Where's Pink Floyd?

When you need the band? Their album The Wall should be fittingly played at Texas conservatives' election rallies as they use this campaign to draw up reactionary fear to strike at another scapegoat instead of solve the issue of immigration with dignity, reason and proper economical sense. Read this. I don't know what frightens me the most: the demagoguery of Texas Republicans, the idea of deporting every "illegal" immigrant or the idea proposed of having prison inmates carry out slave labor such as picking fruits and vegetables for the rest of Americans who already see the job of farm labor as deserving for no one but immigrants.
The issue of illegal immigration truly needs to be resolved. It does not, however, need to be resolved in the wake of 9/11 with people's reactionary fears of foreigners sneaking across the borders to blow things up. Terrorists without green cards or those even on the terrorist watch lists are free to waltz into our country to kill by the thousands; why the hell risk crossing into Brownsville, Texas, with a Coyote who you've paid a thousand dollars only to burn to death in the hull of a pick up truck? We've seen throught the Massoui (sp) trial this week that people coming here for a better life risk death; people coming here to carry out inhumane acts risk media exposure. Fact: twelve million people are here illegally, they cost money, money that comes from tax-paying people in this country, which means that people are paying for them to be in this country. Schools, hospitals, housing, et cetera all are more expensive because of the issue of illegal immigration. However, the people who seem to be portrayed in the media as those who cross the border "illegally" do so to provide better lives for their family; they do so to get out of the hell holes their home countries are; they come here because the idea, the myth, the promise of "America" is too alluring to not shoot for. Horatio Algers sure as hell didn't apply for citizenship, wait seven to ten years before making his move and come into the U.S. in order to pull himself up by his bootstraps, either. Now, I'm not saying, "just let everyone in." Something needs to be done. However, the fact is that the people who do come here illegally provide services for us that keep our lifestyles how they are: comfortable. We'd bitch and moan if the prices for our produce were any higher if white middle-class people picked it; we'd surely bitch and moan if our day salons, restaurant dishes, hotel laundry, carpentry or landscaping were any more expensive than they already are and yet we feel entitled to live lifestyles where we don't expect to do anything for ourselves and expect that it all be done by people on the cheap. We enjoy wearing those "made in the U.S.A." t-shirts and clothes? Thank the people from Guatemala who risk their lives getting here, to be paid next to nothing and work ungodly hours to make sure prices are less expensive than "on the rack". We can't deny that jobs and services are provided by hard-working people that want to be here because the economy's better than home. This does not excuse the words or actions of ministers in Mexico encouraging the poorest of the poor to cross the border, neither should we let our guard down in protecting our country, our "homeland", the Fatherland, the Reich or whatever fascist-sounding-fucking-synonym you want to give this place. We need to keep the humanity in this discussion and first and foremost, there is no such thing as an illegal person. Secondly, this country should not create the value of free-, illegal, or imprisoned people based on what they do or provide or give anyone else. I am a citizen and not by choice; I have the rights and privileges of a citizen that others don't and yet I have not "worked for" them nor "earned" them any more or less than anyone else. Why can't we extend the rights and privileges to those willing to work for them, solve the problem to make it difficult for terrorists and the "losers" and in order the country to best benefit. Building a wall between Mexico and the U.S. will only make us the Israel of North America, deporting twelve million people will only make us look like the Britain of North America, keeping our borders porous will only make us look like the Iraq of North America and providing a humane yet just immigration policy will make us look like the "America" of North America. I have faith that the right wing of the Reactionary party will drum up enough support for the minutemen to begin firing on immigrants or something to spark an international conflict only to bring about a band-aid solution to an issue that needs to be addressed in order for this post-industrial economic giant to best work with what its been given. God help us all.

A Milestone! Good News, I Think

Whelp, it happened today, and it's not because I consciously pushed it, either. Maybe just from the latest wave of concert DVDs, but today, my little son looked at what was on the t.v., walked over to the bookshelf, pulled down "Racing In the Streets", looked at me, pointed to the man on the cover and said (in his eighteen-month pronunciation), "RUUUUUUUCCCCCCCEEEEEEE!" My wife will vouch for me on this one. Of course I beamed and then nearly fell over when he requested I play "Thunder Road". Just kidding on that one, but you should check this out.

No Way No Way NO WAY!!!!!!

Not a political rant tonight; this was the strand runnning through my head last night as I watched the Christian McBride Quartet rip through an eighty-minute five-song set of incredible modern jazz. Sax, drums, piano with moog and synth and bass, both electric and acoustic. Not much ground can be broken with these four, you probably think. I challenge you to catch this group live and be able to keep that same thought. Terreon Gulley is just about the most incredible drummer I've laid eyes on and I put him right up with Jeff "Tain" Watts. Three of the five songs, I couldn't even find the time signature for about half the song, Gulley's rhythms were so comples. The technical ability of these players matched the soul of their playing and what I saw left smoke on the stage of Yoshi's last night. My only criticism is that modern playing doesn't necessarily need to mean six hundred million miles a second, which often, many modern players suffer from. Sometimes there were just too many notes and yet there aren't that many groups out there that wow you with both musicianship and grace. Last night, I saw it.

My Spring Break has come to a close. Wah wah, you whiny school teacher you; you get two weeks off in the middle of March. Join the rest of society that, if lucky, gets two weeks off at all. I know this and so I am grateful for my profession. I'm just at the point that I'm tired of being sick as colds have kept me down for the count for seventy five percent of the break. Also, with spending so much time with my son, I've just hit a niche with him where we understand how we work when we spend 24/7 for several straight days. I've come to fall deeper in love with my little guy and seeing him learn and grow and develop makes it all so. To watch him problem solve, think or maneuvre his way through situations really makes me have a deeper appreciation for the human condition and see just how learning and development takes place. It is a bit of a miracle that life forms are able to grow and mature; the fact that my little boy is another gift of life that I have the responsibility and treat to raise makes me thank God for all of the weird but beautiful things we all go through daily.

2006 - Upcoming?

While we're nearly a quarter of the way through the year, in a sense, with the seasons changing and weather getting warmer, things are just beginning. What's going to happen in 2006? Who's going on tour? What great movies will be released? What will happen politically? Who will win American Idol? These are serious questions, and I'm curious to what others think.

Is Anyone Listening?

I had the great misfortune to be woken up by my clock radio alarm blaring the broken English of the man from Crawford. President Bush is continuing to stump for support for the Iraq debacle and today's press conference revealed nothing more than a man at the end of his rope. My cat recognizes the man's lack of mastery of his native tongue but leaders shan't be judged on their loquaciousness alone. With that said, George Bush couldn't broaden his message beyond five reporters' questions. Here's what I learned from the president today:
1. there are people out there not happy with Iraq.
2. television shows some pretty bad things.
3. no one's losing his or her job.
4. all I do as president fits under the blanket of being a "war president".
5. all I do as president fits under the blanket of being a "war president".

The state of the economy? A possible shake up in Congress with the midterms? Katrina "clean up"? Why the debacle with the Dubai Ports deal? Nope; all ignored. Bush was, as usual, terribly out of his element talking and thinking at the same time and any time he was asked a question he couldn't answer, he attempted to smooth things out by joking with the reporters and cracking one-liners that sank faster than his approval ratings. As the press conference ended, the only thing more sickening than Uncurious George's dialogue was the hand-job much of the mainstream press gave his response. Listening to ABC and Diane Sawyer made me re-think those rumors that maybe she was Deepthroat...

Music Musings

I've had the privilege of picking up some great tunes. Here goes:

Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens: This four-disc box is worth its weight in gold. The Brit import is twice as cheap as the American huge cheaply-made box and liner notes can be found in any run of the mill Satchmo biography. From 1925 to 1930, these musicians launched a musical revolution in which its effects are still seen today.

Bill Evans - Portrait In Jazz. This classic trio's first album from late 1959. Intense, melodic playing by Evans with an amazing rhythm section that just about defines modern (post-WWII) small group jazz. I would have killed to have witnessed the Vanguard sessions from just one year later. Truly amazing.

Jackie Greene- American Myth. I talked about picking this one up and now am talking about you doing so. From the Dylanesque to country-pop to folk-based rock to straight ahead barn burners, this new release is definitely in the running for album of the year already. My biggest complaint is the absence of lyrics as I would love to catch the story from song to song. This truly sounds like a concept album based on the story telling ability of Greene's lyrics. While too quiet in many spots to make a perfect road trip listen, putting this on traveling across Grant's Pass into Oregon with snow flurrying and California disappearing behind me, AM was as close as it came to a perfect listening experience.

Christian McBride - off to see him on Thursday. I'm doing this one solo or with the guys; I won't miss this one.

More great news on the release of the Seeger Sessions as sonymusic.com has samples to hear from each of the songs. This is the album that Bruce has wanted to make but hadn't quiet made some "other" statements over the course of the decade; those being a reunion tour and album as well as political stances on some big issues (the election and war). That he's been working on this since 1998 shows this album to be a labor of love and "bite me if I'm not re-tooling Thunder Road, you stuck-in-the 'Glory Days' fools" get-up. An old-fashioned hootenanny (sp?) with political leanings (how can it not be from an avowed communist and civil rights activist?), what this album sounds to be is the first time that Bruce has surrounded himself with musicians in order to be swept up by them. He's made a career sweeping everyone else up but never before just being "in the band". What better way to allow the songs and stories and emotions run than allowing other players strum, pluck, drum and barrelhouse your mood along? It's funny to read the whiners on the Bruce pages as diehards are hashing out this impending release. What is has become is a bunch of adults truly acting as children; the artist isn't reuniting with the E Streeters and therefore can't put out anything worthwhile; he's an artist and is following his muse; he's selling out and "going country"; he's losing his musical focus and needs his roots to steer him back to where he needs to go; he needs to branch out and pursue different styles of music other than arena rock; and on an on. I'll just be excited to listen to my favorite musician having a good time kicking up his heels and returning a bunch of of "music experts" to a genre of music that existed before giant record companies began reminding us of how many Cadillacs we need to buy from a singer that wanted to die before getting old, though he's now going on tour with his band after how many "retirements"?

Ashland, Oregon is truly an amazing town. The Importance of Being Earnest is a wonderful play. I had the time of my life, even though leaving my son for the first time just about killed me.

Erin Go Bragh

That's it, really. Happy St. Patty's Day. Go drink like fish. Listen to Van the Man. Read some great Oscar Wilde or other poetry. Thank you, Dorian, Grey. Good night, Irene.

Heart of (Fein)Gold

Russ has finally done something that members of the Senate have needed to do for two years: press the issue of reprimanding the President of the United States for unconsitutional actions. Russ Feingold (D-WI) filed to press the Senate to censure the President for the illegal series of wiretapping that was made publically known late last year. While the Democratic Party, with interests of winning elections instead of striving for justice or truth, has balked at following up Feingold's proposition; however, what the Senator has done has publically denounced the president's actions on a large governmental scale.
George Bush and his lawyers knowingly and doggedly drove the executive branch down an imperialistic, extra-legal course concerning issues of governmental power. Any coincidence with (now) Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' claiming of the Geneva Conventions as "quaint little documents" and the Abu Ghraib prison torture are disappeared; the executive's claim that all wiretapping was done within the legal confines of FISA (2002) and the reality of the executive's actions have been debunked; the president's wishful desires to see the government "play within the rules" have been realistically thrown out of the window as nearly all of the president's actions and positions on national security and action are truly extra-constitutional. George Bush is more deserving of any president to be censured (and truly impeached) since Richard Nixon. Reagan deserved to be pilloried for being clueless and dumb; Clinton deserved to be ridiculed for being caught; H.W. Bush deserved of being mocked for being a day late and a dollar short domestically; Carter deserved to be teased for being weak and yet no one other than George W. Bush deserves to be removed from office in my lifetime since Milhous's abuse of the executive branch and the abuse of the office. How do we count the ways? Easily.

1. invading the nation of Iraq
2. the wiretapping scandal
3. Abu Ghraib and the clearly-seen chain of command with torture ("Code Red", Rob Reiner?)


These are not political digs; these are not partisan attacks; how the entire world views the United States's fevered pitch to fascism can only be seen, though even citizens like myself see that the W. and his minions are truly deserving of a slap across the wrist and the ass for showing the greatest disregard for that "quaint" 1878 document that has only founded the nation and the ideals that we all stand for. I can't wait another seven years for the new U.S. history textbooks to analyze and asses the Bush presidency. Makes me wish for the Gingrich revolution and the late 1990s attack on the presidency for blowjobs and "moral impropriety".

Comings and Goings

Whew! Spring Break officially started this morning and our son gave my wife and I the opportunity to sleep in until 7:00!!! What a miracle! It's extremely cold this morning (close to freezing) and we're packing for a two-day getaway to Ashland, Oregon. I'm looking forward to visiting the Shakespeare Festival as well as traveling outside Bay Area for the first time in a while. I'll miss my boy but will appreciate the time with my wife.
Russ Feingold is pressing the Senate to censure President Bush. 2008 ambitions or not, this call is coming nearly two years too late. As the nation marks the third anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq and debacle of the "Accomplished Mission", the executive branch's chickens are coming home to roost. Abu Ghraib, Katrina, the budget, Iraq, Afghanistan. Legalities aside, all of the President's major news-worthy and historic events will receive the same label: ineptitude.
This leads to some of the current issues in the news, the Dubai ports deal and 2006 midterms. It's a crying shame that people's fears of terrorism and the connection with an Arab nation crushed this deal (I do love the irony of this NOT working in Bush's favor for the first time!!!). The president's out-of-the-gate threat of a veto against any blocking of the deal, followed by a "I wasn't aware of" and "we'll look into it" statements showed two things: first, that Bush failed to consider just how much of an issue this was going to be, especially with plummeting ratings, and secondly, that Bush was thrown under the bus on this one. The fact that the President was kept out of the loop on the details of this deal (or the public cluelessness to the details) shows an insurgency in the ranks of the Republican Party. This is becoming ever-wider known that the duck in the Bush White House is growing lamer. Now, we've all known just how "lame" Bush is, but politically speaking, this man's presidency is finished. Members of the GOP who don't have to worry about the wrath of Jerry Falwell in their state for re-election are bucking the president on everything from the budget to foreign policy. "Conservatives" are beginning to emerge on all fronts; political and fiscal (a la Goldwaters) are hitting Bush on his lack of discipline on spending), isolationists (or anti-neocons) are hitting Bush on his handling of India (recognizing India's right to possess nukes which it will possibly use on Pakistan), and everyone knows the religious right will begin bringing out the bogeyman issues closer to the November election (gays are trying to hijack marriage, kids like screwing and should be sterilized and abortion kills four out of two Americans) in order to demonstrate to the rest of the world that hopes of ignorant theocracies don't just exist overseas. All of this, however, must be kept in light of what Lefty Brown posted just a couple of days ago about the fact that the Democratic Party stands for nothing and had better re-define itself in order to not be placed in a museum with other extinct creatures if it can't capitalize off the incompetency of the forty-third president.

Other important things for me to note:

The Allmans are rocking the Beacon again and pulling out some interesting song and guest choices.

Bruce's new album and tour look to be fascinating to say the least. I'm hoping for his Basement Tapes to be discovered relatively soon.

The Little Willies have put out a great record. Worth picking up, as Norah Jones's singing and playing are again, sensual (her photo on the album back doesn't hurt, neither) and the entire record is a fun listen-to.

Jack Johnson's latest (not the monkey record but the one with the tree) is a fun, mellow and guilty pleasure. I'll enjoy this one in the pool this summer.

I'm curious to check out Sacramento-based Jackie Greene's new release, "American Myth" tomorrow. SF Chron raved, Amazon's samples are killer and anyone receiving kudos for including hints of the Byrds, Dylan and early Eagles should be listened to.

Speaking of the Eagles (not those soulless sell-outs touring the nation that happen to resemble the guys I used to love), I picked up a newly and wonderfully remastered Hotel California. Say what you will about the Eagles, those 1972-1976 records possessed some wonderful music. For me, the band and its music hold strong connection with some pivotal points in my life and I will always hold those close. This album contains many of those memories and to finally hear them as they have needed to be heard makes me thankful for the art of the remaster.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Just starting and it's rocking already.

The 40 Year Old Virgin - the funniest damn movie I've seen since living in Brentwood.

Yoshi's - another upcoming show for next week (Christian McBride and his amazing quartet).

The Derek Trucks Band - buy new album, b&p the SF show and pray that the jerk(s) who stole the band's trailer last week will return all of that gear to the guys.

My family. My wife is on a much-needed vacation and we get to spend some great time with our boy. He's talking more and more and really becoming a toddler.

St. Patrick's Day. I'm a quarter Irish and I really love this part of my heritage. My nana's parent emigrated sometime, I believe, in the 1890s to San Francisco, and so, if nothing else, I can celebrate my Irish heritage by eating corned beef and cabbage and drinking a ton of Irish beer.

The Religious Left?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060320/alterman Check this out.

Eric Alterman writes an interesting article in The Nation regarding the Religious Right and its monolithic stature on the political scene over others of faith and political activism. Alterman labels the monopolization of the political discussion as a "hijacking" which is not that far off. The Left fifty and forty years ago was dominated by people of religious faith; early leaders of the American Socialist Party and even (and NOT ironically) the ACLU were people of faith. Do one's homework on Helen Keller and one will be stunned to learn of her activism in the name of God in the 1920s and 1930s. With the major shift towards conservatism in the 1970s which has ballooned into the far-right movement that runs most AM stations and "red state" politics, the left naturally shifted to economic matters. That itself was an extension of the religious left of twenty years prior. Over the last twenty-five years, conservative religious groups have dictated the discussion as well as the vocabulary of "spiritual-poitical" issues. The Left is as soft on this issue as it has been on others such as political leadership.
Considering myself as one of the spiritual Left as well as surrounded by friends and acquaintances who do so as well, I would like to hear from them on this issue; their thoughts, directions or critiques are greatly appreciated.

Speaking of the spiritual left (of course I can't help myself), the official release of Bruce Springsteen's new album is 4/25. Another dualdisc release, the Seeger Sessions has as album cover that could pass for a modern-day Music From Big Pink, with studio musicians playing fiddles, banjos, double bass and a variety of acoustic instruments along with B-3 organ. This one may seem like an off-shoot from previous releases but nonetheless has piqued by interest.