Thursday, July 05, 2007

NEW ORLEANS: MUSIC IN EXILE on DVD





Good news. Robert Mugge's excellent documentary on Hurricane katrina's affect on New Orleans music will be availab;e on DVD on August 7.

Here is a review I wrote on it last year.

Here's Robert's Web site.

JOAN JETT ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

P7050135
This is definitely the best show I've ever seen for $1. Joan was rocking!

She basically played the same set I saw her do about three years ago in Austin -- all the favorites -- "Bad Reputation," "Crimson & Clover," "Do You Want to Touch Me," The Replacements' "Androngynous," Sly's "Everyday People," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," etc. And, just like the last time I saw her, she sang The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme. (Hey, it was written by Sonny Curtis, who also wrote "I Fought the Law.") She should do more TV themes. I suggest The Patty Duke Show ("Our Patty loves to rock 'n' roll/A hotdog makes her lose control ...")

We left the park as the fireworks were going. As we drove away Lee Greenwood's putrid "God Bless the USA was blaring. I hope Joan was out of there before she had to hear it. Maybe I'm a traitor, but somehow "I Love Rock 'n' Roll seems far more patriotic to me.

'MARTY


Before Joan hit the stage, Mayor Marty Chavez came out and played guitar with the band Redline 7,000. He did three songs -- "Wild Thing," The Kinks' "You really Got Me" and a medley of "Louie Louie," "Hang on Sloopy," and "The Game of Love." He didn't sing, just played guitar. (All these tunes have near identical chord patterns.)

I don't think Ms. Jett will be calling soon to ask Marty to join The Blackhearts. But it was pretty cool that the mayor was rocking.

See more of my photos of the Joan Jett show, plus Pancakes on the Plaza and other stray shots I took on the Fourth on my FLICKR site.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE RED, PURPLE & BLUE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 5, 2007


Ever so often in the national press, you run across a reference to New Mexico as a “red” state. Usually these days, it’s a mention of Gov. Bill Richardson as a “Democratic governor of a red state.”

It’s true New Mexico’s electoral votes went to George W. Bush in 2004. But his margin over John Kerry was less than 1 percentage point, not much bigger than Al Gore’s margin over Bush in 2000.

That would make us more of a “purple” state. Our congressional delegation is Republican by a 3-2 margin, but our state government basically is run by Democrats — for more than 70 years, the state GOP has always reminded us every time a prominent Democrat is indicted.

However Media Matters — a Washington D.C.-based “progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media” — says New Mexico actually is bluer than most people realize.
(For the record, the watchdogs at Media Matters were about the only ones to stand up for Richardson last January when the New York Post ran a headline saying, “N.M. Gov Throws Sombrero Into Ring.”)

The organization last month published a report called “The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth,” which uses polling data from the past 20 years to come to the conclusion that many political scientists have said for years — Americans like to say they are conservative, though on certain issues they’re actually liberal.

This week, Media Matters broke down the statistics from the 2004 National Annenberg Election Survey by state.

Among the findings for New Mexico:

* 69 percent said the federal government should spend more money on providing health insurance for people who don’t have it.

* 81 percent said the federal government should help pay for health insurance for all children.

* 55 percent said the federal government should try to reduce the income differences between rich and poor Americans.

* 64 percent opposed the federal government’s banning all abortions.

* 55 percent opposed “an amendment to the U.S. Constitution saying that no state can allow two men to marry each other or two women to marry each other.” (37 percent favored such an amendment.)

*52 percent said the federal government should do more to restrict the kind of guns people can buy.

The number of New Mexico residents interviewed varied greatly in each question, as did the margins of error, which ranged from 8 to 9 percent on the health care questions to 4.5 percent on the abortion question.

Questions: The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania is highly regarded and nonpartisan. Still, some of these numbers might deserve a second look.

The gun question is the one area that initially raised the most skepticism in me. I’m not a gun-owner myself and honestly don’t have strong feelings either way on the issue. But living in New Mexico for nearly 40 years, I always assumed most other people around here think of guns as ice cream and cake. There is a 6.2 percent margin of error on that particular question though, meaning, the number could be below 50 percent.

The gay-marriage numbers don’t quite jibe with a poll done for The New Mexican and KOB-TV in 2004 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. That statewide poll found a slight plurality of voters — 49 percent to 43 percent — favored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to recognize only the union between a man and a woman as a valid marriage. Mason-Dixon’s poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Annenberg margin of error was 4.6 percent, according to a Media Matters spokesman.

But the 2004 Mason-Dixon numbers on abortion might be even stronger than those of the Annenberg survey. In our poll, only 10 percent of New Mexicans favored banning abortions completely. But a plurality (46 percent) said they favored adding tighter restrictions on abortions while 43 percent said abortion should be legal, without any government interference.

Is that any way to talk to a colonel? Last week in this column, I mentioned that I wasn’t one of the 500-plus people made a Colonel Aide-de-Camp by Secretary of State Mary Herrera on the days she’s served as acting governor, but I had been given that honor in the past. Former Gov. David Cargo and former Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley each gave me the certificate.

I received this e-mail reply from a former Bradley staffer:

“Colonel,

“If you read the fine print on your Colonel Aide-de-camp it said something like you have to fatefully (sic) fulfill the duties of this office. Did you not realize that we made you a colonel so that if the Texans ever invaded us again that you’d be thrown out there to fight them off? We figured that members of the fourth estate were the most expendable.”

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

FLATLANDERS AT THIRSTY EAR

I'm extremely happy to hear that The Flatlanders will be performing at the Thirsty Ear Festival.

The past two times they've been in town, I missed them because I was out of state.

Here's the press release.

Southwest Roots Music presents the 8th annual
THIRSTY EAR FESTIVAL
August 31 - September 2, 2007, Eaves Movie Ranch, Santa Fe
Tickets at the Lensic Box Office 505-988-1234
or online at ThirstyEarFestival.com


THE FLATLANDERS featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely & Butch Hancock
BEAUSOLEIL avec Michael Doucet * THE BE GOOD TANYAS
ROSIE LEDET & THE ZYDECO PLAYBOYS * ELIZA GILKYSON
JOE LOUIS WALKER & THE BOSSTALKERS * RICHARD JOHNSTON
SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST * RYAN McGARVEY
JERRY FAIRES * HIGHER GROUND & many more folk, blues, Cajun, zydeco, roots rock, bluegrass & alt-country artists on multiple stages to be announced.
Plus interactive demonstrations by ROGER LANDES (Celtic Music) and MICHAEL DOUCET (Cajun Music), kids' activities, local crafts, healthy food, NM microbrews & wine, solar & sustainable energy exhibits.

MEANINGFUL POLITICAL DIALOGUE

An actual e-mail from a reader concerning the Joe Wilson sidebar (mysterious and racist "ebonics" reference left intact) :

From: xxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 12:32 PM
To: sterrell@sfnewmexican.com
Subject: 'LAME' PLAME and JOE'the putz'WILSON

The questions you should be axsking(ebonics spelling) is why did VALERIE PLAME or her 'real' maiden name state that "...she (PLAME)wanted to marry rich and no just be a secretary at C.I.A. anymore"??? Mrs. WILSON and her husband seemed to enjoy 'outing' themselves in WHO'S WHO - don't-ch-think??? Oh sorry you are part of the NATIONAL ASSHOLE MEDIA - you don't or can't think!!!

Zyskandar A. Jaimot, Orlando, Fl.


My reply:


Thanks for your thoughtful note.

Actually I'm not part of the National Asshole Media. Just the local asshole media.

Have a good holiday,

swt

Steve Terrell
Santa Fe New Mexican
1368 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe NM 87505


UPDATE!

I just got this clever retort:

From: xxx
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 1:58 PM
To: sterrell@sfnewmexican.com
Subject: RE: 'LAME' PLAME and JOE'the putz'WILSON


glad you admitted you are an ASSHOLE

have a great 4th hope a cracker gets up your ass!

JADOO YOU!

My brother Jack Clift just posted on YouTube four videos of his Uzbek band Jadoo playing live in Tashkent.

I've only seen the first one. Great music and lovely dancers!


You can find all of Jadoo's videos HERE

Monday, July 02, 2007

JOE WILSON ON THE LIBBY COMMUTATION

This probably will be on The New Mexican's site by the morning, but just in case ...

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 3, 2007


Commuting the prison sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby raises questions of whether President Bush is now an active participant in obstructing justice, former Ambassador Joe Wilson told The New Mexican on Monday.

“I’m outraged,” Wilson — whose wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA agent by Bush administration figures — said in a telephone interview. “The question for President Bush is if, in commuting this sentence, are you not an accessory or participant in the obstruction of justice in ensuring that Libby will never be forced to tell the truth?”

President Bush on Monday commuted the 2 1/2-year prison sentence of Libby, former chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the Plame case.

Wilson, Plame and their children moved to Santa Fe this year.

Wilson said the action on behalf of Libby means “the president can no longer hide behind an ongoing investigation. He could instruct the special prosecutor to release (Bush’s) interview with the special prosecutor and the vice president’s interview, so we can learn what is the cloud hanging over Vice President Cheney.”

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has spoken of a “cloud” hanging over Cheney in the Plame scandal.

“Congress ought to conduct an investigation of whether or not the president is himself a participant in the obstruction of justice,” Wilson said.

Although outraged, Wilson said he wasn’t surprised by Bush commuting Libby’s sentence. “I’ve seen enough of this administration to realize they are capable of this,” he said.

Wilson and Plame last year sued Cheney, Libby, White House political director Karl Rove and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Armitage has admitted leaking Plame’s name to conservative columnist Robert Novak, who published it after confirming it with Rove. The civil suit is still pending in federal court.

In February 2002, the CIA sent Wilson to Niger to investigate a claim that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy enriched “yellowcake” uranium. He concluded the story was false. The next year, he wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times accusing the Bush administration of exaggerating the threat of Iraq to justify going to war.

Soon after, White House officials informed some journalists, including Novak, that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA.

Several Democratic presidential candidates, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, decried Libby’s commutation.

“The arrogance of this administration’s disdain for the law and its belief it operates with impunity are breathtaking,” Richardson said in a news release. “Will the President also commute the sentences of others who obstructed justice and lied to grand juries, or only those who act to protect President Bush and Vice President Cheney?”

PETTERSEN ON YOUTUBE

Ed Pettersen has just posted some videos of his songs on YouTube. More people should know about this guy.

The first song, "Baghdad," is on Ed's recent album The New Punk Blues.




TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, July 1, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell


email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
I Wanna Live by Iggy Pop
Bone Broke by The White Stripes
Psycho Daiseys by The Hentchmen
Sealings by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Sick of Sex by Daisy Chainsaw
I Just Might Crack by April March
Veronica Fever by The Raveonettes
The City Never Sleeps by The Fall
Rub Every Muscle by Half Japanese
Marie Douceur Marie Colere by Marie Laforet

Buried Alive by The Black Lips
Don't Tease Me by ? & The Mysterians
Coney Island Steeplechase by The Velvet Underground
Voodoo Idol by The Cramps
Oh That's Good, No, That's Bad by Sam the Sham & Pharoahs
Deputy Dawg by Great Gaylord & The Friggs
Murder in My Heart for the Judge by Moby Grape
Heart by The Remains
Animal Girl by The Standells
It's a Hard Life by The Seeds

I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body) by Parliament
Joe Tex by Buddy Miles
Chicken Heads by Bobby Rush
Soul Town by The Motherhood
Black Snake Moan by Samuel L. Jackson
Joy in Repetition by Prince
Slinky by The Dynomites featuring Charles Walker

Ghost Surfer by The Surf Lords
Goldfinger by Webb Wilder
Um Expectro Sem Escala Man or Astroman
Insense & Peppermints by The Strawberry Alarm Clock
You Wear Your Dresses Too Short by The Jefferson Airplane
Trying to Get to You by Elvis Presley
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Sunday, July 01, 2007

NEW CATEGORY HERE: YOUTUBE MUSIC

I've decided to add a new category to this blog, "YouTube Music" so you, gentle reader, will have an easy time finding my posts concerning Conway Twitty & The Residents, "The Night That Porter Wagoner Came to Town," some of my suggestions for Bill Richardson campaign themes, Dino & Ricky, etc.

Anytime you want to see my YouTube music collection, just click on the link under "Categories" in the column always found on the right of my blog page.

To celebrate this great moment, here's a few of my favorites I haven't posted before now:

Love them Collins Kids!



Here's Frank Zappa speaking truth to power to Congress in the '80s. This is just the first of four segments. Find the others HERE



More important sociological discourse:

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

  Sunday, March 24, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM  Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell E...