Hello..it seems this is the first time you have arrived at my site, thanks for stopping by. Outside of the blog, there's free music to download, and some good links to other sites. There's also information about what I do in music, and some info on what this site is about...if I were you..I'd take a look there first, ok? If you like what you see and hear, please put me in your RSS reader. I change things around frequently, and you know, you wouldn't want to miss anything now, would you? John

Corrente lays it down…

One of my favorite blogs is “Corrente, the stayed behind series“. I read it every day, as it serves as a fine example of …well…how to write a blog the right way. The Farmer, who is the genius behind this blog, writes with an amazing combination of insight and humor and …also gives valuable plant growing tips. I know, I know.. but you have to see for yourself, go over there now fer chris sake.

Update May 11: I have just noticed that around the ‘net, people use the farmer’s tag in their own posts..the farmer who is referenced here always uses lower case spelling, and is the proud owner of Corrente..so, accept no substitutes! I am changing this today to reflect that spelling.

One of the things I especially like about Corrente are the people who read and discuss the farmer’s articles..a few have their own places on the ‘net, and I have gotten to know them a little as well. While farmer’s articles are always good, sometimes the discussion following them is the better part..’specially when the farmer comes back in on his own bad self (ref: James Brown, USA, Godfather of Soul) in the comment section.

Every once and a while (ok, usually every day…) there’s a section he writes that just hits the spot.. this morning, he was commenting on a Salon article about Billary from Joe Conason, wherein Joe was talking about the disgruntled auntie inna pantsuit’s horseshit tactics post the NC primary. In the comments section, a few of the good people who frequent Corrente started commenting..then the farmer let it rip:

‘Conason gives her some benefit of the doubt. I don’t, because I think its a calculated narrative (and another cynical faux folksy pander) shes adopted (as per Tweety’s little hometown girl “regular people” storyline in the earlier post). Clinton recklessly shoots her mouth all the time (Bosnia sniper fire bullshit stories, her tall tales (lies) about her previous NAFTA support… her cheesy gas-tax giveaway holiday pander… her unapologetic stance on her ignorant support of the war in Iraq… You’d think by now someone who has spent the last 27 years in the Whites House, the Senate, and a governors mansion… would have the common sense and grace and sophistication to speak in public without making a complete jerk of herself. This kind of undiplomatic (and thats given the benefit of the doubt) “slip” is a good reason why she is NOT ready to be president. The other thing that annoys me about her white power pander is that it is so arrogant and obnoxious in a white country club elitist kind of way — as if to say, well, we welcome the black guy to join us, to play around the course with us, and he is a good sport, but it just won’t do to allow him to win the tournament. The white “regular” members just won’t be happy with that. Jeezis.

Time to roll her up in her own pandering pantsuit and send her off to the cleaners!’

cool, no?…then he followed with:

‘another thing that annoys me is the cynical use of the class frame(s) (which is coming from so many of the Clinton boosteroos lately) IE: “working class” and “creative class”. What is “working class”? What is “creative class” (or “knowledge workers)? Take a nurse for example… a nurse is a “professional” (nursing isn’t considered a “blue collar” job) a nurse is a “knowledge worker” (because it requires some formal education, like a high school teacher) and therefore a subset of the (horrors!) “creative class”. A Hollywood script writer (and Union member) would probably be considered part of the “creative class” - but maybe not necessarily because to be a good Hollywood script writer you don’t necessarily have to have any formal education (you just have to know how to tell good stories and write good scripts). But none the less all are also part of the “working class”. So…. all of this talk about the “elitist” “creative class” vs the “working class” and so on is just so much blow it out the ass gassholery on the part of “jackoffs” (mostly members of the “craetive class” themselves) attempting to construct some kind of confrontational narrative to exploit for their own self serving political gain. Just sayin’.

Here’s a man who can skillfully articulate what a lot of people know to be true, but can’t quite say…and does it with humor and a huge hit of insight.

Rena and I ended up watching (because we had never seen it, and farmer, as well as driftglass and attaturk, frequently reference him) Chris Matthews’ “hardball” teewee show yesterday..it’s a true pile of framed dung..( if you read the blogs I list here, you’ll get to see him RIGHTFULLY and PROPERLY drawn and quartered) But what got me thinking this morning..follows along this a ‘here line..Follow along please: I have spent the last few weeks in places I usually don’t go..a meeting or two with the “Aurora Creatives” (of which for some reason I is..) to plan to make Aurora-by-the-sea an “artist’s friendly” place (nocommentnocommentnocomment), a presentation at Aurora University (home of the “Fightin’ Fearful Farm Folk”), wherein author Scott Turow was introduced by the head cheese of the city’s economic development commission as Scott Thoreau (Mr Turow also, it seems, attended Elmhurst College (home of the Marchin’ Paralegals), when in reality he went to Amherst..hey, what the heck, Kishawaukee Community College, Yale, it’s all good)..

Inspired by these and other messes, I have started a list called “why do these people have a job”? I am not talking about just “a job”, the kind most people have, where you work 58 hours a week and making $35K a year with no benefits..but GOOD jobs WITH benefits. Going up up up in doughski on my list, I wistfully pass graft- commissioned bureaucrats, corporate lawyer slugs, suburban sprawl developers ..and venture into the entertainment/gnus biz holy land, where it gets to be..unreal surreal…where someone like Chris Matthews hauls in the kind of Rethuglikan salary..with benefits… that makes the typical DuPage County divorce lawyer “earning” $150K/year (with benefits) look like the po’ relation.

My point here is (tap tap tap)….when someone like the farmer..or driftglass..or attaturk at Rising Hegemon..people who write everything themselves without a staff..people who even do their own Photoshop pics (several of which I have used here, and I wish they would all get on the GIMP train btw, hint hint)..writes a blog for free, and is brilliant and funny and inspires intelligent conversation..why aren’t they the ones who get the $$$$$ the yapping bobbleheads get? I am not just talking about obvious bobbleheads like..hmm.. so many to choose from.. one of MY favorites…..

..but also people like Colbert and Stewart..the “smart funny hip” guys..who have an army of people behind them (funded by awful corporations), and still can’t do anything close to what these men are doing… for free.

It’s all sad further proof of the upside-downdedness (new word!) of this dumb downed culture.

John Prine used to have some good advice that I could imagine the Farmer singing when he’s harvesting the arugula: “turn off your tv, throw away your paper, plant a little garden all your own”

And as the farmer would end with..and so have I lately..

‘just sayin’

Creative Commons and Music

I have been in the music business for a long time, first as a working musician, then adding composer to my so called resume. Along the way, I figured out why I dislike the music business so much (wasn’t all that hard to do!), but I couldn’t figure out how to deal with the simple so-called fact that in order to make a living playing and writing music, one had to be a cog in a greasy bloated corporate machine. Around the “turn of the millennium”, when I began to understand the ramifications of the internet, especially in regards to how it freed up music on a level never seen before, I made a point of learning about copyright and intellectual property rights, and joined the fledgling group The Future of Music Coalition. From there, it was an easy jump to Larry Lessig and Creative Commons. These people made a lot of sense to me, and pointed to a new way of conducting the business part of Art. I also joined a great group of people online at ccMixter.org, where the culture of sharing and remixing was beginning to go full steam. Through these two groups, I’ve met people all over the world (strangely though, no one from Chicago). I work with people at ccMixter on a regular basis, collaborating and remixing music for the Commons.

There are links to these organizations on the right, and I won’t get into how good they really are, as you can read and decide for yourself. But two good things happened over the last week, and it showed me how much I know I am on the right road with the principles these organizations espouse.

I am for free source software, as understood through the tenets of Creative Commons, and one of the better programs in this realm is called GIMP. It is a labor of love from some very smart programmers, coders and graphics designers. It’s for editing and creating images, and is on a par with the top $$$$ edition of Photoshop. It basically do what that program do, but..it is absolutely free, as in “download it and use it” free. This “little” fact gives people all over the world the tools to do what previously only people with a lot of money could do with images and photos. The thing is, like Photoshop, it is very deep…there’s a lot of stuff it can do, and it needs to be explained. It comes with an good pdf manual, but for people like me (and believe it or not, I am actually proficient at a lot of audio software) it needs a bit more explanation. A teacher named Rolf Steinort in Bremen Germany started a series of podcasts aimed at this; he provides these ‘casts as a service to the World Community, and like GIMP, at no charge. No charge..for a lot of time and effort, and real quality results.

Recently, he put up a request at ccMixter.org for some new music to back up his podcasts and lessons, and I jumped at the chance. I wrote a new piece for him, called “Rolf’s Groove”, and sectioned things off so that he could use the different pieces of the tune as he saw fit. I worked with him through email and box.net. The project was successful, and the first podcast, with my music, comes out this week. I will put a link up as soon as possible.

The second good thing happened this morning. I received an email from writer/producer Ellie Markovitch in Paris. She had produced a multimedia article for the International Herald Tribune and New York Times about the plight of migrants in Calais, France. I was honored that she chose a piece of mine called “The Long Goodbye” as the music for the article. It is one thing to write music, but to have it used in a constructive and worthwhile way like this makes me one happy bluesboy. The photography in the piece is by Susan Meiselas, who is an internationally known photographer, specializing in political issues involving the 3rd World. Her images are startling, and at times the narrative and music seem almost superfluous. This is photojournalism the way it should be, and if it’s what replaces print and teewee, count me in. Another other good thing about this is that my music has just been heard by millions of people who viewed the article online at the International Herald tribune and The New York Times.

here’s the links:

“The Long Goodbye” at ccMixter.org, where you can download it and read some reviews.

International Herald Tribune,

New York Times

Migrants in Calais, France produced by Ellie Markovitch for the International Herald Tribune. Photos by Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos and Reporting by Caroline Brothers.

I’d like to thank my friend in The Hague, Marco Raaphorst, for his continuing dialogue with his ‘merikan friend regarding the basic principles of Creative Commons, and why it works. These two examples speak the truth.

…and now, from the OVERDUE! Department of Pazdan Creativity

I will be putting the next series of my original and remitzed Creative Commons licensed music up this week, as I wanted to finish two new things before I did…there’s also the two ads for Barack I did, the NYT article, a long version of a piece I did with photographer Perry Slade, and more..including a new tune that is the first in a series of songs I am posting for my new band, and Rolf’s Groove, a complete version of the music I am doing for GIMP…sorry it took so long…. I been sick..Scout the dog ate my homework (she really did bite Lake Michigan last weekend, I am not kiddin’)..the car battery died…I had to campaign to make sure Hillary lost..you know..STUFF.

¶ Posted 08 May 2008 † John § Creative Commons § In General § Living in America § Music Biz/Theory § THe Music Part § Z Art Part ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: ccmixter.org, Creative Commons, GIMP, IHT, Larry Lessig, markovitch, NYT, raaphorst, Steinort, susan meiselas

Back Again with a Wright Comment

Had some things I was doing, April turned into a busy month. I will post them here this week..they include two new Obama ads, several new music pieces, several new collaborations with new people from ccMixter.org, and some really cool new connections to political and otherwise groups. Things seem to be rolling since I took Marco Raaphorst’s advice about certain things, including the entire sharing principle of free source software. I owe him a good review, and that will be coming as well. I am trying to figure out how to get to Holland next month to do a few music gigs with him.

so..the Rev Wright and Barack..and the “news” and it goes on and on..there are so many things to do now in this country, so many problems that may never be solved..but the ReThugs and NeoCon artists have to dig up horseshit whenever they can. Today, Mr Fish came up with a great cartoon, and it’s about the only comment I can make as a serious g__less Socialist. All this shitnz is about wha? Thank you Mr Fish..

Anyway..new music and videos (!) and moving pics and Art from Rena and a few good new reviews on my various and extremely talented fellow sufferers, all to come in this first week of May, 2008. In the meantime, please check out my friend The Farmer at Corrente (link in the column to your right) as well as Rising Hegemon and Driftglass ..they are just about the best it gets for humor and insight into the mess we are in. I am slowly learning from these smart funny people..slowly.

Ahh! almost forgot to remember..baby..my new instrument, the Mighty Electric Extended Tenor Bass will be arriving from the workshop of Rick Turner. and I am writing about it too..something I actually designed, did a prototype for, etc. I had a few changes in the final edition, essentially putting on a maple top to give a nod to my favorite guitars and basses of all time (besides Rick’s) Kay Guitars, circa 1950 something..but I actually do expect it here this month. This is a good thing. And just in time to sneak off to Holland..I suppose I SHOULD do some research on the World Court, in preparation for Cheney, the Chimp and all, but the Fahnk must go on..even in these awful times.

And I probably don’t need to remind anyone here that tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of the Chimp in Command landing on the aircraft carrier and declaring “mission accomplished”. This week saw the bloodiest times in Iraq for a long time, more people killed there then in months. This is not working..the mission, the illegal occupation of Iraq, was never “accomplished”, unless you consider enriching war profiteers an “accomplishment”. Our country is in deep trouble, and we can only hope Barack has the courage and wisdom to get us back. I really don’t think it’s possible anymore, that it’s gone too far. the deadly convergence of Global Warming and Peak Oil has started, the signs are everywhere and obvious to anyone who isn’t poisened by “the media” to look the other way. More on this..until the grid goes down..again.

¶ Posted 01 May 2008 † John § Barack § In General § Living in America ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: mrfish, obama, skydaddy, wright

Go for Two Gramps!

Barry Crimmins commenting on McGramps observation about withdrawl from Iraq..

“I’d much rather lose a campaign than lose a war.” — John McCain

“How about both?” — Barry Crimmins

McCain’s emergency appeal to boys who are more afraid of losing than anything else in the world speaks to every clown who ever got in a fist fight at a slow-pitch softball game. The United States has already lost a lot more than a war it never should have started in the first place. Thanks to America’s growing police state, we have lost our civil liberties. Thanks to America’s practices of torture, illegal detention and extraordinary rendition, America has lost whatever good name it had in the world. Thanks to America’s two-term fascist moron president, America has become an international punch-line. Thanks to the low, low prices of politicians, the American government has become a subsidiary of heartless, bloodless corporate scum. And thanks to that, the American military has become Hessians in service of that scum. Under the phony cover of “globalization” America’s economic backbone has been filleted and shipped in sharp shards for use in impaling peasant populi around the world. This country is broke, its infrastructure is busted and its health in the exact same condition as the ethics of the insurance and pharmaceutical racketeers who value profiteering more than life. Why exactly should I give a shit WHEN we officially lose a war that was a lost cause the second it became a viable option?

more…

¶ Posted 06 April 2008 † John § Iraq § McGramps § The Politics Part ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: Iraq, McGramps, stupidity

MLK

¶ Posted 04 April 2008 † John § Iraq § Living in America ‡ Comments (0) °

Agreed..

this is the second part of a testimony from 3/16/08..please watch it all the way through.

¶ Posted 17 March 2008 † John § Billary § Boosh § Iraq § Living in America § McGramps § The Life Part § The Politics Part ‡ Comments (0) °

It’s almost over, chapter…

Credit crunch woes claim America’s fifth-biggest bank

· Bear Stearns seeks buyer despite emergency aid
· Bush’s claim that economy is sound falls on deaf ears

War in Iraq: $502,741,000,000 …National debt: $9,411,078,000,000

“Prosperitism is just around the corner.”

Read and see more of George’s hilarious new Vegas routine HERE:

¶ Posted 15 March 2008 † John § Boosh § Living in America ‡ Comments (0) °

McGramps Ponders Reprodution

From Lawyers, Guns and Money, whose great byline is “Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business”. Special tip to Rising Hegemon, who are quickly becoming my favorite AM place to hang.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

While making the obvious but necessary point that a McCain presidency would be terrible for reproductive freedom, Roby n Blumner wonders if bovine idiocy is in fact a job requirement for the Republican nomination.

Apparently, yes:

The New York Times Web site reported the following exchange with a reporter in Iowa in March 2007:

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

What Blumner doesn’t point out is by accepting the president’s policy like a warm communion wafer, McCain is also announcing his de facto support for pork.

Read more

¶ Posted 11 March 2008 † John § Living in America § McGramps § The Politics Part ‡ Comments (0) °

Magic Sam: Fahnkin’ on the West Side, 1969

Baby boomer bullshit/navel gazing aside..I am from Chicago..and when I was a kid, I lived and breathed Chicago Blues music. While the other kids in my neighborhood were listening to… uhh..I dunnknow… The Association?..I hung out and played music with some older college aged hoodlums who were true fans… One of the best bluesmen in the mid to late 60’s in Chicago was Magic Sam. He was younger than Muddy and the Wolf..and played that beautiful blend of blues and soul that was happening in the late 60’s..you know what it is..it’s Z FAHNK. He played straight blues too..his mentor was Otis Rush..but when he came into being Magic Sam..I cannot begin to explain how good he was. I saw him several times..wore out my West Side Soul record (that’s the one in the pic above)..hitchhiked to the Ann Arbor Blues Festival when I was all of 17 and slept in a field near the stage (and almost got run over in the middle of the night by bikers) just to hear him and the Wolf. I was one happy bluesboy….A few months later, I cut high school class to attend his funeral on the south side of Chicago…

So..here he is..playing Earl Hookers shitty $100 Les Paul copy guitar with the stickers on it..missing a string..playing it with his fingers.. (take that all of you who think spending $5000 on a Jimmy Page Slept Here “repro” has anything to do with ANYTHING) at a festival in Germany.

Make sure you see the 2nd song..and it will all become clear why 99% of what passes for “the blues” these days is a weak-assed, watered down attempt at recreating something that most of the current practitioners have no clue about. I am a little reflective this munin” I guess..March winds howling, snow swirling around, dirty grey snow on the street..hey it’s like a Bergman movie, where’s Van Sydow….but I truly miss some of the bad old times and the music that flowed through them. So here’s to you Sam..and Luther Allison, Little Milton, Jr Wells, Lefty Dizz and my old friend and partner John Duitch..

“all my friends have gone down, and things just ain’t the same”

¶ Posted 09 March 2008 † John § Living in America § THe Music Part § The Life Part § how to dance! ‡ Comments (4) °

Art by Joe

Jo e Gagnepain is one of our favorite humans..he’s a sculptor, visual artist, and lately has taken up ice carving..because the materials ARE PLENTIFUL AND CHEAP around here. He is “from the area”…and if you think it’s hard being an artist in NewYawk or Yourip or even… Seattle..shit..move out here to the Greater Fox River Valley, the domain/kingdom of Denny “Worst Speaker of the House in the History of the United States” Hastert (hey everybody needs a handle!)…

Joe has a studio under a bridge in one of the “better” towns out here..and cranks Z Art like he’s running out of time. He recently came back from a trip to Italy with two of his friends. He carried his homemade ice sculpting saws on the plane..in a bag..O Brave New Homeland Security! They won 1st Place at the event, and their prize was a bunch of salamis and cheeses (sadly not making that up) Art pays! Ask us how we know.

Pictures better than words, no?

foolsoftheworld Art by Joe

Joe’s on the left (he is, too…)

This is his ride…pimped for a parade, but in reality, not too different..

Rena and I have dibs on the crow for our garden.. Joe?

and this bird..currently resides in our living room window.

Wave when you go by, ok?

¶ Posted 07 March 2008 † John § Living in America § The Great Reconstruction § The Life Part § Z Art Part ‡ Comments (0) °

Shawn Wolfe..

It doesn’t get much better than this… head over to his site

NOW, please.

¶ Posted 06 March 2008 † John § Z Art Part ‡ Comments (0) °

ok ok..he really wasn’t clog dancing..

who knew.. Dick..Condi..and even..fat (phat?) boy.

¶ Posted 06 March 2008 † John § Boosh § Living in America § how to dance! ‡ Comments (0) °

Mah boyfriends a comin’, mah boyfriends a comin’

from the Rising Hegemon..thank you sirs and madam..

JEFRO! fetch Ellie May out by the ce-ment pond, and tell granny to put on a pot of possum stew..

whooo DOGGIE!

¶ Posted 06 March 2008 † John § Living in America § how to dance! ‡ Comments (0) °

Living in America, PT 2

Two things in my reader this morning from The Guardian..yes..being the g__less Socialist I am..I subscribe to The Guardian (they are also “responsible” for that piece on Moses below..as well as having the good sense to print George Monbiot every week)….here’s two innerstin’ little tidbits that were side x side today:

Bernanke warnings on housing slump sparks Wall Street sell-off

· Repossessions threaten US economy, says Fed chief
· Citigroup shares plunge on fears of more write-downs

more..

followed by:

‘This nation is coming back and so is this campaign’

Hillary Clinton in Ohio
even…more

I am so confused..

¶ Posted 05 March 2008 † John § Billary § Living in America § The Politics Part ‡ Comments (0) °

Moses Was Stoned When He Set Ten Commandments, researcher claims

Charlton Heston as Moses in the 1955 film The Ten Commandments

We all know that Moses was high on Mount Sinai when God spoke to him, but were the Ten Commandments a result of divine inspiration alone?

An Israeli researcher is claiming in a study published this week the prophet may have been stoned when he set the Ten Commandments in stone.

According to Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, psychedelic drugs formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times…..

read on, my son

¶ Posted 05 March 2008 † John § The Life Part ‡ Comments (0) °

John Pazdan