Proto-YES band, Strawbs, comes to Charlotte

The late '60s and the early '70s were a most creative time in the Western World. Iconoclasts everywhere were shattering old idols, such as those that have been resussitated by the the squares among the Bushreich. In the arts, in film, in books, in lifestyles, and in music...staid, button-down, conservative bubble-gum music was being nudged out by orchestral rock, art-rock, progressive rock, not to mention the wondrous work by jazz and contemporary composers of "serious music".

Seminal in that vein, that throbbing vein of protean creativity, was a band called "Strawbs" -- who merged midaeval and renaissance music with ballads and progressive rock...among other things. And they did so, beautifully. And, thanks to the god of good things, they still do. And I was privileged to eye and earwitness it last night. I do get lucky sometime.
...
But curse the god who causes paragraphs to just vanish, because I just lost 5 good paragraphs which I am too pissed to repeat. Go see the goddam band.

Fri 1 Oct - Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte, NC
Sat 2 Oct - Redlight Cafe, Atlanta, GA
Tue 5 Oct - Bellville Opera House, Bellville, OH
Thu 7 Oct - The Strand, Lakewood, NJ
Fri 8 Oct - Bodles Opera House, Chester, NY
Sat 9 Oct - Towne Crier, Pawling, NY
Sun 10 Oct - The Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA

Anais Mitchell: Party like it's 1984!

Anais Mitchell

Vermont's Anais Mitchell came to my awareness through the good folks at Evening Muse in Charlotte, North Carolina...which is fast becoming the Passim's of the South.
Her music is sexy, timely, progressive, exuberant, and... kicking ass.

1984
by Anais Mitchell

down at headquarters, there’s a big database
with black and white photos of the side of your beautiful face
and your library record, and all your test scores
and an invitation to party like it’s 1984

baby, don’t look so nervous, they just want the facts
and it’s all written out in the usa patriot act
cause we don’t take no chances in a nation at war
so tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1984

oh, honey, what did i tell you about the house being bugged?
they can hear us making breakfast, they can hear us making love
but excuse me a minute- big brother’s at the door
and he’s ready to party like it’s 1984

you know you’re my one and only; you always have been
sure is gonna be lonely after i turn you in
so i’ll wait till tomorrow to file my report
and tonight we can party like it’s 1984

"Help is on the way!"

A little something I wrote on the draft Kerry/Edwards site before Edwards was chosen...

I have long recognized that Edwards is one of the best things to happen to the Democratic Party, and, frankly, America, in a long time. So to see that someone had the foreskin, I mean foresight, to cobble together this wondrous tribute to our highest future, is, well, supercalifragilistic, if not expialidocious. Darned prescient too!
I would like to invite you to my little blog thang, whereon I have some of the best images of Gentleman Edwards I have yet to see. And, I would submit, a better choice than exists presently on this site. Think Diane Arbus. The opposite of Diane Arbus.In other words, use photos that bring out that which he naturally has, but which is often missed in photos. (And no, I am not talking about the mole!) I'm talking about his naturalness, integrity, intellectual curiosity, caring, listening, and his passion, intelligence, elegance, grace, and wit.
Things merely staged in the current officeholder.
God bless this endeavor. There IS hope in the world. Help is on the way...
Godspeed.
-Anonymoses-Charlotte, NCPosted by Anonymoses at March 12, 2004 11:24 PM

LINK

Bloggers are idea factories.


But if you look at Google News, you will see Bush's reaction to Kerry's having said that help was on the way, than to Kerry's initial comment. Are they afraid that it really is true, and that the message is so powerful that it will put Kerry in the White House to ensure that it becomes reality? Stay tuned...

Kerry, Soldiers & the World the clear winner of the debate

"I thing we just saw the next President of the United States"
Help is on the way...

Don't just believe me, or your own eyes. Here is what some leading conservative bloggers are saying:

THE BLOG-SPIN: People I trust to be as honest as you can be - Mickey, Polipundit, Brookhiser, Drezner - lean toward arguing that Kerry won. I wonder what Hugh Hewitt and DailyKos thought. Just kidding. - Andrew Sullivan

Even the Bush inner circle admit that Bush did poorly. This is from the Right Wing Drudge Report:

Bush inner circle suggests Bush visit with Hurricane victims earlier in day was emotionally draining, contributed to "tired" appearance in debate...

But then again...you cannot trust Matt Drudge. A couple of days ago his headline read: ORANGE ALERT!
...and there was not an Orange Alert. He was talking about Kerry's make-up. This is irresponsible, since 85% of the people only read the headline.

Anonymoses' new poem debuts on Billy the Blogging Poet

The Virtual Poet Laureate of North Carolina, Billy the blogging poet (Jones) , has started a new feature on his awesome site. The Wednesday Guest Blogger Series. To kick off his new venture, Billy invited me to submit a poem or other written item...which I, miraculously, completed and submitted...and can be found here.

Rather than simply posting the poem, Billy went the extra mile and added a brief bio and some commentary. (Great job, Billy!).

The poem is called "The War Song of G. Dubya Bushrock", and is a BushWorld version of TS Eliot's classic Prufrock. Hope ya like it! I have to thank my old friend, Rob Urban, for turning me on to this poem back in the '70s, and for awakening in me a renewed interest in the poetic word. In one of Rob's poems, "Possibilities", he wrote of a future time where he drove a taxi in Manhattan. And now, 20 years later, he is indeed in Manhattan. But he is doing way better than he envisioned. He was also one of those brave souls who ran toward the WTC as it was crumbling down. And while he was inundated with dust and the smoke of death, he thankfully survived, and helped inform the world of what was happening. One of the heroes of that sad day.

I first met Billy Jones while attending an outstanding blogger conference in Greensboro, North Carolina, hosted and presented by blogmeisters Billy, Ed Cone, David Hoggard and Matt Gross, and attended by such giants as Eric Muller of IsThatLegal?, Ruby Sinreich, and, of course, Anonymoses -- who is, as you may not know...9 feet tall...standing on a car, and composed of pure energy. Our particularly deipnosophistic banter over plates of Thai creations was memorable and hopefully repeatable. Greensboro is becoming a major center of blogging, and I only wish they would come and give Charlotte a kickstart.

So head on over to Billy the Blogging Poet, and introduce yourself. Ye poets and bloggers will find a brother and kindred spirit.

UPDATE!

Reviews roll in...

This is the most brilliant f**king thing I have ever seen.
Rob Urban, Journalist

That was truly an amazing work of genius.
- Kevin Hayden, The American Street

Fantastic! Great work. TS would be proud.
Billy (the blogging poet) Jones

The knowing, the not knowing, the wishing we didn't, the agony of the dilemma, the cajoling of the mind to stick with something, the apathy, the resignation, yet the still searching for hope...all this and more you capture in your poem, Dave...the plight of us as humans in these present times. And, since we are all so intricately connected to each other ~ each of us carry within us the trials and tribulations of all...whether we realize it or not. Thank you for creating such poetry that allows us to "Feel" such Truth.
- Patty Ann Smith, Hope4America

A brilliant poem.
Iddybud

T.S. would be proud...and probably flattered.
Tom Priest

Are Bush and Kerry really Goofus and Gallant?

GOOFUS AND GALLANT

Goofus wants to make everyone hate his country.
Gallant wants to make friends around the world.

Goofus turns his back on the poor.
Gallant listens to the poor, and tries to help them.

Goofus likes to blow up things.
Gallant likes to help keep his house in order.

Goofus is basically a racist and a sexist.
Gallant identifies with all of humanity.

Goofus would choose someone like Dick Cheney to be his partner.
Gallant would choose someone like John Edwards to be his partner.


The similarities are uncanny.

Do you have any more?
Feel free to comment!

411blog.net: Where bloggers and journalists come together.

This service exists to create a constructive, symbiotic relationship between blogging and traditional forms of journalism.

Among those listed are these:

Rhetoric and Democracy
the chutry experiment

(Thanks to Lex Alexander and Blog on the Run.)

Evangelists do more than lay people

Evangelical Christians now control the Republican Party, says Evangelical Christian, Jerry Falwell.

WASHINGTON – The Rev. Jerry Falwell said yesterday that evangelical Christians, after nearly 25 years of increasing political activism, now control the Republican Party and the fate of President Bush in the November election.

MORE

3 Giants Against Bush's War: Diana, John-John & Paul

Who could have prevented Bush's War from ever being allowed?
Princess Diana, John Kennedy Jr.(who would have been Gore's running mate, not war hawk Lieberman), and Paul Wellstone.

What a freaking coincidence! Three of our most beloved.

And it only gets worse from there.

Welcome to BushWorld!
Where Bush gets what Bush wants.
Like God.
Like the Devil.

When will George's misprisions make their return call?

Must all our beloved be taken?

Fire Bush.
He is not a nice man.

Elizabeth Edwards: First blogger in the White House

Elizabeth Edwards on Blogging

First, on blogging, a couple of notes. Read Kos and found out about the NY Times piece on blogging -- thorough piece. I have traveled this road so long moving with the masters (in order to read them) from the acidic edge of newsgroups to the more definitive personalities of blogs. Today, too, Ed Cone's blog sent me to Mr. Sun (a new one for me) who was commenting on the (Greensboro) News and Record blog. He wrote, and it is true about this blog as well: "The blogs sound like the people I choose as friends: smart, informed, funny, curious, and imperfect." The genius of it is completely captured there. Even coverage by the NYT won't change 'em.

From Daily Kos (on NY Times on Daily Kos)

Moulitsas's site, Daily Kos, teems with information -- sophisticated analysis of poll numbers, crystal-ball babble, links to Senate, House and governor ''outlook charts.'' But what pulls you in is not the data; it's his voice. He's cruel and superior, and he knows his side is going to win.

Bushitler: The Serpent's Egg

How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power

George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany...

MORE

Progressive Blogging

Why blogging is not for the conservative of heart.
by Anonymoses Hyperlincoln III

(in progress)

[NOTES]
Ruminiate this!
Martin Wisse
Progressive Gold: The Best of the Left
Blue Lemur: A free Progressive Blogging Community

How Bush Terrorized America into War on Iraq in order to seize their Oil & Assets for Cheney & Friends

There's something almost obscene about a map that was studied by senior Bush administration officials and a select group of oil company executives meeting in secret in the spring of 2001. It doesn't show the kind of detail normally shown on maps - cities, towns, regions. Rather its detail is all about Iraq's oil.
...
Another interesting task force document, also released under court order over the opposition of the Bush administration, was a two-page chart titled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfields." It identifies 63 oil companies from 30 countries and specifies which Iraqi oil fields each company is interested in and the status of the company's negotiations with Saddam Hussein's regime.
...
Yet the documents suggest that those who took part in the Cheney task force - including senior oil company executives - were very interested in Iraq's oil and specifically in the danger of it falling into the hands of eager foreign oil companies, rather than into the rightful hands of eager U.S. oil companies.
...
It seems likely then that Big Oil, through the Cheney task force, was involved in discussions with the administration about getting control of oil in Iraq. Since Big Oil has sought to distance itself from the administration's decision to invade Iraq, this apparent involvement helps explain the otherwise baffling level of secrecy surrounding the task force.
...
It's also noteworthy that one person - Dick Cheney - was pivotal both in advancing the administration's plans for regime change in Iraq and in formulating U.S. energy policy.

MORE

Michael Moore Speaks to Syracuse Crowd of 10,000

It was a big night for fans of Michael Moore in Syracuse last night. Moore spoke to a sold-out crowd of 10,000 at the Carrier Dome. Two large video screens flashed a video of John Ashcroft singing “Let the Eagle Soar” and Michael Moore appeared in jeans, black T-shirt, and a red baseball cap with an American flag on the front.
- (Iddybud guest blogging at American Street)

Catching up on the news...

A few windows I have yet to close:

"Similar to sugar pill"
The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly urged antidepressant manufacturers not to disclose to physicians and the public that some clinical trials of the medications in children found the drugs were no better than sugar pills, according to documents and testimony released at a congressional hearing yesterday.

The Jewish Vote comes home to Kerry
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is gaining support among Jewish voters as growing numbers disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, according to a poll commissioned by the American Jewish Committee.

Village Voice on Roger Stone
Roger Stone spearheaded the pro-Bush mob shutdown of the Miami/Dade recount in 2000.

Polis is a blogger from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Good stuff!
Bush takes the bait
Bravo to John's offensive on Iraq. He has re-framed this debate for what it really is: a trade-off between Saddam in power and the chaotic, terrorist incubator it now is. This is an answer to Bush's "I'm against evil you're for it" scenario. It's something Americans can instinctively understand; we've been living in the same world with dictators forever, even helping them, as in: Saddam. Once Bush's foolishly simplistic worldview is challenged, the rest comes tumbling down. The trick is to say it in ways that busy people working three jobs can quickly grasp, and to keep the focus on serious doubters in Bush's own party, like Chuck Hagel and Doug Bereuter, in every single press release.

Bush's 'Transformational' Democracy
George W. Bush’s advisers call him “a transformational president,” meaning that they believe his election to a second term on Nov. 2 will cement Republican political control for the foreseeable future. Some outsiders might consider the boast hyperbole, but this prediction of conservative hegemony should not be underestimated.

Captain Obvious: The website that's almost as evil as President Bush, but so much smarter.

John Edwards: Smart, Sexy, Pure

Vote for us and the world celebrates.
Vote for them and the world mourns.

"the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity is the worst national catastrophe in American history"

PLAME
by Michael Carmichael for Political Junkies
Whitley Streiber is a novelist and a non-fiction author of some very popular books. In his essay, A National Catastrophe, Streiber deduces that the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity as a NOC (no official cover) agent of the CIA is the worst national catastrophe in American history.His final two paragraphs explore the motivations for this crime, and he concludes that the criminal who leaked her name is either a psychopath hell bent on initiating a nuclear Armageddon or a cynical and vindictive sociopath who deserves a severe dose of whatever is left of American justice.

Excerpts from Mr. Streiber:

The outing of Valerie Plame in the column of Robert Novak has now led to the resignation of Jim Pavitt from the CIA. Mr. Pavitt was Valerie Plame’s superior. His work has been devastated by this catastrophic security leak, and he has apparently chosen to resign as a result. The announcement of his retirement is the tip of an iceberg of national disaster.

Don’t believe for a moment the rantings of lying radio hosts about this case. Valerie Plame was no small fish. The revelation of her name is, in fact, the most serious intelligence disaster in the history of this country.
...
The rumor mill also has it that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney may be indicted in the matter.

Of course, this is a partisan time, so there’s no way of telling how true such rumors are. In any case, it doesn’t matter. The grand jury apparently has the name of the individual or individuals responsible. It is to be hoped that, if found guilty, no matter how high they may be, the people responsible be made to suffer the maximum penalty for the horrific crime they have committed. – Whitley Strieber

States Writes: a Progressive Peer Directory from The American Street

Research links to mass media & blog sources in all states. Swing states - won by less than 55% of thepopular vote in 2000 - are highlighted, with cumulative Gore and Nader vote totals defined as Dems.State newspapers are generally listed in order of city size, but capital city papers and highly regardedpublications may supersede that order. Blogs without postings after 1 July 2004 were screened out.

These are the sites listed from North Carolina:
Monkey Media Report The Political Junkies EDCONE.COM: Word Up Deride and Conquer collective sigh Stand Tall anonyMoses APOSTROPHER Carolina Progressive Blog on the Run Ruby's Rants & Randomness a complete bunch of pants reason and radical Blue North Carolina CAROLINA JOURNAL ONLINE I respectfully dissent Brian's Slightly Left-of-Center Blog SCRUTINY HOOLIGANS the COMMON SENSE FOUNDATION notes from underground - societal whispers

Time to scare people again

Why not just do your job, and leave us alone?

The Low Weakly Standard on bloggers

The Weekly Standard has low standards when it comes to blogs...