The Elvis Costello Benefit—Seattle Does Elvis For David Egger's 826 Seattle

It's taken me two weeks to get around to writing about this benefit. On May 4th, we went to the Sunset Tavern—a few blocks from where I live--to see an Elvis Costello tribute/benefit for the 826 Seattle.

Seattle loves Elvis (and why wouldn't we?). Now that he is a northwesterner (Vancouver division), I was secretly hoping he might actually show up! But no. . .

However, about 19 bands did show up and play. Every band was supposed to play two songs, although a few snuck in an extra song. It was great! If a band sucked, you knew it would only be six or seven minutes until the next one came on. It made it hard to leave, because you suspected the mother lode was just minutes away. It was a lot of fun, and once again drove home the reality that most bands play their instruments better than they sing.

The benefit was held for 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center dedicated to helping youth, ages six to 18, improve their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

The lineup included the Dept. of Energy, Downpilot, Graig Markel, Shorthand for Epic, Red Jacket Mine, Zera Marvel, Whiting Tennis, Levi Fuller... and a bunch more bands and solo acts. The poster to your right lists some of the other bands.

I only regret the lineup did not include my personal five favorite friends'/local bands: The Divorce, Down With People, The Posies, The Drunks of Hazzard, and The Greenwood All-Stars.
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Jesus's thoughts on the passing of Jerry Falwell

You may not have known it until now, but Jesus also has a blog here on Blogspot. He recently expressed his thoughts on the passing of the Reverend Jerry Falwell here.
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Mercer's Maidens, Or, How Seattle Imported Women For The Lonely Pioneers And Sourdoughs

In the 1860's Seattle was between a hard place and a rock. Women here were outnumbered by males ten to one). A Seattle founder, Asa Mercer, went back to Boston and convince some of the "surplus" females there to come west, with their journey to be paid for by subscribers in Seattle who hoped to become their husbands. He met with opposition in Boston (duh!), but found more willing pickings in Lowell (Jack Kerouac's hometown), where many of Mercer's Maidens came from.

After a long long journey that included crossing the Panama isthmus, and a rest stop in San Francisco, they arrived on Seattle's waterfront on May 16, 1864. All of the girls, except one (who got sick and died), rapidly found husbands (although nowhere near all of the men who financed the adventure actually snagged a wife). A television show, Here Come The Brides, based on the story aired in 1968, starring teen heartthrob Bobby Sherman, and David Soul, among others. The show was a megahit in French Canada...and did OK here.

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From the with endorsements like this, who needs opponents department: Porn Star Jenna Jameson Endorses Hillary Clinton For President

From the "with endorsements like this, who needs opponents?" Department comes news from PR.com that Jenna Jameson, a famous porn star and author of the bestseller "How To Make Love Like a Porn Star," talked about Hillary Clinton in an interview with PR.com....

PR.com: "Who's your favorite Democratic front runner for 2008? Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John Edwards?"

Jenna Jameson: "I love Hillary. I think that in some ways she's pretty conservative for a Democrat, but I would love to have a woman in office. I think that it would be a step in the right direction for our country, and there would be less focus on war and more focus on bettering society."

PR.com: "Do you find that the climate of the adult industry changes when there is a Republican administration versus Democratic?"

Jenna Jameson: "Absolutely. The Clinton administration was the best years for the adult industry and I wish that Clinton would run again. I would love to have him back in office. I would love to have Al Gore in office.

"When Republicans are in office, the problem is, a lot of times they try to put their crosshairs on the adult industry, to make a point. It's sad, when there are so many different things that are going on in the world: war, and people are dying of genocide...

"I look forward to another Democrat being in office. It just makes the climate so much better for us, and I know that once all our troops come home, things are going to be better and I think that getting Bush out of office is the most important thing right now."
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Gonzales & Bush Paying Their Respects To Old Glory

One of these two guys will be looking for work within ten days. I wish I could say it was both of them...

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Mario Cuomo's Speech Nominating Bill Clinton For President

Mario Cuomo, one of my political heroes, gave a masterful nominating speech for Bill Clinton at the Democratic Convention in 1992. The speech is captured in four YouTube videos, below. If you want to read, see, or hear Mario's greatest speech ever, made eight years earlier at the 1984 San Francisco convention, go back in All This is That to here.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4


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Alien Lore No. 107 - The French And British "X Files"

The British have joined the French in the rush to release information on aliens and UFOs. An article by James Randerson in The Guardian details how the British Ministry of Defence plans to open its "X-Files" on UFO sightings to the public for the first time. Officials haven't fixed a date for the reports' release, but it is may happen this month. The French national space agency okayed a similar release of its alien files a few months ago.



UFOlogists want to know what officials knew about Britain's most famous sightings and whether what the government did about the sightings. The Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk 1980 sighting has been called The British Roswell. At Rendlesham there were several witness reports of a UFO landing. The released files may answer the claims that radiation was found in The Rendlesham Forest at the site after the saucer crash.

The documents due for release are eyewitness reports of UFO sightings, incuding sightings by civil pilots and military personnel. Most were simply collected and filed by a small, secret unit within the defense intelligence group called DI55. A few incidents may have been investigated further by the military, but the details were never been made public. The 24 files due for release each contain 200-300 reports of sightings, along with Ministry of Defense briefings and memos and letters.

Before the files have even been released, the UFO community has lit up with various new conspiracy theories related to the release of these documents, as well as accusations of conspiracy because of the timing of the French and Brit releases. Will we learn of shocking new revelations? Unlikely. Will the UFOlogists debate, debunk, and exaggerate the release of this mother lode endlessly? Of course they will! Happy mining, folks.
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Paul Revere And The Raiders - northwest rock pioneers (with video goodness)

For a short moment, after the British/Liverpool invasion, northwest party band heroes Paul Revere and The Raiders were about the biggest rock band in America. They had a string of 24 hit singles, and various gold records with great pop/rock tunes (Hungry, Kicks, Steppin' Out, Him or Me?, Let Me, I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone, Good Thing, Ups and Downs, among others).

The Raiders had a ridiculously campy stage show (they still do), and absurd and flashy Revolutionary War–era stage costumes. They were all over the TV, and also hosted a daily show on ABC called Where the Action Is. The Raiders were probably the first television age rock band.

Being a northwest band, they played Louie Louie too (and released a single, but another local band, the Wailers made it a hit), as well as their own creation, Crisco Party.





I saw them two or three times at the Seattle Teen Fair and at one of the local battles of the bands. Mark Lindsay was always popular with the girls and women. Paul Revere could have been a baggy pants vaudeville comedian. The stageshow was a strange mixture of slapstick and garage.






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Senator Fred Thompson Responds To Michael Moore's Call For A Debate On Cuba

Senator Fred Thompson (and strong potential Republican Presidential candidate) put out this video in response to Michael Moore's call for a debate. Fred Thompson must have McCain and Giuliani quaking in their brogans. If I were to pick right now (I guess I am), this race will come down to Thompson v. Romney. While directly attacking Moore, but dodging his invite to debate, Thompson comes across as the sort of blunt speaking no-nonsense guy Republicans love. This, along with some other recent statements and actions, convince me that Thompson could conceivably whip McCain and Giuliani.

Fred -- I love the cigar!


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A video by Yes (and lyrics): Starship Trooper

Starship Trooper

I. Life Seeker
Anderson

Sister Bluebird flying high above,
Shine your wings forward to the sun.
Hide the myst'ries of life on your way.
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word.
What you don't know, I have never heard.

Starship Trooper, go sailing on by,
Catch my soul, catch the very light.
Hide the moment from my eager eye.
Though you've seen them, please don't tell a soul.
What you can't see, can't be very whole.

Speak to me of summer, long winters longer than time can remember,
The setting up of other roads, to travel on in old accustomed ways.
I still remember the talks by the water, the proud sons and daughter that,
Knew the knowledge of the land, that spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways.

Mother life, hold firmly on to me.
Catch my knowledge higher than the day.
Lose as much as only you can show.
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word.
What I don't know, I have never shared.

II. Disillusion
Squire

Loneliness is a pow'r that we possess to give or take away forever.
All I know can be shown by your acceptance of the facts there shown before you.
Take what I say in a diff'rent way and it's easy to say
that this is all confusion.
As I see a new day in me, I can also show it you and you may follow.

Speak to me of summer, long winters longer than time can remember,
The setting up of other roads, to travel on in old accustomed ways.
I still remember the talks by the water, the proud sons and daughter that,
Knew the knowledge of the land, spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways.

III: Wurm
Howe

(Instrumental)
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Reverend Falwell Found Unconscious, Rushed To Hospital, And Expires

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. He was 73. He was a hater, bigot, racist, and sexist cloaked in the habliments of The Church.


The reverend has appeared on the pages of All This Is That numerous times over the years; most recently last fall: Reverend Fallwell calls Hillary Rodham Clinton less appealing than Lucifer



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Vanity Fair asks "Is Rudy Giuliani crackers?"

I don't want to say you read it here first, but you did. We first talked about this four months ago.

The only mystery about Rudy Giuliani's candidacy for President is when he will jump the shark. Anyone who has closely followed his career knows that he will soon enough, on camera or tape, completely loose his cool and incinerate his Presidential aspirations.

My friends Pete and Kev from NYC may disagree with this assessment, although anyone who has followed Rudy knows this. People seem to in general give Rudy a flyer on most of his transgressions because he "made the trains run on time." But a gentrified Times Square, a crackdown on crime, and (relatively) clean streets, do not mean that their progenitor should necessarily be the guy with his finger on The Button.

Read this fascinating article by Michael Wolff in Vanity Fair: Crazy for Rudy.

Recent Giuliani posts on All This Is That:

Giuliani warns of a "new 9/11' if Democrats take the White House
The Scariest Looking Public Figure We Know Endorses Rudolph Giuliani For President
Giuliani: The Candidate For 9/11—See The Onion
Giuliani son: "I have problems with my father, but it doesn't mean he won't make a great President."
Running on empty—Send in the clowns—Announced, probable, and possible candidates for President of the United States
Republicans tied to the whipping post
Bernard Kerik--The Rest Of The Story.
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