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?