Wired responds to Barack Obama's iPod playlist being outed in Rolling Stone magazine
The thought of a President who publicly acknowledges a fondness for Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane is sweet indeed. Certainly Bill Clinton made vague gestures toward being hip, and he did reinstate Jazz on the Whitehouse Lawn (anyone have a transcription of his All Blues solo?)but can Bill ever be forgiven for Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow? More apropos, it turns out, for Clinton's tenure would have been Cecil Taylor's One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye, but that's another story.
The true Presidential hero of the music was of course Jimmy Carter. Imagine Cecil Taylor anywhere near the Whitehouse, let alone being hosted as an honored guest and performer. Imagine John McCain's iPod playlist, or GW Bush's for that matter. Lee Greenwood is easy to make fun of, I know, but how sad is it that most of the old white guys to whom we repeatedly see fit to hand the reins of power are absolutely ignorant of one of the greatest cultural contributions the US has ever made to the world?
An open plea to Mr. Obama, should he get elected: please immediately remove this man and revamp this curriculum, with much less Marsalis sauce. Thanks!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Friday, June 06, 2008
local color
Things remain cactoid in the neighborhood. I'm proud of my radio show, every Thursday from 1-3 Mountain Time, (you can stream it from KSFR) and I'm proud that I taught a bunch of art school students Algebra 1 for an entire year and didn't kill anyone (including myself). I'm proud of a lot of things, like any good American.
I'm proud I might be interviewing Pharaoh Sanders in advance of his NM Jazz Fest appearance. I'm proud to know amazing, creative, risk-taking, innovative musicians, artists and performers, and to have had the opportunity to work with some of them.
But mostly, like the crazy MF I am, I'm proud of my cacti. Go figure.
Echinocereus berlandieri (tagged as "blanckii," but that's a long and twisted story for another time):
Leuchtenbergia principis, crazy long tubercles and a big Ferocactus flower:
Mammillaria guelzowiana (used to be Krainzia or the even better Phellosperma guelzowiana):
Night-flowering Discocactus (yeah, disco, like Stayin' Alive) buenekeri:
Obregonia denegrii, nice flower, plant like a mutant artichoke:
Thelocactus bicolor ssp. bolaensis
Onward into high summer here, including very exciting 90 degree nighttime lows. We'll see whether or not everything just melts.
I'm proud I might be interviewing Pharaoh Sanders in advance of his NM Jazz Fest appearance. I'm proud to know amazing, creative, risk-taking, innovative musicians, artists and performers, and to have had the opportunity to work with some of them.
But mostly, like the crazy MF I am, I'm proud of my cacti. Go figure.
Echinocereus berlandieri (tagged as "blanckii," but that's a long and twisted story for another time):
Leuchtenbergia principis, crazy long tubercles and a big Ferocactus flower:
Mammillaria guelzowiana (used to be Krainzia or the even better Phellosperma guelzowiana):
Night-flowering Discocactus (yeah, disco, like Stayin' Alive) buenekeri:
Obregonia denegrii, nice flower, plant like a mutant artichoke:
Thelocactus bicolor ssp. bolaensis
Onward into high summer here, including very exciting 90 degree nighttime lows. We'll see whether or not everything just melts.
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