Song of the Day: Jay-Z, '99 Problems' (Brown, Purple, Silver, White, Double Black, Black Encored, and Black on Black album versions. I'd have to say of all those, the Brown version is my favorite.)

How far we’ve come, how far to go. Somehow it seems fitting that the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education (has it only been 50 years!) shares the headlines with talk of gay marriage and the crusade against it. The parallels couldn’t be clearer. Brown was a case of the law leading the people of this country in the right direction, somewhat against its own will, and today we’re faced with a similar choice.

At the time of Brown, many southern whites were opposed to integration due to an array of imagined woes. Blacks, in their minds, were an inferior race of low moral fiber, unclean and disease-ridden. They didn’t want the institution of education corrupted by this filthy influence. Of course, they were fools; bigoted, hateful fools who couldn’t see how wrong they were. But if you had put the issue to a vote, the South would have preserved forced segregation. So fifty years ago, the Supreme Court decided for the South that segregation would not stand. From that decision cascaded a variety of other court decisions, opening up other restricted areas of society to blacks and planting the seed for the modern-day civil rights movement.

Today we’re right back in the middle of this philosophical issue, but instead it’s homosexuality on trial instead of skin color. Once again, an array of bigots is lined up against the prospect of extending a basic civil right to a large group of our population, once again babbling a list of imagined ills that will befall the world if this group is allowed the same freedoms they have. What harm comes to anyone, to anything, if a gay couple marries? None whatsoever. The only difference is that the amount of love and self-respect in the world increases a little. Can anyone look at our world today and not count that a good thing?

Some can. Some who believe in fairy tales, who base their lives on myths and interpretations of myths. Some who believe that when prophets like Jesus, Moses and Muhammad spoke of love, they meant it selectively, as though it was one elite group’s right to decide who it belonged to. Some who would rather keep an entire class of people in a state of inequality, of fear and self-loathing, rather than permit them a basic happiness. And for what reason? Simply because they can’t allow their own beliefs to be challenged. There’s simply no other reason to be opposed to gay marriage, because, like blacks in public schools or owning land, like women voting, like the abolition of slavery and indentured servitude, it only makes the world better. It adds to the count of happy, productive citizens contributing to the common good. The only negative is the hatefulness we see in those opposing it—-those who seek to impose their own world view on the hopes, dreams, and destinies of others.

A story about Brown published today quotes Dennis Archer, a junior high school student when Brown was announced, and now the first black president of the American Bar Association. He says, "I stand on the shoulders of people I’ve never met, but have read about; those who were lynched, beaten, spat upon."

The question for you is simple: will you be one of those helping to lift up this persecuted part of our population? Or will history remember you as one of those who spat, who beat, who lynched? Now is the time for you to decide.

Our President, in true form, took the Brown anniversary as another chance to show his hypocrisy and shallow intellect. Some quotes from him today:

"Fifty years ago today, nine judges announced that they had looked at the Constitution and saw no justification for the segregation and humiliation of an entire race."

This, on the same day he derided "activist judges" deciding on civil rights for gay Americans.

"The habits of racism in America have not all been broken," he said. "The habits of respect must be taught to every generation. While our schools are no longer segregated by law, they are still not equal in opportunity and excellence."

This, on the same day he asked Congress to deny opportunity to all of gay America based on bigotry and intolerance.

In the name of false democracy, Bush has requested that Congress propose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, to allow the "people to decide." A popular vote didn’t overturn slavery, or segregation. Some issues go beyond majority rule, to the realm of what is right and good. This is one of them.

Now is the time for you to decide. Love--or hate.

Labels: Culture, Politics

Songs of the Day: Steve Kilbey, 'Atlantis' and 'The Dawn Poems', Annbjorg Lien - 'Den Bortkomne Sauen'.

Another 6 mile run on the trail yesterday. I may actually be getting used to this. Scary.

Discoveries old and new. I suppose I was having too pleasant a weekend to blog--I must be more regular about it. Some small pleasures mixed in--today I was reminded how much I admire Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes; his work throughout the run (1984-1994) of the British series is one of my favorite dramatic performances, of any kind, of all time. Nuanced, devilish, always a step ahead of the viewer, and haunted in ways that extended off-camera. Simply masterful. (More)

I've also come to think that Wax Poetics is the best magazine published today. Its aesthetics would be enough--heavy, high-quality paper, top-notch photography and design, even the ads are terrifically designed. But the content is, based on what I've read so far, exceptional. Ostensibly targeted at the DJ culture (which I find insufferably insipid), the result is a hefty tome dedicated to the love of music, of sounds, images, and textures, of the whole music buying and listening experience. Look for it in better bookstores; here in Columbia you can find it downtown at 9th St. Bookstore and the new APOP indie record shop.

Required reading. A couple of essential online items passed through the radar in the last few days. One is a new site dedicated to un-spinning the right-wing media spin of Fox News and its assorted allies in disinformation, called Media Matters for America. Hidden beneath that unfortunately generic name is an attempt to keep up with all the propaganda and lazy inaccuracies that are at the core of what Fox, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the rest shovel out to the masses. Keeping up with all of that is more than a full-time job, so best of luck to these folks.

The other item of import is a story that everyone should read, which has mysteriously been virtually ignored by the media (aside from one NBC story, months ago). Fortunately resurrected by Slate, the story very clearly indicates that the Bush administration purposely avoided attacking the one known terrorist operating in Iraq before the war, Abu Musab Zarqawi from Jordan, seemingly to preserve a key justification for the war. Zarqawi has since been linked to about 700 deaths--the latest of which was Nicholas Berg. I feel like a voice in the wilderness here, but this is grounds for impeachment. The Republican-controlled Congress brings Clinton up for impeachment for having extramarital sex, but George W. Bush blatantly fails in his duty to protect us from terrorism, and he gets a free pass.

Now tell me about that "liberal media" the right-wing loves to rant about. Where are these stories? There are many more like them. Believe it, folks--there are only two kinds of media that most people see today: neutral corporate media, and right-wing corporate media. By "neutral", I mean those corporate media conglomerates motivated solely by greed, as opposed to, say, Fox News, which is motivated by both avarice and a political agenda. When you turn on the TV, who do you see? Fox. When you turn on the radio, who do you hear? Rush. When you go to the newsstand, what do you see? The National Review, The Wall Street Journal. Where are the progressive, liberal voices? Hardly in control, hardly running the show. If you've never read The Nation, The Progressive, In These Times, Working for Change, Alternet, Buzzflash, or all the other progressive media sources marginalized by the mainstream, you're missing the real story. The big 3 networks and major magazines leave out vital information, and the righties like Fox lie constantly. Do yourself a favor and dig some more. You may not agree with all the philosophies you find, but you'll find many cold hard facts ignored--willfully or otherwise--by the media you've come to trust.

Labels: Culture, Politics

Songs of the Day: Steve Kilbey - 'Judgment Day' and 'Guilty', Michael Hoenig - 'Departure From the Northern Wasteland'.

Ideals versus actions. Over the last few days, as we've seen increasing evidence of widespread abuse and Geneva Convention violations in our military's treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war, we've also heard the following refrain from President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld: that these incidents are "not representative" of the US military, or of the American people. I'm starting to get a bit tired of the denial implicit in such sentiments. News flash, folks: these actions are the very definition of "representative". Because, despite all of our high-falutin' ideals and insecure notions that America is better than everyone else, these terrible acts are in fact what we're actually doing in Iraq. We're actually abusing and terrorizing prisoners. We're actually killing 10,000+ Iraqi civilians. We're actually arresting the wrong people 90% of the time (according to the Red Cross). We're actually failing to properly guard nuclear installations, which have been systematically looted on our "watch". The list goes on and on. This doesn't mean that our military is all bad and incompetent. Of course not. But what we'd like to think of ourselves, of our country, as we stick our heads in the sand, doesn't add up to a hill of beans. All that matters is what we're actually doing. If we as a people don't own up to our flaws, our denials, our willful ignorance of our own capacity for ignorance and cruelty, the kinds of things we're seeing in Iraq will continue and grow. And we'll continue to see ourselves as perfect and wonder why the rest of the world thinks we're insane.

On a related note, I have to gripe about the ongoing right-wing hypocrisy on display full-time these days. One of the right-wingers' favorite refrains when decrying the evils of liberals is to level the accusation of "moral relativism". Tune into any conservative media these days, and you'll see that very trait on display. From Rush to Sean "Apologist" Hannity, the right-wing media is falling all over itself to downplay the atrocities committed by our military in Iraq. Rush thinks they were just "blowing off steam" and playing sophomoric pranks. Hannity furrows his neanderthal brow and splits hairs over "the difference between abuse and atrocities", while leaping to the defense of the poor, helpless military establishment by claiming they started investigations right away, as soon as allegations were brought up (wrong, fool--they ignored reports and warnings for months before finally being dragged into the spotlight by the media). Ever since this disastrously unfocused 'war on terror' began, Republicans have been taking such hypocritical positions, which all come down to this: it's okay when we do it, but evil when they do it. That's moral relativism that no liberal would touch with a ten-foot pole--and that, you Republican bastards, is hypocrisy.

Not all the news was bad today--buried under headlines that focused on Kerry missing a Senate vote was what seems to be a reasonably positive bill passed in a bipartisan manner by the Senate. While not perfect, the bill aims to close corporate tax loopholes, stimulate the manufacturing sector, and iron out a trade battle with Europe. What I like most about it, though, is that it includes a block against Bush-proposed rules taking effect that would strip millions of American workers of overtime rights. This may all sound pretty weak, but it makes me think what things could be like if politicians actually worked together to make compromises and look after the average US worker. It's timid, but it's a start, especially in an election year.

Labels: Politics

Songs of the Day: Velvet Underground - "Jesus", Wax Poetic - "Tell Me" (feat. Norah Jones), Arild Andersen Trio - "Cinderella Song".

So much flying around the synapses at the moment. I'll have to fire off a few quickies to try and catch them.

Sampling, fair use, and artists' rights. I've been thinking about these topics a bit lately, after reading an article in the last issue of Wax Poetics and downloading the Grey Album put together by DJ Dangermouse. It seems to be a pitched battle between the 'anything goes' fair-use advocates (more info) and rights owners, mostly corporate. On one side you have those who essentially see creative content as part of a vast, connected palette to be used by anyone who chooses. The assembled sounds of thousands of albums over the decades, all raw material for ongoing creativity and experimentation. The other extreme allows no use of a creative work without explicit consent and legal clearance.

What's the answer here? I haven't fully sorted that out for myself. I can understand the motives of both sides but ultimately feel that the truth is somewhere in the middle. So long as artists and those who own the copyrights are properly compensated for use of their work, I don't see much harm in the fair-use doctrine. But as an artist myself, I instinctively support the right of an artist to ultimately control their work. One may not have to get permission to sample, but if the source artist specifically doesn't want their work used in a certain way, their wishes should be respected. Those in favor of extending the concept of compulsory licensing beyond such areas as simple broadcasting and into the unrestricted manipulation of artistic works run the risk of destroying the artist's ownership over their own work. It's true that the current situation is largely a mess, with massive corporate entities dominating the copyright & publishing-rights arena--but I can't help but be nervous about the activists who are trying to dismantle the current music-business model. What makes me nervous is that while they're correctly pointing out the unfair nature of the system--artists give up a lot and get very little in return--they're taking it upon themselves to undermine a system that in fact really does sustain the lives and careers of many musicians. In both the issues of use and distribution, it may be the artists themselves who end up caught in the middle and left in the dust. This is far from resolved.

Ralph Nader. I've been trying to decide what I really think about this guy. On one level, you have to inherently admire someone who so doggedly marches into battle as he does. But overall I find myself sad and disappointed with him. His supporters readily attack people who express those kinds of sentiments, taking a philosophical high ground and condemning those who would sacrifice their ideals to support one of the major political parties. But the truth is that by continuing to mess with presidential politics, Nader himself is undermining and putting at great risk the ideals he's fought for his whole life. He seems obsessed with the notion that two-party politics is the greatest evil facing our world today. He may be right; I don't think he is. One has only to look at how his long-championed causes have suffered under the withering abuse of the Bush administration these last few years to see that he's on a fool's errand.

Since he cannot possibly hope to win the presidency, I choose to believe that he's misguided, and not the only other logical conclusion--that he is intentionally playing spoiler to help show just how bad things will get under the current system. Furthermore, by again coming out of nowhere (what's he been doing these last few years, anyway?) in an attempt to hit some kind of grand slam, he's undermining the very spirit of his personal philosophy--that power should ultimately reside in and come from the people. How so? By ignoring the grass roots. By avoiding the Green Party, he's shown that he didn't believe in them from the start, and as an independent, he's building no kind of practical grass-roots movement. The Ralph Nader we all thought we knew before 2000 would instead be working tirelessly to develop organization and focus at the local level--building a movement from the bottom up that derives its power from shared local energy, not an iconic run for the highest office. His foolish run tricks progressives into hanging their hopes on one man, a cult of personality, rather than making the changes in their own communities that will have meaningful, lasting change. For all of that, Nader has betrayed his ideals, and he's lost my respect. The saddest part is that I agree with him on most all of his issues--but I can't in good conscience support his run. I'm an independent and progressive, but it's Kerry all the way for me. The goodness in this country is being driven out by Bush and it must stop. But, in the interest of democracy, please learn more and decide for yourself.

Sometimes, the internet makes things too easy. Tonight I saw the video that's been in the headlines today--the beheading of that poor American worker in Iraq. I wasn't looking for it--I accidentally stumbled across a link in a discussion forum of an altogether unrelated site, and, doubting its veracity, followed it. And it was the real thing. I'll spare the gentle reader any discussion of it, but its impact on me was unexpected. I didn't realize until it was too late that I had just given away a part of my innocence that I can't get back. I wish I hadn't seen it.

But that's a lousy note to end a day's post on. So instead I'll end on a happy thought. I had lunch yesterday with someone unique in the world, who never fails to give me hope in the goodness and beauty in life. Someone whose mere presence reminds me both of my weaknesses and failures, and of my potential for redemption and transcendence. I'm not worthy but I'm grateful to her.

Labels: Music, Politics

Songs of the Day: Phish - "Bouncing Around the Room" (live), Kula Shaker - "Govinda", Incredible Bongo Band - "Apache".

The Transcending Trail Redux: I ran 6 miles on the trail again today, and as before it brought up a lot of pleasant sensations. At the 6 mile mark my body was kind of humming, or buzzing. In moments like that, the smallest things are richer and more meaningful--breathing deeply, feeling the breeze, listening to the whispering leaves far over me, the warmth of the sun stippling through the green canopy.

It also took me back to my first memory of a transcendental experience with music. As a kid I was an enthusiastic, if ignorant, music listener (in recent years I've dug up a lot of brilliant music from that time and think, "so that wonderful stuff was out there while I was just listening to top 40 radio?"). But in spite of all the time I spent enjoying music, my first memory of really being transported elsewhere by it, in a fundamental way, is from 1986. I was 14 years old and on a little jaunt with my family out to a place some friends of ours had out somewhere in the country. I was off by myself, walking through the woods, listening to the soundtrack to the movie Legend on my clunky old cassette walkman. It was the song "Loved by the Sun", by Tangerine Dream with Jon Anderson singing. It was early autumn, leaves still on the trees but swirling on the ground as well, the dense tree canopy creating a pontillistic effect with sunlight. As the lush swells of sound blended with this gentle, leafy backdrop and Anderson's wistful, yearning vocals stirred me, I felt myself carried away. It was a moment of singularity--everything else beyond the little clearing I was in just vanished and it was though I was a million miles from home or anyone else at all. This symbiosis of sound, sights, and feelings was overwhelming, and I felt myself break down and soar at the same time. At that moment a little window opened up and I was connected to a greater beauty I didn't understand at all on an intellectual level, but which felt like the ultimate answer at an instinctual, visceral level. I'd had many moments of minor ecstasy listening to music before that, but that day changed my understanding of what music could do--what its own voice could say, and what greater things it could transport you to. I've never been the same since.

Labels: Running

Songs of the Day: Jay-Z - "99 Problems", Ween - "Roses Are Free" (live at Bonnaroo), Patty Griffin - "Blue Sky".

Labels: Music

Songs of the Day: Roy Ayers - "Freaky Deaky", Tinariwen - "Aldachan Manin", Living Colour - "Release the Pressure" (live from Slim's 12/05/01).

Labels: Music

Songs of the Day: I've been worshipping at the altar of Larry Graham's thumb today--it's all about Graham Central Station. I never gave these guys much of a chance, thinking they were "just" an offshoot of Sly & the Family Stone. But recently I decided to dive in and ohh, boy. This is some of the baddest, funkiest music ever made, and Graham's monster bass guitar tone and earthy funkiness instantly catapults him into the upper reaches of my bass heroes (currently guys like Chris Squire of Yes, Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention, the late John Glascock of Jethro Tull, and John Wetton from the early days of King Crimson are up there). What kills me even more is how ahead of their time Graham's outfit was--tracks like "Have Faith in Me" from Now Do U Wanta Dance and "Tell Me What it Is" from Graham Central Station sound like they were beamed back to Graham from the future--they blow my mind. I've been listening to a lot of great 70s soul lately--Slave, Lakeside, Gil Scott-Heron, Instant Funk--and now with Graham, it just keeps getting better.

Dangers of the Atkins Diet: While an alarming number of people jump on the low-carb bandwagon, looking for a silver bullet that will absolve them of discipline and accountability, few seem to be considering the greater cost this will have on the world around us. (Not that this is anything new for our overconsumptive country.) The simple fact is that if a large percentage of our population goes on such low-carb diets, it will wreak havoc in terms of deforestation, pollution, overgrazing, and soil degradation. Everyone looking for a quick fix for their weight problems should pause and consider the larger sustainability issues of their choices. We're all part of a tightly connected system, and the little decisions we make have ripple effects. Please think about them.

On a personal note, I have to say I think the whole Atkins thing is a load of crap. The reason you lose weight on the low-carb diet isn't because of some magic mystery formula--it's because you're exercising discipline. People think they're doing something really clever, but all you're doing is being selective about what you eat and controlling portions. It's just a reshuffling of the same fad diets that have existed for decades. I've been a vegetarian for over 4 years now, and when I started I dropped 25 pounds that I haven't put back on. I'm here to tell you, you don't need animal protein to be healthy and happy. I'm not even close to a model vegetarian, but I'm healthy with low blood pressure, I run 12 miles or so per week, and am alert and active all day at work.

It's just discipline, folks--if you think it's anything else, you're going to end up failing, because you believe it comes from anywhere but inside of you. Having some kind of system is a good thing and can help anyone--heck, I struggle with my diet at times, we all do, and any help is a good thing. But rather than fooling yourself over a hocus-pocus miracle diet, you'd be better off following a more sensible plan like Weight Watchers (which cleverly dumbs down nutritional tracking into an easy-to-follow guide) or better yet, take a good hard look at your priorities and principles, and really learn something about nutrition. While you're at it, I recommend reading up on the benefits of vegetarianism. I don't want this to sound like a lecture--I've still got a lot to learn myself--but I do know that we're all in this together and we need to make choices that benefit not just ourselves, but those far away from us and those yet to come.

Number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq since George W. Bush made his "bring them on" challenge: 557 (764 total to date).

Labels: Music

Songs of the Day: Yes - 'Machine Messiah', Jethro Tull - 'Teacher', Charles Lloyd - 'Voice in the Night'.

The Zen of Running. Running has a way of surprising me every time I do it, which reminds me of how valuable it is. Having laid off for most of the winter and getting back into it this spring, I've been surprised by both my limitations and my capacity. Aside from the fact that you're moving, straining, it's very much like meditation--it's a focused, repetitive activity that can take you up and out of the limitations you struggle against each day. Like meditation, it's done best with an open attitude and without needlessly lingering on the mundane stresses around you, or more importantly within you. When these basic elements are in place, it can result in a natural, unforced interaction with the now, which can paradoxically make you feel a kind of power through powerlessness. Or maybe it's not such a paradox, because the power you feel isn't a power over other things, but a greater power derived from the sum total of everything in and around you, together. When I approached mile 3 on the trail today, I felt a kind of energy symbiosis with my body, the music I was listening to, the warmth of the sun, the sight of the tree-canopied path ahead surrounded by the vast, open green plain. When I reached mile 6, I felt a kind of transcendence, where my usual sharp awareness of exactly where I was kind of dissolved and I was just there, in that moment, with the dirt under me and leaves above. I could feel it happening and was aware of it, and my rational instinct was to snap back into sharper awareness, but I held back and just reveled in that state of ambiguity, smiling as it washed over me, before finally settling back into a more conscious state as I reached the end of the trail. To quote an old Jethro Tull song, it was a real 'Dharma for One'!

Labels: Running