After three weeks on hiatus it is time to return. Our apologies for the radio silence without warning. There are many reasons for the lapse. We would offer some up to you, but many will just sound like excuses. So we will dispense with the reasons, only to say we are sorry we have not been here. Likely, the blog will not be a daily affair again, at least for the short term. We will monitor reader reaction a bit more closely to see if frequency has any effect on the impact of this blog. We want to continue to bring you strong commentary, but only if it has sufficient audience and reaction. Thanks for your patience while we regrouped.
Television: True Blood & the Vampire Craze — Vampires seem to be everywhere these days. At least in the media: television, films, books all seem over-populated with these creatures of the night. Guest blogger Jordan Coughenour discusses the vampire craze with HBO's new hit True Blood on her mind. and the law. Yes the same folks who brought us the marvelous Six Feet Under continue to be interested with death. But this time, the producers are into a kitsch pulp approach to vampires that is also an interesting satire on modern culture and politics. Jordan, as usual, gives us the wider cultural picture of what it all means.
Politics: Social Debate Gone Awry & the Results — When will Bill O'Reilly and the rest of the right-wing spinmeisters ever take responsibility for their actions? Don't they realize that their hateful speech actually creates a climate where those who are unhinged may be pushed to take dispicable actions? Kit-Bacon Gressitt examines the state of right-wing cable and radio talk and finds them low on the responsibility scale. Read this piece to get a view on why the pre-summer political atmosphere seems more dangerous than it should be.
Baseball: The Nationals Need Stephen Strasburg — Why is it Washington, D.C. is cursed with getting the worst team in baseball? This is not the first time this has happened. And management seems perplexed when handed talent to fix the problem. Are the Nationals being pennywise and pound foolish by turning away young pitching talent just because that talent is making high dollar demands? The Nationals did just that last year. And now, they have the potential to do it again despite drafting Stephen Strasburg. Sports commentator Suzie Raven says the Nationals need to do what they can to sign this young pitcher.
NBA Finals 2009: Kobe Wins His Fourth Ring — Sports commentator Phil Kehres not only lets loose on the underachieving Orlando Magic in this post-Finals analysis, but he also takes a few chops at the new World Champion Los Angeles Lakers. All that plus Phil gives us a good example of schadenfreude too. For those who can't get enough basketball, this piece appropriately puts the pro season to rest.
If that picture gives you any ideas, then you know you're in the right place this week, as the underground podcast is in an especially eclectic and niche mood. Now, don't get the wrong idea. We haven't turned into musical festishists. But we do find a way to head off on to odd tangents and still tie them all together. And although we don't start off with standards all the time, this week we commence with perhaps the biggest song of all time about boots. And we march on from there. As usual, this podcast includes music from most eras of rock: stretching back about 45 years, but also with a strong dash of new sounds. The mix this week includes: garage rock, proto-punk, punk, power pop, metal and much more. So strap on your boots and get ready to party and dance with us. And well, if you're not up for dancing, then well just shake your head, stretch out those booted legs and look cool in the summer heat. Enjoy!
(To stream or download this podcast, please click here.)
Playlist
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra Cover Me:"Kicks" by The Ventures with Nancy Sinatra “One Man Girl" by Lost Agency "Destroyer" by The Kinks "Chinatown" by Tahiti 80 "So Far Away" by The Apples in Stereo "Skeletons" by Tiny Masters of Today "Sixteen" by Iggy Pop Jeff’s New Wave: “Love Comes in Spurts” by Richard Hell & the Voidoids “Son of a Gun” by The Vaselines “Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam” by Nirvana “One of a Kind” by Placebo "West Coast Smoker" by Fall Out Boy with Deborah Harry "Lifeline" by Papa Roach "Let's Go Crazy" by Incubus Rick's Metal Shoppe: “Deep Unknown” by Stratovarius (Mp3 Runs - 1:15:42; 70 MB.)
(The photo is by Avasopel of Spain via Flickr, using a Creative Commons license.) DISCLAIMER: The iVoryTowerz podcast is a non-commercial, non-profit program designed and used for educational purposes. Some of the material contained in this podcast is previously copyrighted but used with permission. Other copyrighted material is reused following fair use guidelines. Any copyright holders who do not wish to have their material used should contact the programmers directly at ivorytowerzradio@att.net and it will be removed. The programmers do not support filesharing and encourage listeners to buy music from the artists featured in this podcast.
I never thought the day would come when I would see an ad for specialized vampire dental care shown before a movie. But there it was; between the slides pitching Ray’s Ribs and all too obvious movie trivia, a nauseatingly blue screen promising perfect discretion to the office’s fanged clientele. A few years ago, this would have been more than cause for a double take, but now barely warrants a raised eyebrow.
Speaking to my grandmother about the obsession today’s youth have with these fanged creatures, she expressed confusion, and even concern that with the tweeny-bopper Twilight series at such popularity, the line between good and evil was being continually blurred. Now, I have many gripes (as do others) with the Twilight series: endless adverbs, weak female characters and poorly written, for a start. But this was not one that had originally occurred to me. The American public has always clung to our dark anti-heroes; we’ve gone through obsessions with Italian mobsters, bankrobbers, and hitmen — so why is the new vampire obsession creating such a dividing line in our popular culture?
Possibly because; more than our love affairs with the dark and daring figures in the past, this movement speaks to a younger generation. (Though there are exceptions; I for one can attest that at the ripe age of 12 I was already reaching unhealthy levels of fascination with the gangsters of The Sopranos) The romantic and eternal adolescence can appeal to any kid with fears of what comes next, but who is too jaded to believe in the magic of a figure like Peter Pan. While the one-dimensional Twilight uses this enduring and dark love as its main appeal, the prevalence of this mythic monster figure is also giving rise to an ability to build upon the traditional mythology, and create something entirely new.
HBO’s True Blood doesn’t bother to catch up its audience with a primer on vampirism, but rather throws them into a society full of metaphor and depth. While the seemingly mandatory human/vamp/human love triangle does frequently take center stage, aspects of vampirism; the condition itself, the euphoria inducing qualities of the creatures’ blood on humans, and the bizarre and dangerous sexual practices of the vamps, all act as analogies for racism, drug addiction and carnal fetishes in Southern society.
So for all the griping that anti-fangophiles and Twi-hard haters commit, it is possible to look beyond a one or two misery inducing interpretations of this classic monster, with the hopes that its newfound prevalence will lead to more daring imaginings. Without the sulking Cullen Clan of Twilight, the empowering figure of True Blood’s Sookie Stackhouse may never have hit the small screen. And this vampire obsession doesn’t look to be headed away anytime soon. There are rumors of rebooting the Buffy series (please, God, no), and the next film adaption of Twilight already looks to make a fortune in box office receipts. So no matter your opinions on these nocturnal creatures of the night, it’s high time for you to retract your fangs and smile for the possibilities in their newfound resurgence.
(The promotional graphic is from HBO's True Blood. To see a trailer for the second season of the series, please check below.)
There are many reasons the underground podcast is glowing these days. Impose your own rationale, but many of the clues are contained in this musical mix. Our suggestion is to cue this one up late at night: it travels from the dark edge to the glowing horizon of the coming sunrise. And if you like music programs with layers of mood and message, here's one for you. This program includes 45 years of sound, including soul, neo-soul, alternative, indie rock, classic rock, New Wave, punk, electronica, and even some comedy. There's plenty to enjoy, so please give it a listen.
(To stream or download this podcast, please click here.)
Playlist
"Wrong" by Depeche Mode "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode “Never Let Me Down Again" by The Smashing Pumpkins "Lo Que Tu Digas" by Moenia "Deeper and Deeper" by Dave Gahan Rick's Metal Shoppe: “Back from the Dead” by Spinal Tap "For What It's Worth" by Placebo "I Got Your Number" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Jeff’s New Wave: “Crawling from the Wreckage” by Dave Edmunds Cover Me:"Lawyers, Guns and Money" by The Wallflowers “We're Going to Hell... So Bring the Sunblock” by The Blackout “Jailbreak” by Thin Lizzy “Fire and Water” by Free "15" by Rilo Kiley "So Good" by Electrik Red "Love Child" by The Supremes This program contains songs with explicit lyrics.
(Mp3 Runs - 1:16:02; 70 MB.)
(The photo of Aguilas, Spain at sunset is by Rietje Swart of Spain via Flickr, using a Creative Commons license.) DISCLAIMER: The iVoryTowerz podcast is a non-commercial, non-profit program designed and used for educational purposes. Some of the material contained in this podcast is previously copyrighted but used with permission. Other copyrighted material is reused following fair use guidelines. Any copyright holders who do not wish to have their material used should contact the programmers directly at ivorytowerzradio@att.net and it will be removed. The programmers do not support filesharing and encourage listeners to buy music from the artists featured in this podcast.
Summertime once meant slow, sultry days; the lazy drone of locusts, lulling us into a doze beneath weeping willows; finding faces in the clouds or taking lady bugs for walks from fingertip to fingertip; lolling and waiting… waiting for someone to spur the sweltering group to action.
And then the herd of kids would up and move — to the road’s edge to pop tar bubbles, coating toes and infuriating mothers at bath time. To the garden to make rose petal lipstick, blackberry war paint, and perform vignettes of classic tales. Under the fence to steal neglected rhubarb from the wild patch next door and run from the crotchety old lady who rightly treasured every wilting stalk and weed. To the rubbish heap to see who could pee the farthest, disregarding gender. Down by the train tracks to flatten pennies and marvel at the loss of Lincoln’s features. Over to the abandoned chicken coop to practice burping on demand and talk of things unspoken by parents.
Whatever we did, we did it together; it never occurred to us there was another way. Our parents had varied incomes and faiths, disparate origins and pursuits, but their distinctions were lost on us, the children of our block. We had a community of kindred souls, a cohesive force that wound us inextricably together in those days of one-car families and parents unconcerned about tossing their kids out into the world. We’d fend for each other and show up at one home or another only when hunger forced us. In those days, everyone could come out to play, and summer’s freedom was our endless stage, our indivisible barefoot pursuit, despite our differences. In those days, we could imagine no boundaries.
But today, as summer swiftly approaches, boundaries run rampant — and deadly in word and deed.
Anti-legal abortion fervor erupts in murder, as Scott P. Roeder crosses the threshold of Reformation Lutheran Church — crossing from advocating for life to destroying it — and shoots dead a physician who crossed picket lines to treat patients with disastrous pregnancies. And the cooks who help whip up that fervor, Randall Terry, Operation Rescue founder, and Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly among them, chalk up Dr. Tiller’s murder to his comeuppance for being what they call a “baby killer.”
G. Gordon Liddy, of Watergate fame, whose radio show is not extolled for its level-headedness, takes a header from the fringes into the absurdly vulgar, fretting about what might happen when President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor is menstruating. And it is not an ill-conceived joke.
James W. von Braun enters the Holocaust Museum — an institution dedicated to confronting hatred, preventing genocide, promoting human dignity and strengthening democracy — and draws a bloody line between free speech and murderous demonstration, leaving hateful destruction on both sides of his path, the indignity of a victim sprawled in death. And pundits argue whether blame falls to the left or the right.
The National Organization for Marriage, sponsor of the Gathering Storm ad, steps yet again from advocating against same-sex marriage to divisive propaganda: “Same-sex marriage isn't just about two people living as they please, but about whether a large majority of Americans are going to be marginalized as bigots by a group of elites determined to force their new vision of marriage on the entire nation.” And the fearful fail to ask what actual harm same-sex marriage will to do their heterosexual marriages, their children, their nation.
Today, it is not the hopping anticipation of barefoot pleasures that makes the days seem so long, but the disingenuous and deadly discourse of social debate gone awry, the replacement of news with uncivil commentary, the marketing of anger and derision as information.
But it seems a futile complaint, when audiences blindly accept the “either or,” the “us or them” as absolute; when people continue to watch and listen and absorb the fear and hate. How many reactionary murderers until they question; how many vulgar and dishonest statements until they refuse to listen?
Just what would it take for them to instead seek the satisfying smell of tar, the joyful tang of rhubarb, the forthright competition of unashamed peeing, the camaraderie of unbiased children, now bigger, but still in full knowledge of how to play well with others — despite their differences?
(Editor's Note: This piece is cross-posted from Kit-Bacon Gressitt's personal blog, Excuse Me, I'm Writing.)
(The photo of Bill O'Reilly is from an appearance he made at Ft. Drum, NY in 2006. The photo is a military photo taken by Sgt. 1st Class Vivienne Pacquette and is in the public domain. To see a commentary from Keith Olbermann about the responsibilities right-wing commentaries have for the climate of hate, please see below.)
The right-handed pitcher from San Diego State was an obvious choice for the Washington Nationals number one draft pick, as the team’s struggling pitching staff has dragged their relatively strong offense into the worst record in baseball. Since Strasburg is arguably the best pitching prospect in draft history, he can offer the team a rare shred of hope every fifth day.
The famously ruthless agent Scott Boras argues that Strasburg’s 102 mile per hour fastball and strong curve are worth every penny of the six-year $50 million contract he will try to get for Strasburg before the August 17th deadline. In 119 innings with San Diego, Strasburg had a 13-1 record, with a 1.22 ERA and 195 strikeouts.
Amazing statistics like those are worth the amazing contract that Boras seeks, but the Nationals are in no hurry to sign a record-setting contract.
"There's no one player or situation that changes the whole industry," Nationals President Stan Kasten said. “We do expect to draft the player we think is the best. We expect to sign him. We're going to be aggressive, but we'll be appropriate."
Kasten may be right that no one player should be expected to change the fate of the whole organization. They exercised this logic by failing to sign last year’s number one draft pick, Missouri pitcher Aaron Crow. Time will tell if that was a good decision or not, as Crow signed with the Kansas City Royals last week.
Strasburg’s talent has more potential to help the Nationals in the immediate future than anything else. The faster they sign him, the faster he can enter their rotation and start winning games for them. If they wait until August 17th, they will they have wasted two months of starts. They also would’ve foolishly allowed him to waste time that he could’ve spent working out with a major league team.
It’s time for the Nationals to make a solid investment in their own future. Strasburg is ready and more than able to become the ace for an organization that desperately needs pitching.
(To see a background piece about Strasburg from ESPN, please check below.)
I was wrong. I thought the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals would go six games. As it turns out, the Orlando Magic were playing even farther over their heads than I thought they were. Now that the NBA Finals are over and the Los Angeles Lakers have won their 15th NBA title, it’s time for me to get a few things off my chest.
First off, I’m glad the Magic lost. I’m a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, and a bitter one at that. As much as it makes me sick to my stomach to even tacitly root for a despicable team like the Lakers, I find a small amount of solace in watching the Magic crumble to a superior team — as they should have to the Cavs. Call it schadenfreude if you will, but the Finals proved that Orlando is a one-trick pony if you can manage to even slightly deter center Dwight Howard. The Magic live and die by the three-point shot. Against Cleveland, they lived; in the Finals, they died. Bottom line is that they shouldn’t have even gotten that far. If the Cavs had played up to even ¾ of their potential and somebody besides LeBron James had shown up, I have a feeling we’d still be watching the Finals. Better luck next year, Magic. They’ll need that luck, too, as they’re simply not talented enough to make it back to the Finals without a little, ahem, magic.
Secondly, now we can all look forward to a summer of the mainstream media slobbering at Kobe Bryant’s feet. (Such as his upcoming appearance on The Tonight Show on NBC on June 17.) He finally won his ring without Shaquille O’Neal. There’s no doubt in my mind that Kobe is a phenomenal player. Second-best on the planet, for sure. Championships, though, are a team effort. No matter how many times you will hear misguided fans cite Kobe’s four championships as a reason why he’s better than LeBron James, the simple truth is that, even in the NBA, one man alone cannot win a championship. Bryant had a tremendous supporting cast this year. LeBron had more help than he’s ever had before, but he still lacks a powerful number two like Kobe has in center Pau Gasol. LeBron will get his eventually but now, reluctantly, we have to give it up for Kobe and his teammates. As much as it pains me to say, I believe the best team in the NBA won the championship this year, and that’s as fair as it gets.
Lastly, I just want to say that the Finals came off as quite a disappointment compared to the rest of the playoffs. It looked like both teams were so tired that it was a battle of attrition. This stood in deep contrast to the heart-pounding action of the earlier rounds. All in all, however, it was a hell of a season.
So here’s to hoping the 2009-2010 season showcases as much fire and passion as we’ve seen this season. And for my sake, let’s hope LeBron can finally bring a championship to Cleveland before he has the chance to leave (he won’t, by the way, but this is definitely a topic for another time!).
After three weeks on hiatus it is time to return. Our apologies for the radio silence without warning. There are many reasons for the lapse. We would offer some up to you, but many will just sound like excuses. So we will dispense with the reasons, only to say we are sorry we have not been here. Likely, the blog will not be a daily affair again, at least for the short term. We will monitor reader reaction a bit more closely to see if frequency has any effect on the impact of this blog. We want to continue to bring you strong commentary, but only if it has sufficient audience and reaction. Thanks for your patience while we regrouped.
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