Charleston: It's not about guns. It's not an attack on Christianity. It's about racism and ignorance of history.

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Dylan Roof is a cracker. He's a backwoods, redneck, bigoted, ginger-ass cracker with a fucking Moe Howard haircut. He's the worst of us - and he does come from America's collective. Make no mistake. There are many more Dylan Roofs. Whether or not they have to gall to carry out their demented fantasies of "reclaiming 'our country'" is another story. but they're out there. They're also terrorists. They're as terrorist is ISIS, or Al Qaeda. He and his ilk should be labeled as such in the media. Their terror is a result of willful historical ignorance and revisionism.

Attack on Christianity? I've heard this too, and it's crap. He picked that church for a reason. It's a historically significant site. It was picked because it was a black church, not because it's a church. Period. Another reason this should be called terrorism.

There are too many people out there who cling to the notion that the Civil War was not about slavery, but rather was about "States rights." That's bullshit. The only state right named in articles of secession is that of slavery. Anyone who advances that is full of shit. It's a cognitive bait and switch to give that racism the cover of legitimacy by adding historical context. It's bullshit. I think it's ironic that Lincoln used the power of the Federal Government to hold the Union together, and subdue the Confederacy while leading the Movement to ratify the 13th Amendment. Now the "Party of Lincoln" currently is opposed to the Feds imposing anything. If Lincoln were alive today, he'd give the GOP leaders, and standard bearers a swift kick in the dick. (another example of the idiocy of looking at modern political parties through the prism of the 1850s - another story)

The Confederate flag also needs to go. From the end of the Civil War, through Reconstruction, and until the Civil Rights movement threatened the Jim Crow order in the 1960s, the Confederate Battle Flag was not used as a symbol of Southern "heritage." It was not added to southern State flags, and public grounds until then. It's a flag of racism, and bigotry because that's when it was resurrected as a symbol. The South, and Southerners have added real richness to us; blues, jazz, bourbon whiskey, Dean Smith, to name a few, but that flag is fucked up and needs to be put into the ashbin of history. It's been hijacked by bigots, and racists as their standard. 

My thoughts on guns are established, but they're not germane here. Any sensible limits on guns that most gun owners believe in (i.e. background checks) would not have prevented this. Let's not go down that rabbit hole. I only address it, because others have brought it up. It's way down the list. Ideas are more powerful then weapons, and these cracker-ass bullshit ideas need to be shown for the utter bullshit they are.

Thoughts on Memorial Day

It is interestingly ironic, and poetic, that the celebrations around Memorial Day are typically family gatherings, local parades, and relaxation among loved ones. As a remembrance of service people who gave ultimate sacrifice in honoring that call to serve, it only seems fitting that we spend the day enjoying carefree activities that exemplify American style freedom. I mean those that died in service did so defending that freedom.

I always think of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address when I think of Memorial Day. I know it wasn't presented on Memorial Day. Especially this last part:

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

People that serve, serve with a purpose. There's no other way to look at it. Even if someone only serves just to get money for education, they still serve. In doing so they all take an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies - foreign and domestic. It's a big deal to make that promise. By the same token we owe it to those making it, that what they're sent to do in that service honors the spirit of service captured - in my estimation - in the Gettysburg Address.

I've seen the photo on social media more times than I can count of the Marine handing a small boy the flag from his father's casket. War is the most vile, and extreme form of politics. Unfortunately the decisions around it are made by politicians, and they - regardless of affiliation - are nothing more than water boys. Whomever they're carrying water for influences that, and that's wrong. Every future kid, spouse, mom, dad, brother and sister are owed by we citizens that future sacrifices are done for that freedom and only that freedom. That's our obligation as American citizens. People that promise to defend deserve nothing less.

 

Beautiful songs that are ......... so ......... fuckin' ......... sad

Music, our lives are filled with moments linked to song. Stories of wedding days, graduations, children's births, first loves, and kisses have all been set to so many pretty pieces of music. There's no shortage of pretty love songs. There's also no shortage of angry music telling angry stories. Now, I'm not a musician so when I hear the musical part of a song, and think if I like it, love it or whatever. Words, I think, I get since I use them. Maybe that's why I pay attention and think about them a little more than the music. Usually a song's lyrics match the music in emotional content and intensity, so it really grabs my attention when they don't. Putting a sad lyrical story to a beautiful piece of music strikes me as a more difficult thing to do. I thought it'd worthwhile to put together a list of the best examples.

Brilliant Disguise - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce has plenty of sad ass songs; The River, Atlantic City, Meeting Across The River, Downbound Train. Those are sad to be sure, but they are totally sad. They have a sad melody and a sad story. Brilliant Disguise has a delicateness to the melody, and the guitar riff has a nice dance to it, but the guy is realizing his wife does not love him, might be cheating on him, and he's pretty much decided to live with it, refuse to love her back, and just play the part of half a couple.
"God have mercy on the man who doubts what he's sure of." Dude - no shit!



The Millworker - James Taylor

A delicate little acoustic guitar picking, and a pretty piano accompaniment are the musical heart of this song. We hear a girl (I know - James Taylor is not a girl....imagination people) recount her past, her regrets, and her happy memories as she lets us know that she feels this life of hers has been wasted. Her grandfathers stories of his time as a sailor, and her memories of playing with her father are juxtaposed against her life as alcoholic's widow, the kids she's left with, and the realization that she's little more than a human tool in a mill, and she's accepted that.
"Waiting on a daydream to take me through the morning, to get me in my coffee break where I can have a sandwich and remember." Shit - ever think a different job would help?



I Am A Rock - Simon and Garfunkel

Paul's simple, plucky guitar along with the duo's tight harmonies make this really nice to listen too, but you listen and the protagonist in the song is singing about being lonely, and that to deal with it all he's decided to just build up wall around him, and not give a fuck.
"I have no need of friendship. Friendship causes pain. It's laughter and loving I disdain." C'mon man!! Seriously!?!?



Lyin Eyes - The Eagles

A gentle strum, a twangy country guitar lick, and those tight tight Henley, Frey, and Meisner harmonies belie our songs main character's regret that she married for money and is miserable. She lies to get out of the house to see her young lover. She knows she's lying, and she thinks her husband knows she's lying, and despite promising to come back to see her lover, someday, forever, she knows she's going to keep on lying because that's the life she's chosen.
"Did she get tired, or did she just get lazy? She's so far gone she feels just like a fool." Damn!!



Straight Into Darkness - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

Now, beauty is subjective, and I find Petty's jangly guitar and layers of rhythm on his music it's own form of pretty so maybe I'm pushing pretty here, but the lamentation the of the lyrics of feeling love, and then having the feeling one day be just gone is just tragedy realized.
"Real love is a man's salvation. The weak ones fall. The strong carry on." No shit Tom. No shit.



Dead Flowers - Rolling Stones

This is built on a country lick (yes by the Rolling Stones), with a twangy rhythm that just bounces. as Mick - in his best country drawl - sings of what the protagonist imagines his lost love's fabulous life is as he spirals down. We don't know why. It just is.
"I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon, and another girl takes my pain away." Sunnuvvabitch!!! What the fuck happened Mick!?!?




Killin Time - Clint Black

A proud guitar riff and a cheery steel guitar accompany this tale of a man who's lost the love he thought would be with him forever. How? Why? Don't know. That's never explained, but the song's protagonist has decided that he's just gonna dull the sorrow and regret over "if he'da done the things he oughta" in liquor until he's dead.
"If there's an end to all my sorrow, and this is the only price I'll pay, I'll be a happy man when I go, and I can't wait another day." That's fucking dark dude! Get a dog, or a hobby!



I don't know. Maybe sadness is just as delicate as love is. Maybe juxtaposing the two makes emphasizes the fine line between the extremes. Maybe the beauty makes us pay attention to the sadness. We've all felt the highs of love, and life's hope followed by crushing loss and regret. That could be the point. I don't know. There are more examples I can think of. Maybe there'll be a part II of this.

American Sniper.....it's good

photo: Awardsdaily.com

I'm not a film reviewer, and this is not a film review, although as I go back and edit, it kinda is. I know precious little about film making, cinematography, screenwriting (though THAT I'm learning), framing, lighting, etc. A lot has been written about this movie, and about it's protagonist Chris Kyle. A little background if you don't know who he is. Chris Kyle was a SEAL sniper who served 4 tours in the Iraq war. He is officially credited with 160 kills. He's regarded as the most deadly sniper in US military history. The movie is based on his autobiography.

There's been criticism that the movie is jingoistic, and racist in some it's themes and content. That's unfair I think to say that the movie glorifies war, and excuses racist, hateful things combatants say and do. The reality is that soldiers are taught to hate the enemy, and part of that is dehumanizing the enemy. Now, in absolute terms, that's a bad thing, but in relative terms it's good. You can't send fighting people into a conflict with empathy for the enemy. Thinking the person on the other end of a shot is a human being with kids, and other human amenities is a sure way to introduce hesitation on their part. That's just the reality. That's a reflection on us, the society who sends them to war. The movie, this in mind, portrays the soldiers sympathetically. This movie also does not engage in jingoism. The rightness, or wrongness of the war in Iraq is not explored. It just is the setting. There is no exploration into the politics of it. There's none at all. Whether the movie should have or should not have is immaterial to the story of Chris Kyle.

Chris Kyle believes his cause is just. His upbringing is explored briefly, but since the movie is based on his book (and I have not read it) it's probably just as matter-of-factly presented in his book. Insofar as it is revealed, he grew up with a basic set of principles; there are 3 kinds of people; sheep, wolves, and sheepdog. Don't be a sheep, or a wolf - be a sheepdog his father tells him and his brother. That's how he sees himself throughout. He's there to protect others. Again, not a morality play. It is what it is, and that makes him what he is. Not sure why some say this oversimplifies, and glorifies war. The world is presented though his eyes, and that's how he sees the world, and that's how he sees the world. Right or wrong, it's not appropriate for director Clint Eastwood to reframe that perspective in my opinion.

What really drives home this movie is Bradley Cooper's portrayal of Chris Kyle. We see early on him as a kid listening to his dad, and shortly thereafter as a young adult who wants to be a rodeo cowboy, is really just a guy. His attention to world events involving terrorism, and culminating in the events of 9/11 are given cursory attention in the movie. He's a cowboy, then he's in a recruiter office, and then in SEAL training, then meets his future wife, gets married, then eagerly deployed to Iraq. Bang - bang - bang. No moralizing. That's who Cooper shows us as Chris Kyle. He also brings a sense that war is hard, even damaging, on it's willing participants. Through Cooper we see Kyle struggle with his commitment as a father, and as a brother in arms. He's dedicated to his duty. The pain his wife is in as he goes through multiple deployments is palpable. When he's out, he awkward, and uncomfortable around others in non-military settings, including other veterans. The scene where he's thanked by a fellow vet in a tire shop catches this. Kyle just wants to get out of the shop with his son. It looks to me like he does not see himself as a soldier any longer, but just as a dad.

All of which brings me to my point. The controversy surrounding this movie is out of this; each of us brings our perspective to any art. We interpret it through our own individual set of biases. We just do, but that's the value of art. Perception is what frames reality. Whether it's film, music, photography, poetry, or whatever, our individual perspective colors our conclusion. You can just as easily see a guy fervent, and patriotic in his eagerness to serve his country, and protect his brothers in combat. You can also see the atrocity that war is as people in a region have to choose sides, and fathers, mothers, and kids become combatants, and victims of each side. You can also see, like I did, that war fucks people up; combatants same as victims. You don't have to see this movie to see that. The history of modern warfare, beginning with WWI, can't be told without taking into account shellshock, or PTSD today. Terrible things are done in war, by good people. Early in the movie Kyle shoots a child, then his mother - each of whom has a grenade as they approach US troops. An otherwise good kid, and his Mom threaten soldiers. That's really bad. Kyle shoots them, also terrible, but that's what happens in wars. That's why they're supposed to be last resort. Morality goes out the window in a war. It's gone.

Every soldier that fights deserves to be honored for manning a post, and standing alongside his brethren. We cannot condemn them for doing their duty as they are programmed throughout training to do. Too often we fail to do that when we hear, or see a portrayal, of what they do. What we need to do is hold politicians to a higher standard when it comes to the decision to wage war. War fucks people up - sometimes irreparably.The decision to wage it in modern media culture seems to be made with the same consideration given Super Bowls, and World Cups. That is what we fail to do. Don't blame Clint Eastwood for "glorifying" war. Don't blame Chris Kyle for killing to execute his objective.