Tuesdays

Come to the show tomorrow. The Czar bar is a nice place. I'm going to play some songs as well.

Autumn

This postcard kind of sums up the season for me. For many people, hunting is a throwback to the kind of primal stalking and killing that was once necessary for survival. You put on an orange vest, load your rifle, bring your dog or kid or whatever and disappear into the woods and don't come out again until you've killed something. My own grandfather had to go hunt deer and small game to put food on the table when he was no older than 12. I, however, have never had that experience. For me, hunting is very much like the postcard depicted above. I slink off into the woods wearing a green velvet cap, smoking a corncob pipe with my gun tucked under my arm, my simian son following behind me with a bottle of wine and a pair of rabbits stalking us the entire way. It's a directionless and often unfruitful style of hunting, but I much prefer it to any actual bloodshed.

Alton Ellis

Alton Ellis, known as the "Godfather of rocksteady" and also one of my favorite reggae artists, died last month.

He left behind hundreds of wonderful songs and something like 20 children.

I just found out about this last week, so I wasn't able to attend the funeral/celebration at Scots Kirk on Duke Street. In case you missed it, too, the Jamaican Observer has the details, and I've got this classic tune by Mr. Ellis which you can listen to and enjoy.

Rocksteady.

LW

Pooch Cafe blog pays tribute to "Hog & Dog" friendship

This morning while visiting poochcafe.com, the site of one of North America's finest comic strips, I saw that Paul had posted an exclusive, never-before-seen shot we captured east of Lawrence along with some color commentary by Dave that describes the encounter beautifully.

I promise to post a larger version of the picture shortly so you can zoom in and see in better detail how amazing these animals actually are. But for now, check it out here.

And if you're not yet acquainted with the lovable id-driven Poncho of Pooch Cafe fame, then here's a taste of what you're missing...

New Administration Mix

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8kqqoe

Above is the link to directly download the FunkyUSAdministration mix I compiled last week. I know I promised to post it last Thursday, but boiling it down to these 15 tunes required some test-listens and deliberation, so thanks for your patience. A quick note: the track numbers that show up when you import it to iTunes might be off, but the names in the folder are correct. Also, you can use the track list below as a guide or just stream the songs individually there.

There are plenty of obvious choices for this tribute to the Obama campaign and upcoming administration, such as the Bob Dylan and Sam Cooke songs, but I left off a few other likely inclusions. A few of you suggested Parliament's "Chocolate City," with its immortal lines "You don't need the bullet when you got the ballot" and "They call it the White House, but that's a temporary condition" (not to mention the endorsement of Stevie Wonder as Secretary of Fine Arts). It's a great tune, but perhaps a tiny bit too cutesy for my purposes. Instead I went with the Parliaments (early incarnation of Parliament) classic "Testify," with its soulful cries of "Change! There's been a change, and it's oh so plain to see." Also, I had "Funky President" by James Brown on the original tracklist, but after about five listens I got a bit tired of it and decided to save it for next time.

I also didn't include Nas' "Black President," The Black Eyed Peas guy's songs for the occasion or any of the tributes made by artists in the last several weeks. Nothing wrong with any of these, but there were quite a few established classics to choose from instead. They are, as follows:

1) "Walk Tall" -- The Cannonball Adderly Quintet, with an introduction by the Rev. Jesse Jackson

2) "Yes We Can" -- Lee Dorsey

3) "We're A Winner" -- Curtis Mayfield

4) "Life Monologue" -- Lou Rawls

5) "This Land Is Your Land" -- Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

6) "The Times They Are A Changin" -- Bob Dylan

7) "Black President" -- JC Burris

The money line in this prophetic blues number by Sonny Terry's nephew: "We gonna love one another, like one big giant football team."

8) "Our Generation" -- Ernie Hines

9) "Sweet Home Chicago" -- Magic Sam

10) "Testify" -- The Parliaments

11) "What Will Tomorrow Bring" -- Wendy Rene

12) "A New Day" -- The Notations

13) "In My Own Time" -- The Bee Gees

14) "Bring the Boys Home" -- Freda Payne

15) "A Change Is Gonna Come" -- Sam Cooke

Hope you enjoyed these selections. Next time: honorable mentions and your own fine suggestions.

Voices from the day after the election

Now that I've shared both my pre-election reservations and my post-victory speech excitement, I thought I'd go ahead and close out this extraordinary 24 hours with a day-after-the-election post.

Jeremiah wrote today about the inevitable need to come down a little bit from last night. "Walking through my neighborhood last night as people were letting off fireworks and jubilantly yelling in the street, I may have felt a little too good about America’s future," he said, acknowledging that skepticism from certain quarters and a feeling of disillusionment are likely unavoidable in the coming months. After seeing all the typos in my last post this morning, I also admit that I might have been getting a bit too excited. But when you've got a girl dressed in a donkey mask kissing you on the cheek at the bar and your downstairs neighbor runs out to the lawn and plays "The Star-Spangled Banner" on her trumpet each time a swing state is called for the man you've been cheering on for months, it's hard not to get at least a little carried away.

So I'm certainly still enjoying what my friend Jeff proclaimed "the greatest Wednesday ever." Maybe it's the 70 degree weather in November, he said, or the over-the-top leafiness of the neighborhood. "Oh, or maybe it's that my faith and pride in America has been instantly restored, sort of like when Super Mario eats the mushroom that makes him all big and strong."

It's a great analogy, and the beauty of it is that this same renewed faith and pride is being felt across the world.

Another friend wrote from Berlin to tell me about watching his German colleagues become visibly moved as the results came in there in the early morning. "There really is substance behind the argument that people view the US as a land where anything is possible," Wade said, while noting that the incredibly high expectations are already fostering a bit of skepticism in the European press. Still, it's such a far cry from what it was like for me in Berlin just before the 2004 election -- when the only things anyone wanted to discuss with an "Ami" were 9/11 conspiracy theories, the supreme genius of Super-Size Me (of COURSE you'll get fat if you eat that shit every day, nitwits!) and what morons we were for letting Bush into the White House the first time, not to mention for a second term. In 2004, change didn't even seem to be on the menu, as I was coldly reminded that year with the graffitied phrase, "Fuck Bush and Fuck Kerry too!"

Now all that animosity seems to have disappeared, even if the problems and strategies that got us there haven't. It's nice to feel like part of the world again, and I hope the new President can build on that goodwill to work with foreign leaders on issues such as world hunger, climate change and making the American study-abroad student a sexy commodity once again.

Since my own study abroad days are gone, I'm glad all my friends won't be moving to foreign countries like they threatened to if McCain got elected. Still, it would have been interesting to see who really followed up on that and where they wound up going.

A few quick comments, and then I'm done with this subject until the "New Administration Mix" is complete (still taking suggestions, by the way).

Missouri: My own state proved something of a disappointment to me. Though it's not official yet, it looks like McCain took the state by a margin not much wider than the number of votes cast in Missouri for Nader. Thank goodness our electoral votes didn't prove critical, or I would have been newly furious with those Green party-spoilers. Given that he's already 74, I hope I never see the name "Nader" on another presidential ballot. It's not that I doubt the man's accomplishments, but if he's so hell-bent on serving the country in office, why didn't he start by running for something slightly easier to attain than the presidency?

So it looks like Missouri's "Bellweather" status no longer holds, which is disappointing, I guess, but something of a moot point now that this year's election is settled.

Light Rail: Like a lot of people in Kansas City, I really wanted to like this proposal. I love subways, streetcars and public transit in general, and I had hopes that this thing could help transform the blighted Main Street corridor into a more lively and utilized space. But the people voted this down pretty overwhelmingly, and I have to concede they had some pretty powerful reasons why. Just looking at the language of that issue, the phrases "tax increase" and "25 years" leap out as being pretty daunting in this economic climate. Also, I think a lot of people wanted to send a message that light rail is not their main priority right now -- schools, crime and even sewers come first.

Legacy: Someone pointed out to me the stat (I'm not sure if it was national or a specific state) that 96 percent of black people voted for Obama, which certainly is one of the most lopsided demographics in this election -- even more than fundamentalist Christians for McCain-Palin. He asked if voting strictly along racial lines did not in itself constitute some form of racism. Not wishing to get into it with this particular elder, I cautiously agreed that they may have a point. But thinking about it today, I realized what I could have said: While race should never be the chief factor for choosing a candidate, think of what this election means for African-Americans -- that a people whose ancestors were brought over as slaves less than two centuries ago can today reach the highest office in the land. No matter who you are, how you voted or where you're from, that's pretty powerful stuff.

Thanks for reading, and tune back in tomorrow for some Thursday tracks to close out my political coverage.

Sincerely,

11/4/08

I know I posted earlier tonight, but that was from the pre-election calm. Tonight did wind up being something special and exciting. I watched the first wave of results come in at the Record Bar while a newly retooled Ghosty played some great covers and new tunes. After that we rode to McCoy's and watched the Obama speech in the cigar lounge/living room. There seemed to be a different sound delay in each part of the bar, but the staggered cheers and chants made for an interesting and dramatic effect. There was a lot of emotion in the room. Embraces and periodic shouts of excitement, but mostly silent attention to Obama's speech. I saw a gay kid I know walk by with tears in his eyes, most likely because he was specifically included in the acceptance speech. Big smiles went out around the bar as final results and text messages poured in. Fireworks and honking horns and kids yelling and banging on empty cans made the streets especially festive, though I rode past everything so quickly on my newly repaired bicycle that it was all something of a blur. At home Jenn and I played a couple of apt numbers on the stereo, namely "Yes We Can" by Lee Dorsey and "Funky President" by James Brown. Speaking of which, in the next few days I'd like to throw together a mix called "The New Administration," but so far it's only about 1/4 done so if anyone has any contributions please let me know. Again, actually casting my ballot today and seeing all the young people crowd the precinct was a special thrill, though I'd like to repeat what I said earlier: that now it's up to us to take all of the energy put into this campaign and channel it into substantive efforts to actually improve our situation and that of our neighbors. For now, I plan to get some rest, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who will sleep well knowing that the American people have decidedl conclusively to move beyond the irresponsible policies of the last eight years and the same cultural bickering we've seen for decades.

Love from KC,

LDHW

Election Day

All my friends are really excited right now. Their Facebook statuses and G-chat message exclamation marks express an almost euphoric excitement about the probable Obama victory.

If I'd slept more than a few hours in a row the last few nights I might be sharing in part of that. But this election has been so tense and my eyes are about to burn up from all the hours spent poring over online predictions and perspectives and ridiculous campaign minutia. All signs point to an Obama presidency, but at a moment when I should be feeling energized, I feel prematurely worn out by all the problems our country will be slogging through for the next who knows how long.

I did vote today, and that at least was an energizing experience. My last name sent me to the quickest line, and after only a few minutes I was back outside sipping coffee and watching other voters file in -- in pairs, on their own or in wheel chairs.

It was nice to see so many people from my building and my neighborhood, including a few dudes I never would have expected to see at the voting booth. The high percentage of young people in line was really encouraging to me, and I was glad to see so many people actually follow through on their enthusiasm. Not that it's anything heroic to make it out to the polls, but considering that four of the closest voting stations to me all had the wrong voter registration books this morning, causing long lines and several hour waits while they sorted it out, it's good that people were a bit patient with the mix-up. Not that bureaucratic incompetence is anything alien to residents of Kansas City, Missouri.

I'll probably relax and sip some brew tonight while watching the results come in, but part of me just wants to hole up on the disc golf course with a tent, a few frisbees and a bb-gun and avoid the inevitable deluge of excitement, analysis and hand-wringing that's sure to follow no matter what the result. Unfortunately I don't really have time to do that, and besides, that would be a little dramatic, even for me.

After a nap I'll probably get at least a little bit caught up in the excitement of watching tonight's returns. But as quite a few Obama supporters have pointed out, the election is just the beginning, and if any kind of real change is going to have a prayer of taking place it will require a lot of effort and involvement from all of us. If I take a look at my actual contributions to society so far, they're pretty scarce. That's something I plan to change, no matter what happens tonight.

Here's to hoping all the hope helps us help ourselves and our fellow countryfolk. I've got a good feeling about things, even if I'm too tired right now to show it.

cheers.

LDHW

"Crying in their scotch and Ambien"

Found this via Matt. An excellent read on the daring depravity of the times from John Cusack, of all people.

the unbearable lightness of rail

I'm going to go out on a limb and say I support light rail in Kansas City.

There's complaints that the line doesn't serve the entire city. That's true. But let's not forget, the vote on Tuesday is to fund a starter line. After you have a starter line, you build more lines to other places. It takes time, but a confident start would bode well for future growth.

I know we're used to a slumbering downtown and blighted surroundings, but it hasn't always been that way -- if you look at old photos of KC you'll notice how much life there was on the streets. And if you go downtown today you might be surprised how many signs of life are springing up again.

I'm with many of you out there who say there's more pressing needs in this city, such as putting more police on the street, funding education and the unfortunately unsexy issue of sensible sewage treatment. But if this thing is done right, the whole area will benefit from increased traffic flow, revenue and jobs.

So many times in the last few years I've driven past the bleak facades, payday loan signs, shell station crime tape, carjack-friendly drive-thrus, DUI checkpoints and heavily medicated pedestrians of the Main/Broadway Corridor and thought, "Man, this places needs a serious, far-sighted overhaul to help it get its shit together." It won't happen overnight, but as the thing gets built and used, new crosswalks, amenities and hopefully businesses will begin to appear.

Light rail -- like Barack Obama -- will obviously not be a singular savior to a city replete with complex problems. But the argument that there's "too many questions" smacks of the same subtle fear-stirring and defeatism heard throughout this election ("Do we know the real Barack Obama? Whose interests does he really serve? Too many questions!")

Light rail would have its flaws, hiccups and growing pains, without question. Personally I'd rather have trolleys -- that's a cool method of transit if this city ever saw one. Or better yet, the little trains they have at the Kansas City Zoo. But that's not what's on the ballot.

And those of you who think KC is getting all white and uppity trying to be like Portland or someplace should at least be thankful we're not voting on gondolas.

Rather than spell out any more arguments, I'll introduce this exchange between Matt and Nick. Matt rides the bus to work in KCMO. I don't know anything about Nick except that he doesn't like light rail and lives in Kansas, where (correct me if I'm wrong) light rail is not on the ballot. Reading Matt's comment-section refutations of Nick's points is an interesting exercise for those of you out there who are undecided. Or you could go even further and read about both sides in the Star. Much of the local blog noise over this thing can be found via Tony, who characteristically maligns the measure as a racist plan from an evil mayor.

On Tuesday you'll have to decide for yourself.

update: thanks again to Matt for this link to a very coherent and thorough discussion of the light rail issue

Wetzbeck Pumpkinology

Happy Halloween. I've had plenty to post and plan to catch up over the next few days. I wish I would have been able to do more but I had a couple of paying gigs this week that took precedence. Extra-special All Hallow's shout-outs to Berlin, Providence and L.A.

Peace and spookiness.

LW

p.s. I'll give you some of my leftover candy if you can guess which one is mine

The Great Gonzo also sings

In case you forgot.

We All Fall Down

This is one of my favorite fall pictures ever. It's a shot I took a few years ago of Adam jumping into a pile of leaves near the Uni-Bonn Hauptgebaude. It's a bit grainy, but who cares.

It's a sunny and windy October day here in Kansas City, so I think I'll go take a walk and enjoy it even though my bones ache and I don't have any energy for some reason. It might have to do with having read two books back-to-back that ruthlessly expose the ridiculousness of human history and identity vs. capitalism. They are Europeana by Patrik Ourednik and Coming of Age at the End of History by Camille Toledo. If any body else has read these or would like to, let me know when you've finished and we can get together and discuss over a strong drink or three.

But back to lighter matters: I went to the Louisburg cider mill a couple of weeks ago where I watched crying kids ride ponies, listened to some Civil War-era music performed by a bluegrass band, and -- of course -- bought some donuts and cider. It was a great time, and when I got home I was reminded of one of all-time favorite cold weather drinks, which I first sampled years ago at the Bourgeois Pig. Hot cider (with cinnamon and cloves mixed in) mixed with Tuaca and topped with whipped cream. Great stuff.

That's all for this weekend. Moritz and his friend are visiting as part of their "Crossroads08" travels -- a coast-to-coast journey through America in the months leading up to the election. If you can read German, you'll find some great entries about places in this country that many Americans aren't familiar with.

Hope you are having a nice weekend, and until next time.

LW

Powell to the People

You've probably read excerpts from recent interviews with Colin Powell, but if you haven't seen it, the actual footage is pretty compelling.

Finally someone is actually talking about this election in a way that makes sense. Not spinning, spoofing or sneering at it, just flat out saying what disturbs him about this campaign.

Though McCain supporters may downplay it, Powell's endorsement bears great significance for voters hesitant to vote outside party lines. Over the last eight years, Powell has been the only central member of the (first) Bush administration my grandparents and I both admire. So in the Midwest at least, his words resonate.

It's also about time someone stepped in and said how ridiculous the rumors of Obama's purported Muslim heritage are -- both the accusations AND the refutation. Before mentioning the example of a young Islamic American man who died serving in the Iraq war, Powell asks why a 7-year-old Muslim kid in America shouldn't also hope to be president someday.

In a media age where we're almost literally at each other's throats (case in point: watch this Bill O'Reilly clip and its Lil O'Reilly parody and tell me which is more infantile), Powell's civility is as impressive as his candor. Though his endorsement of Obama might be a bitter pill for the McCain campaign to swallow, Republicans should see beyond the present-day political implications and recognize that Powell's words are also aimed at helping them play a respectable role in the electoral process. Republicans should also note that as much as Powell has criticized his party this week, he never once disowns it.



In the interview above, you'll notice Powell's mention of the footage going out by Al-Jazeera. In case you haven't seen it, what he's referencing is not the Middle East-based news network's coverage of carnage in Iraq, but this frightful clip of Palin supporters at a rally in Ohio.

The images he refers to are disgusting, but what's worse is how distracting they are. With this kind of bigotry and misconceptions taking root, it's hard for anyone to pay attention to the finer aspects of policy that really deserve our honest attention.

Like Powell, I'll be voting for Obama, having received my Missouri registration card in the mail this week. I can't say that everyone in my family will. But I'll do my best to respect their viewpoints and will think twice before I forward links or information that are more about tearing down someone's character than addressing their political views.

pictures

Since Jennifer and I got married exactly two months ago today, I thought it was about time to share a photo of the event. These were taken by Seattle-based Shutterbug Big Baby T, who takes great wedding and engagement shots when she's not in the front row of a rock concert, hosting a house party in which guests are inexplicably draped in American flags and wearing gas masks, or traipsing along the forested coastline of the Pacific Northwest on all-night birthday drinking binges.

Speaking of photographers, KC Star's magazine for young professionals, Ink, did a nice little write-up on Jennifer today. You can read that here.

Rather than stop at that, I thought I'd go ahead and post a few of my favorite shots taken during our recent trip, along with a bit of commentary.

Let's start with a sequence of Berlin statues from Kreuzberg, Treptow, The Tiergarten and Friedrichshain before moving south.


Adam led us to this wreath of dancing gnomes statue in Treptow park. Till and I had a competition to see who could throw a frisbee through the middle from about 20 feet back. My first and only toss sailed right through. Till's smacked the left gnome right on the face.


This guy guards over bicycles along the side of Volkspark Friedrichshain's "Marchenbrunnen," a fairy-tale fountain that fell into disrepair during the cold war and has recently been restored.


This pair of lions prowl somewhere along the Tiergarten, I think


Visitors to Kreuzberg's Victoria Park will surely recognize the odd copulation shown in this statue, which Wade told me to be sure and not miss. The players are Poseidon and what I can only assume is one of his many sea nymph friends.


Also in the park is this fellow, whose contemplativeness is somewhat undermined by his purple, purple face.


Moving on from the statue category, this is an overlook of Kurort Rathen, a town opposite the Elbe Valley Sandstone mountains, from which this photo was taken.


This shot overlooks the Danube at Walhalla Temple, which Bavaria's Ludwig I built near Regensburg to honor the heroes of Germany. It's impressive, but to the point of absurdity, especially the statue he commissioned of himself wearing robes and a laurel wreath -- not the likeliest choice of clothing in 1842.


In a storm drain leading into the vast English Gardens of Munich, the water gushes out so fast that it forms a permanent wave -- a popular spot for city surfing.


Also in the English Gardens is the Chinesiches Turm, a pagoda tower which you can sit under and drink large mugs of refreshing beer.


It's easy to make new friends in Munich.


The Monopteros is another one of the English Garden's best-known landmarks, built in the 1830s to replace a nearby wooden Apollo temple that had fallen into disrepair. In the Edgar Reitz film series, Zweite Heimat, there's a scene where a group of younger people are laying around the floor of the temple all strung out on narcotics and suffering from drug-induced delusions. I didn't see any of that when I visited, but you could hear the sounds of a nearby drum-circle, which someone documented in this video. The park, it should be noted, is also a nude sunbather's (and voyeur's) paradise on hot summer days.


This is a shot of one of the Frauenkirche cupolas taken from its sister tower. If you look just to the left of it you'll see the hill and Olympic Tower where the next photo was taken.


I'll close today's photo sequence with this image of a group of kids just seconds before they cruised down the hill at Olympic Park in Munich. We saw them ride down and hike back up several times, and I got the feeling they did this all day long. Unfortunately I never saw them do a successful wheelie over the white cross on the slope below, but if they keep practicing I'm sure they'll pull it off one day. If you look at the enlarged version you can see the two towers of the church in the previous photo.

I'll probably be back later this week with some more music or links to more ridiculous election-related videos, but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed this photo essay. Again, Jennifer took all of these, and if you're ever interested in ordering a print, you can do so at her site for a reasonable price.

Thanks for reading and have a nice afternoon.

Music

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of Elliot Smith's death. If you've got all the studio albums and would like to hear something unfamiliar, I'd recommend the 2-disc "New Moon" album, or this collection of unreleased tracks available here.

I was on the air at KJ spinning the jazz show the morning I read that Smith had died, and for a few songs I switched it from jazz to play some songs from his self-titled album, even letting the word "fuck" on the air by accident, which for any college DJ is a big no-no, even if it does happen all the time. The Jazz Guru -- an older black gentleman who called each week to either criticize or complement the show -- phoned in to express his dismay that I'd deviated from the format, but seemed to understand when I told him the circumstances. After the show I went straight to KCI to fly to New York for the College Music Journal Festival, excited for the trip but with my enthusiasm for an indie rock convention naturally a bit deflated by the tragedy.

Fortunately his music still sounds great, with "Speed Trials" still probably holding steady as my favorite Elliot Smith track.

On an unrelated musical note, there's great new music to be heard tomorrow (Wednesday) night at the Taproom that will feature the debut of mysterious artist "Sea Boredom." The flier is below. Hope to see you there.

Thursday Tracks: A variety of videos

Tomorrow I'm heading to Chicago on a Choo Choo Train, so I wanted to make sure and leave you with some quality music videos to enjoy over the weekend. Let's start with the following from Ariel Pink. Set in an amusement park, it's a fun, psychedelic and surreal video that I expect only a few of you will actually get through. As calamitous as his music might sound at first, it's pretty phenomenal if you give it a good listen and are in the right light-headed state of mind.



Next up is some old footage of Arthur Lee and Love, with their 1966 song "Message to Pretty." This is the album version of the song, but it matches up pretty well and gives you a decent idea what seeing Love might have been like back then, at least on their quieter numbers filmed on a TV set. Just look at how hip that audience is at the end.



Continuing in the black and white vein is this new classic from The King Khan and BBQ Show, "Why Don't You Lie?" Filmed in Khan's adopted hometown of Berlin, it offers a great chase sequence in the Holocaust memorial.



The following tune by Lee Dorsey (not really a video here -- just music and a photo of the album) is called "Yes We Can," and it's 10 times funkier than any of the other theme songs the presidential candidates have come up with so far. I don't understand why Obama's campaign doesn't hop on this one. I doubt Lee Dorsey would disapprove.



This last one is something by San Francisco Band The Oh Sees. I'm not sure if it's in any way endorsed by the band, but all the weird faces and figures make it a good choice for the Halloween season.



See you soon.

LW

Young Turks: Batman vs. Penguin Debate

Something to whet your appetite for tonight's debate. Peter showed me this brilliant find by the Young Turks. I promise to post some tunes and other pleasant subject matter tomorrow, but for now this is too good to pass up.

two pictures of pumpkins

I don't really don't have anything to accompany these photos, aside from a quick note about where they were taken. One was at the abandoned castle type structure down near 18th and Vine, which is full of garbage and probably lots of other things I don't want to know about. Upon viewing this photo again, I was impressed and a bit spooked to notice how the plastic Jackolantern was just hanging in the tree. Then I remembered that I put it there myself. The photo below was taken in a village in Saxony. It kind of looks like a pig.

Bischofsreut

Should I go through Guttenhofen, or press on to Niederpretz?

The question had me in a tizzy as we sped in our rental car past places like Waldkirchen, Freyung and Schwarzental to get to the tiny village of Bischofsreut, the hometown of my great-grandmother Antonia Madl and our relatives that live their still, Leo and Heddi Kornegger.

Though Antonia left with her family for America over a century ago, my Grandpa Bichelmeyer stayed in good contact with his cousins in Bischofsreut through letters and periodic visits, and in 2000 he we traveled there with my dad and uncles. I'd exchanged letters with our Bavarian cousins before, but never had the chance to visit until last month. Not surprisingly, the visit proved to be one of the most fun parts of our trip.

We arrived in the early afternoon and were immediately greeted by plates of homemade schnitzel, bratkartoffeln and fizzy glasses of limonade. After lunch, we spent an hour or so looking through Heddi's meticulously kept folder of letters, photos and cards her American family members have sent over the years. I pointed out family members in the photos, one of them a group wedding portrait in which I was just a baby. "Klein aber oho," Leo said with a laugh. Small but great.


After that we took a tour through the town of several hundred, stopping at the old schoolhouse, the Catholic church and the small cemetery behind it that overlooks the valley.

Bischofsreut, which celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2005, is not a place you'd likely stumble upon. Part of the "Dreilaendereck" (three nations corner), the town lies deep in the Bavarian Forest along the German-Czech border, with Austria only a few dozen kilometers away. The area is part of the "Goldener Steig" (golden climb), a trade route that facilitated the transport of salt from the Danube towns of Linz and Passau on into Bohemia.


One thing I found fascinating about the town is that until 1989, no travel between Czech and Bavarian towns was permitted, even though most of the land you can see from the hills of Bischofsreut belongs to what was then Czechoslovakia. I asked Leo what was to stop someone from just sneaking through the densely forested hills and into the other side. Not much, he said, if you could get past a 4-meter-tall, 20,000 volt electrical fence and guards with machine guns who would shoot you on sight.


Leo and Heddi's place overlooks the Bohemian side of the forest, and they told us that during the cold war years American troops would park their jeep beside the house and use the vantage point to spy on their Eastern neighbors. On especially cold nights, the Korneggers would offer the soldiers hot drinks and a place to warm up next to the fire.

The snow gets so high in winter, Heddi said, that you can't imagine it unless you see it for yourself. Houses get buried in snow up to the second floor, and the abundant stockpiles of wood are drawn on heavily during those months. Even though most of the houses have gas heating, it's more economical to keep a fire going.


Regardless of the season, the town has a decidedly cozy feel, thanks to the pleasant, sturdy homes (many of which have livestock stalls in the lower level), windows full of flowers, occasional garden gnomes, and most of all, the friendliness of the villagers. "It's simple here in the Bavarian Forest, but it suits us," Heddi told me in the musical German dialect spoken in the region. Everyone knows each other, and even generations after a family leaves to start a new life somewhere else, they're welcomed back during seasonal celebrations and area anniversaries.

Among the most welcoming spots was our last stop for the night, an old tavern just a quick jog down the hill. Over a hearty meal, schnapps and a few beers, we visited with some of the locals, among them a particularly soused but exceptionally friendly guy named Werner. Werner, Heddi said, used to embark on drinking spells with her brother until the pair passed out in the garden, awakening the next day to the sound of the Bundeswehr (German army) vehicles driving by, which they would invariably stand up and salute. Even though we couldn't follow the much of the conversation, Werner's good-natured rants had us all in stitches, and by the evening's close he was encouraging us to move to Bischofsreut.

I don't think that's likely to happen anytime soon, but all the same, it's nice to know the offer is on the table.


(If you'd like to see more of these pictures, Jenn has a folder viewable here)

"In which Nations shoot the breeze..."

Another example of why David Malki's Wondermark is my favorite Web comic

Thursday Tracks: Suzie's EP and Daytrotter sessions

Speaking of musically talented friends, I highly recommend the songs of Suzannah Johannes, whose 4-song EP is out on vinyl now at the Love Garden or on iTunes. You can also hear some of her songs for free at Daytrotter.com, where they were posted a few weeks ago. Suzie writes her own songs with some lyrical contributions from her friend Hans. They're all great and I can't wait to hear more.

Thursday Tracks: Andrew Morgan

Not that there's ever a bad time, but fall is is the perfect time to listen to music by Andrew Morgan, a good friend and very talented and dedicated musician. I listened to his self-titled album a couple of weeks ago while driving across Kansas early in the morning and the sounds matched up perfectly with the misty trees, rivers and humble little hills covered in hazy morning sunlight. You can give a few tracks a listen on his site and download his albums or EPs for a very reasonable fee.

Back

Crime in Kansas City has upset me a lot lately, but I decided against using this blog to pour out my anxieties and frustrations about the violent events in this city, the segregation and social unrest that brings them about, and the cynicism with which we respond to and make fun of these events.

Instead I decided to bring a bit of levity to my corner of the blogosphere, so what you'll be seeing here on through election time is a bunch of short seasonal quips, links, songs and other digital larks more designed to take your mind off the ugliness of reality rather than rub your face in it.

Then again, that's all subject to change, especially if I come across any interesting and provocative copy about presidential candidates or PTSD.

October Tributes #2

"October Song" by The Incredible String Band, 1966

October Tributes #1

A guy in my neighborhood was wearing a sweatshirt version of this t-shirt the other day. At first I thought he probably didn't realize the awesomeness of what he was wearing, and then I reconsidered. He knew full-well.

The guy I saw is of a similar age and hair color to the guy in this photo, although the guy I saw wears glasses with frames many times too large for his face generally looks confused.

"That One"

Can't believe this is already online. Draw what conclusions you will. Whether he meant to telegraph it or not, I think McCain gave us a glimpse of how much condescension he really feels toward his running mate. Just look at his face when he says it and points. The "other" language combined with the derisive body language is pretty damning if you ask me.

Meat Magic

Tonight at Quinton's in Lawrence, the greatest cover band in the universe will show off its stuff. It's kind of redundant to even post this, since I know everyone who reads this is probably already going to be at Quinton's on a Thursday night. But just an extra reminder. These guys play the best hits of the 80s and 90s with a technical prowess and a passion so heartfelt it supersedes all irony, almost like a European rock cover band in that regard. Their falsettos ring true and their Toto covers are nothing short of majestic.

Hope you can make it.

Flitterwochen

Greetings from Berlin. I'm bound for brunch at Boxhagenerplatz shortly, but just wanted to post a quick hello from our trip before it's all over.

Our week in the south of the country was full of bike rides through the English Gardens, a boat ride to the oldest monastic brewery in the world and a rental car ride through the vast Bavarian Forest to visit some relatives we'd only previously had contact with through letters. Sunshine every day.

Berlin is a much different animal, though also very exciting. Highlights include a quiet, cosy stay at Dorothy's Place (which you can rent out, too, if you come to Berlin -- I highly recommend it), a photo-reconnaissance trip through a bizarre fenced-off amusement park that used to be East Germany's most popular, and a early morning voodoo wedding ceremony performed by King Khan himself just east of Kreuzberg.

Most important to us has been the hospitality of friends here in the city, which feels as much like home as any other place I've ever been.

However, we'll be back in Kansas City in a few days, and I'll post some music links and stuff that I meant to put up a while ago when I get back, along with a bunch of photos as we go through them over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, check out this week's KC Star Magazine, which features a piece Jennifer and I worked on together. Thanks to mag editor Tim Engle for making it possible and providing some great editing. Print is not dead, people. At least not yet.

bis spaeter,

LDHW

Today is the day...

An online bouquet for those who can't make it



See you soon, though!

The Near Far

Saturday at 8 p.m. Sounds like fun. Thanks to Adam for the tip (Yes -- I sometimes rely on Berliners to get the word about what's going on in Kansas City)

See you there maybe

The Near Far – A one-time performance conceived and orchestrated by Jane Beachy + Randall K. Cohn

Charlotte Street Foundation

On August 16, 2008, a group of 14 artists from a dozen cities will present The Near Far, a performance built out of material they have spent the last year developing primarily through email exchanges. The piece will feature photography, video, text, music, choreography, and other materials created around the themes of distance, longing, mediation and mobility. The piece was conceived and orchestrated by Kansas City natives Jane Beachy and Randall K. Cohn (former director of The Evaporated Milk Society).

Beginning in September, 2007, the participating artists exchanged material once a month, building on and adapting each other’s work according to assignments from Cohn and Beachy, who archived all of the material and administered the exchanges. The artists, many of whom had never met each other before the project, will gather in Kansas City at la Esquina, August 10 – 17, for an intense workshop during which they will turn the
resulting raw material into a one-time performance.

The project was born out of an observation that while concepts like community and immediacy are often central to the rhetoric surrounding theater and performance art, the lifestyles of people working in those fields are often particularly itinerant, and their important relationships are increasingly maintained through electronic media across vast distances. The Near Far seeks to explore this paradox, both in the form of the collaboration itself and in the chosen themes around which the project was built.

Participating artists include Christopher Cromwell (Bar Harbor), Cara DeFabio (San Francisco), Laura Frank (Kansas City), Adam Greenfield (New York), Joe Hammers (Kansas City), Brynn Hambly (Seattle), John Kaufmann (Iowa City), Eric Lendl (New York), Carrie Louise Nutt (New Brunswick), Dhira Rauch (Los Angeles), Ava Roy (Oakland), and Allison Waters (Eugene).


Saturday, August 16, 2008
8 pm

Venue: la Esquina (an Urban Culture Project space)
1000 West 25th Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
Jackson County


Phone: 816-221-5115

Venue Website: http://www.urbancultureproject.org

Parking: parking on street




FREE

Ghosties on Daytrotter

www.daytrotter.com

Tour dates:

Aug 8 2008 / Record Bar / Kansas City, Missouri
Aug 9 2008 / The Matinee / Cleveland, Ohio
Aug 10 2008 / The M Room / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Aug 11 2008 / The Red and The Black / Washington DC
Aug 12 2008 / Cake Shop / New York, New York
Aug 13 2008 / Death By Audio / Brooklyn, New York
Aug 14 2008 / Space Gallery / Portland, Maine
Aug 15 2008 / PA’s Lounge / Somerville, Massachusetts
Aug 16 2008 / Radio Bean / Burlington, Vermont
Aug 17 2008 / The Bug Jar / Rochester, New York
Aug 29 2008 / Eighth St. Taproom / Lawrence, Kansas
Sep 5 2008 / Record Bar / Kansas City, Missouri

Cory's Drawing Game (Selected Works)

As self-absorbed as blogs can get, the best posts to me are ones involving the talent and bright ideas of others. Today's featured artwork is just that -- a collaborative text and illustration narrative brought into being via the game Cory introduced us to at the Stained Glass Factory circa sometime last year.

The instructions are pretty simple. If you've got 5 players, each person should start out with 5 index card-sized sheets of paper stacked on top of each other. Once everyone agrees to start, each player independently (and privately) writes an aphorism, common saying or quotation on the first piece of paper in ink. They then pass the whole stack counter-clockwise (I believe -- variations may exist) and the player then interprets his lefthand neighbor's text with an interpretive illustration. After only a few minutes, the stack is again passed, and the illustration re-interpreted and a new caption given (although the possibility certainly exists that the original caption may be recognized in the drawing, I've yet to see the same caption duplicated on subsequent cards).

After the players have received the stack they started with, the players go around the room and -- frame by frame -- reveal the story they've constructed together.

The four sequences I'm unveiling today were completed by Toby, Dave, Stu, Jenn and I, but Cory's imagination is easy to recognize in the overall spirit of the pieces.

I was going to post them one day at a time through the rest of the week, but I think it's best to keep them together. Besides, if you want to see more you can always come up with them yourself. Well, you and a few other people who are up for playing a cool drawing game.

...............

Believe It Or Not...


Space IS The Place


It Takes Two To Tango


The Fate of Humankind Is An Eternal Infancy

Yelle au Parc des Princes

Don't Feed the Giant Bunny

My family has left me and gone to Mexico. Evenings this week you can find me on Adams Street sipping on assorted beers, bottled waters and flat sodas, pacing around the backyard, tossing Frisbees and listlessly lighting tiki-torches.

I shouldn't complain, though. I did get to do some serious travels last weekend. Jennifer and I went to Big Brutus, the 11-million pound steam shovel and the second largest electric shovel in the world, located in the quaint hamlet of West Mineral, Kansas (I'm pretty sure there's a bitter rivalry with East Mineral, but I didn't spend long enough in Cherokee County to confirm this).

Big Brutus is indeed big. In fact, it's enormous. Unfortunately, you can no longer climb out on the 150-foot-long boom, where people with mullets used to get married, according to the short informational video shown in the museum. Brutus, in case you were wondering, did not dig coal. The bucket removed dirt and rocks covering coal seams and was operated from 1962 to 1973, when the thing was finally retired due to the drop in coal prices and a monthly electric bill of over 27,000 dollars. You can learn more about Brutus and buy some nifty souvenirs at www.bigbrutus.org.

These are a couple of our close friends playing in the dipper...

Actually I don't even know those kids -- some lady named Rosemary posted this picture on her blog and I thought it was so sweet I'd reproduce it here. Rosemary also took this picture of the Webb City Praying Hands monument. I got lost here one time. Also, there is absolutely no sledding allowed at Praying Hands, especially in the summer.



Praying hands are not the only oversized thing you'll find in this part of the world, however. While skirting the Oklahoma border we came across this former parachute shop that is the home to a bunch of run-down cars, statues and a giant bunny rabbit. More pictures here.



If you'd rather check out footage of more remote and mountainous territory, the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler" has posted a video of his hikes through the Harz region of Germany, which my friends know I am semi-obsessed with even though I have never been there. The part where Frugal Traveler encounters a guy in the middle of nowhere clearing fields so he can shoot wild boars from a lookout tower is pretty special.

While I'm linking, I'd like to encourage you to check out this viral video posted and analyzed by reporter/raconteur J. "Scoop" Tucker. I thought the "Crazy Titch vs. Dizzee Rascal" battle was intense, but that's nothing compared to Eli Porter vs. Envy.

On top of my playlist lately are a pair of Scandinavians and two bands from San Francisco. For tunes by Pugh, Lau Nau, The Ohsees, visit the lukebox. To hear some stuff by the Sic Alps, who I saw this week at the Pistol, check out www.sicalps.com. This is a band I can heartily endorse, not just because I like experimental psychedelic rock from the Bay area, but also because they deleted their MySpace page -- perhaps the last act of rebellious negation that exists for today's rock and roller.

More soon.

LW

But Mrs. Andratti, isn't it true that everybody's being uptight about those freaky chromosomes?

These are difficult questions

Remember the pilgrim

Excuse any sassiness or unpleasantness of tone in the last post. I'd just taken my first stroll down Electric Avenue (KC Live, Power & Light, whatever the hell it's supposed to be called) and I wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing. Initially I was just relieved that they let me in with just my blue v-neck tee and flip-flops. The place was pretty cool, in that it's outside and crowded, but I don't know that I'll be going back anytime soon. The music is the same tired playlist I've been hearing at frat bars and skating rinks since the beginning of time (or at least 1986). And the DJ up in the booth didn't even have a Mac. He had a Dell.

But I do wish downtown the best, even if its new bars and fancy backdrop don't interest me in the slightest. It's trying its hardest, much like the sub-par/past-her-prime beauty who slaps on too much makeup in hopes that people will notice her again. Just flash a sad smile and walk on by.

The light rail thing, on the other hand. Now that could be fun, especially if they allow you to carry drinks around the way you can at Power & Light. I'll definitely ride it around and I'm sure lots of other people will, too.

I drive around as much as anyone, and it's hard not to feel a slight bit of panic or at least anxiety about skyrocketing gas prices... But after I watched this lady struggle to see over the dashboard of her giant land-cruiser the other day in the Half Price books parking lot, oblivious to the cars whose paths she was blocking, I found it hard to muster up too much sorrow about the twilight of our gas-guzzling glory days. It'll be uncomfortable not to have the same cheapness of mobility we've always enjoyed, but on the other hand, good riddance to all the diminutive Hausfraus powering along in their "urban combat vehicles," as my track coach King Karl used to call them.

King Karl also once said, in the middle of class, "By the time you guys are my age you'll be running around with a computer up your butt telling you what to do every 14 seconds." If you look at the advances in hand-held technology, I think he might have been right -- mostly. Another, perhaps more accurate, way to look at it would be to say, "By the time you guys are my age, you'll be running around telling a computer what you did every 14 seconds." All of you with twitter accounts probably know what I'm talking about.

Still, there's something to be said for regularity, and one of my old years resolutions was to either cancel this thing or post on a regular basis. So I'm going to try and do that, although the regularity will probably cancel out any coherence I might have achieved when this blogging thing was still a bright new country and not some tired electronic wasteland. We'll still have fun, as long as some of you comment once in a while. I don't ask for much, like real names or anything of substance, so what's the harm?

Well it's almost midnight so I'm going to finish up my Shock Top Belgian-style ale, brought to you by the St. Louis InBev subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch (don't get all up in arms, St. Louis factory workers, I didn't realize what I was buying until it was too late -- I just saw the logo of the orange peel with the mohawk and I couldn't resist).

If any of you see King Leopold's ghost paddling down the Mississippi, throw a drink on him for me.

In the meantime, check out this amazing series of deconstructed toys put together by whiz-bang designer Matt Kirkland, my old roommate at the hallowed halls of Grace Pearson.

Lover what you started now that you parted

Friends,

Not sure who still reads this. Apologies for my long absences. Life is so busy these days. And it's so hot outside. Definitely not blogging weather. As the old proverb goes, "drink iced tea while it's hot -- leave sagacity to the fall."

I will get back in the swing of things here. Probably. Perhaps. I get married in less than a month and then I leave town for about that long so there is a lot to do.

I heard some Funkadelic at the bar tonight. The same old bar I go to most Fridays, where there's only one bartender, no doorman and the enthusiastic discombobulated DJ spins soul/funk 45s on a single turntable. The Funkadelic track was something off "America Eats Its Young," I think, which in my high school days struck me as a funny title but nowadays strikes me as all too true.

I wonder what I'm still doing here, sometimes. I've lived elsewhere before. Before I had a blog, I actually traveled quite a bit and did things which at them time did not seem suitable for Internet postage. That's always sort of been the challenge with this site -- to keep it local and still keep it interesting. I think I've got at least one more year left. After that all bets are off.

The beat, however, must go on. And to that end I have added quite a few more tracks on the lukebox, accessible here. Plug in and enjoy. Or ignore and go about your business. All the same to me. But whatsoever I play, it's got. to. be. fun. kay?

love and kisses,

L.D.H.W.

I Could Never Fight A Cat Like That

I thought back about the last post a little while ago and decided it really didn't have much of a point. Although that hasn't stopped me from posting more than my share of shaggy-dog stories in the past, yesterday's gator photo-sequence was worthwhile only for its exposure of what really goes on in America's zoos.

But don't worry, fair readers, friends and spam-bots: There are no gators in the KC sewers, and if they do show up here they arrive at night, peaceful-like and made of plywood.

In more somber animal news, a legendary Midtown feline passed away last week. Ronald Reagan -- a black-and-white house cat that at 30 pounds was an outright colossus -- died last week at the age of 10. Ronald was my neighbor's cat for the past 2 years or so. He was already in possession of his presidential name when my friend adopted him. In fact all we knew about Ronald's early years was that they were almost entirely spent in the back rooms of a Kansas City BBQ joint. I'm not even kidding.

So Ronald is gone from the apartment building, and from this life, but I'm sure I'll still picture his sleek but massive frame in the first-story window, head raised, hair spiked and stuck together after a flea bath, sitting with all the street-tough aplomb of a brooding, self-grooming prize-fighter; fat has hell and fully aware he's in a class by himself.

So so long, Ronald Reagan. It's goodbye all over again.