Brothers Gotta Live

(photo by Jill Toyoshiba, KC Star)

Although you probably wouldn't know it, this blog started partially out of a frustration with crime in the city, which at the time I'd just moved back to. I wound up deciding instead to write about the frivolous, fun and attractive aspects of life in Midtown and KC in general (and beyond) but I've always remained somewhat preoccupied with the violence that goes on nearby; fascinated with how far removed these kinds of things are from my reality and yet how close they are to where I live.

Of course, I haven't offered any solutions, and my own involvement in helping improve the city's situation has been mostly non-existent, aside from a bit of online hand-wringing. I aim to change that in the future, though I don't know exactly how just yet.

One voice that stands out to me is Midtown Miscreant, a local writer who many of you might have seen featured in the Pitch Weekly cover story last month. He doesn't profess to having the answers either, but he does draw attention to crimes and call folks to task for their actions or lack of accountability. His posts about the recent vandalism of monuments, churches and other inanimate objects by so-called "anarchists" have been particularly strong.

As fun as it can be to live near the Art Institute and amid the cheaper apartment housing that's home to so many students and twentysomethings, I wonder what's up with some of these kids. The other day a couple of girls I know who are a few years younger were talking about how a guy threw a molotov cocktail into an abandoned building next to Harlings. "Yeah," the girl said. "It's awesome."

What? Awesome? Starting a fire in an abandoned building and then running away? Yeah, it's just about as courageous as the folks that broke windows at the nearby Obama office three times during the campaign.

I just wonder when people started equating anarchy with property damage, as if that's all there is to it.

After last week's destruction at a 100-year-old church in the neighborhood, I was upset, just like a lot of other area residents. I figured if I came across one of these kids in action it would be somewhat satisfying to personally put a stop to it. But of course my mother did not raise me to hit nobody, and the chances of encountering them in the first place is unlikely.

Instead of becoming some kind of vigilante, I'd rather challenge these kids to reexamine how exactly they go about trying to introduce "change" and revolution to the world. To quote Joseph Campbell:

"Revolution doesn't have to do with smashing something, it has to do with bringing something forth. If you spend all your time thinking about that which you are attacking, then you are negatively bound to it. You have to find the zeal in yourself and bring that out."

Now, about the murder issue...

I was pleased to see the Star's Tony Rizzo and photographer Jill Toyoshiba do such a great job on in the three-part feature called "Murder Factory," which is about life and death in the neighboring zip code, which produces more murderers than anywhere else in the state. Say what you will, the story addresses some difficult subjects -- interviewing murderers, their families, those who have lost children, had their homes riddled by gunfire, seen their streets go from respectable neighborhoods to overgrown, nightmarish crime zones. The series raises some tough questions, and the photo essay alone is worth spending some time looking through.

The final part, which ran today, examines real cost of crime (16 million to incarcerate 100 people for 10 years) vs. the ways some of that money could be spent to help prevent crime, with programs in Newark, NJ and Boston used as an example. The article also addresses how it's no so much evil as it is indifference that allows these kinds of crime to continue with such frequency (i.e. Hannah Arendt's idea of the banality of evil).

I drive through 64130 quite a bit, usually en route to Swope or somewhere like that, and while I don't make a point to spend time there, I don't want to ignore it. The only times I've spent much time in the Ivanhoe neighborhood was while volunteering for a housing rehab project as part of "Christmas in October." I remember being in the basement of an elderly black couple working on repairing a staircase or something and seeing a sticker on one of the beams that must have been placed there a few decades ago. It was some kind of affirmation about the need for unity in the black community. Though I don't remember exactly what it said, the last lines were "Brothers don't got to die. Brothers got to LIVE."

I probably won't be discussing crime here much in the future, as I plan to completely change the format of this site and do something different than the infrequent commentary and event and photo stuff I've put up in the past. But for now I'm glad that people are talking about what's going on. In the future I hope it leads to more actions being taken and real change being brought forth by those of us who live in Kansas City. Even if we don't live in the middle of the roughest patches, that doesn't mean we shouldn't do our part to help improve the situations of our brothers to the east.

respectfully,

LW

in the realm of obscure feeling

Tomorrow I get to see a performance of one of my favorite symphonies of all time. (Never mind that I only really know a handful, it's still my favorite)

About five years ago, Mahler's 1st ("The Titan," as it's called) was essentially burned into my brain, mostly by accident. I had meticulously packed a set of about two dozen CDs for a train trip, but when I got onboard I realized I'd remembered my discman and headphones but forgot the travel case of discs. When I popped the CD player open I saw that it was a copy of Mahler's first that I'd picked up a few months before. It was a long and stormy train ride, and I never forgot it.

My introduction to Mahler actually took place before that, during my sophomore year at college. My roommate Pat was a music student, and even though he specialized in the French horn, he often fell asleep at the piano after hours of playing classical pieces I'd never heard of. I'd sit nearby in the parlor of the scholarship hall, entranced by the intricate and inspired melodies that carried us both to the end of the night. "Who was that?" I'd ask Pat at a pause in his playing. More often than not it was Mahler.

I'm no Mahler scholar, but my two favorites are probably the first and the ninth symphonies, especially when conducted by the composer's personal friend, Bruno Walter or some other reputable conductor like Leondard Bernstein. Even if I was an expert on classical music, I'd still probably refrain from writing anything else about him here. As Mahler himself said about a hundred years ago,

"Let the public have its own thoughts about the work performed. Let it not be forced to read during the performance, let no preconceived ideas be instilled into it! If a composer has of himself impressed upon his listeners the feelings that surged through him, his object has been attained. The speech of tones has then approached that of words; but it has infinitely more to impart than words can express."

If you go to NYtimes.com and do a search for Mahler, you can actually pull up PDFs of the original articles such as this one about Mahler's work being performed in the U.S. for the first time.

If you're in the KC area, there might still be some tickets for Friday or Saturday night. I know if you're a student with an ID you can sometimes show up and get a $5 dollar rush seat. Doesn't always work, but it's worth a try. Whether you've got a strong interest in the composer, a fascination with timpani drums or are just looking for a classy place to zone out, you'll likely enjoy some aspect of watching the KC Symphony under Michael Stern. More info at kcsymphony.org.

Until then, I'll give the final word to Mahler, from the end of the previously linked-to 1908 NY Times article:

"I, for one, know well that, so long as my life happenings can be conveyed fitly through words, I will not use them as a musical theme. The longing to express myself musically comes over me only in the realm of obscure feelings, at the threshold of the world beyond, the world in which the categories of time and space rule no more."

Inauguration photos

To make up for the nonsensical video I posted last night, here's a pretty amazing photo series put together by the Boston Globe of the inauguration and people viewing it around the world. Found this through Matt.

When Dinosaurs ruled the earth

As I'm posting this, it only has 287 views. I bet it has a lot more tomorrow. What's funny is I came across it by accident. I was trying to find the no voice-over BBC footage of the Obamas bidding the Bushes fairwell, which is itself a very moving piece of footage. Like a propaganda film played in reverse, not without a certain amount of hope and goodwill. Instead I found this clip dubbed over with dialogue from "Jurassic Park." I have to admit, though, the fanfare does strike a certain chord.

Godspeed.

At the CVS on Main

Today at the downtown CVS I was about to tell the guy "no, I don't have a CVS card" when a lady behind me raced up to volunteer to swipe hers for me. I told her it was no big deal, figuring there probably weren't a lot of savings in my $10 purchase of Dunkin Sticks, cough drops, Sweet Tart Hearts and disposable razors. But she insisted. "We're all each others' keeper, it says so in the bible," she said. "With this economy the way it is, we could all be living together next week."

So we swiped her card and I got a coupon about a mile long that ostensibly will save me four and a half bucks next time I visit CVS.

Downtown yesterday

I was coming out of the city market yesterday after buying a bratwurst a pepsi and some cookies full of figs and crushed walnuts and in front of us were two cops on horseback. This guy with dreads had come out to one of the patios for a smoke and right when we went outside we heard him yell "Oh man those some HORSES, dog! Those some HORSES!" The cops reigned in their steeds and talked to the guy for a bit, who said every weekend in the summer he goes to ride and hang out with the 25 horses he has on a farm in Oklahoma. Just before that I'd seen two female police offers on horseback right at my place of employment at 12 and Walnut. I guess that's one thing downtown KC has going for it -- we still have law enforcement on horseback.

Linkage

"It comes from a deep-rooted conviction that if there is anything worthwhile doing for the sake of culture, then it is touching on subject matters and situations which link people, and not those that divide people. There are too many things in the world which divide people, such as religion, politics, history, and nationalism. If culture is capable of anything, then it is finding that which unites us all. And there are so many things which unite people. It doesn't matter who you are or who I am, if your tooth aches or mine, it's still the same pain. Feelings are what link people together, because the word 'love' has the same meaning for everybody. Or 'fear', or 'suffering'. We all fear the same way and the same things. And we all love in the same way. That's why I tell about these things, because in all other things I immediately find division."

-- Polish filmmaker Krzystof Kieslowski, in a 1995 interview

I just watched the Double Life of Veronique last night. I think I like the Polish Weronika better than the French Veronique. Even though the film came out a decade or so before "Amelie," it's hard not to think of it during the Parisian scenes.

Anyway I liked this quote from KK. Especially on inauguration eve.

Alligator on bun

For those of you who can read German, Moritz, my "Brat-Bruder in Lederhosen," wrote a great travelogue about his tour of hot dog stands in Los Angeles.

Polish up your track jackets

TONIGHT

workfare incorporated benefit concert @ czar bar

featuring

winston apple
katlyn conray
tony ladesich
&
SLOW BROS (jake blanton & andrew connor)

show starts at 7, slow bros go on at 9:30.

It's All About The Introduction

These songs all more than stand on their own, but in each case the introductions in these music vids kick things off on the right foot.

Here's Taj Mahal...



I used to think it was just practice I needed to make me a better mouth-harp player, maybe one of those cool Pignose mics that Red has. But now I know a handful of fancy rings helps. I love this song. Used to play it on the radio.



How cool would it be to be introduced by The Big O? I feel nervous for Eric at first...for a white guy (hell, for anyone) those are some tough shoes to fill. But he does a good job, never minding the head bobs.


"Bridging not only the generation gap, but the geography gap." Skip Spence is a lot of fun to watch as well.

Kaleidoscope

The other night while searching for Matthias Grunewald paintings I somehow found this kaleidoscopic photo rendition of St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow. Photo by Keitology, whose other work includes colorful landscapes, nudes and a brain wearing headphones.

An Erinaceidae for the books

I've never given too much thought to the idea of having a spirit animal. If somebody asked me in the past I probably would have said "pterodactyl" or something either prehistoric or fictitious. But if I gave it some thought I would have to say that my spirit animal is a hedgehog.

I encountered hedgehogs quite a bit (usually at night) back in Lawrence and also in Rhineland-Westphalia, where a hedgehog is known as an "Igel". Whenever I saw them I treated them with respect, and I think hedgehogs and I usually had a pretty good (if silent) understanding of each other.

So it's with great delight that I read this scoop from the KC Star about Lawrence overturning its ban on having a pet hedgehog within city limits. The story chronicles the legal campaign of a kid named Justin, and when you reach the story's conclusion you'll see that my symbolic adoption of the animal isn't without some cosmic merit.

In addition, my friends at Zoroastrian Kids point out that the hedgehog is a sacred animal created by none other than Ahura Mazda.

My affinity for the critter also stems from one of my favorite poems in the German language, Kurt Marti's "Das Herz der Igel" (The Heart of a Hedgehog, translated into English if you scroll down a bit here).

Any other hedgehog-related trivia can be sent here via the comments section. Otherwise, hope you're having a good year so far.

Cheers.

LW

tones from 2009

Some strumming from the other day...

(with apologies to Mr. Fahey)

Image courtesy of T-Bit, who recently completed her year-long illustration cycle.

What about you? What's up your sleeve?

Happy Christmas

I found this postcard of Santa with his chipped-away eyeballs in the bargain bin of a second-hand store. I love how the doll is about to be abducted from the toy pile by the little Christmas devil hiding in the Christmas tree. Puts me in the spirit.

Lots of holiday cheer and love from Lucubrations. I'm off to go wrap presents, drink springboek shots and eat several pounds of polish sausage.

See you soon

LW

positive/negative

I had a story in the Star the other day. It was about Christmas. Maybe not my bestest piece ever, but it was a nice opportunity and it turned out okay. The only problem was the head shot, which on the Web site looks like this...



Scary, huh? I was pretty creeped out at first but upon further examination the texture on the wall behind me shows up in the negative version like a bunch of stars, as if I'm not just a guest columnist but instead some kind of galactic message-bringer. And I guess that's kind of cool. Anyway at least my photo didn't wind up here.

Speaking of writing, last week on the Universal Press Editor's Blog I posted a short essay about the famous South American comic character and overall pervy bird, Condorito. You can read that here. My friend Mr. Bolling, creator of "Tom the Dancing Bug," posted some additional comments and a Condorito-inspired strip on his site.

Romance of the Black Grief

by Les Rallizes Denudes.

Fun Saver Friends

I know I should probably get with the times and post this kind of thing on Facebook. But that's so exclusive...I want the whole world to be able to ignore my fun-saver photo series. From top: Plaenterwald, Arboretum, Warwickshire.

Lopsided: A short film by Blue McNiel

My friend and neighbor Blue McNiel's film was featured in the UMKC end-of-the-semester student film showcase at the Tivoli last week. With her debut effort, "Lopsided," she manages to tell an interesting and highly personal story in just six and a half minutes. You can now watch it here.

"I'm OK. All I can report is a size ten." - W

So bizarre, on so many levels. The guy throws a shoe. Misses. Then another shoe. Misses. Somewhere off camera, just before the shoe-flinger is taken down, a woman screams.

The best part, though, by far, is Bush's follow-up shrug. It's a shrug that will go down in history.

Reminds me of the 2003 Schwarzenegger egg incident. As Arnold said at the time, "It's just part of the the free speech."

Kansas City Skylines

Part of a recent photoseries

Dining out downtown -- or -- Aiding and abetting the soda addictions of those too young to speak

Next door to my new downtown place of employment, there's a Kentucky Fried Chicken/Pizza Hut Express. Although the novelty and enjoyment are quickly wearing off, I've been going there about once or twice a week.

I never eat the fried chicken, just the pizza, and the breadsticks, drink and personal pan (well, box) are a pretty good deal for six bucks. Adding to the allure is the proprietor, a middle-aged Indian guy who calls everyone "buddy" or "sweetheart" depending on their gender (I'll let you figure out who gets called what). Though it sounds a trifle awkward in his thick accent, the heartfelt delivery more than makes up for it.

So the other day I was in there filling up my soda when I saw this little kid in a coat and stocking cap holding his soda cup and looking at me expectantly. I figured he wanted a refill, so I decided to help.

"Which one do you want?" I asked.

"Masfhfhfah" he said.

"Which one?"

"Dsssffffffma" he said, standing up on the toes of his Velcro sneakers and pointing up to the Dr. Pepper.

So the kid couldn't really talk, even though he looked like he was at least 3. No problem, I thought. Just fill up his Dr. Pepper. But as soon as I held the cup under the thing, he reached up and held down the lever (being just tall enough to reach it) and didn't let go until the fizz had crowned in a nice bubble just a split second away from overflowing.

I put the lid on for him and stuck in a straw, since he seemed to have lost his original one. I carefully handed him the full soda, which he almost immediately dropped. Once he got a better hold of it, he tilted the cup so he could get a drink -- never mind that the lid was firmly in place. In addition to not knowing how to talk, he also did not appear to know how to use a straw.

That's also when I realized that he was carrying a white styrofoam cup that definitely wasn't from the Kentucky Fried/Pizza Hut. For all I know, he had picked it up off the ground and carried it in to me to fill up for him while his mom took her sweet time deciding which chicken bowl to order.

Fortunately the mom reappeared, showed him how to use the straw, and told the kid to say "thank you" to me. "Mffaaffwa," he said, not taking his mouth off the cup. As the two of them walked off, I exchanged glances with the guy who runs the place and shrugged as if to apologize for using his soft drink fountain to fill up the contraband soda cups of itinerant, inarticulate children.

The man smiled and waved it off. "It's no big deal, buddy," he said.

And that's the end of my story.

Last Chance for a Trance Dance

Hello, friends. I know it has been a few days, and though I've had lots of hard-hitting and hilarious blogs lined up, I wanted the monkey thing to get maximum exposure. Aside from that jerk who wrote in saying he was going to get a stuffed one to hang his keys on, the response was really positive and I think things are looking up for the species.

If you ever click on here and are frustrated to see that I didn't post anything new, you can always check out the links I added to the sidebar. I'm also contributing to the Editors' Blog at my syndicate, which is at the top of that list. There's some pretty funny stuff up there, and it'll give you a window into the wild world of comics syndication. The design is pretty no-frills, though, so if any of you with any design talent want to help make some kind of banner, let me know.

Also, Jennifer and I put together a travel article that is featured in the newest issue of Urban Times KC. You can pick up a copy at newsstands around downtown or the Plaza, or read it online. It might not be the most cutting edge piece about Berlin, but it was written more as an intro to the city than a guide to the freakish and offbeat.

Whether I'm writing a straightforward piece or something more unusual, I've noticed that I tend to focus on the exciting or positive aspects of a place. My story about the Southmoreland neighborhood (I'd link to it, but the link with photos is dead so I might just scan that in at some point) was about how happy and creative things are. So it is kind of fun when I come across something like this piece by Midtown Miscreant, which presents an entirely different side of life in the art neighborhood.

I'll post more tomorrow, probably some music-related stuff and maybe a super-short story about drinking soda with a 3-year-old, but for now I'm heading out to see my friend Blue's short film. After that, we're picking up brother James at the Aeropuerto. As many of you know, he's been studying design, architecture and the art of historically charged sound installation sculpture in Berlin, but he's heading back to Kansas City for a spell to resume his position in the popcorn industry.


See you soon.

LW

Save the Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkey!

According to Science Daily's report from just a few hours ago (I get a direct feed to any breaking news about rare monkey conservation efforts), a new population of extremely rare snub-nosed monkeys has been discovered in the forests of North Vietnam.

From the article:

"When I saw the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in Tung Vai Commune I was overjoyed. This new discovery further underlines the importance of learning more about the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys' range and distribution. There is still time to save this unique species, but with just 200 or so left and threats still strong, we need to act now."

-- Conservation biologist Le Khac Quyet, who made a name for himself as one of the few people in the world who can claim to be an expert on this mysterious species

While I can not claim to be an expert on the species, which in some respects look eerily similar to Ewoks, they are one of my favorite species of primate, right up there with humans, Yunnan Golden and Proboscis monkeys.

Thursday Tracks: Voodoo Funk

In the shifting sands of music blogs, which are usually little more than links, promotion and piracy, "Voodoo Funk" is an exceptional operation. Voodoo Funk is run by a German DJ named Frank, whose goal was to find as many vintage African records as possible during his three years living and traveling in West Africa. Right now I think he's DJing in New York.

There's a lot of great mixes up on his site, which I find exceptionally fun to listen to while doing my favorite activities around the house like washing the dishes, rearranging papers and pacing back and forth down the hallway. The above video is a trailer for a documentary someone is making about his record-buying journeys, and the one below is some shaky cell phone video he shot while riding around Cotonou on the back of a Zemidjan. The song is from the Psychedelic Man EP by De Frank & His Professionals. Keep up the good work, Frank.

A Very Bahamian Christmas

Since we're already being inundated with Christmas carols in public places, I thought I'd share this clip of my new favorite Christmas song: Joseph Spence's live rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Spence was a folk singer and guitar player from an island in the Bahamas. He was known for his unique finger-style method of playing guitar and also for his distinctive growling vocals, which in a way are reminiscent of Tom Waits or Thelonious Monk. One time I put on a CD of his and Jennifer started looking outside the windows and all over the apartment to identify where the raspy voices were coming from, not realizing it was part of the music. Joe more than just growls his way through this one -- he straight-up sings.

Even if he doesn't know the words.

Images for December

Some photos, postcards and found art to kick off the new month. Feel free to post your own captions, questions or interpretations in the comments section.


Bischofsreut Blizzard


The Last Unicorn by Liz Gardner


Make A Wish


White Rhino by JLW


De Ballenman by Ben van Eck


Missing


Cape Monster by LDHW


Old Man Winter


May You Live in Interesting Times, by LDHW

I Care About Detroit

In light of all the talk about bailing out the big automakers, this song by Smokey Robinson sounds particularly humorous. To hear the track, click here, and to read a bit about the background and hear a bunch of other odd finds from all genres, check out the amazing (and unfortunately no longer updated) Office Naps site.

325 doodles and counting...

Nearly a year after she announced the plan to create and post a drawing each day, friend and local artist/designer Elizabeth (aka T-Bit) is closing in on her goal. The drawing above is one of my recent favorites, and the lil' dracula below was plucked from the September archives to represent the countdown to completing 365 consecutive sketches, paintings and illustrations. Make sure to stop by her site, check out the art and cheer her on.

Credit-default swaps!

This is a picture of Jeremiah Tucker and I in front of the nightclub we were set to open on July 5. (Not sure what year it was, maybe 1978? 1983? Those times are still such a blur!) As you can see, we were optimistic, but unfortunately the whole thing suffered a few setbacks. For one, we didn't own (or rent) the property and the consequential lack of access prevented us from tending to certain details like decorations. I'm pretty sure we would have gotten people in the door if only we had been able to pry it open. Believe me, though, we had plenty of booze, a healthy portion of which had already been carefully siphoned into a giant watermelon. Despite that failed venture, I hope to work with Jeremiah again in the future. He's a heck of a guy, with a 14-carat mind, even though I suspect he has secretly made fun of the "Black Cat" t-shirt I wore to this year's 4th of July picnic. He's also a great writer, and his latest piece at McSweeney's is a scintillating read.

See you on the shooting range, Tucker(s)!

Back in the time it takes to break a heart

(if you'd just like to get to the song, skip to the last paragraph)

Songs about Kansas City are often a letdown. Even the most swinging of them irritate me most of the time, either because they hearken back to a jazz-age heyday that no longer exists, or because they just aren't very good. I remember how my excitement about finding a Van Morrison record with a song about Kansas City faded when I discovered all it included was a bunch of female backup singers repeating "Excuse me do you know the way to Kansas City?" which quite honestly sounds a bit absurd when listened to locally.

One Sunday I was driving around town when the James Brown version of "Kansas City" came on the radio. I was at a traffic stop just blocks away from 12th and Vine when JB sang the part about standing at that intersection. Except instead of some hep cat snapping his fingers in rhythm on the corner, there were a couple of down-and-outs sitting in a bunch of newspaper. One of them was asleep while the other looked after him and took slugs from a brown paper bag. Though I saw definite evidence of "wine and crazy little women" in the neighborhood, it didn't exactly look like the kind of drinking and craziness you'd want to celebrate in song.

I don't want to be too hard on that particular blues standard, as it has been covered by great musicians ranging from Wanda Jackson to Muddy Waters. And I've always enjoyed the Beatles take, especially when it would come on at a bar on the Reeperbahn around 4 in the morning. On the opposite spectrum is a tune like "18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)" in which Cat Stevens wrestles with some vague neurosis that doesn't subside until he gets on a plane. Whether or not his problems described in that song were caused by his visit to Kansas City or just happened to occur during his stay, it's not something you'd use to promote the town on a travel brochure.

Last week, however, I discovered the Kansas City-referencing tune I've been waiting for my whole life: "The Train from Kansas City" by the Shangri-Las. Technically it isn't really about Kansas City, just a train originating from this location, but the heartbreak and tension the song builds up to are certainly not foreign to anyone who has spent a few years within this proud yet troubled municipality.

Right from the song's start, you know trouble is on the way, thanks to the rumbling piano and ominous female plea, "Baby, baby, please believe me, I would never, never do anything to hurt you..."

If you aren't a big fan of mid-1960s girl groups, this might not be the song for you. I, however, have been pretty caught up in it for the last few days, and for several reasons. 1) I like songs about trains, especially when they use sound effects. 2) I'm a big fan of catchy girl groups of all races, languages and tempos. And, 3) After having made countless futile train trips to visit old flames in faraway locations like Chicago and Jefferson City, it's nice to finally hear things from the lady's perspective. If I would have known how much she thought about and -- dare I say -- agonized over her rejection of my overtures, the last 10 years would have been a lot easier.

But alas, that's a topic for a whole different blog post. For now, enjoy the Shangri-Las' "Train from Kansas City," and feel free to check out any of the other recent posts on that mix-tape that won't die, the Lukebox. Oh, and if you've got any other notable mentions for songs that mention KC, feel free to comment.

Have a good weekend.

Jean Shin

Speaking of art, there are some really neat installations and sculptures viewable at New York artist Jean Shin's homepage. The above piece from 2007, entitled Sound Wave, "aims to physically manifest the ephemerality of music as well as one man’s musical tastes, as represented by his personal record collection."

The one below is made from broken umbrellas.

jacksonpollock.org

I remember seeing the Jackson Pollock painting at the Nelson when I was a kid and being really unimpressed with it and the Mark Rothko.

Nowadays, I'm an expert on modern art who has written dozens of important critical essays on these two artists and many others (unfortunately all of these essays are yet to be published, but just you wait!).

In the meantime, this is a really fun site that gives you a chance to create your own masterpiece. Click the mouse to change colors and space bar to erase.

Happy painting.

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.