The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. - R. W. Emerson
Radio
Saturday, June 30, 2007
The radio show I filled in on a week ago (to the minute) went well. Thanks, Mehmet, for asking and thanks to everyone who listened. It is actually archived (Friday Night Free Form - June 23rd) if you are interested in hearing it. But only for two weeks. There were a few little hiccups here and there, and I actually played a Leonard Cohen song without ever hearing it nor intending to play it. Regardless, I learned a lot. Before the show, I met Ron and Jean from Radio Rumpus Room and Ryan, the guy who subbed on Crap From the Past. They were really great about calming my nerves and showing me around - and warning me about CD deck #2. It could become a nemesis of mine.
All-in-all though it was a good time and a great learning experience. Which is good considering... The big news:
The radio station accepted my proposal for my show. I am going to have a 30-minute show on Sunday nights starting July 8th. I am pretty stoked and want to tell more, but I will wait until after I set up my page at the radio website. Stay tuned... literally.
I watched the Democrat debate last night on PBS. Watch it here if you want to feel the desire to pound your head against something. It was hosted at Howard University by, I believe, the creators of the Covenant With Black America.
The questions were good and the potential for someone stepping forward and being vocal, strong, and focused were there. But did anyone deliver?
Nope.
The reason it was so bothersome is that none of the candidates have what people really want. People always clap the loudest for Kucinich and end up nominating John Kerry. They scream for reform and not only accept, but promote the status quo. I understand realism. I have found myself with that word as my mantra as I voted in past elections but it leaves me with a frustrated and tired heart. I don't know if I can handle any more elections like the last few without deciding to give up on politics all together. But I am not there yet.
I think that the key to making things better is greater participation in more than just elections. It is important that well all caucus and focus on local elections. It is the caucus, then convention that have given us the two or three bad candidates that we end up with every other November. We are letting people choose our candidates instead of choosing them ourselves. And in 2008, if you are a Democrat, you are going to lose. If you like Obama, you lose because he won't make it past the convention. He doesn't have the backing of the DNC machine, nor does he really speak passionately about the things he says he cares about. If you like Clinton, you will lose because the greater US doesn't like her because she is completely two-faced. Just like W. She talks about going against companies exploiting America by taking things over seas and ignores the fact that she worked for Wal-Mart. If you like Edwards, keep looking. I think you are just grasping at wisps of smoke. His rhetoric is completely without substance. Ooh, ooh, ooh, but he announced his candidacy at New Orleans! Exactly. Political hack. If you like any of the other democrats, well, good luck.
If I were to lay money down, I would put it on Rudy. Not that I am going to vote for him, but I think he is going to win. He is just liberal enough and conservative enough to hold the majority of the middle and still capture the remainder from the Republicans if he wins the nomination.
I have always loved the melded images of folk/traditional/aboriginal characters surviving in urban settings. I think it must be a suitable mythical character for me - giving hope to the survival of tribal mentality while living in what seems a confining urban fabric.
I just started reading deLint again and he has always been good at returning me to this place on the spiral.
I think that Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" echos the call of the "wild" to me when the planets are properly aligned. This is a feeling that always relates to Seattle. When I was there, I bought a comic (graphic novel for you people who care) from a vendor which depicts mythic beings and people in traditional/tribal/folk dress from around the world in the streets and alleys of Seattle. I will post the name when I have to book in front of me. It all fit together very well. While there I distinctly felt like there was a tension between the tamed and untamed. I can imagine a werewolf or Sasquatch or some such beast walking the streets at night and locals simply accepting them as a externality of building a city in a place so charged with feral energy.
But my wondering about this concept in other parts of the world have been relieved by this photo from the Smithsonian magazine's photo contest:
Well, you will not be hearing my show on Friday nights, but there is still opportunity for the other time slots I am shooting for. I just await the program committee's review and decision and the feedback I have heard sounds like I have a shot. If you have been sending me good vibes, please continue to do so.
I am by my nature a pacifist. I abhor the thing called war, but I understand that sometimes there is very little other choice. This was not the case in Iraq.
I am not going to go over the reasons why I disagreed with starting this fight, because it's an unnecessary issue at this point.
What I do believe is that we as a nation need to get behind some solution or bearable resolution to what continues to be a misdirection of money, American patriotism, human blood and the mental fortitude of those returning.
I wonder about their hearts', brains', and souls' ability to deal with War. I don't remember hearing any stories of the WWII vets returning with the mental health problems that have come from Vietnam and Iraq. But WWII was an accepted war. That fight was the good fight.
In Madison last weekend I saw a bunch of old WWII posters and postcards. Some of them had ladies talking about how they were contrbuting by making cooking grease into bombs and the quintessential Rosie the Riviter one but a few surprised me. One says you should ride-share becasue "when you ride alone you ride with Hitler!" Others say that you should conserve, recycle, and grow gardens, all to help the war effort. Conserve, recycle, grow food? What were they a bunch of war-mongering hippies?
And now that we find ourselves in War again, why do we not have the "lets all sacrifice to make this happen" push represented in those post cards? The deeply cynical part of me says that we were never really in this-to-win-this. Nearly all of the corporate interests involved benefit more from conflict than resolution.
But what is the solution? I don't know, but the current "surge" or the "strategic reallocation of forces" both seem futile if we want anything resemblimg a good outcome. Maybe a draft is needed. Maybe we need 300,000 troops in Iraq to make things work. Easy for me to say being beyond draft age and having no kids or siblings to send.
But hey, I'll try to grow a garden, I will recycle, I will conserve, and I might even support a real surge if I had any faith in any leaders...
Hell, send in Colin Powell. Let him redeem himself.
A Few of My Favorite Things... for now - Music Edition
Friday, June 01, 2007
Feist - The Reminder
If you haven't listened to Feist's new album a few times yet, you don't know what you are missing. The listened to the promo songs before the album came out and wasn't too excited. But each listen after the first helps me appreciate it more. Now it is in heavy rotation (joining the ranks of Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible").
CeU - (Self Titled)
Another album in heavy rotation is one by an Artist named CeU. A great album for those who dig on Bossa Nova sounds. Vocally, she is similar in sound to Bibel Gilberto, but the musical production is much more modern.
Side Note: I found this album at Starbucks, oddly enough. Starbucks has a really good music... um... person?... I discovered some good cover albums, Kid's music albums, world music, and Corrine Bailey Rae (yeah, sometimes I fall for radio-ready substitutes for Lady Badu) there and have seen that KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic has a release through Starbucks. Being a musical... person... for an outlet so far-reaching would be a damn cool job.
Secondary Side note: There is a Starbucks across the street from a locally owned coffee shop which has a sign that says "Support Your Local Coffee Shop." Unfortunately their coffee tastes like charred peanut butter. Buying form a chain like Starbucks is a scratching on my soul, but do I do it occasionally? Yeah.
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
This album got ripped apart by one of the guys on Sound Opinions, but I really dig it for nearly all of the reasons the guy disliked it. The band liked the echoing sound of their music in empty stadiums doing warm ups and when they were the first opening act of big name bands at huge venues. So they recorded their album to replicate that. I respect them for it and love how it sounds. Never really liked (or disliked) their music before this album.
