[ Saturday, July 05, 2003 ]
Had a dream last night that I was watching the 2004 election results, and that Russ Feingold got beat by 2 votes, by someone named Mary Fredrickson. So, if you ever hear of somebody named Mary Fredrickson deciding to run for political office, make every effort to stall her efforts. She's probably the antichrist.
Went to two Fourth parties yesterday. The second was a typical (and typically great) get-together of friends, but the first was a bit more interesting. Thrown by
Bill C. Malone, the nation's foremost country music historian and an absolute treasure to Madison, the party mainly served as an extended jam session. A jam session that I was lucky enough to be a part of, amidst some heavy company. Apart from Bill and his wife Bobbie, who have recorded some on their own and gig around Madison proffering their sweet and soulful brand of charming country harmony, the group also included Bill and Bobbie's sideman Ken, Madison's king of Tex-Mex singer-songwriting
Cris Plata, his wife and bass player Ann, Karl (the fiddle player from local bluegrass luminaries
The Nob Hill Boys, and George, another fiddler, this time from Madison legends the Goose Island Ramblers.
Heavy company, no? How I got there is a mystery that I haven't yet begun to figure out. All I'll say is that I think I acquitted myself alright, and enjoyed immensely the chance to play with such a talented and friendly group of people.
Read last night that Barry White died yesterday. Always enjoyed his stuff, particularly the arranging and songwriting that he doesn't get any credit for. (Thinking particularly here of the classic instrumental "Love's Theme.) I also just found out that he had a small indie record label in the 1960s that had its greatest success with The Bobby Fuller Four. Interesting, no?
On the box right now: Big Star, #1 RECORD/RADIO CITY. As hard as I try, I never can resist this classic two-fer. The band's story is even more interesting than their classic records.
Peace...
Dove With Claws [8:53 AM]
[ Wednesday, July 02, 2003 ]
Today, it's the good, the bad and the ugly:
The Good: Howard Dean is currently leading all Democratic candidates in fundraising, with close to 9 million.
The Bad: Despite Bush's backtracking, and recent assertions that our stay in Iraq will be both "long" and "difficult," polls show that over 60% of Americans still support our continued involvement in Iraq. Now, that number's WAY down from what it was when the war began, and it's been declining steadily, but it's still disheartening. (Perhaps even worse news is that over half of Americans believe that Hussein had something to do with 9/11, even though NO evidence has been presented in that regard.)
The Ugly: Looks like our troops might be heading to Liberia...
Eesh. It's enough to make me grab my guitar and Beach Boys records and go live in a cave...not a bad idea, really.
On the box right now: Paul Westerberg, STEREO/MONO.
Peace...
Dove With Claws [2:54 PM]
[ Monday, June 30, 2003 ]
Recently, much of my time has been spent engaging in studies of prehistorical African society, geography, anthropology, sociology, snozzology, dinkology etc. I don't mean to complain, but I've got this class rather unencouragingly titled "Africa: An Introductory Survey." Interesting, no? Somehow I can't believe that, in our still-Eurocentric education system, we would have a course called "Europe: An Introductory Survey," or "White People: An Introductory Survey." (By the way, if they ever do offer "White People: An Introductory Survey," I'm first in line.)
Anyway, nobody really knows what the hell's going on in this course, particularly since it's sort of unofficially team taught; because it's cross-listed in literally ten departments, there's a complete mishmash of history, sociology, geography, poli sci, literature, culture, economics etc., which in turn means that there's a mishmash of professors in all of those departments. Day-to-day continuity goes out the window, as does the rhythm established through learning a specific professors' rhythms, cadences and idiosyncrasies. Eesh...
Anyway, enough complaining. I saw Eric Altermann - the author of the really great book WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA? - undress Pat Buchanan and Bill Press on their
MSNBC show this afternoon. That was a nice interlude.
Enough of this. Back to reading about the goddamn Stone Age...(I thought that George W. Bush was the only one forcing me back to the Stone Age. Heehee.)
On the box right now: OutKast, STANKONIA.
Peace...
Dove With Claws [4:00 PM]
