Ted Cruz, while visiting Wisconsin last week, said that we need to enact right to work (for less) legislation, like Scott Walker did in the Badger State, for the entire nation.
While throwing out this sop to Corporate American, Cruz neglected to mention that also as of last week, the state of Wisconsin ranks 49th in the United States for its economic outlook. That means one state, one fucking state, has a poorer economic outlook than Wisconsin.
What on God's green earth made Cruz think that a horrendous economic outlook is anything any creature with a functioning brain, much less working class Americans, would aspire to?
And once again, courtesy of republicans, we have proof that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Peace,
emaycee
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXVI--Dodworth Saxhorn Band: Gee, It's a Wonderful Game
I'm not going to lie to you--if I were stranded on a deserted island, "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" is not one of the top five thousand songs I'd be pining to hear again--but it's subject, baseball, is something that I would miss dearly.
Yes, our long winter wait is over, as baseball season begins Monday (yeah, yeah, I know there's a game on Sunday but the Giants start Monday and that's when my season begins), and thus my two sons, my daughter, my brother, my nephew and myself can begin our yearly fascination with the great game of baseball.
I first discovered "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" on Ken Burns' documentary Baseball and the song captures wonderfully (so to speak) the joy of being a baseball fan. Written by Michigan native and all-time great American sportswriter and short story writer Ring Lardner in 1911 (a new Jukebox record for oldest song featured), it's a paean to the early days of the sport at a time when baseball was the only national pastime. Lardner (memorably portrayed by John Sayles in the film Eight Men Out) deftly weaves historical figures and early great baseball players with shared names (Christopher Columbus and Giants' great Christy Mathewson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie) into a narrative where he freely admits that much like Sam Cooke he doesn't know much about history--but he knows a lot about baseball. Lardner also ties in Frank Chance of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" fame as well as definitely the meanest as well as perhaps the best player of all time, one Tyus Cobb. It's a tour de force of baseball and fandom if ever there was one--and I'd be willing to bet this is the only one that ever was.
Performed by Ann Arbor (it's a great day on Jukebox for Michiganders) brass ensemble The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" features just the kind of instrumentation you'd expect for a tune from 1911--tubas, trumpets, saxophones, and a surprising dearth of electric guitars. Oh, well, you can't have everything.
Lyric Sheet: "Baseball, baseball/Ain't it a dandy old game?"
It sure is.
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
Yes, our long winter wait is over, as baseball season begins Monday (yeah, yeah, I know there's a game on Sunday but the Giants start Monday and that's when my season begins), and thus my two sons, my daughter, my brother, my nephew and myself can begin our yearly fascination with the great game of baseball.
I first discovered "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" on Ken Burns' documentary Baseball and the song captures wonderfully (so to speak) the joy of being a baseball fan. Written by Michigan native and all-time great American sportswriter and short story writer Ring Lardner in 1911 (a new Jukebox record for oldest song featured), it's a paean to the early days of the sport at a time when baseball was the only national pastime. Lardner (memorably portrayed by John Sayles in the film Eight Men Out) deftly weaves historical figures and early great baseball players with shared names (Christopher Columbus and Giants' great Christy Mathewson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie) into a narrative where he freely admits that much like Sam Cooke he doesn't know much about history--but he knows a lot about baseball. Lardner also ties in Frank Chance of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" fame as well as definitely the meanest as well as perhaps the best player of all time, one Tyus Cobb. It's a tour de force of baseball and fandom if ever there was one--and I'd be willing to bet this is the only one that ever was.
Performed by Ann Arbor (it's a great day on Jukebox for Michiganders) brass ensemble The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" features just the kind of instrumentation you'd expect for a tune from 1911--tubas, trumpets, saxophones, and a surprising dearth of electric guitars. Oh, well, you can't have everything.
Lyric Sheet: "Baseball, baseball/Ain't it a dandy old game?"
It sure is.
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Creatures from the white lagoon
Ever wonder how average Donald Trump voters are created? I have the answer!
I don't watch much local news--actually I don't watch any local news, but this morning while I was getting dressed for work the Beautiful Girl had our local Fox News affiliate on so she could get the weather report for today. The first three stories I saw--one, two, three!--were about a) a local African-American man accused of corruption, b) a local African-American man accused of sexual deviance, and c) a local Muslim man suspected of being a terrorist. All stories delivered by lily white reporters in that shocked yet condescending way that Fox News does so well.
Never mind that our very white Governor, Rick Snyder, has presided over the poisoning of thousands of our children in Flint. Never mind that our very white republican dominated Michigan legislature is slowly chipping away at Democracy in the Wolverine State. The main problems we have here are all because of what brown people do!
It's like raw meat for lions.
Peace,
emaycee
I don't watch much local news--actually I don't watch any local news, but this morning while I was getting dressed for work the Beautiful Girl had our local Fox News affiliate on so she could get the weather report for today. The first three stories I saw--one, two, three!--were about a) a local African-American man accused of corruption, b) a local African-American man accused of sexual deviance, and c) a local Muslim man suspected of being a terrorist. All stories delivered by lily white reporters in that shocked yet condescending way that Fox News does so well.
Never mind that our very white Governor, Rick Snyder, has presided over the poisoning of thousands of our children in Flint. Never mind that our very white republican dominated Michigan legislature is slowly chipping away at Democracy in the Wolverine State. The main problems we have here are all because of what brown people do!
It's like raw meat for lions.
Peace,
emaycee
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Principles
If you're like me, there are few things in this world more cringe worthy than watching celebrities discuss their political views. They spend a whole lifetime honing a craft--music, acting--to perfection and it doesn't really leave a lot of time to become an expert on politics.
And it usually shows, oh, the minute they open their mouths.
Such was the case last night when liberal stalwart and Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon appeared on the Chris Hayes show on MSNBC stumping for Bernie Sanders and announced she wasn't sure she would vote for Hillary Clinton if she won the Democratic nomination. She also defended those Sanders supporters who are claiming they won't vote for Secy. Clinton, either, as standing up for their principles.
As one who lives in Michigan, who has seen children poisoned in Flint, our prisoners sexually assaulted and fed maggot infested food by private companies hired by our government, our mothers, wives, and daughters forced to buy rape insurance, and our schools crumble while our "leadership" implemented their "run state government like a business" ideals to disastrous effect, I'm pretty sure I can honestly say that there is nothing principled about standing on the sidelines while republicans win all three branches of government and make life markedly, horridly, and disastrously worse for ordinary Americans.
You might say it's a real world Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Peace,
emaycee
And it usually shows, oh, the minute they open their mouths.
Such was the case last night when liberal stalwart and Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon appeared on the Chris Hayes show on MSNBC stumping for Bernie Sanders and announced she wasn't sure she would vote for Hillary Clinton if she won the Democratic nomination. She also defended those Sanders supporters who are claiming they won't vote for Secy. Clinton, either, as standing up for their principles.
As one who lives in Michigan, who has seen children poisoned in Flint, our prisoners sexually assaulted and fed maggot infested food by private companies hired by our government, our mothers, wives, and daughters forced to buy rape insurance, and our schools crumble while our "leadership" implemented their "run state government like a business" ideals to disastrous effect, I'm pretty sure I can honestly say that there is nothing principled about standing on the sidelines while republicans win all three branches of government and make life markedly, horridly, and disastrously worse for ordinary Americans.
You might say it's a real world Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Peace,
emaycee
A really BFD
It's hard to stress enough how big of a deal this really is--Gov. Jerry Brown of California reached a deal with his state's labor unions to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.
California is home to 40 million Americans and has the largest economy of any U.S. state and ranks eighth in the world. While the outcome of such a raise in wages is unknown at this point, if it works you can bet that it will carry over to the rest of the country.
And if the rest of the country doesn't follow? My guess is California's ability to attract the best the brightest will only grow.
Open up that Golden Gate, indeed.
Peace,
emaycee
California is home to 40 million Americans and has the largest economy of any U.S. state and ranks eighth in the world. While the outcome of such a raise in wages is unknown at this point, if it works you can bet that it will carry over to the rest of the country.
And if the rest of the country doesn't follow? My guess is California's ability to attract the best the brightest will only grow.
Open up that Golden Gate, indeed.
Peace,
emaycee
Friday, March 25, 2016
Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXV--The Mountain Goats: Love Love Love
It's not often you'll find a pop song that references Raskolnikov from Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, the tragic life of boxing great Sonny Liston, and the suicide of Kurt Cobain--and all three in two minutes, 49 seconds. But the Mountain Goats do it "Love Love Love" and throw in biblical references to King Saul falling on his sword, Joseph being sold by his brothers, and St. Paul's "Love Chapter" (1 Corinthians 13) for good measure.
While the Mountain Goats have evolved into a three piece band, they originally began in 1991 as the brainchild (and sole band member) of John Darnielle. In the beginning Darnielle's efforts were largely of the DIY sort, but through the years grew and developed into the band's current incarnation. Though the band has never quite achieved mass success, they have developed a devoted following and in 2015 released their fifteenth album.
I came across "Love Love Love" in the way so many of us who devote too much of our lives to music do--completely by accident. I was actually searching the web for a song I'd heard called "This Year" (it's a semi autobiographical song dealing with Darnielle's abusive step-father--a great tune in its own right), when I read a comment saying that "Love Love Love" was an even better song. Never one to let a challenge such as that to go by without at least checking it out, I gave it a listen and it was love love love (so to speak) at first hearing.
Released in 2005 on what's considered to be their best album, The Sunset Tree, the most striking thing about "Love Love Love" to me is its sparseness and its simplicity--it's basically Darnielle's vocals (wonderfully sedate), an acoustic guitar, and some slight background music which may or may not be a synthesizer. Darnielle sings in an understated falsetto, runs through both the nobility and the dark side of love all the while showing a talent for turning a phrase--I try not to put too much stock into lyric writing, but this is one of those instances when I just throw that caveat out the window. When he sings, "Some things you'll do for money and some you'll do for fun/But the things you do for love are going to come back to you one by one," it's hard not to smile in wonder. While the song closes with a a picture of Kurt Cobain's suicide and warnings about both the futility of love and its ephemeral nature, in the end it's still a paean to what a great man (Lou Reed--from "Coney Island Baby" for those who may be interested) once called "the glory of love."
Had my mother not passed away last August, she would have been eighty-one today--and though Mountain Goats to her were little more than critters high up in the hills, this one's for her because she taught me most of what I know about "Love Love Love..."
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
While the Mountain Goats have evolved into a three piece band, they originally began in 1991 as the brainchild (and sole band member) of John Darnielle. In the beginning Darnielle's efforts were largely of the DIY sort, but through the years grew and developed into the band's current incarnation. Though the band has never quite achieved mass success, they have developed a devoted following and in 2015 released their fifteenth album.
I came across "Love Love Love" in the way so many of us who devote too much of our lives to music do--completely by accident. I was actually searching the web for a song I'd heard called "This Year" (it's a semi autobiographical song dealing with Darnielle's abusive step-father--a great tune in its own right), when I read a comment saying that "Love Love Love" was an even better song. Never one to let a challenge such as that to go by without at least checking it out, I gave it a listen and it was love love love (so to speak) at first hearing.
Released in 2005 on what's considered to be their best album, The Sunset Tree, the most striking thing about "Love Love Love" to me is its sparseness and its simplicity--it's basically Darnielle's vocals (wonderfully sedate), an acoustic guitar, and some slight background music which may or may not be a synthesizer. Darnielle sings in an understated falsetto, runs through both the nobility and the dark side of love all the while showing a talent for turning a phrase--I try not to put too much stock into lyric writing, but this is one of those instances when I just throw that caveat out the window. When he sings, "Some things you'll do for money and some you'll do for fun/But the things you do for love are going to come back to you one by one," it's hard not to smile in wonder. While the song closes with a a picture of Kurt Cobain's suicide and warnings about both the futility of love and its ephemeral nature, in the end it's still a paean to what a great man (Lou Reed--from "Coney Island Baby" for those who may be interested) once called "the glory of love."
Had my mother not passed away last August, she would have been eighty-one today--and though Mountain Goats to her were little more than critters high up in the hills, this one's for her because she taught me most of what I know about "Love Love Love..."
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Placing blame where it belongs
In lieu of the poisoning of thousands of their children, new reports are showing that the residents of Flint have lost their trust in government.
It would behoove the Democratic Party to explain to these beleaguered folks that the problem isn't government, but rather republican leadership of it.
Peace,
emaycee
It would behoove the Democratic Party to explain to these beleaguered folks that the problem isn't government, but rather republican leadership of it.
Peace,
emaycee
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