Genuine Negro Jig

No, the title of this post doesn't refer to Harry Reid's painfully back-handed "compliment" of Barack Obama. It's the cleverly provocative title of the newest album from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an all black string band from North Carolina. The album blends a delicious stew of old-time string music, blues stomps, and Celtic arrangements with an acappella ballad, a Tom Waits cover, and a reworking of Blue Cantrell's R&B hit "Hit 'Em Up Style" thrown in for good measure. The album relies heavily on fiddle and banjo, but also incorporates beat-boxing, jug-blowing, mouth harps, and, I suspect a washboard or two among the beautifully varied vocal styles. While the album harkens back to the era of Harry Reid's birth (1939) and before, these musicians are decidedly of the Obama generation. Unlike the Obama Administration, however, the Chocolate Drops have the courage of their convictions and exude an authentic love of their source material. In short, while Obama seems only to pay lip service to his base these days, the Chocolate Drops play directly to theirs.

FACEBOOK - THE UNLIKELY POLITICAL THINK TANK

Over the past several months, I've engaged in many political debates on facebook. I've really enjoyed this venue, because facebook is an interesting melting pot where people of vastly differing political opinions coalesce together with only the most tenuous connections to one another. While you might never make the time (or even have the opportunity) to grab a beer with that old acquaintance from high school with whom you have little in common any more, the click of mouse suddenly brings them squarely into your day to day world and social circle. If you ever use facebook for political rants or posting, you might find yourself debating this person about your most heartfelt, passionate beliefs despite the fact that you haven't spoken to one another in years.  This same dynamic literally grows exponentially when you factor in all of your friends' acquaintances who might comment on their political postings. At this point, you might even find yourself debating tax policy with someone you've never met who lives hundreds of miles away from you simply because you have a mutual friend on facebook (a situation I've found myself in fairly often lately, and highly enjoy.) I love the fact that such a situation draws one out of their comfort zone, and forces them to engage with ideas they typically dismiss. It has also made me a think a great deal about what, if anything, most Americans who thoughtfully engage with politics have in common.

1/21/10 - The Day Democracy Died?

"The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes... Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money powers of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed."

-Abraham Lincoln

Do Dems Deserve Progressive Support?

So, now the Dems hand over a Senate seat to the GOP candidate Scott Brown (a Tea Party conservative) in one of the most reliably progressive states in the nation, Massachusetts. That alone shows the party's incompetence if nothing else. The Dems have had vast majorities in both houses of Congress and the White House for one year. What have they accomplished? Let's see...

Film Review - The Informant!

The protagonist of Steven Soderbergh's latest film, The Informant!, is Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) whose bizarre, manic stream of conscious ramblings provide much of the film's narration. The character , played with perfect pitch by Damon, seems incapable of slowing down his mind (and his mouth), often to his own peril. I can only guess that the hyper-prolific Soderbergh's mind is equally restless, but to much greater results. The director manages to harness his overactive, overproductive cinematic mind resulting in some of the most interesting films being made today. The Informant! could also be one of his angriest and most cynical, though you might not notice because of the jester's suit in which he dresses it. 

"The media culture we all consume is just as artificial and toxic as the biochemicals we gobble down in our cereals every morning."

I Miss George W. Bush's Balls

For eight long, disastrous years, we had a President whose dearth of intellectual curiosity and cerebral dexterity was rivaled only by his abundance of unearned confidence and self righteousness. In short, George W. Bush was all balls and no brains. It often seemed that the more wrong-headed and unwelcome his policies, the more steadfastly he defended and even expanded those policies (for examples see the war in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay detention, unlawful domestic wiretapping, the illegal politicization of the justice department, and "enhanced interrogation" aka torture to name only a few.) It will take decades to undo much of this damage, but the lives lost unnecessarily in a misbegotten war can never be replaced. Despite the national tragedy (make that international tragedy) that was the Bush Administration, I find myself missing certain aspects of his presidency. In short, I miss George W. Bush's enormous, hulking balls.

Moon - Film Review

In his feature film directorial debut, Duncan Jones has created the rare cinematic gem (at least in the film market of the last fifteen years.) Moon, starring Sam Rockwell as multiple characters (kind of), is a sci-fi indie flick for adults. As the director himself acknowledges, that is an almost extinct genre today. Jones, a former commercial director in the UK, has said he found himself perplexed and frustrated that today’s filmmakers seem to feel that science fiction “should be frivolous, for teenage boys” and full of superfluous special effects and CGI. Jones believes that today’s directors are “embarrassed by science fiction’s philosophical side.” As a result, Jones set out to make a sparse, tightly contained film that focused almost solely on the cerebral possibilities explored in what he calls the “golden age” of science fiction in the 70s and early 80s with films like Silent Running, Alien, and Blade Runner. In both its spirit and its retro sci-fi aesthetic, Moon succeeds as a successful homage to its influences while retaining plenty enough vitality to stand on its own two feet.