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May 21, 2006
"Two Cents" re the NSA
I’m in the SF Chronicle’s “Two Cents” reader-response column again today.
The question was, “Ever say anything on the phone you don’t want the NSA to hear?”
My favorite answer was from Jo-Anna Pippen:
I’m sure in the last four years I’ve said: “Michael Moore, shotgun, Internet, ACLU, Berkeley, indicted, Hillary, drugs, cell, data, gay marriage, SpongeBob, peace, France, oligarchy, bomb, cell, Cheney, contraception, AT&T, Democrat, 29 percent, White House, turd blossom, tequila, Jeb, firewall, NBC and New York Times.” I’m probably on a watch list already.
Posted by gans at 7:31 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
May 20, 2006
Happy birthday, Mr. Gravy
Tonight is Wavy Gravy’s birthday party at the Berkeley Community Theater, as always a benefit for SEVA.
C.W. Nevius writes about Wavy in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. Compassion comes easy to this clown
A few excerpts:
….this has been a remarkable run, from making announcements atop the stage at Woodstock to having Ben & Jerry’s name a flavor of ice cream after him.It was tasty, too.
With no visible means of support to speak of — Gravy calls himself “an activist, clown and former frozen dessert” — he’s not only lived a life in full, but filled it with an extraordinary zest and good deeds.
[…]
And then there’s the time he was poetry director at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village.
“I convinced the owner to bring on a kid named Bob Dylan.”
Dylan, by the way, wrote “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” on Gravy’s typewriter. So says Gravy, who says Salvador Dali stopped by and “made a salad.”
Is it any wonder that documentarian Michelle Esrick is on the Gravy train? Her film, “Saint Misbehavin’: The Life and Time of Wavy Gravy,” is due in 2007. Good luck. Editing his life into feature-film length won’t be easy….
I’ve had many opportunities to hang out with Wavy over the years - I’ve played festivals where he emceed, for example - and I’ve produced radio announcements for his various events over the years. I refer to him as a “regional saint,” for some reason. He’s a great character, and he’s done a hell of a lot of good in the world.
Happy birthday, other boss. I hope you have a great party tonight.
Posted by gans at 10:09 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 15, 2006
The Projection Party, projecting
Jon Carroll in today’s San Francisco Chronicle:
Y’all have probably heard about this dispute surrounding Plan B, the so-called “morning after” pill ….Plan B is a contraceptive, and there are people who don’t like contraceptives….
Janet Woodcock, who is the deputy operations commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, apparently told a group of agency employees, according to a memo written by one of them, that “we could not anticipate or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on ‘urban legend’ status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B.”
So now we come to a phenomenon called “projection.” The most common way that we explain human behavior is to use our beliefs, motives and behavior patterns as a template. If I tell you, for instance, that all women hate men, I am really telling you that my life experiences so far have not been satisfying and that I have developed a theory about why that is true, and I have projected that theory on reality….
So if I tell you that a “morning after” pill will lead to sex-based cults, I am really telling you that a candid examination of my inner motives reveals that I would most likely start a sex-based cult if I could, and that urge scares me, so I will project my urges onto young people and their pharmaceutical choices, and announce that I have discovered reality and this is what it looks like.
It is my belief that projection plays a larger role in public life than is generally acknowledged — although, of course, I could just be projecting. I think that people who really fret that gays are going to “recruit” heterosexuals see in themselves worrisome urges that mean that they themselves might want to enlist in the gay army. I think if you look at the attitudes of the Catholic Church about sexuality and set them against the behavior of a number of supposedly celibate Catholic priests, you can build a case for large-scale, long-term institutional projection.
I’ve been raving about the Projection Party for years. These fuckers are constantly accusing their enemies/victims of doing exactly what they themselves do or want to do. It’s pathological, pathetic, and destructive. It pollutes the public discourse.
Posted by gans at 5:58 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 14, 2006
Pombo Must Go!
This is from my friend and colleague Paul Stubblebine:
Please join
pianist Pete Sears (Hot Tuna, Starship, Flying Other Brothers, etc.)
singer Spencer Day (Decca recording artist)
Paul Stubblebine (Coast Recorders)
for an opportunity to meet and mingle with Steve Thomas, candidate for Congress in the 11th Congressional District.
This district is important to all of us, whether we live and vote in that district or not. It is currently represented by Richard Pombo, who is (in my opinion) the posterboy for corruption in Congress, and the leader of the charge to remove all environmental regulation, among other troglodyte positions.
Friends, we have an opportunity to replace Pombo with someone we’ll actually enjoy supporting. No need to settle for a Hold-Your-Nose-and-Vote-For-A-Democratic nominee, no need to settle for a Demopublican nominee… there’s a genuine, progressive, back-to-the-future New Deal Democrat running.
Check Steve Thomas’ website to get a taste of what he’s about. Then come on down to Coast Recorders, San Francisco’s historic recording studio, on Saturday May 20th and meet him! Drop by any time between 4 and 7 PM. We’ll have the welcome mat out, and Steve will be happy to talk to you about his vision for a better future. Bring your checkbook - you just may want to help his campaign after you hear him speak. And at the very least, you’ll be able to say, “I knew Steve Thomas before he was co-opted.”
Coast Recorders
1340 Mission Street, between 9th and 10th, San Francisco
415-863-6009
Plenty of parking, either on the street or in the lot behind our building, accessible from either 9th or 10th Street.
Posted by gans at 12:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Blue Roses?
I wrote the song “Blue Roses” in 1974. The goddamn Grateful Dead (i.e. Kelley and Mouse) created a Blue Rose poster for their 12/31/7 Winterland show.
Now, courtesy of Bob Delaney, I have news of an actual blue rose.
But: it looks pretty damn PURPLE to me.
Posted by gans at 10:26 AM | TrackBack
Rubber Souldiers 5/13 - audio
Unedited MP3s of the Rubber Souldiers set at the Larkspur Cafe Theater Saturday, May 13. You’ll also find links to two particular highlights: “Baby’s in Black” and “Girl-> Things We Said Today.”
The set list: Across the Universe * Nowhere Man * Baby’s in Black * If I Fell * I Should Have Known Better * Girl->Things We Said Today * You’re Gonna Lose That Girl * I’ll Be Back * No Reply * Dr. Robert * The Word
Lorin Rowan, guitar and vocals; Chris Rowan, guitar and vocals; David Gans, guitar and vocals; David Phillips, pedal steel guitar; Josh Kaye, piano; Joshua Zucker, bass; Jimmy Sanchez, drums
Our debut performance, and we had a blast! I opened with a solo set and brought Josh, Josh, David and Jimmy on for the last few songs. Rubber Souldiers played after the break, and the Rowan Brothers closed the show.
Also posted, from last night’s show at the Larkspur Theater Cafe: Shove in the Right Direction, from my opening set.
Rubber Souldiers will be back soon, and there’s another band about to form, too: Honky Tonk Hippies!
Posted by gans at 3:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 13, 2006
New loop work
Recorded yesterday: a new studio performance of “Quarter to Five.”
I recently bought some new gear, and now I am able to run two independent loops. My first application of this facility is to create what I call “lenticular clouds”: using an overdrive to create a rich, sustained tone, and a volume pedal, and working in a loop of arbitrary duration, I create multiple layers of notes that fade in and out, overlapping at random times and in random combinations of harmonious and dissonant intervals.
Having created a cloud layer, I switched to the other looper and started a piece called “Quarter to Five” and developed two or three distinct sections, using different guitar tones and effects.
I recorded the entire mess into the Microtrack and then loaded it into the Sonic Solutions digital editing system, where I was able to edit out the boring/sloppy/distorted parts and then build the final composition by crossfading between the two main sections of “Quarter to Five” (one simpler, with more discernable “acoustic” guitar and the other fuller, with several layers of legato guitar melody). I also made multiple copies of the cloud bed and arranged them on four tracks, out of sync, creating new areas of dissonance and complexity.
Now I’m trying to decide if I’m going to schlep all this gear over to the Larkspur Cafe for tonight’s show - which has to do with whether I feel I’m ready to use it in public after only one day of rehearsal at home.
Here’s an example of the “lenticular clouds” form, recorded earlier in yesterday’s session.
And here’s another piece, created yesterday using the same double-loop setup: Looking Into the Next World
Posted by gans at 10:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 11, 2006
Rubber Souldiers to perform May 13 in Larkspur CA
The last two days have been blissful because of Rubber Souldiers rehearsals with Chris and Lorin Rowan! Yesterday it was just the three of us, finalizing the set list and working out the vocals, and today we rehearsed with the full band. We’ll have David Phillips on pedal steel, Josh Kaye on keyboards, Josh Zucker on bass, and Jimmy Sanchez on drums.
Saturday, May 13, 8:30pm at the Larkspur Cafe Theater, 500 Magnolia Avenue, Larkspur CA. 415-924-6107
I’ll open the show, and then it’ll be Rubber Souldiers, and the Rowan Brothers will close with a set of their own wonderful music.
Posted by gans at 4:53 PM | TrackBack
May 9, 2006
Godsmack frontman smacked by Arthur
Check out this transcript of a phone interview between Godsmack frontman Sully Erna and Arthur magazine editor Jay Babcock!
I don’t know anything about Godsmack, but I gather they sell a ton of records and they seem to have licensed a couple of their songs to the US Army for recruiting commercials.
Babcock used a routine phone interview to confront Erna with some uncomfortable truths about the world, and Erna seemed unhappy about being called to account.
An excerpt:
JAY: …I have a quote from you here: “We’ve always been supportive of our country and our president, whereas a lot of people I thought” — and you said this in 2003, to MTV News, you said — “a lot of people I thought lashed out pretty quickly at what we did and I thought the government did everything pretty cleanly and publicly as possible.”SULLY: Yeah…?
JAY: Well, what are you talking about?
SULLY: That was my opinion at the time. The whole war thing, and trying to keep us up to date like… If you remember, back in other wars, we didn’t have the opportunity to follow it through the media, and CNN, and the news—live updates and that kind of thing. And I thought that for the most part you know we were allowed to follow it as best we could through the media sources that were feeding us information.
JAY: [incredulous] You didn’t think the media was being controlled by the military?
SULLY: Well, it could be. I don’t know.
JAY: You didn’t look into it?
SULLY: Listen. Are you a fucking government expert?
JAY: I’m not telling people to go join the military and then not knowing what the military is doing.
SULLY: I don’t tell people to go join the military!!
JAY: You don’t think using your songs — the POWER of your music, which you were talking about — has an effect on the people that hear it when it goes with the visuals that the best P.R. people in the world use?
SULLY: Oh man, are you like one of those guys that agrees with some kid that fuckin’ tied a noose around his neck because Judas Priest lyrics told him to?
JAY: You were telling me how powerful your music was, and what age the people are that listen to it, and you must have thought, “Well the Navy sure thought it was useful,” so you tell me.
SULLY: Hey, listen. The Navy thought…. It’s the same reason why wrestlers work out to the music, and extreme motorcross riders listen to the music and do what they do. It’s ENERGETIC music. It’s very ATHLETIC. People feel that they get an adrenaline rush out of it or whatever, so, it goes with whatever’s an extreme situation. But I doubt very seriously that a kid is going to join the Marines or the US Navy because he heard Godsmack as the underlying bed music in the commercial. They’re gonna go and join the Navy because they want to jump out of helicopters and fuckin’ shoot people! Or protect the country or whatever it is, and look at the cool infra-red goggles.
JAY: You said to MTV, “We’re not a very political band but we’re supportive of the U.S. military and how they approach things.”
In his endnote, Babcock supplies footnotes to support the things he says to Erna in the interview - Erna’s own words and other facts. Babcock concludes:
I suppose to a degree it’s like shooting fish in a barrel, but… lives are on the line. People need to be held accountable. I’ve been trying to interview this band since 2003. I finally got my chance. It’s stimulated a ton of discussion — check out blabbermouth.net’s various threads, or the number of blogs and rock news sites that are now picking this up, or the comments below, or the endless barrage of juvenile hatemail we’ve been receiving — and it’s embarassed the band into silence on the issue, which is better than the jingoism they’d been spouting previously.Finally: Please keep in mind that Sully is a MILLIONAIRE living in a comfortable life. His band is using their music to help recruit poor, under-educated, foolish, impressionable kids into the military at a time of worthless, pointless war, the consequences of which we — all of us — will be feeling for the rest of our lives. If he doesn’t care to discuss this — all of this — he shouldn’t do interviews… especially with anti-war publications.
The whole transcript and supprting documentation are well worth a read. Thanks to Barry Smolin at KPFK for directing my attention to this story.
Posted by gans at 8:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The Projection Party, again
Letter I sent to the San Francisco Chronicle:
Editor -
Regarding this letter in the 5/8 edition:
Special privilege?Editor — Congress must immediately conduct a full investigation regarding Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s 2:30 a.m. automobile accident in the Capitol Thursday morning (“Rep. Kennedy denies he was drinking before crash,” May 5)! His driver’s license should be permanently revoked and he must pay fines and do community service. Lastly, he must step down immediately!
Oh wait, he’s not a Republican. Never mind.
LISA COHEN
Menlo Park
I gather Lisa Cohen is a member in good standing of the Projection Party. How else to explain her remark?
Let’s not forget that it was the Republicans in Congress who ground the government to a halt a few years back, bleating about “the rule of law” all the while, to nail Bill Clinton to the wall over private behavior that caused no harm and had nothing whatsoever to do with his performance on the job.
We still have a Republican-controlled Congress, and that Congress can’t be bothered to dig into any of the countless crimes against “the rule of law” and common decency itself. Let’s start with the lies that led us to war in Iraq and work our way down the docket, past domestic spying, “signing statements,” the FEMA/Katrina debacle, and so on. Maybe eventually we’ll work our way down to Duke Cunningham’s hookers.
David Gans
Oakland
UPDATE: The Chronicle published a response from Tom Wood today. An excerpt:
2. Patrick Kennedy recognized there was a problem, admitted his mistakes and took actions to rectify the situation; whereas, Republicans deny problems exists and shirk responsibility up to the moment they’re convicted.
His other points are good, too.
Posted by gans at 11:47 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 6, 2006
Meme of the month
I spotted this in a coffee store here in Oakland, where family values actually have something to do with human values:
MAY THE FETUS YOU SAVE BE GAY
Posted by gans at 10:21 AM | TrackBack
May 4, 2006
A dream I had
I’ve been sick in bed with a nasty intestinal thing, accompanied by a high fever. When I was a kid, I had high fevers, and they were always accompanied by really great hallucinations. I had a very intense dream the morning the fever hit, and this time I was able to write most of it down before it evaporated.
Rita and I were driving in Charleston SC, and lost. Arrived at an intersection where streets came together strangely, and there was a restaurant so we went inside to look at a map and get our bearings. There was a chef there who I recognized - a tall man who I’d met at Jon Carroll’s. I asked his name, and he told me but it was garbled. We talked for a while and then he disappeared back into the kitchen in mid-conversation.There were a lot of people eating at big long tables, huge piles of golden fried chicken which was referred to as “the baked dinner.”
I kept waiting for the chef to came back out. Other chefs walked by on their way out of the kitchen.
A man walked in, and as I was thinking, “Isn’t that Elvin Bishop?” Then Michael Bloomfield walked in, accompanied by a couple of other guys. One of his companions recognized me and introduced me to Bloomfield, who was very big and had very big hands; when he shook my hand he only took a couple of my fingers. Nice man, tho.
“I guess we ought to eat here,” I said to Rita.
Still waiting for the chef to return.
I looked into another room and there was Blair Jackson, talking to a man I don’t know. I walked over and sat at his table. Blair said he was there for the wedding of (mumble), and I said, “Ah, so there will be a lot of us around.” The man sitting with Blair pulled a large television set in front of his face, and then the TV screen showed an amateur rocket launch of sorts that appeared to be the lifting of a large, rectangular concrete object a few feet into the air in a cloud of black smoke.
Feel free to post your interpretations!
Posted by gans at 12:46 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
"Was it Funny?" is irrelevant
My friend Eric Rawlins, quoted here with his permission:
Although I’m not surprised that the right would claim it was “not funny” — they can hardly argue with Colbert’s suggestions on their merit — whether what he did was funny strikes me as completely irrelevant. It’s as if Welch’s “have you no shame” speech had been followed by an extensive media debate on whether his tie was too loud.
Update: Jon Bell’s screen shots of the crowd reaction.
Posted by gans at 11:44 AM | TrackBack
Even still more on the Colbert Thing
Email I sent to Richard Cohen of the Washington Post just now:
Sorry, man, but you’re full of shit on this one.The only other time we know of when Bush had a chance to hear dissenting views was when he invited the former secretaries of state etc. for a visit. He gave ‘em the bum’s rush.
You say Colbert is “representative of what too often passes for political courage, not to mention wit, in this country.” I’d say not often enough.
What have you done lately to try to get us out of the mess we’re in thanks to Bush and the fools who let him come to power?
Posted by gans at 7:59 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
May 3, 2006
DG appears on Grateful Fest compilation
Bob Matthews’ ArSeaEm Recording has released a 4-CD set recorded Augut 19, 2005 the first day of Grateful Fest 6 at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in northeastern Ohio.
I’m featured on Disc 1, sitting in w/ Cornmeal on “Catfish John” and “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” and playing “Dawn’s Early Light-> For Everyman” and “That’s Real Love” solo. The other three discs are Dark Star Orchestra re-creating 8/6/74 with special guest Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay.
Mixed by Bob and Betty, a production team that looms large in Grateful Dead legend.
This year’s event, Grateful Fest 7, takes place June 30-July 4, with DSO, Cornmeal, my badself, Hot Tuna, NRPS, Keller Williams, Rusted Root, and lots more.
Posted by gans at 9:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Still more on the Colbert thing
Colbert wasn’t playing to the room, I suspect, but to the wide audience of people who would later watch on the Internet. If anything, he was playing against the room - part of the frisson of his performance was the discomfort he generated in the audience, akin to the cringe humor of The Ali G Show. (Cringe humor, too, is something probably lost on much of the Washington crowd at the dinner, as their pop-culture tastes tend to be on the square side.) To the audience that would watch Colbert on Comedy Central, the pained, uncomfortable, perhaps-a-little-scared-to-laugh reaction shots were not signs of failure. They were the money shots. They were the whole point.
Posted by gans at 2:08 PM | TrackBack
More on the Colbert thing
First of all, Daily Kos has a full transcript of the Stephen Colbert speech.
Dan Froomkin, in the Washington Post, says this:
Now the mainstream media is back with its second reaction: Colbert just wasn’t funny.Yes, it turns out Colbert has brought the White House and its press corps together at long last, creating a sense of solidarity rooted in something they have in common: Neither of them like being criticized.
And this:
Once upon a time, I imagine, there was great value in throwing a party where journalists and politicians could mingle and shmooze and celebrate the things they have in common.And indeed, if the press and this particular White House had an even moderately functional professional relationship, then a chance to build personal relationships would be a nice bonus.
But it’s not a functional professional relationship. From the president down to the freshest press office intern, this White House seems to delight in not answering even our most basic questions.
So the last thing in the world we need is a big party where the only appropriate mode of communication is sucking up.
Media Matters takes on the disgusting performance by Chris Matthews (aka “Tweety”) on Hardball:
Matthews praised Bush, Wallace, Snow, while he and Time’s Allen panned Colbert[…]
Later in the show, Matthews contrasted Colbert’s performance with Bush’s “unbelievable self-deprecating” comedy routine. When Allen asserted that Colbert, who skewered Bush and the White House press corps, “went over about as well as David Letterman at the Oscars,” Matthews asked: “Why do you think he was so bad?” Responding to Allen’s claim that “the standard at these dinners is singe, not burn,” Matthews assented: “The president’s our head of state, not just a politician.”
That Media Matters post has video of the Matthews segment. Vile.
Posted by gans at 8:08 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 1, 2006
Thank you, Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert was the entertainment at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner over the weekend, and he took the opportunity to speak truth to power in a most breathtaking way.
George W. Bush was sitting just a few feet away, and he heard some things that if he’s intelligent enough to understand them should give him pause. But they won’t of course - that dangerously shallow man seems incapable of recognizing the damage he’s done to the countrym the human race, and the planet.
Colbert also took aim at the lapdog press, many of whom must also have done some squirming. And rightly so.
There’s a web site called “Thank You, Stephen Colbert” where you’ll find links to video of the event, plus some news coverage (although most of the mainstream media reports didn’t even mention Colbert!), and a place to sign in and thank Colbert for that he did.
By all means, watch the presentation.
Update: “Colbert Rips the President a New One.” An excerpt:
As he walked from the podium the president and First Lady gave Colbert quick nods, unsmiling, and left. E&P’s Joe Strupp, in the crowd, observed that quite a few felt the material was, perhaps, uncomfortably biting.Update: Salon has an analysis that’s worth reading. An excerpt:Wasn’t it last year at the White House Correspondent’s dinner where the President did a HI-LARIOUS bit with some fake home movies showing him looking for those darned elusive WMD’s? And they weren’t there! It was a laff riot! I was laughing all the way to the 2300 odd military funerals!! Giggling as I donted money to help pay for over 10,000 wounded Americans!! Stop me before I piss myself with glee. But Colbert’s bit, that was OUT OF LINE, mister!!
[…]
The President was upset? Good. I hope the President was sleepless with rage. At least then he’d know how most of us have been spending every night for the last three years.
Then he turned to the president of the United States, who sat tight-lipped just a few feet away. “I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.”It was Colbert’s crowning moment. His imitation of the quintessential GOP talking head — Bill O’Reilly meets Scott McClellan — uncovered the inner workings of the ever-cheapening discourse that passes for political debate. He reversed and flattened the meaning of the words he spoke. It’s a tactic that the cultural critic Greil Marcus once called the “critical negation that would make it self-evident to everyone that the world is not as it seems.” Colbert’s jokes attacked not just Bush’s policies, but the whole drama and language of American politics, the phony demonstration of strength, unity and vision….”
Media Matters has more.
Posted by gans at 7:55 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack