Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Ties That Bind - Railroads of the Colorado Eastern Plains with Barbara Louise Holmes
A treaty had been signed in Washington and a reservation set up at Sand Creek. ; Water was an issue then and water is an issue now.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Devo - Something for Everybody - New album in 20 years
June 27, 2010
On June 15, the oddball pop-rockers in Devo released their first new studio album in 20 years. Something for Everybody finds the group exuding an energy and swagger reminiscent of its earliest efforts. The sound is of a 21st-century band — fresh and powerful, yet unmistakably Devo.
Devo’s bouncy, synth-driven music has been immortalized through its kitschy costumes, funny hats (formally referred to as “energy domes”) and hit single “Whip It.” But Devo has also crafted a huge body of work and a strong cult following.
The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, by Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale in 1972. The two met in the art department of nearby Kent State University, and were witness to the 1970 shootings there. Their school closed for nearly four months, and Mothersbaugh and Casale ended up passing the time writing music together.
“We were just trying to figure out what we were seeing in the world around us,” Mothersbaugh tells Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz. “And we came to the conclusion that we were observing not evolution, but de-volution.”
This inspired the name “Devo” — short for “de-evolution.”
High Art Meets Commercial Art
The space where high art intersects with commercial art has proved to be fertile ground for Mothersbaugh’s songwriting and composing. He says he wasn’t interested in what those commercialized sounds helped to sell, but rather how effectively the sounds influenced people’s minds.
“We had seen people get shot when we were in school, and we came to the opinion that rebellion and anarchy were obsolete, and the only way to change things in our culture was through subversion,” Mothersbaugh says.
Outside of Devo, Mothersbaugh has built up a reputation for composition, scoring Wes Anderson’s films, the Rugrats theme and the music to the videogame The Sims 2, just to name a few. He’s also had a recurring segment called “Mark’s Magic Pictures” on the popular Nick Jr. television show Yo Gabba Gabba!
Bandmate Casale had been nudging Mothersbaugh to work up new Devo material, and when an ad agency asked to license one of their older, oft-licensed songs, the band asked if the agency would be interested in something new. The result was “Watch Us Work It,” but before the tune made it into the commercial, the song was remixed by the Swedish band The Teddy Bears. Mothersbaugh says he was surprised and excited by how much Devo’s members liked the final product.
“It made us think, maybe it’s time for us to try it out again,” he says. “We’d never really enjoyed collaborating with people outside the band. Devo was always very insular and protective of our aesthetic, and all of a sudden, the idea of other people coming in and taking what we had always done and held as our very protected artwork — and bringing something to it that made us like it better — sounded very interesting to us.”
Something For Everybody
Devo employed a process called “corporate consensus building” for Something for Everybody, in which the band honed its final product using input from fans. The move both upends the traditional model for the music business and remains consistent with Devo’s subversive, sarcastic aesthetic.
“In an age where everyone feels that their opinion is important, we actually solicited opinions from fans and let them weigh in on what songs we would put on the record,” Mothersbaugh says.
Something for Everybody comes with an “88 percent focus-group approval sticker” on its cover; a 100 percent focus-group-approved version of the album has been released simultaneously. The band members also conducted “color studies,” in which they found that their fans preferred blue energy domes to red ones. In spite of the change, Mothersbaugh says he intends to keep wearing the multi-tiered hat.
“That’s what keeps us young. It’s like an orgone energy recycler,” he says — a shout out to a universal life force suggested in the 1930s by psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. “It’s made out of a very special material called PVC.”
Perhaps the most memorable focus group, Mothersbaugh says, was a listening party on the day of the album’s release. The audience? Twenty cats.
“There were various reactions to the songs,” Mothersbaugh says. “We had some professionals that do the measuring of the reactions of the cats — I don’t know if it has all been processed yet, but I’m sure what we’re going to find out is more information from that. We could have the feline-approved version of the album.”
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Barbara Louise Holmes' on Possible Politics for RUNAWAY GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL
GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL
LIMON CO (IFS) - Speaking with Novelist Barbara Louise Holmes about General Stanley McChrystal's Situation, she had this to say, ". . .McChrystal's no fool, and there has to be a good reason for his name calling, and I would not be a bit surprised if there would be a political agenda to his words. Holmes places him among one of the "brightest" generals in the history of the United States, and as such, this error in judgement was done for a reason. Holmes, whose father was a naval officer during World War II, who saw duty in the Pacific theater of operations, gives her an understanding of the military mindset, as with her own years of service in the military, especially in the legal departments, she understands the responsibility of command of what can and can not be said between the civilian and the military side."
Holmes, starts off the conversation, like this . . ." A Hole of His Own Making - is the cry among the military leaders. McChrystal wanted away out of the box, and to establish himself as 2012 elections as a true leader, as he has worked for the administration, and they did not listen. So Tea Partiers, this is your moment in history, a handsome young white man, four star general, with a voice of defiance for authority, and a true leader for the party, I give you 2012 Presidential Candidate Stanley McChrystal" - this June 23, 2010, Barbara Louise Holmes.
By Steve Clemons - June 22, 2010, 9:40AM
Barack Obama has an easy choice to make: fire a general who has established a culture of insubordination and indifference toward civilian leaders and partners in government or defer yet again to a general who acquires power like medals every time he outwits or outmaneuvers the White House.
General Stanley McChrystal went over clear lines in the debate about the surge into Afghanistan with freelance comments he made in London. Recently, McChrystal stated that the move into Kandahar would slow and threw into doubt confidence in a July 2011 drawdown start date. He didn't consult with anyone before a public redesign of US strategy.
And now in this Rolling Stone report, "The Runaway General" (pdf), McChrystal and his team are reported ridiculing Joe Biden, Richard Holbrooke, Jim Jones, just about everyone not in their groove on strategy.
McChrystal has gone over too many lines.
Obama needs to fire him. If he doesn't, McChrystal's brand will be validated and the environment of insubordination and unprofessional conduct will be reinforced.
If McChrystal survives his White House encounter, then Obama will be diminished.
That is what this has come to.
-- Steve Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note, and is editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo
POSTED BY SDC OMNIMEDIA GROUP AT 11:48 AM
LABELS: GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, POWER IS RELATIVE: RUNAWAY GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL HAS TO GO
TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
SDC Radio One - The RadioMIXX - Urban House Jazz Rap - Radio Widget
LIMON CO (IFS) - SDC OmnMedia Group's newest flaggship powerhouse internet radio station, SDC RadioMIXX One. It has been a dream of mine to have just an old fashion radioMIXX that plays the blues, jazz, urban, house, rap, gangsta, hip hop, house, soul, RnB and many others in one solid playlist. From time to time, we go way back into our musical roots and honor a founding mother or father of music from our digital vaults. We are still working out the "bugs", please bare with us. Thank you for your support and enjoy!
Monday, June 21, 2010
SDC Radio One - The RadioMIXX - Urban House Jazz Rap
LIMON CO (IFS) - SDC OmniMedia Group readies launch of new "Radio Mixx" Urban Radio. It's called the "RadioMixx" dance music, clubing, party lights, including a dose of B.B. King, Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, and many other great artists and the new R&B artists of today. When you get a chance to stop by, the address is: http://www.radionomy.com/EN/User/SDC+Radio+One -
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