Who Knew?

It's amazing how in the midst of a world of suffering, there are those who suffer in relative, if not actual silence. Scott Adams, the writer of Dilbert has been keeping something from us. Learn the bizarre, uplifting story in The Dilbert Blog: Good News Day . (Hat tip to The Corner)

Not SUBETE or Why I’m Not Buying a Silverado

Say there’s no such thing as bad publicity? Hmmm. Well, I may not know publicity, but I know what I don’t like, and Chevy has pulled out a stomach-churning campaign the likes of which I can’t remember.

The first shot across the bow was the John Mellencamp “Our Country” ad. Ol’ Johnny Cougar is dolled up in his denim and boots, leaning up against a truck, beatin’ his box guitar next to some sort of agrarian open space. Now, Mellencamp is one of those sour-stomached midwest blue-stater in a red state malcontents, and like Springsteen, his patriotic overtures have been heavily laced with sarcasm(Born In The USA, Little Pink Houses), so to have him waving Old Glory a couple of months before the elections immediately rouses supsicion.

Anyway, Mellencamp launches into a "I see both sides of everything" song while the images run through the liberal history of America, the last 40 years. Rosa Parks, MLK, Viet Nam, Hippies, Nixon, Forest Fires, Katrina Flooding, the Beginning of Rebuilding. The cherry on the sundae was the doe-eyed 9-year-old boy looking out the door of the truck wearing a cowboy hat. This is Our Country? To whom are they trying to sell their trucks? Well, the short answer has to be Democrats.

Although it’s off-putting, I don’t really mind the blue-state appeal, as much as the “Let’s all get together and compromise and agree to see things our way” aspect of the commercial, so typical of the one-sided approach of the Dems. Did the marketing team really think that Republicans or conservatives would be seduced by a song that sounds sort of patriotic and a kid in a stetson? Uh....yeah. Why do you think they ran the ad?

The Our Country ad wasn’t enough in itself to get me writing: obnoxious, baffling, misguided, yes, but typical, par for the course. But last night, during the World Series, where the winners of the American and National league pennants play baseball(as in Mom, Baseball, & Apple Pie) Chevy ran Silverado commercials targeting Mexicans! If not Mexicans, then the very recently “immigrated”.

The Ads start with sepia-toned mini profiles of great Mexicans as children and the men they grew up to be. I remember Roberto Duran, the boxer, and another fellow who invented the Color TV. And these SUBETE men were SUBETE just like the SUBETE Chevy Silverado was SUBETE. What’s SUBETE? Damned if I know. I couldn’t make out the tag line either, I’ll assume it was in spanish.

So, the Chevy Silverado brings Mexicans a raft of shining heroes reflecting glory on all, and Americans get Mellencamp’s equivocation masquerading as hometown pride and the liberal litany of shame. Maybe it’s good business and maybe they have their reasons, but whatever Chevy’s sellin’, I ain’t buyin.

Keep Wilmington Smokin!

Courtesy of the Wilmington Morning Star (paper only), I see the New Hanover County Health Council is pushing for an indoor restaurant and bar smoking ban. WWAY had the story earlier here .

May I say how much I’ve enjoyed living in one of the last backwards places that actually smokes? It’s a throwback to when people had bad habits other than excessive vanity and compulsive schoolmarm nannyism. Bourbon, Barbecue, Tobacco, Sunshine, Salt Water- none of them are completely good for you. But neither are any of them lethal in small amounts, nor unavoidable. Pick yer poison I say.

I don’t smoke. Most of my friends do. I have a fondness for their secondhand smoke and their company. I have lost friends and relatives “early” to smoking-related illnesses. Is it wrong for me to see their passing as a testament to their free spirits? They pursued their happiness in the way that they saw fit, and I saw fit to let them do it.

Some will accuse me of turning a blind eye to the nightmare of addiction. I say free will is stronger and more important. Smoking catches some, drinking others. Sex, food gambling, danger, exercise, lethargy, religion, video games, fantasy, power... addictions are legion, none improve the quality of life, but what a bland, tasteless life we face when we insulate ourselves from all which might do harm.

But What Of The Children? But you see, say the bluenoses, we’re worried about the health of nonsmokers, blameless souls, for whom the barest whiff of burning tobacco is like a greased chute to the grave? Example:

Erin Cummings with the New Hanover County Health Department said, "Don't expose yourself to it there is no safe level."

No safe level? Toxins abound. What keeps us all from dying from mercury or lead poisoning is the level of our exposure. So are we supposed to believe that unlike lead, mercury, arsenic, etc., tobacco smoke has no safe level? Have we really done the research on the lowest amount of second hand smoke to which one might be exposed and still live a long healthful life, barring unforeseen circumstances? Are we speaking metaphorically, perhaps? Philosophically? Dogmatically? It doesn’t seem to be rationally.

Should this ban pass, freedoms will suffer. I mentioned the pursuit of happiness earlier. This is also an assault of the freedom of association. Let the smokers and smoker lovers congregate, let the smoke-phobic do the same. Let the merchants serve who they will.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds @ Pleasure Island

In celebration of our 7th anniversary, the lovely Donna and I took in The Fabulous Thunderbirds at the Pleasure Island Seafood, Blues & Jazz festival. What can I say? They were fabulous as advertised. Despite the coldest night of the year -so far- we enthusiastically enjoyed the show.
According to their website, we saw a newly retooled band, minus their veteran keyboard player and drummer. A few impressions:

Kim Wilson: The Tone. The Licks. He is what every Little Walter wannabe wants to be. And better. Makes me want to run to the woodshed. And the greatest laugh on stage. I hate to gush, and I wouldn't want to pick between him and Memphis Charlie, but he's that good.

Nick Curran: Rough Texas Rockabilly. A two-tone pompadour and striped shirt cue you to his refined sense of style. He appeared to be the main rhythm guitar man. His tone was raw, on the edge of brash, semi-hollow body into a bright Fender amp. (note:I can't vouch for his actual gear, too far away) He seemed to be a couple of steps edgier than the Jimmy Vaughan model, and sometimes it felt like it was him and the band, rather than the more integrated Kim Wilson features. However, when he sang, particularly when he sang, something special happened: it felt like the ghost of Stevie Ray was prowling off stage. That charisma, the deep voice, the balls-out attitude, the adult masculine figure missing from modern music, Nick's got it. I can't say if it will be with the Thunderbirds or another act, but Mr. Curran has a future on bigger stages.

Kirk Fletcher: The Smiling Assassin. Like the other side of Mr. Curran's Stevie Ray coin, Mr. Fletcher had the Albert King licks and tone down. Sweet, focused tone, swooping bends, dynamics a la Albert and then throw in some fat 64ths. We're talking music-school clean arpeggios, almost too pretty, but WOW! During his feature he got down on the edge of the stage like Freddy King (what's with all the Kings?) and after he made his point, relentlessly pouring notes forth, he stood back up, threw his guitar behind his head and rocked through the climax of his solo, longer than he had any right to be. Never missed a note. Didn't dance around. Just stood there, looking down at the audience(ladies), smiling. Yeah, he's a badasssssssss.

Long story short: See The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I did.

Another Classic Rock Station Ahhh-Ahhh

The Hawk 94.5 has started its commercial-free introduction to to Wilmington airwaves. The first taste of candy is always free, doncha know.

Be still, my beating heart. A new place to hear:
The same 10 Fleetwood Mac tunes
The same 10 Lynryd Skynyrd tunes
The same 10 Eagles tunes
The same 10 Aerosmith tunes
The same 8 Steve Miller tunes
The same 8 Beatles tunes
The same 8 Tom Petty tunes
The same 8 Queen tunes
The same 8 Led Zeppelin tunes
The same 8 AC/DC tunes
The same 8 Van Halen tunes
The same 6 Bob Seger tunes
The same 6 Pink Floyd tunes
The same 6 Styx tunes
The same 6 Boston tunes
The same 6 Who tunes
The same 6 Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes
The same 4 Rush tunes
The same 3 Jimi Hendrix tunes

Hmm... Did I leave anyone out? Well, no. Not really... That’s pretty much it.
OK, throw in a sprinkle of Bad Co., Cars, Doobies, Frampton, Genesis, Heart, The Nuge, Thorogood, Yes, and ZZTop, rinse, lather & repeat... endlessly.

It may seem like a lot. But it’s not!!! Really!
At first it’s comforting. But it soon becomes maddening, you can’t get away from the same songs. Good songs. Great songs, even. But the same songs.

So now we’ve got three channels of ultra-homogenized cheez-whiz. Can the market bear it? Can the populace? Who will be the first to slip in the deep tracks(not piss-poor live covers of tunes repeated above)? Who will start the Rockabilly/Roots show? Who will play the tracks off the 2006 album of the artists whose ’76 album has provided endless hours of filler between the commercials(again, not gargly, poorly mixed live versions of the hits above)?

I hope Rock 104.5, The Bone 93.7 and The Hawk 94.5 find themselves identities which makes me switch to one of them for reasons other than avoiding the commercials on the other two channels, and give the voices in my head something new to sing along with.
Same old song and dance, indeed.

New Record For Front Nine! +6!

Hit the Castle Hayne links yesterday after work for a little Disc Golf. I had one of those rounds that keep you coming back. It started with a bogey on one, but I managed to get through the front nine with four pars and only one double bogey for an overall of +6! My previous best is a +9. The funny thing is that I really didn't have any really remarkable throws, all bread and butter stuff. I did save par with a 20 footer on 5 which I was psyched about, and I had two or three good lies and outs in the woods, but I'd say the the good lay-ups were the defining feature of my half-round.

It's getting dark fast now. Pretty soon I'm going to be looking for lights to play under. But it was nice to have a tight nine near the end of the season. I hope I can keep my forehand through the winter!

Magic Potion Review

I just picked up the new The Black Keys album: Magic Potion Friday. Having spent some time with it this weekend, I thought I'd give it a short review.

First the basics: Magic Potion is the Black Keys fourth album and their first on the Nonesuch label. They are a guitar and drum duo with Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney covering the guitar and drum parts, respectively. Comparisons with The White Stripes are legion, but the first track calls to my mind rather the first Gov't Mule album. Auerbach's fat, yet raw guitar tone and his laconic, almost relaxed phrasing bespeak a man who is deeply in love with the sound of his guitar and secure in his ability to stand and deliver the goods.

Speaking of standing(I was), I've never really been as aware of a guitarist standing while playing as I am with this album. It's hard to describe, but between the way he plays and the way the guitar sounds, you can tell he's standing. I believe players tend to play more in the pocket with the drums when they sit. The way Auerbach floats in and out of the pocket effortlessly reminds me of an old jazz or blues cat(or a boxer or tap dancer, for that matter).

The Blues do run deep through these tracks, though there's nary a twelve-bar. Much like Hendrix, they have appropriated blues idioms and made new music. Same words, new poetry. I suspect the more you like the old blues, the more you'll like what the Black Keys are doing.

Auerbach's vocals are nestled slightly behind the guitar and slightly in front of the drums. He occasionally uses delay effects and doubles his voice(hell, ya got 8 tracks on that there tape recorder!), but nothing that sounds gimmicky or would be out of place on a blues album. Sometimes the words can be hard to decipher, but fortunately deciphering them is worthwhile, as the lyrics are quite good. I consider it a bit of a feat to spend so much time in the neighborhood of the blues without sometimes slipping into cliché.

The drums, as I've said are in the background. However, Carney's contributions are always lively and positive. His ability to hang with the ebb and flow suggests he would be just as at home behind someone like Sonny Boy Williamson II, R.I.P., as someone like, say, Warren Haynes. And speaking of Warren, I could easily see Gov't Mule picking up any one of these songs for a full band treatment.

Magic Potion maybe a little to potent for mass consumption. I don't know the last time I put a CD in the Jeep's stereo and drove around actually feeling dangerous. I do know
I'm looking forward to picking up more of The Black Keys.