Our Fearless Leader

"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires—a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution." -- W. 20.iv.04

More on Slate.

The End of Nostalgia

I reminded my friends of the Cream of Reuben soup an old family restaurant served during our salad days. This sent Kugler into an absurdist bout with the past in which we found alternative histories for our favorite diners, family restaurants and hotdog joints, all since closed. The only person who would be slightly amused has already seen it. Regardless:

Forsey's

In the 1500s and 1600s, many men from Dorset earned their living off the sea. Each spring fleets of fishing vessels would make the great journey across the North Atlantic ocean to fish in the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland. They would spend the summer fishing, drying and salting their catch - then back to England to sell their cargo. By the 1700s the English government was actively promoting settlement in Newfoundland. My Forsey ancestors left the town of Netherbury in Dorset in the 1700s for economic opportunity in Newfoundland. More here.

Bobo's

The Bobo have lived in Western Burkina Faso for centuries, with some estimates dating back to 800 A.D. It is generally believed that theymoved into this area from the north. One of the primary reasons forthis thinking is that they speak a language considered to be part ofthe Mande family, which originates to the north in Mali. Throughout the history of the region, other peoples, like the Zara, have also moved into the area, influencing the Bobo and sometimes being either partially or wholly absorbed into Bobo agricultural society. More here.

Spring Garden

Spring Garden Music began in 1982 as the name given to a bunch of raucous improvisers from Philadelphia. Some of these musicians lived in a house on Spring Garden Street, that was owned by a rambunctious 40-year-old (now 62) saxophonist, Jack Wright. It became the name for the label of his first record, and then more generally for the adventure of himself and his musical partners. This music expanded and changed as he criss-crossed North America, and also Europe, adding partners from everywhere, in performances and private sessions. After a 16-year disappearance in the wilds of Colorado, Jack returned to the East Coast in 2003, and now lives in nearby Easton PA, on--amazingly enough--a street named Spring Garden. He travels even wider horizons, and brings back players from afar to the No Net weekends he arranges at the house in Philadelphia. He has also stocked the house with improvisers, ready to receive visitors interested in like-minded musical experiences. At present these are Dave Smollen, percussion and electronics; Evan Lipson, bass; Carlos Santiago, violin; and Alban Bailly, guitar. More here.

Against Static

My friend Kugler sent the quote below to a dozen people and asked us to reply.

"Painting is absolute truth, and the language of truth should be learned everywhere and always. I would make painting the basis of education in all schools. This is the only language with which you can express everything." Nil Khasevych

This is my email back:

I'm reading My Name is Red, a novel set in 16th-century Turkey that propels painting to a holy act -- specifically centering around the murder of an Islamic artist who is rumoured to have incorporated European styles in his most recent paintings -- so maybe it's in reaction to that fabular elevation that I'm being cynical. Maybe I'm always cynical.

The absolute truth needs to be able to honestly represent life or, perhaps more, needs to itself be life. Truth is the strange way in which the moments of our life come together. Those confluences -- from the straightforward (your sending this email while I'm reading My Name Is Red) to the obscure (the bizarre experience of seeing a sprinkler system shoot up out of the grass and make an entirely-too-loud racket and realizing later than you should that the noise is actually a leaf blower across the street that happened to sync) -- are montage, which can be represented in painting but is best expressed by collage, pallimpsest, comics, film and music.

(I'll acknowledge here that Khasevych was not limiting "Painting is absolute truth" to physical paintings but the act of painting, creating an image using a pigment, which would include comics, collage and - keeping an open mind - film. Yes, I'm being a pedant but not for the sake of pedantry: this is a gut reaction -- a contrarian rambling that strays from the question at hand with each step -- not an indictment of the quote.)

Like life, art thrives in juxtaposition: two opposing scenes in a film intercut together; the Velvet Underground & Nico on a bookstore PA overlapping with Xmas carollers outside, ebbing and flowing as the door closes and opens; two comics panels sitting side-by-side and the unseen action that happens between the panel, in the transition, the gutter.

Maybe I'm way off. Maybe it's the critical muscle in me that wants two separate things that can be compared, contrasted, summed or separated. I don't walk around an art museum and think, damn this would be so much better if this was part of a film or a comic -- but when I actively think about it, I know that I prefer confluence and juxtaposition.

Hopper's New York Movie is the exception to everything I've written above. It's a painting that embraces the juxtaposition and confluence of life and art -- and its an image that creates in me the emotional response which I usually find outside of painting.

It Snowed

But Sam didn't play Sodom or Jesus

Iron & Wine and Calexico are touring their collaborative EP In The Reins and they hit Boston Wednesday night. It was a great, long show. Sam Beam was so quiet that the room filled with a strange overly-attentive vibe that he acknowledged repeatedly. The highlight was the combined set, specifically the All Tomorrow's Parties cover. NPR has their D.C. concert from a week ago streaming and dowloadable in full. NB: Note the streaming audio player of the EP in the former link.

My friend Ted...

... on shit, snow and ice.

Prosophobia probably doesn't mean what I think it means #002

More info on the giant jellyfish onslaught here. I saw this story first on Boing Boing -- is it pointless to repost a story once they've got it? Everyone is reading Boing Boing, right? Is there a better verb to use than repost?

Witch Hunt

In the Guardian's Ghani Dispatch...

Jeevan Vasagar explains how elderly widows in northern Ghana often find themselves made scapegoats for life's tragedies.

A lot of... "Fuffin?"

The Ricky Gervais Show began podcasting yesterday. I think the idea behind the whole show -- all twelve weeks -- is that grand radio show cliche, goofing on the producer. But it works. It really, really works.

Stop Being First

The real story here is that people still care about the NME top 50 albums list, which -- trust me -- is a testament to how good the list used to be. Since the list has been a crock for a few years now, I don't really care that the advertising department has an influence on the list. In fact, my opinion of the magazine's editorial staff would improve if they'd just confirm that they've got better taste than they're letting on.

What gets me is that the list is out and published by December 1. The NY Time's 10 Best Books list will be published December 11 but was released online by the first as well. I'm not clueless -- I understand that they get their books and CDs months early but they've lost at least a month of thinking about their list. (The administrative work required for these lists must get started by November 1.) And I understand that best of lists sell magazines -- due no doubt to a grave flaw in all of us as human beings -- except when the market is deluged with best-of-list-issues, thus, I guess it's decided that the earlier list the more likely the magazine will get purchased. But... but... I guess I'm naive enough to believe that at some point all the bullshit marketing and corporate synergy has to fall away and quality will reign.

No. Actually I'm not that naive.