World Cup Fever!

I’ve got World Cup Fever!!!!… Last night I started thinking about the World Cup to come in 2006…..getting all- you know- excited------it may have been my subconscious operating; the first batch of tickets for Germany 2006 went on sale last week…. I may finally be able to begin the healing process vis a vis Argentina’s 2002 World Cup debacle..I don’t know if it is possible to ever fully put something like that behind…but the mere fact I’m writing about it shows I’m healthier than in a long time!… Argentina came into the World Cup 2002 as clear favorites (along with France) and bowed out in the first round including a humiliating 1-0 defeat at the hands of arch nemesis England…To give you an idea of the triumphalism that permeated Argentine society you could not go far before the Cup started without seeing graffiti reading “Argentina Campeon del Mundo 2002”…the country was in the throes of what I think qualifies as a great depression.. unemployment was at 25%...including underemployment the figure got closer to 40%...the entire country, including me, was consumed by the silly idea that even though we were a disaster in just about everything of any importance whatsoever all would be made good again/somehow justified by Argentina winning the World Cup…we would show the world: yes we may not be able to pay off our debts but we can win the World Cup! The rest as they say is history. .the team crashed and burned… Some of the seeds were planted at least six months earlier when I awoke, much like the entire country, to watch the World Cup draw at some ungodly hour like 5 am only to see Argentina included in the same group as England, Nigeria and Sweden... (our reward for our stellar qualifying campaign- THANKS FOR NOTHING FIFA!) at that point I knew things were going to be rough….the pressure on the players to win the entire thing could not have helped… nothing short of winning would be enough…. the country needed and demanded it…for some reason the Stallone movie “Victory” runs through my head…life is not the movies…but it’s a hard lesson to learn..

Argentina came into the World Cup having seemingly obliterated the competition in the qualifying phase which for the South America region consists of home and away games against all other teams…in other words something like 22 games over two years…. In any case, looking superficially at the numbers it sure seemed like Argentina was kicking major booty.. It sure seemed like Argentina should win the world cup but the numbers hid, as they often do, some disquieting realities….

first: dominating your region, when your region is typified by a certain style of play, does not mean you will dominate the world…. Argentina may have been the best South American side during qualifying but how good is South American soccer? Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador and Argentina's 2002 World Cup performances make me conclude: NOT THAT GOOD..… only Brazil (more on these pesky rats later) played well and of course .. as much as it pains me to admit.. won…seemingly out of nowhere… so… Argentina dominated a group with low level? Affirmative..that is my conclusion..we may have beat everyone during qualifying but in reality we beat nobodies….

second: argentina may have been very good at playing against “south American” style teams.. but this did little to prepare for an opening round with two northern European foes and an African team….in fact when you win 20 or so games playing in one style it reinforces the idea that if you keep playing that way you will win..furthermore, and no one in argentina wanted to admit this, while the team was “winning” many of the victories were a lot closer than they appeared to be.. in other words the reality that we barely won some matches or won while displaying poor form became lost.. I can’t remember the entire qualifying process. But I remember a game in Bolivia where argentina was down 3-1 and tied it 3-3 with two miraculous goals very late in the second half.. or a game against brazil in argentina where brazil was outclassing us and we tied it 1-1 towards the end on another miracle goal.. the signs were there that even the argentine pre world cup dominance was not all it was cracked up to be…but of course when luck is breaking your way you don’t think its luck but rather skill and great coaching!..

third: argentina head coach bielsa decided everything was going great and locked himself into a scheme regarding both strategy and players..since argentina was easily crusing through qualifying and the local press, international press and population were completely enamored of the team he decided there was no need to change or evolve… and that meant he took his eye off the ball….because had he been looking he would have seen one clear thing: his number one guy- the team engine- VERON was choking…. The pressure on this man who had carried the team during the first half of qualifying and stormed into Manchester United (hey even I bought his Man U jersey) with some phenomenal playing had built and built and somehow his game began to suffer.. his playing in Man U became lackluster..i think the brits would say his “form” suffered..but of course Veron was the guy that was supposed to carry the team.. and Bielsa failed to anticipate- his job- that Veron has lost his form….Veron was a non factor in the world cup….his passing was particularly ineffectual.. he lost his confidence and has never recovered…he went from Man U to Chelsea and then was I think lent or traded back to an Italian club where he is currently trying to find his way…. My point is: when you have the team built around a scheme that depends on one player for its creativity/spark and that guy loses it your team is going to suffer… But Bielsa’s failure to adjust- a 4 year cycle between Cups is a long time and players' level of play can come and go- cost Argentina dearly and more than just Veron as i will elaborate further... in all fairness however its not unusual for coaches to get locked in..

four: other Bielsa decisions come to mind.. one resembles the decision regarding Veron: Batistuta… now Bielsa knew Bati from the days he managed Newells (Bati’s came through Newells lower divisions) and they obviously have a tight relationship but why Bielsa insisted on having Bati be the starting center forward and refused to consider having two center forwards is something I will never understand.. when Crespo was on the bench.. Crespo before the 2002 world cup was a younger and more importantly hungrier player…. Bati was already on the downhill slalom of his career…. But Bati had scored over 35 goals for the Argentine side and most Argentines wanted him to get the starting nod.. still, it was a mistake and we saw this during the three games…the only goal Bati scored came off of his ear!!!!!!!! ..although more on this later since when a striker ain't striking its prudent to look at the midfield (eh, Veron?)... A miracle goal against Nigeria…. Which lulled Argentina into a false sense of overconfidence before the critical game.. the one that fittingly decided it all…..against England…Worse yet: Bielsa insisted that the players had to fit his system of 1 center forward and one wing forward instead of seeing that he had two great center forwards (cause even on the downhill slide Bati was still something to reckon with; its just that if he could have only one the choice should have been Crespo) and adapting the system to fit that reality..

I will continue but my fingers are cramping up.

Valentine's Day Song- Nick Cave's "Into My Arms"

it is little secret that nick cave is one of the more important poets currently working in the rock'n'roll biz...and i mean the "working" part as mr. cave labours over his craft like a mapmaker... he has vision, ambition and puts in the hours each morning... his "boatman's call" album from 1997 thematically akin to dylan's "blood on the tracks" is chock full of ruminations on the o so tricky aspects of love..."into my arms" is particularly poignant but the whole enchilada amazes:


Into My Arms

I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

And I don't believe in the existence of angels
But looking at you I wonder if that's true
But if I did I would summon them together
And ask them to watch over you
To each burn a candle for you
To make bright and clear your path
And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love
And guide you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

And I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
So keep your candles burning
And make her journey bright and pure
That she will keep returning
Always and evermore

Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms

Valentine's Day Massacre of 2005- No longer necessary to register to leave comments!

i had the wondrous idea of installing a feature called haloscan allowing readers to post comments without need of registering with blogspot.. i know from personal experience what a pain it is to sign up and then have to remember another password and username... anyhow, its a brilliant idea except i must have missed the haloscan warning that registering with them would eliminate all prior comments!!!!!!!! sheesh luis...

this haloscan thiggiemagig also includes the trackback feature... i'd prefer to disable it as it seems kind of obstrusive but so far i have not had luck in learning if it is possible to disable..

but at least now it will be easy to leave comments!......

now let me get back to my regularly scheduled smooching!!!!!!!

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

LAI

Don't Miss This One!!!!!!!

One of my favorite bands Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles, now based in New York City, are coming to town bringing their latin groove funk fun! The party is Friday March 18 at the Black Cat.

DEAN NOW OFFICIALLY DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN!!!!!!

YYYYYEARRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!

The passing of the torch! Outgoing DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe and incoming Chairman Howard Dean in Washington DC on Saturday.

The Way I See It- Dean as DNC Chairman

Margaret Carlson, called Dean a "lifelong centrist," and added, "He was head of the National Governors Association. He was a fiscal conservative. He was against the war, and he was portrayed as being left-wing, which he just is not. Then the right-wing media kind of portrayed him as an extremist, and then the mainstream media took the scream tape and turned him into kind of a nut. But I think he's transcended that since he's begun this. And even during the rest of the campaign, he was helpful, shrewd. He's been cheerful. He's not as down as the rest of the Democrats. And he can give a speech. He can talk. I think he is a great choice."

A little historical perspective on the Pazz & Jop

Snagged from Acclaimed Music Forum:

The number of points and the number of ballots are presented on their website for all lists since 1997. Calculating the number of points divided by the number of ballots gives the following top 10 from 1997-2004:

Albums
1. OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
2. Bob Dylan - Love and Theft (2001)
3. OutKast - Stankonia (2000)
4. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)
5. Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of ... (1998)
6. Bob Dylan - Time out of Mind (1997)
7. Kanye West - The College Dropout (2004)
8. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
9. Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
10. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)

My thoughts:

Difficult to argue with five of these records: Elephant, OK Computer, Time Out of Mind, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and Love and Theft; great works of art people will always appreciate. I don't foresee 99 used copies of these records available at Amazon starting at $2.34. OK Computer has aged particularly well.

Of the other five I am unable to listen to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill end to end while Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is good but contrary to popular opinion Summer Teeth is Wilco's best. I am skeptical of the value of Stankonia, Speakerboxx / Love Below, and The College Dropout . They lack long term staying power. Outkast in particular is hype. I'd be surprised if anybody is listening to these three records in ten years.

Village Voice Pazz & Jop 2004 Poll Results!

The past few years I've been reading the Pazz and Jop poll assembled by Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau...Pazz and Jop basically functioned as my Grammy Awards! I'd wait until it came out and if I had "missed" a few well placed records go out and snag them; probably at the underground music store in New York City a block from Tower on Broadway. During 2004 I heard few new albums and doubt I'm going to run out the door though a few lower ranked albums peak my interest (#99 Rio Baile Funk/Favela Booty Beats). If there ever can be such a thing the list represents the American music critic concensus. Time will tell if these records hold up or eventually make their way to landfills across America. Glad to see Loretta Lynn at number 3; Van Lear Rose was my favorite and confirms that even while on "sabbathical" Jack White who produced it is the man in modern rock and roll. Nice to see Green Day back up there for having some ambition. Another ambitious feller, Nick Cave, is appropriately on the list if a bit too low. Per usual Wilco is far too high and what are the Libertines doing here? And- gasp- U2 in the top 10? However, overall this is a good representative list. One further nitpicking note: For the first time, I notice a reissue on the list of "new albums." Though I know Faces' Five Guys Walk Into a Bar.. deserves accolades, and its a box set I will acquire it ought not be here (see my brief blurb on Faces of February 2). I'm going to read some of the essays and find out what Christgau has to say about 2004. There's also a singles list and I acclaim with a hearty hear hear Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out as Single of the Year. Below the first 40 albums on the Pazz and Jop.

1. Kanye West The College Dropout
2. Brian Wilson Smile
3. Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
4. Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
5. Green Day American Idiot
6. Arcade Fire Funeral
7. Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free
8. U2 How to dismantle an atomic bond
9. Modest Mouse Good News
10. Danger Mouse The Grey Album
11. Madvillain Madvillainy
12. TV On the Radio Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
13. Wilco A Ghost is Born
14. Riko Riley More Adventurous
14. Nellie McKay Get Away From Me
16. Drive By Truckers The Dirty South
17. Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat
18. Bjork Medulla
19. Interpol Antics
20. Joanna Newsom The Milk Eyed Mender
21. Animal Collective Sung Tongs
22. Eliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill
23. MIA/Diplo Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1
24. Dizzee Rascal Showtime
25. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus
26. Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters
27. Killers Hot Fuss
28. Davendra Banhart Rejoicing in the Hands
29. Tom Waits Real Gone
30. The Libertines Libertines
31. Hold Steady Almost Killed Me
32. Ghostface The Pretty Toney Album
33. PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her
34. Yossou N'Dour Egypt
35. Usher Confessions
36. Morrissey You Are the Quarry
37. Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse
38. Black Keys Rubber Factory
39. Big & Rich Horse of a Different Color
40. A.C. Newman Slow Wonder

47west63rd MILESTONE!!!!!!!!!!!

yes faithful readers... all that blogging is paying off!... word is spreading and the cult is building.... the comments may be on the sparse side but later today we will welcome our 1000th visitor!!!!!!!!!...

can a sponsorship deal with nike and heineken be far behind?!?

Jimmy Smith now featured artist at RADIOLANDIA

check it at www.freewebtown.com/radiolandia

Howard Dean Victory Party!

Last night Tiffiny and I attended the Howard Dean/Democracy for America gathering at the Capitol City Brewery here in Washington DC which overlooks the Capitol... We showed up 40 minutes early to find hundreds of people in line.... The mood was one of happiness and to some degree pride in our man Howard Dean being about to become Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In the end over 1200 people showed up and Dean spoke twice: once inside (where we were lucky enough to get in) and once outside to those gathered on the balcony.

We were ecstatic that Dean is set to assume this important position as titular head of the party's steering committee for the next few years...God knows the party needs some backbone... He made clear he is going to keep on being himself.... he's going to keep yelling!!!!!!!! For us, who believed so much in the Doctor only to see his presidential bid go up in flames (Dean would have beat Bush!) there was vindication in the air last night... the anti-establishment forces are taking over the establishment! Dean secured this position because of the hard work and commitment of the progressive grass roots which he energized like no other candidate (Kerry who? first people voted for him in the primary cause the media said a vietnam vet could defeat bush [boy did that ever prove to be wrong, eh?], then democrats rallied around him because he won the primaries but he couldn't light a fire in hell if his life depended on it)..

The event last night was somewhat odd because it almost felt like a campaign stop and I think that is unusual in a presumptive DNC Chair but then again Howard Dean ain't your average John and its time the Democratic Party shake things up...Last night was our night.......

Time to go home and get to work rebuilding the party!

Howard Dean presses the flesh...

Dean delivers again!

Check out the cutie with Dean in the background!

Howard Dean introduces a special guest: Senator Jeffords!

Twas a good night (check out all that beer)

-

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

THIS was Jimmy Smith! (This is the original deep groove Blue Note LP recorded nearly 48 years ago on February 12, 1957)

The All Music Guide on Jimmy Smith

Though he never received any exaggerated title, Jimmy Smith certainly ruled the Hammond organ in the '50s and '60s. He revolutionized the instrument, showing it could be creatively used in a jazz context and popularized in the process. His Blue Note sessions from 1956 to 1963 were extremely influential and are highly recommended. Smith turned the organ into almost an ensemble itself. He provided walking bass lines with his feet, left hand chordal accompaniment, solo lines in the right, and a booming, funky presence that punctuated every song, particularly the up-tempo cuts. Smith turned the fusion of R&B, blues, and gospel influences with bebop references and devices into a jubilant, attractive sound that many others immediately absorbed before following in his footsteps. Smith initially learned piano both from his parents and on his own. He attended the Hamilton School of Music in 1948, and Ornstein School of Music in 1949 and 1950 in Philadelphia. Smith began playing the Hammond in 1951, and soon earned a great reputation that followed him to New York, where he debuted at the Café Bohemia. A Birdland date and 1957 Newport Jazz Festival appearance launched Smith's career. He toured extensively through the '60s and '70s. His Blue Note recordings included superb collaborations with Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks, Jackie McLean, Ike Quebec, and Stanley Turrentine, among others. He also did several trio recordings, some which were a little bogged down by the excess length of some selections. Smith scored more hit albums on Verve from 1963 to 1972, many of them featuring big bands and using fine arrangements from Oliver Nelson. These included the excellent Walk on the Wild Side. But Verve went to the well once too often for crossover dollars, loading down Smith's late-'60s album with hack rock covers. His '70s output was quite spotty, though Smith didn't stop touring, visiting Israel and Europe in 1974 and 1975. He and his wife opened a club in Los Angeles in the mid-'70s. Smith resumed touring in the early '80s, returning to New York in 1982 and 1983. He re-signed with Blue Note in 1985, and has done more representative dates for them and Milestone in the '90s. After a five-year layoff, Smith returned in early 2001 with the blues projects Fourmost Return and Dot Com Blues.

Pictures from Argentina-Germany

Argentina's man of the match. Hernan "Bati Who?" Crespo

riquelme reasserts himself in the Argentine midfield... Argentina's hopes in 2006 right now rest on his shoulders..

Zannetti (left) fights for the ball with unidentified teuton. That or they are doing the hokey pokey..

Soccer "Friendly"

Argentina and Germany played yesterday in Germany. Both teams are reorganizing under new coaches.. Germany under Klinsmann and Argentina under Pekerman (yes, that is his name i ain't making this stuff up).. Anyways I did not see the game as I live in a soccer-forsaken country but apparently the game was a great one with Germany leading the way with two first half goals... then Argentina reasserted itself and took over and drew 2-2 with two goals by forward Hernan Crespo who had been given up for dead last year but now is scoring goals like they are going out of style.. This team also featured Riquelme in midfield and seems to have worked allright... Encouraging news for both teams!

I know Argentina has let everyone down in the past few World Cups but hope springs eternal and I'm hopeful they can make a more impressive showing in the 2006 World Cup...Germany, as host, and with their World Cup track record has to be the favorite going in.

The funky master of the hammond Jimmy Smith (Kenny Burrell in background)

The master of the jazz organ- Jimmy Smith- has died.

man, and i was just listening to "Prayer Meetin'" , his Blue Note lp collaboration with Stanley Turrentine, last night and the night before.. well he is gone...

a special 47west63rd tribute will follow...

RADIOLANDIA BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!

check out the inagural radio transmission featuring Sumo (see story below) at:

www.freewebtown.com/radiolandia

you must double click on songs to listen

Luca Prodan

Luca Prodan- Brother You are Missed.

These musings were prompted by a statement made by a musician friend of mine whose band “Nayas” cover Sumo’s “Heroin.” Check out Sumo on my first radioblog entry at www.freewebtown.com/radiolandia

Sumo was a band from Argentina that lasted from 1981 until the death of its lead singer/songwriter/force Luca Prodan on December 22, 1987. Sumo and Luca were one and the same. Upon Lucas' passing the remaining band members wisely dissolved Sumo. Some of the band continued as “Las Pelotas” – the balls- while others went on as “Divididos”- divided- an allusion to Sumo’s album “Divididos por la Felicidad”. Both bands can't hold a candle to Sumo on days when Luca had his worse hangover.

I don’t think there’s even been anyone quiet like Luca Prodan. He was completely unique. Perhaps that is why I found my friend’s comment that Luca ripped off Lou Reed’s “Heroin” odd.. Feel free to listen to Luca’s version at my radioblog (link above).

To this day Luca’s life remains shrouded in contradictions. The story goes like this: he was born around 1954 in Italy to an Italian father and Turkish mother, was of Scottish descent, went to a private school in England, moved to italy where he was arrested for failing to do his military service, returned to London for the punk explosion/music of the late 70s, got addicted to heroin, saw a picture of peaceful Cordoba an Argentine friend whom he’d gone to private school with sent him and decided he either got out of London or died. Altough his original idea was to become involved in agriculture he gravitated back to the music and in 1981 set up a band and moved to the more happening capital; Buenos Aires. He felt that Argentina was “behind the times" when it came to rock music and had not absorbed the punk and post punk revolutions; local bands were still largely focused on classic and prog rock. Luca introduced Argentines, in my opinion, to punk and all the strains of darker rock that come via the Velvet Underground. In effect all modern “alternative” rock in Argentina comes by way of Sumo. What is remarkable is how well he accomplished the synthesis of cultures and music in creating a variant of a modern rock and roll relevant to argentines…He really opened up argentine rock and single-handedly modernized it. Bands such as Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Soda Stereo would probably never have come about where it not for Sumo.

After slowly conquering the local club scene the old fashioned way Sumo cut their three important records; “Dividos Por La Felicidad”, “Llegando Los Monos” and “After Chabon.” Sumo’s music is a hybrid mix of punk, rock and reggae with songs dominated by Luca’s presence and charisma, sung in English or Spanish and featuring atypical instrumentation such as the saxophone. Sumo were an unorthodox band from the scottish romp "Cruachan" (loosely borrowing from Jack and the Bean Stalk) to the aforementioned "Heroin" which segues in and out of a woman's shampoo commercial (wellapon)!. Amazingly, Luca learnt argentine Spanish in a few months and sounds more Argentine than the tango! Luca's rarest attribute is that he is bilingual and multicultural. He sings songs in spanish or english and sometimes even moves effortlessly from one language to another, and even from one way of looking at your world to another, and does it convincingly. Thematically Sumo songs are mainly Luca’s impressions about the same things all rock'n'roll is about: sex, drugs, rock, growing up “Your daddy says I’m no good no good”, more drugs in his case, and the sometimes vapid society he saw around him (encapsulated perfectly in “La Rubia Tarada” aka “The Idiot Blonde”) all channeled through his sardonic punk lens. Make no mistake about it Luca was above all else punk:

Oigo "dame" y "quiero" y "no te metas"
"Te gustó el nuevo Bertolucci?".
La rubia tarada, bronceada, aburrida,
me dice "Por qué te pelaste?"
Y yo "Por el asco que dá tu sociedad.
Por el pelo de hoy ¿cuánto gastaste?"

I hear “give me” and “I want” and “don’t get involved”
“Did you like the new Bertolucci?”
The idiot blonde: tanned, bored,
Tells me “Why did you shave your head?”
And I: “Cause of how sick your society makes me feel.
For today’s hair how much did you spend?”

Like most punks in the 1970s be it the Clash, the Ruts or whoever, Luca took a lot from reggae and many of his more succesfull songs are reggae tunes (Kaya, 1989, Que Me Pisen). Check out Regtest:

Algunos lo llaman el reggae cordobes (some call it the Cordoba reggae)
Play I some music
I hope I don't come on too strong
You can't refuse it
But you know you might be wrong
You could call it reggae
You couldn't call i t rock and roll
Come on, get ready
'cos there's a big ball going to roll
You'd better get up brother, up brother,
Up brother yeah!
Don't you go too far!
'cos then you'll come down brother,
Down brother, down brother, down yeah!
Like a shooting star.
I had a dream oh yeah, in 1973
I dreamt a spaceship, come down to deliver me
Well it was big and white
And it had come a long long way
A black star liner?
You know, I could not say
But it took me up brother, up brother
up brother, up brother, yeah
You know, it took me far!
Then it brought me down brother, down brother
Down brother, down brother, down yeah!
Like a shooting star.

Above all he was an expressive and intense singer who commanded your attention.. when he sang something you listened and believed it.. the fact that this largely foreign "punk" with an English schooling was able to break out within a very conservative uptight society just coming out of a military dictatorship in 1982 still dominated by prog rock and that had gone to war with England -precipitating a short term ban on rock in english on the radio- tells you something about the man!…He was on a par with the greats of rock and roll yet he is largely unknown outside Argentina. Its heartbreaking that Luca was unable to conquer his personal demons heroin and later to a greater effect gin. On the previously mentioned "La Rubia Tarada" after being sickened by the shallowness of the society, the poseur clubs, the wannabe punks, etc he ends with what I think makes a fitting epitaph for this man of the world who somehow ended up in Argentina and whose remains lie there in the Cemetery Chacarita:

Basta!
Me voy, rumbo a la puerta
y después al boliche de la esquina
a tomar una ginebra con gente despierta.
Esta si que es Argentiiiinaaaaaaaaaa!

Enough!
I'm outta here, on the way to the door
and then to the bar on the corner
to drink myself some gin with people who are alive.
This really is (i.e. could only be) Argentiiiinaaaaaaaaaaa! (emphasis on sarcasm)


But he lives on, for example, at Bossa on Saturday night's (Bossa is located at 2463 18th Street and Nayas usually begin their sets about 11).

Some Luca Prodan links-


If you are looking to buy some Sumo you can't beat the "Obras Cumbres" ("Great Works") 2 disc compilation available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/artist/glance/-/241211/ref=pd_ap_sr/103-8121102-8984637

Luca Prodan film:

http://www.cinenacional.com/peliculas/index.php?pelicula=2934

Origins of Sumo (great story in Spanish)- [origines de Sumo]:

http://www.stormpages.com/marting/alosumo.htm

Sumo web page (pagina web):

http://www.sumo.4t.com/

Another Sumo web page (pagina web):

http://www.de-be-de.com.ar/indexo.htm

And another Sumo web page (pagina web):

http://sumo.rock.net.ar/

Rant......the Dud Bowl!

i just wasn't made for these "super" bowls...

first of all i'd like to thank my hosts last night!.. they kept me well fed and the drinks were copious.. the TIVO was a nice touch...and thanks so much for the cds..i've been wanting to listen to some shuggie otis for a while.

but last night might be the last "american football" game i ever watch...since the mid 80s when i actually caught the bug while in the bay area where the san francisco 49ers were putting together a dynasty the game has lost its allure for me and its rare that i watch anything other than the super bowl..sure i follow the regular season..read an article here or there in order to be well prepped for the ocassional bar talk..but i am increasingly reluctant.... here are my super bowl super pet peeves:

#1: who wants to put themselves through more than an hour of commercials? i mean the game itself has got to be pretty boring if people watch the game for the commercials!.. and i don't thrive in watching people trying to sell me really really bad beer...i need lots of brew to get through the dud bowl but i need good beer!

#2: the game itself is ridiculous.. each team has over 50 players.. many of whom weigh over 320 pounds! now i've heard the arguments that these are incredible species of athletes but pardon my incredulity .. they must be incredible athletes for PEOPLE WHO WEIGH OVER 320 POUNDS!....these human refrigerators with more padding than a couch run around trying to hit each other down... more ungainly and unseemly and less athletic moves than an offensive line and defensive line going at each other is hard to envision...the spectacle looks like really bad sex.. its as if you take 50 sumo wrestlers divided them by two and have them take a synchronized go at each other!

#3: this game takes way too long!.... i mean a typical game is close to four hours...it takes 4 hours to get through four 15 minute quarters...for every minute you are watching something happening there are three minutes where there ain't nothin' goin' on!!!! now the much maligned baseball (which i prefer) takes far less time and does not feature the incessant stop-starts that are a hallmark of pansyball. heck half time at the superbowl lasts 45 minutes!..which brings me to point 4

#4: when my favorite aspect is watching the half time show thats saying something... at least last night Paul McCartney sounded and looked GREAT!.... what a sweet set list too: drive my car into get back into live and let die into hey jude....which brings me to point 5

#5: the crass commercialism behind the super bowl makes me want to yak... last night as paul mccartney led the crowd into the "nananan" chorus of hey jude we saw the thousans of fans in the stands watching the game at the stadium (those "lucky" enough to have hundreds of dollars to spare for a ticket) being used by the corporate powers that be to hold up signs creating a massive billboard reading na-na-na and featuring the pepsi logo colors.. pardon me but thats just sick!...which brings me to the most twisted nightmarish thing i saw last night

#6: now i know our country is in a very (stupid) important war it CHOSE to be in and had no need to be in.. but do we really need to mix in the military motif with our crass commercialism and the dud bowl itself? this super bowl is the modern day equivalent of the roman circus with none of the fun!.. at least at the circus you got to see lions chowing down on hapless helpless humans....... but i digress.. is it necessary to include a tribute to the world war II fighters in a super bowl?.. would not arlington national cemetery be a more appropriate forum for this?.. and then for the television to switch to our military all around the world with a "see how great we are we got camp 'victory' in irak, we got camp yadadya in afghanistan and these soldiers here..... we are the EMPIRE!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo!!!!!!! rah rah! lets play ball".. is just sad... i am afraid tis the mark of an insecure nation made up of uneducated people.... the traditional blue angels overflight and anthem should have more than sufficed to fulfill the jingoistic quota....

#7 and i may be beginning to be guilty of this- which is why i will not watch it again- but to a far less degree than many people i've see at recent super bowl parties: if you don't like american football...if you don't know anything about football.. if you prefer watching commercials to the game itself... if you won't stand for people talking during commercials but feel a need to jibber jabber like mork during the game itself and the half time show while the beatle performs.. STAY THE F*&^ HOME! you don't HAVE TO watch the game!.. if all you want is to share a few beers and you don't have any interest in the game do something else...

hence my conclusion.. its going to take a heck and i mean HECK of a party to get me to subject myself to this crap again....that my fellow americans continue to thumb their nose at the beautiful game (the real FOOTBALL lemmings! what you call sock-her) while masochistically torturing themselves with this pansy variant of rugby and crass commercialism remains one of the great mysteries of my time...

Juan Roman Riquelme: the big question: can he lead Argentina to a World Cup title? He's certainly showing signs of it at Spanish club side Villareal which has climbed to fifth in La Liga, won six games in a row and not lost since November 28, 2004! Roman who led Boca Juniors to many titles and was considered Maradona's heir there has been the favorite of Argentines for years and finally is showing signs of adapting to European soccer after troubles with Barcelona. He can score goals but above all he can play as a traditional creative playmaking "10" with precise piercing passing.

roman

We are number one baby!!!!!!!!!

The new International Federation of Football History and Statistics are out and my team: Boca Juniors is the World's top club! That's right baby!!!!

Club World Ranking
Club-Weltrangliste
Clasificación Mundial de los Clubes
Classement Mondial des Clubs
by IFFHS
from www.iffhs.de
Top 350
(1st February 2004 - 31st January 2005)

1. (2.) CA Boca Juniors Buenos Aires Argentina/4 270,0
2. (3.) Manchester United FC England/4 269,0
3. (8.) AS de Monaco France/4 253,0
4. (1.) Valencia CF España/4 250,0
(7.) Santos FC Brasil/4 250,0
6. (5.) Arsenal FC London England/4 249,0
7. (16.) Club Brugge KV Belgique/3 242,0
8. (13.) Chelsea FC London England/4 238,0
9. (12.) São Paulo FC Brasil/4 234,0
10. (6.) FC Juventus Torino Italia/4 232,0
(10.) Newcastle United FC England/4 232,0
12. (17.) Villarreal CF España/4 231,0
13. (4.) Real Madrid CF España/4 227,0
14. (15.) SV Werder Bremen Deutschland/4 225,0
15. (10.) Milan AC Italia/4 224,0
16. (19.) FC Internazionale Milano Italia/4 222,0
(9.) FC do Porto Portugal/3 222,0
18. (21.) Sport Lisboa e Benfica Portugal/3 219,0
19. (18.) Glasgow Celtic FC Scotland/3 217,0
20. (19.) Olympique Lyonnais France/4 216,0
21. (22.) CA River Plate Buenos Aires Argentina/4 208,0
22. (14.) FC Barcelona España/4 206,0
23. (24.) CD Once Caldas Manizales Colombia/3 203,5
24. (27.) PSV Eindhoven Nederland/3 202,0
25. (25.) AD São Caetano Brasil/4 196,0

Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love"... A 1964 printing once the movie had come out...

The essence of rock and roll in 171 words or less

Stay With Me (Ron Wood-Rod Stewart)

In the mornin' don't say you love me,
'cause i'll only kick you out of the door
I know your name is rita 'cause your perfume's smellin' sweeter
Since when i saw you down on the floor.

Guitar!

Won't need to much persuadin'
I don't mean to sound degradin',
But with a face like that you got nothin' to laugh about.
Red lips, hair and fingernails,
I hear you're a mean old jezebel
Lets go up stairs and read my tarot cards

Come on!

Stay with me, stay with me

For tonight you'd better stay with me
Stay with me, stay with me
For tonight you'd better stay with me

Oh yeah!

So, in the mornin', please don't say you love me
'cause you know i'll only kick you out the door
Yeah, i'll pay your cab fare home, you can even use my best cologne,
Just don't be here in the mornin' when i wake up

Come on honey!

Stay with me, stay with me
Cause tonight you're gonna stay with me
Sit down, get up, get out.

Hey what's your name again?

Get out!

woo!

Get yourself home!

Now crankin': File Under Chuck Berry-AC DC- Memphis- Stones- Rock and Roll

Faces 1971 LP "A nod is as good as a wink...to a blind horse"- Warner Brothers BSK 2574. This is the better Faces album. What to say about it? Faces was the early 1970s band which included Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, Ian Mclagan and Kenney Jones. At the time Rod Stewart was just breaking out as a solo star and his partnership with Ron Wood put to wax a great number of tunes including the "Every Picture Tells A Story" LP and a number of cuts on various Faces LPs....Rod was a great old school r&b rock and roll styled singer before he went on to other things.. Good harmless fun rock and roll... to me Faces built on the bad old boy fun side of the Rolling Stones and took it a bit further... The Stones noticed and eventually would recruit Faces guitarist Ron Wood to replace Mick Taylor..Ron Wood really does share a lot in style and substance with Keith Richards.... "A nod is as good as a wink" includes one of the best rock and roll songs of all time and the lone Faces hit: "Stay With Me" (the current crop of bands running rock into the ground could learn a lot from the lyrics reproduced above)...If you ever wondered, and you may well not have, where the Black Crowes got their sound look no further.. Ron Wood/Keith Richards' guitar slashing tone, to me, is one of the great sounds in rock.... Like AC DC, whom they remind me of, the Chuck Berry influence is front and center here (album even features a cover of "Memphis")..

Ron Wood and Keith Richards putting forth their best Chuck Berry mug

Site of the Week- WEEN!

Dean, Gene, Stu and the crew throwing down May 3 2003 in New Orleans! (Click on picture!) The site of the week is a treasure trove of assorted Ween including two shows at the 9:30 Club- my first too- and the original 12 Golden Country Greats demos (with their tribute to Jerry Garcia "So long jerry" subsequently and wisely kept off the album): check it at www.weenftp.org/ween!

Mass. and 18th Street...Washington DC this time of year can be very beautiful if snow arrives..and it can feel really good...this Sunday afternoon was particularly gorgeous after the snow stopped falling and the sun came out...these are a few pictures i took on my way around Dupont Circle-Adams Morgan..you must click on them to obtain the full Ansel Adams effect

Dupont

Q Street & Connecticutt

Dupont Circle (view up Connecticutt North)

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

We endorse Howard Dean for Democratic National Committee Chair!

"Hi, I'm Richard B. Cheney but you can call me DICK. I'm the Vice President of the United States (some say President) and I show my respect for the more than a million jews murdered here at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp by representing my country wearing a parka and hiking boots to a formal commemoration service."

"Hello, My name is Paul Giamatti and I was the lead in the movie 'Sideways'.. you may have heard of the movie..the Academy nominated it for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.... People say I carried the movie yet I was robbed of my Oscar Nomination!"

New comedy album from Bob Pollard of Guided By Voices.. limited edition: go to www.robertpollard.net to order...features classics such as "hopeless, pathetic alcoholics" and "cocker, meatloaf and daltrey"!

Today the world commemorates 60 years since the liberation of the German concentration camp Auschwitz where during World War II over a million jews were killed. Auschwitz is in Poland and I always wonder if some of my Grandfather's family from Poland - my family - was murdered there. In any case, the human family was murdered there.

-

Wake Up America! (edited 1-26-05 7:01 pm)

I am angry and I am alienated from American society right now. Our ill fated adventure in Iraq is going from bad to worse and we promote the architect of the policy, Condolezza Rice, to Secretary of State?! We retain the services of the prime implementer, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and rid ourselves of a voice of reason and moderation, now former Secretary of State Colin Powell. How does this make sense? Are we trying to encourage tunnel vision in our effort not to improve things? Meanwhile society remains asleep with what can best be described as an aw-shucks attitude of "well the people voted for Buuuush..so..this is the way things got to be even though it ain't gonna work and we gotta support our Commander in Chief." The media largely continues to report the Pentagon party line and dissenters are deemed unpatriotic while their marches and rallies, as on inaguration day, are confined to parks blocks away from the event, or unbelievably as during the Democratic National Convention, to a metal cage. Subsequently, of course, the media reports the protesters as a few isolated troublemakers (see Boston Globe January 21, 2005) All this while the President stakes the future of his administration and our country on a quest for universal freedom! Rather Orwellian, no?

We hold these truths to be self evident that the war in Irak is an unjust and illegal one with tens of thousands of dead iraquis already (100,000+ according to an independent study released late 2004) and many continuing to die (a majority are noncombatants) and thousands of americans (35 today give or take a few grieving mothers) die in the name of a lie- that Iraq posed a threat to our national security and possessed chemical and biological weapons it might use to arm terrorists. We hold the US responsible, and by extension its citizens including myself. The US invaded Iraq unilateraly and destroyed the existing order; in our haste to "debathify" -rid Iraq of structures formerly associated with Saddam Hussein's Bathist regime- we dissolved their security forces. Now we attempt to hastily create new Iraqui security forces while we scapegoat them for the problems in Iraq conveniently overlooking that thousands have died! You cannot make this stuff up! The so called terrorist attacks are the result of a struggle for liberation by a Sunni minority that perceives its freedom at stake -they believe the Shiites will win power for the first time in decades and opress them in retaliation for Saddam Hussein's regime. The interests of the Iraqui Sunni, at times, intersect with those of America's foes (Al Qaeda) but to categorize all Sunnis rising up against the American occupation as terrorists is a self serving tall tale. The only way out of this quagmire is a negotiated peace with those opposed to our occupation and the elections as currently structured. The US ought to seriously consider encouraging autonomy for the predominantly Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni areas while bringing to the table a plan for a phased and coordinated withdrawal of American forces from Iraq (yes, an exit strategy). The attacks in Iraq are encouraged by our unwanted presence. This coming April will mark two years since our entry into Baghdad. It is time for us to go. The mechanism of a properly sequenced withdrawal can be worked out with the input of the Iraquis, the United Nations and other concerned parties. If we refuse to go we will eventually be run out but the needless suffering and useless expenditure will be magnified.

It is incorrect to describe Iraq's upcoming elections as free and fair because of the existing level of violence. If the United States held elections and important segments of the population were too scared to vote because a bomb might go off in front of their polling station would one characterize the elections as free and fair? If Iraquis living outside their country fear violence and register to vote in low numbers what does that say about the level of fear in large areas of Iraq.

The Iraq fiasco, combined with the Bush Administration's fiscal policy of "spend don't tax" (i.e., the "Argentina Model") may be taking a toll on Americans' standard of living. Can it be a coincidence that we are experiencing record deficits when the costs of the Iraq war by next year will have totalled US$ 300 billion? Yesterday we learned to expect a deficit of US$ 427 billion for the coming fiscal year largely the product of wartime expenditures and their close relatives pork belly politics and profiteering. Short term deficits might be justifiable during a Great Depression as a means of stimulating demand but these current deficits lack such a rationale. Meanwhile, European and Asian economies are able to allocate an increasingly larger share of government expenditures relative to ours to education and thereby bolster their competitiveness.

In addition, who can guarantee that our creditors will continue to finance our deficits by purchasing our Treasury Bills (US Bonds)? Our creditor nations such as China and Japan may begin to require higher interest rates in exchange for lending us money to, in effect, finance this war. Are we prepared to assume the consequences further increases in interest rates would involve as they work their way through the economy leading to higher inflation rates? The first casualty will be the real estate market but what about the impact on investment and jobs? Are we not concerned that confidence in our economy both internationally, as evidenced by the falling dollar, and at home (Wall Street) seems to be eroding? Ignoring the mounting evidence/problems is folly. Other stories we read in the newspaper tell us the National Guard is looking to offer active-duty soldiers US$ 15,000 bonuses to join the guard in an attempt to bolster its thinning ranks. Wars are expensive we would be better served by remembering George Washington's statement upon leaving office that we avoid unecessary entanglements abroad.

It is at the very least deserving of consideration to what if any degree we are in Iraq in order to benefit our trusted regional ally Israel. Vice President Cheney last week went as far as suggest the United States may have to take action in Iran in order to ensure we avoid Israel taking unilateral action. American foreign policy ought to be predicated on American interests and we have to consider the distinct possibility that our mainstream media is failing to draw a sharp distinction between Israeli and American interests. Let us remember the words of another former President, General Eisenhower, who upon leaving office cautioned against the US falling prey to a military industrial complex which would require ever increasing funds for military expenditures.

As Americans we should insist that our Government reflect the common sense values that have made our country great. We are not an imperialist nation and no Government of ours should utilize the deaths of thousands of Americans at the hands of terrorists to justify imperialist power grabs, all the while couched in lofty and beautiful political rhetoric about freedom for the Iraqui people. A globalized world with globalized threats does not obviate our inherent distaste for imperialism. If we want to encourage freedom we ought to end our purchase of oil from one of the more repressive regimes in the world (Saudi Arabia) and limit our foreign aid to others (Egypt). We ought to take a more proactive role in seeking to end the slaughter of innocent human beings in Darfur lest we find ourselves at the movies in ten years watching "Hotel Darfur". Above all we must act in as impartial a matter as possible, always taking into account our own interests, to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a manner that helps stabilize the region and end the plight of the Palestinian people and its use by terrorists to gain new recruits, funding, and converts.

Site of the Week!

http://www.acousticwood.net/livedive

the above link is hosting some hendrix live in a hotel room playing some songs solo (with electric guitar slightly amplified)...circa 1968.... on gipsy eyes jimi keeps playing even though you can hear the phone going on...

thanks to nathan for the link

A dark celebration: "Of war and peace the truth just twists.."

Return of the Purple One- Site of the Week

I missed some great shows last year but none more so than Prince's tour for Musicology...Prince's Tour last year grossed him the ungodly sum of over $90 million and sold out arenas across the country! He came to the MCI center and I slept on it.... I have a knack for doing that with shows at bigger venues.. In any case, thanks to a kind soul in France I'm celebrating my birthday groovin' to Prince's show from June 18, 2004 in his home town of Minneapolis. The band is smoking and includes Candy Dulfer AND Maceo Parker on saxes... They run through a ton of classics and even introduce some unusual teases (was that just Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" I heard?). Anyways, check it out for yourselves (the 2004ever icons):

http://redcorvertte.free.fr/livemusic.htm

Grant Green's "Nigeria" (January 13, 1962)

Blue Note records under the ownership and management of Alfred Lion -from 1939 until the mid 1960s- built up one of the most impressive catalogs in jazz history. Only the catalogs of Columbia Records and Clef/Verve are in the same ballpark but the former made a living raiding “minor” labels for already developed talent while the latter’s 60s output suffers from Norman Granz’s absence. Generally, Alfred released the better stuff and he, by all accounts (i.e., his former wife in Sharon Greene's piddling bio of Grant Green), really dug jazz guitarist Grant Green. It shows: dozens of Grant Green sessions were recorded and released by Alfred Lion and Green became the de facto Blue Note in house guitarist playing on dozens of high caliber sessions. Yet the "Nigeria" sessions recorded nearly 43 years ago on January 13, 1962 at the Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey remained unreleased until long after Alfred Lion had passed on. I guess there was so much great stuff being recorded by Blue Note at this time that some noteworthy performances were bound to slip through the cracks.

Grant Green made his name playing guitar in Saint Louis and then joined Lou Donaldson's band in 1960. What differentiates Grant Green from other guitarists is that he plays note by note and never plays chords. Apparently he was so blown away, like many people, by Charlie Parker -or so goes the story- that he decided to play like him on guitar. In the liner notes which accompanied “Nigeria” Ben Sidran summarizes Grant’s playing: “Some compared his hollow-bodied guitar style to that of the earliest pioneer, Charlie Christian. One also hears touches of that other great popularizer, Les Paul. For while Grant was not a radical player, he excelled at the basics and the subtleties: he could swing like crazy and he played the prettiest phrases. Grant Green made esoteric music easy for the average listener to get to, just as jazz singers have done for years. Grant Green was a popularizer and a singer on his instrument.”

Lou Donaldson brought him to New York in late 1960 and introduced him to Blue Note Records and the rest as they say is history. In early 1962 the “Nigeria” session was organized with Grant Green, the session leader, on guitar, Sonny Clark on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Art Blakey on drums. What a dream lineup! This was to be Grant Green and Art Blakey’s only recording session together and I doubt they ever played together again. Blakey and Blue Note soon ended their relationship. Although Blue Note had enough of his recordings in the “can” to keep putting them out over the years. In fact, Blakey's last sessions for Blue Note were only days later on January 20th on an unreleased Ike Quebec recording (also featuring Sonny Clark) and January 24 for the unorthodox “African Beat." Around this time Blakey decided to concentrate his own sessions as leader and end his work as a hired hand.

Sonny Clark, unlike Blakey, is not the household name he ought to be. To my ears he is one of the more impressive jazz piano players. Now I have not heard as much jazz as many but one early record Sonny distinguishes himself on is Serge Chaloff's wonderful "Blue Serge." In any case by the time Sonny Clark played on the “Nigeria” session he had a number of impressive dates under his belt including sessions as leader for “Dial S for Sonny”, “Sonny’s Crib” (with Coltrane and Byrd!- this session is Coltrane’s Blue Note debut with “Blue Train” still to come two weeks later), “Cool Struttin’”, and had just recorded “Leapin’ and Lopin” two months prior. A year to the day after this recording session and at the ridiculous age of 31 Sonny Clark passed away from a heroin overdose. What a loss! All Music Guide sums him up as having ”...developed an intricate and hard-swinging harmonic sensibility that was full of nuance and detail. Regarded as the quintessential hard bop pianist, Clark never got his due before he passed away in 1963 at the age of 31, despite the fact that it can be argued that he never played a bad recording date either as a sideman or as a leader.” And Wikipedia has this to say: “Sonny Clark is known for his unique touch, sense of melody and complex hard-swinging style.” I would add elegance to any description of his playing.

So what we have here ladies and gentleman is three absolutely first rate top shelf hard bop musicians getting together for an afternoon or evening jam session on a few choice standards. Sam Jones the bassist is no slouch either having previously played on Cannonball Adderley’s “Somethin’ Else.” Grant Green and Sonny Clark would play together on other sessions (“Gooden’s Corner”, “Oleo” and “Born to be Blue”) which have now been collected on a two CD set (along with “Nigeria”) and released under Grant Green’s name as “The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark.” All these sessions are recommended but “Nigeria” is the one with the added stick to stir the pot: Art Blakey!

The highlight of “Nigeria” is “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” The tune swings and lopes along beautifully- that is it cooks- and features some wonderful playing by both Grant and Sonny while Art Blakey, in his inimitable style, in addition to some rock solid drums, gets in on the action with “YYYYYAHHHHHH!”’s, “WWOOOAAAAHH!”’s, “HO HO HO HO!”, “UUUUUMMHHH!” and even “WOO HOO!” Towards the end of the song, when Blakey can take it no longer, given what he has witnessed and been part of, he cuts loose with some sweet licks of his own that must have shook the roof of the Van Gelder Studio. Ben Sidran writes: “..the endlessly good groove that is the star of the cut. Interspersed with Blakey’s press rolls, this fat-back groove- like those Art played on innumerable Jimmy Smith jam session dates- gets Grant all the way up on his toes. His tone is singing six different ways to Christmas, until he finally gets Blakey singing, for it is the drummer you hear shouting ‘whoa!’ and grunting in response to Grant’s precise preaching. By the time Sonny’s solo arrives, Blakey is putting as much vocal into the overhead mikes as the cymbal. Clark seems to goad him on, and finally, when he has taken his ninth chorus and seems ready to turn it back to Grant, Blakey won’t let him go. You can hear Art laughing and shouting to Sonny, ‘No, go ahead, go ahead.’ And go ahead he does, until Blakey finally turns him loose with an escalating series of strokes. As the song fades behind that Latin feel, I’m ready to do it all over.”

In sum, this is a wonderful hall of fame session that unfortunately remains semi-buried as part of an obscure two disc package of Grant Green Quartets with Sonny Clark. This is goosebump causing music and well worth checking out!

Grant Green's Nigeria recorded January 13, 1962 and orignially released in 1980 as Blue Note LT-1032

Current Listening: Sire SASD-7521- The Flamin' Groovies from 1976... American rock band goes to England and decides to rechannel 1964 Beatles.. so goes conventional wisdom but its not all beatles.. they do "She Said Yeah" which of course the Stones originally covered.. there's also a version of "misery" and also a song the Beatles would have been likely to jam around on.. Chuck Berry's "Don't you lie to Me".. this lp features the original "You tore me down" subsequently on Yo La Tengo's Fakebook... in addition Dave Edmunds produces and at least on "let the boy rock and roll" i could swear its his subsequent band Rockpile playing! Highly recommended stuff..oh and i almost forgot..this album includes one of the all time power pop anthems in "Shake Some Action"!

Wesley Clark

Meeting Wesley Clark!

On Wed. we attended a reception which counted with the presence of former Presidential candidate General Wesley Clark....This was organized by my friend Howard Park...

now I placed my poker chips behind Howard Dean.. but I have respect for Wesley Clark... if Dean could not win I probably would have wanted Clark....anyways to sum up his brief remarks (he had lost his voice):

1. Democrats need to focus on policies to improve the jobs picture.. right now we don't have an answer on how to keep jobs from going overseas.
2. Republicans are defining all the issues by claiming the language.. thats why we speak of "partial birth abortion" or "tax relief"....

in other words we have a problem with policy and with communication.. whats interesting about the second point is that its identical to the point made by lingust Lakoff in his recent book "Don't Think of an elephant"...check out the brief review from amazon.com which i reproduce here:

In the first of his three debates with George W. Bush, 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry argued against the war in Iraq not by directly condemning it but by citing the various ways in which airport and commercial shipping security had been jeopardized due to the war's sizable price tag. In so doing, he re-framed the war issue to his advantage while avoiding discussing it in the global terrorism terms favored by President Bush. One possible reason for this tactic could have been that Kerry familiarized himself with the influential linguist George Lakoff, who argues in Don't Think of an Elephant that much of the success the Republican Party can be attributed to a persistent ability to control the language of key issues and thus position themselves in favorable terms to voters. While Democrats may have valid arguments, Lakoff points out they are destined to lose when they and the news media accept such nomenclature as "pro-life," "tax relief," and "family values," since to argue against such inherently positive terminology necessarily casts the arguer in a negative light. Lakoff offers recommendations for how the progressive movement can regain semantic equity by repositioning their arguments, such as countering the conservative call for "Strong Defense" with a call for "A Stronger America" (curiously, one of the key slogans of the Kerry camp). Since the book was published during the height of the presidential campaign, Lakoff was unable to provide an analytical perspective on that race. He does, however, apply the notion of rhetorical framing devices to the 2003 California recall election in an insightful analysis of the Schwarzenegger victory. Don't Think of an Elephant is a bit rambling, overexplaining some concepts while leaving others underexplored, but it provides a compelling linguistic analysis of political campaigning. --John Moe

anyhow I think Wesley Clark, and Howard Dean (who wrote the foreword for the Lakoff book reviewed above), and I and many others are beginning to understand that the democrats are losing because of inability to connect/communicate with the american people...

going back to Wesley Clark: he seemed like the nicest guy, worked the room very well (good strong hand shake), was a bit shorter than i expected, and I hope he remains involved.. he made a point of saying he was going back to the private sector but was not ruling anything out for 2008! i also enjoyed hearing him refer to republican positions on issues as "right wing horse shit"...

My last post got me thinking

how strong a year was 1971, in terms of music, compared to other years (based on information at www.acclaimedmusic.net)?...

it looks like, based on my back of the envelope calculation that there are only a few stronger years: 1969, 1970, 1972, and 1977 come to mind...

and whats interesting is that the results on www.acclaimedmusic.net back up what i've always thought.. 1994 was a tremendous year for music.. i lived it.. i remember it and its true.. 1994 WAS the year.. it looks like it was a better year than any going back to 1979! time will tell if the music from 1994 holds up as well over time as the music from other years..

in fact one could argue there have been three golden spells for music: Golden Period I- Classic Rock: 1968-1972, Golden Period II- Punk 1977-1979, and Golden Period III- Alternative 1994.... and 1994 seems to have been a bit of an anomaly although 1995 was strong too... since 1995 however things have been rough...and i think the music coming out supports that...

at some point i'm going to do a more in dept statistical analysis of this to see if this is really true...

More proof it was all better on the year i was born!

i thought i'd post a list of the most critically acclaimed rock albums from 1971.. i'm listening to one right now.. "master of reality"...this list comes from the wonderful site www.acclaimedmusic.net..its amazing how much great music was coming out... 1971 looks like a really strong year (if this list doesn't make you cry about what passes for rock music nowadays nothing will)...i have yet to hear three of this albums though they have been on my list for a while: Tago Mago, Teenage Head and Maggot Brain.. I can live without hearing that Beach Boys:

1. Marvin Gaye "What's Going On"
2. Led Zeppelin "IV"
3. Joni Mitchell "Blue"
4. The Who "Who's Next"
5. The Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers"
6. Sly and the Family Stone "There's A Riot Goin' On"
7. David Bowie "Hunky Dory"
8. Carole King "Tapestry"
9. John Lennon "Imagine"
10. Allman Brothers Band "Live at Fillmore East"
11. Rod Stewart "Every Picture Tells A Story"
12. T Rex "Electric Warrior"
13. The Doors "LA Woman"
14. Janis Joplin "Pearl"
15. Can "Tago Mago"
16. Leonard Cohen "Songs of Love and Hate"
17. Beach Boys "Surf's Up"
18. Funkadelic "Maggot Brain"
19. Jethro Tull "Aqua Lung"
20. John Prine "John Prine"
21. Yes "Fragile"
22. Serge Gainsbourg "Histoire de Melody Nelson"
23. Neu! "Neu!"
24. Bob Marley and the Wailers "Soul Revolution/African Herbsman"
27. Flamin' Groovies "Teenage Head"
28. Black Sabbath "Master of Reality"
29. Van Morrison "Tupelo Honey"
32. Faces "A Nod is as good as a wink"
34. Kinks "Muswell Hillbillies"
36. Pink Floyd "Meddle"
44. BB King "Live in Cook County Jail"
46. Curtis Mayfield "Curtis Live"
47. Al Green "Al Green Gets Next to You"
50. Isaac Hayes "Shaft"

Flashback by Guest Poster Rich Bindell: A Post 9-11 Letter to Washington Post TV Critic Tom Shales

Hello Mr. Shales… you fellow American, you! (That includes Canada as well as countries in Latin America) I am writing in response to your review of Saturday Night Live’s first broadcast following September 11th. I should explain that the following comments are completely unrelated to my overall opinion of SNL’s ability to make me laugh over the years. If nothing else, this show has always been a postitive example of free speech in art. No matter how good or bad the quality may be, and it can be pretty bad at times, the right to critique our own society and those who govern our world must be preserved. If you can make us laugh, bravo! If you can make us laugh consistently while keeping the subject matter current for over 25 years, well that takes talent and perseverance. But can you do it at a time when our nation is experiencing grief, fear, anger, and anxiety simultaneously?

With that in mind, I question a few of the comments in your review. My first complaint is easy enough to address. You claim that SNL stole one of your jokes directly from an unrelated article you wrote for another publication. As you put it in your review, “The term Taliban was so unfamiliar, I wrote, that people may have confused it with a line from Harry Belafonte’s Banana Boat Song: “Come Mr. Taliban, tally me banana.” Don’t you think other people make that connection themselves?

Now to the purpose of the letter. I must defend one of America’s greatest songwriters, Mr. Paul Simon. You described his performance of The Boxer on the first SNL show following September 11th as “inappropriate to the occasion, especially with its references to ‘the whores on Seventh Avenue’ and ‘going home where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me.’" Have you listened to the entire song? This song’s message about receiving a sucker-punch from reality but getting back up to face it in order to move on couldn’t be more fitting given what’s happened. Furthermore, New Yorkers pride themselves on most things about their city. Good or bad, it’s New York. It’s reality. New York represents both the best and worst of our modern American society. I find it hard to believe that the parallels reflected in these lyrics would offend people if they really understood the song. Beware of criticizing a song unless you understand its message or you may end up like Ronald Reagan (or is it George Bush) wanting to recognize Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA as a flag waving jingoistic song while failing to understand its stinging critique of the Vietnam War and the treatment of our own veterans here at home. By focusing on one or two lines from The Boxer and taking them out of context you pretty much proved Paul Simon’s point that “a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest.”

You also wrote, “The worst thing was that all those members of the fire and police departments, and the mayor, had to stand by silently and stony-faced while Simon sang on.” Did you consider that it’s possible that the guests of honor requested that he play The Boxer? It’s one if his most popular songs and a great American anthem. Heck, even Bob Dylan recorded a studio version of it only a few months after Simon and Garfunkel released it and how often does that happen? Perhaps the honored guests understood how delicately Paul could pay tribute to the blue-collar members of New York’s workforce. Police and fire departments often draw quick criticism from the public until they are needed. Then, they respond without question and without recognition because they are needed and it’s their job to help us. They save our lives every day, and yet they are blue-collar workers. Well, the New York City Police and Fire Departments got a big punch in the face when they lost hundreds of lives on September 11th, and now they must keep moving. They must help New York clean up the debris, identify its family members, and get back to normal despite their own emotions and personal suffering. “In the clearing stands the boxer, and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminder of every glove that laid him down all cut until he cried out in his anger and his shame, I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains.”

Paul Simon is a staple on Saturday Night Live. He has been a musical guest on numerous occasions including wonderful performances with George Harrison. He is also a distinguished member of SNL’s glorious Five Timers Club having hosted the show over, yes you guessed it, five times! Paul Simon is a New Yorker who, except on screen in Annie Hall where he lampooned the New Yorker gone California, has always remained a New Yorker. He has almost become a symbol for New York. Who does not remember seeing a picture of him wearing a New York cap or doesn’t know someone who has seen one of his free concerts in Central Park? Who could have been a better choice to help the show ease itself and ease our way back into the mundane realities of television and what better song to play from his impressive songbook than The Boxer?

How do we get back to normal? We have been told to return to our jobs. If you are in the entertainment business you entertain. The cast and crew of SNL took their turn at getting back to normal and entertaining. Yet you seem to expect some sort of sensitive, whitewashed, edited version of comedy. Should we look at previous images of the New York City skyline, with the twin towers, and remember how magnificent they were or go back and blot out all scenes featuring them in previous movies and programs? Just because we need to laugh, it doesn’t mean that we forget our pain. Laughter can heal. But, it cannot do that if it is censored. We have to face the roots of our grief before we can move on.

If people are expecting television to help heal them emotionally, then perhaps they are looking in the wrong place. Grief is very personal, whereas television is not. We should look to our families, friends, neighbors, teachers, clergy, etc. for intelligent discussions about this national tragedy. My biggest worry is that if we look to television for the answers then we may forget the wise words of a boxer that over 30 years ago warned us that “after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same, after changes we are more or less the same.”

Paul Simon aka "Mr. New York" at the Joe Dimaggio Memorial at Yankee Stadium in 2000.

HFS is now "Always Partying"!!!

Stop the world I'm getting off!!

WHFS 99.1 the local DC/MD/VA radio station that made a name for itself in the 80s playing modern and college rock bands like the Cure/REM/Depeche Mode and rode the alternative music revolution ushered by bands like Jane's Addiction, Sonic Youth and the Replacements and furthered by the Nirvana explosion of 1991 has gone LATINO!!!!!!!..

i think this is further evidence for my rock is dead theory i've been preaching for the past few years and lately with increasing vehemence.. not that there is not rock music and not that there is not good rock music... more that NO ONE CARES!.. thats why there is no room for a station built around playing radiohead and modest mouse.. cause there simply aren't enough radiohead and modest mouse fans who want to listen to rock all days... it does not mean radiohead is not good.... but not enough people care...and there aren't enough weezer or death cab for cutie fans either... rock music is now a marginal subculture...

frankly, HFS had gone increasingly south since the early 90s as they began to play more and more formulaic material.. i believe they were bought by clearchannel or one of those "evil" media empire conglomerates that sends the same list of songs to be played to the "djs", or more like list readers and cd inserters, at the stations they control (in addition to making sure nothing too crazy is aired...)....i never got to hear the HFS that made a name for itself in the 80s with diverse and original playlists...the HFS of last week may have played the Offspring but they had no use for Nick Cave

ultimately, there is no need for slitting one's wrists.. anyone who wants to listen to great radio has millions of options through the internet... with internet technology anyone can pretty much create their own radio station anyways... but still it says something when a modern or alternative rock stalwart like HFS that helped define the scene (hey they even had the HFS Festival going on every year at RFK stadium) changes its identity..

Whats the deal anyways......

can someone explain the ipod/itunes phenomenon to me?
i think i'm missing something here cause (society is)/(i am) getting progressively (i)crazy..i'm definetly beginning to feel a disconnect with my environment on this ipod thing... i've had an archos mp3 player for 2 years now. and while i like listening to songs with headphones and having what is essentially a walkman with a lot of capacity its the music thats important to me and the medium changing ain't going to- change- that.

Site of the Week! Hands down

Joy o joy! what a great discovery! check out
www.sabadabada.com

for a fabulous site full of great vintage bossa nova/samba/balanco album covers from 1960s brazilian music.. it includes a very nice variety of downloads from some of the albums and promises more.....

Martin Luther King Day is January 17th this year!

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land. . .I still believe that we shall overcome.” --Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 10, 1965

Coltrane's Live at Birdland (with his incredibly fiery visceral quartet which included Elvin Jones bashing the drums, Mcoy Tyner tickling the ivories and Jimmy Garrison plucking the strings) is a seminal live jazz album... it includes a wondrous version of Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue..curiously enough it credits Coltrane for the tune...wonder if that mistake was corrected... this is of course the original Impulse Stereo A-50 LP cover. Highly recommended stuff!

Coltrane covers Mongo cover Herbie covers..

Cuban born master conga player Mongo Santamaria was a member of Tito Puente's band (and Perez Prado too!) in the 1950s... when he went solo one of the first songs he cut was called Afro Blue!.(more on that above)...This LP cover is from a 1964 Columbia Records effort which included his own new version of a song he had originally covered for his first hit two years prior..as All Music Guide tells it "Santamaria's breakthrough into the mass market may have come as a result of a bad night at a Cuban nightclub in the Bronx in 1962. As the story goes, only three people showed up in the audience, so the musicians held a bull session in which the substitute pianist for the gig, Herbie Hancock, demonstrated his new blues tune, "Watermelon Man." Everyone gradually joined in, the number became a part of Mongo's repertoire, and when producer Orrin Keepnews heard it, he rushed the band into a studio and recorded a single that leaped to the number ten slot on the pop charts in 1963."

(See below!)- This has GOT to be one of the funkiest grooviest album covers of all time.. Jimmy Smith's "Home Cookin'"..Blue Note (original btw) 4050 recorded 1959 released the following year....The picture is by Frank Wolff.. ring any bells? (it should thats my alias around these parts!)... He took this picture "in front of what is, to many musicians, the 'soul station' in the neighborhood of Harlem's Apollo Theatre. Kate's Home Cooking is located on 126th Street, not far from the Apollo's backstage entrance. Performers such as Ruth Brown, Cozy Cole, Count Basie, Fats Domino, James Moody, Art Blakey and Horace Silver make it their prandial headquarters during the course of a week when they are playing the big A....Home Cookin' is a dedication to Kate." (from the original liner notes by Ira Glitter).

Here's a true rarity; the back cover photo of former legendary funk band Sugarland's original demo has them standing outside Ben's Chilli Bowl here in Washington DC!..on the left Rich Bindell! This pictures reminds me of one of the ultimate classic album covers of all time (see above) not to mention some good times!...

Swinger!

No thats not Kevin Spacey from "Beyond the Deep Blue Sea".. thats the real mcoy: Bobby Darin... his breakthrough single, "Mack the Knife" (Grammy Winner Best Record 1959), was on the album "That's All" (ATCO 33-104)..... but "This is Darin" (ATCO 33-115), recorded just a few months later in early 1960, swings harder in my opinion.. it includes an attempt to replicate the "Mack" magic with "Clementine".. pictured here is the original English flipback (thats what you call those shoddy English covers)...

Even more current listening from Contemporary Records: Shelly Manne, noted drummer, who played on "Way Out West"- C3530- with Rollins, recorded March 7,1957 received top billing on his own classic "Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from My Fair Lady- C3527- with Andre Previn on piano and Leroy Vinnegar on bass recorded on August 17, 1956... this album was a hit and ushered in a new boom in jazzified renditions of popular fare...Andre Previn shines on this..

More current listening: Sonny Rollins "Way Out West" on Contemporary 3530..no you are not seeing double.. the one on the left is the original- C3530- (slightly more vivid colors?) before the advent of stereo (1957) and the one on the right I believe is the second pressing now distinguished as mono- M3530... Rollins on sax accompanied only by bass and drums!....one of the alltime great jazz records and the cover's about as cool as it gets!

Current listening- one of the touchtones of Brazilian music: Chico Buarque de Hollanda's 1966 debut album featuring a whole host of classics including "A Banda", "A Rita", "Ole Ola", and my favorite "Pedro Pedreiro"...highly recommended!

quote of the week

Gaza soap factory worker Manar an-Najar told Reuters Wednesday (speaking on ads featuring richard gere that have been running in palestine. ads urge palestinians to vote.)


"We don't need the Americans' intervention. We know who to elect. Not like them -- they elected a moron."

the year in review- music

2004... the year the rock died...or i died....i definetly transitioned more into jazz, brazilian music and other genres...i couldn't tell you what my top 10 records of the year were because i'm not sure i could even come up with 10..... the new record that really knocked my socks off was the loretta lynn one (van lear rose)...which at times sounds like loretta with the white stripes.. no surprise given jack white's production/guitar slinging.... i have a particular soft spot for the track "portland, oregon" where loretta and jack crow about getting "another pitcher to go..."...concert wise i saw some great shows this year and my favorite show was Jorge Ben at the birchmere...i never thought i'd get an opportunity to see this guy much less in such an intimate venue...the fact that the show was in the bandstand and a ton of brazillians showed up to dance away made it so much fun... meeting jorge ben, getting him to sign my record and receiving a hug iced it as one of the more special nights i can remember..another show that will forever be etched in my mind will be joao gilberto...we travelled up to new york city and caught his show at carnegie hall which in it of itself was an experience (how many of the greats conquered this place at one point or another? from duke ellington to benny goodman to billie holiday to miles davis..)...joao, in his 70s, one of the key forces, together with jobim, behind the rise of the bossa nova or samba cancao in the late 50s plays about two shows a year... you do the math!.. in any case there we were as joao walked out on to the stage armed with just a guitar...after solving some sound issues joao played all the classics including the song that forever changed the american music scene: "girl from ipanema"...it was truly precious to be in his presence.... that very summer we saw a third legend who i always feel fails to get a fair shake from the critics and fashionistas.... tom jones.. when i mention jones' i invariably draw a laugh here or a joke there but the guy can perform and if you don't believe me check out his "live in las vegas" lp from 1969.. as always he was backed by a very professional tight band and he ran through some real classics including prince's "kiss" which i think he now owns, the song that launched him into stardom "its not unusual" and many others....we had a blast on the wolftrap lawn with our picnic and bottle of wine...its interesting to note that no lesser a figure than elvis the king presley would attend jones' vegas shows to see how its done (wether elvis' "vegas" resurgence owes something to tom jones is beyond my knowledge but certainly deserves a look).... on the rock side of things my second my morning jacket show was not as good as the first.. and the final dc guided by voices side while bittersweet and meaningful (i caught them at the black cat about 10 years ago when they were starting to tour and have checked them out ever since).. but on this nite bob pollard and gang, in my opinion, seemed weighed down by rhythm guitarist nate farley's absolutely pathetic spectacle and a few too many flat jokes from pollard who should have focused a bit more on the rawk...of course, all was not lost.. hearing classic GBV cuts particularly from alien lanes and bee thousand was fun as always.... franz ferdinand put in one of the better rock shows i caught this year....with a sound marrying new romantic elements (duran duran) with post punk (joy division) and a little of roxy music they put on a very very tight fun rock show... we can't wait to see the dvd they were filming that night...when i think of what i like about dc i have to mention ben andrews who the blues the way they are meant to be played, tuesday after tuesday, at madams organ on 18th street... the pixies, yes i finally got to see them, put on the strongest rock show i caught this year....i wrote some words about it a month ago so feel free to look in the archives for my write up....sloan put on a fun show at the black cat but i can't in all honesty say that it has turned out to have been all that memorable...another brazilian artist, cibelle, performed at iota's over in arlington and i enjoyed her show but not the crowing about brazil having beaten argentina to take the copa america futbol championship....lastly, aside from jorge ben my other favorite show this year was the vote for change concert finale held at the mci center.. aside from what the show meant.. what we were trying to do.. why we were there.. there were great turns from john mellencamp (wonderful pink houses), bonnie raitt (lady oozes class through the slide guitar and has the commanding presence of an elephant in a one bedroom manhattan apartment), james taylor, dave matthews, REM, pearl jam and JOHN FOGERTY (it was a treat to see him happy performing HIS song- thats right no publishing house and no lawyer can take it away- "fortunate son".. it was really wonderful to finally get to catch bruce the boss springsteen.. thats what he was at this show. THE BOSS..ovviously badlands, born to run (with house lights coming on as song starts roaring), the star spangled banner, born in the USA were all incredible.. but the perofrmance that really captivated me was, i've subsequently learned the name of the song, "mary's place" which is a song off of his "the rising" album.. but lo and behold i found out recently its actually a sam cooke song.... now i love sam cooke and am not surprised bruce does too as his music is so positive.. anways bruce played a very extended jam of this song with a little ministering to the undecided voters watching on sundance channel..i can see why people follow this guy like the prophet and next time he's in town i'll be there.... bruce, we gave it all we had but it wasn't enough this time around..see you in 2008!

i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot but i thought i'd put some remembrances down.. this year i'm looking forward particularly to trying to catch two jazz greats.. sonny rollins (kennedy center) and herbie hancock (warner)...

Kiddie Records!

Kiddie records has had the great idea to put up one childrens record per week for the entire year.. right now disney's robin hood from the 1940s is up..what they do is encode the old 78rpm records into mp3 files....

www.kiddierecords.com

new years post!

happy new year everyone..

we have now hit the midpoint of the ooooooooo's....hard to believe.. if i am honest i must say this decade has been, so far, completely marked by the events of september 11th... 140,000 or 410,000 thousand dead from a tsunami won't change that..(by the way: what an opportunity wasted by Bush to show the world that america IS a kind nation).. they are not americans (although more americans may have died in the tsunami than on september 11th.)... bush's election this past november cements this as a decade of fear, cynicism, jingoism, limited civil liberties, knee jerk reactions and useless war (with its useless but always present progeny: death and destruction).... too bad for the iraqui's that will die (33 today.. but they are not americans.. and at least they were free---------...........to DIE)....too bad for the rest of the world that will have to find new ways to contain the rumsfeld and rice's (with their useless offspring wolf-the-half-witz no matter he was dean of johns hopkins SAIS.. boy am i glad i went to georgetown instead by the way!)....so yes, i have digressed, but sad that this decade will inevitably be the decade of, as green day so well encapsulated in their grammy nominated record "american idiot", the AMERICAN IDIOT... not much to be done other than get involved in our communities and in trying to come up with some option for 2008 to remove these scared insecure little tykes from power before they destroy us...these clowns and of course their useless children---------------...........the MEDIA.....which will dutifully report the party line as passed on to them by the pentagon.... all you need to do is check the words of the reporters that cover the defense department beat to know what isn't true but what we must believe is true for things to make enough sense for us to continue to ignore things...and, of course, remember to always always support the commander in chief no matter what......anything else would be unamerican of you....

it would be nice to see somebody suggest the obvious for irak.. a division of irak into sunni/shiite/kurd nations...

i for one will continue to support howard dean... no matter how many cable channels distort his speeeches or opinions..he stood up in march BEFORE the war and called it what it has turned out to be: sheer idiocy... he's correctly defined the current fiscal policies of this administration (lower taxes-spend on a useless blackhole called war) as what they are- the Argentina Plan - and we know what that gets you...or at least i know what it means for 10 million argentines that hope to find enough garbage to eat tonight... he stated whats obvious even to a child: that the US must be more even handed in its approach to the long festering palestinian- israeli conflict..of course the media quickly called this insane..don't they always by the way? and on and on and on

"ball of confusion.. thats what the world is today.. hey hey.. when the only person talking about love today is a preacher.."