Early July 5

As I said when I was introducing Eric Hatcher and the Worker Bees, "The early bird gets the best seat in the house." Btw...the Hatcher band is a nice mix of old and young. Their pianist Mario Carboni is somebody to watch out for. He's got a New Orleans thing that's exellent.

 

When I was walking around just after opening, I stopped and talked with Loretta Harrison at her Praline booth. NOTE: it's pronounced PRAW-line, not PRAY-line. If you stop by say it that way or you'll sound like one of those people who say Are-a-GONNN. You would'nt want that, would you.

 

Loretta is from New Orleans and has had a booth at Jazzfest for twenty years. Her motto: Not just a creamy, chunky, delicous piece of candy, but a piece of New Orleans. Here website is here.

 

Dis Dat or D'Udda---July 4

I don't know if it was Peter Dammann's idea to have John Boutte sing the SS Banner before the fireworks, but it was pure genius. Anybody who heard it will never hear that tune the same way again.

John Boutte

 

Spelbinding, electric, inspiring, political and full of soul.

 

He's the concience of New Orleans. Wait, let me put that another way, he's the voice of New Orleans reminding the concience of America (what's left of it) that the current government has abandoned an entire city and left it in ruins.

 

He reprised the version of Randy Newman's "Louisiana" as he did at 2006's New Orleans Jazzfest in which he changed the lyrics from "Six feet of water in Evangeline" to "Six feet of water in the lower nine." As he continued to sing the song and bring the lyrics up to date, people openly wept in the audience.

 

He was the highlight of the day.

The Hot 8 Brass Band

 

When I introduced them, I said that they knew how to put the word party in the word party! I wasn't kidding. New Orleans' Hot 8 shifted gears for the whole festival!

 

Their style rough and tumble and very street. More Rebirth than Dirty Dozen.

 

....and the crowd danced and danced and danced.

 

After Norman....

 

This is Fiona Boyes. If you haven't heard about her, you will. She's from Australia and is one tough cookie on stage. Nominated for "Best Contrmporary Blues Album" in what used to be the WC Handy Awards in Memphis, there are rumours that she may be moving to Portland!

She's already hooked up with a pretty good band, including former members of Paul deLay's last band, Peter Damman on guitar and Dave Kahl on bass.

 

.....and Fiona knows who to choose on keys...the one and only Janice Scroggins.

 

Nice Start!

 

That's Fred Stern's Rainbow Over the Willamette. In close cooperation with the Portland Fire Bureau and one of their fireboats, around 5pm, when Fred calculated the sun would be in the best position, the boat unleashed 32,000 gallons per minute of river water and you see the result!

 

Fred came to Portland from Las Cruzes, NM to make this rainbow. Read more about it in Monday's post.

As the crowd got huge...

 

...Boogie Cat Norman Sylvester Boogied down.

 

Just added

Just when it looked like Ron Rogers was going to be shut out of this year's festival, he's not. The artist,who's work was on the cover of last Friday's A&E section of the O will display his famous coffins of blues and soul musicians in a booth next to (or near) Gary Houston's. Gary does the Blues Festival poster every year...he does a lot of posters, and he does them the old fashioned silk-screen way.
It's nice that the two of them will be neighbors.

Tuesday Night's Blues Cruise

As somebody said last night, "We got three decks of pure pleasure."
I said that when I was introducing Lurrie Bell and it was true. On the cruise which official opened the 2007 Waterfront Blues Festival the bottom deck of the Portland Spirit had New Orleans' John Boutte and Salem's Mark Lemhouse. On the second deck was Portland's The Insomniacs and Chicago's Lurrie Bell with Pinetop Perkins. On the top deck was New Orleans' Hot 8 Brass Band.
Hard to know where to go.
I stuck with the Hot 8 most of the time because since very few New Orleans bands come through Portland anymore, I am like a dry sponge ready for some OF IT this week.
The Hot 8 look like they just stepped off the streets of the 9th Ward or Treme and they sound like it too. Like a lot of NO brass bands, they play familiar soul and funk wit the mawchin beat. The whole deck was dancing. Paul Ronan who has done a NO radio show on KPSU for years (although he's currently taking a break) was resplendent in white on white on white including a white fedora.
Peter Damman DID make it on the cruise, although he didn't play.
Toward the end of the cruise, I went to the bottom deck where John Boutte had the people there spellbound with his unique soulful singing, accompanied by a fantastic guitarist. Most of the crowd may have been upstairs with Lurrie Bell, but the last half hour with Boutte who sings like no other (except maybe Sam Cooke)made the cruise for me...except the dancing part with the Hot 8.

 
 

Look for him today at the festival.
Boutte kept on singing as the boat pulled up to the dock and folks started lining up to get off. His last two songs were "You Haven't Done Nothing" which he sang with justifiable anger, dedicated to those responsible for the continuing tradgedy in NO. He ended with a wonderful inspiring Mahalia Jackson tune which sent us off the boat, if not sanctified, very inspired.
I'm off to take Fred Stern the Rainbow Maker to a meeting with the Fire Department out on NW Front where they keep the fireboat.

Another Festival Blogger / Wither Peter?

Terry Odor (aka Blues Slave) will be working one of the stages at the festival and blogging throughout. Read his blog here.

In other news, Peter Damman, known to most of you as the hot guitar slinger in Paul deLay's band, is known to the rest of us as the man who books all of the music at the festival. You'd never know he's in the middle of the hurricane from his demeanor. He's one cool customer.
The fact that he gets to play with many of the legends who perform at the festival might have something to do with it.
He may or may not be coming on the Cruise tonight. Hope he as the time to do it. Would be nice to get away from the maddness and in front of the awesome talent onboard.

Rainbow Maker Rehearses / First Cruise Tonight

Yesterday afternoon, Rainbow Maker Fred Stern sailed south on a Portland Fire Bureau's fireboat from it's dock on NW Front St. to the Blues Festival site and then met with the Portland Harbormaster, Clay Fuller who is the major domo of the Blues Festival and Jean Kempe-Ware the festival's hard-working media relations person.
While KATU's weather man looked on and his videographer's camera rolled, the fireboat shot water high into the air at a rate of 32,000 gallons a minute and made a rainbow. (Don't worry, the water comes from the river and goes back INTO the river!)
 
Fred will thrill the crowd on Wednesday around 5pm when the fireboat makes its official appearance and the rainbow comes with it.
 

The Festival cranks up on Wednesday but tonight it's the first Blues Cruise. The Portland Spirit sails at 10:30. It's the 20th Anniversary Kickoff Hoodoo Moon Cruise with John Boutte, The Hot 8 Brass Band, Pinetop Perkins, Lurrie Bell and Oregon's Mark Lemhouse. I'll be on board. Since it gets back to shore at 1:15am. I'll write about it Thursday morning, after some sleep.
Usually, there's non-stop dancing and a lot of beer, etc. I could write later tonight but it might look like this. ahifoklfadfjaofjkaldfenqaiopgbyuafnheoahfoew. See?

Two stories on this week's Blues Festival

Here's a story of mine on this week's Waterfront Blues Festival. And a related story on Fred Stern the Rainbow Maker who will make a rainbow over the Willamette. All on the new website livepdx.com.

Democrats, Who Pays Your Bills?

The question isn't how much money the Democratic candidates have raised. The real question is: Where did the money come from?

Here are the questions they should be asked at the next "debate:"

1. How much did you get from the Health Industry?
2. How much did you get from the Insurance Industry?
3. How much from Oil companies?
4. How much from the banking industry?
5. How much from the military industry?
6. How much from Wal-Mart? From GE? From Murdoch? From Disney?

In other words…

To whom are you beholden. That's more important than any policy question they might be asked. They can fudge policy issues. They MUST answer these questions.

Anything else is obfuscation. Is Obama authentic? Let's hear him disavow any contributions from these corporations. What will Hillary say? She vacuums money from big health.

It doesn't matter what you say you're going to do when you get elected. What matters is who has paid your bills and enabled you to get elected. Those corporations don't give money, they spend money and they expect a return.

Tell us, o authentic Dems, who pays YOUR bills?

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Waterfront Blues Festival Daily Blog Coming!!

I'll be blogging every day from the 2007 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival beginning Tuesday, July 3 and ending Sunday July 8!

A short piece of mine on Brian Davis

Appeared in the Living Section of today's Oregonian. Read it here.
Brian is a percussionist for Pink Martini and the leader of the Lions of Batucada, Portland's Brazilian marching band.

April Kline story

Producer/Camera/Editor: Greg Bond. Aired 6/7/07.

R.I.P. Cleve Williams

One of Portland, Oregon's jazz elders passed away 5/27/07. We miss him.

Storm (Large) story

Aired 2/20/03.

David Vest story

Aired 6/24/04

Mac Potts story

Aired 5/31/07

KMHD Playlist 6/16/07

Sorry about not putting up 6/9's. I was out of town.

10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue
10:06 PM Paul deLay Band All Cried Out The Last of the Best
10:12 PM Dave Milne You Pea Ess Present Tense
10:16 PM Mylab Pop Client Mylab
10:27 PM Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengrs Plexis Three Blind Mice Cedar Walton tune...live at The Rennaisance in L.A.
10:32 PM Shoehorn Jumpin' with Shoehorn Shoehorn Swing
10:39 PM Keith Schreiner Robert's Decsion Unreleased
10:42 PM Dahlia Ease Up Emotional Cycles Jen Folker, vocals
10:48 PM Derek Sims & Keith Schriener Details Unreleased
10:56 PM James Booker Goodnight Irene Junco Pardner

11:07 PM Nancy King & Glen Moore There Is a Small Hotel King On the Road Rob Scheps, sax
11:12 PM Darrell Grant Blues For the Masters Truth and Reconcilliation
11:16 PM Ramsey Embick Nica's Dream Solo Piano
11:24 PM John Callahan Portland Girl Purple Winos In the Rain
11:31 PM John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman My One and Only Love John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
11:37 PM Dr. John More Than You'll Ever Know In a Sentimental Mood
11:41 PM Kronos Quartet Turn Out the Stars Music of Bill Evans Vinyl
11:47 PM Beliss Atahualpa Beliss
11:50 PM Dexter Gordon Ruby My Dear Great Encounters Vinyl

12:00 AM Eric Dolphy Fire Waltz The Great Concert of Eric Dolphy
12:13 AM Eric Dolphy Bee Vamp same
12:26 AM Eric Dolphy Number Eight same
12:40 AM Eric Dolphy The Prophet same

Welcome Back Dr. Jack!!

Welcome back Dr Jack!

While you were gone we here in Oregon passed the nation's first and most logical Physician-Assisted Suicide law, the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. Under it, after a process involving two doctors, and a lot of other screening, those who have a prognosis of six months to live or less, can get (usually) a fatal dose of liquid Nembutal and die peacefully, surrounded by family and friends (if they choose) or in solitude.

The religious fanatics who run things in Washington tried to knock out the law, Dr. Jack. It went to the U.S. Supreme Court. We won.

We're sorry you went to jail for the concept of controlling one's death the way one controls one's life.

We wish you had been able to control your own life these past years, when you were locked away.

The vanguard of any movement begins with those who push the limits outrageously. You did that. We understand. We may have disagreed with some of your tactics, but we know where you're coming from…a sense of medical ethics that says, "The patient is the boss. The patient has the right to die as he chooses."

The rest of the country? Consider this. Consider that you have been diagnosed with a terrible lung disease that will cause you to be shorter and shorter of breath, gradually getting worse day after day. You find yourself gasping for breath and know that soon you will suffocate to death…as though someone put a pillow over your head.

Say you knew someone who had had the same disease, and you saw how he deteriorated. You watched him gasp for breath. You knew he was going to suffocate one day soon. And now it's you. You're going to suffocate to death. A long, lingering terrifying death.

What would you want to do? If you were not bound to a rigid and illogical set of religious rules, most likely you would say, "I want out before I get like that. I know what is my fate. Don’t' make me suffer. Please don't let me suffocate."

Right now, the politicians answer is, "Sorry, Charlie. Take a hike."
The dirty little secret is that, all over America, doctors and nurses are conspiring to help such people die. They take the risk of losing their careers and even facing jail time if caught. They don't get caught. They do help people die.

Everybody else looks the other way. Does this make sense to you?

I'm pleading your case, Dr. Jack.

We're glad you're back. I have the feeling we haven't heard the last from you.

I hope not.


this also appears on huffingtonpost.com

A review

On a fairly new blues restaurant in Portland. Read it here at livepdx.com.

My DB Cooper Inside Edition Adventure

I did the field production (including interviews), not the story. It aired 5/21/07.

My KMHD Playlist 5/26/07

10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue Show theme
10:03 PM Stan Bock Ensemble The Godfather You're Check's In the Mail
10:11 PM Maceo Parker Splashin' Southern Exposure
10:23 PM Janice Scroggins Bethina Janice Scroggins Plays Scott Joplin Vinyl
10:29 PM Max Morath The Chrysanthemum--An Afro-American Intermezzo Max Morath Plays Scott Joplin Vinyl
10:34 PM Eubie Blake The Baltimore Todolo The 86 Years of Eubie Blake From Vinyl
10:39 PM Mac Potts Untitled Unreleased Mac plays all instruments
10:47 PM Dexter Gordon Cheese Cake Go From vinyl
10:53 PM Wayne Horvitz Sweeter Than the Day Band ? Unreleased Live at Cafe Paloma, March 11, 2007. Thanks Wayne!
11:03 PM Bernard Herman All the Animals Come Out At Night Taxi Driver Soundtrack
11:07 PM Willlie Ruff/Dwike Mitchell Chelsea Bridge/Upper-Manhattan Medical Group Strayhorn Vinyl with Tom reading
11:16 PM Gil Evans Orchestra Orange was the color of her dress then blue silk Live at Umbria Jazz
11:25 PM Ruff/Mitchell Passion Flower Strayhorn Vinyl
11:32 PM Pink Martini Cance e Dance Hey Eugene! a Phil Baker tune
11:36 PM Dan Balmer Rain Thanksgiving
11:42 PM Nancy King & Steve Christopherson Perennial Proximity Vol.1
11:46 PM Oregon Spanish Stairs Oregon In Moscow
11:51 PM Joey Baron Time To Cry We'll Soon Find Out
12:04 AM Miles Davis Right Off A Tribute To Jack Johnson Vinyl
12:30 AM Miles Davis Yesternow A Tribute To Jack Johnson Vinyl
12:58 AM Extremo the Clown Finale Extremo and Friends

A Column by David Vest

"I don't understand these people!"

So You Thought They Were Gonna End the War

by David Vest


Welcome to the Show, kid.

The Democrats have "surrendered" on Iraq. Liberals are "shocked." And all the innocents who didn't know any better, didn't see it coming, feel "betrayed."

Poor Duncan Black, better known as "Atrios," is nearly at a loss for words: "People hate Bush, hate Republicans, and hate this war," he protests, and yet the Democrats caved!

"I don't understand these people," he wails.

Precisely.

Keith Olbermann, using the same tone of humorless, near-postal anger he uses in every commentary, no matter the topic, calls the Democratic rollover a "Neville Chamberlain moment."

I prefer to think of it as a teachable moment.

At a time when even conservatives have come to loathe Bush, when people who thought he was going to round up all the "illegal aliens" and deport them are so upset, they think impeachment's too good for him, the Democrats labor to craft legislation "acceptable" to him.

Liberals have already spent six and a half years loathing Bush -- longer if they live in Texas, a state whose statutes are said to recognize two classes of persons: Fuckors and Fuckees.

(Republicans and Democrats, the big shots, belong to the former class. You and I belong to the latter.)

There is nothing particularly wrong with loathing Bush. It only becomes a problem when it prevents progressives from finally figuring out that the people they're really going to end up having to fight are the Democrats.

As Big Walter the Thunderbird used to say, "Sho' is tough."

Right now, both major parties are playing dodge ball with the planet, trying to avoid "ownership" of Iraq. The only way at this point to "own" the war is to stop it, and there is no serious move afoot to make that happen.

Having used antiwar sentiment, and disgust over Katrina, to regain control of Congress, the Democrats have no intention of relinquishing power. They all "support the troops," who are being asked to "lay down their lives for America" in far Mesopotamia -- but you didn't expect these people you elected to lay down their political careers for the good of the country ... did you?

Of course not. Already Michael Tomasky is praising the Dems for practicing "smart politics," as though winning the White House in 2008 were far more important than "merely" ending the war in Iraq.

How quickly "put us into power and we'll change things" becomes "put us into power and watch it change us."

For the corporate powers behind the candidates, the rule is as it ever was: from time to time, things have to change in order to stay the same.

But (someone protests), can't you at least admit that the Democrats are better than the Republicans? And if you love the country, or care about the world, aren't you obligated to support the lesser of two evils, even if it's only slightly less evil?

To which I reply: What's really evil is being forced to choose between people on the one hand who support the war, and accuse anyone who questions it of "helping the terrorists" -- and people on the other who oppose the war, criticize the war, pledge to the end the war, and then vote to keep it going.

Or being asked to choose between the village idiot and someone who's consistently outsmarted by him.

Once upon a time, Bill Clinton filled the Interior Department with "environmentalists." Bush filled it with oil company hacks. Who was more honest?

Lo and behold, when they cut down the old growth forest, it didn't make much difference to the trees and the rivers and the critters, whether oil company insiders or professional environmentalists were sitting at the desks in Washington. Eight years of Clinton-Gore, two terms of Bush-Cheney: the toxic dumps remain, and only the rhetoric has changed, to protect the naïve.

Demonstrably now, it makes no difference to the war whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. Do you suppose the shooting will end, on the day when a refined, well-spoken Democrat, who reads poetry perhaps and scorns the religious right, and who doesn't embarrass us when receiving foreign dignitaries, succeeds the bumbling oaf Bush?

Think so? Or do you suspect people will soon be wailing, "I don't understand these people! They control Congress, the White house, and the military! Why don't they stop the war?"

Perhaps apologists will go on CNN to reassure us: "The president wants to stop the war, really. But first she has to form a consensus, and set her legislative agenda in Congress, and build up her political capital. And when, not if, she wins re-election, then in that second term she'll be free to act, and she'll have that mandate, and I think you'll start to see some movement on ending this war."

Sound about right?

Look. Millions of people marched in the streets trying to prevent the invasion of Iraq, long before Bush sent a cruise missile into a Baghdad neighborhood trying to "take out" Saddam Hussein with one wild lunge, like the man who shot Liberty Valance. Without result, in either case.

People marched and listened to speeches and then went home. The opinion of the multitudes counted for nothing. No one in power saw the slightest need to pay attention to them. They're still not paying attention. Why would they, as long as those bags of money keep coming in through the transom?

The system is broken. It can't be fixed. As long as the Fuckors run it, it will continue to be utterly unresponsive to the will of the Fuckees.

The system tolerates, even welcomes antiwar people, but it co-opts them if it can. Just as the oil companies co-opted Earth Day, and just as the nuclear power industry hopes to turn global warming into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

In one party, if you're antiwar, you can get a job as Rudy Giuliani's foil.

In the other one ... well, if you still "don't understand these people," what's it going to take?

As the great working class poet Charlie Musselwhite says in "Black Water," the devastating post-Katrina anthem from his CD Delta Hardware:

"Hello America -- are you ready for more?"

First published here: counterpunch.org



David Vest can be reached through his web site at www.rebelangel.com. A new CD featuring him, "The Last of the Best: Live Recordings by the Paul deLay Band," will be released on June 12.

Buy it here.

Pink Martini---The Concert and Afterparty

I have a frame of reference. I've seen Pink Martini a dozen times over the past ten years and I have never seen them better than they were at The Schnitz on Tuesday, May 15.

Period.

As I wrote in my livepdx article Thomas had a difficult time with "Hang On Little Tomato." Everybody knew something was not going well, but the band has such good will that we put up with the years of delays and looked forward to their second album.

Why they couldn' t have just put out a concert album in the meantime escapes me. When "Tomato" was released, we all said nice things about it, but many of us hid our disappointment. Count me in on that. I did an Art Beat TV piece on China Forbes around the release, and in it I avoided that disappointment.

Come to find out Thomas was just as dissapointed.

That's why it was such a relief to find "Hey Eugene!" to be so bright and full of happiness, even in the sad songs. That vibe carried over to the concert at the Schnitz. China was in great voice, Thomas was lively and gay (I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I meant it in the old fashioned way.) He's one of the few people who is gay and gay.

The first half of the concert was made up of tunes from "Eugene," done perfectly, not as note for note replicas but almost. My favorite from the album was my favorite in the show, "Cance e Dance," a gorgeous Brazilian-styleded tune by their bassist Phil Baker. The tempo was slightly faster in concert. The David Yorke Ensemble was on stage to help and Phil played rhythm guitar. I could have gone home after it was over and been completely satisfied.

After the concert, at the afterparty in Bluehour, I told Phil I thought it was one of the most beautiful tunes I had ever heard. I thought he was going to cry. I meant it.

After the intermission, Thomas introduced March Fourth Marching band saying he wanted to run away and join them. They played four tunes by themselves, complete with dancers, stilt and otherwise. No fire dancers allowed in The Schnitz, however.

They began with "Space Hole" their signature tune, accompanied by a hula-hoop dancer of great dexterity, ingenouity, grace and humor.

They stayed on stage for "Das Vedanya Mio Bambino," Pink Martini's language mashup which ends with the chorus of "The Happy Wanderer."

The band played older tunes which did not sound dated or shopworn, but rather familiar and sweet. It is always fun to see percussionist Brian Davis workout on the traps for the band's swring tune. Their encore was (take a wild guess) "Brazil," which was accompanied by all of the guest artists. Thomas told me one time that he could play "Brazil" until the day he dies.

We don't mind.

When we walked up the stairs to the afterparty at Bluehour, China was at her most slink-ely lucious sitting outside the door and holding court. I was very gratified when she thanked me for the Art Beat piece I had done on her. She said he had always thought about calling but never did. Well, um…I appreciate it, no matter when it comes.

Inside was a madhouse. Somehow we found a couple of seats next to OBT's Christopher Stowell's table. Chatted with Northwest Film Center's Bill Foster, hugged Thomas and got drinks.

It was full of the beautiful people, hair done perfectly and dressed in Pearl Chic. All of a sudden, in walked the members of March Fourth, still in their band unis and making Bluehour seem more like Portland.

Bassist/singer Belinda Underwood slinked in looking lovely and hanging with pianist Benny Green. I told him how unusual it was to have two former Betty Carter pianists in the same town. Darrell Grant is the other.

A couple of small but tasty martinis later, it was time to go.

KMHD Playlist 5/19/07

Listen to my show every Saturday night from 10pm to 1am on KMHD 89.1FM in Portland or kmhd.fm on the web.

10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue Show theme
10:02 PM Don Cherry Birdboy Multikulti
10:06 PM Gordon Lee & the Gleeful Big Band Bitter Wind Flying Dream
10:21 PM Wayne Horvitz Sweeter Than the Day Disingenous Firefight Unreleasd live recording @ Cafe Paloma, Seattle
10:29 PM Wayne Horvitz Sweeter Than the Day Love, Love Love Unreleased live recording @ Cafe Paloma, Setttle Thanks Wayne!
10:36 PM Mary Lou Williams Leo Zodiac Suite
10:39 PM Mary Lou Williams Scorpio Zodiac Suite
10:42 PM Mary Lou Williams Aquarius Zodiac Suite
10:47 PM David Murray Evidence Fo Deuk Review Amiri Baraka reading his poem
10:53 PM Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy Duke's Fantasy Twiight Dreams
11:05 PM Weather Report Teen Town 8:30 live...tune by Jaco on vinyl
11:11 PM Stanley Clarke Vulcan Princess Stanley Clark From Vinyl
11:16 PM Conjunto Berretin Afiches Tangamente Portland band
11:26 PM Astor Piazzola Milonga Del Angel Tango Zero Hour
11:29 PM Orquestra Electronica Berretin Lunes Electro Tango Portland Band/ Alex Krebs
11:32 PM Liv Warfield Embrace Me Embrace Me Portland's own.
11:35 PM John Abercrombie Love Song Timeless
11:40 PM Fred Hersch & Bill Frisell My One and Only Love Songs We Know
11:46 PM Azimuth Dream/Lost Song Azimuth 85
11:52 PM Wayne Horvitz' Sweeter Than the Day Sweeter Than the Day Sweeter Than the Day
11:59 PM John Coltrane My Favorite Things Afro-Blue Impressions
Listen to "In Deep" next week from 12midnight to 1am.

KMHD Playlist 5/12/07

Listen to my show every Saturday night from 10-12 on KMHD 89.1 FM Portland or kmdh.fm on the web.

10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue Show Theme
10:02 PM Charles Mingus E's Flat, Ah's Flat Too Blues and Roots
10:08 PM March Fourth Marching Band Space Hole March Fourth Marching Band Portland's own
10:16 PM James Blood Ulmer Are You Glad To Be In America Are You Glad To Be In America
10:19 PM Pops Staples World In Motion Peace In the Neighborhood
10:23 PM Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson Winter In America The First Minute of a New Day
10:34 PM Pink Martini Tempo Perdido Hey Eugene!
10:44 PM Moises Santana Alegria Rough Trade Guide to Brazil: Rio de Janiero
10:47 PM Revelacao Narinha E Eu
10:50 PM G.R.E.S Beja-Flor A Saga de Agotime Samba de Enredo
10:55 PM Mono Bloco Rap de Cartao Postal ? Brazilian set courtesy Brian Davis
11:02 PM Reggie Houston Pass Me Not O Gentlr Savior The Gospel Saxophone of Reggie Houston
11:11 PM Original American Jazz Quintet Nevermore In the Begninning 1956
11:21 PM Alvin Batiste Bat's Blues 1980 Southern University Jazz Ensemble LP provided by Reggie Houston
11:26 PM Alvin Batiste The Latest Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste
11:31 PM Rebirth Brass Band Just a LIttle While to Stay Here Mardi Gras In New Orleans
11:33 PM Storm Large Sacred Love Vasectomy Remixed by Auditory Sculpture
11:38 PM Jack DeJohnette Silver Hollow New Directions
11:47 PM Pink Martini Cance e Dance Hey Eugene!
11:51 PM Bill Frisell When I Fall In Love Have a Little Faith
11:53 PM Allen Toussaint Sweet Dreams Connected

KMHD Playlist 5/5/07

10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue
10:03 PM Pink Martini Ojala Hey Eugene!
10:06 PM Pink Martini Everywhere Hey Eugene!
10:09 PM Mac Potts Tipitina Unreleased
10:23 PM Sonny Rollins Someday I'll Find You Freedom Suite
10:26 PM Dexter Gordon Number Four Daddy Plays the Horn
10:31 PM Mel Brown I Want a Little Girl Mister Groove Sweet Baby James Benton
10:38 PM Miles Davis Maiysha Get Up With It Miles on trumpet and ORGAN
10:41 PM Mose Allison One Room Country Shack Back Country Suite
10:57 PM John Callahan Purple Winos In the Rain Purple Winos In the Rain Yes, the cartoonist
11:02 PM Curtis Salgado & the Stillettos You're Gonna Make Me Cry Rose City Blues Festival The Album Vinyl
11:08 PM Chris Thomas King Da Thrill Is Gone From Here Dirty South Hip Hop Blues Tabby Thomas also vocals (his dad
11:13 PM The Down Band Ghost Jazz Unreleased Derek Sims trumpet/ Keith Schreiner keys
11:16 PM Skip vonKuske Intuit Intuit
11:21 PM Zoe Keating legions (reverie) one cello x 16: natoma
11:25 PM Vernon Reid Uptown Drifter Mistaken Identity
11:28 PM Daily Fog David Vest unrelesed
11:32 PM Mahavishnu Orchestra A Lotus On Irish Streams The Inner Mounting Flame
11:38 PM Carla Bley Dreams So Real Dinner Music Vinyl
11:44 PM Miranda Martino Secate (Wake Up) Canto Morricone Arranged and conducted by Maestro Morricone
11:48 PM Wayne Horvitz Love Love Love American Bandstand
11:53 PM Julee Cruise The Space For Love The Voice of Love Written and produced by DAVID LYNCH!
11:56 PM Ennio Morricone Love Theme Soundtrack Cinema Paradiso
11:58 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue

What Ever Happened to Michael Moore?

A couple of years ago he was a hero, standing up to power, standing up to Oscar, standing for what's right. Anybody seen him lately? Like at the mall? Or a 7-11? Or in line at the movies?

Wasn't he supposed to be coming out with a documentary on the health care system? Last I heard he was still looking for people who had been abused by it. How hard could it be to find that?

And I used to get emails from him all the time. Not to me personally, but his email essays were frequently brilliant, and always funny. I haven't gotten one in I don't know when.

Did he quit? Is he sick? On vacation? Did he have a motorcycle accident and is on the sidelines in a cast? Is he running a Dodge dealership in Flint? A deli in Manhattan?

Did he just get sick and tired of the fat jokes? Of all the jokes? Does he have documentarian block? Did he run out of money? Is he out skiing in Aspen?

Was he bought by the oil companies and is coming out with "The Wonderful Story of Standard Oil and How It Helps Mankind?"

Is he writing for Hugo Chavez and doesn't want to come back? Did he leave the country like many of us talk about doing?

Was he so bummed by the 2004 election that he decided to get out of the business?

I mean I haven't heard him on Air America. He doesn't seem to show up on Ed Schultz. Has Olbermann asked him to be on? Hell, he doesn't even take advantage of being on the air with a hot chick like Stephanie Miller.

Where have you gone Michael Moore? Didn't we line up in front of all those theaters? Did we not love you enough? Our nation turns its bloodshot eyes to you.

What's that you say? His new doc is going to Cannes? Why the hell didn't I get a call about this? See what happens when they get a taste of the good life? They forget their friends. Well, I only met him once but you know what I mean.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

My Radio Playlist April 28 KMHD and www.khmd.fm

Listen every Saturday night from 10 to Midnight at 89.1 in Portland or on the web.

10:00 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue
10:03 PM Pink Martini Tempo Perdido Hey Eugene!
10:07 PM Pink Martini Hey Eugene! Hey Eugene!
10:14 PM McCoy Tyner Moment's Notice Supertrios Tony Williams on drums
10:20 PM Jim Pepper/Claudine Francois Trio Crepuscule with Nellie Camargue Monk tune
10:25 PM Neville Brothers Tell It Like It Is Neville Brothers Live at Jazzfest 2005 I was there in the audience slow dancing Karen.
10:31 PM The Meters Welcome to New Orleans The Meters Reunion Jazzfest 2005 I was thisclose to the stage.
10:46 PM Reggie Houston and the Charmaine Neville Band Brother Can You Spare a Dime Live at Jazzfest 2006
10:57 PM Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians Sky Keeps Cryin' Live at Jazzfest 2006
11:07 PM Pink Martini Bukra wba'o Hey Eugene!
11:10 PM Pink Martini City of Night Hey Eugene!
11:14 PM Pink Martini Dosvedanya Mio Bambino Hey Eugene!
11:22 PM Eric Dolphy Miss Ann Status
11:29 PM Bebel Gilbert Simplesmente Bebel Gilberto Remixed Start of Snuggle Set
11:35 PM Tom Waits Somwhere Blue Valentine
11:38 PM Oregon Beneath An Evening Sky Oregon In Moscow
11:44 PM Beliss Trees Beliss
11:49 PM Pink Martini Tea For Two Hey Eugene!
11:57 PM Mahavishnu Orchestra A Lotus on Irish Streams Inner Mounting Flame

KMHD Playlist from 4/21

From my show, 10pm to Midnight every Saturday night on KMHD 89.1 in Portland and here on the web.

1. THEME WAYNE HORVITZ DUKE FROM MONOLOGUE

2. TREES SNOOKS EAGLIN FROM THE WAY IT IS

3. PEPE LINQUE OREGON FROM CROSSING GLEN MOORE TUNE

4. BROADJUMP JOHN KIRBY/CHARLIE SHAVERS FROM MOVIE SEPIA SINDERELLA 1947

5. WONDERING WHERE DON BYRON FROM BUG MUSIC

6. THE PENQUIN RAYMOND SCOTT FROM RESTLESS NIGHTS AND TURKISH DELIGHTS THE MUSIC OF RAYMOND SCOTT

7. DON BYRON THE PENQUIN FROM BUG MUSIC

8. FUNKALICIOUS KEITH SCHREINER AND DEREK SIMS UNRELEASED

9. VALENTINES DAY KEITH SCHREINER AND STORM LARGE FROM SESSIONS AT EAST

10. DON'T KNOW THE NAME KEITH SCHREINER SAW IT PERFORMED LIVE WITH DEREK SIMS UNRELEASED

11. CIRCLE DANCE PAUL MOTIAN TRIO JOE LOVANO BILL FRISELL

12. HOW SHALL I SEE YOU THROUGH MY TEARS JEVETTA STEELE AND THE J.D. STEELE SINGERS FROM OEDIPUS AT COLONUS ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM

HOUR 2

1. JOY OF TROY ORNETTE COLEMAN FROM TWINS

2. CYBER CYBER ORNETTE COLEMAN AND JOACHIM KUHN LIVE IN LEIPZIG

3. THE BLESSING DON CHERRY FROM ART DECO

4. NEFERTISIS ANDEW HLL FROM LIVE AT MONTREAUX VINYL
SNUGGLE SET

5. PURPLE NIGHT BLUES SUN RA FROM PURPLE NIGHT

6. #11 DANZA LUCUMI 3 LEG TORSO ARR GABE LEAVITT

7. A VALENTINE OUT OF SEASON JOHN CAGE FROM IN A LANDSCAPE STEVEN DRURY KEYBOARDS

8. LULLABY FOR HELENE (QUARTET VERSION) BILL EVANS FROM FROM LEFT TO RIGHT CD VERSION

9. BETTY CARTER

1O. SWEETER THAN THE DAY WAYNE HORVITZ FROM FROM A WINDOW

My KMHD Playlist 4/14/07

I do a radio show Saturdays from 10pm to Midnight (Pacific) on KMHD-FM 89.1 on the radio and streaming live here on the web.

Here's the playlist from last night.

Time Artist Song Album Notes

10:01 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue
10:03 PM Bobby Previte Open World Pushing the Envelope
10:08 PM John Zorn The Sicilian Clan Naked City
10:14 PM Liv Warfield Brotha Man Embrace Me Live at Doug Fir
10:25 PM Dahlia Forget This Place Emotional Cycles Jen Folker on vocals
10:29 PM John Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen Pin Your Spin Pin Your Spin
10:32 PM Reggie Houston's Earth Island Band Mean Bunions Urgin for the Virgin He means Virgin Islands
10:35 PM Galactic Black Eyed Peas Late for the Future
10:40 PM David Vest Monklite in Vermouth Unreleased
10:42 PM David Friesen Trio Come Rain or Come Shine Midnight Mood Live in Stockholm Randy Porter Piano, Allan Jones Drums
10:49 PM Mac Potts Tipitina Unreleased www.myspace.com/macpotts
10:58 PM Various Last of the Hipmen A Tribute to John Coltrane David Murray on Sax
11:06 PM Lester Bowie Rio Negros The Great Pertender
11:14 PM World Sax Quartet Night Train Rhythm & Blues
11:20 PM Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett The Raven Speaks Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett 1971
11:27 PM Gil Evans Las Vegas Tango The Individualism of Gil Evans Vinyl
11:36 PM Dr. John Qutre Parishe N'Awlins Dis Dat or D'Udda
11:38 PM Oregon Take Heart Northwest Passage
11:43 PM Zoe Keating We Insist one cello x 16: natoma layered cello
11:46 PM Pink Martini Song of the Black Swan Hang on Little Tomato
11:49 PM Tim Buckley Chase the Blues Away Blue Afternoon
11:53 PM Yet To Be Oregon Northwest Passage
11:58 PM Wayne Horvitz Duke Monologue Show Theme

The Cruel "Old" Subtext in the Imus Flap

Just as the Imus flap has exposed how deeply the race issue goes in America, what you may not have noticed is the subtext for many of Imus' detractors. That is the subtext of age discrimination.

Laugh if you want. But if you're laughing at that statement, you're probably under 55. And you probably laughed at "I've fallen and I can't get up." And you laugh at all the "old" jokes, too.

Take the subtext in Nina Burleigh's post here "Don Imus and the Rage of the Viagrans." His first offense was his statement about the Rutgers women. His second offense was that he's old. He needs Viagra and is therefore a lesser person than someone who doesn't. He's just old. Push him out of the way and get on with it.

Take her last line, " They are the jokes that their wives and girlfriends share with each other, but quietly, in order to hang onto their icky diamond rings and the rights to the sweet little retirement ranch.
They have to do with what those little blue pills can't cure forever."

Perhaps she doesn't see what's in her future.

Unlike bashing ethnic groups, dissing older people is particularly stupid because while Imus will never become black, every single one of those who ridicule their elders will one day become a member of the club.

In many societies elders are respected. Not this one. The difference is that the current crop of older folks are boomers who are not about to take the guff. Present company included.

You can laugh at me but I learned everything before you did, and I’m going to know what happens after you die before you do. Top that with a Viagra joke, kid.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Imus Was Doing His Job

Those African-Americans who are calling for Don Imus to be fired, should look to their own media. Radio One, an African-American owned radio network, for years has hired black racist talk show hosts. They constantly generalize about "white folks" or "Europeans." They're serious. They're not making jokes.

Ever seen any African-American comics on HBO or BET? One anti-white joke after another.

Are African-Americans going to fire anyone who makes racial jokes? How about blacks who do the dozens on other blacks? Let's fire them. Just because you're of the same race as the person to whom you are throwing the worst insults possible (the sole purpose of the dozens), doesn't absolve you of hurtful language.

Was Imus' comment stupid? Sure lots of Imus' comments are stupid. He has made a career out of stupid comments. Did I think he meant what he said? Of course not. He was doing the dozens. He insults everybody. He's a SHOCK JOCK. His purpose is to shock you. How can he shock you? By going to the limit of taste and sensitivity.

That's his job. You and I may not like the job description, but that's what he gets paid for.

I realize there's a danger in that kind of humor. But the essence of humor is exaggeration. Imus' technique of saying the worst thing that comes to his mind in order to get a laugh may be regrettable, but it doesn't make him a racist. If that were true then paint every jock and comic of every race with that brush and fire all of them.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

George Bush's Jake LaMotta Moment

Remember in "Raging Bull" when Jake LaMotta was fighting Sugar Ray Robinson for the last time? Jake was beaten to a bloody pulp. Robinson brutally hit him, repeatedly. When the ref stopped the fight, LaMotta stood, blood all over his face. Blood even dripping from the ropes. Although he was still standing, he was thoroughly defeated. He turned to Sugar Ray and said, "I never went down, Ray. You never got me down, Ray. I never went down, Ray," as though that fact mitigated his defeat.

George W. Bush has had a series of Jake LaMotta moments recently, talking defiantly to the Democrats who have defeated him. As his administration, and his life, crumbles around him, he stands in the rose garden and says, "I never went down, Nancy. You never got me down, Harry. I never went down, Democrats."

The whole world knows he has been defeated, yet he stands, bloody, trying to make us believe that it means something that he appointed the Republican fund raiser, and lying Swift Boater Sam Fox as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. Another crony who would have been rejected by the Senate, snuck in as a recess appointment.

"I appointed Sam Fox, Ray. You couldn't stop me, Ray."

He stands in the ring with boos in his ears, looking defiantly into the camera and telling us that he will veto the funding for the troops. He's still reeling from the punches, dizzy and confused. Maybe he'll never realize what's happened to him…the total rejection of his presidency.

He behaves as though these childish acts negate the series of Bush Administration scandals that have been exposed. It doesn't.

As Jake's behavior was indicative of his total denial (of everything), so is Bush's recent bully behavior. Many bullies understand when they've lost. Jake didn't. Bush doesn't.

I know it'll never happen but I wouldn't mind seeing Bush in a dark cell banging his head against the wall and shouting, "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"

All we can hope for is that Bush ends up running a cheap bar in Miami, where he gets up on stage every night and tells bad jokes.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Sampson Revealed True Bush Philosphy

"The distinction between 'political' and 'performance-rated' reasons for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely artificial."
---Kyle Sampson, under oath.

We know that's your philosophy, Kyle. But that's not how "justice" is supposed to work. We know that your statement reflects the entire ethos of the Bush administration. Thanks for summing it up.

Politics trumps everything.

How nice of you to give us that very clear picture. "Performance-related" is the same as "political." Doing the right thing in the pursuit of justice and punishing criminals is a function of politics.

Has there ever been a clearer explanation of the theory of Rovian governance? I mean other than that he "goes home and rips the heads off of small animals." Did anyone notice how easily those words rolled off of Rove's tongue. They sounded just like all of his other lies. I wonder which of them we should believe? I choose to believe that there are many headless small animals in Karl's compost.

The "small animal" line is much more credible than anything Alberto Gonzalez has said in the past few weeks….I mean than he EVER said.

All Democrats have to do is swear these people in and let them talk. They'll tell us their morally bankrupt philosophy.

I used to think I was a cynic.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Notes: 10,000+ On the Streets of Portland, Oregon

Several weeks ago I posted here about my reactions to the antiwar demonstration in Washington D.C. I called it Good Demonstration, Bad Show. It was based upon watching people on TV scream into microphones at the podium before thousands in the live audience…and how that made for bad TV. And how that presented a good point of view badly.

Yesterday, I participated in a similar demonstration in Portland, Oregon. An estimated 10,000-15,000 people marched through the downtown, filling around 20 city blocks with a single purpose, demanding an end to the war. There were other issues and other groups involved including a bunch of those cute anarchist kids who caused a ruckus and got themselves arrested.

Early on, I sought them out because I figured they're would be the only ones who presented any danger (read: entertainment) in an otherwise polite spectrum of lefties of all stripes. They carried a sign which read, "No Gods, No Country, No Masters," (without the commas). As they marched they chanted, no jeered, at bystanders, "While you're shopping, bombs are dropping."

They appeared to be 16-20 years old. They appeared feel they had nothing to lose and were bent on venting their anger. I felt like they were my army. Then I thought, "All armies are always made up of people this age." I must admit it felt empowering to consider that they were fighting in my name. Then I thought, "Does that make me any different from anyone else who has an army?"

That thought didn’t stop me from enjoying their enthusiasm. During the Vietnam protest era, I was having a beer with some guy who was around my (draft) age. He looked at me very seriously and said, "You're into trashing aren't you?" (Note: "trashing" meant busting up things in the name of "revolution," a word that was tossed around a lot back then.) I said, "Uhhh. Ummm. Well, I'm kind of non-violent but I can see your point."

When they caused the dust-up, they spray-painted the backs of several members of the media. I thought, "Good point."

Nevertheless, as far as staging one of these mass demonstrations, it's still a bad idea to let one person after another drone on and on from a stage, through a sound system that about 25% of the crowd can hear while the rest of the folks hang out till it's time to march. It's mostly preaching to the choir anyway, and let's face it, it gets boring, no matter how heartfelt the preacher.

Oh, and one more thing. Could we have about 80% fewer folk singers?

Thankfully, and probably because it's Portland and the West Coast, there was a Burning Man feel to some of the festivities. We need that. If you don't know what Burning Man is, you're part of the problem.

There were a lot of clever signs. Take note in case we need more demontrations in your town:
"The Rapture Is Not An Exit Strategy"
"You're Certainly Too Stupid to Be the Antichrist…But You're Evil Enough," including a picture of Bush with horns.
"Some folks say we're Bush Bashing. In Oregon we call it THINKING."
"War Is Terrorism with a Bigger Budget."
"Empty Warhead Found In White House."
"W Is the New Swastika."
And one that said simply, "Enough."

What's good is being in a crowd of ten thousand people who think more-or-less like you do. It's inspiring. It was inspiring. Inspiring because folks like us have helped turn the tide. The problem is, of course, that in the face of overwhelming public disapproval of the war, the White House sends more and more troops. At the same time we chafe at the pace of Congressional action.

The point is to end the war, after all. Point made yesterday, anarchists and all.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Oregonian Story on Shel Bailey

I wrote this piece on Shel Bailey for today's Oregonian A&E section.

To My Fellow Jurors Part 2

I actually got started writing a piece on the trial we were on. A few minutes ago, after futher consideration and after looking at the defendant's MySpace page and seeing his friends, I came to the conclusion that I'd rather night write about the trial.
If "Slate" had the nerve to walk up to the victim and threaten her IN THE COURTHOUSE, there's no telling what he or his friends might do should I sell this to Willamette Week or Portland Monthly.
I will use the experience in a piece of fiction I'm working on.
Your notes will live on, just not in a piece of non-fiction.
Thanks again. I still feel like we did the right thing.

Oregon's Solution to Universal Health Care

While all eyes are on Washington, on the collapse of the Bush administration and the danger America faces from these wounded Republicans, on the war in Iraq and rumors of wars. While we focus on a premature Presidential campaign which is taking our eyes off the ball and distracting us from the real work at hand, many states are striking out on their own.

While it may seem as a joke and as traditional conservatives are laughing behind their hands at the Federal paralysis they've wrought, state government is still government!

States are moving quickly on global warming and health care. California has a health care bill working and here in Oregon, which made physician-assisted death a health matter, rather than a moral one, a bill has been introduced which makes a lot of sense.

The front man for the bill is former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber (D), himself an M.D. The bill has this simple statement, which blows away all of the complexities that the medical industry throws at us, "the objective of our health care system is health, not just the financing and delivery of health care services."

Oh yeah. The object is not making money for the medical industry. What a concept!

The law "Requires (the) Governor, within 90 days of passage of Act, to request congressional approval to redirect federal moneys into (a newly formed) Oregon Health Fund." That means all of the money that the federal government feeds to the state would go to a central fund which includes, "(a) Medicare funds under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act; (b) Medicaid funds under Title XIX of the Social Security Act; (c) General Fund moneys that would otherwise be spent in the Medicaid program; and (d) The value of state tax expenditures for employer-sponsored health insurance coverage."

The law argues that, "the ability of states to maintain the public's health is increasingly constrained by those federal policies, which were built around 'categories' rather than a commitment to ensure all citizens have timely access to the effective treatment of essential health conditions."

Federal policies were written by those beholden to the medical industry, not to insure the health of Americans but to make money for that medical industry.

The proposed Oregon law recognizes that, "clinging to the system of employer-sponsored coverage as it is currently structured is not an option," and similarly, "that clinging to the current structure of Medicaid is not an option." It aims to, "eliminate the need for a special program for the poor by ensuring that all Oregonians, including the most vulnerable members of our society, have access to treatment for at least the same defined set of essential health conditions."

The bill goes on to explain the nuts and bolts of how the Fund would administer health care. Read it for yourself.

While Congress talks itself to death, some states are actually doing something about health care, our most important problem.

The organization pushing the Oregon bill is We Can Do Better. This bill may or may not be the best solution, but it's an open and honest one. One that has just one objective: to keep us healthy and get us health care that doesn't bankrupt us.

The medical industry has had its day. It's time to put the brakes on them. Overtime.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Check out Art Levine's blog

Despite being an old friend of mine, he's a terrific journalist and a funny guy. His blog is listed on this page.

Portland Girl

A few years ago Greg Bond and I created this music video of a John Callahan tune. It was shot on the rainiest night of the winter, and for Portland that's saying something.
John is known for his good sense of bad humor. It was a revelation to us that he wrote so poignantly.
Clara Aho plays the Portland girl. Quite a trooper, huh?



A few months ago John released "Purple Winos In the Rain," a CD of his songs. A different version of Portland Girl is on it. You can buy it here.

Here's My Appearance On Evening Magazine

Last spring, Seattle's Evening Magazine (KING-TV) ran a piece on me and the Rabid Nun Infects Entire Convent book.
They re-ran it last week. Watch it here.

Understanding the Reactions to the Cheney Bombing

In once sense I can understand why this site would delete comments on the bombing near Dick Cheney in Afghanistan that might lament that the bomb wasn't close enough do personal damage to the VP. Most of us, no matter how grudgingly, approved of Michael Dukakis' answer to Bernard Shaw's question during the campaign for President. Shaw asked, "Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" Dukakis said, "No, I don't, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life."

What most of us thought at the time was, "If somebody raped and murdered MY wife, I'd like to see the bastard die a slow death, but I refuse to lower myself to his level."

When the planes hit the buildings on 9/11 and thousands died, most of us wanted to retaliate. We thought it right to retaliate. That means killing the people who were responsible for those deaths. It was roundly agreed upon, except from those who think any killing is wrong.

So when Dick Cheney, the one man responsible for the deaths of thousands of American men and women in his boutique war in Iraq, and the maiming of tens of thousands of other Ameicans in his war. And the one man responsible for turning America into a nation who comitts atrocities and war crimes in torturing prisoners and illegally holding others.

And the one man responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands (hundred of thousands?) of Iraqis. And the one man who wants to start another war with Iran.

And when the one man who has hijacked the American Constituion and has tried to turn our country into a Presidential dictatorship has a bomb go off near him, is it so far-fetched to wish him ill? How many of us would have the courage of Michael Dukakis and say, "No. I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life?"

If I heard he had been blown up? It's never good to take a life but I would not have been unhappy to have someone else as Vice President of the United States.


This is also on huffingtonpost.com

To My Fellow Jurors

Was a troublesome weekend, wasn't it?
I have not get begun to write and I don't know where it'll end up, if anywhere. If you'd like to see the result it might be better for you to email me your email address and let me notify you when I'm done and what I've done with it.
My email is tvdpdx@gmail.com
I'm getting a CD of the courtroom recordings and I'd be happy to share that with you, too. They don't transcribe, or "translate" as that P.I. called it.
Thanks to those of you who gave me your notes. I will not be using the real names of any of us jurors.
I still feel I made the right decisions, even though doubt creeped in from time to time. It wasn't enough to make me think I should have voted the other way.

Portland Songwriters Contest Story

Here's a piece I wrote which ran on Friday, February 16 in the A&E section of The Oregonian.

Through the Open Shield

Originally posted on Common Ties a wonderful website which I am very happy to write for.

By Tom D’Antoni

It was 1992 and I had it going. I was living in Baltimore. I had a writer/producer staff job at an advertising agency, I had a show on a national talk radio network, I had begun publishing an alternative newspaper and I was producing a TV show for the Mayor of Baltimore. Around that time King World hired me to produce segments for a new TV show they were introducing starring comedian Tim Reid. And I was living with my poet girlfriend and helping her raise a 10-year-old son.

I had a great life.

Within six months it was all gone. Everything, including the girlfriend. Some of it was my fault and some of it was bad fortune. Doesn’t matter though, does it?

I had nowhere to turn. I got a job driving a cab and spent the next two-plus years working at America’s single most dangerous occupation.

Driving a cab in a city like Baltimore is not like driving a cab in New York or L.A. where, although it sucks, it is perceived as a way-station, an in-between job for creative types. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a godsend for immigrants, and in towns like Portland, Oregon, drivers actually enjoy their work and make a profession out of it. But see, I had already had my work before millions of people and I was over 40. It felt like a dead end. How could I ever recover? I didn’t see any way possible.

I played the kill-me game. I would pick up anyone. I picked up every criminal I could find. Maybe one of them would kill me. Baltimore was a racist town, probably still is, and the hatred went both ways. I was the fish and the cab was the barrel.

It felt good having sunk so low. It confirmed all the bad things I believed about myself. If I had been smart enough, I thought, I would have been a real criminal. They weren’t going to have their phone cut off. They didn’t have a heart to break. I was stuck. I could see no way out.

I was in shock. I felt the pain, but I was too numb, hurt too badly to feel all of it. I drove cabs so beat up they shouldn’t have been on the street. I wasn’t able to drive every day. I didn’t want to die that much. I was passive aggressive about my suicide. Three, maybe four nights a week, and no weekends, too much competition. I could make as much on a Monday as those poor bastards did fighting each other for fares on the weekends.

It was too crazy on the weekends, anyway. I couldn’t even commit to my own suicide enough to risk being out there at 1:30 a.m. when the night was at its peak, when the bars were almost closed, and the frenzy of drunken, vicious men scavenged the streets, out to use the night and everybody in it for their own purposes, no matter what the cost.

Fridays were the worst. People got paid on Fridays. You never had the back of the cab empty then. You were never out of danger. I wanted to choose my poison. I didn’t leave the house thinking, “Tonight I’m gonna do something to cause them to kill me.” Maybe it would just happen that way.

Odd, in light of this, that I wouldn’t drive without a shield between the front and back seats. Some drivers wouldn’t drive WITH one. They didn’t pick up criminals.

Cab drivers were getting shot all the time, blown away usually from the back seat, sometimes from the driver’s side window. It didn’t make me feel anything. I figured one of these days my number would come up. There would be a lot of pain for a brief moment, and then all the pain would stop.

I felt time running out. I had spent so much time working at what I did best, the writing, TV and radio … this should have been the time I put it all together and really did something. Instead, I was in this cab. I could feel the time slipping by like I was bleeding to death.

I thought about those self-righteous self-help bastards on TV, always talking about having a choice … nice theories … bullshit in reality. Ask a junkie. Ask a drunk. Ask the cab driver.

In the depths of it all, I picked up a black woman and her little daughter who was maybe 5 years old. I left the shield open. We didn’t talk after she told me where she was going. I was so buried under the weight of my failure I could barely talk to anyone.

What prompted her, I’ll never know. We drove in silence for 10 minutes. I stopped at a red light. Without warning, the little girl grasped the base of the open shield with both of hands. She stuck her head through the opening in the shield and said, “I love you.”

I busted out crying.

It was the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Through my tears, I said, “I love you, too.” I don’t know if her mother heard me or what she thought, but she must have been as surprised as I was.

My misery continued for another couple of years, but that one moment of pure angelic bliss has never left my mind.

Send This Message To the Troops---The Truth

Republicans like John McCain and Joe Lieberman (I know) keep saying that we shouldn't send the wrong message to the troops, when it is they who have been sending not only the wrong message to the troops, but wrong in sending the troops THEMSELVES in the first place.

Truth is harsh. It's not pretty, but here is the message the troops should be hearing:

You have been sent to fight and die so that several American corporations can make untold fortunes from your sacrifices. You were lied to from the beginning. There was no threat to the United States. You are not defending "freedom." You are dying so that others may get richer.

That's why your friends have died, your wives, husbands, children, grandchildren, even Cindy Sheehan's son. Not for freedom, or to prevent another 911, but for the greed of the friends of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. In other words, in vain.

As tough as that is to swallow, it's the truth.

Troops, the rest of America has figured this out. We're trying to get you home. Many of us have been fighting for years to get you home. Many of us did all we could to try to prevent you going there.

One problem is that Bush has two more years in the White House, and you are stuck in his hell. Many of you will die for his miscalculated adventure which, although it blew up in his face, still provided war profits on a scale that should send him and his friends to a federal prison for the rest of their lives. His handlers have turned his latent megalomania into an excuse for keeping you in the middle of a civil war that they stoked.

Make no mistake, we want you home. The problem is that politicians are politicians. When a McCain trots out the tired old (see 1968) "supporting the troops" chant, even politicians against the war take cover, sputtering when they should be loud and clear. It's simple. The war was wrong. We were lied to by the Bush Administration to get into it. It is they who have the blood of your comrades on their hands.

They need to say, "Not one more dime for this war. Nothing. Mr. President, if you don't have the money to fight this war, then you'll just have to bring home the troops. And start today."

That's what the American people were saying on election day.

A harder truth is that it is our troops who tortured and are probably still torturing. Yes, I know that orders came down from above, but the deeds have been carried out by the "troops" we're supposed to be supporting. Every action carries personal responsibility and the responsibility for killing and maiming in the name of me and my country is on the troops as well as those giving the orders.

Here's another idea, troops. Stop fighting. Do everything you can to protect yourself and your comrades, but no more. Tell your commanding officers, they might agree with you. If you come home and they want you to go over again, don't go. Step forward and join the huge percentage of the rest of us who are convinced that this is a mistake that we need not compound any more.

So if you're one of the troops who continues to kill Iraqis so that Haliburton, Exxon-Mobil and the rest can continue to loot America's treasury and ruin the economy for future generations, I don't support you. You don't represent me. You represent a CEO someplace.

Like I said, truth is harsh.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Gays In the Military---It's a MALE Problem

The problem with gays in the military being out of the closet is not a gay problem. It’s not even a straight problem. It’s a male problem, it has to do with how men behave.

In the entire debate, which began again once last week, there has hardly been a peep out of lesbians or hetero women on any of the issues raised by straight men opposed to the idea. We didn’t hear anything about women not wanting to shower with other women, or sleep in close quarters, or…. anything.

Why? Because women don’t behave the same way as men do, sexually. For one thing, with very few exceptions, women don’t rape.

There is within every man, straight or gay, an unconscious understanding of male sexuality. It is, I am told by my gay male friends, better understood by gay men, because they deal with other men’s sexuality on a regular basis. But straight men (like me) know that, given the opportunity, men will have sex with anything that attracts them; be it male, female, animal, vegetable….basically any other person or object in the universe.

And when are the male peak sexual years? The same years most men serve in the military, including the years when the main thing men think about is sex.

That’s what straight men in the military are afraid of, even though they may not know that’s what they’re afraid of. Unfortunately, they may be right. This is not an argument against giving gay men and lesbians the same rights for which they are putting their lives on the line. It’s just a fact about men.

If gay military men were allowed to be out, it could well be a tremendous lesson for men in general. It could help men in confronting the fact that it is the men in the world who do the raping, and most of the sexual harassment. When these straight men are confronted with gay men who behave the same way toward them that they have behaved toward women….well, we may have some old fashioned consciousness raising.

And, by the way, anybody who thinks that gay men won’t be checking out every good looking man who walks by, just doesn’t understand men.

Does this mean that men can’t control themselves? Of course not. It means that men might better learn to, finally, or at least learn that anything that turns them on is not fair game.

It’s all a learning experience. Learning how to live with each other in or out of the military is tough, given the random nature of human behavior. There should be a lot more talk among men about their sexuality. And I mean neither Howard Stern-type discussion, nor running to the woods and beating on drums.

There aren’t any simple answers to the questions of how to deal with men of all sexual orientations in the military. Men just don’t deal with their own sexuality very well.

Perhaps a calms discussion of how men of all sexual persuasions can live together in the military is a good place to start.

Sex In Space?? America Demands Answers!!

Once again, reality catches up to tabloiditry.

Years ago I wrote a piece for The Sun, the American supermarket tabloid, entitled "Sex In Space, They've Already Tried It." The piece was rejected because they didn't want any sex stories, something I always regretted because sex is the home page for fantasies. There are more fantasies about sex than any other single aspect of human existence.

Don't look at me like that.

Nevertheless, I didn't include that story in my book "Rabid Nun Infects Entire Convent and Other Sensational Stories From a Tabloid Writer ." It just wasn't as funny as the others, which may be another reason it got shot down by The Sun.

Now we find out that astronaut Lisa Nowak and Shuttle pilot William Oefelein were "involved." They may have tried it during weightless training for all we know. They never flew together, but other men and women have shared that small intimate space aboard the Shuttle. According to MSNBC, "Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was 'more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship,' according to an arrest affidavit."

All of this came out when she was arrested for allegedly going after a woman whom she thought was seeing her celestial lover.

Do our astronauts have meaningless sex in space?

Now the real questions begin:

Did they take their clothes off?
What's it like doing it while weightless?
Did the others know?
How far did they go?
What's the quality of the orgasm in space?
How do they clean up?
Is there video?
Where can I buy it?

As a loyal American citizen, I demand to know these answers. I helped pay for the damned Space Shuttle and the salaries of those astronauts and I want the facts! Here's where Congressional oversight comes into real play.

What have we learned from their experiences?
Did weightlessness contribute to Nowak's alleged jealous rage?
Is the pilot of the shuttle a cad?
Is it true that they had to erase "For a good time call Lisa at (phone number redacted)" on the shuttle and the space station walls?
And just how do all those sperms swim without gravity?

America demands answers!!

A can of worms has been opened! Was this the first time?
Have they been testing out the body's reactions to sex all along?
What about all those men-only flights?
Is there a higher rate of pay for those who participate?
Do they tip?

I want Congressional hearings now! And I want them on C-SPAN, every goddamned second of them.

America is drooling today!

And don't bother looking for the video online. I already tried.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Harold & Kumar Go to Jail In Boston---For WHAT?

How funny was it to hear those self-righteous reporters at the "news conference" held by Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, the two guys who pranked the city of Boston?

Very.

Very very.

Gave me faith in the power of silliness.

First of all, they were obviously told by their lawyer not to talk about the case. So what do you do if you're creative, hold a certain contempt for MSM and have been told to shut up? You ACT up. You talk about hair. Dreads, especially.

The New York Times said that "the men engendered little public sympathy when, after their release, they held a news conference at which Mr. Berdovsky said they wanted to discuss 'haircuts in the ‘70s and how they affect our lives today and how we live in the future.'"

Wrong. They engendered lots of public sympathy (and giggles) from people like me who understand what a prank is, and that somebody grossly overreacted in Boston, thinking that stupid little ad boxes were bombs.

According to the NYT, a spokesperson from the offending company. "said that the company had intended the devices as unconventional advertising in 10 cities, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. She said the light boards had been in place for two to three weeks and there had been no complaints from other cities."
A Boston official said, “Maybe the media wants to take this lightly and ask foolish questions -- they can do that, but we’re going to take this seriously.”

And now Boston wants to jail Harold and Kumar for putting up stupid little boxes to advertise a goofy cartoon series. Further, the media continues to excoriate the boys for playing with them at the news conference.

Somebody needs to lighten up, starting with the City of Boston and its media.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Some Recent Oregonian Stories of Mine

I've been writing for their A&E section. Here are some you might like:

On Noah Mickens

On bassist/singer Belinda Underwood

On trumpeter Jumaane Smith

Don't Be Fooled by Gordon Smith's "Moderation"

I was wrong when I wrote here about Sen. Gordon Smith (R. Oregon). Well, I wasn't mistaken in my reaction to my meeting with Smith when I was working on a story on physician-assisted suicide, I just cut him a break of which he isn't deserving.

For the real lowdown on Smith please read this story by Steve Novick in the current issue of Portland's Willamette Week. It'll set everybody straight about Smith.

Ok, I admit it. I WAS wrong. And I'm voting for Steve if he runs.

Good Demonstration, Bad Show

The anti-Iraq demonstration on the mall in Washington was all well and good. Not huge by historical standards, but it's always good to put some bodies in front of the capitol and show either support or rejection.

Since I was 3000 or so miles away, I watched it on C-Span. What I saw was both happily familiar and extremely discouraging. Happily familiar because I participated in many such demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the streets and on the Mall, and in Oregon during the weeks before the current war.

Extremely discouraging because what I saw on TV was a lot of people yelling into a microphone, and a lineup of various causes and factions that, while worthwhile to consider, distracted from the message of the day.

First, it did nobody any good to stand in front of a microphone and scream angrily. I'm as angry as anybody, as anyone who has read any of my postings here knows, but the series of belligerence that presented itself on my TV, while perhaps effective in a large outdoor gathering, trivialized the arguments against the war and the Bush administration.

Am I calling for more politeness? No. Well, yes. I count myself in with the angriest of the speakers, but I know how to use a mic and I know what works on TV and what doesn't. Yelling into a mic doesn't play well, except with the people who agree with you to the letter. Hell, I'm on their side and it annoyed me. Imagine how it played elsewhere.

You know what it's like? It's like watching a play performed in a theater, but shot for TV. The actors are playing to the balcony because they have to be heard, but to the viewer, it appears as though the actors are overplaying everything. Everything is exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness.

Thankfully, nobody watches C-Span.

And another thing. Stop with the chants. It was one thing to yell "Hell no, we won't go," even "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, NLF is gonna win" in 1968. It's another thing to keep chanting the same things over and over and over and over. Get a new tune. Better still, don't chant. I don't care if it makes you feel good. It pigeon holes you. It dates you. And it annoys me.

And variations don't work either. It's old media. It's medium hot. All it does is get on people's nerves.

As far as allowing every group who has an axe to grind that might be the least bit close to the issue at hand? Keep the message simple. Yes, we'd all like the Palestinians to have self-government, but keep them off the podium at an anti-Iraq war demonstration. It only confuses the issue.

I took away this image from watching on Saturday: Somebody dressed in a big winter coat, standing in front of the microphone yelling, with steam billowing out of their mouth. Spit, too. I know they were trying to rally those in attendance. It didn't look that way. It looked like something I wanted to avoid.

These demonstrations need to be re-thought and brought into the 21st Century.

This also appears on huffingtonpost.com

Welcome to the Geezer Club

I would like to be the first to welcome the members of Gen-X to the Geezer's Club.

The current issue of "Betty's Attic: Where memories of yesterday live on today" arrived in my mail today. It featured various nostalgic ephemera: Elvis merchandise, a Marilyn Monroe Shoe Purse, a Lucy "Vitameatavegamin Wall Clock," a Betty Boop watch, a Reagan wall plaque, various WWII and Civil War items, a Mr. T bobble-head doll, stuff from The Munsters, The Beatles and John Wayne, a "Flower Power Car Magnet Set," and an assortment of vintage car models, among many other things. But on the "Sights & Sounds From The Past" page, next to some Elvis Poster Magnets and Grateful Dead merchandise was the "Kurt Cobain Figure."

Gen-Xers, you've finally made it.

The copy reads, "Generation-X-ers remember the first time they heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' It was a seminal moment for rock—grunge replaced 80s glitter and Kurt Cobain was at the forefront of a cultural transformation. This 7" tall vinyl action figure with acoustic guitar, chair, microphone and music stand captures the essence of Cobain based on a 1993 MTV Unplugged session."

It's twenty bucks.

And for Gen-X, I'm happy to say, "It's all over now, baby blue."

You now qualify for membership in the ranks of those you once scorned. Welcomin, bienvenue, welcome. We've been waiting for you.

Personally, I've been waiting for you since I heard your first selfish whine. Now that you're officially over the hill, do those little problems you were having back then seem so big? You thought you had problems then? Well, think how close you are to having your prostate swell up like a bowling ball.

You're going to be in the unenviable position of paying off the bills all of those Republicans ran up when you were off wandering around in your own muck. You couldn't be bothered to vote, of course, you were too busy being sad. At the same time you'll be counting the days until you have to pay for my nursing home bills. You'll be welcoming your Denny's senior discounts then, my friends.

Oh, it's a delicious moment.

When grunge was at its "peak" (or should I say, "depth") I remember saying, "Hey, call me when you get a real problem." Well, now you have one, more than one.

How are you going to handle this? Put on some Elliott Smith?

Face it, your hero has been reduced to a trivial action figure. No more valuable than Mr. Potato Head, who also costs twenty dollars. Or the Zorro figurine which costs a HUNDRED AND SEVENTY!

Are you finding yourself going out much less frequently and dozing off in front of the Daily Show? And not even getting to Colbert? Perhaps you can put your Kurt Cobain inaction figure on your nightstand.

See you in line at Denny's, dude.

This first appeared in The Oregonian on their op-ed page.

Will the media revert to cowardice?

What will be interesting to see this evening is how much of a break the networks and news channels (not Fox News) give Bush when he's finished his hubris. Time after time, we've heard drivel and weak obsequies from the gathered reporters and pundits after a major Bush speech.

Will they reflect the polls and take the gloves off? We know Olbermann will. But in times like these, they have always bowed and scraped to the office and the power. It's one of the things that got us in this mess.

They may have enough cover now. They haven't gotten any more courageous, but when only 28% of the polled population supports Bush's war, the media have someplace to hide.

Today's news channels have programmed like this speech was the Super Bowl. I'm hoping John Madden will be there to telestrate as Bush reads. (As he reads someone else's words.)

What's the Vegas line on the outcome?