I'll be back

I haven't posted all that much in the last few days.
Busting my hump for Barack.
California made 1.7 million calls into the battleground states this past weekend.
Next nearest state was NY, with 215,000
Chicago is looking to California to GOTV (Get Out The Vote) from Saturday to Tuesday.
I will be helping the great Tiffany Massey and LaTanya Mangrum with their massive phone bank that has merged with the cooly named "30 Barack" from District 30.
We are expecting over 1000 phone callers to come through our doors over those days.
I promise to resurface at some point.
Please vote.
If you live in a battleground state or know someone who does please get them to vote for Barack.
I've called every election since 2004. I've never been wrong.
Barack will win.
I shudder to think of what the world will be like if he doesn't.

What change looks like.

Been at the Phone Bank all weekend at Culver Studios.
It's awesome. High energy. Great people. You should come to it or go to one in your neck of the woods. Next weekend is GOTV. Get Out The Vote. The most important 96 hours of the campaign. You can be a part of it.
Go to www.voteforchange.com to find out how to early vote and then get your butt to a phone bank.
In the meantime.
This is was change looks like:

Barack Obama in Denver.

100,000 came to hear him.

Battleground state, huh?

The ad I was waiting for.

Use McCain's words against himself.
I guess I was too impatient.
All the more reason Obama is a better choice for prez than me.

Why are we allowing Terror to be incited?

While am loathe to let my own blog become a repository for video links (Sausage links, yes, however and Elk links, which I had today, more so) I am afraid that if I do not repost this Olbermann Special Comment, well, Keith's head might actually explode.
he's dead on here. Why something's not being done about this, I really don't know.
And, oh, yeah. ACORN. If you have any idiot friends who might think they are on the fence because of this piece of ridiculousness, please remind them that even though Mickey Mouse might BE registered, if he shows up to vote, THAT'S the real problem.
And now: Keith.

I am without words for this post's title.

This is vile.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Out of the mouths of babes

Or hands in this case.



Such a sweet and normal family. Kind, too. What values.....I mean. What values?

The Septenary Monkey Mix!

Green Monkey is back! Splotchy has decided to bring back the vaunted series and he opened the submission door with one of my favorite genres: Power Pop.
It's really hard to describe the form. Melodic. Guitar Driven. Kind of emo, too. Better musicianship than glam, which is a forebear, but not as aggressive as pop/rock.
Get it? No? Well, maybe my own choices will help edify:

1. Everybody's Girl - Rick Springfield
Working Class Dog is a prime example of the form. It's a near perfect album in every way. In fact, I would say, that it is one song short of being one of the top 5 of all time. Yes, it's that good. It took me 25 years to discover it. On vinyl no less. But, I am a convert. This song has one of the tightest, build-to-a-climax bridges ever written. I know you think of Rick as "Jessie's Girl", "I get Excited" and "I've Done Everything for You". This is my favorite tune of his.


2. I Wanna Be With You - The Raspberries.
Eric Carmen would go on to write the sappiest uber-ballad, "All By Myself". Yeah, I know. But, his group, The Raspberries, were the real early progenitors of the Power Pop style. Someone else included the dirtiest song of the 70s, "Go All The Way" so I thought I would add to the fun with this catchy piece of pop confection.



3. My Life Still Sucks (in a Bad Way) - The Andersons
You don't know the Andersons? Wha??? Well, I understand. The Andersons were a quartet in Los Angeles in the early part of this century. Featuring some of the best players around, they were sort of the Asia of the local LA Power Pop underground. (he he he). Robbie Rist was one of the songwriters/guitarists and they put on the best shows. All the time. Never fail. It was hard to pick just one song to rep them. This was the first track of theirs I heard, which was also the first track I stole on audiogalaxy lo those many years ago. Not to worry, I bought all their cds. Even after Robbie produced my album. (He can be heard playing drums on 85% of the tracks. Fucking genius)

4. I Knew The Bride - Dave Edmunds
This is, quiet simply, the best song ever written. I think it's Nick Lowe's pen that crafted it, I don't recall. But, it's just perfect. I love Nick's version, probably more than Dave's but in a power pop list, you KNOW that Lowe is going to get his due. And Dave might be left out in the cold.



5. Starry Eyes - The Records
I want you to listen to this song and tell me: Did R.E.M. steal and base their career on this one track? Many point to The Feelies. I think it's the Records. Murmur and Reckoning are all over this. Starry Eyes is the bridge between The Zombies and REM. And that bridge is called Power Pop.



6. I Wanna be Your Boyfriend - The Rubinoos
God I love this song. I love it so much. I already had the Roob's ep. My room mate, John, and I found it in the cutout bin at Sounds. I discovered this track later. You might know them from that goofy theme song to Revenge of the Nerds, but this is their best work. This and "If I had You Back".
Also, if you ever heard Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" and/or you know about the Rubinoos' lawsuit, this is a must hear!


7. Where Have You Been All My Life? - Fotomaker
Oh, that slightly country-twang guitar. The dreamy longing in the lead singer's voice. This treacly piece of sentiment is everything that's great and cloying about the form.


8. Your Daddy Don't Know - Toronto
What? Pat Benatar? Quarterflash? No, it's Toronto! You don't hear a lot of women in the PP genre. Had to find one. This is one of those songs that make you say, "Hey! I KNOW that song! Who the hell is that???? I thought it was Pat!?!" And then you can't get the fucker out of your head.



(Bonus Track[s])
Your Daddy Don't Know - The New Pornographers.

Poor John McCain.

Just dashing this off quick:
Pity poor John McCain.
He coddled the evangelical, hate spewing right. Where once he was actually a decent man, a trustworthy man who followed his gut and whose head was not always up to the task.
So blinded by ambition that he allowed himself to wallow in the trough of partisan hackery.
Then he met the hatemongers at a rally. And found himself defending Barack Obama.
Looked right in the eye of a devout follower, one whose heart he was TRYING to win over with his attack ads.
And she admitted from the bottom of her heart that she is afeared of Barack because "He's a Arab."
John looked like he just wanted to go home. Like he made a deal with the devil and just wants to recant.

Be careful what you wish for.
It's like that trippy Twilight Zone episode where the jewish guy wishes for ultimate power and the genie turns him into Hitler.
So, Pity poor John McCain.
But not so much. Cuz he's an idiot.

Don't panic!

Just because the other side has refused to stop peple from yelling out incendiary shouts to "kill him!" and "Treason!", "Traitor" and the like, there's nothing to really be scared of.
Now, if these lunatics somehow get it in their head to incite their mob and send them out to shoot...someone, then we can worry.
But, truth is, using Jeremiah Wright was something I had been anticipating for a year and the Bill Ayers thing just shows how desperate they are.
So...
Don't panic. Right?

Our scary future.

A Special Comment about a Special Comment

I'm sitting here at my desk which is the peninsula counter in my kitchen, my tuchus half hanging off the stool that is 4 inches too tall for the place where I type. I've just finished watching yet another Keith Olbermann Special Screed, er, I mean, Comment. And I found myself crying a little bit. It's uncontrolled. And I wonder where the tears are coming from.

See, I remember the hate, the vitriol, the despotism that was starting to foment around political parties. I remember that when I was in the 6th grade the social studies teacher asked us who we would vote for in the coming election and I and one other kid were the only ones who wanted Carter.
Carter won but something was growing in that little suburb of hate. The anti-semitism was building. The church had become active in corralling the young people to "retreats" and encouraging them to create a mystery around them by keeping the ongoings and doings a SECRET. It worked. It worked too well. Not only did I resent the church but I was jealous. And I hated myself for not being a part of the group. The clique.

The same organizing philosphy of empowerment through separation was going on in politics.

I didn't think about it until later but I realized at some point that there were a lot of angry people.

Angry that Kennedy ever got into office.
Angry that the war was never "won".
Angry that hippies existed.
Angry that their secluded spherical lifestyle was shattered and that they were expected to think on their own. They loved their cubicles, they loved their money, they clung to, well, not their guns, but their god. They also clung to hate. To "us v. them". They were encouraged to participate and perpetuate this division.
And they pushed it onto their kids.

In other words, the republican right wing got a hold of the youth and brainwashed them into footsoldiers.

Some of us were outsiders and we saw what was happening but we were helpless to do anything. And we didn't have a voice. Well, we did but it was in high-brow, self-congratulatory media like The NYT and The New Yorker.
We didn't have what the right had: Populism.

One day, many years before, balance had a voice. It came in the form of reporters and journalists like David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace and Edward Murrow. I know the ones from tv because I am a child of that medium.
These were men (and women) that you could trust. They wouldn't tell you who to vote for, they believed that what mattered was the truth and holding someone's feet to the fire.
Then advertising got a toehold and the scales tipped in favor of noise.

It's impossible to be heard through the din of opinion and 24 hour news. I think it was Jon Stewart (a Murrow of his day, history will bear) that said something to the effect that with so much time to fill on a 24 news channel the only thing one can do is comment on what one has just reported on.

And therein lay the groundwork for right wing polemic. They filled that void. They were raised on the Us v. Them and are used to that form of attack. The left has always been more thoughtful and reasoned and, well, Poindexter gets his ass kicked on the football grid, don't he?

But the left grew up, too. It's a half-generation later and they have not eschewed Poindexter as much as they have realized that in order to win we must change the game.

It's not football, and it never was.

It's baseball.

Politics is strategy and a game of inches. A basehit, correctly timed, can be followed by a walk. Then a sacrifice fly. And bloop single. And that one run is all you need to win the game. And you have to win more than anyone else over 162 of them. And even then you have a fresh slate to try to get the big prize and the next year it starts all over again.

But even baseball needs a commentator. A voice of reason. A cheerleader that is willing not to give a Sarah Palin the benefit of any doubt simply because she has been called to the field. We need someone, anyone, to say, "Hey! That was pure politicking, that choice. She doesn't know anything! Am I taking crazy pills? This is THE SHOW, why is a double a ball player pitching!?!?!? Why won't you guys admit that she's just not ready??"

And that person arrived a few years ago in the form of Keith Olbermann.

Yes, he's vitriolic and we are supposed to be above that (blech).

He is the nephew of a movement that is calling someone out when they lie.

I've been waiting for a voice like that and knowing that it is not only popular but giving rise to a form of reporting where the reporters don't just let the spinners take control of the question but repeat theirs if it wasn't answered in the first place fills me with such joy.

Made me very happy.

So happy I found myself actually crying.

So, I include tonight's Special Comment about Sarah Palin because this NEEDS to be said and it NEEDS to be said on a national scale and I'm damned glad it is.

Take it over, Keith.

Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia

I know, it's more video, but I'm a Bruce-whore and sometimes I wish I lived in a battleground state so I could go to a rally like this.

Presidential Technology.

Seems about right.

Now that that's over...on to....?

Sarah Palin did a fine job reciting memorized talking points.
If I was a money man in the evangelical wing of the republican party I would be asking her to a) pull away from John McCain a bit and b) run for Ted Stevens senate seat. I imagine that there are a lot of gay-bashing, ethnic-hating, simple minded, gun-caressing republicans that see her as their bright and shining future.*
Okay. I don't think a) she will make it for 8 years in the senate let alone win that seat and b) the evangelical, hate spewing segment of the right will even exist in 8 years.
Because make no bones about it:

The next president will be president for 8 years.

Country coming out of two wars? rescued from the brink of depression? Who gets the benefit of the uptick?
The President.
And that, friends, looks to be Barack Obama.

John McCain pulled out of Michigan today. (Big state, little john, didn't feel a thing)
Where will he put his resources? Who wants to bet on North Carolina where Hagel's seat is being threatened? Maybe Minneapolis where Franken is trying to make inroads? Howzabout Oregon where the Dems are really threatening?
The RNC, which runs John McCain's campaign, has seen the light and, unless there is something cataclysmic and unforeseen, they are conceding the presidency in the hopes of shoring up some support for the senate.

In other words: It's all but over.

Unless it's not.

I think that after a month of hate ads, the Palin Hail Mary and the storming of Washington failure, the RNC has seen the light, hell, even Johnny has seen it and they are ready to call it quits.

According to polls they are losing in Florida and Ohio. Must wins for the POW.

(One more thing. Mark my words. Biden's choking up moment will be seen as the flashpoint when the lights went dim on the faux humanity of the Republican ticket. It sure got me.)

So, while we shall not rest on our laurels, we can take a moment to breath and to realize that this is a remarkable moment that we are living in. The end of divisive politics of hatred, the end of failed Reaganomics, the end of two family Dynasties. Most of all, the beginning of a time when the best, the brightest, and the smartest, get a chance to rule.

Onward to November 4th.

*Thanks to Mike Rotman for the insight.

Death by Television: Worst Week (CBS)

Meet the Parents. Every Week. For a half hour.
You decide.
Yawn.