm not worried at all." I'm saying this mantra so often and so fast now that folks ask me if I'm a Buddhist. Of course, slumber and a moment of peace don't come as easy as Moby; I have to try all kinds of things before I can find a rapid eye movement.

STAR STRUCK
Moby has a notion that we are all made of stars. I like it. About a year and a half ago, I was lucky enough to sit on a north shore of Oahu and watch the world spin. The night sky was deeper velvet and the stars glowed against it. A warm tradewind covered me like a soft blanket. Every star in the heavens could be seen. When you ape a sight like that after a few cocktails, you are One with the world. It's a feeling of SheerComfort; one in which all things, past, present and future, are gonna be O-K.

OBLIVION
The tragedy of the Columbia Space Shuttle bothered me greatly. I like to think that our explorers, our astronauts became stars when they reached their oblivion, fusing into some bright eternal peace of blinding light and staggering beauty. I have always admired the explorations into our outer world. It is a noble endeavor. The space program, like the Olympics, embodies some of the greatest values that we humans can offer: courage, vision, progressiveness, reason and wonder.

DEMOCRACY IS THE BEST WE'VE COME UP WITH SO FAR
To the east of Los Angeles lies the small city of South Gate. Their democracy has been traumatized in one of the wildest and most hilarious stories I have ever followed. The shenanigans are Doonesbury-esque; the cast are genuine characters. Graft. Corruption. Federal inditements. After the Recall Election, the high-jinx made national news when the newly ousted mayor, a hard-boiled wildcat with curves, slugged an elderly city councilman, who himself had been the lucky victim of an unsolved murder attempt. The details of the debacle are worthy of a grand opera or at least a TV movie. Anyway, the citizens of this fair city have learned that the price of democracy entails a personal involvement. Power must be checked or it will begin to rust rather quickly.

PLEASE EXTINGUISH ALL...
Today, the seventh of February, our government raised the Alert Level to Orange. Things are heating up fast. The Four Horsemen are cinching their saddles, ready to ride. The war drums are beating faster than a hip-hop DJ. The economy groans under pressure and government needs our attention. In general, we will be working harder for less. Free time will be in short supply. Therefore, the challenge of making art and making art relevant, will become more difficult.

STANDING HUMBLY BEFORE THE UNKNOWN
Over the last year, the Hubble Space Telescope has brought back new and never seen before pictures of deeper space. They are visions of such incredible beauty that those who dare to wonder will experience a moment of SheerComfort. When I look at those worlds and celestial vistas, my jaw drops. The Hubble has provided scientific proof that there is one of two possibilities: 1) There is a great and all-knowing creator of an as-yet-unspecified religious denomination, or 2) We live in an universe of overwhelming Chance. Isn't that enough? Isn't the mystery of what lies beyond great enough for persons to stand down, drop their plowshares, swords and mechanical pencils, to look skyward? If you could remove the human element, this world would be such a lovely place. Unfortunately, we must share a bench with those who believe the world is flat and their god can whip my god. Cheers.

THE HEALING POWER OF POP
Too tired to light a cigarette? Too numb to switch off the late night televangelist? Too weary to cinch the knot on the noose? The hard times in life must be tolerated for they are part of the balance. To stifle the pounding of the war drums, music is the fastest transport to another world. You can discolor the blues. Following are three songs which lighten our load and stoke our coals.

- "The Show Must Go On"; Moulin Rouge Soundtrack, Part II: The lyrics to this Freddie Mercury and Queen composition pose the eternal question "On and on, does anybody know what we are living for?" Rather than attempt an answer, Nicole Kidman acknowledges the miseries of daily life with "Inside, my heart is breaking, my makeup may be flaking, but my smile still stays on." Against an explosive and dramatic crescendo, we are urged to summon our resources, "I have to find the will to carry on." And we do, for there is only one response to this call for action, "On with the show!" "On with the show!" We ride at dawn.

- "Across 110th Street"; Bobbie Womack: This fine example of solid funk brings a great deal of style and inspiration to life's hardships and struggles. Most optimistically, it encourages the listener to seek options: "Hey, brother, there is another way out... Look around, look around ya." Most aggressively, the stanza "Take my advice, it's either live or die" reduces philosophical thought to a hard bottom line. While the singular message of the piece may be blunt and direct, "You got to be strong if you want to survive", it also encourages and empowers with ultra-smooth rhythms and a seductive beat. The suave urbanity of the song promises that hard work can also afford great style. I believe this song is best enjoyed while driving a large sedan.

- "I'm Not Worried At All"; Moby; Performed by the Shining Light Gospel Choir: Frankly, I can't make out the lyrics at all, but while the song plays, I don't worry much about anything.

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GORDY GRUNDY is a Los Angeles based painter. His visual and literary work can be found at www.gordygrundy.com.