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Culture journals,
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ABOUT RAR: For those of
you new to this site, "RAR" is Rick Alan Rice, the publisher
of the RARWRITER Publishing Group websites.
Use this link to visit the
RAR music page, which features original music
compositions and other.
Use this link
to visit Rick Alan Rice's publications page, which
features excerpts from novels and other.
RARADIO
(Click here)
"On to the
Next One" by
Jacqueline Van Bierk
"I See You
Tiger" by Via Tania
"Lost the
Plot" by Amoureux"
Bright Eyes,
Black Soul" by The Lovers
Key
"Cool Thing"
by Sassparilla
"These Halls I Dwell"
by Michael Butler
"St. Francis"by
Tom Russell & Gretchen Peters, performance by Gretchen
Peters and Barry Walsh;
"Who Do You
Love?"by Elizabeth Kay;
"Rebirth"by
Caterpillars;
"Monica's
Frock" by
Signel-Z;
"Natural
Disasters" by
Corey Landis;
"1,000
Leather Tassels" by
The Blank Tapes;
"We Are All Stone" and "Those
Machines" by Outer
Minds;
"Another Dream" by MMOSS;
"Susannah" by Woolen
Kits;
Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley,
Michael Jackson and other dead celebrities / news by A
SECRET PARTY;
"I Miss the Day" by My
Secret Island,
"Carriers of Light" by Brendan
James;
"The Last Time" by Model
Stranger;
"Last Call" by Jay;
"Darkness" by Leonard
Cohen;
"Sweetbread" by Simian
Mobile Disco and
"Keep You" fromActress off
the Chronicle movie soundtrack;
"Goodbye to
Love" from October
Dawn;
Trouble in
Mind 2011 label
sampler;
Black Box
Revelation Live
on Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking
Violet";
Mikal
Cronin's "Apathy"
and "Get Along";
Dana
deChaby's progressive
rock
_______
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ATWOOD - "A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance" -AVAILABLE
NOW FOR KINDLE (INCLUDING KINDLE COMPUTER APPS) FROM
AMAZON.COM. Use
this link.
CCJ Publisher Rick Alan Rice dissects
the building of America in a trilogy of novels
collectively calledATWOOD. Book One explores
the development of the American West through the
lens of public policy, land planning, municipal
development, and governance as it played out in one
of the new counties of Kansas in the latter half of
the 19th Century. The novel focuses on the religious
and cultural traditions that imbued the American
Midwest with a special character that continues to
have a profound effect on American politics to this
day. Book One creates an understanding about
America's cultural foundations that is further
explored in books two and three that further trace
the historical-cultural-spiritual development of one
isolated county on the Great Plains that stands as
an icon in the development of a certain brand of
American character. That's the serious stuff viewed
from high altitude. The story itself gets down and
dirty with the supernatural, which in ATWOOD
- A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliveranceis the
outfall of misfires in human interactions, from the
monumental to the sublime. The
book features the epic poem "The
Toiler" as
well as artwork by New Mexico artist Richard
Padilla.
Elmore Leonard
Meets Larry McMurtry
Western Crime
Novel

I am offering another
novel through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service.
Cooksin is the story of a criminal syndicate that sets its
sights on a ranching/farming community in Weld County, Colorado,
1950. The perpetrators of the criminal enterprise steal farm
equipment, slaughter cattle, and rob the personal property of
individuals whose assets have been inventoried in advance and
distributed through a vast system of illegal commerce.
It is a ripping good yarn, filled
with suspense and intrigue. This was designed intentionally to
pay homage to the type of creative works being produced in 1950,
when the story is set. Richard Padilla
has done his usually brilliant work in capturing the look and feel of
a certain type of crime fiction being produced in that era. The
whole thing has the feel of those black & white films you see on
Turner Movie Classics, and the writing will remind you a little
of Elmore Leonard, whose earliest works were westerns.
Use this link.
EXPLORE THE KINDLE
BOOK LIBRARY
If you have not explored the books
available from Amazon.com's Kindle Publishing
division you would do yourself a favor to do so. You
will find classic literature there, as well as tons
of privately published books of every kind. A lot of
it is awful, like a lot of traditionally published
books are awful, but some are truly classics. You
can get the entire collection of Shakespeare's works
for two bucks.
You do not need to buy a Kindle to
take advantage of this low-cost library. Use
this link to go to an Amazon.com page from which you
can download for free a Kindle App for
your computer, tablet, or phone.
Amazon is the largest,
but far from the only digital publisher. You can
find similar treasure troves atNOOK
Press (the
Barnes & Noble site), Lulu,
and others. |
|
|
|
Triune Brain Sounds
Moira Smiley and VOCO Release New
Album
"Only days ago, in a copper mine
deep below dusty Butte, Montana, I was among ghosts and detonations,
feeling the dance of human frailty and brute-force." - Moira Smiley
newsletter comment.
I am guessing
that, as an artist, unseen things mean a lot to
Moira Smiley. She is the visionary
creator of the musical singing group VOCO,
which seems like an expression of concepts that resonate with the
talented Ms. Smiley and tend to present themselves as themes. She's big
on the triune brain these days. I was under the impression that the
notion of the "triune" (three-part) brain, and its evolutionary
development (remember Carl Sagan's "Broca's Brain"?) had been discarded
by scientists in recent years, but no matter. It has something to do
with what the extraordinary Ms. Smiley and VOCO is up to these
days. Check out this video below, from an independent TED event in SoCal,
and you can try to figure out Mora's take on the whole brain thing, but
more importantly enjoy the work of some great talents. L.A.-based Moira
is quite a composer and vocal arranger and she and her tribe can sing.
Play, too. Most noticeably, however, is the uniqueness of what they do
with their show (or presentation). I can't really classify it as being
like anything I have ever seen before. They are like a vocal-conceptual
tent revival/Chautauqua session that has nothing and everything to do
with the holy spirit, and it is brave and striving to reach deep into
the soul of what goes on within our human natures. Moira and her singers
are multi-cultural sponges and the artistry with which they do what they
do, whatever it is, makes it feel authentic, as if as an audience
member you are somehow dropped from the sky into a world where people
chant rhythmic chants and turn into birds and animals, just as you'd
expect. It is most certainly one of the most extraordinary
entertainments happening anywhere today outside of the giant theatrical
productions of Broadway and Las Vegas. The album Laughter Out of
Tears! is being released mid-September. VOCO will then spend three
weeks touring behind the recording, with presently scheduled stops in
New Haven, Vermont (Tourterelle Inn), Los Angeles (CalTech's Beckman
Institute), and San Francisco (Candlelight Concert Series).
- RAR
Muse - Austin City Limits
It's Like Everyone Else is Pretending
My teenaged
son turned me on to Muse some time back, and every time I listen to them
I come away with the feeling that compared to what they are doing
everyone else in the music world is just playing. There have been
precious few bands in the entire history of music that are at the level
that Muse is at. Surely part of it is that, rather like the core of The
Beatles, the Muse guys have played together since their early teens, and
their chemistry is extraordinary. There is some of Queen and U2 and Pink
Floyd and Radiohead in Muse,
but while Muse can do all of what those bands did (and do), I don't know
of any band out there that can do what Muse does.
Matthew Bellamy is the differentiator, a talent so immense
that he is truly a cut above virtually everyone else on the planet,
rather like Michael Jordan was in his NBA days, or like Muhammad Ali in
his prime. It is the whole of what he does in terms of his guitar
virtuosity, his extraordinary singing voice, and the power of his ideas
that makes him special. He makes it look easy, like a Fred Astaire; one
of those people who come along just occasionally who just has more raw
stuff than anybody else: that's Bellamy. That said, its bassist
Christopher Wolstenholme who is the
movie star of the band, its charismatic center, which is pretty amazing
given his stage company. And then there is drummer
Dominic Howard, who may be the Keith
Moon of his generation; less bombastic and showy for sure, but pure
perfection on the kit. The other thing that stands out about Muse is the
way in which they have embraced new technology in their instrumentation
(7 string guitars, guitars and bass with touch screen functions, etc.)
and their sound. They sound different than virtually everyone else. The
CCJ usually tries to find videos that too few people have seen. More
than 1.2 million viewers have watched this video on YouTube, but if
somehow Muse has gotten by you take the next hour and a half and see
what rock sounds and looks like in the 21st Century. It is way worth it.-
RAR
Black
Hills of South Dakota
Tribes Unite on
Spiritual Grounds
The Europeans who "discovered"
America encountered a native population that had the potential to
advance civilization in ways that would never be possible under the
religious and economic doctrines of the invaders. The desecration of the
sacred grounds of the Black Hills of South Dakota, and most particularly
the monument to the presidents carved into its rock formations, are the
living reminder of what a wasted opportunity, and a national tragedy,
the formulation and establishment of the European-based American culture
has been.
On September 13th and 14th, 2014, in the Black Hills
of South Dakota, thousands of people will converge for a UNITY CONCERT
-- bringing together Native American tribes and allies of all nations in
support of returning the guardianship of the Black Hills to the Great
Sioux Nation.
The UNITY CONCERT, is more than just a concert; it is
a powerful act of spiritual activism uniting nations to reconnect with
the sacredness of nature and honor the Earth so we can sustain our
planet for future generations.
Like the transformational marches of the Civil Rights
and Anti-Vietnam war era, the UNITY CONCERT is free and open to the
public and will weave together music, art, ceremony, and activism in a
two-day event to be held at the Elk Creek Lodge and Resort in the heart
of the Black Hills.
Orchestrated by a coalition of elders of the Great
Sioux Nation (Paha Sapa Unity Alliance) together with various native and
non-native allies and environmental, spiritual and social activists, the
concert features celebrated Native and Non-Native artists and brings
together representatives and spiritual elders from Native American
tribes, artists, performers, concerned global citizens, and those on the
right side of justice to return the guardianship of the as yet
undeveloped parts of the Black Hills to The Great Sioux Nation.
The weekend will begin with a traditional ceremony to
wipe away the painful past between the United States and America’s First
Nations. Many performers and participants will be making very personal
statements of apology and forgiveness with the goal of clearing a way
for us to stand united for the care of our Mother Earth, and a shared,
peaceful way of life for our grandchildren and the generations to come.
The star-studded roster of deeply dedicated performers
spans three generations from the legendary
Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary),
Arlo Guthrie and Buffy Sainte
Marie to new revolutionary artists such as
Nahko Bear, and the
Earth Guardians - a duo of Aztec
brothers, 14 and 11, devoted to protecting Mother Earth and Ta'kaiya
Blaney - Sliammon First Nation from B.C. They will be joined by a bevy
of Native American artists from tribal nations across the country,
including Lakota, Navajo, Cree and Apache.
Happenin' Harry
The Archetypal Metal Personality
It has been awhile since we checked in with
Happenin'
Harry, (use this link for a feature) who has a real name but prefers his stage name. The
Chicago native has been a fixture on the L.A. rock scene for more than
two decades, hosting all-star collections of rockers at weekly events at
Sunset Strip clubs, notably The Cat
Club (closed in 2011, reopened as an Irish bar with rock music) and The Joint.
The Cat Club was a rocker's haven. Owned by Stray
Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, the
club attracted L.A.'s rock celebrities and on nights when Happenin'
Harry and the Haptones were holding court the place was hoppin', or
perhaps happenin'. Harry has a
great deal of the Barnum in his Bailey and he has been extraordinary at
bringing L.A.'s top metal rockers together for regular blowouts, which
meant business for the Strip's rock spots for years and years. Harry knows everybody
in "Hollyweird" (his description). This week he had a birthday show at
The Rec Room Bar & Grill in Studio City, hosted by porn superstar
Ron Jeremy, and featuring
Harry & The Haptones with special guest
Billy Sheehan, plus others from
Queens of the Stoneage, Mr. Big, Porno for Pyros,
Bangkok Five, The Flys, the Pete Murphy Band, Bird 3, and the
David Lee Roth Band. This sort of
"happening" occurs because Happenin' Harry, for all of his master of
ceremony skills, is also a tremendous metal rock vocalist. This is
something that has been celebrated by Tonight Show
host Jimmy Fallon, who
used to be a regular at Harry's Cat Club events. Fallon introduces
Harry and the Haptones in the video below, which features the high level
of talent that Harry has been able to assemble over the years for his
hard-boiled but sort of down-home events. (I wish someone would identify
the great Haptones captured in this video from late summer 2013.) Happenin' Harry isn't quite
as young or active as he once was, but he is a big personality who can still
wail. Happy birthday Harry and rock on!
Minton Sparks
Real Toad, Imaginary Garden
Man, I wish I was as weird as you. We have featured
Nashville's brilliant monologist-turned-rock-singer-songwriter
Minton Sparks many times before on this
site, but are blown away by this new incarnation, that has the
incomparable southern belle banging funny out front of a rockabilly
unit. The college professor and former basketball player is as fearless
and agile of wit as she is tall, which is pretty damned. She has an
album of this stuff coming out in October. Bless her crazy freakin'
heart! Check out "Gold Digger".
Last Days of Disco 2014
Now Featuring Bianca
Bianca
(Bianca Di Cesare) is "an Italian-American singer/songwriter based in
Los Angeles" (her description) who is soon to release a debut EP. The
video below was released to promote the upcoming EP, which is produced
by Alberto Bof of
MKRS Publishing. This is some pretty old
school Disco, I think, though I'll have to ask someone who knows
something about club music these days. If the song seems like pretty
standard '70s stuff - from back when Disco pushed music into realms that
were overtly sexual, as if it was produced for use in strip clubs - the
production on this tune is crisp and I like Bianca's personality. She
comes off like a pro, hitting every mark and delivering with panache.
Lest you come under the misapprehension that Bianca is dumb, dig this:
she holds a Bachelor in Arts and Masters in Arts and Linguistics, and
she speaks English, Italian, Spanish and French. She even does voiceover
work. Her agency describes her as "European, sexy, animated and
confident. Bianca Di Cesare is one of our most eclectic clients and can
offer a wide rage of languages and accents with her linguistics
background". The talented singer-songwriter has been around for awhile,
first performing in a band with her father "singing backup for a blues
band made up of inmates from Rebibbia Jail..." (Did not make that
up.) She received music training at Scuola di Musica di Testaccio with an emphasis in Jazz singing and
guitar..." (from
her website). Her vocals can be heard on “Figure” by the electronic
band Mir and rock-oriented pieces like
“Il Buio” with Satya Schulberg.
Her photograph graces Middletown's For the Girl album. Upon her
reintroduction to the United States, she launched an intimate electronic
duo called “Tsu” with
Alex Kharlamov in embrace of her grassroots
songwriting past. Their work has been sold to publishers for movie
scores via Universal Pictures. Bianca has also sung backup for
Diane Birch, including an appearance
on The Tonight Show back when
Jay Leno was at the helm. As Bianca Di
Cesare, she has shown an unusual penchant for recording solo acoustic
versions of Radiohead songs, posting them to YouTube and Soundcloud. As
Bianca, she shows an unusual inclination to sing rather unlike she has
in previous incarnations; more Brittany Spears than Thom Yorke. It's all
sort of weird, but I like Bianca. -
RAR
Lovers Key Drops Cool R&B Pop
Just when you start to wonder if pop rock could ever
move you again, along comes Christopher Moll
and The Lovers Key. Moll and his
band bring the R&B in an old school way and it feels utterly fresh and
vital. Check out the video below from their debut album, Here Today
Gone Tomorrow, which is being released on September 23. Here
Today Gone Tomorrow includes eleven tracks of retro-tinged pop and
soul. The Deluxe Edition adds additional material including remixes from
Moll's previous work with The Postmarks and
Ursula 1000 as well as the French version
of their hit song “Who’s The One You Love?”
|
San Francisco Opera Presents Norma
Sondra Radvanovsky Vies for Opera Immortality
The San Francisco Opera is diving into the deep waters
of Vincenzo Bellini's bel canto with
a seven-performance stand of Norma
to open its 2014 season. (By the way, did you know you can get SF Opera
tickets for 25 bucks! And you pay $50 to see Tyler
the Creator?) The company performed this most difficult two-act
opera first in 1998, then again in 2005. Featuring a major soprano aria, "Casta
diva", Norma is considered one of the most taxing of the bel
canto genre, and not the kind of challenge any company rises to very
often. German soprano Lilli Lehmann once said that it would be less
stressful to
sing all three Brünnhilde roles of Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des
Nibelungen in one evening than is the singing
of one Norma. Besides the ridiculous coloratura soprano
requirements of the lead player, i.e., Norma herself, the opera is paced
nearly in reverse of the standard formula, with "Casta diva" performed
30-minutes into the show, which is like climaxing to start the night.
What can Norma do after she has torn up the curtains and laid down the
law as her opening gambit? In San Francisco, Sondra Radvanovsky
(in the Nigel Dickson photo above)
will be confronted with this musical heavy lift, which besides requiring
extraordinary range and vocal dexterity will also call upon
her to display precise emotional control to leaven the dramatics of
the first act. Norma, which came into being in 1831, has
been a marker for the truly great sopranos, including
Maria Callas and Dame
Joan Sutherland. After Pavarotti heard Sutherland's 1964
performance, he pronounced her's "the greatest female voice of all
time". Radvanovsky won an audition at the New York Metropolitan Opera 20
years ago, and has largely made her name singing Verdi operas, which are
a far cry from bel canto. She has referred to the aria "Casta diva" as
"terror inducing". In the video presented here, another coloratura
soprano, Anna Netrebko, performs the
aria as a solo piece, and it gives you a pretty good idea of what Ms.
Radvanovsky is tackling. Pretty awesome.
"Opera is the
biggest rock show you have ever seen." - A quote from a
friend of the CCJ who routinely does pilgrimages to the great opera
houses of the world. |
Misner & Smith at Freight & Salvage

Award-winning Americana/Folk duo
Misner & Smith played a
concert at the Freight & Salvage
Coffeehouse in Berkeley on Saturday, September 6th. We
don't see enough of this traditional folk duo. Known for their stunning live performances, Misner &
Smith have been winning over fans with top-notch songwriting,
musicianship, and extraordinary vocal harmonies. Also performing
with the duo, Josh Yenne (Mazzy
Star, The Easy Leaves) will sit in on pedal steel and electric
guitars. In October 2013 Misner & Smith released their fourth
album, Seven Hour Storm, produced by
Jeff Kazor (The Crooked Jades,
Richard Buckner), and engineered by Bruce Kaphan (American Music
Club, David Byrne, The Black Crowes). This follows the release
of three previous albums, Live at the Freight & Salvage (2010),
Poor Player (2008), and their debut, Halfway Home (2004), which
includes the West Coast Songwriter’s Best Song of 2007,
“Madeline (Paradise Cracked)”. The duo was also featured on the
newly released cast recording of Woody Guthrie's American Song
(July 17th, 2014) recorded live at the Freight & Salvage in the
summer of 2012. Read more about Misner & Smith at
www.misnerandsmith.com
.
Lannie's
Clocktower Cafe
Opera on Demand
Speaking of opera, as we were
with Bellini and Norma and Sondra Radvanovsky, etc.,
Lannie's Clocktower Cafe, in
Denver, is doing opera the people's way.
Zuri Productions
and Opera on Tap Colorado present a
Tuesday night offering that samples Mozart, Puccini et al. As
described by its promoters - "A dash of improv and some of
Denver’s best full-bodied operatic voices will make this an
evening of great arias, dramatic ensembles, and fun surprises
for all. Opera on Tap Colorado singers will perform arias and
scenes from a range of operas, including Madame Butterfly, Romeo
et Juliette, Rigoletto, and Carmen depending on audience choice.
For you locals, the singers include
Tom Sitzler,
baritone; Sarah
Stone, soprano;
Julie Silver Campbell,
soprano; Ruth L.
Carver, soprano;
Mira Madorsky,
soprano; Eve
Orenstein, mezzo soprano;
Thomas Poole,
tenor. They are accompanied by pianist
Mallory Bernstein. |
Night School Produces a
Heart Beat
Palo Alto girls
Alexandra Morte (Whirr, Camera
Shy), Baylie Arin, and
Sarah Trevena produce a punk
sound to support yearning teen narratives that their promoters
say are inspired by 1960s groups like the Shangri Las and The
Shirelles. Whatever it is, it is one of
our favorite discoveries of the week.
|
George Marinelli's Wild
Onions
George Marinelli
has
released his circus-inspired music video for “I Ain’t Done Yet”. Marinelli directed and produced the video, which is a tongue-in-cheek
take on his joie de vivre. “The song is indeed about living life to the
fullest right to the end, but in the video I wanted to lighten it up,”
Marinelli said. “In the video, I wanted to have a goofy, fantasy bucket
list but eventually realize it would be silly to pet a lion or walk a
tightrope.” Marinelli recently released his fourth solo album, Wild
Onions. The new album--which includes five original songs and five
covers--blends his musical influences, including Afro, Latin, and
Reggae. During the making of Wild Onions, Marinelli channeled
musical influences like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix,
and Chuck Berry. He strived for spontaneity and spark, focusing on music
over technology. Marinelli, who for 20 years has been in the Bonnie
Raitt band, played every instrument on the album except for two songs,
on which drummer Ricky Fataar (The
Flames, The Beach Boys, Bonnie Raitt) and bassist
James “Hutch” Hutchinson (The Neville
Brothers, BK3, Bonnie Raitt) did the honors.
Lloyd Cole - No Longer Too Old to
Rock
Bollocks Age Appropriate
Music!
Lloyd
Cole (and the Commotions) were a staple of '80s Modern Rock.
Cole had a special sound, which if it wasn't really smart was sure
thought to be so by its creator. Cole is a sort of droll, introverted
type, maybe a little surly, which you wouldn't pick up from his music
but you might from this Jools Holland interview below. Stay for the end
to hear "Perfect Skin", which is still cool after all these years.
Cole's prime was decades ago, which weighed heavily on him, apparently,
as he survived the awfulness of growing old by turning himself into sort
of a Nashville-inspired acoustic soloist, and so he pretty much
disappeared from sight. Think Lester Burham (Kevin Spacey) in American
Beauty: a guy living comatose for years. Then something happened that
shook Cole out of his stupor. The septuagenarian Bob Dylan released
Tempest, which seemed about as divorced from age issues as one could
imagine, and suddenly Cole felt a strong desire to get the band together
and record some rock songs. And then keep doing that. The first since he
awakened himself is Standards, released in June 2013. It answers
the easy question, i.e., can an old dude rock? The larger question is,
can an old dude be relevant? Bob Dylan answered that, but then he is so
much more than just a dude. How about Cole?
Street Performer
Bangin' Bad on the Street
Tamra Lucid (Lucid Nation) found this video, uploaded to YouTube.com by
Koreaboo. Love the style.
|

The Cold Stares Interview
"I would love to have a song that meant something to me end up in
a movie that also really meant something to me. The power of song plus
the visual of storytelling aligning is a one-two punch to the soul like
nothing else. I want to do something that sticks around. We were riding
around once with the windows down, downtown, and had the theme to Rocky
blaring. Almost every person we passed would start boxing or faux
jogging, even a guy on a scaffold. Perfect melody, visual,
soul vibrating connection the moment that trumpet sounds. I’d love to
have that just once." - Chris Tapp, Cold
Stares This edition we have an interview with Chris Tapp of
the Cold Stares, the Nashville-based blues-rockers who have a new album
out and a sound that could shatter the walls of Jericho.
READ MORE...
World Pixelation

According to Slate
contributor Amanda Hess, Jennifer
Lawrence scored a huge victory this week when she called out Apple and
their iCloud for creating the technology that would allow private photos
of her nude self to be leaked publicly online. Writes the astute Ms.
Hess - "Through her representative, Lawrence has called the leaked
photos a 'flagrant violation of privacy.' The real revelation here is
that Lawrence's status as a modern sex symbol no longer requires her to
excuse the men who seek to exploit her. That's progress."
Slate's opinion writer even summoned the forceful
presence of HBO star Lena Dunham,
who said blaming the selfie-taking nude star for being seen naked was in
a league with blaming a rape victim for wearing a short skirt.
Other publications, like
Discovery, focused on explaining the natural human impulses
that would inspire a person to take and distribute nude photographs of
themselves in the first place. "Our desire to connect is primal, but our
daily lives are often physically disconnected," said
Dara Greenwood, an associate
professor of psychology at Vassar who studies mass media's impact on our
perceptions of ourselves. "We derive a sense of self and identity from
being seen, both literally and figuratively, and valued, so there is
additional motivation to broadcast the self via photograph," Greenwood
said. "In some ways the ubiquity of this photo-taking and sharing option
may be over determining the behaviors that follow. In some basic sense,
we take selfies because we can."
It seems that
it is crossing over that boundary of whether or not one should
take nude photographs of one's self, knowing that the technology exists
to steal and distribute those shots, that starts the arguments. People
want to assign blame and we don't blame the victimized for being
victimized, even when their own actions have tended to be
self-victimizing. That applies to rape victims wearing short skirts
because we expect potential rapists to exhibit appropriate self control,
though self control may be something that some mentally ill persons may
not possess. We seek to remove the easily provoked from the streets
because they are a danger to society. Voyeurism, like Slate's assertion
regarding sexting, which is a lot like exhibitionism, is apparently not
a mental illness, but rather a healthy expression of personal
confidence. One is just supposed to be able to control who one expresses
one's personal confidence to. That's just simple, old school thinking.
In ways that are unfortunate in some respects, old
school thinking may not be in alignment with a digital age designed
specifically to exploit those human characteristics the people over at
Discovery are concerned with, notably the inclination to service our
basic natures. The whole argument leaves unclear what the roles of logic
and reason are in this whole modern equation.
Use this link to go to the previous edition and other archived pages.
In COLO
Cloak and Dagger Melody Makers

Mr. Frost here is the artist
Gigamesh, initially known as Matt
Masurka, an electronica composer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He
is among the headliner's for the first ever
Cloak & Dagger Music Festival, which will take place at two
venues in Denver, Colorado on September 20th. Why "cloak & dagger",
which usually entails mystery and intrigue, possibly in a setting of
espionage? Festival producer "The Hundred" put out a press release
implying that it has something to do with "the vision of a truly
underground festival that doesn't rely on mainstream headliners..." When
choosing from models for successful festivals, one wonders if going with
the roster of unknowns idea was bold and daring, or if as The Hundred
report its just "uniquely inspired". The lineup, other than Gigamesh,
will include as Cashmere Cat, Holy Ghost!, Justin
Martin, Midland, and Thomas Jack.
Learn more at www.coclubs.com.
Who
Lafa Now?
Creature Carnival Tour
Creature Carnival
tour is set to offer a show unlike anything we have yet seen. They will
light it up through October and November, coast to coast.
Use this link for the schedule. Along side the talents of Beats
Antique, Shpongle and Emancipator, Lafa Taylor
will cross the country with this one-of-a-kind spectacle of musical and
theatrical awesomeness.
The last few months have solidified Lafa Taylor's
status as a go-to collaborator for the experimental bass and electronic
music scene. Recent collaborations with big-name EDM stars like
Bassnectar and
The Polish Ambassador came fast on the
heels of his album, Not One Thing, released this past April. But his
notable resurgence was no accident; after contributing to a platinum
album release and touring nationally in Japan, Lafa spent the past six
years incubating, honing his craft and perfecting the incendiary skill
and magnetism that we are now seeing come to fruition.
Creature Carnival is sure to be a spectacle for the
ages and the ultimate forum for Lafa to showcase his eclectic style and
unique talent for blending upbeat hip hop with deep, visceral bass
music. Look out for this irreverent MC permeating the night with the
rest of the Creatures in ways left only to the imagination. Never before
seen improvisation and collaboration, crowd participation, and a night
full of outrageous surprises will add up to an experience that's not to
be missed or forgotten.
Pat Simmons Rides Cannonball Run

Say a prayer, or something, for
Doobie Brothers guitarist
Pat Simmons, who will ride coast to
coast, with his wife, Cris Sommer Simmons,
in the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run 2014 in September. The duo
will journey more than 4,100 miles from Daytona, FL to Takoma, WA on
their 1934 and 1929 Harley-Davidsons with stops in GA, TN, MO, KS, CO,
UT, N V, ID, and WA. Cris, who is a well-known author and member of the
National Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Anamosa
Iowa and the American Motorcycle Heritage
Foundation Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Westerville, Ohio, and the
Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame, will be
raising money on the ride for Stand Up To
Cancer, in honor of their son, Pat Jr., who battled
testicular cancer last year and now is cancer free. The Cannonball Run
began in 2010 as a ride to showcase the restoration and power of antique
motorcycles built before 1915. It has since evolved into a cross-country
endurance ride held every other year with over 100 participants, which
now includes bikes built before 1936. Just in case you missed that,
those folks are riding bikes that are 80 years old and more! Hold on
guys! Or if you fall, be flexible about it. Good luck!
Gretchen Peters
Following Up on the
Album of Her Career

Gretchen Peters
will release the follow-up to Hello Cruel World ("the album of
her career" - NPR) in February 2015. The new studio album, coproduced
with Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin,
John Hiatt) & Barry Walsh, is called
Blackbirds. It features guest
appearances by Jason Isbell, Jimmy LaFave,
Jerry Douglas, Kim Richey, David Mead, Suzy Bogguss, Matraca Berg
and more. A UK tour in March has been announced; US and European tours
are in the works. Adding to her list of accolades, the twice
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter will be inducted into the
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on
October 5th of this year, and will celebrate by making a return
appearance on the Grand Ole Opry on October 4th. Congratulations
Gretchen!
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