I love Seattle.
— Luca (@lucagalletti.bsky.social) July 2, 2026 at 7:52 PM
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Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2026
And this is why President Snowflake isn't going to the game Monday
Friday, May 24, 2024
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXC--Pete Droge: Going Whichever Way the Wind Blows
It's Friday, I'm...on time?
My introduction to this week's tune came from a commercial for Toyota's Sequoia, which probably drops my coolness quotient another notch or two. Ah, well--old enough now that it doesn't much matter....
I wrote about Pete Droge in Vol. CDXVIII, and as there's nothing new in his career, I'll leave his bio at that write-up. I would like to note, though, that I am somewhat surprised to be featuring a second song by an artist whose career could be called middling at best, though a middling career as a musician beats most other professions by quite a bit. I'd also like to pass along that because of that bio I took a chance and gave a listen to his debut album (that'd been sitting in my CD collection gathering dust since whenever I grabbed the promo copy that was sent my way in my Camelot Music days), Necktie Second, and thoroughly enjoyed it, listening to it for a good couple of months. Half-assed research pays off!
Fun Fact: One thing I did learn this time in my half-assed research was that Droge's career got a huge boost from his friendship with Mike McCready, the lead guitarist for a little band you might have heard of: Pearl Jam. Friends in high places and all that....
"Going Whichever Way the Wind Blows" appeared on Droge's fifth solo album, the rather swimmingly entitled Under the Waves. Near as I can tell from the rather sparse references I found, the song was not released as a single and the album, which was released on Droge's own label, did not chart. And if you read the album review under the AllMusic reference above, you'd probably not listen to Droge at all....
While Droge is often compared to either Tom Petty or Neil Young (kind of hear Petty, you got me on Young), I thought this week's tune had more of a Simon and Garfunkel vibe to it. It's definitely a whimsical tune, the major theme being to not let life get in the way and just enjoy the ride (plenty of imagery related to driving a car, too). Truth be told, I'm pretty much at that point in my life so the song may have a bit more significance (if any song can have significance to the real world) to me than others. Droge's vocals capture the carefree simplicity of the lyrics, both of which are buffered by some fine acoustic guitar (can't ever get enough of acoustic guitars). "Going Whichever Way the Wind Blows" is a short and sweet folk tune, performed by a troubadour, signifying that contentment is yours for the taking....
Lyric Sheet: "Going whichever way the wind blows/Staring through the windshield/Seeing the other side/Let it go, it will get easier/Let it go, just enjoy the ride..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
Friday, January 6, 2023
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXVIII--Pete Droge: Beautiful Girl
Oftentimes a song that's in a movie takes on a new meaning after having seen said film, but this week's tune had already endeared itself into my heart long before I ever saw the movie from whence it came (actually a quite enjoyable flick as well, Beautiful Girls). This week's featured song is another in a long list of songs/albums that I discovered during my eighteen years with Camelot Music, which ultimately proved a lot more musically fruitful than financially....
Mercifully, after several of the featured artists of the past few weeks literally had novel length bios, the Wikipedia entry for Pete Droge was quite short...and hopefully my artist info paragraph will be as well. Droge was born in Seattle in 1969 and his solo career began in 1994 with the release of his debut album, Necktie Second (with the minor hit "If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)"). Droge would add his backing band, The Sinners, on his second effort. In 2003 he was a part of the supergroup (who were so super that I'd never heard of them until I read about it this past week) The Thorns with Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins. Droge has had some good fortune with movie soundtracks, having songs featured in Dumb and Dumber and Zombieland (as well as the aforementioned film of our weekly tune). He also had a cameo in one of my all-time favorite movies, Almost Famous. For his career, Droge has released seven studio albums, with the last coming in 2014.
Fun Fact: Not that anyone other than me and my longtime partner care, but I've been calling the love of my life "Beautiful Girl" for as long as I can remember, and not only did her nickname come from this week's featured tune, but she actually is quite a beautiful girl....
"Beautiful Girl" was not released as a single (though it should have been, God damnit), and surprise of surprises was featured on the soundtrack Beautiful Girls. Despite my best efforts (Google search), I was not able to discern if the soundtrack ever charted.
Written with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame, "Beautiful Girl" starts with some ominous imagery, but eventually becomes a different kind of love song--one that speaks to the contentment of being where you want to be with the person you want to be with. Droge delivers spot on vocals (with a hint of early Dylan's short and sweet staccato vocalizing) that capture not only the uniqueness of a burgeoning love but also its uncertainty. The chorus is a sweet piece of pop pie, and the guitar (especially the solo at the close of the song) captures all the yearning and heavenly serenity of holding your baby in your arms. All in all, it's a reminder that while not all love songs are created equal, they still can make the world go round....
Lyric Sheet (Dedicated to the one I love...): "Stained glass casts a flickering light/With the curtains closed I can't tell if it's night/But I know for sure that this sure feels right/With you here between my arms..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Losers
Peace,
emaycee
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXXIX--Nirvana: Lithium
In hindsight, it's quite possible that what we saw in the 90's with the alternative revolution was the end of rock and roll as we know it. And while there will always be any number of bands and performers who continue the tradition, it's hard to imagine rock and roll ever again being the be all end all of popular music (for better or worse...). One thing is for certain, though--if Nirvana was the last of a breed, rock and roll went out with a bang and not a whimper.
It would be hard to underestimate just how influential Nirvana was in its rather short lifetime. They literally were the linchpin of a musical revolution--I worked selling music when their second album exploded and our alternative music section went from maybe six to eight rows of CDs to well over a hundred over the next couple of years. Though they were only together from 1987 to 1994 and only released three studio albums over the course of their short-lived career, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their initial year of eligibility (2014). Even more amazing (to me, anyway) is despite their small studio output, they've sold over 75 million records worldwide. Since their demise, bassist Krist Novoselic has gone on to become quite the political activist, and drummer Dave Grohl went on to quite a bit of success as the front man for the Foo Fighters. The elephant in the room of all of this, of course, is the death of Nirvana's leader, the man who didn't want to rule the world, Kurt Cobain, by his own hand with a shotgun blast to the head. It's easy to wonder what might have been, but in the end it's a lot harder to accept what was and that there are no guarantees that whatever output the band may have had had Cobain conquered his many demons, wouldn't have tarnished their legacy.
Released as the third single from Nevermind, their generation altering 1991 album, "Lithium" would reach #64 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. While the song did not have quite the commercial success of their biggest hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," here in the U.S.A., it did hit number one in Finland--who knew there were so many cool kids in Finland?
The easy choice would obviously be "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but oddly enough it was "Lithium" that turned me into a Nirvana fan. My kid brother and I were on vacation in L.A. the weekend Cobain died and you couldn't turn on a music station without hearing all Nirvana, all day and all night, and my brother was convinced that Cobain had written the line, "I'm so horny, that's okay, my will is good" for the both of us because we were both single at the time and not having a whole heck of a lot of luck with women. While my brother was most assuredly wrong, it did get me to listening to the song and despite having questioned whether their work was for people much younger than I (I was all of thirty-five) became a big Nirvana fan. "Lithium" (supposedly the song is about a man who turns to religion after his girlfriend has died to keep himself from committing suicide) is really your prototypical Nirvana song, alternating between the soft and the hard, with excellent vocals from Cobain, and featuring perhaps more than most of their songs the talents of Novoselic (his bass playing is pretty much the backbone of the soft parts) and Grohl (his drumming is the driving force of the hard parts). Taken as a whole, I wouldn't be afraid to say it is perhaps Nirvana's best song, though I'm sure plenty of others would disagree. In the end, it's an existence questioning song from an existence questioning album, and as far as I know, the only song in history whose chorus is the word "Yeah" sung over and over (to excellent effect, I might add).
Lyric Sheet: "Light my candles, in a daze, 'cause I've found God..."
Enjoy:
It would be hard to underestimate just how influential Nirvana was in its rather short lifetime. They literally were the linchpin of a musical revolution--I worked selling music when their second album exploded and our alternative music section went from maybe six to eight rows of CDs to well over a hundred over the next couple of years. Though they were only together from 1987 to 1994 and only released three studio albums over the course of their short-lived career, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their initial year of eligibility (2014). Even more amazing (to me, anyway) is despite their small studio output, they've sold over 75 million records worldwide. Since their demise, bassist Krist Novoselic has gone on to become quite the political activist, and drummer Dave Grohl went on to quite a bit of success as the front man for the Foo Fighters. The elephant in the room of all of this, of course, is the death of Nirvana's leader, the man who didn't want to rule the world, Kurt Cobain, by his own hand with a shotgun blast to the head. It's easy to wonder what might have been, but in the end it's a lot harder to accept what was and that there are no guarantees that whatever output the band may have had had Cobain conquered his many demons, wouldn't have tarnished their legacy.
Released as the third single from Nevermind, their generation altering 1991 album, "Lithium" would reach #64 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. While the song did not have quite the commercial success of their biggest hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," here in the U.S.A., it did hit number one in Finland--who knew there were so many cool kids in Finland?
The easy choice would obviously be "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but oddly enough it was "Lithium" that turned me into a Nirvana fan. My kid brother and I were on vacation in L.A. the weekend Cobain died and you couldn't turn on a music station without hearing all Nirvana, all day and all night, and my brother was convinced that Cobain had written the line, "I'm so horny, that's okay, my will is good" for the both of us because we were both single at the time and not having a whole heck of a lot of luck with women. While my brother was most assuredly wrong, it did get me to listening to the song and despite having questioned whether their work was for people much younger than I (I was all of thirty-five) became a big Nirvana fan. "Lithium" (supposedly the song is about a man who turns to religion after his girlfriend has died to keep himself from committing suicide) is really your prototypical Nirvana song, alternating between the soft and the hard, with excellent vocals from Cobain, and featuring perhaps more than most of their songs the talents of Novoselic (his bass playing is pretty much the backbone of the soft parts) and Grohl (his drumming is the driving force of the hard parts). Taken as a whole, I wouldn't be afraid to say it is perhaps Nirvana's best song, though I'm sure plenty of others would disagree. In the end, it's an existence questioning song from an existence questioning album, and as far as I know, the only song in history whose chorus is the word "Yeah" sung over and over (to excellent effect, I might add).
Lyric Sheet: "Light my candles, in a daze, 'cause I've found God..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
Friday, August 10, 2018
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXXVIII--Pearl Jam: Black
Repeat after me...if there is any one subject upon which pop music can pontificate with the poets, it's that of a broken heart. And this week we are featuring, beyond a doubt, bar none, and bet your bottom dollar the best song ever written on being the lover left out in the cold.
After an historic start (their debut album sold 13 million copies, and its follow-up, Vs., set a then record for most copies sold in its initial week), Pearl Jam has quietly continued to make music for the better part of 28 years, and continued the tradition of bands such as the Rolling Stones and The Who, on to REM and U2, who have had long careers and continuously gave their fans the best that music has to offer. There's a lot more to Pearl Jam's history than can be covered in a brief recap such as this, but four of the five original members are still with the band, with the fifth having been with the Pearl Jam for twenty years. Through that time they've released ten albums, won a couple of Grammy Awards, lost an epic battle with Ticketmaster over the pricing of their tickets, toured worldwide and been featured in just about every music festival at some point, and were eventually elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility in 2017. Pearl Jam has been something of an oddity, as the band as a whole has never been comfortable with its fame, and in fact, since its debut album, doesn't do much television, gives few interviews, and has completely refused, even when music videos were still an interesting vehicle, to do any more music videos. And while the band may not have had quite the success they had in its early years, it has nonetheless thrived. Kudos also to Pearl Jam for being strong supporters of a woman's right to choose (all five members are male, too), supporting numerous liberal causes, and helping the greatest President of my lifetime, Barack Obama, in both of his Presidential campaigns.
Released in 1991 on Ten, Pearl Jam's hella debut album, "Black" was never promoted as a single because the band refused to let the label release it as such, feeling the song was too personal in nature and that overplaying it would destroy the song's heart and soul. The song has, though, gone on to become a fan favorite, and in 2011 was voted the ninth best ballad of all time by the readers of Rolling Stone (for whatever that award is worth...).
Written by Eddie Vedder with music by guitarist Stone Gossard, "Black," Vedder has said, is a song about first relationships. Be that as it may, Vedder has written a song about a failed relationship that is succinct without being maudlin, using imagery such as clouds, broken glass, and children playing. Vedder's vocals convey anger and hurt and sorrow with each breath, while the band keeps the music low key, but rises when Vedder's anger or hurt or sorrow rises, and follows his emotions concordantly throughout. One of the things I noticed when listening to it this week in prep for this piece (other than how much I still really fucking love the song) is that there are very few rock and roll singers who can do as much with grunts such as ooh, ah, and uh as Eddie Vedder--it almost amazed me what can be done with a single syllable to capture a person's emotions. The song closes with some doot doot doos (the lyrics say they're too doo doos, but it doesn't sound like that to me) somewhat reminiscent of the Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" which only adds to the spinning and swirling in one's head and one's gut at the time one realizes that a love is lost forever. In the end, "Black" is a song not only about the bleakness today of a relationship's end, but also how it can also darken one's future in that life may well go on, but one's perception of it will never be the same.
Lyric Sheet: "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life/I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky/But why, why, why can't it be, can't it be mine?"
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
After an historic start (their debut album sold 13 million copies, and its follow-up, Vs., set a then record for most copies sold in its initial week), Pearl Jam has quietly continued to make music for the better part of 28 years, and continued the tradition of bands such as the Rolling Stones and The Who, on to REM and U2, who have had long careers and continuously gave their fans the best that music has to offer. There's a lot more to Pearl Jam's history than can be covered in a brief recap such as this, but four of the five original members are still with the band, with the fifth having been with the Pearl Jam for twenty years. Through that time they've released ten albums, won a couple of Grammy Awards, lost an epic battle with Ticketmaster over the pricing of their tickets, toured worldwide and been featured in just about every music festival at some point, and were eventually elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility in 2017. Pearl Jam has been something of an oddity, as the band as a whole has never been comfortable with its fame, and in fact, since its debut album, doesn't do much television, gives few interviews, and has completely refused, even when music videos were still an interesting vehicle, to do any more music videos. And while the band may not have had quite the success they had in its early years, it has nonetheless thrived. Kudos also to Pearl Jam for being strong supporters of a woman's right to choose (all five members are male, too), supporting numerous liberal causes, and helping the greatest President of my lifetime, Barack Obama, in both of his Presidential campaigns.
Released in 1991 on Ten, Pearl Jam's hella debut album, "Black" was never promoted as a single because the band refused to let the label release it as such, feeling the song was too personal in nature and that overplaying it would destroy the song's heart and soul. The song has, though, gone on to become a fan favorite, and in 2011 was voted the ninth best ballad of all time by the readers of Rolling Stone (for whatever that award is worth...).
Written by Eddie Vedder with music by guitarist Stone Gossard, "Black," Vedder has said, is a song about first relationships. Be that as it may, Vedder has written a song about a failed relationship that is succinct without being maudlin, using imagery such as clouds, broken glass, and children playing. Vedder's vocals convey anger and hurt and sorrow with each breath, while the band keeps the music low key, but rises when Vedder's anger or hurt or sorrow rises, and follows his emotions concordantly throughout. One of the things I noticed when listening to it this week in prep for this piece (other than how much I still really fucking love the song) is that there are very few rock and roll singers who can do as much with grunts such as ooh, ah, and uh as Eddie Vedder--it almost amazed me what can be done with a single syllable to capture a person's emotions. The song closes with some doot doot doos (the lyrics say they're too doo doos, but it doesn't sound like that to me) somewhat reminiscent of the Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" which only adds to the spinning and swirling in one's head and one's gut at the time one realizes that a love is lost forever. In the end, "Black" is a song not only about the bleakness today of a relationship's end, but also how it can also darken one's future in that life may well go on, but one's perception of it will never be the same.
Lyric Sheet: "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life/I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky/But why, why, why can't it be, can't it be mine?"
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXV--Paul Westerberg: Dyslexic Heart
The only thing I remember about Singles, the movie from which this week's tune was introduced, is that at some point in the movie one of the main characters says "God bless you" to a woman he's pursuing after she sneezes and she falls in love with him straight thereafter. Thanks to that scene, I spent years saying "God bless you" to any pretty woman within fifty feet of me...and nary a one of them ever fell head over heels for me....
Anyhoo...
Paul Westerberg is another in a long line of FNJ heroes whom the whole world should know about but very few folks actually do. Westerberg started his career as the lead singer/songwriter for alternative rock pioneers (and emaycee fave) and Minnesota natives The Replacements (more on them later this year), who despite drawing much acclaim from critics and a devoted if small following, never had much in the way of commercial success. After 12 years and 7 albums the band members went their separate ways; Westerberg became a solo artist and other than the (small) bit of fame he received for this week's tune, pretty much continued riding the lack of commercial success train with the six LPs he released. Still, he's been making music, recording and touring since 1979 and my guess is there's many a garage band in this world who'd trade places with Westerberg in a heartbeat.
Released in 1992 on, appropriately enough, the Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, "Dyslexic Heart" showcases Westerberg's two best attributes: Writing catchy as all hell pop songs that don't sound like pop songs, and singing catchy as all hell pop songs without sounding like a catchy as all hell pop singer. And unlike many alternative bands, Westerberg has never been overly introspective: "Dyslexic Heart," like many of his tunes, wears its heart on its sleeve as Westerberg weaves his tale of a man trying to read not only his desired woman's intentions, but his own heart's intentions as well. There's plenty to like from the lightly strummed acoustic guitar beginning to the driving electric guitar to the rat-a-tat drumming to the liberally spread around "na na nas" (which are always great for singing along) and finally to the start/stop cadence that Westerberg utilizes to great effect. In the end, you have a pop gem from a movie that will live on long after the film has been forgotten (well, at least to music dorks like me...).
Liner notes: "Do I date you? Do I hate you?/Do I got a dyslexic heart?"
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
Anyhoo...
Paul Westerberg is another in a long line of FNJ heroes whom the whole world should know about but very few folks actually do. Westerberg started his career as the lead singer/songwriter for alternative rock pioneers (and emaycee fave) and Minnesota natives The Replacements (more on them later this year), who despite drawing much acclaim from critics and a devoted if small following, never had much in the way of commercial success. After 12 years and 7 albums the band members went their separate ways; Westerberg became a solo artist and other than the (small) bit of fame he received for this week's tune, pretty much continued riding the lack of commercial success train with the six LPs he released. Still, he's been making music, recording and touring since 1979 and my guess is there's many a garage band in this world who'd trade places with Westerberg in a heartbeat.
Released in 1992 on, appropriately enough, the Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, "Dyslexic Heart" showcases Westerberg's two best attributes: Writing catchy as all hell pop songs that don't sound like pop songs, and singing catchy as all hell pop songs without sounding like a catchy as all hell pop singer. And unlike many alternative bands, Westerberg has never been overly introspective: "Dyslexic Heart," like many of his tunes, wears its heart on its sleeve as Westerberg weaves his tale of a man trying to read not only his desired woman's intentions, but his own heart's intentions as well. There's plenty to like from the lightly strummed acoustic guitar beginning to the driving electric guitar to the rat-a-tat drumming to the liberally spread around "na na nas" (which are always great for singing along) and finally to the start/stop cadence that Westerberg utilizes to great effect. In the end, you have a pop gem from a movie that will live on long after the film has been forgotten (well, at least to music dorks like me...).
Liner notes: "Do I date you? Do I hate you?/Do I got a dyslexic heart?"
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
And another one...
The Supreme Court last week told Corporate America to go fuck itself--they won't hear the fast food industry's lawsuit against the city of Seattle and it's $15 minimum wage.
In a nutshell, the people voted and the people won.
Republican ideas and policies cannot win at the ballot box--so they've resorted to litigation with stacked courts to screw the American people.
And imagine how much worse it will get for us if Donald Trump gets to appoint the next two or three Justices to the Supreme Court.
We'll be like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.
Peace,
emaycee
In a nutshell, the people voted and the people won.
Republican ideas and policies cannot win at the ballot box--so they've resorted to litigation with stacked courts to screw the American people.
And imagine how much worse it will get for us if Donald Trump gets to appoint the next two or three Justices to the Supreme Court.
We'll be like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.
Peace,
emaycee
Friday, February 12, 2016
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LIX--The Long Winters: Stupid
It never ceases to amaze me how fluky it sometimes is when we discover great music. Channel surfing one night and you come across someone doing a gig on a talk show and she's singing a song that you're still listening to thirty years later (Rickie Lee Jones, "Chuck E.'s in Love"). Standing in line at a fast food restaurant and something comes on overhead and you're rushing home to google a couple of the words so you can find it on Youtube so you can hear it again to see if it really was that good (King Harvest, "Dancing in the Moonlight"). A music review read while you're sitting in the dentist's office (The Darkness, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love") or a free sample CD stuffed in a music magazine (Okkervil River, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe").
When my daughter was in college, she would on occasion send me mix CDs containing songs that she had been enjoying. One such song is this week's featured tune, "Stupid" by The Long Winters--and I can guarantee you that had she never sent it, I never would have heard it.
A small miracle? Perhaps...
The Long Winters are a fine Seattle band (the only constant is one John Roderick) which began in 2001 and have recorded three albums and an EP, though none since 2006. Since 2008 their website has been promising a new record soon, but it has yet to come to fruition. There are no Hall of Fame inductions, no Grammy nominations or awards, and no Billboard Hot 100 appearances in their history, though they are generally well reviewed. Mr. Roderick's other claim to fame is that he ran for the Seattle City Council in 2015 (unsuccessfully, unfortunately). And what are the odds I ever hear a song from a band such as this if my daughter doesn't send it my way?
And what a shame it would have been to have missed "Stupid." Released on their When I Pretend to Fall LP, "Stupid" is the tale of a young man chasing his dream girl, despite being told by a friend that his pursuit is stupid, and his telling said acquaintance that no, what would really be stupid is to find out years from now that she'd had a thing for him, too, and that he'd given up before finding out. Which in the wrong hands could turn into a maudlin piece of garbage, but here turns into a pop music marvel. Roderick's vocals are filled with the right amount of angst (and not desperation) to make us believe that his feelings for her and his fear of missing his chance at her are genuine. Even better, at song's end we're left hanging just like him--we don't know if he won her heart or not. "Stupid" is simply arranged, with some really nice jangly guitar work and a driving drumbeat, and even features a nice short instrumental break. All in all, it's a wondrous and honest pop music peek into the heart.
Truer words, once again: "She has no idea/She could make me do anything...."
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
When my daughter was in college, she would on occasion send me mix CDs containing songs that she had been enjoying. One such song is this week's featured tune, "Stupid" by The Long Winters--and I can guarantee you that had she never sent it, I never would have heard it.
A small miracle? Perhaps...
The Long Winters are a fine Seattle band (the only constant is one John Roderick) which began in 2001 and have recorded three albums and an EP, though none since 2006. Since 2008 their website has been promising a new record soon, but it has yet to come to fruition. There are no Hall of Fame inductions, no Grammy nominations or awards, and no Billboard Hot 100 appearances in their history, though they are generally well reviewed. Mr. Roderick's other claim to fame is that he ran for the Seattle City Council in 2015 (unsuccessfully, unfortunately). And what are the odds I ever hear a song from a band such as this if my daughter doesn't send it my way?
And what a shame it would have been to have missed "Stupid." Released on their When I Pretend to Fall LP, "Stupid" is the tale of a young man chasing his dream girl, despite being told by a friend that his pursuit is stupid, and his telling said acquaintance that no, what would really be stupid is to find out years from now that she'd had a thing for him, too, and that he'd given up before finding out. Which in the wrong hands could turn into a maudlin piece of garbage, but here turns into a pop music marvel. Roderick's vocals are filled with the right amount of angst (and not desperation) to make us believe that his feelings for her and his fear of missing his chance at her are genuine. Even better, at song's end we're left hanging just like him--we don't know if he won her heart or not. "Stupid" is simply arranged, with some really nice jangly guitar work and a driving drumbeat, and even features a nice short instrumental break. All in all, it's a wondrous and honest pop music peek into the heart.
Truer words, once again: "She has no idea/She could make me do anything...."
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Those San Francisco Values
So the folks in Seattle decide to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and what do those pesky people in San Francisco do? Put a question on this November's ballot asking their citizens if they'd like to raise their minimum wage to $15, too.
Yessireee, bub, those San Francisco Values really suck. Imagine the nerve--paying workers an actual living wage.
Too bad a whole hell of a lot more of us aren't governed by such values.
Peace,
emaycee
Yessireee, bub, those San Francisco Values really suck. Imagine the nerve--paying workers an actual living wage.
Too bad a whole hell of a lot more of us aren't governed by such values.
Peace,
emaycee
Monday, June 2, 2014
Serve the servants
Not really sure why this hasn't been featured more on Liberal blogs today, but the Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance today that will raise the city's minimum wage over the next few years to $15 an hour.
A similar proposal has been put forward in Chicago, and is also being considered in San Francisco.
It's hard to overstate the significance of Seattle's ordinance--it can literally raise thousands of Americans out of poverty and begin to lessen the disparity between rich and poor that has widened so much since the Reagan Devolution. And millions will be lifted if it goes national.
Here's hoping that eventually out of one, we get many.
Peace,
emaycee
A similar proposal has been put forward in Chicago, and is also being considered in San Francisco.
It's hard to overstate the significance of Seattle's ordinance--it can literally raise thousands of Americans out of poverty and begin to lessen the disparity between rich and poor that has widened so much since the Reagan Devolution. And millions will be lifted if it goes national.
Here's hoping that eventually out of one, we get many.
Peace,
emaycee
Friday, May 2, 2014
Going local
Bad news: In a move that surprised absolutely no one in the entire United States of America, republicans in the Senate blocked a vote on increasing the minimum wage to the mind-blowing sum of $10.10 an hour ($21,000 a year for a full-time job).
Good news: The state of Hawaii this week joined Connecticut and Maryland in raising its minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, including both tipped and non-tipped workers.
Bad news: 44% of the jobs created over the past 49 consecutive months of job growth have been in low-wage industries (26% in mid-wage industries and 30% in high-wage). There are 1.85 million more jobs in low-wage industries since the start of the Great Recession, and 1.9 million less jobs in mid-wage and high-wage industries.
Good news: The city of Seattle this week announced a proposal to raise the minimum wage for its citizens to $15 an hour. Crikey--there'd be no low-wage industries in a major U.S. city. Folks there could actually have a decent standard of living.
Former Speaker of the House and Liberal champion Tip O'Neill was fond of saying that "all politics is local" and if the above good news/bad news tidbits show anything it's that if we want to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 the best way to do it (short of 60 Democratic U.S. Senators and a Democratic House majority) is state by state, and city by city. Likewise for a living wage.
At least in many states and cities the general idea of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people stands a chance.
Peace,
emaycee
Good news: The state of Hawaii this week joined Connecticut and Maryland in raising its minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, including both tipped and non-tipped workers.
Bad news: 44% of the jobs created over the past 49 consecutive months of job growth have been in low-wage industries (26% in mid-wage industries and 30% in high-wage). There are 1.85 million more jobs in low-wage industries since the start of the Great Recession, and 1.9 million less jobs in mid-wage and high-wage industries.
Good news: The city of Seattle this week announced a proposal to raise the minimum wage for its citizens to $15 an hour. Crikey--there'd be no low-wage industries in a major U.S. city. Folks there could actually have a decent standard of living.
Former Speaker of the House and Liberal champion Tip O'Neill was fond of saying that "all politics is local" and if the above good news/bad news tidbits show anything it's that if we want to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 the best way to do it (short of 60 Democratic U.S. Senators and a Democratic House majority) is state by state, and city by city. Likewise for a living wage.
At least in many states and cities the general idea of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people stands a chance.
Peace,
emaycee
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