Sunday Funnies & Arts

As always, click to enlarge...




















NEWS OF THE WEAK

"Our message to the federal government is lead or get out of the way." Thus spaketh Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, whose lack of foresight and preparedness was exposed last week by the New York Times. If the federal government withdrew the Coast Guard and the dozen agencies working on the spill, Jindal would shit his britches, and I don't mean figuratively. The stench emanating from the Lousiana governor's office would permeate the walls of Fort Knox with the pungency of a thousand rotting nutrias. Jindal would crawl to Washington on his hands and knees to beg Barack Obama for help and publicly declare that any way the president wanted to handle the BP/Halliburton Catastrophe was fine by Bobby Jindal. Just to make sure that the message had gotten through, Jindal would call an international press conference to beg for cap-and-trade legislation, then go to New Orleans and kiss Al Gore's butt on Canal Street at high noon and swear on the Holy Bible that it smelled like roses. Talk is really, really cheap...

Although the headline allegation of "BP, feds too cozy for some in assessing damage," the actual story tells a different tale and shows yet again that, when it comes to the BP/H Catastrophe, there are a lot hard questions with no easy answers. It turns out that the administration's approach aligns with the the Oil Pollution Action of 1990, which requires that the government and the oil company involved work in tandem to evaluate damage. And it further turns out that there are good reasons for that. Which isn't to say that the concern isn't real or that Congress shouldn't monitor the process. (After eight years of Bush-Cheney, the country needs the legislative branch to reassert its independence.) But cozy? The headline misleads to the point of dissembling. And that's all that many people will read...

Charles Krauthammer, the Likud's Minister of Truth, writes that...oh, never mind...

THE WILD WORLD OF SPORTS
The Washington Nationals have signed 78-year old Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez to a minor league contract. "We're really happy for him to come back and pitch again," said brother and possible teammate 68-year old Livan Hernandez. The younger Hernandez claimed that his brother is throwing in the low-to-mid 90s, then revealed that Fidel Castro has been a CIA mole for more than fifty years...

What Could Be More American? Dept: Always on the lookout for a quick buck, Major League Baseball observed America's birthday by outfitting several teams in moronic tricolor beanies, complete with star-spangled logos, available to patriotic fans for $36.99. Ever generous, MLB is contributing a whopping dollar of each sale a veteran's organization. I'm happy to say that the Red Sox did not sully Fenway Park with this homage to avarice...

The New York Daily News reports that the Knicks expect to acquire three-time All Star PG Tony Parker (aka Eva Longoria's husband) for what amounts to a week's takeout from Mott Street and a beer at McSorley's. I've been wondering what fantasy hoops is all about, and now I know...

PHOTO ALBUM
There is a cure for the summertime blues after all...

Drivin' down the road I get a feelin' that I should have been home yesterday...

Mandina's...

Old Glory overwhelmed...

I [heart] Vermont...

Jack Johnson and the girl with the man behind the gun...

Kraaaaaakk!...

The urban art of Sandrine Estrade Boulet...

FOR YOUR BURNING DESIRE
Indigo Girls, Staring Down the Brilliant Dream: Proficiency and precision elevate -- rather than lessen -- the passion and emotional thrust of these 31 live tracks from the Indigos 2009 tour. A fan's album if there ever was one, the singalong choruses add a warm feeling of community no matter what your gender or sexuality. And in soulrock singer Trina Meade, "Kid Fears" finally has worthy substitute for Michael Stipe...Steve Poltz, Dreamhouse: The kinder, gentler side of the veteran singer-songwriter emerges on this beguiling album compromised (mostly) of ballads and a winsome cover of "The Way We Were." Poltz fans will clamor for "I Love What You've Done With This Place" (video below) from now until the day he dies. It wouldn't make for a bad epitaph at that...Happy Talk Band, Starve a Fever: A rueful, dry morning-after of an album summons its inner Lou Reed with blues, country, and indie stylings that conjure the night before. HTB pleads for a jerk to see himself for what he is and leave the woman the singer loves; wryly recognizes that the guy who mugged you on the way home is only human himself, with bills to pay and a family support; reminds a barfly to take care of herself via a rowdy Irish singalong; and tells the tale of an insomniac anesthesiologist who mercifully falls asleep at a bar. Fun, observant, and shot on location in NOLA...

NOLA musicians speak out in the best way they know how (thanks, Foxessa)...

Second line with the To Be Continued Brass Band...

FROM THE DESK OF CITIZEN K.
As some of you know, I start graduate school this fall at the ripe young age of 55. Last week, I received a long list of summer readings and on-line tutorials for completion before class begins in September. These must be my first priority, so I won't be able to blog as often as I have been. The Sunday Funnies and Arts won't go away, and I hope to write 1-2 entries a week. And, you'll no doubt be relieved to hear, I'll still leave profound observations on your blogs while exploring the wonderful worlds of statistics and hospital finance...



Happy Fourth of July!

Xalam

Recapturing The Banjo, Otis Taylor
Once upon a time, African slaves brought the xalam, a lute-like instrument, with them to the West Indies. From there, this instrument made its way to America sometime in the 17th Century and evolved into the banjo. Black Americans dominated banjo picking until minstrel shows appropriated it after the Civil War. By the turn of the century, the advent of blues and jazz triggered the migration of black musicians to the guitar and piano and away from the instrument that was increasingly seen as an avatar of racism. Now, bluesman Otis Taylor – who plays what he calls “trance blues” has gathered several colleagues to, in the words of the CD title, recapture the banjo. And recapture it they do with a set of traditional folk blues (plus a standout rendition of “Hey Joe”) and original compositions with titles such as “Ten Million Slaves” and “A Prophet’s Mission.” Luckily, Recapturing is no one’s thesis project. Instead, it has an intimate, front porch feel typified by a hospitable reading of Gus Cannon’s “Walk Right In” and the conversational “Bow-Legged Charlie.” Keb Mo's "The Way It Goes" closes the CD with a plaintive, fatalistic farewell. One of the top releases of 2008.


Warpaint, The Black Crowes
Hernando, The North Mississippi All Stars
Is Warpaint the album you’ve been waiting 30 years for the Rolling Stones to make? Slide guitarist Luther Dickinson gives Chris and Rich Robinson their Keith Richards, and they make the most of him: For the most part, Dickinson lays in wait behind Chris Robinson’s vocals, augmenting them while occasionally stepping forth with a blistering lead. Along the way, the Robinsons cherry-pick from the Stones with the same élan with which the Stones plundered the blues. A great mix of rockers, blues, ballads, and even a country weeper…Meanwhile, Dickinson’s own band, The North Mississippi All Stars, continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Foregoing the gaggle of guests that usually stud their albums, this time the All Stars stand on their own six feet. The result is a formidable extension of power trio rock in the tradition of Cream and ZZ Top. While Dickinson may not have the chops (yet, anyway) of fellow Southerners Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, he knows how to integrate his slide guitar into the band’s sound, playing with intent and style.


Traveling, Steve Poltz
A Canadian Catholic grows up in San Diego and lives to tell the story. Poltz laces his idiosyncratic world view with good humor, wistful tunes, and a wide range of commentary that encompasses everything from the war in Iraq to saving the seventh game of the World Series for the San Diego Padres. After opening the CD with a (somewhat) hopeful “I Think She Likes Me,” he warns that “the rains are fallin’ and nobody’s listening.” This sets the stage for big questions (“What Would Ghandi Do?”) and small memories, like the boyhood worry that becoming an American means not being a Catholic anymore. It’s admittedly a cliché, but Steve Poltz’ Traveling is what you’d call “infectious.”


Block Ice and Propane, Erik Friedlander
Improvisations and compositions for solo cello inspired by summer-long trips in the Friedlander family camper, "...a thin-shelled box sitting on top of a 1966 Chevrolet pickup truck." Now, before you dismiss Block Ice and Propane as too NPR, believe me when I say that these are in fact beautiful and breathtaking improvisations and compositions that you’ll listen to again and again. So handsomely produced that you can hear Friendlander’s fingers and bow hitting the strings. Highly recommended.


Real Emotional Trash, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
An unabashed valentine to Sixties psychedelia, replete with quavery vocals and marvelous guitar workouts. The beat accelerates and decelerates; weird digressions appear and resolve themselves like a viscous fog suddenly clearing to reveal a gorgeous blue sky. Malkmus fronts a great band that treats the material thoughtfully, led by Malkmus’ stirring guitar and anchored by Janet Weiss’ (late of Slater-Kinney) drum kit. A must for guitar fans and unreconstructed hippies and neo-hippies who wonder why the hell no one makes music why they used to.