Firsties! So, "Family Guy" was nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmys, but "Eastbound and Down" was not. Did you know you have to pay to be nominated for an Emmy?
...And I HATE Family Guy. I wish it wasn't the first animated show to be nominated, it really should have been the Simpsons (YEARS ago, but still). I don't usually like South Park but I think their brutal takedown of Family Guy was among one of my favorite episodes of theirs, it just demonstrated everything I don't like about that show. The randomness, the constant asides, the reliance on strings of pop culture without a story line, the unnecessary and worse unfunny crudeness. My apologies to anyone that is a fan of the show, my rant is over....
Clearly you don't lebecka. You see, Quagmire is a horny guy, and so obviously it's so funny that he tries so hard to have sex with someone that resorts to committing a despicable crime.
McFarland is sick of everyone saying he stole from the Simpsons (and all that annoying proof that's on the youtube) so it makes perfect sense that he'd continue the pattern of extremely un-ironic, non-sensical, and unintelligent sexist themes throughout his show to teach all of us a lesson: that since his show is more outlandish, it's somehow funnier.
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I hope my sarcasm was clear earlier, but if not, let me just say it out right: McFarland isn't funny, he's a bad plagiarist, and the Marge stunt was pretty much the last straw for me. He may very well be worse for media than Murdoch himself. I hope he goes down hard.
I AM SO GLAD there are other people in the world who hate this show! I can't tell most of my friends or acquaintances that I dislike this show without them telling me to get a sense of humor, which just makes so mad. Dammit, I have a sense of humor, but I can't get past the utter revolting-ness of Family Guy. Just thinking about some of the episodes makes me want to throw up. In T.I.'s immortal words, I pray for patience, but they make me want to melt they face away.
I find 'Family Guy' painfully unfunny. Dragonflyingash is right. After that South Park episode, it is nearly impossible to watch it. It just destroyed it.
That's how I think of family guy. It always sort of struck me as an animated All in the Family. I don't know if that's what seth McFarlane was trying to do but that was my impression.
It's funny, this is what everyone is bitching about with the Emmy's today. Not something that got snubbed, but the fact that fucking "Family Guy" got a nomination. Which is heartening, I'm glad that people hate that show as much as I do.
"I got the fame, the money, the jewels, the cash, the esca-denali. Gettin' drunk on the reg, good times on the reg, yachts on the reg, sex on the reg."
"Listen here you beautiful bitch cuz I'm about to fuck your head up with some truth"
There are too many to count, but let it be known I am a woman with a mind like a fucking scientist. Just found this, almost forgot about it...
Ashley Schaeffer: I had a dream about this moment... When I was making love... to my wife Donna. On top a her; powerful thrusts, filling the sultry night air. Heavy breath. My son Gabriel walked in, little boy. My wife sprung out of bed and said "No, Gabriel! Leave!" And I said "No, honey, shut your mouth, let him watch." Let him watch what is being consecrated here. And I want the people to watch what is going to be consecrated here. And I will bring my son down here, and he will watch.
The first season of "The Office" only had six episodes as well, it's not unheard of. TV series used to have extremely long seasons but now the trend is towards shorter seasons initially. I give credit to the people who produced it that they were able to make six episodes with so much impact.
Yeah, well, it helped that they were doing a dumbed-down remake of a brilliant UK show, so they had twelve episodes (plus the Christmas specials) from which to pilfer.
If it's so stupid then why did Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant write an episode in the third season? I get it, you're so much smarter and cooler than everyone else because you like the British version of something better than the American one.
And I can't help but feel that doing anything by email these days is almost old-school, and quaint. Dude didn't text it? Didn't tweet it to his followers? He's a paragon of virtue!
(On the other hand, he also apparently said this on the radio: "I'm not gay. That could be further from the truth." So the underlying homophobia + the incorrect use of the language [so it could be further from the truth? So, like, maybe you actually are a little gay?] render him a bit less paragon-y).
Have you heard him talk? His voice sounds, well, less manly than most NBA players. Not that vocal pitch and intonation are determinate, but I guess I can see why he mentioned it?
This almost seems too gossipy at this point, but he mentioned it because there were rumors in the paper about it. I will say that the starting SF for the San Antonio Spurs in 2009 sounds like a great option for the first openly gay athlete.
Because I write about African music, I recieve review cds in the mail. Recently, I recieved a complete knockout. I know most here are of the hip hop persuasion. But for those of you who are jazz buffs, I would like to recommend Kelenia by reed-player Israeli New Yorker Oran Etkin (especially love the bass clarinet on these) and his band, Kelenia (a Bambara word for love between people who are different from one another), which includes a Malian balaphonist, a Malian calabash (percussion) player, and NYC stand up bassist, Joe Sanders. Etkin is a phenomenal composer--his musical vocabulary covers the globe, classically trained, playing jazz since his early teens. This is the best African Jazz fusion recording, I have heard this year, the African instrumentation covered by masters and apropos. Etkin's website is www.oranetkin.com; there's a tune on the home page that will give you some flavor, and if you browse the site, there are some videos. The band plays in NYC, so those of you who live there can see them live. African-Jazz comfort food.
And I have a nerd observation: Kelen means one in Bambara, so perhaps Kelenia means two come together as one in love? Or some such. Anyone rock the Bamanankan out there?
Did you catch that re-release of Babatunde Olatunji's Drums of Passion? I pretty much fell in love with it immediately, I hadn't heard but one song by him.
It really reminded of me of Yoko Kanno for some reason. She is one composer who seems to be able to replicate the fusion sounds of that time period really well - I love what she did with the Cowboy Bebop sdtks.
And have you heard Rokia Traore's new album Tchamantche? I still haven't gotten my hands on it, so I haven't heard it yet. I loved Bowmboi to tiny pieces.
I do a slot on the local college station and we got Tchamantche in a few weeks ago. It's beautiful, definitely worth picking up. Oumou Sangare's got a new one out too that's also good.
For those of you who like Rokia Traore or Oumou Sangare, you might want to check out Mamani Keita's 2006 release, Yelema.
Also the Sangare release is produced by the Quincy Jones of Mali, Cheick Tidiane Seck, who had his fingerprints on (one of his generation's great Malian griots) Kasse Mady Diabate's latest release Mandan Djeli Kan and just last year come out with a killer release of his own, Sabaly. Also this year from Universal Music France, better than either of those, Ousmane Kouyate, Salif Keita's solo guitarist, released Dabola--one virtuoso track after another.
Right now, I'm listening to Niyo, a cd that will be released on the World Village label in August, by Mamadou Barry, former leader of one of Guinea's great heyday bands, Kaloum Star, Strong and solid, big West African dance band orchestrations and rhythms.
Also hook on Sangare's first track, by the spectacular Senufo balaphonist Neba Solo--here's a link to one of his better numbers, Mussow--beats that cannot be broken by bombs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqeZArkJ70
Fantasy author Jim Hines is auctioning off a signed preview copy of his upcoming book Mermaid's Madness to benefit the National Coalition against Domestic Violence. I've heard great things about his books, so check it out.
Has anyone heard anything about Brian Sanderson's first WOT book? Not to be that guy but I think it comes out in november and I'm wondering if it will be up to snuff.
Speaking of Emmy Nominations, I was glad to see Dianne Weist Nominated for best supporting actress In Treatment, but I wish Sharon Gless had been nominated for Burn Notice.
did anyone catch the NYTimes op-ed on behalf of the Sioux nation(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/opinion/16abourezk.html?ref=todayspaper), do we think that the Prez will return the love that he got from our tribal peeps at the polls or will he do them like pale-face Clinton did?
@ Dmf our tribal peeps? are you enrolled somewhere?
President Obama got a lot of love because he was adopted into the Crow tribe. It was a big deal when he went to Crow (no racial slights intended the town is called Crow Agency and most people refer to it as Crow). No offense to the article you posted but a lot of reservations have that type of rule in effect. Mostly because a lot of them are dry. A dry reservation has its own peculiarities. Where I grew up is the only place I've ever been where people drink lysol and aquanet hairspray. Part of the reason is because the res is dry. On the other side of things a wet reservation has a whole other set of problems to deal with.
There's a reason I call the state of Indians in america American Apartheid, but that's another story.
No because that's what it is. The "Homelands" resemble reservations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, has its own law enforcement, and education system. I don't have time to go into all the details till after work but I grew up with it and I'm convinced.
I can't get in a car and drive anywhere, anymore, without thinking about what the American landscape must have looked like well before colonization, or even 100 years ago, and then I never fail to get totally overwhelmed by the thought of the insane changes this continent, and the native peoples, have been through. It seriously blows my fucking mind, every time, and makes a part of me deeply sad. It's like turning a prayer wheel in my head every time I go anywhere - I just keep pushing it and pushing it round and round.
I've been reading 1491 by Charles Mann and it is blowing my mind. I started crying reading it, with sadness and recognition. I have the same "car driving" experience as you do. And of for me, a sense of total loss when I look at my family, knowing full well we are of European and indegenous Mesoamerican heritage, and I see that mixture of features in my own face, and yet I knwo that indigenous cultural and historical connection is completely gone from my life.
I was at work once ( i work with the public ) and a woman asked me if I was "indian." I didn't say yes or no. The full anser would've been sort complex so I just said "i'm of mexican heritage." It was simpler that way. She looked a little sad and gave me a wane smile, when I gave her that answer. She said she had hoped I was like her.
no I grew up with and spent many hours playing lacrosse with folks from the Onondaga Nation and later got a lot of therapy referrals from those childhood connections so I have some understanding and much love for the 1st people of my parent's chosen home town. and my wife is from nebraska so i have spent some time in those lands. i didn't think of the article as a panacea but it was good to see some national press attention being brought to bear on these kinds of matters. yes absolutely america's apartheid as a continuing extension of america's attempted total genocide. these are heavy blood debts and i hope that there is some real attempt made at bringing some peace and respect to your people and the other tribes.
They aren't my people either. Unless being raised around them for most of your upbringing counts. I apreciate the thought, but, my dad moved to the res to teach when I was 9 and till I graduated from highschool I was there. I grew up with native americans I know a few words, some hymns, have many unconscious ways of thinking that aren't white despite my blonde hair and blue eyes. I haven't been adopted either so that's out.
I was just curious because you seem to care and a lot of people don't.
Joke for the day I was first called a Vehoe when I was 9 years old, which is cheyenne for bastilla, (ma-ish-ta-shee-da), which is crow for washichu, which is Sioux for "why the fuck did you take our land?"
i see your bits of language here and there led me to ass-u-me that's 'knowing' people on-line i suppose. i went to city schools with kids whose parents lived at least part-time (lots of folks always going in and out not unlike in that sense the PR and Dominican kids whose families would come and go we never knew who would be around day to day) on the rez so i first came to care about these people as my friends and their families and as i got older and understood more of the politics, some nasty ongoing land-claim battles still going on, it became something that i studied more and got more directly involved in. always struck me as odd when at school
i would hear people protesting about south africa or at temple talking about never again to genocide with no recognition of the ongoing struggles of the peoples right here and now. maybe this conversation is a sign of that changing let's hope so for all our sakes.
Lets hope so.
In some respects its incedibly hard being the product of two cultures. It may seem strange but I do feel from time to time that I'm "passing" in white society, but that's another story.
yeah being from a family who on one side had immigrant grandparents from italy and norway, talk about culture clash, who met married and raised kids in the bronx, and on the other side had a sephardic, of portuguese ancestry, via holland marries a waspy english/french woman flappergirl, and both are pretty much disowned for it so when he died at 40 she and her kids moved into projects in PA, plus being an academic-brat (with grad students from all over the world around for the holidays) in city schools, i know something about being in-between worlds. but my sense is that this kind of alienation is becoming less of a problem for the coming generations as many of the kids that i see don't feel these kinds of tensions in the same way and see all cultural options as live/possible ones. many people see this as the death/end of certain cultures but this is to ignore how fluid cultures (to the degree that there has ever been such a commonality) have always been.
The architects of Apartheid actually researched and modeled the "bantustans" on the Canadian reservation system, I believe. So no surprise to see plenty of ugly parallels in the US system, too.
Posted this a couple threads back, don't know if anyone saw it. I'd be interested in getting people's opinion on this treatment of MLK's "I have a dream" speech. Quality? Repesctful? Awesome? Pointless? Warping?
And a follow-up: do your answers change if the people who made it were white vs. black?
It's funny - I've seen teachers that want to use that video in their classrooms, and a lot of people defending it as a "new way to view the speech for a younger generation" but I can't help feeling like too much of the original feel is missing or distorted.
I think "travesty" might be too far though. It's a pretty good song.
If this is a new way for a younger generation to view this speech, then they are missing out hearing the voice of one of the greatest orators of all time. MLK's voice itself is so inspirational, I cannot imagine why kids would need his speech spoon fed to them in the form of a song. Whatever. I am aware that I am old and cranky.
Sotomayor hearings are over. Addendum questions tomorrow, but the core session has been concluded. I tuned in, which I'm sad to admit I rarely do, preferring the distillations of favored sources. I have to admit I was compelled by a fair amount of what Tom Coburn had to say about the Constitution and balance of power. It was educational Then Sessions came back on at the end and was a total boob, heaving around stacks of internet printouts from orgs that don't like Sotomayor, including the hack rewriting of the 5-4 Ricci decision as a 9-0 against Sotomayor's judgment. It was pathetic.
I beg you all to go and listen to this incredible interview that Glenn Greenwald did this morning with NBC's Chuck Todd. Glenn was asking Todd about comment's he'd made on "Morning Joe" dismissing possible investigations of Bush officials over torture as "cable catnip."
I was stunned throughout this whole thing. Glenn often attacks media obsequiousness, but to actually hear a prominent figure reverently defend government talking points is another thing. Todd's whole demeanor throughout this interview, and his complete huh? what? response toward the rather simple point that Glenn is making (i.e., in a democratic system, is it that when officials openly violate the law, they be prosecuted)tells you so much about the complacency of media in this country, and the unimaginable deference toward authority that journalists have internalized. Moreover, Todd's annoyance that the "blogosphere" is making such a big deal about potential violations of the U.S. Constitution and a number of international treaties completely reaffirmed why bloggers are so essential.
Btw, when you're trying to discreetly post a comment on a blog at work, you make mistakes. The stuff in the parentheses is supposed to read, (i.e. in a democratic system, when officials openly violate the law, they ought to be prosecuted).
Question for TNC: Have you done any family history/ genealogical research to see where your own ancestors came from and what they were up to? I know that for a lot of african americans, there isn't much by way of records until fairly recently. But that's not universal, and if you haven't gotten into it, it might be worth doing some digging. It's not as hard as it used to be- sites like ancestry.com make it pretty easy, with census records and military records and all that kind of stuff easily searchable.
Many of the comments below the piece are pretty flippant and dismissive of history (even if removed by only a few decades) or past words, as if they have no bearing on what happens today. I imagine these are the people Pat Buchanan was speaking to in that Hardball bit TNC posted. There's a denial of cause and effect. A denial of culpability. If they truly had to examine history, their world might come crashing down.
The head of the Black Chamber of Commerce today accused Sen. Boxer (D.-CA) of racial politics, because during a hearing on climate change, the senator referenced a recent NAACP report on the subject which supports her views. The Black Chamber head, called her out, saying that the NAACP had nothing to do with climate change or green jobs and the only reason she was, inappropriately in his view, inserting the org. into the hearing was because he was also Black.
I think the dude may have had a point, if he was the head of the Chamber of Commerce, who happened to be Black, or head of an anti-climate change org. who happened to be Black, but he's the head of the BLACK Chamber of Commerce, a national association with presumably the advancement of at least some "colored people" high on its agenda. Citing the NAACP's differences with the Black Chamber of Commerce seems to me appropriate in this circumstance.
On the Emmy discussion, up thread, all I can say is "Flight of the Concords" should have been nominated for every episode of their first season!
Here's a piece no one cared about. Meh, whatever, probably the most enjoyable article I did during my stint at TIME. Premiered a month before I got laid-off. The nail in the coffin? Ya think?
Here's me going after Al. I didn't so much have a problem with him, as I had a problem with media acting like this dude was the go-to guy for everything black.
This was my first real story at time. I was writing for the Business section, a real change of direction for me. At any rate, it's about Wal-Mart's attempts to colonize the inner-city. As much as I enjoyed this piece, I mostly enjoyed going out to Chicago, which is a beautiful, beautiful city.
This a piece I did about the cops just outside our nation capitol, in Prince George's County, a few years back. I wanted to offer a counter to the dumb, conventional wisdom that if you paint your police force black, you could eradicate police brutality. In fact, Prince George's--one of the richest, blackest counties in the country--also had one of the most brutal police force's in the country.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Firsties! So, "Family Guy" was nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmys, but "Eastbound and Down" was not. Did you know you have to pay to be nominated for an Emmy?
...And I HATE Family Guy. I wish it wasn't the first animated show to be nominated, it really should have been the Simpsons (YEARS ago, but still). I don't usually like South Park but I think their brutal takedown of Family Guy was among one of my favorite episodes of theirs, it just demonstrated everything I don't like about that show. The randomness, the constant asides, the reliance on strings of pop culture without a story line, the unnecessary and worse unfunny crudeness. My apologies to anyone that is a fan of the show, my rant is over....
You're totally right. And don't forget the sexism. Ugh.
They showed Quagmire mock-raping Marge during an episode. Hilarious!
Seriously, someone stop McFarland. Hell, stop the Emmy's.
Wow, Dan, it sounds so funny. Maybe i just don't get the joke?
Clearly you don't lebecka. You see, Quagmire is a horny guy, and so obviously it's so funny that he tries so hard to have sex with someone that resorts to committing a despicable crime.
McFarland is sick of everyone saying he stole from the Simpsons (and all that annoying proof that's on the youtube) so it makes perfect sense that he'd continue the pattern of extremely un-ironic, non-sensical, and unintelligent sexist themes throughout his show to teach all of us a lesson: that since his show is more outlandish, it's somehow funnier.
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I hope my sarcasm was clear earlier, but if not, let me just say it out right: McFarland isn't funny, he's a bad plagiarist, and the Marge stunt was pretty much the last straw for me. He may very well be worse for media than Murdoch himself. I hope he goes down hard.
I AM SO GLAD there are other people in the world who hate this show! I can't tell most of my friends or acquaintances that I dislike this show without them telling me to get a sense of humor, which just makes so mad. Dammit, I have a sense of humor, but I can't get past the utter revolting-ness of Family Guy. Just thinking about some of the episodes makes me want to throw up. In T.I.'s immortal words, I pray for patience, but they make me want to melt they face away.
Family Guy is the shit! I love both Family Guy and South Park.
Jumping on the bandwagon. My problem with it is the lack of plot. It's just one gross joke and vulgar reference after another.
I find 'Family Guy' painfully unfunny. Dragonflyingash is right. After that South Park episode, it is nearly impossible to watch it. It just destroyed it.
And no "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" either.
The animated Archie Bunker show was nominated for an emmy?
Wow.
Archie Bunker was way funnier. And thirty years ago.
That's how I think of family guy. It always sort of struck me as an animated All in the Family. I don't know if that's what seth McFarlane was trying to do but that was my impression.
It's funny, this is what everyone is bitching about with the Emmy's today. Not something that got snubbed, but the fact that fucking "Family Guy" got a nomination. Which is heartening, I'm glad that people hate that show as much as I do.
Also, Holloway got hosed.
Eastbound is amazing.
Do you have any favorite Powerisms?
"Fundamentals are a crutch for the talentless"
"I got the fame, the money, the jewels, the cash, the esca-denali. Gettin' drunk on the reg, good times on the reg, yachts on the reg, sex on the reg."
"Listen here you beautiful bitch cuz I'm about to fuck your head up with some truth"
There are too many to count, but let it be known I am a woman with a mind like a fucking scientist. Just found this, almost forgot about it...
Ashley Schaeffer: I had a dream about this moment... When I was making love... to my wife Donna. On top a her; powerful thrusts, filling the sultry night air. Heavy breath. My son Gabriel walked in, little boy. My wife sprung out of bed and said "No, Gabriel! Leave!" And I said "No, honey, shut your mouth, let him watch." Let him watch what is being consecrated here. And I want the people to watch what is going to be consecrated here. And I will bring my son down here, and he will watch.
I love Eastbound and Down, but should a six episode season really count? They only produced like 2.5-3 hours of content. That's a long movie.
The first season of "The Office" only had six episodes as well, it's not unheard of. TV series used to have extremely long seasons but now the trend is towards shorter seasons initially. I give credit to the people who produced it that they were able to make six episodes with so much impact.
That's a strong point. And damn those shows were funny.
Yeah, well, it helped that they were doing a dumbed-down remake of a brilliant UK show, so they had twelve episodes (plus the Christmas specials) from which to pilfer.
If it's so stupid then why did Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant write an episode in the third season? I get it, you're so much smarter and cooler than everyone else because you like the British version of something better than the American one.
Did anyone see that Richard Jefferson called off his marriage via e-mail. This wasn't just reported, he actually said that in an interview.
I did catch that! I read an article in the NY Post via HuffPo; apparently he did it 2 hours before the ceremony was supposed to start.
The article also mentioned that he had an AmEx black card; didn't know they handed those out to any pseudo-stars...
Astonishingly, I actually know something about this.
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that it was not within hours of the ceremony. http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2009/07/richard_jefferson_sets_the_rec.html
And I can't help but feel that doing anything by email these days is almost old-school, and quaint. Dude didn't text it? Didn't tweet it to his followers? He's a paragon of virtue!
(On the other hand, he also apparently said this on the radio: "I'm not gay. That could be further from the truth." So the underlying homophobia + the incorrect use of the language [so it could be further from the truth? So, like, maybe you actually are a little gay?] render him a bit less paragon-y).
Have you heard him talk? His voice sounds, well, less manly than most NBA players. Not that vocal pitch and intonation are determinate, but I guess I can see why he mentioned it?
This almost seems too gossipy at this point, but he mentioned it because there were rumors in the paper about it. I will say that the starting SF for the San Antonio Spurs in 2009 sounds like a great option for the first openly gay athlete.
Because I write about African music, I recieve review cds in the mail. Recently, I recieved a complete knockout. I know most here are of the hip hop persuasion. But for those of you who are jazz buffs, I would like to recommend Kelenia by reed-player Israeli New Yorker Oran Etkin (especially love the bass clarinet on these) and his band, Kelenia (a Bambara word for love between people who are different from one another), which includes a Malian balaphonist, a Malian calabash (percussion) player, and NYC stand up bassist, Joe Sanders. Etkin is a phenomenal composer--his musical vocabulary covers the globe, classically trained, playing jazz since his early teens. This is the best African Jazz fusion recording, I have heard this year, the African instrumentation covered by masters and apropos. Etkin's website is www.oranetkin.com; there's a tune on the home page that will give you some flavor, and if you browse the site, there are some videos. The band plays in NYC, so those of you who live there can see them live. African-Jazz comfort food.
Let's see if this directly links you:
http://www.oranetkin.com/
Thanks, can't wait to check it out!
And I have a nerd observation: Kelen means one in Bambara, so perhaps Kelenia means two come together as one in love? Or some such. Anyone rock the Bamanankan out there?
Did you catch that re-release of Babatunde Olatunji's Drums of Passion? I pretty much fell in love with it immediately, I hadn't heard but one song by him.
It really reminded of me of Yoko Kanno for some reason. She is one composer who seems to be able to replicate the fusion sounds of that time period really well - I love what she did with the Cowboy Bebop sdtks.
And have you heard Rokia Traore's new album Tchamantche? I still haven't gotten my hands on it, so I haven't heard it yet. I loved Bowmboi to tiny pieces.
I do a slot on the local college station and we got Tchamantche in a few weeks ago. It's beautiful, definitely worth picking up. Oumou Sangare's got a new one out too that's also good.
For those of you who like Rokia Traore or Oumou Sangare, you might want to check out Mamani Keita's 2006 release, Yelema.
Also the Sangare release is produced by the Quincy Jones of Mali, Cheick Tidiane Seck, who had his fingerprints on (one of his generation's great Malian griots) Kasse Mady Diabate's latest release Mandan Djeli Kan and just last year come out with a killer release of his own, Sabaly. Also this year from Universal Music France, better than either of those, Ousmane Kouyate, Salif Keita's solo guitarist, released Dabola--one virtuoso track after another.
Right now, I'm listening to Niyo, a cd that will be released on the World Village label in August, by Mamadou Barry, former leader of one of Guinea's great heyday bands, Kaloum Star, Strong and solid, big West African dance band orchestrations and rhythms.
Also hook on Sangare's first track, by the spectacular Senufo balaphonist Neba Solo--here's a link to one of his better numbers, Mussow--beats that cannot be broken by bombs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqeZArkJ70
Fantasy author Jim Hines is auctioning off a signed preview copy of his upcoming book Mermaid's Madness to benefit the National Coalition against Domestic Violence. I've heard great things about his books, so check it out.
Has anyone heard anything about Brian Sanderson's first WOT book? Not to be that guy but I think it comes out in november and I'm wondering if it will be up to snuff.
Speaking of Emmy Nominations, I was glad to see Dianne Weist Nominated for best supporting actress In Treatment, but I wish Sharon Gless had been nominated for Burn Notice.
did anyone catch the NYTimes op-ed on behalf of the Sioux nation(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/opinion/16abourezk.html?ref=todayspaper), do we think that the Prez will return the love that he got from our tribal peeps at the polls or will he do them like pale-face Clinton did?
@ Dmf our tribal peeps? are you enrolled somewhere?
President Obama got a lot of love because he was adopted into the Crow tribe. It was a big deal when he went to Crow (no racial slights intended the town is called Crow Agency and most people refer to it as Crow). No offense to the article you posted but a lot of reservations have that type of rule in effect. Mostly because a lot of them are dry. A dry reservation has its own peculiarities. Where I grew up is the only place I've ever been where people drink lysol and aquanet hairspray. Part of the reason is because the res is dry. On the other side of things a wet reservation has a whole other set of problems to deal with.
There's a reason I call the state of Indians in america American Apartheid, but that's another story.
There's a reason I call the state of Indians in america American Apartheid, but that's another story.
Is it because the old South African apartheid regime used to make the same comparison in order to head off criticism from Americans?
No because that's what it is. The "Homelands" resemble reservations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, has its own law enforcement, and education system. I don't have time to go into all the details till after work but I grew up with it and I'm convinced.
Oh, I agree. Just because Botha said it, doesn't mean it wasn't true.
I can't get in a car and drive anywhere, anymore, without thinking about what the American landscape must have looked like well before colonization, or even 100 years ago, and then I never fail to get totally overwhelmed by the thought of the insane changes this continent, and the native peoples, have been through. It seriously blows my fucking mind, every time, and makes a part of me deeply sad. It's like turning a prayer wheel in my head every time I go anywhere - I just keep pushing it and pushing it round and round.
I've been reading 1491 by Charles Mann and it is blowing my mind. I started crying reading it, with sadness and recognition. I have the same "car driving" experience as you do. And of for me, a sense of total loss when I look at my family, knowing full well we are of European and indegenous Mesoamerican heritage, and I see that mixture of features in my own face, and yet I knwo that indigenous cultural and historical connection is completely gone from my life.
I was at work once ( i work with the public ) and a woman asked me if I was "indian." I didn't say yes or no. The full anser would've been sort complex so I just said "i'm of mexican heritage." It was simpler that way. She looked a little sad and gave me a wane smile, when I gave her that answer. She said she had hoped I was like her.
no I grew up with and spent many hours playing lacrosse with folks from the Onondaga Nation and later got a lot of therapy referrals from those childhood connections so I have some understanding and much love for the 1st people of my parent's chosen home town. and my wife is from nebraska so i have spent some time in those lands. i didn't think of the article as a panacea but it was good to see some national press attention being brought to bear on these kinds of matters. yes absolutely america's apartheid as a continuing extension of america's attempted total genocide. these are heavy blood debts and i hope that there is some real attempt made at bringing some peace and respect to your people and the other tribes.
They aren't my people either. Unless being raised around them for most of your upbringing counts. I apreciate the thought, but, my dad moved to the res to teach when I was 9 and till I graduated from highschool I was there. I grew up with native americans I know a few words, some hymns, have many unconscious ways of thinking that aren't white despite my blonde hair and blue eyes. I haven't been adopted either so that's out.
I was just curious because you seem to care and a lot of people don't.
Joke for the day I was first called a Vehoe when I was 9 years old, which is cheyenne for bastilla, (ma-ish-ta-shee-da), which is crow for washichu, which is Sioux for "why the fuck did you take our land?"
I should phrase that differently about Native Americans not being my people. It's complicated. I didn't mean to sound shallow or dissmissive.
i see your bits of language here and there led me to ass-u-me that's 'knowing' people on-line i suppose. i went to city schools with kids whose parents lived at least part-time (lots of folks always going in and out not unlike in that sense the PR and Dominican kids whose families would come and go we never knew who would be around day to day) on the rez so i first came to care about these people as my friends and their families and as i got older and understood more of the politics, some nasty ongoing land-claim battles still going on, it became something that i studied more and got more directly involved in. always struck me as odd when at school
i would hear people protesting about south africa or at temple talking about never again to genocide with no recognition of the ongoing struggles of the peoples right here and now. maybe this conversation is a sign of that changing let's hope so for all our sakes.
Lets hope so.
In some respects its incedibly hard being the product of two cultures. It may seem strange but I do feel from time to time that I'm "passing" in white society, but that's another story.
yeah being from a family who on one side had immigrant grandparents from italy and norway, talk about culture clash, who met married and raised kids in the bronx, and on the other side had a sephardic, of portuguese ancestry, via holland marries a waspy english/french woman flappergirl, and both are pretty much disowned for it so when he died at 40 she and her kids moved into projects in PA, plus being an academic-brat (with grad students from all over the world around for the holidays) in city schools, i know something about being in-between worlds. but my sense is that this kind of alienation is becoming less of a problem for the coming generations as many of the kids that i see don't feel these kinds of tensions in the same way and see all cultural options as live/possible ones. many people see this as the death/end of certain cultures but this is to ignore how fluid cultures (to the degree that there has ever been such a commonality) have always been.
The architects of Apartheid actually researched and modeled the "bantustans" on the Canadian reservation system, I believe. So no surprise to see plenty of ugly parallels in the US system, too.
Oh and one more thing.
Apparently, Our president keeps his
promises.
I would be so happy if this lead to some real change. Fingers crossed.
One can hope. I don't know how much good it will do, but one can hope.
Posted this a couple threads back, don't know if anyone saw it. I'd be interested in getting people's opinion on this treatment of MLK's "I have a dream" speech. Quality? Repesctful? Awesome? Pointless? Warping?
And a follow-up: do your answers change if the people who made it were white vs. black?
Sorry if TNC already covered this.
Um, it's a travesty? No matter the color of the people who made it. Then again, I can be old-fashioned.
It's funny - I've seen teachers that want to use that video in their classrooms, and a lot of people defending it as a "new way to view the speech for a younger generation" but I can't help feeling like too much of the original feel is missing or distorted.
I think "travesty" might be too far though. It's a pretty good song.
If this is a new way for a younger generation to view this speech, then they are missing out hearing the voice of one of the greatest orators of all time. MLK's voice itself is so inspirational, I cannot imagine why kids would need his speech spoon fed to them in the form of a song. Whatever. I am aware that I am old and cranky.
Sotomayor hearings are over. Addendum questions tomorrow, but the core session has been concluded. I tuned in, which I'm sad to admit I rarely do, preferring the distillations of favored sources. I have to admit I was compelled by a fair amount of what Tom Coburn had to say about the Constitution and balance of power. It was educational Then Sessions came back on at the end and was a total boob, heaving around stacks of internet printouts from orgs that don't like Sotomayor, including the hack rewriting of the 5-4 Ricci decision as a 9-0 against Sotomayor's judgment. It was pathetic.
I beg you all to go and listen to this incredible interview that Glenn Greenwald did this morning with NBC's Chuck Todd. Glenn was asking Todd about comment's he'd made on "Morning Joe" dismissing possible investigations of Bush officials over torture as "cable catnip."
I was stunned throughout this whole thing. Glenn often attacks media obsequiousness, but to actually hear a prominent figure reverently defend government talking points is another thing. Todd's whole demeanor throughout this interview, and his complete huh? what? response toward the rather simple point that Glenn is making (i.e., in a democratic system, is it that when officials openly violate the law, they be prosecuted)tells you so much about the complacency of media in this country, and the unimaginable deference toward authority that journalists have internalized. Moreover, Todd's annoyance that the "blogosphere" is making such a big deal about potential violations of the U.S. Constitution and a number of international treaties completely reaffirmed why bloggers are so essential.
Run! Skip! Hop to it! It's the only thing that got me through work today. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/07/16/todd/index.html
Btw, when you're trying to discreetly post a comment on a blog at work, you make mistakes. The stuff in the parentheses is supposed to read, (i.e. in a democratic system, when officials openly violate the law, they ought to be prosecuted).
But you already knew that.
I can't believe you got away with listening to it at work... I've checked at least 10 times waiting for the transcript to be posted.
Question for TNC: Have you done any family history/ genealogical research to see where your own ancestors came from and what they were up to? I know that for a lot of african americans, there isn't much by way of records until fairly recently. But that's not universal, and if you haven't gotten into it, it might be worth doing some digging. It's not as hard as it used to be- sites like ancestry.com make it pretty easy, with census records and military records and all that kind of stuff easily searchable.
Anyone read the Richmond Times-Dispatch's apology for encouraging resistance to integration during the civil rights movement: http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/editorials/article/ED-MASS16_20090715-183204/280132/apologizing/P10/.
Many of the comments below the piece are pretty flippant and dismissive of history (even if removed by only a few decades) or past words, as if they have no bearing on what happens today. I imagine these are the people Pat Buchanan was speaking to in that Hardball bit TNC posted. There's a denial of cause and effect. A denial of culpability. If they truly had to examine history, their world might come crashing down.
The head of the Black Chamber of Commerce today accused Sen. Boxer (D.-CA) of racial politics, because during a hearing on climate change, the senator referenced a recent NAACP report on the subject which supports her views. The Black Chamber head, called her out, saying that the NAACP had nothing to do with climate change or green jobs and the only reason she was, inappropriately in his view, inserting the org. into the hearing was because he was also Black.
I think the dude may have had a point, if he was the head of the Chamber of Commerce, who happened to be Black, or head of an anti-climate change org. who happened to be Black, but he's the head of the BLACK Chamber of Commerce, a national association with presumably the advancement of at least some "colored people" high on its agenda. Citing the NAACP's differences with the Black Chamber of Commerce seems to me appropriate in this circumstance.
On the Emmy discussion, up thread, all I can say is "Flight of the Concords" should have been nominated for every episode of their first season!