Obama, McCain, and the crazy Palin lady

Obama is my man. Oh yes. I'm so proud, and still kind of in shock, that a black man has finally been nominated for president in this country! And he's so smart, well spoken and focused......I'm so proud and excited I can barely see straight! I think he will be a fantastic representative for our country on the world stage.

And now we have McCain and this crazy Palin lady that shoots animals and wants to drill in the far North. Lord help us all!

I heard today that 25% of women have left the Obama campaign and will vote for McCain! Why???? Didn't you all hear Hillary?? NO MCCAIN, NO HOW, NO WAY. Or something like that.

It's great to have a female VP candidate, but just 'cause she's a woman doesn't qualify her for the job.

The Mommyheads - review of "Help Me"

I have a fabulous new discovery to share with you today! The Mommyheads are a great band, and I can't wait to see them play live!

The guitars and harmonies remind me a great deal of one of my favorite bands - The Cars. Very well done song, well written and performed. I like the lyrics a lot too. This group deserves all the attention and good luck they get!

The Mommyheads
"Help Me" (mp3)
from "You're Not A Dream"
(Bladen County Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at mTraks
More On This Album

MTV Video Music Awards 2008

In a word......yuck. Truly yuck.

I tried my best to watch this thing, but it was so challenging I had to jump between this and a Will Smith movie. The MTV awards last night was full of superstars, but the star of the show was this Weird English guy who hosted it - Russell Brand. I couldn't understand him very well (he had a very thick accent), but I DID hear him beg Americans to vote for Obama this November. I thought THAT was cool!

And this Russell guy had some weird silver metal bar thing hanging over his crotch. What was that thing? It's in the picture here. You couldn't stop looking at it....well at least I couldn't! Anyway, everything goes downhill from here....

I was expecting that music would play a huge part in the show too, but music took a back seat to the hysterical visuals onstage. You know, I am speechless about what I saw. I don't mind shows that are extreme or provocative, but this was a visual onslaught of lights, bizarre outfits and crazy hair and it was just too much. The whole show was geared towards teenagers of course....it was like one long cereal commercial.
The dancing was all slick and over rehearsed too, and the dancers were too healthy. You know what I mean? they looked like jocks or football players, not dancers!

The music was really bad too, in particular the song by Kid Rock. He had new words written over a "mash up" of two GREAT songs - Werewolves of London and Sweet Home Alabama. Made me shudder. He put all these drug references in the song, and even had a rapper come out and start rapping over the huge mess.
I saw Christina Aguilara lip syncing too! She looked like some gothic bimbo trying to act like I don't know what......a detective? A mafioso? What the hell was she supposed to be??
I thought Tokio Hotel had an interesting looking girl singer until I heard a boy's voice come out from that wig and makeup. They looked Japanese but I think they're from Germany.

And they capped the whole thing off with this HORRIBLE band called Paramour!

I better stop here.....lord help us all....

Review of Russell Brand by the Seattle Post
Top Ten Things we didn't See

Tokyo Police Club: Nature of the Experiment review

Here's a really interesting piece of new rock from an up and coming band you might have heard of. Wow that was a mouthful! And so is Tokyo Police Club. Well, they're more like an earful actually.

Feels like everything on this track is pushed to the front of the mix. All the instruments are right at the top of everything and loud, expecially the gritty, slightly over driven slightly clean sounding guitar. I mean it's just weird folks. I know I'm talking in a lot of paradoxes but just listen to the damn thing and tell me if I'm wrong.

It does manage to work though, even with all the contrasts. It's just very inventive and fresh sounding. I particularly like the male and female vocals winding around each other.

those wacky Canadians....god love 'em.....

Tokyo Police Club
"Nature Of The Experiment" (mp3)
from "A Lesson In Crime"
(Paper Bag Records)
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon
Buy at Insound
More On This Album

Kanye West paraded out for the RIAA at the Democratic National Convention

Check out this equation:

The Democratic National convention + new pending law which will put federal muscle behind prosecution of file sharing = Kanye West performing for Congressmen.

Yes it's true my brothers and sisters. Dammit!! One of the most popular (not necessarily most talented) entertainers of our current times is a whore being pimped out by lobbyists for the RIAA!

ABC News reports "According to disclosure records, the RIAA, whose members include ABC News' parent Walt Disney Company, spent more than $7 million on lobbying last year and has already spent $3.7 million this year.

Sponsors say the event was meant to sponsor U2 singer Bono's ONE campaign against poverty.....but the RIAA's efforts were clearly focused beyond the night's event."

What's up? I'll tell you what's up!!!

The RIAA wants a bill to pass that will allow the Justice Dept. to prosecute civil cases of "illegal" music downloading, make penalties more severe, and basically take these violations to a more serious federal level. Also, the bill would create an official post for a person, confirmed by the Senate, to oversee and coordinate these prosecution efforts with the Justice Department.

And the funny thing is, Kanye performed his big hit "Gold Digger". I wonder who it was dedicated to?!

Here's the story from ABC News.....and yes, I was surprised to find it there.

The Shaky Hands - new tune "We Are Young"

Hey there sugar. How about some nice, fresh rock that you haven't heard? Yeah? Like the sound of that? Well here's a nice hot dish....kinda like me.....ha! Check out this band The Shaky Hands ~ I got some mp3's and stuff for you below.

This band is from Portland, Oregon but their sound is a throw back to the British Invasion. They have the same energy as The Kinks, but with a modern sheen to their sound. All of them are talented but the drummer and vocalist really stand out! You know I really dig this rock and roll music that grew outta my blues. Makes me glad that all the hard times I went through led to something great.


The Shaky Hands
"We Are Young" (mp3)
from "Lunglight"
(Kill Rock Stars)
More On This Album

Madonna tour ~ Comparing McCain to Hitler and Obama to Gandhi

YES. Madonna knows how to do it. She isn't afraid to go against the grain and be controversial ~ and to just put it out there........right in the audience's faces. Kinda reminds me of myself back in my day! I mean if you got the stage USE IT!

Madonna started her tour yesterday and got everyone a-buzzin' with her video. She showed McCain (who I'm not keen on anyhow) mixed in with images of global warming and Hitler! Damn! That's taking things way past what other critics of McCain have done. Plus she showed the video along with this song she has called "Get Stupid".....

Then the video moved on to Obama, but this time she used pictures of John Lennon, Al Gore and Gandhi! Yes she's hitting the extremes, but it makes an impression. It's an artist speaking out and taking a risk and that takes real guts.

And there's something else too. Madonna just turned 50 years old a couple days ago, and she comes out onstage lookin' hotter than a cricket in July! Look at this woman's legs! My gawd! I personally like women a lot rounder than this, but to show up in front of thousands of folks in amazing shape and 50 years old ~ I haven't seen anyone else do that! Have you seen Eric Clapton and Neil Young lately? They should call Madonna's trainer right away. That must've taken a lot of work, and I admire women that work hard. I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers!

Till next time.

Dave Stewart's tour ~ August 2008

I saw an ad on TV the other day for a tour about to begin with another 80's icon, but what struck me was that the songwriter was touring, and leaving the face of Annie Lennox at home. That's pretty damn brave I thought, with our model-fixated culture these days. But then something else struck me.....

Dave Stewart is starting a tour on August 28th with a 30 piece band, and they'll be performing songs that he's WRITTEN. I think that's amazing. Has this happened before? A songwriter taking a huge band on tour, with singers, to perform the songs that he's written! This makes the SONGWRITER the STAR of the show.

You know, songwriting is where it's at. Without awesome songs to sing, most singers would never make it to your TV screens. And American Idol? I couldn't give two shakes about American Idol - that show is just turning out more singers and there's plenty of singers. Where are the songwriters? How about a show to find the best songwriter? It makes me so steamed when I hear the crappy music released by the mainstream music industry these days because the songs are So Boring and Alike. In the past record companies wanted to develop an artist or songwriter and give them time to find their voice. Nowadays it's all about squeezing every last dime from an artist's talent. And the industry is suffering!!

Here's some songs that Dave Stewart has written, but it's the tip of the ice berg of what this artist has produced:

"Sweet Dreams are Made of This”
“Here Comes the Rain Again”
Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More
No Doubt’s “Underneath It All”
Mick Jagger’s “Old Habits Die Hard”
Celine Dion’s “Taking Chances.”

More about Dave Stewart here
Here's the article

Female and male bloggers, Sexism and Blogher

Wouldn't you know it?? I couldn't believe it when I saw it! Sexism exists in the blogging arena too? Damn that pisses me off. I just started blogging and it didn't even occur to me this would be an issue. I thought since we're all just writing, the playing field would be level. Cripes.

I came across Social Cache last week, and a discussion of the inequalities between male and female bloggers. Nubby's post was inspired by an article in the NY Times, and the Blogher conference last week.

First I got mad, but then I got an Idea (which happens from time to time). It's easy for me to become a male blogger isn't it? Ha! So I'm going to do it. EXCEPT I'm not going to tell you my name! Next time you're reading some guy's fascinating blog, you might be reading me!

Here's some information I found from a small Swedish study done earlier this year on the differences between male and female bloggers:

• Women more often blog anonymously than men (49.2% compared to 34.0%).
• Male bloggers blog to a higher extent than female bloggers to market a product or a service, to influence others, to strengthen their brand, to create an archive of information and because there is a need for more voices in the public debate.
• Female bloggers blog to a higher extent than male bloggers to get in touch with others and to stay in touch with friends and family.
• 66.5% of all bloggers update their blog every day. Female bloggers update their blogs more often than male bloggers (74.1% at least once a day, compared to 42.6% of male bloggers).
• Male bloggers more often than female bloggers have ads on their blogs (14.3% compared to 7.4%). Here's the full study

the Swedish band Witchcraft

How can you go wrong with a bunch of Swedish guys? Well, you can't really. Their name is what drew me in, I must admit.
Witchcraft is a great name. I've encountered a lot of old time southern magic in my day. But then I listened to them and read up on them a little bit, and these boys play something called "doom metal" which I ain't never heard of before.

I like it. I heard some Black Sabbath too awhile back. They were playing it up in heaven oddly enough! Haw! Anyhow, these guys in Witchcraft sound like a throwback to that old, heavy, gloomy Sabbath sound and it's great!

I looked around for some mp3's to lay on ya, but all I could get is their myspace page. Check it out!

Now I can keep up with Bessie Smith. Metal music is all she talks about since she discovered this italian monk that sings metal songs.

Feist on Sesame Street

Yikes. This is so cute I can barely deal with it. But I thought it's a nice way to start the week:)

the band "Frightened Rabbit"

...are REALLY cool! I've been hearing their name whispered around the internet for several months now. I remembered it because my friend, Bettie Black, had a band for a couple months called "Runaway Bunny". haw.
Of course they don't look too scared in this picture above now do they?

I heard Frightened Rabbit for the first time this weekend and I dig their sound a lot. They had a first record called "Sing the Greys" which is HILARIOUS to me, since I sing the BLUES myself. HAHAHA. Anyhow, I loved their song "Be Less Rude" that I found on their myspace page. What a novel title for a song, but it doesn't stop there. The song really MOVES and brings back memories of all the good things I love about rock & roll.....especially the Velvets....jangly guitars, interesting drums, great simple solos, and ENERGY. Period. That's all you need.

This band has Very simple songs and melody, but the musicians are top rate. I am particularly in love with their drummer and singer, but hell, the guitarist ain't bad neither! The bass seems mixed kinda low for my computer speakers, so I'll have to go back to sort him out.

Looks like they just toured the US a couple months ago, and are playing in Europe and the UK right now. Maybe if we talk quietly to them and try not to frighten them, these gentle happy rock beasties will grace our American shores again sometime soon.

Gas Prices put the brakes on Indie band tours

I love traveling by train. You can have the whole band there with you, you have your own bed and there isn't a lot of stress ~ just playing and traveling town to town. You can drink as much whiskey as you want.....yeah....and touring the South is so easy, the towns are a lot closer to each other then, say, in California.

But things are a lot different nowadays. You have to set up your whole tour, finance it, and everyone has to squeeze into a little van with all their gear and drive all over this huge country.

And that van don't work without gas.

And gas prices are soaring.

Read this great article about some local San Francisco bands up against some enormous odds.

Sweet Robert Johnson

My good friend Robert Johnson wrote me the nicest welcome on his blog! What a doll. You should get on over there if you want to hear some great old songs. He has a bunch of them that you can listen to and download for free. Can you believe that?

It's all courtesy of Public Domain 4U which is a treasure chest of amazing music from some of the giants of my time! Free old timey blues and jazz mp3's that you can legally download for free and enjoy over and over again.

I think I'll go over there right now!

See you in the delta sugar,

Ma

Kevin Kelly sez "it takes an artist 1,000 True Fans to make a living"

Here's the article

Kevin Kelly is one of those internet visionary guys -- he was involved in the Whole Earth catalog and the founding of Wired. He has a think-piece about surviving as a creative person:

1,000 True Fans

The long tail is famously good news for two classes of people; a few lucky aggregators, such as Amazon and Netflix, and 6 billion consumers. Of those two, I think consumers earn the greater reward from the wealth hidden in infinite niches.

But the long tail is a decidedly mixed blessing for creators. Individual artists, producers, inventors and makers are overlooked in the equation. The long tail does not raise the sales of creators much, but it does add massive competition and endless downward pressure on prices. Unless artists become a large aggregator of other artist's works, the long tail offers no path out of the quiet doldrums of minuscule sales.

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

Olympic Weightlifter and World-Class Mom

Athlete and Mom Melanie Roach Speaks Out About Son's Struggle With Autism

By ALICE MAGGIN
May 20, 2008

Here's a story I saw about an amazing woman. Kinda makes me feel like I didn't do enough today....but it's very inspiring to read about her just the same. Wish I could've had her on one of my tours.

"At 5 feet 1 inch and 117 pounds, Roach is one of the top weightlifters in the world. She is also the mother of three, a politician's wife, a small business owner and has a shot at the Olympics.

"Recently, I've clean and jerked 238," she said. That's 238 pounds hoisted off the ground and over her head.

That's the equivalent of lifting an NFL linebacker over her head.

Here's the the story, and here's the video

Also, here's some resources on autism. Truly amazing woman.

That Girl has Sexy Bones

Okay now THIS is what I'm talking about. Will you look at this girl? Now that's a skinny one. I know this isn't new to most of you out there, but I just can't get over these models when I see them. She looks like a skeleton. If I saw someone this skinny back in my day, we'd have dragged them to the hospital!

Now as for me I was a healthy, full figured woman ~ a little on the short side ~ but I could've fit six of these women in one of my dresses. Ha! And by the way I have style too ya know; I used to love wearing my ostrich feather fans, glitter headbands and fringe dresses.


The Good News: At least Spain did the right thing. Is New York going to follow suit? Check out Betty Roche's blog too. She talks a lot about fashion.

Jurassic Park

I just love this

Mother of the Blues

yessiree I'm back! My friend Robert Johnson invited me down here to visit and take a look around.
And even though Heaven is Fabulous, I sprouted my wings and flew on down.
Here I am. Your one and only Mother of the Blues.
Man have I got a lot to say to you.

Life was so much simpler back in my times. What a mess it is down here now! For instance I retired when talking pictures came out, and now you've got so many gadgets I can't even see straight.
You know the telephone first appeared in 1910 ~ when I was 24 years old. I go and come back and now you have an iPhone? What the hell is an iPhone? Talk about culture shock. But the thing that REALLY blows my mind (other then this computer I'm typin' on...........) is that we almost had our first female nominee for president!! I mean, I saw women get the right to vote back in my day, so this was an amazing race to see. Barack is great though too, don't get me wrong.......just as cute as a June bug and smart as a fox that one.

I love my girls though. I caused a stir in the 1920's dressing up as a boy and chasing girls. Now it's all scrawny, weak, needing-to-be-saved women on the TV and in the magazines. Some things have changed, but a lot hasn't, and I'll be talking up a storm here about the things I know about ~ Music, Women and the Entertainment Business......with a little skookum thrown in.

If you'd like to read more about me and my life, follow this link

kisses to ya

Ma