Year: 2008

If Hillary were Billary

I feel strongly that McCain should not be President. For starters, he’s too old. Reagan is held up as a refutation of age as being a qualification, but history has revealed that Reagan really wasn’t up to the job for most of his second term.

Second, I think McCain isn’t intellectually engaged on a broad range of issues, and at his age he’s not about to change. And on the issues that do interest him he’s far from being a master of detail. The one thing he jumped all over, and is his sole claim to being a “maverick” who stands up to Bush, was the issue of torture. And that’s only because it happened to him and he can personally relate to it.

McCain strikes me as being ready to kick back and retire, and completely unprepared to tackle the most difficult set of problems any President in recent history has faced. I can’t understand why, except for reasons of ego, he wants to be President, because his energy level just isn’t there.

Lastly, McCain is on record as wanting to continue the occupation of Iraq. He wants to relive Vietnam through Iraq and come up with a different ending. McCain believes Vietnam could have been “won,” if only we hadn’t lost our will. Which is a total fantasy. And that’s the crux of my complaint about McCain. Combined with the fact that I will never vote for a Republican candidate for any office, ever again, because of the actions of the delusional, self-interested, lying and hypocritical Neocons.

So as a registered Democrat, that leaves me with Hillary Clinton and Obama, and Hillary has already won Massachusetts. Ya know how Hillary is claiming her time as First Lady provided applicable experience to govern the country? If she’s going to say that as the President’s spouse she was involved with running the country, then I think she should assure us that Bill, as the President’s spouse, will be involved with running the country.

I was more for Hillary some months back, but like many people the more I saw of her and Obama, the more I preferred Obama. If Hillary had voted with Ted Kennedy in October 2002, against using force in Iraq, I would vote for her. If she assured us that Bill would be active in setting policy, I would vote for her. But she can’t take her vote back, nor can she even hint that she can’t do it alone, without her husband’s input.

I realize Obama wasn’t in the U.S. Senate during the vote to authorize force, so his stated opposition to the invasion in Iraq counts for not very much, but I nevertheless feel he’s our best chance to get out of there sooner, rather than later. I don’t want to vote again for a candidate, as I did with Kerry, who was either tricked by George Bush, or knew the truth and was afraid of opposing Bush. I want a fresh start, and Obama is it.

Kaleidoscopic Mail from Curvebender

As discussed at this blog entry, Curvebender Publishing’s deluxe, limited edition book, Kaleidoscope Eyes: A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper, is out. Everything Curvebender does is unique and classy, even their e-mail, so I’ll share what I received from them today.

Dear Curvebender customer,

We are pleased to announce that our newest title, Kaleidoscope Eyes: A Day in the Life of Sgt. Pepper, is in stock and ready for immediate shipping. You may have received a pre-order brochure for this book in the mail several months ago, but if not, please read on (we also have a limited remainder of the brochures in stock, and if you would like to receive one, please reply to this email with your mailing address).

Paul McCartneyKaleidoscope Eyes [official release]

As a followup to Recording The Beatles, we are pleased to announce the publication of our newest title: Kaleidoscope Eyes: A Day In The Life Of Sgt. Pepper. Photographer Henry Grossman spent an evening in the recording studio with the Beatles in February 1967. Only a handful of the more than 250 black and white images he captured that night have ever been published. In an exclusive partnership with Mr. Grossman, Curvebender proudly presents his entire collection of black and white Beatles studio photographs in the form of Kaleidoscope Eyes. Housed in a deluxe limited edition volume, the photos are presented in chronological order, allowing the evening to unfold for the reader just as it did for Henry. The result is a stunning photographic essay, an intimate fly-on-the-wall view of the Beatles at work. It is the first of several upcoming volumes showcasing Mr. Grossman’s remarkable body of work.

Strictly limited to 1,967 hand-numbered books, each copy of Kaleidoscope Eyes is hand-signed by Henry Grossman and accompanied by four prints and a contact sheet reproduction. No expense has been spared in creating a true piece of book-art, from the design and presentation, to the choice of materials and packaging. It will undoubtedly be a one-of-a-kind addition to any Beatles fan’s library.

We invite you to visit our website to learn more about this unique title. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes, from everyone at Curvebender Publishing.

Once Upon A Time The Superheroes

On YouTube is a French documentary, in English, about comic books that’s from a 2002 UK DVD, when the first Spider-Man movie was released. It’s called Once Upon A Time The Superheroes, and I haven’t watched it yet, but from a quick scan it looks pretty good, although not in the league of Jonathan Ross’ In Search of Steve Ditko. I’ve put together a playlist that assembles the ten parts.

(Did you notice what’s strange about the opening moments?)

With The Radio On…

The influence of garage bands of the 60’s continues to be felt today. Most bands probably practice more in the basement than the garage, but either way it smells like teen spirit.

Over at this post are comments by musician and Beatles fan Jake Gerber, whose garage band roots go all the way back to Elvis and the Everly Brothers. Jake has an interesting history, and at this link he told some of it to Mike Dugo, founder of the Web site 60’s Garage Bands.

Another interview by Mike Dugo is with Bill Trainor, the lead guitarist for a popular Boston area 60’s band called The Shadows Four. You can read it here. Bill is on the right in the photos. I saw Bill at work for many years, before he took early retirement ten years ago.

By the time Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers recorded their anthem “Roadrunner,” they couldn’t exactly be considered a garage band, but when the legendary Boston FM alternative music station WBCN played the song, celebrating the AM sound, it perfectly captured the feeling of the place and time that was greater Boston in the early 70’s. (Although it is reported to have been recorded in L.A.). On organ is Jerry Harrison, who would later be one of The Talking Heads.

[audio:/2008/MAY/Roadrunner.mp3]

Barbara Walters’ Ultimate Claim To Fame?

Barbara Walters has always seemed to be one of those people who is famous because she has a desperate need to be famous. Walters is close to eighty years old, and in one last sad effort to reclaim the spotlight for herself, she has pulled out what she must think is her ace card. With Oprah’s help Walters has gone public about an affair she had thirty years ago with Edward Brooke, when he was a senator from Massachusetts. Who cares?

Geraldo is another one who bugs me. Everything these people do is so obviously really about their insecure little selves, and not what they claim to be informing us about in their roles as pseudo-journalists. Why do they keep showing up, year after year?

Now that I’m on a roll, I met Ed Brooke once, when I was a reporter and he was running for re-election in 1978, only to lose to Paul Tsongas. I wasn’t particularly wowed by him. Brooke came across as having a solid politician’s false front. I also met John Kerry at the same time, when he was an assistant DA investigating claims Ed Brooke had made about his divorce. I forget the details. Hey, maybe Kerry was looking into rumors about the Walters affair! But my point is that Kerry was aloof, just as he’s been described all these years.

Somebody who I interviewed, who impressed me very much indeed, was Ted Kennedy. He would have been about 45 at the time. Kennedy sat me down, a nobody kid radio reporter, and for nearly half an hour he talked my ear off, about every issue that concerned him and every bill he was working on. He had every fact and argument and viewpoint about everything right at his fingertips. When it was time to go he got going, but when I had his attention I really had his undivided attention, and I can’t recall any other politician taking the time and making the effort to do that for me.