More on the Middle East
Here are two columns worth a read which make really good points. First, "Peacenik" Pat Buchanan drops this bomb: ["Where are the Christians?"].

"Now, Israel's rampage against a defenseless Lebanon – smashing airport runways, fuel tanks, power plants, gas stations, lighthouses, bridges, roads and the occasional refugee convoy – has exposed Bush's folly in subcontracting U.S. policy out to Tel Aviv, thus making Israel the custodian of our reputation and interests in the Middle East."

All I can say is wow.
Then there is this by Lou Dobbs: ["Not so smart when it comes to the Middle East"].

"While the United States provides about $2.5 billion in military and economic aid to Israel each year, U.S. aid to Lebanon amounts to no more than $40 million. This despite the fact that the per capita GDP of Israel is among the highest in the world at $24,600, nearly four times as high as Lebanon's GDP per capita of $6,200.
Lebanon's lack of wealth is matched by the Palestinians -- three out of every four Palestinians live below the poverty line. Yet the vast majority of our giving in the region flows to Israel. This kind of geopolitical inconsistency and shortsightedness has contributed to the Arab-Israeli conflict that the Western world seems content to allow to perpetuate endlessly."

Again, all I can say is wow. Maybe I'm not so "liberal" after all?

Why the stock market sucks: ["Yahoo Stock Falls to Biggest One-Day Drop"]. You make your target, you're selling tons of ads to basically no one, the Internet isn't a tangible thing like a factory, your company turns in millions and millions in profit, but because you aren't as big as Google, and won't become as big any time soon, well, you lose $10 billion in one day. What?! Insane.

'Terrorists' everywhere but little peace
For the last few days, I've been trying to ignore the news. You can't help but see all the war going on, but I've been trying to ignore it.
The latest actions - Israel attacking Lebanon; Hezbollah striking back; tons of innocent people dying - are just another example of how violence begets violence, and another example of how our tax dollars are being spent wrongly. And what an uneven fight: Israel, with her ships and jets and tanks; Hezbollah, with their swords, rocks, and homemade improvised explosive devices. Israel, with the full backing of the United States; Hezbollah, with some assistance from some loon in Iran who gave them a few rockets.
In my mind, they are both terrorist organizations. I'm not happy with either side's actions and I am even angrier with our government for continuing to fund governments - in this case, the Israeli government - which arbitrarily massacres people for little reason. Unlike some, I don't think the Palestinians are without fault. But, in some ways, they are fighting for their freedom, their justice, and their holy land, just like the Jews are trying to preserve their's. There is no right and wrong here - just death.
As well, people don't know their history. Before the 1940s, Israel didn't exist. The plan for a Jewish state was created after World War I and implemented by the United Kingdom, the country which basically occupied this land for awhile before the Ottomans and Romans. And that is what is so amazing about all of these conflicts in the Middle East: it has basically all come about because of the British government. We, the United States citizenry, are continuing to be dragged into these conflicts, whether we like it or not, based on actions of another country almost a century before [and natural resources too]. We are still fighting these wars and conflicts with our blood and our precious dollars. And, the creators of the weapons - and their investors - get rich on our blood and dimes.
That is why there are no good guys and no bad guys in these conficts, with the exception of the people who are the parasites feeding off all of it.
Some links:
That loon from Iran likens what Israel is doing to the Holocaust: ["Ahmadinejad: Israel acting like Hitler"]. More interestingly, is former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who is suggesting that the president should a spade a spade: ["Gingrich says it's World War III"]. This quote seems to be ass-backwards though.

"This idea that we have this one-sided war where the other team gets to plan how to kill us and we get to talk, is nuts."

The problem with his analogy here is that it sounds like he is talking about Israel and not Hezbollah. Gingrich is an intriuging candidate for president in 2008 ... if we didn't already know him as a liar and an adulterer. I'm surprised by his frank talk, having seen him on C-Span a couple of times now. He is a wildcard; but he will make the race interesting.

The Big Dig fiasco: I really want to go off on this but unfortunately, I don't have the time. I'd need about a week to really tell the entire story I would like to tell from the aspect of someone who watched that monstrosity get built, heard about the shady deals, and watched the media - who are now complaining about it - sit back and watch it happen. Everyone is to blame and not just Matt Amorello and Bechtel, but every complacent pol involved in the bloody mess, from Mayor Menino to the late Tip O'Neill.
I have four words for you: Don't kill the job. That essentially has been the mantra and if you got in their way, they took you out.
Ask Diane Modica, the former city councilor from East Boston who was critical of the thing from the beginning and got taken out by a hotshot real estate attorney - Paul Scapicchio of the North End - who actually managed to get elected even though he a love child on the side! All those happy-faced pictures in Improper Bostonian didn't hurt the guy as he clearly appealed to the young yuppie set taking over what once was a working class neighborhood. Modica got Scapicchio'd, as I liked to say at the time.
Ask the late Jerry Williams, who was doing drive-time on 680 WRKO and was talking about the thing for years and years, only to be taken off the air by then-PD Kevin Straley [if I recall correctly]. He and others were replaced with "hot talk" wankers which took the talk radio format to new lows at the time [Hmm, what is more important: Talking about corruption at the Big Dig or who do you want to see naked on TV?]. And there was a line of them in Boston - from the abhorrent Jeff Katz to others, who thought it more to entertain than to inform and would actually rail that MLK was a commie and adulterer and therefore, shouldn't have a holiday. No one knows what the guy was doing in his bed. Please. Straley, Katz, and others are long gone from Boston radio; but the legacy of a media with no guts and no backbone lives on.
Dan Kennedy had a pretty good piece published in 1997, an opus rather, about the whole Boston talk radio scene at the time. The archives are on the Phoenix's Web site: ["The Death of Talk Radio"]. I'm proud to say that I was a part of that all-important article here:

Take Anthony Schinella, who wants to talk about empowerment but finds himself shut out. Schinella got involved in talk radio through Jerry Brown's 1992 presidential campaign and the 1993 debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement. He's a bright, articulate guy, and he espouses a hard-edged political view that's seldom heard these days. He's beside himself, for instance, that not one Boston talk show chose to focus on the recently announced layoff of more than 100 workers at Osram Sylvania, in Danvers, whose jobs are being moved to Mexico thanks to NAFTA.
But Schinella can't break in. He just left a once-a-week gig at Tufts University's tiny WMFO, and is starting a Sunday-morning show at the slightly larger WUNR (AM 1600). Yet he has few illusions about breaking into the big time. "There's no Triple A farm system," he says. "There's no place for me to go. There's a wall there." And he wonders who, in the post-Jerry Williams era, will talk about the Big Dig, a new baseball stadium, or any of a host of local issues. "When you limit the number of voices, you limit the real news that people get," he says. "You don't get news from Dr. Laura."

It is hard to believe that it is almost 10 years later and we are now witnessing what happens when we have a negligent and complacent media not looking at the serious issues of the day.
I've always liked Howie Carr mostly because he was really funny and went after some really bad people when he was local. But I've always been critical of his need to lower himself to new lows instead of standing his ground and doing what he does best. It was pretty amusing to hear him the other day railing about the Big Dig when his silence during most of it was deafening. 'The listeners don't want to hear it,' he and others would say. But, the worst part about all of this is the fact that media personalities, their producers, reporters, and news directors, do actually control what people think and hear. They decide what people will listen to via what they put on the air. The listeners don't control anything.
Over at the Phoenix, Adam Reilly has a good take on the situation, looking at the effects on the Romney 2008 campaign: ["Mitt's Katrina"].

Meanwhile, back in Baghdad: ["Baghdad starts to collapse as its people flee a life of death"]. Liberals finally get some stones: ["Liberals angry at Boxer for supporting Lieberman"]. A pretty bad suggestion: ["Magna Raises Red Flag Over Nielsen Commercial Ratings"]. And lastly, this, not about people who hate gays but gays who are haters themselves: ["A new intolerance visits Provincetown"].

Hello baby bear!

My wife took this picture of a baby bear in our backyard Friday afternoon.

Nature is an amazing thing. But one bad thing which is happening is that there is so much development in some parts of the world, that many facets of nature are being driven out of their natural habitat.
We live in a woodsy area in the small suburban city of Concord. My family has owned the house we live in for more than a quarter of a century.
In the old days, there were only a few houses around us. Then, a slew of McMansions - before they were termed as such - were built in the woods next door. Soon after that, a slew more were built down the road and around the corner ... and then a slew more up the road ... and then more up the road further ... and then a few more down around the corner again ... and now just feet down the road, another 15 more are going in.
In all, by the end of this year, I estimate that probably 100 new homes will have been built in the immediate area in the last 20 years. That may not seem like a lot. But in what once was pretty much the woods, that's a lot!
In the old days, there were never any bears around here. Deers, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, and obnoxious chipmunks digging up the lawn? Sure. Bears? Nada. But now the bears are finding their entire area being settled by homes and not just a few homes either. And, they don't seem to have anywhere to go but into neighborhoods where they never were before.
And where there is a baby bear, there are usually more baby bears and also, a mummy bear. Mum was probably somewhere near by when my wife snapped this quick shot and you don't not want to get near the mummy bears under any circumstances.
So, what to do? More controlled development might be nice. A bear sanctuary? Bear hunting? Keeping better control of your trash so they don't roam around for goodies and picnic baskets?
How about just plain figuring out how we all live together reasonably ... while not being afraid to go outside with your little ones!
Crossposted at Area603

The Lopez 12-Step Program for Winning the War on Terror, 2006
Guest Perspective/Ralph Lopez
1. Realize Al Qaeda turns von Clausewitz on his head.
There are no standing armies to attack, no tank formations, no air bases. Al Qaeda's source of strength is popular support, which increases or decreases as a direct result of US foreign policy actions. Rather than a traditional military hierarchy, Al Qaeda is a "network." Al Qaeda 2.0. There is no head to cut off. It can only be starved from the bottom, politically.
2. Isolate Al Qaeda in the Arab world by announcing a shift in US policy which redresses grievances held since our 1953 overthrow of democratically-elected Iranian president Mohammed Mossadeq. Apologize for it. Don't worry, even if you don't understand, the Middle East will, and it will make a difference.
3. Get off the oil junk. The former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, Michael Scheuer, identifies our addiction to oil as the root cause of Middle Eastern terrorism. Slap a windfall profits tax on oil companies, and use the proceeds to finance a Marshall Plan for U.S. Energy Independence. Attack any resistance from the oil companies as unpatriotic and heedless of the national security. Play hardball with these bastards. We need to cut back consumption by, say, 75 percent. Sure, we need oil for some things, but non-energy efficient light bulbs isn't one of them. 4. Follow up with a concerted push against our corrupt allies in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, and the rest, to allow their people political rights. Don't argue with them. Just tell them, if you guys keep beating heads at peaceful democratic protests, there go your spare F-15 parts. Do it again, there goes $10 million of your military aid. How do you like me now?
5. Announce our timetable to leave Iraq.
6. With the political initiative firmly underway, go on the military offensive. Take 50,000 troops, seasoned with experience in Iraq, and position them at strategic passes in the Pakistani mountains and tribal areas. Make a giant noose. Take no bullshit from the Pakistani government. You are either with us or against us. Make them see the light. See what happened to that government in Afghanistan? That can happen to you.
7. Drop the cream of Special Operations Forces inside the noose and let them do their thing. Believe me, if the damned politicians would let them, they'd find the terrorists.
8. Prepare the world for the imminent capture of Bin Laden. Tell them look, we're giving you downtrodden people a chance, now let's start fresh. You know this guy attacked us and in your religion, we are entitled to justice. THIS WAR IS OVER. We can all be friends.
Now lets go solve the problem that's going to kick ALL our asses: global warming.
9. No more blank check for the Israeli government to crush Palestinian civilians. They may be our friends, but when your friend is wrong, you tell him. Even if he is your friend.
10. Institute a universal draft, Israeli-style, that gets us old guys (up to 52, I say) into combat gear, since we may need long-term peacekeeping in Afghanistan. Which should be made into a shining model of democracy, even if it takes until our grandchildren's time to do it. It's not fair that the young guys do all the fighting while our fat asses stay safe. This should also go a long way toward making future wars obsolete, when congressmen have to hump a pack and drop and do twenty. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
11. Check the last chapter of my book American Dream for my idea on how to rebuild the World Trade Center.
The symbolism is important, it takes too long to describe here.
12. Now we're hunting terror cells around the world, mopping up with the cooperation of governments and people who know where they are, who have the inside scoop. We'll still have battles with the hard-cores, but their recruitment will dry up. AMERICANS ARE THE GOOD GUYS AGAIN! Eventually the violence will fade, and we can pre-occupy ourselves with the task of building a sustainable human society, based on a stable Earth population. The Constitution will have survived, and we can get back to drinking, making babies, eating carousing and just living our lives.
Heck, life is supposed to be FUN and we shouldn't be worrying about this shit. But for awhile we have to, because the road we're on now leads to NOWHERE.
Ralph Lopez is a former state Senate candidate in Cambridge, Mass. His recent books include "The Elephant in the Room" and "American Dream."
http://ralphlopezworld.com/

Supernova: Week 2
A pretty good showing tonight all around with some of the folks who I thought were pretty rough last week actually sounding good. Good performances once again from Zayra, Storm, and Dana. Surprisingly good performances from Magni, Dilana, and Jill, who I thought all personally sucked last week. Magni did a pretty good version of the The Who's "My Generation." Dilana did a spooky version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." And Jill, who was pretty hot in this short-skirted white wedding dress, did an OK version of Hole's "Violet." Good performances were also turned in by Lukas, Jenny, Patrice and Manchester's own Josh Logan. I think Chris, Toby, Phil and Ryan are in trouble. We'll see tomorrow.

Rock Star: Supernova
Alright, I've gotten sucked into another one.
My wife said, "Let's watch the new Rock Star." I said, "Sure." And so we did and it actually wasn't bad so far.
First, the house band was the same as last time and they are really impressive musicians. But instead of INXS, this one is based on a new "supergroup" formed by Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, guitarist Gilbey Clarke of Guns & Roses, and Jason Newstead, the bassist from Metallica, all bands I personally have no use for. But, at least Dave Navarro is there and Tommy Less is mildly amusing.
Interestingly, the band has allowed their producer, Butch Walker, to sit in on the auditions and make comments, which is pretty cool when you think about it. A supposed supergroup, with egos like the ones these guys probably have, usually would want total control of the situation and wouldn't want a producer to come anywhere near their stuff.
The theme is that the winner of the contest will get to front the new super band. It's not unlike the INXS one except that Supernova isn't actually a band yet. There is already one smartass JD-type guy - Lukas - who actually did a pretty badass version of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" and who is already starting to stir up some trouble at the house.
The first round of songs were pretty standard rock fare. No real stand outs but I scored it this way: Zayra, Patrice, Dana, Storm, Matt, Jenny, Ryan, Toby, Lukas, Josh, Phil, Chris, Jill, Magni, and Dilana. Zayra did this great rockin' gloomy goth piece which I didn't recognize but which was cool. Patrice did a great version of "Somebody to Love." Dana did a Melissa Ethridge song, which I don't really like, but her voice was good. Storm did "Pinball Wizard" pretty well. Ryan did a Goo Goo Dolls track and got criticized for looking down at his guitar too much. The kid from Manchester did an OK version of the Black Crowes but I wasn't really impressed with him that much. Jill was this bouncing Long Island blonde with what clearly looked like fake boobs.
Amazing, this total spaz Dilana got to do the encore - a foolish version of Nirvana's "Lithium" with her bouncing around like a chicken with her head cut off. So uncool. Magni, this guy from Iceland, did this lame version of "Satisfaction" by the Stones which was god awful. We thought for sure he would be in the bottom three. He was in the early voting but was salvaged by late voting.
In the end, Chris, Matt, and Phil were at bottom. I could understand Chris and Phil: Chris did an upbeat version of The Police's "Roxanne" which wasn't too bad except that he was very flat. Phil didn't sing too bad on the Living Color tune he did, "Cult of Personality," but he bounced around like he was in a kiddie tumblers class. Matt did an amazing version of Coldplay's "Yellow" which only slightly faded at the end. He was criticized for not doing something more "rockin'" ... eh ... that song rocks.
So, for their last try out, Chris plays "L.A. Woman." Phil did some song called "Star" by some sludge rock band I didn't know. Matt did "Planet Earth" by Duran Duran, which caused the "supergroup" to all the grimace. They said they didn't think Chris could sing. They told Phil they didn't like his stage presence. They told Matt that song selection was everything and then, booted him.
Actually, what Matt did was pretty clever: He tried to show them that they could potential have a singer which was diverse. They want someone who can "RAWK." That may be fine and good for wankin' off, but is it going to sell records? Ask Velvet Rolver if a "supergroup" that wanks off and doesn't have any friggin' songs if it sells records. Supernova are a bunch of boneheads for booting the guy off.
But remember Matt Hoffer. If he can get a decent band, he might actually become something. And we'll see what happens to the rest of the crowd.

All you need is debt: I'm not a huge Beatles fan. I like 'em; but I not a huge fan. But, it is pretty embarrassing to hear "All You Need Is Love" as the theme music to a Chase credit card commercial. It is almost upsetting. Interestingly, I didn't feel so bad when I saw Verizon using "Pretty in Pink" to sell pink Razer cellphones. I know those guys have families to feed and all. But, Michael Jackson owns the Beatles catalog. All he is doing with the money he got from Chase to destroy that classic was to pay is legal fees for diddling boys. It is a disgrace.

Happy Independence Day
May you all have a safe and happy 4th!

Blogging at Area 603

I've been invited to blog over at Area 603 and can't wait to give it a whirl. Area 603 is a subsidiary of New Hampshire Magazine and has been running the blog for the last few months. There are a slew of interesting people blogging there. I don't quite know what I will be writing about yet. But please do join me. It should make for interesting reading.

Exercise & Downloading
I've been trying to walk more, lose a few pounds and relieve some stress. So far, I haven't been too successful. But, I'm trying. I've also been downloading stuff on emusic.com, one of the more inexpensive downloading services, and having a lot of fun doing it. The problem is that I'm often not using up all the tracks I can download on any given month. I have a reminder set so that I can use them all up before the end of the month. But, I don't always remember.
The worst part about downloading is that I don't have much time to listen to all the cool stuff I'm downloading. So, I've been thinking about buying an mp3 player in order to enjoy some of the music on my walks. But which mp3 player to choose? Probably not Apple, I guess: ["Apple faces the music as public discord with iPod grows"]. I had a mini iPod which I won at NAB in a raffle but I sold it on eBay for $90. I guess I should have saved it. Or maybe not. I didn't have any use for an mp3 player at the time but I do now.
I actually can't bring myself to buy one no matter how much I would like to be walking around listening to the tunage. While I like the sounds of the outdoors, I find my energy level getting pumped when I listen to music. And I would like to figure out ways to increase my energy level while exercising. Any recommendations on mp3 players would be appreciated.

Losing Farm
It's the end of an era in Winchester, Mass. with the signing over of the deed for Winning Farm to Salter Healthcare: ["Salter to take title"].
For any readers in Winchester who check out this blog, you know about this case and some of the writing which I previously did about the issue as editor of that newspaper.
For those of you who don't know, essentially, a rich suburban town sells 40 acres of land - 12.5 developable - to a local health care company with connections to insiders at cost. At the same time, said town begs and begs for more tax money from an aging population who can't afford the property taxes now. It was probably the biggest giveaway in the history of Massachusetts and everywhere you turned, the fix seemed to be in.
Lydia Crafts, the new reporter for The Winchester Star, gets some of the story wrong in this article but that isn't her fault. The larger story was never told because those people who are connected to the project did all they could to protect those folks behind the scene. I even had one person close to the deal come very close to offering me a bribe to ignore the story under the guise of how little money journalists make. That was when I really knew I was on to something. The case of this one parcel - sold at a fraction of its value - would make a great book or even very long piece for a magazine some day, if anyone can ever get to the bottom of it. Someone will, eventually, when the place is built and running and Salter and his minions are raking in the millions.
I'm sure there are a ton of these stories all over the place which aren't being told because the media just doesn't seem to want to look into much any more ... and townspeople are too afraid to upset other townspeople at their cocktail parties. Sigh.

Another Inconvenient Truth
Guest perspective/Roy Morrison
As Al Gore's global warming call to action flickers on the screens of America's multiplexes, we must face another inconvenient truth.
We need to confront the really bad climate change news behind China's economic boom built on dirty coal.
And we also need to grasp the available market based solution to the global warming and sustainability crisis, one that can curb China's and our own poisonous habits.
In the last two years, China has put on line a phenomenal 90,000 megawatts of carbon dioxide belching coal fired electric plants. That's equal to the total British installed electric capacity.
China now burns more coal than the U.S. (2.73 to 2.10 billion tons/year), and by 2025, if the breaks aren't applied, Chinese coal consumption will be 40 percent of the world's total.
The U.S. position as global carbon dioxide king will soon be threatened by Chinese dirty coal powered industrialization. The U.S. will nevertheless remain safely in the lead as oil consumer and carbon emitter to power our ever-expanding motor vehicle fleet - unless we change.
While the West talks about clean coal technologies to make low carbon gaseous and liquid fuels, the Chinese plants are smoke and sulfur belchers using second hand equipment and obsolete technology.
The Kyoto treaty thoughtfully exempted China and the rest of the developing world from greenhouse gas reductions in the name of pollution equity.
Unless the Chinese (and Americans) conduct is fundamentally changed, we likely have no chance of stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at 500 parts per million (ppm) or less by mid century (370 ppm today and rising ). And, of course, 500 ppm may already be way too high an amount of carbon for our liking.
So, what's a concerned movie goer and citizen to do?
Technologically, we have the means, if not the will or the proper price signals, to vastly improve energy efficiency, cover the plains and the coasts with wind turbines, the deserts and our roofs with solar cells, drive ultra light hybrids fueled with ethanol and biodiesel, use clean coal technologies, bubble power plant carbon dioxide through enormous biodiesel algae ponds. The solution to global warming is not simply to appeal to Chinese (or our own) long term best interests to stop pollution before it's too late. As long as pollution is "free," the price for sustainability remains too expensive.
The key is to make what's polluting, depleting, and ecologically damaging more expensive than sustainable alternatives. The means replacing income taxes with ecological consumption taxes and enlisting the market price mechanism and business acumen in service to sustainability.
We can swiftly help domesticate the Chinese dragon by getting our own house in order through ecological consumption taxes, in particular, an ecological value add tax, or VAT, a kind of smart sales tax on all goods and services.
The more polluting, the higher the ecological VAT rates.
What's more polluting will cost more. What's sustainable will cost less. Buy cheap, save the planet can be the new watchword.
And, most importantly, these ecological consumption taxes are consistent with World Trades Organization (WTO) rules. They can be levied on all imports--Chinese imports for instance --to level the economic playing field.
If the industrial world led by the U.S., the biggest consumer, adopts ecological taxes, the Chinese and the other exporting Asian Tigers will be forced to follow and substantially clean up their act or be forced from our markets.
The market and ecological taxation is an available and potent means to transform our own, and Chinese conduct, from the path of ecological self-destruction to that of sustainability and prosperity. It's time.
Roy Morrison is an energy consultant (http://www.rmaenergy.net) and writer. His latest book is "Eco Civilization 2140."

The Noise Top 30 Chart for July
Stations reporting: WAAF, WMBR, WMFO, WTCC, WZBC

1. Mission of Burma – The Obliterati
2. Mittens – Fools on a Holiday
3. Damone – Out Here All Night
4. The Curtain Society – Every Corner of the Room
5. Neptune – Patterns
6. Chas Mtn – Hugs
7. The Snowleopards – “Stuck in the Middle”
8. Adja the Turkish Queen – Adja the Turkish Queen
9. Hanneke Cassel – Silver
10. Ryan Lee Crosby & the Mindless – There is No Music
11. Francine – Airshow
12. Scamper – The Boulevards EP
13. The Silver Lining – Well-Dressed Blues
14. Baby Ray – Low Rises
15. Clawjob – Space Crackers
16. Mr. Lif – Mo Mega
17. The Motion Sick – Her Brilliant Fifteen
18. Ponies in the Surf – Ponies on Fire
19. Pop Gun – Trigger
20. Seekonk – Pinkwood
21. Corin Ashley – Songs From the Brill Bedroom
22. The Blizzard of ’78 – Where All Life Hangs
23. Cocked and Loaded – Ding Dong Doom Baby
24. Gene Dante & the Future Starlets – Gene Dante & the Future Starlets
25. The Glass Set – The Glass Set
26. Harris – The Light is Seeping Through the Cracks
27. Matt & Shannon Heaton – Blue Skies Above
28. Hilken Mancini and Chris Coburn – Hilken Mancini and Chris Coburn
29. The Spoilers – Under the Knife
30. The Weisstronauts – featuring “Perky”

Still giddy about ABC

ABC played the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, N.H., of all places!

Friday night my wife and I went to see the 80s synthpop band ABC at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry [the Good Luck Joes opened for them] and I am still giddy about the experience.
To start, I was happy to see that I wasn't the oldest person in the room. I was additionally happy to see that I wasn't the chubbiest person in the room [not clubbiest; chubbiest!]. And I was also happy to see Sean and Liz from Freezepop there [!], with their friend Craig [who looks strikingly similar to my old bud Doug Gintzler]. They were nice enough to let us sit at their table and it was good to see them after soooo many years [They aren't "friends" per se; just acquaintances. I am a fan of their band and have a bunch of their CDs, and also interviewed them on WMFO and in the Belmont Citizen-Herald since one of their members lives in Belmont].
Liz was surprised that the band wasn't playing in Boston - only Londonderry and Hartford, CT. My wife asked how they found out about the gig and Sean said Liz read about it on one of the Internet boards, rolling his eyes.
I'd been meaning to come down to the Tupelo to see a band for awhile but just never got the chance despite some pretty fine shows. Owner Scott Heyward appeared on my A&E show at the club's one year anniversary and I've done some interviews with appearing artists, including a strange one with Leon Redbone right around the time Katrina hit.
But after interviewing Martin Fry of ABC on the radio, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see them in a place like the Tupelo.
Fry seemed a little uneasy when the band first started playing. Dressed in an orange twill suit with a black shirt - very Halloween actually - he looked out of sorts. In fact, the look on his face into the first song said it all: It was one of half embarrassment, half "Spinal Tap" ala the scene where the puppet show received higher billing at this amusement park they played.
"What the hell am I doing here?" he seemed to wonder.
But by the third song, "Poison Arrow," if I recall correctly, and clearing up some earphone mix adjustments, he seemed to get into the show a bit more and truly warmed up the place and crowd. I initially wondered if he hadn't checked out the empty hall before bounding on stage because he truly seemed surprised by the tables and intimacy of being able to look everyone in the eye.
Of course, it helped that there was a pretty raucous crowd in attendance. While not dancing right away, the crowd was cheering loudly from the start, including a few women in their mid-to-late 30s from dd.com bouncing around [dd.com isn't really a site, it is kinda like a portal or something. Their picture from the show is here: "dd.com girls"]. My wife remarked that it was like being at a very weird wedding.
Fry looked much older than before [granted, it has been 20 years since their last big hit] but thankfully, not tired, and still as cool as all hell.
As promised, he ran through all the hits - "When Smokey Sings," a revamped "Be Near Me," "Date Stamp," and the cheesy "How to be a Millionaire" - while saving the best for last, "The Look of Love." There were even a few tracks I didn't recognize, including something called "Ride" which had a harder, more dissodant feel to it and pretty cool guitar work in it [actually, the guitar work, while limited in places, was impressive]. Fry said he would be trying out a few new ones and that one at least stood out.

The Good Luck Joes opened and played a fine set although I wouldn't describe them as sounding like a cross between Coldplay and Wilco because the band was a tad more Plain Jane than those bands although not bad. I guest I was expecting a bit more experimentation, especially after hearing the description [Who writes those things? They set the band up ...]. The band members can play ... the singer can sing and strum ... but the songs weren't memorable. Sometimes when you see a young band, the songs just knock you in the face. It isn't often the playing that turns you on, because they are a young band. This time though, it was the other way around. They could play but the songs didn't blow you away. They were simply good and that's OK too. I also didn't really like the lead guitarist's tone very much and I couldn't hear the keyboards drowned in the mix but the bass player played well and looked all of 15. I will check out some mp3s online and see if I change my mind on the studio stuff.

If you haven't been to the Tupelo yet, it is a great place to see a band. Just a few miles from the Exit 4 on I-93, the place is like a large barn/shed attached to a residence. There were about 100 chairs with tables and probably could house about 120 people comfortably. They have a small PA but it wasn't too soft and wasn't overpowering. You didn't have to scream to talk to the person next to you while at the same time, folks around you weren't making so much noise you couldn't hear a thing. I reminded me of a small 1950s supper club.

"Be near me ... be near ..."
I don't usually post stuff about things I do at work but this week, I had the coolest interview with Martin Fry, the frontman of the 1980s synthpop band ABC. You can hear the two segments here on mp3: [A&E]. See, man does not live on politics alone, heh, heh ... ABC will be playing at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, N.H. tomorrow night. I will be there. If you see me, do say "Hi." :-)

Congrats to WCAP: ["Local radio hosts sound off about the good old days, honor boss"]. How many radio stations can do this kind of event? Not many.

Gray is the new, well, black: Ah, Taylor Hicks ... the hottest single guy in America: ["Taylor Hicks: Silver Fox"]. Yeah, I got sucked into that silly "American Idol" thing this year and, from the beginning, I said Taylor Hicks was going to be in the finals. I didn't know if he would win; I thought he might. But I did know he would make it far. I don't know why. Maybe, it was the hope that someone with gray hair - granted, not because of age, he is prematurely gray - could win on a silly teeny-bopper show. Although, I was surprised to learn that so many adults watch that show! Practically everyone I know was watching and rooting for Taylor. But still. The guy was cool. He actually had a band - unlike some of the twinks on the show - and he can play the damn harmonica! I can't wait for the album. Hopefully, it will feature his bandmates and will have original tunes on it. Actually, watching Taylor and some recent open mic nights around town have only reminded me how much I miss making music. Although, I don't miss it that much.

One thing to fear - Hillary: It has become painfully clear. And thankfully, leftwingers are going after her. And for good reason. Here is the latest: ["Clinton booed on Iraq"]. This is the killer line right here, from Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey:

"The lesson we drew from the Clinton administration is that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party needs to be better organized in order to be heard, especially given the influence of groups like the DLC and corporate influence in general ..."

Gee, you think? Can anyone say Ralph Nader? And Iraq iscolossalsul mess. A failure beyond proportion.
Then there is this, from CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin: ["Peace Activists at Hillary Clinton's Speech Try to Take Back 'Take Back America'"]. If what Medea says here is true, does anyone else realize what this says? Essentially, the Take Back America folks lied or allowed themselves to be "taken aback" - pun intended - by Hillary's henchmen.
If they lied, then they can't be trusted and they are just another stupid group of people who think they are making a difference when they aren't really making any difference at all. If they didn't lie and were tricked by Hillary & Co. or didn't do anything when her henchmen took flyers from people, then we have more to fear than we thought.Publish
If this doesn't say it all about why we don't want to Clinton folks back in the White House - especially after what W. has done to the Constitution - I don't know what does!

Olbermann: OK, I love "Countdown" as much as the next guy, but please, please Keith, stop attacking your co-workers ... in writing!: ["It's 'Putdown With Keith Olbermann'"]. So what if she is as dumb as a post or has the personality of a soap dish. Big deal. Have some respect dude!

Lieberman may run as an indie
In previous posts, I've touched upon some of things going on in the U.S. Senate race in Connecticut where Joe Lieberman - a former presidential candidate and Gore's VP in 2000 - appears to be in trouble. The latest is that Lieberman is leaning towards running as an indie if he loses the primary: ["Senator Keeps Options Open"].

"I am not going to close out any options ..."

Boy, talk about Sore Loserman!

Unity08: I haven't really been tracking this Unity08 movement thing but I'm intrigued by it. The "people" are clearly irked by both parties. But, I'm worried about some of the rumors I have heard about the people involved in the movement not wanting to take specific positions on trade, immigration, and other important issues. What is the point of that? But then, there is this from Novak, of all people: ["Bloomberg for President?"]. Bloomberg? Bloomberg?!? Well, he is a liberal Republican and he was a Democrat before and he is worth billions and he seems to be an OK mayor so ...

Newt: Another campaign to be intrigued about is Gingrich's, who is leaning towards a run: ["Gingrich May Run in 2008 If No Front-Runner Emerges"]. In other words, he is running. There is no clear frontrunner except McCain and he doesn't count because he ran before and he has about as much chance of being the nominee as Pat Buchanan did in 1996. Gingrich is trying to reinvent himself - by not being as vicious and criticizing his own party - but the big question mark is what the moralists within the party will think about a guy who dumped his first wife on her death bed and dumped his second wife for a twinkie intern. Lesser sexual activity by President Clinton killed Al Gore's campaign. What will it do to Gingrich in a nasty, bloody, 10-way GOP primary?

More on Coulter
Here are two more things on the Coulter spat. First, a former 9-11 commissioner levels some criticism: ["9/11 Commissioner Criticizes Coulter"] and this, about possible vote fraud: ["Coulter lines up heavy hitter"]. Vote fraud? Ann Coulter? No, really?
The latter is worth printing in its entirety:

COULTER LINES UP A HEAVY HITTER
What? Ted Olson wasn't available?
Conservative pundit and best-selling political writer Ann Coulter has hired a white-glove, White House-connected law firm to fight allegations she voted illegally in February's Town of Palm Beach election.
And the attorney from the Miami-based Kenny Nachwalter firm is no stranger to Palm Beach voting. Marcos Jimenez - who was, along with the more famous Olson, one of the lead attorneys who fought for George W. Bush's side in the 2000 presidential election snafu here - was assigned to Coulter.
Jimenez, by the way, also knows a thing or two about criminals. Appointed by Bush as U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida in 2002, Jimenez was charged with going after terrorists, drug dealers and wayward union bosses. Jimenez returned to private practice last year.
"Mr. Jimenez asked us to send him all the correspondence we sent Ms. Coulter," deputy dlections chief Charmaine Kelly said.
A poll worker reported to his supervisors that he saw Coulter try to vote in the precinct closest to her Palm Beach home. But when she was told the address on her voter's registration was elsewhere, Coulter ran out instead of correcting it and ended up voting in a precinct that wasn't hers. Knowingly voting in the wrong precinct
in Florida is a felony.
Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson gave Coulter until April 30 to explain what happened, but she has yet to answer his registered letters. Now with Jimenez, Kelly said, officials will wait "a few more weeks" before starting a procedure that could strip Coulter of her right to vote here and refer the case to State Attorney Barry Krischer for possible prosecution.
Coulter couldn't be reached and Jimenez didn't return calls.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't ole Englepuke ..." A felony, eh? Wow. That would mean she might end up in a women's prison and probably as someone's bitch ... oops, I shouldn't say that, that would be uncivil ...

The revenge of Michael Brown continues: I don't read Editor & Publisher in the print form but I do try and check out their Web site as much as I can. Here are two recent interesting items from it. First, the reason you want to always save your emails: ["Heckuva E-mail, Brownie: Releases Bush 'Scapegoat' Message"]. Now, this is leadership, huh?:

"This was the text of the email message to Brown read on the air: 'I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the President replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.'"

Jeez, so much for the great job he was doing, eh?

And then there is this: ["Goldman Lifts Tribune Rating, Says Odds 'High' for Restructuring"]. This is why things are so bad in the newspaper industry. Well, it's one of the reasons. There are others. But let's stick to this one. The "news" isn't a business. It can't be predicted or controlled. It is its own free-flowing choatic entity. You can make money on it, sure. But, it is irresponsible to destroy the news just to make more money from it. You can't decimate the staff of a newspaper and then expect your product to survive. It just doesn't work that way.

Incivility

Maybe it is my old age or my previous life as the mouth that would occasionally roar. But, if there is one thing I have learned in later life it is that we, as a people, have to try and be civil to each other. It is OK to be critical; but let's try and keep it civil. It isn't easy but it's not hard either.
I'm not a big fan of super conservative or super liberal book authors. There are some I really respect, like Pat Buchanan and Jim Hightower, for example. But I don't go for any of the "haters" like Al Franken and Michael Savage ... "liberalism is a mental disorder ..." oh yeah. And, I don't go for that lunatic Ann Coulter. For someone who professes Christianity so strongly, she is a pretty poor example. Check out this, from her new book, "Godless," talking about the 9-11 Widows:

"These self-obsessed women seem genuinely unaware that 9-11 was an attack on our nation and acted like as if the terrorist attack only happened to them. They believe the entire country was required to marinate in their exquisite personal agony. Apparently, denouncing Bush was part of the closure process. ... These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband's death so much."

Gasp. Wow. Can you believe that? These women lose their husbands and they have to get this from some blonde ding-a-ling? What has she lost? She doesn't have kids who will grow up without their fathers. My Lord!

Mihos picks Sullivan
So much for respecting Christy Mihos' independent run for governor of Massachusetts. Today, Mihos picked John Sullivan, Winchester Town Moderator, as his running mate: ["Mihos names Sullivan as running mate"].
Needless to say, I'm shocked. Most people in Winchester respect Sullivan and never liked that I was often critical in editorials for The Winchester Star of the way in ran Town Meeting - speaking from the moderator's podium about policy and editorializing on how the meeting should vote which would often sway the vote; closing debate down when he felt no one else should speak instead of when the meeting wanted to adjourn a question ["I'm sensing it is time to move the question ..."]; his alleged back room deals and under-handed moves to keep TM members from their elected right to govern - like squashing a warrant article to kill the controversial Winning Farm elderly housing project and then later, helping to ram it through to passage, despite deep opposition for the project. Nevermind the really bad NESWIC contract he was involved in negotiating which almost brought the town to bankruptcy. They have only just begun to get out underneath that mess and are now, finally, paying much less than they were before. This guy is the last person you want a heartbeat away from the governship, believe me.
I should try and dig up some of my columns and editorials about the guy - some pretty amusing and hard-hitting writing, if I say so myself.
Sure, Sullivan was funny with a quip; but deep-down, I sensed something pretty bad about the guy and I just couldn't prove it beyond off-the-record comments, semantics, and insinuations. Well, now he is in the big time. And maybe someone else will find the skeletons. A really bad move by Mihos.