So (have you noticed that "so" is becoming, like, the new "like?" Listen to NPR--and there are those of you who receive these things who'd sooner stick needles in your eyes than do that, and you know who you are, and so do I-- and, way too often lately, a guest will commence a response to a direct question with "So..." and then launch into their answer. Maybe it's not "like," then as much as "Um," or maybe it's both....), I know I've whined about this before I went worldwide, but I don't always want to do shows that are topical and on oh-so-important topics. There's so much fodder for such stuff, and I want to be relevant and provocative most of the time, but not didactic or polemical all the time. Sometimes, we all need a break. So this week, to the best of my ability, there'll be pap. In honor of Groundhog Day (the movie, not the "event;" what's a fuzzy pudgy rodent gonna tell us about this "winter," anyway, other than "you guys have fucked the climate up beyond belief; in 15 years I'm gonna be living in the Arctic Circle or else have slimmed down and become a mongoose"?), I'm going to be playing multiple versions of 7 (seven) songs plus, of course, "I've Got You, Babe." I think that the versions are varied enough, and the songs good enough, that they'll be entertaining and not just ennui-inducing. Back when I taught writing (Oh, those poor, poor students) I'd do stuff like that under the guise of talking about revision, but it was really just an excuse to listen to some music I liked and fill out some class time. Tomorrow, then, as usual: Noon til 2, 100.1FM, wool.fm on the webs.
A couple of notes: if you become members or followers, you'll receive email notification of each new post automatically, I think. I posted a step-by-step on how to do that, and I'm pretty sure it works (notice how strongly I have the courage of my convictions?). I'd love it if you'd join (6 more people did last week) and, especially, post comments. I'd love to hear what you have to say, and it might spark further discussion or engender new ideas, of which I obviously have a dearth.
Disclaimer: All words, unless otherwise attributed, are mine. I mean, I didn't coin them all, but... well, you probly get it. The poem from last week, for instance, caused some confusion: some of you wondered at its authorship and provenance, some thinking or assuming it was Alice's. On her behalf, I express my outrage; her grocery lists are better-crafted and smarter. Anyway, I hope this clears up any confusion. Or causes more, whichever comes first.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
"How-tu" torial
How ridiculous is it that I am telling you how to post a comment? Very. But lots of folks seem to be having probs with that, so my lovely wife took the time to write a step-by-step to outline the procedure(I may have paraphrased or added to her stuff). Here goes:
Scroll down past the post upon which you wish to comment.
Find the yellowish-orange "comments" with a number beside it (the number will likely be "0").
Click on it.
Write your comment.
Click on the "comment as" box, which has a drop-down menu; Google is probably the easiest if you don't already belong to one of the others.
Set up an account on Google if you don't already have one. Just fill in the basics, and don't worry about the email address: you'll never have to use it.
Click "Preview" to see how your comment looks (I think it'll look great). Edit or finish by writing the weird letters as you see them, to verify that, at least in this way, you are not a machine.
Click "Publish." After the first time, you won't need to do all of the account stuff again.
Then, on the main blog page, go to "Options" on the upper right, by your follower/member name (why don't you have one yet?) and click on "Site Settings." All you need do there is click "Messaging" on the left, and check "receive site newsletters." Be sure your email address is there, and you will automatically receive notification each time there is a new post. How much easier and more exciting could it be?
Finally, please post comments!
Scroll down past the post upon which you wish to comment.
Find the yellowish-orange "comments" with a number beside it (the number will likely be "0").
Click on it.
Write your comment.
Click on the "comment as" box, which has a drop-down menu; Google is probably the easiest if you don't already belong to one of the others.
Set up an account on Google if you don't already have one. Just fill in the basics, and don't worry about the email address: you'll never have to use it.
Click "Preview" to see how your comment looks (I think it'll look great). Edit or finish by writing the weird letters as you see them, to verify that, at least in this way, you are not a machine.
Click "Publish." After the first time, you won't need to do all of the account stuff again.
Then, on the main blog page, go to "Options" on the upper right, by your follower/member name (why don't you have one yet?) and click on "Site Settings." All you need do there is click "Messaging" on the left, and check "receive site newsletters." Be sure your email address is there, and you will automatically receive notification each time there is a new post. How much easier and more exciting could it be?
Finally, please post comments!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Deaf (to the) Toll
One of my son's childhood friends killed himself last week. He was at home in Georgia, temporarily, between deployments to Afghanistan. Jake had seen him this summer for the first time since he'd moved away, after their Freshman year of high school, and said he seemed to be doing well, talked about his two young children and his hopes to move back to this area when his service was done. But something happened, and now he's another statistic, another casualty of the madness humans perpetrate upon each other.
We have been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan now for 10 years, the longest war(s) in our history. More than 2.3 million soldiers have served in those 2 conflicts; over 6,000 have died, more than 47,000 bear physical wounds, and the VA has treated more than 210,000 for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). There was a front page story in the Times on Friday last about the incidence of suicide (and sexual assaults, which are up 30%) in the active military, and an article in The Week (from which the above numbers were taken); suicides in the Army have risen from 115 in 2007 to 164 in 2011. What have we gained from all of this loss?
The war touches most of us almost not at all. Without a draft, there is only voluntary pain; we are content to let young people throw themselves into the breach for a variety of reasons, noble or misguided, prosaic or last resort, while we fret about which loudmouthed, flag-lapelled rich guy will be most likely to "take our country in the Right direction" and let us not have to think about the cost of our decisions. The economic cost is pretty readily apparent and, as I've noted above, the media are trying to call our attention to the physical and psychological costs, but as a society we are still apparently willing to allow events to unfold as the people in power orchestrate them, because we're too lazy to work for change, or too passively accepting of a status which has been quo, unfortunately, throughout human history or, most incredible to me, because some people are actually in favor of armed conflict as a way to resolve disputes. Too often, we don't really even look for another way. Try this one out: the US has been at war for 13 of the 22 years since the end of the "Cold War," while we are the only Superpower on the planet. WTF???!!!
So this week I'm playing songs to make me, at least, think about the young men and women (and civilian infants and children), like Jake's friend and all who have been in that position, and all who will be, who are so dramatically and perhaps permanently scarred by our warrior natures. Not to put them on a pedestal or to call them Heroes, because, as Buffy Sainte-Marie points out in "Universal Soldier" (I'm playing Donovan's cover), they are also part of the problem by buying into the "for God and country" propaganda too, and going off to do others' bidding. But I'd like at least to acknowledge the toll it ultimately takes on them and their families. John Donne said the bell tolls for us all, but I don't think we can even hear it ringing anymore.
The playlist for this week contains, as I said above, "Universal Soldier," as well as such chestnuts as "It's Alright, Ma...," "Sam Stone" and "Flag Decal" by John Prine, Lucinda Williams's "Sweet Old World," and lots of "soldier" songs as well. In addition, to mark the passing of one of soul/jazz/r&b's greats, Etta James, there'll be 3 songs of hers. I hope you can make it. For new viewers or tuners-in my show is on WOOL FM, at 100.1 on the dial (very) locally, or on the webs at wool.fm, from noon til two (Eastern) every Tuesday.
So I started this blog business last week and seem to have lots of hits, but only 4 full-fledged "followers:" if you become one of them, you'll (theoretically, at least--there are still evidently bugs to be worked out) be notified each time I post something. I'll hope lots of you will join, and that some of you will be moved to respond from time to time to some of the stuff I put out there. It's unlikely that there'll be lots of entries, as I don't suffer from graphophilia (graphstipation is more like it), but I hope you'll check in at least occasionally. And yes, at least one of those "graphs" is a real word.
Yr. Frnd,
Mark
We have been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan now for 10 years, the longest war(s) in our history. More than 2.3 million soldiers have served in those 2 conflicts; over 6,000 have died, more than 47,000 bear physical wounds, and the VA has treated more than 210,000 for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). There was a front page story in the Times on Friday last about the incidence of suicide (and sexual assaults, which are up 30%) in the active military, and an article in The Week (from which the above numbers were taken); suicides in the Army have risen from 115 in 2007 to 164 in 2011. What have we gained from all of this loss?
The war touches most of us almost not at all. Without a draft, there is only voluntary pain; we are content to let young people throw themselves into the breach for a variety of reasons, noble or misguided, prosaic or last resort, while we fret about which loudmouthed, flag-lapelled rich guy will be most likely to "take our country in the Right direction" and let us not have to think about the cost of our decisions. The economic cost is pretty readily apparent and, as I've noted above, the media are trying to call our attention to the physical and psychological costs, but as a society we are still apparently willing to allow events to unfold as the people in power orchestrate them, because we're too lazy to work for change, or too passively accepting of a status which has been quo, unfortunately, throughout human history or, most incredible to me, because some people are actually in favor of armed conflict as a way to resolve disputes. Too often, we don't really even look for another way. Try this one out: the US has been at war for 13 of the 22 years since the end of the "Cold War," while we are the only Superpower on the planet. WTF???!!!
So this week I'm playing songs to make me, at least, think about the young men and women (and civilian infants and children), like Jake's friend and all who have been in that position, and all who will be, who are so dramatically and perhaps permanently scarred by our warrior natures. Not to put them on a pedestal or to call them Heroes, because, as Buffy Sainte-Marie points out in "Universal Soldier" (I'm playing Donovan's cover), they are also part of the problem by buying into the "for God and country" propaganda too, and going off to do others' bidding. But I'd like at least to acknowledge the toll it ultimately takes on them and their families. John Donne said the bell tolls for us all, but I don't think we can even hear it ringing anymore.
The playlist for this week contains, as I said above, "Universal Soldier," as well as such chestnuts as "It's Alright, Ma...," "Sam Stone" and "Flag Decal" by John Prine, Lucinda Williams's "Sweet Old World," and lots of "soldier" songs as well. In addition, to mark the passing of one of soul/jazz/r&b's greats, Etta James, there'll be 3 songs of hers. I hope you can make it. For new viewers or tuners-in my show is on WOOL FM, at 100.1 on the dial (very) locally, or on the webs at wool.fm, from noon til two (Eastern) every Tuesday.
So I started this blog business last week and seem to have lots of hits, but only 4 full-fledged "followers:" if you become one of them, you'll (theoretically, at least--there are still evidently bugs to be worked out) be notified each time I post something. I'll hope lots of you will join, and that some of you will be moved to respond from time to time to some of the stuff I put out there. It's unlikely that there'll be lots of entries, as I don't suffer from graphophilia (graphstipation is more like it), but I hope you'll check in at least occasionally. And yes, at least one of those "graphs" is a real word.
Yr. Frnd,
Mark
You Are Here
YOU ARE HERE
If my heart
were a pie
chart, you--
confounding all the green eyeshades up in Budget--
, not Health,
not Infrastructure,
and (especially) not Defense--
would be by far the largest
part.
---- coming home from Ossinning, 1/20/12
Monday, January 16, 2012
Like the mystics and statistics say it will....
Deep breath; exhale. Okay, I'm ready for MY FIRST OFFICIAL BLOG POST. I'm at least slightly embarrassed to be doing this (see Intro), but what the hell. It's primarily a space to promote WOOL FM (wool.fm) and my show there, and I've been writing to a group of about 20 to promote that for 3 months or so, so this is really just a different way to do that. Besides, I don't have any work right now, so this might keep me out of the bars.
For the uninitiated, WOOL is a low-power community FM station located in Bellows Falls, VT. It is staffed and run virtually entirely by volunteers who actually pay for the privilege of (occasionally) screwing up on air, in front of ones of listeners. I've been doing the show for about 3 1/2 years, after "chaperoning" my daughter Mariah's show ("Random Fandom", Wednesdays from 5-6 pm). I've been a music addict ("Hi, I'm Mark....") my whole life, although, due to rampant lack of ambition and sticktoitiveness, I've never learned to play a note on any instrument.
My show generally has a theme, which is sometimes limiting, since often it leads to being much less eclectic than I'd like, and that my original show title (a play on Walt Whitman--"I Don't Sing: The Broadly Eclectic" [which last my daughter says is redundant; I think I disagree. There'll be lots of digressions and asides and stuff like that if I keep writing these things]) promises. Did you have to go back to reread that sentence to remember what the hell "promises" refers to? I thought so. But with a personal library of 50,000 songs or so ("Hi, I'm Mark...."), I need some sort of organizing principle. I also try to be as topical as possible, which often leads me to rant about something socio-political with which I disagree with ( cf "Live and Let Die").
This week, though, anti-climactically, given that this is My Opening Farewell and in the face of the Repugnicant Party imploding and ignoring the one (arguably) astute thing Saint Ronald of Reagan ever said, his self-proclaimed 11th Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Any Fellow Republican"-- hardly the only Commandment that gang has broken), and also, stunningly, calling out Romney for taking the unregulated Free-Market Capitalism they all claim to revere to its logical well-played apogee (Is Newt a closet Marxist?), I'm being resolutely uncontroversial ("Do I contradict myself? Well, then, I contradict myself...." There's that damn Whitman again) and, in honor of Mariah's visit to California, playing "California"-titled songs, from Johns (both Phillips and Mayall), Joni, Lesley Gore and Led Zeppelin (there's a pair, huh?), The Gipsy Kings (now you know which version of that song), among others, and 2 suites, one by The Beach Boys, one by Jesse Colin Young. My show is Tuesdays, from Noon til Two, on 100.1 FM and at wool.fm. Hope you can make it!
Peace Out.
For the uninitiated, WOOL is a low-power community FM station located in Bellows Falls, VT. It is staffed and run virtually entirely by volunteers who actually pay for the privilege of (occasionally) screwing up on air, in front of ones of listeners. I've been doing the show for about 3 1/2 years, after "chaperoning" my daughter Mariah's show ("Random Fandom", Wednesdays from 5-6 pm). I've been a music addict ("Hi, I'm Mark....") my whole life, although, due to rampant lack of ambition and sticktoitiveness, I've never learned to play a note on any instrument.
My show generally has a theme, which is sometimes limiting, since often it leads to being much less eclectic than I'd like, and that my original show title (a play on Walt Whitman--"I Don't Sing: The Broadly Eclectic" [which last my daughter says is redundant; I think I disagree. There'll be lots of digressions and asides and stuff like that if I keep writing these things]) promises. Did you have to go back to reread that sentence to remember what the hell "promises" refers to? I thought so. But with a personal library of 50,000 songs or so ("Hi, I'm Mark...."), I need some sort of organizing principle. I also try to be as topical as possible, which often leads me to rant about something socio-political with which I disagree with ( cf "Live and Let Die").
This week, though, anti-climactically, given that this is My Opening Farewell and in the face of the Repugnicant Party imploding and ignoring the one (arguably) astute thing Saint Ronald of Reagan ever said, his self-proclaimed 11th Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Any Fellow Republican"-- hardly the only Commandment that gang has broken), and also, stunningly, calling out Romney for taking the unregulated Free-Market Capitalism they all claim to revere to its logical well-played apogee (Is Newt a closet Marxist?), I'm being resolutely uncontroversial ("Do I contradict myself? Well, then, I contradict myself...." There's that damn Whitman again) and, in honor of Mariah's visit to California, playing "California"-titled songs, from Johns (both Phillips and Mayall), Joni, Lesley Gore and Led Zeppelin (there's a pair, huh?), The Gipsy Kings (now you know which version of that song), among others, and 2 suites, one by The Beach Boys, one by Jesse Colin Young. My show is Tuesdays, from Noon til Two, on 100.1 FM and at wool.fm. Hope you can make it!
Peace Out.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Coming Soon!
I will be writing a weekly blog at this location in place of my weekly email. Those of you on the current mailing list will still receive a reminder for the broadcast, and a link to the new blog. Here, you will be able to comment on my posts, leave me your thoughts and opinions, and even talk about music for the show.
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