Week of January 23. Oh, America.

This week was all about my outrage over an unjust system. Which system you ask? Just about all of them. But I guess without an unfair world, we wouldn't get those great documentaries about wrongfully convicted criminals, the Too Big to Fails and photos of people holding signs with words on them, would we. Onward to cool shite.

1) Paradise Lost: The Documentary Series

I saw the first of these three documentaries when I was in college. It was for a class called "Magic, Religion and Science Since the Middle Ages." Ah, liberal arts college. We watched this doc because we had been discussing the "Satanic Panic" that occurred in the middle and southern parts of America in the 80s and 90s. Satanic cults. Remember them? It was its own witches of Salem, it's own McCarthyism. Anyway, this documentary is famous, I'm sure you've seen it, but HBO just released the third installment. Seventeen years later, the West Memphis three, who were at the time teenagers accused of mercilessly killing three 8 year old boys in some sort of Satanic ritual, walk free, so clearly innocent of the crime it's mind-boggling that the case dragged on for so long. And the way it "ended" is also pretty messed up, but I won't give the whole thing away.

2) If They're Too Big to Fail, They're Too Big to Exist

David Stockman on Crony Capitalism from BillMoyers.com.

As I was watching this man, David Stockman, talk about his book "Crony Capitalism" on Bill Moyers, I was ready to accept him as the second coming of Christ. Everything he said was so on point and pragmatic, yet dramatic at the same time. So I looked him up and discovered that he had served under Reagan as his Budget Director and was at the time a staunch supporter of the principles of supply side economics. That said, I believe in redemption, especially the redemption of brilliant people who can be turned around to use their intellectual powers for good, and I believe Stockman fits that bill. You know, not unlike Paul the Apostle -- dude, I'm just saying. I think the best leader for the country right now may well be a reformed republican. Like Lyndon Johnson for instance, a Texan democrat who certainly straddled the line, was probably the only president who could have gotten a Civil Rights bill passed in the 60s. Perhaps what we need is a politician who knows how speak the language of the opposition on the deepest level. Now is the time for Stockman to get back into politics, this time, fighting the good fight. And maybe pair him up with Ralph Nader. This clip is a little long, but engaging and worth the watch.  


3) PBS American Masters: Phil Ochs

I oscillated between watching this and the Giants game. This was more interesting to me, but I felt I needed to be informed about the Giants too, since the whole country was watching that. Do you know Phil Ochs? He is the second greatest American songwriter (self-proclaimed). He did in earnest what Bob Dylan did on the surface -- write topical and political songs that he hoped would lead to action. He never reached Dylan's fame no matter how hard he tried, but he is an exceptional talent. Here is a clip of one his most famous songs. (Spoiler alert) he committed suicide at the age of 35, but had already accomplished a great deal. That seems to be the way with many great artists.


4) This New York Magazine Intelligencer on French vs. American Kids

Don't shoot the messenger, but from what I've seen in Manhattan, this feels quite true. I was raised by French parents and see how well adjusted I am? I know, life's totally unfair 'sigh'.

Week of January 16, Because I'm Worth It (hair swoosh)

Dear Reader,
Below, please find a list of cool shit.


1) I'm Singing Vocals For a Band
Here is a rehearsal demo of me singing with Freak Radar at Smash Studios. A song called Hypocrite written by our guitarist, Kuch, and his fiance. Check out the video by clicking on this here hyperlink. Or you can click on the below video, but it seems to be taking a little time to download. Either way is cool with me.

2) Paris is Burning

The second I started watching this documentary, I was hooked. Shot in the mid-to late 80s in New York City, it depicts the Black and Latino Gay and Transgender "Ball" sub-culture. These "balls" are elaborate competitions during which participants "walk" to a specific theme, not unlike a fashion catwalk. Their themes cover a huge range: school girl, military, successful white business executive etc etc. I kid you not. And the winner is the walker who most realistically embodies the character. Being gay at that time was hard enough, but being gay in communities with very macho cultures was that much tougher. So the Balls provide an outlet and a family for these people, often runaways, often in their teens, who are rejected from their own families and communities. Issues of gender identity are complex, fascinating and a little heartbreaking. Remember Madonna's Vogue? This is where Voguing started.

3) PBS American Experience: Billy the Kid
If you've been going by Billy Joel's song "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," as I have, to get all your info about the legend, then we are all sadly mistaken.

Billy Joel: From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia rode a boy with a 6 gun in his hand...
American Experience: WRONG. Billy the kid, real name Henry McCarty,
was probably born in New York City.


Billy Joel: Well he never had a sweetheart...
American Experience: WRONG. He was in love with a 16 year old Mexican girl.
In fact, sticking around for her is probably what caused his downfall.


Billy Joel: Well he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma...
American Experience: WRONG. He pretty much stuck around New Mexico and robbed only when he had to and on principle.


Billy Joel: And the cowboys and their kin like the sea came pourin' in to watch
the hangin' of Billy the Kid.
American Experience: WRONG. That's not how he died, dudes.


Ah, well. Billy Joel, we still love you... and your historically inaccurate song.


4) My Apartment

I think my apartment is really cool, don't you?


I'm very lucky.


But also quite proud.


Because it's kind of my life's work.

Week of January 9, It's My Party

Hey Everyone! It's my birthday! Wayne's World! Party time!
On to some cool shit.


1) PBS Frontline: The Perfect Terrorist
What better way to kick off my birthday celebration than with a heart-lifting story of an American terrorist? I know, right?

Freaky-looking David Coleman Headley was one of the "masterminds" behind the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008. I hate the use of the word master in this instance. He isn't a master of anything, just a crazy mofo who wants to kill people. Fuck that shit. And don't get all "religion this" and "religion that" on me. People kill because they have violence and hatred within them (we all do to a certain extent). No religious document condones violence and hate. It's merely the excuse, not the cause. So don't go all hatin' on it.                                        


2) Haiti: Where Did The Money Go?
You all donated money after the devastating earthquake, now see how the country is doing two years later. (Spoiler alert) not very well. Check out a clip here. Also, my brother edited this film in its entirety. Pretty damn good, huh? Check out Michele Mitchell's company website Film @ 11. It will be airing on PBS in the New York/NJ area on January 17 at 10pm. (check your local PBS schedule). 

3) Mary J. Blige's versions of One and I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues

In my humble-ass opinion, Mary J. Blige is our greatest living (actively working) singer. So when you take two of the most perfectly written songs in popular music and combine them with her vocals, you get an explosion of sorts. She does that thing that only great singers can do; teeters on the edge of almost fucking up and perfection, making the song Mary's song. Listening to those two renderings exhausts me. Mmhmm girlfriend 'snap' 'snap'.

4) Hunt Slonem, the painter

How badass is this painter? He paints parrots and butterflies and Abe Lincoln among other things. Love this stuff. Ah, to paint.

5) The Mountaintop

It's MLK's birthday, so here is a little nod to that. The Mountaintop is a play I saw in London a couple of years ago. One of those "hey! I'm in London! I should go to the Theaytor!" So I saw this. It's a fictional account of MLK's last night. It's a really good play. The only thing is that you see him as a human being so you have to kind of accept that. If you don't want to, then maybe it's best not to see it. He wasn't exactly a saint.
                                                                                                                                           


On another topic, is anybody as pissed as me that Joran Van fuckface Sloot is only getting 28 years for first degree murder? What do people think he's gonna do when he gets out, huh?

Week of January 1, Rye Whiskey

Let's train ourselves to type 2012 on all our documents!
Here's a little list of cool shit for you.

1) Punch Brothers

I'm a total sucker for a mandolin-banjo-violin country/blues/jazz combo.Oh Lordy can these boys play that sweet American music. Of course they also strongly appeal to our modern hipster sensitivities (i.e they're from Brooklyn, not Tennessee). Think "O' Brother Where Art Thou" to get quick a understanding, and watch this performance of Rye Whiskey. It's not the only style they play, but it's my favorite.

2) Game of Thrones

I finally figured out how to work my HBO on Demand (well what, I have a busy life) and decided now was the time to discover Game of Thrones, the medieval fantasy HBO series that is not totally unlike Lord of The Rings but more soap opera-y. It's well made, a lot of fun to watch and utterly addictive. Plus Peter Dinklage, the only dwarf in Hollywood, plays the most clever and witty character in the show.

3) JAZZ, the film by Ken Burns

This film could otherwise be called: An Ode to Louis Armstrong, narrated by Winton Marsalis (I kid, sort of). It really is a comprehensive look at the birth and evolution of Jazz music. Like all Ken Burns documentaries, it's extremely dense, so it will require repeat viewing. It's also awesome.

4) The Big Rich by Bryan Burrough

This book chronicles the life and times of the four biggest Texas oil families; the Hunts, the Cullens, The Murchisons and Sid Richardson (whose nephews consisted of the Bass family). Believe it or not, I'm still reading the thing and haven't yet finished, but that's my own damn fault. It's a great book and advances the very interesting hypotheses that Big Oil money changed the game of politics in America. But there's other stuff too! Like the crazy way these guys lived and made money. Thanks, Big Oil.

5) A Crude Awakening: After the Oil Crash

Speaking of oil, this documentary about our dependence on oil talks about the disturbing fact that oil ain't gonna last forever. The creation of fossil fuels was a once in a lifetime phenomenon caused by a perfect confluence of factors, and once they're gone... Baby, they're gone (eek!).


I saw Book of Mormon too. But everyone knows it's great so I don't need to talk about it.