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Our Taxes present The National Jukebox

17th May 11 (Tue) Leave a comment

This was flying around the interwebs last week… finally got as chance to check it out.  The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives.

** http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/ **
facebook.com/libraryofcongress
twitter.com/librarycongress

Within the first 48 hours since its launch on May 10th, it logged more than 1 million page views and more than 250,000 streams.   The project has opened up the library’s archive with an initial posting of more than 10,000 pre-1925 recordings from the Victor record label, now under the Sony Music umbrella. The recordings span jazz, blues, ethnic folk, gospel, pop, spoken word, comedy and other genres dating to the early 20th century.

You think tax dollars aren’t going towards something good?  Well, as far as archival music, I’m super happy that my tax dollars helped make this possible.

~Dan – np: The Book of Mormon (original cast recording)

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Howard Zinn dies at 87

27th Jan 10 (Wed) Leave a comment

Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose leftist A People’s History of the United States became a million-selling alternative to mainstream texts.

Zinn died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, Calif., daughter Myla Kabat-Zinn said. The historian was a resident of Auburndale, Mass.

He was 87.

He will be missed, but he left a legacy.

~Dan

Haiti Relief :: RED CROSS

13th Jan 10 (Wed) 2 comments

Haiti needs your help.  Please visit the RED CROSS for more information!

You can donate $10 to the relief efforts in Haiti by texting “HAITI” to “90999.”
The charge will show up on your phone bill.

http://www.redcross.org/en/

 

Change I can get behind…

31st Jan 09 (Sat) 3 comments

The new 2009 quarter representing the District of Columbia has jazz great / composing legend Duke Ellington featured on it… this is change I can get behind:

I haven’t paid attention.  Of the state quarters, do any of them have people outside of presidents?  Looking here, it looks like the Duke Ellington quarter is the one with a person the most prominently featured (outside of the Helen Keller one for Alabama).  Anyway, it’s great to see a jazz great on our currency.  Jazz is one of the most truly American creations.

Oh, and unrelated, anyone go to the Album Leaf show last night in Portland at Rotture?  Was it good?  I wasn’t able to go, but I’m hoping Jimmy LaValle swings through again soon…

~Dan – np: Cyro BaptistaLove the Donkey

Happy Year of the Ox!

26th Jan 09 (Mon) Leave a comment

Happy Year of the Ox!

Here’s a string-quartet version of Sufjan Stevens‘ “Year of the Ox,” which originally appeared on his (brilliant) electronic album, Enjoy Your Rabbit!  The string quartet version was arranged and played by the Osso Quartet, based in NYC.

The performance above is from Osso’s 2007 appearance at Cincinnati’s MusicNow Festival (click here for my review).  Check out Sufjan’s Enjoy Your Rabbit, too…

~Dan – np: Steve LacyNew Jazz Meeting : Baden-Baden 2002

comedy that just writes itself

20th Jan 09 (Tue) 2 comments

To George W Bush,

Comedians everywhere hope you stay in the public eye for years to come… the rest of us 78% who don’t approve of the job you’ve done hope you just go away.

Good riddance, #43.  Don’t let the shoe hit you on the way out

Here’s hoping #44 is better.  Quite frankly, it’d be hard for anyone to be worse than you as far as public policy goes, Mr Bush.

Buh-bye!

(click for larger)

~Dan – np: Fiona AppleWhen the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing Fore He Enters the Ring There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You’ll Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won’t Matter, Cuz You Know That You’re Right

Senator Al Franken

5th Jan 09 (Mon) 33 comments

Olbermann Special Comment: Proposition 8

11th Nov 08 (Tue) 9 comments

Congratulations

4th Nov 08 (Tue) Comments off

Monty’s Rockcast / Palin Debate Flowchart & Duck Hunt / Holy Fuck on CBC Radio Q

4th Oct 08 (Sat) 1 comment

Well, three unrelated topics… Monty Colvin’s podcast, the VP debate, and Holy Fuck on CBC Radio Q…

Monty Colvin, bassist/ songwriter/ backing singer from Galactic Cowboys and multi-instrumentalist/ lead vocals/ songwriter from Crunchy, has a podcast.  If you’re a fan of Galactic Cowboys (GC), King’s X, or guys who say “um” and “stuff” a lot… check it out.  As a big GC fan, episode #2 was really good… great insights to the making of the self-titled debut.  He’s only up to episode #3, but I look forward to more Rockcasts.  Keep it up, Monty!

“And a great podcast fell upon the ground… hmmm…”
-Wylde Silas Tomkyn

Subscribe here: itpc://web.me.com/montycolvin/Site/PODCASTS/rss.xml
Check out his webpage
: http://www.montycolvin.com/

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Speaking of podcasts (ok, I guess they were related topics), I just got through the 10/2/08 Vice Presidential Debate on my iPod (I wasn’t around to watch the debate) between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

Well, all I can say it… “you betcha” is starting to sound like a bad cartoon catch phrase, Sarah.

So, Dick Cheney‘s only bad decision was shooting his friend in the face?  That’s what she said. Really, Sarah Palin?

Really?

No… really?

Sigh… I just hope this doesn’t turn out poorly… for us all… not just “Joe Sixpack and Hockey Moms.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

OK, back to something that cheers me up… because as much as I like to hear my politicians mispronounce “nuclear” (it’s not new-cue-lar), I like hearing post-rock, organic-electronic band Holy Fuck MUCH MORE… they play “Lovely Allen” and “Royal Gregory” on Canada’s CBC Radio Q hosted by Jian Ghomeshi.

The CBC Radio Q podcast is located HERE (the 10/3/08 show is one with Holy Fuck playing live — they’ve been interviewed on it before, but as far as I know, not playing live).

Bleh… sorry for my run-on, parenthetical sentence (as I like to do)… the podcast link is HERE (iTunes link) or HERE (CBC web mp3-link).

~Dan – np: TalkdemonicEyes at Half Mast

I ♥ Peter DeFazio (my representative)

30th Sep 08 (Tue) 4 comments

I ♥ my house representative, Peter DeFazio.

Sure, the failure of the bailout bill caused the Dow to drop 700+ points in one day on Monday.  I’d rather have short-term losses than long-term unchecked corporate greed.  We need to find a solution, but the solution brought forward by Henry Paulson and the White House was not the solution.

Back to the drawing board, people.

~Dan – np: Tori AmosLive at Montreux ’91/’92

If you missed it…

27th Sep 08 (Sat) 1 comment

The 2008 Presidential Debate(s) are (will be) available for download as a CBS podcast HERE (via iTunes).  For non-iTunes people… well, I’m sure it’s out there elsewhere.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=292335278

~Dan

PS- Rest in peace, Paul Newman.  I love your spaghetti sauces and your daughter’s cookies (literally, not euphemistically).

Palin(g) in Comparison

2nd Sep 08 (Tue) 14 comments

To the Hillary supporters who for some reason don’t like Barack Obama…

Don’t Vote for McCain simply because he chose a woman.  I know that may seem like an unlikely alternative, and I know that we’re all smarter than that…

But there are rumors and rumors of rumors that some Hillary-likers (now maybe undecideds) are switching over to the crotchety side simply due to his choice of a woman…

Sarah Palin is not an alternative to Hillary.  She’s actually quite the opposite.

  • She doesn’t believe in teaching sex education in schools.  She believes in abstinence only sex education.  Her 17year old daughter is pregnant.  Hmm… yeah, not teaching kids about condom use really works… 100% of the time that they don’t have sex.  Of course, it works zero percent of the time when they do have sex.
  • She wants creationism (i.e.- religion…) taught in public schools (…as science).  So… she believes the earth was formed around 4,000 B.C. – – which is roughly 4,000 years after the agricultural revolution occurred in Mesopotamia.  Oh, and it all started with two people, a snake who knew (presumably) excellent Hebrew, and an apple that a supernatural being didn’t want these two people to eat.  Yes, let’s give her the 2nd position in power.
  • She also believes that the founding fathers (of the U.S.) fully intended for “Under God” to be in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Um… the founding fathers were long dead in the 1950s.  They were (mostly) deists, not (mostly) Christians, and they had nothing to do with the “Under God” in the pledge or the “In God We Trust” on the currency.  That all happened in the 1950s as a reactionary move of congress during McCarthy’s anti-communism witch hunt.
  • She wants polar bears to cease to be listed as endangered.  They don’t need rights.  They’re just animals.
  • She wants to deny any benefits to homosexual couples.  They don’t need rights either.  They’re just animals.
  • She opposes abortion and stem cell research.  Um… hello… stem cell research doesn’t have to come from fetii.  They are separate issues, and stem cell research should not, not, not be linked to it… regardless of your views on abortion / reproductive rights.  Wake up!
  • Oy…  http://www.ontheissues.org/Sarah_Palin.htm

Sarah Palin is not the alternative.  Not.  The.  Alternative.  And, as the old man’s V.P., there’s a good chance that she could be P. after the oldie has a heart attack after being egged on the way to inauguration.  Not a good idea.

~Dan – np: a weird iPod playlist with Gnashing of Teeth‘s 2006 demos and Joss Whedon‘s Mr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog Soundtrack
 /

mongolian clusterfu*k

23rd Jun 08 (Mon) 7 comments

PARENTAL ADVISORY – EXPLICIT BLOG
George Carlin - Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics

George Carlin: Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits got him into trouble in the 70s (view the police report).

On June 22, 2008, the great free-thinker, comedian, and all-around entertainer George Carlin has passed on at 71 years young old.

George Carlin [1937 – 2008]

I got a chance to see him a few times in Ohio (and even once in Vegas). His potty mouth wasn’t just for potty mouth’s sake. It really got me to think about words. I may not always use them correctly, but at least I know they’re just words.

“I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where
the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”

“Think of how stupid the average person is,
and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

“You know who I pray to? Joe Pesci. Joe Pesci. Two reasons; first of all, I think he’s a good actor. Okay. To me, that counts. Second; he looks like a guy who can get things done. Joe Pesci doesn’t fuck around. Doesn’t fuck around. In fact, Joe Pesci came through on a couple of things that God was having trouble with. For years I asked God to do something about my noisy neighbor with the barking dog. Joe Pesci straightened that cock-sucker out with one visit.”

(Some of) my fav CDs of his:


His books are good, too.

“Gee, he was just here a minute ago.”
– George Carlin writes his own obituary (1997)

~Dan – np: Bobby Previte & New BumpSet the Alarm for Monday

PS– in true early-morning fashion, I still feel bad, but I misspelled his first name in this blog’s URL… sigh…

Church and State

10th Jun 08 (Tue) 3 comments

Wow… very level headed and rational take on how religion & politics should interact…

And then there’s this guy who doesn’t know what the Constitution even says… and he doesn’t know that “In God We Trust” was adopted in the 1950s (not in the Constitution by the founders of this nation)…

Why do McCain and other politicians (Romney, Bush 41, Bush 43, etc) who say these types of things want to exclude 16%+ of their constituents who are non-believers/unaffiliated with religion?

Barack has claimed to be a religious person; and while I don’t hold his views, I’m completely fine with a politician having views contrary to mine. That’s what freedom of/from religion is all about. What I like about Barack’s speech above is that it separates him from the common pandering politician. He doesn’t try to force his religion on the populace (like other legislators). Hopefully it’s not “too good to be true.” Hopefully Obama can beat McCain in November.

~Dan – np: Charlie ParkerWith Strings

vegeterrorists? kale is the new jihad

21st May 08 (Wed) 4 comments

What is this world coming to? Huh?

What’s on the FBI’s big list of things to do this summer in preparation for the Republican National Convention? They’re going to go to vegan potlucks.

What they were looking for, Carroll says, was an informant—someone to show up at “vegan potlucks” throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort’s primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division’s website, is to “investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines.” Read the story

Sigh. This is ridiculous.

But I guess it makes sense… I mean, George W Bush did choke on a pretzel… which is… gasp… vegan.

Send Bush a Pretzel

Maybe “Send Bush a Pretzel” should be the terrorists’ motto.

Sigh. 245 more days, and counting…

~Dan, your friendly neighborhood vegeterrorist?

Only Five Years to Admit Fault

30th Apr 08 (Wed) Leave a comment

sigh… today marks the fifth anniversary of one of many softheaded moves by Lil’ Bush… and the White House is JUST NOW admitting it was a mistake to hoist the banner (news story).

265 more days (1/20/2009) until we can say “mission accomplished, pack your bags”…

~Dan – np: Tegan & SaraiTunes Live Session -EP-

Letter to America

22nd Feb 08 (Fri) Leave a comment
Dear Citizens of America,
In view of your failure to elect a competent President and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.
Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up “revocation” in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up “aluminium,” and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
2. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘colour’, ‘favour’ and ‘neighbour.’ Likewise, you will learn to spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters, and the suffix “ize” will be replaced by the suffix “ise.”
3. You will learn that the suffix ‘burgh’ is pronounced ‘burra’; you may elect to spell Pittsburgh as ‘Pittsberg’ if you find you simply can’t cope with correct pronunciation.
4. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up “vocabulary”). Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as “like” and “you know” is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.
5. There is no such thing as “US English.” We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter ‘u’ and the elimination of “-ize.”
6. You will relearn your original national anthem, “God Save The Queen”, but only after fully carrying out Task 1 (see above).
7. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England. It will be called “Come-Uppance Day.”
8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you’re not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you’re not grown up enough to handle a gun.
9. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
10. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
11. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion tables… Both roundabouts and metrification will help you understand the British sense of humour.
12. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling “gasoline”) – roughly $8/US per gallon. Get used to it.
13. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call french fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called “crisps.” Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with malt vinegar.
14. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
15. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as “beer,” and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as “Lager.” American brands will be referred to as “Near-Frozen Gnat’s Urine,” so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
16. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors as English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” was an experience akin to having one’s ear removed with a cheese grater.
17. You will cease playing American “football.” There is only one kind of proper football; you call it “soccer”. Those of you brave enough, in time, will be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American “football”, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of Jessies – English slang for “Big Girls Blouse”).
18. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the “World Series” for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable and forgiven.
19. You must tell us who killed JFK. It’s been driving us mad.
20. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due, backdated to 1776.
Thank you for your co-operation.

John Cleese

(Okay, so it wasn’t John Cleese (http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/revocation.asp). That doesn’t mean it’s not hysterical. Now stop complaining and enjoy your anonymous comedy!)

~Dan – np: Jonathan KinghamHardwood Floors

Categories: Humor, News Tags: ,

You down with NPP?

12th Oct 07 (Fri) Leave a comment

::a rare non-music blog:: 

Kudos to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their valuable contribution to awareness about climate change.  Al Gore has donated his $1.5M stake in the Prize to the Alliance For Climate Protection, the non-profit he founded for spreading the message.  Let’s hope the message about the need for solutions for making a positive impact can be spread wider and not dissolve into the trash-heap brain of American collective retardedness(tm).

related story

~Dan
-np: ken laster‘s  in the groove, jazz and beyond podcast (podcast link)

Categories: News
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