Polyphonic Ramblings 5

Another mix from the realm of ambient/drone:


1. Running to the Ghost - James Blackshaw

2. All That Makes Us Human Continues - BT

3. Skindiving- James

4. Gwely Mernans -Alarm Will Sound

5. Low Clouds (1) James

6.Final -Deuter

7. Cliffs - Alarm Will Sound

8 Even (Out) + - Stars of the Lid

9. Mars Rain - James Bernard

10. Low Clouds (2) - James

11. Bottom Of The Well - James

12. Spirits Drifting - Brian Eno

So the game of chicken didn't work

...and now we're at square 1. Next time, can we think about this for more than a few days and hash all this out in public?



h/t jesse

Fwd: Fall is Here: Lost Meadow Cider Mill Opens September 13, 2008

Here's what I'm doing tomorrow, getting some delicious cider stock (see below) and attending a harvest fest. Fall in Vermont: does is get any more bucolic?

Lost Meadow Cider Mill will be open weekends this fall starting

September 13 and going until October 26. The mill is located off County

Rd in Calais, VT, two miles south of Maple Corner.

Fresh juice will be available for pickup Saturday or Sunday 12:00-6:00

PM or until it's gone. Call or email for directions. Sorry, the mill is

not open to the public during operation. If you need juice and can't

catch us on weekends or want us to reserve some, call and we'll work

something out [(802) 229-2004].

Sweet cider is available in our 1-gallon containers only for $5. Special

hard cider blends will be available by appointment for $7 per gallon this

year. We will also have our own vinegar for sale at the mill as well as the

odd bag of apples that we just didn't have the heart to put through the

grinder.

Lost Meadow Cider Mill is located on Wheeler Road in Calais, VT; just off

County Road a couple miles south of Maple Corner or about seven miles from

the Main St rotary in Montpelier.

Lost Meadow Orchard and Cider Mill are run by Terry Bradshaw and his

family. Terry has been in the orchard business for fourteen years and

has made cider every one of them. His fermented ciders have won national

awards in American Homebrew Association-sanctioned events and have

developed a local following. These hard ciders are never for sale, but

he is always glad to show you how to make your own.

http://www.lostmeadowvt.com

terryb@lostmeadowvt.com

Some guy from the internet: his take on the bailout negotiations

Ouch.

I am not going to strive for eloquence or poetry. I am not going to back up my assertions, conjectures, paraphrased quotes or invective with links or citations. I am not going to spell-check beyond what I can catch as I sweep through and lay down words. I will fuck up homynyms.

The name is: I now hate John McCain.

I have not gotten much sleep this week. I am very tired.

I have watched approximately 100 hours of C-SPAN coverage this week collectively, concurrently watching the Senate and House on two televisions.

And yet, compared to many people, my job is extremely easy. I don't dig ditches, for instance.

I also am not a staffer for House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank. Today, they went to bed at around 5:30 in the morning because they had meetings in an attempt to cobble together a solution to the fucked up financial system of this country until 5 a.m.. This sleep, a sweet respite from a week of similarly late nights, was brief however. The meetings resumed at 8 a.m..

although numerous parties - particularly the Presidential campaigns - bloviated about the principles that they demanded be in the bill, the working copies of what was actually being negotiated included limits to compensation and 'golden parachutes', a bipartisan oversight board, equity in firms assisted by the plan and the possibility of lowering the scope of the bailout so that only a portion of the $700 billion would be advanced. The outraged statements about the bailout, the anger and panic they whipped up and the press-conference proposals were all directed at a version of the bill that had been immediately discarded.


It was all a coincidence of course that this agreement was announced before John McCain, whom I earnestly hate, could meet with the President, Barack Obama and other interested parties.

I hate John McCain. He is a contemptible person. I want to see him in pain.


John McCain had a remarkably bad day yesterday. It began with a desperate conference call in which his pollster tried to bluster away an ABC/W Post poll that showed him dropping 9 points back of Obama. It ended with David Letterman juggling his ripped off balls on the air while offering a squirming Keith Olbermann a bite. In between saw him delay responding to a effort by Obama to set up a joint statement because he was meeting with a baroness, an act of extreme personal cowardice to try and shirk the debate and tired negotiators telling him not to come to Washington because it would just fuck things up.

John McCain came to Washington.

John McCain fucked things up.

The one group of interested parties who have not fully been involved in the negotiations have been House Republicans. This is largely because they are a death cult who should be put to the flame by rational men. The proposal that the Republican Study Group, a conservative caucus that makes up slightly more than half of the full House Republican delegation, issued early in the week suggested that the key was to have a capital gains tax holiday for two years and to drill in ANWR. Clearly the financial crisis would be solved if banks and fund managers stopped paying taxes. The poor dears were holding toxic securities from all the worry that they'd have to contribute a cent to the upkeep of their nation. John Campbell, a contender for the chairmanship of the RSC in the next Congress, has probably completely killed off his chances by supporting the general idea of a bailout.

We do know that McCain (HOW FUCKING DARE HE) has single-handedly invalidated and trod over the incredibly difficult work of hundreds of people. People who are trying, in a totally thankless and anonymous way, to help save a part of their country.

I didn't hate him. Honestly, it was more about the Ds and the left-wing shit that is my heritage.

But I want to punch his fucking kids right about now. I want to scream at him until I pass out.

What a fucking dick.

Palin Overload

A bad week for Sara Palin. This post seemed to sum up my evolving feelings on the GOP VP nominee:

The mood over Sarah Palin is changing. Her political naysayers used to delight in her floundering her way through interviews (okay, that one interview with Charlie Gibson). They enjoyed pointing out her lack of credentials. But her interview with Katie Couric over the past two nights has elicited a different response — like cringing. No longer is there joy in Palin's struggles. Watching her has become like watching one of those hopeless singers trying out for American Idol: First you laugh. Then you laugh some more. Maybe after that you laugh a little bit more. And as the talentless contestant soldiers on, despite the judges' derision, it hits you that this person, despite their best efforts, doesn't even realize that they don't have what it takes. And that makes you kind of sad.

And hello facebook folks! I've finally learned how to migrate this blog over to that area.

Today was a good day

Started to tackle our rotting roof, got a weedwhacker, donated blood,
drank a chilled yerba matte, planned the beer olympics, and harvested
our garden (need some green beans?)

Also, didn't have to use my AK...

Iraq's future

A prediction:

Listening to the news (o'hanlon commentating, the douchebag...) and
had a thought. Things are supposedly going really well, and the bush
administration is actually talking about withdrawral. However,
consider this:

Violence is down because we are paying hundreds of millions of dollars
to suuni ex-insurgents to kill al-Qaeda (search for the sons of Iraq).
The Shiite prime minister is negotiating long term deals with the
u.s., making his own power play.

Is the bush admin setting up a powder keg for a future president Obama
to preside over?

fingers

Just started playing the guitar again, after a longer break than I originally realized. That's because my left hand calluses are gone, sending me back to form them again. Ow.

The 'back-to-practice' thing is thanks to my new project: a fretless guitar. Took a $30 mini-classical (nylon string) guitar and pulled the frets off of it. Now it can make some dope glisses, very indian-sounding now.

Let's hope that my facebook blog thingie recognizes the returns in this post (ya, right)

Polyphonic Ramblings: A New Beginning

So I have this mix that I made up. No one to make it for except for myself. So it's heavy on ambient, drone-based tones. Do not operate heavy machinery while listening to Track 4.

1. Moonchild/The Dream/The Illusion - King Crimson

From their first album; this track would be a prime example for those who argue prog rock is meaningless over-long pieces of music bordering on noise (no structure, etc.) I object to the first two points strenuously.

2. Treefingers - Radiohead

IMO, the same thing as Track 1, re-interpreted 30 years later

3. Sour Times - Portishead

Fitting of the dark mood that has been set.

4. Sonar Blow Job - Portishead & Kraftwerk

Don't quote me on the title or artist; it was taken from Acqusition

5. The Heavenly Music Corporation - Robert Fripp & Brian Eno

Eno coined the term "ambient" for a musical style. Fripp picked up a tape loop machine and created a whole new way of playing the guitar. This is what happened when they met up.

6. The Rip - Portishead

Two things I like in this piece: the (deliberately?) rough guitar fingerstyle picking in the beginning, and the comforting full, round tones of an analogue synth at the end.

There is no doubt, now...

So if you ever had the suspicion that the Bush White House used political orientation as a basis for employment, you can finally point to something that is official:

As the chart indicates, the Screening Committee deselected 80 (80 percent) of the 100 applicants with liberal affiliations, 4 (9 percent) of the 46 applicants with conservative affiliations, and 223 (29 percent) of the 765 candidates with neutral affiliations.

[snip]

The data indicates that the candidates with liberal affiliations were deselected at a much higher rate (15 out of 18) than candidates with conservative affiliations (0 out of 5) or candidates with neutral affiliations (11 out of 48), even though all candidates met the same criteria.

[snip]

We found that all 7 applicants who indicated that they were American Constitution Society members were deselected by the Screening Committee for interviews, while 2 of the 29 applicants who indicated that they were members of the Federalist Society were deselected.

Thanks to emptywheel for posting on this. Check out her site for the best coverage of government scandal this side of Sy Hersch.

Waiting in style

Chilling before the slingshot Dakota show, snagging some wifi in a
business park, life's pretty good about now.

Guitar playing is getting to the point where I can form some
interesting chords/progressions down. Song-ideas starting to form.

Sent from my iPod

Video Time

testing

supposedly, this email I'm writing will turn into a blog post. Let's
see if it's true. Then my fancy new iPod can be a blogging tool as
well. It's been pretty nice to me so far, I've watched plenty of
Starcraft proleague games on it, kept up with reading my blogroll, and
got back into listening to podcasts. Thanks, apple!

Cowardly Neocons

First, they claim that Bush fucked up the war on his own, they had no input on it:

According to Perle, who left the Defense Policy Board in 2004, this unfolding catastrophe has a central cause: devastating dysfunction within the administration of President George W. Bush. Perle says, "The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly.… At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible.… I don't think he realized the extent of the opposition within his own administration, and the disloyalty."

"Huge mistakes were made, and I want to be very clear on this: They were not made by neoconservatives, who had almost no voice in what happened, and certainly almost no voice in what happened after the downfall of the regime in Baghdad. I'm getting damn tired of being described as an architect of the war. I was in favor of bringing down Saddam. Nobody said, 'Go design the campaign to do that.' I had no responsibility for that."

That's Richard Perle, who, in the wake of 9/11, called for an Iraqi invasion:

In a speech on November 14, 2001, as the Taliban were being routed in Afghanistan, Richard Perle, a Pentagon consultant with long-standing ties to Wolfowitz, Feith, and Chalabi, articulated what would become the Bush Administration’s most compelling argument for going to war with Iraq: the possibility that, with enough time, Saddam Hussein would be capable of attacking the United States with a nuclear weapon. Perle cited testimony from Dr. Khidhir Hamza, an Iraqi defector, who declared that Saddam Hussein, in response to the 1981 Israeli bombing of the Osiraq nuclear reactor, near Baghdad, had ordered future nuclear facilities to be dispersed at four hundred sites across the nation. “Every day,” Perle said, these sites “turn out a little bit of nuclear materials.” He told his audience, “Do we wait for Saddam and hope for the best, do we wait and hope he doesn’t do what we know he is capable of . . . or do we take some preemptive action?”

Then, after all this was leaked prior to tomorrow's election, Perle whines to the National Review on how they've been punk'd:

Vanity Fair has rushed to publish a few sound bites from a lengthy discussion with David Rose. Concerned that anything I might say could be used to influence the public debate on Iraq just prior to Tuesday’s election, I had been promised that my remarks would not be published before the election.

I should have known better than to trust the editors at Vanity Fair who lied to me and to others who spoke with Mr. Rose. Moreover, in condensing and characterizing my views for their own partisan political purposes, they have distorted my opinion about the situation in Iraq and what I believe to be in the best interest of our country.

It must have been easy for David Rose to dupe those neocons into revealing the truth before the time was "right". After all, they were also duped by the scumbag criminal (and potential Iranian spy) Ahmed Chalabi.

polyphonic ramblings 3

New month, new mix. It was a great month of live music. Here's a rundown of the stuff I've been listening to lately:

1. Umphrey's McGee - Eat: From moe.down 7, Umphrey's rocked the house. They were the highlight of the show for me. Here's their opening number, an ode to King Crimson.

2. Steve Kimock Band - Ice Cream: A peppy upbeat number from the master of tone. Off of his new studio album. His last touring band featured members from two other guys on this mix tape...

3. Robert Walter's 20th Congress - Cory's Snail and Slug Death: Robert Walter plays his hammond b3 with Steve Kimock. Here's a good piece of new orleans jazz.

4. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Slow Breath, Silent Mind: Reed Mathis, the bassist for this trio, also toured with Kimock. In JFJO, Reed can go from the classic foundation of a trio, or he kicks on his octave pedal and wails above the keyboardist. Here's a more traditional number.

5. U-Melt - Schizophrenia: OK, now buckle in for the next 30 minutes or so. The next two bands take their time and stretch tunes beyond 15 minutes. This groove from u-melt is one that stuck in my head at moe.down, and then when we saw them at higher ground last week.

6. Particle - Windjammer: A precursor to u-melt. The drumming is rock solid, laying down a beat to which a driving groove is established.

7. STS9 - GloGLI: A more techno-than-band group, live in Tokyo.

8. JFJO - ??: Here's the wilder side of Jacob Fred. Frippertronics, octave pedal bass, sweet.

9. toubab krewe - djarabi: jam band meets west africa. a pleasant surprise at moe.down

Video Time

Caution: Please put on protective equipment before viewing this campaign ad from Rebulican Vernon Robinson running against incumbent Democrat Mel Watt:





OK, now you can go to the decontamination station to your right.

I posted this for a reason, if you ask why: It's the straight dope from the right wing, unsullied by those who polish its language in the professional media (think of your "sensible conservatives" like those at the National Review and Weekly Standard). This is the root of what the right uses to exploit the fears of the poorer classes. This is what we fight against. Please folks, I hope you get to the polls. There is no higher calling right now than to change the tide of Congress. If the party in power approves this kind of ad, they to have their asses booted.



Link to info on all congressional and senatorial races

Link Dump

A lot of things are flying fast and furious in the news lately. From the revelations that Condi Rice had another pre-9/11 warning to Florida congremen having cybersex with underage boys while in session to yet another school shooting, it's all-out mayhem in our country right now. Some links I found today:

• Billmon (who was supposed to go on hiatus) has a flashback and news items are starting to develop trails.
• It's statistically proven that the NSA warrantless wiretapping program is useless for catching terrorists. This means that there has to be another reason for it, then, doesn't it?
• A handy list of the recent list of Republican/conservative "family values" violators.
• VT congressional candidate Martha Rainville (R) got caught plagarizing off of the web sites of Democrats.
• And finally, The Poor Man reveals the IM logs he had with above-mentioned cybersexer Mark Foley (R-FL). It's all taken out of context, really. Check out this innocent excerpt:

Editorz (7:46:11 PM): yes I have to go do some hand modeling
Editorz (7:46:18 PM): because I am trying to break into the hand modeklling game
Editorz (7:46:22 PM): but it’s hard
Editorz (7:46:27 PM): I have to go audition for the girls who give out the hand model jobs
Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend
Editorz (7:46:42 PM): Noo because I was bitten by a radioactive reindeer the other day
Editorz (7:46:55 PM): and so im turning into a deer
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you
Editorz (7:47:11 PM): yes its awkward
Editorz (7:47:11 PM): and my hands are starting to look like hoofs
Editorz (7:47:11 PM): and that’s a disadvantage in the hand modeling biz
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny
Editorz (7:47:23 PM): no antlers
Editorz (7:47:24 PM): people think antlers are the same as horns
Editorz (7:47:24 PM): but their totally different

Video Time

A Keith Olberman Special. The man appears to be reaching for the mantle of Edward R. Murrow. So far, he's not doing a bad job of it. Here's Keith flaying the conservatives on the Clinton interview/sneak attack:



And here's Keith's commentary on 9/11:



I look forward to hearing more from him.

Local Paper Covers Local Justice

Following up on my previous post on unqualified Village Justices issuing illegal decisions, the Saranac Lake based Adirondack Daily Enterprise has an example of a judge who doesn't know how the court system works:

After sentencing a Saranac Lake man to jail time over a traffic infraction, a prosecutor and public defender have accused a village justice of overstepping his authority in village court.

...

Herrmann reportedly said he’d start collecting maximum fines in cases such as these as way to defray costs for the village.

Bringing village finances as a consideration in criminal justice cases violates important principles, public defender Virginia Morrow said.

“He wanted to raise money for the village police department,” Morrow said in an interview. “But we have a separation of powers. We don’t have village justices raising money just as we don’t have village trustees writing tickets.”

Also, the judge decided that decorum isn't necessary for the courtroom, and had a temper tantrum:

Ken Pickreign, Amell’s grandfather, who appeared with him several times in village court, corroborated Delehanty and Morrow’s account of Herrmann losing his temper and yelling at attorneys.

“He was out of control by his screaming and hollering and throwing paperwork around and slamming it on the desk,” Pickreign said of Herrmann. “The judge was doing all of the hollering. The lawyers conducted themselves in an orderly way.”

My day-after take on the local justices has softened somewhat. You can't be justifiably angry at the ignorant. But coverage of all breaches of the judicial process should be reported. After all, you don't want a bunch of "activist judges" subverting the law of the land, right? Judges apply the law, they don't make it.

Unqualified Yokels Subvert Judicial Process

Flipping through the NY Times this morning, I saw upstate NY was not-well represented with its front page article "In Tiny Courts of New York, Abuses of Law and Power" (link on the post title). In what appears to be a long-researched report, the Times found some shocking breaches of what we define as common judicial proceedings. Courts closed to the public, courts without transcripts of proceedings, courts whose training is a true-false test easier than the one for being a manicurist. My girlfriend's hometown of Malone has a place in the (presumably unwanted) spotlight:

A woman in Malone, N.Y., was not amused. A mother of four, she went to court in that North Country village seeking an order of protection against her husband, who the police said had choked her, kicked her in the stomach and threatened to kill her. The justice, Donald R. Roberts, a former state trooper with a high school diploma, not only refused, according to state officials, but later told the court clerk, “Every woman needs a good pounding every now and then.”

You think racism is just for George "Macacca" Allen and the rest of the south? Think again:

A black soldier charged in a bar fight near Fort Drum became alarmed when his accuser described him in court as “that colored man.” But the village justice, Charles A. Pennington, a boat hauler and a high school graduate, denied his objections and later convicted him. “You know,” the justice said, “I could understand if he would have called you a Negro, or he had called you a nigger.”

It's not just about breaches of basic human rights (because at this point in our history, we're just about ready to legalize torture anyway, so who cares?) It's also about millions of dollars that aren't accounted for:

The courts also handle money — more than $200 million a year in fines and fees. But the state comptroller’s office, which once conducted scores of justice-court audits every year, now does only a handful. When it looked most recently, auditing a dozen courts in May, it reported serious financial-management problems and estimated that millions of dollars a year might be missing from the justice courts statewide.

Let's hope that this article starts a conversation about revising New York's judicial system.