September 8, 2011 · 5:28 pm

Michael Moore: tough guy

thanks scrapetv for the image

I have thoroughly enjoyed a number of Michael Moore’s films.   He has also played the Muhammad Ali role of public intellectual articulating resistance.   As a result of his critiques of the government and corporations, he has been widely scorned and attacked.  He has a new book coming out and the Guardian excerpt is pretty hardcore.  Read it for the rundown of just how ugly harassment and threats can get.  Of course Michael Moore continues to fight.

I chose not to give up. I wanted to give up, badly. Instead I got fit. If you take a punch at me now, I can assure you three things will happen: 1) You will break your hand. That’s the beauty of spending just a half hour a day on your muscular-skeletal structure – it turns into kryptonite; 2) I will fall on you. I’m still working on my core and balance issues, so after you slug me I will tip over and crush you; 3) My Seals will spray mace or their own homemade concoction of jalapeño spider spray directly into your eye sockets while you are on the ground. As a pacifist, please accept my apologies in advance – and never, ever use violence against me or anyone else again.

via Michael Moore: I was the most hated man in America | Books | The Guardian.

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September 7, 2011 · 4:59 pm

Sean Price & Myster DL

I chilled with a rap/producer guy who came through Humboldt a few times — Myster DL.  I always thought he was a nice guy with a gooooood ear for beats.  Howzabout this beat and video by DL . . . featuring Sean P!

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September 5, 2011 · 8:35 pm

In what ways are humans like vultures . . .

Critically endangered vultures in India are still at risk of exposure to the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, through widespread illegal sales of the drug.

The Indian government banned use of the drug for veterinary purposes in 2006 after it brought vultures to the brink of extinction. Vultures were being poisoned after eating the carcasses of cattle that had been treated with the drug. The manufacture of diclofenac for human purposes is still allowed.

via Nature News Blog: Illegal drug sales threaten vultures in India.

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September 3, 2011 · 5:18 pm

Two gems from Goblin’s Simonetti

Thanks to the progarchives for the photo

I listened to a couple of Goblin albums today.  It made me wonder a bit about the creators.  I knew they were Italian prog rock soundtrack guys.  I found an interview with Claudio Simonetti from Goblin and hit two insightful nuggets.  First, Simonetti recorded with my favorite flute guy, Herbie Mann.  And of course, the Barry White influence!

What disco groups or producers inspired you?

I enjoyed a lot of Moroder. He was one of the first electronic producers. He made a lot of Donna Summer records. I remember I loved I Feel Love, it was completely electronic. This was the kind of disco I loved. But I also loved Barry White. His productions were great.

via An interview with Claudio Simonetti — the love unlimited sound system.

This makes perfect sense to me.  The long build up of Barry White tunes and the orchestration mixed with super hard drums.  Easy connection.

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September 3, 2011 · 3:26 pm

Spoke records, John Cameron and the motorbike

I’m getting ready to take off on my bicycle to seek records.  I’m drinking coffee and hanging out on the internets.  I ordered the first two records from the UK reissue wunderkind-label Spoke.  Spoke records is obviously a labor of love — focusing on 45s in honor of a lost comrade.

But they are also information nerds — and the interview with composer John Cameron comes up with this nice moterbike gem about just how fast life was in the high-speed seventies.

I even had a string section that used to ride motorbikes with their fiddles on their backs so they could get from one three hour session to another and then another so they could do three sessions in a day. It was Pat Halling’s lot. They were the guys who were on all the Heatwave and Hot Chocolate stuff. They literally used to motorbike from one gig to another.

via Spoke Trails: SPK 1102.

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September 2, 2011 · 1:10 am

CIA accountability?

Pretty heavy report in the Washington Post on the CIA’s increased killing.  Some good questions about accountability, ethics and of course the return of hard power in the era of terror.

Human rights groups go further, saying the CIA now functions as a military force beyond the accountability that the United States has historically demanded of its armed services. The CIA doesn’t officially acknowledge the drone program exists, let alone provide public explanation about who shoots and who dies and by what rules.

“We’re seeing the CIA turn into more of a paramilitary organization without the oversight and accountability that we traditionally expect of the military,” said Hina Shamsi, the director of the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.

via CIA shifts focus to killing targets – The Washington Post.

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August 31, 2011 · 7:18 pm

James Beard and masculine barbecue

Thanks to booksinc for the image.

I’m almost done with Robert Clark’s biography of James Beard.  Beard was a crucial figure in american cookery — celebrating local ingredients and providing American cuisine with a serious shot of epicurean style.  Beard was also one of the first celebrity chefs and he took the corporate money for endorsements. It is an interesting read — at times it bogs, but the rewards from digging into the history of the people like this are the visibility of ideology in the text.

At one point in 1953, Beard is working out the rough ideas for a paperback on outdoor cooking.  He writes the following to a collaborator:

Here is the idea: 1. Definition of culinary terms and barbecue terms and certain dishes . . . some of the mouthwatering terms men like.  2. Cold and hot weather menus and recipes featuring masculine dishes and fish and meat.  3.  Recipes for sizzling platters and rotisserie junk.  4.  A glossary of drinking terms–also how to use whiskey with recipes and man-sized portions (most men drink less than women but I supposed we must say man-sized–and be male). No fancy schmancy drinks but drinks which are good and full and really wonderful (152).

I’m fascinated by the clear articulation of what he expects to be successful.  Again, Beard actually is the American chef who wrote the book on barbecue.   But the articulation of masculine desire maps a series of assumptions and ideas about masculinity and men in the fifties.

Lets note James Beard’s obvious appreciation for communication and rhetoric.  His idea of “mouthwatering terms,” points suggestively about a language keyed and cued to shared desire between men.  It would be a worthwhile excavation to cruise through Beard’s half dozen barbecue editions and track the changes in language.

The connection between male entitlement and food has been mapped by Carol J. Adams.  There is still work to be done about making these ideas visible.  If you haven’t read The Sexual Politics of Meat yet, go get it out of the library.

It’s a worthwhile quote if only for the drinking commentary and the notion of “rotisserie junk.”

 

 

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August 31, 2011 · 6:51 pm

hip hop 2011: Building vs. Beef

I cheer for a couple of rappers who have successfully avoided beef.   I know that a lot of people still make money through simple controversy, but I wanted to acknowledge a couple of rappers who took the classy road.

I’ve been listening to Big K.R.I.T.’s Return to 4eva all day long.   Check out “Sookie Now,” the spicy track that K.R.I.T. rocks with fellow Mississippian David Banner.

You might remember David Banner back when he was rapping and scaring folks as a Southern political rapper.  Or perhaps you are one of those liberals who remembers him as the rapper who drove a tractor trailer of water and supplies to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina.  Either way, he is an absolute boss, and for a rapper coming up in Mississippi he had to be the paragon.

K.R.I.T. invites him on the track, gives him props in interviews — does what a gracious up-and-comer should do with an elder.  Pay his damn respect. The result on “Sookie Now” is just awesome.  Banner’s verse is blood-chilling.

Today, the big hip hop news is that Curren$y and Lil Wayne have a collaboration — “Smoke sum’n” — a track released on the 110% badass DJ Drama mixtape Verde Terrace.  (Actually Curren$y’s verse is on Verde Terrace, Lil’ Wayne sent in his verse a week later, whoops!).

(Thanks and props to The Smoking Section one of the best hip hop blogs running.)

Curren$y spent time on a couple of labels before meeting up with an appreciative audience.  His time with Lil’ Wayne and Young Money resulted in some great tracks.  “Poppin’ bottles” and “Where the cash at?” on Dedication 2 are standouts.  Despite leaving the label and setting up his own projects, Curren$y passed on every opportunity to attack Lil Wayne and his folks.

I hear some bitterness on the tracks of “Independence day,” but they aren’t explicit Lil’ Wayne slams — they are complaints about the industry.

I guess I’ll add Gucci and Waka to this conversation and note that despite various potential provocation they have never turned on each other that I know about it.  Ferarri Boyz get’s a solid 3.5 from this fan — it’s a solid undertaking.   But kudos to continuing to build with each other.

Respect to the emcees who take the high road.  Those emcees who simply step past the petty bullshit and make good music.

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August 29, 2011 · 6:48 pm

Bike snob and drafting

I follow the clever blog: Bike snob.  It is wry, and bicycle oriented, so obviously not for everyone.  I like this little rant on cyclists drafting behind other random cyclists.

I couldn’t agree more with this so-called “malcontent.” You are not automatically at someone’s disposal just because you are both on bikes–the normal rules of society apply. Is it OK to follow someone at a distance of two inches when you’re walking just because you’re both wearing sneakers? No it isn’t.

via Bike Snob NYC: From Suck to Blow: The Storm Before the Calm.

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August 26, 2011 · 11:07 pm

Big K.R.I.T. “Vent”

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