Celebrate

Brooklyn, that is.  Not Brexit.  That's a whole other box of wine.

Last weekend we went to our 2nd Celebrate Brooklyn show so far this season [the first was the amazing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.]  The opener was the formidable Kristin Hersh, sans Muses, but fully loaded with guitar and growl.

Next up were the Violent Femmes in all their glory.  I managed my expectations pretty strictly, having last seen them way back when in Madison, (practically a home town gig for a Milwaukee band) at something like their height.  I was just a kid, but it was on the short list of highest energy shows I had seen, and the crowd responded in kind.  Gordon Gano told the (extremely) college-centric audience at the Civic Center something along the lines of "You guys are making us feel like we made it to the Final Four."

Might have been a line he used everywhere.

This show was a lot less collegiate, and the middle-aged family folk in the chairs up front kept their prospects parked in their seats almost until the end of the set, but Gano and Brian Richie put out plenty of wattage across a fabulous range of instruments along with John Sparrow on a variety of percussion including-but-not-limited to Webber grill, Blaise Garza on that gigantic contrabass sax among other things, and the mighty Horns of Dilemma.

All hail summer at the bandshell.

Now please excuse me while I have a cup of coffee and a Brexit Burrito and figure out what the hell we should do next.

This just in: According to the Times "Google reported a spike in (UK-based) searches for "What happens if we leave the E.U." And the question "What is the E.U.?" was the second most popular question in Britain"  In Britain.  If you're a little queasy, you're not alone.

Happy Daylight Saving Time, Ides of March, St. Patrick's, All That

This year they decided to put the New Hampshire primary right at the end of the trifecta that was Super Bowl Sunday, Asian/Lunar New Year, and Mardi Gras.  I started writing this post way back then.  And a lot has happened since.


Putting aside a discussion of the Dems (for the moment) to share a few words about Donald “Making America Great Again” (Which slogan, as has been pointed out, is intended to mean "making America white again."  In case you weren't clear on that.) Trump.  Or Drumpf, as the case may be.

And I do get torn about making fun of the guy.  This whole post started with that GIF way down at the bottom. (You'll get to it; you've probably already seen it.)  Because while pretty much everything he says and does warrants making fun, it's getting less and less funny as the primaries wind on.  The notion that he has any real understanding of, or even much interest in, actual policy crumbles upon the slightest scrutiny.  So what’s going on?

Well, a couple things pop to mind off the bat.  Here’s a guy who was born into money, and plenty of it.  He took a look at the options and made some choices.  My guess is that he was drawn to gambling, and sees the obvious truth in the maxim that “the house always wins.”  So, since he had the cash and saw that it's more lucrative to be the house than the gambler, he bought some ‘houses.’  Even when they didn’t win (you know, those bankruptcies in Atlantic City, the University, the Steaks, the list goes on) well, gaming the system is his game, so he made it work, and made it fit in with a pretty clear addiction to being the center of attention. 

He’s also a proven showman of the huckster variety, with a Barnum-worthy eye for the audience.  And it may be that his true talent lies in media manipulation.  And now that he's running for President, not just as a punch line in the late night comedy, but a real honest-to-god frontrunner, that audience is America.  Which has shown itself to be hungry for the hatred, the racism, the puffed up machismo, the gutter sniping, the name-calling.  It's not just the latent intolerance rearing its head after the perceived indignity of living with a President of Color for 7 years, and having to suffer through progress in gay rights and access to health care.  It it not just that a large portion of the populace is frightened at the idea that a woman should be permitted (or - say it isn't so! - possibly be in a place to do the actual permitting) to have control of her body; and not completely comfortable with the notion that her worth might not be wholly dependent on her appearance; and thoroughly confused, gobsmacked, terrified by the idea that gender itself may be a fluid concept. It is not just that people have those bigoted reactions, though it most certainly is partially that.  The embrace of the neighborhood bully shouting down the nerdy wonks in the debate club also comes from years and years of pent-up frustration resulting from seeing crony capitalism strip wealth away from the population at large and concentrate it among a very small number of people gaming the system. Never mind that Trump is one of "them" - his 'telling it like it really is' (which, let's not forget, is not-very-clever code for racism, sexism, dominance fantasy, and discomfort with outsiders), he is speaking for "us."


And that dualist formulation is suuuupes a problem, because it's never never never as simple as Us vs Them.  I am about 99.5% positive that I have friends and/or family members who support this guy, just based on the numbers.  And we should be very-clear sighted about the alternatives in the Republican party - not one of them offers anything remotely worth voting for.  And I have zero problem condemning the philosophy (if you can call it that) driving the white-supremacist, sexist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, plain old hateful ideas being spouted.  But the people who have those ideas - not often very fully thought-out (how could they be?), but viscerally, authentically bubbling up from the gut - they live here too.  "They" have a voice, they get a vote, and you are probably related to and/or friends with some too.  Is there a chance they will change the way they feel?  Some of them will, maybe, but history (remember that?) shows pretty clearly that it's hard to get a whole bunch of people to face that mirror and realize that you've been doing it wrong.  [And don't forget, when we're Us and Them-ing it, "they" are all hoping that "we" will face that same mirror from the other side, see our reflection and make the same conclusion.]



I guess I'm going to want to post this before it turns into a book outline rather than a blog entry.  But before I do, I want to point out that - for all his many, many failings - Señor Trump is simply reflecting the racism and extreme intolerance/intolerant extremism that has been developing for years, in America and abroad.  Carefully cultivated by the Republican Party and its media wing? Sure. But really - it's been doing just fine growing wild on its own too (and not just in the GOP, while we're telling the truth about things).  And the non-Donald Republican rivals are not improvements, in any real day-to-day way: although they might pose slightly less risk of complete destruction of the American two-party system (a bad thing?) they do stand for policies that essentially do away with any part of government that benefits workers and the general population, while enhancing those parts of the government that prop up corporations and the wealthy, and expanding the military and hastening conflict (while, paradoxically, ignoring the needs of actual soldiers and returning veterans).



SO - are the Dems the answer?  Never, not really.  They are, of course, about a hundred times better than their opponents on the other side of the aisle, but if you're flipping through the Book of Perfect People, I don't think you'll find either Clinton or Sanders.  It is a very short book.  



What you want to do is vote for the presidential candidate you agree with most, AND - and this part is extra-special important, and you'll be making a big mistake if you overlook it the way people seem to do every year - the people you agree with most in your other national, state, and local elections.  And then - and here's the part people really forget about - stay engaged.  Because there is no elected official completely impervious to pressures and temptations of elected office.  Stay out there, stay active, keep talking and keep listening.  It's only - only - ongoing social movement that causes anything to happen that really benefits the people.

 

By the way, what the fuck did he think he was doing when he sat for this shot?  Even the most experienced falconers use a glove.  Of course, they also have a clue about how to approach and handle a bird of prey.  [And, ummmm, yes: that's a metaphor for the unspoken Big Bad risk associated with any of the fellows running for President Right Wing Nut Job: global nuclear annihilation resulting from overwhelmingly misplaced responsibility.]

Sunday before the Iowa caucus

Gaudi made a cross out of a quarry.

(Ok, a lot of crosses)

Religious ecstasy has inspired great art, profound ideas, innumerable acts of kindness.  Religion has also been a mask for brutal acts of terror, and churches (or Churches) have bolstered entire repressive governments [talkin' Barcelona blues; the Fascists were backed by the Church from the get-go].

Vote your conscience.  Put some thought into it.  Pray about it if that's your thing.  Don't forget your history.

Oh, you betcha!

“Trump’s candidacy, it has exposed not just that tragic, the ramifications of that betrayal of a transformation of our country, but too, he has exposed the complicity on both sides of the aisle that has enabled it, O.K.?”

You just keep on endorsin', Governor!

Today

Please vote.

That's really all.  Vote for your candidates and issues, whatever they are.

Please don't NOT vote.  Especially please don't not vote because you think something is predetermined, predestined, or in the bag.  You know where your polling place is (even if it changed recently) right?  You can deal with the line.

Please vote.

Oh, and if you're in Hoboken, please vote No on Hoboken Question #2, and preserve rent control protection.  The landlord-paid handbill distributors are out again in force, but you know better.

Losing Control

This year's election day was fairly anti-climactic in a lot of ways. No big national contests or anything. But there were a few important items if you were paying attention.

First, some of the good stuff:

The one that got the most press as far as I could tell was a ballot initiative in Mississippi that defined human life as beginning at 'fertilization.' Turns out that was a bridge too far even in a place so devoted to ending abortion, maybe because the wording could be interpreted as making certain forms of birth control illegal. And in vitro fertalization. And chemo for pregnant women. And forcing a woman to carry her rapist's baby might be too much even in Mississippi. And it was voted down.

Then, in Ohio, the voters decided it is actually not a very good idea to prohibit your public workers' unions from collective bargaining, and they rolled back a bill that had taken that right away from them. We can only hope that that trend catches some traction in Wisconsin, New Jersey, and other places dear to me.

But in a sad and upsetting turn of event in my own city, Hoboken had a disaster of a referendum, replete with the most demoralizing kind of municipal bullying and buying of political power.

The basic sitch: a landlords' lobbying group succeeded in getting the Hoboken City Council to pass an amendment to the Rent Control law in my city. It's not the worst amendment they could have come up with, but... one thing I think everyone should be able to agree on is that if a landlords' advocacy group supports an amendment, the amendment benefits landlords; and if a tenants' advocacy group opposes that amendment, the amendment benefits landlords. In this case, it would seem to benefit the mostly absentee landlords who have sponsored (some would say forced through, by means of the threat of an expensive class-action law suit) an amendment to weaken rent control protection in Hoboken, and at the very least make it easier for landlords to get away with bullying long-term residents into vacating their apartments so they can 'deliver vacant' (with raised rents, of course), and make it harder for tenants to fight back, while reducing the amount of time the tenants can take to figure out the best way to do it.

So a repeal of the amendment was put on the ballot as a referendum. I figured that putting this in the hands of the voters was a fairly decent way to put the matter to rest and stop the attempted erosion of tenants' rights. If you vote "yes," you support tenant's rights; if you vote "no," you support additional protection for landlords. Straightforward: it's your right to have either opinion and vote your convictions.

What stopped me in my tracks after I voted and sent me straight to my computer to write letters to local papers and websites was when I ran into an activist canvasing for "no" and when I asked her why, she said she was there to protect rent control, and had a pile of fliers that claimed as much (though the flier didn't do a very good job if you bothered to read it). Not only were they trying to make it easier for landlords to skirt rent control laws, they're trying to make it look like it's good for tenants. I probably shouldn't be surprised. It's even confusing how it was put on the ballot - all the dancing around with double negatives - if you want them NOT to change Rent Control, vote YES; if you DO want them to change Rent Control, vote NO.

Never was I so envious of my friends who have jobs that give them election day off. Never have I had such an impulse to make a homemade sign and wave it around in front of a polling place. I scarcely have to tell you the result of the vote: the amendment-supporting "NO" won. In a landslide.

I know that I spend a lot of my life and work in New York City, to the extent that my handle on this site is "nycmick," but I've been a proud Hoboken resident for enough years now that I feel no shame calling myself an LTR. But I feel a lot of shame around the way the city government and local media let this play out.

Reminded of a quote from Howard Zinn's You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train, appropriate to the situation, and even more so to what's happening around the Occupy movements.

The state and its police were not neutral referees. They were on the side of the rich and powerful. Free speech? Try it, and the police will be there with their horses, their clubs, their guns, to stop you. From that moment on, I was no longer a liberal, a believer in the self-correcting character of American democracy. I was a radical, believing that something fundamental was wrong in this country—something rotten at the root. The situation required not just a new President, or new laws, but an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society—cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian.

Take from that what you will.

Meanwhile, just to round out the day, here's something a PAC of Herman Cain supporters put up on their home page, but evidently took down quickly when people started to notice:

Oh Wisconsin

How could you?

Quick Notes

Life has been busy for us all, yes? Quick notes for now about some (certainly not all) of the things that have been going on:

• Election Party at Cory's in Chelsea - so much fun, such good company, such an amazing, important night. Missed out on some of the dancing in the streets, but got the benefit of very good food & drink, and more reflective revelry.
• South Park Election Episode - Bwahahahahaaaaaaa!
• (Not) Just a Day like Any Other - New full-length show from the NY Neo Futurists. Caught opening night - very cool workshop production, seeds for future brilliance.
• The Hold Steady at Terminal 5 - Rock and Roll Means Well

SUCH a good band. As Frank put it at dinner before the show (he'd never seen them before) "This band... One of the regrets I have in my life, as I look back and examine what I've done and what I've seen, one of my main regrets is... that I am not in The Hold Steady." And once he got a taste of the ironic jubilance of these guys, he liked them even more. Drive-By Truckers opened: it had been reversed the night before - we totally got the better end of that deal. Not that they were bad - on the contrary, they were fantastic. But The Hold Steady is the band you want sending you off into the night. Thanks to Barry Yanowitz for this photo by the way! If you'd rather I not use it, just let me know and I'll take it down.

more to come... lost the links due to some computer nonsense. I'll fix those up later.

November 4, 2008

It's kind of worn territory to say that this is an historic election. Kind of really well worn. What can I add to the discussion? Report that the lines were longer in Hoboken than they've ever been, in my experience? Old news.

That the people in those lines were friendlier and more cheerful to be waiting than people on almost any line I can remember? (other than maybe the lunatics - including me - who stayed out all night for R.E.M. tickets freshman year, but I think there was vodka involved.) It's all over the radio and the internets.

That I'm happy that my polling place was moved from the firehouse to the retirement home a few years ago, because the line at the firehouse was MUCH longer - like, out the door and around the corner long? [Ok, that one may actually be original - though I should add that the people in that line looked pretty happy too.]

That a friend in Brooklyn reported things like being 33rd in line at a quarter to 6 this morning, and another referred to the crowd at the polls being "a bit of a Bed Stuy street party"? This stuff has been ALL OVER THE MEDIA. Oh, and a Bed Stuy blogger whose work I like a lot had a good post on that scene too. Really like his tag line: "Let's make some goddamned history."

So while the Supreme Court listens to arguements over just what constitutes a dirty word on TV, let's do that, shall we? Let's make history. Go to the polls; cast your vote; listen to 'Yes We Can,' or 'Give Peace a Chance,' or 'Fanfare for the Common Man,' or 'Stars and Stripes Forever' or 'I'm Proud to be an American' or whatever, on your way home; do some door-to-door or make some calls if you can spare the time; then gather with friends and lovers to watch the returns over some patriotic food.

But take it from a Red Sox fan: take it vote by vote. Please consider leaving the Champagne in the fridge until you hear a concession speech.

Crunch Time

Welcome to November. Hope you had a Happy Halloween. If you are running the Marathon, I hope you are doing it swiftly, and with no extreme discomfort.

The Month of Mick is over. Now, it's all about Getting Out the Vote.

Are you ready for Tuesday? Will you vote? No matter how long the line is?

There has been some fun around this election - for instance the young gentleman in Decatur, Georgia who used Halloween to get out the vote.

There has also been some real nastiness. Lots and lots of nastiness. There is almost no end to the nastiness.

And not all of it has to do with the Presidential Election. There are many important State Elections, including the now-famous Proposition 8 in California. Which is essentially a manifesto of intolerance couched in terms of protecting traditional values.




Is it an exaggeration to compare same-sex marriage to interracial marriage? Is it unfair to suggest that the culture war that is fueling the McCain/Nameless campaign - indeed keeping it alive in the face of overwhelming opposition - is couched in racism and fear? (to clarify for those who wonder why I refer to her this way, I refuse to name her until she makes herself available to the media in a serious way. My heart was warmed when I saw that Christopher Hitchens wrote an article to this effect as well.) I don't think so.

But everywhere you look, people are responding to the hate with logic, eloquent rhetoric, tenacity, and positive energy. And also with some silly good humor. Lots of people. Millions and millions of them.

Some in places you wouldn't necessarily think of. Like Nebraska.


Indiana.


And even Arizona, in groups large and small.




Is it a real movement? It has felt like it at times. I hope it is (and those of you who have known me for a long time know that this whole 'support a Democrat who actually has the nomination' thing is kind of a step to the right for me.) Because it's only through real social movement, with follow up that goes way beyond the election that real change actually happens. And there are moments that this feels like that. And the momentum has felt strong. Dizzyingly so at times. Right now in the key 'battleground state' (man, those war images keep popping up) of Pennsylvania, Cory is getting out the vote in Pittsburgh, and will do her lawyer thing to make sure the polls are safe and fair on Tuesday; and JP is in his hometown of Erie, working insanely long hard hours in his unique fashion, and proving essential to the campaign as their resident 'local' - even advising on the location for an important Bill Clinton appearance on Monday.

Please keep your focus, and keep your energy. Take it moment to moment, as the actors say. Keep your eye on the ball, and take it pitch by pitch, as they say in baseball. Drive through to the finish line in your best final kick, as the marathon runners say.

Are you ready for Tuesday? Will you vote? Will you check on your friends to make sure they vote? Will you make a call to your family (or, if you have time, to a whole bunch of people) and find out if they need help getting to the polls, and that they will cast a vote? No matter how long the line is?

Please say yes. And please vote for Barack Obama.

The Daily Show - Live!

Ok, I started writing this whole thing about Joe the Plumber and the fallout from all that; and the baseball playoffs and how the Red Sox had the big comeback that wasn't, but that it was still a good series and then it struck me - whoa, this is SO last week's post. Give it up!

SO - consider it given up. Moving on to this week.

On Monday (yes yes I know, that's still way behind. Leave me alone.) I went for the first time ever to see The Daily Show with Jon Stewart live and in person. It was very fun, though I have to say I'm not 100% convinced that it's worth the more than two hour wait between the time you show up and the time the show starts. I was with good friends and the weather was good, so it wasn't bad standing around on 11th Avenue, having some coffee and chatting it up with a guy I hadn't seen in a long time, but whoa - if it's cold or rainy, let somebody else have your seat.

That said - it was a very good show. He did a big segment on a notion that I was riffing on a couple of posts ago: the idea that people who aren't in love with the Bush administration are somehow not "Real" Americans, or that we may even be "Anti-America." Which is, to put it politely, bullsh*t.

*Asterisks are extremely polite

But there we had Senior McCain advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer going on about the "Real Virginians, if you will" who live away from the Sodom of Arlington and the Gomorrah of Alexandria, and we had the Candidate who Must Not be Named going on about the pockets of America "or as I like to call it, Real America" where people work hard and vote Republican. And Jon did a rather splendid job of skewering that notion - that those of us in Fake America don't work hard or have beliefs that we hold dear or love our country.

As he so aptly put it: Pfuck all y'all.

And then we got to see viddy of Jason Jones up in Wasilla, AK, where he got the opinion straight from the mouth of Dianne Keller, the current Mayor, that the job is "uniquivocally" good preparation for the office of Vice President of the United States. The good Mayor was then hard pressed to name a task that she is called on to do - AT ALL - beyond attending a staff meeting on Mondays, and writing some checks to pay the city's bills on Thursdays. And we found from a hard working local in a bar that 9/11 was a tremendous crisis to people in Wasilla, and that they had a great patriotic response to it, as opposed to the people who live in Fake America, who weren't as profoundly affected. Fake Americans like New Yorkers.

Take just a moment to wrap your minds around that one, would you please?

[Head. Explodes.]

And the featured guest was author/filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who made the movie "Why We Fight," and was plugging his new book The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril. Among the many interesting-unto-brilliant things he said was a thrown off comment about how watching The Daily Show is one of the most important ways Americans can spend their time.

That would be Fake Americans, I guess.

I don't know about it being one of the most important ways of spending time (especially when we're talking about that 2 hour wait), but it's a pretty durn good show.

Stay tuned for an exciting and fun post coming up soon, about one of my new favorite monologist/writer/bloggers. And enjoy the Series, even without the Sox or the Cubs or the other Sox or the Dodgers...

Oh Good Lord

I've only dipped into the reporting on the last presidential debate a little bit, and I must admit I've slacked off on my Election Attention in general the last few days (hey, it was my birthday - that takes some effort and planning!) But one thing that seems abundantly clear is that most people really have their minds made up already. And what people (candidates, supporters, campaign workers) say amongst themselves is pretty thoroughly different from what they say when they're in a debate or anything remotely official or bipartisan.

I mean - "palling around with terrorists"? Are you kidding me? Evidently not, because it's come up over and over. And when asked to defend her statements at her one and only sort-of press conference (an unannounced, unplanned-for visit to the press corps at the back of a plane for a few minutes), She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named said, and I quote:

“It is, though, about the economy about creating jobs and about resource development and energy independence here. It comes down to one ticket’s proposal that can be trusted, and another ticket’s proposal to deal with some of these issues and maybe questioning the truthfulness and the intention there. I think it’s very relevant there.”

Oof. That syntax. Whoops, that's one of those elite words, isn't it? Sorry about that. I meant "That way of putting words together that has nothing to do with sentences, complete ideas, or answering the f*cking question."

And I'm not even going to get into the Obama as Antichrist lobby.

But then at the debate, not only was there no suggestion at all that he might be a Winged Messenger of the Devil ready to bring on the End of Time, there wasn't even any mention of Obama's alleged Weather Underground side. Might it be that McCain didn't want to have the notion killed by being publicly humiliated with the truth of the matter? That being, that Obama served on a couple boards with a middle-aged guy who was once - 40 years ago - involved with a very popular movement opposing a very unpopular war, albeit in an extremist way. They worked together, barely, on matters of local Chicago policy, having to do with juvenile reform programs, and education initiatives. Radical things like that.

The answer to my hypothetical question would appear to be: Yes. Because if they'd dealt with these questions at the debate, then McCain (well, the RNC in this case) would have had a harder time selling jewels like this to the public.

But let's face it - the reverse is true too. Obama could have brought up the Ayers factor himself, and the deceit involved in the GOP's references to it, but he didn't. He won't come right out and call McCain old and out of touch during the debates either, though he doesn't hold back in his campaign appearances and some of his ads (and some of his supporters' blogs go right down the "dottering old fool" path.)

And while we're on it: since when is the assertion that the Weathermen were a 'terrorist organization' and nothing more, with no historical context discussed, something that we should just accept blindly?

Yeah, that whole blind acceptance thing rubs me the wrong way in general.

I Heart Michelle Obama...

...Which will surprise very few of you.

I was pretty lame last night, and was doing stuff around the house and editing/processing/uploading all those photos and didn't tune in to Michelle's speech when it was broadcast live, but holy crap, how amazing:



It takes about 17 minutes, but it's worth watching if you're interested in, oh, the country we live in. I still haven't seen all the other highlights from last night's installment of Conventionfest '08 - the Kennedy Speech, the Family Bonding, Barack's Response - but I understand it was really very good, as far as this sort of jingo juggling goes. And it's always tough for me to get too excited about someone who actually wants to be a politician, but I'm letting hope in a little bit this time. A little bit.

On the other side of the coin, I had a revelation while reading Overheard in New York the other day. Came across this entry:

Anyone Else Hope She's Buying Birth Control?

Annoyed sexy girl: This is stupid! I don't see how you can just think one city is older than another!
Embarrassed boyfriend: Think about it. Can't you see how Rome would be much older than, say, Provo, Utah?
Annoyed sexy girl: Well, I've never been to either of those, so how would I know?

--Duane Reade, Columbus Ave

And I'm thinking - ha! This is the kind of thing that would get those Republicans to change those wacky notions that birth control = abortion. Maybe even get them to encourage effective birth control, sex education, and education in general.

But then it struck me - this is the revelation part - they sort of WANT everybody to be this stupid. Dumb little rule-following consumers are their total wet dream cup of spoo.

I mean, I'm making a funny; but kind of not, you know?

Then a little later I ran into an even better Republican Breeder Fantasy:

Laguna Beach, Encapsulated

Girl #1: Do you like money? Cause I like money!
Girl #2: I like money, I really like money!
Girl #3: No, no, no, I love money! I love it!

--6th Ave & 26th St, Outside Nightspot

Of course you do.

Super Duper Pooper Scooper Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras, everybody! And big ol' primary election day, Giants victory parade day and everything else!!

In honor of the event, let's bring back the Magic 8Pod.

SO, 8Pod, what do you have to say about Mardi Gras '008?

• Bongwater - The Living End

Well, hmm... The band connotes party time, sure enough. And there's an odd twist on the times and the area in it's faux end-time sensibility. "We're living in the last days..." Interesting choice.

Ok, next, what can you provide in the way of predictions for this 'Super Duper Tuesday' Presidential Primary?

- for the Republican Party

• Greg Brown - Moondance

How 'bout that? At first it doesn't seem to fit: a great Van Morrison song being sung by Mr. Superlow Mellow Voice Strong Sensitive Folky Guy? For the Republicans?? But I guess it does bring to mind all those College Republican drunken singalongs to 'Brown-Eyed Girl'. And then a deeper listen takes us to a lonesome longing in the guitar-and-bongo arrangement, and maybe even some desperation in "Can I just have one more moondance with you...?" Last moondream? Plus... there's that whole thing of taking cover 'neath October skies...

Let's not forget that there's a half decent chance that we'll know who the Republican nominee is going to be at this time tomorrow.

- for the Democratic Party (which, by the way, is not "The Democrat Party" in spite of what many conservative pundits and officials - including the President - have been calling it, oh, for a few years now. Is no one else bothered by this? Is it another one of those thing that the Dems don't complain/stand up about for fear of seeming whiney?)

• Fleetwood Mac - Butter Cookie (Keep Me There)

This one yields all kinds of fun interpretation for a good 8Pod diviner! First of all, it's an outtake from Rumours, the album which yielded "Don't Stop," which was Bill Clinton's theme song - and it's even sung by the female vocal half of that song, Christine McVie. That's right folks, an outtake, a demo version, just piano and drums and voice. And then, there are the lyrics: in spite of the subtitle (Keep Me There) the sparce lyrics say "Don't leave me in the dark, I need you here with me... Don't leave me in this mess."

Don't know if this helps us draw a conclusion, though: does it mean Hillary will pick up the mantle? Or will she be left alone in the dark? Perhaps this is a good place to point out that the Dems divvy up their delegates by percentage in a lot of today's states - meaning that it is pretty UNlikely that we'll know who the Democratic candidate is going to be in time for Ash Wednesday Mass.

Lastly - what do you have to say about the Giant Superbowl victory and ticker tape extravaganza?

• Los Lobos - Somewhere in Time

Huh. This actually moves me a little.

I'm not a Giants fan. Not really a football fan in general, but definitely not a Giants fan or a fan of New York sports in general (Mets excepted). In fact, I refer you to a hilarious video on YouTube showing a clip from Downfall with Bruno Ganz as Hitler, but with made-up captions making it look as though they're talking about football rather than military action. I'm not putting up the link or the viddy, because it is utterly inappropriate and offensive in the way that only parodies of Hitler can be, but you can easily find it by searching "Hitler Cowboys Football" on YouTube. And it's pee-your-pants funny.

However, this song sheds light on the parade for me much more than on the victory. Reminds me how good it feels to know that throngs of people can use the Wall Street area way downtown as a place of celebration again. Certainly couldn't have been a parade there if the Yanks had won in 2001. And it does seem like last year had a big move forward in terms of being able to speak reasonably about that chunk of land, so this championship might even have been one of the first chances New York had to celebrate a victory down there.

So ok, maybe it's maudlin, sentimental and bittersweet to hear it that way. But here are the lyrics to the song, by David Hidalgo, Louie Perez and Dave Alvin.

I hear a voice singing somewhere in time
A song I knew so long ago
It takes me back to places somewhere in time
To everyone I used to know

I see a face I remember somewhere in time
Someone I love who's gone away
Gone away somewhere in time
one away somewhere in time

Another night, on a highway somewhere in time
Darkness plays those tricks on me
Far down the road in the shadows somewhere in time
Am I the man I'm supposed to be?

I see a light, shining somewhere in time
A lonely light to lead me on
To lead me on somewhere in time
To lead me on somewhere in time

Wake from a dream, a dream from somewhere in time
I rub my eyes so I can see
You're standing there before me somewhere in time
Standing there waiting for me

And I'll take your hand someday somewhere in time
Forever I'll be here with youI'll be with you somewhere in time
I'll be with you somewhere in time
I'm here with you somewhere in time

Sports and Politics

They kind of seem like too much of the same thing right about now, don't they?

Well, leaving aside the bizarre non-joke from the people at NOW NY, which I can't even comment on because my mind is still too scrambled (plus, having a penis, what right do I have to join in that conversation? I'm going to throw up.) we now have the chance to wonder what effect Florida will have on the Primaries in general. Looks like Giuliani is out (whew!), as is Edwards (sigh). The Republicans are letting the winner-take-all contest ride, but the Democrats are punishing the Sunshiners for moving up their contest by disallowing the delegates. Hmm... think they'll hold to that? If it's close come Convention time, will the Machine reverse its decision and let Florida's and Michigan's (both won by Clinton) votes count after all? Wagers?

Meanwhile, the Packers. SIGH... Bret, Bret, Bret... What happened, man? Where was the fire? Where was the passion? Where was that guy who was ready to go out on top in a blaze of glory?? God was on your side (4 below, dude!) and the Giants did everything they could to lose.

So, ok, go Patriots. No exclamation point, though. My Boston loyalties outweigh any Green Bay resentment. Gonna turn some of that leftover roast into chili; so that's something to look forward to, anyway.

Kinda tired of hearing about how hot Tom Brady and his girlfriend are though...

I did it...

And I feel dirty about it.

Something I've thought about for years, and never had the heart to try.

Risking damnation by association with the rotten underbelly of society, for the sake of... what? participation in a kinky ritual, far past its social validity or usefulness? a voice in the wilderness?

But... I did it.

I registered with a political party so I can vote in the closed primary on Super Duper Pooper Scooper Tuesday.

Now I feel like I need a shower.

"Debate"

Seems likely that we'll be having some more discussions of politics here from time to time as the '008 U.S. Presidential Election gets nearer.

For the moment, have a look at this viddy dramatizing the 'fairness' of the medium-early Democratic debates. It's more effective if you watch the whole thing (takes about 2 & 1/2 minutes)


Brings to mind George Orwell, no? "All animals are created equal. But some animals are more equal than others."

Yeah, there's more to come on the issue of the 'liberal media' too...

Stem Cell Rejection

Yesterday was what was generally considered a pretty insignificant election day. No national-level offices at stake, and few Governorships up for grabs.

New Jersey did have elections for some of its State and County offices, and a few referendum questions. To our shame, we rejected a proposal to fund important stem cell research. This was considered a slam dunk by most analysts, but a last-minute push by right wingers evidently was enough to block it.

It's such important work, and I think potentially a very good source of revenue as well. The Garden State tends to be on the ball with this kind of thing, but clearly some better strategy was necessary here. I'm sad and a little embarrassed.

And that's the first time anyone has ever been embarrassed of New Jersey.

Oh, wait...