Archive for the ‘ Palaver Pontificates ’ Category
Twitter is driving the universe. Regimes are being toppled, celebrities publicly shamed, concert tours announced, pictures of tonight’s dinner posted. Against even my own dubious judgment, I’ve decided that I’m going to tweet the birth of my child! It might go something like…
A long and unwelcome time has separated us… “I return to you now, at the turn of the tide.”
Many of you, gentle readers, have inquired about my lengthy absence from this space. I appreciate your inquiries. To quell your fears, let it be known that I merely fell victim to the vagaries of life. These distractions have been disposed and I now rejoin the Internet in all its porn-filled, typo-laden, sense-defying anonymous blithering. Amen.
During my hiatus, I came across the website www.iwritelike.com. Navigating to said website and inserting a snippet of one’s scribble into the box provided claims to provide the name of a famous comparable scribe. A segment of writing from this here blog thingy returned to me the name Chuck Palahniuk. I knew the name only as the author of “Fight Club” (the story on which the movie was based), so I turned to that wisest of sages, Wikipedia, for further disertation on the matter. While I learned a number of modestly interesting facts and the contents of a bibliography, it has become quite clear to me that Chuck and I are pretty different people. For example, Chuck has a short story call “Guts” which, when offered by him as a public reading, has resulted in a large number of people fainting. I read a little… I got a little light headed and actually physically turned away from my computer monitor. Anyhoo…
The purpose of this paragraph is really only to espouse the time-wasting value of this exercise. Additionally, the paragraph above is credited to Chuck Norris.
Mrs. Palaver “competed” in a non-competitive triathalon this weekend to benefit the cause of curing breast cancer. She was joined by Cousin Palaver the Younger. Yours truly was joined in the ranks of spectators by Cousin Palaver the Elder and Aunt and Uncle Palaver, making for a great weekend. Mrs. Palaver non-competed valiantly and reports to have “gotten lost in the transition” during the race. I interpreted this to mean that she entered a nirvana-like existential state resulting from a combination of heat exhaustion and endorphins. I later learned that this meant she forgot where she left her bike.
Before the event, I was a little concerned about Mrs. Palaver. In my view, her training regimen may have been lacking. I think it would be fair to say that she “off the couched” this particular event. It would also be fair to say that I have not been a supportive training partner. For example, I regularly answer ”Pizza” to the queries about my dinner preference and “No” to queries about my interest in joint exercise. However, Mrs. Palaver did quite well, even while nursing a slight ankle injury. I mention this only to plant the seed in your mind for future Palaver – how immasculating is it to fully recognize that your wife is a significantly superior athlete? Discuss.
But I digress… As this was my first triathalon as an observer, I feel compelled to offer a few thoughts on the matter:
Today’s plug comes from Cousin Palaver the Elder directly. I can say definitively that I have never been led astray by Cousin Palaver the Elder. Check out “Shakey – Neil Young’s Biography” by Jimmy McDonough. I have just started on the Kindle, so am not yet intimidated by its length. It’s a must read for music lovers.
The Mountain Palaver
As many know, I recently attended the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. This was my third straight year in attendance and I had hoped to charm you, the reader, with observations, commentary and witticisms about the goings on. This, most definitely, did NOT happen. Several things went wrong:
Whoops... I forgot to look at the stage!
In many ways, this festival has become the highlight of my musical year. It has also become a bit of a tradition for Mrs. Palaver and me. I always enjoy the vast majority of the music I hear, the crowd is always super-nice and it’s hard to resist a really good drowning in festival food! This year we were joined by some friends and declared ourselves “too old” to camp with the festivarians. The net result being that I returned with only an epic sunburn instead of both an epic sunburn and a mysterious aroma.
Have you ever wondered what you will be like in 25 years. It’s possible that I have seen into the future. Watch Future Palaver ROCK OUT to Yonder Mountain String Band!
Dave Rawlings Machine
On the main stage, by FAR my favorite performance came from the Dave Rawlings Machine. Dave Rawlings is a long-time collaborator with Gillian Welch and has collaborated with some great artists (Old Crow Medicine Show, Tom Petty, Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams). His new record is fantastic and was, quite frankly, even better live. I’d recommend him on Twitter or Facebook, but he has lame pages. However, I do highly recommend picking up the record A Friend of a Friend.
Punch Brothers
My man-crush on The Punch Brothers continues after a third straight beyond-excellent “after-festival” Nightgrass performance. Held in the Telluride Sheridan Opera House (which holds about 150 people), the group played until after 2:00am and were joined onstage at various times by a litany of guests including Bela Fleck, Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), and Drew Emmitt (Leftover Salmon). The most surprising guest of the evening had to be Ed Helms, who stars as the character Andy on The Office. Apparently, Ed plays a little bluegrass and he wandered onstage with his banjo for about 15 minutes and played some tunes. Along with about everyone else, I recorded some illegal video. Watch it NOW before I’m forced to remove it.
and MORE Punch Brothers…
I have an 18 minute video that includes the final jam of the night with all the guests. Leave me a comment if you’d like to view it.
Non-Profits Saving Detroit?
I ran across this interesting article on how the non-profit sector is leaping to the rescue of the city of Detroit and surrounding areas hit hard by the economic recession and a few decades of decline due to mismanagement. Focused mainly on jobs creation, economic redevelopment and health, the city and surrounding areas have received almost $108 million in paid out grants over the last year. You can read some interesting insight into how the actions of a number of funders has impacted the area in this article.
I have an opinion, but…
If these satellite images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico aren’t enough to make you sick…
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/index.html
In today’s version of Palaver’s Plugs, I’m recommending a project that is yet to see the light of day. It seems that a movie starring Dwight Yoakam (my man-crush before the Punch Brothers), Kris Kristofferson (a man crush somewhere between Willie and Waylon), Jason Priestly (ummm…) has been created! The movie is called The Last Rites of Ransom Pride and has all the makings of a stylized Western, complete with psychopaths, a dwarf/pirate and Siamese twins. Let it be said now that the film did not get reviewed particularly well in its debut at the Edinburgh International Film festival. But it’s Dwight Yoakam!
Learn more about the film here and read the review here. The film is slated for release in Oct. 2010.
The Mountain Palaver
Telluride was kicked off by Sarah Jarosz. Stepping in for Tim O’Brien, the traditional opener, Sarah played a smattering of covers (a shout out to Tim O’Brien to start, Dylan, Patti Griffin), some songs from her debut album, and some new writing she’s done recently. I have to admit, I’m SUPER biased because I absolutely love Sarah Jarosz. I had a chance to hear her last year when the Punch Brothers had her up on stage during their Night Grass set (more on this year’s PB night set on Monday). Additionally, my cousin and sister sang one of her songs at my wedding…
From Cincy Groove Magazine - I have a bad seat today 
That said, let me tell you that this is one seriously talented woman; a wicked instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, mandolin and others I’m sure) and a hypnotic vocalist. You may have seen her open for Steve Martin or heard her during Emmy season this year. This was a great, stripped-down set, enhanced with a cameo from Tim O’Brien himself, which was a great treat. Take a listen to Sarah.
As visions of henna tattooed fairies (complete with wings and hula hoops) dance in my head… Telluride, here I come!
In the great State of Kansas, a less-than-competitive race for Governor is brewing, with the presumptive winner being current Senator Sam Brownback. In recent campaign stops, the good Senator has proposed something he is cleverly calling The Office of the Repealer. The job of said office would be to scrounge through reams of state regulations and redact those that, presumably, are not favored or impose some unwelcome burden. According to the New York Times, Brownback says:
“People just love this idea. They feel like they’re getting their brains regulated out of them.”
Upon further questioning by the Lawrence Journal World, Brownback apparently hasn’t the foggiest where he would recommend the Head Repealer start the hatchet job. Setting aside things like Constitutions and courts and legislatures and all that silly business, I’m getting a jump on Brownback and opening The Palaver Office of the Repealer. It wasn’t my idea, but he who acts first eventually gets credit! Having no need to bother ourselves with petty elections here in Palaver Nation, I offer you a proposed set of five repeal targets.
1) American Idol – I recognize that I’m about to unleash a s***storm here, but that’s the way deregulation goes sometimes. My basic argument is this: American Idol is little more than a well-financed karaoke contest. The show has made a bad pop music situation much worse by suggesting that the Music Machine can turn any old set of pipes and a bit of stage presence into a star. It seems to go unnoticed that the most successful and durable artist to come off the show is a country singer (excluding William Hung and the Pants on the Ground guy).
To set the scene, millions of Americans gather several times per week in front of a TV to observe a number of over-coached, semi-talented singers galavant through a series of rehearsed (and regularly poorly chosen) cover songs so that the viewing audience can revel with glee as a group of dubiously qualified “music professionals” (Ellen Degeneres???) can judge them. Later in the process, this judging task is summarily turned over to the wisdom of the masses with access to text messaging capabilities. Raise your hand if you own a Fantasia record!
Additionally, the prima donna acting out by the judging corps, the encouraged preening for drama-filled camera time by unsuccessful auditioners and the shoddy “theme-based” nature of some episodes all make this absurd display Candidate Numero Uno for Repeal. Other reality TV shows that escaped the chopping block in this segment include The Bachelorette/The Bachelor and anything left on Bravo. But I’m keeping my Repealer eye on you.
2) Air Hand Dryers – I am in favor of doing all that we can to preserve the environment. I am also in favor of insuring that public restrooms are generally sanitary and lessening the tremendous burden already imposed on the average convenience store employee. However, I’m afraid the hot-air hand dryer must be repealed. It just doesn’t get the job done. Consider… you wash your hands, you approach the hand dryer, activate it and wave your dripping hands through the jet blast. The dryer shuts off and you… wipe your hands on your pants! Happens every time.
3) Unqualified Travelers – You know them. You’ve been behind them in line, sat next to them on planes, and had their luggage dropped on you. They have annoyed, inconvenienced, and generally wrecked your own travel experience. They try to take water bottles and 25lbs. of hair products through security. In exchange for their lives, they could not produce any form of ID or the ticket printed out for them mere seconds ago. They purchase the smelliest food item in the whole airport and let it fester in the rear seat pocket for half the flight. They talk to you while you are wearing earphones. These people are simply unequipped to move from one destination to another in the proximity of others. I repeal them.
4) Jam Bands – That’s right… I’m looking at you Widespread Panic… I’m looking right at you. I admit that it’s possible that I’d really RATHER repeal fans of jam bands, but I’ve decided to go straight to the source. I am also not phased one little bit by the irony that I’m about to attend a bluegrass festival. Sayonara Phish! Oh how we loathe thee.
5) Vacuum Lending Limitations – It has come to my attention that the City of Denver has a regulation that forbids the lending of a vacuum cleaner. While this particular “fact” runs through the interwebs with impunity, I suggest that, lacking a citation, this little triviality may not actually require the services of the The Repealer. Therefore, I’m leaving this one on the books and instead banning the Internet. You may pick up the next version of the Mountain Palaver at your nearest corner newspaper dispenser.
Things that didn’t quite make the list, but are candidates for the next round: a) the discrepancy between the number of hot dogs in a package and the number of hot dog buns in a package, b) sweaters on pets, especially dogs, c) blogs and d) Sam Brownback.
Despite my urgent request and significant web statistics indicating that many folks other than my wife actually read this blog, no Palaver readers suggested any plugs last week. Therefore, you are stuck with my predilections again today. I suggest you read this about the “industry of poverty” from the Atlantic.
The Mountain Palaver
PS – Daily Blogs from Telluride start tomorrow! Be on the lookout.
