Ebb and Flow and...Torture?

The calendar in May is looking bleak for yours truly.

As the economy ebbs and flows, like our lives, so do the gigs. I've lost a couple of good private gigs recently, for relatively big dough, and I've had to sub out of a couple nice ones, as well, to maintain the commitment to Lonnie Brooks gigs.

Flying high in April, shot down in May.

One of the biggest uncertainties that we face as musicians is constantly keeping the calendar full. If there's an opening, especially on the weekend, then you want to fill it. So it's the constant cycle of booking and looking. Dates on the calendar come and go, and keeping the balance is tough.

Back on top in June. I'll be back in Espana.

Sometimes being a pro musician can be torture.

Speaking of torture, what do you think about former officials in the Bush administration, including former POTUS Bush and former V.P. Dick Cheney being tried (eventually, anyways) for war crimes (see torture, water boarding, lying, being deceitful, lying, lying, etc.?)

Obama is very smart and calculating, I'm convinced. He puts the information out there and sits back to let everyone digest and process everything. He's not a knee-jerk kind of guy. He thinks that maybe we should just "move on" since there are more pressing matters right now.

He's right, of course. There are much bigger fish to fry at this moment in our history (like the Taliban taking over Afghanistan. Again. Jeez.) Maybe in a few years all of these things will get done, when things have leveled off a bit.

I don't agree with "moving on", personally. That will become an excuse to "move on" after any kind of scandal or shenanigans that have/will occur withing the high levels of government.

A political crutch.

We couldn't just "move on" with the Clinton blow job. Remember that one? And that didn't even affect the economy, which seems to be the ruler of all of our sensibilities these days. Our religion, don't you know?

What do you think? Leave a comment.

So it goes...

Commenting on the Cardinal's Comments

They say that you should never talk about religion or politics when you're in a bar.

Luckily, I'm sitting in my kitchen.

Today, like most days, I'm flipping through my trusted (and currently in chapter 11 bankruptcy) Sun-Times, online (oops), when the headline screams at me: "Cardinal George: ND Obama invite an 'embarrassment'."

The article quotes the good Cardinal as saying it's an "extreme embarrassment," for the Golden Domers to have invited him to speak at this year's commencement.

Huh? We're talking about the current President of the United States, right?

Let's be perfectly clear on this. George W. Bush, was an extreme embarrassment.

Period.

He's a liar and a war criminal and a fear mongering you-know-what. Hopefully, he'll be prosecuted for these and other shortcomings at some point in the future.

Obama, regardless of where your support lies, hasn't been in charge long enough to have earned that distinguishing moniker.

Moving on.

Who does the Cardinal think he is, anyways? For a man in such a distinguished position of leadership, he's really set a poor example for all of the kiddies (what happened to love thy neighbor, he who is without sin, and all that jazz). I'm sorry if I offend anybody, as it is not my intention to do so (I might as well get the apology out before the fact, a true patriotic act, eh), but he's got some nerve. Especially as a man of the cloth.

First of all, if the POTUS (President of the United States) wants to speak at your behest, even if it were George II, it's an (gulp) honor. Kids start learning of the respect Americans hold for the Office of the President at a very young age. Even Catholic children. After all, being President puts you in more of an elite club than being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So if he, or someday she, is willing to come and speak at your school, or church, or mosque, then props to you.

Take that ball and run with it.

Don't, as an organizational leader, whine and cry and publicly denounce this event. Find the good and positive things to promote for all Americans, not just the Catholic ones. After all, our country is in a royal mess. I mean bad. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. We, as a society, need to find common ground. Unity. What's best for the many, not for the few. We just don't need any more trivial and petty fighting among various American tribes.

This is the real embarrassment.

So what if Obama's views differ from Catholic beliefs? Some of mine are different, to be sure. So are many other peoples'. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the previous Presidents who spoke there (Carter, Reagan, Bush I and II) had some different opinions on things good and evil as well.

He's. The. President.

Let's face it. In addition to being an extremely large religious group, the Catholic Church is a major corporation, and run accordingly (college football EXCLUSIVELY on NBC, anyone?). The Church even has had it's share of scandal and corruption embedded into it's makeup and reputation, just like other monster corporations (see Enron, AIG). These few statements, alone, weakens the proverbial moral compass that the Church possess. Plus, and most importantly, I'm quite sure that Notre Dame is very happy to allow students of any faith to attend their prestigious school.

So long as the tuition gets paid, that is.

Plus, Notre Dame has a proud (yes, proud) tradition of inviting a sitting (yes, sitting) president to come and speak. This is not an unusual event.

Cardinal George knows this, as does Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, and the other archbishops who've jumped on the anti-Obama soapbox.

So really, what is the embarrassment really all about? Is it really about stem cells? C'mon. If Catholics really feel this way, as Cardinal George would suggest, then maybe he should figure a way to get Catholics out of America entirely. After all, if this issue of stem cell research goes so horribly against the tenets of the group that you are supposedly bound to, then you can't possibly feel good about being part of American society. So you might as well just go and live among people that don't see the value of such unbelievably unbelievable science.

Now there's a solution.

Since he's a prominent and major Catholic leader, perhaps that should be a responsibility he'd be willing to take on. He knows best, right? Maybe it will get him that Papal gig he seemed to have missed out on a coupla years ago.

So it goes...

Bowling with Barry

President Obama, it seems, made a disparaging public remark on Leno this week.

When asked about the White House bowling alley and the plans to replace it with a basketball court, the President said that he'd actually been been practicing and bowled a score of 129 recently.

Respectable, I guess. Like anyone really CARES about his bowling, except for maybe the Bowling Lobby, which I'm sure exists somewhere out there and will be filing an official complaint against yours truly at any time now.

He said it was like "watching the Special Olympics."

Whoops.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, he shouldn't have said it. At least not in public and not on Leno (what a weird looking guy, eh?). We're very P.C. It's unbecoming of any public figure, let alone the POTUS to spew such drivel. He's a big meany. Whatever, whatever, whatever, and whatever.

Lets face it, folks: It's not the end of the world.

Surely there must be bigger and better things to be outraged about.

Universal health care, and the lack thereof, for example.

Getting taxed to death without receiving anything worthwhile in return (retirement, anyone?), for example.

Sarah Palin's mounting legal bills, for example.

Now I know that the President of the United States, the leader of the "free" (hardly) world, is held to a higher standard than us regular folk. Rightly so. After all, he's got the most eyes cast upon him, and has more responsibilities than just about any regular person could possibly imagine. I certainly wouldn't want to be the guy having the task of straightening out the world economy, cleaning up after the last, um, President.

As an aside, at a meager salary of $400k, he's grossly underpaid.

However, what he said was Not. That. Bad.

Besides, the world could probably use a few more off-color jokes(Archie Bunker lives). At this point, political correctness has been applied to just about everyone and everything in America, so we're all equals. Hooray. Maybe we'd laugh a little more instead of just being constantly "outraged."

It's not like he said that he looked like a retard (ok, lemme have it). And in all likelihood, it was probably a very accurate description. I'm guessing that the "Obama Cool" does not exactly translate well on the bowling lanes.

It really would be in our best interests to stop getting "outraged" at the smallest, insignificant things (yes, I know, the Special Olympics are not insignificant. Give it a rest.) We need, instead, to be getting "outraged" at real, tangible things: corruption, racial inequality, gender inequality, funding for the arts.

The fact that we fear the government when, truly, the government should be fearing us.

These are the things that are important and significant. Hurt feelings and "outrage" via press channels are not. It's grandstanding, it's being a blowhard, and it's silly. It's also a bit irresponsible. Ultimately, we let those who are in charge off the hook for not getting things done right the first time around.

When will we learn.

So it goes...

Send in the Clowns

Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, gave the republican response to President Obama's address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Clown.

Like Bozo.

You know, the repubs had it handed to them on a silver platter, complete with all of the garnishes and trimmings, back in November. Rightly so. Republican leadership hasn't been exactly, uh, what's the word?

Oh, right.

Effective.

So in an attempt to re-establish their relevance in the political landscape, they give you Bobby J. Kind of like Johhny Mac, only less, uh, what's the word?

Seasoned? Mature? Experienced?

Caucasian?

Ok, that's not the point (although it could be, I suppose).

What is the point is that this guy went on camera and talked to America like he was Ward Cleaver. Or Mr. Rogers. Maybe both. Either way, it was ridiculous and patronizing, as is usual for right wing banter. So stiff and rigid and void of any personality (he's a ragin' cajun, y'know). Did he really find it funny that his father had to make payments on said Master Jindal's actual delivery?

Do other republicans think it's funny? I'm asking.

Is he your guy, this clown?

So it goes...

Is Chicago Losing Art and Culture?

Being a musician is not an easy occupation.

Neither is being President of the United States.

("What's your point, Mike?" she says from the peanut gallery.)

Ridiculous career choices? Absolutely.

That is not the point I'm going for, though. Far from it.

One character trait that myself and President Obama share, aside from being left-handed, which technically isn't a character trait, per se, is the importance of the arts in society.

Yesterday, on the anniversary of the birth of Abe Linclon, POTUS XVI, Obama gave a speech at the gala opening of the Ford Theater in Washington, D.C. It had undergone an extensive, multi-million dollar renovation and was now reopening to much fanfare and support.

It is also the site of the Lincoln assassination back in 1865, by the way.

The irony here is that Lincoln, like myself and the current president, was also a fervent supporter of the arts in America.

In today's Chicago Tribune, there is an article by Howard Reich, the jazz critic, reporting on the possible demise of the Morse Theater in Rogers Park. If you are unaware of the theater, then let me be the first to say that it is AWESOME. It seats 299, so the space is very intimate. If I'm not mistaken, there is no place on the main floor that is more than 50 feet from the front of the stage. The sound system is state of the art, and every performance is recorded digitally, whether it be for archiving purposes, broadcasting, or as a live album, ready to hit the streets. The styles of music the Morse hosts is mixed, ranging from jazz to blues to classical to world music. Really, it's simply outstanding.

Anyone who has spent their time paying attention to anything I might have to say should know by now that I am a frequent performer at the Morse. I work there twice a month, every other Wednesday. It may not seem like much, but in the music biz, any kind of steady gig is a welcome one, indeed. They are also becoming more and more difficult to come by.

After only 4 months of being open, it could be gone. Poof. Just like that. Another one bites the dust. It's too bad really. The last time in there, just a couple of days ago, the head count was 75. The attendance was seemingly improving from week to week. Nevertheless, the number of places to play are disappearing like republican support of the infamous stimulus package in Congress (Infamous Stimulus- hmmmm. Perhaps the name of my next band). For this to happen to the Morse would truly be shameful. There was a lot of time, and love, put into the renovation. Obviously, there was a lot of dough involved, too. One can only assume that the dough is the main reason for all of this happening, as is usually the case. I certainly don't know any of the facts, though.

The neighborhood could have really benefited from the Morse anchoring all of the various artsy ventures in that 'hood. It still may be that place, but the details are unknown at this point (at least to people who aren't an insider) as to what the fate of the space will be. It certainly would not hurt anything if the community at large spoke up and offered their support (are you listening Joe Moore and Mayor Daley) of the space.

So please, see a show there. Have dinner. Get a drink. Or a coffee. Whatever you can do.

Either way, the community of artists in Chicago will keep on keeping on, despite the obstacles we've faced and have yet to face. It's who we are and what we do.

So it goes...

the electoral college and middle east progress

It is very refreshing to see that President Obama has taken on the Middle East "issue" (which consists of several issues, actually) with such vigor and conviction.

I was reading an article by Roger Cohen, a New York Times opinion writer, and he had written a very good article about the ramifications of Obama's interview with the Al Arabiya news network based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and what it means in terms of U.S. interests. Essentially, the President has stated that the ways of the old Bush regime are over and that America is going to reclaim its position as a respected nation that can be followed as an example.

Doesn't that sound nice. Nice words. Nice rhetoric. Just. Very. Nice.

We've heard a lot of idealism from Obama and his team. A lot of talk. A lot of words. A lot of rhetoric.

In fact, it seems we've been hearing it constantly. From the early primary campaigns to the general election in November. That was the platform. The idea of change. The President was very meticulous in his approach and tactics, and that is what won him the presidency in the end.

Many people say that he really didn't win by a landslide, as the talking heads in the media generally espouse. He received 52% to McCain's 46%. Not so large. However, he trounced in the Electoral College with 365 votes (only need 270). So even though the country remained, and remains, deeply divided, his planning and his clear vision on what it was going to take to win landed him the election quite handily.

So what does this have to do with the Middle East and terrorism and Islamofascism and all that jazz? Plenty, I'd say.

Cohen sums it up very well, at the beginning of his article, when he says that the war on terror is over, and that what we are really up against are terrorist organizations. It’s not about who's the good guy in the white hat (probably living in Crawford, Texas at this point), and the bad guy in the black turban anymore. That's way too simple of a notion. It always was. It will take talking and listening and negotiating and making mistakes and solving problems. It will take time. It will take perseverance. It will take meticulous planning, much like figuring out how to get the 270 votes in the midst of great ideological division. His strategy in terms of seeing the prize and then getting it has paid off greatly. It is this type of focus that will spark real progress and change in the Arab world.

So it goes...