Concert Review: Pet Shop Boys

I saw the Pet Shop Boys one week ago tonight. Like my last live show, it was one where I ended up having many deep thoughts.

I need to be clear that it was a great show. They sounded really good, played a wide variety of songs, and the crowd loved them. I was surprised to hear vocalist Neil Tennant say that this was their first time in Portland, but there were a lot of bands who went straight from Seattle to California back in the day. I do know the guy next to me said this was the one band that had eluded him, so I guess that had not helped.

Probably a lot of the fans had been waiting a long time for this. The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was packed, and responded enthusiastically the entire time. When Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe appeared, the crowd rose to their feet en masse, and pretty much stayed there the entire time. They chanted for "Go West", and got it. This was a happy crowd. There was no opening act, and none was needed.

I referred to the band appearing. The way the show started was that there was a screen with various types of tunnels and portals projected onto it, then with glimpses of two men in the middle, and suddenly you could see through the screen, and Tennant and Lowe were behind it, in tall pointed hats and thick feathery suits.

The first two songs were performed behind that screen. There were eventually costume changes. Tennant switched to a blazer much sooner than Lowe got out of the feathers, and in time they switched to shiny silver, and then orange with Tennant in a fez. What never changed was that there were always many visual effects, and that the stage almost constantly had two dancers on it.

The dancers were quite good. In addition to doing basic dancing with large horned masks (that must have been quite heavy) on their heads, they also jumped on pogo sticks while covered in something like silver Christmas tree suits, and moved with arm and leg stilts. As amazing as they were, I'm just not sure it related.

At first, they looked like two minotaurs, but then it seemed like the cattle heads were specifically skulls, and as they switched from less clothing to suits, I thought it could perhaps represent something about urbanization or Yuppie-fication, but no, it never seemed to really connect to the music, except maybe in terms of rhythm. Otherwise, it probably would have made more sense to use the houses on "Suburbia".

For a while I was thinking that the band would be behind the screen the entire time, and that didn't happen, but there was still always the imagery and the dancers. It occurred to me that would be a really cool dance club. The club would cost less to get into, but then there would probably be overpriced drinks. (I don't really know much about nightlife.) This was very different from other concerts that I have gone to.

I was thinking about whether it is a difference between rock and pop, or between keyboards and guitars, with perhaps one being inherently more connected, and I don't know. A-ha was synth pop, and was very present. Duran Duran had a lot of spectacle, but not that much. I guess some of my thinking was because what counts as pop now and what counted as pop then feels very different.

I really don't have the answers here. The other thing that came to mind is that as I was trying to do more listening to the Pet Shop Boys, both before and after the concert, it was very frustrating trying to find the songs. There were so many compilations of remixes and 12-inch and I ended up just gong for the videos, because at least they felt like what I remembered.

It's different from my usual, I guess, which is not bad. I enjoyed the concert, and the crowd loved it. It was just different.

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/

Band Review: Cinema Sleep

Cinema Sleep is a five piece band out of Cincinnati, Ohio.  Apparently many of the members were in a previous band together.

Overall they have a solid sound, plaintive vocals with strong instruments, but on the album Truth For The Seeker, it opens with "Wild Card", which feels very generic to me. I can't put my finger on why I feel that, because I like the intro. Then it immediately improves with "Inside My Hands" and ends up being a good album.

I mention this, because if you just go to their full album (they have a collection of five singles on Make Your Way) and listen to the first song, you will be underestimating the band. So, listen beyond that. "Inside My Hands" and "Wanted" for sure, and then probably "The Response" will give you a better idea of how they sound, and then perhaps "Through This House" and "Take Me Home" for, well, softer is the wrong word - maybe those songs are more emotional. "Right Where You Belong" may have been my favorite. My point is that it is worth giving them a chance.

Music is available via iTunes.

http://www.cinemasleep.com/

https://twitter.com/fkjsa

https://www.facebook.com/cinemasleep

http://www.youtube.com/user/CinemaSleep

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/truth-for-the-seeker/id644577009

Music as group effort

Bryan Warner recently tweeted a group shot of the people involved in the Fall Out Boy Tour:

http://instagram.com/p/e_jVEJtUwh/#

It was appropriate that it came from him, because he was a part of my starting to think more about the entire crew, and this picture illustrates how many people can be involved in a rock and roll show.

I guess it really started with Gaslight Anthem. Maybe it was the Fixx, with that guy taping up the set list, or, I don't know. I have always been into watching the setup and behind the scenes stuff, but what stood out at Gaslight Anthem was that one of the roadies looked kind of like Brian Fallon, and I was wondering if he was related. I don't know, but shortly after that Alex Levine posted a picture of him. He said Kane, so I think that is the roadie's name, and I think of him as Kane now, but it could also have been a wrestling reference, because they seem to do that a lot.

That was April, and then in May at the MSI show, I noticed that the guy running the sound board was wearing a Death Spells shirt. This totally made sense, as Death Spells had opened for MSI for a few shows, and so they would all know each other. One of the band members sent out a thank you tweet to a few people as they wrapped up, and I realized one was the sound guy, and one was the merch guy (that's Bryan Warner), and then there was a roadie. I followed all three of them.

Not long after that, and right before the Fall Out Boy concert, Bryan tweeted something that made me realize he was in Portland. Actually, several of the band members did that as well, but I realized that he must be doing their merch this time, and there he was at the merch table. And I felt like I should say "hi", and then I didn't because, I don't know, I felt shy and lame and like I would be a weird stalker.

Regardless, it just opened my mind to the work and the connections that go on.

I counted 46 people in the picture. That is not a careful count, but anyway, it's a lot. That was probably the largest crew from the various shows, other than maybe Pet Shop Boys. Actually, I was really surprised that Fall Out Boy played the Roseland, because they totally could have sold more tickets somewhere else, but it is the largest venue within walking distance of Voodoo Doughnuts. I digress

The band members are important, and that's why the crowd comes, but making everything run smoothly involves hard work and skill. Roadies don't just set up; they keep the show flowing as instruments are changed for different songs. There may not be visual effects, but the sound needs to be right no matter what, and there is a lot of art and expertise involved in making that happen. And merch is becoming a more important component of a band's financial viability all the time.

 There are people there making it happen - people you may recognize at other shows if you just keep your eye open. I find that cool.

Music as comfort

I think this will be a short one. There was something that struck me, and I have felt like I needed to write something about it, but I wasn't sure what.

It happened at one of the concerts I have been to this year, which doesn't narrow it down very much. I'm having a hard time finding how to say this without making it sound like more than it was, or stupid. Basically, I saw pain in the bass player's eyes.

Our eyes did not meet. The world did not stand still. I was not mystically connected to him. This is not that kind of a story. I could see his eyes though, and there was pain and I felt it, and it just caught me in the gut. I am very prone to sympathetic pain, which you may notice if you ever tell me about an injury and you see me holding the part that was injured on my body. This was emotional pain, and I felt it for an instant.

(And I have no idea what it was about. He did have some tweets around that time that kind of sounded like something was up, but then someone asked about it and he said he was fine. All that really shows is that Twitter is not particularly useful for psychoanalyzing band members.)

After the initial burst of hurt passed, I felt bad for him, and there was not really anything to do about it, but I was impressed that he still put himself into the show. Certainly that was the professional thing to do, but also I think it was good for him. I believe it was good for him to be there on stage with his comrades, and to feel the energy of the audience, and to play through the pain.

I have written before about getting lost in the music. I have heard many artists talk about how writing certain songs helped them through things. I believe in the power of music and in the power of creativity.

I have not been as dedicated a musician as I could be, but that's the great thing. As good as it is to play and write music, listening does a lot too, and anyone can have that.

The beat goes on.

Music as a uniter

On Friday, blogging got me all mushy.

It wasn't the actual writing part. That was the normal effort to find the right words. It may have felt more important, but it kind of always feels important. The mushy part came when I was posting it.

Normally with a band review, I tweet it once with keywords (which for the band reviews are pretty much always "music" and the band name), then I send it to the band's Twitter and post on their Facebook page, and I am done. Sometimes I was followed by a band member instead of the band, or some members within the band, and they get included too. This was so much more.

First there was the band's Twitter, and then Revenir has two street teams, one for the US and one for the UK. Then there are the members. Because of Matt's Twitter issues, that was two accounts for him, plus the two former members and the other three current members who have Twitter, because they were all in there.

Actually, I was not mushy yet. At that point I was more nervous. Would they like it? Would I get it right? But I had to remember that these are really good men. I follow them, but they also all follow me, and have replied to me. Even if they think I am a horrible writer (which I would hate), they will be too nice to tell me.

Also, I sent a tweet to one account that retweets a lot of MCR stuff, because MCR fans are a natural audience for this album, and I want it to do well.

Where I got all sentimental was sending the link to my friends, because I have made friends through this band. I don't even know how it happened. I think Shanna was first, when she joined in an exchange about old movies between Matt and I. Maybe it was all just different conversations, and someone else joins in, and then over time this affection and understanding builds. Suddenly, you have people watching your back, cheering you up when you're down, reminding you that you are not alone, and telling you that you are beautiful.

This time they said nice things about my review, and about being friends with each other, and well, Shanna wrote this: http://shanna-raindrop.tumblr.com/post/63114058884/when-bands-do-more-than-just-give-you-music

Anyway, that was about when I turned to mush. The band has given me more than music, and music is a gift, but it is not the only gift. And then I went to the Pet Shop Boys concert that night, which was a whole different thing, and since I am on vacation and will have limited computer time, I think I will just write about music this week, and all of these posts will in some way involve Twitter.

We'll get to what the pope said, and other social science things, next week. I'm not sure I have anything to say about what the Fox said.

Band Review: Revenir

I have waited so long for this!

I first wrote up a review back in February, but I was checking some things with drummer Matt Pelissier, and there were reasons not to do it then. I had been listening to their music on Soundcloud, and those songs had been recorded with a different singer. Matt felt like directing people there would be unfair to their current vocalist Keith Burton. As they were working on an album, it made sense to wait for its release.

(Shortly after that exchange, they took down those songs, but would occasionally put up tantalizing new things as the work progressed.)

That release date slipped a lot, as the band faced every obstacle imaginable. I knew about the break-in where their equipment was stolen and the engineering problems, but the Bandcamp page also mentions a ghost and a fake cancer patient. (There could be an interesting rock opera in there somewhere.)

Then there were more lineup changes, and just as the album was finally ready and promoting it becomes really important, Matt's personal Twitter started wigging out. Through it all the band has endured, and Exiled From Bear Country finally resides on my computer.

It sounds too cheesy to call this a triumph of the human spirit, but it is absolutely a testament to the persistence and heart of this band. It would have been so easy to give up at any point, and they haven't, and they won't. Revenir means "to return" in French, and they will keep coming back.

I do remember thinking, even back in February, that there was kind of a bluesy vibe to the music. There aren't exactly blues riffs; I would say the guitars are pretty straightforward rock, with a few surprises tossed in the might come from industrial or progressive or somewhere. Or maybe I just don't know how to classify "There's A Way Out Of Hell". It's not something that I would have imagined, but it grabs me.

"Gone Cold" is not Gospel, but it reminds me of it. There are no harmonicas, so there isn't anything that I can point to that says "blues"; maybe it is just that this is a band who has suffered and they keep going. Revenir's sound is never boring; I feel confident saying that.

"Blinded Sight" is an amazing song, and you can listen to it in its entirety on Soundcloud. Let that whet your appetite. You can also listen to "Secret Cowboy" there, which shows a different side of them. The overall variety of themes and sounds is strong, and they are well-performed. The album almost has a live feel, which goes well with the grittiness of their experience.

I like their music a lot, but I also like them personally. They have been amazingly accessible to their fans, even as the base increases. They have been able to roll with the lineup changes maintaining good feelings (it does not always go down like that). So we have lost bassist Kyle Burton and guitarist Stephen Horvath, but we still love them, and will warmly accept Dan Bui and Gareth Shihadeh, and will thankfully hold on to Matt, Keith, and guitarist Jay Lydard, who also provides some vocals, goat yell, and a warm heart.

Their music is good, and they have so much music in them. Remembering back to February, some of the songs are the same, but some have changed and some are new and they are already working on a new album. They keep going not only because they are persistent, but also because they have something to contribute.

So I wish them crazy success, and as difficult as the business is today, I think they can do it. Go buy Bear Country and throw some love their way. It is available through iTunes and GooglePlay as well as Bandcamp.

http://revenir.bandcamp.com/

https://twitter.com/RevenirMusic

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Revenir-Music/399609190053471?group_id=0

http://www.purevolume.com/Revenir

https://soundcloud.com/revenir/

Band Review: Shatterglass

I've really enjoyed listening to Shatterglass. They don't have a lot of songs available, so I have basically been listening to the same three over and over again, but it hasn't gotten stale.

While they are a relatively new band (2011), the members are experience, and you can tell that they are good at what they do: solid vocals, powerful drums, and pleasantly aggressive guitars. It has kind of a classic rock feel, but at the same time it seems more earnest, making it feel a lot more vibrant. I appreciate that.

They use language well. The best example of this may be "Coming Undone", as the adjectives combining with the music gives a sort of punctuation to the emotion. It's an effective song, as is "Talkabout".

The closest thing to a misfire is probably "Psycho Girlfriend". My initial thought was that it should be more playful, or go the other direction, where it is serious and sensitive about mental illness. Instead it feels much more cynical. Still, if it was based on something real, and it went on for a long time, this may reflect the truest emotions.

So even though that takes me back, it's a really good song. It has a strong intro and it's sharp and it hits hard. They really have something here. I hope they stick with it.

Songs are available through Amazon, iTunes, and CDBaby, but also through the band's web site, along with other merchandise.

http://www.shatterglass.cc/

https://twitter.com/Shatterglass1

https://www.facebook.com/shatterglasstheband

http://www.youtube.com/user/Shatterglasstheband

Why I didn't go to Comic-con

I don't know if it shows in the writing, but I have been in a funk lately. There are a lot of different factors.

With Comic-con itself, there were things going into it where I was not feeling that good about it. That I am not specifying the name is deliberate, as my negative opinions are very much personal, and other people would not feel the same way. It can easily be figured out.

I had expressed concerns earlier about it being too Hollywood. It is definitely bigger, which I am sure was a factor in the organizational issues. There were a lot of messages about schedules coming soon, and still coming, and still being worked on, but eventually I got a notification of an 11-5 shift. That seemed a little long for a volunteer, but okay.

In addition, the tone of the messages, with the nicknames and everything, was just a little too cute. It grated, and again, that is unfair of me. That came across in the orientation, with too much self-deprecation, but not really, but what really bugged me was the emphasis on full-time versus part-time volunteers. As they explained that full-timers were signed up for 8 hours but really would be there for 12 hours, it kind of made sense that they would get special treatment, and again, this is a big endeavor, with a lot of work, but that seems less than ideal. Maybe you need to hire more staffers.

Also, there was an article in the paper about Portland finally having a comic-con worthy of it, no longer having to drive up to Seattle for that type of experience. They did mention Stumptown, but that is creator-focused. Do you know what it means not to be creator-focused? As far as I can tell, more costumes, and an area with celebrities charging $40 per autograph. I don't actually like anyone enough to pay $40 for an autograph. I realize it's an important part of the economic viability of some careers, but with creators, $40 will probably get you multiple books which they will sign with little drawings.

So, those were all things that made me not enthusiastic about my shift, but I was still planning on going, and when they needed extra people to show up and direct lines at 8, I was going to do that. I am good at managing lines; that's one of my special talents! That would have meant being there from 8 to 5, with not much time for looking around, but I was going to do it. And then I woke up and I just couldn't.

I have not been taking care of myself enough. It could be much worse. It reminded me of that time when I couldn't do the Fanconi Anemia walk. Now, that time my poor choices from putting my own needs last led to food poisoning and projectile vomiting. This was just being too tired to get up. Some rest will take care of that. I start a vacation Saturday.

That is good, but that is its own stress. The money feels so much tighter for this one that it feels like it will be the last vacation ever. Maybe it's that I don't believe in my writing taking off anymore, which was what was always going to fix everything, and lift me to a higher income level. I have been able to keep the blogs going, and create the monthly comic, but I'm not accomplishing anything for profit. So, that's a concern.

Still, if this is the last vacation I can afford, I'm going to make the most of it, and see if I can reset, and find this balance where I can feel okay about what I am doing and not doing.

So, much of that is not really about comic cons at all. Clearly though, Stumptown is the true home of my heart.

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-make-myself-sick-literally.html

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/04/creative-energy.html

A sensible proposal

I really thought that today I was going to be building off of some of Pope Francis' recent statements, but I think this whole government shutdown has gotten to me.

Actually, if I can get back to Syria one more time, recently there was something on the news about some senators being critical of the president's efforts there, and I just knew they were going to show McCain, and they did!

I might be psychic, but not because of that. Knowing it would be McCain was more of a product of once reading that his thing was being a contrarian. (This was someone analyzing him, not quoting him.) Suddenly, how he could do such good things sometimes, and then be ridiculous about other things, all made sense.

And sometimes it worked, and he did good things. That seems to happen less often, though, and sometimes the ridiculous is just too ridiculous.

(If I may quote myself, "The most perfect symbol of this may be McCain missing aclassified briefing on Benghazi, complaining about the lack of informationduring that time period, and being angry when asked for a comment about thescheduling error that led to it.")

This is a big risk of being a contrarian. Sometimes it is important to go against the grain, and then it is admirable to do so. Doing it for the purpose of being in opposition, though, is something else entirely. Defining yourself by that may lead to you taking a lot of bad positions. (At some point I will get back to establishment/anti-establishment, and we'll explore that more.)

So, currently the GOP is in a kind of tough position, having set themselves firmly in opposition to everything the president and the Democrats in Congress put out there, no matter how practical and conservative, and it results in horrible situations.

As a progressive, and someone who does not hate poor people, I have grave concerns. As someone who is against contrarianism, I sort of feel like they should be spanked and sent to their rooms like the spoiled children they are emulating. But as a practical, somewhat jaded person, I am willing to work with it.

Here's what the GOP needs to do: Give up on defeating Obamacare, continued spending, and stimulus. The Bush tax cuts didn't work, deregulation has been bad, no-bid contracts...okay, let me walk that back. These policies have been helpful for corporations and the wealthy, but bad for everyone else, fiscal responsibility, good government, and the list goes on.

So give up on that, and focus on everything else. Fight the big government intrusion of the PRISM program. Complain about the drones. Complain about the backlog in the courts, the war on drugs, and there still being prisoners at Gitmo.

I know what you're thinking; that would be remarkably hypocritical. Ha, ha, gotcha! I know you don't worry about that. It would in fact be hypocritical, but it's necessary. These are reasonable areas for objection, the Tea Party/Libertarian side of things will approve, and there is lots and lots of room for pontification.

I know the real concern is that your corporate overlords will not approve. This one actually is a problem, but remember, as nice as large campaign contributions are, you still need people to vote for you. That has not been working out too well lately. Voter suppression efforts may work out, but you have a great opportunity here for winning legitimately, with the votes of happy constituents.

Doesn't that sound better than destroying lives, infrastructure, and progress?

Is this what we want?

I am always behind on what I want to accomplish versus what I am actually accomplishing. Whether this is because I am overly ambitious, or I don't understand how long it actually takes to do certain things, well, it's probably a bit of a mix, but there is one thing that I have been meaning to do for months, and my inability to complete is not my fault.

One young friend was trying to figure out what to do about a career and schooling, and then there were others expressing the same concerns. I thought that it would be good to write something up, because I have been through that, and I have learned a few things. Every time I try and start, I get paralyzed, because of the way things are different now.

I was lucky. When I graduated a lot of employers were happy to see the BA, but they did not particularly care what it was in. There were a lot of jobs available, and because of those, employers offered pretty good wages and benefits. My actual student loan was about $6000, and I had run a balance on some credit cards, but the amounts were relatively small. I had those loans paid off a few years after graduation.

That was not due to great planning on my part. I took the classes and the majors I wanted to take and that I was drawn to, ending with a dual major in Romance Languages and History.  I didn't worry about it too much, because the plan was always that I wanted to be a writer, and if that didn't work out I was also interested in teaching, and I just believed it would all work out. When I ended up in various technology jobs, it was still biding my time to be a writer, but it did not matter in the least that I had not been planning to be in the tech sector.

I can't tell these kids that it will work out like that. Going to school will probably result in crippling debt, and there is no guarantee that an employer will pay them enough to support themselves, let alone pay off their debt. Not getting a degree will surely bar some paths too. I know that you don't have to do your dream job to be happy, because plenty of jobs can suit you, and life satisfaction does not have to come from your job - it might be better if it doesn't! But I want to be able to tell them that they will be able to find a job that does suit them and on which they can support themselves, and I can't.

That should not be the impossible dream. We're not talking about wealth here, or not having to work too hard. It feels like we are setting the bar at avoiding misery, and it is still set too high. So you will work long hours at Wal-Mart, more hours than you get paid for actually, and still have the people in line behind you judging you when you use your SNAP card to buy groceries.

(I'm sure that SNAP is a double boon to Wal-Mart, because not only does it allow them to underpay their employees, but I'm sure a lot of the SNAP users shop there, taking advantage of the low prices and thus supporting the system that pushes them down.)

Or maybe you will not need SNAP because you were able to get two menial jobs, but you will use meth to get through, and it does get you through the overwork and the despair, but not in a good way. And then maybe you will end up in jail for that, which will take care of room and board, but also separates you from loved ones, mentally beats you down more (probably without getting you off drugs), and takes a lot more of taxpayer money than the food stamps would have.

Is this really the world we want to build?

If this was truly what pure capitalism built, that would be an excellent reason to reject capitalism. That is not even the issue. Subsidizing corporations and deregulating and cutting programs is not simple free market and Adam Smith would back me up.

Also, even if you decide that you don't care about human suffering, this system is clearly unsustainable. I have thought for a while that we seem to be heading towards feudalism, but it is scaring me more now. Too much money is being pulled out of the economic flow as the wealth is concentrated, too many people are losing homes and job, and it just feels like we are approaching a breaking point.

Finally, think back to last Monday's post, on how drought increased the instability in Syria, and being a year away from global riots (that's a few months old, actually). Think about the people here who have been so sure that the problem with the world is everyone else. They know they are surviving because of their hard work, and everyone else is a loafer. How are they going to take it when the loss comes to them?

We have seen sometimes how badly people lash out, killing themselves but taking along their families, or strangers, or first responders, and setting fire to their homes or other buildings. That's not just despair. That is rage, and hatred of the world. I don't like that the people promoting "us versus them" are also so big on gun ownership.

So, those are the things that worry me, and that's what I'm trying to fight. I hope that some of the things that I say over the next two days can be helpful for that.

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2012/04/you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think.html

Band Review: Space March

Where Space March first grabbed me was with the track "Mountain King", referencing Edvard Grieg's "In The Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt.

It wasn't the first track I listened to, and it certainly wasn't the first time synthesizers gave pop life to a classical tune. The iconic notes grabbed my attention though, and combined with Craig Simmons' voice to create something that felt seductive and perilous. As you listen more, the peril is not that there will be sudden violence, but an inexorable loop that you can't escape. It feels unanswerable, and it works.

My other favorite track from the Mountain King album was "You Are Electric", but the album is strong overall. I believe I liked it best of the other albums. There are not dramatic departures from the synthpop style of his earlier work, but I think he is on an upward trajectory.

Music can be purchased via the Space March web site and through Amazon. The web site also has three videos, which are also available on Youtube, but they are pretty perfunctory. "You Get What You Deserve" is the best of them, but really, the songs are way better than the videos.

http://www.spacemarch.com/

https://twitter.com/spacemarch

https://www.facebook.com/spacemarch

http://www.youtube.com/spacemarch

Band Review: Rozenhill

Rozenhill is a five-member band from Stockholm, Sweden.

They list their genre as metal meets pop, and that's fair. In places they remind me of Linkin Park, but more core, if that makes sense. A good example of that is their song "Addictive", which both showcases the fusion and is probably their most prominent use of keyboard, with some haunting soft tones. "Aurora" taps into a similar vein, but more with voice.

Speaking of that, with two vocalists, they can have something more melodic countering the growls, making for some interesting combinations. They only list one person on guitar, plus bass, but that seems impossible given how powerful the sounds sometimes get. When they are not reminding me of Linkin Park, they remind me of Metallica. Try "Well Of Lies" for a good example here.

(Actually, I saw another picture with six people, so maybe they added a guitar.)

That is not all they can do. "King Without Domain" is an interesting departure. It's not exactly mellow, but instead of the raw anger it is a measured, possibly jaded portrait.

I can't find that the music is currently available for purchase, but you can listen on Spotify, and there are some Youtube videos.

https://www.facebook.com/rozenhill

https://twitter.com/Rozenhill

http://www.youtube.com/user/ROZENHILL?feature=watch

https://www.reverbnation.com/rozenhill

Gaming the system

In keeping with my tendency to read more about television than actually watching it, I am fairly up on "Breaking Bad" even though I have never seen an episode. One of the most interesting things I have read on it lately was an article exploring how accurately it depicted meth:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/15/heres-what-breaking-bad-gets-right-and-wrong-about-the-meth-business/

It was interesting from a scientific point of view, but what really got me was the section on meth often being an economic necessity:

"There are "functional" addicts, especially working mothers, who rely upon strong stimulants like meth to juggle their sundry responsibilities. One plausible theory has it that the rise of meth coincided with the rise of low-paying low-skilled service work, where people had to work multiple menial jobs to earn the same amount they used to earn in one manufacturing job, or other good-paying low-skilled position...

This holds up if you look at places where meth use is highest. Hawaii's heavy rate of meth use has been attributed to its high cost of living and service-based economy."

We went to Hawaii in 2006, and we talked to a few locals. Everyone worked multiple jobs and had a lot of roommates, and that was the only way to survive. Now, being on an island that is several hours away by plane from the mainland, moving to an area with better jobs and a lower cost of living is pretty difficult. Even if you're here, though, moving is big. There can be application fees, paying deposits and the first and last month's rent, possibly with moving costs, and those are purely economic factors. Time is huge, especially if you are working multiple jobs.

This is the new normal. McDonald's put up a budgeting tool that assumed that their employees had a second job. They got a lot of flack for that, and then they had defenders pointing out that minimum wage jobs are supposed to be temporary things. That only works if there are better jobs out there.

We have had a decent amount of economic recovery, in that a lot of corporations are profitable again, and stocks are doing well. Job recovery is still an issue, not just for quantity but for quality. Employers who took benefits away and imposed wage cuts when things were tight have dragged their feet on bringing things back. And why wouldn't they? Isn't it always better to keep as much as possible for yourself? Okay, maybe not, because that money does not flow through the economy like it could, producing more business, but hey, they've got theirs.

This just isn't sustainable, and I am going to go back to SNAP here. If people spent an average of three months unemployed, and during that time collected unemployment and SNAP, but then got good jobs, where they could support themselves and their families, that program is probably giving you the right amount of good for the money spent. People don't get too desperate during the bad time, and the bad time is temporary.

However, if they get the job and still need their food subsidized, or if they need two jobs, so it is not enough to have a job for everyone, but everyone needs two jobs, the pool of people needing help is going to be unworkable.

Let's pick on Wal-Mart for a bit:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/10/1141724/-Walmart-fuels-inequality-epidemic-taking-advantage-of-our-safety-net#

Again, their employees are working. In fact, they are working horrible jobs for such low pay that taxpayers need to help them buy food. That might be okay if it was a struggling company on the verge of becoming successful - again with the idea that the government can help you through the rough patches - but Wal-Mart makes billions. They make more in pure profit than the government assistance required.

This is the real abuse. The bipolar person who complains about not getting disability and that McDonalds doesn't take SNAP is annoying. Yes, she could probably be a more productive member of society than she is, but you could have a million people just like her and they would not be the drain on the taxpayers that Wal-Mart is, or oil companies, or, well, that's a really long list.

Some time ago I remember reading about how the changing economy required changes in rules. One option would be greater government regulation of wages and healthcare, or the other would be a much expanded welfare state. Very few people like being on the dole. It's demoralizing. I prefer the other one.

Double the minimum wage. Move to single-payer health care. Properly fund basic education and make higher education free.

Does that sound radical? It's not nearly as radical as this move towards corporate feudalism. Some smaller companies will have a hard time perhaps, but this is a good place for corporate subsidies. Once you get the additional income into the economy, that will help a lot of businesses.

I do realize there will be some concerns about working teenagers, and I was one for a long time, so I get that. I don't propose allowing minors to be paid less, which will surely lead to different problems, but I think you can make those under eighteen exempt from any withholdings. They can't vote until they're eighteen anyway, so it is taxation without representation.

There is a lot that goes into it. There are scary things that are happening now that I have not gotten into, and ways that things could work that I have not gotten into, but my short point here is to point out the real enemy. And this is already long, so I will save my other two points on that for Monday.

Oh SNAP!

Okay, let's talk about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp program. I will be saying a lot of things I have said before, but maybe it's time.

One thing I have mentioned before is that there were a few conservative writers I would read regularly, because it's important to be exposed to other views, but that they were getting much worse. I remember that with Rich Lowry, the turning point was when he wrote an article on gun control where he used an anecdote and said he didn't care what the statistics said.

Stories are powerful, and I get that, but they can also mislead. Statistically, SNAP has a low incidence of abuse, and a good track record for being a temporary program, helping people through hard times and then they get off. Even the beach bum band guy says he is setting up his career, which would theoretically result in him paying taxes later. But why pay attention to statistics when you saw someone with a manicure using that card!

And that is truly the train of thought. People complain about people who have tattoos, or who look like they work out, or who went into a Subway, or who bought cookies, or who have cell phones and cars.

Remember, the idea of the program is that you help people get through a time of low finances so they can end up doing better financially. Many of the people on SNAP are unemployed, and job hunting. One thing that is helpful for job hunting is have a way for potential employers to contact you. I personally am against eliminating land lines in favor of cell phones, but I know a lot of people have done it. I also know that even if you have your land line, using the cell phone number that is only for you and that you always have with you may be better for job hunting purposes.

Those are the thoughts that I have had on my own. Reading more about the subject, I have also read that a lot of people job hunting get temporary use phones, and there are programs that help with this. I was also reminded that you may not be able to easily get out of the contract that you signed when employed.

That leads to another key point. Sometimes you have things before you lose your job, and you still have them while unemployed. This includes tattoos. A person with a tattoo paying for groceries with a SNAP card does not mean that the tattoo was purchased with SNAP funds, or afforded because using SNAP for food meant they could blow their other money on tats.

Consider the car. Paul Ryan would like to eliminate people who have a car worth more than $5000 from the program. Here's something else I was reading about - economic recovery has been moving faster in cities where you have mixed income housing and businesses close together, because people can get to jobs. Great news for those cities, but perhaps a chilling reminder for areas with a lot of sprawl. For someone who needs to obtain a better income, is handicapping them by making them sell their car really a good idea?

There can be explanations for anything. Maybe when you see that manicure, a friend did the nails, or she saved up for a treat, or thought it would help for a job interview. Or maybe they are abusing the program. My sisters went to school with someone who doesn't work, and honestly she probably could, at least a little - the denial of her disability claim seems to imply that.

Unfortunately, somehow that seems to translate into people's minds that it is a bunch of users and abusers and exploiters, you know, like the families of active duty soldiers, and people who work really crappy jobs.

Actually, that is the biggest problem right now, and it is not a failure of SNAP, but of society. People who work full-time at many jobs can't afford to feed their families. Active duty military can't feed their families. A program that is designed to help people through hard times loses effectiveness if hard times don't end.

Further reading:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-kirell/veteran-food-stamps_b_3963203.html

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/06/20/paul-ryan-throw-1-8-million-people-food-stamps-car.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-blumenthal/food-stamp-myths_b_1334924.html

One more thing about Syria

Actually, Syria is just a departure point here, and I am going to be linking to articles, but my own writing will be short today, and these are good articles.

Granted, there is a long and complex background to the violence in Syria, both for things that happened within the country and external influences, but there is something that has made the situation much worse:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/10/drought-helped-caused-syrias-war-will-climate-change-bring-more-like-it/

Yes, drought was a factor in leading to displaced persons, which never really increases stability. Now, while climate change appears to be a factor, mismanagement of resources was also a factor, but remember, mismanagement of resources is pretty common. Let us also consider that part of the article is security forces looking ahead to how this might affect other parts of the world, and then check out this article:

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/we-are-now-one-year-and-counting-from-global-riots-complex-systems-theorists-say--2?

Yes, food shortages can lead to people having not much energy, which makes rioting harder, but before that you get to them being irritable, scared, and less able to weigh consequences and alternative strategies, because it is hard to maintain concentration when you are hungry. These will include people not just hungry on their own, but desperate to feed their families.

That's a global thing of course, but what about the United States, where we have such an abundance of food that we worry more about obesity than hunger?

Well, actually, we should worry about hunger, because there is already more of that than you would expect, and hunger and obesity are not mutually exclusive. There are ways in which recurring hunger will contribute to obesity.

Anyway, that's an interesting thought. We seem so modern and advanced for food riots, but there are a lot of problems with the system. The Farm Bill stems from the great depression, and its purpose was not only to help farmers, but to make sure that there was always an adequate food supply. It doesn't work very well now, because corporate interests have turned that into something where you have fields full of crops that can't be eaten without tons of processing, and where most of the benefits are going to corporations, not family farms.

(See the movie King Corn for more on this.)

Part of the Farm Bill is also the SNAP program, with food stamps, and that relates to hunger too, and it could relate to riots. We'll spend more time on that tomorrow.

Band Review: Color Theory

There is an interesting story on Color Theory's main page. His song "Ponytail Girl" was mistaken for a Depeche Mode song, so much so that it ended up as bonus track on bootleg Depeche Mode CDs. (I did not know that bootleggers attempted to add value in this way, but knowing that now I can totally see then making mistakes like this, because real fans would not be pirates.) This led to Color Theory's 2003 release, Color Theory presents Depeche Mode.

Color Theory does, in fact, sound a great deal like Depeche Mode, though less so on that album. While Depeche Mode, and other '80s synth pop has been an influence, Color Theory has also been influenced by contemporary techno groups like Deadmau5. So there are throwbacks to an earlier time, like a cover of A-ha's "Living a Boy's Adventure Tale", but there are also mixes that explore electronica.

There is a huge amount of output here. Normally in the week that I do a review, I like to listen to the artist's entire catalog three times. There was not a chance of that happening. So I jumped around in listening, hoping to get a good representation, and there were two questions that came up.

One is whether you can learn more by avoiding or diving into the remixes. You can learn some things about an artist by listening to completely different songs, but hearing them pull different nuances out of the same song is its own education.

I actually don't have an answer for that. While there are several remixes on the list, they are generally of different songs. It was not a Youngblood Hawke situation where there were six mixes of "We Come Running". It looked like there were three remixes (plus the original) of "What You Said", but that appears to be the maximum, and the exception.

The other question is, when someone reminds you so much of Depeche Mode, do you need them, because we already have Depeche Mode. And the answer for me there is "I Should Have Kissed You".

It was one of the first tracks I listened to, and it just caught me, like songs sometimes do. There are emotional connections that can't always be predicted. Color Theory gave me something that touched my heart, and there is value in that. Often the songs seem rather muted, but there is emotion in them. I also really responded to "If It's My Time To Go (Original Mix)".

Songs are available via iTunes and Amazon, and can be heard at music.colortheory.com.

http://colortheory.com/

https://twitter.com/colortheory

https://www.facebook.com/colortheorymusic

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/color-theory/id5043122?ign-mpt=uo%3D4%2522%2520target%253D%2522itunes_store%2522

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Theory/e/B000APIG0G/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1379707730&sr=1-1

Band Review: The Senators

By chance, on the same week that it was time to review The Senators, someone posted this:

http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2013/9/Mumford-Sons-Tom-Waits-and-the-Punch-Brothers-ranking-the-old-timey-bands

I don't feel qualified to give them a proper score, but I feel comfortable saying that they are quite old-timey. There is the use of older instruments, like a banjo and mandolin, and there are references that feel as if they belong more to the past, even though we still have whiskey and trains. At the same time, they seem to have a fairly modern sensibility.

Listening to them is mellow, and quietly intellectual. It reminds me a little of Coldplay, or maybe a bit of The Verve on "Music From Another Room" where the strings hint of symphony.

That should not be taken to mean that they are always downbeat. "The Sea and Its Floor" lifts with an upbeat tempo. In general, though, it is quiet listening, with a touch of pathos. Perhaps the connection between the past and the modern can't help but be tinged with loss. Even though the lyrics to "Sweeter than Wine" don't seem inherently sad, there is a touch of melancholy in the lilting rhythm.

Music from The Senators is available via Amazon and iTunes.

http://www.thesenatorsmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Senatorsmusic

https://twitter.com/senators_music

https://soundcloud.com/thesenators

http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorsMusic