The Big Easy

It's looking really bad in New Orleans right now, and I'm starting to seriously worry about whether it can be saved--or if what makes that amazing city so unique can be saved.

My primary interest is music, and New Orleans might be the most musically rich city in the world. They have it all--jazz, rock, country, blues, cajun, bluegrass, you name it. On top of that, it's been the inspiration and setting for so much many great songs and stories, the list goes on and on. They've got the New Orleans jazz festival and so many other great events.

Right now, the primary focus is saving lives. If you've seen any television footage, you probably noticed that most of the city is rather poor, and most of the residents simply have nowhere else to go and no way to get there.

I really hope that New Orleans and its residents can pull through this.

NY Times article here.

American Red Cross

You'll have to pry my porn from my cold, dead hands

Jesse at the political commentary site, Pandagon, has a great post on the new FCC commissioner's desire to regulate basic cable and satellelite television, and possibly satellite radio.

This shit just never stops, sexually repressed religious zealots and various other conservative nutjobs want to dictate what the rest of us can see and hear.

I wish Frank Zappa were still alive, we need him now more than ever. And no, don't kid yourself, if this comes to pass, the next step is the internet.

They're back

The Steam Powered Studio site is back up. Check it out.

...back to music

Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesizer, died yesterday at age 71.

I've never played a Moog myself, but he seemed to be a sort of Les Paul of synthesizers, a real pioneer.

More on Iraq, Rude-style

From the Rude Pundit--

Caught In the Crossfire of the Iraq Circle Jerk:
So, like, do you think Deborah Johns would be proud if her Marine son William died to create another Iran? Opposed to Cindy Sheehan's now-interrupted vigil outside of Bush's Crawford ranch, Johns is one of the mothers of soldiers embarking on the "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" Tour (aka the "Tools Across the U.S.A" tour). The caravan will wind its way across the western U.S., from San Francisco to Crawford, with stops at the Doubletree Hotel in Bakersfield, where the brave right-wing supported caravaners can relax by the palm tree-lined pool, and the Dallas Hyatt Regency, with its multiple restaurants and amazing fitness center. That'll show Joan Baez she shouldn't join Cindy's followers in the ditches of Crawford.

But do you think Natalie Healy, who lost her son in Afghanistan but believes that the conflicts there and in Iraq are related, would be proud to know that Daniel, one of those missing Navy SEALS, died in a "larger" war that ensures the rise of a state that will enshrine the repression of women as part of its constitution? What about all the other anti-Sheehan mothers dug up by the media in a desperate attempt to offer "balance"? Do you think they wonder which conservative perversion of Islam will Iraq take? The Saudi Arabian track, where women can't drive or go much of anywhere without being accompanied by a male? Or what about the Taliban track, where girls can't even be schooled? And what about the veil? How insane will Iraq become to live up to the Islamic ideal that man is head of the household? Is this what you sacrificed your kids for? (And the Rude Pundit is not saying this to "attack" Islam - when wackjob fundamentalists try to impose Christian dogma on a government, he calls bullshit. And let's not even get into Israel.)

It's not that the whole Iraq War isn't an epic disaster the likes of which makes Custer's "Last Stand" seem like a well-planned, well-ordered, by the book military operation. It's not that anyone not suckling at the teat of Bush administration "leaks" and "anonymous sources" didn't know that there was going to be a prolonged conflict, with lots of casualties, and, you know, no fuckin' WMDs. No, no, we know all that shit, along with the inevitable civil war and/or Islamist state as the end result. It's just that it's about to get really, truly, oh-fuck-how-can-he-even-show-his-face-in-public embarrassing for George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, Bush's approval numbers have dipped below 40%, so here's hoping that people have finally had enough of this incompetent moron and his supporters in Congress. We'll see.

Now playing

courtesy of Robin, a marquee in Oakland, CA--

Steam Power Outage

I received an email from Jeff at the Steam Powered Studio, informing me(as a very minor sponsor) that his site was down, and not sure when it might be up. Hopefully it's soon, I had intended to ask for his assistance with my own endeavor. I think I posted about this before, but he's been trying a different approach for an independent musician. No record label, instead he asks people who like his music, and the music of many other artists who he produces and posts on the site, to be a sponsor or patron. As he writes and records new material, it's posted to download for free. The goal is to receive enough support from sponsors so that he can work at his craft without the arbitrary pressures of a record label and release dates, or music executives second-guessing what you do. At least, that's sort of what I think the goal is.

Anyway, I think it's good to see a musician trying something completely different. If it works for visual artists, I don't see why it can't work with music. I'm pretty sure that many classical composers had patrons, since they didn't have record deals back then.
So, whenever the site's back up, be sure to check it out, especially anyone who happens to live in the Lancaster Pennsylvania area. It's an eclectic mix.

Rude Punditry

I'm really starting to like this guy(or gal, not sure).

Elvis spotted with tampons

My sister lives and works in NYC, and recently had her most notable celeb sighting. She submitted it to gawker.com and they posted it, scroll about halfway down--

Click

8/9 @ 6 pm, saw Elvis Costello at the Rite Aid on the corner of 13th and 6th purchasing not one, but two bright pink boxes of Playtex tampons. Diana Krall was nowhere to be seen, but one can only assume. He looked very nonchalant in head-to-toe black and sunglasses. Frankly, he could have been purchasing a case of Preparation-H and made it look cool.

Annoying

I hate it when I can't find a cd that I really want to listen to, and I know I have it here somewhere. I really feel like listening to Copper Blue by Sugar, but I can't find where I fucking put it. Can't find it amongst all the ones I have downstairs, not with the ones in my bedroom, not in the car--WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?

This seems to happen to me a lot, when I'm in the mood to listen to something particular, I can't find it. Fuck me.
So how are you doing?

Our Band Could Be Your Life

I hadn't heard of this book until recently, but it looks interesting--especially if you were really into any '80s indie bands. Those of us who were/are know that there was nothing particularly original or new about Nirvana and the wave of grunge bands that followed.
Words like "alternative", "underground" and "punk" still meant something back then.

And to be honest, I didn't even get into many of these bands until the second half of the '80s, when I was in high school, and many had signed major label deals--the Replacements were on Sire, the Huskers on Warner Bros., and Sonic Youth on Geffen. Although they all released some of there best work on those majors, none of them ever made a lot of money. Certainly not like those punkers in Blink 182, living in million dollar mansions and appearing on "Cribs". I'm sure lots of disenfranchised kids can identify with that.