 
Jay Farrar on WXRT Chicago. Listen to MP3 files of Jay's interview and live performance on September 24, 2001. Live tracks are "Feel Free" and "Voodoo Candle". To quell fears anyone may have about the future of Son Volt, Jay says during the interview that the band have actually not broken up, but he just thought that the time was right for him to do something a little different. Yeah you rite. (Thanks a million to Brian Moore for the link.) When I wake up, yeah I know I'm gonna be ... I'm gonna be the mon who wakes up next tae you. (Hi!) The Proclaimers are coming to the House of Blues tonight. I can't wait! They don't play here very often (in fact, it's been ages since they've toured), and I'm still kicking myself for missing their 1989 show at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles on their Sunshine on Leith tour, a show that by all accounts was hair-raisingly brilliant. Check their tour dates to see if they'll be anywhere near you. If not, you can get a taste of their live performing by tuning in to their recent appearance on "The Acoustic Cafe". Last night's "Down Home" playlist is available for your perusal. If you're ever curious as to what I'm up to on the radio, feel free to subscribe to my weekly email playlist service, and don't forget to tune in on Thursday nights at 7pm Pacific! What American can expect in a war against terrorists. This letter was written by Dr. Anthony T. Kern, a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and a former Professor in Aviation Studies and Director of Military History at the USAF Academy. I found the link on the page of the Urban Legends Reference Site that takes on myths and rumors involving the terrorist attacks and either confirms or debunks them. The existence and authenticity of this letter were confirmed.
This war will be won or lost by the American citizens, not diplomats, politicians or soldiers. Let me briefly explain. In spite of what the media, and even our own government is telling us, this act was not committed by a group of mentally deranged fanatics. To dismiss them as such would be among the gravest of mistakes. This attack was committed by a ferocious, intelligent and dedicated adversary. Don't take this the wrong way. I don't admire these men and I deplore their tactics, but I respect their capabilities. The many parallels that have been made with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are apropos. Not only because it was a brilliant sneak attack against a complacent America, but also because we may well be pulling our new adversaries out of caves 30 years after we think this war is over, just like my father's generation had to do with the formidable Japanese in the years following WWII.Betty Bowers helps keep us safe. AND she's a better Christian than YOU. I popped by Landover Baptist the other day. I hadn't been in a while, and after reading this week's Onion I was curious as to what they're up to. They're in rare form, too. Mrs. Betty Bowers tells us how to spot a terrorist, and even provides us with a picture of a bearded man in loose-fitting dress whom she describes as a "typical Middle Eastern male". There's always one, I suppose. The BBC report that two people have been arrested for looting $3,700 worth of watches from a jewelry shop beneath the World Trade Center. A former New York corrections officer, posing as a police officer, and his friend were working as volunteers to get access to the site; after their arrest they were charged with burglary, grand larceny and criminal impersonation. (Can they charge them with Having Absolutely No Sense Of Goddamned Human Decency as well?) Have fun in jail and then Hell, boys!
Tonight on "Down Home": Jay and Bob. (No, not Jay and Silent Bob. Actually, it's more like Bob and Silent Jay in this case...) We'll hear from Jay Farrar's newest, Sebastopol (boy, is it good), Bob Dylan's newest Love and Theft, more from the new Dervish album, zydeco from Sean Ardoin (which we never quite got to last week), Irish piper and former Bothy Band member Paddy Keenan and Japanese-born Celtic and bluegrass guitarist and banjoist Junji Shirota (who performed a brilliant show at McCabe's last Sunday), and lots more. Tune in! Hijackers Surprised to Find Selves in Hell. The Onion returns, in rare form. Some will find this brilliant, others will be uncomfortable. I think that while it treads a very, very thin line, it's some of the best writing they've ever done, starting with:
JAHANNEM, OUTER DARKNESS -- The hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon expressed confusion and surprise Monday to find themselves in the lowest plane of Na'ar, Islam's Hell.Oddly enough, in the aftermath of What Happened, I was thinking this exact same thing. (In fact, what I said to Wes was that I'd love to be able to see a still from the Afterlife Webcam to get the looks on those bastards' faces, when they realized that it was not 70 virgins waiting for them in Paradise, but 70 demons with white-hot spikes waiting for them in Hell.) These guys said it far better, though. Don't miss "God Angrily Clarifies 'Don't Kill' Rule", where the Almighty has this to say:
"I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."Who knew vicious satire could bring a lump to your throat as well? They've always been good at finding the sad truth in the targets of their satire as well, including the current article that makes us wonder why we ever thought that movies about terrorist blowing people up were entertaining. Some have said, "Are we joking about this already?" This isn't joking or making light of what happened, it's satire. The guys who write The Onion are satirists, and we can't expect them to stop being who they are because something terrible happened. Through their satire they express their outrage, their brokenheartedness and their moral convictions, and they do it well. If you've ever been a fan of The Onion, you mustn't miss this issue. "They are bad men, but politics and digestion do not mix. Would you like some tea?" Leslie Harpold tells of dinner at the Afghan Kebab House II on the night of September 16, in a really tasty site I've just come across called The Hoopla 500. The Idiot of the Day Award for today is given jointly to the couple who run one of the shops on the ground floor of the high-rise in which I work. I had gone there to buy some potato chips (okay, I was being bad) to go with the perfectly healthy sandwich I had bought at the sandwich shop next door. Our exchange went like this:
Woman (eyeing me warily): Sooo ... are you guys working the whole day today?If there is some legitimate security threat to the building, then they need to inform our security department at once and let them handle it. If they are spreading any bullshit rumors amongst their customers that imply that there's some security threat to the building without knowing exactly what the feck they're talking about, then they need to be gobsmacked as soon as possible. Jesus. Gee, nice to meet you too, pal. Reporter Edward Girardet talks about covering the war in Afghanistan in 1989, and meeting a group of Arab fundamentalists and their very unpleasant leader:
The leader of this group -- a young, arrogant Saudi -- stepped forward demanding in fluent English to know who I was and what I was doing in Afghanistan. Wearing a military fatigue jacket and billowing trousers, he was flanked by 20 fellow Arabs from various countries armed with AK-74 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.<voice="Comic store guy">Worst theme song ... ever.</voice> We actually rather enjoyed "Enterprise" last night. Bakula was good, the show was reasonably well-written and -plotted, and the interesting Vulcan character (who doubles as this series' Seven-of-Nine-style babe) brought up interesting points about humans' need to be more objective in dealing with alien species, something they have rather little experience with in this early stage of the "Trek" future history timeline. The characters are tired of being patronized by the Vulcans, whom they feel have held them back, they're all very new to space travel, and all wary of new technologies like their new "phase pistols" and that spooky new transporter thingy ("I'd rather not have all my molecules compressed into a data stream."). That's a slick-looking ship, too. But my God ... that has got to be the absolute worst, cheesiest, lamest excuse for an opening theme not only in "Star Trek" history, but in recent television history. Maybe they wanted to get away from grandiose instrumental themes, but if you're going to use some kind of pop song, at least make it a good one. Pooey! "Warning: John Travolta inside." From today's SF Gate "Morning Fix", by Mark Morford:
Blockbuster Video plans to place disclaimers on movies and games featuring terrorism, with executives saying they want to be sensitive to those still traumatized by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They will also begin labeling all Jerry Bruckheimer flicks with a sticker identifying them as "incredibly, patently awful," any movie featuring Saturday Night Live cast members who take lame 3-minute skits and turn them into 2-hour brain-melters, and any movie featuring cameos by either Matt LeBlanc, Whitney Houston, or pro athletes, "for the general betterment of the nation." However, rumors that Blockbuster might actually become a decent video store at any time in the near future are, unfortunately, false.
More than a restaurant. Windows on the World was a swanky, prestigious restaurant that until September 11 had the best view in New York, perhaps in the country. It was located on the 107th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers. Chef Michael Lomonico, formerly of New York's "21" and someone whom you may remember from his Food Network TV shows, only survived the attacks because he had happened to go downstairs to get his glasses repaired. Seventy-five members of the restaurant's 400-person staff were on duty the morning of September 11, from their award-winning pastry chef Heather Ho to cooks, servers and dishwashers from countries ranging from Bangladesh to Mexico to Egypt, Pakistan, Ghana, Yemen and 20 other countries; all are missing and presumed dead. According to Chef Lomonico and all the surviving staffers, the restaurant was more than just a business, it was more like a family.
At work, "you'd hear a dozen languages a day. It was so exciting," said the Brooklyn-born Lomonico. As much as he enjoyed being the top dog atop the tallest building in the city, Lomonaco cherished his job's private perks, such as the informal meals the staff sometimes prepared for themselves before the dinner rush. He would brighten whenever Junior Jimenez -- who is among missing -- decided to whip up some Puerto Rican specialties. "He would get some plantains, some chicken and rice .... He just had a touch," Lomonaco says, his voice quavering with emotion.Many of the lower-waged workers at the restaurant were the sole breadwinners for large families, and a fund has been established for them and all of the restaurant's staff who were lost. Windows of Hope is accepting donations and seeks them in particular from friends and colleagues in the foodservice and hospitality industries. Restaurants worldwide are participating in a "10 percent" donation night, in which 10% of all proceeds will be donated to the fund. If you want to mail in a donation, contact Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund, c/o David Berdon & Co., LLP, 415 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Checks should be made payable to: Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund. "Enterprise" premiere tonight. The new Star Trek series "Enterprise" hits the airwaves tonight at 8pm. The übergeeks over on Usenet's rec.arts.tv.startrek.* newsgroups have been frothing at the mouth over this (in the bad way) since they were frothing at the mouth over how much they all hated the "Voyager" finale. I myself will reserve judgment until we see it tonight. Wes is skeptical of Scott Bakula (I never watched "Quantum Leap", but I think he's OK), and I'm wondering about seeing all these alien races they'll be throwing at us and wondering "why haven't we seen any of these guys before?" More than anything, the show is going to live or die on the quality of its writing, and the chemistry of its cast. I wish them Godspeed. Kenny G Christmas album? Christ on a bike. Wally Ray gives us many reasons why he's very glad he no longer works for the vile Starbucks "coffee" chain. They include not having to lie about how "fresh" the coffee is, no more corporate memos about the inappropriateness of classical music at night and rock 'n roll ever, and not having to sell the aforementioned CD-borne horror.
Quote of the day.
"Starbucks is OK if you like a pint of milky
froth on top of a teaspoon full of gritty water for £1.80. If you
actually like coffee go to Spain or Italy."
Finally! Jay Farrar's new solo album Sebastopol finally arrives in stores today. I'll have to decide whether I can wait until after work to pick it up, or if I'll give up my lunch hour to head over to Rhino. If you need a sneak preview, here's an MP3 of one of the songs, "Voodoo Candle" Keep an eye on tour dates as well. Land of the free? Arianna Huffington comes to bat for Bill Maher, host of ABC's "Politically Incorrect", who's being attacked by patriotic Americans who don't seem to believe in that annoying freedom of speech thing:
A small group of zealots have intentionally distorted comments made by Bill Maher, and succeeded in putting the show's future in jeopardy. If you agree that we can simultaneously rally around the flag and allow dissent and free speech to flourish, please email comments directly to ABC at netaudr@abc.com.Packing heat in the cockpit. The nation's largest pilot's union wants Congress to allow its members to carry guns in the cockpit. They'll be deputized as law enforcement officials and will receive special ammunition that is "very destructive" to human flesh but won't pierce the fuselage. (Umm, that's a relief.) Sizzle? (Fizzle.) NBC's new "sitcom" starring Chef Emeril Lagasse (a really, really, really bad idea) premieres tonight. The television critic of the New York Daily News begins his review thusly:
The good news is that tonight's premiere episode of "Emeril" is better than the original pilot, which was all but unwatchable.Oh dear. I have to say, with all due respect to Chef Emeril, who's served me some of the most spectacular meals I've ever had, that I'm glad the show is awful, and hope it goes away soon. Emeril Lagasse is a brilliant chef, not a television sitcom actor. His gifts and talents lie in the kitchen, and he really should stick to the kitchen, particularly if a recent email I got is any indication of the state of his restaurants. (A woman who had an expensive yet thoroughly mediocre experience at Emeril's took exception to my glowing review and suggested that Chef is spread too thin and isn't spending enough time in his restaurants.) Heads up, all you "Freaks and Geeks" fans! "F&G" creator Judd Apatow's new series "Undeclared" starts tonight, and I'll definitely be tuning in. Here's an idea of what to expect, from critic David Bianculli:
Don't be fooled by the on-air promos that make the new Fox series "Undeclared," which premieres tonight at 8:30, look like just another silly, stupid, youth-appeal comedy. It's not silly, it's not stupid and its appeal is a lot wider than to teenagers.Set your VCR and go to the movies. Over 80 theatre chains nationwide are donating 100% of proceeds from today's ticket and concession sales to the disaster relief funds of the American Red Cross and United Way. That makes today and tonight really good times to go to the movies.
A new hope? David Grenier writes of having attended an interfaith service for prayer and healing which turned into a procession down the streets of Seattle, and what he saw there:
There were moving prayers and appeals for peace by Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Catholics, and Protestants. Along the procession a fire truck drove by and everyone cheered. Along the procession no one insulted our calls for peace, the way they had during the buildup to the Gulf War. No one screamed at us and called us cowards. No one threw anything. In fact, the opposite is true. A few thousand more people joined us along the way. By the time we got to the intersection of Broadway and Madison, the procession took up half the road and stretched back past Seattle Central.David also provided a link to an open letter to the New York Times written by parents who lost their son in the World Trade Center, and they don't want a war either. I got yer new hope right here, pal. A telephone poll of New Yorkers revealed that over one-third of them supported the idea of internment camps for "individuals who authorities identify as being sympathetic to terrorist causes". Apparently these people neither remember what we did to Japanese-Americans in World War II, nor did they see "The Siege". I myself support the establishment of internment camps for people who support the establishment of internment camps ... but I guess that'd mean I'd have to go too, wouldn't it?
Dindins! Can't say that there's much that makes me feel better than the company of good friends, with plenty of good food and drink in the picture. That's what we'll be up to tonight. If you're looking to have some friends over and make a nice, comforting New Orleans meal, may I suggest this evening's menu?
Pecan Soup,
Shrimp Remoulade Pasta Jambalaya with Chicken and Andouille
That said, I was troubled by a couple of things. I can't say I disagree with any of the demands he made of the Taliban, but I can't for a minute think that Bush or anyone else in the administration thinks that the Taliban will accede to those demands. Impossible ultimatums make me nervous. Also, I had a strange reaction to his establishment of a Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security. Half of me felt relief and comfort, and the other half is spooked, big-time. Office of Homeland Security? It sounds too much like "Securitate", and makes me wonder more about hearing "Your papers, please" far too often, or worse. (Somewhere in the back of my head, I heard George Orwell clearing his throat.) Maybe I'm being paranoid, but a little healthy paranoia can't hurt. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it turns out. I have no idea what to expect of Tom Ridge, as I known almost nothing about him. I'm also troubled by how nebulous all this talk is of a long, protracted war which will no doubt end up with a lot of kids getting sent home in body bags. I myself support an all-out effort to get the people who did this without starting some huge war somewhere against an enemy we can't even see. One good thing, at least. Bush now sounds like he's in charge, and the difference between the man we heard last night and the scared, tranquilized little boy we heard last Tuesday is like night and day. He looked good at the WTC ground zero site too, with his arm around the fireman's shoulders. Again, we'll see how it goes. Encouraging. The U.S. and the U.K.'s "secret plans for a 10-year war" apparently do not include a D-Day style invasion, so far:
America and Britain are producing secret plans to launch a ten-year "war on terrorism" -- Operation Noble Eagle -- involving a completely new military and diplomatic strategy to eliminate terrorist networks and cells around the world.Upholding the long, venerable tradition of idiot Louisiana politicians, U.S. Rep. John Cookesy (R-Monroe), on the heel of President Bush's direct appeal not to blame all Arabs or Muslims for the attacks, had this, among other things, to say:
"If I see someone (who) comes in that's got a diaper on his head and a fan belt wrapped around the diaper on his head, that guy needs to be pulled over."If a diaper belongs anywhere, it should be stuffed into Cooksey's mouth (preferably a dirty one). He went on and on in justifying his views, then said that he had had no complaints from his constituents. This speaks poorly of the people of Monroe. (Hey Arkansas ... ya want 'em?) God bless the child. I subscribe to A Word A Day, and in the past few issues of their AWADmail newsletter they've been publishing lots of email from folks around the world regarding the Current Situation. The one that gave me the proverbial lump in the throat came from Julie and Alex Hudson:
Here in Cleveland, there is a large Muslim population. There have been racial remarks and aggressive attacks. Many business people fear for their shops. In our efforts for "united" we heard about this incident.Bless the children too. I'll bet the the adults didn't need to give them much prompting. Children love naturally; it's their parents who teach them to hate. Sounds like a great batch of parents and kids out there. Learn from them.
Quotes of the day.
"War is an instrument entirely inefficient
toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses."
"He's still spouting 'love the sinner, hate the sin,' isn't he? Of course,
some such folks are perfectlly happy to fire the sinner, beat the sinner,
imprison the sinner, even kill the sinner. Given that, it's hard to tell
the difference between loving the sinner and hating his guts. Both seem to
lead to the same outcome for the 'sinner.'"
Tonight on "Down Home". We'll be featuring music from Woody Guthrie (including "This Land Is Your Land"), plus Billy Bragg and Wilco, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Buddy & Julie Miller and the new album "Midsummer's Night" from Sligo-based Irish band Dervish. Keeping up the musical end. Yesterday a friend of mine said, "I think it would be a lot easier for me to endorse mainstream patriotism if it didn't involve such crappy music." With the disclaimer of de gustibus non disputandum est, I'll agree with him that Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." makes me gag too. I'll bet that there are many of us who are digging through our collections for music that's more personally meaningful to us. Derk Richardson of Berkeley's KPFA writes in today's San Francisco Chronicle about finding solace and a sense of direction in old favorites such as Dylan and Ochs, and in new voices such as Ani DiFranco and Dan Bern. Please, God, no. So-called King of Pop (but really a very strange creature from a very alien planet) Michael Jackson is writing a sequel of sorts to "We Are The World", a soon-to-be-unleashed pop song called "What More Can I Give?" which will also feature Britney Spears and members of NSync and the Backstreet Boys. It will be used to raise money for the survivors and families of victims of the attacks. From Derk Richardson's article above:
More power to him. But I fear the King of Pop will fabricate a ditty that will become another superficial emblem in the ongoing branding of "America's New War," as CNN calls it.I share his fears. In fact, my initial gut reaction was this: I will give you all the money you want. I will double my donation to the Red Cross. Maybe you could just give them the proceeds of just one of your concerts; you have more money than any human will ever need. Just keep the song. Please. Russians: "Like nothing you've ever seen." Russian veterans of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan tell what it was like to fight there, and warn the U.S. to "expect daily deliveries of coffins" if we fight there.
"When I hear people talk about terrorist 'bases' I have to laugh," said Vyacheslav Izmailov, who commanded a battalion in Afghanistan. "Terrorists don't sit in bases waiting for bombs to drop. They live in houses. They live with families... If America begins to drop bombs, all they will do is convince the anti-Taliban population that the United States is their enemy."Racial profiling now unofficial policy? Many Arab-Americans are simply giving up flying, to avoid having to endure what Ashraf Khan did. He's a 32-year-old San Antonio businessman who owns a thriving cellular phone business, and last Monday he tried to fly to Dallas via Delta Airlines on the first leg of a two-day journey to his brother's wedding in Pakistan.
There came an announcement from the cockpit: The flight would be delayed for a moment. Khan thought nothing of it. "After a few minutes," he recalled later, "the pilot came up to me... He told me that he's not safe with me flying to Dallas."So is the attitude, "Oh well, you're brown. Too bad, pal," now? If you have a beard and a turban, or if you're wearing a veil, you're now a automatically assumed to be a terrorist. I've also heard that it's not just confined to Arabs or Muslims -- two Mexican students at San Jose State University were beaten up on the assumption that they were terrorists. I guess it's open season on brown people. God bless America.
Quote of the day.
"What's the use of sending a $2 million
missile into a $10 tent to hit a camel in the butt?"
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot! Wilco, who recently got dumped by their erstwhile label, are streaming their new album in its entirety from their web site. Yeah! Oh, that's bloody typical. The U.S. Department of Defense now say that it's okay to serve if you're gay or lesbian, as all such discharges have now been suspended due to potential wartime. (And of course, once they're finished, such troops would then be discharged.) But if their excuse for their anti-gay policies has been to prevent "breakdown of unit cohesion during combat", then it seems that the policy is just outright bullshit, now, don't it? Why don't they just come right out and say "it's because we don't like queers"? At least it'd be honest. Now there's an idea. From the New Scientist: Autopilots could land hijacked aeroplanes.
Aeroplane hijackings could be halted in progress with existing technologies, say aviation researchers, but the attempt would be risky. "Most modern aircraft have some form of autopilot that could be re-programmed to ignore commands from a hijacker and instead take direction from the ground," says Jeff Gosling of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.No radio censorship. There's a story flying around that a group of nearly 1,200 radio stations nationwide which are owned by Clear Channel Communications are being forbidden to play songs from a list of over 150 titles. These songs are supposedly "too upbeat", or contain references to crashes, fire, etc., and are alleged to be banned from airplay. This is untrue. One program director at Clear Channel took it upon himself to begin compiling such a list along with a few other PDs, and it's been circulating internally in the form of a memo of "suggestions". No official management-mandated ban of these songs exists, and many if not most PDs (including ones in the New York area) are ignoring it. When you look at most of the titles you almost have to laugh, as many of the choices would be ridiculous if such a ban were to exist. Still, lots of radio program directors are voluntarily rethinking parts of their playlists. My take -- I think that after the first day or two, it's absurd to keep saying "no upbeat music". We can't listen to funereal music forever. Music heals, and that includes upbeat music too. "Your papers, please." Representative Dick Gephardt, a Democrat, calls for the introduction of national ID card for all citizens and non-citizen residents in the form of a "smart card". Such a card could carry your fingerprints, retina scan, other biometric data, and even your travel records. (No word yet on mandatory installation of telescreens in each room of each household.) Yum yum yum. Get a load of this ... Crabmeat-Crusted Diver Scallops with Chorizo Potato Salad. I'd serve this for dinner on Friday, 'cept we've got non-seafood eaters coming over. (Hmm, rise to the challenge...) Egad. After reading Matt's blog entry about what's been hitting his servers today, I checked my own server logs, grepping for "root.exe". Results began as such: 66.12.14.94 - - [18/Sep/2001:09:22:08 -0400]If this is the Nimda worm, it made 376 attempts to hit my server between 9:22am yesterday and midnight. Fortunately, my host runs on BSD Unix and my home machine on Mac OS 9.2, and are thereby non-susceptible to Microsoft worms. Creeps me out anyway. Squid squid. Now unleashed upon the world is a website for a Little Caesar's Pizza in Kobe, Japan; first of its kind, apparently. It's of interest because you ain't gonna see any pizza toppings like this in Schenectady, Peoria or Fresno (like the squid, mushroom, corn and mayonnaise pizza). All squid aside, one thing I thought was really weird was that almost all these pizzas have corn on them. I also noticed this on my first trip to Ireland in 1988, and remarked to my friend Theresa how weird I thought this was. She looked at me as if I were insane and said, "Corn is lovely on a pizza." What do I know? They like mandarin orange slices on corn pizzas in Ireland, too; at least they do for the packaged ones I saw at the market in Athy, Co. Kildare. (Thanks to Chris T. for sending this in.) Sober restraint in responding. AlterNet offers a little animation which advocates reason and justice to break the cycle of violence, fear, anger, hatred and the desire for revenge, which leads to a page from Working for Change that offers some sobering thoughts, and what we can do:
[W]hat happens now is up to the United States. These criminals deserve to be identified, tracked down, and brought to justice, along with any backers than can be clearly identified. But already there are calls for war against unnamed enemies, for funding of missile defense systems that do not work, and for imposing limits on hard earned civil liberties.The page facilitates sending an email to the President to urge sober restraint in responding to the attacks. You might want to back that up with a postcard, telegram or paper letter as well. I know I said I'm not much for flag-waving, preferring to express my patriotic feelings in my own way, but I must say that I was moved by this striking image by photographer Noah Grey. Patriotism at its finest. Speaking of flags ... there's such a demand for them now that stores are having trouble keeping them in stock. Fortunately, we have some true-blue Americans who are stepping right in to help out ... like the guy I saw on the street corner on the way home from work last night. He was selling flags, little bitty ones about the size of a postcard, and larger ones that I guessed were about 9" x 12" or so. Here's how the overheard conversation went:
Guy in car: How much for the big one?It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to see how the Current Situation brings out the best in some people. The world mourns (and that includes Palestine). Correspondent Greg B. sends in a page of some very moving images of a wide variety of members of the world community grieving at the massive loss of life last week. Included among them was this shot of two Palestinian women; one piece of video footage of a handful of refugee camp wretches cheering doth not an entire people make, methinks.
One falafel ball at a time. One way to fight hatred that may be perpetrated against your neighbor in this time of crisis is to patronize your local Arabic or Middle Eastern restaurant -- let the restauranteur know you care about him or her, and enjoy their food and hospitality. This is a great suggestion from the Chowhound site; these two posts on their message boards outline a plan to fight hatred one falafel ball at a time. A pretty good guy. Twangy roots-rocker Chris Knight, of whom I'm a big fan, has got a new record out, called A Pretty Good Guy, on Dualtone Records. I haven't heard it yet, 'cause someone hasn't sent it to me yet (and maybe knows who she is ... *nudge* :-) The web site is new, so check him out; given what he's put out in the past, and given the demos I heard two years ago (songs which I hope made it onto this record), it's going to be absolutely phenomenal. Speaking of phenomenal... Jay Farrar's first solo album Sebastopol is coming out one week from today. I'm trying not to plotz in the meantime. Given that Jay is one of the very few musicians who has ever actually made me weep (both in performance and on record) ... well, I'm really really looking forward to this one. I've been a good boy and haven't downloaded a single song off of Aimster or Gnutella, either. I want to hear this one on the day of its release, after buying it myself and taking it home. So long, Sam. Samuel Z. Arkoff, founder of American International Pictures, a producer who flooded American cinema with exploitation movies and schlock and then encouraged young filmmakers, and he of the ever-present smelly stogie, died on Sunday at age 83. Besides giving us films ranging from "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" to "Beach Blanket Bingo" to "Panic in Year Zero" (which I always liked) to "The Amityville Horror" and countless more, Sam was also a bigger-than-life figure beloved by me and all my fellow film students at Loyola Marymount University. Sam endowed our School of Film and Television with funds for the annual Arkoff Awards, cash awards given to the best student-produced film and screenplay. (I'm not sure who's judging them now, but when I was there they were judged by Roger Corman and critic Peter Rainer, respectively.) Sam's family has asked that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Samuel Z. Arkoff Scholarship Fund at Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television, care of the dean, One LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045. What air travel is like now. A colleague of my uncle's flew from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California (suburban to the Los Angeles metro area) to St. Louis last Friday, September 14. Here are a few of his experiences, as related to a mailing list:
Mercifully I flew from a small airport: John Wayne airport in Orange County, California. It has a total of only 14 gates. At LAX one person had arrived at 4:00 a.m. and still had not made it to the American Airlines ticket counter by 7:30 a.m.! Still, the delays were sizeable even at a small airport like John Wayne.Niel from Monkeyfist adds a sad tip: "Don't have dark skin. I received a message from a friend of a friend recounting his trip from Newark to Atlanta. The trip was fine, but he was repeatedly singled out for questioning and ID checks." Ugh. L.A. residents -- remember that private cars are now indefinitely banned from entering LAX. You have to either take a taxi or shuttle service, or leave your car at one of the remote lots far outside the airport and take their shuttle bus to the terminal.
Quote of the day.
"I say to you all, once again -- in the
light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united,
as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and
enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong
bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are
nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."
Brilliant idea. Artists Paul Myoda and Julian LaVerdiere propose a new art project: a temporary monument called "Phantom Towers", consistsing of two powerful beams of light rising from a reflecting pool, refilling the void left by the Twin Towers with incandescence until something is built to take its place. (Via Jason) Whatever you is, BE that. My favorite motto, that. It came from a Creole gentleman who was hanging out in the barbershop in Opelousas, Louisiana in which Clifton Chenier, the King of Zydeco, used to go to get his hair cut, and was featured in Les Blank's film about Clifton entitled "Hot Pepper". It's had several quite profound meanings for me over the years, but in the last week or so, I've also begun to think it has come to mean this: don't let anyone tell you how or how not to be patriotic in the face of the past week's events. Do it in whatever peaceful way that makes you and your loved ones feel better. (Of course, this does not include shooting people who are wearing turbans, harassing Arab-Americans or firebombing mosques.) Many people want to donate blood or money. Lots of others want to wave or display American flags (perfectly fine and welcome; as for me, not particularly my style). Others go to church, others talk to each other and tell stories, others find someone and hug them, others stay home and cuddle with loved ones, and lots of others are generally a lot nicer to people than they may usually be. It's inappropriate to tell someone they're not being patriotic because they're not reacting to the crisis in the same way you are. It's inappropriate to tell someone they're "un-American" or "unpatriotic" because their house or car happens not to be festooned with flags. It's inappropriate to say awful things to somebody because you disagree with their peaceful yet honest reactions. It's entirely appropriate to support your government in the quest to do the right thing in response to this, but it's inappropriate to accuse someone of being a "traitor" for criticizing your government -- even in a time of crisis -- if you feel that they're not doing that. In fact, it's your patriotic duty to speak your heart and mind in such a case (for instance, an example of The Wrong Thing would be the bombing of civilians.) A big part of us all sticking together and supporting one another in this time of crisis is remembering this, and respecting this. Bill had a pretty good idea, too. If you're looking for a patriotic song to sing, start up a few choruses of "This Land Is Your Land". Where Woody saw wrong, he tried to right it in his own way -- that makes him a patriot in my book. Whew. Our friend Shirish finally emailed in. We were worried since we hadn't heard from him, but figured he was up to his eyeballs in work, as he's a physician in New York. This morning he reported in, and said he had actually been on a short vacation in Hawaii! It took him about 30 hours of travelling to get back home. I'm really glad he's okay. Very scary scenario. My friend Barry sent this in from St. Louis Today; he describes it as "one of the most sensible things I've read so far, and one of the most frightening".
I'm flat worried. I can't believe this guy Musharraf has pledged Pakistan's cooperation with us in our latest crusade. I don't even want to think about a coup or a popular uprising in the country that happens to be the proud owner of the only bonafide, field-tested nuclear bomb in the Islamic world.Something to think about. Love and Theft. The Los Angeles Times' Robert Hilburn interviews Bob Dylan on the heels of his brilliant new album. Eat red beans for health! (And comfort.) In today's New Orleans Menu Daily Tom Fitzmorris tells us about how to eat healthier meals. It may surprise you somewhat. (Words his, links mine; subscribe to N.O. Menu Daily here.)
My favorite way to [cut down] is to return to one of the first principles of New Orleans dining: red beans and rice.We had red beans and rice at home, and at my grandmother's house, all the time, so I almost never had them anywhere else. One of the few places I'd get them was at the Camellia Grill, where they came with either a pork chop or a hamburger patty. Oddly enough, Popeye's red beans are really, surprisingly good; I get them all the time nowadays. My take on red beans -- season them with a smoked ham hock and sliced hot smoked sausage. Serve with crackly grilled fresh Creole hot sausage on the side, plus Yogi red pickled onions (any pickled onions will do, but those are my favorite). I like garlic in them, lots in fact, but as part of the symphony of flavors of the gravy. The red beans should be intact and distinct but incredibly soft, never chewy or hard inside. The gravy should be not too thin, but not too thick either; after a while it becomes instinctual. Red beans taste better the next day, but get far too thick in the fridge and must be thinned out with a little warm water until you achieve the proper consistency. They should be spicy as in well-seasoned, but never so hot that it burns your mouth; you can always do that yourself by adding more Tabasco to your own serving. The rice should never be sticky; good Louisiana long-grain rice with the grains intact. I've come to think that converted rice (e.g., Uncle Ben's) should be avoided, and NEVER use Minute Rice or other instant rice products (good only for throwing at weddings). Popeye's red beans are okay for fast food, but are not 1/100th as good as what you can make yourself at home. It's the best. If you need comfort food, eat some today or tomorrow. Works for me. Why Google is my favorite search engine #136. Via Need To Know: "[NTK] reader JOHN KING thought we'd be somehow reassured to know that he always types in "horse's arse" whenever someone trumpets a new image search engine: Google wins again!"
Quote of the day.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to
purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette this weekend. The world's largest free Cajun music and cultural festival is happening this weekend at Girard Park in Lafayette, Louisiana. The decision to continue with the festival was, in the words of the organizers, "made with consideration of the grief that the world feels for the hundreds and thousand of people affected by the acts of terrorism that have occurred. In the words of Rev. [Ed] Boyd [of Asbury Methodist Church in Lafayette], 'Evil does not have the last word.' It is the feeling of the festival organizers that the contributions of the musicians and craftsmen have made to our local culture should not be diminished." The festival's musical performances are being broadcast live on KRVS Radio Acadie at 88.7 FM in Acadiana and via streaming Windows Media. Laissez les bons temps rouler... wherever you can find them. Missing Pieces. Nine stories of New York and Washington, from people who were there, on Derek Powazek's ever-wonderful Fray.
Jesus wept. I got this news story in an email this morning and felt like throwing up. According to religious right-wing leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, the attack on this country and its citizens was the fault of liberal advocacy groups, feminists, gays and lesbians, and that America got "what we deserve". These are the comments they made on Pat Robertson's "700 Club" television program yesterday:
"God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve," said Falwell, appearing yesterday on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club," hosted by Robertson.How low will these men sink? Low enough, apparently, to spew hatred -- for it was hatred compounded with religious extremism that was behind the attacks, nothing less -- to further their agenda. These are not religious men, they don't represent any God I believe in. Usually I just ignore these two bastards; their frequent outrageous statements usually elicit a response that's nothing more than my eyeballs rolling heavenward. Not this week. I hope the backlash to Robertson and Falwell because of these remarks is monumental. I hope that they have finally shot themselves in the foot, that the spew from their own mouths will finally outrage enough people such that their un-Christian agenda will be destroyed. Despicable. Despicable. (I don't accept Falwell's bullshit apology, either.) Amen. Yesterday evening, as I was driving to the radio station listening to "All Things Considered" on NPR, I heard a very moving commentary by Marion Winik, who's thinking of founding a few new political action groups. I was just going to post an excerpt, but I thought it best to reproduce it in its entirety.
How does this sound? Mothers Against Symbolism. Mothers Against Religion and Ideology. Mothers Against the Afterlife. And finally ... Mothers Against Indiscriminate Revenge.Find them. Get them. Just them. Nobody else. Survivor check-in. Another new web site has launched -- survivorcheckin.com. "The site is forum-based and will have 3 components, a registry of survivors, a registry for people searching for the missing (gathering description and other pertinent information), and a discussion forum which will allow people to share their experiences with each other." There's also a huge World Trade Center survivor database as well. Just passing it along... Back to work. Everybody was, quite understandably, a little jittery at work yesterday. The idea of working at the top of a high-rise building just didn't have the appeal that it once did. The great thing about the workday yesterday was ... everybody was really, really nice to each other. I'm hearing the same thing as being endemic across New York; people who once wouldn't even bother to make eye contact are stopping, reaching out and talking to people. (I once had a New Yorker tell me, "If you made eye contact with me on the street, I would instantly assume one of two things -- you're a psycho, or you're gay and trying to hit on me.") When I left work yesterday, there was a guy from the building staff at the parking ramp exit, waving and smiling to everyone as they left. As I pulled into the parking garage this morning, there he was again, grinning broadly and waving to every car that came in. We're all being nice to each other. I like it. Gawd, is something like this what it takes? I wonder how long it'll last. (Forever, I hope -- life is too precious and too damned short to waste time being rotten to each other.) Remembrance service at CSUN. California State University Northridge President Jolene Koester will lead students, faculty, staff and members of the CSUN community in a Day of Remembrance on the steps of Oviatt Library at noon today, in response to President Bush's request that Americans take time to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks this week. The service will be broadcast on KCSN, at 88.5 FM in Los Angeles and via our MP3 audio stream. Concert in Torrance, 11:30am. Lisa Haley and the Zydekats will be performing a free concert as part of the Day of Remembrance at Harbor UCLA Medical Center Plaza in Torrance, behind the hospital, 1000 W. Carson St. from 11:30am to 1pm. Wow! I've had this ongoing fight with my boss for years now. He hates my desk chair, which is old, ugly, threadbare, and has chunks of foam falling off the armrests. Thing is, it's insanely comfortable, mostly because it fits my back and bottom perfectly. Over the years that chair has become molded to my body, as if it were Norman Bates' mother's bed. (Um, bad example, maybe, but you get the drift.) My boss seems to feel a measure of personal embarrassment when outside clients come into my office and see my beloved chair, thinking that they see my chair and its intense cheesiness as somehow being representative of our company as a whole. He's been trying to convince/cajole/threaten me to get rid of it for years. The evil bastard has finally called in the nuclear weapons. He kidnapped it. This morning it was just gone. In its place was a brand-spanking-new Herman Miller Aeron chair, just sitting there in front of my desk, quietly waiting for me. I was flabbergasted. People weep pitifully in front of their bosses to get one of these chairs (they're expensive!), and are given a booming, resounding NO! and told to get their asses out of his/her office and skulk back to their cubicles if they know what's good for them. My boss just ups and buys me one unbidden. Ain't that somethin'? Thanks, David! From the bottom of my bottom! Take the train, take the bus. I also heard another very interesting story on NPR yesterday. Apparently ridership on Amtrak is up over 50 percent, and Greyhound report a huge spike in ridership as well. A Greyhound spokesperson said that this is likely to be permanent, particularly among their older clientele who are now "truly afraid to fly". I've always loved taking the train, but I never do it in this country as it's always been too slow (3 days to New Orleans) and too expensive (a one-way ticket from L.A. to Albuquerque for a 2-berth compartment was almost $700!). I wonder how our travel habits will change now. Will trains come back? How 'bout we make some more great Deco-styled Pullman cars? Um ... I think I'm with Roger. The owners of the World Trade Center's 99-year lease are already vowing to rebuild. Writer and film critic Roger Ebert has other ideas:
Let it be a green field, with trees and flowers. Let there be paths that wind through the shade. Put out park benches where old people can sun in the summertime, and a pond where children can skate in the winter.(Via Lynette at Medley) Finally achieving motion? Robert Wise's epic of the graduation of the starship Enterprise from the small screen to the large, a film referred to by many as "Star Trek: The Motionless Picture", has completed its revamping process and is being released on DVD as "Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition". It's a complete digital restoration of the film with enhanced visual effects (which apparently they had neither the technology nor the money to do upon the film's initial production 21 years ago), two discs including over two hours of supplemental material. Okay. I'll get it. (Damn, there's so much great stuff coming out on DVD in the next two months ... I'm gonna be broke.)
Quotes of the day.
This one is for Pat Robertson and Jerry
Falwell.
"The terrible tragedy that has befallen our
nation, and indeed the entire global community, is the sad byproduct of
fanaticism. It has its roots in the same fanaticism that enables people
like Jerry Falwell to preach hate against those who do not think, live, or
love in the exact same way he does."
"CNN indulged in the stunt of interviewing
novelist Tom Clancy simply because he had written a thriller about a
similar attack. I was braced for the worst -- Clancy is, after all, a
wannabe Rambo -- but he launched into a monologue about how Islam is a
religion of love, like Christianity and Judaism, and we shouldn't believe
that the actions of a few madmen actually represent such a religion. 'My
God,' I told my wife. 'Tom Clancy has become the voice of
reason.'"
Life goes on, I guess. Back to work, back to weblogging as before (more or less), back to the radio. There's food to talk about, and drink, and new CDs, and more on sf and fantasy novels to come. We'll see how things change due to the events of this week (probably manifesting itself in a big way next time I fly). Until then ... onward. Solas concert cancelled. The Irish music group Solas, who were scheduled to perform at the CSUN Performing Arts Center on Sunday night, had to cancel their concert. They're based in New York, and are stuck there due to the lack of air travel this week. Dang. I had tickets to give away tonight, too. No word on the Andy Irvine show on Saturday, and so far I'm presuming that's happening on schedule. He's been in the Bay Area since before the attacks, and even if he has been flying to get from place to place it wouldn't be much of a stretch for him to drive fr |
(Just what do you think you're doing, Chuck?)
