Rant. Diatribe. Polemic. Screed. Broadside. Those are among the nicer appellations given my innocent little posts, my darlings whom I seem unable to kill. I know that I basically play the one note, so occasionally I attempt to change things up a little. This is one of those times: just a little fluff, although it, too, will likely have an edge.
In the last week I've spent a month or so driving through much of New York State, a little of Pennsylvania, and into Ohio as far as Cleveland. On the trip from Rochester to Ossining, on NY Rte. 17, which is actually a nice trip except for the condition of the highway itself, one, especially one with time on his mind, can't help but notice and reflect on place names.
It's always a little surprising to be confronted by the homesickness/dearth of imagination inherent/implicit in the names of places. Pretty much every state, as "The Simpsons" used to its advantage, has a Springfield. NY, of course, has Syracuse, Ithaca, Damascus, Rome, Poland, Greece, and on and on: I Heart Stealing Names. Two names jumped out at me on Rte. 17, though: Fishs Eddy and Deposit.
The former is, as far as I can see, virtually unpronounceable. I'm sure it's said as though it were spelled or punctuated correctly, like "fishes." But in order to be said that way, it needs that "e," as in "loaves and...," or "he sleeps with the...." Of course it could also be made properly possessive, either singularly or plurally, as "Fish's" or "Fishes.'" I have capitalized that, as I went to high school with and sat in front of for four years in homeroom a girl named Cheryl Fish. But that's not how the sign read; it was simply "Fishs," which would have to sound like "fishsss," a word which I do not believe exists, except perhaps for Gollum.. Let's say you're a resident of that town; you grow up pronouncing it in a proper way, and shrug your shoulders at the anomaly of the spelling, if you're even aware of it. But if you're the State of New York, don't you want the highway sign to read in a correct and literate manner? Don't you? Buy a vowel, or an apostrophe, please.
"Deposit," while seemingly terribly prosaic and unimaginative can at least, perhaps, be explained as the locale of some sort of mineral find: a vein of ore or (yes, I did), as the town is located in a river valley, the site of an enormous amount of gravel. But one (me) is led to think of possibilities for surrounding communities: "Return," for instance, which could also appear on signs as you exit the town: "Leaving Deposit. Please return." There's also "Withdrawal," (whose population seems to be decreasing, for some reason) or the northern sections of both "Deposit" and "Return," which of course would be abbreviated as "No. Deposit" and "No. Return." And, as the town is on a river, you'd dock your boat in a "Deposit slip," or perhaps that's the name of the town's largest employer, a textile mill which makes ladies' undergarments.... I'll stop now. It's just harmless fun, and it's been a heavy week.
Lots of "Name" songs this week, then, such as
The Naming Of Things Andrew Bird
Naming Of Parts Henry Reed
Before I Knew Your Name Mark Erelli
Do You Remember The Name Walter Becker
Call Me Names Joan Armatrading
Give Me Back My Name Talking Heads
I Got A Name Jim Croce
I Call Your Name The Mamas & The Papas
I Took Your Name R.E.M.
Man Gave Names To All The Animals Dylan
Man Named Truth Monsters Of Folk
My Name Is Buddy Ry Cooder
My Name Is Jonas Weezer
What's Your Name Lynyrd Skynyrd
Where The Streets Have No Name U2
I've Been Everywhere Jackie Leven
Name Everything Steve Tibbetts
Name Of Love CSNY
Nameless Song Sweet Motha' Child
No Face, No Name, No Number Traffic
No Name Girl John Prine
No One Knows My Name Gillian Welch
Nobody Knows My Name Rickie Lee Jones
Not In Our Name Charlie Haden
River Knows Your Name John Hiatt
Strange Names Steve Forbert
The Street Only Knew Your Name Van Morrison
You Don't Know My Name The Kinks
You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) Fabs
I've Been Everywhere Johnny Cash
Tuesday, noon till two on WOOL 91.5, wool.fm.
Wherefore art thou, Fishs Eddy?
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Is Humanity Really That Alien?
Occasionally my favorite sports columnists--Dan Shaughnessy and Bob Ryan--will fill column inches with tidbits: "cleaning out the desk drawer of the mind," or some such thing, little 2 or 3 line bits which never get developed into full-fledged columns (my father pronounced that word "colyooms"), but are interesting nonetheless. I've got 3 such things today. Maybe more like a novella, a short story, and an anecdote.
I found a piece on the Op-Ed page of last Sunday's Boston Globe entitled "Remove space aliens from Earth's party list." Written by Stephen Kinzer, the column is concerned with the fact that a group of scientists in California has announced plans to "advertise Earth's existence to space aliens, and invite them to visit." For decades, of course, radio astronomers have, through a program called SETI, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, been listening to the heavens in hopes of hearing some sort of transmission that seems made by another intelligence. Now some want to be pro(radio)active and start a program they're calling METI, Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence. That's all pretty interesting stuff, but what really struck me is the reaction to such a proposal. Kinzer, along with many scientists, feels METI is a terrible idea, which "should terrify anyone familiar with the history of imperialism and conquest." WHAT???!!?
First, let's acknowledge that it's a statistical given that we are not the only planet in the universe which contains life. The odds are totally against us being the only ones. For years, Sci-Fi writers and filmmakers have wrestled with trying to describe or depict alien life forms. Even fantastical imaginations have trouble conceiving something wholly unknown, so most creatures in Sci-Fi have at least some vaguely humanoid traits, or traits and characteristics of other flora and fauna with which we have some familiarity. Woody Allen, in his comic masterpiece Sleeper posited that an alien might have "the body of a crab and the head of a social worker."
Obviously, though, it's not just picturing aliens physically that throws us. We apparently cannot conceive of beings whose behavior would in any way not reflect our worst traits. Bertrand Russell once said that "For aught we know, other parts of the cosmos may contain beings as superior to ourselves as we are to jelly-fish." And, apparently, even to some of our greatest minds, superiority inevitably leads to violence, rapaciousness, conquest: We behave that way, the thinking goes, so how can we expect that any other life form, especially one superior to us, would behave differently. Well, the word "superior" itself would make me think it possible, but I'm no Stephen Hawking, who has said "'If aliens visit us the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans.'" But then Hawking left his first wife, who saw him through the early stages of his disease and pre-fame, for his nurse, so his knowledge of appropriate human behavior is a bit suspect.
So, really, any and all beings existing anywhere in the cosmos would share our most brutal and violent tendencies? But what if, let's just say, what if aliens have already been here, maybe are still here? There is some speculative evidence for that, after all. What if their names are Teresa, Mohandas, Martin, Jesus, Rosa, Squanto, Sacajawea (note: not a white guy among 'em.)? What if they were and are here to show us the way of "superior" beings, to model a real humanity, however alien? What if we are the beasts, and the beasts are the beauties? What does that thought do to the ground beneath you, wheelchair boy? Math is one thing; humanity and interpersonal relationships another. How do you quantify love?
Part Deux: As I write this, at 5:15 pm, EDT on 22 March, 2015 (as the cool Europeans would write it), there have been 20,240 visits to this website, over 118 posts. I know, some people get that many hits per second per second, but I think that's still pretty cool. Of that number, I believe that at least 200 have read more than one sentence; also there have been about 25 responses, which seems like an appropriate number percentage-wise and given the quality of the source, and for which I am very gratified. I have monetized the blog to the tune of $50, which I received as a royalty for being included in a composition handbook, 50 Genres and How to Write Them, written by esteemed composition professor and author Dr. Brock Dethier. But I couldn't have done it without all the little people out there, so I'd like to thank Peter Dinklage, Dolly Parton (stature, folks, not projection), Danny DeVito, Eddie Gaedel (for you oldtimers), Edith Piaf and Charlie Manson, and how's that for a pair--La Vie en Die, Piggies, Die!.
We recently reached a new cultural touchstone, or touch-something: in The New Yorker issue of Feb. 23 & Mar. 2, 2015, Anthony Lane, one of their wonderful and witty film critics, used the term "butt plug." It was in his review of "Fifty Shades of Grey,", and it wasn't part of a quote; the entire sentence read "Pass the butt plug." Kate, I leave it to you to explain it to Craig. So the Rubicon has been crossed, again and in a holely 'nother direction. Eustace Tilley's spinnin', and his top hat's afire.
For a playlist this week, I'll stick with the novella, mostly:
Alien Chris Whitley
Alien (Hold On To Your Dream) Gil Scott-Heron
Alien Invasion David Lindley
The Alien Lounge Steve Tibbetts
The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen) Milla
Aliens Gully Boys
Loving The Alien David Bowie
The Alien Changes The Stick George Duke
UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto Ry Cooder
UFO Tofu Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Third Stone From The Sun Jimi Hendrix
Rocket Man Elton John
Here Come The Martian Martians Jonathan Richman
Life On Mars? David Bowie
I'm The Urban Spaceman Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Mr. Spaceman The Byrds
Spaceman Harry Nilsson
Outa-Space Billy Preston
Lost In Space Neil Young
Space Captain Joe Cocker
Space Cowboy Ben Sidran
When Numbers Get Serious Paul Simon
Dirty Butt Blues Sweets Edison and Lockjaw Davis
See you Tuesday, noon till two on WOOL-FM, 91.5, and/or wool.fm, streaming live worldwide.
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast...."
I found a piece on the Op-Ed page of last Sunday's Boston Globe entitled "Remove space aliens from Earth's party list." Written by Stephen Kinzer, the column is concerned with the fact that a group of scientists in California has announced plans to "advertise Earth's existence to space aliens, and invite them to visit." For decades, of course, radio astronomers have, through a program called SETI, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, been listening to the heavens in hopes of hearing some sort of transmission that seems made by another intelligence. Now some want to be pro(radio)active and start a program they're calling METI, Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence. That's all pretty interesting stuff, but what really struck me is the reaction to such a proposal. Kinzer, along with many scientists, feels METI is a terrible idea, which "should terrify anyone familiar with the history of imperialism and conquest." WHAT???!!?
First, let's acknowledge that it's a statistical given that we are not the only planet in the universe which contains life. The odds are totally against us being the only ones. For years, Sci-Fi writers and filmmakers have wrestled with trying to describe or depict alien life forms. Even fantastical imaginations have trouble conceiving something wholly unknown, so most creatures in Sci-Fi have at least some vaguely humanoid traits, or traits and characteristics of other flora and fauna with which we have some familiarity. Woody Allen, in his comic masterpiece Sleeper posited that an alien might have "the body of a crab and the head of a social worker."
Obviously, though, it's not just picturing aliens physically that throws us. We apparently cannot conceive of beings whose behavior would in any way not reflect our worst traits. Bertrand Russell once said that "For aught we know, other parts of the cosmos may contain beings as superior to ourselves as we are to jelly-fish." And, apparently, even to some of our greatest minds, superiority inevitably leads to violence, rapaciousness, conquest: We behave that way, the thinking goes, so how can we expect that any other life form, especially one superior to us, would behave differently. Well, the word "superior" itself would make me think it possible, but I'm no Stephen Hawking, who has said "'If aliens visit us the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans.'" But then Hawking left his first wife, who saw him through the early stages of his disease and pre-fame, for his nurse, so his knowledge of appropriate human behavior is a bit suspect.
So, really, any and all beings existing anywhere in the cosmos would share our most brutal and violent tendencies? But what if, let's just say, what if aliens have already been here, maybe are still here? There is some speculative evidence for that, after all. What if their names are Teresa, Mohandas, Martin, Jesus, Rosa, Squanto, Sacajawea (note: not a white guy among 'em.)? What if they were and are here to show us the way of "superior" beings, to model a real humanity, however alien? What if we are the beasts, and the beasts are the beauties? What does that thought do to the ground beneath you, wheelchair boy? Math is one thing; humanity and interpersonal relationships another. How do you quantify love?
Part Deux: As I write this, at 5:15 pm, EDT on 22 March, 2015 (as the cool Europeans would write it), there have been 20,240 visits to this website, over 118 posts. I know, some people get that many hits per second per second, but I think that's still pretty cool. Of that number, I believe that at least 200 have read more than one sentence; also there have been about 25 responses, which seems like an appropriate number percentage-wise and given the quality of the source, and for which I am very gratified. I have monetized the blog to the tune of $50, which I received as a royalty for being included in a composition handbook, 50 Genres and How to Write Them, written by esteemed composition professor and author Dr. Brock Dethier. But I couldn't have done it without all the little people out there, so I'd like to thank Peter Dinklage, Dolly Parton (stature, folks, not projection), Danny DeVito, Eddie Gaedel (for you oldtimers), Edith Piaf and Charlie Manson, and how's that for a pair--La Vie en Die, Piggies, Die!.
We recently reached a new cultural touchstone, or touch-something: in The New Yorker issue of Feb. 23 & Mar. 2, 2015, Anthony Lane, one of their wonderful and witty film critics, used the term "butt plug." It was in his review of "Fifty Shades of Grey,", and it wasn't part of a quote; the entire sentence read "Pass the butt plug." Kate, I leave it to you to explain it to Craig. So the Rubicon has been crossed, again and in a holely 'nother direction. Eustace Tilley's spinnin', and his top hat's afire.
For a playlist this week, I'll stick with the novella, mostly:
Alien Chris Whitley
Alien (Hold On To Your Dream) Gil Scott-Heron
Alien Invasion David Lindley
The Alien Lounge Steve Tibbetts
The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen) Milla
Aliens Gully Boys
Loving The Alien David Bowie
The Alien Changes The Stick George Duke
UFO Has Landed In The Ghetto Ry Cooder
UFO Tofu Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Third Stone From The Sun Jimi Hendrix
Rocket Man Elton John
Here Come The Martian Martians Jonathan Richman
Life On Mars? David Bowie
I'm The Urban Spaceman Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Mr. Spaceman The Byrds
Spaceman Harry Nilsson
Outa-Space Billy Preston
Lost In Space Neil Young
Space Captain Joe Cocker
Space Cowboy Ben Sidran
When Numbers Get Serious Paul Simon
Dirty Butt Blues Sweets Edison and Lockjaw Davis
See you Tuesday, noon till two on WOOL-FM, 91.5, and/or wool.fm, streaming live worldwide.
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast...."
Sunday, March 15, 2015
It Can't Happen Here--Or Is It?
In 1935, as Fascism was on the rise in Europe, Sinclair Lewis wrote a novel, set primarily in Vermont, in fact, called It Can't Happen Here. In it, Lewis lays out in quite plausible detail how Fascism, totalitarianism, could fairly easily come to the US. I'm not going to go into great detail regarding the plot because you should really read the book, but I hope you'll at least go to Wikipedia for a synopsis. Even the brief overview oughta make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, particularly this: a fictional ... populist US Senator...is elected to the Presidency after promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election (he) takes total control of the government and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force...."
Paranoia, a wise man once said, strikes deep. "Even paranoids," said poet Delmore Schwartz, "have real enemies." What I'm about to say fits into both of those views: it would be fairly easy, I think, to construct a narrative from the last 30-35 years of American history, which would show that such a process, a (relatively) bloodless coup, is exactly what we've been living through without realizing it.
Ronald Reagan, in the early stages of his dementia, began the process of packing the Supreme Court, after campaigning on the promise that he'd only nominate those opposed to abortion and so-called judicial activism. Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice, and gave us Antonin Scalia, probably the strongest weapon Conservatives have on the court, Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a "swing vote," but one who usually comes down on the Conservative side, and Sandra Day O'Connor.
Bush I gave us "Silent Clarence" Thomas, who once went more than 7 years without asking a question during oral arguments before the Court. What the hell was he doing all that time? Thomas's main function seems to be to serve as Scalia's acolyte and sycophant. From Bush II, to round out the packed lineup, we got new Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both solidly counted on to kowtow to Conservative wishes.
The five Justices appointed by Reagan and Bush I were the five votes who gave the 2000 presidential election to Bush II in a revolution without a shot being fired, despite his having lost by more than half a million votes in the popular balloting. Talk about "activist judges!" We all know what tragedies and horrors befell us under Bush II's "leadership," from his Administration's ignoring warnings about Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, thus making the 9/11 attacks possible, to his lying the country's way into the Iraqi war, to his hideous economic policies and deregulation, which culminated in the Great Recession.
Since then that Court has given us Citizens United, the worst decision in the history of decisions, declaring that "corporations are people," and thus making it easier for shadowy figures to buy or steal elections, and removing more power from the hands of real citizens. Now they're gearing up to try to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, again acting in favor of corporations and at the expense(literally, given the cost of non-subsidized premiums) of the populace at large.
Congress, meanwhile, has had its own role in the silent coup, threatening repeatedly to shut down the government if they don't get their way on economic or social policies. More egregious, perhaps, was John Boehner's recent invitation to Bebe Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress, totally giving the President the finger. Most egregious was the recent open letter to the government of Iran, signed by 47 Republican Senators, including NH's Kelly Ayotte, which in essence was an open attempt to hijack power and usurp the President's standing and authority. Both of these attempts have, thankfully, blown up in Republicans' faces, but the fact that they seemed to be acceptable options speaks volumes to Republicans' notion of and disdain for government and how our constitutional process was designed, and how it used to work. It was predicated on a "loyal opposition," but it's apparent that that loyalty has changed, that it's no longer even grudgingly directed to the government, but to a small group of people's petty policies and megalomaniacal mission.
It's a common axiom that the first thing that dictators want to do is to disarm the citizenry, removing any possibility of a popular armed revolt against their authority. But what if someone were clever enough to see that the opposite approach could be more fruitful? In the last 35 years or so, the NRA has morphed from a fairly sensible organization dedicated to hunter safety and the actual preservation of open public land to hunt on into a rabid, zealous extremist group. Over the objections of police and other law-enforcement agencies, groups you'd think would be the NRA's natural allies, but with the fervent and vociferous support of Conservative Republicans (Department of Redundancy Department, or what?) they've pushed through legislation to continually up the ante on armaments, from armor-piercing ammunition to assault weapons to RPGs to personal tactical nuclear weapons. Okay, maybe not the last, but don't bet against 'em. As we are all too well aware, the American citizenry is armed to the teeth and beyond, and most of 'em put their "X" in the Republican column--the one on the Right--on Voting Day. Gun totin' Lefties like me are pretty rare, I daresay, and pitifully outgunned if there were to be some sort of internecine disagreement. At any rate, there's a powerful, well-armed paramilitary presence in place, ready to enforce any policies their increasingly conservative puppeteers implement.
Wicked far fetched, you say? I've finally and categorically gone 'round the bend? Probably correct, on both counts. But read the book, or the Cliff's Notes version, and look around. Maybe we've been asleep and need to wake up. Maybe, while we've been going about our business and assuming all is proceeding as it always has, within the rules and parameters we've been governed by for 239 years, something else is happening here.
This week's playlist:
Leroy And Bo's Totalitarian Showdown Mark Germino And The Sluggers
All You Fascists Billy Bragg
Fascist Architecture Bruce Cockburn
Children Of The Revolution Violent Femmes
Revolution Bob Marley & The Wailers
Revolution Eric Clapton
Revolution The Pretenders
Revolution's Over Phish
Revolution (Parts 1& 2) Nina Simone
Revolution 1 The Fabs
Revolution Of The Mind Garland Jeffreys
Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution Playing For Change
Revolution Blues Neil Young
Are You Sleeping? Harry Nilsson
How Do You Sleep? John Lennon
I'm Only Sleeping Fabs
I Don't Sleep, I Dream R.E.M.
Sleeping The Band
Sleepwalk Amos Garrett
Awakening Lucinda Williams
Wake Up And Live Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Wake-Up Bomb R.E.M.
Wake Me Jesse Winchester
Wake Me When It's Over Willie Nelson
When You Awake The band
Wake Up The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer
When You Gonna Wake Up Dylan
What Are Their Names David Crosby
For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield
It's interesting: these "revolution" songs are from the time when I was young, and we thought we were gonna be the ones revolting. And of course lots of people thought we were revolting. Now it looks like it's the other team that might be doing it. I keep waiting for the Pendulum to swing back, but I'm afraid when it does it'll have a big blade attached....
See ya Tuesday from noon till two on 91.5 FM, wool.fm worldwide.
Paranoia, a wise man once said, strikes deep. "Even paranoids," said poet Delmore Schwartz, "have real enemies." What I'm about to say fits into both of those views: it would be fairly easy, I think, to construct a narrative from the last 30-35 years of American history, which would show that such a process, a (relatively) bloodless coup, is exactly what we've been living through without realizing it.
Ronald Reagan, in the early stages of his dementia, began the process of packing the Supreme Court, after campaigning on the promise that he'd only nominate those opposed to abortion and so-called judicial activism. Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice, and gave us Antonin Scalia, probably the strongest weapon Conservatives have on the court, Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a "swing vote," but one who usually comes down on the Conservative side, and Sandra Day O'Connor.
Bush I gave us "Silent Clarence" Thomas, who once went more than 7 years without asking a question during oral arguments before the Court. What the hell was he doing all that time? Thomas's main function seems to be to serve as Scalia's acolyte and sycophant. From Bush II, to round out the packed lineup, we got new Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both solidly counted on to kowtow to Conservative wishes.
The five Justices appointed by Reagan and Bush I were the five votes who gave the 2000 presidential election to Bush II in a revolution without a shot being fired, despite his having lost by more than half a million votes in the popular balloting. Talk about "activist judges!" We all know what tragedies and horrors befell us under Bush II's "leadership," from his Administration's ignoring warnings about Al-Qaeda and bin Laden, thus making the 9/11 attacks possible, to his lying the country's way into the Iraqi war, to his hideous economic policies and deregulation, which culminated in the Great Recession.
Since then that Court has given us Citizens United, the worst decision in the history of decisions, declaring that "corporations are people," and thus making it easier for shadowy figures to buy or steal elections, and removing more power from the hands of real citizens. Now they're gearing up to try to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, again acting in favor of corporations and at the expense(literally, given the cost of non-subsidized premiums) of the populace at large.
Congress, meanwhile, has had its own role in the silent coup, threatening repeatedly to shut down the government if they don't get their way on economic or social policies. More egregious, perhaps, was John Boehner's recent invitation to Bebe Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress, totally giving the President the finger. Most egregious was the recent open letter to the government of Iran, signed by 47 Republican Senators, including NH's Kelly Ayotte, which in essence was an open attempt to hijack power and usurp the President's standing and authority. Both of these attempts have, thankfully, blown up in Republicans' faces, but the fact that they seemed to be acceptable options speaks volumes to Republicans' notion of and disdain for government and how our constitutional process was designed, and how it used to work. It was predicated on a "loyal opposition," but it's apparent that that loyalty has changed, that it's no longer even grudgingly directed to the government, but to a small group of people's petty policies and megalomaniacal mission.
It's a common axiom that the first thing that dictators want to do is to disarm the citizenry, removing any possibility of a popular armed revolt against their authority. But what if someone were clever enough to see that the opposite approach could be more fruitful? In the last 35 years or so, the NRA has morphed from a fairly sensible organization dedicated to hunter safety and the actual preservation of open public land to hunt on into a rabid, zealous extremist group. Over the objections of police and other law-enforcement agencies, groups you'd think would be the NRA's natural allies, but with the fervent and vociferous support of Conservative Republicans (Department of Redundancy Department, or what?) they've pushed through legislation to continually up the ante on armaments, from armor-piercing ammunition to assault weapons to RPGs to personal tactical nuclear weapons. Okay, maybe not the last, but don't bet against 'em. As we are all too well aware, the American citizenry is armed to the teeth and beyond, and most of 'em put their "X" in the Republican column--the one on the Right--on Voting Day. Gun totin' Lefties like me are pretty rare, I daresay, and pitifully outgunned if there were to be some sort of internecine disagreement. At any rate, there's a powerful, well-armed paramilitary presence in place, ready to enforce any policies their increasingly conservative puppeteers implement.
Wicked far fetched, you say? I've finally and categorically gone 'round the bend? Probably correct, on both counts. But read the book, or the Cliff's Notes version, and look around. Maybe we've been asleep and need to wake up. Maybe, while we've been going about our business and assuming all is proceeding as it always has, within the rules and parameters we've been governed by for 239 years, something else is happening here.
This week's playlist:
Leroy And Bo's Totalitarian Showdown Mark Germino And The Sluggers
All You Fascists Billy Bragg
Fascist Architecture Bruce Cockburn
Children Of The Revolution Violent Femmes
Revolution Bob Marley & The Wailers
Revolution Eric Clapton
Revolution The Pretenders
Revolution's Over Phish
Revolution (Parts 1& 2) Nina Simone
Revolution 1 The Fabs
Revolution Of The Mind Garland Jeffreys
Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution Playing For Change
Revolution Blues Neil Young
Are You Sleeping? Harry Nilsson
How Do You Sleep? John Lennon
I'm Only Sleeping Fabs
I Don't Sleep, I Dream R.E.M.
Sleeping The Band
Sleepwalk Amos Garrett
Awakening Lucinda Williams
Wake Up And Live Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Wake-Up Bomb R.E.M.
Wake Me Jesse Winchester
Wake Me When It's Over Willie Nelson
When You Awake The band
Wake Up The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer
When You Gonna Wake Up Dylan
What Are Their Names David Crosby
For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield
It's interesting: these "revolution" songs are from the time when I was young, and we thought we were gonna be the ones revolting. And of course lots of people thought we were revolting. Now it looks like it's the other team that might be doing it. I keep waiting for the Pendulum to swing back, but I'm afraid when it does it'll have a big blade attached....
See ya Tuesday from noon till two on 91.5 FM, wool.fm worldwide.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Ars Hola(s): Vermonters Weigh In On Diversity
When I was a kid, my cousin Keith was my idol. He was five years older than me, and between the ages of 10 and 16 or so, those five years are an eternity: in my eyes, he was practically an adult, and I was the puppy he generously allowed to tag along at his heels, snuffling up all of the pearls of wisdom and insight he dropped. He taught me lots of swears, taught me about anatomy and sex (to the extent of his own limited knowledge), introduced me to (then) cool music, even had me be Best Man at his wedding when I was just 16, and had to make the toast with ginger ale. In short, he treated me as a beloved kid brother, and I was excessively grateful for that.
Keith and his parents--and maybe his older brother, I can't recall--were pretty proficient archers, and used to travel great distances by car from their home in Springfield, VT. to participate in archery tournaments around the country. This was the late 1950's/early 1960's, mind, and auto travel of great distance was no mean feat. I recall him telling me after one trip to Kansas or Arkansas or somewhere faraway and exotic, how one time they pulled into a gas station for a fill-up (in the days of full service) and the attendant, as the gas pumped, idly glanced at the license plate on the car and said "Vermont! What state's that in?"
The answer is finally in, after all these years: Vermont is in the same state of bigotry, hatred, ignorance, fear, xenophobia and stupidity as every other state in the country, and likely everyplace humans live the world over. This little item appeared in The Week in the Feb. 20 issue:
A proposal to add a Latin phrase to Vermont's state motto caused an uproar when some residents mistook the ancient Roman language for Spanish. A state senator proposed adding "Stella quarta decima fulgeat" ("The 14th star shines bright") to the state seal. But protestors took to the internet to declare, "Vermont ain't no Latino area," and "This is America, not Mexico." And those are among the mildest and least-stupid-sounding comments.
But wait, it gets even better: the suggestion for the motto originated with an 8th grader in the Riverside School in Lyndonville, VT., interested in the history of her state. Seems the motto originally appeared on old coins minted in Vermont, and is a sign of the pride Vermonters felt at being the 14th state in the nation. When the story aired on WCAX TV in Burlington, well, the merda, the mierda, hit the fan. Viewers became incensed (um, Vermonters, that means "wicked pissed") and began to spout off idiotically by the dozens in on-line forums (hmm, where does that word come from?). One person actually wrote, in protest, "When in Rome do as the Romans do." A little learning is a stupid thing.
You shouldn't just take my word for it, though. My source for the quotes is a site called BDCwire/vermont motto. It'll make you laugh, cry, swear, shake your head at where we are today, and/or vomit, if you're like me. And for those of you who won't bother to check it out yourselves, here are a few of the surnames of the Vermont "natives" who want to keep the "foreigners" out: Flanders, Zucker, Lamoureux, Lepisto, Salzano, Gauld, Smolnik, Swierczynski and Prevuznak. Yep, we sure need to keep Vermont pure from all them foreigners. And the thing is, of course, that these people have the right to vote (even they can make an "X", I'll bet), and procreate, which I'll wager they do prolifically (means "a wicked lot"), just the same as regular people whose hairlines and eyebrows don't meet and whose knuckles don't scrape the ground when they walk upright (it can be done, through something called "evoluti"--oh, never mind). Vermont currently has a motto, to which the proposed Latin would be appended; wanna guess what it is? "Freedom And Unity." God, irony is such a rich vein, innit? And it just drips and oozes from virtually every word, every syllable, every letter of this story.
Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire are the three least-diverse, whitest states in the nation, each at least 96% caucasian, according to the 2010 census. Ninety-six percent! I knew we were pretty insular if not inbred, but that still amazes me. I've been picking on Vermont in this piece because the impetus for it originated there, but of course neither ME or NH is any different attitudinally, each containing its share of bigots and yahoos I'm sure at least equal to The People's Republic of Vermont. It's nice to know that bigotry and stupidity are equal-opportunity, and that you don't even have to know someone--or some group--to hate them. In fact that probably makes it easier.
I read the article in The Week while I was in Ossining, NY this past week. Ossining's in Westchester County, but put aside your presumptions: Ossining's very diverse, with a large black and Latino population, and I had been thinking how great it was to be among and interacting with people different from me, people of different races, cultures, and ethnicities. If you're there and you're paying attention, you can't help but realize that any differences between people are superficial and that underneath it all we all want and need the same things: love, primarily, along with respect, dignity and safety and security. We all know the code words that whites trying to raise their diversity IQ use, and Joltin' Joe Biden used pretty much all of them in this infamous quote about then-Candidate (and putative Biden opponent) Obama in 2007: "(He's) the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Yep, nailed it: "articulate" (the biggie), "clean," "bright;" "Look at me, everyone, I'm open-minded as hell, can't you see?"
I include that last in the hopes it'll mitigate what I'm about to say, which could be taken in that same "Why, they're real people, much like you and me" tone. We were in Ossining to deal with my father-in-law's ongoing life-and-death struggle. The doctor on call on Friday, not his regular Dr. and so largely unfamiliar with his particular circumstances, was Dr. Kwon, a young Korean woman, who spoke very strongly accented English. Although she was unfamiliar with Sandy's case, she was clearly familiar with the disease and its progression, and with human nature. Her manner and affect were fantastic; she was calm, compassionate, careful to explain what she could and to draw the line where she could not. Her air of quiet and unruffled competence, evident in spite of our occasional struggles to understand her English, and the constant demands from her beeping pager, were just what we needed to facilitate decisions and help us on to the next steps. It was almost like she was a real doctor, a white guy; how'd she pull that off?
So, the two words before the colon in the title of this piece are just randomly chosen, or not, one from the real Latin, one from Spanish. I don't even know what they mean, maybe, and why should I: they're not English, so they don't really matter. Anyway, this week's playlist of Latin, Mexican, and Spanish-flavored songs:
Os Iusti Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo
Con Sabor Latino Poncho Sanchez
Latin Flute Eumir Deodato
Latin Note St. Germain
Leroy's Latin Lament War
Mexican Home John Prine
Mexican Moon Concrete Blonde
Mexican Cousin Phish
For A Spanish Guitar Gene Clark
Our Spanish Love Song Ginger Baker Trio
Sing Me Spanish Techno The New Pornographers
Spanish Wells William Topley
Spanish Blood Garland Jeffreys
Spanish Bombs The Clash
Spanish Caravan The Doors
Spanish Castle Magic The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Spanish Moon Robert Palmer
Spanish Harlem Leon Russell
Spanish Stroll Mink Deville
Spanish Steps Van Morrison
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue Dylan
Spanish Johnny David Bromberg
Spanish Key Miles Davis
Spanish Suite Stephen Stills
My favorites here, for larger purposes, are "Os Iusti," which translates, with a little extension, as "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom," (cf the online comments about the motto) and "Mexican Cousin" by Phish, who are, of course, from Vermont. Hope you can join me on Tuesday, from noon till two, on WOOL FM, 91.5, or on wool.fm on the webs, streaming live 24/7. You should become a member, and help keep us on the air.
"Freedom And Unity," man.
Keith and his parents--and maybe his older brother, I can't recall--were pretty proficient archers, and used to travel great distances by car from their home in Springfield, VT. to participate in archery tournaments around the country. This was the late 1950's/early 1960's, mind, and auto travel of great distance was no mean feat. I recall him telling me after one trip to Kansas or Arkansas or somewhere faraway and exotic, how one time they pulled into a gas station for a fill-up (in the days of full service) and the attendant, as the gas pumped, idly glanced at the license plate on the car and said "Vermont! What state's that in?"
The answer is finally in, after all these years: Vermont is in the same state of bigotry, hatred, ignorance, fear, xenophobia and stupidity as every other state in the country, and likely everyplace humans live the world over. This little item appeared in The Week in the Feb. 20 issue:
A proposal to add a Latin phrase to Vermont's state motto caused an uproar when some residents mistook the ancient Roman language for Spanish. A state senator proposed adding "Stella quarta decima fulgeat" ("The 14th star shines bright") to the state seal. But protestors took to the internet to declare, "Vermont ain't no Latino area," and "This is America, not Mexico." And those are among the mildest and least-stupid-sounding comments.
But wait, it gets even better: the suggestion for the motto originated with an 8th grader in the Riverside School in Lyndonville, VT., interested in the history of her state. Seems the motto originally appeared on old coins minted in Vermont, and is a sign of the pride Vermonters felt at being the 14th state in the nation. When the story aired on WCAX TV in Burlington, well, the merda, the mierda, hit the fan. Viewers became incensed (um, Vermonters, that means "wicked pissed") and began to spout off idiotically by the dozens in on-line forums (hmm, where does that word come from?). One person actually wrote, in protest, "When in Rome do as the Romans do." A little learning is a stupid thing.
You shouldn't just take my word for it, though. My source for the quotes is a site called BDCwire/vermont motto. It'll make you laugh, cry, swear, shake your head at where we are today, and/or vomit, if you're like me. And for those of you who won't bother to check it out yourselves, here are a few of the surnames of the Vermont "natives" who want to keep the "foreigners" out: Flanders, Zucker, Lamoureux, Lepisto, Salzano, Gauld, Smolnik, Swierczynski and Prevuznak. Yep, we sure need to keep Vermont pure from all them foreigners. And the thing is, of course, that these people have the right to vote (even they can make an "X", I'll bet), and procreate, which I'll wager they do prolifically (means "a wicked lot"), just the same as regular people whose hairlines and eyebrows don't meet and whose knuckles don't scrape the ground when they walk upright (it can be done, through something called "evoluti"--oh, never mind). Vermont currently has a motto, to which the proposed Latin would be appended; wanna guess what it is? "Freedom And Unity." God, irony is such a rich vein, innit? And it just drips and oozes from virtually every word, every syllable, every letter of this story.
Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire are the three least-diverse, whitest states in the nation, each at least 96% caucasian, according to the 2010 census. Ninety-six percent! I knew we were pretty insular if not inbred, but that still amazes me. I've been picking on Vermont in this piece because the impetus for it originated there, but of course neither ME or NH is any different attitudinally, each containing its share of bigots and yahoos I'm sure at least equal to The People's Republic of Vermont. It's nice to know that bigotry and stupidity are equal-opportunity, and that you don't even have to know someone--or some group--to hate them. In fact that probably makes it easier.
I read the article in The Week while I was in Ossining, NY this past week. Ossining's in Westchester County, but put aside your presumptions: Ossining's very diverse, with a large black and Latino population, and I had been thinking how great it was to be among and interacting with people different from me, people of different races, cultures, and ethnicities. If you're there and you're paying attention, you can't help but realize that any differences between people are superficial and that underneath it all we all want and need the same things: love, primarily, along with respect, dignity and safety and security. We all know the code words that whites trying to raise their diversity IQ use, and Joltin' Joe Biden used pretty much all of them in this infamous quote about then-Candidate (and putative Biden opponent) Obama in 2007: "(He's) the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Yep, nailed it: "articulate" (the biggie), "clean," "bright;" "Look at me, everyone, I'm open-minded as hell, can't you see?"
I include that last in the hopes it'll mitigate what I'm about to say, which could be taken in that same "Why, they're real people, much like you and me" tone. We were in Ossining to deal with my father-in-law's ongoing life-and-death struggle. The doctor on call on Friday, not his regular Dr. and so largely unfamiliar with his particular circumstances, was Dr. Kwon, a young Korean woman, who spoke very strongly accented English. Although she was unfamiliar with Sandy's case, she was clearly familiar with the disease and its progression, and with human nature. Her manner and affect were fantastic; she was calm, compassionate, careful to explain what she could and to draw the line where she could not. Her air of quiet and unruffled competence, evident in spite of our occasional struggles to understand her English, and the constant demands from her beeping pager, were just what we needed to facilitate decisions and help us on to the next steps. It was almost like she was a real doctor, a white guy; how'd she pull that off?
So, the two words before the colon in the title of this piece are just randomly chosen, or not, one from the real Latin, one from Spanish. I don't even know what they mean, maybe, and why should I: they're not English, so they don't really matter. Anyway, this week's playlist of Latin, Mexican, and Spanish-flavored songs:
Os Iusti Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo
Con Sabor Latino Poncho Sanchez
Latin Flute Eumir Deodato
Latin Note St. Germain
Leroy's Latin Lament War
Mexican Home John Prine
Mexican Moon Concrete Blonde
Mexican Cousin Phish
For A Spanish Guitar Gene Clark
Our Spanish Love Song Ginger Baker Trio
Sing Me Spanish Techno The New Pornographers
Spanish Wells William Topley
Spanish Blood Garland Jeffreys
Spanish Bombs The Clash
Spanish Caravan The Doors
Spanish Castle Magic The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Spanish Moon Robert Palmer
Spanish Harlem Leon Russell
Spanish Stroll Mink Deville
Spanish Steps Van Morrison
Spanish Is The Loving Tongue Dylan
Spanish Johnny David Bromberg
Spanish Key Miles Davis
Spanish Suite Stephen Stills
My favorites here, for larger purposes, are "Os Iusti," which translates, with a little extension, as "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom," (cf the online comments about the motto) and "Mexican Cousin" by Phish, who are, of course, from Vermont. Hope you can join me on Tuesday, from noon till two, on WOOL FM, 91.5, or on wool.fm on the webs, streaming live 24/7. You should become a member, and help keep us on the air.
"Freedom And Unity," man.
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