Tourette De Force

Shit. So some fuckin' cunt is getting all pissy because some cocksucker swears like a motherfucker?

That really gets on my tits.

Completism

Typically, when I get into something in the way of music, I tend to want to hear every note of every recording ever done by said artist.

My latest completist jag - the music of Jorge Ben Jor. Most of what he's done is rare, out of print, and foreign to boot.

The penultimate was The Kinks. Gee, they only had, what... a couple dozen studio albums?

Oh, not to mention Guided By Voices and assorted side projects of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, and the Tobias Brothers (Keene Brothers, Lifeguards, Go Back Snowball, Airport 5, Cobra Verde, Doug Gillard, Acid Ranch, Hazzard Hotrods, etc. etc. etc.). Only about a metric ton of stuff there.

Why don't I ever do this the easy way?

Good Habits Are Hard To Start

Get me on a bad habit any day.

Awright. One Reporter's Opinion, part trois or so.

Hey... didja know that Al Gore has a big house? And that this house uses electricity? And that this is news?

Sheesh.

So, let me get this straight.

When Democrats are wealthy, they're not supposed to talk about poverty if they live in a big house. When Democrats live in a big house, they're apparently not supposed to use public utilities to heat it or to provide light.

However, when you're a Republican, you can talk about restoring honor and dignity to the White House even if you allow male escorts in the press pool, you appoint people to rig federal procurements, you destroy the careers of US covert assets, you pay journalists to pimp your policy agenda, or you waste billions of borrowed dollars and thousands of lives on a lie.

This is simply the pearl-clutching Republican version of class warfare. Any person who lives in a mansion who doesn't vote Republican is a "wealth traitor" and these blibbering bumblers of the punditocracy can't help but tut-tut and tsk-tsk and scream "hypocrisy."

(Which is ironic in and of itself, since hypocrisy is oxygen in the GOP political biosphere.)

Continuing the pay-it-forward meme scheme developed by Leonard Pierce, here's my capsule interview with Hayden Childs...

1. What's your favorite show you've seen at the Ryman?

Oooh, you are already establishing yourself as a tough interviewer. I would have to say the 2004 show featuring Elvis Costello and the Imposters, where they were touring behind their release of The Delivery Man. Costello really showed up for that show, which he so often does when he's in Nashville. One of the most memorable moments was when he sang "A Good Year for the Roses" without any amplification. I was sitting in the rear of the balcony and heard every note.

Runners up would include Wilco in 2003, Steve Earle & the Original Dukes 25th Anniversary of Guitar Town reunion/concert, Merle Haggard in 2002, and the Johnny Cash public memorial.

(There's a quick top five instead of one. I love many of the shows there for many reasons.)

2. What was the point of telephone deregulation with the benefit of hindsight? Does it have a future?

Well, the point of it was to provide universal, cheap access to communications and information services. At least, that was the public face of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. There were some positives there, including the establishment of the Universal Service Fund and of e-Rate, so that schools could take advantage of the emergent Internet. That, in and of itself, would have been enough.

However, the point was not as dramatic as the outcome. The outcome, of course, was the re-consolidation of big incumbent local exchange carriers. That was helped along greatly by the robber baron philosophy of Bernie Ebbers -- and as the robber that he was, he wound up being sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud.

Now, what we are witnessing in the industry today is the death of long distance and the emergence of IP. The two most lucrative markets left: 1) wireless, and 2) broadband access.

This is a much abbreviated history.

But in answer to the second question, the short answer is "yes." I think that regulation has a future, and its name is "net neutrality." I don't think that it has much of a future, but I must commend Commissioner Adelman and Commissioner Copps for standing up to AT&T and making sure that NN provisions were attached to the BellSouth merger as a precondition.

3. Do you have a favorite place to take photos?

I try not to limit myself, but I find myself taking most photos when on hikes. Trees, flowers, birds, sunsets, landscapes. I probably don't take as many pictures of people as I could, unless I'm at a concert.

As far as a single favorite, I'd have to say that Alaska has really captured my imagination. This year's vacation will be to Galápagos, however, so we'll see if that remains at the top of the list.

4. Mike Watt & The Pair of Pliers (Watson/Meghrouni) or Mike Watt & the Black Gang (Baiza/Lee)? Why?

Black Gang -- but the version of the Black Gang that I saw (on the "puttin' the opera to bed" tour) was Bob Lee and Nels Cline.

And now that you know that, I think the answer should be obvious. That's the show that made me a Nels Cline fanatic.

I'd still probably lean towards Baiza & Lee if that was my only choice. As long as Watt's in the mix, though, it's all good.

5. Will the Dems take Tennessee in 2008? Which Presidential candidate has the best shot and why?

Depends on what the Dems are attempting to "take" in Tennessee. The senate seat, currently held by Lamar! Alexander is going to be tough to take back. Right now, the D's have a majority in House seats (5 of 9 of TN's districts), they hold the governorship (nominally, since Bredesen is such a sellout), they continue to hold the TN House, and are within a couple of seats of taking back the Senate. Since the governor's office isn't vacated until 2010... I'd say they hold 5 seats in the House delegation unless Davis (TN-4th) runs for Lamar's seat.

Among presidential contenders in TN... hm. Let's just go with who I think will win the prez primaries, given who's in right this moment: McCain (R), Obama (D). I don't think there's much chance for Hillary to win here unless she is riding a huge wave, and even then, it'll be tough.

Growing pains?

This year, I have come to be acquainted with two people who've gone to prison.

Having gone almost 40 years in my life, I don't think I've ever really even tangled with anyone who went to jail, much less prison.

(That time that my dad got busted for fireworks possession hardly counts.)

Semi-Obligatory 9/11 Post

If you came here to check in, just let me say, "Hey, I'm great." Aside from having a cold, that is. I had a great time on this year's vacation in Alaska.

I learned something about myself, too.

As I was sitting on a ridge watching and photographing a sunset that would last for the next couple of hours, I thought to myself how fortunate that I was that I had a job that would allow me the freedom to enjoy moments like this every now and again.

Whoa.

Anchors like jobs don't "allow freedom." Jobs give you an opportunity to make money, which you can exchange for goods and services.

Can you say "Stockholm Syndrome?"

Freedom is what you sacrifice to take a job.

This is something I'm contemplating today, when I hear a lot of hollow talk about "the price of freedom" that we pay as citizens, or that we ask of others to pay on our behalf.

And I can't get around the idea that freedom and security are at self-devouring ends of a bitter cycle.

Nineteen and ninety fucking two...

Was this really 14 years ago?

I'm sitting here watching VH1 Classic and Eddie Vedder is belting out "Evenflow."

I remember trading my copy of Material Issue's International Pop Overthrow for a copy of Ten. I still think I got the better end of the deal, all things considered... but damn, "grunge" seems so dated now.

In 1992, I was just out of college, living in Chicago, going door-to-door for Greenpeace, making subminimum wage, and I don't think I'd ever had a bite of sushi.

[edited]

And now it's Morrissey singing "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out."

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan. I liked The Smiths so much more before I'd ever seen a single video of theirs. From 1988 until 1997, I didn't have cable, so seeing all of this stuff is all pretty much new to me.

I don't think I really missed all that much.

You Tubin'

You can't go wrong with Dave Edmunds or Nick Lowe.



Lo and behold, they recognized this themselves, and took it on the road.

So, here's a vid of one oft-overlooked supergroup, Rockpile. On American Bandstand, no less.

Corrupting Youthful Ideals of Weirdo Music

Recently, my wife posed a challenge for me - come up with some of the music which warped the sensibilities of my 16-year-old mind.

I came up with the following suggestions for a possible soundtrack:

(1) Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis EP, Butthole Surfers (1985). The song list is short: "Moving To Florida," "Comb," "To Parter," and "Tornadoes." And each one is exquisitely strange, especially the first track, with its non sequitur references to "sausages which dance like Ray Bolger on the hood of a car in a traffic jam" and "potty train the Chairman Mao."

(2) Psychocandy, Jesus & Mary Chain (1985). When the feedback kicks in, more akin to a Hoover vacuum than a Fender Twin Reverb, you know you have something different going here. This band never quite captured this sort of ambience again, and it's a shame. The last thing these guys needed was more production.

(3) Sonic Youth, Sonic Youth (1982). The album which started it all. Originally on SST, recently re-released on Universal.

(4) What Makes a Man Start Fires?, The Minutemen (1983). "Our band is scientist rock." One cannot underestimate the impact of this band, nor overlook this album, and it is decidedly not mainstream. Angular lyrics, chunking guitar noise, dynamic and fast interplay.

(5) Frankenchrist, Dead Kennedys (1985). Probably the most intriguing Dead Kennedys project, at least over time. It's a departure from the short form punk style of hardcore (see In God We Trust, Inc.) and brings in much more instrumental focus. Jello Biafra is all over the map on this one, lyrically, but once you actually sit down and decipher what's being said, you'll find a lot there that still applies today. I went and picked this up just for "Hellnation" after the 2004 election.

(6) Like Flies on Sherbert, Alex Chilton (1980). Not what you'd expect to follow from Big Star. This takes various stylings in Memphis R&B, soul, blues, and disco -- and shakes them all up in a bag, scatters them on the floor, and the result? Well, it is what it is. A self-conscious turn towards self-alienation in the career of a complex character.

(7) Damaged, Black Flag (1981). Returning again to West Coast punk (and yet another entry from SST Records), this marks the debut of Henry Rollins behind the mic. With Greg Ginn's signature guitar backed by Chuck Dukowski's boundless energy on bass, this is a centerpiece of not just punk, but rock music.

(8) Zen Arcade, Husker Du (1984). Aw hell, let's just continue the SST kick. Reportedly recorded in one take, this double album is a masterpiece of midwestern psychedelia-cum-punk.

I guess the only things missing here might be Meat Puppets II and Bad Brains' I Against I. OK, and Saccharine Trust. Sheesh! What a bogart!

YouTube Find:

Hell yeah. Booker T & the MG's in 1967:

In its third year or so of existence, The Hight Hat Magazine has put out six outstanding (if irregularly released) editions.

The magazine covers film, music, comics, celebrities, art... and nearly any sort of marginalia with a sterling combination of scholarship and fanatic geekdom. The Sam Peckinpah edition (HH #2) is a particularly good primer to the work of this legendary director. And this may well be one of the finest comic deconstructions of the rock crit persona ever written. The writers come from many walks of life, but are united in their deep appreciation of art, culture, as well as other fulfilling human endeavors.

The sixth edition of this webzine came out just a few weeks ago.

If you have yet to be exposed, I'm not particularly surprised. But check it out. You will most probably find something worthwhile therein.

A Word on the Creative Process

I don't know if anyone out there reading this spends considerable time and capital to create stuff. And by "create stuff," I don't mean cobbling together some ideas that someone else came up with and posting it on a weblog with some snarky commentary attached.

I mean someone who paints. Or who creates art of of scrapyard metal. Or writes original prose or poetry. Or plays and records music. Or someone who takes pictures.

I make no complaint of the investment I've made, or of the return I've made thereto, either (the former is substantial while the latter, well, not so much) -- I do photography because I enjoy it. While I don't want to get overly precious about it, I share my work because I enjoy communicating what it is that I see in the universe. My pictures are my artistic voice. As such, I like being properly credited for what I've captured, and I am an unapologetic control freak about how my own work lives out in the world once I let someone in on what I see in the viewfinder. This craft is not merely a hobby for me.

To give some meager idea of what this journey has been for me, personally, in the last few years... I invested in a high performance computer platform which would help me render my art in Photoshop, and I have upgraded in that span. I have invested in three camera bodies in under two years time, I've bought lenses and tripods and digital memory and glass filters and Photoshop plugins and tripod heads and color calibrators and USB tablets and scanners and printers and ink, I've spent money on classes and magazine subscriptions, I've invested in my own website, I've spent money to take trips just so I could get up at 5 in the morning to catch the golden rays of the sunrise, and countless other hours have gone into shooting and post-processing.

And all of that before I even made a dime from my work.

Honestly, though, I couldn't care less about the money. What I care about is how my voice is represented.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you take your pictures with a pinhole camera or a Canon Snappy or a Minolta X700 or a Holga or a 2.0 megapixel Kodak or a Hasselblad with a Leaf Digital back or a Linhof 4x5 direct view camera. You, the artist, own the vision which went into creating that image, you own the time which went into creating that image, you own the discipline which was involved in developing that vision and skill, and thanks to international standards of copyright, you also own the right to display that work as you please, to control the context in which that work appears, and you own the right to say "no" if someone insists on appropriating your original works. It also doesn't matter if the photograph in question is a piece of crap or a candid party pic. You don't cede your right to control your copyright once you reveal your work to the public, and nothing says you have to play nice if someone doesn't respond to a completely reasonable request to stop infringing your creative rights.

What constitutes sufficient grounds to say, "You can't use my picture," you might ask? Just because I say so. There need be no other reason. Even if I put a picture out there on the Internet for all in the world to see, my exclusive rights are not ceded until I say they are.

Am I guilty of running afoul of others' rights in my own lifetime? Yes. I'd be a liar if I said I'd never taken illegal dubs of songs or committed other acts of "unfair use." However, I am sensitive enough to respect the wishes of others when it comes to their original works, and beyond that, I'm smart enough to know when to stand down.

Now that I'm trying to get established, it's becoming a really tough call. The minute you start to share is the minute you open up the possibility of getting ripped off or misrepresented. I learned that one the hard way when I trusted a local journalist to use some photos I'd taken as collateral for his column -- and while they indeed appeared under his byline, there was no compensation and there was no credit given, despite assurances to the contrary. And this was, I thought, someone who would appreciate what it means to create something.

Once burned, twice shy. It's just easier not to share at a certain point.

Isn't that why copyright exists in the first place? It gives the creator of original works some discretion as to how their ideas are contextualized and represented, at least for a time.

I typically choose to allow casual, non-commercial uses of my work, so long as attribution is carried and no derivative works are made of my photos. I'm seriously beginning to reconsider my definition of "appropriate." I can scarcely afford to feed my avocation, much less pay lawyers to defend my right to render exclusive jurisdiction over my stuff once I choose to share it.

It's a tough call. I'm all about "sharing," but I'm really not jazzed about the idea of someone using something I brought into the world in a context I don't feel right about.

This Just In From the "Colossal Waste of Time" Division

Tumblebugs. I don't know what it is about these "connect three" type games which is so addictive, but there it is.

My only beef is that the soundtrack isn't varied.

A Word to the Minority in the Senate FMA Vote

In the words of Justice Scalia,

"Vaffanculo!"

Echoing Tom Tomorrow

Re: Haditha.

Either you're completely appalled by the slaughter of children, or there's something seriously wrong with you.

End of story.

KEEP WATCHING THIS SPACE.

In the event anyone's out there, that is.

Just FYI, I got pretty frustrated with trying to customize my blog skin, and there's some unrecoverable booger in the system which is preventing my archives from auto-generating.

I'm going to be switching to WordPress at another location and starting a photoblog. As for this blog, well, it may be about time to burn down and start over. Or something.

Just keep an eye out, if anyone still does.

In memory of the Sago 12:

In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia
Late in the year
The day still comes and the sun still shines
But it's dark at the graves of the Cumberland miners

Listen to the shouts of the black-faced miner
Listen to the call of the rescue team
We have no water, light or bread
So we're living on songs and hope instead

In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia
Down in the dark of the Cumberland mine
There's blood on the coal, and the miners lie
In roads that never saw sun or sky

In the town of Springhill Nova Scotia
Often the earth will tremble and roll
When the earth is restless
Miners die

Bone and blood is the price of coal

U2, "Springhill Mining Disaster"

[tap][tap] Is the NSA in the House? Good. Now listen up...

It should now be obvious to anyone paying attention that our President has promised to continue to violate his oath of office.

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

I refer, of course, to the 4th Amendment thereto, which stipulates that there are limits to the power of the state, and it makes no exceptions for time of (undeclared) war.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Congress should move immediately to require that this President cease and desist these questionable activities forthwith, or to bring them in compliance with the federal standards set forth in FISA. Given, also, the seriousness of the charges being assessed, Congressional oversight is now mandatory.

If the White House fails to comply, an article of impeachment should be drawn up and executed, and should include both the President and the Vice President as particulars.

I suppose that if this opinion makes me an enemy of "the state," then so be it.

If this state continues to support a renegade executive, and continues to support invasions of personal privacy in matters of life and death, and continues to wage a war based on admittedly faulty intelligence, then this state deserves to fall.

If the NSA is listening, I'm confident that they can establish my "true identity." My number is in the book.

(And given that my wife & I use the phone to coordinate grocery runs, for the most part, wotta riot that would be for you all.)

cc: Senator Bill Frist, Senator Lamar Alexander, Rep. Marsha Blackburn

Some good discussion today, with various online compatriots.

I'd like to refine what I said earlier, based on some of that discussion.

1) Tookie Williams is not an ideal case to discuss on the basis of redemption. To me, the question of redemption is irrelevant.

It is ineffective to argue that someone redeemed deserves life, for that implies that anyone unredeemed deserves death. Also, when you're talking about "redemption," you're really crossing over the line from the secular to the spiritual, and I don't believe that this Republic was constructed to support that. There is, however, rehabilitation. And there is reparation. Those things make more sense, especially when we are discussing universal human rights, irrespective of religious background.

2) I must conclude that the only viable option for our country to pursue, today, is to abolish the death penalty. Immediately.

Anything like a moratorium, or tinkering with the mechanisms, or fiddling with exceptions, and deciding who deserves what and when -- that's all just rationalizing a practice which is inherently flawed, as human perception is inherently flawed itself. I can no more assume that the government can decide rightly whether I live or die than I can assume that they will correctly settle my next income tax statement.

While I'm on that topic, what's up with mainstream, anti-big government, capital-R republican support for the death penalty? Here, you have the party which proclaims that big government can fuck up a two car parade, yet you can count on them to invest 100% fealty to a system which determines who lives and who dies. Maybe I didn't get the memo, but last time I checked, the courts were something that they didn't trust at all. Why suddenly do they get it right when it comes to disposing of criminals?

3) It was Damien Echols birthday on 12/11. This year marks his 11th in custody since his wrongful conviction (and death sentence) in 1994.

Here's hoping Arkansas can get it right...

Could You Pull That Switch Yourself, Sir?

Sometimes it takes a bit of doing to get me to post around here. For the regulars, no surprises.

Um... I'm in a thoughtful mood tonight. Heartsick, really.

Governor Schwarzenegger, in denying Stanley "Tookie" Williams' clemency petition, had this to say in justifying his action:

"Is Williams' redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings, there can be no redemption."

Frankly, I don't believe Williams was looking for absolution from the Governor. Perhaps "The Terminator" is feeling his oats. Or perhaps he's too damned stupid to know the difference between a life sentence and a life sacrificed.

Now, I'm no religious scholar or anything, but it seems to me that apology and atonement and "complete and sincere" redemption (whatever that means to Gov. Jingle All The Way) becomes impossible after the actions with which he refuses to interfere. And as a self-described Catholic, maybe Gov. Kindergarten Cop missed out on the Evangelium Vitae of 1995, delivered by Pope John Paul II:

"This is the context in which to place the problem of the death penalty. On this matter there is a growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand that it be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely. The problem must be viewed in the context of a system of penal justice ever more in line with human dignity and thus, in the end, with God's plan for man and society. The primary purpose of the punishment which society inflicts is "to redress the disorder caused by the offence." Public authority must redress the violation of personal and social rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this way authority also fulfills the purpose of defending public order and ensuring people's safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and help to change his or her behaviour and be rehabilitated.

"It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.

"In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church remains valid: 'If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.'"

No, I'm not saying that Tookie Williams was an angel in his life. He is certainly not without his faults. He may deserve to spend the rest of his natural life in prison. He may be factually guilty, and if so, I'm good with that.

I'm not the one to say who lives and who dies. Even as a non-believer, I fully acknowledge that this is out of my control, and neither would I empower anyone to make those decisions for me, and if I could, it would certainly not be the co-star of Twins. No, not even Danny DeVito should be given that sort of authority.

I know that Governor The Kid & I has seen a lot of death in his movies, I hope he realizes that those were stuntmen.

Steve Earle speaks often of his opposition to the death penalty, and in his song "Billy Austin," he wrote a pertinent question about our society's demand for revenge. As a man who has been condemned to die, his character asks his executioner...

Could you pull that switch yourself, sir? With a slow, steady hand?
Could you still tell yourself, sir, that you're better than I am?

I know I don't speak for everyone, and that this is highly personal for many, but this ongoing American travesty has got to end.