David Roe: The Latest

festfun.com The grounds are abuzz with the sounds of saws and rehearsals. Opening weekend is a month away.

Chippewa Valley Renaissance Faire

I am going back to the renaissance, again! John Mills has been named as producer for the Faire and Campgrounds in Chippewa Falls, WI, less than 2 hours East of the Twin Cities, and I will be your not so humble host and musical director. On weekends, from May 22- June 20, we will be opening the gates to a medieval wonderland, more spam, than cam a lot. I have assembled a musical cast that will include current and former members of The Gypsy Guerilla Band, Cantiga, New Minstrel Review, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Avenbury/Samirah, Celtic Stone, Hey Nunny Nunny, Boiled In Lead, Cafe Mundo International, Wolgemut and Small Potatoes, plus Billy Miller and a certain story telling monk. I believe the King not only sings, but also plays bodhran, bones, and over 50 jaw harps and mouth bows. There will be a full contact rock and roll joust, and the entire musical cast will assemble at the end of the day to become the largest 13th century bulgarian afro indo celt jazz rock orchestra in captivity, complete with the spinning WHEEL OF MUSIC, a relic of days gone by.

WILDER WEST & STEAMPUNK EXTRAVAGANZA

August 28 & 29- September 25 & 26

Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Ned Buntline and a Saloon full of singing, and dancing characters, PLUS a full on RODEO!

The Haunted Valley

October 14-31

The unusual. The creepy. The bizarre. All Halo's eve in the dark hollow.

I gave a seminar a few years back in Minnesota for a music biz class. They recorded some of it. http://www.msbmusicbiz.com/news/artists.html Save The Bones For Henry Jones
Sunny Side of The Street
Louisiana
You Don't Know What Love Is
All on guitar.

and then there is video from the inaugural DC Fringe Festival Chandler and Roe http://studioeight.tv/events/cabaradio_fringe_2006/videos/louisiana.mov

David Roe, Thomas Nuendel, Michael Huebner & Friends will play the music of Tom Waits from The Hill Country of Txas to the Florida Panhandle. Check the calendar for dates.

I'll be playing a mostly Irish set Tuesday night March 17th at El Diablo's in beautiful Idyllwild California. There'll be a couple other bands on the bill, so come on out and raise a pint or two.

Special dispensation for all those who gave up the drink for Lent.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

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Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -- even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment -- a moment that will define a generation -- it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed -- why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations

After a couple days digging ditches and laying electric lines with Ranger Ric, I headed up the mountain to Floyd on Thanksgiving morning. On Wednesday, Ric had loaded the pickup truck and headed to the dump, only to find a tangle of disgruntled pickup truck drivers milling by the locked gate. Shades of Arlo. He did not toss the garbage down the hill.
Anyway, as I meandered up the mountain, I lost the NPR blather regarding leftovers, and hit scan. Arlo was just finishing the first chorus, and I had 25 minutes of the greatest anti-war anti-littering storytelling to push me up to the top of Mount Crumpit. All the way to Floyd.
Now, I have known the Yards- Rob & Katherine, for decades, but have never visited their magical family compound, where wives are midded, babies born and raised, and miraculous salves and flutes created. Pulling up the drive, past the houses built by the Yard children, now grown, some with wonderful singing dancing free spirited children of their own, I park by the greenhouse, and nearly bump into a freshly killed and gutted deer hanging in front of the shed.
Inside, food covers every available surface. The 6 burner stove is not enough, and the wood stove is home to three boiling pots.
Children are everywhere. Friends arrive. Renee, Rick, sons and swordsalesmen, on their way back from Florida to Michigan, performing some reverse Rennie run on the season. Ric and Jacklyn walk in, then Will and Danielle, all the way from California, seeking a Currier and Ives holiday not to be found in the deserts of southern California.
The room, filled with folks I have known for a quarter of a century, bubbles with remember whens and what ever happened tos. I find myself sitting in amazement as I attempt to account the accomplishments of the now grown children in the room. Linda Damien's little goofy kid, hanging with one of the Yard babies, but now they run 2, 3, 4 businesses at each faire they work. Shanti is making sure his parents and sisters have enough firewood for the winter. Renee's boys running the family biz. Kalisha, following in her mother's footsteps. These are all good kids, Lake Woebegone good kids, DisneySundayMovie good kids. Rennie kids, raised right, by the village, for the village, and self reliant kids who actually care and are aware of the larger world around them.
Dinner comes. I fill my plate twice. I give thanks. Life is pretty good. Hanging with some of the wisest old fooles I know, warm stove and camaraderie inside, fire pit crackling outside. Pretty healthy, all in all. So what I don't have a car, or a gig, or a job. I did my little bit to help put the Barry O in the The White House, I don't own stock, or a credit card. I canned some veggies at Ric and Jackies. Winter won't be so bad in the trailer in the woods. Just live in the moment, be happy, be grateful.
...And then Will and Danielle and I started talking about opening their new store, so, Palm Springs, here I come.

I hope my front page returns to music news soon, but for now, it's one more plea to get out the vote for my man from Hope, Barack Obama. Wednesday can't come too soon.

And all is quiet in the house. Week 4 of the Carolina Ren Fest Sat and Sun. And this Friday- Oct 24- I am playing in High Point NC with Jeremy and Tasha for the Furniture Market Festivities.

"NINJA" loans. A bit of history: Banks used to map out 'red-lined districts' in which no mortgages would be written. So even if your financials were solid, you couldn't buy a home in those areas. And how do we characterize the citizens in red-lined districts? Black, Hispanic and other minorities. So congress required that banks write mortgages to people whose financials qualified them except for wanting to buy in a red-lined district.

I don't know this, but suspect that some run-down areas became Yuppified when banks began to write mortgages in them.

The real problem became the securitization of mortgages and the way that Wall Street firms wrote insurance policies on the securitized loans they sold, being very, very careful not to call it insurance so they could avoid regulations that required insurance to be backed with solid assets. So when it began to unravel, the whole thing fell apart (and Sylvia's and my CREF retirement income is taking a big hit.)

6 (or 7) Degrees of Separation.
Check out the literature that says you can connect anyone to anyone else within 6 or 7 links (a few years back it was a game to connect actors to Kevin Bacon.) So be very careful of guilt by association.
I'm connected to John McCain with just two: I worked for his father in Hawaii. And to Barak: we had dinner with his 7th grade teacher.

About Laureen's (his vociferously republican sister-DR) Chicago friends who were active in the 70s. I remember the late 60s and 70s. I remember saying that, if I were Black, I'd be in the streets, too. The change in our country during that time was remarkable and upsetting (no one ever described the South as 'the sunbelt' then.) The fight for equality (lunch counters, bus seating, schools, voting, drinking fountains) coupled with the revulsion of the middle and upper classes about the draft (the percentage of male high school graduates going to college zoomed to about 2/3 from under half!) made for exciting times.

A lot of people were 'radicals' then. But even those who participated in talking or committing acts of violence have long since become solid citizens, good members of their communities. And what Christian among us can naysay that our religion requires us to accept that people can repent, change their ways and be 'born again?' So cut those folks a little slack. Not everyone who disagrees with me is mine enemy.

So I am loath to condemn Barak for associating with other once radical people who care for the underclass or John McC who was a shameful part of the Keating mess. And I'm sorry the Rs brought up the folks in Chicago that required Barak to respond in kind.

Stan

Friends,

Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

"Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

"Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

"At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

"Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions."
Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to "consult" in the bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.

Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?

It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!

I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's what you can do immediately:

1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.

2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).

3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.

When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.

P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.

Hurricanes are a blowin'. Wall Street is reeling. Fossil Fuel prices are at unheard of rates. Cheney/Bush hide under rocks like the snakes they are lamenting that the fall of the American Empire is slightly ahead of schedule. Could it all not have waited until after January 20th. Could it not have waited until they were in the clear and out of office. Bush is having another Katrina moment. Sheepishly he comes out from his hole long enough to make a 4 minute speech about the debacle taking place with the stock market.

As of yesterday there were 50 trucks lined up in Carville Louisiana being paid at the rate of $800.00/ day. They are paid to sit in place fully loaded as many suffer in Texas and Louisiana from last weekends visit from Ike. There is no difference with this storm. Bush's FEMA is no better this time around, they have learned nothing from the disgrace with Katrina in 2005.

The Bush/ McCain Republican party has run slip-shod over the regulations in place to prevent a collapse of our monetary system in place since the Great Depression. They have allowed the foxes to run rampant in the hen house. Look at what we have now. The dollar is worth nothing. The Stock Market is reeling. The world is watching. What would happen if the Chinese were to call in all of the loans to us. We have made them rich by farming out all of our manufacturing and by buying there cheaply made goods.

I am amazed that the race for the presidency is so close. I am amazed by the numbers of white people who are scared of Obama. That is the only thing that can explain the numbers. Regretfully, there are many white folk who will say that they will vote for the Democratic hopeful but will not when in the voting booth. I'm sorry but I just don't see the names McCain/ Palin in the annals of our history. Do you really want four more years of Bush. That is what we will get with McCain. I don't think our democracy can stand it. If it happens again it will be the fault of the people who should know better by now.

Captain William Bolt

I start a month of Fridays a bit early. Come on down to downtown Stuart, The Honduras Coffee Co. for a dose of New Orleans Jazz and...

This came from my daughter earlier in the week.

Aloha Friends!

Some of you might know that my paternal grandmother, Sylvia, was only 31 years old and had three children under the age of 9 when she received the frightening diagnosis of breast cancer. After an experimental treatment with nitrogen mustard, she resumed her career as a nurse and matriarch of a growing family that now includes five grandchildren and one great-grandson. At the age of 70, Sylvia found a malignant tumor at the base of her neck which was diagnosed as lymphoma. She has since completed her therapy, rallied through her second bout of cancer, and at age 74 has agreed to join our family team (Grandma Sylvia, Aunt Susan, Cousins Aurora & Cora) on this 3-day, 60-mile walk starting September 12, 2008.

I'm happy to report that Susan G. Komen for the Cure receives top ratings from Guidestar.com, a company that rates non-profit organizations based on the amount they actually spend on their mission versus administrative or advertising costs. Therefore, I (and hopefully you!) can rest easy, knowing that our donations are heading directly to fund important breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. Donating online is easy and tax-deductible!

Each walker is REQUIRED to raise $2,200 before the start of the event, but I'm setting my goal a bit higher at $2,500. My 30th birthday is just around the corner (Aug. 7), so I'm asking family and friends for fundraising donations to the Komen Foundation in lieu of birthday gifts.

Any dollar amount that you can donate is welcome and appreciated. If you'd like, you can spread your payment out over four months, using the payment plan option if you donate online at www.The3Day.org. Please also ask your employer if they will double your donation with a matching gift.

Just follow the link below to visit my personal fundraising webpage and make a donation. If you don't want to donate online, please download and print a donation form and mail it to the address on the form. Or you can call 800.996.3DAY to donate over the phone. I would like to reach my fundraising goal by September 1, so don't delay!

Thank you for taking the time to read this email, and thank you for your support.

Mahalo!
Cora

P.S. Don't wait - donate today!
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/SeattleEvent?px=2370387&pg=personal&fr_id=1189&et=CbHeaMDL5gl0v4JCxy-qlg..&s_tafId=6131
Click here to view the team page for Sylvia's Supporters
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/SeattleEvent?team_id=42860&pg=team&fr_id=1189&et=WE6kDJ_hgXmP7MEmW5GUiQ..&s_tafId=6131



For more information about the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Susan G. Komen for the Cure or the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, visit http://www.the3day.org/ or call 800.996.3DAY.












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Patti McKenny was a playwright, a lyricist, a voiceover performer, a writer of corporate communications, an oral interpreter, a director, a tireless proponent of the arts in Chicago and an organizer with a work ethic that was astounding to behold. Above all, she was a storyteller who was never more at home than in a theatre putting on a show with the theatre people she loved. Her heart, which never failed anyone in life, finally failed her in death on June 28, 2008. Patti was born in Dayton, OH, in 1951, where she attended Alter High School and was a co-founder of Summer Youth Theatre Company (SYTCO). At Northwestern University she earned both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Oral Interpretation. She liked to say that she majored in reading aloud, something she did with extraordinary flair. While at Northwestern she wrote her first play, Chautauqua. Major works since then include 90 North (written with her longtime collaborator Doug Frew and composer Daniel Sticco), Becoming George (with Doug Frew and composer Linda Eisenstein), Lady Lovelace's Objection (with Doug Frew) and Towertown. She was for several years a regular contributor to Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion." At the time of her death she had just completed her first draft of a play about the Greek goddess Psyche. Patti was a founding member of Chicago Musical Theatre Works (CMTW), a driving force in Chicago Women in Publishing, a proud member of the Dramatists' Guild and a founding partner (way back when) of Studiomedia Recording Studio in Evanston. Recently Patti and Doug, with composer Andrew Hansen, won the After Dark Award and a Joseph Jefferson award nomination for the music and lyrics in She Stoops to Conquer at Northlight Theatre. Patti was a 2007 recipient of the Tim Meier & Helen Coburn Meier Achievement Award for Arts Professionals in Mid-Career. She is survived by her brother Don (Diane) McKenny; her nieces Trish and Molly; and nephew Sam; and a countless extended family of friends across the country. She joins her parents Donald and Martha McKenny somewhere in the great beyond, a realm she spent a lifetime exploring in her neverending spiritual quest. She was a friend to the goddesses, the universe and the Earth. She was a true and loyal friend, a loving sister and beloved aunt. She was and is an inspiration. And everyone who knew her will miss her. There will be a memorial service held at a later date.

Published in the Chicago Tribune on 7/2/2008.

...music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
jazz. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jazz (accessed: January 06, 2008).
...A form of American music that grew out of African-Americans' musical traditions at the beginning of the twentieth century. Jazz is generally considered a major contribution of the United States to the world of music. It quickly became a form of dance music, incorporating a “big beat” and solos by individual musicians. For many years, all jazz was improvised and taught orally, and even today jazz solos are often improvised.
"jazz." The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 06 Jan. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jazz>.

Check out the music page for clips from 2 new albums I helped record last year. Eliza Carney's children's album, and Janet Bates' "For All His Wealth"

4PM Jazz Jam every Sunday. All skill levels and instruments are invited. Come on down and jam on some good ole Dixieland Swing with DR and Stephen Rufus.

Tuesday through Friday evenings from 6-10PM at Botak Jones Toa Payoh North Block 970A, The Second Street Café next to Singapore Press Holdings.
Saturday January 19th from 6-10PM at the Botak Jones in Clementi Blk 325 Clementi Ave 5
Saturday January 26th from 6-10PM at the Botak Jones Blk 422 Bedok North Ave 2
Mardi Gras weekend Saturday February 2nd from 6-10PM at the Botak Jones in The Woodgrove 30 Woodlands Ave 1
Valentines Day +2 Saturday February 16th from 6-10PM at the Botak Jones Blk529 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10
February 23 Depot Rd
March 1 Grand Opening Bukit Batok

...music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
jazz. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jazz (accessed: January 06, 2008).
...A form of American music that grew out of African-Americans' musical traditions at the beginning of the twentieth century. Jazz is generally considered a major contribution of the United States to the world of music. It quickly became a form of dance music, incorporating a “big beat” and solos by individual musicians. For many years, all jazz was improvised and taught orally, and even today jazz solos are often improvised.
"jazz." The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 06 Jan. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jazz>.

...American music developed especially from ragtime and blues and characterized by propulsive syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, varying degrees of improvisation, and often deliberate distortions of pitch and timbre b: popular dance music influenced by jazz and played in a loud rhythmic manner
Merriam- Webster

...syncopated popular music: popular music that originated among black people in New Orleans in the late 19th century and is characterized by syncopated rhythms and improvisation.
-MSN Encarta

...a. A style of music, native to America, characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and chord patterns and, more recently, a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom.
b. Big band dance music
-The FreeDictionary

...a type of music of black American origin characterized by improvisation, syncopation and usually a regular or forceful rhythm emerging at the beginning of the 20th century. Brass and woodwind instruments and the piano are particularly associated with jazz music. Styles include Dixieland Swing, Bebop, and Free Jazz.
-OED
For a comprehensive list of jazz vocalists, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_jazz_singers

We got it!!!
We have a performance license. (Actually- an exemption from license- jazz and folk music don't need a license. Its a long story.)
So, I will be performing nightly from 6- 10 this week, including New Years Eve. So, if you are in the neighborhood, come sit at the bar, sip one of Miss Samantha's fine margaritas, and sing along at Singapore's first eating house piano bar.
Toa Payoh North Blk 970A
And tune in to 91.3 FM to hear Bernie's latest ads.

Locked Outside the Gates: Tasers, Pepper Spray, and Arrests in the
Struggle for Affordable Housing in New Orleans
By Bill Quigley.
Bill is a human rights lawyer and
law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. Bill
is part of the team of lawyers representing displaced
residents of public housing. You can reach him at
Quigley@loyno.edu
In a remarkable symbol of the injustices of post-Katrina reconstruction, hundreds of people were locked out of a public New Orleans City Council meeting addressing demolition of 4500 public housing apartments. Some were tasered, many pepper sprayed and a dozen arrested.
Outside the chambers, iron gates were chained and padlocked even before the scheduled start.
The scene looked like one of those countries on TV that is undergoing a people’s revolution - and the similarities were only beginning. (See video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMBWAXfGsc4 )
Dozens of uniformed police secured the gates and other entrances. Only developers and those with special permission from council members were allowed in - the rest were kept locked outside the gates. Despite dozens of open seats in the council chambers, pleas to be allowed in were ignored.
Chants of “Housing is a human right!” and “Let us in!” thundered through the concrete breezeway.
Public housing residents came and spoke out despite an intense campaign of intimidation. Residents were warned by phone that if they publicly opposed the demolitions they would lose all housing assistance. Residents opposed to the demolition had simple demands. If the authorities insisted on spending hundreds of millions to tear down hundreds of structurally sound buildings containing 4500 public housing subsidized apartments, there should be a guarantee that every resident could return to a similarly subsidized apartment. Alternatively, the government should use the hundreds of millions to repair the apartments so people could come home. Neither alternative was acceptable to HUD. A plan of residents to partner with the AFL-CIO Housing Trust to save their homes was also ignored.
Outside, SWAT team members and police in riot gear and on horses began to arrive as rain started falling. Those locked out included public housing residents, a professor from Southern University, graduate students, the Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana, ministers, lawyers, law students, homeless people who lived in tents across the street from city hall, affordable housing allies from across the country and dozens of others.
Inside the chambers, Revered Torin Sanders and others insisted that the locked out be allowed to come and stand inside along the walls - a common practice for over 30 years. No one could recall any City Council locking people out of a public meeting. The request to allow people to stand was denied. The Council then demanded silence from those inside. Those who continued to demand that the others be let in were pointed out by police, physically taken down and arrested. Ironically, some young men were tasered right in front of the speaker’s podium.
This was a meeting the council had repeatedly tried to avoid. It was only held after residents (100% African American and nearly all mothers and grandmothers) got an emergency court order stopping demolitions until the council acted. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced long ago it was going to demolish 4500 public housing apartments despite the Katrina crisis of affordable housing no matter what anyone said. HUD had no plans to ask the council or anyone else for approval. The judge said otherwise, so the meeting was scheduled.
Leaders of the U.S. Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, asked that the decision be delayed 60 days so they could try to move forward on Senate Bill 1668 which would resolve many of the demolition problems. This request was backed by New Orleans Congressman William Jefferson, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and Presidential candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama.
Opponents cited the affordable housing crisis in New Orleans. Homeless people camped across from City Hall and for blocks under the interstate. The number of homeless people doubled since Katrina. Thousands of residents in FEMA trailers across the Gulf Coast were being evicted.
(More on the reasons to oppose demolition can be found here: http://www.justiceforneworleans.org/index.php? module=article&view=99&page_num=2 ).
Solidarity demonstrations opposing demolition were held in Washington DC, New York, Oakland, Minneapolis, Houston, North Carolina, Maine, Philadelphia, Cleveland, New Jersey, and Boston. Thousands of people across the country contacted city council members. Dozens of community, housing and human rights groups petitioned the Council not to demolish until there was an enforceable requirement of one for one replacement of housing.
But hours before the meeting began, a majority of the council publicly announced on the front page of the local paper that they were going to approve demolition no matter what people said at the meeting. The paper, the developers and others were delighted. Residents and affordable housing allies were not.
Inside, the council started the meeting surrounded by armed police, National Guard and undercover authorities from many law enforcement agencies.
Outside, the locked out could see the people who had been arrested on the inside being dragged away to police wagons. A few of the protestors then pulled open one of the gates. The police started shooting arcs of pepper spray into the crowd. A woman’s scream pierced the chaos as police fired tasers into the crowd. Medics wiped pepper spray from fallen people’s eyes. A young woman who was tasered in the back went into a seizure and was taken to the hospital.
Inside and out, a dozen people were arrested - most for disturbing the peace. They joined another dozen who had been arrested over the past week in protest actions against the demolitions.
The City Council meeting continued. Supporters of demolition were given careful, courteous attention and softball questions by council members. Opponents less so.
Despite pleas from displaced residents, dozens of community organizations and federal elected officials, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to allow demolition to proceed. In their approval the Council did promise to urge HUD to listen to residents and to work for one for one replacement of affordable housing. Several city council members read from typed statements about their reasons to support demolition: the deplorable state of public housing; the lack of available money for repair; the oral promises of all, the federal government and developers, to do something better for the community.
After the meeting, residents vowed to continue their struggle for affordable housing for everyone and to resist demolitions - putting their bodies before bulldozers if necessary.
The struggle for affordable housing continues as does the campaign to stop demolition until there is a real right to return and one for one replacement of housing. Residents and local advocates applaud and appreciate the support of allies from across the nation. Critics label national supporters as “outside agitators” - exactly the same charge leveled at civil rights activists historically. But people understand that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Public housing residents and local affordable housing advocates welcome the humble participation of social justice advocates of whatever age, of whatever race, from whatever place, who join and act in true solidarity.
Residents vow to make sure that the promises made by the Council and the Mayor are enforced. For example, the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, announced that he would not allow HUD to demolish two of the four housing developments until HUD gave documentation of funded plans including one for one replacement of the housing demolished and details of the developments and their plans.
The Senate will continue to be lobbied to pass SB 1668 - which would really guarantee one for one replacement of housing. It is currently stalled in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee because of opposition by Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter.
Litigation is still pending in state and federal courts to enforce Louisiana and U.S. laws that should protect residents from illegal demolitions. Investigations into the legality of locking people out of a public meeting, the legality of a law passed at such a meeting, the indiscriminate use of tasers and pepper spray, are all ongoing.
Padlocked and chained gates will only amplify the voices of the locked out calling for justice. Pepper spray and tasers illustrate the problems but will not deter people from protesting for just causes. Bulldozers may start up, but just people will resist and create a reality where housing is a real human right.
Stephanie Mingo, a working grandmother who is one of the leaders of the residents, promised to continue the resistance after the meeting: “We did not come this far to turn back now. This fight is far from over. We are not resting until everyone has the right to return home.”
Those wanting additional information should look to:
http://www.justiceforneworleans.org or
http://www.defendneworleanspublichousing.org

Well, I was hanging here in Singapore feeling very un Merry. No snow, no tree, no family nor friends. (Apologies to Bernie, Jake, Elias- 3 wise guys, and good friends who are too busy frying turkeys to just hang out with me.) Christmas is mainly a marketing tool here. As it is in much of the world, and to many people.
I played some Christmas music the other night at our Ang Mo Kio outlet's grand opening, but the only real response I got was from singing Rudolf The Red Nose.
Angels We Have Heard, Joy To The , Have Yourself A, all pretty much drew blanks. English is a third language in the heartlands of Singapore. But with Rudolf, all the children were dancing and singing along.
Botak Jones Catering IS selling a lot of Cajun Fried Turkeys, and I will have some turkey, dressing and Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce on Tuesday. I brought my little creche set, and have it set up in my bedroom. I am tuned in to the Sirius satellite Xmas in New Orleans special, but still all in all feeling Grinchish.
So last night as I went out to find some good duck rice and veggies, I stumbled on a huge tent set up in a park. Inside were 12 altars (stations of the cross?), a stage with a pop band, fronted by singers in spangled and glittered outfits off to one side, a table selling incense, oranges, pastries marked "prayer cookies," and ghost money. People who have partied with me know about ghost money- paper with gold markings you burn to send money to dead friends, relatives and ancestors- in heaven or hell, currency to keep the dead happy in the after-life. So I bought a packet which also included wrapping paper and boxes to send gifts out in to the ether, put my bag of cookies and paper gifts on the main altar where a priest was dancing and blessing the offerings, before they were collected and taken outside to a big fire.
As a large drum and crashing cymbal band played, a parade of dragons wound through the crowd and confronted some characters, whom I guess represented the past, present, and New Year (He wore diapers, and had a pacifier in his mouth. There was also a hobo like guy who appeared to be drunk. With the help of a gentleman with a great cracking whip, they each confronted the demons who then gave way and allowed these holy men to visit each of the altars. I lit my joss sticks and visited the altars, saying prayers and conversing with my ancestors, my ghosts, my demons, my past and present.
I am not certain of any of the particulars of this gathering, as I was the only anglo (ang mo) in the crowd. All I know is I was made to feel welcome. The woman selling the offerings asked me if I was here to pray,(in gestures, not words) and pointed me to the $3 package, not the more expensive offerings.
The ghost money comes with different symbols, but my package serendipitously had my favorite- 3 guys bearing fancy boxes.
We Three Kings of Orient Are.
So there i am, on the longest night of the year, in a space filled with music, families, and incense, just like midnight mass, thinking of how much more alike than different we all are. "ALL ONE ALL ONE" says Doctor Bronner;
How the message of Allah, Jaweh, Jah, God, Jehovah, I AM WHO AM,the Bhuddha, Krishna, Mohammed, and the Baby Jesus is the same one.
Love, forgive, tolerate, respect one another. Tread lightly on the Earth.
There I am in a temporary church, crying in the chapel, praying for my soul's salvation, praying for my friends, my family, those I have loved and lost, those I have failed, knowing how much I need to be loved, forgiven, respected, and how many times i have forgotten to do right by those I love.
So, whether you have just finished 8 nights of candle lighting, just finished slaughtering a goat in remembrance of Abraham's sacrifice, are dancing nekkid around an oak tree with some mistletoe in your hat, are wrapping presents for your children, drinking your way across the quarters in Santa suits, going to church, watching Miracle On 34th Street or feeling Grinchish and alone on the top of Mount Crumpit yourself, know that you are loved and will be remembered, always.
God(s) Bless Us, Every One.

I am the proud owner of a new 88 key stage piano, and a lovely sound system that should be installed at Toa Payoh this weekend.
I'm gonna be playing at the new Ang Mo Kio outlet grand opening- sometime next week.
Christmas Carols and the Blues- the perfect accompaniment to fried turkey, burgers and gumbo.
Meanwhile, I take advantage of my lack of a musical outlet by hitting the pool daily and spending lots of time shopping- I have a favorite fruit vendor- and am trying some new fruit every few days- dragon fruit, anyone?
And I'll never tire of roti for breakfast- beats granola, any day.

TB negative. HIV negative. Approved to work in Singapore.
Stood in line in two buildings this morning. One more line on Saturday to pick up my S Pass. Then its off to buy a keyboard and sound system, get the music license for the venue, and... play tunes!
Besides playing at Toa Payoh, I will be joining the Botak Jones management team. 5 outlets now, One new joint in December, 1 in Jan/Feb, and ...
Bernie is in China scoping spots. Beijing, here we come.
On my way home, I hit my closest local market for Roast Duck, and fresh squoze juice, bought a perfectly ripe pineapple, then ran in to a Chinese funeral, compleat with marching band in turquoise cowboy hats, a lorry carrying astring band, and a neon and LED blinking hearse. Just like NOLA, but different.
I love this place.