Beatle Bob

I meant to blog on this subject earlier this week . I got distracted. But I met Beatle Bob at the International Folk Alliance Music and Dance Conferencelast Thursday. Who is Beatle Bob? I didn't know a whole lot about him except that he is the ultimate music fan, the Super Fan! He is supposed to have been out every night (except maybe one) for the last twenty five to thirty years checking out bands and musicians. He could turn up anywhere in the world. The legend is if he shows up at your show and stays and does his dance and has a good time, that is the Beatle bob seal of approval. You are going to be famous.
My friend Judy and I were walking around the Convention Center trying to decide who to go hear. All of a sudden she said, "Oh, there's Beatle Bob, have you ever met him?". Well, I had not so we went over and I was introduced. I don't know how old he is (I don't think anyone does) but he looks very young, maybe late 30's, early 40's. But he has got to be older since he has been doing this so long. He was wearing a sixties looking jacket and some sort of tie or bolero, I can't remember. And of course, there was the Beatle haircut. He was very sweet but seemed a bit spastic, like he wanted to be every where at once. We talked to him for a few minutes and Judy told him Chad and Jermey (Google them) were supposed to be there. He got very excited about that. Unfortunately they did not show up that night.
We decided lated to go and hear Dan Montgomery and his Trio. We walked in and there was Beatle Bob dancing away all by himself. Dan and the Trio were very pleased they had Beatle Bob's approval. I have included a video teaser of "Beatle Bob Superfan" to introduce you. He is much calmer acting in this video than he was when I met him at the Folk Alliance Conference.
So, if you are out one night and see this strange man who looks like he stepped out the 60's over in the corner or near the stage dancing by himself. Well, you are probably going to be entertained that night, so stick around. It will be fun!

Wevl Spring Concert

Ok, I am promoting a fundraiser now. If you like Modern/Alternative/Punk rock, you might enjoy this show at the Young Avenue Deli, Saturday night starting at 10 PM. It is the Spring concert for WEVL 89.9 FM, Memphis. You do have to be 21 though.
WEVL Concert This Saturday Night!


Don't miss our Spring Concert with Mouserocket, The Third Man, The Warble, and Jeffrey and The Pacemakers. It's this Saturday night, March 1 at the Young Avenue Deli. Showtime is 10 PM sharp. $10 admission at the door goes to WEVL. Age 21+. Thanks to Kong Wee for the poster!

See The Third Man perform live at 9 AM this Friday, Feb. 29 on Channel 3's "Live at 9" show.
You can check it out at http://www.wevl.org/

I Hate Drama

Drama: A dramatic work that is that is intended for performance by actors on a stage.
Drama: An episode that is turbulent or highly emotional.
It is the second definition of drama that I hate, It seems to follow me or maybe I just drag it along with me.
My Ex, Madison, who is the father of my two fabulous daughters called again last night on Ariel's phone. He called last week saying he had been laid off his job. Ever since then I have had an uneasy feeling about it. He has a habit of truth bending.
He called last night like I said and told us that he was moving back to Memphis this weekend to go in to a three month alcohol rehabilitation program. And that is why he lost his very good job. Told you I had an uneasy feeling, trust your intuition.
So of course, he is wanting emotional support. Probably not from me but from his daughters. My youngest is rather detached from him even though she loves him but I knew Rachel would be very upset. She is alone in Berlin now and this would be hard for her. And it was. She called me today crying. She said she had already had a rough day at school and when she checked her email there was the one from her dad and she broke down in front of everyone. That is what really pisses me off. He does not "get" how every thing he does has a chain reaction. Or he just does not care, not really.
I hope this program helps him because he is not a kid. Not too many more chances to go. One of his best friends died last month in a nursing home from liver failure (alcoholism). He was not that old, he killed himself.
I do not understand why it is that there are a lot of males in my generation who have what I refer to as the "Peter Pan" syndrome. They do not want to grow up and as a consequence they steal from their children.

I Liked This

		this life
		first you gotta be a caterpillar before you can be the butterfly..everybody has to die but not everybody enjoys and sees the beauty of life..crawling crawling in the tall grass..and it feels so good on my little ass..eating the lotus blossoms and i love the taste..and makes me appreciate these caterpillar days..and at the end parked in my dark cocoon..i just says to myself this will be over soon..and i'll fly away fly away across the moon and sky..singing singing i sure do love this beautiful life. This is written by a guy named Doc Huckster and yes, I found or he found me on MySpace but I like his poems. They are always like short little thoughts. I don't know if he is published anywhere but he seems to be quite prolific. I have not went any further and checked to see if he is published, he is just a MySpace friend who is not obnoxious or intrusive. I guess he is just using it as an outlet for his thoughts. The poems are usually like this one something to do with life's passages. That is why I like them, I relate to them. Maybe I should find out if he has a book or something...or maybe not.

Not My Words, But

Ok, this is not my blog. It is the blog of Brad Listi, I love his blogs. Plus I thought I would share it because he is talking about group identity and we have discussed in class in talking about propaganda. So here it is, he has a very cynical sense of humor (which I like) but he makes a lot of good points.









I read something interesting the other day about group identity and how it factors into our political beliefs.

Basically, the gist goes as follows:

We often vote not in accordance with our best personal interests, but rather in accordance with our perceived group interests.

In short, group interest is often a better indicator of behavior than personal interest.

And in a lot of ways, I suppose this assessment amounts to basic common sense.

It seems obvious that many voters don't pay attention to politics.

And yet many of them vote, often passionately.

They don't know enough about the candidates, or the government, or the government's legislation, to be able to make even the most basic calculations about what is in their own best interests.

But they are able to wrap their minds around perceived group interests.






How would a devout Christian from Corpus Christi, Texas vote?

How would a San Francisco vegan Buddhist vote?

How would a rock-climbing outdoorsman from Boulder who teaches Outward Bound courses in the summer vote?

How would a freethinking, blue collar intellectual with a military background vote?

How would a gay Latino fashion designer from Miami vote?

How would a New York City Jewish social worker vote?

How would a black Tallahassee schoolteacher vote?

How would a rich, white, 32-year-old stockbroker from Hoboken vote?

How would a one-legged stripper from Las Vegas vote?

How would a disaffected high school senior whose favorite band is The Killers vote?

How would the scion of a wealthy southern family vote?





These are the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves as we make our calculations.

It's often subterranean, I suppose.

Subconscious.

Other times, it's right at the surface.

However it happens, it would appear to be a natural human egoic tendency to identify ourselves as a part of some sort of group.

Even if we're anti-group and anti-community and staunchly independent and this is what we pride ourselves on, we're still susceptible to this kind of mind-based group identity. In this particular case, we would see ourselves as part of the anti-group group. The staunchly independent group that prides itself on not being a part of any particular group.

(With thanks to the late Bill Hicks, such individuals might easily be members of the People Who Hate People Party.)






How would a novelist and community college teacher from Los Angeles vote?

(For Obama. Maybe McCain.)






I'm probably as guilty of it as anyone.

I'm sure this kind of thing has informed my decision-making process thus far.

I'm sure I see myself as a member of "writer" group or "teacher" group or even "non-group group."

My guess is that 99.9 percent of us are probably susceptible to this kind of thing in one way or the other.

Who among us really knows what the fuck is going on?







I went to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where I got my undergraduate degree.

Living in a place like Boulder at the age of, say, eighteen or nineteen, almost certainly had an impact on my political worldview.

Ditto for living in Los Angeles.

Then again, I was raised by traditional Southern parents in the ultra-conservative Midwestern suburbs.

An overwhelming majority of my family could be classified as conservative.

Somehow I wound up with a more progressive bent.





Where you live would appear to matter.

Your environment would appear to matter.

Unless, of course, you're a member of the I'm a staunchly independent thinker who reflexively operates in defiance of the general intellectual tendencies of the vast majority of the sheep people in my environment group.





What happens in your life would appear to matter.






If you want to get people to do something (even that which may fly in the face of their own best interest), get them to feel like a part of a group.

All political campaigns aspire to create this kind of feeling among voters.

They want you to pick a team, to feel like a part of the team.

They want you to put a sign in your yard.





This is how the Manson Family operated.






Perhaps a more obvious and widespread example of this kind of psychology at work would involve the military.

Talk about operating in defiance of your own best personal interest.

There's a selflessness involved in military service that is intrinsic to the whole operation.

Some of it is admirable; some of it is necessary; some of it is brutal and destructive.

There's a reason why all (male) soldiers have to shave their heads.

And why they all dress exactly the same.

And why they all chant together, and march together, and eat together, and so on.

Military psychology is designed to elevate the group identity while pretty much obliterating any vestiges of independent identity or independent thought. It's a sophisticated system in a lotta ways. An incredibly effective design, developed over centuries and across cultures.

Victory hangs in the balance.

Survival hangs in the balance.

For a military unit to be effective at killing and defeating its opponent in battle, its soldiers must be absolutely committed to the group identity.




It's weird when you think about it:

The vast majority of violence and atrocity in human history has not been inflicted by criminals or lunatics, but rather by ordinary, everyday people operating in the service of a group identity, a collective ego.





-BL



PS. What group are you in?


Currently listening :
Remain in Light
By Talking Heads
Release date: By 25 October, 1990

Hair As Empowerment

Funny, I never thought of Glamour magazine as a magazine of empowerment. I read the article from Glamour magazine about how Black women are judged by their appearance, particularly their hair. I believe this could be said of all women, really. I think women are judged more on their appearance in the business world and actually any arena where there is opportunity for success.
It used to be that women thought they had to dress more like a man to be taken seriously in the work world. It is probably still true to some degree even though it may have relaxed somewhat. Professional still equates hair and wardrobe that are conservative and not too personal or individual to most people. There are some occupations where some creativity is allowed. But if a woman goes too far she risks , at the least, not being taken seriously. Hair is always a big issue with women and we always like to express ourselves with our hair. Maybe this is one of the first things people notice, it is on the top of your head. I can see how it could be a political statement also.
I have never noticed men being judged as harshly on their appearance as women. Why do you think this is? Or do you think men are judged just as harshly?

Big Star

I had to do an informative speech in Oral Communication. And it had to be from an objective viewpoint, in other words, just the facts. I really had a hard time coming up with a topic. I finally decided I would talk about something I know because that seemed like it would be easier to research.
I did not want to do another serious topic and music is something I love so I decided to talk on the lengendary Memphis band, Big Star. The speech focused on why they are such a huge influence on alternative rock but basically never made it as a commercial success. A lot of bands never make it but Big Star still had a impact on music history.
When people mention Memphis music, you think of rockabilly and the blues and soul But through Big Star, Memphis music history can also place a claim as city where Alternative Rock had beginnings. Their music was closer to music from the British Invasion than blues, soul or rockabilly. But Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, Andy Hummel and Alex Chilton grew up in Memphis so all those genres were also reflected in their songs. They took their name from the grocery store chain. Their was a Big Star across the street on National where they recorded at Ardent Studios.
They made three albums at Ardent Recording , #1 Record, Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers. These first three albums influenced musicians and bands such as REM, The Replacements, Jeff Buckley, The dB's, The Posies and on and on. The Replacements even wrote a song called simply "Alex Chilton". Alex was also a member of The Boxtops, he and Chris Bell were the main songwriters. Chris left after the first album at the end of 1972. Some say he was jealous of all the attention Alex received. Who knows? He died in a car crash in 1978 and became on the rock legends.
Their jangly Power Pop was infectious, it was never marketed properly though. They had a distribution deal with Stax. Stax just did not know how to market them.
Their song, " In The Street " was chosen as the teme song for "That 70's Show", it lyrics represented to the makers of that show the feel of young America in the 70's. So the the influence of Big Star stretched even further out. Cheap Trick (another band who were under the influence) were recruited to record a new version for the show. So that is not the Big Star version you hear.
In recent years Big Star came together once more to do some dates. The band contained Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and two of The Posies , Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. The two Posies fit right in. According to Alex, it was never intended as a reunion, but after a record company offered them some money to do a live album, that is what it became. They put out a new studio album, "In Space" in 2005. Not my favorite Big Star album, but it has some moments.
If you are a Modern Rock fan of such bands as The Decemberists, you can thank Big Star.And while you are at it, if you are not familiar with them, go ahead and check them out. They are part of Memphis's rich music history and a darn good rock band.