Conservative, Who Me?; A Weekend at the Bike Races

Recently read this article by James Howard Kunstler, made me think about our current climate and environment. I encourage you to read it as well, it's very thought-provoking.

I don't drive to work anymore, I'm fortunate enough to be able to take the free bus to work every day. Lynne and I also got a Honda Civic that gets 40mpg, which is great. I also really hate SUVs; for environmental reasons as well as safety, I think they are a ridiculous waste of gas and not as safe as they are touted to be. Don't you find it ironic that many people who consider themselves "conservatives" are the same ones who drive SUVs? I'd say half of the SUVs in my town have "W" stickers. How "conservative" is it to drive a car that burns gas at 11mpg? If you are going to be a conservative... conserve, don't waste. And do we really need this much car? I could go on, and most SUV owners that I know don't want to hear it. A mild amount of research on the 'net will show you what I'm talking about.

My Aunt Mary Lou, who died a few years ago at the age of 90, told me the biggest problem with America today was greed. We are obsessed with getting things, consuming, convenience. It goes from the top down. Well, read that article I linked above, it says it better than I ever could.

On a lighter note, the bike races are this weekend... heading down to Georgia to see the Tour De Georgia, meet up with Jonathan, Stacy, Isabelle, & Ian. We're staying in the ersatz-German town of Helen. Should be fun!

CD of the Week: The Alternative to Love by Brendan Benson. It's pop and 60s-based somewhat, kind of like New Pornographers and Matthew Sweet, with other elements (XTC? Beatles?) added in as well. Also some singing is a bit like the Apples In Stereo. Again, Enrique (my major source of new artists) put a song on a comp a while back, and this cd came up to the station just a week or so ago. There are some songs I'm just really in love with, esp. Cold Hands (Warm Heart), really nice keyboard elements in there. Very well-crafted album, I'd rate it as highly as that A.C. Newman Slow Wonder record I mentioned in another post.

That's it for now, until next week...

Yellow Dusts; Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy; Dutch Loons

Spring is still in full-force, covering our cars and lungs with thick pollen. It's warm and breezy, and brings back memories of somewhere else.

Got a call the other night, some pre-recorded message from a senator, complaining how the "left is infiltrating our state and local governments... and such arch-liberals as Howard Dean are behind this. Can you sit back and let this happen?!" Being a well-informed citizen, I listened to this pre-recorded speech all the way through. The message got more angry, paranoid, and bloodthirsty as it went on. When it ended I was locking the house and closing the blinds, hoping to hide from these liberals he spoke of, envisioning that they were coming after all of us with pitchforks and torches. Some actual fellow got on the phone after the message and said "Would you want Howard Dean to be president, Al Franken to be senator, and Janeane Garofalo to be a state representative?" Thinking about just how ridiculous that would be, I replied "Yes, yes I would". There was a silence, then a chuckle "Uh... you must be a democrat." "Yes I am." I replied "I have to tell you, that message was so paranoid, bloodthirsty, and hateful, you guys are doing a disservice to both the republican party and the whole political process. Stop being so paranoid and help out your community in better ways." There was a long pause and then "Thank you for your time, Mr. Sampson..."

CD of the Week is BBQs Tie Your Noose. I'm reviewing this for WXDU, so here are my notes so far:

This is a great cd. Sloppy rockabilly/garage, much in the same vein as Flat Duo Jets, rooted in late-50s, early-60s reverby rock and rockabilly, yet manages to evade the modern rockabilly pitfalls, and has a freshness to the guitar playing that offsets the pounding drumming nicely. Songs range from almost soul (tr. 5 sounds like a rockabilly version of a Sam Cooke song!) to garage. The singing is varied and interesting; subtle, quiet, loud, falsetto (check tr.11) ... pretty remarkable for this day in age. BBQ is a one-man band project from Mark Sultan (Les Sexarinos, Spaceshits). Recorded live, with no overdubs. It BBQ is from Montreal, Canada. If the website is correct, this is BBQ’s 3rd full-length release.

I'm thinking that the next purchase might be the new Spoon album Gimme Fiction, which so far has sounded FANTASTIC. My good friend Chris lent it to me, I'll probably get it tonight if I'm anywhere near a CD shop.

Radio show this Sunday (9-10pm east coast US time), a special Dutch-only Who's Got The Cuckoo, featuring Q'65, Outsiders, Zipps, Jay Jay, Motions... and others. Fun!

Marlene & The Cuckoo

Marlene was here this last weekend, lots of fun going to dinner and hanging out at the Full Frame Film Festival (thanks again Liz!). Shot the bbq show with Crispy and Hoppy Saturday, that was a whole bunch of fun, and Judy was along as well.

I'm scheduled to dj the "Who's Got The Cuckoo" this next Sunday, the 17th of April, from 9-10pm (eastern u.s. time). I'm doing a special on Dutch music (Niederbiet) from 1965-1968, including the Outsiders, Q65, Cuby + Blizzards, Rob Hoecke, etc. Listen in at www.wxdu.org!

Lynne took the weekend off to hang out with Marlene, now she's back again studying.

More news when I get it...

Tarheels a Go-Go

GO HEELS!

Well, they sure did go. Pretty awesome. It's been a sea of Carolina blue and white here on campus, and the entire tree population is exploding springtime.

Marlene's in town this weekend, should be fun. Bandelirium was postponed due to the NCAA finals. I'm helping shoot Hoppy and Crispy's BBQ show this Saturday all day, somewhere in the swamps of Eastern NC.

Did the blues show with Uncle Bob last sunday, great show! Turned out great, and was fun to have him up there with me. Did an emergency sub of the Cuckoo Garage Rock Show that night as well, so I was kinda sick of XDU when the day was done.