earthquake / tsunami

The International Red Cross & Red Crescent are aiding all affected areas in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, etc. Unfortunately/fortunately, their donation website has been swamped and consequently non-responsive... but try it anyway.

Buddhist Peace Fellowship also suggests more local Buddhist organizations, requesting support for their relief efforts.

I'm still looking for a Hindu charitable organization, providing disaster relief.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

From Salon:

"Bush approaches Inauguration Day with historically weak job-approval ratings, according to a series of new opinion polls. Unless there's a dramatic turnaround in public sentiment between now and Jan. 20, Bush will be sworn in to office with the lowest job-approval rating… of any president in the last 80 years, or since modern-day presidential polling began.

…come Inauguration Day, George W. Bush will likely make history as the least popular president to ever take the oath of office."

Isn't that special...

...to see my childhood hometown mentioned, at this time of year, on a prominent progressive political blog?

Pearl River's slogan is "Still the Town of Friendly People." But every town must have their bigot(s). That one bad apple always tries to try to spoil the whole figgy pudding. At this time of year, they tend to spoil only kosher fair.

Hey, Ho, way to go, Pearl River.

You're a serpent bearer.

Q: Feel like you're walking around in a cone of helium?
Q: If your birthday is between Nov 30 and Dec 17, do you consider yourself a Saggitarian?

A: You are and you're not.

Welcome to the 13th house of the zodiac: Ophiuchus.

Season’s Gratings

There is such hypocrisy in being an American celebrating Christmas this year. I feel sick at heart, for all of us. If you’re anti-war/anti-Bush (good for you, but...), what’s to celebrate? Peace On Earth, Goodwill Towards Men are not part of the apparent ‘mandate.’ If you’re pro-Bush and for his corrupt Iraq war of choice, how can you celebrate when this is the status quo:

* Over 100,000 mostly innocent Iraqis dead. How is this better than Hussein’s Iraq? It took him 18 years to kill 300,000. And let's not forget the hundreds of innocent Iraqis we tortured and humiliated.

* Nearly 1500 US soldiers dead; half of which could still be alive now, if our troops had been properly equipped with vehicle and body armor.

* 7,500 US soldiers wounded. 15,000 more 'unclassified wounded;' meaning, injured in some way other than by enemy fire. 80% of them were injured so severely they never returned to their units. But the Pentagon doesn't deem them worthy of inclusion in the official count.

* American soldiers in Iraq are having their limbs amputated at double the rate of previous wars.

* Army suicide rates are up 40 percent in the past year.

* 20% of the nearly 28,000 Iraq war vets have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, including major depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, emotional numbness and violent outbursts.

* Iraq war vets are already starting to turn up at our nation’s homeless shelters.

* The government refuses to pay for long-distance phone calls, from wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital. See the DfA initiative to get the vets phone cards, so they can at least call home for the holidays.

All this, for what? We, the pampered, are not any safer this year - we're not safer from terrorist attack. Those in the Red States, does it worry you that the major attacks you have experienced have been from home-grown terrorists (Oklahoma, anthrax, even Columbine, etc...)? But that's not all. Isn’t it weird how there is no major reporting that China and Russia have agreed to conduct joint military activities, in China, in 2005? Season’s gratings, fellow Americans.

It's a Blue Coast Christmas Party!!

It's our 9th year making these holiday compilations. If you only have 7, don't worry - two of those years were the dotcom days, when we only put the songs online. I've recycled a couple of the best tracks from those years, so you're not missing much.

I didn't include liner notes- guess this entry will have to suffice. If you'd like a cd, just write me at dmartucc at pacbell dot net, with your mailing address. For those who prefer mp3s, click on this file folder link and download.

1. The Billy Nayer Show - Must Be Santa
The strange and wonderful Corey McAbee & Bobby Lurie are BNS. They moved to NYC from SF a couple of years ago, in search of indie movie fame and fortune. Sing-along to these rather different lyrics and get your party started, righteously.

2. Uni & Dr. Trucker - X-Mas Time (I'm so excited)
Young enough to remember being stoked to the max, seeing all those presents on xmas morning? No? This DIY holiday record will remind you. All I know about U&DT is you can write them at xmasisthebest at yahoo dot com. One of the guys who works at Amoeba Records forced this into my hands, saying 'dude, you must hear this.'

3. Powder - The Chipmunk Song
A solid power pop performance, from this LA band. This track is from A&M's 'A Very Special Christmas", 2002.

4. Shaman's Bane - Frosty
Metal magic! Frraaaw-stie...

5. un grand garcon
I'm imagining the Shaman's Bane guy's nanny, giving the little mister a holiday bath. Or, maybe he's using the christmas potty, like a big boy.

6. The Sisterhood - Christmas Treat, Peppermint
From the Song Poems Bar-None release of last year.

7. cindy crawford & her peppermint stick
Drilling home the sexual innuendo of track 6.

8. Chris Isaak - Gotta Be Good
Chris chastizes all the 'bad' little girls and boys, who suck on peppermint sticks. Off his new holiday cd, which I think is most worthy.

9. The Brunettes - Tonight Mrs. Claus Sleeps Alone
From Christmas On The Rocks, an '01 holiday compilation of New Zealand bands. I could have picked multiple songs off this comp. See track 11.

10. The Moonglows - Hey Santa Claus
An oldie, just because it sounded good right after the Brunettes.

11. Five Car Pileup - Beatnik's Wish
Another Kiwi offering; home of the beat generation? Go daddyo.

12. The Wimp - Boxing Day
Since the singer in FCP wants a man for xmas, we give her the wimp. Smoke em if you got em.

13. Love Spirals Downward - Welcome Christmas
This is off a great goth holiday comp. Winter solstice, forest fairies, cold still northern nights. It all doesn't have to be about baby jesus.

14. Hapa - Love
An all-time favorite Lennon song, here's a simple instumental version, from this Hawaiian outfit.

15. a word from the man in black
Edited, for political message content.

16. Joan Baez - Christmas In Washington
Come back Woody Guthrie, come back to us now. The populist movement will take over the Democratic Party, if there is any justice this year.

17. it's gonna be a brighter day
We hope.

18. Bragg & Wilco - Christ For President
Words by Guthrie, a ditty we can relate to, for the season of the carpenter.

19. Bob Rivers - O Come All Ye Grateful Dead-heads
I usually try to avoid the obvious & intentional comedy stuff, but I liked the line 'oh come get us some floor seats.'

20. Vital Gesture Xmas All-stars - Christmastime Again
The Bell Rays and LA labelmates bringing rockabilly seasonal cheer.

21. Teenage Fanclub - Christmas Eve
Scottish pop band that came close to being pretty great. A very clean song... and sentiment, eh?

22. Blue Hawaiians - Blue Christmas
Blue cubed: states, hawaiians, christmas.

23. Petty Booka - Christmas Island
J-pop stars, being dangerously cutesy. But the ukulele demanded acknowledgment.

24. Rita Calypso - Christmas Is The Day
Some ultra-sheen, shibuya-kei, holiday-stylee for you. From a compilation including french popsters.

25. Home Cookin' - Rudy The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Cranking it up, for the big finale. Straight sans chaser funky, bluesy, rocking.

26. Uni & Dr. Trucker - Ultimate Santa
A final sayonara, from our new dream dynamic-manic duo.

27. in with the new year's outro
A little paste-em-up, 4 2 take us out.


That's it. Enjoy.

happy birthday, pal. two days late. the season isn't the same without the noel.

Still can't shake a touch of the flu, which brought on this blog voicelessness. Appreciate you stopping by though; could you hand me that box of tissues? Thanks.

Fav CDs of '04

First, I didn’t go nuts buying CDs this year. I didn’t even buy CDs I wanted, let alone music I would normally have lucked into, via impulse buying sprees. One of those years, I guess.

Maybe I feel old. Or, I could blame all the politics. I did fully immerse myself and that tended to white-noise-out other parts of my life. At least these following CDs got a lot of listens and have become good friends. You will find no genre-logic here; although I’d say the mix is skewed towards the comfy side (see earlier ‘old’ comment). They mostly provide a soundtrack for sitting outdoors. Sunsets and koi ponds optional, but recommended.

Antibalas – Who Is This America? (afrobeat)
Issa Bagayogo - Tassomakan (mali music)
Tony Bennett – The Art of Romance (the voice)
Bumblebeez 81 – printz (beats & garagey goofin')
David Byrne – Grown Backwards (fully grown)
Call & Response – Winds Take No Shape (warm & indie)
Ray Charles – Genius Loves Company (peace out brother ray)
Chromeo – She’s In Control (electro goofballo disco)
Devendra Bahnart – Rejoicing In The Hands (happy psych-folk)
Donovan – Beat Café (happy old-folk)
Gold Chains & Sue Cie – When The World Was Our Friend (abstract hip hop)
Gram Rabbit – Music To Start A Cult To (desert psych)
Yuka Honda – eucademix (casual atmospherics)
Mirah – C’mon Miracle (comfy songlets, with heart)
n.Lannon – Chemical Friends (laptop-folk)
George Naope – Among Hawaiian Souvenirs (Uncle George, Hawaiian god)
OOIOO – Kila Kila Kila (delicious-psych)
Pink Martini – Hang On Little Tomato (unapologetically background pu-pu party music)
Putamayo’s World Reggae - s/t (surprisingly excellent world-wide reggae comp)
Sam Roberts – We Were Born In A Flame (Canadian roots-rock)
Scissor Sisters – s/t (take your mama out tonite music)
Solex – The Laughing Stock Of Indie Rock (fun, not cutesy)
Subtle - A New White (inteli trip hip hop)
Stereolab – Margarine Eclipse (if you like them, you like this, yper yper)
The Life On Earth – Your Karma Is Coming (jazzy space groove thing)
The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden – The Owl Of Fives (richly earthy surrealism)
The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free (london docklands beats)
Usher – Confessions (huge hunky star, w/ a surprisingly listenable cd)
Ben Weaver – Stories Under Nails (tabacky-chewing singer/songwriter)
Bobby Wetherbee – Loves Composers (gaylicous piano lounge sing-along show tunes)

As they say on the Internets...

...this is rather good.