Saturday, July 30, 2011

Jul 30 : "I Like Government"

"Let's not be fooled by cynical politicians who are manipulating our economic crisis towards permanent ruin, what our country needs right now is to get off of its ass and start spending."


That's a quote from an insightful piece written by my friend, Colin Alcock, in response to the right wing's constant trying to demonize our government, saying the "government is the problem" ... well, you've heard it all, you know the rest of their litany. But just take a few moments to read Colin's refreshing piece ::::

I like government.
I like paved roads. I like libraries. I like post offices.

I like a lot of the things that come from the government: firefighters, for example. It's great knowing that if there's a fire, someone's gonna come and put it out. Without the government, we wouldn't have public firefighters. So thanks, government! Firefighters are awesome! (And yes, even volunteer fire departments make use of federally funded training and equipment.)

The government is constantly making sure
that we have the resources, infrastructure and protection that everyone needs. You benefit from that everyday.

So it makes me mad when people say that they don't like government, especially if they haven't thought about what that really means. Do you like disaster relief? Do you like schools? Do you like food safety regulations? Then you like government.

There might be things related to government that you don't like. Personally, there are plenty of policies that I disagree with—but I realize that, at the end of the day, government is a good thing.

Right now, our government is in a lot of trouble. Politicians are trying to use the bad economy as an excuse to dismember our government. Already, in Pennsylvania, where I live, the emergency management budget has been quartered. In Philadelphia, where the schools are already in bad shape, one-eighth of the teachers have been fired (that's more than an entire grade level worth of teachers removed from the district). They are eliminating school buses. The city government is not keeping up with road maintenance. Across the river in New Jersey, similar slash and burn tactics are being applied, and I assume its the same in other states.

Unfortunately, these austerity measures have long lasting consequences that will continue to hurt us and our economies in years to come. (For example: under-educated students lead to an under educated workforce, which leads to lower paying jobs, which leads to a bad economy, which leads to problems for everybody. That's why we need a healthy government, because it can educate people, and everyone will make more money as a result.)

The current "compromises" being discussed in Washington will only make our situation worse. These "compromises" assume that government is bad and attempt to disable it when, instead, we need to be taking steps to make our government healthy, so that we can continue to have things like roads, firefighters, libraries, post offices, etc. Please remember that government makes modern life possible. Government facilitates the world we take for granted.

If you still think that you do not like government, please move to someplace that doesn't have one. (there are two options: a cave, far away in the woods, or Somolia.) I like government, and I want to keep mine.

I really hope that the "compromises" being discussed will prove politically untenable, and that the president will be forced to act unilaterally, to raise the debt ceiling through the power of the 14th amendment, without enacting any of these idiotic austerity measures.

Even if that happens though, I doubt he will have the courage to do what he needs to do next. Because what this country needs right now is to pay for the services that will help our economy recover. Yes, this does require defecit spending, but that's how government works. later, when the economy is healthy, there will be more taxes coming in because everyone will be making more money, and then we will be able to pay down that defecit, as we did in the prosperous 90s.

That's what's great about having a government: it can spend the money that it needs to to fix the economy. Not only that: that's what it is supposed to do.

Anyway, I hope I've explained why I like government, and why I want one, and why I hope that we still have one after August 2nd. I'm really tired of people acting like we don't need a government or saying they don't like it, when, in fact, everyone benefits from the government, everyone likes what it does, and almost everyone needs it.

Let's not be fooled by cynical
politicians who are manipulating our economic crisis towards permanent ruin, what our country needs right now is to get off of its ass and start spending.

To read Colin's piece from his own page, here is the click :::"I Like Government" ... (CLICK HERE)





Thursday, July 28, 2011

Jul 28 : "Guntown Mountain" - Current Profile Song

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released (April 2011)


Philly Music!


So I've been real busy and haven't updated this page as often as I should. :) So here's an update about a show that Ben and I saw a couple weeks ago.


When I invited Ben to go see Giant Mind with me, one of the first things he said was "Do they play music with some type of discernible melodies?" My answer was "Well, maybe. Yes and no." … Giant Mind lives partially in the world of indie rock and traditional rock stylings, but they also inhabit a world of some new and irregular song structures.


When Ben and I went to see Giant Mind play at North Star a couple weeks ago, this was the first time I had seen them since they came out with a bunch of new work. Current song playing right now is Guntown Mountain by Philly band Giant Mind.






Here are a few of the best pictures that my friend, Ben Shuler, took that evening :::

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7/4/20 ::: OOPS. Sorry. Outdated links.
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To visit Giant Mind, here is the click ::: Giant Mind (CLICK HERE)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Jul 10 : "When They Fight, They Fight" - Current Profile Song

Once in a while I see some music of a favorite band in an unexpected place. Such was a case recently when I was exploring Hulu and found music of a favorite band, "Generationals", used as a background in a new tv series, "Suits".


"Suits" is about people working at a law firm. In one of the opening scenes in the first episode (about 10 minutes into the story), we can hear "When They Fight, They Fight". This song is the fourth track on the bands 2009 album "Con Law."






"Suits" looks like it's going to be an excellent series. If you'd like to check out that particular episode, here is the click :::
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7/4/20 ::: OOPS. Sorry. Outdated link.
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Generationals is from New Orleans, and they do get up to Philly. I've heard them a couple times at Johnny Brenda's, but most recently a couple months ago at Kung Fu. They don't have any upcoming show in Philly, but you can still check out the band by going to their web page. Here is the click ::: Generationals

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Jul 05 - "Tennessee Girl" - Current Blog Song

EXTRA SET


Over the weekend David and I went to see Levee Drivers at Johnny Brenda's. The band played several of their standards including a new and dirtier rendition of "Tennessee Girl", which is playing right here (this song featured July 5 & 6). The band has been playing their standards in a few different ways during their past few shows. It's ranged from very clean and crisp, which is the way the songs exist on their 2008 ep "Levee Drivers" to a more free-flowing version such as what I heard Friday.


Levee Drivers played first on Friday night followed by two other bands. I was happily surprised when Levee Drivers' recorded music was played over the speakers in between the second and third set. So I got to hear both versions of most of the songs.


Afterwards I was talking with August, front man for the group. He told me they were planning a new album but weren't yet seeing eye to eye among themselves about whether the new music or even new versions of the old music should be "dirty" or "clean and crisp". I like both, but I think I would vote for "dirty" (I don't know that they're actually asking listeners for feedback).


Levee Drivers will be doing two more shows soon, one at Tritone on July 16 and another at North Star (Victorian Dining Room series) on July 18. ... To visit the band in the meantime, here is the click ::::: Levee Drivers (CLICK HERE)