bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

Saturday, June 28, 2003

They played Dalliance...

... and I still can't believe it.

Cinerama, TT the Bears, Cambridge, MA, June 27th, 2003

posted by brad at 1:33 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Friday, June 27, 2003

A Minor Almanac Milestone : Puttin' on the Hits

On February 7th, 2000, in a fit of work-downtime and winter-boredom, this little old website was born. The long, slow death of my previous workplace led to the long, steady growth of the Almanac, and I took the blogger-plunge in July 2001.

By February of the following year, I was up to a modest 5,000 total hits on the site-counter... not a lot, sure, but not bad for someone who didn't feel comfortable telling other people about his online home.

Then something happened. From February 2002 to February 2003, I jumped from 5,000 hits up to 20,000. I had actually started feeling proud of the place, spreading the word, linking to friends, putting up more content. 15,000 hits in a year. I was kinda blown away.

So sometime last week, just four months later, it looks like I cruised by the 30,000 mark. That's something, right there.

So, yeah, thanks for surfin' by. I surely do appreciate it.

posted by brad at 4:51 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Review - TMBG's Gigantic : A Tale of Two Johns

On the last night of it's one week run at the Brattle Theater, I was able to check out the new They Might Be Giants documentary "Gigantic : A Tale of Two Johns." I was as much motivated by an escape into air-conditioned comfort as I was by the film's limited release, but either way, I'm pretty glad I made the solo trip.

The obligatory (and perhaps overly long) backstory : For about four years, maybe late '87 to early '92, I was a rabid TMBG fan. Possibly obsessive. Knew all the lyrics on the first couple records, called the Dial-A-Song service nearly every day for awhile (even bought a telephone recording adapter so I could make compilation tapes of the calls). When they started playing outside of NYC, I caught as many shows as I could, nervously shaking their hands after some, sayin' thanks. I tracked down bootlegs, bought all the merch, made collections of all the b-sides. I freaked out when Lincoln was released. Flood, too. I was in complete shock when they appeared on the Tonight Show. I was Mr. Horrible. Through college, as I went from early-alternative-boy, to goth-boy, to industrial-boy, back to alternative-boy, to indie-rock-boy, TMBG was always there.

Until 1992, when the love affair ended. I'm not sure exactly why, although it's probably not a coincidence that '92 marked their first tour with a backing band, rather than the two-guys-and-a-backing-tape action of their previous shows. To me, that was TMBG at their peak ... just the two of them, up on stage, jumping around, unlike any other band I'd ever seen. The accordian, the saxomaphone, the guitar, the Stick, the reel to reel, the songs. For me, up until Apollo 18, the songs were good enough to make up for any perceived 'lack of stage presence' that others saw.

The documentary addresses this subject very specifically, explaining that it was primarily outside forces (aka 'label/management folks/friends') who persuaded the Johns to find backing musicians. Nothing against the talent of the guys they got to play with them, but to my ears, they just never needed it. If anything, the two-man show was 'concentrated-Giants', and the full band just diluted their art. They became like so many bands before and after them... two guitars, bass, keys, drums. Granted, the sax and accordian stayed around, but it was never the same as those early, sweaty college shows.

Apparantly there were even fans who 'boycotted' the band from that point on, going as insanely far as standing outside shows with 'no band!' petitions. Yeesh. My reaction wasn't quite that strong, I just had too many other bands to discover, and not enough time to spend with one that I used to love so much more. (It also didn't help that my obsession with TMBG was shared with someone very close to me, and in '92 their sudden absence in my life made the early stuff TMBG stuff kinda hard to take. To this day, 'She's An Angel' is still a bittersweet listen.)

In 1995, I did something I never thought I'd do. I actually walked out of a TMBG concert. I hadn't heard 'em in years, hadn't seen the full band thing since that one time in '92, but they were playing in my freakin' hometown, at the big local theater on Main Street. Red carpet, red seats, red stage curtain, the whole deal. I mean, how could I not go? So a friend and I bought our tickets, sat down... and found ourselves apathetic. The memory of the old shows were just too strong... the energy, intensity, originality. I felt too uninvolved, sitting several rows back, the crowd so well-behaved, the band so distant and above us all on the massive stage. It happens. About halfway through the show, Mike and I just looked at each other with "I'm bored" written all over our faces. And so we left.

Flash forward to 2003. The Johns are still around, doing their thing, plugging away... I just haven't really been paying attention. Hell, I didn't even know they'd written the Daily Show's theme song, something I hear every single weekday (so technically, yes, I still listen to 'em, 20 seconds at a time). I nearly didn't go check out Gigantic, but the other day I was able to put myself back in the brain of the college-me. I can picture the former-me shaking the now-me, saying "but it's a They Might Be Giants movie! You used to LOVE them. It's playing at one of your favorite theaters. You owe it to me to go." And y'know, he was right. The band was a huge part of my life for awhile, and the songs still sit there somewhere in the back of my mind, waiting to get dusted off occasionally, nostalgically playing along with nothing but the best of memories. An evening of cinematic mental time-travel was in order.

So how was the thing? Well, I tried to look at it from both a former-fan's perspective and a "who the hell are these two guys?" perspective. Obviously you're going to get a hell of a lot more out of it if you have some appreciation for what the Johns have created together. It starts off slowly, however, with a bit of history on Honest Abe, leading to TMBG's hometown of Lincoln, Mass, then on to a few fairly obvious and uncomfortably delivered interview bits. Straight away we get some full-band live footage which, of course, didn't connect with me very well. After the first 15 minutes, I was enjoying the A/C more than the movie, but as soon as they dove into the early years, the dial-a-songs, the Bernstein videos, the Carson appearance, I was hooked. Admittedly, even a couple of the live songs grabbed me, especially 'She's An Angel'. I'm not sure it's even possible to make that song sound bad.

In addition to their manager, tour managers, critics, and label people, several note-worthy celebs are interviewed throughout about the Johns, including Syd Straw, Frank Black, Ira Glass, Josh Kornbluth, Janeane Garofalo, Dave Eggers, and others. Visits to the Daily Show, Tonight Show, and Conan O'Brien are included as well, along with entirely random spoken-word performances by Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Andy Richter. Then again, it wouldn't be a TMBG documentary without a little dash of randomness.

As I said, I'm really glad I went... it was like hanging with an old friend for a little while. I was reminded of so many great songs, so many fun shows, and of just how much I used to worship the two Johns. If you ever loved a They Might Be Giants song, track down Gigantic if it's playing anywhere near you, or check out the bound-to-happen DVD.

Jeez, this post has gone on far too long, and taken up waaaay to much of my breaktime today. Time to go do the dumb things I gotta do. Oh, and touch the puppethead.

posted by brad at 3:39 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Thursday, June 26, 2003

Commencement Amusement : Will Ferrell's 2003 Harvard Graduation Speech

The fine folk over at Pure Content have posted the complete text of Will Ferrell's recent speech to Harvard's 2003 graduating class.

Not quite as much ha-ha as Conan O'Brien's speech a few years back, but still a damn funny read. An excerpt:

So my gift to you, Class of 2003, is to tell you about the real world through my eyes, through my experiences. And I'm sorry, but I refuse to sugarcoat it. I ain't gonna do it. And I probably shouldn't use the word "ain't" during this day in which we celebrate education. But that's just the way I play it, Homes.

Graduates, if you will indulge me for a moment, let me paint a picture of what it's like out there. The last four or, for some of you, five years you've been living in a fantasyland, running around, talking about Hemingway, or Clancy, or, I don't know, I mean whatever you read here at Harvard. The Novelization of the Matrix, I don't know. I don't know what you do here.

But I do know this. You're about to enter into a world filled with hypocrisy and doublespeak, a world in which your limo to the airport is often a half-hour late. In addition to not even being a limo at all; often times it's a Lincoln Towncar. You're about to enter a world where you ask your new assistant, Jamie, to bring you a tall, non-fat latte. And he comes back with a short soy cappuccino. Guess what, Jamie? You're fired. Not too hard to get right, my friend.

(thanks for the heads-up, Heath)

posted by brad at 11:24 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Get In Touch With Your Metrosexual Side...

I'm quite comfortably able to report that while Matt and Jason may consider themselves budding Metrosexuals, I am clearly no such creature. I will not be categorized, Mr. Marketing Man.

I loathe shopping (fortunately Amie does enough for the both of us), and up until a couple weeks ago, the only hair styling products I've ever used were in my Robert Smith wig, on Halloween night, 1989. I've never picked up a pair of Diesel Jeans, I don't even know what the hell those magazines are that those guys are talking about. Give me a good beer before a glass of wine any day of the week. (Seriously, give me one. Please? It's been a rough day.)

Then again, I believe another indicator of Metrosexuality (or, as Jason says, "lady lovin homos"), is neatness. And I am, if anything, compulsively neat.

Matter o' fact, the first time Amie ever walked into my apartment, she thought... "Oh my god, he lives alone, his place is incredibly neat, well decorated, he's got a cat... and he's not gay. I could marry this guy." And so she did.

That's besides the point, though. One symptom does not a metrosexual make.

Oh, wait, there's the yoga lessons... and Trading Spaces on the TiVo. Awwwww crap.

posted by brad at 4:09 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Fixed : Accessing the Almanac, Not Fixed : Accessing the MoveOn Virtual Primary

If you're a semi-regular surfer to my site, you've probably noticed the occasional instance when you'd try to get here and you'd just... well, hang. And then you'd get an error. The old familiar "Page Cannot Be Displayed" message.

Well, to quote an ex-girlfriend... "It's not you, it's me."

Apparantly my registrar (aka the company I registered my domain name with) had trouble pointing to the correct IP address for my webserver. Basically, it wasn't always able to talk to the Domain Name Servers (DNS) at my webspace provider.

After some phone calls and a few tech support emails, my provider finally forked over some new DNS server names to give my registar... apparantly the ones they originally gave me (DNS1 and DNS2) were so old they were gathering mold. I switched over to DNS5 and DNS6, and voila. No more connection issues.

Oh, sorry, did I just put you to sleep?

To summarize : It was broke, now it's not.

Getting here should be far less annoying from now on. As for the actual content... well, I can't promise anything there.

In other "Page Cannot Be Displayed" news...

MoveOn.org, the online political action organization that boasts 1.4 million members, officially started it's "virtual primary" today, where registered participants can vote online for their preferred Democratic Presidential Candidate. If any one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the vote, MoveOn will endorse them... and that's an pretty big deal.

Unfortunately, soon after voting opened this morning, their webservers took a nosedive and crashed hard. Not ready for the volume of traffic, apparantly. Slightly embarrassing for them, but exciting to know that so many people are interested in this political picking and clicking.

If you look to the upper right, you can probably guess who I'm planning to vote for, so I hope I actually get to vote. It'd be a shame if this whole thing gets spoiled by an unprepared, if well-intentioned, IT crew.

12:30pm - an update : It looks like they're back up and limping. It's possible to get through, but it might take more than a few attempts. Consider my vote cast and counted.

posted by brad at 12:07 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Monday, June 23, 2003

Get Inspired : Dean envisions "The Great American Restoration"

The text of Howard Dean's presidential campaign kick-off speech, titled The Great American Restoration, is already online, and it's an inspiring read. No matter where your loyalties lay, it's worth a look. My favorite bit...

"Our President and too many in Washington are giving away our future so that we pass to our children not a flickering flame of freedom � but the chain of insurmountable debt.

No parent would do this � and America must not do this.

And so for me the long journey of a Presidential campaign has begun with the people I have met affecting me far more than any affect I may have had on them. And because of that, the reasons why I seek the Presidency have changed.

This campaign is about more than issue differences on health care, tax cuts, national security, jobs, the environment and our economy. It is about something as important as our children. It�s about who we are as Americans.

Here are the words of John Winthrop: �We shall be as one. We must delight in each other, make other�s conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always living before our eyes our Commission and Community in our work.�

It is that ideal, the ideal of the American community, that we seek to restore."

more in link. This one is even better.

posted by brad at 10:15 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Get It : Stinger - NAI's Free Virus Cleaner

Been meaning to post this link for awhile, and you'd do yourself a favor if you follow it ...

Network Associates (aka the McAfee crew) makes available a little-known (at least outside InfoSec circles), and completely free, trojan/virus/worm detection and removal utility called Stinger. It's a slimmed down tool, so it only searches for a select number of nasties, but it's updated regularly to include the most common ones out there. For example, the latest version (released on June 5th) searches for 12 viruses, including Bugbear, Nimda, Lovgate, Slammer, Klez, and more.

It's small, easy, runs quickly... and it's helped me out in a pinch when I need to clean someone's machine here at work. Y'see, some particularly tricky viruses prevent your normal detection software from running correctly, and when that happens, Stinger can do the job. Go n' get it.

posted by brad at 8:33 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Radiohead : Hail to the Thief bonus track mp3

When I picked up Radiohead's new disc last week, the clerk at Newbury Comics handed me a limited edition 7'' for the first single, There There. A hip little gimmick, and a nice free bonus, especially since it also includes a non-album b-side... but it's not terribly practical for most, since turntables are as hard to find nowadays as wmds. Yeah, the song is also on the cd single, but it's an import and a tad pricey for just a couple extra tracks.

Since I'm already in the slow-moving process of converting all my old early-nineties indie-rock wax into mp3s, it was easy enough to do it for this one, too. So here it is... Radiohead's Paperbag Writer. It's no great shakes, but hey, at least you don't have to wonder if it's worth hunting for.

Labels: livemp3s

posted by brad at 6:27 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Friday, June 13, 2003

The Red Sox Rollercoaster

Well, I ended up with a hell of a game for my first visit of the year to Fenway Paaahk last night. Yeah, it was 13 innings long, but I only made it through 10, deciding to take off after the boys let go of a hard-fought tie game for the first time. Little did I know there'd be another comeback in the bottom of the 10th, and another attempt in the 13th. Sure, throw another layer on the letdown cake... Sox fans are used to it. We can handle the stress, right?

Ah, I'm just kidding... it was a great time. So we came up a little short... at least the guys put on a show. Despite the rain, despite the dwindling crowds, despite many innings of shutout baseball, they fought back and turned a boring game into a nail-biter. The rollercoaster and the rain scared a bunch of suit-wearing business-boys away early, so we scored fourth row seats on the third base line for the last couple innings. It's gonna be hard to sit any further back after being spoiled like that... a foul pop-up brought Nomar right next to us (and, of course, resulted in a drunken knucklehead chorus of "NoooMMMAaaaaaHhh!"). Good times, good times.

Most surreal moment of the night? The Fenway in-game musical selections. Sure, for most of the game it was your standard fare... John Fogerty, the Stray Cat Strut, that silly nu-metal squawking death-bird "Wah-ka-ka-kow!" song, and some Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson. Suddenly, inbetween batters in the bottom of the 7th, I hear the synth-filled strains of... "See You" by Depeche Mode? Huh? Who the hell snuck that one in there? I can just picture the closeted new-waver up in the booth, waiting until his boss heads to the bathroom, throwing in his "Singles 81-85" cd, grinning with glee. You know that it's true.

posted by brad at 8:30 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Thursday, June 12, 2003

An Elliott Smith Fix

Every couple of weeks I think to myself "the world could use a new Elliott Smith album right about now." It's been over three years since Figure 8 was released, and that's just too dang long for a new batch of Elliott songs.

photo from under the radar

Then last night I happened upon the Elliott Smith Mini-Repository, where you can download four complete live sets, each of which contains some new, unreleased material. Given these shows, and his recent appearance at the rainy Field Day Fest, it seems that Mr. Smith is slowly coming out of hiding. Rumor has it that a new album is due "sometime this year", so in the meantime, enjoy the live preview, check out a recent interview in Under the Radar, and keep up to date at Sweet Adeline, probably the best Elliott site out there.

posted by brad at 8:51 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Howard Dean's Blog For America

Presidential candidate Howard Dean has a bright, shiny new website, the Blog for America. It's an excellent resource for Dean news and updates on event turnouts and volunteer efforts. Head on over.

Speaking of turnouts, this past Monday's visit to Bushy's home state of Texas showed just how much momentum the campaign is building. The stop was organized in just 10 days, and primarily over the internet, so there was an estimated turnout of around 300 people. By the time Dean arrived, it had swelled to an incredible 3,200. Inspiring, to say the least.

posted by brad at 7:59 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Take Your Slow, Smelly Suicide Outside...

It is a very, very good day, indeed....

Cambridge, MA Adopts Smoking Ban After Contentious Debate

By Associated Press, 6/10/2003 08:29

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) After months of contentious debate, the Cambridge City Council voted to join neighboring Boston in banning smoking in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

The measure, which passed 9-2 on Monday, means Cambridge businesses won't be able to continue their ''We're Still Smoking'' campaign, which appeals to smokers to visit restaurants in Cambridge rather than Boston, where a smoking ban went into effect last month.

more in link

As glad as I was that Boston proper started the ban on May 1st, Cambridge is where most of the good shows are... The Middle East, TTs, the Lizard Lounge ... and smoke keeps me from spending more time at my favorite Cambridge bars, like Charlie's in Harvard Square or River Gods in Central. October 1st can't come soon enough.

posted by brad at 9:46 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Monday, June 09, 2003

For Your Ears : My Life or Some Dream - a free mp3 collection

Club Fub Records was born in the summer of '92, when my first band needed a label name to make our early demotapes look more important than they actually were. It was named for the Burlington, Vermont band house where we lived, played, drank, and loved. The Club Fub catalog slowly grew to include tapes and cds by friends and musical acquaintances. It was never a solid money-maker, to say the least.

The 'My Life or Some Dream' compilation marked the 21st and last official Club Fub release, collecting new, unreleased, and rare songs from the extended family tree that grew out of all our mid-nineties Burlington bands. The cd was burned and given to guests at our rock n' roll wedding reception, which took place two years ago today, on Saturday, June 9th, 2001 at Lilli's in Somerville, Massachusetts.

To mark the anniversary of that nine set, free pizza, open bar gathering of friends, here's all fifteen songs from the compilation for download, along with a mini write-up on each band, including links to what some of the members are musically up to nowadays. Enjoy.

and don't laugh at the pictures... bowlcuts were cool.

posted by brad at 9:18 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Thursday, June 05, 2003

The Perfect Parody : An Eighties Ending

This short film spoof of the ending of every eighties-era movie you've ever seen is so right on. I can't stop smiling. Thanks, Matt.

posted by brad at 2:32 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

The 1992 Sub Pop Vermonstress Fest : Live Codeine

My online archiving of the 1992 Sub Pop Vermonstress Festival continues with the third installment, this time from from one of my favorite bands... Codeine. It's a seven song set that's remarkable in that it features a rare guest drumming performance by Antietam's Josh Madell. Excellent stuff.

posted by brad at 9:00 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Blogdex : 'Nac Attack

Blogdex, for those of you unaware, is a blog indexing website pulled together by some big brains at MIT. Not only does it offer up the currently most blogged stories on the net, but it's got a great search function that allows you to find requested sites linked on indexed blogs. These searches also reveal exactly what text was used in the links. It's a handy dandy little resource, and as Joe pointed out to me this morning, it doesn't seem to miss a beat...

Y'know the post I made the other day about Tucker Max vs. Katy Johnson, aka Miss Vermont? Here's what a search for katyjohnson.com turned up yesterday...

katyjohnson.com

This site was found on following weblogs, on the given date: June 04, 2003

memeufacture.com
"Obscene things being said in the name of the flag... Should make most people want to GAG!"
track this weblog
4:43 AM

cultofdarian.com/index2.shtml
this gal
track this weblog
3:58 AM

brettlamb.com
Here's her Flash site.
track this weblog
1:32 AM

bradleysalmanac.com/blogger.html
her own vomit-inducing website <------
track this weblog
2:15 PM

anythink.org
Katy Johnson
track this weblog
3:03 PM

moldawer.com
Web site
track this weblog
12:03 PM

Perfect.

posted by brad at 8:01 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Superpowered : Introducing The Incredibles

If you've already seen Finding Nemo, then you've already had the thrill of checking out the new teaser trailer for next year's Pixar flick, The Incredibles.

If you haven't, well, it's now available online, so go ahead and make with the clicky. The film is directed by Brad Bird, the animation genius behind The Iron Giant, and it looks sooooo right up my alley.

posted by brad at 3:19 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Happy Birth Anniversary To...

... Bridget, she of the well-chosen political leanings, refined musical tastes, and discriminating viewing habits. Enjoy the day, Brdgt.

posted by brad at 3:28 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Jackpot : Indie mp3 Archives

Looks like Matt struck some old school twee gold. Check out this little old indie mp3 archive, hosted by the fine folks at indie pages. Mostly rare trax from the likes of Talulah Gosh, the Primitives, My Bloody Valentine, Mighty Lemon Drops, the Heartthrobs (if only it was Dreamtime!), the Pastels, and more. Nice.

posted by brad at 3:15 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Head Case : Tucker Max vs. Miss Vermont

Sit right back and you'll read the tale, the tale of a mysoginistic drip, who met a supposedly vapid former beauty queen in a South Florida health club, and survived to recount the story of their sordid affair on his very own website...

... only to get a restraining order dropped on his ass, preventing him from writing a word about their relationship, or from linking to her own vomit-inducing website.

Yes, it's the true and unsettling story of Tucker Max vs. Miss Vermont. Go take a look at this New York Times article, willya? Then come on back, y'hear?

(NOTE : You've read only, um, "non-sensitive" material so far. If you tread further, you'll need to leave your delicate sensibilities behind. Beyond here lies dirty, dirty madness.)

Ok, it's unsettling for a number of reasons...

First off, Mr. Tucker Max. Yeah, he's an admittedly self-centered, egotistical, cheesy bastard. That much is known. His treatment of women is appalling, but hey, it's not news. Just moderately pathetic. They guy's obviously fairly intelligent, but more than a little misguided. I mean, check out his forum if you've got the time. Yikes.

Then there's our plantiff, Miss Moved-To-Vermont-To-Become-Miss-Vermont, Katy Johnson. I mean, just look at her site. It's frightening. What's more frightening, though, in a completely different way, is how she comes off in Mr. Max's way-too-detailed story.

"But wait", you say, "how can I read the story? I thought the restraining order obliterated his web page?"

Well, it did, but you can still read every detail thanks to the magic of Google Caching. Yup, all the dysfunction is laid out there for your enjoyment, and/or horror. I doubt it'll be there long, though, so get clickin'. (don't worry, I saved it, too)

But the worst culprit in this tale is our very own justice system, or rather the Florida justice system (no surprise there, though), who squashed this "gentleman's" freedom to write about his own life on the internet. Not only that, but they did it without ever telling him. The suit went ahead without without informing Mr. Max what was even coming down. Regardless of whether his story is true (which Miss Johnson has yet to deny, and has actually partially confirmed), this moron has every right to say it, or at least every right to defend himself against the charges.

Think about it... three main players in this story, and not one of them with a clue. Well, at least Tucker is moderately self-aware... he knows what he does. The judge and the beauty queen, though? Um, not so much.

posted by brad at 1:57 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

First Look : Mystic River Video

The Cannes Film Festival has a clip from the fall film Mystic River up on it's website (scroll down their page for more). Check it out, along with some interviews and footage from the press conference as well.

Kevin Bacon's faux-Boston accent isn't as scary as it could have been.

posted by brad at 12:40 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Monday, June 02, 2003

Xiiin = Wow

I have no idea what this is.

What I do know is that it just blew my mind out the back of my skull.

posted by brad at 6:07 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

Anger You Can Use : The Bush Tax Cut Bait & Switch

It's easy to read the following, dismiss it as "typical" (or even worse for some of you: "economically stimulating"), and go about your regular Monday. Pushing the facts to the back of our minds for a little while is really the only way to mentally handle what's been done here. But we can't forget it. At the very least, the word needs to be spread. Everyone needs to know. Bill Moyers reports...

Deep in a Black Hole of Red Ink

"You no doubt saw this - Mr. Bush signing his tax cut. A big day for the President.

But in fact, it's the richest Americans - the top one percent - who get the lion's share of the tax cuts. People like Secretary of the Treasury John Snow, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, multimillionaires all. Mr. Cheney actually cast the deciding tie-breaker vote in favor of the tax cut in the Senate...as this headline in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL says, some people could wind up paying virtually no tax at all.

Where's that money coming from to make the rich richer? Some of it's coming from the working poor. Remember that $400 per child tax credit that was in the tax bill?

We have now learned that at the very last minute, behind closed doors, the Republican leaders in Congress pulled a bait-and-switch. They eliminated from the bill that $400 child credit for families who make just above the minimum wage. They will use that money to pay for the cut on dividend taxes. Eleven million children in families with incomes roughly between ten thousand and twenty six thousand dollars a year won't be getting the check that was supposed to be in the mail this summer. Eleven million children punished for being poor, even as the rich are rewarded for being rich.

Nothing was said about cutting out the working poor from this tax credit as Mr. Bush signed his tax bill. Nor was anything said when the President closed the door to his office and quietly put his signature on another bill, this one raising the debt ceiling to its highest level in history. No sooner had this happened than it was revealed, by the FINANCIAL TIMES, a British newspaper by the way, that the White House withheld a Treasury Department study showing that the country faces chronic deficits totalling over $44 trillion dollars. They kept it in secret lest it throw the fear of God into Congress and the financial markets and cost them the tax cut for the rich.

This was enough to send us over to the debt clock just a few blocks from our offices in midtown New York. Standing there you can watch the country's future slip deeper and deeper into a black hole of red ink. At midday today the national debt was over 6 trillion dollars and climbing. It makes you wonder...exactly why are these rich guys smiling?"

Angry? Stay that way. Use it.

Go take a look at the debt clock. Refresh the page a couple of times. Watch it rise. Channel your frustration.

Volunteer for a Democratic presidential political campaign. If you don't have the time, then just make a small donation. Doesn't matter which candidate you choose (although you probably know which one I'd recommend.) Use the anger. Get involved. Spread the word. Do something.

I saw a terribly sad story on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday about the not-so-slow erosion of finances for the arts during these rough economic times. Orchestras and playhouses shutting down, museums, galleries, and even libraries cutting staff and hours. It's only gettin' worse. If political donations isn't your thing, maybe it's time to become a member of your favorite arts organization, visit your favorite museum, or even check out a play this weekend. I'm thinking it might be time for me to finally get that Brattle membership.

posted by brad at 8:34 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

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