Listening to talk radio on this "native American" summer day (because AM musical radio is slim pickings--not that FM is much better--coz I can't get KPOO on my walkman), I heard an interview with Valerie Plame...and it got me thinking, again, to what lengths The Bush administration has gone....So I took a deep breath, and tried to find some humor, or at least wit in it.

The CIA has for so long represented the most repressive wing of anti-democratic governmental covert activity, in music. Just a few examples off the top of my head--James Booker, War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?", Ginsberg's "CIA Dope Calypso," and of course The Fugs' "CIA Man" (this is just scratching the surface), all from the 1960s and 1970s when politically charged music (with what I'll call "progressive" ideas) was more accessible on the radio.

However, Bush as unwittingly done what even Nixon or Reagan failed to do, make many people in America who generally would be skeptical, wary, or even paranoid about the role of the CIA in American foreign and domestic policy, actually SYMPATHETIC to Plame and the covert operations she was trying to implement when she was "outed" by Bush, etc. It's one thing (and a valuable lesson the left has learned) for people to come around to "support our troops," but a CIA operative has generally been less sympathetic than a soldier (even during the height of the Vietnam students spitting on soldiers). She's become a hero and a rallying cry for many as much as the mother of the ex-Arizona Cardinal killed, allegedly, by "friendly fire," in Afghanistan.

Such a turn would have seemed nearly inconceivable only 8 years ago (and, yes, Clinton himself was no FDR)--but even though the war-time media brownout of any story, however factual, that may seem to go against Bush's twisted notions of 'national interest," (and I don't mean "war for oil"---it's far worse than that), has caused scant attention to Plame's case, as well countless other stories of governmental public servants who only agreed with 95% of what Bush supported, is it possible one can be optimistic that a new (however desperate) populism is sweeping the country?

If, indeed, Katrina (Hurricane Amerikkka), woke a lot of people up to Bush's ruse (and/or ignorance)---as Laura outdoes Marie Antoinette's "cake" statement--as the national polls suggest, what are the significance of these polls? Should we trust the numbers in these polls (which are often conducted by media-conglomerates owned by the few corporations who benefit economically from the war, occupation, etc), just because they confirm one's anti-Bush feelings? Why would the press publish these polls that consistently rate Bush's approval rating at 20-25% when they are less likely to boradcast the many factual reports that go against George Bush? Is it posible these polls are the last smidgeon of "free-media" left in the United States?

Or do these polls come with their own spin? "Well, Bush is 20-25% popular, but the democratically-elected congress is only at 11%, therefore people are still more likely to support Bush than his most visible opposition?" (Or, alleged opposition). I suppose that spin could be valid, but I still maintain that the reason why Congress's approval rating is even lower than Bush's (that is, if these polls can be seen as reliable), is because it's clear that at least 75% of the American citizens are against the war---a war that has become synonymous with George Bush, and his domestic policies as well--and thus are even more disappointed with a congress elected to stop, or at least slow it down. The Democrats are more likely to seem as hypocrites to some than even Bush did, because they continue to say they're against the war and continue to appropriate more power to Bush (granted, congress is only marginally "Democrat" at present).

It amazes me that Howard Dean, or Nancy Pelosi, or Harry Reid doesn't see these polls, or they assume that people can wait until 2008, and this won't hurt their chances of widening their majority in both houses, as well as gaining the Presidency. But it's not a done deal that this will happen. In fact, with each caving into Bush's authoritarianism, the Democrats may do harm to their electoral chances in 2008. But the bigger point is this (and there's ample hisotircal precedent for this, I fear), that even if the Democrats do gain more control in 2008, and the progressive, non "blue-dog" wing at that, that the added damage since the 2006 election, in terms of deaths of American soldiers, deaths to innocent Iraqis, etc, the economic drain (even Harry Reid had to admit we're taking out huge loans from Israel, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, etc, to pay for this war which is causing Exxon/Mobil, Haliburton, Blackwater to make record profits) that the Democrats now share more responsibility for, will leave the Democrats with even more of a mess, both domestically as well as internationally, to attempt to clean up.

It's hard not to think of what happened to Jimmy Carter, how he got blamed for the faltering economy during the late 1970s, which was caused, in large part, by Nixon's policies--Vietnam most notably--and how this lead to Reagan only 4 years later. It's quite possible Republican strategists in think tanks are already envisioning and planning for, this scenario (they're willing to sacrifice 2008, because in the long term it could allow them more power).

But in the meantime, I want to try to not sound all "doom and gloom" about it, and just think about how this particular case of Valerie Plame may be useful for those who tend to distrust "Big government" as the problem, when it's clear that "government" is more like a wish-bone, and one side is being tugged at by the "big boss men" or corporatists, and the other side is being pulled by the rest of us, whether we're black or white, city or country, white collar or blue collar, etc (it's not about "democrat" or "republican"--the corporatists are as anti-republic as they are anti-democracy). Right now the big boss men are winning, and even if we can yank the government more to our side, they still may be winning (in terms of money and control of the media, etc),
but at least that wishbone struggle may make the headlines....
Or at least it may make the radio again, in new songs, and we won't just have to play old songs about CIA-men, or hear them, when people want, in LOUIS JORDAN'S terms, to mix a little politics with their love of entertainment.

WRITING WORKSHOP

A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITING WORKSHOP with poet, essayist, & musician Chris Stroffolino in a fun, nurturing, non-accredited setting
Eight (8) Three-Hour Sessions; ONGOING. 1st session begins EARLY NOVEMBER (through EARLY JANUARY). Dates & times to de be determined depending on the needs of the class (We will do our best to accommodate people's schedules—most likely an weeknight). The workshop will culminate in a public reading /performance/talk@ the 2519 San Pablo Avenue Gallery Space in Oakland
Class Size: minimum of 7, maximum of 10.
Cost: $200: Check, money-order or cash are all acceptable.
Class Description: Do you have something to say, but don't quite know what is the best way to communicate it? Do you need to write for the sake of self-knowledge or catharsis, but aren't sure if you want to make it public? Did a friend, teacher or other professional writer call your writing a 'mere journal entry?' or a 'song lyric?' Did they say your poetry rhymed too much, or maybe not enough? Did they say your prose was too poetic, or had too many ideas and not enough characters? Are you frustrated that the writing they often claim is 'better' than yours doesn't really speak to you? Do you believe your writing may very well be able to better the lives of others? Do you believe in magic? Do Ya?
If you've answered yes to any of these questions (or even if you think they're silly), this is the workshop for you. Taking each student's writing and/or performance pieces as its starting point, this workshop encourages students working in varying different 'genres'. Students may work within one genre throughout the entire course, but will be encouraged to explore a range of stylistic options including poems, manifestoes, creative non-fiction, dialogue pieces, songlyrics, poem-paintings, texts that redefine or de-define genre, 'hybrid texts' or 'non-poetry.' Students will offer critiques of each other's work to create a dialogue within a 'unity in diversity' approach. By the end of the class, students can expect a deeper understanding into the creative process as well as the business of publishing or other ways of making their work public. Note: This class is intended for all levels.
Chris Stroffolino is the author of seven books of poetry, including Speculative Primitive (2004), Scratch Vocals (2003), Stealer's Wheel (1999), Light As A Fetter (1997), Cusps (1995) and Oops (1994). He also published two books of literary criticism, Spin Cycle (2001), and, with David Rosenthal, a book length study of Shakespeare's 12th Night (2000). Since 2001, he's been singer/songwriter for Continuous Peasant, and has also performed and recorded with The Silver Jews, Jolie Holland, Greg Ashley, Brian Glaze, and Rising Shotgun. His music and cultural criticism has appeared in The Bigtakeover, Kitchen Sink, Big Bridge. He was a recipient of a 2001 New York Foundation for the Arts grant before moving to Oakland where he was Visiting Distinguished Poet at St. Mary's College from 2001-2006. He has also taught at San Francisco Art Institute, Mills College, Rutgers University, NYU, LIU, Temple, Drexel among others. His poetry has been widely anthologized, and translated into Spanish, Bengali, Hungarian, and Dutch. He also has edited literary journals and curated several reading/talk series.

To Register, contact Chris Stroffolino at chris.stroffolino@gmail.com or 415-260-7535. Spaces are limited. No more than 10 students will be accepted per class. Interested students should submit a short 3-5 page sample (or 2 MP3 if working in primarily an audio format).

This class is intended primarily for Bay Area residents, but if there's enough interest, a 'virtual' computer-based class can be arranged as well.

Seen at the Lake Merritt bathroom, "Bring Ugly Back!"

A few weeks ago, I was buried in the surprsingly warm earth of Chrissy Field near Golden Gate Park as part of an art-installation project engineered by Karl Krause. The art that results from this burial will be shown at The Flashpoint Gallery in Washington DC during the month of August (opening show August 4th. I was asked to do some kind of artist activity that would commemorate the event, so I wrote a song called "Hygienic Rat," and recorded it quickly in one-day for free with the help of fellow musician (who actually has technological recording skills unlike me) Matt Montgomery. Matt helped out by playing saxophone (we're still debating over whether it sounds like The Stooges' Steve Mackay or Roxy Music's ANDY MACKAY or maybe "if Coltrane played Motown"). Tom Kyrminis of Damon and The Heathens (and ex-Charles Wright and the 103rd St. Watts band) stopped by and played a little saxophone. Here's the results
http://earthonstone.org/stroffolino.htm

Art For A Democratic Society Manifesto FOR JULY 6, 2007

Let manifestos begin awkwardly, vulnerably!
(especially if the author may feel more comfortable with other verbal forms
like questionaires, and is kind of afraid of coming off too demanding…)

We demand a wider definition of art than purism, and a deeper definition of democracy!
(ART in which the social public aspects of creation arer considered art no less,
and no more, than the solitary aspects,
ART that accepts and encourages beautiful graffiti no less than LUKE RILEY'S amazing work opening at ESTEBAN SABAR GALLERY JULY 6, 2007!
ART that has an ON-again ON-again relationship with the larger-than-life mystique of the "fourth wall! Performance art as street theatre, and the spoken-word as commodity!
ART that helps de-alienate specialization, and that gives youth hope for success through sacrifice!)

We demand an end to OAKLANDISH BLARING PIPED-IN MUSIC at these ART MURMURS (why do we come here, as consumers and producers, is not for a need for
Something HERE AND NOW?)
We demand an end to the EMERYVILIFICATION of Oakland!
We demand something sustainable to stand between the frying pan and the fire,
Something between the EXPENSIVE AND DRAB luxury Condos and the SQUALOR of the Ghetto,
JUST AS we demand a return to a "middle class of artists" who are neither "Mega-stars" nor mere Hobbyists, who can pay their rent from their art!
We demand more art centers, and less expensive licenses to play legally on the streets.
We demand the right for musicians that aren't just marching bands to play at the
LAKE MERRITT GAZEBO
We demand more cafes in which an aartist who can't afford a studio can paint in a corner or even on the center of the stage…
We demand a politician to run on the PRACTICAL SIESTA ticket!
We demand a musical art party that's also a debate about INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS!

We demand an art as a site, a place, for a kind of marriage between introverts and extroverts, "practically minded" and "visionaries" as equals
We demand an art that doesn't succumb to a defensive snob-posturing that scares away business-men and woman and other social organizer-types!
We demand a new WPA, a new FDR, at least on a local level!
We demand more paid commissions, more opportunities, more of a realization on the part of the BUSINESS COMMUNITY that the needs of a visual, conceptual, musical, or talking artist, are frankly modest and that we're a source of cheaper labor than the canned MUZAK or synthetic "art" that often is found at WALGREENS, STARBUCKS
(& other CHAINS), and that even though the managers of these stores don't have control over what gets played, WE DEMAND THAT THIS CHANGE (and it can, ya know)


We demand an alliance of small businessmen/Musicians/Artists/Stand-up Comedians/Sex-workers/Fashion Designers/Activists Toward A Creation of a PEOPLE'S NEWSPAPER (and a radio Station like San Francisco's KPOO)
We demand more attempts at integration between various ethnic, and semi-ethnic based, communities through art (even if we don't like each other's art!)
We demand that BOOTS RILEY be OFFERED a job as cultural ambassador for this city
We demand an end to "Alternative Culture" being (mis)understood primarily as "Youth Culture" or even "Alternative Culture"
We demand the grace to live as variously as possible against the over-specialization of culture, and loss of the commons to the impersonal corporation that makes most citizens feel like 3/5 of a person!

We demand an alternative to "get rich quick" scams like Credit Cards & Colleges
We demand more community radio stations (whether commercial or listener supported) that actually play new & local artists
We demand the YMCA to allow people to put posters up advertising shows
We demand more piano bars like The Alley, but one in which a Folk-Punk Piano player like Chris Stroffolino could lead the singalongs of largely post '63 rock/pop!
(dear entrepreneurs, you can make money off my labor I swear!)

Death to all musicians who believe you have to tour nationally to make an impact locally!
Death to all those who believe if they tame down their art it might sell!
Death to all who scorn "folk art" (even WHEN they put it in the museums; this means nothing unless high art can be on the streets too).
We demand an end to this madness that is taken as normal (even by many who pride themselves on being more open-minded, free thinking and conscientious than the Average American as they ceremoniously pass a law saying they're against the war for oil, but nonetheless still clog the streets with SUVS and don't even try to make it so BART runs until 2:30 to the detriment of EAST BAY Night Life!)
We, The Undersigned, Pledge to Stay in Oakland to make it a better place (and not just move to NYC with the promise of "making it")
Politicians, adopt an artist! Artists, adopt a politician!
We demand an alternative to the market emphasis on efficiency and "signature styles"
We demand humility and humor on the part of ourselves that sounds too demanding!
AND WE DEMAND that WE WHO DEMAND shut up now and take a sip of WATER
(and preferably TAP WATER not BOTTLED) or at least DANCE in SUBLIME
"USEFUL USELESSNESS" (or is it "USELESS USEFULNESS!")

(if any of this sounds attractive to you, and even if some if it DOESN'T, feel free
to contact our BURGEONING COLLECTIVE at Chris@Continuouspeasant.com
(or call 415-260-7535).

Greg and I did some work on three of my songs in his makeshift apartment studio before we had to truncate the sessions due to neighbors complainng about the noise (living out of suitcase....last I heard with Vietnam....but I hope he'll be back from 'Nam, and not in a body bag, in time for our June 30th show). Anyway, none of them are exactly finished, but it was a great experience feeling each other out. He's really a great producer, with a very distinctive sound, yet flexible to the various musicians he works with (check out what he's done with, or for, Brian Glaze, with his new Rainsplitter album, and the even better Hoops and Leather Boots which won't be released until next year).
I choose this song "Eyes Of The Dead" to at least make semi-public on myspace, because I feel we got further with this than some of the others, or it's closer to bringing out the best in each other (He hadn't worked with a piano player before, and I think I wrote this song more as a 'band song' originally, while the other songs we worked on I conceived of more as 'solo piano' songs so we didn't get as far on them). Anyway, I'm looking forward to the future possibilities of working with him, in the meantime if you don't already know his recent PAINTED GARDEN (Birdman, 2006), I play some keys on a couple songs (but come not for me, but for IT!)

Yes, it's Julune, and a thin-skinned weather sensitive type like me must celebrate the sun the cherries and peaches and, yea verily, the people by workin' out, and workin in. Ah, I'm not embarrassed by the embarrassment of riches, and not enough time in the day to ride the inspiration that makes me wanna sing and write songs as well ride the bike as well as hang out with Reid and Alex all night while they dig up that beautiful Danny Kirwin song "Jewel Eyed Judy" which may be the feel good hit of Julune!

So things went pretty good with Brian and Chris last night---the first time with Brian (and only the second with Chris), so in that 'feeling each other out' phase, not earthshattering...yet, but something to build on as they seem interested.

I felt good about the chemistry Chris's cello and Brian's banjo sonic-groove possibilities. Hopefully Dillon will too. Since Dillon's availability appears limited, I'm trying to imagine the songs working without a drummer, and focus on the rhythmic interplay a banjo-cello can bring in an 'acoustic band' format, and get tight with these guys as if it could stand on its own without Dillon (and when Dillon can make it, all the better). Maybe Michele Walther would be interested in filling in for Lis (Michele said she wanted a duo or trio more than a band, and I don't have to play piano, so voila!). Maybe the pedal-steel player might still be interested and would fill the melodic space vacated by Lis, and I'll recontact him (otherwise, gonna keep off Craigslist for a little, since I felt enough of a foundation with Chris and Brian last night)

The intimacy of playing in my little room made me feel moving the piano from the practice room might have been a good thing after all (and "I haven't lost a fiddler, I've gained a banjo." Hopefully Lis will be back soon).

Anyway, we didn't do that many songs this time, coz we did them a bunch of times.
1. What I used to call "Something Is In The Way" felt like a good place to start. I kept on changing up the rhythm, and I'm glad they were patient and tolerant with that. I definitely felt potential in that (next time I'll make a recording).
2. Not In Relation, which JF had me rethinking as of late; that also felt it had potential
3. The 18-or-20 bar Blues song, "can's say it's better but I can't say it's worse" (or whatever I'm now calling it)
4. "Make Up Break Up," that one didn't work too well yet, but give it time...
5. "Dark Side Of The Tear," had a similar country swing shuffle feel as "Make Up Break Up," but because of its darker chord progression, seemed to click more
Then I just played the cover of Gil Scott-Heron's "Who'll Pay Reparations On My Soul,"
and then my melodic interpretation of Boots Riley's words ("Ride The Fence,"), and they both dug it. not just coz they're political...

Chris had to go practice with Damon's band, and I played the New Orleans song with Brian, the only waltz-groove we ended up doing. Nor did we really get into the more soulfully, vulnerable songs, I used to do more with Lis, but hey Rome wasn't BUILT in a day....
With Chris, the previous week, I had done "Hello Cop," "Couldn't Live Without You," both recorded, but, yes, slower grooves, "Love's Like Metal," or "nothing you can name," that i did with Lis, well, there's a lot of possibilities....

So people been asking me when I'm gonna play here again, or host another party like I did when Amy and Yea-Ming and Greg Ashley and Brad Dunn and Lis Craft and I played, and I keep putting it off, because well I would need to get more support from others (and I suck at organizing & getting the word out), and right now not too many people here seem all that excited about an acoustic or singer-songwriter event....and that's totally cool (though it may change). And when they have the louder parties or DJS, I've generally tried to help put more by working the door (and then when the crowd thins out around 3AM take over the room with the destroyed pianos and play), but then I get to thinking after a few too many beers, well, it's time for a sideshow!

So here's an invitation for anybody who wants to take a break from five hours of non-stop dancing, or smoking, and talking and drinking and schmoozing, for people who are really into the social ambience of the party vibe, or as indie-diva Cat Power sez, "the colors and the kids," but who may actually, well, get a little bored by DJ-culture, even when the DJS are really cool, and who might want to play an instrument themselves, and maybe join me in a little secret corner somewhere and play some originals and covers, and since it's a private party, and I'm not asking for money, we won't have to worry about the ASCAP police, or even the police police shutting us down. Hell, it can be better than karaoke...so step right up!

Sometimes it seems that sadness is forced into the role (or status) of a 'guilty pleasure.'
I mean specifically the slow, sad, song. Maybe it's just the particular social situations I find myself in now.

There's a lot of people I can bond with (albeit temporarily) through talk, and at least that's less alienated than writing. But maybe it's not alienated enough for music (i'll leave
the question of whether music is more alienated than writing for another time).

So, I did a 'throwaway' noise-rock show with Royce Saeder, Rik Murray, Luke Riley and Adam Skifflecore and covered "Re-Make/Re-Model" (Roxy Music), "I can talk talk talk talk myself to death/ but I believe I'd only waste my breath." But I'm so sick of the cartoon of so-called "rock" right now, and of talk talk talk and writing without music.

So there's this simple sad melody that I want to do really slow and quiet with a band. It can have an edge, can have a tension, can have a dissonance, in the arrangement (if I have any say about it, and I may not)--but I need it slow and I need it quiet--
and why does that need feel like the heart? like that which has been left-out,
and not only excluded but unfairly so?

Oh it makes me sad (ha ha---the inability to translate the private quiet slow sad tune makes me sad; oh causality! Check out this statement, "Continuous Peasant broke up because we were too poor!")

It could be my own damn fault, for not standing up socially to honor that, even if others don't want it. Like I can spend much of a rainy or even sunny day playing dreamy melancholy songs of yearning that feel beautiful to me, and I want to share them, yet when evening rolls around and there's people to jam with, or play for, I want to be funny and entertain, and it feels right, but then the sad song gets left-out
and the next morning I wake up hungover (even if it's just a coffee hangover), and the wall between private an public seems too insurmountable.

But the alienation of slow sad song feels necessary and even healthy. Hell, I'd even go so far as to say it's "PUNK" because, well, I don't believe that all these other musicians who live here (who make sly little innuendos about my love for 'soft rock' and actually I hate most soft rock, because it's not soft enough to really rock!) who are into more aggressive tones, or more complex tones, or more electronic, or seemingly extroverted, well, there's a sense that their taboo of the sad song, of perhaps a deeper intimacy with the audience on occasion, words you can hear, etc., also relates
to why there isn't anybody around aside from Joe who really considers recording a priority, who is interested in forming a label, and this too makes me sad...
Or to put it another way, it's one of the reasons I could give to sing sad songs.

Maybe we need a "slow sad song for the punks" manifesto!!
(I'm using the term "punks" really loosely; it could include "jazz snobs" too)
For BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY I must create a space for the slow sad song.
The closest I came was probably in the performances with Lis Craft, but part of the problem is one of social context. I mean, I choose to live because I want a community of musicians and artists, and perhaps the kind of musicians who like slow sad soft songs don't generally want to live in live/work spaces, and try to build a community,
so much as the louder types (it reminds me of a Bill Hicks joke, about wanting to form a group of anti-social people; the joke is that in a way he actually pulled it off, even if he had to die young in the process, like John Henry....).

But if I can manage to get another chance at playing for an attentive audience, who actually does come to a show looking for the slow quiet presence, oh lawd stuck in a Lodi again....I still feel I have to seduce people with the more rockin', or seemingly extroverted, cuter songs, and I can say "experience bears this out," coz I don't want to be a downer, and know I'm not really "a downer," and then I start thinking how so many people are downers precisely because they don't want to be seen as downers, and frankly if I put the downer moods in the art more, and better, and with force and, yea verily, passionate conviction, and honor them as sacred, it will have been like turning not only myself inside-out (like "A Cloud In Trousers," ah Mayakovsky!), but letting the audience turn itself inside out. But do I want to heal people? Or do I want to forgive them?

On the other hand, sure, there is a scene, a "singer songwriter" scene, but often there seems to be something too sanctiminous about it---like it's so serious and overprotective of the feeling of the slow, sad, quiet, song that it often sucks the soul out of it....and however slow and sad and quiet and tender and yearning I can be, I really don't see myself convincingly being able to edit the SNARL of conceptual art-mindedness out....so it seems like I get perceived as the bull in the china shop in that world (just as my need for brooding and tears in the louder scene is a bull in a china shop more than china at a bullfight).

There's so much noise around, too much information, the war in Iraq has lodged itself in every American's soul (even if they think it hasn't, or forget they are mortal), but somehow there can be a space to cry (and laugh and cry about it all again....).