South Texas Soul

San Antonio is the music capital of South Texas. This excerpt from the documentary South Texas Soul explains how the music of Mexico, Germany, and Czechoslovakia melded with rock-and-roll and later country-and-western to create a distinct regional sound. The video also includes some fine exterior shots of San Antonio neighborhoods, landmarks, and businesses:



The Texas Tornados -- comprised of the late, great Doug Sahm, the late, great Freddy Fender, the great Flaco Jimenez, and the great Augie Meyers -- cut loose on Sahm's Tex-Mex arrangement of "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone:"



Back in the late 70s, Augie Meyers often came into the bar where I worked. His drink, as I recall, was Tanqueray and tonic. He liked me, probably because I was generous with the Tanqueray. Here he is singing "Hey, Baby, Que Paso?", the San Antonio national anthem:



The Allman Brothers had nothing on Augie and Flaco's twin accordions!

Girl in a Coma is one of the new San Antonio bands. This video of their song "El Monte" is exquisite:



I don't write much about San Antonio here, but I loved going to school there and living there after. It's my favorite city, although it might be more accurate to call it a big small town. The Riverwalk is fine, but the old neighborhoods, especially the King William District, give San Antonio almost as much of its character as the people...

So Let Me Get This Straight...

...Barack Obama's pastor makes an ill-considered remark in the sanctity of his church, and Obama is called out in the public pulpit and made out to be somehow responsible for it. But, for the last 28 years, lunatic right-wing Christian ministers can spew anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-Arab, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, anti-science, anti-human bile from their cable networks and talk shows; summon the wrath of their god (not mine) on the Muslim world; and call for the assassination of foreign leaders -- and the Republican presidents and politicians who consort with them not only get off scot free, they get away with branding the media as liberal. What a world...

Nonetheless, there are some inspiring people out there: The amazing true story of Melody Gardot and her worrisome heart. Her myspace page and web site are here and here...

The Boston Globe reports that President Bush has weakened the espionage oversight capabilities of an independent board established in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. Ford originally set up Intelligence Oversight Board to block stronger measures from a Congress intent on curbing the myriad abuses of the Nixon White House. But even Ford's sensible and relatively modest reforms -- such as allowing the Board to refer matters directly to the Justice Department for criminal investigation -- were too much for Dick Cheney: "A lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam...served to erode the authority, I think, the president needs to be effective, especially in a national security area."

So, let me get this straight: The problem with Watergate wasn't the Nixonian schemes and deceits aimed at undermining the Constitution to grow the power of the executive branch (and assuage the president's paranoia in the bargain), it was the reforms enacted to prevent this. In typical Cheney fashion, he doesn't bother to explain exactly how these reforms left the body politic worse off than Watergate, exactly what authority the president needs but doesn't have, and why he needs it. Just trust him on this one, o.k.?...

Fellow South Texans: Don't miss the latest in Starbucks' "Artist Choice" series, this one from Bob Dylan. Among the songs he's listening to "right now" is Flaco Jimenez' 1967 epic, "Victimas del Huracan Beulah." Available at any Starbucks...

D. Parvaz of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the best op-ed columnist anyone outside of the Puget Sound area has never heard of. Every Saturday, she writes a column that combines the barbed sarcasm of Maureen Dowd with Bob Herbert's seriousness of purpose. Today, she reminds us that there's still a war going on...

New Citizen K. feature: Scroll down 'til you come to the source list for my Louisiana music playlist. I've included links to official web sites, fan web sites, and record labels. It will be up for a while, and I expect to add to it because Premium T. and I are going to this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. And if you have recommendations, tell me and I'll check them out. (Also, please let me know if any of the links don't work)...

Coach Gibbons Friday:

1000 meter row

Four round of

21 dead lifts (102 lbs)

21 box jumps (12" -- o.k., I'm not LeBron James)

Citizen K. Read: A Feast For Crows, George R. R. Martin