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Where Were You When REM Broke UP?
I have to admit I was pretty surprised to see that REM is calling it a day. They’ve been a an active band about as long as I’ve been alive. I kinda took them for granted. They’ve been indie rock’s work horses. Most of the last 15 years or so they’ve been quietly cranking out what appears to be solid hyphen-rock (indie? alternative?), touring occasionally, and just seemingly punching the clock every day as indie rock founding fathers. Why would they break up? You never hear any drama about them. I can’t imagine Michael Stype beating up a paparazzi or anything.
Maybe that’s the reason I could never get into them. They’re a band that you have to respect, but I’ve always found it hard to love them. Mostly, I didn’t seem them giving me a reason to.
I was too young to really get into the music when they were at the height of their powers. I didn’t have an older brother, but if I did I would imagine him listing to REM in mind 80’s. While I was still listening to Sesame Street songs, they were paying their dues, chiming up college rock and being decidedly NOT Whitesnake or Poison. Maybe they were so afraid of falling into those excesses, they erred on the side of, well, boring.
By the time the 90’s came around and my tastes had grown up a bit. I was spending a lot of time listening to The Beatles, and felt like I found my niche. If I had explored a little more I might have found that they were trying really hard to be a sort of Beatles themselves. They had the rare ability to be classicist and still look like they’re innovators.
We’re talking about 4 guys that really did write some good songs and play some great live shows. But they also seemed like they were afraid of ever hitting any real heights. Every REM single was pleasant, enjoyable, arty in a non-threatening manner. These guys should be commended for sticking it out and continuing to churn out that seemed to mostly be reminders normal folk can make some good music themselves.
So tomorrow morning, for the first time in a long time, they’re going get up and not have to punch in to rock and roll. Whatever else they have planned, I wish them luck.
The Power Of The State
So if Twitter is to be believed, Troy Davis, a man who may well have been wrongly convicted of murder in the state of Georgia, was just put to death by lethal injection. I honestly don’t have much to say about the specifics of his case. Most of the stories I’ve read about him only gave the basic bullet points. Suffice it to say that there was doubt that this man committed this crime, even among those closest to the case.
This seems like a good time to talk about the Death Penalty in general. A state with the power to kill is a state that will abuse that power. Someone once said that the state does not have the right to take anything that it cannot return. Each of us are living every day by the graces of a government that hasn’t yet decided we need to be removed. Once we give the state the right to take a life, we change the relationship between the people and the bureaucracy. Citizens become dependent on the government not to protect life, but to provide it. We are put in the position of asking the a bureaucracy to grant us not just our freedom, but our very right to exist.
And make no mistake. We all built this machine. We are all complicit in this death, and every subsequent execution.
This is where some of you are no doubt going to rev your Camero engines, put on your shades and say “not me, man. I don’t even vote”. Doesn’t matter. You have an affirmative responsibility to make your voice heard. Vote. Call your representative, even if she’s not the one you voted for. You live in America. This is the price of admission.
BREAKING: World Supply Of Rolling Stones Related Puns Exhausted
Most of the time, The Rolling Stones are more of a corporation than a band. It’s no secret that none of the members have been extremely close for years, if not decades. So when you see all four of them leaving the same London office building on the same day, you know something has got to be up.
2012 is going to be the band’s 50th (!) anniversary, so I can only hope they have something big planned. Details had to be hashed out. 5 story inflatable cowgirls have to be procured. Ronnie Wood needs to plan 3 or 4 more stints at rehab.
The band no longer does “small”. Reading about the Stones 60’s and 70’s tours was always interesting. They toured constantly, stopping only to record or get arrested, for about 2 decades. Everything about these tours were an order of magnitude smaller than what the Stones have done since the late 80’s. I think they understand that something has been lost, which is why the y insist on having a small “second stage” in the middle of the audience where they play a few songs per show with no supporting musicians. The purpose is not just to bring the band closer to the fans, but also to bring the Stones closer to each other.
The Rolling Stones are my favorite band, hands down (so expect more Stones-blogging in the months to come). I’ve seen them a half dozen times in the past decade, and each show was great. The really interesting at this point is how these 4 very different people suck it up every few years, get together, and somehow become the Worlds Greatest Rock And Roll Band.
Maybe One Day We’ll Be A Democracy
Kevin Drum points out here that we’ve come to a point where Republicans can run any sort of shenanigans they see fit and no one bats an eye. Of course they’re going to cynically manipulate the political system for their own ends. It’s what they do. It’s not even news any more.
What gets me is is the John Cohn quote he uses to illustrate this, though. Speaking about the nomination of Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Cohn says:
So is Cordray on track for confirmation? Of course not. As Shelby made crystal clear, he and his fellow Republicans really don’t care about Cordray’s qualifications right now. They care about the board itself. They don’t like it. Until Obama and the Democrats agree to modify it to suit conservative tastes, the Republicans won’t confirm anybody to run it.
….Brookings scholar and historian Thomas Mann has called this practice a “modern-day form of nullification.” I agree — and I think it’s worth pondering just what that means.
The consumer protection agency exists because one year ago a majority of democratically elected lawmakers passed a law and a democratically elected president signed it. Now a minority of Senators representing a minority of the country are exploiting their procedural powers (i.e., using the filibuster) to prevent that law from taking effect.
That’s undemocratic. And I mean that with a small “d.”
Growing up at the tail end of the Cold War, it was very important for teachers to emphasize that America is a democracy. But living in a democracy means asking a lot of hard questions that they weren’t interested in. It became a slogan without substance.
Now we’re seeing the institution rot from the inside. None of the basic School House Rock level mechanisms have changed, but instead they’ve being subverted in a more blatant way than ever before. We’ve lost the pretense that everyone is working in good faith towards solving problems.
This is not to say that in the past we were ruled by a benevolent class of Jimmy Stewarts. The issue is how blatant the corruption has become.
It’s entirely possible that Republicans in the Senate truly think that their actions are in the best interest of the nation. I’m sure most autocracies believe in that from the start. The fact is they’ve made it clear that they’re not interested in the rules, in the principles, that used to be part of the national myth. Today, all that matters is results.
Hurricane part 6
Power went out briefly at about 10:40 PM, Saturday. Came back on before we could get the candles lit, then went right back off. 5 minutes later and the power comes back. At this point we’ve been okay for 20 minutes or so.
The wind is getting pretty crazy. Erin just grabbed me and asked if I felt the room shake. I did but this house is as sturdy as they come. At least we can finish the movie tonight. This is how Brice Campbell would want it.
11:11 PM, Saturday: Rain – 1. Wind damage – 2
Hurricane part 5
The rain started getting crazy about 9 PM. Sheets were coming down, and the wind gusts were getting noticeable.
The news has been conflicting. It looks like there’s been damage, but nothing catastrophic. That is keeping out spirits up. It’s the timeline that worries me. Before they were saying Irene would be hitting us mostly over night. Starting really about now and peaking about 2 AM tomorrow. But now we’re learning the eye is expected to get to us about 9 am. Meaning we’ve got about 24 hours of this left. A lot can happen in that amount of time. A town, the people, have a breaking point somewhere. I’m not afraid of wind or rain, but I’m a little nervous about about their stamina.
In the mean time, were drinking Port wine and watching the Evil Dead movies (Erin’s never seen them before!).
Saturday, 10 PM: Rain – 1. Wind damage – 2
Hurricane Part 4
The rains begin in earnest. The ground is saturated and even this little bit of rain we’ve gotten so far has no place to go. From my apartment I can already see little streams forming in the roadway.
Saturday, 6:30 PM. Flooding-1. Wind damage-0
Hurricane Part 3
The wind and rain have died down. Everything is back to a dead stop. I hear my neighbors outside arguing about, well, something, but it got pretty heated.
My windows are now mostly taped up. Dinner is on the stove. Now it’s time to just hang out, watch some Netflix while the Internet still works, and relax.
Saturday, 4 PM: Flooding-0. Wind damage-0.
Hurricane part 2
Okay, so I guess I might as well live blog the Hurricane.
The morning was overcast but calm. The beach seemed quiet. The humidity is about 700%. You stick to everything.
The air had been completely still. At 2 pm, a slight wind started. Really just enough to rustle the trees a bit. We got a little rain about that time as well.
Tally as of Saturday, 2:45: Flooding – 0. Wind damage -.
Preparing for Irene
Preparations for Irene. First off, supplies. Canned beans, soups, tuna. Bread and pasta. Frozen vegetarian buffalo bites. I know they’re perishable and were probably not a great idea but THEY’RE SO FUCKING GOOD. If the power goes out, I will eat them all in one sitting.
Today I plan on going out to find some ice. I have a cooler. When we lose power (and I’m assuming that we will lose power) anything perishable can go in the cooler with the ice. That should last a day or two. I’m just wondering who will be open. Where can I get the ice that hasn’t closed up shop and got outta town themselves? You have to be one dedicated bodega owner to lash yourself to the mainsail like that.
Candles and books. Cat food and litter. Tons of water. Duct tape. And wine. Probably way more wine than we need.
Checked the news this morning. The hurricane is expected to stay about a Cat 1 the whole time as it makes its way from the Carolinas up to New England. It will likely just have been downgraded as it’s hitting Maine. It’s sustained, slow, and driving, but not earth shattering. Winds should be less than 100 mph. It’s the rain that worries. Hours of rain. Think 40 days and 40 nights type of rain.
This means you had better pick your company carefully, as you’ll be with these people for a long time. The water will come in, and it’s going to take some time to recede. If you’re in a low lying area, get to higher ground.
I’m planning on sticking it out here. My apartment is less than a kilometer from the beach, but I’m high up off the ground, on the second floor of a building with high ceilings. I’m sure any self respecting survivalist is laughing at me for even thinking of leaving. Still, looking around, if you gotta have a place to lie low for a while, this seems as good as any.
Nothing Was Delivered 