To Whom It May Concern

I read about you this morning in the New York Times...I know the liberal evil newspaper who doesn't know henry about henry. They said some things that made me a little happy and a little sad. You want the happy? He is saying that you, the radical Christian right, are being largely ignored in this election. They gave a myriad of reasons, but the main one is mostly no candidate is willing to bow to your every whim and desire. The Republican front runner, Mr. Giuliani, does not support your views on abortion and gay rights and this makes you all very upset. Your threat? Third party candidate...haha we've all ruined this possibility long ago and really the only man who could do it is Mike Bloomberg and I have a feeling he would not listen to your pleas for a Christian nation.

Here is the thing, you are my brothers and sisters. I myself am a follower of Jesus. No, I don't just think hes a great teacher, but he is Lord. So why does this make me happy that the Christian voters are not getting a voice? Two reasons. First, we all saw where this got us now, and it does not matter if the candidate is a Republican or Democrat they all claim they are Christians of some sort. What does this mean then? Can we depend on any candidate to carry out the law of God...probably not. George W. Bush certainly did not and perhaps he wanted to, but the fact is there are three other branches of government that will stop this from happening. The fact is Roe v. Wade will stand because it is not upheld on moral reasoning. The justices decided that abortion must be legal because it would decrease the fatalities. Women were going out and having them done illegally and dangerously, resulting in deaths of themselves and their unborn children. This is why first trimester abortion is legal. Its frustrating for sure! I wish this didn't happen, but I also know that using government to enforce this will not work. I will even say legislating exclusive Christian morals will not save anybody.

That's the point isn't it? We are here to tell our brothers and sisters (oh and I speak of everyone in this world...yes even that no good liberal down the street who watches South Park and went to see the DaVinci code) about Jesus! So what happens if we allow two men to have the same rights in marriage as a man and a woman do? They have the same rights, but if are denied these things does this bring them any closer to Christ? Does this bring them any closer to knowing the God who loved and died for them?

So here is an idea that is not my own. In fact Jesus spoke about it. He said it was the second most important law. Instead of trying to make big laws and try to make the rest of American culture bow to our beliefs why not turn to the brother or sister right next to you and love him or her well. Yes, he or she might not be a Christian. They might be rough around the edges. They may say words like "Fuck, Shit,..." oh my gosh! Try inviting them over. Try just loving them for who they are and expecting nothing in return. Don't even expect them to become a Christian, but love them. Preach the gospel with out words.

This is the most effective way for people to know Christ, if you, a son or daughter of Christ, take time to love your brothers and sisters that struggle through the day to day with you. Lets face it folks we are never going to have a savior on capital hill.

Listening to: "Magic" - Bruce Springsteen

Technology/Imagery

I'm shooting from the hip here...so be ready! I was asked for a class to respond to a poems "concrete imagery" and it was a poem that basically presented the image of a wet red wheel barrow surrounded by chickens. This made me think that even though I've never seen this exact image I still can imagine it by putting together to memories or pictures in my brain to make the image that the author is going for, but what happens when I can't because I have never experienced a wheel barrow or a chicken? This may seem far fetched but this soon will become a reality for many people of this world.

I once heard this little factoid about how soon (like the year 2050) most of the world will live in cities and a very very tiny population will inhabit everything else. Will the kids in the cities know a wheel barrow? Will they know a chicken? I'm betting not. I'm betting if I walked out of this New York City Starbucks and found a child they would not have experienced a wheel barrow or a chicken.

I know what your thinking: "Okay PJ great we are losing wheel barrows and chickens who gives a flying burrito?" I kind of do! Here's why because when I write songs I absolutely detest referencing any current technology. How lame would it be for a serious songwriter to reference an iPod. When I use the phrase serious songwriter I am not referring to Fergie or any other of the like (especially not the idiot who wrote Umbrella...sorry it gets me heated). So if we lose the wheel barrow culture what do we have left? Probably a lot. This might have been a waste of your time and mine (for you to read, for me to write), but I never want someone to listen to a tune I wrote and not be able to grasp it because they have no idea what the heck a telephone or a television is because (I strongly believe) in the future we will just have chips in our minds that will play music in our heads and play videos on the back of our eyelids and we can talk to people with that chip in our head. This scares me greatly!

Listening to: Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man

You can not stand under my umbrella

It seems that I have been coming into contact with pieces of art that depict “the artist” as this tortured figure. Although I don’t think this is a new realization, but rather I have just been reminded of the “starving artist” stereotype through pieces like “How to Become a Writer”. Lorrie Moore gives the humorous depiction of a young woman (Frances) becoming obsessed with writing, which causes her to embark on a heartbreaking life to make her a better writer. I think Moore makes a great point. This idea is especially relevant in a city like New York that is full of “hipster doofus” (nod to Phil Herring) characters. Tragedy does not equal good art. I’m sorry, I don’t care if your grandmother died the death of deaths, which could be dying of starvation while listening to “Umbrella” by Rhianna (to be honest I don’t know if she would die of starvation or she would just ask her heart to stop beating to avoid the pain of hearing “ella, ella, ella, eh, eh…), it still doesn’t make you a good artist. Writers need to know how to write. They need to understand the language they are writing in. The way a sentence is structured. They need to be someone who is a good scrabble player (or at least know good scrabble words).

What has happened is that the iGeneration has become so lazy that the idea of mastering a craft just seems like to much effort. Walk into a museum and see a canvas painted one color, green. Does anyone think this painter is just sitting in his room counting the money he made and snickering to himself? Look at the proliferation of bands and artist that make all their music using Apple’s Garage Band. Lets look at the check list for things needed to make music this way. An Apple computer. Check. Now if you were me you would see the cursor blinking on my computer screen because there is nothing else needed. You don’t need to know an instrument. You don’t need to know anything about music.

Somewhere along the way (maybe with all these technological advances) we have replaced craft with tragedy. Its not really anyone’s fault except our own that this has happened. We all love a tragedy. In music, we all love a sad song. Meet Joe. He is sad and is sitting in his room. He will most likely put on a Dashboard Confessional record and think to himself, “These songs tell the story of my life!” Meet Joe a year later. Joe is happy now. He is still in his room and wants to listen to music. He puts on the same record, and thinks “Thank the Lord I’m not this guy!” All can enjoy those tear jerker songs, but not all can enjoy the happy ones. When I’m happy, sure I will put on a good time song, but when I’m sad it will further push me into the realm of gloominess. Its demographics…that’s it and that’s all.

This point is made in the text by Moore’s clever presentation of Francie living a tragic life and not amounting to be a better writer. So if life’s tough don’t think you will be the next big thing without actually learning how to express the fact that used tissues litter your bedroom floor. I mean I guess you could try writing a song called “Tissues”. Here is your hook “Tissue, issue, issue, issue, ue, ue…”. On second thought I like my grandmother.

Love at First Feel

Mark Kozelek...freaking Mark Kozelek. When I heard this man sing it was Love at First Feel. Mr. Kozelek has been quietly (I use this trite phrase because I am a piss poor writer and he hasn't gotten any radio play to my knowledge) releasing records since the early nineties under different monikers, such as Red House Painters, his own name, and currently Sun Kil Moon. All three groups share the delicate intimate song writing and haunting tenor, sounding confident like a high school jock on the game day and vulnerable like the kid who got in the jocks way who now is in his own locker.

I first fell in love with Mark when I spent hours and hours bumming music off a friends laptop. I came upon a band named Sun Kil Moon and thought what an interesting name. When I first listened I was blown away by a tune by the name of Glen Tipton. That was the gateway to my obsession with Mark Kozelek.

The point of this blog was to talk about my latest Mark Kozelek experience and that is with his record "What's Next To The Moon". When you listen to it you think its Mark doing what he does best, making heartbreak sound beautiful. I listened to it real late at night so I let the beautiful melodies just fall on me as I closed my eyes. I woke up this morning and decided to investigate (via All Music). I discovered this a record that contains all AC/DC covers. Really?? The same band that released tunes such as "Shook me all Night Long" and "Big Balls". This is coming from Mark Kozelek who released an album called Songs For a Blue Guitar. One word that doesn't exactly exist in the english language but for all purposes should: stokedness. I listened to the AC/DC version of "Love at First Feel" this morning via a you tube video, which featured some anime (whats the deal with songs always being set to anime). Since I don't feel like posting the video on the blog, here is the link. I will research how to post mp3s, but for now just go listen to Sun Kil Moon.

Great use of the F-Bomb

Wow...let me tell you the story of how I discovered my favorite album. During the Spring of '06 I decided that during finals it would be great to be able to listen to new music all the time. I don't know why I thought this was a good idea because new music usually is distracting, but I decided to take Rhapsody up on their two week trial. I was listening to artists I always heard people talking about but I had never had the chance to check out myself. I remembered a dude from high school, by the name of Jake Hughes (the man has got some good taste), used to talk about this guy Ryan Adams a lot. I decided to listen to his record "Heartbreaker". I didn't pay that close attention to the music I just noticed it was pretty slow and quiet and somber. I listened to it (listened is not really the right word but you know...) once and then went on.

That summer I found I had a gift certificate to a very expensive independent record store in my home town in Connecticut. I decided I should just go in there and use it (the thing was two years old). The problem was it was only for twenty bucks and seeing how most records go for more than twenty bucks in that store I was concerned about being able to get a new record without any extra cash. I went into the store and was just walking around and saw the Ryan Adams bin. I picked up the first record I saw, noticed it was under twenty bucks and purchased that stuff. I popped the record in the car and listened to it. Again on first listen, I wasn't totally impressed. It was a nice CD but it was still slow and at times seemed monotonous, but I loved the rockers and I love the ballad "Come Pick Me Up".

That May I happened to be dropping my little sister off and picking her up at a place thirty minutes away. I took my pops car because it got the best gas mileage and it happened to be the car that I left this new Ryan Adams record in. I ended up listening to the record for about an hour a day four or five days a week. Wow am I thankful for that listening time. I fell in love with this record. Every time I would get home and have a new song stuck in my head.

You might ask what Ryan Adams record is it? There are freaking so many! I didn't notice until later it was the same one I had listened to during finals on Rhapsody...Heartbreaker. So readers, please do yourself a favor and pick up Heartbreaker. It might not grab you on the first listen, but keep listening and I promise you, you will fall in love. One of my best buds picked up the record about the same time I did and were both not immediately grabbed by it, but it is both one of our favorite (or my favorite) records. This is why I believe you have to engage with a record rather than expect it to be immediately pleasurable on the first listen. Maybe one that doesn't hit you right away will turn out to be one you love.

Anyways, one of my favorite tunes from the record is still "Come Pick Me Up". One of the reasons I love it is because it uses the F-bomb so well. I usually am not a fan of cursing in lyrics. Sometimes I feel like its use is merely to cover up the writers lack of creativity of expressing an emotion, but Mr. Adams uses it perfectly. Peep these lyrics.

Come pick me up
Take me out
Fuck me up
Steal my records
Screw all my friends behind my back
With a smile on your face
And then do it again

I don't know what happened to Ryan, but he got messed up by a chick. Enjoy...

Strange...but good

I watched this video and thought to myself "Which of these is different from the other?" At first I thought this funny, but then I realized this kind of thinking is what defeats good artists from being exposed to the general population. It made me realize that maybe I am a little bit snobby with my musical tastes. I apologize for this, but it is a strange site to see "Miss Misery" sandwiched in between "How do I Love" and "My Heart Will Go On", but it is rather neat. I guess good song writing will be recognized as good song writing no matter what.

Although, I don't know how much I believe this. Especially with the way America (I say America because I am American and only really want to speak from that point of view) treats the music industry. We do not treat music as art. Now I could dabble in the stealing of music, but seeing as a lot of people think art should be free it would be an opinionated argument. The evidence for this view as music as entertainment rather than art is reflected by what is popular.

Well what is popular you ask? I don't know we could look at one of the top selling records of 2006, which would be the soundtrack to High School Musical. Well whats the problem with that? The problem is I highly doubt anyone bought that record expecting to experience a piece of art, but rather it was purchased for comfort. Those melodies and harmonies sound so nice in the ear. The melodies and words are simple and catchy enough to sing along to. Its quite comforting really. There's nothing that is really going to challenge you to think. Just sit back press play and listen.

I know some people say there is nothing wrong with this. There really isn't. I'm not saying it makes someone a better person to listen to music to experience art, but the thing is if someone were to listen to a record to experience a piece of art they actually may get more enjoyment out of an album rather than just using it to pass the time while driving a car, walking somewhere, or on an airplane.

I challenge everyone who reads this (which again is Ian and I think my home slice in PA J-Sweeze) to pick out a record that many people consider to be a great record, or a record by a great artist and take the time to sit and listen. Don't do it while doing something else take the time to sit back and listen. You know what listen to it a couple times. Focus on different elements each time. Maybe the first time just get the general flavor. The second time pull up the lyrics and read them a couple times and then listen. Maybe listen to what is sonically going on (listen for nuances). Maybe listen for the melodies.

What is my album for this week to listen to? John Lennon's Imagine. Happy listening!

Henry Rollins v. Iggy Pop

Now I know this is my second Henry Rollins post, but I thought this was just too funny. I think what I love about rock n' roll is the stories that go on. I love a good story and that is what this is. I know this is probably exaggerated for humors sake, but its still awesome. I really don't have much to say but you should probably listen to Iggy Pop and the Stooges (Fun House in particular) and Black Flag/Rollins Band. I think I just want to open up for a rock n' roll legend (like Iggy or Bruce) just to hear their stories, but its a long shot.