I would defy any motion picture art director to design a scene with as much nuance as whatever is happening here.
The longer I look at this, the more questions I have. First off, the captain of the Stanley Cup champions is riding on mass transit of Winnipeg, Canada, for reasons that go unanswered. The bus itself is cramped and claustrophobic. The sunglasses on the ignored toddler are pulled from central casting. And Jonathan Toews is legitimately channeling his inner Lost in Translation/Broken Flowers-era Bill Murray to pull off a vacant unflinching stare of existential contemplation. Finally, add in the Stanley Cup, which makes every situation approximately 71% more surreal simply by its mere presence, and before I know it, I feel myself staring at this thing the way Cameron Frye was captivated by Georges Seurat.
The year is 2010, and a black democrat is in the White House. As you can imagine, it’s becoming more and more difficult for Rage Against the Machine to viewed with any degree of relevancy. Oh sure, some “musicians” in RATM’s position might decide that the time is right to inflict another terrible album onto the masses, but after some quick thinking, they remembered their penchant for empty political posturing, and thus the Sound Strike was born, to protest State Bill 1070 in Arizona.
I am not going to argue about the merits of the bill one way or the other. But what I am going to argue against is the overall inanity of the artists who have chosen to boycott the state as a result of this bill. The list contains a curious number of bands who aren’t even currently active (Nine Inch Nails, Throwing Muses, Tenacious D) as well as a few whose presence on the list I find genuinely disappointing (My Morning Jacket in particular.) Michael Moore and Maroon 5 are also on the list, which if anything seems unfair to the other 49 states that they’re choosing to NOT boycott.
As an Arizona concert promoter succinctly pointed out, this boycott basically only hurts the people actively supporting (both financially and politically) the majority of these bands. In response to the points raised by the promoter, Conor Oberst recently answered back with his own open letter. I decided to give Oberst’s letter the Fire Joe Morgan treatment that it so richly deserves. His actual words are in bold.
Dear Charlie, I read your letter and I do understand where you are coming from. You bring up valid points. I personally regret any of the collateral damage the boycott is causing you, other like-minded arts promoters and the fans in Arizona. A boycott is, inherently, a blunt instrument. It is an imperfect weapon, a carpet bomb, when all involved would prefer a surgical strike.
Did you want your war analogies brought up before your appetizers? Because they're ready immediately. It's an interesting tactic of basically leading with “we’re destroying everyone in your shitty brown-people fearing state.” Do go on...
I agree with you in part, and the radio host you quoted, that the authors and supporters of SB1070 could give a shit whether or not my band, or any other Artist, ever plays Arizona again. The only thing, clearly, that these people care about is Money and Power, that and the creation and preservation of an Anglo-Centric Police State where every Immigrant and Non-White citizen is considered subhuman. They want them stripped of their basic human rights and reduced to slaves for Corporate America and the White Race. They are engaged in blatant class warfare. It is evil, pure and simple.
Oberst math lesson: “Only thing” equals several things. And possibly another thing! Oberst grammar lesson: Use capitalization whenever the hell you feel like it.
I have on many occasions spoken my mind from stage. I have offered organizations table space by the merch booth. I have donated a dollar-a-ticket, or the entire guarantee, to different causes. I have registered voters. I have played on behalf of political candidates.
“These actions allowed those organizations to raise money for their causes. They helped my supported candidates get elected, and in general they provided a forum for people who may not have known each other at the beginning of the day to connect and join forces to affect positive change for their community. Obviously, that was all pretty fucking dumb.”
Sadly, this time, I fear none of that is enough. If I return to Arizona to pay lip service to a roomful of kids at the Marquee it will do absolutely no good for anyone.
Hey, remember in the 1960’s when Bob Dylan went down to Mississippi to “pay lip service” to kids during the civil rights struggles? What a rube he was! He obviously would have been much more effective singing his protest songs from coffeehouses in the Village. I can’t believe that asshole thought it did any good by confronting the issue at its source, when he should have just boycotted the South! Too bad his foolish fuck ups rendered him a mere footnote in how to integrate activism and music.
What I can do is to help organize, and play my small part in, what I hope is the largest and most effective boycott this country has seen in a long time. To work it will have to involve members from all sectors of society. The Sports Industry, the Entertainment Industry, the Tourism and Convention Industry, other State and City governments, private businesses and individuals from around the country and the world---all of whom, by the way, are already participating in the boycott. Much of the Artist end of the boycott is symbolic, I acknowledge, and no real threat to the economics of the State. But it is an important part none-the-less for awareness and messaging. The Boycott has to be so widespread and devastating that the Arizona State Legislature and Governor have no choice but to repeal their unconstitutional, immoral and hateful law. It has to hurt them in the only place they feel any pain, their pocketbooks.
Did this dumb simpleton proofread his letter? He readily admits this boycott has “no real threat to the economics to the state,” but one sentence letter claims it has to hurt said said state’s legislature in “their pocketbooks,” which he just acknowledged won't happen. This is not like withholding a giant events on the scale of the Super Bowl or massive conventions that states build their budgets around, where those travelling to the state are staying in hotels or spending multiple days supporting the economy. This isn’t even a massive event like Lollapalooza; it’s a lot of little rock shows by bands who enter and leave the state within the same day, and the powers that be couldn’t give a fuck about such short trips that are inconsequential from an economic standpoint. The only point where it will get any recognition at all by state higher-ups will be after rock clubs, promoters, caterers, stage crews, etc, have already slowly bled to death. Congrats, asshole, you’ve ruined the lives of the very people who allow you to tour in the first place. Go fuck yourself.
What I would encourage you to do, if you haven't already started, is to organize with all the local businesses you can to put as much pressure as possible on your State Government until the Law is repealed. An economic death rattle is the only cry of outrage they will hear.
“I don’t live in your state, but please allow me to tell you how to handle your local politics. I suggest you complain to them when our actions put you out of business.” What a piece of shit. He should have the word “economic” taken away from his vocabulary. He can have it back when he learns to use it properly.
I realize that the people of Arizona did not vote on SB1070 and I empathize with the anger and frustration you all must feel. I applaud what you are doing with Viva Arizona and do wonder if there might be a way to reconcile both our efforts while maintaining the integrity of each. After all, we are trying to achieve the same thing. But just as you may feel the boycott is an empty gesture, I fear that if we return to business as usual (under the guise of some civic movement) that this will all devolve into the typical grandstanding that is political activism in music. It might make us feel better but won't do a damn thing to change the minds of the radical, racist minority that seem to have controlled Arizona politics for decades. In short, it will lose its teeth.
Playing in Arizona = “guise of some civic movement.” Staying away from Arizona=GENUINE civic movement, apparently. I have to be honest. I always considered Bono pretty untouchable in the category of most self-delusional “activist,” but Oberst is pulling out all the stops here and approaching with Super Saver-like speed.
Just this past week, the little town of Fremont Nebraska passed a very similar, almost more radical, city ordinance. It was co-authored and championed by Kris Kobach of Kansas who helped write SB1070. I was outraged, saddened and embarrassed for their town and my state. I am already in the process of organizing a fund-raiser for the NE chapter of the ACLU who is suing the town of Fremont. Our situation requires immediate legal action and a campaign for public awareness (there has been very little press on this). Charlie, I promise you, if this Fremont law had been passed Statewide instead of in a rural town of 25,000 people, I would be the first to call for a boycott of my home state. This way of thinking and legislating is so dangerous, and such a threat to our basic ideals as Americans and Humans, that we cannot stand by and do nothing. We cannot play on as if nothing is wrong. This is not just about Arizona. I am not just skipping a tour date. This is not going to be easy for anyone.
So it's worth setting up a fundraiser in Nebraska to protest a city ordinance, but if that ordinance had been passed state-wide, you would stay away completely? Get fucked, asshole. Seriously, this feels like a contest to see how many different ways this you can show yourself to be an abject fool. A nice touch letting Nebraska know that they’re on notice though, tough guy. Why not cut the bullshit and just say that all Red States are on thin ice?
Here's a little-heard about a small state called California. In 2008, the state passed an amendment in 2008 known as Prop 8, which reversed the State Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. The amendment (which was passed by the voting public, as opposed to Arizona 1070) was protested by an overwhelming majority of musical artists, yet mysteriously nobody on the Sound Strike roster has argued for a boycott of the state. It’s fortunate to know that the civic minded artists haven’t passed up any paydays in LA, San Fran, or San Diego.
Charlie, I consider you a friend and you have always been great to my bands and me. I have played for you many times and I hope to do so again soon in New Mexico or anywhere else. I sincerely look forward to the day when I can return to Arizona and this will all seem like a bad dream. But I can't come back now. I'm sorry. I hope you will understand.
“Charlie, feel free to drive your sorry ass 8 hours from Phoenix to Albuquerque if that works for you. Otherwise, assuming the actions of myself, Joe Satriani, and that guy from System of a Down don’t cause your business to go under, I’d be glad to let you work on setting up a show for me down the line. I truly hope we can agree on an occasion where it becomes more beneficial for my image to venture into enemy territory. But for right now I really need to milk this stunt for all it’s worth. I hope you will understand. Though I honestly couldn't give a shit either way.
We can all agree that this is completely ridiculous right? I just want to make sure I'm not alone on the island of brain explosions. Because looking at this makes my brain explode.
They actually make NIT rings? Is this something I should have known? Because it seems insane. Thank you, Josh Parker, for the aneurysm. Go Flyers.
I fell into L O S T like most teachers: summer boredom. It was the summer after the 2nd season that a friend loaned me the dvds for the first two seasons. And like most fans who got hooked via dvds, I watched those two seasons in about 12 days. From season 3 on, I was in. I routinely checked the theories on darkufo.blogspot.com. I planned my life around whatever night L O S T was being shown that season.
And so, naturally, I watched all 5 ½ hours of programming on Sunday. These are my thoughts.
First, how ridiculous were those text messages embedded into previous scenes during the two-hour recap. Jack reading a scrap of paper. Desmond checking the computer screen. Ben reading the newspaper. All so Tori from Hartford, CN could say “I don’t know what I’m going to do without the show. Maybe feed my children again.” But thank GOD they didn’t run them during the finale.
But onto the show. I pretty much loved it. There are some critics that weren’t fans. They said that there were too many unanswered questions. For example:
But my brother put it best when he tweeted that the finale made him not care about the answers that weren’t given.
First of all, CJ Cregg prepared us for this during “Across the Sea” when she told Claudia (pre-rock bash to the head) that every question would only lead to more questions. I hated that episode at first, because while it gave concrete answers (Jacob was a normal dude, with a twin, who loved checkers), it only led to more questions (what was Mother’s nature, how long had she been there, what’s the alcohol content of that wine). So I’m glad the finale chose to focus on the characters. Screw answers. The best stories make you think. They don’t give you an answer key. And for God’s sake, you have to suspend your disbelief when reading/watching a story. It’s fiction, people.
Alright. I’m just going to run down what I liked about the finale:
• While I was frustrated that some of the plot lines from this season seemed to just kill time and ultimately have little significance (Dogen and the magical baseball), I enjoyed that Desmond’s purpose became clear. His years of taking those shots in the Hatch allowed him to survive the destruction of the light, which in turn make Flocke mortal, which in turn allowed Jack to kill him. Which by the way, how awesome was Jack’s flying punch into the commercial break?! Freaking awesome. That’s how awesome.
• I was trying to sort out how the two worlds we’d been seeing all season would merge or replace one another or whatever. And it was when Locke told Jack that he didn’t have a son that I said “Maybe the sideways world is heaven.” I was close.
• Jacob – protector of the island for 2,000 years. Jack – protector of the island for 2,000 minutes. Hurley – protector of the island for ????? I loved that Ben stuck around to help Hurley, and that he was apparently a “great #2,” according to Hurley at the church.
• Speaking of Hurley #1 and Ben #2, Ben telling Hurley that he could make his own rules, I think, confirmed that so much of what happened actually happened. Not as much of the island stuff was magical. For example, the FDW. At first, we were told that if you turned the frozen donkey wheel you could never return to the island. Ben turned it. And returned. Locke turned it. And returned (sort of). It was a rule created by Jacob for his own purpose. It wasn’t a law of island physics. And Ben’s scene with Hurley suggests that many of the rules were manmade. They were meant to keep people in line. It’s clear that Hurley is going to/did choose a different way of running the island, most likely involving putt-putt.
• I wasn’t as emotionally moved by all of the golden memory moments of love as most seemed to be. I mean, they were nice. I am glad they didn’t bother to show us what Boone’s epiphany moment was.
• I am in the camp that believes they knew the final scene from the beginning. Jack and the coffin. That’s what it was all about early on, and that what it was all about in the end. When he realizes he has died, how great was that. And what a great idea, to think that when you die, everyone that was important to you, regardless of when they died, will be there. Who knows when/how Kate or Sawyer or Ben dies. And who cares? Not me. That’s who.
• Rose and Bernard. How great were they. I mean, sure. Everytime I saw Bernard, I thought of the principal from Head Of the Class. And sure. I was hoping he'd be the principal at Ben's school. Instead, they seemed to be enlightened both on-island and in the sideways world. When Jack talked to Bernard in the dentist office, it seemed like he knew everything. That was our first glimpse at the goofy/confident smile that the characters all got by the end of the finale, once enlightened. But then I think back to Rose on the plane when season 6 opened. One of my early theories was that we'd see that scene again, as the final scene of L O S T. But now, it seems like if you were to put things chronologically, Jack would close his eyes and die on the island, and then he'd "wake up" on the plane, and Rose would tell him that it was ok. And that he can "let go." Awesome.
In closing, please enjoy my two favorite clip videos from the last couple weeks: “Dude”
The public has been dying to know. After 60 Minutes, who would get the next exclusive interview with Conan O'Brien?
The answer: Hanson. Of course. On a webcast following Conan's show in Tulsa.
I recorded the live stream. (Apologies for the video stutters that came from the source feed.) Hear Conan spill all the details on the art of autographing boobs, and his undying love of the jackalope.
Expect Jay Leno to steal this idea and record a hard-hitting sitdown with Aqua any day now.
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