Friday noise

Eons ago, I used to write record reviews for FOCUS ROCK ENTERTAINMENT (screen capture of old publication here! Only image I could find online!). They paid me in t-shirts, movie and concert tickets, tote bags and other crap nobody else wanted, and records. RECORDS. Lots and lots of vinyl, some of which I still own because I can't bear to part with it. One of the records I reviewed was VOLUNTEER JAM, which contained this major kick-ass song...

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It's enough to make you sick

Last evening, Occupy Greenville sponsored a Teach-In featuring a showing of Sick Around the World, followed by a spirited and lively discussion. There were maybe a dozen of us in attendance. This follows our showing of Sick Around America last week--both shows produced by PBS Frontline. It's a depressing situation: how did this country's health care system get so messed up? Can we fix it? Will 'Obamacare' make it better or stretch our...

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Another fine mess

Kurt Vonnegut dedicated his 1976 novel Slapstick "to the memory of Arthur Stanley Jefferson and Norvell Hardy, two angels of my time." Ah, weren't they, though? Laurel and Hardy - Water fight clip It took me a long time to find one that features Stanley starting to cry! (@ 2:14) I always adored them both, but Stanley's funny crying gave him the edge, and he was my favorite....

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Al Jazeera: The challenges of Occupying South Carolina

Al Jazeera ran an article about South Carolina Occupy!!! Woot! How interesting that it's up to foreign journalists to understand what's going on around here. You sure can't find this kind of insightful analysis in the New York Times, or even the Greenville News. Excerpt:With about ten per cent of South Carolinians unemployed, economic woes might make South Carolina seem like a receptive setting for the Occupy movement - which reserves some...

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Babylone Buildings

I have no idea what he is saying, since I flunked my second year of French. But I love this CD, and this is one of the best tunes on it. I do know what Rastafari means, and I can follow along well enough. Chris Combette is originally from French Guiana and also lived in Martinique. I love his sweet voice and phrasing, and very much wish I could translate the lyrics for you. (I can't find them anywhere on the net, in any language.) Enjoy!Babylone Buildings - Chris Combe...

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Newt Gingrich wins SC Primary

At left: Newtie gloats, photo by Jeff Siner of the Charlotte Observer. I knew Newtie would win, simply from all the signs. They started small, and within the past week, they exploded into banner-sized "NEWT 2012" screaming at us from every interstate exit all over the county. Simply put: a Catholic vs a Mormon? A Catholic will win. Santorum, also Catholic, brought in the #3 spot, with Ron Paul (who didn't spend much money here), bringing...

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Dead Air Church: 30 Years

It is my official AA anniversary, folks! Today marks my 30th year without alcohol. (gasp) I can hardly believe it myself. At left: an image from one of the late-60s AA comic books, titled "It happened to Alice." I am no longer a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, for a variety of reasons. (I touched on some of my issues with AA here and here.) But I still credit the organization with saving my life. Nothing else would have worked for me. The...

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Ron Paul in Greenville

At left: Presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul today in Greenville. What does it mean that so many working class people packed into a drafty, cold, wet airplane hangar to listen to a rather unremarkable-looking 76-year-old doctor talk mostly about his interpretation of the Constitution? And they hollered, screamed, and stomped appreciatively? I dunno, but as usual, I am impressed. I met about a half-dozen or more people I knew,...

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City Information

Yes, I haz it! Today is the mass internet-blackout and log-off in protest of monstrous, evil SOPA, which I previously wrote about in depth here. I haven't changed my mind since! STOP SOPA!We are being asked to limit our overall online activity today, if possible, in protest of this repressive attempt to control internet discourse. Although I do thank you all profusely for stopping by! Have a lovely Wordless Wednesd...

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Occupy and Walkupy

Hey, you crazy kidz! My apologies for intermittent internet woes, keeping me from bringing you all the straight dope on the South Carolina primary. Well, what can I say? We are averaging about one robocall every 2-3 hrs or so. I assume this is because I voted in the Republican primary in 2008 (for Ron Paul, a deliberate act of strategic voting that I will be repeating on Saturday). These damn phone banks are harassing the hell out of us......

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Haley Watch: More More More

For the record, I am ambivalent about linking Will Folks' Republican blog, FITSnews. Folks is the blogger who claims he got into [South Carolina Governor] Nikki Haley's pants, before she reached her current levels of megastardom. I tend to believe him, simply because I want to... and because he and the governor were "good friends" and close political associates at one point (he didn't invent this out of whole cloth). I certainly haven't seen...

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Deb Morrow for congress!

Deb Morrow has not 'officially' announced her run for congress, but I already blurted it out on my radio show, Saturday morning. She was a great sport and didn't mind. I attended Deb's first organizational meeting in Spartanburg, yesterday. I love that an Occupier is running for office, but at the same time, I am skeptical that the Democratic Party brass will allow this, or will back her candidacy. Will they find some party-hack to run against...

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Vermin Supreme for president

Newt avoids confrontation with Occupy protestorsQuote from above-linked account:The protesters waved signs and chanted, supporting two competing candidates in the Republican primary: Ron Paul and an individual named Vermin Supreme, who wore a rubber boot on his head and danced while speaking through a megaphone.Is this a great country or wh...

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Press Release: Mitt Romney's "Jeremiah Wright" problem

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JANUARY 9, 2012Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Alumni of Bob Jones UniversityContact: Jeffrey Hoffman (646) 271-5980NEW YORK, NY, JANUARY 9, 2012: Mitt Romney has a preacher problem down in South Carolina. Republican presidential hopefuls have long coveted endorsement by the Chancellor of Bob Jones University, Bob Jones III. Every serious Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan has made the pilgrimage to Greenville,...

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Monday Music: Here at the Western World

Steely Dan - Here at the Western World...

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The Funeral of Pfc. Justin Whitmire

At left: Pfc Justin Whitmire, age 20, upstate soldier killed on December 27th, only 19 days after arriving in Afghanistan. I had planned on titling this post "Up close and personal with the Westboro Baptist Church"--but instead, I witnessed an amazing sight. I saw about 3000 members and associates of the Patriot Guard Riders stand in loose formation outside the Simpsonville Baptist Church. They stood quietly and respectfully during the funeral...

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Friday links of interest

DEAD AIR presents Friday linkage for your perusal, on this eve of the first New Hampshire primary debate.First up, Senator Rick Santorum, family man, is another morally-bankrupt fake. (Nah, go on! Say it isn't so!) Check out Politico's Santorum: Ultimate D.C. insider:Rick Santorum received a troubling email in 2009, when he was working as a Fox News analyst — an aggrieved husband was accusing Sen. John Ensign, Santorum’s friend and former Republican...

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Bachmann Bails

At left: Cover of The Madness of Michele Bachmann by Ken Avidor, Karl Bremer and Eva Young. Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign is history. Those of us who planned elaborately-amusing blog posts making fun of her husband's pray-away-the-gay therapy are profoundly disappointed. I was looking forward to at least a few more weeks of the Michele-and-Marcus follies. Gone after the Iowa caucus? She can't even make it to New Hampshire? Lightweight!...

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Ohio Players album covers

... were amazing, proudly artsy and pretty dirty, too. (I'm so glad Tipper Gore and the fabled PMRC wasn't around to police us in the 70s.) Did the powers-that-be know about these album covers? Although pioneering-funk band The Ohio Players (whom I was wildly fortunate to have seen live in 75, rocking the proverbial house!) had #1 hits, these eye-popping album covers seemed to stay under the radar. I remember seeing one of them in a very conservative,...

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Almost curtains for Newt? We can only hope

You can click to enlarge. (Thanks again to Yellowdog Granny!) And for those of you who believe we jest, here is Jonah Goldberg's National Review column (you've been warned!) quoting and further analyzing Newt's statements about putting poor kids to work, scrubbing toilets. Apparently Newt is unaware that lots of us have already had those jobs, and now they go to the undocumented immigrants he wants to keep here in the country working on the cheap....

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