The 2011 Okapi Sampler!

I didn't have a lot of friends when I was a kid.  I didn't live in a nice subdivision or a neighborhood like all the kids at school did, and there wasn't anyone under 50 who lived anywhere near me.  So, I had to find ways to keep myself out of the the constantly threatening boredom vortex.  I explored the woods behind our house, and mapped out my discoveries.   I collected animal safari cards and couldn't wait to be old enough to leave Pennsylvania for my destined life as a scientist-explorer deep in the Amazon. 

And, I obsessed about music.  Mostly Disco, Funk, and then, New Wave music.  I spent hours every Sunday morning listening to Casey Kasem count down the week's Top 40, and I would plot and graph and make predictions for next week.  I could spout off pop music trivia and chart positions the way just some boys can recite number of hits and home runs in a season  I did this for years, and the music nearly completely shielded me from my loneliness.  Well, I am 41 years old now, and I still find refuge and inspiration in music, and I'm still enough of a nerd to want to organize my favorites in to the annual Lair of the Okapi Sampler - my 10 favorites tracks of the year.    So, here it is...

Last year, I noted that the most notable music of the year seemed to address the tension between escapism and melancholy - well-suited to an era of conflicting feelings and opposing dreams.  In 2011, indie music delved even deeper into murky overlap of joy and hopelessness.  In a year of Tea Parties, Occupiers, and an Arab Spring, it just didn't feel right to have one feeling without the other.  But, what is remarkable this year, compared with last, is the way in which women's voices came to the forefront.  After over a decade of women nearly exclusively in the musical roles of novelty rappers, rock accessories, and artificially flavored pop tarts, it's so refreshing to see (and hear) women taking control of their perspectives, stories, and voices - and oh, what damned good voices there were this year.  

So, without further ado, here is the 2011 Okapi Sampler!  

 # 10  tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"

tUnE-yArDs is the musical creation of Merrill Garbus, a native New Englander with a truly global sense of rhythm.  "Bizness" seems, at first listen, an odd tune to receive the critical acclaim that it did in 2011.   East African beats, socially-conscious loops, and a roaring androgynous voice coming from a woman who isn't afraid to look anyone in the eye, don't normally add up to a warm welcome in the United States.  But, 2011 hasn't been a normal year, and the joyous rage and commitment to freedom in this track is just what the world needed - or maybe I've just been spending too much time in Ethiopian restaurants.  

 # 9  KING - "Hey"

You know how that first warm day feels after a long cold winter?   That sweet joy is KING - a trio of beautiful electro-soul queens from Los Angeles who've come to save us from ugly music.  "Hey" is smooth and sticky like honey - no artificial sweetness here.  These ladies have, somehow, figured out how to deliver the best elements of classic soul without that "retro" feeling that sometimes feels a little empty.  I'm not sure if this is the next step in neo-soul, or a new genre of future soul - but either way, I cannot wait to see where they take this soul train next.  

# 8 Canyons - "See Blind Through"

In the mid-80s, something magical happened in Chicago, and House Music was born and from this groove came the groove of all grooves.  This duo from Perth, Australia understands House Music - it's a spiritual thing, a soul thing, and "See Blind Through" is like a walk down House Lane.  There is a definite flirting with Hercules and Love Affair's 2007 hit, "Blind" that makes the past and future painfully clear, but with all of it's nods to 25 years of House landmarks, "See Blind Through" is still fresh enough to become a landmark of its own.  

# 7 James Blake - "The Wilhelm Scream"

James Blake bubbled up late last year from the British underground with the sound of the future.  He's hard to categorize - Post-Dubstep?  Glitch-Blues?  Experimental Broken-Beat?  Whatever it is, James Blake's music will be looked back upon by future music geeks as a turning point.  It will influence much of what is to come - in the way that Joy Division did in the late 70s.  "The Wilhelm Scream" sums it up nicely and wraps us in a murky haunting rainy-day dream that comforts in a way that no music has since Depeche Mode's masterpiece, "Violator" in 1990.  

# 6 Lykke Li - "I Follow Rivers"

Oh Lykke Li.   Thank you for reminding us all of who we were when the whole adventure was in front of us, when passion and the thrill of life defined every thought and action.   "I Follow Rivers" with its could-only-be-from-Sweden quirkiness finds the exact meeting point of The Cardigans and The Knife - then adds a quick pinch of Stevie Nicks.   It's the sort of song that's so full of life, it makes you want to get out there and change the world, or at least fall in love again.  And, I suspect a lot of folks have fallen in love with Lykke.  

# 5 Neon Indian - "Polish Girl"

There's been a lot of talk about Dubstep as the current musical rage, but I'm predicting hipster history will more remember 2011 as the year that Chillwave was accepted as the sub-genre of choice.  The new New Wave has been marinating for a few years now with Chromeo, Cut Copy, and Holy Ghost, and this year Neon Indian from Denton, Texas and Toro Y Moi from Columbia, South Carolina brought Chillwave out of their suburban bedrooms to the forefront of indie music.  With dreamy synths and bouncing melodies, it's the perfect escape from a mad, mad world.  And, who doesn't need a danceable escape once in a while?   

# 4 Goapele - "Play"

After so many years of watered-down, commercial-ready, soul-less R&B, I'd almost given up hope.  With Goapele, there is hope again.  Goapele Mohlabane, from Oakland, California, was blessed with a voice so rich and smooth and seductive - it just cuts straight to the core of the human experience.  Add to that, a slinky, writhing, arrangement, and it's impossible not to feel like she's taken you to a higher plane.  And that is what soul music is supposed to do.  

# 3 Toro Y Moi - "Still Sound"

"Still Sound" conjures Polaroid Insta-Matic memories of windows rolled down on country roads, basking in the sunshine and the crisp early autumn air.  It's music for a generation that needs to learn how to not be so serious all the time.  Toro Y Moi, aka Chaz Bundick, makes music that would work as the soundtrack to your earliest adult years - free and promising, without a care in the world - far away from the teenage angst that has ruled the music scene for so long.  But, to be clear, the Toro Y Moi sound isn't artificial fluff.  It's a smart and insightful road trip going who knows where for who cares how long.  

# 2 Lana Del Rey - "Video Games"

Lana Del Rey was born Elizabeth Grant in Lake Placid, New York, and in 2011, she became this century's Patsy Cline.   Her voice is just extraordinary, with a rare smokiness that makes hair stand up.  There's a mystery and an intimacy that's impossibly alluring - like a Tarantino movie about a rich girl gone astray.  "Video Games" is a timeless hopeless honky-tonk love story for the digital age.  

 # 1 Adele - "Rolling In The Deep"

Anyone who knows me, at all, would never expect a # 1 pop chart smash to be mentioned anywhere near my top ten of the year.   Well, sometimes, even I have to shelf the musical snobbery and accept that absolutely everyone loved the best song of the year.  There just can't be one person out there who didn't put their whole being into singing that chorus with Adele, in private, at a long stoplight.  She summons the ghosts of bluegrass, gospel, and soul, and belts that shit out  - it's startling and beautiful.   And the best song of the year, hands down.   

There was a lot of great music this year, and a lot of honorable mentions...

M83 - "Midnight City"

Florence and the Machine - "Shake It Out"

Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks"

Hercules and Love Affair - "My House"

Destroyer - "Kaputt"

Atlas Sound - "Te Amo"

Clams Casino - "I'm God"

Ursula 1000 - "Mondo Beyondo"

Burial - "Street Halo"

Occupying Wall Street: A Guide For The Rest Of Us

Cody ChesnuTT - "Where Is All The Money Going?"

On September 17th, the national conversation took a sharp left turn.  That morning, the Tea Party's obsession with dismantling the social safety net, busting labor unions, destroying environmental regulations, and giving even more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy had been the only media game in town for over two years.  Pundits and editors talked endlessly about the power of the Tea Party movement, and gave right-wingers 24 hours a day of exposure.  That morning, the rest of us, the vast majority of Americans, had no voice, no power, and many of us had lost all hope of promised change. 

But on September 17th, the rest of us, the 99%, found out we do, indeed, still have a voice.

Now, less than 7 weeks later, over 900 Occupy protests have taken place, spreading all over the world into a truly global movement.  Tensions and altercations with police and city leaders have intensified, the City of Oakland was shut down by a massive general strike, and the media can't get enough of it.  Television's political pundits and radio's talk show hosts are arguing non-stop about the pros and cons of massive income equality.  Suddenly, everyone knows that "too big to fail" multi-national corporations nearly always pay a lower income tax rate than the average middle class worker, and that many pay nothing to the system that supports them.  And the biggest banks abruptly backed away from their promise to institute monthly debit card fees, when the newly empowered American middle class and working class moved their money into small local banks and credit unions in droves.  America has become Occupied, and the Koch Brothers astroturfed Tea Party is over. 

A few "dumb hippies" camping in a park really did change the world.  And, now it's time for the rest of us to do our part.    At this point, most Americans now support the general sentiment of the Occupiers.  Most Americans are tired of unchecked corporate money and influence in our government.  Most Americans want a system that benefits those who play by the rules, not those who are above the rules.  But, the fact is, that most of us aren't able, or willing, to sleep in a park, or get tear-gassed, or get arrested for civil disobedience. 

The time has come for the rest of us to Occupy the system.  The time has come to be conscious of the power of our daily spending and financial habits, and speak out by altering the ways we speak with our money.  The Wall Street barons depend on Americans' continued acquiescence in the funneling of wealth out of our communities, and into their offshore bank accounts. They depend on us to continue to buy cheap foreign made products in big box corporate stores that kill local economies.  They depend on Black Friday shoppers, all year long.  We need to stop feeding their system, and start supporting our communities and our nation.  

Here are a few suggestions for how to Occupy the system, from the comfort of your own neighborhood...

1.  Move Your Money!  -  The "too big to fail" banks relied on the American public for their very survival in 2008 and accepted billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout.  Then, they turned around and gave jaw-dropping bonuses to the very executives who crashed the American economy, outsourced departments and laid off American workers by the thousands, and then began an aggressively arrogant campaign to nickel and dime their customers into 6.2 billion dollars in quarterly profits.  They thought we would recognize their power and just accept more fees.  Occupy the mega-banks by moving your money to a small local bank or credit union.   By moving your money from a Wall Street mega-bank to a local bank or credit union, you'll be making your voice heard in the only way that matters on Wall Street, and you'll be supporting a local institution that contributes more to your local economy. For a little guidance on moving your money, check out MoveYourMoneyProject.org. 

2.  Shop Independent and Local! -  Every time you make the choice to shop at a local "mom and pop" store, you are contributing to your local economy.  Studies have shown that for every $100 spent at an independent business, $68 stays in the local economy.  For every $100 spent at a local corporately-owned national chain store, only $43 stays.   Chain stores funnel money out of local economies and into usually far-away corporate headquarters.  Independent stores are owned and operated by your neighbors.  And, communities that support independent stores and restaurants enjoy a unique diversity of options, as opposed to generic big box warehouses of cheap stuff "made in China," and bland chain restaurants serving homogenous processed garbage. 

3.  Avoid Online Shopping! - There is no more direct way to funnel your dollars out of your community than "shopping" online.  You might save a dollar, or two, by shopping through an online retailer, and the convenience is definitely tempting, but you're sending your money to a "store" that doesn't hire local workers, doesn't pay local taxes, doesn't support local charities, and doesn't contribute in any way to the prosperity of your community.

4.  Buy American! - Right-wingers love to wave their (Made in China) American flags and call themselves "real" patriots, then get into their gas-guzzling SUVs and head directly to Wal-Mart to fill their shopping carts full of cheap junk made in sweatshops in China, Pakistan, and Myanmar.  Wall Street's multi-national corporations have no loyalty to the United States.  Their only loyalty is to their shareholders.  Be a real patriot and buy American-made products.  In doing so, you're supporting American jobs, American safety standards, American labor practices, and American environmental standards.  It can be difficult to find the American-made version of what you're looking for, but it's worth trying.  Here's a place to start...How Americans Can Buy American.

5.  Educate Yourself!  - There is an entire industry built on supplying a steady stream of misinformation to the American people.  It's hard to sift through all the inaccuracies and outright lies, but ultimately, it is your responsibility to educate yourself as to what is going on and how we got to where we are as a nation.  Do a little research and make sure you understand one of the main points of protest - the 2010 Supreme Court decision on Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, and definitely know the big money players behind the corruption of our system...The Koch Brothers and ALEC (SourceWatch.org, Factcheck.org and Politifact.com are great resources for checking the facts).

The time has come.  

Thank You.

The 2010 Okapi Sampler

Hello?  Is this thing still on?

After over five years of constructing this online scrapbook, back in March, I got a bit sidetracked.  Nothing bad.  Thankfully, quite the opposite.  I just got really busy with new projects and a new life here in Atlanta.  At the same time, American culture and politics have kept spiraling to new vulgar lows, and I've made a purposeful effort to back away from it all.  I don't want to know how violently ignorant the masses are anymore.  Not to say that I don't still check in with Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart, but I have detached myself from a lot of it.  

So, that said, I think a the 2010 Okapi Sampler is a good way to check-in here at the Lair, if only for a quick hello.  

Back in 2007, I imagined that "in a few years, we'll look back on 2007 as a resurrection of forward-thinking and sophisticated, but fun, music."  Now, three years later, and heading into 2011, I stand by my prediction - with a little more context.  2010 was another good year for the underground that 2007 launched.  Some of the most important tracks of this year, were created by artists who've been bubbling under for a few years now, but there's a notable feeling of tension between escapism and melancholy in most of the tracks that I've picked as the best of the year.  This is an era of conflicting feelings and opposing dreams, and I think a lot of the best songs of the year address the times well.

So, here are the top tracks of 2010*

1.  Helicopter - Deerhunter - This Atlanta band has received a lot of indie buzz, and deservedly so.  While most young people are content with lyrics that never venture beyond the level of a foul-mounted sixth-grader, Deerhunter are constructing songs like this one that tear the thinking heart apart in their tragic gorgeousness.  Helicopter is, from the liner notes, inspired by the true story of a Russian boy, Dima, who left his home at age 14 with a dream to become a fashion designer - only to end up being sexually expolited, raped, sold, and eventually he disappeared (by one account, thrown out of a helicopter over the remote northern Russian forests). Not an easy tale to hear, but an important work of art nonetheless.

2.  Tightrope - Janelle Monae (featuring Big Boi) - The ATL has a lot going on musically - just look at Deerhunter and Janelle Monae.  What could they possibly have in common, besides a common hometown?  Authenticity.  Janelle Monae might be written off as a female James Brown impersonator - but you from the minute this track takes off that there is a rare sincerity in her voice, in her energy, and in her vision.  I can't take my eyes off of her, and play after play, I still cannot get enough of the raw funk of this jam.

3.  Everything is New - Antony and the Johnsons - Antony Hegarty can do nothing less than magical.  His voice, his arrangements - everything about his work gives the listener a deeper understanding of hope and pain and love.  And, often in twenty words or less.

4.  Stick to My Side - Pantha du Prince (featuring Panda) - House music has been a central inspiration in my life for more than twenty years now, so it's not lightly that I declare Pantha du Prince is my favorite house producer of recent years.  No one has done a better job of stepping into, gathering, and sharing that space in the human condition where longing and joy and solitude and hope all co-exist.  Vocals by Panda, from Animal Collective, just make this journey even more beautiful.

5.  Ready to Start - Arcade Fire - Normally, I steer away from rock critic darlings.  I hated The Strokes and Vampire Weekend, and I don't get the ultra-fascination with Radiohead. But, Arcade Fire is just really fucking good.  There's a sincere understanding of John Hughes' '80s, without a hint of artificial "retro-ness."  These verses and lyrics will be held on to for dear life by this generation of outsiders, for many years to come.

6.  Any Which Way - Scissor Sisters - With the constant media attention on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the same-sex marriage "controversy," and Log Cabin Republicans - the Scissor Sisters reminded us that the gays can still be, well, fun.  I had the opportunity to catch them in concert in August, and man, what a show!  Sure, this track is like a big musical rainbow flag, but sometimes it's good to embrace your inner rainbow.

7.  Limit to Your Love - James Blake - The power of the Blues has always resided in minimalistic brilliance.  This track is Blues for a new era, with each aching  minimal note placed precisely to create maximum impact.  With hints of Matthew Dear, late '90s Moby, and possibly even Burial, I can't wait to hear more from this 22 year old.

8.  Since We Last Met - NDF - There's something about this track that takes me back to the basics of late '80s Adonis house.  It's not particularly ground-breaking, but there's a realness that's irresistible.  And, of course, I give it a 10 for danceability.

 

9.  Little People - Matthew Dear - Back in 2007, Matthew Dear was one of the artists that got me excited about music again.  This year, his Black City album kept it going.  It's a little less accessible than some of Matthew's earlier works, but that just means it takes a little more exploration through his slightly twisted musical mind.

10. One Life Stand - Hot Chip - A little '80s, a pinch of rave, and a healthy serving of right now, Hot Chip keeps producing catchy synth-pop anthems, and I just keep falling in love with each and every one of them.  This title track, and much of their most recent album, seems a little more mature than previous forays, and I'm starting to get the feeling that they may be around for a little while.

There you have it - my completely biased, totally subjective, top 10 of the year.  Other honorable mentions include "Heartbeat" by Nneka, "Say My Name" by Holy Ghost!, "Reckless" by Azari & Ill, "The Light" by Forest Swords, "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonce, "Night Air" by Jamie Woon, and "Coma Cat" by Tensnake. 

All That's Old Is New Again

We're almost to the political finish line.  It looks like we will, after a hundred years of debate, finally, take a step towards real health care reform.  It's been a spectacularly ugly journey over the past year, but we're almost there.  Now, of course, it's not the reform that I was hoping for...but it's a step in the right direction. 

And, because we are so close, the far-right has become so desperate that they're now completely incapable of hiding the true heart and soul of their "movement."  Yesterday, while Democrats were scambling for votes to ensure that Americans have more access to affordable health care, the Tea Baggers gathered by the tens outside the Capitol to show their fury.  They spent the early part of the day chanting "Kill the Bill" and "Stop the Spending!"  But, as the day wore on, the hate in their hearts became impossible to hide. 

They carried signs with slogans reading "Vote No, I Don't Want to be a Government Slave," and signs with two black hands, that conveyed "Keep Your Black Hands Off My Health Care!"  As Rep. Andre Carson and Rep. John Lewis, two African-American Congressmen, walked past the crowd and into the Capitol, the crowd's chant turned to "Nigger! Nigger! Nigger!"  A protestor actually spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (who is also African-American) as he walked towards the Capitol building.  Yes, all that's old is new again. 

At one point, the crowd stormed the Longworth office building, looking for targets to unleash their righteous anger.  At one point, Rep. Barney Frank, who is openly gay, rounded the corner and was met by a protestor who yelled, "Barney, you faggot!"   The crowd laughed boisterously. All that's old is new again.   

At an anti-reform protest just a few days earlier, "patriotic" Tea Baggers showed their undying love for America by verbally abusing an old man with Parkinson's.  It's hard to watch, like footage of the early Civil Rights movement was hard to watch for fair-minded, good-hearted people.  But, unfortunately, all that's old is new again. 

Global Peace Index

The Institute for Economics and Peace has released the 2009 Global Peach Index, which ranks nations in terms of peace and national harmony based on internal and external conflict and the presence of, or lack of, structures and institutions that help create and maintain peace.  According to the 2009 overview...

"The index is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from respected sources, which combine internal and external factors ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the level of respect for human rights. These indicators were selected by an international panel of experts including academics and leaders of peace institutions."  

If only we, the people, cared about winning this competition as badly as we care about "our team" winning the Super Bowl each year.

Score One For The Planet

The Hummer was created under contract for the U.S. Military, as vehicle of war.  During the 90s, the Hummer became available for the gas-guzzling, atmosphere wrecking, road-hogging pleasure of all overpaid, undereducated, insecure, civilian dumbfucks across the nation. The combined effect of displaying one's socio-economic status while simultaneously displaying a complete disregard for the environment made the Hummer a hot seller - until a disproportionately large number of Hummer owners lost all of their money in the real estate collapse. 

Today, it was announced that the Hummer brand has finally gone out of business.  Score one for the planet.  And score one for people who aren't jerks.  

Welcome to Hotlanta, Y'all!

This was definitely not in the brochure...but no complaints.  It was a stunningly beautiful morning. 

 

 
 

How's That Worked Out For You?

For those that haven't heard it before, this is what a Progressive Democrat sounds like....

Congressman Alan Grayson, from Florida's 8th District in Orlando, is one of the very few in Washington who actually has the guts to say what so many of us are thinking.  He's in a tight race for his seat in November, and can use our support.  Please consider volunteering, or contributing to his campaign at Alan Grayson for Congress. 

Compassionate Conservatism in Action

The images of the massive devastation and loss of life from the earthquake in Haiti are simply heartbreaking. I cannot imagine the fear and trauma and sadness that is flowing through the streets between the rubble. How will the people of Haiti recover from this?

I lived in Miami for 16 years. I worked with many Haitian people, and lived not far from the neighborhood of Little Haiti. From my Haitian friends, I had the privilege of learning a little about Haitian culture - its stories and traditions. I learned to speak and understand very basic Haitian Kreyol, and I came to understand how so many Haitians center their lives around their faith in God.  My Tony took part in a hunger strike to bring attention to the detention of Haitian refugees.

Many Haitians hold very tightly to their faith in God, through the Catholic Church and traditional Vodou practices which survived the Middle Passage from Africa. Because I know how religious so many Haitians are, one of the deepest parts of the sadness that I feel is knowing that so many of them must think that God hates them. Year after year, the tiny nation is ravaged by hurricanes and tropical storms. Haiti, once one of the richest countries in the world, was stripped of its valuable resources by the colonial powers, and then stripped of its trees by desperate poverty. And now, one of the most powerful earthquakes of the past century hit 10 miles from the capitol. For people of faith, it really must feel that they have been forsaken by their Creator.

And now, before they've even had time to start digging through the rubble...these poorest of the poor...are being attacked by some of America's most vile right wing leaders.  The 700 Club's CEO and main profiteering prophet, Pat Robertson, had the fucking nerve to actually blame the Haitian people for the tragedy of this natural disaster.

Good ole' boy Pat said, on air, that the earthquake might actually be a "blessing in disguise."  He then went on to blame the earthquake on a "pact with the Devil" that he says was made by the slave rebels who fought Napoleon and won freedom for the islands slave inhabitants.  

Not long after the Christian Broadcasting Network aired Pat's digusting comments, Rush Limbugh was on the airwaves using this "opportunity" to attack President Obama for pledging immediate action and aid from the United States.  In the minds of Rush and his followers, we've already given too much money to those people.

So, while the poorest people on the planet dig through collapsed buildings in search of their babies, and wander the streets dazed by trauma and looking for water, these obscenely rich, arrogant, soulless motherfucking merchants of the ignorance of the American right wing sit on their pampered asses surrounded by wealth and privilege and luxury - and they still can't help but to take shots at the world's most vulnerable people and those who want to help them. This is the new American right wing.  Fucking worthless creatures.

Please donate to the Red Cross, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, or UNICEF.

And, please call or write to your cable company and ask them to drop the Christian Broadcasting Network which is just a front for Pat Robertson's hateful corporate empire (just so you know, Comcast is apparently giving a "small courtesy credit" on the bills of people who have written in to complain).

 

Atlanta Chronicled

I haven't had much time to hang around the Lair lately, as I've been busy exploring and photographing my new city over at Atlanta Chronicled.  Go ahead...take a look.  You know you want to.

Welcome 2010!

2010. It just looks futuristic. Just a few years ago (or what seems just a few years ago, but was actually 15 years ago), 2010 seemed so far away. And, now here we are - really entering the future.

For me, personally, this was an amazing decade of growth and love and accomplishment. I came awfully close to becoming the person I always wanted to be, and that's a great feeling.

Ten years ago today, I was loving my life in South Beach, working at the Front Porch Cafe on Ocean Drive, and just hanging out a lot with Jason and Laura, and Shawn, Murphy, Phoenix and Jody.  Stimpy had just found his way back to South Beach, Olga and Brandie were new friends, and I hadn't yet met a lot of people who have become such central characters in my story - Rodrigo, Pablo, Brian, Andrea - and, of course, Tony.  A decade ago, I had not yet met my biological mother, and my adoptive father had just died.  I had, still fairly recently, gotten my life on track after a few lost and dark years of meth addiction, and was opening my life up to the possibilities of the Universe at Miami-Dade Community College.  I had no idea that I was capable of finishing a few years later with a Master's Degree thesis, and I had no idea I had the strength to become who I wanted to be.  

Now, at the end of the decade, I'm in the fifth year of sharing my journey with Tony, my  beautiful and silly and smarter-than-average Prince Charming.  We're living in Atlanta, I'm enjoying my work as an account manager, and hanging out a lot with Stimpy and Jody, Jamie and Ashley, Ryan, Alicia and Stacey.  We just bought an awesome, Brady Bunch-esque house with a forest for a back yard, and we're adjusting to life in the inner 'burbs.  I'm now closer to my adoptive family than I ever thought possible, and I've been able to sustain a lot of decades-old friendships.  The 00s were unbelievably good to me.

Of course, historically speaking, we all know that this decade will go down as one of the worst in the history of this nation. Starting with the election meltdown in Florida, through September 11th, Afghanistan, Anthrax, Iraq, Guantanamo, Donald Rumsfeld, Britney's meltdown, Abu Ghraib, the rise of "reality" tv, Fox News, the 2004 Tsunami, melting polar ice caps, mass extinctions, Hurricane Katrina, the real estate bubble, the real estate collapse, Twittering, Bernie Madoff, auto-tuning, the Great Recession, and Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and their Teabaggers - it's been a decade of war, disaster, fear, anger, ignorance, hate and bad, bad pop music.

But, I am hopeful that 2010 will be the start of a much better era.  There have been a lot of seeds planted this year that just might bloom in the new decade.  I definitely want to avoid stepping into the shoes of those Hollywood "psychic" New Year's Eve prognosticators - so I won't make any "2010 predictions."  But, I do think that much of the fear, anger, and ignorance crowd has eaten itself, and despite some missteps and massive criticism from every corner of the political spectrum, President Obama has moved our nation more than a few big steps in the right direction. 

And, possibly more importantly, Lady Gaga has single-handedly revived the idea of a creative, interesting, thoughtful, cutting edge pop star.  And, that definitely bodes well for the future that's now here.




The Reason For The Season

'Tis the season for re-posting my annual updated anti-Black Friday post.....

Malls across the country began decking the halls 2 months ago, and had Santa's train installed just as the last back to school sales were ending. I know it's cliche at this point to feel nostalgic for the days when the holy season of giving gently revealed itself shortly after Thanksgiving. Today, a 5am scuffle in the line outside of Best Buy on Black Friday merely marks the halfway point in the season of stress and artifice.

Again, this year, I'm committing to honoring the reason for the season - the winter solstice - and celebrating this beautiful time of year by spending quality time with the people that I love, and sharing meaningful socially-conscious gifts instead of spending time fighting the crowds, so I can check people off my list with cheap plastic crap from Walmart and iPod iPhone accessories.

Of course, this year, there will most likely be less in the way of shopping hordes, thanks to the collapse of the trickle-down economy, and that only means that every dollar you spend will have more power to bring about a better world. This season, each holiday gift that you purchase, will have an impact. Amidst all of the news of frozen credit and layoffs and golden parachutes, is the opportunity to help build our communities, bring about more peace, and protect the world around us, just by putting a little thought and a little heart into where we place our dollar power. 

So, for the like minded, here are a few ideas...

ENVIRONMENT

World Wildlife Fund
Greenpeace
Abundant Earth
Care2: Shop and Help the Planet
Defenders of Wildlife
The Sierra Club
The Nature Conservancy
E-House Eco-Friendly Gifts
The Jane Goodall Institute Store
Zappos Eco-Friendly and Vegetarian Shoes
Equita Essentials for Ethical Living

GAY COMMUNITY AND CULTURE
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The Human Rights Campaign Fund - Designer Tees
Soulforce
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Have a Peaceful, Stress-Free and Meaningful Holiday!

The Left Side Of History

 
Every day, all day long, the media presents us with "political discussions", where one discusser defends the liberal point of view and one pushes the conservative perspective.  As pundit show ratings soar, and newspapers close up shop, the conservative versus liberal political cage matches are aired 24 hours a day, and applied to absolutely every topic imaginable.  As long as we have a conservative and a liberal fighting about something - we have a show.  And, of course, to fit the profitable format - every topic, no matter what,  must have both points of view.  In a discussion of Newton's Theory of Gravity, we would near certainly be presented with a liberal "in favor" of gravity - and a traditional conservative arguing against the controversial theory citing research by Focus on the Family that debunks everything Sir Newton ever said. 

And this liberal versus conservative "political discussion" format will always benefit the conservatives.  Of couse, there are a few success stories on the liberal side of this dangerous political battle - Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and to a degree, Chris Matthews. 

But, the underlying problem is the most basic nature of liberal and conservative minds.  The very basis of liberalism is academic discussion and investigating different points of view.  Liberals, by their very nature, want to hear and accommodate others' points of view.  Conservatives, on the other hand, have no interest in hearing any point of view that differs from tradition.  This leaves liberals holding the political discussion bag.  While liberals seek to understand, conservatives seek to control.  Liberals agree to have the discussion about whether the gravity is real, or not, because it's only fair to listen to others' point of views. And the liberal guest will point out centuries of scientific research that has supported Newton's ideas, and the conservative will argue that Newton was against God, and that if we teach the Laws of Physics in schools, it will make the children homosexual socialist abortionists.  And, both viewpoints will be treated as equally valid by the show's host**, and too many Americans will go to sleep that night thinking that these are just two reasonable, competing points of view. 

I bring this up after a discussion with my friend, Jason.  We were talking about health care and how absurd it is that conservatives have been able to control the debate so well.  How is it that this summer's town hall meetings were filled with people fired up against government run healthcare - while demanding that Obama and his liberal army not touch Medicare?  And, how did this America-hating, secessionist, secessionist, anti-government movement come to be and where was it when Bush was running up the biggest deficit in history on two wars and tax cuts for the richest one percent?  And, how did conservatives succeed in making liberal, and progressive, bad words - especially given the heritage of conservatism in this country?

Without writing a dissertation, I just want to look at the histories of the two main schools of American political thought.  It's probably necessary to start with some definitions...

1.  Conservative - tending, or disposed, to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions; to limit change; cautious, moderate, tending to preserve the status quo. 

2.  Liberal - favorable to progress or reform; open-minded or tolerant; free of, or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas or values; progressive, broad-minded, tolerant.

It's ironic that the self-proclaimed conservatives of Glenn Beck's teabagger movement so heavily lean on symbols of the American Revolution, when so many of the ideas of the founding fathers were so radically liberal.  The American Revolutionaries weren't tradition-loving Christianists.  They were freedom-seeking secularists.  They fought and died for radically forward-thinking ideas - ideas that laid the framework for future generations to work towards a society that recognized the equality of each of its citizens.  

Of course, it's difficult to neatly fit any of the founders into today's well-defined political camps, but make no mistake - if Thomas Paine, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were alive today, they certainly wouldn't tune in to the corporate loyalists on Fox News, and they'd want nothing to do with Glenn Beck or Michael Savage.   

The great American revolutionaries were products of the Enlightenment, and they wrote down their radically enlightened, radically liberal ideas as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.  And, not once does either of these brilliantly conceived documents mention a nation based on Judeo-Christian principles, no matter how many times Pat Robertson and Bill O'Reilly say otherwise. 

Real homegrown American conservatism found its first home in the White House during Andrew Jackson's years as President.  Andrew Jackson dismantled the federal banking system, which caused an economic collapse known as the Panic of 1837.  He stood strongly for keeping Africans enslaved and terrorized, and he was well-known for his attempts to exterminate each and every Native American from the continent.  "Old Hickory," as he was known, is now honored for his genocidal forays, by having his image engraved on the $20 bill, and I'm sure Ann Coulter has a painting of him somewhere in her lair.     

From the early days of the Union through the Civil War and through the  20th Century, conservatives fought to keep Africans enslaved, committed genocide on American's native inhabitants, fought against women's suffrage, stood strong against the New Deal policies, blacklisted movie actors "suspected" of Communism, fought to keep African-Americans separate and unequal, were disgusted by flower children, squandered nearly 60,000 young American lives in Viet Nam, made the Watergate Hotel infamous, sold weapons to terrorists in Central America, implemented "trickle-down" economics, and spent millions of our dollars in an creepily obsessive attempt to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about a blow-job.  

American Conservatism owes its history to the work of Andrew Jackson, generations of slave owners and Confederates, the Ku Klux Klan, Father Coughlin, Joe McCarthy,  George C. Wallace and Bull Connor, Richard Nixon, Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Jesse Helms and David Duke.  It is a history of violence, domination, oppression and genocide. 

And, while conservatives were building their hateful history, liberals were gathering as abolitionists and unionists and suffragists, constructing the Underground Railroad and putting Americans to work through the New Deal policies.  Liberals rebelled against the unnecessary Viet Nam War, crafted the Social Security and Medicare systems, and stood strong against police fire hoses and dogs in Alabama.   And, without liberals there would be no consumer protections, labor rights or civil rights.  Liberals are still educating against racism, homophobia, sexism, and xenophobia, and fighting to save our planet from the short-sightedness of conservatism.

Today, the conservative movement is completely centered around making sure that faggots and lezzies can't marry each other, and shooting dirty Mexicans in the desert.  The conservative movement has always been about keeping very distinct social classes and using violence and intimidation as regulation, and the conservative voices of today - Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter and their ilk - are well-versed in using fear of the other to rally their tea-bagging troops.  

So, just how is it, that conservatives have managed to nearly succeed in making "liberal" a bad word in American politics?  I cannot for a minute understand why any thinking and loving person would want to associate themselves with the historic agenda of conservatism.  

On good days, I think it's just a matter of lack of education, media manipulation and fear-mongering.  On other days, my heart breaks wondering if it's just that nearly half of us are just hateful, racist, homophobic, unkind bullies.  

Acid House Flashback # 14

"Oochy Koochy" - Baby Ford - 1988

One Nation, Under-Educated....

Matters Of Probability

I'm not one who believes that there is an old man looking down on us from the sky and judging our every thought and action. I don't believe in magical trinkets, sacred sites, or holy scriptures. I'm definitely not one to pay for a palm reading or a tarot session.

I do believe in scientific method, observation and hypothesis, and rigorous testing. I believe that altruism and biophilia are wonderful evolutionary gifts that should be revered more than holy wars and televangelism, and I believe that it's possible that life is, somehow, the Universe trying to understand itself.

Now, having said that, I am also really intrigued by the idea of coincidence. I know that most "coincidences" are just matters of probability, but I do seem to have an unusually high incidence of these matters of probability. Possibly lots of us have unusually high incidences of coincidence, which, of course, would make coincidence not unusual at all. Still with me?

Carl Jung, one of the most brilliant thinkers of the early twentieth century, explored ideas of "collective unconscious" and "synchronicity." He posited that coincidences that are not causal in nature, are actually a sort of manifestation of an underlying framework of collective unconscious human experience and thought. I wonder a lot about this.

Let me just share a few odd, but true, stories of coincidence in my fairly recent experience...

* I've shared my personal adoption story here at the Lair. But there are a few really strange details that I haven't shared. Back in 2000, when I decided that I really wanted to know something about my biological parents, I began my search by using a name search website. I knew my biological parents' names, and I decided that it would be easier to find my father, because my mother's last name might well have changed due to marriage. I input my father's name, and the website generated 14 possible matches all with different addresses. I composed a letter, and sent a letter to each of the 14 addresses. A few days later, I received a call from a woman who told me that she had received my letter, because her father had the same name. She assured me that her father was not the man that I was looking for, but that, coincidentally, she was employed by the Children's and Family Services office in Pittsburgh, and that her job was to help adoptees find their birth parents. And she proceeded to help me find my biological father, who has the same name as hers. Let me just point out that the last name is Kress...not exactly Smith or Jones.

* To add to that coincidence...that wonderful lady lives and works in Pittsburgh, which is the city that I grew up in - though I was living in Miami Beach at the time. My biological father lives in Washington State.

* But the adoption story coincidences don't stop there. When my biological father was contacted, and informed that I wanted to speak with him, he refused to have any contact with me. I wrote to him, and never received a response. So, the agency then assigned someone to find my biological mother. A few months later, I received a call from the agency in Pittsburgh, letting me know that they had found her, and that she wanted to talk to me. We spoke, and I found out that she lived in St. Pete Beach, less than 5 hours from me in Miami Beach. And, she went on to tell me how she actually grew up in Miami Beach, in a house about a mile from where I was living. When I finally met her, she showed me pictures of me when I was 2 years old in Miami Beach...and I thought that I had never been to Miami Beach before I moved there when I was 23. It seems that she and my father were married, and living in Pittsburgh, when I was born. They took several extended trips, with me, to visit her parents in Miami Beach. When I was 2 years old, they got divorced and she moved back home, to Miami Beach, and left me with my father. He took me to a babysitter, and just never came back. So, I grew up in Pittsburgh, with an adoptive family - but I ended up moving to her hometown and was living there when I met her.

* Last September, Tony and I had a fantastic time on a trip to Italy. We started off the journey with a few wonderful days in Rome. On our third day, I stopped at a very small internet shop on a small side street near our hotel, to check e-mails. There was just one other person in the shop, and I couldn't help but to notice how much he looked like a guy that I knew back in Miami. As he gathered his things, and walked towards the door, I couldn't help but to ask if he was possibly from Miami...and of course, he was. We talked for a bit, and wondered together what the chances were of running into someone that you know in another country, thousands of miles away, in a tiny internet shop, at 8 in the morning. Coincidentally, we ran into him again the next day int he train station.

* So, back to Pittsburgh for the background of this story. I actually grew up in the south suburbs of Pittsburgh. Our high school had about 1,000 students, and my grade had less than 250. Not very big. In 1992, I moved to San Francisco. In 1994, I moved to Miami, and just this past April, I moved to Atlanta. Shortly after moving here, Tony and I started going to the Unitarian-Universalist Church, just to check it out, and possibly meet some like-minded folks. On our third visits, at the end of the service, I noticed a woman in a red shirt walking ahead. I turned to Tony, and said, "See that woman in the red shirt? I think I went to high school with her!" Of course, he looked at me like I was insane, but I darted off to get a closer look. I walked up beside her, and asked if her name was Laurel. Now, of couse, you know it was, and we fumbled around for the right words to say to address the weirdness of the situation. I think it needs to be pointed out that the Unitarian-Universalist Church here in Atlanta is not an 8,000 member mega-church. It's a small congregation, and there couldn't have been much more than 100 people there. It's also probably interesting to point out that she and her family live about 30 minutes north of the church, and Tony and I live about 20 minutes southeast. It's probably also interesting to point out that Laurel's husband is from Albany, New York and went to school in Syracuse....and Tony is from Syracuse, and went to school in Albany. AND...two weeks later, Tony and I ran in to Laurel at Piedmont Park. Did I mention that there are over five and a half MILLION people in the Atlanta Metro Region?

I won't bore with more stories, but I do have these types of "coincidence" more often than seems possible. Of course, it could be that I just don't understand the probability of the simultaneous occurances, and I feel some need to place a deeper meaning on, what are essentially, non-meaningful events.

Tell me...do you have similar stories of coincidence? How do you see synchroncities?