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As some of you may know, Utah Phillips, the great storyteller, musician, hobo, and Wobbly, passed away last weekend. I posted a bit about him here, but since then, the tributes from friends and Fellow Workers have been pouring in, and I thought I’d share one of the more inspiring with the PunkAss crew.

This is from Len Wallace, a pretty awesome musician in his own right. I disagree with the first one, but there you have it.

The Things I Learned From Utah Phillips
I am still stunned by the news of Utah’s passing and figuring out ways on how to respond to this loss. So I thought I’d take pen in hand and jot down some of things Utah taught me over the years. Here they are transferred to computer.
1. Utah was correct. Computers suck. They rob you of the ability to write and read.
2. Mean people suck. Nice people can suck too sometimes.
3. Bertold Brecht had the right idea when he said that the barrier between the performer and audience must be abolished.
4. When you’re performing with other musicians adjust your microphone stands at an angle where you can see both the audience and the other performer. You want to work off that other performer, see them perform and look them in the face, see their movements and hands. It’s not all in the listening.
5. You can drink out of your hat if you must, but only by necessity.
6. The past and remembering the past is a very subversive thing. It points to the not now. The powers that be want us to think that the way things are are the way they have always been and always will be.
7. Be careful of the garp you put in your brain from reading newspapers, listening to radio and watching TV. If you stuff your brain with garbage then garbage will come out.
8. You can teach an old dog new tricks but the old tricks are still the best.
9. Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and passion.
10. You too can be a part of the hidden agenda.

11. You can reinvent yourself as often as you like. You still are who you are and can be what you want to be.
12. Direct action does get the goods. Not only that, it forces us to be creative and have some fun.
13. You don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you come from.
14. Never empty your pockets on stage in the middle of a performance. Embarrassing things can pop out.
15. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel in order to change the world. Our elders gave us a lot of good wheels we can still use.
16. We gotta wise up.
17. The revolution will happen and it will be humorous.
18. Don’t put yourself or your music down. There are enough idiots around who will do that for you.
19. Be careful singing your heart out and devoting yourself for the cause because the organisations behind it can break your heart.
20. Repackage yourself in a way that sells. Then, when they hire you, sing what you want.
21. We are artists and we must hone our craft.
22. Men should wear hats. Baseball hats worn backwards and sideways do not constitute hat wearing or any fashion statement. If you don’t have a Stetson then a Borsalino fedora will do.
23. Most people don’t know the difference between a spad and a gat.
23. Otter water truly is a delicacy.
25. Good stories should be based on objective reality but should never be hampered by the facts.
26. We can build a fundamentally better world.