Archive
Our Taxes present The National Jukebox
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) 
Howard Zinn dies at 87
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
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.
Change I can get behind…
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 Baptista – Love the Donkey
Happy Year of the Ox!
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 Lacy – New Jazz Meeting : Baden-Baden 2002
comedy that just writes itself
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 Apple – When 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
2 months later and 225 votes ahead… and it’s now official. Congratulations, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota!
~Dan – np: Alice in Chains – Alice in Chains
Olbermann Special Comment: Proposition 8
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you…
~Dan
Congratulations
President Elect Barack Obama
Monty’s Rockcast / Palin Debate Flowchart & Duck Hunt / Holy Fuck on CBC Radio Q
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: Talkdemonic – Eyes at Half Mast
I ♥ Peter DeFazio (my representative)
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 Amos – Live at Montreux ’91/’92
If you missed it…
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
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 17–year 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
PARENTAL ADVISORY – EXPLICIT BLOG
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 Bump – Set 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
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 Parker – With Strings
vegeterrorists? kale is the new jihad
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.
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
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 & Sara – iTunes Live Session -EP-
Letter to America
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 Kingham – Hardwood Floors
You down with NPP?
::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).
~Dan
-np: ken laster‘s in the groove, jazz and beyond podcast (podcast link)
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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