Bonobo

He's playing Bowery and Music Hall of BK starting next weekend. I suggest going.


Here's an old, but incredible set. One of my favorite all time pieces of music.


And here's his new podcast from 3/24/10 with Ninjatune.

Finally

Reading this quote in the NYTIMES today makes me wonder why this thought wasn't the mantra from the get go:

“The government is seeking to persuade people to stay in their homes by aligning the mortgage debt with the asset value, which is the only viable path to real housing stability,” said one person who was briefed on the government’s plans.

After this program works/doesn't, and there are those who are finally deemed beyond help, I wonder how many houses will just be vacant, and for how long, in middle class neighborhoods.

This is going to last a long time.

From the outset it seems the concept of making sure people could pay their mortgages has been secondary to helping the banks, who in return have received 0% loans, and are not reinvesting enough TARP money back into the economy.

I forgot

I'm posting a lot today. 3 in a day is more than a month's total...


But I just came across TJ Kirk on my computer, and I totally forgot how unbelievable these guys were.


For those who do not know, TJ Kirk stands for: Thelonious, James Brown, Roland Kirk.


Some of it.

Book

So, the book is being mailed to people this week, I'm told.

Here's the cover.



Thanks for the support, and feel free to support me more :-)

I received one copy, which I sent to my parents in Florida. I asked for more, but apparently I wasn't contracted to receive any. "Furreal?"

"Yes, sorry, maybe I can send you like two or three..."

Health Care

Whichever way this thing bends, it is what it is.

What surprises me most is the oh-so-obvious non-reaction to Republicans who are against the bill, claiming it's a "bad bill...made in back rooms...", so they're wary of supporting it. Yet, they have never seemed to offer an alternative to the bill. No one ever asks them to do so. If they cared about health care for all you'd think they would have formulated a bill of their own, but of course the answer to this is obvious.

There was a nice article in the Philly Enquirer today about "luck", as it pertains to health, and those who are con.

There are those on the far right who are clear in their defiance to any health care bill, and that's fine. It's their right. It's those in the supposed middle which confuse me. For if President Obama was elected, partially based on his desire to enact sweeping health care legislation, one has to think there were those in the middle who wanted change, but are now against the bill. I say this because commentators and politicians keep citing numbers saying more than 50% of those polled are against "this bill." Maybe that's true, but when contrasted against the numbers citing nearly 70% wanted something to be done, one has to wonder what those other 20% are thinking? Don't they have representatives, and have they not asked/demanded them to come up with an alternative plan?

Alright, my bad, I want to bring us back to reality. The one which focuses on what is, and not the idea of politics for sport, which is just what this whole thing is about. It's just another part of the culture war, and I don't expect supposed Independents to do anything. The debates are run by the fringes, and I know this as well as anyone.

So anyway, the point is, one side wants health are for all, and one side doesn't. There are a few in between who just want to make sure they get re-elected, which is an argument for term limits...I'll leave that for another day, and leave you with this...



Thinking about the idea of sports as entertainment. Sports do nothing for fans but make you happy (maybe sad), and raise morale. In many ways people spend a lot of money on a seemingly useless thing, other than the mere entertainment of it all. To make a leap, I can say the fact I live in a country which supports everyones' health actually raises my morale because it makes me feel good about the thing/concept i'm supposed to feel greatest about: the idea of America as a great nation.

If it's worth paying all of this money on sports for entertainment, or anything else for that matter, I think to re-channel/configure your brain to realize the benefit of doing something good for others, for everyone, is a morale benefit that can hardly be overlooked, even if it seems oddly vague. It should certainly supercede the morale boost you get from watching your team win, no?

There's no scoreboard to point to, but in the end, most of us win when something like this happens.

The only losers in the equation are those who are against it, yet they will ironically be getting something for free, which they're oh-so against. When it comes to being a "free rider", it's hard to say which is worse, or more detrimental: the one who didn't pay for health benefits, or couldn't, or those who take credit for being part of a great nation years after being against an idea that makes it great. Whether it's work protections, Social Security, Medicare, a number of things, you can be sure a certain type of person sits on one side of the fence, and another on the other. It's consistent.

I'm sure many current conservatives, part of the lineage deriving from those against abolishing slavery, stand in front of congress often praising America as a land of opportunity for all...Not sure they should pat themselves on the back for that one, yet when it comes to praising America, no one does it more often, more publicly, or more clearly.

And that's the fucking irony...



(still not editing these days)