Irma Thomas: Soul Queen of New Orleans II

First, a hearty congrats to the New Orleans Saints, and to all the fans, and to the city's spirit.

Second, seems as good a time as any to put in another plug for Irma Thomas, the Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans. Her songs -- many early on produced by the great Allen Toussaint -- range from the playful  "(You Can Have My Husband But) Don't Mess with My Man," (1960) -- to the beautiful "Ruler of My Heart" (1963), from the response -- "It's a Man's-Woman's World" (1966) -- to the timeless "Time is on My Side," (1964) -- from the knowing "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" (1964) -- to  the resilient "Times Have Changed" (1964). And she's done many albums since.  She's great.

Ticket stub from Irma's show, along with Mavis Staples in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the Michigan Theatre: September 15th, 2000. Ticket cost: $25.00. Great show, including the "Handkerchief Dance."

Today's Rune: The Self.

The Revolution, Digitized

A worthwhile experience: PBS' Frontline: Digital Nation: Life On The Virtual Frontier (2010), directed and produced by Rachel Dretzin and walked through by Douglas Rushkoff. It's a sort of episodic adventure into the here and now of cyber reality, hopping like think bubbles from information overload to kids to classrooms to South Korean game addicts to avatar realities to drone pilots to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome treatment and so on.  The last thirty minutes are worth the virtual price of admission.  The disconnect between drone pilots and their killing machines (via Hellfire Missiles and the like) and physical realities thousands of miles away is truly creepy.  Much like Terry Gilliam's prophetic film Brazil (1985), or Phlip K. Dick in general.

If curious, here's a link to the website and documentary: 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/

From my own experience, teenagers seem more distracted because they actually are -- there are so many more outlets.  They cut corners in every way possible -- because they can.  But they, and those now in their twenties and even thirties, are avid multitaskers. The question is, are they also capable of deep thought?  Is the ability to contemplate compromised by digital multitasking? Is it addictive behavior to such an extent that a whole new reality is being experienced?  Is this the biggest shift in conciousness and new literacies since the printing press?  I think, yes it is.

Today's Rune: Journey.

Greensboro: The Who, 1980

The Who at Greensboro were LOUD. Knowing their reputation for HIGH VOLUME going in, I brought ear plugs and am still glad I did. They played on all cylinders -- at the top of their post-Keith Moon game. Kenney Jones was the drummer. John Entwistle has since died (in 2002), so the only original Who members left to play the Super Bowl on Sunday will be Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend. I'll be curious to see how they do. In any case, the Greensboro show was only about seven months after the Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum show during which eleven fans were trampled to death. I kept my eyes on the crowd as well as the band.

The Greensboro Coliseum show of July 13, 1980 ($12.00 "PLUS $.25 OUTLET HANDLING CHARGE"), is or has been available in bootleg audio form.  Billy Squier opened and was also loud, keynoting his Tale of the Tape (1980) album. 

The Who played:

Substitute
I Can't Explain
Baba O'Riley
My Wife
Sister Disco
Behind Blue Eyes
Music Must Change
Drowned
Who Are You
5.15 (one of the coolest of the set)
Pinball Wizard
See Me Feel Me
Long Live Rock (also one of the coolest)
My Generation
I Can See For Miles
Naked Eye
Won't Get Fooled Again
Encore:
Relay
The Real Me

Good luck to the survivors and newer members -- and to the Saints -- at the Super Bowl.  And for God's sake, please avoid wardrobe malfunctions . . .

Today's Rune: Fertility.

The Night of the Hunter

Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) is such a cool movie. Made in collaboration with James Agee (1909-1955), who wrote the original screenplay, this is a masterpiece in black and white. Stars Robert Mitchum as a truly weird and sinister "preacher," Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Evelyn Varden (also great in The Bad Seed, 1956), a young Peter Graves (briefly), James Gleason and effective kid actors -- all superb.

The Night of the Hunter works so well in so many ways, what's not to love?  My only advice is: stick with it all the way through, without interruption.  Truly, if you abide, it's worth the time.



Today's Rune: Strength.

Philadelphia: From the 1992 Campaign

Skimming through the archives, found these artifacts dating to the 1990s. I loved living in Center City Philadelphia -- a wonderful place to directly engage in big things. From the 1992 presidential campaign:

Come hear Governor Clinton
Monday August 10, 1992
1:30 p.m.
Independence Plaza
South Side of Independence Hall
5th and Chestnut

Bill Clinton was -- and is -- a king of charisma. Star power.  We now know there's a downside to that, too.  Doh!




















Was given this "VIP" pass by a friend working on the Lynn Yeakel campaign (Yeakel ran a close race against Senator Arlen Specter in '92). Gore was -- and is -- sharp, but obviously he's not Bill Clinton in the easy charm department.

VIP
Senator Al Gore RALLY
SPECIAL GREETING AREA
Wednesday, July 29, 1992
12:00 Noon
JFK Plaza

Background lead-in was an edited version of Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City." Then, he really looked kind of like Christopher Reeve as Superman. 
























Finally, here's a test I gave on May 11, 1999.  Evil!  By that time, Bill Clinton was president, and Al Gore VP.  Now, nearly eleven years later, I'd change #3 to: How does war effect the USA? 

Today's Rune: Warrior.

The Greensboro Sit-Ins: Fifty Years Later

The Greensboro sit-ins at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, began on February 1, 1960. Four students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University began the peaceful protest, which grew in size there as well as all over North Carolina and elsewhere. Eisenhower was still president, and by March, he supported the sit-ins, too. The issue was segregation, Whites Only areas vs. integrated areas. The sit-ins were a complete success.

I took the above photo a few years ago and am happy to report that just yesterday, on the 50th anniversary of the protests, the The International Civil Rights Center and Museum opened its doors on site. Family members living in the area will check it out and report back in the near future, I suspect.  Here's a link: http://www.sitinmovement.org/

My Mom and I were lucky enough to see and hear Barack Obama and Joe Biden speak in Greensboro in 2008 at a very energetic -- and fun -- rally before the November presidential election.  

Here's Merry Clayton's 1970 rendition of "Gimme Shelter" with period montage via a fan's YouTube homage:

Shelter

This Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil heralded six more weeks of winter this year. Woo-hoo!

Given the weather, shelter is a good thing. As is Merry Clayton's rendition of "Gimme Shelter" on her 1970 album of the same name. I actually had this record, very impressed with her lung power. She's the one who gives extra zing to the 1969 Rolling Stones' original, playing off Mick Jagger's vocals. That's also her on backup vocals to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (1973/74). Glad to see she's doing well forty years after the original "Gimme Shelter." This is her singing it live not too long ago -- can you dig?



Today's Rune: Partnership. Cheers to Merry Clayton!  (Yurt pictured at top from Wiki Commons.)

Gregory Bateson: No One Is An Island

Here's a last bit from Gregory Bateson, Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity (1979) before moving on:

The mind contains no things, no pigs, no people, no midwife toads, or what have you, only ideas (i.e. news of difference), information about "things" in quotes, always in quotes. Similarly, the mind contains no time and no space, only ideas of "time" and "space." It follows that the boundaries of the individual, if real at all, will be, not spatial boundaries, but something more like the sacks that represent sets in theoretical diagrams or the bubbles that come out of the mouths of the characters in comic strips . . .

Relationship is not internal to the single person. It is nonsense to talk about "dependency" or "aggressiveness" or "pride," and so forth. All such words have their roots in what happens between persons, not in some something-or-other inside a person. (pp. 146-147)













That was in 1979. In 2010, social networking theory now informs all sorts of things, including blogging, Facebook and Twitter.  We see it in action every day.  Indeed, we are it in action every day.

Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune. Happy 76th Birthday to Donald Delbert France, my Dad!