Over at the Other Blog…

The Coup - “Show Yo Ass” - Live performance clip from our favorite revolutionary Marxist funk and hip-hop band.

Asian Dub Foundation & Zebda - “Police On My Back” - Concert footage of a British Asian Underground/hip-hop band (who have lots of politics) and a political French-Arab hip-hop band joining together to play a great old punk rock song by The Clash.

Political Notes from M.I.A.’s blog and a few from me.

Statement from My Music Blog Regarding an “Ugly Coincidence”

I’m spending more of my time on my music blog these days; Commie Curmudgeon is going to be a much more occasional project, as far as I can tell, judging by my mood, etc.  But I’ll be stopping by here to do something once in a while…

And today, I posted a comment on that other blog which should carry over to Commie Curmudgeon: 

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Sometimes I post items about music originating from a certain place to coincide with world events.  Certainly, this was the case when I delved into Bangla music as Bangladesh was trying to recover from the cyclone.  However, when I posted the latest item, about a singer who was born in the North-West Frontier of Pakistan, in the now-embattled area of Swat, I had no idea that a couple of hours later, I would see news that Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated.  Bhutto was far from perfect, but this is still upsetting and disturbing news. 

Not much else I can say right now, except…  If this was done by fundamentalist terrorists, these are the people who are trying to bring about the kind of rule that would suppress the creative expression in music, dance, etc., that I have been supporting here (not to mention a whole lot of other things that they would stifle and suppress). 

I am deeply opposed to those kinds of movements and the tactics waged to advance them, though I am also strongly opposed to G.W. Bush and dictators like Musharraf.  It’s too bad that so many people feel they must support one oppressive. authoritarian force in order to oppose another.  There aren’t many these days who feel they can even dream about creating a movement for equality, liberty, and real democracy. 

But, anyway…  Just had to say something in light of this unfortunate coincidence. 

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This evening, I’ve been doing some research to check back on a group that I saw speak here in New York City some years ago, who gained attention in radical leftist circles here during the time between the invasion of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq.  They are called the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

I’ll probably be getting back to that topic sometime soon.

Pessimism of the Intellect, Pessimism of the Will

Well, after a once unthinkable gap of eight days, I’ve finally managed to crank out a full post.  But the resistance to doing this sort of thing on this blog has gotten much greater of late.  Some people talk about blog writing blocks…  However, I wouldn’t say that’s exactly what I have, because I’ve been working very extensively on my music blog, which I’ve been finding to be very enjoyable.  I’m still not getting as many readers on that blog, but I’ve just got much more creative momentum going there.  So, what’s the problem here?  I think it’s because this is the political blog, something I once perceived of as a sort of vehicle for activism, and something that reflects my attitudes about the situation in the present society, in the U.S., and my realtionship to it as someone who is politically concerned (or obsessed) and (painfully) aware.

And right now, I guess the problem can be summed up on one phrase, which I just typed in as the title of this post.

If I Don’t Want the FBI to Follow Me, I Better Stop Buying Those Middle Eastern Yogurt Drinks!

I better stop buying Middle Eastern yogurt drinks and frozen kofta kebabs at that supermarket in Jackson Hieghts - that is, if I don’t want to be followed by government agents (again)…  According to a recent report in  Congressional Quarterly (found via Hawgblawg):

Like Hansel and Gretel hoping to follow their bread crumbs out of the forest, the FBI sifted through customer data collected by San Francisco-area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006, hoping that sales records of Middle Eastern food would lead to Iranian terrorists.

The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data, would lead to Iranian secret agents in the south San Francisco-San Jose area.

One Year After the Murder of Brad Will

As people who’ve been reading this blog for a year or more know…  Brad Will was a guy I worked with (along with many other people) on some activist projects sometimes over a period of at least seven years, mostly during my heavier activist and anarchist days.  I can’t say that I became close pals with Brad, but he was good friends with people whom I was pretty good friends with for a while, and after some awkwardness over a few years (which I felt with quite a few people in his circle), I did get to like the guy.  Plus, all along, I had to respect him for his commitment and the skills in activism that he had learned - which he was so glad to teach others as well.  Later on, there was no denying his commitment as a journalist. 

I’ve parted ways with the New York anarchist scene as I knew it, for the most part anyway, and I’ve lost touch with people (or certain people completely lost touch with me - for whatever reason).  So, even though I thought maybe I’d attend some kind of memorial for the one-year anniversary of Brad’s death, since nobody mentioned it to me, I’m sorry to say that the one-year point (and any local commemoration that might have gone with it) completely passed me by.

But I’m in New York City, and it looks as though the real memorial was in Oaxaca anyway…  It was interesting to see at a WordPress blog called Mexico Reporter that 20,000 people marched in memory of Brad Will, and in protest of the fact that a year had passed since his murder and no justice had been done.  (No surprise there.)  They also remembered a teacher named Alonso Fabian who, as the blog notes, “was shot dead the same day during clashes between teachers and members of the APPO, and municipal police and government forces.”

It’s good to see such a strong response to at least two such injustices.  If we saw this kind of reaction to a bunch more of the so-many murders that are committed by governments and their agents against activists and journalists (or people just involved in social action or journalism) …well, at the very least, things would get more interesting.

Brad’s death both shocked and depressed me, but I know of several people for whom it was probably far more devestating…  Not only among the people whom I had known before his death, but also during the year since it happened…  I actually met or corresponded with some more people whom Brad had affected in a personal way, whom he had inspired or helped or consoled in troubled times, and I have to say, that was impressive. 

There are the people who will use Brad as some symbol for their cause, try to turn him into a saint or martyr or the next Che Guevara, and I have some distaste for that sort of thing.  (That could be one reason that I didn’t go to the big memorial last year - though I know it’s not a good excuse.)   But for the people who knew him well, for whom this loss was so personal…well, I hope it’s at least a little consolation that so many others are remembering him as well, for his commitment and the awful sacrifice that he made.

And no, I don’t think that dying for a cause or in the line of duty, whether as activist or journalist or revolutionary, is a great thing.  Frankly, I think it stinks.  All the more reason to hope for some kind of justice when this kind of thing happens to someone - though justice can be a rare thing.

More Blog Changes

Yes, I’m changing things in my blog(s) a little again, and I feel that compulsive need to write about it again…

First of all, it’s time to de-emphasize the music blog and let some of that get absorbed back into this one.  The sad truth is, it had very few readers and that wasn’t about to change.  Besides, I was never really certain about splitting things the way that I did.  I don’t know, I might keep it up as a sort of M.I.A. fan blog (which it was mostly anyway), but I’ve got to shift my energies again.  I once said that I didn’t care if anybody was reading my blog…but I guess I did.  And I need to spend more time writing about other things too.

Readers of this blog might notice that I have changed the visual theme here…to the same theme as my music blog!  (Actually, most readers here won’t notice that because they never visit the music blog - but never mind.)  And I have to admit, I really liked that other theme so much more all along.  My biggest problem with using it here was that, because of the color scheme and its obvious symbolism, there were other people of similar political leanings who had already had the same idea.  And I wouldn’t want people to get confused (for instance, this is isn’t The Yinsurrectionary Times)…  But in the long run, that’s probably not a big deal - better just to have a very nice theme. 

I’m also quite pleased, if I may say so, with the new picture arrangement.  But, then, I always feel that way when I find new pictures…  

Another Post I’d Like to Mention that I Wrote in the Other Blog…

Yes, I wrote another post in the other blog that I think is worth mentioning to readers here.  Given that I don’t have much of a talent for short and snappy titles, I think the title of this one describes it pretty thoroughly:  A Few Deeper Thoughts: Religion in Music, My (Lack of?) Jewishness, Affinity for Muslim Music, an Ancient Conflict, La Kahena…

The post started while I was reflecting on the wonderful album, La Kahena, by Cheb i Sabbah.

I’m wondering if I should just duplicate posts in the other blog that might fit in well here also…especially since that other blog is getting somewhere around three readers a day.  If that trend keeps up, I might just bring the two parts back together again.  But I do like having the other blog also, for now…

Back Online

All right, I’m back.  Some things need to be ironed out, and too much to do right now.  But there should be more here soon…

Past Week 2 of Being (Mostly) Offline…

A quick one, ten minutes left in the Internet Cafe…

One day I’ll have to post about the unfair elitism of limited ticket sales.  M.I.A. sold out Sudio B within five hours, through an online ticket sale that happened while I was alseep.  (Asleep and offline and without credit or debit card, which I imagine is how you have to buy these online tickets.)  Maya, next time, maybe you can find a way to provide more democratic access to your club engagements.  Pull up the people, you know?

Though, admittedly, she did play a free festival too, at Coney Island.  The festival was not so good (IMO), but the M.I.A. show was great, as expected.

Still offline right now, putting off the pain of getting the new computer (dealing with the hucksters, etc.), just enjoying my relaxation too much.  Many things to take care of soon.

Thanks to people for still tuning in (I’m actually getting more readers now than I did when I was regularly posting - strange)…

(Another Post about) Packing, Moving, Getting Rid of Things. (Or: Goodbye, Bronx. Hello, Queens!)

(I tried to connect this to other things, but it didn’t work.  So, this is another mundane moving-time post about sifting through things, throwing things out, and trying to pack…)

I will be moving from my present place to the new one pretty soon.  I’d rather not say exactly when (since I’m not even really sure myself), but it might be a little later than some people would like me to move.  Not much later, but just a little, and I doubt that there will be any consequences from that…

Unfortunately, though, I haven’t even begun packing, not to any great extent, and I definitely should have by now.  Each move seems to catch me more unprepared, which I like to think is the consequence of bad circumstances rather than an inability to “get my shit together” and that sort of thing.

This time around I have decided, more than ever before, that I really need to give up a lot of books.  The easiest thing for me to part with, actually, is the fiction books, which has been the case for the past several years.  Maybe that’s because I feel little need to reread any of the fiction or even refer to it (except to find a particular Ballard of Kafka passage - for example - to quote sometime)… 

The political books are still much harder for me to part with…  One would think that given the decline of my activism (along with everyone else’s), I might have been a little more able to part with some of the writings and ideas that first inspired me.  But that’s not true at all, mysteriously enough.   Unfortunately,  with the sort of life that I’m leading, I can’t exactly have a huge and comprehensive library in front of me all the time.

I’ve already dragged about 25 political books to someone’s house in Brooklyn, where I think they will be used for a worthy cause sometime in the near future, hopefully.  (I won’t go any more into that now.  But suffice to say, I would have been happy to bring 35 or 40 books if I thought I could manage them on the ride from the 6 train in The Bronx to the L train in Manhattan and all the way over to the Grand Street station in East Williamsburg/Bushwick, near the border between Brooklyn and Queens.  I probably could have done that, actually.  But I wimped out and brought only 25 or so, if that many.)  However, I still do have well more than twice that many books remaining, and it’s going to be difficult to leave most of those behind.

I’m thinking that it probably would not do me well to unearth all my political books right away at the place where I’m going, because the new roommate has no knowledge of my political leanings, and who knows what will freak a roommate out.  (Most other signs seem to indicate a good arrangement, but as I’ve learned, you never know what will happen, and when you’re eager for somebody to let you move into a place, you can’t exactly cover everything.)  However, while I’ve learned to be less in people’s faces about my politics (at least at first - I think…), these very important interests are a big part of me that I cannot permanently hide.  And, I still will want books to have around that I can refer to quite a bit without having to search for them on the Net.  So, I probably will keep at least a couple of well-filled boxes of books.

I’ve also been sifting through my CDs, going through some similar anguish in some cases.  However, the job of sifting has been made somewhat easier by the fact that I never took such good care of my CDs and many of those that are a decade old or older are unplayable anyway.  

Along the same lines, I have to think about my old records…  I’ve already cut my vinyl collection to about one third over the years, but I’m thinking of cutting it down to less than a quarter of that…  Maybe one out of four milk crates…  Will I be able to do that?  It will be kind of tough, but like many people, I hardly play my old records anyway (and I rarely splurge on the hip new 12″ single these days), so it might be just as well.  Especially since many of those are also pretty well trashed…  Of course, they could come in handy if I decide to take up turntablism - but once again, I can’t really plan for every possibility, especially when I need to move light.

And there is the computer…  My plan right now is to just dump the computer and get a new computer right after I’ve moved.  But it’s going to take some courage, because I am so addicted to this thing that just the brief step of physically parting with one model of computer before replacing it might be a somewhat traumatic experience for me.  Plus, do I have the courage to part with the $500 or so?  Sure, the money is actually there, for the first time in a long time.  But I could easily just spend $500 right away on my broken teeth.  (Sometimes I like to imagine what life would be like if I lived in a country that had universal, single-payer health coverage and I didn’t always have that sort of problem to think about.  But that’s for another post…)  

On the other hand, I have waited long enough and, the way things happen with me, if I don’t make this decision to dump the computer then I’ll spend the extra time and energy dragging this heavy antique over to the new place only to discover that it hasn’t survived the move.  Or it will blow right after I get there, since it’s been threatening to blow (with a thousand “Fatal Exception” messages) for well over a year.  So, I am going to replace it, right away.   I am.   I keep having to tell that to myself…

Next will be the question of the blog…  Once I’ve moved and have gotten a new computer, will I celebrate these events by doing something new with the blog?  Maybe I will split it up a little after all instead of leaving this increasingly schizophrenic blog exactly the way it is as the ratings continue to hemorrhage (even though I am getting good comments here and there).

Oh, well.  All things to be worked out in the very near future…

When I am in Queens.

That’s right.  I am really moving to Queens.  I’ve had my heart set on this idea for a couple of months now.  Probably, first of all, because I’ve never lived in Queens before; it’s the only borough in New York City that I’ve never lived in, while I have spent extensive periods of time residing in Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan and The Bronx.  Plus, I am moving to the place where Woodside borders on Jackson Heights…which means only about ten blocks away from the two or three streets that have the best cheap Indian restaurants in New York.  (This is a fact I heard about more than ten years ago - but one that  I only confirmed fairly recently, during the resurgence of my desiphilia.)

And there’s one place in particular, over on 74th Street, that has the greatest salt lassis…  Yes, I am moving to a neighborhood to be within walking distance of a good lassi.  That may seem a little trivial at first glance, but then again…  It seems like as good a reason as any other to move into a neighborhood.

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P.S.  OK, I’m being a little unnecessarily wry in the last paragraph above.   I do like this neighborhood for other reasons…  I think Woodside and Sunnyside are both pretty charming in odd ways.   For instance, I like the way they have those great little community parks right under the elevated 7 line - you don’t see that in many other parts of New York (and the “els” in The Bronx just seem so much uglier for some reason)…  And there’s a matter of the population…  I said I like diversity, and you can’t get more diverse than these neighborhoods in Queens!  So, altogether, the neighborhood should be a very nice experience.  Now, just need to cross my fingers (even though I don’t believe in that sort of thing) about the living situation…