Going Bezerkeley
Flickr user, Dusty Records, has an extensive photo set from Widespread Panic’s Greek Theatre run last month.
Head West Body East
I haven’t lived in Utah since 1997, and it’s a rare day that I actually miss the place. Sure, I miss my friends, but not necessarily the Beehive State. Today is different. I clicked through several of Heather Armstrong’s photos and sure enough the nostalgia kicked in. Today, I miss Utah and my friends.
Quite possibly the best Mexican restaurant in the world
One Person Making A Difference
photo by Jason Reed of Reuters
The thing I love about Cindy Sheehan’s vigil outside the Bush compound in Crawford, TX is her level-headed, on-message delivery. TV journalists try to trip her up and paint her as a partisan pawn, but she gives not an inch to these scumbags. She stays true to her mission—to find out from the President the real reason her son died in Iraq.
I also love her line of questioning. “If this war is so noble,” she asks, “is the President encouraging his two daughters to fight?”
Sad News
Legendary fiddle player, Vassar Clements, passed away yesterday after a struggle with cancer.
Vassar and Earl Scruggs
From his website: On August 16th 2005 at 8:35 am Nashville time, the angels in heaven stopped singing for a moment, as they heard the most beautiful music approaching from a distance – the high lonesome sound of Vassar Clements’ fiddle.
Guns And Roses
Grammy Award-winning artist, Marc Cohn, was shot in the head after a performance at the Denver Botanic Gardens last week. The incident was part of a botched carjacking.
According to this BBC report, the musician – whose biggest hit was Walking in Memphis in 1991 – was struck in the temple by the bullet but it did not penetrate his skull.
“Frankly, I can’t tell you how he survived,” Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
Cohn, 46, is married to ABC News reporter Elizabeth Vargas.
East L.A. Fadeaway
Mother Jones is understandably stoked about Ry Cooder’s latest effort, Chávez Ravine. Cooder spent the last three years constructing an evocation of Chicano East L.A. in the ’40s and ’50s–and he has become so fluent in the history of these side streets that he can go door to door telling stories.
Ry Cooder’s “Chávez Ravine” — a post-World War II-era American narrative of “cool cats,” radios, UFO sightings, J. Edgar Hoover, red scares, and baseball — was released by Nonesuch/Perro Verde Records on June 14, 2005. The record is a tribute to the long-gone Los Angeles Latino enclave known as Chávez Ravine. Using real and imagined historical characters, Cooder and friends created an album that recollects various aspects of the poor but vibrant hillside Chicano community, which was bulldozed by developers in the 1950s in the interest of “progress;” Dodger Stadium ultimately was built on the site. Cooder says, “Here is some music for a place you don’t know, up a road you don’t go. Chávez Ravine, where the sidewalk ends.”
In almost 40 years of dizzying musical globe-trotting, Cooder had never plumbed the idioms of his native Los Angeles.”I always thought East L.A. music was so dreamy and languid and kinda greasy,” he says. “I would think, something’s out there–I wonder what? I used to sneak my little East L.A. instrumental ideas into movie scores. If I saw an opening, we’d dream up some little low-rider song.”
About four years ago, Don Normark approached Cooder. As a young photography student, Normark had shot extensively in the Ravine, later assembling the book Chávez Ravine, 1949: A Los Angeles Story. He was planning a reunion with the families he’d photographed and was interested in turning it into a film. Cooder immediately agreed to help with the music. (The documentary recently premiered on PBS’s Independent Lens series.)
Adam Kalkin’s Architectural Poetry
Radical architect, Adam Kalkin, lives in a unique shelter in New Jersey called “Bunny Lane”. It’s a small house fitted inside an industrial shed.
Kalkin is also noted for building the Quick House from recycled shipping containers. In the Vassar College alumni magazine, Kalkin, who studied English as an undergrad, says:
The cargo containers, with a life span of about 20 years when used for their original purpose, have an “infinite life span” when stationary and properly maintained. Giving these formerly mobile containers a permanent home as homes means that despite providing the structure for a brand-new house, each container comes with its own ready-made and traveled history. “You can look at them both as junk or as something special,” Kalkin notes. “To me they are like a treasured antique: they may not be inherently valuable, but the history and the storytelling add value.” Kalkin’s inventive architectural vision grows directly out of his belief in interconnectedness. He argues, “We come from a culture of sampling. I’m just out there in the world picking out things and reusing things—sampling—from my experience and from what other people have already invested a lot of time and energy in. I think there’s a tremendous amount of richness out there.”
Jerrycasting
Keeping track of ever-emerging podcasts might be a bit of a chore, but it’s one that can pay dividends for the live music lover. Nugs.net is now providing a Nugscast. And Michael O’Connor, aka ocomik, editor of TheMusicNeverStopped.net makes podcasts (and a stream of those podcasts) available. TMNS also features downloads of The Grateful Dead Hour, by arrangement with the show’s host and producer, David Gans. LiveMusicBlog provides yet another heady podcast.
Since so-called jambands want to actively spread their unlicensed music as far and wide as possible, legal hangups that prevent big label artists from appearing in podcasts do not apply. Jamcasts or “Jerrycasts” are simply another great format for sharing the music.
The Ethics Of Artistic Expression
DK invited me to prepare a paper and attend an Ethics conference at Ringling School of Art + Design in Sarasota this November.
Here’s the synopsis: The “creative class” has emerged as a hot job market in the 21st century economy. Artists and designers increasingly shape not only the art of the gallery or museum, but also consumer products, public and personal spaces, films and TV programs, and corporate images. With the rise of “new media,” images have become more powerful, and new non-linear, digital, and interactive modes of storytelling have challenged us all to new standards of visual and media literacy. This long reach of the arts into everyday and public life raises a variety of ethical issues pertaining to the social responsibility of artists and those who teach them. Government funding, artistic collaboration and appropriation, sustainable design, freedom of expression, ethnic representation, and commodification are just a sample of the topics that arise as we attempt to assess the impact of artists on society. How can we encourage aspiring artists and designers to anticipate these issues and respond with a strong sense of social responsibility?
Stowaway In A Container
Caterina has a definite knack for finding great things to post about, especially for those who find living in a container an attractive proposition.
Container Homes Reference desk:
http://www.covepark.org/
http://www.lot-ek.com/index.htm
http://www.containercity.com/
http://www.architectureandhygiene.com/12conHouse/12con_main.html