The good news is I will have a new poetry collection out by the end of year - probably late October or November. Here is me reciting what is likely to be the title poem of this collection TRAVELS WITH THE ANTI-JOHNNY APPLESEED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvJrY3tKvk
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
SONIK KICKS BY PAUL WELLER
The first chapter (and the one that gives it its name) of my currently unpublished book of music essays TRUE IS THE DREAM MIXED WITH NOSTALGIA deals with Paul Weller and British music. He is an artist I have never had anything but the utmost respect for. A man of true integrity who has resisted putting The Jam back together for a huge cash pay out and a terrific songwriter with Ray Davies’s ear and eye for how people live in the UK and the ability to streamline those observations in songform even more than Davies. He has also got a very natural rock and roll voice which through aging has become even more soulful and traditional and warm a instrument.
He has never really made a bad solo record in addition to every record he made as leader of The Jam and the first two Style Council albums (the rest of the Style Council period was his nadir). When he once again found himself musically and launched a solo career in the early 90’s after the end of the Style Council, he not only inspired listeners but I would argue the whole Britpop scene for which he was sort of an elder statesman for.
SONIK KICKS, his latest solo album, is interesting primarily for the reason that it shows you can teach an old dog new tricks. Weller is now in his early 50’and has made a record that differs from his past solo output by showcasing a heavy use of synthesizers and the sort of programmed percussion that goes along with it. That doesn’t mean he totally eschews his familiar sound-still plenty of guitars, jazzy arrangements etc. His vocals are as human as can be imagined.
Fast automated barn burner hybrids such as “The Attic” and “Kling I Klang” are offset by more traditional Weller fare as “When Your Garden is Overgrown”. Weller’s newfound sound is perhaps best typified by the single “That Dangerous Age” which before Weller’s voice kicks in could be mistaken as being by some lost 80’s New Romantics band. I also like the fact that Weller never overextends a song’s length. Many of the songs here are around three minutes or length except for “Study in Blue” which turns into an open ended musical improv session.
SONIK KICKS bodes well for Weller’s career. We see that he still feels the passion after more than 30 years of making music to break away a bit from his usual sound and try something a little bit different. This is probably his best album of the last ten years, since ILLUMINATION although I would still say my favorite solo album of his is his second WILDWOOD (one of the best albums of the 1990’s IMO).
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE POETRY OF PAUL VERLAINE
The poet Paul Verlaine is one of these creative people whose work has been overshadowed by a sensationalistic private life. In Verlaine’s case, it was his scandalous (at the time) homosexual relationship with Arthur Rimbaud. While Rimbaud’s poetry still stands in the minds of many and has been the source material for rockstars like Jim Morrison and Patti Smith, Verlaine has disappeared a bit from view (aside from being connected to Rimbaud).
The poet I think one would most likely compare Verlaine to isn’t Rimbaud but Charles Baudelaire. They lived similarly decadent and self-destructive lives and lived roughly at the same time. However, Baudelaire’s verse is shocking in its honesty, its discordant style, and its powerful descriptions of man at his frailest. I wrote more about Baudelaire here http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/669584750/the-flowers-of-evil-by-charles-baudelaire/
Despite the seedy cloud around Verlaine’s life, his verse is shockingly normal. He has an eye for little details and he knows the benefit of just enough speech not saying more than what is needed for the reader to draw a picture in their minds but his subject matter is often purely descriptive or observational. If he was disturbed, I don’t find it in the verse I’ve read.
Another thing I notice about Verlaine’s poetry is his use of conventional meter. Many of his poems are constructed of four line stanzas of roughly the same amount of syllables and words. In recitation, their delivery exposes their conventional construction….But there is nothing wrong with that from a critical point of view-it does not necessarily hurt his verse.
Rather, Verlaine is a simple poet, easy to grasp, and he has found a way to make his ideas small and to keep whatever disagreeable elements of his personality from interfering with his poetry.
Here are two of my favorite poems of Tom Verlaine
THE YOUNG FOOLS
CLAIR DE LUNE
TIM TEBOW AND THE VALUE OF SHUTTING UP
I’m not a fan of American football so am no expert on the merits or demerits of Tim Tebow as an athlete. As an atheist, I have no problem with public expressions of faith as long as they do not infringe on me by forcing my participation in religious ritual . I do think to publicly praise a god or higher power after winning a sporting event is a bit of a FU to the other opponent or team of opponents. Like saying God likes me best. Poor sportsmanship!
I do believe that Tim Tebow’s popularity as a public figure is based on his knowing when to keep his mouth shut. I have read that his publicity/PR people are savvy in this regard and have advised him of that very thing.
Why would Tim Tebow speaking publicly from the heart about his beliefs necessarily be a bad thing?
Because he would turn off many people (women, gay Americans, those religious people who are not Christians).
How do I know this would happen?
Well Tim Tebow has strongly associated himself with the anti-abortion anti-gay Focus on the Family. He has appeared in a pro-life ad put together by them and other events. He has strong connections to Focus on the Family and other evangelical right-wing Christian organizations.
If he voiced support for Focus on the Family in a public setting and spoke out more on these issues, I think we’d see his beliefs are very scary. In addition to being against abortion and gay right/marriage, Focus also believes in “traditional” roles for women meaning women shouldn’t work and just stay home and have kids. Focus on the Family is basically a hate group founded partly on religious intolerance and partly on the vision of an America that never really existed-some sort of regressive Ozzie and Harriet fantasyland where everyone is white and Christian and only men work and women don’t fret their pretty little heads about anything.
It did seem like the mask slightly fell away on Easter weekend when Tebow addressed a Christian event and said “America was one nation under God”. Here, I should also point out that Focus on the Family does not believe in the separation of church and state and they also subscribe to and help promote many of the wacky bigoted theories about Islam that are currently the Lingua Franca of the tea party right wing.
So Tebow keeps quiet and the endorsements will keep coming in and the fans will still like him. However, after football, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run for political office as a Tea Party Republican and it wouldn’t also be surprise to see him get caught up in some sex scandal (caught in a public restroom?) as is often the case with the right-wing social police.
By the way, there is some question about the veracity of Tebow’s mother’s story about him almost being aborted, that the story may not be true….A good discussion of both sides here
Friday, April 6, 2012
MUSIC ROUND-UP - APRIL 2012
Bear in Heaven’s 2009 record BEAST REST FORTH MOUTH was excellent, one of the best releases that year-deep, powerful organic yet all synthesizers. The secret weapon here is the masterfully controlled vocals of Jon Philpot - he knows just when to let it all hang out. The recent follow-up I LOVE YOU IT’S COOL is just as deep and heavy and mysterious but also swings. This is the bear in disco heaven and the end result is atmosphere plus beats-a gorgeous record!
Weird Dream’s sound begins and ends with the shimmering guitars that are the centerpiece of CHOREOGRAPHY. The haunting harmony vocals also help push the music which is catchy neo-psychedelic pop boosted by the sparkly guitars – The Beach Boys on a distant water planet.
Kindness is a one man band named Adam Bainbridge. At first, one might think that this is your typical New York 70’s retro techno funk mix but Bainbridge mines many different styles on his debut record WORLD YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR MIND and seems comfortable with all of them. That alone is impressive and when coupled with the songcraft on display here ….Well, a most impressive introduction to the man and his music.
OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS by Breton is the soundtrack to abandoned burned out buildings and the occupy type protester. It’s a record of cut up strings and pianos and layered on synths and thumping percussion with hollow spaces and semi-hoodlum pronouncements in between . It’s a sonically impressive work that gets better with each listen although I wish the vocals were not so lazy. This is a very good record but I imagine this type of music with a better singer would be even more fantastic.
HANDICAPPING MITT ROMNEY'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL CHOICES - ALL ROADS LEAD TO PAUL RYAN
Mitt Romney’s public appearances with Congressman Paul Ryan were not just for endorsement purposes (Ryan supporting his presidential bid and helping him win the Wisconsin Primary) but I believe also an audition because at this point one must consider Ryan the frontrunner to be Romney’s first choice for vice president once he clinches the nomination.
All roads lead to Paul Ryan. He is a walking embodiment of his plan “The Ryan Plan” which is likely to be a major campaign talking point for the Republicans in this election. He appears to be scandal free, is young and sounds intelligent when he speaks. He has a very conservative voting record on all issues but is not really vocal on anything other than fiscal policies. He is not strident or polarizing. There is also the state of Wisconsin to consider – It is a state that Republicans are eternally hopeful to win during a presidential election but haven’t been able to do since 1984.
I’m not a Republican by any means but if I was Romney I would pick Ryan.
What about other potential VP’s? Here is how I handicap the list….
Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana – Would be my second choice if I was Romney. Fits all three legs of the Republican stool – Fiscal, Social, Defense. However, the crazy birther wing of the Republican Party believes that those who were born in the USA but had one or more parents who were not citizens at the time of their birth are ineligible for the presidency. This is how they interpret the “natural born citizen” clause of the constitution. Jindal's parents originally from India were graduate students at the time he was born and were on student visas. Romney does not want any trouble with conservatives so this hurts Jindal’s chances.
Marco Rubio, Senator of Florida – an emerging scandal about his finances and the birther problem (Rubio’s parents are Cuban immigrants) will keep him off the ticket which is too bad as he fits many of the targets the Republicans need to hit in this race-From Florida, Hispanic, young, etc.
Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina – Lingering talk of infidelity from her gubernatorial campaign plus a burgeoning tax evasion scandal makes her not so good a pick. Romney with a female VP would be a good idea but she could be Palin part 2.
Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey – Romney with a much bigger mouth and an extra 200 pounds. He has become a youtube folk hero although he is basically just a cowardly bully who engineers media events so he can yell at public servants (mostly teachers) Also notice he mostly yells at women and old people. However despite his bluster he is quite moderate like Romney was when he was governor of Massachusetts on some issues such as gun control and immigration. Two Northeastern moderates on the Republican ticket? I think at that point there would be an interparty war.
Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia – Virginia is now a swing state and Donnell is popular there but the recent abortion ultrasound controversy hurt him. It painted him a.) As an extreme right winger and a theocrat and b.) A weakling who reversed course once the bill became known and then unpopular.
Rob Portman, Senator of Ohio – I would love to run against him if I was President Obama’s reelection team. He was George Bush’s budget director for God’s sake! I would talk about that morning, noon, and night. It would be the first and last thing out of my mouth when campaigning.
Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana – I’ve written about Daniels before http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-mitch-daniels-would-never-have-been.html I think the same weaknesses about his weird marriage, drug arrest, time with George Bush apply now plus the recent bill he signed that gives people the right to shoot police officers who enter their home would be an issue.
Susanna Martinez, Governor of New Mexico – a very outside the box choice but could connect with Hispanics. However, her maternal grandparents were illegal immigrants(Republicans would hate this) and she’s an unknown quantity otherwise so not this time.
Jim DeMint, Senator of South Carolina – The favorite of conservatives. Would cement Republican support of Romney but turn off a lot of others who view the head of the tea party caucus as way, way, way too far to the right.
There are still deep doubts about Mitt Romney by a lot of people who identify themselves as “conservatives”. The trick is to find a VP pick that allays those concerns but also doesn’t turn off the rest of America who are trending away from the Republicans due to recent miscalculations on issues pertaining to abortion , race etc.. Paul Ryan is the only one who can do both I think.
Monday, April 2, 2012
RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE TRAYVON MARTIN CASE
All anybody is asking for at this point in the Trayvon Martin shooting icase s a serious investigation and a trial. The former I feel is now going on what with the involvement of the state of Florida and the FBI and the latter is an eventuality.
Here are a few random thoughts not in any particular order on the last few weeks….
Racism perhaps starts in the home. George Zimmerman’s father Robert criticized very guarded and restrained comments by President Obama on the matter. A day or so later, Mitt Romney said almost exactly the same thing as the president (minus the part of “being my son”). Mr Zimmerman did not criticize Romney for his comments.
Why did state attorney Norman Wolfinger (now recused from the case) meet in person with the investigators the night it happened? It is not common for a state attorney to do that considering how many cases he is handling at a given time.
Why did he overrule the police who felt Zimmerman’s story was not credible and he should be charged?
Is there a connection between Mr. Zimmerman and Norm Wolfinger? Did Zimmerman receive special treatment because he is a retired Supreme Court justice from the state of Virginia?
They should subpoena Norm Wolfinger’s phone records to see if he had any direct involvement with the Zimmerman family.
So far the only person who actually corroborates Zimmerman’s side of the story is an ANONYMOUS witness ILLEGALLY LEAKED by the Sanford Police Department.
If Trayvon Martin had been a woman and been raped as well as murdered, would she have been criticized for wearing a mini-skirt when this happened?
It was raining the night of the shooting, attire with a hood was a good idea.
If George Zimmerman was actually a neighborhood watch volunteer, how come his organization wasn’t formally recognized by their community Homeowner’s Association?
If you don’t believe this was a case of racism at first, the smearing of Trayvon Martin should convince you otherwise. Martin’s past history(smoking pot, being late to school) and the way he dressed etc. is totally immaterial to what happened that night.
Zimmerman on the other hand has a long history of borderline violent behavior and many times called 911 to complain about nonsense such as a neighbor’s garage door being open too long.
Why is one pertinent and not the other? Because Zimmerman’s behavior directly relates to what happened that night-his pattern of violence and seeing himself as a John Wayne wannabe.
Sound experts says it’s not Zimmerman screaming that night on the 09/11 calls. They need Martin’s voice sample to compare. This could be the smoking gun (so to speak).
Zimmerman being Hispanic is immaterial-“Hispanic” is not a race. He is also half-Jewish and speaking as someone who lived in Southern California there are a lot racial tensions between Hispanics and African-Americans. I would also say that some of the most racist people I’ve met in my life have been Jewish.
In addition, one of the flashpoints that helped provoke the LA Riots in 1992 was the shooting in the back of unarmed teenager Latasha Harlins by a Korean shopkeeper Soon Ja Du which was another example of profiling gone wild. Racism doesn’t only apply to white on black.
One thing that is clear is it’s time to pass a federal anti-racial profiling law.
I’m not an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson fan. Sharpton ruined his reputation with the Tawana Brawley hoax and Jackson uses the proceeds of his organization to live high on the hog and entertain various mistresses but a stopped clock is right twice a day. Without their involvement, this whole thing would have been swept under the carpet by the Sanford Police Department.
The Funeral Director who prepared Trayvon Martin’s body said there were no marks to his body other than the gunshot wound. Certainly, nothing to indicate a violent brawl.
Why was Zimmerman released the night of the shooting without being tested for drugs and/or alcohol which is textbook procedure in cases like this?
Martin’s body was tested. As far as we know, he was clean
Why did Martin’s body sit in the morgue for three days while his parents were looking for him? The police had his cell phone. They could have contacted his parents
The photos (most of them faked) of a gangster looking Trayvon Martin were originally displayed on a forum on the Stormfront website. Stromfront is a neo-nazi white supremacist site. This is where the Republican party trolls for information. We all know the Republican party is a racist organization and has been since the 60’s when a lot of former Democrats(most from the south) joined up in the wake of civil rights legislation and integration but President Obama has so deranged them, it has removed the last façade.
Did Zimmerman visit a doctor for his wounds? which by his own description and that of the police were quite severe.
This is anecdotal but years ago when I was a teenager I was playing basketball with some other kids and one fell and broke his nose. The amount of blood that flowed out was large and had to be stemmed with two bits of Kleenex jammed in the nostrils until he could get to a hospital. I agree the videotape of Zimmerman’s booking is not clear but there should have at least been some blood on the front of his clothing.
It’s not too late to sign a petition for justice for Trayvon Martin(and that is what this really about-not conviction without due process but justice)….My original post http://www.rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/03/justice-for-trayvon-martin.html
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