Seahawks gripes, #GetOverIt

perspective for the ungrateful monday morning armchair Seahawks fans and sports bloggers:

criticizing Pete Carroll for getting the team within 1 yard of winning back-to-back super bowls is like bitching about winning the lottery.  just in case anyone thinks they can do the job better, the Seahawks won't be accepting applications for at least a decade.  7 different Hawks coaches in 33 years won a total of 7 playoff games, Carroll has won 7 playoff games in 5 years with the team.  fans of 30 other NFL teams will gladly take that problem.

here's a great nugget: the Chiefs beat the Seahawks and Patriots this year, but didn't even make the playoffs.  in fact, the Chiefs have beat the Hawks 20 of the last 26 games, yet the Chiefs haven't won a playoff game in 21 years and haven't been to the super bowl in 45 years.  you know how much they appreciate whining Seahags?  they are just itching for the next chance to prove who the better team is. Hawks fans need to have more gratitude for being a marquee franchise right now.

probably the play that built up all the frustration in Irvin (51) that caused him to erupt at the end of the super bowl. 

rabble rouser of the month :: january 2015

cassandra fortin (aka cassandra c)
  a 17-year-old girl was diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma last year.  she decided to not undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the disease.  the decision was supported by her mother, but not the state of connecticut.  cassandra was then kidnapped, taken to the hospital and given radiation treatments. basically, she is opposed to the poison used for treatment, doesn't want it in her body, and doesn't want to further put toxins into the ecosystem for her own supposed benefit.      this isn't a terribly rare scenario.  it's just that complicating factors like pregnancy, religious beliefs, "first nation" rights, different state's and nation's laws all give different underage people different rights.  and in connecticut that seems to mean that cassandra is not allowed to make decisions for herself that other people elsewhere may or may not be able to make.
     meanwhile, someone over the age of 18 can choose to commit suicide to end their pain, such as brittany maynard did after moving to portland be able to "die with diginity".  brittany became a national celebrity for refusing cancer treatments.  i am not judging brittany's case and imagine i would have done a similar thing, but it is a contradiction to villainize one person and glorify another for essentially the same thing just because one is 12 years older than the other.
     and let's certainly not suggest this is about the government wanting to care for citizens.  a queensland father is looking at jail time for giving his dying daughter cannabis oil even though the result was a great improvement, much like angela brown and her son in minnesota last year.


runner up.

     good old fashioned pranksters from toronto, (kyle forgeard, jesse sebastiani, niko martinovic and marko martinovic) pulled a stunt on LAPD, in which they videoed themselves offering to sell coke to people near the beach.  then, when the cops show up, things get goofy.
after announcing that they have a bunch of coke in the back, the kid in back says somewhat offhandedly,"i didn't know you couldn't sell it like that tough." in response, the female officer says, "will figure it out man, just relax." her response alone got endless chuckles from me.  after checking out the car, finding only coca-cola, the cops are seen laughing, joking and shaking hands with the pranksters that they naturally let go.  the only problem came from the posting it online to much criticism, including the LAPD who weren't laughing about it in hindsight.
     certainly, the video has been criticized by more straight-laced people as a waste of police time. perhaps that's a justifiable rationale, but taking the video on it's own accord,  the acting is priceless. straight-faced, they are so convincing in pulling this off.  no doubt they could probably have a decent career ala the jerky boys or jackass type schticks.

december 2014 :: rabble rouser(s) of the months

december 2014 news featured two stories prominently.

i would like to honor the sony hackers because it is tomfoolery at it’s most sophisticated. and we certainly can't let it be forgotten how awesome it is to have high ranking executives called to task for unprofessional behavior revealed in their emails. however, the unknown hackers did apparently promote violence and are seen as a “terrorist” organization. that is not to be supported on any level. now, it seems rather apparent that the north korean government is not behind this, but sometimes trusting the government is not a bad idea. so, we take the governments warnings at face value and assume that this is a great matter of national security in order to be sensitive toward the american way of life. so, the rabble rouser of the month award goes to other main news story.

throughout the month of december, in opposition to the grand jury non-indictments of recent police actions, people from the cleveland cavaliers, to the oregon ducks basketball team, st. louis rams, to all other sects of society have worn shirts, staged die-ins and all other support for the #BlackLivesMatter issue. perhaps the best was from the #WhiteCoats4BlackLives protests. medical schools all around the country protested enmasse for the cause, such as the chicago school of medicine:


the protester was time magazine’s person of the year in 2011, due primarily to the memorable occupy wall street movement that expanded to nationwide camps protesting elite corporate control over the people. that movement has not died over the past three years, nor is it anything all that new. it started in this country with the revolutionary war, or actually with the first siting of white men. modern day, it gained a bit more steam with the anti-WTO protests in seattle, 15 years ago in late 1999. that kind of struggle will always continue. that is precisely the kind of struggle that lives on in the protests of ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter protests. incidentally, the ferguson activists were time magazine's runner up for the 2014 person of the year.

this struggle has been anything but universally supported. some people don’t get it. opposition to the cause has been fierce. "what do they have to protest?" "why aren't we protesting #AllLivesMatter?" "michael brown was a thug that got what he deserved." these were all questions that i heard on repeat. certainly, i don't have all the answers, nor should i have very many at all. i live in the middle of nowhere and have barely delved into any of this. i do get to see a different side of people that are completely detached from the news worthy world and it’s interesting to think about these things from a location where nearly everyone can afford to live equally.

on the surface, people in ferguson and elsewhere around the nation were protesting the killing of michael brown, but there is such a deeper level to be considered. if what protesters had to say was only about one kid getting killed, and it was police evidence versus citizens observations, it wouldn’t have spread to every city in the country. thousands of people don’t take to the streets in every city of the country on thanksgiving day, on christmas day, to protest for the fun of it. when that many people put their lives on hold that is an indication that there are real problems and the voices need to be heard. the saddest part of michael brown is that the people will never know the truth. so much was covered up and so many significant questions that people continue to ask will never be addressed.

regardless of what actually happened august 9, 2014 in ferguson, the aftermath has been ugly. and if people can’t trust the police or media handling of events in the aftermath, then there should be little reason to trust things were done honorably in the first place. what people are really protesting in ferguson and everywhere else is the fact that the media and certain sects of society have turned a blind eye, for too long.

the reason people chant #BlackLivesMatter and not #WhiteLivesMatter is because white lives are largely protected and precisely the civil rights that have been such a hard fight don't seem to have progressed very far, if anywhere at all. ny daily news had an article showing 179 people have been killed by NYPD cops since amadou diallo, with only three convictions. and it’s not just the numbers, it’s the manner in which they died. consider some then vs now scenarios:

1999: amadou diallo was shot 41 times by NYC cops. he was unarmed, though even if police needed to disarm him, taking him to the butcher is not the way that should be condoned. 41 shots is clear case of hatred. the four policemen were eventually acquitted of any wrongdoing and the city of new york paid a $3 million settlement to his family. 1997: abner louima was arrested and then beaten to the point that during his interrogation in the precinct bathroom, a police officer shoved a broken piece of a toilet plunger up his rectum. that is beyond any rational interrogation method and shows a blatant disregard for humanity. in that case, the main officer responsible was sentenced to 30 years in a minimum security prison. but, who has learned from it?

2014: eric garner, who was wanted for selling untaxed cigarettes, was approached by police, who promptly strangled him to death on the street. is that an executable offense and are the police judge and jury? the protocol would be to put handcuffs on him, search him and place him in the back of a patrol car. not only did the video corroborate that the police acted irrationally, but the person who took the video was indicted in an apparently separate charge, while the evidence, including garner's autopsy, showed that the police used a banned choke hold, no indictments were given by a grand jury. also in 2014: michael brown was killed by police, controversial as it may be, the police still left his body in the street for four hours. there is no excuse for such a blatant disregard for human life. even if he was a "thug" authorities still need to be held to higher standards, and again i wonder, if they couldn't even get that part right, why should i assume that they got any part of the situation right?

then, as now, such examples, such stories happen everyday in cities across america, continuously. gawker gives detailed information of 69 cases of black people killed by cops since 1999 in less than humane fashion. and not to worry if 69 people doesn't seem evidence enough, there are at 713 replies, mostly of people that were not the list.

consider another time capsule:

1969: fred hampton is assassinated by the chicago police. FBI agent gregg york said, “we expected about twenty panthers to be in the apartment when the police raided the place. only two of those black niggers were killed, fred hampton and mark clark.” does this not show a clear case of hatred?

2014: cleveland area police officer aaron mcnamara wrote on youtube, “abolishing slavery was the worst thing we could have done. these people should be exterminated.”

if these examples don't show a problem with racism consider a critical fact in CNN's statistical analysis from early december. they showed propublica's statistic that, "the 1,217 deadly police shootings from 2010 to 2012 captured in the federal data show that blacks, age 15 to 19, were killed at a rate of 31.17 per million, while just 1.47 per million white males in that age range died at the hands of police."  that is more than statistically significant. that is mind boggling. very clearly, there is a police bias against black people when young black people are 21 times more likely to be killed by police.

anon put the matter astutely when they compared the #AllLivesMatter question to an analogous argument of feeding the hungry. instead of saying “we should feed the poor and hungry” try saying “let’s feed all people”. that's how inane the #AllLivesMatter argument is. there is a time when certain things matter more than others. and when black people feel that they are still living in the 1960s and evidence clearly can support that, then that’s not progress. they feel they deserve some attention and to be treated equally.

that’s why people have lost trust in society and are taking to the streets in protest. the idea of protesting just happens to be more prevalent now than it was in, say, the cocaine addicted 1980s. the memories of hundreds of people who died needlessly and continue to die needlessly is a cause for concern and has finally reached a boiling point.

still, to say this is a race matter is partially the case, but a bit shortsighted. in the end, most of the problems, including these protests, can be linked back to the subjugation of people in lower classes. when people go on prison labor strikes, hunger strikes, minimum wage strikes, these are not spearheaded by people like al sharpton. these are spearheaded by people sick of extreme and vile conditions, by a society starting to suffer collective PTSD. the al sharpton’s are simply some of the people capitalizing off the melee.

that is why this is not so much about race, as about a battle of the haves versus the havenots. and it so happens that people of color are mostly in the have not category. to that end, this could be considered a race issue. still, it is mostly about the little guys getting fucked. people are tired of it. that’s why these protests have been going on so long. thanks to social media and the ability of everyday people to go out and show the truth in the streets straight from their cell phones, major media has become less relevant and the struggles have been more pronounced, more advertised and getting more attention over the last few years. as long as the bullshit justice continues, expect the protests and riots to continue. no matter your opinion on the protests, the fact that they will continue is evidence that there is a lot of bullshit at play.

best albums of 2014: #6

willie nelson – band of brothers (legacy recordings)

even at 81, willie can still churn out records with the vivacity of his days leading the outlaw country movement at the dawn of the 70s. even though he is over 80, he can still confront the world with his grin and bear it and roll with every punch. the track sequencing seems a bit off, it could have grouped more similar songs together, but i guess after hearing so many albums that are concept albums, or otherwise arranged around a central theme, this seems more like a greatest hits album. then again, even though willie is the best country musician of all time, he can’t be expected to produce a red headed stranger every time. and making an album of all new tracks for the first time in maybe a decade that sounds like a collection of greatest hits is a remarkable achievement in its own right.

as a cohesive whole though, the focus tracks promoted to radio stations that begin the album, serve as an introduction to the real collection of songs. not to shortchange those first seven songs, by any means, they all come with willie’s amazing signature melodies. the wall and whenever you come around are the only times willie suggests a vulnerability. wives and girlfriends contains the kind of humor that only willie can get away with. the song would have been banned in the 50s, and might even be in some states today.

still, it’s the midway point when the album really gets started on the twangy honky tonk song used to her. then willie hits with three straight hard blues songs that preach timeless truths. willie has always been at his best with a sidekick, so it’s a wonder that git go, featuring jamey johnson, is the only duet. but he pays homage to the entire inner workings of the industry on the title track band of brothers and relents that there are truth tellers and people that speak the most on hard to be an outlaw, both songs make a little stab at the industry leeches. he gets back into the honky tonk comedy on crazy like me to make a caricature. the penultimate track, the songwriters, is also the ultimate track that sums up willie’s work the best and tells of all sides of having a superstar’s life. in the finale, willie wraps up the various moods and topics of the album into a concise sayonara song, which is refreshing in its implication that there is much more to come.  there can, of course, never be too much wille nelson.

best albums of 2014: #5

 black lips – underneath the rainbow (vice records)

underneath the rainbow benefited heavily from the time it was released. record labels tend to release the most powerful albums january thru april. presumably, the late winter, early spring, time frame drives summer tours and the chance, particularly for rock and roll albums, to become teenage summer anthems. this album is, in all accounts, a teenage summer anthem. in retrospect, though, the later months of 2014 served up more joyous records (in my experience that hasn't heard so many of the *major* indie records). with lesser albums in spring, underneath the rainbow spun more freely on my tables. even better, hearing this on my buddy’s boom box in the garage hit straight in the heart of a rebellious youth.

true to black lips psychedelic form, they continue to fuel fun-loving pranksters, and are maybe at the pinnacle of such form. less reverb-drenched than previous efforts, black lips are much more accessible to a wider audience, giving even older, jaded, listeners a reminder of what still can exist. it was recorded in three different eastern locales by different big money producers (from the likes of the dap kings and black keys) giving this album a slicker polish than previous black lips albums and may even speak to average teenagers better.

the entire album is full of kooky grooves and catchy lyrics and themes about cruising, getting busted, chasing girls, ditching school, smoking, partying all night, an whatever things such an album supposed to talk about. despite or maybe because of juvenile lyrics, the dance-ability factor juices the album up in a decidedly playful way. but play it in the garage rather than the car, lest you really look like a teenager roaming the streets and, you know, get busted.

my experience getting to see black lips for the first time came later on in the year. it was as refreshing as being high school-aged again. the one thing i long for that the midwest offers better than any other part of the states is the dingy, garage rock clubs. portland clubs may sell cheaper tall boys, but not even the tonic lounge, or slabtown (r.i.p), or satyricon (r.i.p), could ever come close to matching dimly lit, month-since-washed denim stench, damp sticky beer drenched hard wood floors of just about every rock club located in a 500 mile radius of missouri’s borders. places like iowa city are magnets for the best garage rock, always have been and probably the reason why bands that don’t tour out of cascadia can't ever get the proper sound. that’s a comfort of home, right there. the black lips a comfort of youth.

best albums of 2014: #8

 james dean kindle & the eastern oregon playboys – many splendored things (self-released)

for starters, before even playing the reocrd, the cover artwork captures the ideal the playboys are going for in making an old country record. the cover photo of a couple square dancing on a belt buckle on a satin background feels post-war americana. and the back cover emulates perfectly, the dawning age of home entertainment, right down to the small print describing the manufacturing process of the vinyl. the blue vinyl, however, is a deviation of form and the story of the mine disaster approaches ridiculousness. yet the story illustrates the band's dedication and is the right humor to present a caricature of human spirit in a time before the robotification of man. the sadness of the human demise is carried straight into the music as only country blues can offer.

if there was ever any doubt about the playboys ability to recreate a new, but genuine 1950s country album, that doubt was quickly blown off from note one. side one is a perfect record in every way. the production was earnest with well-seasoned professionals sean ogilvie and levi cecil on hand. that’s the main aspect in which the playboys have advanced from their 2012 self-titled album. many splendored things isn't better or worse, but a different project entirely that needed different ears and recording skills.

laura gibson’s appearance on the first song, the other way, is pure time travel since she is about the only person alive that could match kitty wells for substance. country radio (when that was real music) would have used i’ll be around as the promo single, for showing off the entire band first in the guitar and piano solos, but mostly peter walter’s sax as the added pepper. it was not needed on the album, but it does, for a moment, turn the otherwise drunk, love-sick balladeers into a swing band. and that up tempo spirit is needed to sell records and get bookings in ballrooms. the addition of the psychedelic country song in your mind allowed kindle to put his own stamp on the genre. it is perhaps my favorite song on the album. the repeated kaleidoscopic noodling at the end is a fair addition for a crooner gone overboard, but damn them for pressing that laugh, followed by what sounds like an elbow to a piano key in the last groove at the label. try waking up sweating at two in the morning with that still spinning. a love affair gone awry feels better. at least that possibility of the technical tomfoolery separates the record from its cd counterpart, which could not have been present sixty years ago.

side two starts off as promising as side one, but quickly becomes somewhat of a different record, though it still follows the old country album diversity, a little like tom t. hall records maybe. laura gibson is given a solo of her own on let’s pretend we’re strangers, which, followed by kindle’s sassy reply in the chorus, makes it about the heaviest hitting song on the album. but the song sets up a regrettable part of the story. considering the production, the seedier side of life in i only… (the song i can’t stomach enough to finish the title) and brain cells should be no surprise, but go beyond the subtle charm of an older age, even those that sang about the typical destruction. the mood is recaptured with the rendition of louis armstrong’s we have all the time in the world. cover songs are a tricky business and often ruin records, but the playboys do turn it into an appropriately sad county ballad. plus, it is a perfect choice of song to close with, leaving an aftertaste of a trashed and empty ballroom the morning after. it completes the record’s homage to a time nearly forgotten.

best albums of 2014: #7

 strangled darlings – boom stomp king

strangled darlings have had three albums on the rabble rouser year end lists over the last four years. seems to be an indication they need to be more widely listened to. one mandolin, one electric cello, no effects, george veech and jess anderly have produced their most stripped down album yet.

it takes a real effort to figure out what most of these songs are about. then again, that seems to be the main point of it all. the majority of the album is an expose on how humans have lost touch with their own nature and spirituality. real needs have been replaced by an artificially produced life, mass marketed and cheaply purchased. ideals like freedom only exist in far away places that individuals have no hope of reaching. yet, even those few who are lucky enough to have material wealth, to be able to roam in open space, or even in their own minds, share a blindness to the fact that every single one of us is part of a bigger plan, and that’s just considering this physical human form. the wanting of more and more of this life, without any true appreciation of the fragility, is a common thread on the album.

i divide this nine track disc into two halves; the first four and the last four. the middle track, bunnies, is the only one where the brief period of true living exists, and it is only sort of hinted at. if the last half of the album is related to the first half, it’s in the telling of the sad end, the decay after the world has taken its toll. the time on earth is short, the end is hard, but there are hints, particularly in the tone and in the final song river of love especially, that it isn't all bad. there is some relief and ultimate freedom after the last yard sale.

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here is a message from strangled darlings, which came in an email just this morning.

Hello far flung friends!

Six months ago, on the longest day of the year, we left our hippest of twee cities to move into a 12 x 18 foot rolling green room & new home (Code name: Shakeyhouse). The American RV, with it's timeless brown swooshes bedecking the sexless square walls gets a new type of client: The Indie Band. We are reaching out to you dear listeners, Steve Albini style, in an effort to eschew acts of corporate greed, ripped mp3's & sheer musical monotony to deliver something live to you from Strangled Darlings.

Since that auspicious Solstice half a year ago, we have logged 14,000 miles, playing 85 shows in 29 states in ShakeyhouseRV. I am happy to report the toilet still works & no one has been murdered. Instead we shall winter in sunny Florida with stops in Alabama & Louisiana.

The funtimes with snow birding will end in early March as we climb northern the to salt crushed roads of the midwest and the True/False Festival in Columbia, MO. I'll be saving my fleece. We'll be back in DC (among what JFK called the "Northern Southerners") by late March to climb back up I-95 to mud season in April's Vermont. Wait for our comeuppance then.

And to our fair moist Portland! Forestall your espresso suicide! We return for a summer kiss in endless July. And yes, absence surely makes our hearts grow fonder.  For details on where we’ll be and when, see our rather ambitious and ever-changing tour schedule here.

Oh, yeah, and in the meantime, we’ve recorded a new album (yeah that's right), Boom Stomp King. We cut some new videos too. Stay tuned for details. For now, a little teaser from a tune honoring exploits of Neill Armstrong. (Try beating this for your next FB post, "Took one small step on extra-terrestrial heavenly body today.")

Thanks for your support,

George and Jess