2 photographs

"Blue Window"

"Aqua"

Jimmy Idle...lost record covers

A trio of albums from my rock-god alter-ego Jimmy Idle.

"A BLOOD SACRIFICE, MY FRIEND"

"JIMMY IDLE: THE SELF-TITLED ALBUM"

"YEAH, I'M A BAD-ASS!"

A short rant on something that should be obvious.

After much thoughtful consideration I have come to the conclusion that politicians don't deal in facts. They mix data, statistics, polls, opinions, then they wad it all up like pieces of paper in their fists to throw at their rivals. Nothings against the rules because when you get to a certain point there ARE no rules. They all lie, they all cheat. Their promises are made to be broken. Republicans, Democrats, they're all hyocrites.

Politics is a game, all the way from the top seats in the White House to the arm-chair pundits cheering on their team via Twitter and Facebook. I don't blame anyone for voting from their gut because it's six one way and half-a-dozen another. I've actually read posts from friends who say any bipartisan effort to resolve issues is outdated and a useless, ineffective means to an end.

The gap between "us" and "them" has never been so wide. Thick dividing lines have been drawn, they want to know which side you're on. I resent that I am put in a position where my choice of who to vote for opens me up to ridicule and ostracization. That sounds extreme but anyone who has watched these campaigns play out should see it plain and clear. How much of this anti-bipartisanship can we endure until civil war breaks out? That sounds extreme, too. I don't see how it cannot be inevitable as long as there is so much hate infusing the political climate.

I take comfort in the hope that the next generation will learn lessons from our obstinance and set things to right. I hope that their approach to politics rises above childish insults, bully tactics, personal attacks, "tit-for-tat" excuses, Tea Party isolationism, Occupy extremism, Chick-Fil-A support feasts, Chick-Fil-A "kiss-in" demonstrations, wars on religion, wars on women, wars on Christmas, wars in the middle east, AM radio spokesmen with more power than the president... I hope they can find intellectual and moral middle ground in understanding sensitive topics like abortion, sexual orientation, religion... I have faith that they will be able to approach one another with more empathy and acceptance than my generation ever could, deprived of a tool that connects cultures, attitudes, opinions... could it be that the Internet will teach our children more about understanding the plight of their fellow man better than ever we could? We shall see.

In the meantime here we are. Fresh from nit-picking all the rhetoric from the Republication National convention, ready to hear some validation from out of Charlotte. Or coming down off of that ecstatic cloud with the GOP nominating your man, ready to throw mud at the "socialists". It's all great fun, ain't it? I guess it all depends on how far down it is on your list of priorities.

film..."Powerline" by Husker Du

Sorry so small. I'm hesitant to post this to YouTube because of possible copyright issues, so I'll just go ahead and use Blogger's video upload service. I'm a bit disappointed with it's size, but what am I going to do?

This is a music video I made for the Husker Du song "Powerline". I was inspired by the mid-period videos by R.E.M. ("Life and How to Live It", "Time After Time", et al). I used footage from the film "Holy Ghost People" and an armed services training film about Vietnam.

Future Islands - Give Us the Wind

Rock Scene!!!

Once again a bit of snooping around of the Internet has yielded a treasure trove of nostalgia. This time it's in the form of Rock Scene magazine. I was but one month away from my 12th birthday when I saw the debut issue (pictured) in the newsstand at Mom's Minit-Mart. Even at that young age I was really into what could only be considered  the "alternative rock" of it's time. Rock Scene looked to be right up my alley. It was tied with Creem for the title of "favorite magazine". Up until now I'd only seen a few covers floating around in the images section of Google. Even those were enough to spark fond memories, so you can imagine my delight when I  came across rockscenester.com. EVERY SINGLE ISSUE scanned and presented in an easy-to-use format!!! It was printed on low grade pulp paper and all of the photographs were in black and white but that just made it all the more endearing to me. It's probably been over 30 years since I had a copy and looking through them now, after all these years, brings back some extra-powerful memories. It's no understatement when I claim that Rock Scene had a good deal to do with shaping my taste in music. Obviously as an 11-12 year old boy I was ripe for the picking. Check it out...if you're an aging rocker like I am you might actually remember it. If you're a bit younger you'll get a kick out of what is most definitely a snapshot of the 70s, from the content to the ads.

ROCK SCENE