a catchpenny blog

2011-02-22T03:16:00.001-06:00

Over here now.

Retrospective Notes on Three 2010 Shows: Introduction

2010-12-22T16:13:00.005-06:00

IWTAS honored and humbled me with a request to write about my three favorite shows of 2010. The assignment has grown in my mind and on paper much too large and verbose, so I'll post the full of what I have written and am writing here and submit to IWTAS a Reader's Digest version.

Introduction: A Helpful, Albeit Silly and Overwrought Metaphor

After 2010’s shortest day I spend part of 2010’s tallest night sitting at the Hideaway bar. I contemplate my assignment: pick three shows and write about them. The man at the piano plays Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” with a feel as if we are drinking in an Old West saloon. He segues into “Blue Christmas” and maintains the saloon feel. Whatever the feel in which he plays does not really matter. The patrons pay only half-attention. The piano man knows that all we are in the mood for is the melody, and the piano man delivers that with minimal affect. The patrons on occasion sing along with a line or two, and it’s proven that Billy Joel knows what he’s talking about.

I think that were we, these bar patrons, at a show, we would be in the mood for more than a melody. We would pay more than half-attention. Most apparent and immediate for each of us as an audience member would be the moment - the ecstatic state of seeing and listening. I devise a silly and overwrought metaphor to guide me in my assignment. The moment is a pearl-headed pin pressed into thick woolen fabric. To step back; to see so many pearls upon thick woolen fabric; to fashion constellations upon topographies; to spot three bright pearls upon peaks of woolen fabric. (It’s a silly and overwrought metaphor, but it helpfully guides my arriving at the following three pearls of 2010.)

Tomorrow: Meredith Monk & SLSO at Powell Hall - 03/13/10

Deliberate Indifference

2010-10-11T11:27:00.003-05:00

I went to high school at an all-male college preparatory school. If you're smart, Catholic and a male St. Louisan, then that is where you go. It was a good place, mostly. Students and families of modest means paid what they could afford. The school seemed to take (and seems to continue to take) affirmative steps to promote racial and economic diversity among the student body.

Coming out as gay in such an environment was absolutely out of the question. The supposed insults of "fag," "homo" etc. were thrown around among the students constantly. All of us ... students, teachers and administrators ... were deliberately indifferent toward it. There is a kind of default environment of hostility among an all-male high school as it is ... I hate to imagine what would have happened to the poor kid who was discovered to be gay.

I also regret my own deliberate indifference to all of the slurs. They contributed to an environment that too often ends up deadly. I was only in my teens, but I should have known better to try and confront this environment in some little way.

Here is a little way.

Correspondence

2010-09-17T10:39:00.002-05:00

There are few better feelings than that which come from someone whom you admire offering a few kind words of interest and encouragement.

On the Proper Invocation of Infinity

2010-08-04T15:23:00.005-05:00

I love Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. I know the screenplay by heart. On command, I can recite the dialogue of the entire film from beginning to end.

The movie came out in 1985. I was 8 years old. The following scene practically documented a rhetorical technique popular among me and my peers - the "I know you are but what am I/Infinity" technique:

"I know you are, but what am I?" has devastating potential far above that of the more retrograde "I am rubber and you are glue" in that it invites the person against whom it is invoked to further mockery. Couched in terms of an existential crisis of identity - but what am I? - it is actually a blunt instrument of schoolyard verbal jujitsu.

Francis: You [Pee-Wee] are crazy.
Pee-Wee: I know you [Francis] are [crazy], but what am I [Pee-Wee]?
Francis: You [Pee-Wee] are a nerd.
Pee-Wee: I know you [Francis] are [a nerd], but what am I [Pee-Wee]?
Francis: You [Pee-Wee] are an idiot.
Pee-Wee: I know you [Francis] are [an idiot], but what am I [Pee-Wee]?

Francis, deemed through this interchange to be not only crazy but also a nerd and an idiot, changes tactics by employing "I know you are but what am I?" against Pee-Wee. After five repetitions of tandem volley of the phrase, the coup de grâce:

Pee-Wee: Infinity.

Now and forever, Pee-Wee knows that Francis is an idiot. Devastating.

"I know you are, but what am I" is, as previously stated, a blunt instrument. The invocation of "Infinity" is more of an art. How many tandem repetitions of "I know you are, but what am I?" should there be before the invocation of "Infinity"? There are no hard-and-fast rules, but surely after one or two repetitions "Infinity" would not be appropriate. Perhaps after three, under certain circumstances. The danger of waiting too long is that your opponent may validly invoke "infinity" before you do. Fortunately for Pee-Wee, his adversary seemed unaware of the "infinity" aspect of the "I know you are, but what am I?/Infinity" technique.

When I was eight years old, I rarely was that fortunate.

Tripping the Medieval Epistemic

2010-07-29T10:18:00.005-05:00

This Saturday night July 31st at the Old Rock House, the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra present their original score to Chapter 2 of Benjamin Christensen's Häxan (1922). Saturday night's presentation represents the first of a series of "sneak previews" of the R&P MPO's full score of the film that will culminate in a full presentation of Häxan in late fall of this year. This Saturday night's show opens with Black James (aka Jennifer McDaniel), whose set will cast a macabre and supernatural mood by way of angular, often menacingly amplified banjo and high-lonesome lyric. Theodore headlines the evening, back in town from sowing spectral seeds of heartache and despair upon this persistently fertile soil of the American Midwest.

Given the tone and tenor of the evening, Häxan's Chapter 2 presents itself as the ideal fit. The setting is the European village of 1488 where, as an opening title card explains, the pervasiveness of folk beliefs and superstition as to the existence of witchcraft make its existence "true." By virtue of this title card explanation, Häxan's ostensibly scientifically rational documentary posture has license to present a wholly incorporated Medieval worldview: Chapter 2 oscillates between a realist depiction of the miserable material condition of common medieval society and a near-equally "real" depiction of a supernatural reality overlying these material conditions.

Amid the squalor and sickness of the medieval village are witches, sorcerors and demons. They offer promises of carnal pleasure and fantastic experiences transcendent of the sexual discipline of the Church and the oppressive misery of the village. The transcendence offered is fantastic, but at the price of bringing only further disease and famine upon the village. Moreover, the transcendence of the tempted individual later proves itself to be a trap. The soul is irreparably debauched and therefore damned. The stakes in this world, then, are high - both for the already-precarious health and safety of the village and for the individual immortal soul. As the old song goes, "The Devil is Real."

The R&P MPO's original score for Häxan picks up in several aspects from where the ensemble left The Last Laugh, Nosferatu and Strike. At varying times and degree, Häxan's visual narrative is a psychological drama of escapist dream and delusion, a documentary of an earlier era both eerie and grotesque, a fever-dream spectacle of the diabolical and profane, and a consciously provocative commentary on the social transaction of violence and torture. The R&P MPO's score for Häxan weaves similar musical threads in service of Haxan's visual threads. Echoes of The Last Laugh's sense of alienation and escapist dream, Nosferatu's eerie and atmospheric foreboding, and Strike's provocative muscularity each have in turn imprinted themselves upon Häxan. Unlike these previous scores, however, Häxan's substance and affect is near-totally "classical/modern." Häxan's score evokes more of the Romantics, Bartók and Glass and less of folk traditions or 20th Century "popular" music. The idea, more than ever, is to "play it straight" in complementary service and support of Haxan's visuals. The idea is to think, feel and travel in a world where the Devil is real - to trip the Medieval epistemic.

Theodore w/ The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra and Black James
Saturday, July 31st
Doors at 8, Show at 9. 21+, $7
The Old Rock House
1200 S. 7th St., STL MO 63104

Pops Palette

2010-07-15T10:50:00.005-05:00

This Saturday night, my group the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra play a new kind of show for us. In addition to serving as a kind of "house band" for a burlesque revue, we're playing a new original score for a short film that we ourselves did not compose. These past few weeks' practices and rehearsals for Saturday night's show have been really different from what we as a group have been accustomed - instead of taking cues and direction from ourselves, we've taken cues and direction from performers and composers with whom we've never worked before. It's been a pleasant and very new experience for us, perhaps not unlike when visiting composers and performers work with an established "symphony orchestra." I like to pretend it's not unlike that, anyway.

Kevin O'Connor is the visiting composer (and our visiting conductor, for that matter). Kevin plays drums in the band 7 Shot Screamers. They're a rockabilly band that's been around quite a while as bands go, and are quite well-known around the country. You may have heard of 7 Shot Screamer's lead singer's alter ego, Clownvis. Anyway, Kevin wrote a score for us to accompany Buster Keaton's One Week. In addition to the regular R&P MPO lineup, Kevin plays the drum kit (and conducts us) and Kevin's 7 Shot band mate Chris Powers plays upright bass.

Kevin composed a percussively kinetic and melodically freewheeling score to One Week that's perfect for the action on the screen. One Week was Keaton's first release on his own as a filmmaker. One gets the feeling when watching One Week that Keaton threw in dozens of sight gags and set pieces that he had been saving up for quite a while. With One Week, Keaton finally had the opportunity to film them. The visuals are non-stop action, and Kevin's non-stop score complements the action wonderfully. What better composer for such a complementary accompaniment than the drummer for a high-energy rockabilly band?

Kevin's score to One Week also is heavily jazz-inflected, the effect (and affect) of which works wonderfully both for the film and for this Saturday night's overall program. R&P MPO mostly know classical, but we gave it a shot. The result of us playing the jazz inflections sounds pretty close (I think) to a pops-style "jazz" of the 1920s ... classical squareness swung.

The 1920s pops-style continues in our accompaniment of the burlesque portions of the program. We've arranged three songs to perform with Lola Von Ella and friends: "Button Up Your Overcoat," "Smile," and "He Needs Me." Two are from the 20s and one is from the 80s, but we're performing them all in that 1920s pops style. Hopefully we'll musically complement the evening's theme: "The Golden Age ... Live on Stage."

Given the R&P MPO's conscious avoidance of "period" music when accompanying "period" films, it's been a new and sometimes challenging experience to rehearse and to arrange consciously "period" music. It's also been a lot of fun. Every song and every style has something to teach you as a composer and as a musician. No doubt our work in rehearsing and arranging the music for Saturday's show will inform our future and less consciously "period" music. Some of that 1920s pops style surely will be part of our future compositional palette.

2010-06-21T12:17:00.001-05:00

Take a gander at my guest column at the Super Arrow blog.

Nostalgia Times Two

2010-06-19T11:19:00.004-05:00

If I remember correctly, it was early Fall of 1999. My friend Tom and I had been feeding each other a steady supply of new and interesting music. This was back when you still often had to special order CDs and records through the hip record store, or order out of catalogs. There seemed to be a real sense of discovery to every new album ... you had to kind of work for it. Tom was getting me into some really great music. I hope that I did the same for him.

That early Fall we drove from St. Louis to Columbia, MO to see Olivia Tremor Control at the Blue Note. At the time he was dating a girl who went to the University of Missouri and was involved with the college radio station there. We rolled into town and tuned in the college station. They were playing Elephant 6 stuff all day long in anticipation. The show that night was one of the best I ever saw. For the next several years it was practically all Elephant 6 all the time for me. That whole Elephant 6 "Magical Mystery Tour" ethos remains a big part of me. There was something sort of Millenial about it ... like a big pot of 20th century popular music and images all juxtaposed and mixed around. I always go back to it when I feel bored or dissatisfied with whatever I am listening to at the moment. It's nostalgia times two, I suppose.

And so why haven't I seen this yet?

Bescrabbled

2010-06-18T12:28:00.003-05:00

I ratcheted-back my Facebook activity a couple of weeks ago. My reasons are not unlike the reasons of the author of this essay.

Instead of filling that Facebook void with contemplation or productivity over the last two weeks, too much of my energy has been spent here. My experience with internet Scrabble was turning into Lisa Simpson's experience with crossword puzzles. So, today I deleted the ISC interface from my computer. It was like flushing cigarettes down a toilet.

When Politicians Confuse Mean for Median

2010-06-10T22:39:00.010-05:00

There's a sixty-year-old theorem called "The Median Voter Theorem." Russel Crowe had a part in inspiring it. The basic idea of the Median Voter Theorem is that, in a head-to-head election, a politician will maximize her votes on election day by adhering to the position of the ideologically median voter in the electorate. Each voter votes for the politician whose ideological position is closest to the individual voter's own position, so finding the median voter is the way to go. You get more votes by "moving to the center."

It's the type of political science theorem that annoys me (for one, it makes for a boring campaign season), but I grudgingly accept it as a winning electoral strategy. I bet that most American politicians of the two major parties pursue this strategy, and that most pursue it quite consciously. It works, but only if it's executed correctly. I think that a lot of politicians fail at the median voter strategy by confusing the mean for the median.

A lot of politicians make the mistake of thinking that they're running for office to represent the state of Platonia. It's kind of a comforting place, this state of Platonia. It's simple, too. With only 11 registered voters. There's a round and even ideological spectrum to it. You can even express each voter's ideological position with a number. 0 = most liberal person ever, while 10 = most conservative person ever.

Platonia Registered Voters and Corresponding Ideological Score (ID)

Voter	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
ID	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Median Voter (#6) ID = 5
Mean Voter ID (55/11) = 5

Voter #1 and Voter #11 are incredibly ideological. They're not much for 5 IDs, or even 2 or 8 IDs respectively. They don't vote much, and when they do vote, it's for Lyndon Larouche or somebody like that. Voter #2 and Voter #10 have 1 and 9 IDs, respectively. They like guys like Ralph Nader and Ron Paul, but sometimes they'll vote for the major party candidate if that candidate makes a good case to them, or they perceive that their vote is too important this time around to "throw away." Voter #3 and Voter #9 have IDs of 2 and 8, respectively. Here is the beginning of each major party's base. Still, a certain level of ideological "purity" is required from the candidates to get their vote. Voter #3 cannot stand politicians who behave like they have a 6 ID, and Voter #9 cannot stand politicians who behave like they have a 4 ID. Voter #4 and Voter #8 have IDs of 3 and 7, respectively. Each considers herself a "Democrat" or "Republican" when asked her party affiliation. Each also doesn't perceive the other party's policies as good for her. Voter #5 and Voter #7 each say the he's "independent," but really each almost invariably votes for the same major party over and over again (Democratic and Republican, respectively).

Finally, there is Voter #6. Voter #6 is the median voter. This is the voter up for grabs and the voter that each major party candidate needs to capture in order to win. The closer Voter #6 perceives you to be, the more you maximize your chances at winning.

It's not that difficult to win an election in Platonia. You just need to do and say things that signal to Voter #6 that you have a 5 ID. If you're a Democrat, then you also signal and behave every once in a while in ways that show you have a 2, 3 or 4 ID. But don't act like you have a 6 or 7 ID too much. That will anger your base. You may capture that median voter still, but your base won't vote. It's not hard in Platonia, however. You can act like a 5 and win. And it's easier to act confidently as a 5 because 5 is the mean ideological score of Platonia. The political "climate" is perceived as a 5. The same holds true for a Republican candidate, but in reverse.

The campaigns are boring in the State of Platonia, but professional and effective.

But what about a less ideologically symmetrical state? Let's call this state ... oh, let's say the state of Kansaras. Kansaras, coincidentally, has only 11 registered voters.

Kansaras Registered Voters and Corresponding Ideological Score (ID)

Voter	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
ID	1	2	3	3	4	5	7	8	8	9	10

Median Voter (#6) ID = 5
Mean Voter ID (60/11) = 5.45

Compared to Platonia, Kansaras skews toward the conservative side. The mean Voter ID is 5.45 rather than 5. The median voter has a 5 ID, just like the median voter in Platonia.

So, let's say that a politician gets elected to the US Senate to represent Kansaras. He's a Democrat. His name is ... oh ... let's say Lance Blincoln. Senator Blincoln reads the political climate - the mean - correctly as a 5.45 ID. Senator Blincoln decides that by the time he is up for reelection, he should signal to the electorate by word and deed that he himself mostly is 5.45. This way, he will capture the middle.

Senator Blincoln figures that the best and easiest way to signal a 5.45 ID is to take ideological positions that, when averaged out, will put him near 5.45. Senator Blincoln says and does some things that a 3 or 4 would do, but also some things that a 6 or 7 and sometimes even an 8 would say or do. But when you tally-up all of Senator Blincoln's words and acts and divide, it all works out to an ID of 5.45. "Perfect!" thinks Senator Blincoln. "I am on my way to reelection."

But Senator Blincoln is not on his way to reelection. All of those 6 ID and 7 ID positions he's taken have angered the 2 ID and 3 ID voters. It does not matter to them that Senator Blincoln's positions average out to a 5.45 ID. Those 6 and 7 positions are just too much to bear, even if Blincoln has a fair amount of 2ID and 3ID positions to temper them.

Now, let's say that it's primary election time in Kansaras. Let's say that Senator Blincoln gets a primary challenge from another state-wide elected Democratic Lieutenant Governor by the name of ... Jill Walter. Interestingly enough, Jill Walter's ideological ID is the same as Senator Blincoln's: roughly 5.45. The difference is that Lt. Governor Walter's ID was arrived at by taking very few 6 ID positions, and totally avoiding any 7 positions. Most of Lt. Governor Walter's positions are in the high-4 and low-5 range. Lt. Governor Walter knows that the median voter is a 5ID voter, but also that she can't take too many 6 or 7 positions to anger the 2ID and 3ID voters if she wants their support. So, Lt. Governor Walter stays near-exclusively in the range of 4.0 to 5.9. This keeps her close to that median voter without turning-off the 2 and 3 ID voters.

Senator Blincoln can't believe it when he finds that his primary race against Lt. Governor Walter is turning out to be a nail-biter. "What about all of those 3 and 4 ID positions I took?" thinks Senator Blincoln with some consternation. "Have the Democratic voters forgotten? I'm the kind of 'moderate' Democrat that wins general elections in this state. My ID is 5.45: right in the middle. Sheesh!"

Even more perplexing to Senator Blincoln are head-to-head general election polls which show Lt. Governor Walter having a better chance against the likely Republican candidate than Senator Blincoln. "What's the deal? I'm just as much in the middle as Lt. Governor Walter!"

The deal is that Senator Blincoln confused the mean for the median, and confused the Platonia electorate for the Kansaras electorate. The electorate in Kansaras may skew more conservative (or liberal, in the case of Chassamusetts) than Platonia, but it doesn't necessarily follow that the median voter is more conservative (or liberal, in the case of Chassamusetts).

In Platonia, you can hop around more with your ideological positions, and still capture the median voter. If you take some 6 or 7 positions every once in a while, it's less likely to hurt your election or re-election chances. You might lose a 2 or 3 voter here and there, but the other candidate often will do the same on the other side. When the mean and median are the same, you have more lee-way.

But when the mean and median are different, you can't stray too far from either. In fact, the more you stay within the zone between the mean and median, the better. You're going to have to take a fair amount of 3 and 4 positions to keep those voters on your side, but you can't afford to take 6 or 7 positions to "average out" your mean. The 2 and 3 ID voters will decide not to vote for you. Your general election numbers will suffer. You won't win the election, even if your average position turns out to be right in the middle.

Senator Blincoln isn't the only person to make this mistake of confusing the electorate for Platonia's electorate, or confusing the mean for the median. "Conventional Wisdom" pundits make this mistake all the time as well. A politician can't just average-out a bunch of positions and call herself a "moderate," even if it averages out that way. Too many 3s or 7s will turn off the voters you need to win. The pundits may cheer your "principles" or your "maverickiness," but the voters you actually need to win will abandon you, or at least not be very excited about you.

John McCain (who averages-out quite conservative) found this out in 2008, when his high-profile 3ID and 4ID positions came to haunt him. He had to go out and find a solid 9 running-mate just to create some enthusiasm. Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas found this out just this Spring. Despite Senator Lincoln's positions "averaging out" quite near the mean and median, many of the regular Democratic voters she depends on for the general election got behind a different candidate in the Democratic primary. The candidate, Bill Halter, is roughly as "moderate" as her. But Halter rarely spoke or acted like a 6, and never like a 7. Halter came extremely close to defeating Lincoln. It took the great example of "5-ness," former President and Arkansan Bill Clinton, to rescue Lincoln by assuring the Democratic electorate of Arkansas that Lincoln was ideologically near them.

Still, Lincoln is likely to lose in the general election this November. It seems that too many regular Democratic voters, those 2s and 3s, will stay home due to Lincoln's 6 and 7 positions.

Whatever one thinks of the Median Voter Theorum as a strategy, it has to be executed moderately for it to work. Averaging out disparate positions to the middle will make you a loser on election night. Pundits may like you, but not voters.

Beyond and Behind "Built"

2010-06-08T12:30:00.006-05:00

For my foreseeable Facebook future, no more indiscriminate "liking" and no more attempts at ~~vacuous~~ clever comments. It's time for me to take what I read, actually think about it, and then actually attempt to contribute something thoughtful and substantive to the conversation. It's not so much a "Facecation" as it is a way to actually communicate and share ideas.

So, here's a thought from a FB friend posted today as her status update:

I can finally enunciate my biggest issue with [St. Louis] "urban affairs" bloggers: their complete focus with the built environment to the exclusion of the social, economic and political environment.

I too have a similar thought, and, like my FB friend, I had not been able to articulate that thought until now. I think that the issue goes beyond just the "urbanist" bloggers. The issue goes to how our St. Louis civic culture conceives of our past, our present and our future.

The "urbanist" bloggers who focus on the built environment are incredibly important. It's readily apparent how much they love our city, and want to protect and improve it. Over the past sixty years, many of our city's architectural treasures met their demise from the wrecking ball. Even worse, what came to replace these treasures often were buildings aesthetically horrid and functionally deficient. If our city had a preservationist consciousness over these past sixty years, our city would be a much more beautiful and interesting place to live. The "urbanist" built environment bloggers do important and necessary work in seeking to raise a preservationist consciousness.

So, why does it seem that our city's "urbanist" bloggers focus near-exclusively on built environment? I think it's because notions of built environment are how our city's civic culture conceives of our city. It's a blessing and a curse traceable to our city's largest blessing and curse: the 1904 World's Fair.

In 1904, St. Louis "welcomed the world." It was a big deal. St. Louis was a big deal. The then-recently-completed Union Station has a stain glass window at the entrance to its Great Hall. The stain glass window depicts, from left-to-right, goddess-like representations of San Francisco, St. Louis and New York. All three in the same league. At the time, this representation wouldn't have elicited even a bemused chuckle. In terms of population and political and economic might, St. Louis was in the same league.

The Fair had an amazing complex of buildings and architecture. After the Fair, all of it was obliterated save for the Art Museum and the Flight Cage. The party was over. Over the years, St. Louis did not keep up with the cities once in its league. Politics and economics kept it largely static. In 2010, the idea of the goddess St. Louis enthroned as an equal of the goddesses San Francisco and New York elicits more than a chuckle.

The Missouri History museum seems singularly obsessed with the World's Fair. There is a perpetual exhibit there, and it takes up an entire wing. Why not be obsessed with the World's Fair? It's incredibly interesting. Most people who live here think it's interesting. It was massive. It was our city's moment of greatness. The vast majority of it is physically gone. It is the ghost of a mighty past haunting Forest Park. All that is tangible of this massive built environment are grainy black-and-white photographs.

In our St. Louis civic collective consciousness, built environment is inextricably linked to prestige. The World's Fair is the best example of this link. The Arch comes in a close second, representative of the high-modernist aspirations of the Sixties. There is a problem with this link. It's not the link per se, but the idea of the causal connection between built environment and civic prestige.

It seems to me that civic health, prestige, community (what have you) manifests itself in the built environment. It further seems to me that often we get this causal link reversed. (I am just as guilty of it as the next person.) We can't help it. Our past glories are manifested in the built environment.

It's incredibly important for us to preserve and celebrate our city's heritage. Each beautiful old building under the shadow of a wrecking ball is more than just a beautiful old building. Each is a manifestation of people's work and dedication ... each is a manifestation of community. Beautiful old buildings should be preserved if they can be preserved.

At the same time, a better understanding and participation in the here-and-now of our city's social, political and economic environment are crucial. Campaigns for preservation often seem to run against the need for jobs in economically-distressed communities. Preservation vs. jobs need not be the oppositional dichotomy. The goal of preserving and creating a healthy built environment first must come from understanding and participating in community. What is it that our community needs, and how do we, as a community, address these needs? The answers won't at first necessarily be physically grand or monumental. Community takes time, and its successes are measured and recognized in the long term. What matters is a sense of investment and a sense of trust.

Finally, it seems to me that we would do well to shed, once and for all, our fixation with the "might" and "grandiosity" of our city's past. I find strains of this fixation among our city's progressive urbanist bloggers (and in my own thinking). This fixation does not serve our city well, for the built environment or otherwise. What will serve our city well is the hard and humble work of community. What will serve this city well are communities engaged and invested in our civic health. What will serve this city well is democracy. Our built environment will manifest how well we serve ourselves.

Cherokee Soundtrack

2010-03-29T12:10:00.004-05:00

This April (and as usual these days), several streams come into confluence on Cherokee Street. How gratifying it will be to serve a small part in the confluence.

This past November, I went to check out this place on Cherokee Street called Stirrup Pants. It's a poetry chapbook shop (open for business on Saturdays), and a space for readings. My friend Maggie runs the place. There was a hint of stinging winter chill in the breeze that afternoon, but when I walked into Stirrup Pants I felt nothing but gentle and exuding warmth. I hung out with some great folks, most of whom are affiliated with or related to the Washington University creative writing MFA program. The conversation was relaxed, but not idle. Like a lot of the hanging out lately on Cherokee Street, this was hanging out with a purpose.

I started to attend the readings put on at Stirrup, and met some really great folk. One of the great folk I met is Heather. She runs a reading series called "Exploding Swan." I love that name. For the December edition of the series, Heather recruited my friend Jaffa and I to play some music. I composed a little 10-minute piece - minimalist type music for me on trombone and Jaffa on this reed keyboard and on xaphoon. We performed it at Heather's house for the reading. It seemed to have gone well.

Still another great folk I met through hanging out at Stirrup Pants is Eileen. She teaches at Wash U and works at their Kemper Art Museum. In December, the Kemper had this exhibit of chance art. Eileen put on a free chance aesthetics poetry workshop at the Kemper, complete with free lunch. I went primarily for the free lunch. (Wash U's loaded, so I knew that it would be a good lunch.) The lunch was, in fact, good. The workshop was, in fact, even better. I took away from the workshop two ideas that I have been contemplating ever since. The first idea comes from chance aesthetics' sublimation of the ego. Chance aesthetics often stand for the proposition that art can (and often should) be made not from within the artist's "soul" or even consciousness, but from the artist receiving the material outside herself or himself. The second idea comes from chance aesthetics' necessity for structure. There are always rules or protocols to follow in chance aesthetics. Often the method is the substance, and there must be a method else there will be no pleasing result or construction. Neither of these ideas are new or novel, but both of them are currently embedded in my brain as an approach to musical composition and performance. These ideas also coincidentally related well to the musical group in which I spend the large balance of my time.

I am in a musical group called the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra. One of the big things that we do is compose scores and then perform them live to silent films such as F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu or Buster Keaton's Go West. Ideally, we want the audience not to realize that there is a live band playing to the film, or even for the audience to consciously register the music that we're playing. We're secondary to the film, and we compose our scores with that in mind. The idea is not necessarily to respond to the action on the screen, but to complement and support the visual narrative's present mood. Not only to be unseen, but also in a certain sense to be unheard. (Talk about sublimating a performing musician's ego!) There are also real rules and protocols to the music. It is entirely composed. There are very few improvisational moments. Each sound during a 90-minute film is planned. We think that this compositional approach brings about the most pleasing result for the audience.

The Archive is a new & used bookstore that just opened up on Cherokee Street. I attended their grand opening this winter, and found at least a dozen little gems that I hope are still there when I have some money. Like Stirrup Pants, The Archive is a really warm and inviting place full of warm and inviting folk. Authors are coming there from around the country to read and discuss their books. A lot of the authors have written books about localism. Like many businesses on Cherokee, the store also serves as a space for visual art and musical performance. (There's a really nice piano in there.) One of the people who owns and operates The Archive is Mike. Mike's also a film maker. Mike, too, is fascinated with and a big advocate of localism - in what and how we eat, in what and how we are entertained and express ourselves, etc., etc.. Mike's especially fascinated with the co-existence of and interaction between the urban environment and the natural environment. He believes that exploring this relationship between the urban and the natural is a key to creating vibrant and sustainable local urban community. He's kind of on a mission.

Mike made a short film called "Chicken and Waffles." The film documents the raising of three chickens, their slaughter, their preparation, their frying, and their consumption (with waffles) by people. The chickens were raised in the city, slaughtered by people in the city, prepared by people in the city, cooked by people in the city, and consumed (with waffles) by people in the city. It's kind of a how-to manual on localism. Mike filmed the big chicken and waffle cookout at Artica. Artica is this art and music gathering every year on the Mississippi River waterfront - one of those areas where the co-existence of and relationship between the urban and the natural are readily apparent.

This past Winter, Mike asked the R&P MPO to write and to record the musical score and soundtrack for "Chicken and Waffles." This is another big thing that we do, and we happily obliged. We usually record and perform music with very classical and folk influences. Mike asked us to do something with a more heavy rock influence. Again, we happily obliged. We're all former rock musicians, and Mike afforded us the opportunity to scratch a latent itch. The premiere of the finished product is at The Archive on April 6.

Also this past Winter, Heather asked me whether I would compose an R&P MPO piece for the Spring "Exploding Swan" reading series. A really great poet by the name of Zachary Schomburg is coming to town to read at Stirrup Pants. Zach has read to musical accompaniment several times before, and he really enjoys it. There's a group of musicians and poets here in St. Louis called Poetry Scores that records musical accompaniment to spoken word. It's an idea that really fascinates me and that I secretly always wanted to try ... spoken word as melody. Another happy obligation. Another latent itch scratched.

When Zach comes to town on April 14, he'll read selections from a 72-page epic poem he wrote called "Viking." It's about a young man who leaves Earth for Mars, then spends his middle age on Mars, then returns to Earth. When the man returns to Earth, he finds Earth now made of glass. The form remains the same, but the substance now is different ... translucent. I am composing the piece in a way that I hope complements and supports "Viking's" narrative arc. The piece uses just 5 tones: C,D,E,Ab,Bb (e.g. the "form" ... the "rules"). Whether the hero is on earth Earth, Mars, or glass Earth dictates the composed chordal colors derived from the 5 tones (e.g. the "substance" ... the "ego sublimation"). The musical accompaniments to earth Earth and glass Earth will have the same form, but a very different substance. The musical accompaniment for Mars will be similar to Earth's form and substance but just enough different, too.

So ... on Cherokee Street this April, a confluence of ideas, aesthetics, fascinations, missions, form and substance.

Here's hoping that the soundtrack will complement and support.

Movie Night featuring "Chicken and Waffles"
Tuesday, April 6
8 PM
The Archive
3213 Cherokee Street

R&P MPO Accompany Zachary Schomburg
w/ David Weinberg and Jaffa Aharonov
Part of the "Exploding Swan" Reading Series
Wednesday, April 14
8 PM
Stirrup Pants
2122 Cherokee Street

Stirrup Pants http://stirruppants.blogspot.com/

R&P MPO http://www.theratsandpeople.com/mpo.html

The Archive http://www.archivescribe.com/

Zachary Schomburg http://lovelyarc.blogspot.com/

Poetry Scores http://poetryscores.blogspot.com/

2010-03-28T10:31:00.005-05:00

I just finished reading Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving. According to the book (and I think that the book is on to something), loving one's neighbor requires "true humility, courage, faith and discipline." True love requires four basic elements: care, responsibility, respect, and knowledge. All of these qualities seem so difficult to develop in our society - especially now that so much of our society communicates via inherently narcissistic social networking sites. I wonder if there is such a thing as an online persona consistent with these qualities. Perhaps there isn't. I am going to try, both virtually and really.

2010-02-11T12:54:00.003-06:00

This coming Saturday evening I am fortunate to participate in a splendid, splendid show at Off Broadway.

My group the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra kick off the evening at 8pm sharp with a live performance of our original score to Strike as the audience watches the film on the big screen.

The excellent Andrew Bryant (all the way from Mississippi) follows us with a set of devastatingly beautiful music and lyric.

Then Theodore takes the stage to celebrate their new opus Hold You Like a Lover. Musicians from the R&P MPO (including myself) and other St. Louis groups will backup their entire set as an orchestra in its own right.

So, come on down. It will rule. I promise.

2010-01-29T13:30:00.001-06:00

2010-01-20T12:08:00.000-06:00

2009-12-31T11:35:00.001-06:00

2009-12-24T23:30:00.002-06:00

2009-12-11T10:41:00.003-06:00

If you smoke cigarettes and you want to quit (and you should), do something else to take its place. Low-impact exercise is a pretty good thing to do. You will be surprised at how quickly you can do stuff that you were not able to do before. I started walking two miles every morning, but now I am up to five. At fifteen minutes a mile, it is a brisk walk but not too taxing. Another nice thing about walking is that if it is cold outside all you have to do is bundle up. Another nice thing about walking is that you don't need to buy any kind of "work-out" clothes or shoes. I just wear regular clothes and have a nice pair of shoes suitable for walking that I already owned anyway. After my morning walk, I do twenty push-ups and twenty sit-ups. I started at ten apiece, but when that became easy enough I increased each to fifteen. Now I am at twenty. None of this costs me a penny. In the afternoon, I walk to the library to study, and then back. Another three miles.

Start small, and work your way up gradually. Set small but achievable goals. Find something to do that you enjoy, and then have fun with it. I like walking because it is meditative. But maybe you like something more exciting. That's cool. Do what you find is fun. Often what is fun requires zero money out-of-pocket.

2009-12-07T21:09:00.001-06:00

"Autumn Leaves" is one of those songs that you play so much when playing jazz that you forget how good of a melody it has. The original French lyrics (translated into English in this clip) make it even better.

2009-12-02T23:45:00.003-06:00

What if on a random day you would open up a random door on a random building and walk into this?

2009-12-02T17:20:00.003-06:00

After our totally fun and awesome show Saturday night we were talking about Matthew Lesko. He's that free government money guy on TV who wears the question mark-covered suit and gallivants about the National Mall. He has a kind of Schweig Engel ethic and aesthetic. I was thinking that there is a certain kind of advertising where the message boils down to:

I care so very much and so intensely about you purchasing this product because you need it immediately and it is so important for you to purchase it that I will don a ridiculous outfit and behave as if I am mentally disturbed if that is what it takes to get you to purchase it.

There are people who approach courtship this way as well.

2009-11-28T10:50:00.002-06:00

Tonight at Off Broadway, the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra accompany F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu with a new and original score. Also performing ... Catholic Guilt and the May Day Orchestra.

Read more about the R&P MPO in the RFT.

2009-11-27T09:44:00.003-06:00

I walked today on Spring Street behind St. Mary's High School past a large abandoned apartment complex. Windows broken and boarded up. It appeared as if the complex was some kind of public or subsidized housing. Across the street from the apartment complex is a corner store called "Speedway" or something like that. Liquor, cigarettes, junk food. I began thinking that the only difference between that corner store and a corner drug dealer is a license.

2009-11-26T10:53:00.002-06:00

2009-11-25T11:54:00.003-06:00

Here is a rather thorough blog entry from the Atlantic on the cost-control measures in the Senate health insurance reform bill. It's so thorough that apparently the President via Rahm Emmanuel has ordered the White House health care task force staff to read it.

The cost-control measures seem to me pretty solid, but without some competition on the consumer side of things through a public option will these cost controls actually translate to lower premiums and better services?

2009-11-24T13:20:00.001-06:00

5-Mile Walk ... House-Sit Edition.

View Larger Map

2009-11-24T12:54:00.001-06:00

This, in my head today.

2009-11-23T14:03:00.005-06:00

Where in the health insurance reform process Josh Marshall sees a dead end, Booman sees a jam.

But without a health insurance reform bill of any kind passing, Congressional Democrats will find themselves in an electoral jam next November.

On the generic Congressional ballot Democrats lead Republicans 46-38. However, when respondents were asked how they’d vote if a health care bill with a public option was passed, that margin tightened to a 46-41 Democratic lead. The political implications of that though are not nearly as bad as if no health care bill is passed. Asked how they would vote next year under that scenario the generic ballot is tied 40-40 between the two parties.

Marshall argues that what's left of the public option at this point in the process is so anemic that perhaps not much really would be lost in jettisoning the public option to secure passage of the overall bill. Still, there are significant amounts of Representatives (many in the "Progressive Caucus") who claim that a bill without a public option means that they will not vote "Aye" after Conference Committee. These are mostly members of Congress representing super-safe Democratic districts, and would very likely not lose their seats due to no bill being passed. They are well leveraged. A bill without a public option could very well be in danger of not passing as one with a public option, however anemic.

The Democrats are in a position where passage of a bill is imperative, and it appears to me that if the Progressive Caucus assertively hold their ground then that bill will include a public option. But if four conservative Democratic senators continue to claim that they will filibuster a Senate bill with a public option, then where else can the Senate go but to budget reconciliation? Senatorial courtesies be damned. The Democrats need a bill passed and signed into law or they are assuredly in for discourtesies from the electorate.

2009-11-21T13:36:00.000-06:00

All I want for Christmas.

2009-11-20T13:29:00.004-06:00

My Republican friend Tory (everybody should have at least a couple, right?) emailed me about my take on his former Dartmouth instructor Jeff Smith. Here is my response:

Hey Tory! How's AZ?

The whole thing is really sad. I mean, he deserves to go to prison, because he basically had a million chances to come clean but instead he lied to federal investigators and (worst of all) very explicitly counseled and encouraged other people to lie. That's a classic obstruction conspiracy. If he had come clean about it from the get-go, there would have been a hefty fine that his campaign committee would have payed, and that fine (and a little embarrassment) likely would have been the end of it. For goodness sake ... every campaign gets hit with these fines and they're considered to be basically the cost of doing business. (I think I read that both Obama's and McCain's campaigns had fines numbering in the hundreds.)

There are two sad things about it.

First, just about everybody in Jeff City - of all political stripes and persuasions - thought of Jeff Smith as one of the most talented, hard-working and intelligent legislators around. I don't want to be harsh, but the large majority of the folks up there - of both parties - are complete doofuses. It's a real loss for our state.

Second, Jeff Smith's state senate district geographically is about half-white and half-black. Unlike a lot of politicians representing St. Louis City districts with this kind of segregation, he really worked hard at representing and serving the entirety of his district. People on both sides of town liked and trusted him. His behavior undermines a lot of good work he did to begin uniting our city.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that I think a lot of people still do like and trust him. He seems genuinely contrite about what he did. Maybe he could make a comeback. I likely would vote for him if he did.

-matt

2009-11-20T11:43:00.001-06:00

My new hero:

“I made a decision at the beginning that the experts wrecked this economy and the public has a right to know what’s going on,” she said. “It’s our economy on the line and the experts can’t be trusted. I want everyone to be part of the solution to how we want to change our economic world. If it’s risky or makes me look stupid to someone, so be it.”

2009-11-18T14:50:00.002-06:00

The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past.

2009-11-16T19:04:00.002-06:00

www.isc.ro

#0 juliet (H) -> archkevinb asked: I was playing a game. Saw a request for adjournment. Wanted to ask a question first, but then got response Not sent: you are in (name)’s noplay list. What gives?
#0 juliet (H) -> you were noplayed
PLAY delise
New game started: MattyFred vs delise TWL98 15 0
rated noescape=ON challenge=SINGLE. MattyFred’s turn.
assess delise to see the rating changes.
TELL delise hi gl
MattyFred: MOVE H4 felon 24
#0 juliet (H) -> archkevinb asked: How can I resume a game with someone when I’m on their noplay list?
#0 juliet (H) -> you wont enjoy it so just move to another game and forget about it
delise: MOVE 9D candy 25
#0 juliet (H) -> archkevinb asked: That seems like a sneaky way out of resigning, and leaves me with the clock running before I can start a new game.
#0 juliet (H) -> well we cant win them all
MattyFred: MOVE 10E nu 10
#0 juliet (H) -> archkevinb asked: No, but couldn’t the software be fixed to prevent people from gaming the system like that?
#0 juliet (H) -> why would you stop someone from noplaying you if they dont like you?

2009-11-15T01:47:00.008-06:00

Last night I saw a man die. I was at a parish trivia night. It was held in a gymnasium packed with people, tables and folding chairs. The gymnasium was cigarette smoky and hot. After Round One of questions a large man collapsed four tables down from my table. There was a kind of silent commotion, and then cries for someone who knew CPR.

Give him space. Give him space.

We pushed our tables back to make a wide aisle for when the paramedics would arrive. It seemed like a very long time passed. A clean-cut man in a polo shirt tucked into his jeans and clutching a briefcase defibrillator rushed across the gymnasium and dissolved into the semicircle of people that had formed around the fallen man.

Don't touch him. Don't touch him. You'll electrocute yourself.

Everyone was quietly sipping beer, munching pretzels, smoking cigarettes and waiting. Now I could not see the man, but the people on the other side of the makeshift aisle could see the man. These people across the aisle had somber looks on their faces. I noticed that these people were not munching on pretzels or sipping beer.

The paramedics marched up the wide aisle and dissolved into the semicircle. Some time passed. I saw the paramedics lift the man onto a stretcher with wheels. They slowly wheeled the man down the makeshift aisle. The man's shirt was missing. His chest and face were a deep purple. His body was as still and silent as a stone.

We pushed the tables and chairs back into their original places. The tables made grinding and squeaking sounds as we pushed them. These were the only sounds to be heard echoing about the gymnasium.

A young seminarian took to the microphone and delivered an impromptu prayer. We then recited one "Our Father," and one "Hail Mary." This was the first time in over ten years that I had recited these prayers.

Before Round Two, the emcee explained to us that the man was a parishioner. The man was a mechanic who enjoyed repairing his neighbors' lawn mowers, including the emcee's lawnmower. The man also enjoyed playing softball, and watching his son play softball.

After Round Ten, the emcee informed us that the man had not been resuscitated.

2009-11-13T17:33:00.002-06:00

I agree with this, but if you are eighteen, smart and minimally motivated then everybody tells you it is your only option. Due to the lack of alternative avenues to success, it often is the only option.

Looking back, I sometimes wish I had waited a couple of years after high school and then attended a public institution. The older I get, the more I think that four-year liberal arts colleges are a kind of racket.

2009-11-13T12:30:00.003-06:00

So, today is Friday and it's the thirteenth. An unlucky day.
But, being that it's Friday the thirteenth for everyone on the planet, and being that luck is a thing assessed by comparing one person's luck to another person's luck, are we not all affected by this day in the same way and in the end is it not all a wash? (Even if you do not believe in luck, I think that you would still agree.)

2009-11-12T18:56:00.002-06:00

... so, after all that rigamarole, Pfizer is closing shop.

2009-11-12T15:59:00.003-06:00

Three miles was already too easy, so I plotted out a good five-mile route. I walked it this morning, and was actually a bit tired from it. I'd say it's a go, then. Here is the route:

View Larger Map

Five miles a day. Maybe in a couple of months, I will start running it. At the moment, there is still too much weird crap in my lungs.

2009-11-11T17:00:00.001-06:00

2009-11-11T12:36:00.000-06:00

Something to read today.

2009-11-11T12:00:00.003-06:00

2009-11-10T12:18:00.000-06:00

Look out kid
It's somethin' you did
God knows when
But you're doin' it again

2009-11-09T09:27:00.003-06:00

As part of my latest cigarette cessation efforts, I've started a daily brisk walk routine of 3.3 miles a day. It's brisk enough that I could probably wear athletic-type stuff as I did it. But sweatpants ... I just can't wear them. I don't want to be a sweatpants guy, ever.

I don't walk around any parks or anything. I just wear regular street clothes. It probably looks like I'm late for work. That's fine with me.

2009-11-07T14:38:00.002-06:00

2009-11-06T18:43:00.003-06:00

Beatles Rock Band's got me all Beatlesy. Last night, my friend Heather sang "I'm Looking Through You." Her old band the Prom Queens covered it nicely. Check it out.

I never really listened to the lyrics until last night. Lennon and McCartney ruled so well. Upbeat, catchy, despairing, but also somehow removed.

I'm looking through you, where did you go
I thought I knew you, what did I know
You don't look different, but you have changed
I'm looking through you, you're not the same

Your lips are moving, I cannot hear
Your voice is soothing, but the words aren't clear
You don't sound different, I've learned the game.
I'm looking through you, you're not the same

Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right?
Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight

You're thinking of me, the same old way
You were above me, but not today
The only difference is you're down there
I'm looking through you, and you're nowhere

Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right?
Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight

I'm looking through you, where did you go
I thought I knew you, what did I know
You don't look different, but you have changed
I'm looking through you, you're not the same

2009-11-06T02:29:00.001-06:00

Quite nice.

For some odd reason, inspired me to read this.

2009-11-04T23:59:00.003-06:00

Though this video montage of Fox News' breathless coverage of NY-23 is meant to be a kind of sad trombone directed at the losers, it's illustrative of the fact that the Tea Partiers are not some kind of sua sponte grassroots movement of the disgruntled but rather a well-coordinated, well-funded and top-down organization. Dick Armey and his crew run the political side while NewsCorp and its crew handle the communications side. They lost NY-23, but they're likely to get better.

2009-11-04T08:47:00.003-06:00

LG&M breaks down last night's odd-year election results, and sees turnout and Tip O'Neill's adage of "all politics is local" as determinative. Core Democratic groups such as young people, minorities and low-income people stayed home. The winning candidates ran campaigns better tailored to local concerns. I would not be surprised if the insurgent conservative candidate in NY-23, Doug Hoffman, lost votes due to perceptions that he was an outsider backed largely by outside elements (Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, et al). Upstate New York may be conservative, but not that kind of conservative.

I watched the Obama campaign documentary on HBO last night. I thought that it was kind of uneven. A little too much fawning at times, and not enough of the true behind-the-scenes moments that make The War Room so good. Still, it's worth a watch. What I took from the film is the calm and discipline of Obama's inner circle, especially Axelrod and Plouffe. They are such a contrast to Carville and Stephanopoulos in The War Room. Different campaigns in different times call for different people, I suppose.

2009-11-03T09:09:00.005-06:00

It is election day today in some places. New Jersey and Virginia elect governors. NY-23 elects a new member of Congress. Nate Silver writes about the state of the GOP brand in all of these places.

The NY-23 race must have given pollsters fits. Tea Party-backed conservative insurgent Doug Hoffmann appeared to have a slight plurality lead over both moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava and conservative Democrat Bill Owens. This weekend on my way to Nashville I heard on the radio that Scozzafava dropped out. I figured that she got the push in order for the vote not to be split, which would raise a real possibility of a Democrat occupying a seat that has been Republican since like 1850. I thought wrong. GOP former-candidate Scozzafava endorsed Democrat Bill Owens. Now nobody has any clue what's going to happen today. How many Scozzafava supporters will now support Owens? What will turnout look like in general? Every pollster mapping and following this race is in the dark.

Adding to the NY-23 circus is a kind of proxy war between national elements of the hard-right and the soft-right of the GOP. There are even bestiality jokes a-flyin'.

Most polls of the New Jersey Governor's race show a dead-heat between incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine and GOP challenger Chris Christie. Independent Chris Daggett pulls in about 8% of the vote. It seems that every cycle New Jersey looks poised to elect a GOP governor but then it does not pan out. I'll believe it when I see it. Corzine has a huge war chest and a genuine get-out-the-vote operation crucial in close elections. President Obama is making direct appeals to the Democratic base on radio and television on behalf of Corzine. I think that Corzine will have just enough to squeak by to victory. Still, the amount of corruption scandals in New Jersey and consequent anti-incumbency feelings among the NJ electorate should not be underestimated. If I were a betting man and this was a horse-race, I'd take Republican Christie because the pay-out would be better on the odds.

Virginia reprises what for me is its role as the national battleground (see here, and here). Perhaps 2008's biggest coup for the national Democrats was winning Virginia in the presidential race. A Democratic Virginia breaks the back of any GOP victory coalition. While Virginia has elected Democratic governors of late, it appears as if Republican Bob McDonnell is poised for victory. Republicans are smart to push McDonnell as a 2012 presidential candidate. Virginia is crucial to any Republican presidential victory, and having a native son at the top of the ticket could pull the Commonwealth back into the Republican column three years from now.

And if that's not enough election stuff for you, this is on tonight:

2009-10-30T10:40:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow, we go to Nashville and debut our new score to Nosferatu in the evening. Happy Halloween.

Each score written and rehearsed means watching each film one thousand times. I start to love or loathe certain characters for their quirks. I feel like I become familiar with the actors and actresses in a very odd, intimate way.

Then I remember that these are very old movies. Probably all of the actors and actresses in them are long since gone. Even the child actors would be at least in their late nineties. But here they all are on film, alive and beautiful. It is bittersweet.

2009-10-29T18:06:00.002-05:00

Why are American soldiers in Afghanistan? To what end are they dying? When will their mission be accomplished? Honestly, I have no idea. The whole situation looks to me more and more like this.

2009-10-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

2009-10-27T11:14:00.002-05:00

My friend once called it a party, and I think she's on to something. Sometimes, one needs to stay away from the constant party for several reasons, such as work or study or just some needed general alone time. I want to get back to letters and emails and phone conversations. More human contact. Of course, there was each a time when a letter, a phone conversation and an email was not considered human contact. I feel like each of them are more so than Facebook. At least for now. I likely will rejoin the party in February, after this.

2009-10-26T19:18:00.001-05:00

I think that people use the quotation she/he/they "doth protest too much" way too often.

2009-10-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

mission impossible.

2009-10-21T16:03:00.001-05:00

Local gastroblogs!

In addition to Eileen's Kitchen, I'm crashing this party now too.

2009-10-20T14:24:00.001-05:00

Cool. There's a chapbook shop in my town.

2009-10-09T09:37:00.002-05:00

Josh Marshall:

This is an odd award. You'd expect it to come later in Obama's presidency and tied to some particular event or accomplishment. But the unmistakable message of the award is one of the consequences of a period in which the most powerful country in the world, the 'hyper-power' as the French have it, became the focus of destabilization and in real if limited ways lawlessness. A harsh judgment, yes. But a dark period. And Obama has begun, if fitfully and very imperfectly to many of his supporters, to steer the ship of state in a different direction. If that seems like a meager accomplishment to many of the usual Washington types it's a profound reflection of their own enablement of the Bush era and how compromised they are by it, how much they perpetuated the belief that it was 'normal history' rather than dark aberration.

2009-10-07T09:47:00.002-05:00

Well, that was cool.

Non-expert predictions: Cards over Dodgers in 4, Rockies over Phillies in 5, Yankees over Twins in 5, Angels over Red Sox in 5. Cards over Rockies in 6. Yankees over Angels in 5. Cards over Yankees in 7.

2009-10-05T23:53:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's for the championship of the weakest division in baseball. Still, there's nothing like a one-game playoff.

2009-10-05T10:53:00.003-05:00

They say that a lot of sleep makes for more vivid dreams. I had a pretty vivid dream last night, and I bet it's because I went to sleep at nine last night and woke up at six. I won't bore you with it because other people's dreams can be kind of boring and I'm not so good at relating them anyway.

I wonder if one of the reasons for the awesomeness of folklore from the extreme north is due to the fact that, in the winter, people there have long nights of sleep to dream it.

2009-10-02T08:44:00.000-05:00

Fleet Foxes Friday.

2009-10-01T11:25:00.002-05:00

2009-09-29T10:23:00.006-05:00

Tomato Rasmus Soup

1. Dice a couple of Cardinal-red Roma tomatoes and put it in a pot.

2. Open a can of cream of mushroom soup and put its contents in a pot.

3. Fill the can with skim milk, and dump that in the pot.

4. Put a bread-slice's worth of bread crumbs in the pot.

5. Start the simmer.

6. Put a big handful of shredded colby in the pot.

7. Put some pepper in there, and just a tiny bit of hot sauce.

8. Let it simmer for a while.

9. Put some Fogerty on the turntable.

10. Salt to taste.

(form of post shamelessly stolen from Eileen's Kitchen and Matty Lite)

2009-09-24T16:19:00.007-05:00

A gig in a two-newspaper town means not one, but two features ... and two capacity crowds. Sunday night, we rehearsed in the beautiful and spacious Missouri Theater, which is just about the perfect place to acclimate ourselves for this Sunday's performance of our original score to Strike at the Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Sunday, September 27, 7:30 pm.

Remember, Proletarians!

2009-09-08T16:54:00.001-05:00

Digby, as usual, nails it:

On health care, the only people anyone refers to as "stakeholders" are members of the medical industry. I think that tells you exactly where things went wrong.

2009-09-08T12:56:00.000-05:00

2009-09-04T12:26:00.002-05:00

Somewhere in this not-so-fond farewell to my fair city is a valid point about how critics should refrain from being merely reflexive boosters. But mostly, it's ignorant and unintentionally hilarious. My favorite bit:

I do hate things about St. Louis: the willed ignorance, the racism, the smugness of the self-appointed social and cultural elite, the stupidity of the political class, etc.

The author of this piece is moving back to Boston.

2009-09-02T20:22:00.002-05:00

Mandates without a public option is about as regressive as it gets. The Obama Administration deserves to suffer electorally if that's the final result of their call for healthcare "reform."

It would be better to have no bill at all than a bill that forces the working poor to participate in a racket. (Isn't that what state lotteries are for?)

2009-08-31T10:27:00.004-05:00

August in the River City comes to a crisp close with the local nine up ten. The town already buzzes with playoff talk. What a month.

In September, big (as in 119-page) projects continue for the well-oiled machine that is the R&P MPO. We're rehearsing and fine-tuning the Strike score (premiering Sep 27 at Webster) while writing the Nosferatu score (premiering Oct 31 at Vanderbilt). Wyoming St. headquarters buzzes with bowed strings and horn flourishes. The Strike score is the most challenging and sophisticated work of Mssrs Lite and The Dean yet. If you're in the STL on the 27th, then don't miss it.

2009-08-18T13:53:00.001-05:00

2009-08-14T18:51:00.002-05:00

cool.

2009-08-10T11:02:00.007-05:00

Here, like at twac, the hiatus is over. Bar exam taken. Camping trip taken. Part-time working. Results awaiting.

The hiatus did little, however, to stop the inexorable growth of the blogroll. There's the aforementioned twac, and Zettwoch's Suitcase (where you can find a nifty sketch of camping me) bringing up the caboose of an impossibly long link train. Meanwhile, calm found new refuge at Wordpress. The Schnoktol Sentinel decided to synchronize with its url and become don't click it dude. The things I miss while I am away.

One thing I didn't miss while away was television, particularly of the 24-hour cable news variety.

I came back from my venture in the wilderness to tea partiers effectively shutting down "town hall" meetings by constant shouting and displays of intimidation.

Democratic processes are inherently fragile, and easy to disrupt by intimidation through political theater. Take the "Brooks Brothers Riot" during 2000 Florida recount, for instance.

Fast-forwarding to 2008, the American people elected Barack Obama their president more decisively than for any candidate in twenty years. Targeted political theater and thug tactics weren't going to disrupt and paralyze the 2008 vote-counting like they did so effectively in 2000.

So, here come the April 15 and July 4, 2009 "Tea Parties." They were incoherent with regard to a single theme or message, but it's becoming increasingly clear that a single theme or message never really was the point. Unabashedly promoted by Fox News and funded in large part by corporate entities including the insurance industry, the "Tea Parties" now appear to have been a way to identify, recruit and use people for later.

Later as in shutting down civil and democratic discourse through fear and intimidation. Adel Stan of Alternet lays out the program pretty well here. It's the right-wing way - disrupt and paralyze democratic processes when and where one can. Not only does it often work in intimidating politicians and their supporters, the "town hall" disruption is irresistible to television media. "Brooks Brothers Riots" all over the country.

The GOP staffers and campaign workers flown in to Florida to "riot" in 2000 knew that they were actors in a piece of political theater. But what about the Teapartiers? They believe it's for real.

Frank Schaeffer on Maddow:

Things seem very dangerous to me right now.

2009-07-21T07:14:00.000-05:00

2009-07-06T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have a bar exam to pass, so ... see you in August.

2009-07-03T15:12:00.002-05:00

Sarah Palin is a quitter.

I'm not much of an Andrew Sullivan fan, but I agree with what he writes about it:

In the end, I think, the one thing to say is that the Republican party is in such a total state of collapse and incoherence that it actually believed she could be a future president; and that John McCain was so reckless, so cynical and so cavalier that he was prepared to rest the national security of this country on her shoulders if he, in his seventies, were to become unable to fulfill his duties or die. In some ways, this is a moment to reflect on McCain, and his irresponsibility, not Palin and her drama.

2009-07-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

Sarah Palin is a runner.

2009-07-02T01:28:00.003-05:00

Philip Glass used to have a Sideshow Bob hairdo.

The vocalist here is magnificent.

2009-07-01T02:28:00.001-05:00

2009-06-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

Last Days of Man on Earth says goodbye to the 70s.

2009-06-26T14:26:00.003-05:00

The first tape I ever owned was Michael Jackson's Thriller. My parents bought it for me as one of my gifts for first communion. I had been asking my parents for that tape for quite a while. I am sure that the other gifts I received that day were sufficiently religious.

So, that was about 1983 or 1984, which means at the time my parents were about the same age as I am today. It must have been kind of cool to buy a tape for your kid of an artist you yourself had listened to growing up.

Just about every song on Thriller was ubiquitous on both the radio and on burgeoning MTV. One really did not need the LP or the tape to hear the music. It got to the point where Weird Al's "Eat It" seemed just as popular as "Beat It." Yet none of the pervasive Michael Jackson media saturation ever became annoying. The music was just too good - too perfect in light of what had come before it. You could tell that the music was real in a way that future pop acts attempting to follow the Michael Jackson Off the Wall/Thriller template were not.

Also, Michael Jackson was a truly odd and interesting character at this time. Eccentric, but not creepy. The creepy stuff came later.

2009-06-25T20:32:00.002-05:00

For whatever reason, this is the image I first think of when I think of Michael Jackson.

2009-06-23T11:46:00.003-05:00

I'm in Magic City Saturday night, June 27 at Mangia. Come on down. It's free.

2009-06-19T12:59:00.003-05:00

My college friend Will Boast had his short story "Sidemen" featured in FiveChapters this week. FiveChapters is a neat site that publishes a full short story over the week days. (A full short story - that's kind of a strange phrase.)

2009-06-19T01:15:00.001-05:00

Now I see the trees are thinning
My eyes see the seashore there
Shimmering the sea is brimming
Simmers salty air

If I don't guess, then I won't know

Now I've seen a blue beginning (now I go)
And I've seen a blue "the end" (now I know)
Set the scene for seaward swimming (now I go)
Dim the stage again

If I don't guess, then I won't know

Dream, dream, dreaming of a sound (dream, dream, dream, dream)
Scream, scream, screaming underground (scream, scream, scream, scream)
It's green, green, green now I am sure (green, green, green, green)
The mean, mean, meaning is obscure... I know
Now I've seen a blue beginning (now I go)
And I've seen a blue "the end" (now I know)
Set the scene, man, seaward swimming (now I go)
Dim the stage again

If I don't guess, then I won't know - oh I'll never know
I'll never yes, I'll never no

Dream, dream, dreaming of a sound (dream, dream, dream, dream)
The scream, scream, screaming underground (scream, scream, scream, scream)
Is green, green, green now I am sure (green, green, green, green)
The mean, mean, meaning is obscure... I know
Now I go...
Now I know...

2009-06-17T19:52:00.001-05:00

The weatherman said "Here comes the Big Heat."

2009-06-17T00:27:00.000-05:00

I am no expert, but I agree with this.

2009-06-15T01:36:00.001-05:00

Humble Pie.

2009-06-08T15:58:00.003-05:00

Last night was either the second or third time I played in the RFT Music Showcase. It's kind of a pain in the neck. Most of the venues the fest uses on the Loop aren't really rock venues, both spacially and attitudinally. Each band gets only an hour, which is really like 45 minutes. They really keep everything on a tight schedule.

Still, it was pretty fun to play at the Delmar Lounge. We weren't able to have the usual projector set-up, so it was just the music on its own. I think that it held up on its own pretty well. I know we played with a bit more edginess and immediacy, which I guess is what one does when the music is the only thing.

I caught Theodore at Riddle's (another venue ill-suited for rock) and they put on their usual stellar performance. I'm pretty sure that they're my favorite band in St. Louis. Go see and hear them if you can.

2009-06-04T17:47:00.001-05:00

2009-06-03T11:56:00.000-05:00

2009-05-27T03:10:00.004-05:00

The Chief Justice is likely to have, as he has said, an "amigo" on his court.

2009-05-22T03:10:00.003-05:00

I put this on the ol' FB a whiles away ago, but if you did not see or hear it then this is it. Marissa Nadler.

2009-05-20T12:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I shopped at Jay's, played with these folks here, then went to a bitchin' party.

It's good to be home.

2009-05-06T13:33:00.004-05:00

I'm just a caveman, but I do know this - there's some good stuff on the internets lately.

calm starts off a South City band series, and starts it off right.

A bunch of very smart people write about a very smart book. Writers include the book's very smart author.

Corresponding Fractions is on heavy rotation.

seeyoulaser is exponentially more fun than studying.

InfoMash dog-paddles on the sea of information.

2009-05-04T19:46:00.001-05:00

2009-04-30T20:56:00.002-05:00

"Cram-down" went down to defeat in the Senate 51-45 today.

2009-04-29T05:29:00.001-05:00