"River Folk - Songs of the Organ"

I'm usually not a fan of musical films, but this is expertly done. Before you watch, read the description from BFI Films: "Legendary musician Reginald Foort bashes out some crowdpleasers on the Compton organ at the Ambassador Cinema in Hounslow. In this edition, all the tunes are river-related: after two songs set around the Thames, courtesy of Harry Compton and the Eton College Choral Society, we travel to Eastern Europe - or at least, an unconvincing set designed to look like Eastern Europe, where ersatz Russian peasants treat us to a rousing chorus of Ya Vass Lublu."

Remembering the 442nd

I was undeservedly privileged back in 2006 to meet a man who fought in the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II. The man I met, whose name escapes me now, literally fought fascists in Italy while his family was being held by the United States government in internment camps. The 442nd was an all Asian-American regiment which fought in the European theater of the War in battles in Italy, France and Germany. This video, which shows the awarding of the Distinguished Service Cross to the family of Sgt. Masuda of the 442nd was a great and totally unexpected find. I hope you enjoy it.

Classic Hitchens Religion Clip

Christopher Hitchens proves to be a sharp thorn in the side of Joe Scarborough in this classic video clip. It's amusing to see him blow up like this.



Personally, I would call myself a Deist in the same tradition as the American Founding Fathers. I agree with Benjamin Franklin's statement about God's role in the affairs of man. Nevertheless, Hitchens' sharp critique of organized religion is indispensable.

More on Tyrone Love

There's an aspect of Tyrone Love's murder that has been in the back of my mind for days:

According to an eyewitness, Love was walking alone in the 2600 block of East Cherry Street just before 2 a.m. when a man pulled up in a car, jumped out, ran toward Love and shot him several times.

Some acquaintances suggested that Love’s death might be connected with an ongoing investigation into the fatal, gang-related shooting at Vito’s Madison Grill in November. Police would not confirm whether Love was linked to it.

But one law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described a small circle of men who promote parties, attend clubs and may know gang members — at least peripherally.

It seems like it was Tyrone's involvement with music promotion that got him shot. After reading that, I actually went and deleted the hip-hop from my computer. I realize more than anyone that hip-hop is enigmatic and diverse, but it's just hard for me to listen to any of it without thinking about what happened to Tyrone.

The one thing that struck me when I talked with Tyrone was how nice and decent he was. I'm not saying that just because he's gone now and it's the polite thing to say. He really was a nice guy. The Central District and Capitol Hill isn't a hotbed for nice people so you tend to notice whenever decency rears its head.

I remember once talking to him about family, and I told him that one of my family members had moved south and had the same significant other for several years. Tyrone asked me if she was happy. That may not seem like much, but in retrospect it was really sweet. It wasn't something a gangbanger would ask. Tyrone was not a gangbanger, and that's what makes his death all the more tragic.

Northwest Concert Promoter Murdered

Out of high school, I worked briefly for a hip-hop magazine put out by the music promotion company Seaspot.com. One of the concert promoters I knew there was murdered recently:

In a neighborhood that had seemingly grown immune to news of violence and death, the fatal shooting of a popular, young music promoter earlier this week apparently has galvanized the community.

The death of Tyrone Love, 26, who was by all accounts one of the good guys, has sparked a rally, two vigils, a benefit concert set for Monday night, and renewed discussion among community leaders about how to reduce violence among youths.

A co-founder of a local music-promotion company named Vibrant Entertainment 206, Love worked during the day at the YMCA where he ran programs for at-risk youth.

This came as a surprise to me not just because I knew him but also because the community had become rather gentrified over the years, with nightclubs and malt liquor stores being replaced by Safeways, Trader Joe's and Starbucks. I'd hoped we'd been through the worst of it already.

I want to add that the murder of Tyrone was not necessarily caused by hip-hop. Reports show that the motive is unclear. Since rappers and others in the hip-hop community have been caught up in gang violence for decades, it'd be easy to say than this nice guy fell victim to the music that he (and I) helped promote. However, the hood is the hood and violence happens for no reason sometimes (like the Capitol Hill rave massacre that happened three years ago).

Whatever the motive, it's still depressing. I remember talking to Tyrone about soul music at Seattle Central Community College and him telling me about working at the YMCA. I hope that the children he helped will be inspired to do the same kind of work.

Rest in peace.

Glenn Beck = Charles Coughlin

A friend of mine sent me a link to a biography of 1930s broadcaster Charles E. Coughlin. After doing some quick research, I was struck by how very similar Coughlin was to Glenn Beck's newly adopted broadcasting style. See for yourself:





The bio of Coughlin also shows that he was quite often all over the place, something Beck certainly is:

Father Charles Edward Coughlin (October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979) was a Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower Church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than forty million tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s. Coughlin used his radio program to promote Franklin D. Roosevelt and his early New Deal proposals, to issue antisemitic commentary, and later to rationalize some of the policies of National Socialist Adolf Hitler and Fascist Benito Mussolini.[1] The broadcasts have been called "a variation of the Fascist agenda applied to American culture".[2] His chief topics were political and economic rather than religious, with his slogan being Social Justice, first with, and later against, the New Deal.

Just to show how all over the place he is, here is Glenn Beck actually making sense less than two weeks ago:

Obama Meets with Dalai Lama in the Bahamas

NASSAU - Today President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama in the Bahamas to talk on a variety of issues, including the tense situation in Ghana. The Dalai Lama reportedly kissed the hand of First Lady Michelle Obama, to whom the Dalai Lama referred to as "Obama's baby's mama." Both Obama and the Dalai Lama agreed in a joint statement that it was important for China to "stop the drama." They also emphasized the importance of apprehending Osama bin Laden.

Also present at the conference was Madonna, a fan and supporter of both the Dalai Lama and President Obama.

Tomorrow, Obama will be visiting Botswana to talk with leaders there about the country's shortage of llamas.

Speaking With Ardnt

Below is an excerpt of a recently published interview I conducted with Ardnt Peltner, a German born journalist and the host of the popular San Francisco based radio show/podcast Radio Goethe:

How did you end up in the Bay Area?
I moved over here after finishing my training as a radio journalist in Germany. I knew the Bay Area from a previous stay. Before getting into radio I studied social work and did an internship in San Francisco.
So, i jumped onto the chance to become a freelance correspondent in the summer of '96. Just wanted to stay three years....that plan didn't turn out.

What motivated you to start Radio Goethe?
I love music and I have been collecting records all my life. When I came to SF I realized, that there are almost no German bands played on the radio. So I went to KUSF and offered them the show idea to produce a program just focusing on German music. They liked the idea, since they played bands like Kraftwerk, Faust or the Einstuerzenden Neubauten. In the beginning I just hosted in German, later I switched, while realizing that my audience is mostly American.

You can read the entire thing at Mstation.org.

Creating the Lincoln Highway

This is a video of the founding of the very first highway, back in 1915. The music makes it sound like they're doing something really silly.

The Boys from the Dwarf Return

Time for a geek out! Here are the Red Dwarf crew reunited. It's nice to see that they're all wearing their classic clothes and not the Series VIII prison regs. They all look older of course, which is to be expected after a decade, but the one who looks most different is Chris Barrie, who plays Rimmer. His hair is shorter and grayer and he looks skinnier. Since he plays a hologram, and holograms are just light representations of dead humans, the writers may want to explain this.

As for the content, this could go badly or well. The last series was better than most British comedies but pailed in comparison with previous Red Dwarf. There is precedent of reunions being as good or even better than the original. Doug Naylor, creator of Red Dwarf, would be wise to follow the first Star Trek movies, which were made a decade after the original series and blew it out of the water.