Feelings post.

The passing of Andrew Hill was very sad. A huge force in music is gone.

I read that he passed from cancer.

FUCK YOU CANCER!

Cancer is quite a thing. It is (unlike music) something about which I know a little bit.

When I heard that Andrew Hill died on account of cancer, it wasn't long before I was muttering under my breath to no one in particular you've spent how much and you still don't have a cure?

How much do they spend on cancer "research?" A million dollars a year? A billion dollars a year? A trillion dollars a year? A jillion dollars a year?

What isn't being researched? Why not? Who gets to choose?

What would happen if 'we' decided we've had enough "research" for now? "We the people" (tee hee) have now decided that we'll just muddle through with what we got (you know, treating cancer with various carcenogines and the like.)

Don't get me wrong--'they' are able to do (and have done) some truly remarkable things with that modern medicine, and 'they' have made some some truly remarkable drugs with which to do them. The very promise of Midazolam is more than enough 'carrot' to pull the average 'wagon' through weeks and weeks of bleomycin, cisplatin et al.

But what would happen if we took the research money and spent it on prevention? You know, root causes.

Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure?

What if 'we' actually didn't do all the things 'we' know 'we' shouldn't do--like not pollute with heavy metals or fill the air with electromagnetic frequencies?

What if every year 100 billion dollars (yes yes, I know, it's but a mere fraction of total cancer revenue--but it's a nice round number) was allocated to, hmm, I dunno, really really good school breakfasts lunches and dinners for every man woman and child. Turnips, brown rice, goat milk, sprouts, all organic, the works. What would that do? Hear ye hear ye, the king has declared that every man woman and child from this day on shall receive 100% of the US Recommended Daily Allowance (tm) of vitamins and minerals!

What if a cure for cancer was found? What then?

If cancer were cured would the economy die?

Andrew Hill spent a bit of time in Portland, Oregon. In the few, wonderfully enjoyable conversations we had (when he was at the Bennington College July Program in either 1995 or 1996) he never conveyed the feeling that Portland represented (for him) the apex of anything. Nevertheless, whenever I think of Andrew Hill, I can't help but think of (him in) Portland.

Combine Andrew Hill, the fact that he recently died of cancer and Portland, how can you not think of OHSU?

Can one think of OHSU and not think of Dr. Craig Nichols? He put that Armstrong fellow back together.

While I realize that this is straying further and further away from Andrew Hill and while I realize that this tenuous linking of disperse tid-bits of information is thin gruel compared to the master, certainly you can at least temper your pity and scorn when presented with this as punchline.

"It's a personal issue, and we don't get into that"

In the midst of a gigantic and growing cancer industry and the continued loss of genius to cancer, one of the great men of cancer healing is now thinking about things like a "graceful and respectful transition."

Excellent Smithers...

Andrew Hill you will be missed.