http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZqJ-af1MEo

Hey, come check out our new song "Nice Girls."

It will be up for a short time as a sneak peek

of our new album.

And don't forget our show at the Troubadour on October 13....

You can RSVP here:

LOW STARS SHOW

Enjoy!

It's going to be a great show.... Let us know if you're coming!

RSVP here:

LOW STARS SHOW

Just wanted to thank everyone for coming out last night to support the Danny Fund!!!

Danny was a fantastic musician and an original member of one Americas best ever bands, the East street band.

He is missed but his gracious son Jason seems determined to carry on his spirit, playing accordion beautifully and connecting like minded people who share a passion for life, music and love.

Dave and I want to thank Gemma Hayes for sharing the stage with us last night, as well as David Immergluck and Charlie Gillingham from Counting Crows, Deacon, Chris Joyner and Sebastian Steinberg.

Big thanks goes to Brian Klein as well.

See you soon .

Until then,
I'll be at the pool,

CS

Sunday, December 07, 2008


SO LONG MARIANNE....
Current mood: accomplished

It's been a great year of election!!!!

Much gained, much lost.
(I gained 5 and lost some hair).

I finally released my first solo record "Denim Blue" and toured behind it.

Some great shows during the months of '08 with Duritz, Low Stars, Immergluck, Gillingham, Purdy, Nash, Ryan, Tom Morello, Dave Gibbs et al.

Produced Nash's "The Things you think you Need" and Fitz's "Songs for a Breakup/ Pt. 1", which is also about to come out!!

Finishing the year where the summer started at Saint Rocke in Hermosa beach.

I'll be playing with touring buddies Jay Nash and Joey Ryan on there shows
(we just had a killer show at the "5" in LA)
and doing my show with "Vienna in Furs" mate, the great David Immergluck.
Gnome will not be alone!!

Much to be thankful for
and much to plan for in the future.
Together, let's chart the moon!!

Oh yeah,
I hope I see you there on Friday.

Gig link below, let me know.

Love from the front row to your back porch,

CS


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47240996406&ref=nf

Hosted By: Room 5 Lounge
When: Monday Dec 01, 2008
at 8:00 PM
Where Room 5
143 North La Brea
Los Angeles, California|5 90036
United States
Description:
Room 5 Lounge

Click Here To View Event

Here is a piece by Tim Wise from the Atlantic ( I think ).
It's pretty sobering.
Hope you all are well.
And if you're not registered to vote, DO IT NOW!
-Kid L

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while if you're black and believe in reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school, requires it), you are a dangerous and mushy liberal who isn't fit to safeguard American institutions.

> If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of
>> people you are an "arrogant celebrity". If you are a popular Re
>> publican
>> female candidate you are "energizing the base".
>>
>> If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified
>> candidates you're a "token hire." If you're a conservative and you're
>> selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game
>> changer."
>>
>> Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America . White teen
>> pregnancies? A "blessed event."
>>
>> If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic." Grow up in Alaska eating
>> moose-burgers, you're the quintessential "American story."
>> Similarly,
>> if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic." Name your kid Track,
>> you're "colorful."
>>
>> If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the
>> individual you're "reckless." A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a
>> "maverick."
>>
>> If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your
>> organization
>> from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000,
>> then
>> become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a
>> voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African American
>> voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then
>> spend
>> nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with
>> over
>> 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and
>> Human
>> Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States
>> Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring
>> 131
>> bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public
>> Works and
>> Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced. If you
>> spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town
>> with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a
>> state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive
>> experience
>> of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chie f of the
>> Alaska
>> military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be
>> called
>> upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
>>
>> If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes
>> his
>> own decisions you are "presumptuous". If you are an older male
>> candidate
>> who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a
>> "shoot
>> from the hip" maverick.
>>
>> If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an
>> elitist-out
>> of touch" with the real America . if you are a legacy (dad and
>> grand dad
>> were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary
>> infractions you are a hero.
>>
>> If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an
>> "empty suit". If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people,
>> you
>> are an "experienced executive".
>>
>> If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are
>> "extremist". If< br/>you believe in creationism and don't believe
>> global warming is man-made,
>> you are "strongly principled".
>>
>> If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
>> disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a
>> Christian. If you have been married to the same woman with whom
>> you've
>> been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with,
>> you're
>> "risky".
>>
>> If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her
>> water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible
>> parent,
>> endangering the life of your unborn child. But if you're a white
>> married
>> mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
>>
>> If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press
>> calls you
>> "First dog." If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a
>> Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and
>> "courageous."
>>
>> If you kill an endangered s species, you're an excellent hunter. If
>> you
>> have an abortion you are not a Christian, you're a murderer (forget
>> about if it happen while being date raped...)
>>
>> If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen
>> parents. If
>> you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the
>> proper
>> use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
>>
>> A friend sent this to me and I had to share it...

Hey,
I hope you all had wonderful Labor Day weekends.
The conventions are over, and now most of the country will start to examine the candidates more closely, or maybe even for the first time.
I watched the DNC and was filled with hope and pride for the country.
The RNC actually made me ill at times.
Not only was it completely issue-less ( no talk about how the Repubs would fix the economy, what they'd do about health care, public education problems, infrastructure repairs etc...) but it was so mean spirited and pointless it was pretty hard to watch at times.
But, a new conservative "star" was born.
and for her 15 minutes, she'll burn pretty brightly.

Sarah Palin is a gifted speaker, no doubt about it. And a pretty decent actress as well.
She read her script well, and delivered the punch lines in much the same way as I'd imagine the Nicole Kidman character in To Die For.
It was a shrewd move for the McCain campaign to pick Palin, someone virutally unknown to even the staunchest conservative.
Especially without vetting her at all.
I imagine the pick was to try to swing some of the "disenfranchised" Hillary supporters.
But Palin is the POLAR OPPOSITE of everything Hillary Clinton stands for.
So I doubt it will do anything in that regard.
But it might do another job well: distract the media from reporting on actual "issues" and policies, and keep them tied up with stories and "personality".
"Moose-hunting, gun-toting, Jesus-loving, mother-of-five, one of whom is an unmarried pregnant teen" is a lot more interesting to a whole lot of voters who are only marginally aware of the issues and are pretty tired of political coverage anyway after the long, drawn out Democratic primary race.
So who knows what effect she'll have.
In the long run, probably not much.
I'll be super curious though, when the hundreds of reporters who have descended on Wasilla to dig up dirt on her start reporting what they find.
I have a sneaky feeling they'll find a lot.
And it won't be too flattering.
I don't know why, I just have that feeling.
Again, it's that To Die For thing.
She just pretty much creeps me out.
and on that note, here is a blog posting someone sent me.
It's really well written, especially the very end, and lays out the basic, fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals in a few sentences.
Something I could never do.
Please read it.

Hope you're all well,
-Kid L
PS: if you're NOT registered to vote, GO DO IT NOW!!! :)

September 5, 2008
It Takes a Village to Organize a Community
Posted by will under Politics | Tags: community organizing, Palin |

One of the more weirdly mean aspects of Palin's speech Wednesday night was her sarcastic dismissal of Obama's work as a community organizer. Obama responded to her and Guliani's barbs with his usual poise, but I'd like to post a response from a friend of mine.

One of the most infuriating aspects of watching the Republican National Convention, and there were many, was hearing the dripping and sour disdain that Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani apparently have for Community Organizers. I am a community volunteer here in Atwater Village. I work almost full-time on my Neighborhood Council (making me an unpaid employee of the Los Angeles City Council), and was recently elected co-chair (I was already treasurer).

I ran for this body politic because I felt like it was time to put the actual time in - to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. I did it because I believe that change begins at the grass roots level, and that it wasn't enough for me to just rail and rant to my friends and family.

What we do on my council is work towards engaging our stakeholders (constituents or community members) in the political process, inform our city council on the concerns of our stakeholders, fund various community groups, work with gang outreach and crime reduction, we've created a newsletter for our stakeholders, and we host and co-sponsor many community events.

To hear Sarah Palin say that community organizers don't have responsibilities was a slap in the face to every public servant in America, from the church volunteer who serves chili at the local homeless shelter, to the AmeriCorps worker serving in South Los Angeles, to the youth group rebuilding homes in New Orleans, to the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars working towards the passage of the GI Bill (which McCain voted against, but that's another story), to the school group selling chocolates to fund their school play or football team, and to people like me, and all the members of all the neighborhood councils in Los Angeles, who are just trying to do their small part to make their communities better.

I thought the most effective part of Obama's acceptance speech was the section about how Republicans think "you're on your own." That really is the foundational difference between Conservatives and Liberals: Liberals think, "We're all in this together" and Conservatives feel, "I got mine. You get yours." And this difference in world view is clearly (if meanly) expressed every time someone says that community organizing, the occupational embodiment of "We're all in this together", is worthless, silly, and beneath the president.

Of course, attacking Obama as a community organizer is also more of that racialized "code" language Republicans love so much, but one need not even dig that deep to be offended and alarmed by their aggressive dismissal of volunteering.

Not to mention, Obama was a community organizer for his first three years out of college. So, we're talking about a 22 year old. What was Bush doing at 22? Or Cheney? I'm sure someone wants to say that McCain's first three years out of college were spent in a POW box. I don't think that's exactly true, but let's take that argument at its best: McCain was holed up in a box, being tortured, and falling in love with America all over again. He was at his lowest, hoping for better days. Fine. He's a hero. But what was that silly community organizer Barack up to? Obama was holed up on the south side of Chicago working with other people at their lowest helping them to realize better days.

McCain's story is moving, inspiring, authentic, and all about John McCain. It has to be - he was the only one in the box.

Obama's story is moving, inspiring, authentic, and all about other people. It has to be - we're all in this together.