30 Years of Purple Rain

Here's a cool Vibe article about Susan Rogers, the woman who helped record Purple Rain and was Prince's personal studio engineer from 1983 to 1988.

As the author of the article mentions, some of her stories could easily have been Chappelle's Show sketches!

Maybe for Season 4? ;)

The Newest Member of the Cordero Family

1972 American-made Fender Telecaster bass 
Thanks, Pops!!

"12 Ways to be a Completely Bitter and Miserable Musician"

I loved these so much, I had to share!

I'm sure I've been guilty of all of these at some point...

And really, this list could apply to any art form, (or human endeavor) not just music...

So stay grumpy and enjoy!

Rockit Man

There's really only one song that's responsible for my brief and unfortunate foray into break dancing...

I remember it was 1984, my last year of elementary school, and I couldn't escape breaking - all the kids with cable and MTV were doing it.

I thought it looked cool the way the dancers moved, like a cross between mannequin and machine.

I wanted in, so that summer I took a break dancing class through the La Palma Parks and Recreation Department that met in the gymnasium of my future junior high school and was taught by a dancer who said he was in the movie Breakin'.

He also said that Boogaloo Shrimp was his friend, but for the life of me I can't remember his name...

Suffice to say, no matter how hard I tried to "egg-roll" or "windmill," the closest I ever got to breaking or popping was an anemic arm wave...  

That summer, Future Shock, Heartbeat City, and 1984 were all in heavy rotation on my hi-speed, dual cassette tape deck, but there was only one song that made me wanna break out my cardboard and parachute pants to practice my "crazy legs," and that song was Herbie Hancock's "Rockit." 

I thought the scratching section was the best part.  I'd rewind the tape over and over again to listen to it... 

I'd even try to imitate it on the zipper of my hoodie!

Little did I know that it would be the first of many Herbie Hancock and hip-hop albums that I would buy...

Check out the fascinating history of how this innovative song and video were made here.

Da Do L. Ron Ron

Here's a fun, albeit long, Vice article about its author touring some of LA's Scientology buildings.

It definitely made me want to go to a few of the spots he mentions...

The Jurassic Park Movie Night seemed fun...

 And check out this awesome Battlefield Earth display!

Can you believe they keep an office for L. Ron in every building, just in case he needs a spot to work when he comes back?

There's more freaky stuff in the article, but I won't spoil it all.

I'm already planning my tour...  I'll use a pseudonym, like the author did...

And if they call me by my real first name, as they did to him, we'll all know it wasn't just his paranoia!

1998 was Great!

So many great movies released that year... and hardly an Age of Ultron among them... hmmm...

It's a (Small) Beautiful World!

Out with the Scold, In with the Skewer

Salon used to be one of my go-to sources for liberal/progressive news and information.  But then I started seeing more and more clickbait links with their over-heated, reactionary headlines, and I stopped looking at it as much.  The site seemed to be ramping up the outrage and becoming a shrill scold.

I guess Patton Oswalt had a similar experience:

It feels a little frustrating that a site like Salon that I used to always go to for great news, great commentary, did turn into a caricature of what a lot of really dumb conservatives used to say it was. That’s really disturbing to me because I don’t want it to be. And I’ve been saying this over and over again.

Apparently, unbeknownst to this non-Twitter subscriber, Oswalt and Salon had been going at it in tweet form for quite some time. The interview I linked to above, dubbed a "Peace Summit," is a pretty long sit-down with Oswalt and Salon's Editor-in-Chief, David Daley. They discuss a lot of different topics that require a bit of background knowledge of current events in comedy to follow, but I think Oswalt sums up the crux of his argument quite nicely here:

I hate to talk in terms of our side, this side, that side. But our side, the liberal progressives, the open-minded people –  I don’t want us to be the scolds and the shushers. That was always the role of neoconservatives and the religious fundamentalists, to restrict and remove words. I don’t want our side to be the one that’s parsing language.
It just really, really bothers me, if the liberal progressives have now become the scolds. We were the Grouchos! We’re not the Margaret Dumonts — and we’re turning into the Margaret Dumonts on a lot of levels. That lets the misogynists and homophobes and racists seem like the rebels: “Well, we’re saying what people can’t say anymore.” We should be having way more fun with language and jokes and going too far. If our side starts doing that, then I think we’re fucked in terms of moving forward as a society.

So what do you think?  Does Oswalt have a point?  Does Salon?

What can we learn from them both?

Vibe Merchants

Producing music fascinates me.  I love reading about all the crazy ways producers made classic recordings!  But whether I’m reading about it or trying my hand at it, I’m really just interested in learning to be better at it.  If producers are hired because someone likes their taste, I’d like to continue to refine mine by learning from the masters. 

Two articles in Tape Op magazine about a few of these masters recently caught my attention… 

My take-away from both articles was vibe. 

Good producers set a vibe for creativity to flourish and optimum conditions for musicians to do their best work. 

The first article interviewed the multi-instrumentalist/producer/engineer, Jon Brion as he was working on the soundtrack for P.T. Anderson's magnum opus, Magnolia.

Brion discussed playing a session where the producer, T-Bone Burnett, set a good vibe:

It was a song about Texas... we played a take and it wasn't great. It was completely proficient, everybody in the room was proficient. There was no question that everybody could play and there was no question that everybody wanted to do the right thing for the song. Nobody was hot-dogging anything, but it didn't feel right. People came in to listen and it was a take that maybe a lot of people would have even kept, because it was proficient. Everything was right, not in a clinical way. It was right, it just wasn't magical. T-Bone looked around the room and said, "You guys have all been to Texas, right?" We all nodded and he said, "Do you know how when you're standing in Texas and you look around and see miles in every direction?" He starts leaning over the board and making this big sweeping motion with his arms. We all nodded. He said, "That's how it has got to be." We proceeded to march in and in one take we played the shit out of the thing. That's not an accident, that's not a bullshitty little thing. That's the real thing. To me, one of the biggest jobs of production is "taking" the people who go into the room. I think it's the most important part of production.

Coincidentally, the other night I was watching a doco on Elvis Costello in which T-Bone Burnett seemed to reinforce Brion's opinion that good producing entailed “taking” a room of people and setting the right vibe, but this time the tone was set by a veteran jazz bassist.  Apparently, Burnett was producing one of Costello's songs with Ray Brown on bass, and not unlike his directions to Jon Brion about Texas, just before a take, Ray Brown turned to the musicians in the room and said something to the effect of, "Don't none of you play any ideas."  In other words, the implication was don't play tons of notes or licks -- don't play for yourself -- play for the song.  Or as Kendrick might put it, "Bitch, don't kill my vibe!"

Another interesting part of the Brion interview was when he talked about the (d)evolution of music production starting in the early '60's and the benefit of intimacy when playing quieter:

I used to listen to records and go, "Why are all these '50s jazz records perfect?" We figured out some way to record musicians in a room in an appealing fashion. It's not truly realistic, but give us a sense of what it was like to be there. It's like looking at a good photograph. I started thinking about why records started sounding like shit in '63 or '64, and they did. All the early British rock records sound like dog shit. They have no bandwidth. Eventually I realized that when musicians started playing louder, the old mics couldn't handle the level. So, they invented dynamic mics, which you could put right up on guitar amps and drums. Then, things sounded shitty again, they could take the level, but they didn't have the bandwidth. Then people figured out ways of doing the hyper-real sound, which became popular in the '70s. You've got dynamic mics right up everything's ass and then you've got EQ and different things to get the sound together and thus began the era of hitting a snare drum for a day.

Ouch!  No wonder recording budgets were so bloated in the '70's.  (Aside from the blow, of course… but I guess that’s just another way to induce good vibes, no?)

The second Tape Op article was a 1999 interview with Phill Brown, who produced my two favorite Talk Talk records, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.  Brown described the vibe in the studio making those two records:

It was very, very psychedelic. We had candles and oil wheels, strobes going, sometimes just total darkness in the studio. You'd get totally disorientated, no daylight, no time frame.

Brown started out in the 1960's as a tape operator at Olympic Studios in London and worked his way up to producer, but he still considers himself an engineer, mostly:

I guess I see my trade as an engineer. Even though I produce things and co-produce things I see what I do as an engineer. I tend to work the same whether you give me credit as an engineer or a producer. It's hard to say. The kind of producers I worked with originally were people like Jimmy Miller or Steve Smith … who were producers who set up a situation and controlled things but they were vibe merchants. Jimmy Miller was this incredible kind of energy and drive and force. He made the session feel like you wanted to be there and make music. But he wasn't a hands on producer...

Jimmy Miller, the "vibe merchant" Brown mentioned, produced two of my favorite (and arguably best) Stones records, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, the latter (in)famous for the vibe created while recording it in the basement of a mansion on the French Riviera as depicted below.  (Miller's the one lying on the floor.  You can also go here for more pix.)

Brown got the job working with Talk Talk after a... ahem, talk with Mark Hollis, their lead singer, about studio vibes:

I dropped him off at the tube station. As he got out of the car he said, "What sums up Olympic in the '60's for you?" I said, "It's got to be one o'clock in the morning, November 1967." It was a Traffic session I did. I was 17 years old and it was a new job. That particular night we were doing "Mr. Fantasy" and there was just this fantastic atmosphere with low lights and people were a bit out, wasted. I mentioned this to Mark and he said, "Oh, cool." After a few weeks I got a phone call saying he'd like to get involved. And we met up and went into the studio Mark said, "Let's set this up as if it's one o'clock in the morning, November 1967!"

These guys knew it, as did Brian Wilson...

It's all about good, good, good, good vibrations!

We're All DLR!

I only knew about this photo shoot tangentially, from the We're All Devo video collection when Rod "The Man" Rooter suggests to his daughter, Donut, that he could hook her up with Numero Uno, the lead singer of his "mega metal band, The Evil Clowns," and points to the picture below... (watch here)

"El vomito," Donut responds.

At the time, I didn't realize the poster was a Helmut Newton shot of David Lee Roth with someone else's face pasted over it.  I also didn't realize that it was included in the first million copies of Van Halen's third record, Women and Children First, since I'd bought mine used, years after its release.  And I certainly didn't know that this photo shoot almost broke up the band back in 1979.

You can read all about it in the first link provided above...

My favorite picture of the Newton shoot, on the grounds of David Lee Roth's palatial, Pasadena home. (Click on it for a larger image)

All The BS

Check out The Bottled Spirits' new website and get all the BS!!

LA Record

Lots of Long Beach artists in this issue of LA Record, plus a nice review of The Thingz latest LP, Red Future on page 76!! 

Thanks Dennis!

Jake & Elwood

Great Blues Brothers picture collection here.

"BLT Blues"

 

Enjoy!

For Doom the Bell Tolled

The story of the birth (or renaissance) of my favorite MC, MF DOOM...

How to be a Good Band Girlfriend

Lol, those pix tho!

Yeah, man!

Whip(lash) It!

While I haven't seen the movie Whiplash, two articles about it recently caught my attention.

The first is by New Yorker film critic (and apparent jazz aficionado), Richard Brody who writes, "The movie’s very idea of jazz is a grotesque and ludicrous caricature."

The second is an interview with esteemed jazz and studio drummer, Peter Erskine who summarizes it thusly:  "I'm disappointed that any viewer of the film will not see the joy of music-making that's almost always a part of large-ensemble rehearsals and performances. Musicians make music because they LOVE music. None of that is really apparent in the film, in my opinion."

Having played in many ensembles over the years, both large and small, I can definitely attest to this idea:  music-making SHOULD be fun!  And I certainly haven't been doing it for the money - I've been doing it because I LOVE it!

In their respective reviews, both Brody and Erskine call BS on the JK Simmons' teacher/band director character, Terence Fletcher.

According to Erskine:

A conductor or bandleader will only get good results if he or she shows as much love or enthusiasm as the discipline or toughness they dole out. Being a jerk is, ultimately, self-defeating in music education: for one thing, the band will not respond well; secondly, such bandleaders are anathema to the other educators who ultimately wind up acting as judges in competitive music festivals -- such bands will never win (the judges will see to that).

As someone who dropped out of band his sophomore year of high school partly due to having a "jerk" band director, I completely relate.  Zig Kanstul, our band director, would always find new and exciting ways of telling us we were shit musicians.  While his opinion was probably right, it didn't make it right to say those things, and it certainly didn't inspire me to be a better trumpet player.  Maybe he never heard the expression I tell my students now, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar!" 

According to Brody, not only is Fletcher a tyrant that "hazes [Andrew, his student] with petty rules that are meant to teach military-style obedience rather than musical intelligence," he justifies his techniques by embellishing the oft-told story of Charlie Parker getting a cymbal thrown at him to suggest that Joe Jones (the drummer) was trying to decapitate Parker.  As Erskine notes:

The misrepresentation of the Jo Jones throwing the cymbal at Charlie Parker's feet anecdote may well lead people to thinking that Jo Jones did indeed, as JK Simmons' character avers, try to decapitate Charlie Parker at that epochal jam session in Kansas City where a very real Charlie Parker attempted to play some of his double-time / new harmony improvisation and more or less flubbed it. Papa Jo eventually tossed a cymbal towards Charlie Parker's young feet in a "gonging" motion to get him off the bandstand. Jazz masters could be tough, but the movie gets that story all wrong.

While this was a pivotal moment for Charlie Parker as a musician, Brody says the movie completely misses the lessons he learned:

Brody (10/13/14):  Here’s what Parker didn’t do in the intervening year: sit alone in his room and work on making his fingers go faster. He played music, thought music, lived music. In “Whiplash,” the young musicians don’t play much music. Andrew isn’t in a band or a combo, doesn’t get together with his fellow-students and jam—not in a park, not in a subway station, not in a café, not even in a basement. He doesn’t study music theory, not alone and not (as Parker did) with his peers. There’s no obsessive comparing of recordings and styles, no sense of a wide-ranging appreciation of jazz history—no Elvin Jones, no Tony Williams, no Max Roach, no Ed Blackwell. In short, the musician’s life is about pure competitive ambition—the concert band and the exposure it provides—and nothing else.

Interestingly, Erskine notes that Andrew's "winning" drum solo performance at the end of the movie is very old-fashioned:

If the film takes place "now," any drummer playing like that at a competitive jazz festival --especially one in New York City -- would get a cymbal thrown at their feet by the ghost of Papa Jo Jones, or I'd do it for him.

Brody also addresses the one line I knew from watching the trailer (and, incidentally has, so far, put me off of seeing the movie):  the idea that "the worst thing you can tell a young artist is 'Good job,' because self-satisfaction and complacency are the enemies of artistic progress."

Brody (10/13/14):  There’s nothing wrong with “Good job,” because a real artist won’t be gulled or lulled into self-satisfaction by it: real artists are hard on themselves, curious to learn what they don’t know and to push themselves ahead.

Indeed, as a practicing musician, I know all too well the self-loathing that accompanies a performance I deem personally sub-par.  But I also understand that playing music is a journey and that there's always more to learn and improve upon, regardless of how good or bad a performance may be to me or others.

As a teacher, I've often looked to Peter Johnston's book, Choice Words, as a guide for inspiring students through my language to not only take ownership of their learning, but to feel empowered to imagine new possibilities for him or herself as a life-long learner.  One of Johnston's mantras is Praise the work, not the student.  In other words, teachers should say, "Good job" or "Nice work" because it praises the process and honors their effort, rather than praising the student with, "Good boy/girl," since its opposite implies that the student is somehow a "bad" person.

Ultimately, as Erskine says, a music teacher's job is...

To inspire his or her students to get the MOST out of music, by GIVING the most to music. To, yes, inspire and instill a sense of discipline and responsibility, but to show students the rewards of concentration and playing well and working as a team.

At the end of his piece, Brody makes his strongest criticism:  the movie is not even about music - it's about authority:

Certainly, the movie isn’t “about” jazz; it’s “about” abuse of power. Fletcher could as easily be demanding sex or extorting money as hurling epithets and administering smacks...

Ouch!  Indeed, Erskine notes:

I can't imagine [USC Dean of Music] Rob Cutietta putting up with an ounce of the behavior portrayed in the film. But, like I said: it's fantasy, it's Hollywood.

Sadly, it sounds like these are far from the only shortcomings of the film.  From "a drummer crawling out of a major car wreck and then somehow managing to get himself on-stage to play, bleeding and injured," to Flecher testing his student's ability to play a tempo (Erskine:  "Give me 4 beats, not just two -- YOU don't even know the tempo with that kind of a count-off, Mr. Band Director."), both Brody and Erskine agree that the movie is desperately lacking.

Brody (10/13/14):  There’s nothing in the film to indicate that Andrew has any originality in his music. What he has, and what he ultimately expresses, is chutzpah. That may be very helpful in readying Andrew for a job on television. “Whiplash” honors neither jazz nor cinema; it’s a work of petty didacticism that shows off petty mastery, and it feeds the sort of minor celebrity that Andrew aspires to.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go practice!!

No Saint Stands Alone

Does Selma "snub" Mrs. King?

You decide.

The Beastie Boys' "9th Symphony"

I'll never forget my buddy reviewing Paul's Boutique for our high school newspaper and giving it a B- after we listened to it ONCE on my turntable and agreed that, while WAY better than Licenced to Ill, it still wasn't THAT great...

Of course this record would later change my life completely... expanding my taste in music exponentially...

And ever since that "missed connection" that was the first time I heard Paul's Boutique (Seriously, how could I MISS those "Funky Snakefoot" snare rolls that set off the second track, "Shake Your Rump" like a pack of firecrackers??), I've often thought, If only my buddy had kept that original, quad-gatefold pressing of the LP...

Oh well, recently, having thought that I'd seen everything related to my favorite Beastie Boys record, I discovered this:  a visual companion to Paul's Boutique!!

Ijeoma Wins the Internets!

This is how to deal with internet trolls...

After all, What Would King Do?

The Bottled Spirits Video Shoot

The Bottled Spirits performing "Blue Line Transit Blues" on the Wardlow Station platform the night of our video shoot.

Video by Roger Klinkers

The Mustangs' Last Ride

New Year's Eve, 2014, at the Coronna's Going Away Party

Best of 2014

This is pretty cool... 

A raving review of Radiohearts' EP, "Nothing at All!"

Also, we're #52 (out of 249) on this best of Oct. 2014 list...

And to top it off, the eponymous song, "Nothing At All" made an end-of-year, 2014 Top Ten List!!

Check out our music here.

Thanks, it's been a great year!!

ICYMI

THE THINGZ IN THE LA WEEKLY!!

The Thingz
ALEX'S BAR
For more than a decade, The Thingz have been one of Long Beach’s catchiest garage-punk bands, but their music often has been overlooked, perhaps because in their early days it was so supremely and defiantly silly. Back then, just about every song was about food (“Manicotti Massacre”) or the life aquatic (“I’m Glad I’m Not a Mollusk”), but even the trio’s goofiest tendencies were fully powered by Jason Cordero’s relentlessly punishing drums, bassist Kim Morris’ punchy bass lines and the controlled savagery of guitar riffs from her husband, Mike Morris. The Thingz finally come into their own on their new album, Red Future. Most songs clock in at a Ramones-y two minutes or less, yet the group reveals new emotional and sonic range with balefully uplifting anthems such as “Not Mean (Just Soured)” and the unexpectedly rootsy and morbidly poignant “Julia Brown.” — Falling James

99% Perspiration

Love the book, Songwriter's on Songwriting, especially this excerpt from Leonard Cohen on the value, and indeed, the intense labor of the creation/revision process...

My immediate realm of thought is bureaucratic and like a traffic jam. My ordinary state of mind is very much like the waiting room at the DMV… So to penetrate this chattering and this meaningless debate that is occupying most of my attention, I have to come up with something that really speaks to my deepest interests. Otherwise I nod off in one way or another. So to find that song, that urgent song, takes a lot of versions and a lot of work and a lot of sweat. 

But why shouldn’t my work be hard? Almost everybody’s work is hard. One is distracted by this notion that there is such a thing as inspiration, that it comes fast and easy. And some people are graced by that style. I’m not. So I have to work as hard as any stiff, to come up with my payload. (emphasis added)

So true, but what wonderful "work" it is!

You're to Know Your Audience

As a teacher, it's my job to be a grammar snob.

But this article really put my snobbery in perspective for me... 

It's all about your audience... who's reading what you're writing...

Know your audience (Especially, if you don't know your 'yours!')

The Thingz on TV!!

Check out our TV debut from last Friday, November 7!

Gotta admit: I felt a bit like Bobby Brady when the cameras started rolling!

The Bottled Spirits in LB Municipal Cemetery

 

Thanks, again to Kirk Dominguez for the awesome photo!

FANCY (Uniform Song)

 *UPDATED 12/7/14: 

As you may or may not know, LBUSD has a district-wide uniform policy.  While most of our students and parents understand the economic and safety implications of this policy and abide by it, some students (and parents) need encouragement...

To that end, I decided that I'd use the 2013 Song of Summer, "Fancy," to encourage compliance...

Here's my version:

First thing first: tuck your shirt in

Got this gotta go to school for working

And I’m still in the learning business

In my uniform I’m ready for my lessons

You should always come dressed for success

Don’t worry what to wear so you can do your best

Khaki pants, khaki skirt, khaki shorts,

Blue shirt or green – you know you’ve gotta choice!

Making sure my clothes look great, never sloppy

Clean top or I’ll put it in the laundry

Feet together, arms at your side

Can’t hide that Bulldog Pride!

I’m so fancy – you already know

I’m in uniform everyday I show

I’m so fancy – don’t you waste your dough

Remember every day – dress code!

In case you were wondering, the school I work at, Bret Harte, has a bulldog as a mascot, although I have (and will) change the lyrics for another school/mascot upon request.

Now, if I could only embed the audio somehow... *(FTFY)

Next up, "I'm all about the books, 'bout the books, no TV!" :)

The Bottled Spirits at LB Folk Fest

Thanks to everyone who came to the 2nd Annual Long Beach Folk Revival Festival!  We had a blast!!

Roald Dahl Quotes

To commemorate his 98th birthday last week, this website has compiled 13 Roald Dahl quotes*...

I especially like the ones about reading and books... Those'll probably end up in my classroom this year!

*Tip o' the energy dome to Moms for sending the link to me... love you!

e e cummings

Humanity I Love You

Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down

on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death Humanity

i hate you

Postmodern Jukebox

Yep!!

Advice from Bill Waterson

A few weeks old, but an excellent comic and article about the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, one of my favorite comic strips...

This quote hit pretty close to home...

to persist in the face of continual rejection requires a deep love of the work itself

Amen!

THINGZ on KXLU!

Last night The Thingz were invited on the "Stray Pop" show hosted by Stella on KXLU.  She interviewed us, then let us spin some of our favorite records, just like real DJs!  As you can see from the picture, we had a blast... thanks again, Stella!!

Bright Star

Edie and Steve have a new musical!

Time for a trip back to a Whale's Vagina! lol

A Daunting, Rewarding Task

I never thought I'd be quoting Andrew W.K. or know him for anything other than this:

But the other day, Brad Houser (whose bass guitar skills I will have the pleasure of listening to in-person, in Austin tomorrow, at what's apparently a one-night-only Critters Buggin reunion!) posted a surprisingly thoughtful Andrew W.K. article that addressed divisive politics in this country.

Apparently, the Village Voice has an "Ask Andrew W.K." column (or blog) and a "Son of a Right-Winger" wrote in to ask how he, a "liberal democrat with very progressive values" was supposed to "deal with" his father, a "super rightwing conservative."

W.K.'s response perfectly encapsulated feelings that I've had about partisanship for several years now.

It's rather long, but a few parts were especially remarkable.

First, his admonition to not reduce the complexities of life to black and white or "binary" systems reminded me of the dangers of tribalism and how the elite benefit from dividing us into two warring camps.

W.K. (8/6/14):  This is the fatal flaw of binary thinking in general. However, this flaw isn't just ignored, it's also embraced, amplified, and deliberately used as a weapon on the very people who think it's benefiting their way of thinking.

But he really hit it out of the park toward the end when he spoke of the daunting, but ultimately rewarding task of trying to understand people with different opinions.  In the end, we are all human, and we all (mostly) want to live.

WK (8/6/14):  So we must protect and respect each other, no matter how hard it feels. No matter how wrong someone else may seem to us, they are still human. No matter how bad someone may appear, they are truly no worse than us. Our beliefs and behavior don't make us fundamentally better than others, no matter how satisfying it is to believe otherwise. We must be tireless in our efforts to see things from the point of view we most disagree with. We must make endless efforts to try and understand the people we least relate to. And we must at all times force ourselves to love the people we dislike the most. Not because it's nice or because they deserve it, but because our own sanity and survival depends on it.

Indeed, our very existence depends on the Golden Rule, that exhausting task to love.

Criticizing with Kindness

this is actually a sound psychological strategy that accomplishes one key thing: It transforms your opponent into a more receptive audience for your criticism or dissent, which in turn helps advance the discussion.

As a liberal who likes to engage conservatives in policy discussions, this is extremely useful advise...

Read more about it here.

Live Mummies!!

If you've never seen this, stop what you're doing, and spend the next half hour* experiencing some of the greatest rock and roll ever recorded... seriously, this should be in the Smithsonian of Rock on infinite loop!

*or just FF to 22:32 for their cover of Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge!"

LA LA LAND

Pre-show view from the Redwood Bar & Grill, DTLA, 7/30/14

RIP Idris Muhammad

The first time I heard Grant Green, "Alive," I was blown away by his drumming... tight, melodic, and funky as all hell... Sad that I never got to see him perform live...

At least Idris and Grant can finally jam together again! 

Here's a nice article from his New Orleans hometown paper...

Aww, gee, shucks...

Lights Go Out Zine issue #28 . . .

"THE THINGZ - Red Future EP

Limited Edition of 200 12" vinyl with hand printed sleeves from Long Beach surf punks , the Thingz. I'm a fan of this band after hearing their last release 'Step Right Up' and their quirky sound and this release not only looks amazing, it sounds it too. Opener 'Down and Out' (reminds me of 'I Want Candy' by Bow Wow Wow) is a great start, catchy and right away gets you interested in this record. 11 tracks of garage inspired 50's sounding surf punk rock that's seriously infectious. The riffs are hugely catchy too, the lyrics are fun throughout and it can't help but put a smile on your face. With hints of UK band Chester too, this is always going to sit well with me. I admit it, I love this album, it's just pure fun and if all music was as happy as this (and wasn't ska) then this is very good thing."

Listen to it here.

Gospel of Bill

"Ultimately, the message in my material is a call for understanding rather than ignorance, peace rather than war, forgiveness rather than condemnation, and love rather than fear" - Hicks

Here ends the reading from the Gospel of Bill.

For the rest, go here.

Muisc = More Life

Every Wednesday, I have the privilege of singing and playing guitar with all the 5th graders at my school.  

This is why I do it. :)

Long Beach Folk Revival Festival 2014

Very honored and excited that The Bottled Spirits have been invited to perform at the 2nd Annual Long Beach Folk Revival Festival on Saturday, September 27! 

Look at that line-up!!  Frank Fairfield!  Tom Brosseau!!

Gonna be a good time!  Get tickets and more information here.

"Why Concerts Aren't Fun"

File this article under:  Disagree.  That's not me!  Duh, dance!!

Tenure

I don't know who this blogger is, but I ran across his post about tenure for print/tv media "journalists."

It seemed to combine two of my favorite topics:  education reform and media decline.

Basically, what does it take to get fired from the NY Times?

And don't say plagiarism because Jason Blair resigned!

Don't Date a Teacher!

Ha!

Media Narratives

Today's SCOTUS 5/4 decision reminds me that elections have consequences. 

Specifically, that the effects of the 2000 election still linger and will for many years to come... 

Putting aside conservative justices that made today’s Hobby Lobby vote possible (as well as George W. Bush's presidency), there remains a mainstream media practice that quite possibly was the real decider of the 2000 election:  the “journalistic” technique of employing narratives to typecast presidential candidates.

Remember the cast of 2000? 

The Straight-Talking Maverick, John McCain… (recycled in 2008)

The Authentic Texan, George W. Bush… 

And, of course, the out of touch, inauthentic, know-it-all liar, Al Gore. 

Our mainstream media (not Fox), began this “War on Gore,” as Bob Somerby has dubbed it, some 20 months prior to the 2000 election and arguably made the race so close that the SCOTUS had to step in.

Now, 14 years later, another script is being cast. 

For the past two weeks, the same type of poisonous narrative that was created by our press corp about Al Gore is currently being written, but this time not about an actual, announced candidate.

This time it’s forming around a presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton.

She hasn't even announced if she'll run yet, but framing Clinton as too rich/out of touch has already begun in the Washington Post and by people like Diane Sawyer on TV, conveniently ignoring the millions of dollars a year pundits like her make for reading the “news” or giving their opinions on TV.

The hypocrisy is one thing, but for heaven’s sake, there are 29 months before our next presidential election!! 

In fairness, most pundits have played by The Clinton Rules for the last 29 years, so there's that.

But was there really NOTHING of substance Sawyer could have possibly asked the former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State? 

Instead of asking about her troubling speech fees, could Sawyer have asked Clinton about her "Too Small to Fail" campaign that tries to close that 30-35 million word gap that many students from low-income and low literacy backgrounds have by the age of three, a deficit that undoubtedly feeds our academic achievement gaps, not to mention national drop-out rates? 

Or would that not fit the narrative of Clinton being a big, rich phony?

Yes, elections have consequences, but so do these media narratives. 

My question is, in this age of social media, will these caricatures work again?

Psuedomaturity

Interesting article in the NY Times about "cool kids" in middle school and how their popularity wanes and leads to self-destructive tendencies ten years later.

HOFFMAN (6/23/14):  A constellation of three popularity-seeking behaviors characterized pseudomaturity, Dr. Allen and his colleagues found. These young teenagers sought out friends who were physically attractive; their romances were more numerous, emotionally intense and sexually exploring than those of their peers; and they dabbled in minor delinquency — skipping school, sneaking into movies, vandalism.

As they turned 23, the study found that when compared to their socially slower-moving middle-school peers, they had a 45 percent greater rate of problems resulting from alcohol and marijuana use and a 40 percent higher level of actual use of those substances. They also had a 22 percent greater rate of adult criminal behavior, from theft to assaults.

Sadly, I have/had 5th graders that could be described as "psuedomature."  I sure hope they figure it out before it's too late!

"It Deserves Your Attention."

“When you collect vinyl, it's much harder than just collecting MP3s, for example. It's expensive. It weighs a lot. You have to maintain it. Even when you listen to it, you can't just put it on and forget about it. It deserves your attention. I think people who collect vinyl have that respect for the music."

Truth.

"Try to contribute to the horror as little as possible."

Excited to be going to see Devo perform "Hardcore Devo Vol. I & II" at the end of this month!

Here's an interview with Jerry talking about the shows...

Duty Now, Spuds!

New Classroom Quote

"Literacy is the habit of paying attention and trying to figure things out." -Somerby, The Daily Howler

Roll like Spicoli

Ever wanted to roll like Spicoli and book your favorite band?

Find out how much money you'll have to blow here!*

*YDNFTF makes no claim to the veracity of this article nor the accuracy of these prices... :)

MC Thesaurus

Find out how your favorite rapper compares to Shakespeare and Melville on this handy chart!

Using the "number of unique words used within [an] artist's first 35,000 lyrics," Matt Daniels compared them to the first 35,000 words of 7 famous Shakespeare plays and the first 35,000 words of Moby Dick.

Wu-Tang Clan scored close to Melville, while my favorite, MF Doom, scored higher than Shakespeare!

"Hard Days"

Here's a video of a Bottled Spirits original, filmed by Cesar Serna....                                           Enjoy!!

"Snapshots From The Epicenter"

Kirk Dominguez and Jenn Kitner

So grateful to Jenn and Kirk!  I've had the pleasure of working with these two talented photographers a number of times over the past few years...  Now I'm even more flattered to be featured not once, but twice, in their excellent exhibit, "Snapshots From the Epicenter" at 4th St. Vine in Long Beach.

Read more about it here.

A thousand thanks again, Jenn and Kirk!!

Home Studios

These are sexy!

Why I Still Buy Records

This about sums it up.

It's Over!

Could you imagine breaking up with the internet?

David Byrne can...
 

Complicated Core

A couple days ago, this image started making the rounds on the internets.  Then, this morning, I heard Glenn Beck joking about it:

Later this afternoon, I heard that Indiana was the first state to reject Common Core.

But what's been really weird is watching my progressive and conservative friends finally agree on something:

They can't stand Common Core!

Here's the thing:  everybody needs to calm down.

CC may not perfect, but it's also not complete garbage either.

Kind of like Frustrated Parent's letter:  It isn't complete garbage, but it's certainly far from perfect.

First of all, "in the real world" there is more than one way to solve a problem. That's what this CC exercise is trying to teach. It's fine to use the standard algorithm (as FP did), but I want my students to know that even though the difference has three 1's in it, they're not all the same value.  Using a number line and skip counting is one way to teach that, but not the only way... like the old saying goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat!" 

Why wouldn't a parent with a BS know that?

Second, while both FP and I would probably whole-heartedly agree with Bukowski that, "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way," I would maintain that FP is a perfect example of why we shouldn't necessarily "value" "simplificaiton" "over complication."

(Who would have thought that someone with a BS "which included extensive study in differential equations and other higher math applications" could not "explain the CCM approach" of SKIP COUNTING? Or would find it anything but simple??)

But I digress... 

FP and I agree!  "The process used is ridiculous and [might] result in termination if used..."

Yes...  if that 3rd grader had a job!

(By the way, CC does NOT mandate that once your child is old enough to be employed, he MUST use skip counting to solve ALL subtraction problems.)

Sorry, I think FP might be simplifying things a bit...

To many youngsters, the symbolic nature of numbers and operations makes them very slippery concepts to comprehend, especially before their brains have physically developed the ability to understand abstract thought.  Developing minds need concrete connections (like number lines) to understand these fuzzy concepts.

CC (and more specifically CGI strategies developed by Meagan Franke, et al, 2000) attempts to give students a concrete basis for these abstract concepts (like place value to the hundreds in primary grades) so that they can articulate their thinking behind using the standard algorithm like FP used.

Unlike FP's child, we can assume that FP's adult brain is fully developed, with the ability to comprehend highly technical, abstract ideas and nuanced perspectives (not that this letter is a shining example of this)...

So are we really comparing apples to apples when we compare the mathematical understanding of the fully developed (not to mention, more educated) brain of FP to an elementary school student's?

Again, is FP simplifying things or does FP simply not know the differences in physiology between the two?

(In fairness, I don't think that Electronic Engineering degrees include a childhood development prerequisite.)

Progressives AND conservatives should be celebrating the diversity of thought that these standards support.  No longer is there The One Right and True Way of Doing Things (the teacher's way).  Students are encouraged to think creatively and try different strategies that work for THEM, so that they can articulate, not just a correct answer, but HOW they got it and WHY it works.

Everybody, That's a Good Thing!

Obviously, CC is not perfect--the fact that it's a top-down approach (funded by the Walton, Broad, and Gates' Foundations, to name a few) that is still tied to high-stakes standardized testing is unfortunate... 

But sometimes I feel like my fellow progressive friends won't take yes for an answer... To wit:  for years we've been championing students understanding the how and the why of math problems... Lo and behold, CC calls for that, and we still complain!

As one of my favorite bands said a decade ago, "History will show our progress is slow... when we win, we win in inches." 

Baby steps.  Little victories.  Progress is slowly being made...

Can't we celebrate that? 

We, as a nation, have gotten pretty good at guessing on multiple choice questions (only 1 right answer/when in doubt, always guess C!), and our critical thinking skills have suffered.

Simplifying everything down to The One Right Way is part of the problem, and FP, as well-intentioned as he/she seems, may be a good example of this.

Street Fighting Man

"What can a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock and roll band?"

Well, he could read the fascinating oral history of the '90's arcade sensation, Street Fighter II.

Never played the game in my life, so I'm not sure why I found the article so compelling...

I mean, 5 chapters is no small piece....

Someone please tell me in comments why this was so entertaining!

My Husband's Stupid Record Collection

This is awesome!

Wife listens to and blogs about her husband's records!

Panther Heart

A few years ago, I was in a folk-pop band called, The Clouds.  When we broke up, two separate bands formed in the aftermath:

California Lions and Panther Heart.

Much like the splintering of At the Drive-in, the two groups created were diametrically opposite:  the former, a pure pop band and the latter, an art/orchestral rock band.

I wasn't involved with either, but I did attend both groups' shows.

California Lions were a tight, cohesive unit with concise, if not quirky pop songs, a self-contained group with a Hollywood producer to boot.  Their songs were catchy and would sometimes be played in the background of reality shows on MTV.

In other words, they were pros.

Panther Heart were the antithesis of that.  Their first show was a fully improvised 60-minute set, complete with psychedelic projections and interpretive dance.  The next time I saw them, they performed a song cycle that would soon form the basis of their first two ep's, "Panther Heart Defeats the Dire Wolf," parts 1 & 2. 

These songs intrigued me.  They reminded me of my favorite Talk Talk albums, dreamy with a hint of foreboding.  They had wordless melodies, and their harmonies were gorgeous.  But while their songs were captivating, they lacked bass, and without its counterpart, the drums seemed noticeably unmoored from the rest of the band.

I saw my opening...

Sometime in the middle of 2012, I asked if I could play bass for them, and thankfully they let me, thus beginning my Tuesday ritual of weekly practices at the Panther Den.  By then, we had eight members, including me, and when we all sang, the sound was incredible!

We recorded the aforementioned ep's (Part 1 includes a book we hand-made) and occasionally played shows until this year, when we decided that this iteration of Panther Heart had run its course...

The good news is, I'm told there will be more music coming from a different version of Panther Heart...   

In the meantime, here's our website.  There are a few nice photos of our rather elaborate shows (including this line-up's farewell performance, January 31) and hopefully, very soon, you'll be able listen to (or purchase) our two e.p.'s directly from the site... 

 Enjoy!

Sincere Thingz

 

  Fun show last Saturday!! Thanks to everyone who came out!  

       And thanks to the OC Weekly for the kind words! 

"A man is real, not made of steel."

RIP Robert Casale, Jr. (BOB 2)

1952-2014

170

See what your IQ is here!

And if anyone can tell me what the missing letter is that fits in BOTH boxes (question 19, if it's the same test), please share in comments...

(I marked, 'I don't know' hoping I'd get points for being smart enough to admit that I don't know everything!)
 ;)

SALUD!

Thank you, Maker's Mark, for fighting cancer and my sobriety at the same time!

Read about more health benefits of drinking whiskey here.

"This is our concern, Dude."

 

RIP PSH

The GIFYS!!!

BEHOLD!!

Praise the Lorde!

On related note, I was very pleased to see that Lorde won a couple Grammys. 

She seems like the real deal...  Let's just hope she doesn't pull a Fiona... 

My favorite quote from her so far is:  "Make so much music you have no friends."

Amen.

If the show fits...

Watching parts of the Grammys the other night, I couldn't help but be reminded of this DEVO quote from General Boy:

"Artists and performers are usually good looking guys and girls who couldn't hold a real job. Seeing the world through twisted eyes leads them to "create." Through songs and the like they gain public attention. This does nothing to increase the general welfare of society, but instead it lines the pockets of spiritless sub-humans who should know better but don't. Entertainment is a cancer that we must eradicate. "Art" is sometimes the excuse by which these people perpetuate their cruel and selfish hoax. I ask you to join DEVO's efforts to correct this situation from the inside out. All of you must realize that a few are shepherds but the rest are sheep. It is every citizen's duty to be constantly alert."

HNY!!

2014!!!

Takahiro Iwasaki

Wow!  Take a look at these beautifully crafted, tiny sculptures by Takahiro Iwasaki!  The rest are here.  Enjoy!

Renaissance (of Gentle) Men

I saw these "Rules for Being a Gentleman in 2014" on FB and thought I'd share...

What do you think?  Would you add any?  Take any away?

What if a man wrote "Rules for Being a Lady?"

How about just rules for being human?

"Saturn was NOT a Single Lady"

These have been making the rounds on the internets lately, and as a teacher I found them highly entertaining.

My favorite teacher response is the title of this post...

My favorite student response is, "If I had one hour to live, I'd spend it in this class because it feels like an eternity."

LOL!

Sir Duke

"I am an optimist from where I sit, music is mostly all right, or at least in a healthy state for the future, in spite of the fact that it may sound as though it is being held hostage." -- Duke Ellington

Texas Tea-Pain

Did you know that the pitch-correction program known as Auto-Tune was created by an oil engineer working for Exxon?

Yes, it's true... the "music" of T-Pain (I can only assume that the 'T' is short for 'terrible,' as in the Terrible Pain he causes listeners unfortunate enough to be exposed to his "singing.") is just another glorious byproduct of the American Petroleum Industry!

You know, like catastrophic climate change?  ;)

Don't believe me?  Click here and read the article yourself! (Don't forget to treat yourself to the hilarious video at the bottom of the page with Weird Al explaining the cultural implications of the Auto-Tune phenomenon!)

HE'S BACK!

MAMBA TIME!!

"John the Baptist of the Psychedelic Era"

Interesting interview with R. Crumb talking about his love of old timey music...

Seemed apropos after the previous Bottled Spirits post...

Enjoy it responsibly, here.

The Bottled Spirits Debut!

I surprised my dad for his 75th birthday celebration last Saturday by having my new band, The Bottled Spirits, play a few songs at his party.  Here's our opening number...  enjoy!

"There is no humor in heaven"

Samuel Clemens, American literary treasure and original old man Muppet in the balcony, was born yesterday in 1835.  In honor of his birthday, here are 25 snarky quotes from the master... enjoy!

A few of my favorites:

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” — Notebook (1887)

“It is just like man’s vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.” — What is Man?

“Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.” — Following the Equator