places and spaces

Welcome to the pie in the (big) sky blog, coming to you live and direct from Missoula, Montana.  Today marks my initial foray into the wonderful and wide world of blogging.  While I do bake a mean pie, in this space I'll be covering various topics ranging from literary and cultural criticism to sports, music, politics and yes I will certainly be covering some ground on baking.  In my spare time when I'm not working or tending to my pets, Betty Lou the Dog and Fizzgig the Cat, I am a writer, publisher, co-editor and co-producer of a literary journal here in Missoula called Ҫ (pronounced sa-dee-ya).  I will have more on that later.

                                        RIP Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II
                                           (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013)

But for now, I'd like to begin by paying homage to the late, great jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd who passed away earlier this week.  As has often been the case in my life, I owe hip hop music for introducing me to him.  Over the years I've taken to studying hip hop and its many postmodern conventions and as a result I've taken to tracing the sources for a sample in any given song that I like, which then typically involves Rza (of the Wu Tang Clan) productions.  Yet in this case I tracked down a sample used by one of my other favorite producers, DJ Pete Rock of 'Pete Rock and CL Smooth' fame.  I first heard this sample back in high school when listening to their 1994 album 'The Main Ingredient' (Big ups to my brother Mike for introducing me to them).  On that album, the ninth track entitled "All the Places" remains to this day one of my favorite hip hop songs.  Pete Rock samples the first twenty seconds of Byrd's track and the rest is hip hop history.  Moreover, I feel the song befits the larger theme of Pie in the (Big) Sky and rest assured I will be sharing more music going forward.

Last but certainly not least I am a big fan of literature.  I agree with the modernist poet Ezra Pound's assertion in 1934 that "Literature is news that STAYS news".  This is ultimately why I came to Missoula to study literature here at the University of Montana.  In my graduate work, I focused my attention on the confluence of music and literature - especially jazz and hip hop in the novel and poetic forms.  Be it novels, poetry, short stories or plays I am fascinated by narrative and the role it plays in (re)producing and (re)presenting culture and the central role writers, poets and rappers play in the art of storytelling.

So in this space you may encounter some of the many artistic influences that have and continue to inform and inspire me - places and spaces traveled mentally and physically.  As far as where the pie in the (big) sky travels next, I'm thinking of something to say about the state of athletic affairs at the University of Montana or maybe just a little something for Valentine's Day, don't worry I promise not to get too sappy.  Promise.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Peter the Pie Guy