Probably Crazier

Yes, more politics.  It's very "top of mind" at the moment.  Can't wait until Tuesday, and then hopefully Obama can go back to doing his job...

What's weird is "conservative" used to mean level-headed, sober, practical.  But it has totally morphed in the Age of Obama into: hysterical, paranoid, illogical, anti-intellectual, anti-rational, anti-scientific.  Conservative Ideology has devolved into a strange, self-absorbed cult.  You can't debate it or argue with it.  And it is at war with myths and straw men.  

It's strange, and not healthy for our country.  You do hope that there is some kind of "eye-opener" that will change the dynamic.  But it looks like it will take more than just another Obama term to turn the tide.  Demographics seem to favor the progressive movement: empowerment of women, hispanics, gays, african americans.  The more our social agenda pushes forward, the more out of step conservatives become.  Do they get crazier, or maybe do they have a re-think? Probably in the short-term crazier...

Political Civil War!

I do think we are in the middle of a political civil war.  My theory is that the Bush years radically split the country.  His two terms in office were so devastating to the country and to the GOP.  He lied us into Iraq.  Condoned torture.  Opened our own little Gulags. Hyped the terror.  The Bush years are a real stain on the country.  And was a black mark for all of us who live here.

And the GOP just has to pretend it never happened.  

And then Obama has had to try to pick up the pieces.  He's pretty much been an Eisenhower moderate, but the GOP has to pretend that he's some crazy Kenyan, Muslim, Marxist.  Very, very weird.  And now Romney is just trying to lie his way into office.  The GOP is desperate to believe.  They are now a totally demented political party.

So yes, the political civil war rages.  We are planning an election eve party.  It will only be a party if Obama emerges the victor.  He must. He will...

Confident and Scared!

I'm very confident.  Which is sort of scary.  The number-crunchers Nate Silver and Sam Wang tell us that Mr. Obama is the favorite to win on Tuesday.  I find myself checking their sites for updates multiple times each day.

I am not comfortable being with the favorite.  Usually I like to go with the underdog. My life has been a long series of scenes of rooting for underdogs. But in this case, it is essential that the favorite win.  The alternative is just absolutely not acceptable.  Totally gruesome.

So yes, I'm confident. But I will cast my vote for sure.  I always vote.  My feeling is if I don't vote, I have no right to complain.  And then I will watch and wait.  There's a million variables.  At least.  When it comes down to it, no one really knows what will happen until it happens.

My prediction.  Obama is re-elected.  And the margin of the win will be pretty impressive.  And then a big, big, big sigh of relief!

Rebuild, Remake!

The storm is one thing.  Dealing with the aftermath is another.  You just hope people will pull together and get it done.  That has always been the idea of America to me.  We are kind of a "can do," country. And a curious and enterprising species.

Sometimes this gets us into major mischief, especially when we decide that we can dictate to other countries how they should act.  When it goes wrong, this attitude can go very, very wrong.  Think: Iraq, Vietnam.

But when it goes right it can be amazingly great.  I am a life-long Chicagoan, but I am a big fan of the great social experiment we call New York City.  An amazing place.  It's fast-paced, it's a monster of a city with people of all kinds who have learned to live together. New Yorkers are a special kind.  Maybe living in such a tightly packed place just creates a special energy and synergy.  What a vibe! The best and sometimes the worst too. But always more. Always surprising and vital.

You just know that New Yorkers will make it happen.  They will pull themselves out of the jaws of disaster.  They will recover.  This would be a great time for a massive stimulus program to remake the infrastructure.  That's the kind of thing America used to do just as a matter of course.  That was before our cripplingly stupid politics (I blame the small-minded, right-wing madness of the GOP).

We should be throwing money at the problem.  We should rebuild, remake!  We should look forward to all we can be.  Damn the torpedoes.  New York!

Mother Trumps All!

Sometimes the Mother trumps all.  And sometimes Mother Nature is a Mother.  And we all just have to endure.  We must experience the rage, the wind, the rain.  And buck up as best we can.

And sometimes it is an awful and awe-inspiring display.  And you realize that this Mother may have birthed us, but she is working on a higher plain and sometimes we are just little beings who happen to be in the way.  Be safe little ones!

No Bond Like the Old Bond

Okay, on the political and social front I'm pretty progressive, but in pop culture I find I'm sometimes a traditionalist.  For instance, in terms of r&r, the Rolling Stones albums "Beggars Banquet," "Let it Bleed," "Stick Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street" pretty much stand as the pinnacle and template for the form.  Nobody's done it better.

And when it comes to listening to music, I still like my big old clunky stereo system with the over-sized speakers, ancient turn-table and CD player.  I love spinning the vinyl and silver discs.  And there's not a better way to listen to music.  And when it comes to guitar amps, give me the old tube technology.  No fancy modeling amps for me.

And when it comes to James Bond.  No contest.  Sean Connery.  End of conversation.  It's the first three Sean Connery Bond films that define the genre: "Dr. No, "From Russia to Love," and "Goldfinger." They are top of the pops. Everything else, all the other attempts, just don't get there.  Sorry.

This is a long way around to mentioning that we saw "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig over the weekend.  The big old movie machine is furiously trying to get us to buy Craig as the new Bond.  And they are trying to update the old form with lots of splash, glitter, explosions and boom, boom...

Not buying it.  Basically the movie is: See Bond. See Bond run. Run Bond run.  And Craig is a wet noodle, a cold fish.  We were reluctant to see this movie.  But friends had told us it was "not bad."  "Not bad," does not mean good.  And this one is not good.  There's another one coming down the pike.  Adele will be singing the theme song.  I'm sure lots of hype and promotion coming to your neighborhood.  But really, Connery was the man.  Bond is missing in this new incarnation of Bond. And Craig can run but he can't run fast enough for me.  Just saying.

UPDATE: And if I was calling the shots, I'd have the Stones record an album of old, hard-hitting blues songs, with maybe a few classic country tunes thrown in, and maybe a Gospel song or two.   Ditch the originals and go back to some classics. Retro.  That would be an album worth hearing.

And if I was casting Bond now, I'd consider Clive Owen, Daniel Day-Lewis, or maybe the best choice of all Nick Cave.  Perfect debauched gentleman.  I know he's Australian, he's dark, edgy and sort of desiccated around the edges.  And you just know as Bond he'd never, ever, run anywhere. And I would keep the Bond films as "period pieces."  Early sixties.  That's where Bond belongs.  I'd have a series of retro Bonds...  that might be cool.  Certainly cooler than what they are doing now.

Get Your Head Out of Your Ass!

Yes, I'm progressive in my politics.  And in my views of social justice.  I heartily endorse Barack Obama for a second term.  I can't imagine a Romney presidency.  I think it would be a total debacle, a re-run of Bush II which was a total train wreck.

It's no surprise that the New York Times is endorsing Obama.  But they lay out the case very logically and coherently.  If you have any doubts, if you are wavering, if you are thinking of not voting this time around, you should read it.  And if you can't make up your mind... well, gee, get your head out of your ass!

Freak of Nature

"A freak of nature?  Well, yes, of course, that's right... a freak of nature.  You have a problem with that?!"

My Own Private Fear and Loathing

Woke up with a start in the middle of the night.  Laid there in the darkness.  And just like in "A Clockwork Orange," a grand series of horrid images flooded across my consciousness.  It was like my eyelids were pinned back and I had to watch and relive all the painful episodes of my life.  All my failures, minor and major flooded in.  The pains, the heartaches, the humiliations.  

So weird.  Stuff that I thought was long dead and gone, came up.  I guess everything is imprinted on our brains, and none of it really goes away.  Kind of sent me into a tailspin in the darkness.  This morning everything seems bright and shiny.  But I see the scars.  And I know that the unseen scars are there too.

I'm thinking it was a mistake to watch Terry Gilliam's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" yesterday.  I remembered it as a pretty bad movie.  It's actually much worse than I remembered.  Just a terrible, horrid piece of work.  You'd think it should be good.  Love HST's book.  Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro are well-cast.  Gilliam is a pretty good filmmaker (see Brazil).  But this one is a total mis-fire. A failure of epic proportions.

Maybe watching all that on screen gibberish started my brain on a downward spiral.  Yes, let's chalk up the tailspin to Gilliam's botch job on "Fear and Loathing."

The truly terrible thing...

Yes, it's a battle.  Of opinions.  Of perspectives.  As Jean Renoir once put it: "The truly terrible thing is that everybody has their reasons."  And it's hard to change minds.  Even one's own mind.  And I think we need to be on guard against our own prejudices.  And our own egos.  And the battle is "in-built" inside of us.  And that's OK it's just our road.  Competing thoughts. Competing emotions. Competing desires.

Our own minds and bodies are battlefields.  And sometimes it's a struggle to see clearly.  Or maybe struggle is the wrong word.  We must look at the world with clear eyes.  It's not always easy to drop the shield.  But sometimes we need to be "defenseless" and do our best to just look, to just see.  The world is a remarkable thing.  Our lives are amazing gifts from an unknown giver.  And we are left to our own devices.  But there are clues all around us and we must do our best...

And the best strategy? "Wide Awake! And not sleeping..."

Snow-balls Upside the Head - Holy!

If you've walked around on the planet for awhile, and you are a lucky sod, you get to meet, and to know some extra-ordinary people.  They are out there.  In all walks of life.  Just people.  People who do whatever.  People who are just people. Beautiful, amazing, contradictory, over-powering...

They might be moms, or work in offices, or any other kind of thing.  But if you are lucky, you get to know them, and their unique, amazing-ness.  These are the ones with that "inner light" turned way up high.  They don't always blaze away, but when they do, it will take your breath away.  And make you happy to be alive, and to know such beings.

Anyway, one of those extra-ordinary ones tipped me to this amazing video yesterday.  Written and performed by Derrick Brown. You must watch this video... absolutely beautiful, touching, life-affirming and true.  You realize this kind of short-form video is a perfect vehicle for enlightened, illuminated poetry.  And this one is married to some gorgeous imagery, and beautiful music from Mogwai... phenomenal!

"He will sell your ass to the highest bidder..." - C. Pierce

It's actually starting to "pain me" to hear and see Mitt Romney walking and talking.  A truly unappealing presence.  I don't like being lied to. The man makes my skin crawl.  Sort of like seeing those creepy crawlies scurrying across the floor.

One thing I am grateful for this election season... I discovered the wonderful writing of Charles Pierce.  Insightful and entertaining.  Just brilliant!

"That is what history always has told us about the career of Willard Romney: sooner or later, he will sell your ass out to the highest bidder and walk away whistling in the general direction of anything to which he feels entitled. In this case, that would be the leadership of the Free World." - C. Pierce

I am so looking forward to Obama's 2nd term.  And I look forward to seeing Romney heading back to his mansion to polish his gold bars.  Please Mr. Romney go home!

It was a long weekend...

"What happened to you...?"

"You don't look so good."

"What happened to you...?"

"You don't look so good."

"What happened to you...?"

"You don't look so good."

Go, Go, Go

And then you have one of those days where it's "go, go, go." And you can't stop.  You move forward relentlessly like a hungry shark.  And the day is consumed.  And your energy is consumed. And you take a moment to wonder what it all adds up to.  But it's only a moment, and it's not worth the wondering.  You have to go on some more. You can't stop. Don't bother thinking. And so you go. Until finally the day is done. And then you stop. Finally stop.  And you don't even want to think about the next day because it projects to be another one of those days.

Everything is Gonna Be All Right!

Some days the news is just so perfect.  You find stories that make you smile.  And you think, "Everything is gonna be all right!"

First, Obama coins a brilliant new term, "Romnesia!"  A perfect little word.  Describes a very unique condition that one particular shit-eat grinning citizen has come down with.  "Flip-flopper" doesn't adequately capture that malady.  Romnesia renders someone incapable of recalling what they said during the Primary season, on the campaign-trail, in a debate, hell even in the last sentence...

And then there's this great story, about this "brilliant football player" (never thought I'd put those words together in a string).  Chris Kluwe is an all round cool guy, with a sharp mind and he's speaking out on gay rights and same-sex marriage.  Beautiful story.  Great kid.  And I hear he's a really good punter too!  

I like to find, what I find, when I find it.

Pop culture is pretty wrapped up with "fashion."  And it's all about the now.  The newest, the latest.  But you know, I like to find, what I find, when I find it.  And I'm sort of resistant to the hype, and to marketing, and I don't like being in lines or just following the crowd.

So anyway, I wrote about The Jesus and Mary Chain record "Psycho Candy" here.  It was released in 1985.  That is a lifetime in pop culture terms.  But you know, I think it's cool to time trip, and to jump around from eras and to experience music out of context.  I mean, to understand what's happening, or what happened, it helps to know the context of what you are experiencing.  But it's also cool to hear something out of context too.

So anyway, this is a record that made a splash when it came out, and it's been influential on lots of bands.  Does it stand up?  Yes.  It's a pretty cool record.  It's a sound.  Pretty much one sound.  And that one sound is really, really, good and it works very well indeed!

A Testy Exchange with a True Believer!

I got into a testy exchange with an unhinged right-winger.  I do think the Republicans are now like a crazed, irrational cult.  It's a political organization that really functions more like a "bury their heads in the sand" religion.  They cling to a world-view and disregard information that just doesn't fit their world-view. And if you bring up "facts" they will dismiss them as biased.  In their world facts are pliable.  So you get into this weird loop where you can't even get agreement on what exactly happened.

And it turns out that "reality has a clear liberal bias."  For instance think evolution and climate change.  These ideas are derived from the world as we find it.  Not from minds of liberals... but if a liberal buys into it, it is suddenly discredited by the crazed right...  and you can't argue with a true believer... it's kind of like putting a piano up your nose...

Update: I think a fundamental difference between liberals and the crazed right, liberals can be persuaded with facts.  Liberals will alter their views of the world based on evidence.  And a complicating factor: the scientific method shows us that what we "know" evolves based on discovery and accumulated data.  The world became a very different place when we discovered bacteria, or we realized that the earth was not the center of the universe. Still the crazed right clings to a core worldview and they seem to take pride in clinging even in the face of evidence.  That's a sign of their wing-nutti-ness.

Do I have a main/core liberal principle? Yes, I stole it from the Dali Lama - "Human beings first!" All else flows out from that principle. So no discrimination under the law. Black/white, straight/gay, poor/rich, franchised/disenfranchised, all are equal under the law... all beings treated with dignity and respect... we are human beings first... Christian, Jew, Muslim, whatever... that's always secondary. The hard part: we even have to treat wing-nuts with respect.  The hardest part of being a liberal is having to tolerate the intolerable, to tolerate the intolerant!

A Lie Easily Refuted!

Yes, I think Obama mopped the floor with Romney in the debate last night.  And Romney revealed himself as a very unappealing, dissembling character.  And as Paul Krugman points out it was the attack in Bengazi that was a definitive moment.  Somehow the right wing wants to pretend that Obama is not "tough on terror."  And of course it's a lie.  And a lie easily refuted.  And Romney just walked into a wall on that one.  And you could see he was smarting and befuddled the rest of the night.  Romney really is an abomination of a candidate.  And his shit-eating grin, and river of lies just doesn't sit well...

Riccardo Trattoria Restaurant Review!

Hey I don't often do restaurant reviews, but what the heck. We had a celebration dinner at a really cool little place called Riccardo Trattoria.  It's one of our favorite Chicago restaurants.  A small, warm and friendly room.  For some reason it makes us think of Brooklyn...

I had the pumpkin ravioli... delicious and filling.  I also had the shitake mushroom salad. Flavorful and light.  And we shared two desserts.  The tira misu was perfecrt.  So light on the tongue.  Food of the Gods.  The ricotta cheese cake was startlingly delicious.

A very satisfying meal... highly recommended! 

Trivial Existence...

I suppose I can look at my life as a long series of trivialities...  a long series of trivial things... but that's not a very fruitful way of looking at my life.  I mean, yes, most of my life may be consumed with things trivial.  But it's my life.  And all those little trivialities add up to the reality of my existence.  Which in the grander picture may be trivial... but of course, it's not that trivial to me...

Communal Spirit!

We had a very satisfying show last night.  A packed room of people swimming in the vibe of songs from 1967.  It was very cool to have a room full of people singing along to songs.  A very communal spirit.  The happiness and enthusiasm after the show was extraordinary too.  Lots of work.  But I do think it's the good work!

Saints Don't Exist

I wrote about Jimi Hendrix here.  A good friend reminded me that Hendrix was a "flawed human being."  In my book, that's kind of a redundancy...  Hendrix is not remarkable because he was a perfect being, he is remarkable because he somehow rose up above his circumstances and created an amazing body of work, and re-thought what it meant to play an electric guitar.

I don't celebrate Hendrix because he was a "saint," saints don't exist in my conception of the universe. No he was a an amazing human being, a flawed human being navigating a flawed universe.  And still he created something extraordinary, beautiful and inspiring...

A Wide Spectrum of Sounds!

Tomorrow night, we are hosting another one of those shows where we pick an artist, or in this case a "theme" and invite a bunch of performers to play... this one is different, it's "The Summer Of Love Show," songs from 1967.  It was kind of cool to open it up. A much more expansive night of music.

And 1967 happens to be a pretty extraordinary year for music.  Debut albums from Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  The Beatles "Sgt Peppers" too!

So we have songs from Joni Mitchell, the Doors, the Monkees, Cream, Van Morrison, The Box Tops, Jefferson Airplane, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Country Joe and the Fish, Jimi Hendrix, etc.... a pretty wide spectrum of sound... it's always cool to hear these songs channeled through performers of all kinds... should be lots of fun!

Stone Free!

Yesterday, I wrote a r&r diary about Jimi Hendrix here.  Hendrix was very charismatic and photogenic.  This is my all-time favorite Hendrix photo.  He looks so happy.  It's not an accident that he's on stage with a guitar in his hands.  He was an unbelievably creative musician.  He was probably happiest and most "free," when he played music.  He even had a song about how music was like a woman with whom he was madly in love.  Jimi Hendrix!

The Spirit of Alex Chilton

I was researching songs for our upcoming Summer of Love Show.  One song we are doing with our friend the Uber Critic is The Box Tops great song "The Letter." The lead singer on that Top 40 hit song was a 16 year old kind named Alex Chilton.  Alex is just one of those phenomenal singer/songwriters I have come to really appreciate over the years.  He was always on the fringe and margins of having a successful rock and roll career and did some amazing work with Big Star and as a solo artist.

Anyway, Alex is now dead and gone.  But his work remains.  And by spinning the CD's and playing the videos he seems as alive as you and me.  I found this video of Alex wandering around a New Orleans Cemetery, and well, wouldn't the spirit of Alex Chilton be wandering around a cemetery in New Orleans singing songs?  And wouldn't he sing "The Letter," just for the hell of it?

Well, yes, he would...

Whither the Black Swan?!

Some Obama supporters are totally freaking out about Obama's debate performance and the Pew Poll that showed him now trailing Romney.

Me, I'm sticking with the mysterious Sam Wang.  He runs a site that does a "meta-analysis" of all the polls.  I guess his model did very well in the 2008 and 2010 elections.  So the math and the model still has Obama as the favorite.  That's reassuring to me.

But of course, election day is still a ways away.  And what of the Black Swan?  The Black Swan is the unforeseen event. Was that first debate a Black Swan?  Is there a Black Swan waiting to reveal itself? The Swan that we don't see, that we don't know, that we don't even thinks exists, can turn all expectations on their head... will there be a Black Swan?

I predict, definitely, maybe!

The Heart of "More!"

You can think about it.  And feel about it.  And do it.  And sometimes the thinking, feeling and doing are all focused and together.  This is when you are flowing with life.  It is the optimum way to navigate. 

And then sometimes the thinking, feeling and doing are not aligned at all. Instead they are working at cross-purposes.  They get out of whack.  And nothing flows.  It is a less than optimum way to navigate.

And then you ask how to align? It isn't easy. You can try to "work" it out.  But it's not really a working thing.  And it's not a thinking thing, or a feeling thing, or a doing thing either.  It's all those and more. So you are left with a puzzle. And how do you get to the heart of that "more?"

Perfect Dream!

We went to see Mary Archie's production of Sam Shepard's "Geography of a Horse Dreamer."  My favorite theater company presenting a play from my favorite playwright.  And it's just a dream production.  Perfectly realized.  No flaws.  The cast is perfect.  Great set design.  Directed and acted with skill and enthusiasm.  Shepard's pop cultural dream-world comes alive.  Couldn't ask for anything more.  Perfect!

It Works

"Yes, it' a raggedy-ass, beat-up little thing, but it's mine and it works."

He'll Blame the Help!

All those "snap" polls told us that Romney "won" the first debate against Obama.  I must say, I was impressed by Romney's performance.  He is a bull-shit artist of the first caliber.  And the bull-shit was oozing from his ears, and he was relaxed and confident, and he did not blink.  Very impressive.

It was all shit-eating grins and a river of lies from Romney.  You might think that's what we need in this Age of Lies. But if so, I think you are wrong.  I also think Romney actually "lost" the debate.  All those lies will come back to haunt him.  He has now taken positions totally contrary to each other on just about every issue.

Romney was hard-right in the Republican primaries but he did not look comfortable pretending to be a fire-breathing right-winger in those debates.  He was stilted and weird under the gaze of Newt Gingrich.  Romney was much more comfortable pretending to be a moderate on Wednesday. 

I do think this threw Obama off his game.  I think Obama was surprised that he could not pin down Romney on any of his plans or numbers.  Obama looked a little halting and unsure.  But he was relying on facts.  Obama is actually trying to win this election based on facts.

My take: Obama's reliance on facts will help him win this thing.  Romney has built his whole campaign on a mountain of lies and misrepresentations... I'd love to see Romney get "caught," to see him squirm under the glare of reality, but I think he's lived a life of lies and he has always gotten away with his lies.

So the bull-shit artist will keep grinning that shit-eating grin. His beady little eyes will keep sparkling.  But he will be sent home a loser this time.  It will be a good lesson for Romney. But I'm sure he'll end up blaming the "help" when he goes down in defeat!

One Of A Kind People

Still working on "Summer of Love Songs."  You can learn the chords.  You can learn the lyrics.  You can play and sing the songs, but then you come up against freaky, amazing natural phenomena, kind of like heavy weather that just can't be replicated.

I'm speaking of such awesome and daunting sounds such as Nico's  or Grace Slick's voices.  Two  amazing forces of nature for sure. Or how about John Entwhistle's unique bass technique?  It's like he picked up the instrument and invented a new way to play it. Or Keith Moon's weird, over the top, unlike anyone in the universe drum-playing?

You can learn the steps.  But it just isn't the same.

Even though you've heard their songs over and over year after year, if you really listen to them with fresh ears, you experience these things as just amazing, unique, sounds created by one of a kind people. Thrilling.

Friends Not Your Friends

The whacks, the cuts, the pricks, the kicks.  They come from any corner.  Some of them are intentional, some of them are not.  Intention doesn't seem to matter.  When the whacks come, they do their thing, they do their damage, and you carry on.  Usually they just leave small nicks and bruises. No major wounds.  The major ones are rare.

But there is an accumulation.  It all adds up.  Everything counts.  So you carry the bruises, you carry the scars... they come from the friendlies and the unfriendlies.  Those from the friendlies are more insidious.  The are the unexpected torpedoes. They surprise you. And sometimes surprise is not your friend.

You have friends.  But sometimes your friends are not your friends.

A Stunner - The Left Banke

We've been researching and rehearsing songs from 1967 as part of our preparation for our Summer of Love show. Came across The Left Banke, didn't really know them, although, I do remember hearing "Walk Away Renee."  What an amazing song. It's a total stunner, just beautiful.  The band didn't last long, but their harmonies and the lush orchestration on the track is just superb.

We are thinking of doing "Walk Away Renee" but ours would be a much starker version.  No strings, maybe no harmonies.  Wonder if we can pull it off?  Not sure.  Still the song is just so gorgeous.  Rehearsing it in our kitchen, one guitar, two voices, to my ears it sounds exquisite.

Takes a Licking, Still Ticking!

Someone read the tea leaves and saw a large conflagration.  An explosion of epic proportions. Sounded like hooey to me.  Couldn't see it.  Couldn't imagine anything rocking my world that hard.  And then the storm came. An enthralling and amazing display of hatred and rage. Very, very surprising, over what I thought was a little thing... so yes, got rocked. Totally. But took a licking and still ticking... sometimes being alone in silence is the only remedy!

The Passion!

We played a passionate acoustic duo set at the Flat Iron Arts building in Chicago last night.  We were in a really cool artist's studio, great acoustics, very comfortable, and a small but friendly and enthusiastic audience.

It's great when people actually sit and listen.  And it's great when you bring it.  We brought it last night. Yes, of course you need songs, and you need to be tight, and you need to sound good.

But what you really need is the invisible, intangible things: passion and energy.  And those things can't be bottled or manufactured.  Or faked.  Not really.  I mean, I guess you can try to fake it.  But I think it shows.

So yes, we brought the passion and energy. We committed ourselves to the moment.  And that's the world baby! 

Trying on Songs For Size!

Still trying to decide on songs for our Summer of Love show Oct 13.  Actually, I'm deciding which songs to bring to our band.  So I'm wading through the vast pool of music released in 1967, watching the YouTube videos, printing out the chords and playing along to see what feels good.

The exercise is sort of like trying on other people's clothes.  Seeing how they fit.  Seeing if you can make them your own.

Sometimes you like the "idea" of playing a song, but then there's the reality of stepping through the chords, and singing the words, and you realize it's just not going to fly.  Example: The Velvet Underground "I'm Waiting for the Man."  Love the song, pretty easy to play, but for some reason it seems false.  I mean, it's so true to Lou Reed, but false on my lips, in my brain.  

Now Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl," hell, that one seems like a winner.  Beautiful chord progression, great lyrics.  Yes, it will be hard to top Van's version, but something tells me our band will find the groove.  I'm thinking we try it for sure.

Nico's take on Jackson Browne's "These Days."  Somber.  Our drummer described it as "dour." And the guitar part is almost too bright and jaunty.  I've slowed it down a bit. Love the little finger-picking part, could be a very beautiful, hushed moment.  Depends.  The Lovely Carla needs to own it.  And what key would work best?  Have decided to keep it in for now. Even with the outstanding questions.

Sure things: Cream's "Strange Brew" - tight little jam, "The Letter" by the Box Tops - what a perfect pop/rock song and Alex Chilton singing at 16!, "White Rabbit" - so iconic.  Great bass part, great drum part, cool, trippy guitar part, but can anyone sing it like Grace Slick does?  "Stepping Stone" - yes, it's a classic from that TV band.  We're thinking a stripped down version.  The lyrics are great.  The Who's "Happy Jack" - I love this song!  Love the lyrics, love what The Who do. Can our band do it?  We will give our best for sure!  The Doors "Soul Kitchen" - this one is already in our set.  We love it, we groove it, we have definitely made it our own.  More like the Patti Smith version, but it's ours now!

Not sures: "Little Wing" - a beautiful Hendrix song, silly lyrics, stunningly beautiful guitar part, "Hey Joe" - misogynist as hell, but what a great chord progression, the band would love to play it for sure. And maybe with the Lovely Carla singing we turn the meaning upside down? "San Francisco" - A friend wants to sing it.  I'm sure he will do a great job, he has a wonderful voice.  But man, do I hate that song.  It's really the hippie nightmare.  And you wonder if San Francisco ever recovered from all those poor hippies flocking to the city looking for those "gentle people!" It definitely captures a certain 1967 vibe.  But it seems like a ridiculous song to me.

Anyway, still wading through songs.  Probably more surprises on the way... "Walk Away Renee" - maybe!

A Complicated Flower!

We're doing a "Summer of Love" tribute show. In October. The thought was, well there's always room for love, and always room for summer. And 1967 was some kind of watershed year in music. "Sgt. Peppers" from the Beatles, "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn" from Pink Floyd, "Are You Experienced" from the Jimi Hendrix Experience. And many more great songs and albums. 

Our band is doing songs from the Monkees (that cheesy TV band), Jefferson Airplane (trippy SF rock), The Doors (dark, moody, transcendental) and the Velvet Underground (strange, hard-boiled, decadent). Definitely attracted to the darker side of the summer of love. Revolution was in the air. Doors and walls were melting. And even though some look back at that year as some kind of beautiful flowering, it was a complicated flower with thorns that cut and could make you bleed...

Something Out Of Reach

Yeah, I was reading about Lou Reed, and found out that he was influenced/inspired by Raymond Chandler.  Chandler created Philip Marlowe, the hard-boiled Private Eye, who always found himself in the middle stories that would always get curiouser, and curiouser. And that template is sort of a description of our situation in life.  There's a mystery.  Something happened.  And we try to figure out what it is... but there's always something just out of reach...

And the language of those great Raymond Chandler novels, well... the language is addictive, illuminating... etc.

"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell." - R.C.

Football is Big Business

OK. Yes. The Replacement Refs made a pretty bad call on Monday Night Football.  But the outrage seemed a little over the top.  I mean, hell it's only a game.  And the Refs made a friendly call in favor of the Home Team.  It happens, right? What's the big deal?

I then I saw this story... reminded me that Football is big business.  And betting on Football is big business.  That little blown call may have cost bettors $300 million dollars.  Oh, yeah, I get it!  The outrage!

And then, there's also a political angle to the whole thing.  The "replacement refs," also known as "scabs" are filling in for the real refs who are on strike (Actually it's not a strike, the Owners are locking the refs out! This really looks like a case of Greedy Owners trying to bust/beat up, a union!).  Man.  Maybe this case illustrates the power and value of unions in this climate of union busting.

Just another example of how the GOP and much of Management in the land is on the wrong side of an important issue.  Unions helped make the USA the USA.  We should not forget!  

The SUN!

And just why isn't our land filled with these (see below) solar arrays? When people talk about "alternative" energy, they are derided as dreamers, as wimps, as tree huggers. Don't you know that the SUN is the biggest freaking generator in our orbit? 

 The SUN is the energy source for all life on our planet. We really should have a Solar Cult devoted to worshiping and channeling the power of the SUN! It's been around for millions of years, and will be around, unless something unforeseen happens, for many millions more. We should be devoting major investments in dollars and manpower to fill our land with solar arrays. 

Those making money drilling into the earth should be ostracized. Get your heads out of the dirt. Raise your heads, raise your eyes. Look up at the SUN. It's power can save us, it can free us from the slavery of dirty fossil fuel. Wake Up! The SUN!

Let's Go Solar Baby!

Don't know why this little video of ours didn't go viral. The clouds of radioactivity are still wafting thru the air (maybe people just don't want to think about it?).  And Japan has decided that maybe nuclear energy is not the solution... especially when we don't really know what to do with the waste, and if there's an accident, well, let's just say it's not good. Haven't you seen those Godzilla movies?!  There's that big old sun up there.  It seems like this amazing energy that should be fully tapped! Let's go Solar baby!

  

"All that matters is work." - Andy Warhol

I just don't have the rock and roll lifestyle thing worked out.  We played a show last night at a classic Chicago neighborhood bar.  It was another thrilling performance for our band whitewolfsonicprincess.  It's funny we thought we were a tight, committed band, but the last shows have shown that there are levels to tightness and commitment.  We have entered a new phase, where the tightness, the connectedness have opened to a new looseness and confidence.  Exhilarating and satisfying.  And the hardcore drinkers at the bar stopped, listened, applauded, bended our ears to tell us how much the enjoyed the show and bought CDs too... definitely some kind of endorsement.

But anyway, up late and up early too.  If I was totally rock and roll I'd sleep to noon for sure.  But it seems no matter how late I stay up, I'm up early, brewing my coffee, checking out the internet, and listening to music too.

This morning I'm listening to Lou Reed and John Cale's tribute to Andy Warhol, "Songs For Drella."  It was released in 1987.  I have no clue why it took me so long to finally buy it and listen to it. Maybe I read a bad review or something.  New resolution - never fucking listen to a reviewer!  The disc is just so beautiful, touching, amazing.  I picked it up yesterday at the used CD store, and I'm so glad I grabbed it.  I'm listening to it now, second time through this morning... it's just such great, thrilling work.  Love it. Sad too. Funny too. A great, great set of music... and oh yeah, I'm such an admirer of Andy Warhol... one of the greatest artists ever... so inspiring... I miss him too Lou!

"All that matters is work." - Andy Warhol

The Rot is Quite Stinky!

Yes, as Charles Pierce points out, the Romney campaign tossed out a dead fish for inspection late Friday afternoon.  The rot is getting quite stinky at this point.  You wonder if the Big Plastic Guy is just  a little bored of running for Prez.  The guy doesn't even have a job and he made $14 million last year.  Sheesh!  But at this point, it's got to be clear to him that lots of people actually loath him and his voice makes people's flesh crawl.  And all his glad-handing and all those empty, glazed smiles aren't going to change that fact.  Maybe he should just decamp to one his many homes and polish his golf clubs, or re-count his stash of gold bricks or something?

And what about all those greedy, rich folk who have been shoveling cash into the man's campaign?  You wonder if it's beginning to dawn on them that they are shoveling their dollars into a black hole of loser-land?  Kind of funny.  I mean, I don't want to be over-confident or anything. But it doesn't take a clairvoyant to see that Romney is big stuffed mannequin of a candidate heading to a big loss. The Romney express is a train  heading straight into a brick wall of political nothingness.

:-)

Things You Are Into

Yes, you are into the things that you are into.  And it's best if you can really sink in and fully devote yourself (heart, head, spirit) to the things you are into. And you're not into the things you're not into.  But it's good to explore.  You might find that your orbit of things you are into is larger than you think. The world is bigger than you. And you can be into things you didn't think you'd be into, or things that you decidedly weren't into at one time other.  but then, now you are into them.  so there are surprises, as long as you are open to surprises...

I Thank the Man for Being So Inept!

Not through with Romney yet... the guy is seriously pissing me off.  He's wasting our time.  He is running such a lousy campaign for President.  He is not very good at communicating with people. His election strategy is a complete botch.  During the primaries he adopted all the most hard-right positions, and then, once the primaries were over, he tried to tack to the middle.  But too many on the right are holding his feet to the fire, so he really can't go to the middle.  He's stuck with lots of really absurd positions just because the fire-breathing right demands it!

And he's not such a smart guy after all.  I mean, maybe he can work his way around a spreadsheet and a financial statement, but as a "leader" or "communicator" as for someone who inspires or illuminates, well, Romney really is an empty suit.  And he really is an out of touch rich guy.  He can't help it.  He's lived in a bubble of richness his whole life. He is a man totally unsuited to be President.  You wonder why he wants the job.  Probably just to burnish his ego.  Or maybe it's the rich guy entitlement thing.

He is one of those people that sort of makes your skin crawl; that plastic, pasted on smile, the deadness in the eyes, the halting, stilted way of speaking. He is a guy who has no core, and it seems he will say anything to anybody, anytime. The man has lots of money.  He inherited wealth, and then he made more.  Not all that impressive folks!

Anyway, I guess we can all thank Mitt for being such a train-wreck... the hard-core Republican base will vote for this guy no matter what... so the election may be closer than it should be.  But Mitt is doing all he can to lose.  And the country should thank him for it.  I thank the man for being so inept.  Even as he pisses me off!

Finally We Agree!

This is funny... the Obama campaign is painting a pretty convincing picture that Mitt Romney is just an out of touch rich guy who only cares about the rich.

And Mitt Romney's campaign is painting the exact same picture. In fact, Romney's campaign is painting an even more convincing picture that Romney is an incompetent and bumbling out of touch rich guy who is totally clueless and disdainful about much of America.

So finally we find something Democrats and Republicans can agree on.  Romney is out of touch, rich and clueless! 

Can't we find a more suitable job for the guy? I'm sure there's a  need somewhere for a well-heeled, snooty, self-satisfied, schmuck like Romney!  Like the head of some ritzy and exclusive golf club or rotary club. Get that man an ascot!

Mitt Romney Speaks His Truth!

You gotta love it!  Made me laugh out loud this morning to hear Mitt Romney speak his truth! He doesn't care about nearly half the country.  And if he's President he will not be worried about them either.  This guy wants to be the Rich Guy President.  And if you're not rich?  Well, you are on your own.

This is so good.  Usually the truth and Mitt Romney cannot be found in the same room.  But a hidden camera caught the man and his truth red-handed.  What a complete botch of a person and a candidate!

Reasoning the Unreasonable

There's that famous quote from Jean Renoir, "Everyone has their reasons."  The reasons don't need to be good.  Or rational.  Or make sense.  Humans can cling to just about any flimsy reason.  Humans aren't always "reasonable."  Often times we are totally unreasonable.  Makes for a pretty complicated world.  Everyone running around with their "reasons" and hammering each other with them.

How do you stand outside and above that kind of madness?  It's a hard stance to take.  Pretend to be an alien and sit back and watch human beings do their thing.  But of course, you aren't an alien.  You are a human being too.  Trying hard to be human.  Trying hard to be a being.  Hoping you are reasonable, even as you put all your "reasons" under a microscope too...

UnOccupied Space!

We played a r&r show last night.  There were a couple of loyalists in the audience, but we primarily played to an empty bar.  Played our music to lots of unoccupied space.  There were two pretty high profile music festivals in town, and the el stop at that location is partially closed for work, which meant getting to the place was totally inconvenient. So maybe that explains the low turn-out.  But what's funny, our band was undaunted.  We really showed our character last night.  Determined.  Committed.  Joyful.  Tight.  We played an expansive set, and it all went off quite well.  You can't put a price on the kind of group energy. I don't know how you conjure it up.  It's a very special thing. We really did fill up that empty space with our sound, and in some ways that's more impressive than if we had played to a packed house.  My only regret, more people didn't get to see and hear our joyful noise.  But it was not in the cards last night. Still very pleased the morning after the show.  We have created a really cool band, and a cool sound.  

Human Beings First... and Crazy Too!

More unrest in the world.  There is always unrest.  Lots of unhappy people in the world, and sometimes they express their unhappiness and hatred in terribly gruesome and inhuman ways.  It is true.  But when I hear sentences that begin like this, I bristle like a goddamn porcupine...

"The Muslims..."  "The Jews..." "The Blacks..." 

To me these types of sentences are part of the problem.  They imply that the sentence-maker doesn't see the complex world we live in, and doesn't see that we are all human beings first.  It is the language of defining and distancing ourselves from "the other."  This is the language of racism, prejudice and stereotype...

Of course the world is made up of human beings and some of them are Muslims, Jews, Blacks, etc. So sometimes those words are just descriptors, identifiers.  The problem is when lots of people are lumped together and judged as one thing.  This is not helpful.  It helps perpetuate unhappiness and hatred.  And of course, it's just not true of the world we live in!  There is vast variation in all these human "categories."  

I can't help it.  I am with the Dali Lama: "Human Beings First."  Now, of course, in my book Human Beings are fundamentally CRAZY.  It's kind of built into our psychic make-up.  We put on the mask of rationality, but we are born into a mysterious and strange world, and our lives can be snatched away at a moment's notice.  We are capable of amazingly beautiful things and horrifyingly terrible things too.  All of us.  Any time.  And if we do something beautiful, we should be celebrated, and if we do something horrible, we should be held accountable.  Just review the history of the world.  Any category of human you can name. There's lots of beauty, and an unbelievable list of crimes and horrors.  Human Beings did that! 

Just A Poem

You know somebody, who knows somebody, who passed... you are reminded that we all have an expiration date tattooed somewhere on our beings.  I mean, you know this, you are reminded of it every day, but sometimes the "insight" hits a little closer to home.  It's the "other shoe" that everyone carries with them, but one no-one really talks about all that much.  It can fall at anytime.  And it's big, and serious and mysterious.

You hunt for some thru-line, some narrative arc.  But sometimes, maybe always, it's just the brute fact.  Life ends.  Or morphs into something else.  So one is left with the knowledge that we have moments.  Lots of moments.  Some enjoyable, some not.  But they are our moments. And life is a collection of moments, and sometimes it hard to see if they really "add up" to anything.

You hope to come to some kind of grand culmination, or uncover some grand insight, but you wonder if that is just an unfulfilled hope...

You are born, you live, you die... it's all the in-between stuff that makes our lives our lives... it's sort of  a strange, little poem.  We are that poem.  Even if it's hard to understand what the poem really is, or means, or adds up to... it's just a poem. And it's ours...

"People are Stupid!"

The Lovely Carla and I were reviewing Esquire's polling data... Even though the overall news is good for Obama, we are both pretty much confounded by some of the results.  White people who make more than 100K lean fairly strongly to Romney?  What?  Is it just blind prejudice??? 

Romney is just such a train-wreck of a candidate.  You have to scratch your head and ask why people would be voting against their own economic and social interests...  makes no sense...

I guess you could think racism, prejudice, folks just buying into cheap stereotypes... 

The Lovely Carla sums it up thusly... "People are stupid!"

That's pretty good...

Enlightened Being Would Be Better...

OK, yes, it's a delicate balance... just about like everything else... you become too strident, too hectoring, too forceful... too damn opinionated... and well, you come off as a loud-mouth asshole...  and not good company at social gatherings...

Of course, you may actually be an asshole, the world is full of them, but maybe it's something you should decide to "work on," to try to modulate, and tone down... what you really want to be is a Bodhisattva, and being an asshole, and being an Enlightened Being, do not really go together well...

Heart & Politics On Our Sleeves!

I have been re-energized after the Democratic convention.  It was so refreshing and inspiring to see folks get up and say things that should be said...  I decided to write a rock & roll diary post about John Lennon and the power of wearing your heart and politics on your sleeve...

I do think we all need to choose.  Which can be dangerous and scary... to actually take a stand and proudly declare which side you are on.  You will piss off people.  And they will want to take you down, or "un-friend" you.  But so be it. On most of the key issues we face, there is no middle ground.

I love this post from Kevin Drum... supposedly Barack Obama is an introvert, not big on schmoozing and bullshitting, no, instead, he likes to do his job... gotta love the guy.  And yes, I do!

Floundering Phase of the Election!

I think we've entered the Mitt Romney floundering phase of the 2012 election.  Mitt is a doomed candidate.  No one likes him, and the GOP platform is a desiccated piece of warmed over shit that just doesn't pass the smell test.

Yes, of course, it will be a "close" election.  The country is deeply divided.  I guess it's North vs. South, City vs. Country, Progressives vs. Political Neanderthals...

And the GOP is a deeply dysfunctional political party, that has not recovered from the Bush Debacle.  It's an angry party, a retro-party, it's anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-minority, anti-immigrant, anti-future.  And there are a bunch of angry people willing to back their Floundering Candidate...

But this time around I just don't think Flounder can pull it off.  Even if the GOP tries to steal the vote, or prevent folks from voting... sometimes you just can't sell a shit sandwich... it's just too damn shitty! 

Yes, I suppose it does make sense...

Yes, I suppose it really does make sense... 

If the way we primarily experience the world, and acquire our knowledge, (think TV, think computers) is primarily episodic, fragmentary, and non-linear; where past, present and future are all mixed up, and available to us at all times, anytime, then we may rightly come to believe that, that is the actual nature of our world.

And the old way of thinking of the world... as a coherent narrative, with a distinct past, present and future, comes to seem so quaint, boring and untrue, or non-representative of what we are experiencing when we experience it, and that it comes to seem false to our experience; we no longer process or think about the world in such a cut and dried, linear way...  and even reading novels that use that template seem so old world and uninteresting...

Yes, I suppose it really does make sense...

Visual Storm!

We went to Wicker Park last night to see the Storm Thorgerson show "Computers have a lot to answer for."  Quite the amazing collection of art.  A dying art I suppose.  Most of Thorgerson's work has been album covers for bands.  No CGI.  All just striking images perfectly captured by old style photographic equipment...

Surreal imagery, so real, it's unreal.  Really.  I had a chance to say "hi" to Storm and tell him how much I loved his work.  I wanted to ask about those wacky days with Syd Barrett, but it just wasn't the place or time.  Anyway, what a great show.  Over the years I have sat and contemplated and meditated over some of these images.  Looking for the secret.  Marveling at the beauty and mystery...

The Only Choice!

Yes. I loved Barack Obama's speech last night. Totally aligned with everything he said... love the way Michelle introduced the man, the the way they hugged while U2's "City of Blinding Lights" played... great song choice... 

"The more you see, the less you know, the less you find out as you go, I knew much more then, than I do now..."

The Big Dog Delivers Big Time!

Yes, it's great to be "open-minded," to listen to lots of ideas and opinions when formulating your own. But then you need to make choices, choose sides, take a stand.  Yes, you can change your mind, and if "facts" change, you should adjust your thinking based on the new data.  That's kind of like the scientific method.

But there are some basic values that don't change.  Love for others.  Kindness and grace.  Humility. An understanding that everything is connected.  That we are all in this together. That we all need each other. That the universe is big and mysterious.  And we don't have all the answers.  But we can try to work together to make a better reality for all.  In fact, we are obliged to try.

It's sort of an idealism.  But it's a humble idealism.  I've always voted for the Democrats.  Maybe they have not always lived up to my ideals.  But they have always been closer to the target than the Republicans.  I guess in that respect I do see things in stark, black and white terms.

It was weird watching Bill Clinton, the Big Dog speaking last night. That Fleetwood Mac Song introduced him.  It was all so time-warp 90's.  He's older.  We are older.   He gave a great speech.   All those words painted a great picture of where we are, where we came from.  And what are the choices we need to make for a better future... the Big Dog did an admirable job... he showed that even if there are people who hate you, you can rise above...

And he reminded us that we do have to believe in a better future... it's a basic human need... we must believe and then roll up our sleeves...

Words!

Words.  Maybe they are just words.  But words do matter.  Even if they don't always match up with what happens, or what is...

We have intention. We have ideas. We have dreams. And we verbalize them with words. And we can create pictures in the air. We can create pictures in our heads.  And sometimes our words give us direction... to where we want to go, who we want to be, what we want to do.

Last night I heard lots of words.  And I was completely aligned with those words.  And it made me feel good.  But  these words need to be actualized... and that takes work, struggle, and dedication... Obama 2012!

UPDATE:  Michelle Obama's speech was beautiful, amazing, inspiring... if you didn't see it or listen to it... you should...

Interesting Life...

I wonder... yes, that's the ticket... to keep that wondering spirit... even if you've been around the block a few times.  Nothing is the same, everything is changing all the time... even if it seems like nothing is changing... the world is a moving target, and you are a moving target too.  And there's wonder built into that state too... I wonder... And wonder is probably one of our best tools... for survival, for an interesting life...

Tony Scott -- The Real Touch

I loved reading this tribute to Tony Scott, the film director who recently took his own life, by jumping off a bridge... turns out he was seriously ill, and you can't really fault the guy for taking matters into his own hands...

Anyway, very cool interview conducted by Kim Morgan, who is always entertaining and enlightening when it comes to movies.  I was inspired to rent "True Romance," which Tony Scott mentioned as his one of his own personal favorites.  It does hold up. Some kind of pulp classic.  It's very, very Tarantino.  Great script, superb acting all around.  I was never a Christian Slater fan, but in retrospect his performance is just fine.

The movie is a homage to action movies.  Very film-smart, and self-reverential.  And that musical score and narration reminded me so much of Terence Malick's "Badlands" - one of the great, great films!  

The violence in "True Romance" is bold and brutal.  There is a key scene with Patricia Arquette that is over the top violent.  I seem to recall that the first time I saw the film it was "too much" - couldn't handle seeing the pretty girl brutalized.  This time around, it seemed "less real" more stylized... and I suppose more integral to the scene and the movie...

And I do love this quote... I suppose this kind of defines Scott's movie-making aesthetic...

"Once you’ve touched the real world, there’s nothing more fascinating and nothing stranger than the real world and the people." -- Tony Scott

Double-Edge

A double-edged sword.  

The downside to the phlegm and congestion... breathing is shallow and difficult... wake up early, before the crack of dawn...

The upside... get to brew the coffee early... everything is quiet... seems the rest of the world is still asleep... lots of time to think... and sip... and read... and breathing comes easier...

Still Buzzing!

Yes, well, I'm still buzzing about the Flaming Lips' "Dark Side of the Moon."  I saw the live concert video first, and was totally, totally blown away.  Renewed my faith in the r&r experience.  Renewed my faith in the power of music to heal. Renewed my faith in the Flaming Lips as one of the great American weirdo r&r bands.  Renewed my faith in Wayne Coyne as some kind of zany, cosmic evangelist.

I had to hunt down the CD... I plunked down $13.95 at my local CD store... and I'm not disappointed.  In fact, the recorded version is just superb, and offers it's own unique pleasures.  Features Henry Rollins and Peaches.  And the band is in great, great form.  It's a pretty faithful recreation of the Pink Floyd original.  But everything comes thru the Flaming Lips filter; it's all a little funkier, more rocking, funnier, and more profound.  It's zany, and rambling, and cool.  Really.

I've been riding the vibe for days now.  And it's just the greatest feeling.  Amazing that a CD can do that for you... but this one is just such a funky, wacky, cosmic, joy... a real gem... wow!