tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63270109912254247272024-02-02T09:23:18.042-08:00previous daily digressions ('08)Paul Ioriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08705568747562061407noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327010991225424727.post-57082656407170556312009-08-05T17:18:00.000-07:002012-11-26T13:00:25.304-08:00THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for October 4, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>Hardly Strictly Tops Itself with Krauss & Plant</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_iYH7-VVdDPw6ZkuAeBg4s6TK89IafK5XzZzriPiZcsGjzoKB8rRtQUa8AId45Ht8OsBCeHjq-jSsLekGY2stijYmtM90CaDqA18NL_HgGsN_d-eJFqFoyEeNErhI-H70ObRzvGg3mA/s1600-h/scanalisonplant.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253448644898296482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_iYH7-VVdDPw6ZkuAeBg4s6TK89IafK5XzZzriPiZcsGjzoKB8rRtQUa8AId45Ht8OsBCeHjq-jSsLekGY2stijYmtM90CaDqA18NL_HgGsN_d-eJFqFoyEeNErhI-H70ObRzvGg3mA/s400/scanalisonplant.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Krauss, Plant and band at Golden Gate Park last night. </em><br />[photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><br /><br />"This is, seriously, the best festival I've ever been to,"<br /><br />said T-Bone Burnett from the stage, after performing an<br /><br />immensely enjoyable set with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss<br /><br />yesterday evening in Golden Gate Park in San<br /><br />Francisco.<br /><br /><br /><br />It was opening night of the annual Hardly Strictly<br /><br />Bluegrass music fest, a free three-day extravaganza<br /><br />featuring dozens of top rank folk-rockers, folkies and<br /><br />singer-songwriters, among others, and the crowd was<br /><br />bursting.<br /><br /><br /><br />Burnett wasn't exaggerating. I can't remember the<br /><br />last time I've seen such a sense of exuberant celebration<br /><br />on such a vast scale, as if the city had just been<br /><br />liberated and everyone had come to the park to rejoice<br /><br />with beer, wine, smiling strangers, non-stop dancing -- and<br /><br />the best live roots music of the year (for the record,<br /><br />I had water, straight up).<br /><br /><br /><br />The band seemed charged by the fact that the crowd was<br /><br />charged, turning in a performance that was even more<br /><br />electric than their show in Berkeley a few months ago<br /><br />(and that's saying a lot).<br /><br /><br /><br />As for Krauss's voice, I tend to run out of superlatives<br /><br />when describing its beauty. Let me put it this way: I'm<br /><br />a non-theistic guy but when I see and hear Krauss sing, I<br /><br />know for certain there's a musical heaven.<br /><br /><br /><br />Plant was almost Presleyesque (early Presleyesque)<br /><br />in terms of charisma, stagecraft, vocal mastery.<br /><br /><br /><br />And T-Bone's guitar work was often irresistible,<br /><br />particularly when it resembled John Lennon's rhythm<br /><br />playing with the early Beatles.<br /><br /><br /><br />Hardly Strictly continues today and Sunday with an<br /><br />incredible overabundance of greats, including<br /><br />Elvis Costello, Iris Dement, Emmylou Harris and Nick<br /><br />Lowe (all made possible by the massive<br /><br />generosity of entrepreneur Warren Hellman).<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for October 3, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Haven't seen the overnights yet, but I bet yesterday's<br /><br />Biden-Palin match-up drew the largest audience ever<br /><br />for any debate, probably largely because people wanted<br /><br />to see a rank amateur slip and say something stupid<br /><br />in front of around 60 million TV viewers.<br /><br /><br /><br />Well, the slip didn't happen, and the headline is,<br /><br />Palin Didn't Blow It, which isn't the same as<br /><br />saying she won, because she didn't. It was Joe Biden's<br /><br />to win, and he did so with Springsteenesque passion,<br /><br />and when he got to the part about having been a single<br /><br />parent and not knowing whether one of his kids was<br /><br />going to make it, well, let's just say there<br /><br />were a lot of undry eyes.<br /><br /><br /><br />Biden showed heart and decency but also<br /><br />confirmed he's still one of the smartest people<br /><br />in the country on foreign policy. Not only did he<br /><br />mention capturing and killing bin Laden (Palin didn't),<br /><br />but he also showed the long-term path to<br /><br />eliminating future Islamic terrorism:<br /><br />education reform.<br /><br /><br /><br />"There have been 7,000 madrassas built along [the<br /><br />Pakistan-Afghanistan] borders; we should be<br /><br />helping them build schools," he said. Biden sees<br /><br />that Islamic terror will stop only when a new<br /><br />generation of kids growing up in Pakistan (and<br /><br />on the West Bank, for that matter) are<br /><br />taught something other than jihad in class.<br /><br /><br /><br />By contrast, Palin showed a lack of foreign<br /><br />policy wisdom, calling Iraq the "central front<br /><br />of the war on terror," despite the fact that<br /><br />bin Laden and his gang are based elsewhere; and<br /><br />saying "John McCain knows how to win a war."<br /><br />(Does he really? The only war in which he fought,<br /><br />Vietnam, was a defeat for the U.S.)<br /><br /><br /><br />On domestic policy, she seemed oblivious to<br /><br />the history-in-the-making going on in the financial<br /><br />sector, as she spouted outdated cliches about<br /><br />how the private sector handles things better<br /><br />than the government. Evidently, she wants health<br /><br />care to be run by the same private sector that has<br /><br />just collapsed so spectacularly and that had to<br /><br />be rescued by the government. (Maybe we should<br /><br />put AIG and Lehman Bros. in charge of the U.S.<br /><br />health care system.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Still, there were no major gaffes on either side,<br /><br />which means this debate is likely to be almost<br /><br />completely forgotten by next Tuesday, when<br /><br />Obama and McCain face off with Tom<br /><br />Brokaw in Nashville.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />By the way, some cyber-hacker has evidently<br /><br />been able to gain remote access to my email<br /><br />account and may be sending emails from<br /><br />pliorio@aol.com that are not from me. I'm<br /><br />aware of this only because I received a sales<br /><br />email from my own email address this morning<br /><br />that I didn't send to myself. I'm going to be<br /><br />working with AOL to solve this problem. In the<br /><br />meantime, if anyone receives any sort of<br /><br />uncharacteristic email from pliorio@aol.com,<br /><br />please let me know immediately, because it may not<br /><br />be from me! Thanks.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />You know, when you do undercover journalism, as I did<br /><br />in the 1990s, that targets a corporation like Moody's<br /><br />(see below), you can expect that they're not going to<br /><br />say good things about you. So if you hear smear coming<br /><br />from someone at that company, tell them to shut the<br /><br />hell up with their lousy fiction. (And feel free to<br /><br />send me an email telling me what slander someone<br /><br />there might be saying.)<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />____________________________________________________<br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 29, 2008<br /><br /><br />As a journalist, I've been lucky enough to have<br /><br />met and interviewed, usually one-on-one, some of<br /><br />the greatest icons of cinema, from Woody Allen to<br /><br />Tom Hanks, but, unfortunately, I was never able<br /><br />to meet Paul Newman, who died the other day and<br /><br />who I admired immensely.<br /><br /><br /><br />I did, however, write and report about one of<br /><br />his best films, "Cool Hand Luke" -- my favorite<br /><br />Newman film, even if most critics prefer "Hud" --<br /><br />in a story that I wrote and reported for The<br /><br />Washington Post in 1994.<br /><br /><br /><br />In my Post story, I asked physicians and other medical<br /><br />professionals to assess the accuracy of the medical and<br /><br />health information in feature films. And here's<br /><br />what the pros told me about what would happen if a mere<br /><br />mortal were to eat 50 eggs in an hour, as Newman's<br /><br />character did in the film:<br /><br /><br /><br />Doctors say Paul Newman's character in "Cool Hand Luke"<br />was behaving foolishly when he ate 50 eggs, most of them<br />hard-boiled, within an hour.<br /><br />"I think you would get a protein overload," says<br />gastroenterologist Martin Finkel. "One would worry<br />about over-distending the stomach and rupture."<br /><br />"You'd cause such an obstruction to your gastric<br />tract that you'd have constipation for days if<br />not weeks," adds Rose Ann Soloway, a specialist in<br />toxicology at the National Capital Poison Center.<br />"That's something that hard-boiled eggs do: they<br />really slow up metabolism in the bowels."<br /><br /><br />(The above is from my piece in the Post.)<br /><br /><br />Newman, of course, was exempt from the medical<br /><br />realities that face the rest of us. Or at least<br /><br />he seemed that way on screen, where he'll live on<br /><br />forever.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />____________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 28, 2008<br /><br /><br />Regarding the financial crisis: what<br /><br />rating did Moody's give AIG and all those failed<br /><br />investment banks just before they collapsed?<br /><br />Do those ratings constitute fraud or incompetence<br /><br />on the part of Moody's? If Lehman had, say, a<br /><br />triple A on Thursday and failed on Friday,<br /><br />then of what value is a Moody's rating? Are some<br /><br />news organizations hesitant to investigate Moody's<br /><br />because they fear having their own credit<br /><br />ratings downgraded<strong>? (Full disclosure: I did<br /><br />undercover journalism about Moody's in '93 for<br /><br />a story that never came to fruition, taking<br /><br />a "position" there for several weeks when I<br /><br />was actually collecting info about them. But<br /><br />the piece didn't pan out. For the record, my<br /><br />undercover journalism reporting was confined to the<br /><br />period between late 1992 and mid-1995; the best<br /><br />of those articles were published by Spy magazine<br /><br />and Details magazine, and I've posted them, along<br /><br />with other pieces of mine, at<br /><br />www.paulliorio.blogspot.com.</strong><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>What John McCain Is Thinking Right Now</strong><br /><br /><br />Maybe I'll ditch her after the election. Yeah,<br /><br />nobody will notice in that dead zone just before<br /><br />Christmas, and she can say, "Trig needs my undivided<br /><br />attention" -- just like that National<br /><br />Review gal suggested. After the election.<br /><br /><br /><br />Then again, I might not make it to the White House<br /><br />with Sarah dragging me down.<br /><br /><br /><br />But if she quits now, it'll be the Eagleton kiss<br /><br />of death. I'm indecisive, they'll say. And then<br /><br />I'd have to break in a brand new running mate.<br /><br />Meg. I always liked Meg. She reminds me of me.<br /><br />True grit.<br /><br /><br /><br />Standing up for 90 minutes really took it out<br /><br />of me. And I'm trying to make amends with the<br /><br />Letterman people, but they won't take my calls.<br /><br />Ole Miss is pissed, too, 'cause I kept 'em<br /><br />hanging.<br /><br /><br /><br />But back to Sarah. She didn't tell me about<br /><br />that affair with the snow machine racer some years<br /><br />back. She didn't say, "Let me introduce you to my<br /><br />family: here's my daughter the slut, my husband the<br /><br />cuckold, and me -- the adulteress." She didn't<br /><br />say that.<br /><br /><br /><br />But the press won't find out about all that tabloid<br /><br />stuff until after the election. For now, everyone<br /><br />only knows she's not exactly the brightest light<br /><br />in the greater Arctic Circle region.<br /><br /><br /><br />Not sure if my melanoma's back. Saw a spot yesterday.<br /><br />Not certain about it. Haven't even told Cindy yet.<br /><br />I'll keep it to myself for now. Nobody has to know<br /><br />until after November 4. And then on New Year's Eve,<br /><br />when everybody's preoccupied, I'll tell the<br /><br />world, casually, "Oops, look what I found, one<br /><br />of those spots on my lower back."<br /><br /><br /><br />Could be nothing. But what if it's serious? And what<br /><br />if Sarah has to take over? She thought Kissinger was<br /><br />president in the 1970s. It took me 90 minutes to explain<br /><br />to her what a borough in New York City is. At the U.N.,<br /><br />she asked for a Spanish translator in order to talk<br /><br />with the Brazilian ambassador. How can I work up<br /><br />the courage to tell her goodbye?<br /><br /><br /><br />Would Meg take the spot? How about Carly?<br /><br />A private sector gal -- that's what's needed for this<br /><br />financial mess. Or maybe a gook. That might<br /><br />smooth things over with the Asian vote.<br /><br /><br /><br />Lieberman hates Sarah. Oh, he says he loves her, but W<br /><br />has his phone tapped. You should hear the private<br /><br />stuff he says. His memoir is gonna tell all.<br /><br />HarperCollins wants him to title it, "Diary of a Traitor:<br /><br />My Life On Both Sides of the Aisle," but Lieberman<br /><br />wants "Remembrances of a Principled<br /><br />Statesman," so there's a bit of a disagreement<br /><br />there. And he knows about the snow racer, too.<br /><br /><br /><br />And who is this Daily Digression fellow<br /><br />anyway? That Oreo guy, calling me a failure<br /><br />as a fighter pilot. That punk. Thankfully,<br /><br />the big papers didn't run it.<br /><br /><br /><br />I'll wait until after the Biden-Palin debate before<br /><br />I think about replacing her with Meg. She might<br /><br />do better than expected, if she keeps interrupting<br /><br />Biden like she did in that debate in Alaska. Just<br /><br />keep interrupting Joe, and if he overrides her<br /><br />interruption, he'll look like a bully. Unless<br /><br />Joe has some readymade zinger like, "Uh, governor,<br /><br />in Scranton it's considered bad manners to interrupt<br /><br />someone when he's talking." We'll see.<br /><br /><br />I wonder if Tina Fey is available?<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 27, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Friday Night at the Fights</strong><br /><br /><br />First, am I the only one who noticed that the<br /><br />debate organizers seem to have placed Obama's<br /><br />microphone too low? The apparently low mic,<br /><br />which Obama even tried to adjust at one<br /><br />point, caused him to lower his face and eyes<br /><br />more often than he usually does, not his best<br /><br />angle, and to become less audible<br /><br />when he lifted and turned his head. McCain,<br /><br />being shorter, was exactly the right distance<br /><br />from his own mic, giving him the<br /><br />advantage in the first ten minutes or so.<br /><br /><br /><br />But then Obama hit his stride and started<br /><br />singing that bit that went, "You were wrong<br /><br />about Iraq...," and he was crooning.<br /><br /><br /><br />And that's when I realized that he doesn't<br /><br />resemble JFK as much as he does the early,<br /><br />skinny Sinatra -- cool, self-assured, the<br /><br />consummate master at the podium (though lately<br /><br />a bit of Gwen Ifill's style seems to be<br /><br />seeping into his persona).<br /><br /><br /><br />But McCain acquitted himself well, too,<br /><br />though he came off more like the president of<br /><br />a small-town bank in a 1950s Capra movie.<br /><br /><br /><br />Around an hour in, McCain got emotional about<br /><br />losing the Vietnam war, and I have to say I sort<br /><br />of got choked up seeing how he was so personally<br /><br />invested in that conflict, as wrongheaded as that<br /><br />war was.<br /><br /><br /><br />After standing for around an hour, it seemed as<br /><br />if the 72-year-old McCain wanted a chair. Notice<br /><br />that between the 68 and 73 minute marks, McCain<br /><br />used the word "sit" three times (Obama, talking<br /><br />about the same subject, didn't use the word at<br /><br />all). And then he became frustrated trying to<br /><br />pronounce "Ahmadinejad," though he did score points<br /><br />caricaturing what a meeting with the Iranian leader<br /><br />might sound like.<br /><br /><br /><br />McCain soon became overly bold, calling for<br /><br />an across-the-board spending freeze, which Obama<br /><br />shot down expertly, noting there are some programs<br /><br />that are underfunded and others that should be<br /><br />phased out altogether. (By the way, McCain<br /><br />should retire that "Miss Congeniality"<br /><br />line, which he used twice last night.)<br /><br /><br /><br />All told, both candidates did well, with a slight<br /><br />edge going to Obama.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>PHOTO OF THE DAY:</strong><br /><br />Here's a shot I snapped the other week of<br />a crowd lined up to watch eco-protesters in<br />Berkeley, Calif.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_G3yNaG3rVKpBtacKhznfZmlrydOJe8XWwTTTqfuZTbTN0ETqSAQ7eMUIl2Z1Ecr0VHdvzXRV9Ss6N1Qlw3uiWEnVtX6AMk6IzaSh3U-eKyGEa8xWjvC0KoWVn_QlpBu5jRMKUK-rBQ/s1600-h/scanTREEprotestgoodjobs.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250732002985435202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_G3yNaG3rVKpBtacKhznfZmlrydOJe8XWwTTTqfuZTbTN0ETqSAQ7eMUIl2Z1Ecr0VHdvzXRV9Ss6N1Qlw3uiWEnVtX6AMk6IzaSh3U-eKyGEa8xWjvC0KoWVn_QlpBu5jRMKUK-rBQ/s400/scanTREEprotestgoodjobs.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 26, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Nice setlist for the Paul McCartney show at<br /><br />Park HaYarkon, the biggest surprise being<br /><br />"A Day in the Life," which he hadn't played<br /><br />live anywhere until a few months ago, I hear.<br /><br />Macca is apparently becoming less McCartney-centric<br /><br />these days about the Beatles songs he performs,<br /><br />as evinced by the inclusion of a Harrison tune,<br /><br />"Something," which, truth be told, is effectively<br /><br />a Harrison/James Taylor composition, though<br /><br />Taylor has been too kind over the decades about<br /><br />the swipe; a bona fide (as opposed to nominal)<br /><br />Lennon/McCartney song, "A Day in the Life," which<br /><br />is arguably a Lennon/McCartney/Martin composition;<br /><br />a Lennon song, "Give Peace a Chance," credited<br /><br />to Lennon/McCartney, though it's actually one<br /><br />of the many "Lennon/McCartney" songs<br /><br />that was not written by both of them.<br /><br /><br /><br />By the way, if Lennon were still alive, and I were<br /><br />McCartney, I would push to renegotiate the<br /><br />Lennon/McCartney credit on all the Beatles<br /><br />songs that were written either wholly by<br /><br />McCartney or by Lennon, so that authorship<br /><br />would go to the person who actually wrote each<br /><br />track. I find it very unfair that a masterpiece<br /><br />like "Yesterday" is not only co-credited to Lennon,<br /><br />who didn't write a note or word of it, but that<br /><br />Lennon is the first one listed as the composer.<br /><br />Likewise, it's just as wrong that McCartney<br /><br />is listed as co-writer of "Give Peace a Chance,"<br /><br />a tune Lennon wrote alone and that the Beatles<br /><br />never recorded.<br /><br /><br /><br />Accuracy, transparency, honesty should trump all<br /><br />else in both business and in the arts. The old<br /><br />days of the 1950s, when some cigar-chomping<br /><br />mogul named Morty would demand to have his<br /><br />name listed in songwriting credits for a song<br /><br />he didn't write, are long over. Of course,<br /><br />the Lennon/McCartney partnership was never that<br /><br />sort of thing, but "Lennon/McCartney" is also not<br /><br />an accurate credit when it comes to a large percentage<br /><br />of the Beatles catalog. Unfortunately, renegotiating<br /><br />the record of authorship in Lennon's absence -- with,<br /><br />say, Yoko Ono and the estate of Lennon -- wouldn't<br /><br />feel right, particularly given that a deal's a deal<br /><br />until both sides say it's not -- and they both agreed<br /><br />in writing to the co-credit -- and that Yoko may not<br /><br />be fully aware of who composed what<br /><br />in each song.<br /><br /><br /><br />One saving grace is that McCartney didn't have to deal<br /><br />with a dishonest bandmate who tried to falsely<br /><br />take credit for the brilliant melodies and lyrics<br /><br />that he alone composed. He was spared<br /><br />that nightmare.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, I'm digressing.<br /><br /><br /><br />Regarding the HaYarkon show, which I didn't attend,<br /><br />it's curious he played nothing from "Abbey<br /><br />Road" (except Harrison's "Something"), the<br /><br />Beatles's best album. Perhaps that's because<br /><br />he has been playing the side two medley to<br /><br />death since 1989. But still, there are<br /><br />some unrealized possibilities in the "Abbey"<br /><br />material; has he ever tried expanding<br /><br />"Her Majesty" beyond a single verse? Or<br /><br />playing "Golden Slumbers" as a free-standing song?<br /><br /><br /><br />Also, he plays "Blackbird" all the time, but<br /><br />why not try the exquisite "Mother Nature's Son,"<br /><br />too? Maybe together with "Blackbird."<br /><br /><br /><br />Has he ever performed "Another Day" live?<br /><br />Does it not come off well in concert? I think<br /><br />it's one of his very best singles, despite the<br /><br />rep given to it by "How Do You Sleep," which<br /><br />itself is not a very good tune at all. I frequently<br /><br />play "Another" on acoustic guitar in my apartment<br /><br />for pleasure and thoroughly enjoy it.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Mrs. Vanderbilt" is a very smart addition to the<br /><br />setlist, though I'd prefer an emphasis on "Ram"<br /><br />material like "Back Seat of My Car," "Dear Boy,"<br /><br />"Too Many People," "Monkberry Moon Delight," etc.<br /><br />(Maybe he should play the whole album at Radio City<br /><br />and encore with the entire "Band on the Run,"<br /><br />Truth is, no single McCartney show could possibly<br /><br />include even half of his greatest songs.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />Back in the day, after Nixon nominated a dope<br /><br />for the Supreme Court, Senator Hruksa of Nebraska<br /><br />defended the nominee, saying: "[The mediocre] are<br /><br />entitled to a little representation, aren't they?"<br /><br /><br /><br />Well, Hruska would have just adored Sarah Palin. Her<br /><br />IQ in terms of political thought and general reasoning<br /><br />ability is almost certainly somewhere in the 90s, which<br /><br />makes her not just average, but something even better for<br /><br />those with a fetish for mediocrity: slightly below<br /><br />average.<br /><br /><br /><br />To be sure, an IQ can be highly variable within a<br /><br />given person; Albert Einstein's IQ in physics was off<br /><br />the charts, but his verbal IQ was probably around 103.<br /><br /><br /><br />So Palin may have extraordinary abilities we don't know<br /><br />about yet -- maybe she's highly intuitive when it comes<br /><br />to predicting which sled dog will lead in the Iditarod,<br /><br />not an insubstantial talent for those betting in the<br /><br />tundra -- but we do know this, or should know this,<br /><br />by now: Palin is astonishingly stupid<br /><br />when it comes to political thought and policy<br /><br />reasoning.<br /><br /><br /><br />And I don't mean just un-intellectual or<br /><br />anti-intellectual.<br /><br /><br /><br />She lacks even basic common logic and sense in that<br /><br />area -- and the self-knowledge to stay out of an<br /><br />arena in which she's clearly overmatched.<br /><br /><br /><br />Which leads to the question: what was John McCain<br /><br />thinking when he chose her? Is there something in<br /><br />his character that caused him to make such a reckless<br /><br />decision, or is it that his judgment has become<br /><br />rusty with age?<br /><br /><br /><br />Remember, McCain does have the instincts of a<br /><br />fighter pilot -- but of a fighter pilot who failed,<br /><br />almost fatally. He was shot down and did not succeed on<br /><br />his final mission. Granted, that aborted sortie over<br /><br />Hanoi might not have been his fault -- great pilots are<br /><br />often downed, even when they're flying expertly and<br /><br />wisely -- but, then again, it might have been the<br /><br />result of McCain making an aerial maneuver<br /><br />that was too risky and careless, bold in a<br /><br />dumb way.<br /><br /><br />Like his decision to choose Palin.<br /><br /><br />The latest evidence of Palin's unbraininess was on vivid<br /><br />display last night on the "CBS Evening News," in an<br /><br />interview with Katie Couric that was even more<br /><br />revealing than her conversation with Charles Gibson.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's an annotated transcript (my remarks are in bold caps):<br /><br /><br />COURIC: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of<br />your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?<br /><br />PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between<br />a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land<br />boundary that we have with Canada. It, it's funny that a<br />comment like that was kind of made to -- caric -- I don't<br />know, you know. Reporters --<br />[<strong>OK, PALIN WAS ABOUT TO USE THE WORD 'CARICATURE'<br />BUT APPEARED TO BE UNSURE OF THE MEANING,<br />APPROPRIATENESS OR PRONUNCIATION OF IT</strong>.]<br /><br />COURIC: Mock?<br /><br />PALIN: Um, mocked, I guess that's the word.<br /><br />COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy<br />credentials.<br /><br />PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our, our next door<br />neighbors are foreign countries. They're in the state that<br />I am the executive of. [<strong>THEY'RE <em>IN </em>THE<br />STATE?]</strong>And there in Russia --<br /><br />COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations,<br />for example, with the Russians? [<strong>EXCELLENT<br />QUESTION</strong>]<br /><br />PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. [<strong>TRADE MISSIONS<br />BACK AND FORTH? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? ARE REPORTERS<br />FACT-CHECKING THAT CLAIM?] </strong>We -- we do-- it's<br />very important when you consider even national security issues<br />with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space<br />of the United States of America [<strong>AN INADVERTENTLY SURREAL<br />AND CARTOONISH IMAGE, SUGGESTING A GIGANTIC PUTIN<br />BALLOON AT A STREET PARADE]</strong>, where, where do they go?<br />It's Alaska. [<strong>SHE'S NOT MAKING A BIT OF SENSE<br />HERE</strong>] It's just right over the border. It<br />is from Alaska that we send those out <strong>["WE<br />SEND THOSE OUT" MEANS WHAT?; AGAIN, SHE'S NOT MAKING<br />SENSE</strong>] to make sure that an eye is being kept on this<br />very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there.<br />They are right next to, to our state.<br /><br /><br />So there you have the annotated version.<br /><br />In the interest of fairness, if Palin would like to<br /><br />explain herself or be interviewed by me for the<br /><br />Daily Digression, I can be reached<br /><br />at pliorio@aol.com.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>POLITICAL QUOTE OF THE DAY:</strong> On today's "NewsHour,"<br /><br />Rep. Barney Frank was more persuasive than I'd ever<br /><br />seen him. He rocked the place. And he had a<br /><br />terrific one-liner, saying that John McCain's<br /><br />return to Congress to help write legislation<br /><br />that had already been largely written was<br /><br />like "Andy Kaufman as Mighty Mouse" miming<br /><br />"Here I Come to Save The Day."<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />______________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 24, 2008<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://192.107.108.56/portfolios/h/harris_d/final/chick10.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://192.107.108.56/portfolios/h/harris_d/final/chick10.jpg" /></a><br /><strong>Sen. John McCain (above) wants to postpone the presidential<br />debate because of the ongoing tragedy in Darfur. </strong><em>[photographer<br />unknown]</em><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />Hope Paul McCartney's show tomorrow at Park HaYarkon<br /><br />turns out very well. But keep in mind that this<br /><br />isn't the first time McCartney has had to deal with<br /><br />death threats from religious right-wingers.<br /><br />In 1966, when he toured the southern U.S. with the<br /><br />Beatles, Christian fundamentalists vowed to kill<br /><br />the band during performances in Texas and<br /><br />elsewhere, after John Lennon made controversial<br /><br />remarks about Jesus Christ.<br /><br /><br /><br />Forty-two years later, only the fanatics's robes<br /><br />and sheets have changed.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />You know, it occurred to me the other day: if some<br /><br />folks in the Noam Chomsky faction of the American<br /><br />left substituted the words Taliban and al Qaeda with<br /><br />the phrase Ku Klux Klan, they would have greater<br /><br />clarity about bin Laden and the Afghanistan war of '01.<br /><br /><br /><br />And if the religious right of America took a hard look<br /><br />at the Taliban, they would see themselves in the mirror.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />Missed most of the Emmys the other night, but did<br /><br />catch Teri Hatcher's yellow dress, which may have<br /><br />been the highlight.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_____________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 20, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night's My Morning Jacket Show</strong><br /><a href="http://www.la.cityzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/jim-james.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.la.cityzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/jim-james.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Jim James, rocketing. [photograher unknown</em>]<br /><br /><br />Turns out that all the raves I've been hearing about<br /><br />My Morning Jacket's current tour are accurate,<br /><br />if last night's concert in Berkeley, Calif., was<br /><br />any indication. At Friday's show, the band seemed<br /><br />bent on doing nothing short of reinventing the<br /><br />electric guitar jam for the late-Oughties, and<br /><br />there were at least three or four guitar odysseys<br /><br />that were thrilling, twisty, intense,<br /><br />unpredictable and always awake to the<br /><br />undiscovered possibilities of amplification.<br /><br /><br /><br />And what a night for atmospherics! Fog turned<br /><br />into mist and then into drizzle and then into<br /><br />heavy fog and mist at the open-air Greek Theater,<br /><br />while the group's light show (which I saw from<br /><br />the hills above the theater) was caught in<br /><br />the haze. At one point, a beam of lavender<br /><br />in the heavy fog looked like a massive batch<br /><br />of cotton candy in the sky.<br /><br /><br /><br />Even band leader Jim James remarked on the<br /><br />weather. "Thank you for waiting through the<br /><br />mist and the rain," he said, noting that the<br /><br />area looked like "a misty Scottish battlefield."<br /><br /><br /><br />Then he and his band played a rousing "I'm Amazed"<br /><br />-- the best song on their new album, and one of<br /><br />the catchiest pop-rock tracks released by anyone<br /><br />this year -- and the tune blazed like brilliant<br /><br />autumn leaves in a grove.<br /><br /><br /><br />"I love it when it starts turning Fall again, and<br /><br />you start feeling nostalgic," James said, before<br /><br />playing "Golden."<br /><br /><br /><br />Last time he played this venue, in May, 2007, it was a<br /><br />chilly night on the verge of summer, and he was doing a<br /><br />solo acoustic set, opening for Bright Eyes and<br /><br />(among other things) giving fans a preview of<br /><br />"Touch Me, I'm Going to Scream (Part 1)"<br /><br />a year before its release.<br /><br /><br /><br />This show, supporting the amazing "Evil Urges" album,<br /><br />was far more exciting and fun. Highlights included<br /><br />"I'm Amazed," set-opener "Evil Urges," the Clashish<br /><br />"Off the Record," the quirky "Highly Suspicious"<br /><br />and the truly breathtaking, groundbreaking guitarwork<br /><br />after "Run Thru."<br /><br /><br />This is one of the year's most exciting indie<br /><br />tours, well worth checking out.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[above, photo of Jim James from la.cityzine.com, circa March '08.]</em><br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 18 - 19, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The Antonioni Revival</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />A couple weeks ago, the Venice Film Festival screened<br /><br />Carlo di Carlo's "Antonioni su Antonioni," based on<br /><br />interviews with the late filmmaker Michelangelo<br /><br />Antonioni.<br /><br /><br /><br />Last month, the National Gallery of Art in<br /><br />Washington, D.C. had retrospective screenings<br /><br />of many of Antonioni's films, including some real<br /><br />rarities.<br /><br /><br /><br />And some of his movies are -- finally -- making it to<br /><br />DVD in the U.S. (though I still can't find a copy of<br /><br />his first color film, 1964's "Il Deserto rosso").<br /><br /><br /><br />So there seems to be a bit of an Antonioni revival<br /><br />going on.<br /><br /><br /><br />Re-watching several of his pictures recently, I came<br /><br />away with a new appreciation of "Blow-Up," underrated<br /><br />by those who overrate "L'avventura." I now see more<br /><br />clearly its central meaning, metaphysically and otherwise:<br /><br />we never get the entire picture; as human beings, we<br /><br />have incomplete information about existence. And the<br /><br />closer we get to the truth, the further away<br /><br />it gets.<br /><br /><br /><br />That also explains why the main character picks up<br /><br />physical fragments -- a plane propeller, a shard of<br /><br />Jeff Beck's guitar -- much as he sees only fragments<br /><br />of what he photographed in the park that day. Beautiful<br /><br />metaphor.<br /><br /><br /><br />And when he blows up a photo in order to solve a<br /><br />mystery, the photo becomes only more mysterious,<br /><br />more ambiguous. The more he sees, the less he sees.<br /><br />It's like sitting too close to the amplifiers at<br /><br />a rock concert; you end up hearing less when it's louder.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />My only beef is the ending, the mime tennis match, a<br /><br />clever idea that doesn't really fit with the rest<br /><br />of the film. The irresolution plays less well than<br /><br />it does in "L'avventura."<br /><br /><br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I love cinematic irresolution,<br /><br />but you have to make it work, as Antonioini<br /><br />did in "L'avventura" (or as David Chase did, many decades<br /><br />later, in the "Pine Barrens" episode of "The Sopranos").<br /><br /><br /><br />Antonioni knew form could get in the way of<br /><br />expression; if what he wanted to express didn't<br /><br />fit the narrative formula of conflict/climax/resolution,<br /><br />then he'd jettison form.<br /><br /><br /><br />By the way, it's also a lot of fun (in this short<br /><br />life!) to run into a flock of pigeons, snapping<br /><br />pictures wildly, as the main character does in<br /><br />"Blow-Up." I tried that a couple years ago myself, and<br /><br />here's the photo I shot (click it to enlarge it):<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1116/2271/1600/133149/DSCN0368_0172.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1116/2271/200/947175/DSCN0368_0172.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The central metaphor of "Blow-Up"<br /><br />also applies to the flock of pigeons<br /><br />sequence, too, because people who get<br /><br />inside a flying flock of birds see<br /><br />them less clearly than those who<br /><br />watch from a distance.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><strong><br />P.S. -- If you'd like to read some of my other writings<br /><br />on cinema, published in such publications as The Los<br /><br />Angeles Times, The New York Times, etc., please go to<br /><br />www.paulliorio.blogspot.com. </strong><br /><br /><br /><br />P.S. -- To any writer who wants to echo my original<br /><br />insights on Antonioni and "Blow-Up": if you do<br /><br />so, please don't forget to cite Paul Iorio as your<br /><br />source.<br /><br /><br />_________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 18, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />So who knew the narrative would twist so unpredictably,<br /><br />that the American economy would collapse so spectacularly<br /><br />weeks before the presidential election? Pundits, hold<br /><br />your predictions.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also, I've never seen so many Republicans and Wall<br /><br />Streeters become born-again socialists overnight.<br /><br />Welcome to the fold. Solidarity forever, and all<br /><br />that. Gee, I thought they were all for free markets<br /><br />and de-regulation. This Sunday, let's hear George<br /><br />Will admit he was wrong about unregulated capitalism<br /><br />(fat chance).<br /><br /><br /><br />And who knew Palin would start to fade like Sanjaya. Her<br /><br />convention appearance now seems more like a stunt or like<br /><br />someone slightly drunk who comes late to a dull party<br /><br />and really livens things up but is soon forgotten.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br />Here're a couple photos that I've snapped in recent<br /><br />weeks.<br /><br /><br /><br />This one is of a sculpture, "Westinghouse-Fichet"<br /><br />(1984 - 88), by French artist Bertrand Lavier, on<br /><br />display at the Berkeley (Calif.) Art Museum. Consists<br /><br />of an ottoman atop a refrigerator, a fresh juxtaposition<br /><br />I'd never seen before.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPO5lJ-28oWg6_F_PLx36_nRb2gKd_eYG5tkpuFLaGV2V0E8IlQvNrq6TUmmkcmXicICXVsHb9XxAwAm16pNhNDyfDZTQPcmZ_3nMcVv6mkdqtw1eJSpVNuw1YYN7TPlDj8BdeGGt08ok/s1600-h/scanfrigandottoman.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247362016783499810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPO5lJ-28oWg6_F_PLx36_nRb2gKd_eYG5tkpuFLaGV2V0E8IlQvNrq6TUmmkcmXicICXVsHb9XxAwAm16pNhNDyfDZTQPcmZ_3nMcVv6mkdqtw1eJSpVNuw1YYN7TPlDj8BdeGGt08ok/s400/scanfrigandottoman.jpg" /></a><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />Also, here's an everyday photo I shot the other week of<br /><br />a street in San Francisco's Chinatown.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dO0wLRsA4xB0pCP2yj5wVl-1598_pc6DJfKYaJiNjDQNPkD_QGMc5vYyb2PtHTsIfKu-h9WM-QO5DGtHLhbNzfLwQEPHOkRZVICxgqb5lmj03AFpzU6p4U6hB5Hs0GPL13VqEPVp_gU/s1600-h/scanTREECHINATOWN08.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247363407979651858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dO0wLRsA4xB0pCP2yj5wVl-1598_pc6DJfKYaJiNjDQNPkD_QGMc5vYyb2PtHTsIfKu-h9WM-QO5DGtHLhbNzfLwQEPHOkRZVICxgqb5lmj03AFpzU6p4U6hB5Hs0GPL13VqEPVp_gU/s400/scanTREECHINATOWN08.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />LOCAL NOTES: I sometimes videotape news shows when<br /><br />I'm out and then fast forward through them later. The<br /><br />other day, I noticed that the local CBS affiliate here<br /><br />in the Bay Area had temporarily put its traffic reporter,<br /><br />Elizabeth Wenger, in the anchor spot for one of its news<br /><br />programs. All I can say is, wow, did she fill the chair<br /><br />like a natural. Beauty, brains, youth. And a huge<br /><br />future in broadcast news, I bet.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />____________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 17, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>What They Need's A Damned Good Whacking </strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Some rich, homicidal, transient Syrian-born guy,<br /><br />whose family has more houses than John McCain, is<br /><br />now spending his leisure time lobbing death threats<br /><br />at the world's greatest living composer,<br /><br />Sir Paul McCartney.<br /><br /><br /><br />The "reason" for the threats is that McCartney plans<br /><br />to give a concert in Israel to celebrate its 60th<br /><br />anniversary as a nation.<br /><br /><br /><br />And that's evidently not to the liking of one Omar Bakri<br /><br />Muhammad, also known as Omar Bakri Fostock.<br /><br /><br /><br />Muhammad/Fostock said the following to London's Sunday<br /><br />Express in last Sunday's edition: “If he values his<br /><br />life Mr. McCartney must not come to Israel. He will<br /><br />not be safe there. The sacrifice operatives will be<br /><br />waiting for him.”<br /><br /><br /><br />"Sacrifice operatives"? Sounds like a job description<br /><br />invented by H.R. Haldeman. Terrorism has finally<br /><br />gone bureaucratic. Next they'll have Sacrifice<br /><br />Management, Sacrifice Research and Development, etc.<br /><br /><br /><br />Look, I've been warning in print for decades about the<br /><br />encroachment by Muslim militants on free speech and<br /><br />artistic expression. First they came after Salman<br /><br />Rushdie for writing a work of fiction. Then the militants<br /><br />said, no, you can't even draw a cartoon of their<br /><br />prophet Mohammed. Then, earlier this year, they<br /><br />scared away Random House -- Random House, no less! -- from<br /><br />publishing a book ("The Jewel of Medina") that<br /><br />included a fantasy about religious figures. And<br /><br />now McCartney's on their hit list for taking a<br /><br />political stand.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's long been a slippery slope when it comes to<br /><br />the demands of Muslim right-wingers. What's next?<br /><br />Are they going to threaten theater-owners who<br /><br />screen the new Woody Allen movie because<br /><br />they consider it sacrilegious? Are they going to<br /><br />demand that the Uffizi Gallery remove religious<br /><br />paintings by Giotto and Raphael because they're<br /><br />the works of infidels?<br /><br /><br /><br />No, we should not suspend free speech every time<br /><br />Muslim militants throw a temper tantrum. Islamic<br /><br />extremists must learn to be tolerant of expression<br /><br />that offends them and should understand that violence<br /><br />is not the only way to respond to a disagreement.<br /><br /><br /><br />Hey, I support the creation of a Palestinian state<br /><br />and a two-state (three-state?) solution, but I also<br /><br />say: happy birthday, Israel; you've long since earned<br /><br />your sovereignty.<br /><br /><br /><br />And bravo to Sir Paul for his bravery in rebuffing the<br /><br />militants and for insisting the show must go on.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 16, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Watching the Newly Released "Get Smart" DVDs (and Loving It!)</strong><br /><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/06/13/2004475959.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/06/13/2004475959.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Agent 86, tracking down Yellowcake at Zabar's pastry counter. </em><br /><br /><br /><br />Given its ubiquity on YouTube and its cult<br /><br />popularity in recent years, it's hard to<br /><br />believe "Get Smart," the 1960s TV series,<br /><br />hadn't been officially released on DVD in<br /><br />the U.S. until last month.<br /><br /><br /><br />Watching most of the first season the other<br /><br />week, I was reminded why this was one of the<br /><br />funniest sit-coms in broadcast tv history -- one<br /><br />of the five funniest, in my view (the other<br /><br />four being "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son,"<br /><br />"The Honeymooners" and "Seinfeld").<br /><br /><br /><br />Like "Seinfeld," and unlike the other three,<br /><br />it took a couple dozen episodes for "Get Smart"<br /><br />to hit its full stride, and when it did -- near the<br /><br />end of the first season, with the two-parter "Ship of<br /><br />Spies," a nice blend of humor and suspense -- it was<br /><br />as good as sit-comedy gets.<br /><br /><br /><br />For those about to rent the "Smart" DVDs, my<br /><br />suggestion is to start with disc four of the<br /><br />premiere season, which includes the final (and<br /><br />funniest) episodes of the first season. Disc<br /><br />one is somewhat spotty, revealing a series still<br /><br />searching for its identity, a show still framed<br /><br />as a sort of Spy-and-His-Dog type<br /><br />thing, probably in order to make it more<br /><br />palatable to middle America.<br /><br /><br /><br />There is, of course, the endless succession of<br /><br />gadgets and inventions, like the hilariously<br /><br />malfunctioning Cone of Silence (and the more obscure<br /><br />Tube of Silence), gun phones, hydrant phones,<br /><br />hair dryer phones and the truly astonishing<br /><br />cologne phone! Plus peg leg guns,<br /><br />violin guns, purse guns. In 2008, some of<br /><br />these inventions seem simultaneously<br /><br />futuristic <em>and</em> anachronistic (like that <em>rotary </em><br /><br />shoe phone).<br /><br /><br />And let's not forget the many inventive hiding<br /><br />places of the ever-suffering Agent 44!<br /><br /><br />All told, it's as addictive as potato chips,<br /><br />particularly in the late first season.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />Other DVDs I've been watching lately:<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>"SANFORD AND SON" -- SEASON ONE: </strong><br /><br />Within 29 seconds of the first episode of the first<br /><br />season, I was roaring with laughter. But after<br /><br />the first half dozen shows, it becomes<br /><br />less startlingly funny, though still enormously<br /><br />entertaining.<br /><br /><br /><br />Redd Foxx is riotous even when he's just sitting<br /><br />in his favorite chair, though I can't help but wonder<br /><br />how much more brilliant the series would have been<br /><br />as a Richard Pryor-Redd Foxx vehicle, with Pryor,<br /><br />of course, in the Lamont role.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Sanford and Son" differs from the other four<br /><br />greatest sit-coms listed above in that it's a<br /><br />two-person comedy, which is harder to sustain<br /><br />than such ensemble works as "Seinfeld," "The Honeymooners,"<br /><br />and "All in the Family," which all had four main<br /><br />regular characters.<br /><br /><br /><br />Sometimes "Sanford" resembles "The Honeymooners"<br /><br />without an Alice or a Trixie, though Sanford and his<br /><br />son have more modest dreams than Ralph and Ed. Where<br /><br />Ralph and Ed hatched extravagant get-rich-quick schemes,<br /><br />Lamont and Fred just wanted to break even or turn a<br /><br />modest profit, for the most part. And the two programs<br /><br />shared at least a couple plot lines in common (e.g.,<br /><br />finding a briefcase full of money and being confronted<br /><br />by the crooks who own it; mistaking someone else's<br /><br />dire medical diagnosis for his own, etc.).<br /><br /><br /><br />The best of season one is "A Matter of Life and Breath,"<br /><br />in which Fred, and then Lamont, have a medical scare<br /><br />that turns out to be a false alarm<br /><br /><br /><br />Sadly surprising that Foxx wasn't given a shot on<br /><br />network TV until this series, when he was already<br /><br />in his fifties.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (DISC EIGHT)":</strong><br /><br />Everybody has seen the very first episodes of<br /><br />SNL countless times, but not as many have seen the<br /><br />final few shows of the first season (which extended<br /><br />until almost August of '76).<br /><br /><br />The quality on Disc 8 is variable, though there are<br /><br />gems to be found, particularly on the program hosted<br /><br />by Kris Kristofferson, which is must-see stuff,<br /><br />powered by Kristofferson's presence in sketches<br /><br />in which he plays, among other things, a congressman,<br /><br />a tv ad pitchman -- and a gynecologist dating one<br /><br />of his former patients. But the most hilarious sketch<br /><br />is the tv cop show parody "Police State," starring<br /><br />Dan Aykroyd -- an idea ripe for revival.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>"THE JACK PAAR COLLECTION"</strong><br /><br />Interesting DVD, with both monologues and<br /><br />interviews from "The Jack Paar Show" of the<br /><br />early 1960s. Paar's style so influenced<br /><br />Johnny Carson that the two could pass for<br /><br />close cousins. On this DVD, his guests<br /><br />include a mostly humorless Barry Goldwater and<br /><br />Robert Kennedy, still emotionally<br /><br />fragile in the months after his brother's murder.<br /><br /><br /><br />But his most impressive guest was Muhammad Ali, back<br /><br />when he was called Cassius Clay, who seems to have<br /><br />invented rap on the Paar show on November 29, 1963,<br /><br />when he rhymes while Liberace plays piano. It<br /><br />occurred to me: if you were to put a hip hop beat<br /><br />behind Ali's rhymes, you'd have a terrific rap track.<br /><br />I'm surprised someone hasn't done that yet.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />ANOTHER TV NOTE: For at least the third time in recent<br /><br />months, Al Roker, on "Today," has used the line "Hey,<br /><br />I've got some pictures of dogs playing cards!," or<br /><br />some variation of that, which he always passes off<br /><br />as a spontaneous quip, which it ain't. I think<br /><br />he needs some fresh material.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[above, photo of Don Adams from Seattle Times.]</em><br /><br /><br />__________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 14, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Who Will Palin Choose As Veep When She Succeeds McCain?</strong><br /><br /><br />Our nukes are about to fall into the hands of<br /><br />the Taliban.<br /><br /><br /><br />Lemme me explain. But first, the short math.<br /><br /><br />Pollsters say Florida's not in play anymore and<br /><br />is out of reach for Obama. That means ditto<br /><br />for everything redder -- namely Georgia, Virginia,<br /><br />Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada.<br /><br /><br /><br />So let's see. The I-4 corridor ain't in play,<br /><br />but metro Cincinnati is? That's humorous. Count<br /><br />Ohio out for Obama. Count Wisconsin<br /><br />out. Count the West Wing out, too.<br /><br /><br /><br />McCain becomes #44 in January, and how long do you think<br /><br />it will be before his melanoma recurs and metastasizes,<br /><br />and doctors give him, say, six months to live?<br /><br />(Look, I certainly hope that doesn't happen, but let's<br /><br />look at realistic scenarios for a moment.) At his<br /><br />age, the likelihood of recurrence is substantial.<br /><br /><br /><br />And that's when our nukes fall in the hands of the<br /><br />Taliban, aka Sarah Palin, who resembles Mullah Omar<br /><br />(without the eyepatch) in oh so many ways (e.g., she's<br /><br />a fundamentalist who acts like a book burning<br /><br />religious crusader).<br /><br /><br /><br />That's Palin, president number 45, who recently went on<br /><br />Charles Gibson's show and casually declared war on, oh,<br /><br />Russia, Iran, and other "spaz" nations, before heading off<br /><br />to, presumably, dress a moose, whatever the hell that is.<br /><br /><br /><br />She's likely to ascend to the presidency without ever<br /><br />having given a national press conference, because I<br /><br />doubt McCain will let her meet the press in the seven<br /><br />remaining weeks till the election -- and after Nov. 4,<br /><br />she doesn't have to.<br /><br /><br /><br />The big question, for those with foresight, is: who<br /><br />will Palin choose as her vice president when she<br /><br />succeeds McCain? The answer is easy. She<br /><br />would have to mollify the many moderates (not to<br /><br />mention moderate-liberals and liberals) who would<br /><br />be threatening mutiny and calling for her to step<br /><br />down so that someone qualified could run the country.<br /><br />And the only way for Palin to stop calls for<br /><br />her resignation or impeachment (over, say,<br /><br />Troopergate) would be to choose Joe Lieberman, who<br /><br />would then reassure a trembling nation that the<br /><br />mainstream is still in power and that he has arrived<br /><br />on the scene to become Palin's Cheney.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />Odd that Palin repeatedly referred to John McCain as<br /><br />"McCain" in her second interview with Charles Gibson.<br /><br />(What? She's not on a first name basis with her running<br /><br />mate yet? Yet she repeatedly called Gibson "Charlie.")<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>Prediction</strong>: McCain starts using phrases<br /><br />like "freak out."<br /><br /><br /><strong>Prediction: </strong>Obama starts using phrases<br /><br />like "dern it" and "well, heck."<br /><br /><br /><strong>Prediction</strong>: Palin digs up some distant<br /><br />gay cousin and trots him out, saying, "I love him just<br /><br />the way God made him."<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br />Tina Fey was funny last night on SNL as Palin, but<br /><br />people tend to overstate the resemblance. After all,<br /><br />Fey is a very attractive woman, Palin is not (Palin<br /><br />misses being attractive by around 7%). "And I can<br /><br />see Russia from my house" is a classic SNL moment.<br /><br /><br /><br />SNL's season premiere was primo, at least for the<br /><br />first hour. "Quiz Bowl," featuring a home-schooled<br /><br />team; Kristen Wiig's glove commercial; and the Inchon<br /><br />fight song sketch were absolutely hilarious. (Wiig<br /><br />has a brilliant ability to play unhinged characters<br /><br />in a manner that's both controlled and way<br /><br />over-the-top.) But the high note was the Political<br /><br />Comedian monologue on Weekend Update, which (unless<br /><br />my Yuban was playing tricks on me) was a bit of comic<br /><br />genius, or something quite like it.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 12, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong><br /><br />Sarah Palin is Fully Qualified to be the Principal<br /><br />of a Public High School in Alaska</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Charles Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin was a<br /><br />magnificent piece of television journalism. Gibson<br /><br />was even-handed, understated, more than fair, quietly<br /><br />tough and unexpectedly lethal.<br /><br /><br /><br />Palin sounded like an undergrad b.s.ing on an essay<br /><br />question.<br /><br /><br /><br />Incredibly, she claimed that Alaska's physical proximity<br /><br />to Russia was one of her foreign policy credentials.<br /><br />(Which, of course, would make the Mayor of Nome and<br /><br />thousands of Eskimos experts on international relations.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Gibson followed the logic of her claim and asked one of<br /><br />the most brilliant questions of the political season:<br /><br />"What insight into Russian actions, particularly in<br /><br />the last couple weeks, does the proximity of the state<br /><br />[of Alaska] give you?"<br /><br /><br /><br />Palin's response was something you'd expect from a<br /><br />not-so-bright candidate for student body president<br /><br />of a high school: "They're our next door neighbors.<br /><br />And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."<br /><br /><br /><br />Shockingly, she didn't even know what the Bush Doctrine<br /><br />was (I knew instantly what Gibson was referring to,<br /><br />with regard to the Bush Doctrine), and somewhat<br /><br />less shockingly, admitted she had never traveled<br /><br />outside America before her "trip of a lifetime" to<br /><br />Kuwait and Germany last year.<br /><br /><br /><br />And then there's her awkward use of language -- "We<br /><br />must make sure that...nuclear weapons are not given<br /><br />to those hands of Ahmadinejad" -- and Valley Girlisms<br /><br />(she puts down "someone's big fat resume" like she's<br /><br />talking about "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"; she says<br /><br />the 9/11 hijackers did "not believe in American ideals"<br /><br />(those hijackers were sooo grody!!!)).<br /><br /><br /><br />In short, she's the new "American Idol" flavor of the<br /><br />month -- and approximately as qualified as Sanjaya<br /><br />or Fantasia to conduct foreign policy and manage<br /><br />nuclear weapons.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />__________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 10 - 11, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The Seventh Anniversary of an Awful Day</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />I actually liked the twin towers, aesthetically. I<br /><br />particularly enjoyed walking through the World Trade<br /><br />Center plaza on early Sunday mornings, when almost<br /><br />nobody was around, because that's when the architecture<br /><br />seemed to come alive without the busy distractions of<br /><br />tourists and office workers. When the plaza was windswept<br /><br />and desolate, it reminded me of the Acropolis, and the<br /><br />towers themselves looked like a pair of Stanley Kubrick's<br /><br />futuristic monoliths in "2001: A Space Odyssey."<br /><br /><br /><br />I used to think: this whole city may be gone<br /><br />in 700 years but those towers will stand like the Great<br /><br />Pyramids forever, there is no erasing them. I used<br /><br />to think that a lot in my countless walks through<br /><br />that plaza. I had high hopes for those towers.<br /><br /><br /><br />When I lived in and around (mostly in) Manhattan<br /><br />from 1979 to 1996, I photographed the towers from<br /><br />every angle imaginable: through the sculptures in the<br /><br />plaza, from the Hoboken ferry on the Hudson, from atop<br /><br />the south tower, from atop the unfinished World<br /><br />Financial Center in '85, you name it.<br /><br /><br /><br />On this 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks,<br /><br />let me share several of my own original photos<br /><br />of the towers, which I shot in the<br /><br />1970s, 1980s and 1990s.<br /><br /><br /><br />The real tragedy, of course, was the death of<br /><br />thousands of people in those towers, so let's all<br /><br />remember those who died on that awful day.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbewFOhbQNpMy5wrMUtTLd2YeIKya2T-UD_opHzkj6iTLfmkiEZgRR4SrAcawsSK-H9yDUJP8y2aREnTFgQqoBnOU-sChyphenhyphen3Eqsm4_1t9W0jgDGBYOJ_c1o9md206zEVUyHGksZn-HBGQ/s1600-h/wtcscanmypictures.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094223476857151218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbewFOhbQNpMy5wrMUtTLd2YeIKya2T-UD_opHzkj6iTLfmkiEZgRR4SrAcawsSK-H9yDUJP8y2aREnTFgQqoBnOU-sChyphenhyphen3Eqsm4_1t9W0jgDGBYOJ_c1o9md206zEVUyHGksZn-HBGQ/s400/wtcscanmypictures.jpg" /></a><br /><em>I shot this pic in 1984 through a sculpture in the World Trade Center plaza. </em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ezjlPqWXPfcgTTVQNsSE37oPks5hJ5zpO8mWDcr8hrwaNr9A7pBbzVrnVFpgnFZruPEb3f4mT2vYhtzilRsxJKIoxWuo2Xj0WsX56IiqgOhlYLhj_sBvrK_x5rjY2Qjgz55Fu1H5yg/s1600-h/scan0138.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099505585500000402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ezjlPqWXPfcgTTVQNsSE37oPks5hJ5zpO8mWDcr8hrwaNr9A7pBbzVrnVFpgnFZruPEb3f4mT2vYhtzilRsxJKIoxWuo2Xj0WsX56IiqgOhlYLhj_sBvrK_x5rjY2Qjgz55Fu1H5yg/s400/scan0138.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The twin towers were the backdrop for a speech by Bill Clinton; I snapped this photo on August 1, 1994, at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. </em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE02M4TbDdrvQ6_pHwJ3CQbzN9g3d73rw6NAdGRjc84TDxhcJ6fAQmfLqlm44HTutxxpL5LOR6Q_qOQN6oPcPOqIa2cRLvE8IOIc6QwrdqnMyFImCBoJYofoUavT7EPD4w5yRn3lRVYSw/s1600-h/scanwtcwater.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108418017477818978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE02M4TbDdrvQ6_pHwJ3CQbzN9g3d73rw6NAdGRjc84TDxhcJ6fAQmfLqlm44HTutxxpL5LOR6Q_qOQN6oPcPOqIa2cRLvE8IOIc6QwrdqnMyFImCBoJYofoUavT7EPD4w5yRn3lRVYSw/s400/scanwtcwater.jpg" /></a><br /><em>An early nineties photo that I snapped from across the Hudson. </em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnkBp6RY2OwJHV6msTzuyP_auIHGa5b1o9VPJyJ-MzGBQFjpVaB7cNKRiAmRjN5jFNT2nr6gJWbhaFzsQ8iJWmpF_ZFrWYCSp6aOlN1ImPqlFdooKsWnwCRYavF0ak9Fityy4HJwM-lM/s1600-h/scanwtchoboken.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108419619500620418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnkBp6RY2OwJHV6msTzuyP_auIHGa5b1o9VPJyJ-MzGBQFjpVaB7cNKRiAmRjN5jFNT2nr6gJWbhaFzsQ8iJWmpF_ZFrWYCSp6aOlN1ImPqlFdooKsWnwCRYavF0ak9Fityy4HJwM-lM/s400/scanwtchoboken.jpg" /></a><br />The twin towers, as seen from a hill in Hoboken, N.J.; I shot this in the 1980s.<br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz_fE19-im5qsZJYpwM8nMFxCNwV6Hqssb_IcOnjksgOP9TuPunnIrnMb5mbicr66JHrgZVOUywdKD0G0QvMdVvQybeBabHhicGm0iL3vGGS-A9ej-wnGdIxOqhkeYXXH4eCDGefbee0/s1600-h/scanwtcsingletower.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108418794866899570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRz_fE19-im5qsZJYpwM8nMFxCNwV6Hqssb_IcOnjksgOP9TuPunnIrnMb5mbicr66JHrgZVOUywdKD0G0QvMdVvQybeBabHhicGm0iL3vGGS-A9ej-wnGdIxOqhkeYXXH4eCDGefbee0/s400/scanwtcsingletower.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Another picture I snapped from inside a nearby sculpture.</em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXuLvnZClGSMlVtsiPN6p2Cf6q6c764iBDQqpSxWCA9hF2Q3sLEB4aUyGHtfhkIwEkO8IgvNWHoQjDQpKh3bg-YabPyUplURVbo14lNC1wm0mFobSmRyq4Vkq3SadnxLl2HMNJ5sA6ew/s1600-h/scantowerswater.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108417347462920786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXuLvnZClGSMlVtsiPN6p2Cf6q6c764iBDQqpSxWCA9hF2Q3sLEB4aUyGHtfhkIwEkO8IgvNWHoQjDQpKh3bg-YabPyUplURVbo14lNC1wm0mFobSmRyq4Vkq3SadnxLl2HMNJ5sA6ew/s400/scantowerswater.jpg" /></a><br /><em>I shot this one from a boat on the Hudson (early nineties). </em><br /><br /><br />____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 10, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Once again, The Daily Digression is first.<br /><br /><br /><br />In yesterday's Digression (see below), I coined<br /><br />the term "Palinista" to refer to supporters of<br /><br />Sarah Palin. Today, in her column in the New<br /><br />York Times, Maureen Dowd also uses the<br /><br />word "Palinista."<br /><br /><br />For the record, I coined it first.<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />EXTRA! for September 9, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />A couple hours ago, in Berkeley, Calif., eco-protesters<br /><br />finally came down from the redwood in the oak grove<br /><br />where they had been tree-sitting for the past 21 months.<br /><br />There was no rioting or violence as there was last<br /><br />Friday evening (see Daily Digression, Sept. 6, 2008), but<br /><br />tensions were high until the sitters came down to earth<br /><br />at around 1:30pm (PT).<br /><br /><br /><br />I was at the scene a few hours ago and shot these photos:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uzxO0mSvft6fC0YmC8L3Bx1c3uY9bX6bcYhDWFC-7ePaZxzJbchCSOF2vDOmwARuOP77sfbCBjvaSTp6Qw0GzH1nv1_lYsYit_b9M9MMJronynPllRV1ZqbXIgqer3hBGXn2f4nM1Y0/s1600-h/scanTREEMEGAPHONE.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244135041681423474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uzxO0mSvft6fC0YmC8L3Bx1c3uY9bX6bcYhDWFC-7ePaZxzJbchCSOF2vDOmwARuOP77sfbCBjvaSTp6Qw0GzH1nv1_lYsYit_b9M9MMJronynPllRV1ZqbXIgqer3hBGXn2f4nM1Y0/s400/scanTREEMEGAPHONE.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Two activists voicing support for the tree-sitters earlier today. </em>[photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5LOnXSjN97Xu1JHQQOysUIZGGBg0YN8WkIlatyoD06RrR4sGEHp0Qd_9TgCuW_x0mYKIL4pxF7MfKcwXG49BxoMyE3Wn3xceRseFobK5GqP5R9DslpBnt6yISXjZ08RMny-IUyRqJAI/s1600-h/scan0001TREECIOWATCH.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244137735983640018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5LOnXSjN97Xu1JHQQOysUIZGGBg0YN8WkIlatyoD06RrR4sGEHp0Qd_9TgCuW_x0mYKIL4pxF7MfKcwXG49BxoMyE3Wn3xceRseFobK5GqP5R9DslpBnt6yISXjZ08RMny-IUyRqJAI/s400/scan0001TREECIOWATCH.jpg" /></a><br /><em>A protester from "CopWatch" watches cops who were keeping activists away from the oak grove this morning. </em>[photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwOuTnjuAAeXr9WSyBQgUE6Eb6v7xwTBCPsxDLW3FL_xrCUBSIV6OOfQJF3E-hR5ZBMcb_2SlHfgceWpXIBT8uekjljIgGRo77C7vw2lmbZlgLjji2jkplO2vPLUXmny4NmN9KHdZAFM/s1600-h/scanTREEfacultysign.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244139716525783618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwOuTnjuAAeXr9WSyBQgUE6Eb6v7xwTBCPsxDLW3FL_xrCUBSIV6OOfQJF3E-hR5ZBMcb_2SlHfgceWpXIBT8uekjljIgGRo77C7vw2lmbZlgLjji2jkplO2vPLUXmny4NmN9KHdZAFM/s400/scanTREEfacultysign.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The redwood where the final four tree-sitters sat, around ninety minutes before they came down from the tree</em>. [photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzezixZrcJ43h3cVrAVA5AXzhLfjfUiASJHNWD1UbxuaIdj-IKevF6nd_SoimANbj9kd6yDxe2KVhMz1_vnhNjuIdwVeJd17Hj6eeP0c9Ng3BPhZqrKzQItkxJZqwjLdqLPR898BzN534/s1600-h/scanTREESTSHIRTAD.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244141144774199058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzezixZrcJ43h3cVrAVA5AXzhLfjfUiASJHNWD1UbxuaIdj-IKevF6nd_SoimANbj9kd6yDxe2KVhMz1_vnhNjuIdwVeJd17Hj6eeP0c9Ng3BPhZqrKzQItkxJZqwjLdqLPR898BzN534/s400/scanTREESTSHIRTAD.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Yes, "Save the Oaks" t-shirts were on sale at today's protest.</em> [photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><br />________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 8 - 9, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The Temporary Palinization of America</strong><br /><br /><em>(The Rise of the Palinistas)</em><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g100/dayglored/Sarah-Palin-Miss-Wasilla-1984.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g100/dayglored/Sarah-Palin-Miss-Wasilla-1984.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The B---- To Nowhere: She wants you to trust her with the launch codes.</em> [photographer unknown]<br /><br /><br />If Sarah Palin had tried to run for president in<br /><br />early 2008, she would have likely lost all the primaries,<br /><br />trailing somewhere between Sam Brownback and Duncan<br /><br />Hunter. As a complete unknown outside Alaska,<br /><br />she would have had to meet the press and do interviews<br /><br />in which voters would've plainly seen her vast<br /><br />inexperience and lack of stature. Her funding would've<br /><br />dried up, her mis-speakings would've been ammo for<br /><br />Letterman and Stewart, and she would've dropped out<br /><br />after the first couple primaries, fading back into the<br /><br />Aurora Borealis just in time to host the next Iditarod.<br /><br /><br /><br />In other words, she wouldn't have been able to earn<br /><br />her spot on the presidential ballot -- though she's now<br /><br />fully capable of being appointed to the ticket.<br /><br /><br /><br />With a mere seven weeks or so until the general, McCain<br /><br />can now cynically keep her away from almost all the top<br /><br />national journalists -- and she can run the clock the<br /><br />way she couldn't if she were a candidate campaiging a<br /><br />year before the election.<br /><br /><br /><br />Scripted by pros, stage-managed like an actor, Palin can<br /><br />play "Tootsie" for several weeks, without having anyone look<br /><br />too hard at who she really is. Meanwhile, lots of minor<br /><br />pols now think they, too, are Sarah Barracuda -- or could<br /><br />be, because Sarah didn't have any major experience before<br /><br />ascending to the national stage, so it could happen to<br /><br />them, too, they think. (By the way, get ready for<br /><br />the Palinization of television advertising, an<br /><br />onslaught of tv commericals for all sorts of products<br /><br />featuring perky wifey types (Palinistas) saying things<br /><br />like, "I'm just a regular PTA mom, and I don't know<br /><br />much about history, but I do know about my history<br /><br />with laxatives." Etc.)<br /><br /><br /><br />If you believe she's qualified to be president, then you're<br /><br />effectively saying there's no such thing as being properly<br /><br />qualified for the presidency, that the presidency is an<br /><br />unskilled position that a virtual amateur can do as well<br /><br />as a pro.<br /><br /><br /><br />I mean, it's one thing to be responsible, as she was as<br /><br />mayor, for events like the "Fishing Derby" and the<br /><br />"Alaska Arbor Day Celebration," and quite another<br /><br />to be in charge of enough uranium and plutonium<br /><br />to end life on this planet. (As for her experience<br /><br />as governor of a state with the population of Charlotte,<br /><br />North Carolina, it should be noted that she<br /><br />has yet to serve a full calendar year in that<br /><br />position.)<br /><br /><br /><br />And a huge issue that the media is largely ignoring is<br /><br />that she believes the religious theory of creationism<br /><br />should be taught alongside the scientific theory of evolution<br /><br />in the public schools.<br /><br /><br /><br />That's akin to believing in voodoo or in a flat Earth -- and that's<br /><br />what's called a red flag. It means, among other things, that<br /><br />such a person lacks the mental ability to assess fact-based<br /><br />evidence, which is not the sort of quality you'd want in a<br /><br />Commander-in-Chief.<br /><br /><br /><br />Imagine if Palin were to say she believes the world is flat and<br /><br />that you can fall off the Earth by sailing across the Pacific.<br /><br />You would need to know nothing else about her in order to<br /><br />know she's not qualified to be president. Electing someone<br /><br />who believes in creationism is like electing someone who<br /><br />still thinks the sun revolves around the Earth (and,<br /><br />astonishingly, one in five Americans still believes the<br /><br />latter). Some pundits would note that truth, if they<br /><br />weren't on such a sugar high from the jellybeans.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />P.S. --<br /><br />Q: What's the Difference Between Sarah Palin<br />and Those Who Persecuted Copernicus?<br /><br />A: Lipstick.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br />P.S. -- For those who think Palin's popularity is<br /><br />sure to endure, I have two words for you: Ross Perot.<br /><br /><br />______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 6, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />I ran into a mini-riot in Berkeley,<br /><br />Calif., on my way to hear the Dave Matthews Band<br /><br />perform at the Greek Theater several hours ago.<br /><br /><br /><br />As I walked along Piedmont Avenue at around 7pm<br /><br />(Friday), a violent scuffle broke out between police<br /><br />and eco-activists trying to stop the University of<br /><br />California from cutting down a grove of oak trees.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here are some photos I shot of the mini-riot.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4f1mjMWc-5oFDbkt3c677Mz-6AHYvqBRODAH3guJAuhtKUsHwrxAtdM-6vBcOwUt7A0ui4vrEenFewF7HPjmaX1VIfR-KMnZ5LvbtCaOU12C7z8ThkOXuCcRAX26CKK3ftLd22-FWBig/s1600-h/scanriotscuffle1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242790096683002562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4f1mjMWc-5oFDbkt3c677Mz-6AHYvqBRODAH3guJAuhtKUsHwrxAtdM-6vBcOwUt7A0ui4vrEenFewF7HPjmaX1VIfR-KMnZ5LvbtCaOU12C7z8ThkOXuCcRAX26CKK3ftLd22-FWBig/s400/scanriotscuffle1.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The guy on the ground clashed with cops and was tossed around and beaten pretty badly. (Sorry for the bluriness, but I was in the midst of the melee and being jostled.)</em> [photo by Paul Iorio.]<br /><br />* *<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEF30AJlo268J3ckMlDQSqtzGA8kzZLaW4HPAShqftzoCnx7rZ1hVw87raFoBSBNqLnv0h8qO3hyjBB9HHmkZO0lZu4thzKTH1ae34MZGIwxYDJgCjlN-cRNEDhsNVIQeRVXAN0cbI5g/s1600-h/scanscufflecrowd2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242792507352683330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEF30AJlo268J3ckMlDQSqtzGA8kzZLaW4HPAShqftzoCnx7rZ1hVw87raFoBSBNqLnv0h8qO3hyjBB9HHmkZO0lZu4thzKTH1ae34MZGIwxYDJgCjlN-cRNEDhsNVIQeRVXAN0cbI5g/s400/scanscufflecrowd2.jpg" /></a><br />Two cops detain an activist (he's beneath a guy's bare arm at center left) while a crowd surrounds the cops and chants, "Let him go." [photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br />* *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcYBhTOpr0yAitRNpTH2XqZUx_xRJHpDvjc-JdTJgAC3jOccncwI6ypPfQZUQvd-Qn6PpRS-jiG6WAoxMRloj28oUU-PK90Gc8De20r3mGchtNlqG6b7Gew0-jscNS4gTJq9E2FBZ660/s1600-h/scanriotwoman.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242796289467576514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcYBhTOpr0yAitRNpTH2XqZUx_xRJHpDvjc-JdTJgAC3jOccncwI6ypPfQZUQvd-Qn6PpRS-jiG6WAoxMRloj28oUU-PK90Gc8De20r3mGchtNlqG6b7Gew0-jscNS4gTJq9E2FBZ660/s400/scanriotwoman.jpg" /></a><br /><em>A woman smashes a metal pot/drum with a bar in the middle of Piedemont Ave. </em>[photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><br /><br />Needless to say, I didn't make it to the Dave Matthews show<br /><br />until late (just as a 4.0 quake hit that part of the<br /><br />East Bay, I found out later), though I did get to hear<br /><br />around 45 minutes of the gig from the hills above<br /><br />the Greek Theater.<br /><br /><br /><br />I arrived as Matthews was starting "Eh Hee," a song he<br /><br />released as a digital single a year ago, which was<br /><br />followed by a song I didn't recognize and then by a<br /><br />full-band version of 2003's "Gravedigger," which<br /><br />got fans going.<br /><br /><br /><br />"It's a lovely evening," Matthews said from the stage<br /><br />after that one -- and it was. Cool, dry, crisp, like<br /><br />the first night of fall (after a day of 100 degree<br /><br />heat).<br /><br /><br /><br />The crowd was even more enthusiastic about<br /><br />2002's "Grey Street," featuring some spirited<br /><br />sax playing by whoever has replaced the late<br /><br />saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who died a few weeks ago.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, I didn't have time to hear the rest<br /><br />of the concert, and walked home along Piedmont,<br /><br />where I'd seen violence a few hours before.<br /><br />Things had become considerably more harmonious<br /><br />at the site of the protests; some guy was playing guitar and<br /><br />singing some Bob Marley song, cops were<br /><br />mingling and talking with the activists -- and<br /><br />I strolled home.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 5, 2008<br /><br /><br />Probably John McCain's best speech yet, though<br /><br />that's not saying much because he's not exactly known<br /><br />for his oratory. The problem with his "change" theme<br /><br />is he's implicitly saying he disagrees with the policies<br /><br />of the Bush administration, though he actually claims<br /><br />he does not disagree with them.<br /><br /><br /><br />When he made his entrance, he, frankly, looked a bit<br /><br />like a senior security guard, casually checking to see<br /><br />that the stage was safe and in order for the arriving<br /><br />candidate.<br /><br /><br /><br />What has been glossed over by some news organizations<br /><br />is that his speech was interrupted at least three times<br /><br />by noisy protesters, who were quickly, muscularly whisked<br /><br />away, Beijing-style, by security guards. They seemed to<br /><br />almost blow McCain's cool at one point.<br /><br /><br /><br />After his speech, the body language onstage was<br /><br />telling. Palin looked like McCain's fling (because she<br /><br />acted like his fling), though you'd never say the same<br /><br />thing about Meg Whitman or Carly Fiorina. Sure, McCain<br /><br />and Palin briefly acted the expected role of candidate<br /><br />and running mate, but for the most part, McCain<br /><br />seemed to be distancing himself from her and even<br /><br />appeared to be a little miffed at her, as if he had<br /><br />found out hours earlier that there was real substance<br /><br />to the rumor that Palin had once had an extramarital<br /><br />affair with a snowmachine racer. Meanwhile, he gave a big,<br /><br />big wave in the direction of Whitman, almost as if to say,<br /><br />"Hold on, Meg, you're on standby."<br /><br /><br /><br />Ah, how soon we forget the lessons of Eliot Spitzer:<br /><br />the most puritanical are often the most secretly<br /><br />promiscuous.<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />EXTRA! for September 4, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Check out the sermons by Sarah Palin's pastor,<br /><br />Ed Kalnins, staff crackpot at the way-out<br /><br />Wasilla Assembly of God.<br /><br /><br /><br />Plus, the inside word is that, yes, there is<br /><br />some evidence to substantiate the charge<br /><br />that Palin had an extramarital affair with<br /><br />a snowmobile racer and biz associate of her<br /><br />husband's.<br /><br /><br /><br />So let me put all this together. A wild<br /><br />and crazy church. A swingin' adultress<br /><br />luv guv. And an underage daughter who's<br /><br />havin' unprotected pre-marital sex with<br /><br />an adult.<br /><br /><br /><br />Sounds like the religious right has really<br /><br />loosened up in recent years!<br /><br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for September 4, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The First EyeWitnessNews Candidate for Vice President!</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Now the McCain strategy is becoming clear: hire a<br /><br />television newscaster as your running mate if you<br /><br />wanna win!<br /><br /><br /><br />Of all the skills required to become a successful<br /><br />candidate, telegenicity is key.<br /><br /><br /><br />McCain was looking for someone with the ability to look<br /><br />directly into the camera and make it work, the ability to<br /><br />play the space onstage, and a sense of what is<br /><br />and is not effective on TV.<br /><br /><br /><br />Palin's experience in broadcasting in Alaska has evidently<br /><br />paid off. She has become the very first EyeWitnessNews<br /><br />candidate for vice-president or president, and she<br /><br />knows all the tricks and buzzwords.<br /><br /><br /><br />News flash. Breaking news. We have a reporter on the way<br /><br />to the scene now. This is developing news. We'll bring<br /><br />you details as we learn them. Stay with us. Because<br /><br />firefighters are getting the upper hand on that blaze.<br /><br />70% contained. Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief.<br /><br />They're lucky to be alive. We really dodged a bullet.<br /><br />The tide has turned. What a difference a day makes!<br /><br />Thank you for joining us. Stay tuned.<br /><br /><br /><br />Yes, that's what a Palin presidency would sound like.<br /><br /><br />But could you please name one -- just one -- original<br /><br />policy idea that she mentioned in her entire half-hour-plus<br /><br />speech? Can you name one original policy idea that she<br /><br />has ever had? If so, could you show me documentation<br /><br />of that?<br /><br /><br /><br />Unfortunately for Palin, her punch lines are already<br /><br />getting stale. "Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to<br /><br />nowhere": uh, Sarah, I think we already heard that one.<br /><br />Like...last Friday. (Even Cindy McCain was almost<br /><br />rolling her eyes in a cutaway shot.)<br /><br /><br /><br />And then there was that odd appearance by McCain -- odd<br /><br />in that he didn't properly close out his cameo<br /><br />with a "see you tomorrow night" or something. Instead<br /><br />he was led off the stage by nurse Sarah, who will make<br /><br />sure gramps doesn't wander from the home and his meds and<br /><br />onto the stage again.<br /><br /><br /><br />Other notes on Night 3:<br /><br /><br /><br />MITT ROMNEY: Inconvenient truth omitted from Romney's<br /><br />auto-bio last night: he failed to mention that he came<br /><br />from wealth, which gave him a gigantic advantage in his<br /><br />later business pursuits.<br /><br /><br /><br />And Romney's line about "homes that are free from<br /><br />promiscuity" received an uneasy, embarrassed, tepid<br /><br />response, the reason being that it's now known<br /><br />the Palin home was the site of unprotected, underage,<br /><br />unmarried sex. (At least we know they're not frigid in<br /><br />Alaska!)<br /><br /><br /><br />MEG WHITMAN: She looks sort of like a female version of<br /><br />John McCain -- or John McCain's sister.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><strong><br /><br />P.S. -- The real double-standard about Palin is<br /><br />that some female pundits, so relentlessly harsh<br /><br />about the seemingly low IQs of guys like Dan Quayle<br /><br />and W, overlook her obvious lack of stature and<br /><br />appear to be charmed by Palin. If she were a guy<br /><br />who called himself "an average hockey dad" and who<br /><br />was as demonstrably mediocre and lacking in experience<br /><br />as Palin is, a lot of female columnists would be<br /><br />kicking the tar out of him. Instead, some who<br /><br />ridiculed Quayle for every misspelling are making<br /><br />excuses for Palin, suspiciously pulling their<br /><br />punches.<br /><br /><br />______________________________</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />EXTRA! for September 3, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Lemme guess. Tonight, Sarah Palin will<br /><br />give her Checker's Speech. Using the slick<br /><br />broadcasting skills she learned in Alaska, she'll<br /><br />get all choked up at the podium -- and then, in<br /><br />a burst of righteous indignation and anger, she'll say<br /><br />something like, "And to those of you in the news media,<br /><br />I have a message for you: Leave my children alone!!!!!,"<br /><br />and the audience will respond with three minutes of<br /><br />wild applause.<br /><br /><br /><br />Afterwards, some pundits will probably say the following:<br /><br />"I think she might have saved her job tonight" and<br /><br />"If there was any doubt going into the convention about<br /><br />whether Sarah Palin could stand the heat, there is no<br /><br />doubt anymore" and "Looks like she hit it out of the<br /><br />hockey arena!"<br /><br /><br /><br />* * * * *<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Palin Ain't the Quayle of '08. She May Be The Harriet Miers. </strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Elderly John McCain, with less energy than he had<br /><br />as a young man, gets lazy about vetting his first major<br /><br />nominee. All he knows is he needs A Woman on the<br /><br />ticket, and it really doesn't matter much which Woman.<br /><br />(Is this how McCain will choose his Attorney General<br /><br />and Supreme Court nominees if he's elected?)<br /><br /><br /><br />And so, with the same gambling instincts he showed as<br /><br />a fighter pilot -- instincts that, by the way, got<br /><br />him shot down over the Hanoi metro area -- he made a<br /><br />bold, careless veep choice and let the<br /><br />devil take the hindmost, as they say in his parts.<br /><br /><br /><br />Well, now the devil is taking the hindmost.<br /><br /><br /><br />Because Palin is fast developing the distinct<br /><br />aura of a nominee who gets ditched within a<br /><br />week or so of being nominated. Yes, Palin may be<br /><br />the Harriet Miers of Campaign '08.<br /><br /><br /><br />The Daily Digression has been digging around and<br /><br />found there are even more question marks<br /><br />about her than the press has revealed.<br /><br /><br /><br />For example, far from being universally popular<br /><br />throughout her career in Alaska, it turns out that<br /><br />she was the object of a recall campaign several months<br /><br />into her first term as mayor. In early 1997, a group<br /><br />of around 60 Wasilla residents (a huge number of<br /><br />people for a town that small) formed Concerned<br /><br />Citizens for Wasilla, which objected strenuously to<br /><br />several of her early decisions and wanted her removed<br /><br />from office.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's worth noting that she ascended to mayor of Wasilla<br /><br />from the Wasilla city council, a position so tiny that I<br /><br />couldn't find any coverage of her race<br /><br />in the main newspaper in the area, The Anchorage<br /><br />Daily News.<br /><br /><br /><br />So, effectively, Palin was a part-timer before she<br /><br />became governor of a state that has a smaller population<br /><br />than the city of San Francisco.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also the Digression has learned Palin has not been<br /><br />shy about putting daughter Bristol, even when she<br /><br />was a child, in the media spotlight when it was to<br /><br />her advantage -- and that her household was recklessly<br /><br />permissive when it came to guns.<br /><br /><br /><br />When she was merely 9-years-old, in 1999, Bristol Palin<br /><br />was covered in the Anchorage Daily News because of her<br /><br />rifle-shooting education. "First-time shooter Bristol<br /><br />Palin, 9, recently learned how to handle a rifle," went<br /><br />the piece in the ADN. Can I ask a common sense<br /><br />question, or is it too old-fashioned to ask what<br /><br />the hell a 9-year-old is doing in the vicinity of<br /><br />a rifle?<br /><br /><br /><br />[Incidentally, it's important to note that Palin defines<br /><br />herself as an "average hockey mom"; Barack Obama has never<br /><br />defined himself as an "average hockey dad" -- and neither did<br /><br />JFK. So we must, to some degree, scrutinize her on her own<br /><br />terms.]<br /><br /><br /><br />The New York Times and The Washington Post have uncovered<br /><br />their own info about her, including:<br /><br /><br />-- the state legislature is investigating abuse-of-power<br /><br />allegations against her<br /><br />-- she was busted for drunk driving in 1986.<br /><br />-- for two years, she belonged to an eccentric political party<br /><br />that wanted to put the issue of Alaska secession to a<br /><br />ballot vote<br /><br /><br />-- the father of Bristol Palin's daughter, Levi Johnston,<br /><br />describes himself as "a fucking redneck," according to<br /><br />several news organizations.<br /><br /><br /><br />Question not asked by anyone: if Levi was 18 when he had<br /><br />sex with 17-year-old Bristol, then doesn't that make<br /><br />him an adult having sex with a child? Is that illegal<br /><br />in Alaska? If so, then how come sex crime allegations<br /><br />are being levied (or not levied) in an inconsistent<br /><br />manner here?<br /><br /><br /><br />More later.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 3, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Notes on Day 2 of the GOP Convention</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />There's something vaguely German about the whole gathering.<br /><br />Even the music sounds like Wagner, though it isn't.<br /><br /><br />A few notes:<br /><br /><br />-- Norm Coleman: Reminds me of a Franklin Mint salesman,<br /><br />practicing his sales pitch alone in front of a mirror the<br /><br />night before going door-to-door. And what an ear for<br /><br />catchy language: "Change the Republicans can<br /><br />actually deliver."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Funny how the Repubs now claim to admire Martin Luther<br /><br />King, when in fact they vehemently opposed him when he was<br /><br />alive.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Looks like<br /><br />the Anita Bryant wing of the party. I half expected<br /><br />her to welcome us to the Florida sunshine tree! Also<br /><br />has an ear for catchy language: "Minnesota is a really nice state<br /><br />that loves you!"<br /><br /><br />-- Tommy Espinozzzzzzzzzzzzzza<br /><br /><br />-- George W. Bush: Might've coined something with that<br /><br />"angry left" bit. Not quite "nattering nabobs," but<br /><br />getting there.<br /><br /><br />-- Fred Thompson: Calls Obama "inexperienced" but believes<br /><br />Palin is qualified because "she knows how to field dress a moose."<br /><br /><br />-- Joe Lieberman. Hadassah looks like she's thinking, "Joe,<br /><br />how did we sink so low? Joe, how did we lose all our Connecticut<br /><br />friends?" Michael Beschloss had a nice insight on PBS, saying<br /><br />that Lieberman's speech sounded like a barely modified version<br /><br />of the scrapped speech he had written to accept the GOP vice<br /><br />presidential nomination. (He may have to give that speech<br /><br />yet.) Probably right.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />______________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />EXTRA! for August 29, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />After hearing Sarah Palin speak, I have to say<br /><br />she sounds like the perkiest temp in the whole<br /><br />typing pool.<br /><br /><br /><br />A people person!!<br /><br /><br /><br />And if she ever had to go head-to-head<br /><br />with Ahmadninejad, why, she'd give that man 15<br /><br />lashes with a wet noodle!<br /><br /><br /><br />McCain has made an awful, cynical, dangerous<br /><br />choice -- dangerous because McCain is old and<br /><br />has health problems, and if he were<br /><br />incapacitated as president, she would be the<br /><br />one in charge of a nuclear arsenal that could<br /><br />annihilate life on earth.<br /><br /><br /><br />And get a load of these Churchillian aphorisms:<br /><br /><br />-- "Put people first!" (As opposed to what? Putting<br /><br />iguanas first?)<br /><br /><br />-- "The people of America expect us to seek public<br /><br />office and serve for the right reasons" (I'm sure<br /><br />Vaclav Havel is hailing the arrival of a brilliant new<br /><br />political poet.)<br /><br /><br /><br />An "average hockey mom," as she describes herself, should<br /><br />be in charge of average hockey teams, not of the most<br /><br />powerful nation in the world.<br /><br /><br /><br />McCain's strategic shrewdness (i.e., wedging into the<br /><br />embittered Hillary-Ferraro vote) is neutralized by his<br /><br />nominee's scary lack of experience, which inadvertently<br /><br />inoculates Barack against such charges. A better wedge<br /><br />would've been Kay Bailey Hutchison.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />P.S. -- By the way, Hillary and Geraldine should release<br /><br />a joint statement by the end of today saying<br /><br />that Palin is no friend of the women's rights movement<br /><br />and does not speak for them or their supporters.<br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 29, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Notes on Day 4 of the Democratic Convention</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Anti-climax. The expectations were too high.<br /><br />You cannot will an "I have a dream" speech into<br /><br />creation.<br /><br /><br /><br />Barack's speech was prose, not poetry this time -- and<br /><br />predictable prose at that (except for the moment when he<br /><br />slipped and almost said, "The market should reward<br /><br />drunk driving" -- now that would've been an<br /><br />unpredictable moment!).<br /><br /><br /><br />His "you're on your own" bit was classic, as were his<br /><br />great lines about bin Laden ("We must take out Osama bin<br /><br />Laden and his terrorists," and "John McCain says he will<br /><br />follow bin Laden to the gates of hell but he won't even<br /><br />follow him to the cave where he lives").<br /><br /><br /><br />But he should know better than to use a come-on like<br /><br />"This election has never been about me; it's been<br /><br />about you," which sounds like the sort of thing a car<br /><br />salesman or prostelitizing evangelical would say.<br /><br />(Whenever I hear a salesman say that, I immediately<br /><br />know it's about him, not me.)<br /><br /><br /><br />It occurred to me while listening to him that<br /><br />no matter who gets elected in November, there's<br /><br />bound to be gridlock once again. I mean, Obama has<br /><br />a job right now, and so does McCain, and we don't<br /><br />see either of them magically ramming through<br /><br />legislation or inspiring their Senate colleagues to<br /><br />action, so it's hard to believe they'd suddenly be<br /><br />able to do so by merely moving to the co-equal executive<br /><br />branch.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In '93, the Dems had control of both houses of Congress<br /><br />and of the White House and there was still partisan gridlock.<br /><br />Perhaps the change that has to happen in Washington is<br /><br />more fundamental than what Barack wants to bring about.<br /><br /><br /><br />Maybe our political system needs to be re-imagined and<br /><br />re-structured with a greater emphasis on direct democracy<br /><br />instead of representative democracy. What I mean is, bills<br /><br />and issues that are regularly voted on by Congress, and<br /><br />that are regularly jammed in gridlock, should perhaps<br /><br />instead be voted on by the public in ballot referenda. That<br /><br />way, we can put, say, universal health care to a public<br /><br />vote, and if the people choose it, it becomes law.<br /><br />No gridlock. No partisan bickering. No need to reach<br /><br />across the aisle to massage the interests of some<br /><br />corrupt congressman who wants an unnecessary bridge for<br /><br />his district.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, I don't expect Barack will see any appreciable<br /><br />convention bounce from this speech, which means he may<br /><br />have already peaked in the polls. We'll see.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 28, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Notes on Day 3 of the Democratic Convention</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />What a surprise to see Barack show up at the<br /><br />convention center last night. Great move.<br /><br />Like a gust of wind into a smoke-filled room. I've<br /><br />decided that Barack is post-neurotic. He doesn't<br /><br />seem to have the hang-ups that most of us do,<br /><br />which allows him to move further faster.<br /><br /><br /><br />And it was revealing to see him shake hands<br /><br />with various Dems (it's evident he has great<br /><br />personal chemistry with Nancy Pelosi). Also,<br /><br />wonderful to see Barack's great-uncle,<br /><br />Charles Payne, who helped liberate Buchenwald.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Joe Biden's speech was characteristically forceful<br /><br />and poignant, particularly when he imagined,<br /><br />stream-of-consciousness style, the thoughts and<br /><br />anxieties of everyday Americans as they try to<br /><br />make ends meet.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's clear that Biden speaks Middle Atlantic<br /><br />fluently and can talk Philly Cheesesteak, too -- a<br /><br />dialect essential to persuading swing voters.<br /><br /><br /><br />The protracted ovation for Bill Clinton was truly<br /><br />astounding -- and his calls for unity sounded<br /><br />heartfelt. And he scored some points noting<br /><br />that the GOP had control of both the White House<br /><br />and the Congress in 2001, enabling them to<br /><br />implement ideas that proved disastrous.<br /><br /><br />Other notes:<br /><br /><br />-- Beau Biden seems to be made of the same stern<br /><br />stuff that his dad is made of. And there wasn't a<br /><br />dry face in the crowd when he described that<br /><br />horrific car accident.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Harry Reid should lay off history and stick to<br /><br />politics. Saying that World War II was<br /><br />partly motivated by oil on the Russian front is a<br /><br />stretch at best. A quick refresher course: Hitler<br /><br />was invading everyone in the 1930s/1940s, whether<br /><br />they had oil or not. Austria, France, the Netherlands<br /><br />didn't have any oil, but he invaded them, too. The<br /><br />opening grafs of his speech should have been<br /><br />better edited.<br /><br /><br />-- John Kerry: Roared like he rarely did in '04.<br /><br /><br />-- Evan Bayh: predictable.<br /><br /><br />-- Chet Edwards: bland.<br /><br /><br />All for now.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 27, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Notes on Day 2 of the Democratic Convention</strong><br /><br /><br />More electricity than last night. If it wasn't<br /><br />Hillary's finest moment at the podium, I don't<br /><br />know what was. Funny, confident, spontaneous,<br /><br />pithy: if she had been like this back in '07,<br /><br />she might have won the Thursday night slot this<br /><br />week. Lots of crowd-pleasing zingers: "No way,<br /><br />no how, no McCain," "sisterhood of the traveling<br /><br />pantsuits," etc. Plus, a stirring evocation of Harriet<br /><br />Tubman at the end. (And, of course, any candidate<br /><br />who opens with Davies has got to be gold.)<br /><br /><br /><br />And the cutaway shots of Bill suggest he<br /><br />might have a thing for her. (You think<br /><br />they're having an affair?)<br /><br /><br /><br />The big surprise of the night was keynoter Mark Warner.<br /><br />I had no idea he was this great. Talk about<br /><br />Kennedyesque. Came across like a guy who<br /><br />knows how to get things done in an<br /><br />innovative, effective way. Best line:<br /><br />"In 4 months, we will have an administration<br /><br />that actually believes in science."<br /><br /><br /><br />But perhpas the most genuine moment of the night<br /><br />came from the Republican mayor of tiny, cold<br /><br />Fairbanks, Alaska, who looked like a throughly decent<br /><br />fellow, his posture hinting at a lifetime of<br /><br />shivering, his slightly too-large jacket probably<br /><br />bought at one of the very few shops in Fairbanks<br /><br />where you can actually buy jackets.<br /><br /><br />Other notes:<br /><br /><br />-- Montana governor Brian Schweitzer got the house<br /><br />a-rockin'. Lots of unexpected pizazz.<br /><br /><br />--Did you feel the Steny-mania in the hall?<br /><br /><br />-- Janet Napolitano talked about "the burgeoning cities<br /><br />and towns" in her home state.<br /><br /><br />--- Kathleen Sibeliuszzzz: better at governing than<br /><br />at comedy. (To her credit, she didn't mention<br /><br />"burgeoning cities and towns.")<br /><br /><br /><br />-- And why the swipe at Franklin Roosevelt's<br /><br />ahead-of-his-time vice president by a pundit on<br /><br />PBS? Keep in mind that ol' Henry<br /><br />believed what you probably believe now -- except<br /><br />he believed it decades earlier.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, time to get back to the "burgeoning<br /><br />cities and towns" in my region.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />EXTRA! for August 26, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Well, it's official: the first night of<br /><br />the Democratic National Convention was a ratings<br /><br />dud for the broadcast networks, who cumulatively<br /><br />attracted a million fewer viewers than they had<br /><br />on opening night in 2004, according to<br /><br />TV Week's E-Daily Newsletter.<br /><br /><br /><br />And the reason is no surprise (read my review below).<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 26, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Notes on Day 1 of the Democratic Convention</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />This is what Day 1 sounded like:<br /><br /><br /><br />This son of a butcher, a baker and a candlestick<br /><br />maker rose to heights previously undreamed of,<br /><br />because he dared to dream the dream and hope the<br /><br />hope and dare the dare and believe the belief, and<br /><br />in his youth his father walked 50 miles through a<br /><br />blizzard each day to get to his job in a steel<br /><br />mill, where he was paid a mere dollar a day,<br /><br />which he shared with his nine children<br /><br />after he returned home from his daily<br /><br />walk, sacrificing so that the new generation<br /><br />would have a better life, but his spirit<br /><br />was undimmed, his optimism undefeated, his faith<br /><br />unquashed, his vigor undminished, his focus un-undermined,<br /><br />even as his legs ached and he cried out for Extra<br /><br />Strength Advil liquid capsules, as he drew succor from<br /><br />his dream of a truly united United States of America,<br /><br />in which black and white, blue and green, yellow and<br /><br />red, chartreuse and violet, rich and poor, suburban<br /><br />and urban, those who walk 50 miles a day and those<br /><br />who merely walk 50 feet, those who believe, as he<br /><br />believes, and still believes, that one America, one<br /><br />nation, one vision, one people, shall prevail against<br /><br />all divisions, blah, blah, blah.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And on and on. The stories of boot-strap triumph blend<br /><br />together like a bunch of wallpaper, leaving the<br /><br />audience with the false impression that wealth<br /><br />in America isn't acquired mostly through inheritance,<br /><br />as the facts show. Scratch the surface of almost<br /><br />any rags to riches bootstrap story and you'll find that<br /><br />the "self-made" person was actually the beneficiary<br /><br />of government money or family money or drug money<br /><br />or criminal theft or unethical business leverage<br /><br />or a freakish winning at a casino or on a TV game show.<br /><br /><br /><br />For now, such harsher truths aren't ready for prime time.<br /><br /><br /><br />For the most part, the first day of the convention, as<br /><br />seen on TV, was so overscripted and lacking in spontaneity<br /><br />that it made the Oscars look like an experimental<br /><br />improvisational performance.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Occasionally, and thankfully, the human element seeped<br /><br />through all the calculation. Senator Kennedy's speech was<br /><br />a highlight, if only because he looked surprisingly<br /><br />robust and sounded like Classic Teddy, despite his terminal<br /><br />illness. And the adorable Obama children virtually stole<br /><br />the show, cutely interrupting their dear ol' dad, who<br /><br />was piped in from Kansas City, Mo., showing everybody<br /><br />what a real political star looks and sounds like.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also: Caroline Kennedy looked great, sounded genuine<br /><br />and has developed a slightly tougher edge that is<br /><br />very welcome; she should run for Uncle Teddy's Senate<br /><br />seat after he passes. Michelle Obama was winning<br /><br />and quite a natural at the podium -- and also generous<br /><br />(can you imagine Muriel Humphrey saying kind words<br /><br />about Eugene McCarthy from the stage in '68?)<br /><br /><br />More later.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />____________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 25, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Sorry to those who thought I'd be covering the<br /><br />Outside Lands music fest in San Francisco last weekend.<br /><br />As much as I wanted to attend, I couldn't because I<br /><br />was holed up in the studio, doing final overdubs<br /><br />on two new songs of mine, "Love's a Heaven You<br /><br />Can't Reach" and "Three Minute Song," which I've released<br /><br />today (my music site is www.pauliorio.blogspot.com).<br /><br /><br /><br />In any event, I've covered multiple concerts by almost<br /><br />all the festival headliners and subheds in the past<br /><br />year or two (see below or in the Digression Archive<br /><br />for my pieces on Radiohead, Wilco/Jeff Tweedy,<br /><br />Tom Petty, Widespread Panic, etc.).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And keep in mind that Radiohead premiered their new<br /><br />"In Rainbows" material at shows two years ago in the<br /><br />San Francisco Bay Area and in a handful of other<br /><br />cities (at concerts that no serious daily newspaper<br /><br />in the Bay Area neglected to cover), while<br /><br />Jeff Tweedy's unforgettable gig in Golden Gate Park<br /><br />several months ago (following a Wilco show across the<br /><br />Bay) was also a must-see and must-review event.<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, now that my new songs have been released, I'm<br /><br />back to Digressing!<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 23, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Once again, the Daily Digression has been first --<br /><br />this time, the first of the major blogs and<br /><br />news organizations to have identified Joe Biden as<br /><br />the likeliest veep nominee (see last Sunday's<br /><br />column below).<br /><br /><br /><br />And the Biden choice is perhaps the best strategic<br /><br />decision in terms of vice-presidential picks since<br /><br />JFK chose LBJ in 1960, as Biden complements Obama on<br /><br />foreign policy the way Johnson complemented Kennedy<br /><br />geographically. (The Biden selection probably won't<br /><br />mean much in the opinion polls -- until the<br /><br />vice-presidential debate, where Biden will surely<br /><br />clean the clock of McCain's running mate.)<br /><br /><br /><br />As a freelance journalist, I did some intensive<br /><br />research around a year ago to see which of the<br /><br />presidential candidates, if any, saw the 9/11 attacks<br /><br />coming before the fact. And my digging showed that<br /><br />Biden came the closest (by far) to sensing the clear<br /><br />and present danger posed by the Taliban and bin Laden.<br /><br /><br /><br />Listen to Biden on June 21, 2000, speaking on the floor<br /><br />of the U.S. Senate: "We all know about Pakistan, the<br /><br />gateway to Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden and his<br /><br />buddies. Can anybody think of a better place to<br /><br />beef up border security, so that terrorists can be<br /><br />apprehended as they go to and from those Afghan training camps?"<br /><br /><br /><br />Again, that was Biden in the year 2000, over a year<br /><br />before bin Laden committed mass murder on U.S. soil.<br /><br />And Biden had the danger sized up perfectly -- before<br /><br />the fact.<br /><br /><br /><br />To be sure, Biden wasn't completely alone in ringing the<br /><br />alarm but he almost was. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was<br /><br />also somewhat prescient in speaking out about the<br /><br />Taliban. "The Taliban in their activities...there<br /><br />[in Afghanistan] have placed them outside the circle<br /><br />of civilized human behavior," said Pelosi, on June 13, 2001.<br /><br />(The least prescient about 9/11? Dennis Kucinich.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Candidates with hindsight are as plentiful as<br /><br />gravel, those with foresight as scarce as gold.<br /><br />In this case, the Democratic nominee for president<br /><br />has chosen a running mate with the latter.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPTHqjIqXLmaHSqBtAqOPAadk28ntCsdNDd161gEfSKB5TxytuysuKCVa2f8sB6ychKqcQmEfqueFPIH2KBF_DWZYgdg9CzqTG49W93RBxsYklZ3cTSmHf2W6YRuJ3KLBUhSj2Fe8GoM/s1600-h/scanobiden.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237734374487374338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPTHqjIqXLmaHSqBtAqOPAadk28ntCsdNDd161gEfSKB5TxytuysuKCVa2f8sB6ychKqcQmEfqueFPIH2KBF_DWZYgdg9CzqTG49W93RBxsYklZ3cTSmHf2W6YRuJ3KLBUhSj2Fe8GoM/s400/scanobiden.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />__________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 17, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />After deeply researching insider blogs,<br /><br />convention schedules, travel plans<br /><br />of both the candidate and his veep<br /><br />contenders -- and applying simple common<br /><br />sense -- I've arrived at an educated guess<br /><br />as to who Barack Obama's running mate<br /><br />will be.<br /><br /><br /><br />In all likelihood, it's Joe Biden.<br /><br /><br /><em>[posted at 6:44pm, Sunday, August 17, 2008]</em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 13 - 14, 2008<br /><br /><br />I must confess I wasn't at all impressed by<br /><br />the precision mass synchronization spectacles<br /><br />of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.<br /><br />They didn't express much except a punishing<br /><br />level of rehearsal. Orson Welles was able to do<br /><br />more with simple hand shadows in "Citizen Kane" than<br /><br />the organizers of the Olympics did with their<br /><br />Himalayan-sized budget.<br /><br /><br /><br />That said, the folks at NBC (particularly Brian<br /><br />Williams, Tom Brokaw, Bob Costas and Matt Lauer)<br /><br />are doing a super job making it interesting even<br /><br />to viewers who couldn't care less about things<br /><br />like the 50-meter freestyle competition. (Lauer<br /><br />had a particularly humorous moment last week<br /><br />touring a building in Beijing called The Studio<br /><br />of Exhaustion from Diligent Service.)<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />It occurred to me yesterday that our next<br /><br />president will be someone who wasn't born<br /><br />on the U.S. mainland -- a first (I think).<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />If you want to remember Isaac Hayes at his very<br /><br />best, and you've already seen "Shaft," check out<br /><br />the "Wattstax" DVD, which captures primo Hayes -- intro'd<br /><br />by a circumspect Jesse Jackson, no less.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Enduring Ambivalence About Jethro Tull</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvuvOgN2UDIV3rPlb71eAJZJOzu49crxb8VbKQwoYxDVfyKmGj2Zjcmo_ZN5GsJ7GRdSrZhyITL39gVz_ytBUInEMrnQ3kgJgBAd-RELJhCk18kr5rO0m1EpmhCB6sFVq1BtTlr37H6s/s1600-h/scanjethrotull.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234047866051863826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrvuvOgN2UDIV3rPlb71eAJZJOzu49crxb8VbKQwoYxDVfyKmGj2Zjcmo_ZN5GsJ7GRdSrZhyITL39gVz_ytBUInEMrnQ3kgJgBAd-RELJhCk18kr5rO0m1EpmhCB6sFVq1BtTlr37H6s/s400/scanjethrotull.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Jethro Tull, reading the latest edition of<br />The Daily Digression? </em><br /><br /><br />Of all the major 1960s/1970s bands eligible<br /><br />for induction to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame<br /><br />who have not yet been inducted, few present a<br /><br />more difficult problem of critical evaluation than<br /><br />Jethro Tull. Watching a video of the band performing<br /><br />in its absolute creative prime -- the period right<br /><br />after "Benefit" and before "Aqualung," captured on a<br /><br />DVD called "Jethro Tull: Live at the Isle of<br /><br />Wight, 1970" -- I saw at once the reasons why<br /><br />the band should be inducted and why they shouldn't,<br /><br />though I lean toward the former view ("Aqualung" alone<br /><br />should be their ticket in).<br /><br /><br /><br />The DVD shows the band performing on the last<br /><br />day of the Isle of Wight Festival of 1970, when<br /><br />the crowd, having already heard The Who and<br /><br />Jimi Hendrix on previous days, had dwindled<br /><br />considerably. By day five, the audience was<br /><br />gnarly, gamey, pissed off and fed up with<br /><br />malfunctioning toilets and being pushed<br /><br />around by fest organizers. To its credit, this<br /><br />documentary/concert film, directed by Murray Lerner,<br /><br />doesn't prettify this (or Tull's own performance,<br /><br />for that matter).<br /><br /><br /><br />Tull took the stage looking like they had just<br /><br />stepped off the cover of "Benefit." Up close, you<br /><br />can see that Ian Anderson had a case of stage fright<br /><br />and, at least at this gig, was nervous, even dorky,<br /><br />full of odd tics and idiosyncrasies, a strict<br /><br />taskmaster who missed his own cues, while his<br /><br />band was precise but clunky, for the most part.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's when he puts down his flute, which he really<br /><br />doesn't play very well, and sits with an acoustic<br /><br />guitar for "My God" that you say, "Wow." Anderson is<br /><br />relaxed, engaging, marvelously melodic, almost<br /><br />hypnotic -- for the first three minutes and fifteen<br /><br />seconds of "My God." And then he does embarrassing<br /><br />schtick with his flute that even he sort of cringed<br /><br />at in a 2004 interview included here.<br /><br /><br /><br />I've long felt the band's best stuff was British<br /><br />folk and folk rock like "Sossity," "Inside,"<br /><br />"Reasons for Waiting," "Mother Goose,"<br /><br />"For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me," "Slipstream,"<br /><br />"Cheap Day Return," "Up the Pool," the "in the clear<br /><br />white circles of morning wonder" part of "Thick as a<br /><br />Brick" -- I almost never tire of hearing<br /><br />those songs, none of which they played at Isle<br /><br />of Wight. (Anderson should have hung out a bit<br /><br />more with Maddy Pryor, by the way.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Though the setlist here is disappointing (why only one<br /><br />song from "Benefit"?), you see the dawn of<br /><br />"Aqualung" taking shape, particularly on "Dharma<br /><br />For One," where you can hear the band hurtling<br /><br />toward its "Locomotive Breath" sound. (Turns out<br /><br />Glenn Cornick had a lot more to do with the<br /><br />overall sound during this period than you'd guess<br /><br />from hearing the albums.) By show's end, the<br /><br />previously angry crowd looked genuinely<br /><br />thrilled.<br /><br /><br /><br />The problem with bands that you enjoyed as a child<br /><br />is that, in adulthood, you can't tell whether you<br /><br />still like them because of nostalgia or because<br /><br />of the group's musical value. I was barely<br /><br />13-years-old, a suburban American kid living for<br /><br />six months in Florence, Italy, when I first heard<br /><br />of Tull. I remember the moment well: I was in the<br /><br />front seat of a Fiat in central Florence in<br /><br />November 1970, a couple months after Isle of Wight,<br /><br />looking to the backseat where some cool older guy at my<br /><br />school, St. Michael's Country Day School, was holding<br /><br />a brand new copy of "Benefit" (with that "headband" cover)<br /><br />and talking the band up.<br /><br /><br /><br />At that time in Florence, "Woodstock" was in the<br /><br />main movie theaters, "Led Zeppelin 3" was weeks<br /><br />away from showing up in record store windows and<br /><br />Italian singer Gianni Morandi had a big hit with a<br /><br />protest song about the Kent State massacre.<br /><br /><br /><br />But Jethro Tull, at least for a month or two in the<br /><br />fall of '70, was the talk of the piazza, and their<br /><br />melodies seemed to emanate from the medieval and<br /><br />Renaissance alleys of the city, and there were rumors<br /><br />flying that Tull was actually a group of 70-year-old men.<br /><br /><br /><br />But the band's true heyday lasted only from 1969 to<br /><br />1972, between "Stand Up" and "Living in the Past." The<br /><br />subsequent albums, between '73 and '78, from "A Passion<br /><br />Play" to "Songs From the Wood," were spotty at best,<br /><br />though there are at least a few good songs or musical<br /><br />moments on each. After 1978, they created almost nothing<br /><br />worth listening to.<br /><br /><br /><br />Even at their peak they were the object of an unusual<br /><br />degree of derision. (I once heard the nickname Jethro Dull;<br /><br />and the late, great Lester Bangs memorably eviscerated<br /><br />the band with his famous line about Jethro Tull having<br /><br />no "rebop.")<br /><br /><br /><br />To be sure, they're not in the same league as the Stones<br /><br />and the Who, though their melodies are more memorable<br /><br />than those of a terrific band like Fairport Convention.<br /><br />Tull can't be dismissed -- there's just too much good stuff<br /><br />on albums two through six. "Live at the Isle of Wight,"<br /><br />the best long-form concert by the group on DVD, is a<br /><br />great way to take a close look at a band that still<br /><br />provokes extreme ambivalence after all these years.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>A Year After "Sicko," Still No Universal Health Care</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24hCufPvosil0nXz-Z64aabQu5weYMf3gtNlEV8xLONSSQtG25VkmCmO2iDwGiSHKlClohOMIYJQ4j2sODLm3ISKRuDdLvBqtxeZMN6GS46J4mmE7O19TGOz0xWjDW_oLDmv3Q4sS3fA/s1600-h/scansicko.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234049150823111586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24hCufPvosil0nXz-Z64aabQu5weYMf3gtNlEV8xLONSSQtG25VkmCmO2iDwGiSHKlClohOMIYJQ4j2sODLm3ISKRuDdLvBqtxeZMN6GS46J4mmE7O19TGOz0xWjDW_oLDmv3Q4sS3fA/s400/scansicko.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />This time last year, Michael Moore's documentary<br /><br />"Sicko" was stirring such debate about the U.S. health<br /><br />care system that some thought the film might actually<br /><br />spur some sort of policy change.<br /><br /><br /><br />No such luck. Hasn't happened. The rich keep<br /><br />getting richer off of the sick, who keep<br /><br />getting sicker.<br /><br /><br /><br />As "Sicko" notes, the government provides<br /><br />free postal service, free police protection, free<br /><br />education -- and nobody denounces those programs<br /><br />as "socialist." Why not also provide<br /><br />something as basic as health care?<br /><br /><br /><br />Imagine if you had to personally pay the police<br /><br />department every time you called 911 for an<br /><br />emergency (though, on second thought, it is true<br /><br />that in some communities in New Jersey and Louisiana,<br /><br />I hear you actually do have to pay the cops!). Same<br /><br />thing as paying for an emergency room visit.<br /><br /><br /><br />Maybe we need to re-think our socialism-phobia,<br /><br />which almost nobody else in the world shares. Let's<br /><br />take that fear apart for a moment.<br /><br /><br /><br />Since unregulated capitalism failed spectacularly<br /><br />in 1929, the United States has adopted and adapted<br /><br />and refined some of the best ideas of<br /><br />socialism -- e.g., FDIC, unemployment insurance,<br /><br />social security, food stamps, etc. -- so that<br /><br />now we're -- thankfully -- a capitalist-socialist<br /><br />hybrid nation, in a sense.<br /><br /><br /><br />Even arch-conservatives have seen the absolute<br /><br />necessity of having a baseline level of government<br /><br />involvement and regulation, without which we would<br /><br />have complete catastrophe on several levels,<br /><br />as we found out the hard way in '29.<br /><br /><br /><br />Meanwhile, the communists have adapted and adopted<br /><br />some of the best ideas of American capitalism so that<br /><br />Russia and China are now also socialist-capitalist<br /><br />hybrids.<br /><br /><br /><br />In other words, nobody won the Cold War. We became<br /><br />partly socialist, and the socialists became partly<br /><br />capitalist. The U.S. has social security, and China has<br /><br />Saks Fifth Avenue. In the process, the Soviet Union<br /><br />ran out of money and collapsed, which probably<br /><br />would've happened anyway, whether they had been nominally<br /><br />communist or not, given the fact that their economy has<br /><br />long been based on main exports vodka and corruption.<br /><br />(And their totalitarianism, which almost nobody defends<br /><br />anymore, had more to do with their own political<br /><br />traditions and history than with the theories of Marx<br /><br />and Engels.)<br /><br /><br /><br />In "Sicko," we actually see the spectacle of<br /><br />Americans "defecting" to communist Cuba in order to<br /><br />get health care -- and it's no joke.<br /><br /><br /><br />Oh, I can hear the conservatives now, talking about<br /><br />the lack of freedom in Cuba. But let's dissect that cliche<br /><br />for a moment, too.<br /><br /><br /><br />In the U.S., every dissenter is free to savagely<br /><br />criticize President Bush in the most radical ways,<br /><br />but there's no real danger or risk in that.<br /><br />After all, we work for corporations like<br /><br />Hewlett-Packard and Oracle and Xerox and GE, not<br /><br />for Bush. And if you work for Hewlett-Packard,<br /><br />I dare you to go to the office tomorrow and start<br /><br />criticizing your boss in order to see how your First<br /><br />Amendment rights hold up. I dare you to go to work,<br /><br />wherever you work, and say, my boss is a bum and my company<br /><br />is run by a bunch of fascist thugs. First Amendment or<br /><br />not, you'd likely be cleaning out your desk before the<br /><br />day is done.<br /><br /><br /><br />In America, you have very limited free speech rights<br /><br />when it comes to the domain in which you really<br /><br />reside: your workplace, where you spend most of your<br /><br />day. Your actual residence is the fiefdom of Xerox or<br /><br />GE or Oracle, not the U.S.<br /><br /><br /><br />So, yeah, it's true: there is a public sector<br /><br />tyranny in Cuba -- but there's a private sector<br /><br />tyranny in America.<br /><br /><br /><br />Just watch the final scenes of "Sicko" -- in which<br /><br />Cuban firefighters in Havana stand to honor the New<br /><br />York area firefighters who died so tragically on<br /><br />9/11 -- and you'll realize we have a lot more in<br /><br />common with the communists than we care to admit.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 3, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night in Berkeley, John Mellencamp Declares:<br /><br />"Hatred Elected George Bush"</strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsSE01OGovtdOl66OmOslNhD0FtRRGm30_5XhO37DXa_ECR5pdNt_zPgO3Pwg7mk_19jYw-4bI3Do5Barvnq347Scc0TIcB6CKi8oroBQ5LJMwUCrR4PJvIXGiJCl3nsr6kDdi0kaVQ/s1600-h/bmellendancingsecond.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118326759517560386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsSE01OGovtdOl66OmOslNhD0FtRRGm30_5XhO37DXa_ECR5pdNt_zPgO3Pwg7mk_19jYw-4bI3Do5Barvnq347Scc0TIcB6CKi8oroBQ5LJMwUCrR4PJvIXGiJCl3nsr6kDdi0kaVQ/s400/bmellendancingsecond.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Mellencamp performing last year (photo by Paul Iorio)</em><br /><br /><br />John Mellencamp has never been known to hold<br /><br />his tongue about much, and last night in Berkeley,<br /><br />Calif., on the final date of his tour with Lucinda<br /><br />Williams, he let it all hang out.<br /><br /><br /><br />"It's that hatred that's getting people killed overseas,<br /><br />it's that hatred that's getting -- well, let's call a<br /><br />spade a spade -- it's that hatred that elected George<br /><br />Bush," Mellencamp said to cheers from the crowd.<br /><br /><br /><br />He then paused, chuckled a bit and said: "I'll probably<br /><br />get arrested for saying that," as if realizing he had<br /><br />said something a bit extreme.<br /><br /><br /><br />Several songs later, before "Crumblin' Down," he dialed<br /><br />back a bit on his comments. "I didn't mean to start<br /><br />preachin' but I did a little bit," he said, adding at<br /><br />another point that a lot of people think he<br /><br />should "shut up about politics."<br /><br /><br /><br />Mellencamp also talked unusually vividly, even by<br /><br />his own standards, about the infamous racial incident<br /><br />that happened last year in Jena, Louisiana.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Down in Jena there was some kind of problem, you<br /><br />know, and people thought it'd be a good idea if they<br /><br />hung nooses in a tree," he began. "...That's a bad<br /><br />idea no matter how you cut it. Hey, here's a<br /><br />good idea: <em>[in an ironic, confidential tone</em>]:<br /><br />after the show let's all go...spray paint swastikas....That's<br /><br />a good idea...That's not going to get a good result<br /><br />no matter how you cut it. That is not the way we solve<br /><br />problems. We're better than that." Fans cheered.<br /><br /><br /><br />Then he launched into his song "Jena," played here a bit<br /><br />like a Neil Young protest tune.<br /><br /><br /><br />Mellencamp made his remarks at a sold-out gig at the<br /><br />Greek Theater in Berkeley, last night (August 2),<br /><br />supporting his recently released album, "Life Death<br /><br />Love and Freedom." (I heard -- and recorded -- the gig<br /><br />from the hills above the theater.)<br /><br /><br /><br />His comments about "hatred" followed an anecdote he<br /><br />told about an instance of racial discrimination he<br /><br />experienced when he was a teenager in a rock band;<br /><br />effectively, given the context of his story, he was<br /><br />implying that<em> racial</em> "hatred" played a part in<br /><br />electing Bush.<br /><br /><br /><br />His remarks, however, didn't upstage his music,<br /><br />which was, at times, as good as live rock 'n' roll<br /><br />gets; in fact, there are only a handful of acts<br /><br />-- the Stones, Springsteen, U2, R.E.M., etc. -- who<br /><br />can play rock with this level of mastery and intensity.<br /><br /><br /><br />The last segment of the show -- in which he played<br /><br />several of his best-known songs in rapid<br /><br />succession -- felt sort of like a jet quickly<br /><br />ascending over mountain peaks; his versions<br /><br />of "Crumblin' Down" and "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A."<br /><br />had the irresistable force of the Rolling Stones<br /><br />on their "Bigger Bang" tour, and it was almost<br /><br />impossible not to dance (or not to move to)<br /><br />the music.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also notable were "Rain on the Scarecrow," a<br /><br />defiant retort to anyone who thinks the Reagan era<br /><br />was just an endless stream of jellybeans; "Check<br /><br />It Out," the most enduring song from "The Lonesome<br /><br />Jubilee"; and an unexpectedly strong "Human Wheels,"<br /><br />as well as the half dozen or so new songs from his<br /><br />latest album, "Life Death Love and Freedom," his best<br /><br />CD in many years.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Minutes to Memories," one of his finest songs, was<br /><br />performed here solo acoustic, unfortunately flattening<br /><br />a lot of the song's appeal, which has much to do with<br /><br />its central guitar riff, absent here. For years,<br /><br />I've enjoyed performing that song on acoustic guitar<br /><br />for pleasure in my own apartment, and it works in a<br /><br />bare arrangement, but only if you also include that<br /><br />wonderful riff.<br /><br /><br /><br />I remember Mellencamp splitting open Madison Square<br /><br />Garden on December 6, 1985, with a vibrant, electric<br /><br />version of that one, along with other tracks from<br /><br />"Scarecrow," still his crowning achievement, in my<br /><br />opinion. (That was the famous gig at which<br /><br />Mellencamp generously offered to give everyone<br /><br />their money back because he felt that a<br /><br />slightly malfunctioning sound system was<br /><br />diminishing the sound, when in fact it was<br /><br />easily one of the greatest rock shows<br /><br />I'd ever seen.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Opening at the Greek was Lucinda Williams, playing<br /><br />songs from her upcoming album "Little Honey," due<br /><br />in October, and assorted songs from the past decade<br /><br />or so, as well as a fun encore cover of AC/DC's "It's a<br /><br />Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)."<br /><br /><br /><br />Ever since I first heard her perform, in 1988 at<br /><br />Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey, back when her<br /><br />major song was "Changed the Locks," which she never<br /><br />sings anymore, I've always had the urge to cry<br /><br />whenever I hear her music.<br /><br /><br /><br />I'm not joking: her stuff just breaks my heart,<br /><br />and I get so sad when I hear it -- I don't know why<br /><br />that is, though I do know that it has stopped me from<br /><br />listening to her as frequently as I listen to, say, Bob<br /><br />Dylan, whose brilliance she sometimes comes close to.<br /><br /><br /><br />But remember: even at his most bitter and snarling,<br /><br />Dylan had a marvelous sense of humor ("I can't help it<br /><br />if I'm lucky" is worthy of a great stand-up comedian),<br /><br />the missing element in her work.<br /><br /><br /><br />I think the AC/DC cover is a really good sign. I'd<br /><br />give a lot to hear her sing "You Shook Me All Night<br /><br />Long."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjggUUiVT9KxOR9MiDHoZoUoiNZky7ArSGP-34_hI0tOL1VptOQK7R0a1bDo6qhu82NyDSNuL4uNfA2YJEC8BSr5iePUMC0JfA6wkrtyPc_4ujs4GhvCasfWZylbxFDjEP69j12vpTAhhA/s1600-h/scanacdcbackstage.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230416488482610066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjggUUiVT9KxOR9MiDHoZoUoiNZky7ArSGP-34_hI0tOL1VptOQK7R0a1bDo6qhu82NyDSNuL4uNfA2YJEC8BSr5iePUMC0JfA6wkrtyPc_4ujs4GhvCasfWZylbxFDjEP69j12vpTAhhA/s400/scanacdcbackstage.jpg" /></a><br /><em>my backstage pass to an AC/DC show in NY in '85.</em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for August 1 - 2, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>"Laugh-In" Is Forty, Dick Martin is Dead </strong><br /><br /><em><strong>(But We'll Always Have Beautiful Downtown Burbank!)</strong></em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittT2U0kxCz0GQX1-LdfftwtNPNDJ57isMBfLqDxsiC8AUKi0HkWbblAcXnTxhaZiH1KAyvfY1fIbBooyBgSThnVSL7EobBtaP4ptKjolGZrbHaqISuob24id54JY1algjxmtRQe1iND8/s1600-h/scanlaughin.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229618440806601202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittT2U0kxCz0GQX1-LdfftwtNPNDJ57isMBfLqDxsiC8AUKi0HkWbblAcXnTxhaZiH1KAyvfY1fIbBooyBgSThnVSL7EobBtaP4ptKjolGZrbHaqISuob24id54JY1algjxmtRQe1iND8/s400/scanlaughin.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Jokes about Ralph Nader, Fidel Castro, the<br /><br />Olympics, tensions between Pakistan and India,<br /><br />the obsolescence of cash -- with a special<br /><br />appearance by Regis Philbin. Sounds like<br /><br />a new TV series, right?<br /><br /><br /><br />Nope. I'm describing the first episodes<br /><br />of NBC's "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," now over<br /><br />forty years old but so ahead of its time in many<br /><br />ways that it still seems progressive.<br /><br /><br /><br />Or some of it does. Clearly, the mod garb and<br /><br />slang are hopelessly outdated, more associated<br /><br />today with Austin Powers than with anything else,<br /><br />as are most of the topical references and silly<br /><br />sayings such as "You bet your sweet bippy"<br /><br />and "sock it to me," which never quite made<br /><br />it into the lexicon after the 1970s.<br /><br /><br /><br />But get beyond those superficial elements and<br /><br />you'll see that "Laugh-In," as much as "Saturday<br /><br />Night Live," was an exponential leap forward<br /><br />pop-culturally -- and in prime time, no less,<br /><br />where "SNL" proper never resided. Even today, a lot<br /><br />of the stoned humor pioneered by "Laugh-In" is<br /><br />relegated to the 11:30 hour or beyond,<br /><br />or to cable.<br /><br /><br /><br />The main thing, though, is that the series, at<br /><br />least in its first years, is still very funny.<br /><br />I recently rented a DVD of disc one of the first<br /><br />season, which includes two episodes from early 1968,<br /><br />and laughed and laughed.<br /><br /><br /><br />Some of the one-liners are almost worthy of<br /><br />Allen and Perelman.<br /><br /><br /><br />"My grandfather is a sexagenarian," says one woman.<br /><br />"That's amazing at his age," quips Dick Martin.<br /><br /><br /><br />And there are humorous moments from Tim<br /><br />Conway.<br /><br /><br />"Hey, man, I don't want my kids hearing all them dirty<br /><br />words in the movies," says Conway. "They get enough of<br /><br />that at home."<br /><br /><br /><br />Elsewhere, Conway plays The Great Nervo, who makes<br /><br />predictions about events that have already happened.<br /><br /><br /><br />The two most entertaining regular features were the<br /><br />opening cocktail party, at which partygoers would<br /><br />tell a joke that sort of aspired to the level of a<br /><br />New Yorker magazine cartoon (though many fell far<br /><br />short of that goal); and "The Rowan & Martin Report"<br /><br />(aka "Laugh-In Looks at the News"), a forerunner of<br /><br />SNL's "Weekend Update."<br /><br /><br /><br />The latter had a future news sub-segment, reporting<br /><br />headlines from 20 years in the future, 1988 (oh,<br /><br />how quickly a future date in time becomes a date<br /><br />from the past in any sort of speculative comedy or<br /><br />drama). It even joked about Reagan becoming president.<br /><br /><br /><br />Among the more humorous future news bits: "Item.<br /><br />White House. 1988. President Stokely Carmichael,<br /><br />in his office in Hanoi, today once again repeated<br /><br />that the United States must get out of America."<br /><br /><br /><br />Some of the sketches were more cutting-edge than<br /><br />most prime-time fare today. In one segment, Rowan<br /><br />and Martin covered campus riots, play-by-play<br /><br />style, as if they were sports events ("the winners<br /><br />will be invited to meet Berkeley in the national<br /><br />championship").<br /><br /><br /><br />At another point, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop<br /><br />play government officials writing a press release<br /><br />about an international incident at sea, gradually<br /><br />altering the facts so that an accident in which 15<br /><br />Russians were injured by Americans is changed to<br /><br />one in which 15 Americans were deliberately hurt<br /><br />by a Russian submarine.<br /><br /><br /><br />One great thing about seeing this on DVD is that<br /><br />you can finally slow down the ultra-quick cuts in<br /><br />order to read the placards and bumper stickers that<br /><br />whizzed by way too fast when they were first aired.<br /><br />For the record, here's what was invisible to viewers<br /><br />in 1968:<br /><br /><br /><br />"Lower the Age of Puberty," "Get Our Boys Out of Berkeley"<br /><br />and "Bullets are Forever."<br /><br /><br /><br />Other highlights are abundant: a French juggler who<br /><br />juggles plates but ends up breaking all of them; a<br /><br />sight gag in which someone flamboyantly waves a sword at<br /><br />Dan Rowan, who casually pulls out a gun and shoots him<br /><br />(a similar bit got a lot of laughs many years later in<br /><br />the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark").<br /><br /><br /><br />It's puzzling that other networks didn't counter-program<br /><br />with their own knock-offs, though ABC tried and failed.<br /><br />Ultimately, the show became passe by 1970 and was fully<br /><br />eclipsed by the more outre "All in the Family" by 1971.<br /><br /><br /><br />Its influence is still felt everywhere today from<br /><br />"SNL" to "The Late Show with David Letterman," and<br /><br />you can even see a stylistic thru-line from Rowan<br /><br />to Letterman (though Letterman at this point has<br /><br />become an original in his own category).<br /><br /><br /><br />Last May, as everyone knows, Dick Martin died at<br /><br />age 88, which is 23 years longer than his partner<br /><br />lived. Their DVDs, obviously, live on, but rent<br /><br />them with this caveat: get the "Laugh-In"<br /><br />discs that have complete episodes, not<br /><br />the best-of clip jobs, and stick to the stuff from<br /><br />the early years.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />As soon as I finish reading the poems Coleridge<br /><br />wrote on opium, the novels Hemingway wrote on booze,<br /><br />the lyrics Lennon wrote on acid, and the works that<br /><br />Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac wrote on a variety<br /><br />of recreational drugs, I'll read Princeton's study<br /><br />(scientific, I'm sure) describing the underrated University<br /><br />of Florida as a "party school."<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress<br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 27, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong><br />Last Night's Steely Dan Show</strong><br /><a href="http://www.steelydangallary.se/paintings/indexfolder/walt_don.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.steelydangallary.se/paintings/indexfolder/walt_don.jpg" /></a><br /><em>reeling in the you-know-whats</em><br /><br /><br />Almost everybody coming out of the Steely Dan<br /><br />concert last night in Berkeley, Calif., was<br /><br />smiling wide, as if they had just gotten<br /><br />laid or were about to. The show was that<br /><br />satisfying.<br /><br /><br /><br />A couple hours earlier, from the stage, in the<br /><br />middle of "Hey 19," Walter Becker even gave some<br /><br />advice to the romantically inclined in the crowd.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Sometimes on a summer night, way up in the hills of<br /><br />Berkeley...after a Steely Dan show...you head home<br /><br />with your beloved, the object of your affections,<br /><br />and there's only one thing in mind: showing her<br /><br />how much, how very much, you love her," said Becker,<br /><br />who then proceeded to talk about one way to<br /><br />have fun with your loved one.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Go to the liquor cabinet," he said, and find<br /><br />the stuff labeled "'100% guaranteed'...If you<br /><br />break the seal, you're gonna feel real," he said.<br /><br />"You understand what I'm saying?"<br /><br /><br /><br />The crowd roared approval, as the band lit into<br /><br />a soulful verse celebrating "Cuervo Gold."<br /><br /><br /><br />From the beginning to the end of this two hour-plus<br /><br />gig, Steely Dan was fully dedicated to making sure<br /><br />everybody within earshot -- even the people up in the<br /><br />hills, where I was -- was aesthetically satisfied<br /><br />and entertained.<br /><br /><br /><br />The pleasures were many. There were exotic sounds<br /><br />from quirky instruments turning up like rare animals<br /><br />at a zoo. One minute, the tenor sax and the tenor<br /><br />trombone would be re-combining into new combinations,<br /><br />then there would be mysterious guitar riffs creating<br /><br />texture, nuance. Plus, and most important, you<br /><br />could dance to it all, which a lot of people did.<br /><br /><br /><br />As the summer night progressed, hits and new material<br /><br />and obscurities came vividly to life: my favorites of<br /><br />the night were "New Frontier," "Black Friday," "Peg"<br /><br />and finale "Do It Again."<br /><br /><br /><br />And there was Becker's colorful intro of<br /><br />Donald Fagan: "Lead singer, pianist, singer-songwriter,<br /><br />composer, author, producer, star of screen, stage<br /><br />and television, man about town, stern critic of the<br /><br />contemporary scene, please welcome, if you will,<br /><br />the original, the originator, the one, the only<br /><br />one, Mr. Donald Fagan."<br /><br /><br /><br />After the show, as I walked back home, through my<br /><br />favorite park in the world, I realized that the show<br /><br />had caused me, for a time, to hear the sound of<br /><br />chirping birds and the rest of the world in a brand<br /><br />new way, which is one of the reasons I was<br /><br />smiling, too.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress, Paul<br /><br /><br />__________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 27, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />A point missing in the discussion about<br /><br />the surge in Iraq is that it's way too<br /><br />early to declare "mission accomplished"<br /><br />with regard to the lessening of hostilities<br /><br />there. The surge is only a few months old,<br /><br />and insurgents might easily re-surge later,<br /><br />stronger than ever.<br /><br /><br /><br />Remember: Tet was quashed, too, in early 1968,<br /><br />but the guerillas came back with a vengeance and<br /><br />fought on for several more years -- to victory,<br /><br />in fact. (To be fair, McCain may not know about<br /><br />all this, as I hear he didn't have access to<br /><br />Cronkite in those years.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Lately, McCain is sounding like a guy who drives<br /><br />your car into a ditch and then wants to be<br /><br />congratulated for replacing its flat tire, though<br /><br />the car still remains in the ditch.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/mccain.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/mccain.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>He's changing his heart<br />(you know who you are!): </strong><br /><em>McCain has flip-flopped<br />from advocating a "hundred year"<br />presence in Iraq to supporting a<br />"time horizon" for withdrawal.</em><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>Here's A New Idea for An Antonioni Exhibit....</strong><br /><br /><br />In the U.S., the neglect of Michelangelo Antonioni's<br /><br />work verges on the criminal. Up until<br /><br />recently, even some of his most popular films were<br /><br />not available on DVD domestically.<br /><br /><br /><br />Which is why it's so welcome to see that the<br /><br />National Gallery in Washington, D.C., is in the<br /><br />midst of a gourmet Antonioni retrospective, spanning<br /><br />his entire career and including rarely-seen gems<br /><br />like "L'eclisse," the last of the trilogy that<br /><br />began with "L'avventura," and (especially)<br /><br />"Deserto rosso (Red Desert)," which I am dying to<br /><br />see because I'm told it experiments with color<br /><br />(and birds!) brilliantly. (Check out<br /><br />coverage of the screenings at washingtonpost.com.)<br /><br /><br /><br />As I wrote in the Daily Digression on July 31, 2007:<br /><br /><br />"I've always had the feeling that if Michelangelo<br /><br />Antonioni hadn't been a film maker, he would've<br /><br />been a post-expressionist painter, because that's<br /><br />the sensibility he brought to cinema. In fact, he<br /><br />seemed to see film as an almost purely visual<br /><br />medium, and the best example of that was the<br /><br />dazzling end of "Zabriskie Point," which was<br /><br />virtually one expressionist painting after<br /><br />another, if you were to still each frame. I was<br /><br />always waiting for Antonioni to take his aesthetic<br /><br />to the next level and make a two-hour film that was<br /><br />purely painterly visuals, with no plot, no story."<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's an original idea for a museum exhibit<br /><br />that is long overdue: a photography exhibition of<br /><br />stills -- blown-up still photographs -- of around<br /><br />forty moments or scenes in Antonioni movies. I thought<br /><br />of this idea after recently watching "The<br /><br />Passenger" and finding that I kept pausing the<br /><br />film just to savor various visual images that were<br /><br />as powerful and resonant as many great modernist<br /><br />paintings. This most painterly of auteurs should<br /><br />surely have his moving paintings stilled and<br /><br />displayed by a major museum.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[photo of McCain from thewashingtonnote.com]</em><br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 23 - 24, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />A few notes on DVDs I've watched (or re-watched)<br /><br />lately:<br /><br /><br /><strong>NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN:</strong> After<br /><br />re-watching it the other day, I was struck by<br /><br />how Hitchcockian the suspense was (particularly<br /><br />the sequence in which Josh Brolin sees Javier<br /><br />Bardem's shadow beneath the door). The<br /><br />first time I saw it, I was very impressed and<br /><br />literally on the edge of my seat (to coin a phrase!),<br /><br />but second and third viewings reveal flaws,<br /><br />among them: suspense dissipates after the<br /><br />first hour, despite a nice star turn by Woody<br /><br />Harrelson; Tommy Lee Jones's opening VO segues<br /><br />into Brolin's first appearance onscreen, confusing<br /><br />viewers into thinking the VO was Brolin's<br /><br />(further, what Jones says about "old-timers" and<br /><br />generations changing hands doesn't really come<br /><br />into play later in the film); it's not<br /><br />believable that the cop in the opening sequence<br /><br />would separate Bardem from his oxygen tank in<br /><br />the squad car; etc.<br /><br /><br /><br />More significantly, the two main characters are<br /><br />indistinctly conceived. Brolin's character is<br /><br />initially drawn sort of like Kris Kristofferson's<br /><br />memorable sunuvabitch in "Lone Star"; but that<br /><br />persona is soon supplanted by a more typical<br /><br />Coen Bros. character: the bumbler a la William<br /><br />H. Macy in "Fargo." And it's an uneasy combination,<br /><br />likely the result of competing, colliding visions.<br /><br /><br /><br />Likewise, Bardem's character, truly a singular<br /><br />creation of American cinema, is nonetheless<br /><br />indecisively conceived. In the early part of<br /><br />the film, he's scripted as a serial thrill killer<br /><br />who kills for killing's sake. But as the<br /><br />movie progresses, the concept of his character<br /><br />shifts -- not through evolution -- to that of<br /><br />a businessman in the underground economy who<br /><br />is semi-reasonably trying to get back<br /><br />money stolen from him. There's less duality<br /><br />here than flawed concept.<br /><br /><br />Still, a great thriller -- and probably as good<br /><br />as "Fargo," the Coen brothers's peak to date.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>THERE WILL BE BLOOD: </strong>Unlike<br /><br />"No Country For Old Men," "There WIll Be Blood"<br /><br />gets better with each viewing. It unfolds much<br /><br />more naturally and organically, and has the epic<br /><br />sweep of a best picture Oscar winner, which it<br /><br />didn't win but should've. And it's probably the<br /><br />first major film since Kubrick's "2001: A Space<br /><br />Odyssey" to be wordless in its first fifteen<br /><br />minutes or so -- but with all meaning perfectly<br /><br />conveyed. Seeing this right after "No Country"<br /><br />makes the latter look like a cartoon. Paul<br /><br />Thomas Anderson is like Coppola and Polanski in<br /><br />his ability to create a complex plot that<br /><br />yields new revelations on fifth and sixth<br /><br />viewings. The brilliance is everywhere:<br /><br />the baptism by oil, the thunderstorm of gold,<br /><br />the "milkshake" sequence at the end, the<br /><br />"Peachtree Dance" moment of truth with<br /><br />Henry, etc.<br /><br /><br /><br />The plot is sort of like an entrepreneurially<br /><br />legitimate version of the entrepreneurially<br /><br />nefarious sub-plot of "Chinatown," in which<br /><br />Noah Cross and others are trying to bump people<br /><br />off their land in order to turn the land into<br /><br />valuable property. Of course, Plainview is more<br /><br />honest, even if he tries to give them "quail<br /><br />prices" at first. (And good to see Eli Sunday<br /><br />"repenting" before his death.)<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>JESUS CAMP:</strong> Fascinating docu<br /><br />about the thoroughly nauseating indoctrination<br /><br />of kids into fundamentalist religion. The sort<br /><br />of manipulation of impressionable children<br /><br />depicted here is not just disgusting; it's<br /><br />child abuse.<br /><br /><br /><br />It also proves beyond any doubt that most people<br /><br />in the modern era don't come to religion<br /><br />naturally but through warped, intense brainwashing<br /><br />at an extremely tender age. Left to their own<br /><br />devices, these kids might have gravitated naturally<br /><br />toward the wisdom of Aristotle, Nietzsche, Sartre,<br /><br />Yeats, Bob Dylan, etc. -- all better writers<br /><br />than the anonymous folks who wrote and revised<br /><br />and (badly) translated the Bible.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><strong>A MIGHTY HEART:</strong> I expected<br /><br />an earnest, well-meaning work but was<br /><br />pleasantly surprised at how consistently gripping<br /><br />it was, from beginning to end -- a very satisfying,<br /><br />moving movie that refuses to be exploitative about<br /><br />the tragic death of journalist Daniel Pearl. And<br /><br />Angelina Jolie disappears into Mariane Pearl<br /><br />the way a great actress should. You know, with<br /><br />all the tabloid headlines about her these days,<br /><br />we tend to forget that she's a first-rank actor<br /><br />(and you can almost believe she might be a<br /><br />presidential contender in 2020).<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>GANGS OF NEW YORK: </strong>Funny thing<br /><br />is, "Gangs" could pass for futuristic. As an<br /><br />evocation of Boss Tweed's Tammany New York, it's<br /><br />magical, convincing. But the style of its characters<br /><br />is so inventive and unfamiliar that it's almost a<br /><br />depiction of a future era of thuggery, the way<br /><br />Stanley Kubrick/Anthony Burgess created ultra-modern<br /><br />droogs, who dressed flamboyantly and spoke in<br /><br />pseudo-Shakespearian slang (a characterization<br /><br />that, by the way, was reportedly based on<br /><br />real-life 20th century street criminals in<br /><br />St. Petersburg who wore Edwardian garb and<br /><br />had their own Russian dialect).<br /><br /><br /><br />At times, it's like walking through pre-Civil War<br /><br />New York, the way it must've really been. You<br /><br />also see that, before the Civil War, parts of<br /><br />America still had a tin-whistle Colonial<br /><br />resemblance, while the decades after the Civil War<br /><br />were more akin to the modern era (in fact, that's<br /><br />when the grandparents of most baby boomers<br /><br />were born).<br /><br /><br />Anyway, I digress.<br /><br /><br />A masterful film, even if it has neither the epic<br /><br />perfection of "The Godfather, Part 2" nor the concision<br /><br />of "Goodfellas." After seeing it a second time, I had<br /><br />opposite feelings simultaneously: it should've<br /><br />been edited down to something more succinct and it<br /><br />should've been expanded by another hour.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>GRIZZLY MAN: </strong>It's one of<br /><br />the best documentaries of the decade -- and<br /><br />not just because it features footage of<br /><br />a guy hours and days before he was eaten by a<br /><br />brown grizzly bear in Alaska, though that's one<br /><br />of its draws.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's also a penetrating portrait of someone<br /><br />with a death wish, a clinically depressed alcoholic<br /><br />who replaced booze with the natural adrenaline<br /><br />released by hanging out with deadly animals. The<br /><br />doomed subject, Timothy Treadwell, revered and<br /><br />anthropomorphized and sentimentalized bears, a fatal<br /><br />misjudgment. But before that judgment becomes fatal,<br /><br />we experience his obsessive love of wildlife<br /><br />and Alaska, the very picture of untrammeled<br /><br />paradise, though it's telling to see that even in<br /><br />these remote reaches of the far north, where there's<br /><br />almost no human population, he's still as full<br /><br />of anger and frustration as someone living in a<br /><br />crowded slum (witness his tirade around 80<br /><br />minutes in).<br /><br /><br /><br />Ultimately, the foxes almost upstage the bears<br /><br />in this film; you'll never think of a fox the same<br /><br />way after seeing how much they look like a mere whim<br /><br />(Richard Thompson's instrumental during<br /><br />the fox chase sequence is immensely enjoyable).<br /><br /><br /><br />In the end, Treadwell filmed his own death, but with<br /><br />the lens cap on -- an apt metaphor for someone shutting<br /><br />his eyes to the danger nearby.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>C.S.A.: CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA: </strong><br /><br />Perhaps the most unimaginative mock-documentary ever<br /><br />made. And I'm not saying that because I'm privately<br /><br />offended by something in it, because I'm not offended by<br /><br />it. I'm merely astounded by the degree to which the film<br /><br />makers did not smartly (or even interestingly) (or even<br /><br />competently) extrapolate from its premise to the future.<br /><br />For the dim only.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>DOCTOR ZHIVAGO:</strong> Finally saw the<br /><br />double-DVD edition that was released a couple<br /><br />years ago, though I must admit I have nothing<br /><br />major to add to critical thought about this<br /><br />flick right now. It has moments of indelible<br /><br />beauty and other moments...not so indelible.<br /><br />To my knowledge, no one has brought up the<br /><br />fact that its theme song, "Somewhere My Love<br /><br />(Lara's Theme From 'Doctor Zhivago')," is<br /><br />overplayed to the point of distraction -- something<br /><br />like 27 times. And while the theme is a classic<br /><br />of its kind, the song doesn't seem to have an<br /><br />ethnic Russian flavor the way, say, the music of<br /><br />"Zorba the Greek" is distinctly Greek<br /><br />and the music of "The Godfather" is Italian.<br /><br />"Somewhere My Love" could as well be the theme<br /><br />of a British period drama.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 21, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Next Coen Brothers Picture</strong><br /><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZZ-CqtHjAnk/RmXUHqBJQkI/AAAAAAAACdI/i62Xt6NAmXc/GEORGE_CLOONEY_BRAD_PITT_GOSSIP_8898.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ZZ-CqtHjAnk/RmXUHqBJQkI/AAAAAAAACdI/i62Xt6NAmXc/GEORGE_CLOONEY_BRAD_PITT_GOSSIP_8898.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The Fall movie season kicks off after Labor Day with the<br />Coen Brothers's comic take on paranoid movies, "Burn After<br />Reading," starring That "Oceans" Team Clooney and Pitt. </em><br /><br /><br />The next Coen Brothers movie, "Burn After Reading,"<br /><br />is a C.I.A.-themed comedy starring Brad Pitt, George<br /><br />Clooney and John Malkovich.<br /><br /><br /><br />I've not yet seen the film, due in theaters after<br /><br />Labor Day, a traditionally fallow period for<br /><br />releases, but it looks to be a send-up of the<br /><br />sorts of paranoid movies that Clooney has starred<br /><br />in in recent years.<br /><br /><br /><br />After "Michael Clayton" and "Syriana," I thought<br /><br />Clooney's next project might be the feature film<br /><br />version of "The Man From UNCLE," an idea I'm sure<br /><br />is kicking around Burbank these days, or will be<br /><br />once someone reads this.<br /><br /><br /><br />Frankly, I think Clooney works better in movies<br /><br />less byzantine than "Michael Clayton" and<br /><br />"Syriana," Paranoid Movies of the kind I poked<br /><br />fun at in a feature for the San Francisco Chronicle<br /><br />newspaper in '97 that included a usable game board<br /><br />for The Paranoid Movie Game, which I'm re-printing<br /><br />here, for your enjoyment!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerD3ggciT6PspBwOmfjtW7NGJ_8AvDwbK8PDjBIgzM2PJ7-s1J2JtjZ_AeirpSxM-PI5YJ4GHS_3v5LUnRC5FE4O3WGuuRBsO9DN2iUTAJWOX0RlTkPYEU1KBbwhylUVbFEHuEe8CaSs/s1600-h/scanparagame.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094967640070725474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerD3ggciT6PspBwOmfjtW7NGJ_8AvDwbK8PDjBIgzM2PJ7-s1J2JtjZ_AeirpSxM-PI5YJ4GHS_3v5LUnRC5FE4O3WGuuRBsO9DN2iUTAJWOX0RlTkPYEU1KBbwhylUVbFEHuEe8CaSs/s400/scanparagame.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Have hours of fun with The Paranoid Movie Game! (I conceived and designed and wrote the Paranoid Movie Game for the San Francisco Chronicle in '97 (the only elements not authored by me are the drawings within the boxes).] </em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[photo of Clooney and Pitt: photographer unknown.]</em><br /><br />__________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 20, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night's Feist Show</strong><br /><a href="http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/13958574_40_b.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/13958574_40_b.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Feist played Berkeley, Calif., last night<br /><br />and was alluring, enchanting, impossibly<br /><br />seductive. Hard to believe from<br /><br />the fervent reaction of the mostly twentysomething<br /><br />crowd that she wasn't always a Big Indie Star, but<br /><br />as recently as a couple years ago, she wasn't.<br /><br /><br /><br />"1234," of course, changed all that, and though<br /><br />everyone has heard it a few million times,<br /><br />the song is still astonishingly fresh and carefree<br /><br />and irresistible -- perfect folk-pop magic, like the<br /><br />memory of hiking through a forest as a child. Played<br /><br />here at mid-set, it seemed to cast a spell on fans,<br /><br />even the ones listening from the hills above<br /><br />the theater, where I heard the show.<br /><br /><br /><br />In a 90-minute set that featured much of her latest<br /><br />album, "The Reminder," released around 15 months ago,<br /><br />Feist was both bold and fragile, sexy and innocent,<br /><br />guileless and knowing, spontaneous, loquacious, even<br /><br />chatty, talking about everything from apartment living<br /><br />to opening for Rilo Kiley. Highlights included<br /><br />"Mushaboom" ("We'll collect the moments, one by one/<br /><br />I guess that's how the future's done"), set closer<br /><br />"Sea Lion Woman" and the second encore (don't know<br /><br />the title of that one).<br /><br /><br /><br />Opening act The Golden Dogs, a quasi-power pop<br /><br />indie band from Toronto, is well worth checking out.<br /><br />Very impressive set. I wish I knew the title of the<br /><br />second song they played because it was truly<br /><br />fabulous. Sort of a combination of the Velvets<br /><br />and the Talking Heads and McCartney circa "Ram"<br /><br />(and in fact they performed a wonderful cover<br /><br />of McCartney's "1985"). I wouldn't be surprised<br /><br />if they broke through in a big way.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.truenorthrecords.com/bin/artists/148/Artwork-GD_large.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.truenorthrecords.com/bin/artists/148/Artwork-GD_large.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The Golden Dogs, terrific band. </em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[photo of Feist from buzzworthy.com; pic of Golden Dogs from True North website.]</em><br /><br /><br />__________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 18, 2008<br /><br /><br />OK, this is my last bit about that cover of<br /><br />The New Yorker magazine. I just received my<br /><br />subscription copy of the mag in the mail<br /><br />(can't they put those postage address stickers<br /><br />on the back, over the Saturn ad, so the covers<br /><br />aren't defaced?).<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, when you see the real cover, Barack looks<br /><br />more like a U.S. Navy sailor during Fleet Week<br /><br />than a practicing Muslim. And that empty chair?<br /><br />They could've put Jeremiah Wright in that.<br /><br /><br /><br />The other side of The New Yorker cover is,<br /><br />literally, this advertisement (below) for the<br /><br />Saturn Outlook luxury SUV, which sells for around<br /><br />$30,000. Obviously, the front cover wasn't<br /><br />so radical that it caused rich, conservative<br /><br />back-cover advertisers to drop their ads.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigb1Z5g9k7xDCrrsUK5uC9IdqVjxwAxcdUdyNSrnfHl0I7tvjbWm-A0VUs1J6r4n0W3LBBOMU6XW8FOD0TbJWcroPfXOnEd6WhWSU2dZjR04l-lYgrYt7NwU4oMdnkQXDxfaI4eCrKqGk/s1600-h/scansaturnad.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224420453734704178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigb1Z5g9k7xDCrrsUK5uC9IdqVjxwAxcdUdyNSrnfHl0I7tvjbWm-A0VUs1J6r4n0W3LBBOMU6XW8FOD0TbJWcroPfXOnEd6WhWSU2dZjR04l-lYgrYt7NwU4oMdnkQXDxfaI4eCrKqGk/s400/scansaturnad.jpg" /></a><br /><em>"We hawk yer satire at the fronta da shop,<br />we hawk yer gas guzzler at da back."</em><br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_______________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 17, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>No Riots Yet Over The New Yorker Cover</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />As The New Yorker's David Remnick noted last<br /><br />night on "Charlie Rose," the best commentary about<br /><br />his magazine's controversial Obama cover came<br /><br />from Jon Stewart, who said the following:<br /><br /><br />"You know what [Obama's] response should've been? It's<br />very easy here, let me put the statement out for you:<br />'Barack Obama is in no way upset about the cartoon that<br />depicts him as a Muslim extremist. Because you know<br />who gets upset about cartoons? Muslim extremists! Of<br />which Barack Obama is not. It's just a fucking<br />cartoon.'"<br /><br /><br />And Remnick rightly wondered whether the cover's<br /><br />detractors also took other satire, like "A Modest<br /><br />Proposal," literally (which is something I also<br /><br />wondered in my July 14th Digression, below).<br /><br /><br /><br />Recently I read all TNY's cartoons from the<br /><br />1920s to today, and one thing that struck me was<br /><br />the courage it showed in the late 1930s and<br /><br />early 1940s in skewering Nazism. Today, I see<br /><br />that sort of welcome audacity in the famous<br /><br />Jyllands-Posten cartoon series of 2005, which<br /><br />is wearing very well with time.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.pekingduck.org/archives/mohammed%20cartoon%20danish-thumb.jpeg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.pekingduck.org/archives/mohammed%20cartoon%20danish-thumb.jpeg" /></a><br /><em>The Obama cover: not quite as ballsy as this. </em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><br />P.S. -- Remnick is also right when he expresses<br /><br />distaste for editors and others who say, "I get it<br /><br />but let's not publish this because THEY may not get it."<br /><br />I can attest that that sort of attitude<br /><br />does exist among certain people in publishing; my<br /><br />last editor, a senior editor, at the San Francisco<br /><br />Chronicle (let's call him "David," though that may or may<br /><br />not be his real name) once asked me to delete the word<br /><br />"ubiquitous" from a news story because he thought readers<br /><br />might not understand such a "big" word. People are smarter<br /><br />than you think, I told him -- or at least they're smarter<br /><br />than "David," who also thought the phrase<br /><br />"quid pro quo" meant cause and effect. Look, I prefer<br /><br />simple, direct language in news stories, but sometimes<br /><br />a word just fits, as ubiquitous, a pretty common word,<br /><br />did in this case. (By the way, how did "David" manage<br /><br />to flourish at the newspaper, where he's still employed?<br /><br />The same way Donald Rumsfeld flourished at Defense (and<br /><br />convinced otherwise bright people to back the Iraq war<br /><br />in '03): by lying, which I'm sure my former editor<br /><br />will be doing once he reads this.)<br /><br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 16, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Once again, the Daily Digression leads the pack!<br /><br /><br />In my July 14, 2008, column (below), I noted the<br /><br />"irony-deficiency" of those critical of the<br /><br />controversial cover of The New Yorker magazine.<br /><br /><br /><br />On July 15th, in the Los Angeles Times, James<br /><br />Rainey also wrote about such an "irony-deficiency."<br /><br />(July 14th, of course, came before July 15th --<br /><br />and his story was a riff on breaking news, not a<br /><br />piece that was six months in the making.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Rainey probably didn't even see my blog before<br /><br />he wrote his thing, but there is a problem out there<br /><br />with big media companies ripping off the ideas and<br /><br />language of bloggers who have low readership like<br /><br />myself. The Daily Digression, and other blogs, are<br /><br />becoming a sort of backwater for good ideas that<br /><br />journalists with tight deadlines at big newspapers<br /><br />can steal with near-impunity.<br /><br /><br /><br />If you guys are going to pilfer my ideas, and I'm<br /><br />not implying Rainey did (neither of us invented<br /><br />the phrase, after all), take a few seconds to say<br /><br />or write: "As freelance writer Paul Iorio put it."<br /><br /><br /><br />P.S. -- And if the Rainey story is actually bait --<br /><br />a deliberate nicking of my material in order to<br /><br />provoke a response for which they have a readymade<br /><br />retort (e.g., "that's typical Paul") -- my response is:<br /><br />I don't care if it's bait or not. If you steal my<br /><br />material, I'm going to note it publicly and to your<br /><br />editors. And if it's merely an innocent matter of<br /><br />my idea preceding yours, I'm going to make sure people<br /><br />know who came first.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />There should be no compassionate release for<br /><br />Susan Atkins. Let her die in prison -- that's<br /><br />exactly what she deserves.<br /><br /><br /><br />There are good, honest poor people out there<br /><br />who have never committed an awful crime, who die<br /><br />abusive, unspeakably cruel deaths because<br /><br />they don't have money for the basics. Where is<br /><br />the compassion for them?<br /><br /><br /><br />Rather than focus time and energy on a homicidal<br /><br />sadist like Atkins, let's instead focus our<br /><br />generosity on poor people who are dying and in pain<br /><br />because they can't afford medication, who are being<br /><br />evicted by callous landlords who couldn't care less<br /><br />that their tenant is dying, who are the targets of<br /><br />muggers because they are weak from chemo, who are dying<br /><br />in homeless shelters or on the street without even a<br /><br />proper bed, etc. By contrast, Atkins has it made<br /><br />in the shade.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />__________________________________<br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />extra! for July 14, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>The New Yorker Cover, and Sharpton's Irony-Deficiency</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />I actually talked once, one on one, with Al Sharpton,<br /><br />in a telephone interview in late 1985, when I was a<br /><br />writer/reporter for music trade magazine Cash Box<br /><br />in New York. He was virtually unknown then and<br /><br />organizing some sort of anti-drug benefit concert,<br /><br />and I thought it would be a newsworthy item for my<br /><br />weekly column, East Coastings.<br /><br /><br /><br />It wasn't an in-depth Q&A, just a casual quickie<br /><br />with some guy who was putting together a show for what<br /><br />seemed like a good cause.<br /><br /><br /><br />But around ten minutes into the conversation, I noticed<br /><br />there was something really ugly about this guy Sharpton.<br /><br />As gracious and nice as I was being to him, he simply<br /><br />wouldn't let me be gracious and nice, and he kept raising<br /><br />his voice as if he were trying to pick a fight.<br /><br /><br /><br />And I would say something like, well, good luck with<br /><br />the concert and thanks for the interview, and he would<br /><br />shout for no reason at all as if he wanted an argument.<br /><br />Strange, unpleasant fellow, I thought at the time.<br /><br /><br /><br />It was only years later that I was told that Sharpton<br /><br />was not the sort of activist he was pretending to be,<br /><br />and that he was actually working as an undercover agent<br /><br />for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (that sort of thing<br /><br />is hard to confirm, but I've heard it from multiple reliable<br /><br />sources). For the '85 conversation, he was directed to me<br /><br />by a colleague who was, evidently, trying to cause problems<br /><br />for me in some way or deflect attention away from himself<br /><br />for some reason.<br /><br /><br /><br />Let me further digress here for a moment to provide<br /><br />full context. A few years later, as an independent<br /><br />investigative reporter, working at first for the Village<br /><br />Voice on spec, and then for a time for CBS's "60 Minutes,"<br /><br />I did uncover disturbing information -- downright<br /><br />nauseating information -- that linked my magazine Cash<br /><br />Box with the worst sort of industry corruption. But keep<br /><br />in mind, I was the one who uncovered and exposed this<br /><br />nefarious activity. And, I should note, there were a lot<br /><br />of music-news reporters at the time who didn't lift a finger<br /><br />to voice support for (much less help) my investigation, even<br /><br />though they knew full well what I had uncovered, and even<br /><br />after I was nearly murdered in front of a shoe store on<br /><br />West 72nd Street in Manhattan in a still-unexplained<br /><br />assault during the week I went to "60 Minutes"<br /><br />(October 13, 1990). [Advice for aspiring freelancers:<br /><br />don't get physically injured while freelancing,<br /><br />because you won't be able to afford to fix your<br /><br />injury. You think the <em>government</em> doesn't care<br /><br />about your health care?! Corporate America<br /><br />cares even less.)<br /><br /><br />I say all this to show the landscape in which Sharpton, the<br /><br />FBI agent, phoned me, one of the honest guys at Cash Box.<br /><br />(For the record, most of the editorial people at the<br /><br />magazine had a lot of integrity; certainly my<br /><br />writer/reporter colleagues in New York and Los Angeles<br /><br />were honest pros; but it was on the business side, mostly<br /><br />in the Nashville bureau, where there was extremely corrupt<br /><br />activity.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, in the subsequent years Sharpton eventually<br /><br />made a name for himself as an activist, though few of<br /><br />his supporters seemed to know his apparent history<br /><br />with the FBI -- and even fewer know about his past<br /><br />today, it seems.<br /><br /><br /><br />When the Tawana Brawley scandal broke in 1989, it<br /><br />didn't surprise me at all to see Al, the blowhard<br /><br />who I had interviewed years before, at the forefront,<br /><br />this time shouting lies as loud as he could in front of<br /><br />every camera he could find. I had already experienced<br /><br />his pick-a-fight attitude and deception, and all of<br /><br />that was on grand display during the Brawley affair,<br /><br />when Sharpton lied, lied and lied again for<br /><br />personal gain. And I have yet to hear him apologize for<br /><br />his role in the Brawley hoax, and until I do, I will<br /><br />never consider taking him seriously or believing a word he<br /><br />says.<br /><br /><br /><br />If I had lied the way he lied about Brawley, I would<br /><br />have never worked another day in any field. So tell me<br /><br />why he's still on the public stage? It's not like<br /><br />the man has changed; he has gone from championing<br /><br />Brawley in '89 to defending liar Crystal Mangum in<br /><br />'06.<br /><br /><br /><br />But there are other reasons why Sharpton is abhorrent,<br /><br />e.g., his religious fundamentalism, which puts him in bed<br /><br />with Pat Robertson, and not just jokingly, either. In the<br /><br />years since Brawley, he has become indistinguishable<br /><br />from a right-winger with regard to issues of<br /><br />censorship and First Amendment rights.<br /><br /><br /><br />The latest example is typical. There was Al, earlier today,<br /><br />yelling like people couldn't hear him, trying to gain<br /><br />advantage by criticizing the witty, controversial cover<br /><br />of The New Yorker magazine that satirizes perceptions<br /><br />about Barack Obama. Seeing him on various news programs<br /><br />today, it was clear Sharpton really was out of his depth,<br /><br />without the brainpower to take on the sort of high satire that<br /><br />he didn't understand. I mean, the guy is such a religious<br /><br />literalist that you wonder whether he even knows what<br /><br />irony is.<br /><br /><br /><br />But there he was tonight on some nightly news show.<br /><br />"Michelle in an Afro wig, [Obama] in Muslim garb: it<br /><br />plays on all the ridiculous notions that we<br /><br />hope we're getting out of American politics," Sharpton<br /><br />told one television reporter.<br /><br /><br /><br />Clearly, Sharpton is irony-deficient. Does he also<br /><br />not understand Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and<br /><br />other serious satiric works of literature? Or pop<br /><br />cultural touchstones like Elton John's "Texas<br /><br />Love Song"? Does he take those works literally, too?<br /><br /><br /><br />Until Sharpton decides to take some time out for a college<br /><br />level course on satire, he really shouldn't be weighing in on<br /><br />subjects he knows absolutely nothing about.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 14, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Here are the two latest installments of my<br /><br />comic strip series "The Continuing Adventures<br /><br />of bin Laden, the Jihadist Pooch." (Another<br /><br />dozen episodes are<br /><br />at www.ioriocartoons2.blogspot.com.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvlhXxebLr3iceTlwLPaaCddaRNSTAaABERL6V6aL3fJwcAKtbWHZX8nQjPpT3sq6InLWKdw6_m5YIQunCBzXiJGaWGsG_PNSS5wv0fY_xAQnW7KJb1Ofh1A_p7PSQrY4VzVBZB2fyLE/s1600-h/scanBINLADENPROFIT.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222860971873357266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvlhXxebLr3iceTlwLPaaCddaRNSTAaABERL6V6aL3fJwcAKtbWHZX8nQjPpT3sq6InLWKdw6_m5YIQunCBzXiJGaWGsG_PNSS5wv0fY_xAQnW7KJb1Ofh1A_p7PSQrY4VzVBZB2fyLE/s400/scanBINLADENPROFIT.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrOILsmxaeTHBMQ2Q1NNzlCNHt8xlJX_27tSitkmuVda3C2PljU7oSsPlLshiJnhA1r07YNG81xuqrynBxyRlP-EsVUpt462SnZWWw9zrkH42QeEUCZdJb_vf6EZvf3FCYhB6Og1zX5k/s1600-h/scanBINLADENKABUL.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222862028688570130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrOILsmxaeTHBMQ2Q1NNzlCNHt8xlJX_27tSitkmuVda3C2PljU7oSsPlLshiJnhA1r07YNG81xuqrynBxyRlP-EsVUpt462SnZWWw9zrkH42QeEUCZdJb_vf6EZvf3FCYhB6Og1zX5k/s400/scanBINLADENKABUL.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><em>[Note: I know, I know -- every dog is unique and<br /><br />has his or her own personality. Some dogs are<br /><br />good-hearted, loving and even heroic, and they<br /><br />don't deserve to be lumped in with a sick mammal<br /><br />like bin Laden. So, to dog-lovers everywhere: it's<br /><br />not my intention to de-individualize (de-humanize?)<br /><br />dogs with my cartoon series.]</em><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>QUICK NOTES: </strong>Bravo to The New Yorker for<br /><br />its ballsy cover of Barack and his wife,<br /><br />making satirically explicit the implicit,<br /><br />unspoken, irrational fears of the American<br /><br />ring-wing...the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray<br /><br />is a smart addition to PBS's "Washington<br /><br />Week"....Very cool of Little Steven to celebrate<br /><br />Bastille Day on last night's "Underground Garage,"<br /><br />must-hear radio...For the record, The Daily Digression<br /><br />was the first media outlet to speculate about an appearance<br /><br />by Ted Kennedy at Invesco Field in August (see Daily<br /><br />Digression, July 9, 2008, below); a couple days<br /><br />later, on July 11, on "The NewsHour," the<br /><br />always-interesting Mark Shields talked about his<br /><br />own fantasy of a Ted Kennedy appearance in Denver...New<br /><br />Newsweek poll showing Obama and McCain within a few<br /><br />points of each other is probably far closer to the mark<br /><br />than the previous ones showing a double-digit Obama<br /><br />lead; the presidential race is shaping up to be yet<br /><br />another near-50:50 contest that will be fought and won<br /><br />in places like Gettysburg, not in the mountains of<br /><br />Montana. And to those who think race is not a<br /><br />significant factor in the election, I say: race<br /><br />would be a substantial element even if the<br /><br />vice-presidential candidate -- and not the<br /><br />presidential contender -- was African-American....OK,<br /><br />someone pointed out to me that a certain woman<br /><br />has a wedding ring on her left hand. True, but there's<br /><br />always hope, however distant, that her right hand<br /><br />is available! (Just joking.) (I think.) (HD TV<br /><br />is quite revealing!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHD9nL32eYJxU1zEsDvgUwHbmeP4HMc8hAzgOm0vT3llWl1jUi6aRT5_jawVpHC_8OGWHPcUe8sO7XLFkLkKmGjzr5vxt0lKRb_SEtBDIcsRS3aLEYlBdN-aau3FHhrEgJrhYdQQhJtC8/s1600-h/scanFEELIES.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222935019079945666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHD9nL32eYJxU1zEsDvgUwHbmeP4HMc8hAzgOm0vT3llWl1jUi6aRT5_jawVpHC_8OGWHPcUe8sO7XLFkLkKmGjzr5vxt0lKRb_SEtBDIcsRS3aLEYlBdN-aau3FHhrEgJrhYdQQhJtC8/s400/scanFEELIES.jpg" /></a><br /><em>I heard the Feelies reunion shows in NY and NJ were great. So when do we get to hear them in northern California? (Also, anyone know where I can buy a new copy of "The Good Earth"? As you can see (above), my vinyl version is worn out!)</em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 11, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Second Takes On Recent Concerts I've Heard</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Listening to bootleg recordings of recent shows<br /><br />I've heard, here are a few thoughts:<br /><br /><br />1) Mark Knopfler's "Cannibals" is a lot of fun<br /><br />in concert, worth the price of admission in itself.<br /><br /><br />2) "Hot Corner" is the unexpected stand-out of the<br /><br />recent B52s show in Berkeley, much better than<br /><br />"Juliet of the Spirits," the 2nd single from the<br /><br />band's new album.<br /><br /><br /><br />3) Of all the songs Alison Krauss and Robert<br /><br />Plant performed at their recent gig, "Please Read<br /><br />the Letter" is the one I keep going back to.<br /><br /><br /><br />4) If I rave any more about Jesca Hoop's set,<br /><br />people might think I have a thing for her, so<br /><br />I'll shut up.<br /><br /><br /><br />5) The live verson of Death Cab's "I Will Possess<br /><br />Your Heart" is addictive.<br /><br /><br />6) "Mr. Richards" is the best of the new<br /><br />songs R.E.M. performed at its recent concerts<br /><br />in Berkeley, though almost all the "Accelerate"<br /><br />material is first-rate.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>Nothingness + Time = Matter</strong><br /><br /><br />Thanks to those who wrote to me about my "A does<br /><br />not equal A" philosophical argument (The Daily<br /><br />Digression, July 1, 2008, below). As I wrote,<br /><br />my premise, if taken to its conclusion, debunks<br /><br />certain fundamental ideas common to most<br /><br />religions.<br /><br /><br /><br />In my view, religious people of almost all<br /><br />faiths focus too much on the mythological<br /><br />moment of Creation -- and scientists focus too<br /><br />much on the Big Bang, the moment when the<br /><br />universe supposedly began.<br /><br /><br /><br />But that's not how to look at it. The most likely<br /><br />explanation of "Creation" is this, in my view:<br /><br />in the beginning, there was no beginning, because there<br /><br />was complete nothingness.<br /><br /><br /><br />And nothingness, of course, did not require a creator<br /><br />or a moment of creation.<br /><br /><br /><br />Nothingness also has no beginning and no ending.<br /><br /><br /><br />But nothingness plus time -- an uncountable amount of<br /><br />time, trillions and trillions of millennia -- equals<br /><br />matter, because (as I've noted before) time<br /><br />is transformative. So nothingness over a vast<br /><br />expanse of time will inevitably produce some<br /><br />sort of small irregularity -- a wisp of gas, for<br /><br />instance -- that, in further time, will lead to<br /><br />another bit of matter and then another, setting<br /><br />in motion the unfolding of the universe we<br /><br />have today.<br /><br /><br /><br />The element that most thinkers leave out of the<br /><br />equation when discussing Creation is time, which<br /><br />is really another form of nothingness and merely<br /><br />our own contrivance, a way that we organize successive<br /><br />instances of nothingness (and being) and stack them<br /><br />atop one another to create order, something.<br /><br />Paradox, obviously, did not need a creator, either.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />____________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 9, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The Unspoken Debate About Obama's Electability</strong><br /><br /><em>An Imaginary Dialectic</em><br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Let me get this straight: the Dems<br />are nominating a guy who can't catch a cab in parts<br />of New York City, yet can win old south<br />bastions like Georgia and Virginia, where the<br />Confederate flag still flies. That's realistic?<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: You pundits are all the same. You said he<br />couldn't possibly win that U.S. Senate seat in '04, and<br />he won. You said he couldn't possibly win<br />the Democratic nomination for president, and he has won it.<br />And now you're saying he can't possibly win the presidency.<br />Some pundits ought to consider another line of work.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: But winning primaries is one thing; winning<br />the general is another altogether. George Wallace won<br />primaries and was probably on his way to the nomination in '72,<br />thanks to intense factional support that would not have<br />translated into a presidential win. I'd love to see how<br />Obama plans to win, say, Wisconsin, which Kerry<br />barely took.<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: Have you seen the major polls lately? Obama is<br />way ahead, sometimes by double digits, in all the major<br />swing states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota,<br />Michigan -- even Colorado.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Yeah, and he was leading by double digits in<br />the polls in New Hampshire before he lost the New Hampshire<br />primary by double digits. So what does that tell you about<br />the reliability of polls about Obama?<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: But the polls were completely accurate in most<br />subsequent primary states. And voters have consistently said<br />they are more concerned about McCain's age than Obama's race.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: How stupid do you have to be to think a racist<br />is going to admit to a pollster, a complete stranger, on<br />the record, that he is a racist and wouldn't vote for<br />a black candidate?<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: Then how do you explain the crowds at Obama<br />rallies? How do you explain 70,000 people at a rally in<br />Oregon, a state where there are something like 7 black<br />people, I think. And he's drawing crowds in traditionally<br />red states. He's even campaiging in Montana. When was<br />the last time the interior west was seriously in play for<br />the Democrats?<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Reminds me of the student who doesn't want<br />to do the hard work of studying for a calculus exam and<br />instead spends all night doing something even more<br />difficult -- but by volition -- like investigating<br />the 19th century origins of mass transit in his hometown.<br /><br />It's fun for him to go to Montana. And it's<br />a lot more scenic than campaigning in old-fashioned machine<br />areas of Pennsylvania where some white voters will<br />simply not vote for a black person. Period.<br /><br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: Every credible poll has him winning<br />Pennsylvania by a comfortable margin.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Tell me exactly when all those bitter<br />Pennsylvanians suddenly fell into Barack's column?<br />Wasn't it just weeks ago that he couldn't win Pennsylvania<br />from Hillary no matter how much money he threw at it?<br /><br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: The money advantage he had over Hillary was<br />small compared to the money edge he has over McCain.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Funny thing, if Obama had less money, he'd<br />probably do more. He'd be forced into a more meat and<br />potatoes strategy, parking in, say, Monroe County, Pa.,<br />or Grant County, Wisc. -- counties that were<br />virtually 50:50 in '04.<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: He can afford to lose Monroe County because<br />he'll make up for it by racking up larger totals in<br />Philadelphia than Kerry did. What you're<br />not seeing is that we're dealing with a different<br />electoral map this time. You're driving through<br />Yugoslavia with a 1988 road map.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Things have changed since '88, but not<br />so much since 2004. I could drive through Yugoslavia<br />with a 2004 road map.<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: In retrospect, you'll see how historically<br />inevitable Obama's election was all along. McCain is an<br />antique -- what's the famous phrase in "The Godfather"?<br />"Pensa all'antica." He thinks in old ways. He's Crocker<br />Jarmon, to mix movie comparisons. Even looks a<br />bit like him. Obama's McKay.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: Obama may be historically inevitable -- but in<br />2020, not this year.<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: You'll be convinced when you see his acceptance<br />speech at Invesco Field this August. Smart idea. Barack<br />alfresco. The Dems can literally clear the air. The opposite<br />of the tear gas of '68. Barack and Hillary can elope in the<br />Rockies. Bill can join the "fairy tale" that has now become<br />reality. And maybe the party can even persuade Ted Kennedy to<br />make a swan song appearance for a closing night curtain call<br />with, among others, Jimmy Carter, for that public handshake<br />that didn't happen 28 years ago -- showing that we may<br />have our family squabbles, but in a crisis or a general<br />election, we come together.<br /><br /><br />ANTI-OBAMA: That's the movie version. The reality is that<br />lots of Hillary backers are going to vote for McCain, no<br />matter who the running mate is. As the cliche goes, people<br />don't vote the bottom of the ticket. He could choose even<br />Al Gore and it wouldn't have an appreciable effect. In<br />the end, McCain will win at least 300 electoral votes.<br /><br /><br />PRO-OBAMA: In the end, Barack will win with around 300<br />electoral votes.<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for July 1, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here's the latest installment of my comic strip<br /><br />series "The Continuing Adventures of bin Laden,<br /><br />the Jihadist Pooch!" Click it to enlarge it!<br /><br />(Another dozen episodes are<br /><br />at www.ioriocartoons2.blogspot.com.)<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqv8QkmeigetbV09wfV4djl95A2mwB5zZ_5_1kq1ftJKhag7hPy_YBNpadTByrElDh_Eh6YF6iki_KRlmm80tymrD_q_fpb3jQu7RSGlirIoXtEtWDtMu9mtgE03hXAzYb8MFJ4KVHYh0/s1600-h/scanosamapatandal.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218128390983356178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqv8QkmeigetbV09wfV4djl95A2mwB5zZ_5_1kq1ftJKhag7hPy_YBNpadTByrElDh_Eh6YF6iki_KRlmm80tymrD_q_fpb3jQu7RSGlirIoXtEtWDtMu9mtgE03hXAzYb8MFJ4KVHYh0/s400/scanosamapatandal.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />[By the way, those ubiquitous "Unlikely Alliance"<br /><br />ads featuring Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson were<br /><br />created months after my own Daily Digression<br /><br />column of December 18, 2007, about what I<br /><br />called "The Robertson/Sharpton Religious<br /><br />Conservative Axis" (archived below).]<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Bee Ballet</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />While listening to the B52s concert in Berkeley<br /><br />on Sunday night, and watching people in the audience<br /><br />dance inventively, I wrote in my notebook: "The B52s<br /><br />are really choreographers, or choreographers in<br /><br />reverse, in that their music strongly suggests,<br /><br />even compels, certain dance moves by listeners."<br /><br /><br /><br />Yesterday morning, I got an email from the<br /><br />brilliant conceptual artist Jonathon Keats that<br /><br />shows he had been thinking independently along<br /><br />that line -- about external stimuli suggesting<br /><br />choreography -- for longer than I have. Except he's<br /><br />now taking the idea to a whole different level.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The premise of his latest conceptual art<br /><br />work -- and I hope I'm getting this half right -- is<br /><br />that plants and flowers will suggest choreography for<br /><br />dancing bees. Keats has created what he<br /><br />calls a "bee ballet" -- commissioned by the Yerba<br /><br />Buena Center of the Arts in San Francisco -- made<br /><br />possible by the planting of "hundreds of flowering<br /><br />cosmos plants" in various neighborhoods in San Francisco<br /><br />with the intention of having bees dance and buzz<br /><br />around them in unpredictable patterns and ways.<br /><br /><br /><br />With consultation from a Smithsonian zoologist, Keats<br /><br />is creating choreography for bees by planting plants<br /><br />and flowers that strongly suggest a pattern of motion<br /><br />for the bees. But the audience will have to<br /><br />imagine the dances created by the bees -- extrapolating,<br /><br />of course, from the plant stimuli they're encountering.<br /><br /><br /><br />Keats is sort of a 21st century combination of<br /><br />Wittgenstein and Warhol, specializing in these<br /><br />sorts of "thought experiments," as he calls them,<br /><br />that dwell at the intersection of art, philosophy and<br /><br />humor. (For example, he once sold his thoughts to<br /><br />museum patrons and has literally copyrighted his<br /><br />own mind.)<br /><br /><br /><br />And he once mounted a petition drive in Berkeley to<br /><br />create a binding city law, a Law of Identity, that<br /><br />states A=A.<br /><br /><br /><br />Yeah, I know that last one was meant as a bit of<br /><br />absurdist humor, but the more you think about the<br /><br />logic of it, the more A=A becomes less self-evident.<br /><br /><br /><br />For example, the lamp-in-your-bedroom equals<br /><br />the-lamp-in-your-bedroom. True or false? At first,<br /><br />you say that that's obviously true. But then<br /><br />you think about it and realize it's not so obvious at<br /><br />all. Because the first iteration of the<br /><br />"lamp in your bedroom" (A) happened a second or two<br /><br />before your reiteration of "the lamp in your bedroom" (A),<br /><br />so the second "A" is a different "A" because it<br /><br />is conjured at a different point in time than<br /><br />the first A.<br /><br /><br /><br />Another example: if I were to say, "Paul Iorio equals<br /><br />Paul Iorio," that's not really true. Because in<br /><br />stating the equivalency, you're positing Paul Iorio at<br /><br />two separate moments in time. And as Heraclitis once<br /><br />said, "You can never step in the same river twice." Time<br /><br />is transformative. Therefore, A does not equal A.<br /><br /><br /><br />If you say "A" at 8pm and then "A" again at 8pm and<br /><br />five seconds, the second "A" is not an identical<br /><br />equivalent but a subsidiary reiteration of the<br /><br />original A; you're saying the second A with the<br /><br />idea that it is a copy, not the original.<br /><br />(The implications of this demolish the idea of a<br /><br />fixed soul, if you carry the logic forward, which<br /><br />I won't do here because I don't have time.)<br /><br /><br /><br />I could go on. (Of course, the preceding four paragraphs<br /><br />about A=A are my own thoughts, not the thoughts of<br /><br />Keats or anyone else.) But let me end with a photo I took of<br /><br />Keats OuijaVote balloting system, which was on display<br /><br />last winter at the Berkeley Art Museum.<br /><br /><br /><br />For specifics about Keats's bee ballet, go to<br /><br />http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production/view.aspx?id=6878 .<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWcxvyU538WQjhCwgUdCFrqzCP4cKhRJX6dOacRx31Bl3vnjZL43oqgOJICD7Gj_mkDqjRKRibFcJ-VsLsE7QeI3XE30GLpwTeVf_sCKf0Oh93xP3KdJ9jKKwB5F07oxrSlCRHcfaYD8/s1600-h/scanvotingmachine1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217917379580200002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWcxvyU538WQjhCwgUdCFrqzCP4cKhRJX6dOacRx31Bl3vnjZL43oqgOJICD7Gj_mkDqjRKRibFcJ-VsLsE7QeI3XE30GLpwTeVf_sCKf0Oh93xP3KdJ9jKKwB5F07oxrSlCRHcfaYD8/s400/scanvotingmachine1.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Keats' OuijuaVote balloting system. </em><br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 30, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night's B52s Show, Etc. </strong><br /><br /><br />The first time I heard the B52's in concert was<br /><br />in the summer of 1979, just as its first album was<br /><br />being released. The quintet was playing Wollman<br /><br />Rink in New York's Central Park and, if I'm not mistaken,<br /><br />was opening for the Talking Heads.<br /><br /><br /><br />I remember everybody in the audience seemed to<br /><br />have a copy of New York Rocker, one of the great<br /><br />music newspapers of the era, and a lot of people<br /><br />were completely unfamiliar with the B52s, despite<br /><br />the fact that local radio station WPIX (what<br /><br />a fun and smart station that was back then;<br /><br />remember the PIX Penthouse Party?) was playing<br /><br />tracks from the debut.<br /><br /><br /><br />From my perch in the rocks at the edge of<br /><br />Wollman (where one could see and hear the whole<br /><br />show perfectly), I was knocked out and thinking<br /><br />I'd never heard anything like them before. The big<br /><br />song of the night seemed to be "52 Girls," and<br /><br />some people in the audience thought the name of<br /><br />the band was 52 Girls, and there was one guy who<br /><br />couldn't see the stage who was wondering whether there<br /><br />were 52 girls in the band. Such was the mystery<br /><br />and mythology surrounding the arrival of these wacky<br /><br />space-age Athenians.<br /><br /><br /><br />By this summer, punk had long since morphed<br /><br />into various New Wave mutations, and the Ramones<br /><br />had sort of gone Hollywood. (Their own Wollman Rink<br /><br />show of '79 sparked open arguments among fans<br /><br />leaving the gig; some loved it (as I did) and<br /><br />some didn't; I remember "Don't Come Close," which<br /><br />they didn't really play much after '79, sounded so<br /><br />thrilling and buoyant that day.)<br /><br /><br /><br />But getting back to he B52s. As I left the gig,<br /><br />the main things I remember are that "52 Girls" was<br /><br />the dominant song and the late, great Ricky Wilson was<br /><br />the bandmember people were taking about most.<br /><br /><br /><br />Fast forward 29 years later. Berkeley, Calif. The Greek<br /><br />Theater. Last night. The B52s have returned after a<br /><br />16-year absence with a new album, "Funplex," only their<br /><br />third post-Ricky Wilson album since his extremely<br /><br />untimely death in '85. The last time the B52s had an<br /><br />album out, Bush was president, there was a bad recession<br /><br />and Iraq was the center of foreign policy debate. In<br /><br />other words, nothing has changed.<br /><br /><br /><br />"Funplex" is a surprisingly vital album, and the<br /><br />50-minute set the band played last night, as part<br /><br />of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" extravaganza<br /><br />(I covered the 2007 edition of that tour in this<br /><br />space), was very danceable and very enjoyable. Set<br /><br />included a half dozen new tunes ("Funplex" and<br /><br />"Hot Corner" were the best of those), classics<br /><br />like "Rock Lobster" and "Roam," and lots of humorous<br /><br />stage banter (including a dis of Larry Craig). Great<br /><br />to hear them in such fine form.<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />_______________________________<br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 29, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Massive Indie Star</strong><br /><a href="http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/03/13/20080313_jesca_hoop_33.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/03/13/20080313_jesca_hoop_33.jpg" /></a><br /><em>It takes around 9 seconds to fall in love with<br />Jesca Hoop's music</em><br /><br /><br />Please let me rave embarrassingly about Jesca Hoop,<br /><br />who opened for Mark Knopfler last night at the Greek<br /><br />Theater in Berkeley. Her stuff is absolutely,<br /><br />astonishingly, I'm-running-out-of-superlatives to<br /><br />describe how brilliant a singer-songwriter she is.<br /><br />Hadn't heard her name before last night, but I fell<br /><br />in love with her music approximately 9 seconds into<br /><br />her opening song.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Hoop understands that a three-minute song is its<br /><br />own free universe, with as many time zones as you want<br /><br />it to have, with melodies within melodies, with any<br /><br />unpredictability you can get away with, using very<br /><br />little sound to get a lot of effect.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In her five song set, she fell into melodies like water<br /><br />into crevices, or a river into tributaries, and each<br /><br />song -- "Summertime," "Money," finale "Seed of<br /><br />Wonder," from her debut album "Kismet" -- topped the<br /><br />previous one.<br /><br /><br /><br />Amazing. I bet she'll she be as big as Feist within<br /><br />a few years.<br /><br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><br /><em>(and while I'm in a raving mood!)</em><br /><strong>Knopfler: Better Than Ever Live</strong><br /><a href="http://carnell.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/mark-knopfler.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://carnell.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/mark-knopfler.jpg" /></a><br /><em>30 years after his debut, he continues to astonish</em><br /><br /><br /><br />Last night, Mark Knopfler played the fifth<br /><br />date of his U.S. tour in support of his latest<br /><br />solo album, "Kill to Get Crimson," a further<br /><br />resurgence in a career that keeps flying higher<br /><br />almost each time out.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Among the peaks of the show: "True Love Will<br /><br />Never Fade," the first single from the new one,<br /><br />which had the power of an "Oh Mercy"-era Dylan<br /><br />ballad; "Cannibals," which felt like an open<br /><br />air celebration in New Orleans; "What It Is," which<br /><br />(to me) evokes a vintage western flick (especially<br /><br />when you hear it in the hilly woods above the theater,<br /><br />where I heard both Knopfler and Hoop); encore<br /><br />"So Far Away," always a sure shot; and the most<br /><br />riveting "Sultans of Swing" I've ever heard him<br /><br />play in concert.<br /><br /><br /><br />In the 30 years since "Sultans" and the first<br /><br />Dire Straits album were released (30 years ago this<br /><br />October), Knopfler has successfully<br /><br />re-invented himself so often that he could<br /><br />conceivably play a set with no Straits material and<br /><br />still satisfy fans, who love getting lost<br /><br />in his guitar playing much as people used to<br /><br />hang on every note of Jerry Garcia's jams. As<br /><br />marvelous as his singing is, perhaps he should toy<br /><br />with the idea of performing a series of completely<br /><br />instrumental concerts; I thought of this while<br /><br />listening to the inspired jam at the end of<br /><br />"Marbletown," when Knopfler riffed with his<br /><br />pianist like great conversation or two rapid streams<br /><br />merging. This is a tour worth catching.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[photo of Hoop from Minnesota Public Radio; pic of Knopfler from wordpress.com.]</em><br /><br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 28, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night's Robert Plant/Alison Krauss Concert</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Robert Plant and Alison Krauss played such a<br /><br />terrific show last night at the Greek Theater<br /><br />in Berkeley that one hopes they turn their concerts<br /><br />into a live album/DVD and release "The Battle<br /><br />of Evermore" as their first single, because<br /><br />"Evermore," at least last night, was as awesome<br /><br />as anything I've heard live in years, with Plant's<br /><br />singing recalling his 4th album prime, and Krauss<br /><br />trading and weaving vocals with Plant like a<br /><br />great tapestry.<br /><br /><br /><br />It was the undisputed highlight of this concert,<br /><br />and even in the hills above the theater, where<br /><br />I heard the show, fans were entranced, charged.<br /><br /><br /><br />But this was no Zeppelin or Plant solo gig, not<br /><br />by a long shot. In fact, it was as much a Krauss<br /><br />concert as anything else, and was sooo T Bone in<br /><br />sensibility, and was actually a true and seamless<br /><br />fusion of disparate styles, as well as an ironic<br /><br />reclamation by a British rocker of his American<br /><br />roots. (Originality, of course, is often the<br /><br />inadvertent product of failed imitation; on<br /><br />the way to following in the footsteps of<br /><br />various blues legends, Zep became something<br /><br />else altogether: a bona fide original in<br /><br />its own right.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Highlights were everywhere. T Bone did a marvelous<br /><br />"Primitives," with the memorable line: "The<br /><br />frightening thing is not dying/the frightening thing<br /><br />is not living."<br /><br /><br /><br />Krauss hit high notes with Gene Clark's "Through the<br /><br />Morning, Through the Night," from Krauss/Plant's<br /><br />"Raising Sand" album, and with the<br /><br />haunting, siren-like "Trampled Rose." (Though<br /><br />let me take this opportunity to say there are<br /><br />way, way too many songs in popular music<br /><br />about roses, an overrated, predictable flower.<br /><br />And there aren't enough tunes about, say,<br /><br />the Venus Fly-Trap or Jimson Weed,<br /><br />which would set an ominous Tone for a song,<br /><br />dontcha think?)<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress.<br /><br /><br /><br />There was also a fresh reimagining of "Black Dog"<br /><br />on banjo. (Another way to have re-arranged that<br /><br />one would have been to play it briskly<br /><br />on acoustic guitar, scatting the main Page guitar<br /><br />riff; try it -- it's fun.)<br /><br /><br /><br />A couple missed opportunities: "Celebration<br /><br />Day" could have been transposed for banjo to fine<br /><br />effect (imagine that intro live!), and<br /><br />"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" could have leveled the place<br /><br />in this context.<br /><br /><br /><br />On the way home, I couldn't help but think of what<br /><br />I'd written in this space before: that T Bone<br /><br />should produce a musical version of "Robert Altman's<br /><br />'Nashville'" for Broadway or Off-Broadway. The<br /><br />main parts of "Nashville" are easily transferable<br /><br />to the stage, and its music and story are fully<br /><br />ready for rediscovery by a new generation.<br /><br /><br /><br />For now, if I were Krauss and Plant, I'd provide<br /><br />radio and MTV with their live "Battle of Evermore"<br /><br />so everyone can hear it. Then again, it's 2008 -- an era<br /><br />when everyone's a distributor! -- and that means it's<br /><br />already all over YouTube. Check it out there.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 27, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />One original photo I left out of the June 6th column<br /><br />is a picture I took of Jim Campbell's "custom electronic<br /><br />installation," part of his "Triptych" (2000), on display<br /><br />at the Berkeley Art Museum. It's a glowing, space-age<br /><br />looking thing on the wall -- and looks even more so<br /><br />when you photograph it.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUko_BnWGhHNFY3WDjuZzXh0fhmNs-u4Lo1UEoMSdeKFaw6N_gq799xPnnPx2w8l_FuXW4SrU_wscAI5_1cXovEv3YPUMWrUPvK4LLEBpQUrTwTSLufWHLbwrzPiud9aKoNSPY5fNLNys/s1600-h/scanBAMinstallation.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216680106479535186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUko_BnWGhHNFY3WDjuZzXh0fhmNs-u4Lo1UEoMSdeKFaw6N_gq799xPnnPx2w8l_FuXW4SrU_wscAI5_1cXovEv3YPUMWrUPvK4LLEBpQUrTwTSLufWHLbwrzPiud9aKoNSPY5fNLNys/s400/scanBAMinstallation.jpg" /></a><br />Part of Jim Campbell's "Triptych" (photo by Paul Iorio].<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />_______________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 24, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's the latest episode of my cartoon series "The<br /><br />Continuing Adventures of Bin Laden, the Jihadist<br /><br />Pooch!" (This particular frame was inspired by Jim<br /><br />Borgman's Carlin-inspired cartoon of last week.)<br /><br />My other cartoons in this series are at:<br /><br />http://ioriocartoons2.blogspot.com.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kEeZYsb2CfXjUGZA2V-rGcvJ1FwNsKHak_j_CHGqRbffkxmVdf8PAYxThkF2xNMCnd7rT-6EGkYPN-7Ox3sNBUWPI5RH_R67t1RYjeBXIXHYxEeCxGEq1213fqPEpyTXZiSCQQM4-HQ/s1600-h/scanbinladen7words.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215485588126601218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kEeZYsb2CfXjUGZA2V-rGcvJ1FwNsKHak_j_CHGqRbffkxmVdf8PAYxThkF2xNMCnd7rT-6EGkYPN-7Ox3sNBUWPI5RH_R67t1RYjeBXIXHYxEeCxGEq1213fqPEpyTXZiSCQQM4-HQ/s400/scanbinladen7words.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br /><br />The other day, I came up with an idea for<br /><br />a political bumper sticker, and here it is:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-R03e6CAvB0YppR9SLeo47bejM2_cYzFSe_dWjjlKmlcipFGP5rl91UdOQ5fCdichdvBX4_JFSX0axspb7Mzgd5YFaomBSZKZcUZr-kzNtOxeLpfnyDgtxOHGBMqYpxXU1jAJN6Eq4do/s1600-h/scanelectobama.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215487989923624754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-R03e6CAvB0YppR9SLeo47bejM2_cYzFSe_dWjjlKmlcipFGP5rl91UdOQ5fCdichdvBX4_JFSX0axspb7Mzgd5YFaomBSZKZcUZr-kzNtOxeLpfnyDgtxOHGBMqYpxXU1jAJN6Eq4do/s400/scanelectobama.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><em>[Note: The Daily Digression tries to provide even-handed analysis and reporting about politics and pop culture (and beyond!) and does not formally endorse political candidates. If I come up with an interesting bumper sticker idea about McCain, I'll be publishing that one, too.]</em><br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />Strange story. French president Sarkozy heard a<br /><br />gunshot on an airport tarmac today.<br /><br />Rumor has it he immediately surrendered and offered<br /><br />to set up a coalition government in Vichy.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />If you don't live in northern California, you<br /><br />probably don't fully appreciate the current<br /><br />atmospheric situation out here, which is<br /><br />downright weird. Over the last several days there<br /><br />have been what they call "dry lightning"<br /><br />strikes -- hundreds of 'em -- that have<br /><br />sparked hundreds of brush and wild fires in the Bay<br /><br />Area and beyond. No one fire is especially<br /><br />dominant, but taken together, they have created very,<br /><br />very unusual air-quality conditions. What I mean<br /><br />is, when you step ouside in the SF Bay Area, you can<br /><br />actually smell smoke, as if a fire were nearby. In fact,<br /><br />in Berkeley, where I live and where there are no fires,<br /><br />I can smell smoke in the hallway of my apartment house<br /><br />from faraway infernos. This is a first for me and a lot<br /><br />of people.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />______________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 23, 2008<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://fusionanomaly.net/georgecarlinmugshot.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://fusionanomaly.net/georgecarlinmugshot.jpg" /></a><br /><em>A mid-summer's day obscenity bust: Carlin's mugshot for Milwaukee Summerfest arrest, 1972. </em><br /><br /><br />There's now one less genius on the planet;<br /><br />George Carlin has died.<br /><br /><br /><br />I loved the guy's comedy, I really did. More than<br /><br />any humorist other than Woody Allen, Carlin most<br /><br />closely expressed my own feelings about religion, and<br /><br />he was enormously bold and brave and funny about<br /><br />doing so -- and a few hundred years ahead of his<br /><br />time, too.<br /><br /><br /><br />As he would be the first to admit, if he could, he's<br /><br />not in heaven or in hell right now; he's dead, as we'll<br /><br />all be eventually. But he created moments of pure<br /><br />heaven while he was alive, which is the point (and maybe<br /><br />the only point).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I've been fortunate enough to have interviewed<br /><br />several of the greatest stand-up comedians of<br /><br />all time (Richard Pryor, Woody Allen (who is also<br /><br />far more than a stand-up)), but I never met or talked<br /><br />with Carlin, and now I never will, which is only one<br /><br />of the reasons I'm sad about his death.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Set/3881/9carlin_geo4.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Set/3881/9carlin_geo4.gif" /></a><br />police report on Carlin's Summerfest bust.<br /><br /><br />* * * *<br /><br /><br />Revolution is a powerful tool that should be<br /><br />used only rarely and sparingly -- and only when all<br /><br />legitimate channels are blocked and the level of<br /><br />oppression is unacceptable.<br /><br /><br /><br />If ever there was a case for revolution -- armed,<br /><br />violent insurrection -- that case is vivid and<br /><br />clear in the nation of Zimbabwe today.<br /><br /><br /><br />Morgan Tsvangirai has withdrawn from the presidential<br /><br />race because his supporters are being attacked and<br /><br />massacred by allies of tyrant Robert Mugabe, who wants<br /><br />to retain power despite his evident lack of popular<br /><br />support. But Tsvangirai should do more than just<br /><br />boycott the election; he should carefully and steadily<br /><br />consider gathering weapons and arming guerillas for<br /><br />a coup aimed at toppling the current regime.<br /><br /><br /><br />Perhaps everyone should do the short math on this<br /><br />one. Sanctions won't work (they rarely do). Condemnation<br /><br />by the Security Council won't work (it rarely does).<br /><br />Mugabe isn't going to budge (why should he?). And<br /><br />Tsvangirai's supporters will continue to be targeted and<br /><br />persecuted and killed (you can bank on that).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Let's hope the international community doesn't<br /><br />vacillate about this situation Kofi Annan-style.<br /><br />Unfortunately, Mugabe has made armed revolution<br /><br />the only reasonable option for the oppressed in<br /><br />Zimbabwe.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[above, Carlin mugshot by unknown photographer.]</em><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />June 22, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night's Death Cab Concert</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Death Cab for Cutie performed a sold-out gig<br /><br />last night in Berkeley, Calif., playing over half<br /><br />of its new hit album, "Narrow Stairs," its<br /><br />follow-up to 2005's "Plans," which (in my view) is<br /><br />the band's peak work to date -- and this concert<br /><br />made a better case for it than for the new one.<br /><br /><br /><br />The show peaked in the middle, with the double shot<br /><br />of "Soul Meets Body" and "I Will Follow You Into<br /><br />the Dark," which is a fabulous song to hear outdoors<br /><br />in the wooded hills above the Greek Theatre, where<br /><br />I heard the whole show.<br /><br /><br /><br />The best new ones were opener "Bixby Canyon<br /><br />Bridge" and first single "I Will Possess Your Heart,"<br /><br />which is somewhat in the spirit of the hypnotic, extended-play<br /><br />mood of Wilco show-stopper "Spiders (Kidsmoke)," which<br /><br />has spectacularly re-invented The Long Song<br /><br />for modern indie consumption.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also of note: a marvelous "Crooked Teeth" and set<br /><br />closer "Transatlanticism," which had surprising<br /><br />momentum.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Death Cab is evolving in interesting ways, though it<br /><br />still reminds me of the unjustly overlooked indie band<br /><br />The Connells -- and I can't help but think Ben Gibbard<br /><br />sounds a bit like a cooler, more genuine<br /><br />Al Stewart, though the band has more heft than either.<br /><br /><br /><br />Opening act was Oakland's own Rogue Wave, which caught<br /><br />fire nicely during its last two songs.<br /><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Tree-Sitters, Day Whatever</strong><br /><br /><br />Walked by the controversial oak grove encampment in<br /><br />Berkeley before midnight last night, on the way back<br /><br />from Death Cab, and was astonished by the spectacle.<br /><br />Two sets of metal barricades blocked the northbound<br /><br />lane and sidewalk of Piedmont Ave. Two sets of barbed<br /><br />wire fences surrounded the trees where environmental<br /><br />activists have been living since late 2006 (see column,<br /><br />below). Klieg-like night lights illuminated<br /><br />the area like it was Stalag 17. Cops were everywhere.<br /><br /><br /><br />Take it from my own first-hand experience: I have personally<br /><br />seen Iron Curtain checkpoints inside Eastern Bloc countries<br /><br />at the height of the Cold War that looked less fearsome<br /><br />and fortified.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's clear that what began as an act of vivid civil<br /><br />disobedience has now become an out-of-control infection<br /><br />in east Berkeley.<br /><br /><br /><br />May I make a suggestion?<br /><br /><br /><br />The sitters are confined to one tree, right? Then put<br /><br />netting and cushions beneath that tree around 20 feet above<br /><br />the ground. That way, if anyone falls, there will be no grave<br /><br />injury. As it stands now, if someone falls and is<br /><br />badly injured, then the university and the city will<br /><br />have an exponentially more serious problem,<br /><br />as well as a human tragedy. And the longer they stay<br /><br />in the trees, the greater the chance of a mishap.<br /><br /><br /><br />Currently, the mainstream student population at Cal<br /><br />doesn't seem to care much about the oaks dispute.<br /><br />(And frankly, as an issue, it doesn't rank nearly as<br /><br />high in importance as, say, providing health care for<br /><br />the uninsured -- now that's something worth<br /><br />climbing a tree for!) But if one of the tree-sitters,<br /><br />heaven forfend, were to be badly injured (or killed) as<br /><br />the result of a fall, and if it were perceived to be<br /><br />the fault of the authorities, you might have turbulence<br /><br />similar to the People's Park riots of 1969.<br /><br /><br /><br />On a more immediate level, a quick resolution of<br /><br />this thing would free up police resources; it's<br /><br />fair to say that last night there were probably<br /><br />muggings and burglaries that were not prevented<br /><br />because cops were deployed at the oak grove instead<br /><br />of in high crime areas.<br /><br /><br /><br />If the activists come down from the trees, they<br /><br />can continue their protest by other means; if they<br /><br />truly have popular support, they'll be able to<br /><br />organize an effective boycott against<br /><br />UC interests (they should study the effective tactics<br /><br />used by Columbia University protesters to<br /><br />force the university to divest from South Africa in<br /><br />June 1984). While the sitters's cause may be just,<br /><br />their tactics have gotten out of hand and are<br /><br />backfiring.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />__________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 19, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>The "Rad-Lab" on the Big Divide</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXxeMeXsXrZQCKJ4Jo4NBAa7KgxB9wMA4cx3XCbJAA2IGqGPsNM_WhM2jZHwkCt-udjwgZqZwhY1DtuWObeWvv3EAiQuk4jIuhGvej6LKQXBPAkZNU1D4x6LjKvlwB4HrxbsNawETImo/s1600-h/scanucchemistrybuilding.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213616740147512402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXxeMeXsXrZQCKJ4Jo4NBAa7KgxB9wMA4cx3XCbJAA2IGqGPsNM_WhM2jZHwkCt-udjwgZqZwhY1DtuWObeWvv3EAiQuk4jIuhGvej6LKQXBPAkZNU1D4x6LjKvlwB4HrxbsNawETImo/s400/scanucchemistrybuilding.jpg" /></a><br /><em>This chemistry building and its chemicals, protected by this sign,<br />are mere feet from the Hayward earthquake fault in Berkeley, Calif.<br />[photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br /><br />Many years ago, the powers that be in California<br /><br />said: let's build a radiation laboratory, a chemistry<br /><br />building, a sports stadium, an amphitheater and a<br /><br />student dorm on an active earthquake fault that is long<br /><br />overdue for a big temblor.<br /><br /><br /><br />And so they went ahead and built those buildings<br /><br />within a mile of one another on (or feet from) the<br /><br />great quaking Hayward divide, which is due for<br /><br />a big one soon.<br /><br /><br /><br />Of all the places in northern California, why pick an<br /><br />active quake zone for your so-called rad-lab? Oh, I know,<br /><br />it's been buttressed and retrofitted to<br /><br />the nth degree, but I also know that almost no structure<br /><br />can fully withstand a direct hit from an 8.5 quake.<br /><br /><br /><br />And the easternmost chemistry building on the U.C. campus<br /><br />looks much more flimsy and far less fortified than the<br /><br />Lawrence lab; anyone can walk by and see shelves of all<br /><br />sorts of chemicals, safeguarded by a paper sign on<br /><br />the window that reads: "Steal Here -- Die Here!"<br /><br /><br /><br />And let's not even think about what would happen if an<br /><br />8.5 occurred when Memorial Stadium and the Greek Theater<br /><br />were packed with people. Or rather, let's think long<br /><br />and hard about it.<br /><br /><br /><br />Problem is, there's no way any of those places are going<br /><br />to be relocated anytime soon, though it's worth asking:<br /><br />isn't there a better place for Lawrence Berkeley (and its<br /><br />paranoid border guards) than the hill above the fault?<br /><br /><br /><br />I bring this up now because yesterday's superior court<br /><br />ruling about whether the University of California can<br /><br />expand an athletic facility into an oak grove (see column,<br /><br />below) notes the danger of building on a fault.<br /><br /><br /><br />The Hayward divide seems to be the root source of<br /><br />a free-floating community anxiety that attaches itself<br /><br />to smaller issues like the decimation of oaks. But the<br /><br />far greater concern should be the hazardous overbuilding<br /><br />on the east side of the UC campus and the placement of<br /><br />ultra-sensitive sites on treacherous turf.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 17, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Protests Over Oak Grove Escalate in Berkeley </strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCTwiqOWHRHdSxG7f0MH3f8JdRq3e8Um11-NGk_pbyfHQbTYJ_G-2x3cuiSMaO4anfxo1LoND8LK3-hT7wupun7TwwgXrGVsTb9K1SYrDueRFG6ZK2d_cy_v8DVeAk6CR-PJzOb9ewQk/s1600-h/scanTREEblockerlong.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212949717493169666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCTwiqOWHRHdSxG7f0MH3f8JdRq3e8Um11-NGk_pbyfHQbTYJ_G-2x3cuiSMaO4anfxo1LoND8LK3-hT7wupun7TwwgXrGVsTb9K1SYrDueRFG6ZK2d_cy_v8DVeAk6CR-PJzOb9ewQk/s400/scanTREEblockerlong.jpg" /></a><br /><em>A demonstrator blocks a truck traveling through a protest against the<br />proposed destruction of an oak grove in Berkeley, Calif. (She claimed the<br />truck was affiliated with UCB.)][photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br /><br />Early this morning, tensions surrounding the oak grove<br /><br />protests in Berkeley grew considerably worse.<br /><br /><br /><br />As most of you know, the University of California at<br /><br />Berkeley wants to destroy a group of oak trees in order to<br /><br />expand a sports complex on its property. But environmental<br /><br />activists have been tree-sitting in the oaks since late<br /><br />2006 to stop that from happening.<br /><br /><br /><br />This morning campus police removed some of the<br /><br />tree-sitters' supplies and fenced off the sidewalk<br /><br />adjacent to the grove, where supporters of the<br /><br />sitters had been regularly gathering.<br /><br /><br /><br />This is all happening a day before a Superior Court<br /><br />judge is expected to decide whether UCB has the<br /><br />authority to begin construction on its long-delayed<br /><br />project.<br /><br /><br /><br />I arrived at the protests around 10:30 this morning<br /><br />(June 17) and shot these pictures (click on a photo<br /><br />to enlarge it):<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfGAetjgk8bJYMZQaPAyF3Vk2cj8r-1bX3p8oe0ZngO_96XfAr2MDgbbFia5tDCCZFxrzzyZzoz5R4vCbqC2NqJZ0FlWbySdO-h9A5K-woKjuNRHERejnzwp34H0nQRIXXhr85YCF6u0/s1600-h/scanTREEcopshoulder.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212954079679927698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfGAetjgk8bJYMZQaPAyF3Vk2cj8r-1bX3p8oe0ZngO_96XfAr2MDgbbFia5tDCCZFxrzzyZzoz5R4vCbqC2NqJZ0FlWbySdO-h9A5K-woKjuNRHERejnzwp34H0nQRIXXhr85YCF6u0/s400/scanTREEcopshoulder.jpg" /></a><br /><em>A police officer looks on as a protester jumps atop a car in Berkeley. [photo by Paul Iorio] </em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dBrl5u8TWfWwQwOjURRkk7aaHRvh5oygxrxoopJzu7VoJ0PRV0oDSIHvLsycKUX9kE9RU-p3J__W-fMFmjtGGUKOLnXxC5is1QuAd41UqpfmWfKAvRVOKTyBFbuMA4gb38zj1fiHa-4/s1600-h/scanTREEdrum.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212954850503467810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6dBrl5u8TWfWwQwOjURRkk7aaHRvh5oygxrxoopJzu7VoJ0PRV0oDSIHvLsycKUX9kE9RU-p3J__W-fMFmjtGGUKOLnXxC5is1QuAd41UqpfmWfKAvRVOKTyBFbuMA4gb38zj1fiHa-4/s400/scanTREEdrum.jpg" /></a><br /><em>An activist plays a drum as protesters protest near the disputed oak grove. [photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5kmDZyTAijD7kVdPMCCVuPN5hhrlFC0Ab-Wt82BJSrhRCrgbmMCpboQaCXGiNLhWn9hCdTot0RUidLr7DLqrkzrFpD2StHdAuhDxfbgJ8R3k45ocWBdH_AagTijVc98ovws-mLYmMNY/s1600-h/scanTREEhat.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212955759246072818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5kmDZyTAijD7kVdPMCCVuPN5hhrlFC0Ab-Wt82BJSrhRCrgbmMCpboQaCXGiNLhWn9hCdTot0RUidLr7DLqrkzrFpD2StHdAuhDxfbgJ8R3k45ocWBdH_AagTijVc98ovws-mLYmMNY/s400/scanTREEhat.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The save-the-oaks protest, as seen through a floppy hat. [photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhem2E7R7rd4DAo5vTd0KekzLNmVmA6Lee0jRhtBTRt1ITjiJCp068OcmDflD54W8wKCremAwOb4jG1z1ap0f274nh_BAuqiaIciDuKFkn_wTormdiOGRC5NzUTiHD2_tMZyED81QWNDmg/s1600-h/scanTREEbluehelmetfence.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212964845439625010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhem2E7R7rd4DAo5vTd0KekzLNmVmA6Lee0jRhtBTRt1ITjiJCp068OcmDflD54W8wKCremAwOb4jG1z1ap0f274nh_BAuqiaIciDuKFkn_wTormdiOGRC5NzUTiHD2_tMZyED81QWNDmg/s400/scanTREEbluehelmetfence.jpg" /></a><br /><em>A police officer next to the barbed-wire fence surrounding the oak grove. [photo by Paul Iorio] </em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzFgHox6-RrCkOONboEfaGmOr7HTf4DuvhtWXRKGFtskBQt2ApHzqXQ5lBQKxzSL1G0HrKxZHomxxai_dzdJTBlb_k-JELFHmtpZdomU9bsSGcgm234WmsjQ-yc2P1zsvjEIrRRkRbFA/s1600-h/scanTREEblockermiddle.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212951481855315458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzFgHox6-RrCkOONboEfaGmOr7HTf4DuvhtWXRKGFtskBQt2ApHzqXQ5lBQKxzSL1G0HrKxZHomxxai_dzdJTBlb_k-JELFHmtpZdomU9bsSGcgm234WmsjQ-yc2P1zsvjEIrRRkRbFA/s400/scanTREEblockermiddle.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The woman-blocking-traffic, seen from mid-range. [photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcn_RU-JbZb7TCARhWXSG8AHycjkctF573izo8sqEzRMGL2_OqQ4RAnRdINX82S0vOS-jBXglYnWRL_5lN8ybM-Jox3G8cK0kRQGottD81Xv0ZowKFf0g2A1qxTjGBHWNRbA2Jwg03fCk/s1600-h/scanTREEblockerclose.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212952725035719058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcn_RU-JbZb7TCARhWXSG8AHycjkctF573izo8sqEzRMGL2_OqQ4RAnRdINX82S0vOS-jBXglYnWRL_5lN8ybM-Jox3G8cK0kRQGottD81Xv0ZowKFf0g2A1qxTjGBHWNRbA2Jwg03fCk/s400/scanTREEblockerclose.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The woman-blocking-traffic, seen in a tight shot. [photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br />* * *<br /><br /><strong>Here is the court order (below) served on the tree-sitters and posted on the fence beneath the oaks. </strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGeYAB_RQKWNlIIMRPwO4LDMjGKUsh_GPGOZJCFzjH_sRcqT-CQhAXKK5UqEqKXNkGWRlnXAQaSfJyToXWdLg1iGj8_9ZnuaDOYsQDDIv66PHUhF3MVqUlODPlXdeDNXIY8x4-UvGDT4/s1600-h/scanlegal1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213003562778440770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGeYAB_RQKWNlIIMRPwO4LDMjGKUsh_GPGOZJCFzjH_sRcqT-CQhAXKK5UqEqKXNkGWRlnXAQaSfJyToXWdLg1iGj8_9ZnuaDOYsQDDIv66PHUhF3MVqUlODPlXdeDNXIY8x4-UvGDT4/s400/scanlegal1.jpg" /></a><br />[page one] [photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCb31RIn0N5tdBTDALpMQpJWaoufXk4lA5BlEETahyphenhyphen_4geHMse7zbusyGuPmrMal17NXL9MbfiC9EFe3sjZuKFbKgDWn5-OfVG954HrJ974nAwvKfutx57hr22JSiVF7R3d3pzcmH9a1Y/s1600-h/scanlegal2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213005284212640338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCb31RIn0N5tdBTDALpMQpJWaoufXk4lA5BlEETahyphenhyphen_4geHMse7zbusyGuPmrMal17NXL9MbfiC9EFe3sjZuKFbKgDWn5-OfVG954HrJ974nAwvKfutx57hr22JSiVF7R3d3pzcmH9a1Y/s400/scanlegal2.jpg" /></a><br />[page two] [photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDA32D36CaW7DDN9wjIuHpEAAb_BS9KTHfgSbGW42jCZAWsqZT6SQ8Y95QSPaUL90wRBl-hRQF4Zv5nqCVCI6L_aqWwEEh411A0V99_R3YDNtnFi0rdovIrFmbF8B4EZz2ih485AJhBw/s1600-h/scanlegal3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213006447779409970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDA32D36CaW7DDN9wjIuHpEAAb_BS9KTHfgSbGW42jCZAWsqZT6SQ8Y95QSPaUL90wRBl-hRQF4Zv5nqCVCI6L_aqWwEEh411A0V99_R3YDNtnFi0rdovIrFmbF8B4EZz2ih485AJhBw/s400/scanlegal3.jpg" /></a><br />[page three] [photo by Paul Iorio]<br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><em>[posted at 4pm, 6/17/08<br />updated on 6/18/08]</em><br />_______________________________________<br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 11, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>No Gold Glitters Like Emmylou</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaS90oPci4dgp8_cmiZZqlID7XiCRF46iq45ojM6RRuXlrze4WZRiPigWIfoLzabrTASUeMrSJhduZcuUv9y1ttRSNJfv2W_RMgGl2YXpiIR3AN5CYsI-3X3pH2S9t9ZEm8On2tTJrvQ/s1600-h/scanemmylou.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210659725513937186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaS90oPci4dgp8_cmiZZqlID7XiCRF46iq45ojM6RRuXlrze4WZRiPigWIfoLzabrTASUeMrSJhduZcuUv9y1ttRSNJfv2W_RMgGl2YXpiIR3AN5CYsI-3X3pH2S9t9ZEm8On2tTJrvQ/s400/scanemmylou.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />I've heard Emmylou Harris perform twice in<br /><br />the past couple years -- on her "All the Road<br /><br />Running" tour with Mark Knopfler and at the<br /><br />Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest in Golden Gate<br /><br />Park, where she appeared as Emmylou Coward at<br /><br />a Coward Brothers show -- and came away from both<br /><br />shows charmed and amused and impressed by how she<br /><br />continues to grow artistically decades after<br /><br />collaborating memorably with Gram Parsons on<br /><br />"Return of the Grievous Angel."<br /><br /><br /><br />"This Is Us" still sounds like a classic of<br /><br />Oughties Americana, and her star turn singing<br /><br />"The Scarlet Tide" with Elvis Costello was a highlight<br /><br />of Hardly Strictly.<br /><br /><br /><br />Now comes "All I Intended To Be," her latest album, and<br /><br />there's already a bit of buzz around her original song<br /><br />"Gold," though I haven't been able to hear the whole album<br /><br />yet. I see there's a national tour behind it -- from Cheyenne<br /><br />to Tennessee, as the song says -- but no California date<br /><br />is listed, so I guess I'll have to be satisfied with seeing<br /><br />her perform on Letterman tomorrow night.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><br /><em>[Above, photo from 1970s -- photographer unknown.] </em><br /><br />____________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 7, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>John McCain's Kind of Fascist? </strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0G4CuFDeKZ1sYKeogycYAleWDJrRgxOVn5S6gT-0jPCafZ7w4VbH3-hTcuRze1dHw_evZBQ8jxKUfNGdfWn-6XZc7snbZ5Yu8VkGBna-lUNDmcv3v1UdFx-Ts_xzGcx3vPkei_jzMjU/s1600-h/scannguyencaoky.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208996676887257506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0G4CuFDeKZ1sYKeogycYAleWDJrRgxOVn5S6gT-0jPCafZ7w4VbH3-hTcuRze1dHw_evZBQ8jxKUfNGdfWn-6XZc7snbZ5Yu8VkGBna-lUNDmcv3v1UdFx-Ts_xzGcx3vPkei_jzMjU/s400/scannguyencaoky.jpg" /></a><br /><em>McCain has long voiced support, at least implicitly, for the regime of South Vietnam's former premier (and vice president) Nguyen Cao Ky, an open and enthusiastic admirer of Adolf Hitler. Has McCain ever denounced Ky? If not, why not?</em><br /><br /><br />Barack Obama has been taken to task<br /><br />for his past associations, however remote, with<br /><br />radicals from decades past. Isn't it time the media<br /><br />started focusing on John McCain's defense of<br /><br />right-wing extremists and outright fascists associated<br /><br />with South Vietnam's Ky and Thieu regimes of the 1960s?<br /><br /><br /><br />McCain, of course, served in the U.S. Navy in defense<br /><br />of Thieu and Ky, so one can understand his personal<br /><br />reluctance to denounce the South Vietnamese leaders<br /><br />who he sacrificed so much to support. He evidently<br /><br />doesn't want to admit those five-and-a-half years in<br /><br />a North Vietnamese prison were served for a big mistake.<br /><br /><br /><br />Now that the passions of the Vietnam era have cooled<br /><br />a bit, perhaps McCain can bring himself to say what's<br /><br />obvious to most Americans today: Thieu and Ky<br /><br />were neo-fascists, governing without popular support,<br /><br />whose human rights violations equalled (or virtually<br /><br />equalled) those of the North Vietnamese.<br /><br /><br /><br />Ky, in particular, is indefensible by any measure of<br /><br />modern mainstream political thought. Here's Ky in<br /><br />his own words: "People ask me who my heroes are. I<br /><br />have only one: Hitler. We need four or five Hitlers<br /><br />in Vietnam," he told the Daily Mirror in July 1965.<br /><br /><br /><br />Why does McCain, to this day, still voice support,<br /><br />at least implicitly, for Ky and Thieu? At the very<br /><br />least, McCain should, however belatedly, unequivocally<br /><br />condemn Ky's praise of Hitler, if he hasn't already.<br /><br />(My own research has yet to turn up a clipping in<br /><br />which McCain has been significantly critical of<br /><br />either leader.)<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.roddriver.com/Mirror.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.roddriver.com/Mirror.jpg" /></a><br /><em>the Daily Mirror article in which Ky praises Hitler. </em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />[<em>I should note for purposes of full disclosure that I do<br />have a sister (who I'm very proud of!) who is in politics<br />in the south, but my opinions are not necessarily her<br />opinions and hers are not necessarily mine, and we<br />usually don't discuss politics.]</em><br /><br />___________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 6, 2008<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUZjpqlnwcXfvDE9Kqgi8lOwqxAVLVSQNaU__hLzEB4U7BRwLeiXcGdm3CJhKa1AuRXQ_qsj5se617Vn3I8MH_d-SlYHfzB7w1XeaJyFPfr9g600XJsYmQ6Qej2nifL73xsGijDpcoMc/s1600-h/scangodard.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208598903545799282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFUZjpqlnwcXfvDE9Kqgi8lOwqxAVLVSQNaU__hLzEB4U7BRwLeiXcGdm3CJhKa1AuRXQ_qsj5se617Vn3I8MH_d-SlYHfzB7w1XeaJyFPfr9g600XJsYmQ6Qej2nifL73xsGijDpcoMc/s400/scangodard.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Jean-Luc Godard, May 13, 1968, the day more than a million protesters marched through Paris (photograph by Serge Hambourg). </em><br /><br /><br />Stopped by the Berkeley (Calif.) Art Museum yeterday<br /><br />to see what was on display and was knocked out by<br /><br />Serge Hamburg's photos of the massive protests of<br /><br />May 1968 in Paris against the de Gaulle regime<br /><br />(the so-called Days of Rage). On display are 35<br /><br />pictures, most of them riveting, especially<br /><br />the shot of all the great faces near the banner<br /><br />"Sorbonne Teachers Against Repression"; a photo<br /><br />of Jean-Luc Godard filming the protests; a poignant<br /><br />shot of student leader Jacques Sauvageat, almost<br /><br />tearful amongst his comrades; and a few telling<br /><br />shots of older pro-Gaullist counter-demonstrators.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also of interest at BAM is a separate exhibit of<br /><br />photos, by Bruce Conner, showing Mabuhay Gardens, San<br /><br />Francisco's Max's Kansas City, in all its late 1970s<br /><br />glory. And there's a series of striking posters<br /><br />for the punk band Crime that are worth checking out.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjIJZLfhNXmaQXJt1YdGx7B2bt2fI6iyzDdzHiJotTqq7HrVksm1JAvHmVe9TuQ1EWVjtK0VmXJ4FvF52eTkn1B0dKs_9Q9LDR9C7ZUQnNrkeAAv4_gBGdni_Po_8huQwb3j2av7WeqU/s1600-h/scan0001BAMcrime.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208600565856021906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjIJZLfhNXmaQXJt1YdGx7B2bt2fI6iyzDdzHiJotTqq7HrVksm1JAvHmVe9TuQ1EWVjtK0VmXJ4FvF52eTkn1B0dKs_9Q9LDR9C7ZUQnNrkeAAv4_gBGdni_Po_8huQwb3j2av7WeqU/s400/scan0001BAMcrime.jpg" /></a><br /><em>poster for a Crime concert, on display at BAM </em><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLBVFw9XzwfX-5TL8Ac1m0RJRnh61hVIvHkXdA6COuK8Zy6EJdpA_nCQa0tSoTDvQYAQSo-8V3gP4pJQrgS6dA5frUlq22L4OAr7tQOJdXE9hvPruFYrmW8FTxODdh5SGxUOGXxxWo-g/s1600-h/scanstandfordart.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208602527326002306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLBVFw9XzwfX-5TL8Ac1m0RJRnh61hVIvHkXdA6COuK8Zy6EJdpA_nCQa0tSoTDvQYAQSo-8V3gP4pJQrgS6dA5frUlq22L4OAr7tQOJdXE9hvPruFYrmW8FTxODdh5SGxUOGXxxWo-g/s400/scanstandfordart.jpg" /></a><br /><em>OK, equal time for Stanford's Cantor Arts Center; here's a photo I shot there a few years ago. </em><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>A couple more original photos: </strong><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzRzXBWEHbrrgBoXllbLF7QCWyCMZy6HTZP0wRfTG9lPW1g3hpgIEcdl6tjQ4JjQAf9C1YcMTs_k5Z8qjsjrsPXG-cJ_xQdXFGQv7lWME2lpRixAyDbf_NoziJ-iepjGHJ6FcHfvGXtw/s1600-h/scanKALX.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208603780199396738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqzRzXBWEHbrrgBoXllbLF7QCWyCMZy6HTZP0wRfTG9lPW1g3hpgIEcdl6tjQ4JjQAf9C1YcMTs_k5Z8qjsjrsPXG-cJ_xQdXFGQv7lWME2lpRixAyDbf_NoziJ-iepjGHJ6FcHfvGXtw/s400/scanKALX.jpg" /></a><br /><em>an ubiquitous sight in Berkeley: a bumper sticker for KALX, the best radio station in the U.S. (along with WFMU), in my opinion (and not just because they've played my own music!). </em><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2nD76LdNx9rxnDT_TaovJ1vjBc_-VeZZP9po5WK-5_Rtb-YlqAOYTPnjatBzTlhuLCq65QoJefniYF6wt5peoAC9qeZUt_1AhCp0IY01dOzquNUmivfCZgxIuT7zHmAkYIL01WbhXbc/s1600-h/scanDOGINTRUCK.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208604973470941234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2nD76LdNx9rxnDT_TaovJ1vjBc_-VeZZP9po5WK-5_Rtb-YlqAOYTPnjatBzTlhuLCq65QoJefniYF6wt5peoAC9qeZUt_1AhCp0IY01dOzquNUmivfCZgxIuT7zHmAkYIL01WbhXbc/s400/scanDOGINTRUCK.jpg" /></a><br /><em>OK, it's a hokey shot, but I snapped this picture several hours ago of a dog trying to drive a truck. </em><br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />[All photos (and photos of photos) above by Paul Iorio.]<br /><br />______________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for June 2, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Night Two of R.E.M. in Berkeley: The Jangle Is Back! </strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkH5FYT_7zYIF2U_CwJjaCwSxayrFaixcX_f0FjVh6Ys9ZiLb0gdy5b5uAq67-uBsHIAJ4-8IE_mv3quLtsTh2IqdKWBUGy6-7BIdfMS5PJ9rQWXdYzA-ZZLVuAcS7EDXfJp2PhPNmsA/s1600-h/scanremchronic2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207792730846702258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkH5FYT_7zYIF2U_CwJjaCwSxayrFaixcX_f0FjVh6Ys9ZiLb0gdy5b5uAq67-uBsHIAJ4-8IE_mv3quLtsTh2IqdKWBUGy6-7BIdfMS5PJ9rQWXdYzA-ZZLVuAcS7EDXfJp2PhPNmsA/s400/scanremchronic2.jpg" /></a><br /><em>R.E.M., pre-"Accelerate," pre-post-Berry.</em><br /><br /><br />Last night, R.E.M. played its second consecutive<br /><br />show at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, Calif., and it<br /><br />was even better than the first, pure proof that the greatest<br /><br />jangle in modern American rock is back. And melancholy<br /><br />is now, once again, danceable.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The news is the new stuff, from "Accelerate,"<br /><br />which I covered in the previous column (below),<br /><br />and that material sounds better each time out.<br /><br /><br /><br />But what distinguished this particular gig was<br /><br />the number of gems from the band's 1980s catalogue:<br /><br />nine, which is more than they've usually<br /><br />performed in recent years. And the choices were<br /><br />mouth-watering.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Encore "Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)," which<br /><br />the band hadn't played in the U.S. since December<br /><br />9, 1985 (though it did play the song twice in<br /><br />Europe in 2003, according to reliable setlists),<br /><br />was as fresh and intense as ever.<br /><br />(The first time I heard "Carnival" in<br /><br />concert, at the Beacon Theater in New York in '84, it was<br /><br />also done as an encore, and it caused people to dance<br /><br />in the aisles as wildly as I'd ever seen rock fans<br /><br />dance at a concert (outside of a Grateful Dead show).)<br /><br /><br /><br />Even Stipe was impressed with his band's performance<br /><br />of "Carnival" last night -- an endearingly ragged version<br /><br />that made it sound like you were hearing the group<br /><br />perform it at one of its earliest shows. (For the record,<br /><br />I heard this Greek show in the hills above the theater.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"We had not rehearsed that song in about four or<br /><br />five years," Stipe said from the stage after "Carnival."<br /><br />"It's been awhile since we've played it. But it<br /><br />sounded great."<br /><br /><br /><br />The crowd roared in agreement.<br /><br /><br /><br />"So somebody post it immediately," Stipe said.<br /><br /><br />Elsewhere, "Disturbance at the Heron House," one of<br /><br />the three or four best R.E.M. songs of all time,<br /><br />was nearly perfectly played. "Heron" is the sound of a<br /><br />band in its prime, with every element in harmony, a<br /><br />pastoral rush like a waterfall or a drive through a<br /><br />great forest.<br /><br /><br /><br />Look, I could go on and on -- about "South Central Rain"<br /><br />and "Auctioneer" and "Electrolite" -- but you get the idea.<br /><br />I bet parts of the show will be turning up on<br /><br />YouTube soon, so catch it there.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><em>[collage of REM by Paul Iorio using a photo from the "Chronic Town" EP by an unknown photographer.]</em><br /><br />________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />EXTRA! for June 2, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong><br />Remembering Bo Diddley</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />The only time I ever saw Bo Diddley perform was on<br /><br />May 20, 1989, at Pier A in Hoboken, New Jersey,<br /><br />where I was covering his concert for the East Coast<br /><br />Rocker newspaper, which published my review around a<br /><br />week later.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />At the time, Diddley was middle-aged and largely<br /><br />undervalued by a music industry that had made vast<br /><br />fortunes off of his musical ideas. As I note in the<br /><br />piece, his show was fascinating but more than a<br /><br />little bit sad.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here is a scan of my original manuscript (click on a page<br /><br />to enlarge it):<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74NQXQzj712KnqW-iMoSkB0Pxc2YpWYyNMXBgHlqgApajWFrGa94N-l65Emq8NyrOciX7ARuw9NvVTiMW427tKNSTlp8rek7Csr1yHaXDJF4eHW_FwTHu06DnkyxjfS5wFALz8v8j0g4/s1600-h/scandiddley1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207413167406885458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74NQXQzj712KnqW-iMoSkB0Pxc2YpWYyNMXBgHlqgApajWFrGa94N-l65Emq8NyrOciX7ARuw9NvVTiMW427tKNSTlp8rek7Csr1yHaXDJF4eHW_FwTHu06DnkyxjfS5wFALz8v8j0g4/s400/scandiddley1.jpg" /></a><br /><em>[Bo Diddley review, page one]</em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoI_jQU2rLMNFQ8WtFj6yrXREhSDkbO78UkkUBI2YnKDhz4p9QXRV4dMRoUrh5WbjI9CeB2WkZiu8eWGCN0kGinI_-Bvt0dv6245B26-byOT13Ip0eUFs25sIUyT-JNMPuc079GvUWG8/s1600-h/scandiddley2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207414859624000098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoI_jQU2rLMNFQ8WtFj6yrXREhSDkbO78UkkUBI2YnKDhz4p9QXRV4dMRoUrh5WbjI9CeB2WkZiu8eWGCN0kGinI_-Bvt0dv6245B26-byOT13Ip0eUFs25sIUyT-JNMPuc079GvUWG8/s400/scandiddley2.jpg" /></a><br /><em>[Bo Diddley review, page two]</em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1tFfp4FFS1zWy5N24vJV3bFi_ODfI3ZmRIg_GcoR8RheM761O3X0_h_yorQ0BxzeNhWrRGbQ9XZ-MZquVaWg_7ZTkLZfUNSRciMcEpaWO7lb4Sj04kJznBJG5IW5tUgeC_I1KuaTGrY/s1600-h/scandiddley3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207416470236736114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1tFfp4FFS1zWy5N24vJV3bFi_ODfI3ZmRIg_GcoR8RheM761O3X0_h_yorQ0BxzeNhWrRGbQ9XZ-MZquVaWg_7ZTkLZfUNSRciMcEpaWO7lb4Sj04kJznBJG5IW5tUgeC_I1KuaTGrY/s400/scandiddley3.jpg" /></a><br /><em>[Bo Diddley review, page three]</em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6OXBooRGox8f2JQ7GPsKGYYE8oW4XIrP8GUsjClUuTZ0htx_HbqdsiDLaKUVnhFrwNmbfRUdh5871GJ9mId4o3DgY4I2MUPvqGSstxlXPQrNMsmf5o2PjYwhEhv0ZvdPDim3-KLjc20/s1600-h/scandiddley4.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207418617720384130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6OXBooRGox8f2JQ7GPsKGYYE8oW4XIrP8GUsjClUuTZ0htx_HbqdsiDLaKUVnhFrwNmbfRUdh5871GJ9mId4o3DgY4I2MUPvqGSstxlXPQrNMsmf5o2PjYwhEhv0ZvdPDim3-KLjc20/s400/scandiddley4.jpg" /></a><br /><em>[Bo Diddley review, page four]</em><br /><br />______________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSSION<br /><br />for June 1, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Last Night's R.E.M. Show in Berkeley, Calif.</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Last night R.E.M. played the Greek Theater in<br /><br />Berkeley, Calif., the fourth date of its tour<br /><br />backing "Accelerate," its first studio album in<br /><br />four years and probably its best since '96's<br /><br />"New Adventures in Hi-Fi."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />When last seen at the Greek, in October 2004, the<br /><br />band was touring behind a less successful album, was<br /><br />booked at this venue for only one night, and Michael<br /><br />Stipe was wearing a John Kerry for president t-shirt.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />What a difference four years make. The Kerry t-shirt is<br /><br />gone, the band is now doing two nights at the Greek,<br /><br />"Accelerate" is selling quite nicely, thank you, and<br /><br />the group has rarely sounded better in concert.<br /><br />And some of the new stuff is good enough to<br /><br />compete with their classics (and this is coming from someone<br /><br />who is R.E.M.'s age and is therefore biased in favor of their<br /><br />1980s oeuvre!).<br /><br /><br /><br />In concert, new album peaks included surprisingly<br /><br />strong encore "Mr. Richards," opener "Horse to Water,"<br /><br />"Man Sized Wreath," the first single<br /><br />"Supernatural Superserious" and "I'm Gonna DJ," which<br /><br />has grown substantially since they played it here<br /><br />in '04; the title track and "Hollow Man" were less<br /><br />effective live (or at least that's how it sounded<br /><br />from my vantage point in the hills above the theater,<br /><br />where I heard most of the show).<br /><br /><br /><br />A third of the roughly two-hour set was from "Accelerate"<br /><br />but there was also a good deal of smartly-chosen vintage<br /><br />material, most notably "Wolves, Lower," a thing of real<br /><br />beauty here, like watching springtime erupt at time<br /><br />lapse speed.<br /><br /><br /><br />And the encore featured a double dose of "Fables of the<br /><br />Reconstruction" in the order heard on the album:<br /><br />"Driver 8" and "Life and How to Live It," a bit<br /><br />of a thrill.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />If I were creating the setlist with an eye toward<br /><br />including neglected gems, I would definitely add "Shakin'<br /><br />Through" and "Near Wild Heaven" to the set (and the less<br /><br />rare "Disturbance at the Heron House," "Pretty Persuasion,"<br /><br />"9 - 9" and "World Leader Pretend"). And I have to<br /><br />wonder why the band is so averse to "Stand." Simply put,<br /><br />that song is as fun as anything they've ever recorded.<br /><br /><br /><br />Crowd response ranged from enthusiastic to extremely<br /><br />enthusiastic. Some tie-dyed Berzerkeley dude was dancing<br /><br />so wildly during "Wolves, Lower" that, when I passed him<br /><br />and his swinging arms, I came an inch or two from<br /><br />ending up in the local E.R.<br /><br /><br /><br />Elsewhere, even security guards and police officers were<br /><br />clearly enjoying the music (and the harmonious mood of<br /><br />the event, too).<br /><br /><br /><br />More on this show -- and tonight's gig -- later.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63plQsS0TbrkkAl7K3ZUyPFpmtKhq2qRHBf5JxHQs3XHA4vYXTc_4Xz9RcBjgz020LaNXCrEus-DQjm31cwpJ_YyAjEum50ziES6DhK1j_BlHbPuzwma0Il5EJbUoXk-cTRqJLppbO-c/s1600-h/scanremticket.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206998303630862914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63plQsS0TbrkkAl7K3ZUyPFpmtKhq2qRHBf5JxHQs3XHA4vYXTc_4Xz9RcBjgz020LaNXCrEus-DQjm31cwpJ_YyAjEum50ziES6DhK1j_BlHbPuzwma0Il5EJbUoXk-cTRqJLppbO-c/s400/scanremticket.jpg" /></a><br /><em><br />Ah, my first R.E.M. show. "Pretty<br />Persuasion" exploded the place. Fans danced<br />aerobically during the encores. </em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br /><br /><em><br />[Full disclosure: I should note that I once sent a CD<br /><br />of my own songs to the band's management but that<br /><br />nothing ever came of it, and I'm not pursuing that idea now).]</em><br /><br />_______________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSSION<br /><br />for May 28, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br />It's all well and great that Yale University<br /><br />honored Sir Paul McCartney a couple days ago<br /><br />with an honorary Ph.D. Maybe this is also a<br /><br />moment when we can try to figure out why no major<br /><br />songwriter of the rock era ever spent a day as<br /><br />a student at an Ivy League university (or at a<br /><br />British equivalent, though Mick Jagger, with his<br /><br />stint at LSE, which was a different sort of place<br /><br />back then, comes close). Or at Juilliard.<br /><br /><br /><br />To be sure, there are a lot of brilliant musicians<br /><br />at Yale, its School of Music and its music department,<br /><br />no question about it. But no songwriter of the caliber of<br /><br />McCartney/Lennon/Dylan/Jagger/Richards/Townshend/Ray Davies/<br /><br />Paul Simon/Brian Wilson/Buddy Holly/Chuck Berry was ever<br /><br />a student, much less a graduate, of Yale or any other<br /><br />Ivy institution.<br /><br /><br /><br />In some cases, the genius of a given landmark band was<br /><br />non-Ivy (say, Paul Simon of Queens College, or Dylan of<br /><br />the University of Minnesota) while the supporting craftsmen<br /><br />attended an elite school (Art Garfunkel of Columbia<br /><br />University, or Peter Yarrow of Cornell).<br /><br /><br /><br />Why has this been the case? Do admissions people put<br /><br />too much emphasis on the SAT? Or could it be, to put<br /><br />it crudely, that a flower best blooms in dung -- at least<br /><br />initially -- and might wither and die in an expensively<br /><br />manipulated Ivy environment?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNHnbUN1VXYC0bwtMRXwY9AbsPaLKY2q5o-Hgv96ffZkRFg2cf_9Fu7HEujlp4ymRHD_IfSkXOP1JYxANjPUDED9P-Ay_LpzUwOuFG4M2h2qQ-hr6y8qCZmeReFuhcNfFteg_2SAueLT0/s1600-h/scansimonandgarf.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205592238712334866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNHnbUN1VXYC0bwtMRXwY9AbsPaLKY2q5o-Hgv96ffZkRFg2cf_9Fu7HEujlp4ymRHD_IfSkXOP1JYxANjPUDED9P-Ay_LpzUwOuFG4M2h2qQ-hr6y8qCZmeReFuhcNfFteg_2SAueLT0/s400/scansimonandgarf.jpg" /></a><br /><em><br />No first-rank songwriter of the rock era has ever come out of an Ivy League university, though a lot of lesser side players did. Witness genius Paul Simon of non-Ivy Queens College, and non-genius Art Garfunkel of Columbia University. And (below) Bob Dylan (University of Minnesota drop-out) and Peter Yarrow (Cornell grad). </em><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNOwVinX2905nFssdopb1Tv1v_89N7OW3xoaV-zK8HufPyGFtOp1ef7qd793YXlbvA5lHIk7FIJpg6E60E_XoetKLvwuhNsKr-rzKSg-ETtkxEv0PDMB5npgjnbLluC97UdVHKxWR5nc0/s1600-h/scandylan.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205599492912097842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNOwVinX2905nFssdopb1Tv1v_89N7OW3xoaV-zK8HufPyGFtOp1ef7qd793YXlbvA5lHIk7FIJpg6E60E_XoetKLvwuhNsKr-rzKSg-ETtkxEv0PDMB5npgjnbLluC97UdVHKxWR5nc0/s400/scandylan.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Genius: University of Minnesota drop-out.</em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Yarrow_Peter-2006.jpeg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Yarrow_Peter-2006.jpeg" /></a><br /><em>Non-genius: Cornell grad. </em><br /><br /><br />The school that nurtured McCartney's genius was the<br /><br />Reeperbahn in Hamburg -- a tough, tawdry district of<br /><br />whores and speed and seedy clubs that allowed the Beatles<br /><br />to perfect their sound in 7-hour shows every night.<br /><br /><br /><br />McCartney, a "graduate" of the Reeperbahn, may well be<br /><br />the world's greatest living composer (it's probably between<br /><br />him and Dylan, graduate of clubland in Greenwich Village)<br /><br />and is arguably a better songwriter than Yale's own Cole<br /><br />Porter was. I can't think of a Porter song as great as<br /><br />"Yesterday" or "Hey Jude" or "For No One," and I know<br /><br />Porter's work well.<br /><br /><br /><br />By the way, I recently picked up a copy of "Cole Porter:<br /><br />American Songbook Series," a terrific 23-track CD of his<br /><br />songs performed by various artists, and wondered who the<br /><br />singer of "Anything Goes" was. To my surprise, I found<br /><br />it was Porter himself, and he had a not-bad voice by the<br /><br />singer-songwriter standards of the current, more liberated<br /><br />era, when voice is considered more important than merely<br /><br />having a voice, when expression is valued over technique<br /><br />(though "American Idol," which has also yet to produce<br /><br />someone of the stature of McCartney (or of even a Badfinger,<br /><br />for that matter), runs counter to this trend). To be sure,<br /><br />Porter sometimes sounded as if he were reading it from the<br /><br />sheet -- and the final verses of "Anything Goes" are as<br /><br />wordy as a bad blackboard lecture.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The highlight of the Porter CD is Bing Crosby's "Don't<br /><br />Fence Me In," which sounds as adorably American as any<br /><br />non-country song before Woody Guthrie, and the nadir<br /><br />is an awful reading of "I've Got You Under My<br /><br />Skin," which Sinatra owns (the definitive "Skin" is on<br /><br />"Sinatra at the Sands" with Count Basie).<br /><br /><br /><br />While I'm digressing about CDs I've been enjoying lately, I'm<br /><br />also enthusiastic about "The Best of Laura Nyro," two CDs<br /><br />with 34 tracks that cover almost all of her peaks. Certainly,<br /><br />Nyro is not in the McCartney/Porter stratosphere of songwriters<br /><br />(she's not even in the same league as Carole King), but<br /><br />is nonetheless sorely underrated -- and her songs are<br /><br />probably ripe for a revival.<br /><br /><br /><br />The best way to hear Nyro's songs is to forget or<br /><br />unhear the better-known versions that were later<br /><br />turned into hits by MOR acts like the<br /><br />Fifth Dimension and Blood, Sweat and Tears.<br /><br />Listening to "Eli's Comin'" fresh, suppressing the<br /><br />memory of the Three Dog Night hit, one realizes how<br /><br />intense it is and that a band like the Rascals<br /><br />probably could've turned it into something special and<br /><br />soulful with Arif Mardin producing (a gospelish group<br /><br />could cut a great version today). Other gems include<br /><br />a live "Sweet Blindness," the familiar "Blowin' Away"<br /><br />and the more obscure "Save The Country" and "Stoney End."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zjf8Z0pBsKBaVZAgGoclTH3fI2FlK1ioNjl22scfEzuNqyELqOZ7n7Q7wfM6T9bXr7oe89s7XBoW34CE2X14OQ8m4OFnWfsrvwMpr_sAZCDw3wo1LFxfwDJlDRmoj0kpeSb8EoEiEIc/s1600-h/scannyro.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205593351108864546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zjf8Z0pBsKBaVZAgGoclTH3fI2FlK1ioNjl22scfEzuNqyELqOZ7n7Q7wfM6T9bXr7oe89s7XBoW34CE2X14OQ8m4OFnWfsrvwMpr_sAZCDw3wo1LFxfwDJlDRmoj0kpeSb8EoEiEIc/s400/scannyro.jpg" /></a><br /><em><br />Lately I've been listening to "The Best of Laura Nyro," 34 songs, some of 'em underrated, on two discs. (Obviously, she's not in McCartney's league but worthy nonetheless.) </em><br /><br />- - - -<br /><br /><br />Recently re-watched the DVD of "The Aristocrats," which<br /><br />I admire for its spirit of extreme outrageousness. I'd<br /><br />love to see a sequel called "Taboo," with each joke<br /><br />taking on a different sacred cow of some sort.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's interesting that I didn't hear major controversy<br /><br />about it back in 2005 (or maybe I missed it), because<br /><br />you'd think it would have been targeted by fundamentalists,<br /><br />who tend to regard a joke as advocacy of the joked-about<br /><br />subject. (I mean, I used to tell jokes about taboo subjects,<br /><br />Andy Kaufman style, decades ago -- during a very brief<br /><br />period in my life when I actually performed stand-up<br /><br />comedy -- and found that some of my dimmer pals took<br /><br />my act as non-fiction autobiography (and some<br /><br />still do, it seems!)<br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, the film is an equal opportunity offender -- except<br /><br />when it comes to the ultimate daredevil sacred cow of<br /><br />mainstream comedy: Islam. Now there's a<br /><br />subject for a sequel.<br /><br /><br />-- -- --<br /><br /><br />Recently checked out a DVD called "Blind Shaft,"<br /><br />thinking it was a quirky sequel to<br /><br />"Shaft" in which John Shaft, a la "Ironside,"<br /><br />continues his investigative work after<br /><br />having gone blind. Wrong disc! Instead, it<br /><br />was a riveting, ultra-realistic Chinese<br /><br />feature from 2003 about criminality and<br /><br />corruption in the coal mines of China. I hope<br /><br />others make the same mistake<br /><br />and rent it.<br /><br /><br />-- -- --<br /><br /><br />Haven't heard anything lately about David Letterman's<br /><br />tick-head mishap. For those who haven't heard, a tick<br /><br />became embedded in Letterman's back some time ago; it<br /><br />was removed but the head of the tick still remains<br /><br />under his skin, which, as any medical professional knows,<br /><br />can be a very serious condition. We at the Digression<br /><br />wish him a speedy recovery from his tick head crisis.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for May 22, 2008<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_MIaVJBpw-ODjMsqrZLt6oW8AGB8e3CvMUJCkwzcDkx0jMHS4F7sdTuwUNYzEuXqVcmyC7Q94tHYKk3NPpYtvH5rpY2Yk_dQp4prGhAQDaEZ6Z90TRDt94rRHjsNb6adrDG4igLbOxo/s1600-h/scantedkennedy.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203332540453792258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_MIaVJBpw-ODjMsqrZLt6oW8AGB8e3CvMUJCkwzcDkx0jMHS4F7sdTuwUNYzEuXqVcmyC7Q94tHYKk3NPpYtvH5rpY2Yk_dQp4prGhAQDaEZ6Z90TRDt94rRHjsNb6adrDG4igLbOxo/s400/scantedkennedy.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><em>"Do not go gentle into that good night/<br />Old age should burn and rave at close of day;<br />Rage, rage against the dying of the light.</em><br />-- Dylan Thomas<br /><br /><br /><em><br />[photo from Look Magazine]</em><br />______________________________________<br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for May 19, 2008<br /><br /><br />Ah, yet another audiotape from bin Laden: what a<br /><br />better reason for another couple installments of my<br /><br />own cartoon series "The Continuing Adventures of bin<br /><br />Laden, the Jihadist Pooch." (If you want to see<br /><br />the previous 12 episodes of the strip, go to<br /><br />www.ioriocartoons2.blogspot.com.)<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6krXzjSJEPMOPPxD6ns1MxSXf7ESvYFs6gBoOOlduA_hibxwTUVxYZfPihDsztWn4LOnkuVaPz06kwIHwzvFt8lqhb75qiQAFD53QWR96MnltFvcZe6CtLuj1_nctE-dXnaCGwRAtxJo/s1600-h/scanladennajaf.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201946610392066626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6krXzjSJEPMOPPxD6ns1MxSXf7ESvYFs6gBoOOlduA_hibxwTUVxYZfPihDsztWn4LOnkuVaPz06kwIHwzvFt8lqhb75qiQAFD53QWR96MnltFvcZe6CtLuj1_nctE-dXnaCGwRAtxJo/s400/scanladennajaf.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWxQIs9ZtNEP8x3CWOUTszOuG0E8oYYFPGmTDDZ71Zx4OfKRf_V0wil371KDM7Tt9Au35zRDi2qAm3xKydQ6C0TRQ092VTW41A2oLFGfHXACV7E0YSa-FEVHorWRzMOtyqbre-FMnkFo/s1600-h/scanladenbarack.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201947920357091922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWxQIs9ZtNEP8x3CWOUTszOuG0E8oYYFPGmTDDZ71Zx4OfKRf_V0wil371KDM7Tt9Au35zRDi2qAm3xKydQ6C0TRQ092VTW41A2oLFGfHXACV7E0YSa-FEVHorWRzMOtyqbre-FMnkFo/s400/scanladenbarack.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for May 13, 2008<br /><br /><br />To remember Robert Rauschenberg, who died earlier today,<br /><br />here's a photo I shot of one of his works at the Norton<br /><br />Simon Museum in Pasadena in 1999. It's called<br /><br />"Cardbirds 1 - 7" (1971), a series of wall reliefs made<br /><br />of cardboard.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJCIe2WxklK2s326Zv43djyS7EH7Jx-8-_Stf4kvq7Xf5W1tiNKRXog9NYiPK95dHayD2TN4mVkDKwJsxVe7nDyfmqik7ECesTUcglc16DuMFt1uRX8QIbNKBzYJ5A0V4UQ5gdmkxb4k/s1600-h/scanrauschenberg.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200047478932990274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJCIe2WxklK2s326Zv43djyS7EH7Jx-8-_Stf4kvq7Xf5W1tiNKRXog9NYiPK95dHayD2TN4mVkDKwJsxVe7nDyfmqik7ECesTUcglc16DuMFt1uRX8QIbNKBzYJ5A0V4UQ5gdmkxb4k/s400/scanrauschenberg.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />_____________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for May 11, 2008<br /><br /><br />The other day I saw a McCain bumper sticker in<br /><br />Berkeley, Calif., for the first time and immediately<br /><br />snapped a picture of it, as if it were a rare<br /><br />variety of Macaw never before seen outside Natal.<br /><br />Anywhere else, that sticker might not stick out, but<br /><br />in Berkeley, arguably the most liberal place<br /><br />in the nation, it did. Here it is:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zBvBif3Z05-cjtfXolbELHR5L24Ev_VA1zT0RKjZ_5KCVSrtRSm5oLh6TN1WBTnyjyaBsiNvnEk0fUxzaPtzOpfVIp5ArTNCPvstiL9l0Rsvq1q-TkcJQ5h-56YAcDKXL4lZHaxOwtU/s1600-h/scanMCCAIN.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199197762603149570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zBvBif3Z05-cjtfXolbELHR5L24Ev_VA1zT0RKjZ_5KCVSrtRSm5oLh6TN1WBTnyjyaBsiNvnEk0fUxzaPtzOpfVIp5ArTNCPvstiL9l0Rsvq1q-TkcJQ5h-56YAcDKXL4lZHaxOwtU/s400/scanMCCAIN.jpg" /></a><br /><em>the loneliest bumper sticker in Berkeley</em><br /><br /><br />I don't know if that means McCain is making inroads<br /><br />in left neighborhoods or whether it was just somebody's<br /><br />cousin visiting from Fresno, but I do know that, if bumper<br /><br />stickers were ballots, Barack Obama would get close to<br /><br />98% of the Berkeley vote. I have seen cars on Shattuck<br /><br />that are like shrines to Obama, one with a cardboard<br /><br />cut-out of him on the roof that probably<br /><br />wouldn't clear the Caldicott Tunnel. There are<br /><br />houses that look like Obama palaces, with signs<br /><br />and pictures in every window. But you can hike<br /><br />for miles in Berkeley without ever seeing a single<br /><br />Hillary sticker or sign, though there<br /><br />have been sightings, I'm told.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgY_ZafbUG7becTOrWtis9p1qje55RTGq7SYCYb7dpqXB9FqC31pZQqpHX1SY8Ht3xXzpNIY3E2mA-UTPZxv8vK3PtB6Mnr7OpVVgM9melitwHctbUJnwo9vyb3_TICbC3O98tdXVETnE/s1600-h/scanOBAMABUMPER.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199198986668828946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgY_ZafbUG7becTOrWtis9p1qje55RTGq7SYCYb7dpqXB9FqC31pZQqpHX1SY8Ht3xXzpNIY3E2mA-UTPZxv8vK3PtB6Mnr7OpVVgM9melitwHctbUJnwo9vyb3_TICbC3O98tdXVETnE/s400/scanOBAMABUMPER.jpg" /></a><br /><em>lots of these in Berkeley</em><br /><br /><br />But California ain't a battleground state. The<br /><br />main swing states right now are Wisconsin and<br /><br />Pennsylvania, without which Obama could not possibly<br /><br />win the presidency. And, in fact, he might not be<br /><br />able to win the general <em>with</em> them, if<br /><br />Ohio or Florida also don't come aboard, though one<br /><br />wonders how they could when even Oregon -- Democratically<br /><br />reliable Oregon! -- is still a question mark,<br /><br />as is Minnesota. (Anyone who thinks Georgia and<br /><br />Virginia are in play is dreaming or joking.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />How is Obama going to do better than Kerry did in the<br /><br />swing counties of the swing states? I'm talking 50:50<br /><br />counties like Grant County, Wisconsin, and also<br /><br />Iron and Washburn counties, which Kerry won by a goose<br /><br />feather. I'm talking Monroe County, Pennsylvania, where<br /><br />the vote was virtually tied in '04. It's hard to<br /><br />believe Obama's money advantage over McCain will close<br /><br />the gap (remember how Obama threw bucks everywhere during<br /><br />the Pennsylvania primary but didn't budge in the polls?)<br /><br />And the vice-presidential choice rarely affects the<br /><br />outcome.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg277Oo4qw_g_fXvCQXrAbna0-HJID3AbrvqP0QPaUA38nN_ZkdC_E7bTlkWakjY26DbpoOe0fjihNFbc1EZ4-T7LHa2OAyiqr5suoWyOtAKBbeCguj6P-RMugw1q0_0vnQB2LxzALIwSY/s1600-h/scangrant.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199200000281110818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg277Oo4qw_g_fXvCQXrAbna0-HJID3AbrvqP0QPaUA38nN_ZkdC_E7bTlkWakjY26DbpoOe0fjihNFbc1EZ4-T7LHa2OAyiqr5suoWyOtAKBbeCguj6P-RMugw1q0_0vnQB2LxzALIwSY/s400/scangrant.jpg" /></a><br /><em>If Kerry could barely win Grant County, Wisconsin, how can Obama? Can he offset such losses here with big totals in Madison? Or will the black-o-phobic vote offset the Madison offset? </em><br /><br /><br /><br />No, Obama's only hope is he'll rack up totals greater<br /><br />than Kerry's in liberal areas that will compensate for<br /><br />his loss of the more moderate precincts that went<br /><br />Democratic in '04. In other words, the enthusiasm<br /><br />of his supporters in Madison will make up for his<br /><br />losses in Washburn/Grant/Iron/etc. counties. Or in<br /><br />Florida, they think his true believers in Miami<br /><br />will offset his defeat along the I-4 corridor.<br /><br /><br /><br />But his edge in, say, Dade County, will likely be<br /><br />neutralized by white backlash in the panhandle. The<br /><br />same thing that energizes his backers in Miami will<br /><br />also energize the black-o-phobic McCain voters in Pensacola.<br /><br /><br /><br />Let's look at Florida for a moment. The way liberals<br /><br />have traditionally won statewide is to mount up votes<br /><br />in the Miami area in order to overcome the panhandle<br /><br />tally, which is always solidly Republican; the tie-breaker<br /><br />is, generally, the central, moderate, suburban I-4 corridor.<br /><br /><br /><br />Sure, Barack will fire up his supporters so that he gets maybe<br /><br />three percent more in Miami than Kerry did; but that<br /><br />will be offset by the fact that McCain will win the white<br /><br />panic vote in the panhandle (where people still drive<br /><br />around in pick-up trucks with Confederate flag license plates,<br /><br />looking like extras from the final scenes of "Easy Rider") by<br /><br />maybe four percent more than Bush got in '04.<br /><br /><br /><br />When pundits say race is not an issue, what they're really<br /><br />saying is "race shouldn't be an issue" or "race isn't<br /><br />an issue among my circle of friends" or "I don't want to<br /><br />admit that race is an issue." But it is, and not just among<br /><br />the sorts of rural whites or blue collar workers who will<br /><br />vote against a black candidate just because he is black.<br /><br />(Further proof that racism is still alive and well in<br /><br />America, as if we needed it, came last week with the<br /><br />public exposure of racist email between Secret Service<br /><br />agents, who are not exactly construction workers.<br /><br />Of course, that was just the stuff they put in writing.)<br /><br /><br /><br />Age, not race, should be the salient contrast in November,<br /><br />but probably won't be. McCain is almost as old as senile<br /><br />von Hindenburg was in his final years as president of<br /><br />Germany -- and is almost as likely to be seen by the<br /><br />rest of the world as a telling symbol of an empire past<br /><br />its prime in foreign policy leadership, if he's elected.<br /><br />Obama is so young that he could run again in 20 years and<br /><br />still not be as old as McCain is now. And he may have to run<br /><br />again because, in 2008, there is still too much racism<br /><br />in America and are apparently not enough black, student<br /><br />and liberal voters to elect Obama this year.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDle-ZK2Kiyvb4Mp9vIBTvihlLOW9namP6KhyphenhyphenDAJfFIPg3r8zNXeFg6kafa0JlQ7Lnrv0m5f7Ls7I3s-0OpKtWnOlx5mqfIK5Gej-6ERh6W0XSdbPgVfhTv-Zh2gTczdefUuQAHrv7wD8/s1600-h/scanMONROEPA.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199202079045282098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDle-ZK2Kiyvb4Mp9vIBTvihlLOW9namP6KhyphenhyphenDAJfFIPg3r8zNXeFg6kafa0JlQ7Lnrv0m5f7Ls7I3s-0OpKtWnOlx5mqfIK5Gej-6ERh6W0XSdbPgVfhTv-Zh2gTczdefUuQAHrv7wD8/s400/scanMONROEPA.jpg" /></a><br /><em>Is Obama ahead in counties like Monroe County, Pennsylvania, one of the 50:50 counties of '04? </em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br /><br />___________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for May 6, 2008<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKefkhTDghebRLlcq80tDd4_4KI6qvHvyH-MTi146b0NwProRx0OXVoY37EqlUXJB3-sgw_yoPKdNWch_f14yQvN8vj8inl8f3M_Ki0ov5oneo4PypHAxsVCBSWowxA5xoDAkN1hM77QM/s1600-h/scanresentful.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197291566955236994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKefkhTDghebRLlcq80tDd4_4KI6qvHvyH-MTi146b0NwProRx0OXVoY37EqlUXJB3-sgw_yoPKdNWch_f14yQvN8vj8inl8f3M_Ki0ov5oneo4PypHAxsVCBSWowxA5xoDAkN1hM77QM/s400/scanresentful.jpg" /></a><br /><em>[cartoon/photo by Paul Iorio]</em><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />__________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for May 3, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>A Brief History of the Next Few Years</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />-- Jeremiah Wright will appear on the season<br /><br />premiere of "Saturday Night Live" in<br /><br />October, acting in a sketch that sends up the<br /><br />TV sit-com "Sanford and Son," in<br /><br />which he plays Redd Foxx's character to<br /><br />Obama's Lamont (Fred Armisen), who<br /><br />he calls "a big dummy."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- When McCain and Obama choose their running mates,<br /><br />pundits will inevitably say, "Voters don't vote<br /><br />for the bottom of the ticket" and<br /><br />"Running mates don't usually help but can hurt<br /><br />a candidate's popularity."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- In October 2008, there will be fear of a surprise<br /><br />terrorist attack that never materializes.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Around October 20th, people will start talking<br /><br />about having seen Christmas decorations in<br /><br />department stores and about how this must be the<br /><br />earliest arrival of the season ever.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Around Halloween, Republican advocacy groups will<br /><br />run TV ads in key swing states showing Jeremiah<br /><br />Wright's rants, and McCain will, of course, denounce<br /><br />the commercials, while saying he has "no power to<br /><br />tell them to take down their ads, any more than<br /><br />Obama has the power to tell Rev.Wright to shut up."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Obama will go hunting in Ohio and shoot at, and<br /><br />miss, several geese.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- McCain will misspeak on the campaign trail, calling<br /><br />the Sunni insurgents "gooks."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- Liberals will get giddy in late October when the latest<br /><br />tracking polls show Obama within three points in<br /><br />Ohio -- and ahead by one point in Florida!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- On election day, it will turn out that the late polls<br /><br />were wrong and that Obama loses Ohio by seven points,<br /><br />Florida by 12 points and Wisconsin by five. McCain<br /><br />wins Iowa and Missouri by double digits The final<br /><br />electoral and popular tally is a massacre for the<br /><br />Dems, ranking somewhere between the defeats of Duakais<br /><br />and Mondale.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- During the Christmas season, "Good Morning America" will run<br /><br />a holiday segment titled something like: "Why You Hate Your<br /><br />Loved Ones During Christmas Get Togethers."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- The press will start speculating about who President-elect<br /><br />McCain will appoint to his cabinet, and the list will<br /><br />include lots of new faces from Arizona.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Someone will coin the phrase "the Arizona Mafia" to<br /><br />describe McCain's inner circle.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- The White House press corps will be reconfigured<br /><br />to include local reporters from<br /><br />Arizona news outlets who have covered McCain<br /><br />in the past and have had access to<br /><br />him. There will be glowing, puffy stories<br /><br />about the new First Lady; beauty and<br /><br />grooming magazines will run features about<br /><br />how you, too, can look glamorous<br /><br />like Cindy McCain in just 12 easy steps!<br /><br /><br /><br />-- There will be a honeymoon period during which<br /><br />leading Democratic pundits will say over-generous<br /><br />things like, "President McCain is doing far<br /><br />better than expected in bringing together disparate<br /><br />factions." David Brooks will say, "The<br /><br />grown-ups are back in charge in Washington." McCain's<br /><br />approval rating in March will hit a record 77%.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- Mother Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle and<br /><br />the National Review will all run cover stories with<br /><br />identical headlines: "Is The Democratic Party Dead?"<br /><br />The Mother Jones and Chronicle stories will be almost<br /><br />identical, while the National Review piece will not.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- The honeymoon will last a few months, until McCain<br /><br />starts over-using his veto pen. David Brooks will<br /><br />call him "principled." Mark Shields will call him<br /><br />"Vito McCain."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- In February 2009, Katie Couric will resign from<br /><br />CBS News to join CNN in order to helm a series<br /><br />that is "still in development." She releases a<br /><br />farewell statement that partly says, "I bear no<br /><br />ill will as my ship sails on to ever higher peaks."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- In the spring of '09, The Washington Post will run<br /><br />a front-page bombshell quoting anonymous, tearful<br /><br />White House sources who have borne the brunt<br /><br />of President McCain's frequent temper tantrums. "The<br /><br />West Wing has now become a hostile work environment,"<br /><br />says one staffer.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- By Labor Day 2009, there will be early<br /><br />speculation about the 2012 race that<br /><br />will include the phrase, "But in politics,<br /><br />three years is an eternity."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- The New York Times Magazine will run a cover story<br /><br />during the holiday season of '09 titled: "The Maturation<br /><br />of Hillary Clinton." Newsweek will be even<br /><br />bolder, putting her on the cover with the caption:<br /><br />"The Front Runner in '12?"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- A serious Draft Gore movement will spring up by<br /><br />January 2010. Tim Russert will try to get Gore to<br /><br />announce his candidacy on "Meet the Press," but Gore<br /><br />will only say "it's too early to decide," which will be<br /><br />taken as a "yes" by jubilant Gore supporters.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Vicki Iseman will receive a seven figure advance<br /><br />from HarperCollins to write a tell-all memoir<br /><br />about her relationship with McCain.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- President McCain adopts a pet German Shepherd<br /><br />that unexpectedly becomes vicious and bites a CNN<br /><br />correspondent on the leg at the White House. (A tabloid<br /><br />is forced to apologize when it runs the headline<br /><br />"German Shepherd Bites Pit Bull.")<br /><br /><br /><br />-- The New York Times quotes West Wing staffers about<br /><br />the insiderish power of Cindy McCain; one source says,<br /><br />"If the First Lady doesn't like you, you're out."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- During a "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?" segment in<br /><br />Yemen on "Today," Lauer comes under sniper fire by<br /><br />Islamic militants who call him "The Infidel Lauer." Later,<br /><br />the relieved anchor says, "This one could've easily gone<br /><br />the other way."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- In the spring of 2010, the Washington Post<br /><br />will run a front-pager revealing that McCain<br /><br />has been secretly seeing an oncologist and that<br /><br />there is widespread speculation in the White<br /><br />House that McCain's melanoma has returned. McCain<br /><br />heatedly denies the reports.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- Those presidential health concerns are swept from<br /><br />the headlines for a time in the summer of 2010 by<br /><br />the most turbulent hurricane season since<br /><br />2005 and a Category Five storm that takes dead<br /><br />aim at, yes, New Orleans, destroying all the<br /><br />rebuilding of the past few years.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- McCain will seize the moment and heroically<br /><br />helicopter into New Orleans's Ninth<br /><br />Ward, personally handing food and water to<br /><br />the devastated victims. But there<br /><br />will be a moment of confusion when he<br /><br />says, "We must help the people of Vietnam<br /><br />in their hour of need." His poll numbers<br /><br />soar, as everyone forgets about<br /><br />the gaffe and about the Post revelations.<br /><br />David Brooks will call him "action Jackson"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- On Christmas eve of 2010, McCain will admit that, yes,<br /><br />he has had a recurrence of cancer that is not<br /><br />life-threatening. The Post, angry that McCain had<br /><br />dismissed its earlier reports about secret visits to the<br /><br />oncologist as "fantasies by a once great newspaper,"<br /><br />harshly questions his credibility and suggests he<br /><br />should consider resigning. The phrase "credibility<br /><br />gap" makes a comeback.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- There will be jokes about McCain's afternoon<br /><br />naps at the White House after McCain is caught<br /><br />dozing at a leadership symposium in Arizona. Time<br /><br />magazine will catch flak for running a photo<br /><br />of a snoozing McCain on its<br /><br />cover with the headline, "The Credibility Nap."<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Cindy McCain will appear in a controversial photo<br /><br />spread in Vanity Fair wearing a queen's crown<br /><br />and eating jelly beans.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- As it becomes apparent that McCain will not seek<br /><br />a second term because of health issues, the 2012<br /><br />race moves into gear. Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney,<br /><br />Hillary Clinton and Dennis Kucinich all set up<br /><br />exploratory committees, or hint that<br /><br />they will.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-- Obama announces that he will not seek<br /><br />another term in the Senate and will<br /><br />retire from politics; shortly thereafter,<br /><br />he files for divorce from his wife and<br /><br />says he intends to relocate to Massachusetts,<br /><br />one of the few states he won in '08, to live<br /><br />with his "friend" Samantha Power.<br /><br /><br /><br />-- Jeremiah Wright announces his candidacy for<br /><br />Mayor of Chicago.<br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />_________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for April 26, 2008<br /><br /><br /><strong>Shining Light on "Shine a Light"</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbf5CQc_IkBFITHHCERlvJhlFX6j2UyQ3uZZ_fV2grgcDtmr5ojl4MYknDsnbQAIGeNrCYV6p9y1Nr9kOVnsjVivBpkfC8sBDi_vigd0WiXeGvFf7wUkWbVDZjv-kFhNqVV8XQGq0KYM/s1600-h/scanrollingstones.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193576970000010866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbf5CQc_IkBFITHHCERlvJhlFX6j2UyQ3uZZ_fV2grgcDtmr5ojl4MYknDsnbQAIGeNrCYV6p9y1Nr9kOVnsjVivBpkfC8sBDi_vigd0WiXeGvFf7wUkWbVDZjv-kFhNqVV8XQGq0KYM/s400/scanrollingstones.jpg" /></a><br /><em>torn, frayed, mostly fabulous</em><br /><br /><br />I finally got around to seeing "Shine a Light"<br /><br />and couldn't help but think it might have benefited<br /><br />from a more straightforward approach cinematographically<br /><br />instead of the incessant cutting that makes this more<br /><br />of an editor's film than a director's film, though<br /><br />anything Martin Scorsese is involved with is a<br /><br />Scorsese film, period. Then again, any movie the<br /><br />Rolling Stones are involved with is a Stones film,<br /><br />period, so there is almost a tug of war between<br /><br />strong-willed auteurs here, with Scorsese<br /><br />seen pleading for a setlist at one point, which<br /><br />he definitely could've used to block and plan<br /><br />shots for his cinematographers who seem to be<br /><br />scrambling frantically to catch pictures of lightning<br /><br />after the lightning has already struck, though every<br /><br />now and then they do catch and bottle a bolt<br /><br />or two.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />But it would've been nice if one of the cameras had<br /><br />caught, say, Darryl Jones playing the bass intro<br /><br />to "Live With Me" instead of focusing on one of<br /><br />the guitarists or had shown Charlie Watts doing<br /><br />that vintage drum roll that opens "All Down<br /><br />the Line."<br /><br /><br /><br />The setlist is a masterpiece, around as good as the<br /><br />one at the Olympia show in Paris captured in the<br /><br />"Four Flicks" film, though one can quibble at the edges.<br /><br />Perhaps the better-live-than-on-the-album "You<br /><br />Got Me Rocking" might've worked better than the<br /><br />better-on-the-album-than-live "Shattered," which<br /><br />I've never heard performed successfully live.<br /><br /><br /><br />And "Sweet Virginia" or "Dead Flowers" could have<br /><br />best filled the "country" slot reserved here for<br /><br />failed joke "Faraway Eyes." And "Respectable" would've<br /><br />been the perfect song to play with the Clintons<br /><br />in the audience. And what about a nod to "Bigger Bang"<br /><br />with "Oh No, Not You Again," the best of the new<br /><br />ones live.<br /><br /><br /><br />The choices are otherwise dead on; "She Was Hot," a<br /><br />highlight, has terrific, unexpected momentum; "Loving Cup"<br /><br />now sounds like it was written with Jack White in mind<br /><br />all along; "As Tears Go By" has a real pulse, thanks to<br /><br />Watts; "Connection" is one of the band's best<br /><br />overlooked songs of the 1960s, though Keith botches it<br /><br />here (he did a far better version in Oakland, Calif.,<br /><br />shortly after this gig).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And each guest star tops the previous one, with<br /><br />Buddy Guy leveling the place with "Champagne & Reefer"<br /><br />and with offhand artistry that is assured, authentic<br /><br />(he livens up the place much as Dr. John did in<br /><br />"The Last Waltz"). Christina Aquilera, trading vocals<br /><br />with Jagger on "Live With Me," is a powerhouse, a hurricane,<br /><br />always blowing audiences away. (Wish they'd brought her<br /><br />on for the Merry Clayton part of "Gimme Shelter,"<br /><br />not played here.)<br /><br /><br /><br />This is a concert film with spliced-in archival footage<br /><br />that is often hilarious and rare while heavily favoring<br /><br />self-promo bits in which Jagger one-ups various<br /><br />interviewers -- as opposed to the Maysles brothers's<br /><br />"Gimme Shelter," which shows Jagger at both his wittiest<br /><br />and unwittiest (remember the "philosophically trying"<br /><br />remarks?). Though the film doesn't pretend to be any<br /><br />sort of definitive docu on the Stones, one still wonders<br /><br />where Brian Jones is in all the vintage footage;<br /><br />Jones has gone from being wildly overemphasized as a Stones<br /><br />member to, today, being almost completely erased from the<br /><br />band's history. That said, it's telling that the group<br /><br />got only better in the years after Jones's death (see:<br /><br />"Exile," "Sticky Fingers," "Some Girls").<br /><br /><br /><br />They performed almost half of the "Some Girls" CD,<br /><br />likely to remain their best-selling studio album of<br /><br />all time, now that the dust has settled, though at<br /><br />the time who'd have guessed that its unlikely combination<br /><br />of disco and punk, warring genres in their day, would<br /><br />have eclipsed both "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile." But it's<br /><br />the closest the Stones have come to a diamond seller<br /><br />like "Nevermind" or "Boston," which they've never had,<br /><br />even if their cultural influence has been far greater<br /><br />than all but a few in the rock era. Today, it's easy to<br /><br />see that "Some Girls," released 30 years ago this June,<br /><br />had a sort of shock jock element that made it popular<br /><br />among millions of non-Stones fans, though that<br /><br />element was partly excised in this film, with the<br /><br />deletion of an explicit verse from the title track,<br /><br />a song rarely (if ever) performed by the Stones.<br /><br /><br /><br />I was lucky enough to have heard the very first public<br /><br />performance of "Some Girls" material by the Stones, on<br /><br />the first night of their "Some Girls" tour, June 10, 1978,<br /><br />a couple days after the album's release, at the Lakeland<br /><br />(Florida) Civic Center -- and I saw the group from only<br /><br />several feet away.<br /><br /><br /><br />As I recall, the new album was erupting unexpectedly,<br /><br />so the band was in an extremely good mood at this<br /><br />kick-off gig in '78. In fact, they seemed<br /><br />downright giddy and manic and drunk on (among other<br /><br />things) their own effortless rock 'n' roll mastery.<br /><br />I remember seeing Jagger take the stage to the<br /><br />opening chords of "All Down the Line," as flashing<br /><br />lights briefly illuminated his leap into the air<br /><br />(he looked just like a whip or a lightning bolt) and<br /><br />remember seeing him physically and playfully<br /><br />push Ron Wood to the side of the stage at another point.<br /><br />And I remember how eerie and spooky it looked and<br /><br />sounded to see Jagger right in front of me singing that<br /><br />falsetto part of "Miss You" -- and he was singing it<br /><br />live for the first-time ever.<br /><br /><br /><br />A year later, with those songs still ringing in my<br /><br />head, I moved to Manhattan, where I lived for years at<br /><br />the Beacon, 25 floors above the theater where the<br /><br />concert in "Shine a Light" took place. In those days<br /><br />I used to travel to the Beacon Theater by...taking<br /><br />the elevator!<br /><br /><br /><br />Which is part of what makes that final shot of "Shine a Light"<br /><br />(in which Scorsese directs the cameraman to film from<br /><br />above the Broadway marquee to the rooftops of the Upper<br /><br />West Side, literally between the moon and New York City) so<br /><br />magical to me. And it suggests an even better flick: a<br /><br />movie of a concert on the Beacon roof, a la "Let It Be," in<br /><br />which the Manhattan skyline co-stars.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rollingstones.com/bin/galImg/siteFiles/9923f0c159."><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.rollingstones.com/bin/galImg/siteFiles/9923f0c159." /></a><br /><em>the Stones's bestseller, released 30 years ago this June</em><br /><br /><br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />_________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for April 24, 2008<br /><br /><br />I was reading a transcript of the latest<br /><br />audio recording from Osama bin Laden the<br /><br />other day and wondering: is he dating? Does he<br /><br />have a lover? Would bin Laden be a less violent<br /><br />person if he had a sexual partner? Could we save<br /><br />the world from his destructiveness by simply...setting<br /><br />him up on a date?<br /><br /><br /><br />Hence the origin of my screenplay, "Play It<br /><br />Again, Osama," presented below:<br /><br /><strong><br />Play It Again, Osama<br /><br />By Paul Iorio*</strong><br /><br /><br />INT. OSAMA'S BACHELOR APARTMENT, SOMEWHERE IN WAZIRISTAN<br /><br />OSAMA BIN LADEN (to himself): What's the matter with me?<br />Why can't I be cool like the Prophet Mohammed?<br />What's the secret?<br /><br />An imaginary Prophet Mohammed, wearing a fedora and looking<br />and sounding like Humphrey Bogart, appears from the shadows.<br /><br /><br />PROPHET MOHAMMED: There's no secret, kid.<br />Infidels are simple. I never met one that didn't understand<br />a slap in the mouth or a slug from a .44.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA BIN LADEN: Yeah, 'cause you're Mohammed.<br />I'm not like you. When you lost Aisha, weren't you crushed?<br /><br /><br />PROPHET MOHAMMED: Nothing a little bourbon and soda<br />wouldn't fix. Take my advice and forget all the romantic stuff.<br />The world is full of infidels to fight. All you have to do is whistle.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: He's right. You give the unbelievers an inch<br />and they step all over you. Why can't I develop that attitude?<br />[mimicking Mohammed] Nothing a little bourbon and soda<br />couldn't fix.<br />[He swigs a shot of Old Crow, gags.]<br /><br /><br />CUT TO:<br /><br />INT. TORA BORA APARTMENT OF DICK AND LINDA CHRISTIE (OSAMA'S FRIENDS)<br /><br />LINDA CHRISTIE: Osama's calling again. We've got to find him a girl.<br />Somebody he can be with, get excited about.<br /><br />DICK CHRISTIE: We'll have to find him a nice girl.<br /><br />LINDA: There must be somebody out there. Someone to take his<br />mind off losing Mohamed Atta. I think he really loved Atta.<br /><br /><br />DICK [picking up phone]: I know just the girl for him.<br /><br /><br />CUT TO:<br /><br />INT. OSAMA'S APARTMENT<br /><br />Osama is preparing for his date, which is in an hour or so.<br />Again, from the shadows comes an imaginary Prophet Mohammed.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: You're starting off on the wrong foot.<br /><br />OSAMA: Yeah, negative.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Sure. They're getting the best of you<br />before the game starts. What's that stuff you put on your face?<br /><br />OSAMA: Canoe. It's an aftershave lotion.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: You know, kid, somewhere in life<br />you got turned around. It's her job to smell nice for you.<br />The only bad thing is if she turns out to be a virgin --<br />or an agent for the JTTF!<br /><br />OSAMA: With my luck, she'll turn out to be both.<br /><br /><br />TITLE CARD: Later That Night....<br /><br /><br />INT. OSAMA'S APARTMENT -- LATE AT NIGHT<br /><br />The doorbell rings and Osama opens the door. It's Linda.<br /><br /><br /><br />LINDA: How did the date go?<br /><br />OSAMA: It never would have worked between us.<br />She's a Shiite, I'm a Sunni, it's a great religious abyss.<br /><br />LINDA: [laughing]<br /><br />OSAMA: You're laughing and my sex life<br />is turning into the Petrified Forest.<br />Millions of women in the Northwest<br />Territories and I can't wind up with one!<br /><br /><br />Osama takes a seat on the couch and Linda sits next to him.<br /><br />OSAMA: I'm turning into the strike-out king<br />of Waziristan!<br /><br />LINDA: You need to be more confident, secure.<br /><br />OSAMA: You know who's not insecure?<br />The Prophet Mohammed.<br /><br />LINDA: That's not real life.<br />You set too high a standard.<br /><br />OSAMA: If I'm gonna identify with someone,<br />who am I gonna pick? My imam?<br />Mohammed's a perfect image.<br /><br /><br />LINDA: You don't need to pretend. You're you.<br /><br /><br /><br />Osama nudges closer to Linda on the couch.<br /><br />The imaginary Mohammed appears and speaks.<br /><br /><br />MOHAMMED: Go ahead, make your move.<br /><br />OSAMA: No, I can't.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Take her and kiss her..<br /><br /><br />LINDA (getting up to go to the kitchen): I'll get us both a drink.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Well, kid, you blew it.<br /><br />OSAMA: I can't do it. We're platonic friends.<br />I can't spoil that by coming on.<br />She'll slap my face.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: I've had my face slapped plenty.<br /><br />OSAMA: But your turban<br />don't go flying across the room.<br /><br /><br />Linda returns with two drinks.<br /><br /><br />LINDA: Here we are, you can start on this.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Go ahead, kiss her.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: I can't.<br /><br />The phone rings and startles Osama, as he answers it.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA (into phone): Hi, Dick. Yes, she's here.<br />I was going out -- I had a Polish date.<br /><br />He hands the phone to Linda.<br /><br /><br />MOHAMMED: Relax. You're as nervous as Abu Jahl was before<br />I beat his brains out at the Battle of Badr. All you've got to do is<br />make your move.<br /><br />OSAMA: This is crazy. We'll wind up<br />on al Jazeera!<br /><br />LINDA (into phone): OK, goodbye.<br /><br />LINDA: Dick sounded down. I think<br />he's having trouble in Karachi. I wonder<br />why he never asks me along on his trips.<br /><br />OSAMA: Maybe he's got something<br />going on the side. A fling.<br /><br />LINDA: If I fell for another man,<br />it'd have to be more than just a fling.<br />I'd have to feel something more serious.<br />Are you shaking?<br /><br />OSAMA: Just chilly.<br /><br />LINDA: It's not very cold.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Move closer to her.<br /><br />OSAMA: How close?<br /><br />MOHAMMED: The distance of Flight 175 to the south tower..<br /><br />OSAMA: That's very close.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Now, get ready for the big move<br />and do exactly as I tell you.<br /><br /><br />Suddenly an imaginary Mohamed Atta appears and<br />confronts the Prophet Mohammed.<br /><br /><br />ATTA [to Mohammed]: I warned you to leave my ex-lover alone.<br /><br /><br />Atta draws a pistol and shoots Mohammed.<br /><br /><br />Osama looks a bit panicky now that Mohammed is gone.<br /><br /><br />LINDA: I guess I'd better fix the steaks.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: Your eyes are like two thick juicy steaks.<br /><br /><br />Osama kisses Linda, who recoils, pushing him away.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: I was joking. I was just testing you.<br />It was a platonic kiss.<br /><br /><br />LINDA: I think I'd better go home.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: You're making a mistake.<br /><br /><br />Linda waves goodbye and leaves the apartment.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: I attacked her. I'm a vicious jungle beast..<br />I'm not the Prophet Mohammed. I never will be.<br />I'm a disgrace to my sex. I should get a job at an Arabian palace<br />as a eunuch.<br /><br /><br />The doorbell rings.<br /><br /><br />OSAMA: That's the vice squad. [He opens the door, and Linda is there.]<br /><br />LINDA: Did you say you loved me?<br /><br /><br />Osama and Linda embrace and kiss and the scene fades.<br /><br /><br />INT. OSAMA'S APARTMENT -- THE NEXT DAY<br /><br /><br />MOHAMMED: That's all there is to it.<br /><br />OSAMA: For you, because you're Mohammed.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Everybody is at certain times.<br /><br />OSAMA: I guess the secret's not being you, it's being me.<br /><br />MOHAMMED: Here's looking at you, kid.<br /><br /><br />*with massive apologies to Woody Allen.<br /><br />-------<br /><br />But I digress. Paul<br /><br />______________________________<br /><br /><br /><br />THE DAILY DIGRESSION<br /><br />for April 21, 2008<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Oh! Ye bitter Pennsylvanians, come 'round to the polls,</strong><br /><br />but drink not from the chalice of disappointment and<br /><br />woe, or seek succor by clinging to thy religion and<br /><br />thy guns, when ye cast ye ballots in the Primary of<br /><br />the Greatest Publick Importance, at least this week,<br /><br />until next month, when the next state decideth.<br /><br /><br /><br />Thou must not delayeth thy journey to thy polls with vain<br /><br />prayer or the reloading of thy guns. Thou must not<br /><br />cling to that which provides false solace in grim<br /><br />times. Thou must not pray out of bitterness in thy<br /><br />voting booth upon the altar of discredited touch screens,<br /><br />or place thy bullets amidst the paper ballots that have<br /><br />largely replaced thy touch screens. Oh, ye bitter<br /><br />Pennsylvanians, put aside thy clinging and loading and<br /><br />praying to dodge the sniper fire on the way to the<br /><br />Primary of Publick Importance!<br /><br /><br />But I digresseth. Paul<br /><br /><br />_________________________________<br /><br /><br />ALL DAILY DIGRESSIONS PRIOR TO APRIL 17, 2008, CAN BE FOUND AT<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dailydigressionarchive.blogspot.com/">http://www.dailydigressionarchive.blogspot.com</a>Paul Ioriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08705568747562061407noreply@blogger.com0