Emerging back into the light

I'm starting to re-emerge into life again, now that I've got some discretionary income. I've started to attend some events that cost money. I'm not paying huge amounts, but I've bought some tickets to some local concerts ($20 total for 2 tickets to outdoor music events), went to see another performer play a couple of times at a local club, and today I went to see a simulcast of one of the last Monty Python performances.

Small things, yet, but after 4 years of avoiding most entertainment and recreational activities that cost money or required tickets, I've experienced more entertainment in the last month than I have in a long while.

It feels good to get out and be around people again, even though I am an introvert and a homebody by nature. There's a line between being a homebody and hermit and I have flirted dangerously in hermit territory for too much of the last 4 years.

I still have some short term financial goals I want to meet, like building up an emergency fund and starting to save for a car. But I think I am also going to dedicate some money in the budget for entertainment, especially now, while it's summer and the weather is decent.

The old stuff never sounded so flat

I meant to post this days ago, but got sidetracked. I watched Garth Brooks' concert on Friday, Jan. 21, on CBS, which was part of one of 5 concerts he played over the weekend at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. As a long-time Garth Brooks fan, it pains me to say, but Brooks was not in prime form, or great voice. In fact, he was frequently off key.

I admire the fact that the so-called retired Brooks' put on the concerts to benefit Southern California's firefighters after last fall's devastating wildfires. But it also smacks as grand promotion for Brooks' new collection, "The Ultimate Hits."

I do like the two (of three) news songs in the collection that I've heard so far, including a remake/duet with Huey Lewis of "Workin' for a Livin'." But I don't know if I'll buy the collection, as I own all the other songs in the collection, and I don't have much interest in the music videos in the collection, as I just don't watch music videos that often. Unfortunately, Brooks does not have a deal with iTunes to allow for the purchase of just the songs I would want. I mean, Garth, I like you dude, but you've got enough money, and I don't have any need to spend more money on songs I already own.

And Garth, after such a long hiatus, I'd suggest next time you don't do a national broadcast of your first concert back on stage. Perhaps the screaming fans in the Staples Center didn't notice, but my friend, it was not your best outing on stage. The firefighters benefited, and perhaps the fans in the arena did too, as you don't get out much anymore. But for this fan watching on TV, it was a disappointment, as is the fact that I can't now buy your music how and when I want to buy it.

Fortunately, for fans of Garth Brooks' music, his exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart has now ended, so if you want to buy his new album you can find it at other music outlets.

Just not iTunes.

A visit from the Salty Dog

When I was in college I took a three-course sequence in music appreciation. The classes covered the genres of classical, folk and jazz music.

I thought the classical music class would make me more sophisticated. I thought the jazz class would make me cooler. And I took the folk class because it was part of the sequence and needed to take it to fulfill the sequence for credit toward my liberal arts degree.

The classical music class did not make me more sophisticated. To be honest, I never really acquired a taste for classical music. But I know I got more out of the class because the instructor, Rachelle McCabe, a concert pianist, conveyed her love for the music through the expressions on her face as she would play part of a piece on the piano. It's the kind of look that you only see on a woman's face when she's passionate about something, like enjoying a rich chocolate dessert. Her passion for the music was contagious and it kept me paying attention. But the interest in classical music faded when I wasn't seeing her face several times a week.

I don't remember my instructors for the folk and jazz classes, but those genres of music became more engrained in my day-to-day musical tastes. I found I liked music, regardless of label, that is rooted in the blues. You can find it in various genres -- rock, folk, country, jazz.

The reason I got thinking about all this stuff now is because I got a comment on a recent post from one of my favorite radio/podcast personalities. Salty, aka Dennis Trevarthen, from the Salty Dog Blues N Roots show found the post somehow, through the magic of the Internet, and was kind enough to say a few words (as was Pat McDougall from PDXBluescast).

If you like blues, folk, blues-rock and related styles, I urge you to check out Salty's show. He plays great music and also features interviews with artists from Down Under or artists touring Australia. It's great music for road trips and air travel, as each show is 2-hours long and there's a new one every Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by Salty. And more importantly, thanks for sharing so much great music with us "all across the globe."

The vampire within

The date on the calendar says it's a new year, but something hasn't changed. I'm still dealing with insomnia.

Obviously, I haven't been using the sleepless nights to make blog posts though. I did use the time to update some things on the blog. I added some iMixes through iTunes.

But the rest of the time has been spent watching a lot of movies mostly late at night. During the work week, the insomnia means I get less sleep at night. On weekends though, I get plenty of sleep, it's just not during nighttime hours.

Last night for example, I ended up staying up pretty much all night. I finally turned in about 7 a.m. So I pretty much ended up sleeping through the daylight hours of Sunday, waking up shortly before sundown. I guess if I ever seek a new profession I should put vampire, or anything involving a graveyard shift on my potential jobs' list.

The sleep schedule doesn't cause any real problems for the weekend, but now that the work week is getting ready to start again, I'm a little concerned. Especially since, here it is midnight, and I'm still awake (and just had dinner).

Clearly, I should be roaming the streets looking for warm-blooded mammals to suck dry for sustenance.

Put some twang in my thang and crank it up!

Since I spent nearly 8 hours on the road this weekend, driving between my current home here in Salem to my childhood home in Bum-Fuck-Egypt Eastern Oregon, I had a lot of time to kill, so used it to listen to some podcast episodes that have been piling up in my iPod.

I listen to songs on shuffle a lot, so I was in the mood for something different. And different I got. I while back, before a trip I took in the spring to Southern California, I discovered a podcast called the Outlaw Punk Cowboys Show.

The Outlaw Punk Cowboy show is rock with twang, it's country with a kick. It's stuff from up-and-coming or alternative artists, ones you don't hear on mainstream Top 40 Country radio.

I can't say I always like all the music the host, Bubba, includes on the show, but I like being exposed to new music. It sort of reminds me of when I lived in Southern California and used to get to hear live country/rock acts at some of the clubs in the Mojave Desert and Palm Springs area. One of my favorite country bands was a group called American Made. That band probably has too much of a straight-forward traditional country sound to ever make the Outlaw Punk playlist, but I enjoyed their musicianship and that they would play a fair amount of their own original music in their shows, in addition to keeping the dance floor packed with covers of hit country tunes.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I haven't listened to much country radio because if you listen for more than a few hours, you hear the same songs over and over. There just aren't enough new country songs released throughout the year to always keep the sound fresh. That's what makes the music on the Outlaw Punk show so fun, because it's fresh, at least to me. It's not the same old songs I've heard a million times. And it's music that tends to the raw, powerful and blunt. Artists playing for their art, not just to be popular. If you are up for a little kick-ass music, and aren't afraid to hear a little twang once in a while, you might want to check it out. Bubba rambles a little too much and thinks he's a little funnier than he really is, but he has some eclectic and interesting taste in the music he chooses to share. But in between his ramblings is some fun music.

I added a list of podcasts I like to the ol' Fishwrapper. Some are music. At least one is video. And some are just fun, or funny, especially for anyone with a slightly warped sense of humor. Check 'em out if you like, and share any interesting podcast you find out there that I can check out.

No small wonders

Did you see Kellie Pickler's performance Wednesday night on the Country Music Association awards on ABC? It had to be the most dramatic live performance I've ever seen.

Her music video for the song, while nice and very polished, lacks the power and raw emotion of her live performance.

I am not an American Idol watcher, so I have not known why Kellie Pickler was since her appearance on there. I've heard the name, but couldn't have picked her out of a photo lineup before seeing Wednesday's performance. And I guess I've been off the country music bandwagon for a while. Even the best country music stations seem to play too much of the same songs over and over. I got bored with the radio airplay, not the genre of music. So I guess I've missed Miss Pickler's songs out there.

I will definitely be adding the song she sang on the CMAs, "I Wonder" to my personal music collection.

The song resonates with me, and scared the crap out of me, probaby because I have missed so much of my daughter's life. I too wonder about the things she wonders about. Does she wonder why I haven't always been there? What questions may she have for me?

I hope that simple word -- forgiveness -- is something my daughter is able to do.

I'm not ashamed to say the tears streaming down Kellie Pickler's face during her CMA performance were matched in volume by my own. The words she sang were obviously not just lyrics to a song. They were the story of a life, real and raw, painful and yet proud.

Good Morning America did a nice job covering the story behind the song and Pickler's emotional CMA performance.

Bravo young lady. Thanks for letting me cry right along with you, as a flawed parent who wonders too.

And the blues play on

I don't visit bars as much as I did back in my 20s, or even my 30s, but there is something unbeatable about just the right bar.

Sometime I have a craving for a neighborhood hangout, a little hole in the wall spot where the bartenders and waitresses know your order and have your drink waiting for you by the time you reach your bar stool.

Other times, I have a craving for a sports bar, a place to hang out and grab a burger and a beer while watching a game.

But on some occasions, I really want a place with some high energy, a place that buzzes with electricity from the patrons and a band playing life music. In the months after I moved to Salem, whenever I would ask people I met where was the best place to go for nightlife in town, one of the names that inevitably cropped up was Lefty's Pizzeria and Blues Club.

It was my kind of joint, fitting many of my favorite tastes for food (pizza), beer (microbrews) and music -- in this case, blues.

Blues as been a favorite musical genre since college. Anyone with a taste for blues will tell you, there is nothing like hearing blues live, because like the music it inspired, jazz, musicians improvise during a performance, giving even classic blues songs their own fingerprint.

Unfortunately, I have not had listened to a lot of live blues. But now, living back in the Pacific Northwest, it seemed like I would get more opportunities to do so. Portland has a vibrant and respected blues scene and plays hose every year to the Waterfront Blues Festival. As I came to learn, Lefty's was considered by many one of the best blues venues for live music in the Northwest.

In my early explorations as an iPod owner, I discovered a podcast based out of Portland that talked about the Portland and Northwest blues scene and featured music from artists based here, or who have some connection to Portland and the Pacific Northwest. The podcast, PDX Bluescast, became an immediate favorite.

Sadly, the PDX Bluescast has not had a new episode in over a year now. And now this month came word that Lefty's had closed.

But the blues itself does not die. Just as the legends of the genre eventually pass on, the music itself is passed down to new generations of musicians. And fortunately, I have found a new place to satisfy my thirst for blues, but this one's based a little farther south -- south of the equator and across the Pacific to be precise. My new home for the blues, and the new podcast I turn to for a mix of classic blues and emerging voices is the Salty Dog Blues N Roots Podcast from Melbourne, Australia.

So thanks, Salty, for satisfying that craving, both salty and sweet, tangy and twangy, like a slice of pizza with pepperoni and pineapple and a liberal dose of Tabasco.

RIP Lefty's and the PDX Bluescast. You are missed, but we can all take comfort in the fact that the blues plays on.

Sold my soul for a sawbuck

My morals are slipping.

Money has been tight lately. Very tight. Extremely tight. So tight that this week I found myself with my bank balances at zero. I've been raiding the coin jar to pay for food all week. Fortunately there was a stockpile of quarters in the jar from the days I was collecting them to use the coin-operated machine in the laundry room. The next option was to collect cans for the recycling deposit. One day this weekend my entire diet, lunch and dinner consisted of tortilla chips and salsa. Another day I ate one meal. I've skipped several meals in recent days because I have no food in the house and no funds to acquire any.

Yep, I'm broke.

I finally got some folding money back in my pocket last night after meeting a friend for dinner. We were each paying for our own meals. I paid with plastic and he used cash, so I picked up the tab and pocketed the cash.

I stopped off for dinner at a local fast-food place on my way home from work and handed the $10 I had left to the cashier. Obviously her head wasn't in the game because she handed me $15 back in change.

I thought for a spit second about whether to do the right thing and telling her that I had paid with a 10 and not a 20.

Then I remembered the zero balances on my bank statements and the fact that I still have a few meals to buy before I get paid and did the selfish thing. I pocked the money and drove off.

I know I should feel guilty. But Lord help me, I can't. The lack of cash -- and meals -- is affecting my judgment. My waistline can certainly afford for me to skip an occasional meal, but this has been ridiculous. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to eat and survive until payday.

***

On the theme of money, here are 10 songs about money from my iPod.

M-O-N-E-Y -- Lyle Lovett
What Do You Do For Money Honey -- AC/DC
Workin' Man's Dollar -- Chris LeDoux
Money for Nothing -- Dire Straits
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is -- JET
You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire -- Queens of the Stone Age
I Need Some Money -- John Lee Hooker
Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back -- Meat Loaf
Can't Buy You Money -- Toby Keith
Last Dollar (Fly Away) -- Tim McGraw

Bonus track
Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash -- Huey Lewis & The News

Warp engines are down and drifting on impulse

So, I know Einstein had a theory about how time moves slower or something if you are hauling ass at the speed of light. I can't say I really understand it. But I do know that time does some pretty freaky shit even when you are sitting on your ass on the couch.

When I was in college, young and impatient, a few weeks or months without any dating life seemed like an eternity. There were different classes every day, there was tons of stuff going on, it was hard to keep track of where I needed to be when, yet it seemed like school would never end and my real life would never get started.

Now that real life is sometimes all too real, time whizzes by in a numbing blur of sameness. Years pass far too quickly. In fact it's been more than 3 years since there has been a relationship involving any physical intimacy. Often if feels like the drought will never end.

Maybe I just have too much time to think about time. I just marked another birthday. My 42nd. For many people, the prospect of turning 40 is daunting. I didn't experience much mental trauma from reaching the Big Four-O. But 42, that's been a bit rougher to deal with. The reason is that my life just doesn't seem to have progressed in the last two-plus years. It's not just the relationship situation. It's finances. It's work. It's personal relationships with friends. It's everything.

It's nothing.

It's 42.

When I was younger I was impatient, impertinent and anxious. I had to learn to be patient. I had to learn to bite my tongue. Maybe I learned those things too well. I've been waiting for something. Waiting too long. spending too much time with my ass on a couch looking at TV and computer screens, monitoring others' lives instead of living my own. It's time to get something moving again.

It's time to shove this couch, this life, this ass, into warp speed. Time's a waisting. I need to speed up the motion and slow down the clock.

***
10 songs with time in the title from my iPod

The Longest Time -- Billy Joel
Wiser Time -- The Black Crowes
Dirty Life & Times -- Warren Zevon
Angry All the Time -- Tim McGraw
Roll Me Back In Time -- Sara Evans
Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I) -- Ray Charles
Time Flies -- Puddle of Mudd
Time Stood Still -- Madonna
Good Times, Bad Times -- Led Zeppelin
Times Like These -- Foo Fighters
(Bonus track)
Wasted Time -- The Eagles

Music to blog to

I haven't posted for a while, because I've been spending most of my computer time trying to get my laptop back up and running and into shape. I was able to salvage my iTunes files from my iPod.

So now that iTunes is running again, I've been able to see what I've been missing the last few months. I decided to try out some of their new functions to share some details on the music I like and some of the stuff I've bought off iTunes. So now you all can see how warped my taste's really are.

Gateway to Hell (Part 5)

Well, I finally figured out why my e-mail wasn't working. I needed to install updates to my basic software. I forgot how long it takes to get a computer actually operational.

I was paying a bill online and trying to look at a statement, but there was no software on the computer for viewing pdf files. Not to mention having to set up all the website favorites for the websites I want and need to access.

What I have not done yet is try to figure out how to recover my music files from my iPod. I have gone so far as to look a bit at what my options are for doing that. Unfortunately, I don't know what software package to buy for this little deed. So, if you stumble on this blog and have ever had to recover music from your iPod due to a hard drive crash, I'd appreciate any advice, suggestions or warning you may have about the process and what software to use (or avoid).

I've got to get turned on to turn off

I've tried all sorts of things over the years to trick my mind into turning off so I can sleep, with varying degrees of success.

I'm not sure if I'm a classic insomniac or not, because most nights that I "can't sleep" I'm really not even trying. Instead I watch bad late night TV, goof around on the computer, get wrapped up into some little project, pick that time to do household chores.

Rarely do I lay in the dark staring off toward the ceiling begging for sleep. However, I did do that a lot as a child. Until the age when my mom no longer set a bedtime for me, it was not uncommon that I would lay in bed, daydreaming some elaborate scenario about the adventures I would have as an adult.

The only times the insomnia really causes problem are few. There are periodically days that the alarm clock is not enough to roust me from the sleep that has finally come sometime in the pre-dawn (or occasionally post-dawn) hours. The only other times it has been real noticeable is when I have been sharing my bed with someone else.

A few years back when I was working a late shift, my ex would either be getting ready for bed or would already be asleep on the couch with the TV on. After getting her to bed, she would usually demand that I lay next to her until she fell back asleep, which usually took all of 30 seconds. It used to fascinate me that a person could fall asleep so quickly, easily and regularly. It seemed magical to me. As soon as the clock would strike 11 p.m. she would undergo a transformation. We could be in the middle of a conversation and suddenly I would realize that she wasn't talking anymore. Even if her eyes weren't closed she would be in a near catatonic state. If you didn't get her to bed and horizontal soon, she would fall over wherever she was sitting.

Often as she slept I would lay there next to her and watch her sleep as if I looked close enough and hard enough I could discover her secret for effortless sleep. To make matters worse, she was a morning person, up early, going through an elaborate routine, parading in and out the patio door, just inches from my side of the bed. Fortunately, most mornings if I'm awakened by some sound, like a sliding patio door, a ringing phone or an alarm clock, all I have to do is plop back into bed or roll over and I'm out again almost instantly (if only I could do that at the beginning of the night, rather than the morning).

No, instead I work myself into a state of complete mental and physical exhaustion most nights before I can turn off the light and crawl into bed. I have a love-hate relationship with my bed. I hate crawling into it but I love being in it once I'm asleep and hate to leave it.

One thing that I have tried recently that has worked is listening to mellow music or some certain podcasts on my iPod at night. If and when the day ever comes again when I do share my bed with someone again, I don't know if that will go over too well. Some people seem to like quiet when they sleep. Quiet doesn't work for me, very well, because if it's quiet then every little sound is an interruption. Cars, sirens, neighbors talking, walking, flushing the toilet. Every little sound scratches on frazzled and frayed nerves. I need a low hum of some type to drown out the little noises outside my room, until I reach a deep sleep anyway. After that, a freight train could roar past my window and I wouldn't care.

I guess it's time to put on a podcast, or maybe some Diana Krall or Nora Jones. My favorite podcasts to dream to haven't had any new episodes in a while.

I'm gonna soak up the sun

OK, so my last couple of posts have been a little gloomy in tone, but by the end of the week I plan to be soaking up some sun and seeing some old friends in sunny Southern California.

I am optimistic that the warmth of a desert spring and close friends will be the perfect remedy for my spirits.

So in honor of my sunnier disposition and my Coachella Valley amigos, I'm offering a quick list of 5 Southern California/Coachella Valley/Palm Springs-inspired songs from the ol' iPod.

"Route 66" -- Depeche Mode
"Palm Springs Jump" -- The Frankie Capp Orchestra
"Hotel California" -- The Eagles
"California Dreamin'" -- The Mammas & The Pappas
"Back to California" -- The Wallflowers

And, as a bonus cut, another take on the Mother Road.
"Route 66" -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra

And, as a tribute to one friend who I won't be able to see.
"L.A. Freeway" -- Jerry Jeff Walker
Henry, thanks for the Jerry Jeff CD, my friend. You are, and will continue to be, missed.
R.I.P.

It's just about time to...
"Soak Up the Sun" -- Sheryl Crow

New show takes me back

I just watched the first episode of the new series "October Road," and they were playing a lot of retro music. It got me sort of in a retro mood.

So, here's a little '80s party shuffle for the occassion.

Janie's Got a Gun -- Aerosmith
Hit Me with Your Best Shot -- Pat Benatar
Blister in the Sun -- Violent Femmes
Ain't Even Done with the Night -- John Mellencamp
Wrapped Around Your Finger -- The Police

Party tunes for the weekend

It's Friday, the weekend is here, so here's a little party shuffle to get the groove going.

Here's the first 5 party chemistry songs that come up in the shuffle in my iTunes library.

"Nobody Drinks Alone" -- Keith Urban, Be There
"Weed With Willie" -- Toby Keith, Shock 'N Yall
"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" -- George Thorogood & The Destroyers (although I would recommend the original from John Lee Hooker too), The Baddest of George Thorogood & The Destroyers
"Have a Drink On Me" -- AC/DC, Back in Black
Six-Pack Summer" -- Phil Vassar, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

P.S. Is it a bad thing that I have a booze-based playlist on my iPod?

Really feeling the music

I was talking about iPods and music in my last post. I know I'm not having this much fun with my iPod.



I'll never look at a woman sporting earbuds the same way ever again.

Oh, crap! I just had another thought. Remind me to confiscate my daughter's iPod.

Songs to freeze your ass off to

So, I'm such a genius. I decide with the the mercury barely above freezing, that it would be a good evening to take a walk to the store.

Yes, it's true, I'm not the brightest bulb in the box. That and I'm a helpless, hopeless nicotine addict.

But for most of the winter, I've also been an extremely lazy nicotine addict who drives a few blocks to go to the store and run other miscellaneous errands.

So for some reason, with the temperature somewhere in the mid 30s, I opt to save some fuel, wear and tear on my weary old vehicle and get a little exercise while on the way to pick up a carcinogen to rot my lip and eat away my gums.

Fucking misguided pinhead that I am.

Well, at least the walk, while listening to my iPod, gave me inspiration for a blog post.

I decided that in tribute to my other favorite Fishwrap blog, I would start a periodic feature here. Over at Friday Fishwrap, MJ regularly features what she calls "TGImp3F" or Thank God It's mp3 Friday. She does hers on Fridays (in case you couldn't put that together for yourself) and she posts several music files around some theme. She does a much better job of that than I can or will, but I like the idea. So I'm stealing it. Or part of it.

I love the shuffle feature on my iPod. I like the constant surprise about the next song that comes up. So, I thought I'd share a little insight into me and my mp3 player, by sharing a little 5-song party shuffle of what the next five song in my life will be.

So, without further adieu, here's a taste of a tribute to MJ, except it's Wednesday. If you have a favorite music service, feel free to track down the nutty assortment and load up your mp3 player with these if you like. At the very least, we'll have 5 songs in common.

So, here's the very first Digital Fishwrap shuffle in tribute to MJ and western Oregon's stereotypical winter weather phenomenon -- rain.

Songs about Rain -- Gary Allan
Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35 -- Bob Dylan
So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry) -- R.E.M.
Stormy Weather -- Etta James
Rhythm of the Pourin' Rain -- Vince Gill featuring Bekka Bramlett

Who's backing down now, Dixie Chickies?

I was flipping through the radio dial and paused on my favorite country music station when the refrain of the Dixie Chicks' latest single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," came through the speakers. I didn't think much about it, but I soon learned it was just a snippet of a song as part of a commercial for Chicks' concert tickets going on sale.

It struck me as odd because of all the reported bad blood between the Chicks and country radio (I wrote about the controversy in this post, if you haven't been following it). I don't know if KWJJ, The Wolf-FM, has been playing anything off the Dixie Chicks new album, but station executives apparently didn't have any qualms about taking money for a commercial promoting the concert.

I really like the station, but I just haven't been in much of a country phase, so I haven't had The Wolf tuned in much of late. Thus I have no clue if they've been playing the new Chicks album or not. The station does have a survey on their Web site asking if they should play the new CD, which leads me to believe they haven't been playing it, but are thinking about it. Maybe the fact that the album, "Taking the Long Way," is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Country Album charts after its first week of release has the station ready to reconsider. If you're curious, response to the poll is leaning 53 percent to 47 percent in favor of playing the CD. The station does list the Dixie Chicks on its artist list on its Web site.

Anyway, like I said, I've been listening to this other station lately, KYCH Charlie FM. (By the way, what's the deal with all these cutesy radio stations names that barely have any relation whatsoever to their station call letters? How do you get The Wolf out of KWJJ or Charlie out of KYCH?) The station plays an interesting mix of music. They call it random. And it's sort of like listening to an iPod, liberally loaded with music from from a wide range of popular styles and time periods, but not stuff you hear much on radio these days. Sort of like mix to the max. A sample from the stations playlist this evening includes: "The Sweetest Thing" by U2, "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright, "I Hate Myself for Loving" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, "Wanna be Startin' Somethin'" by Michael Jackson and "I Want to Know" by Foreigner.

But lately I've been getting bored with that too, so I've been flipping around the dial.

This afternoon, on my way home from work, I was flipping around the dial again and landed on The Wolf again, and the afternoon drivetime DJ Scot Simon had a call-in contest where the winner could choice between Dixie Chicks concert tickets or movie tickets to see "The Break-Up," the new Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Anniston flick and tickets to the Woodburn Dragstrip. Ah, the drag races, now that's some redneck heaven for ya! Simon said since he didn't know how people were feeling about this whole Dixie Chick thing, he wanted to offer callers a choice of prizes.

You win the contest and you take the concert tickets, right? I tried calling in, because I knew the answer to his little trivia question, but couldn't get through. The woman who did and won the contest -- you guessed it -- took the movie tickets.

Tickets for the Dixie Chicks concert go on sale tomorrow morning. Why they are going on sale June 3 for a November 9 concert? Who knows. Maybe the group, and or their concert promoter, want to know early whether this tour is even gonna fly. Who the hell knows what might come up on my personal agenda between now and November? And if I buy tickets now, do I set up a date now for that concert? Hell, I could be three for four women down the relationship road by November (never mind the fact that I haven't dated in two years. Well, I did take one woman to another concert last fall, and we did end up in bed together, but that's a whole 'nother story).

I still haven't made up my mind if I'll buy tickets for the Dixie Chicks concert. Not because of the whole who-do-I-ask debate, but finances are a little tight right now. So, I might have to pass. And I think if I don't buy now it will be too late. I bet the show sells out.

Country radio and the larger country music industry machine may not have made up its mind yet whether to allow the Dixie Chicks back into the fold. And the Dixie Chicks are sure making noises like they don't really want back. But the fact of the matter is, the group has a country-based sound. It is what it is and they are what they are, whether industry execs wearing ties, or radio programmers wearing whatever the fuck they wear, or hicks with W bumper stickers on the bumper of the pickup trucks choose to accept it. In the great tradition of the U.S. economy, the market will decide who buys what. That's free enterprise at work. And that's a concept any self-respecting Republican has got to love.

Technorati tags: Dixie Chicks
Country music
Portland radio

How do you like your Chicks?

It is rare that I rush out the first day a CD or DVD goes on sale and buy it. It's usually not that important to me. But on Tuesday, when the Dixie Chicks' new album "Taking the Long Way" was released, I did make a special trip to the store to pick up a copy.

I had purchased and downloaded their new single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," from iTunes a few weeks ago. Although I had only listened to it a time or two, I had heard enough in the song to tell me that I wanted to hear the new CD. Lead singer Natalie Maines' vocals sounded as powerful as ever and I've been a fan of their music for years.

I didn't think too much about the controversy that had surrounded the group a few years ago. Maines, a Texas native, pissed off a lot of people with a comment during a concert in Europe where she said: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Her comments came at a concert in London on March 10, 2003, just 10 days before Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Country music radio and many fans reacted with outrage. Dixie Chicks music was pulled from the air on stations all over the country.

Now, here we are three years later and armed U.S. troops are still in Iraq, still fighting and dying, and Bush's popularity has faded tremendously, as has U.S. citizen support for the war in Iraq.

But the Dixie Chicks' music is still not back on radio. Not their monster hits from years past, nor their newest single. According to an article in the May 29 issue of Time magazine, country fans and radio stations are still holding a grudge.

One country music radio programmer who was quoted, but not named, in the Time magazine cover story said the new single is "a four-minute fuck-you to the format and our listeners. I like the Chicks and I won't play it."

Well, anyone who won't listen to the Dixie Chicks, or play their music, or buy their album because of their politics is welcome to their opinion, but I find it all pretty funny, is a sad sort of way.

I don't often talk about politics on my blog or in my personal life, because I think people get stupid when it comes to politics. Everything in partisan politics get painted with a very broad brush, but the real artistry of statesmanship, and life, is in the details.

Life doesn't fit in tidy packages. Republican or Democrat. Red state or Blue state. Conservative or liberal. Pro-life or pro-choice. NRA or anti-gun. Rock or country. Pop or rap. East or West. North or South. White or black.

The last few times I've registered to vote I have not picked a political party to affiliate with. The truth is, I don't feel either of the major political parties represents me. I can be quite conservative on some issues and quite liberal on others. I certainly don't fit into the base of support for either party. And frankly the parties don't seem to know what they believe in either. The Republican party, which austensibly believes in smaller government, has in the current administration eroded personal liberties and allowed government to snoop on its citizens in the name of national security. And Democrats can't seem to do anything to set their own agenda except to be against whatever Republicans are espousing.

But what I find most amusing about this whole flap over the Dixie Chicks and their music is that people get so fired up over it, and yet it's a safe bet that many of them who get so passionate in their support for, or boycott of, a singing group's music probably don't even bother to vote with regularity.

Entertainers, like the rest of us, are entitled to their opinion. And thankfully freedom of speech, though perhaps an endangered species, is still allowed in this country. However, that does not mean that freedom always comes without pain or sacrifice or the slings and arrows thrown from others.

Another irony of this whole Dixie Chicks flap is that before the whole dust-up over the comment about the president, the Chicks and singer Toby Keith also got into a running public pissing match starting in August 2002 over comments Maines made about Keith's song "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)" in which Keith tells terrorists that the United States will fight back and put a boot in their ass.

Maines called the song ignorant. Keith shot back at Maines' abilities as a songwriter.

The irony is that Keith and Maines and the rest of the Chicks may be a lot closer in their politics than one might imagine. Keith, who is a Democrat, has also expressed reservations about the war in Iraq, even though he has been unflagging in his support for U.S. troops and was supportive of the U.S. action in Afghanistan.

Not all country music singers are Republicans. Tim McGraw is another high-profile Democrat in country music. And believe it or not, not all country music fans are Republicans either.

And that's the whole point. Stereotypes don't always fit.

Now the question is, where will the Dixie Chicks fit in the American music landscape. The group features a Southern twang and country instrumentation, but will country music accept them back? Or are they pop now? The Time magazine article says their new album "may be the best adult pop CD of the year." But the magazine also asks the question "Will anyone buy it?"

Well, sure some people will buy it, but will it sell millions of copies like previous albums have? That still remainst to be scene. The Chicks themselves seem prepared to accept a smaller fan base.

"I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, and people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith," said Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks. "We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do."

Well, Martie, I have news for you. I've retired my five-disc changer, but my iPod does have Dixie Chicks, Toby Keith and Reba McEntire in it. Of course it has other stuff too, like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Aerosmith. There rock, pop, blues, alternative and country
music.

For me, I don't pick my music based on politics any more than I vote for politicians based on their musical tastes.

I still need to listen to the album a few more times to determine whether it will become a favorite, or whether it will fade into the background amid the hundreds of other CDs in my collection. But for now, it is in high rotation on the ol' iPod. If I like it enough I may even consider buying a ticket to their concert when they come to Portland in November. And if I don't like it enough, my music and concert money will be spent elsewhere, based on how the music resonates with me and my life, not pampered singers want me to vote.

Technorati tags: Music
Dixie Chicks
Country music
Politics
Toby Keith

Absence make the heart...

I haven't seen or heard from Brat for the last couple of nights. Fortunately I talked to her in the aftermath of the storms in her area, or I would probably be pretty worried. I hope she is just taking it easy and getting some rest, or maybe dealing with some of the after effects of the storm.

Regardless, this long distance stuff really sucks sometimes.

Anyway, enough of the sappy stuff. It's almost St. Patrick's Day. I don't really have any plans for the Irish holiday. I have to say I'm sort of craving some live blues music. What could be better that some blues music on St. Patrick's Day? Would work well for this whole long-distance thing too
Anyone have any recommendations?

Long-distance relationships
Live music
Blues
St. Patrick's Day