American

I live in the United States of America. Maybe you do too? There are two continents in our half of the globe (OK, there's Antarctica and a sliver of Asia..) being North America and South America, last time I looked at a map. So, why do we call ourselves 'Americans' when referring to being citizens of the USA? This vexing nomenclature has troubled me for many years. My guess is that we feel we are so bad-ass, the naming reflects the 'tude that the rest of 'America' doesn't really count. Also, that it's just convenience to claim that title. We are all about convenience. We are also all about asserting our superiority. It seems like 'American' has become sort of a dirty word in the world at large (subject to change!), I'm ready to be done with the usage. That's convenient for me, eh? But there's another reason I'm gonna try to purge this word from my vocabulary:

There is a long-lived 'superstore' in Madison called American. I would hazard a guess that the majority of the goods sold are imported from other countries where they are manufactured, across the ocean. Yet it's AMERICAN. Their TV ads end each little rant about the big savings with "at A-MER-I-CAN" uttered with the melodic inflection of voice one might use to describe a puppy dog or your new sweetheart.


OK, now that my reactionary rant is out of the way...
The gig last Saturday with db and friends went very well. Union Cab delivered Tom and lil' drum kit to Mother Fools with ease and right on time. The evening's performances, they were charming and delightful.
It's weird to sit in the audience for 1 1/2 hours and all relaxed and shit and then get up there!
Duet of db and Kathleen Baird was mind-blowingly great and surreal. Rafi Boehm made a nice addition to db's thing with his superb conga rhythms. Wilhelmina Baker and db thought their performance art portion was off the mark, but I enjoyed it immensely. 2 great creative minds and bodies pouring it out in a way that could probably only have happened there at MF.
db and I locked in to some nice vibes and people seemed to enjoy it. It is so strange to be in a storefront type window of a busy street and keep focused. Moments of 'letting go' and connecting with me bro. The feeling returns.

Monday was another fine jam with Sam and Patrick. We are firing on all cylinders and seem to be developing a group personality. There was one new thing that was so exciting that I cajoled Sam into setting up the recorder and capturing it for further work. It ended differently, but I was clear to say that I liked the shape of v1 as much.

At work last night- the ongoing deep freeze of my toes and trying to keep a positive attitude, not play the role of 'cynical old hipster'.
People having a good time, despite the cold and economy being hosed.
#3 on the 4 band bill Marionette Men sang the line "Rock and Roll is a dead end job". Man, no shit. Glad to be having many 'irons in the fire'. I do have 2 sticks to rub together. Are we all tired of saying things could be worse?

listen:
Arve Henriksen - Cartography
Taylor/Hamer (for reference)

view:
Hank III and Hellbilly Assjack boot DVD
(have worked 2 shows when they played but never got to watch and listen for more than a second)

read:
TapeOp
Thomas Pynchon (1085pp! I'll be living in this one for awhile)