F Posterity, issue 6: The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows"

I don't think anyone in this world gets enough banjo, short of maybe Bela Fleck. So in the interest of broadening cultural horizons / invoking sincere disappointment, I've ventured to cover a love song on the banjo.

The banjo is an African instrument, by the way. It's essentially a lute strapped to a snare drum: how can you not admire that? It's the olden-time equivalent of strapping a Gibson to an MPC-2000. Right?! Maybe that's not abstract enough... it's the indigenous equivalent of tying a pinup girl to the railroad tracks. Either way, jazz banjos have four strings, and bluegrass banjos have a fifth highest string next to the lowest bass string. That's madness, I tell you.

When I lived in NYC, the VP at the job I worked would always ask me, "You playing your banjo tonight, Roy?" I didn't play banjo then. He was dissing me by implying I was a banjo-player. Banjoist. Banjographer, whatever.

So while I lived in Boston, I took a banjo lesson, and I feel that qualified me well enough to be a banjo-er. I've only written a few songs on it though, and it's always entertaining (to me) to cover songs on the banjo. You know, in the same way that it's amusing for Gwar to cover Streisand.

That said, I literally woke up one morning with the thought that I needed to arrange the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" for banjo. Angel thoughts, we call those.

Since it's not my song, I don't have a lot of notes on the composition, except that it's astonishingly complex for a pop song. All kinds of diminisheds and ninths and sixths and resolutions that build in a way that challenges a folk singer. And apparently it was the first charting pop song to use the word "God".

Of the recording, I'm dubious. The song is clearly out of my range, but I challenge you to transpose anything around on a banjo, much less this song. But that's why I'm publishing these: so all of you can hear me out of my comfort range. That's all anybody wants, isn't it? Uncomfortably transposed love songs on a freak snare/lute hybrid instrument?

Yes. The answer is yes, thank you.


Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006

F Posterity, issue 5: "Miracle Hubcap"

So to stand in complete distinction to last week's "F Posterity", this week's demo is more about the genuine artist. The song, "Miracle Hubcap", is less illustrative than others I've posted, so I'll say less about it. It leaves more for interpretation than others, so I'll let you do your own thang.

I feel like I should say something though, so I'll go ahead and say it's inspired by an artist friend who has wrestled hard with depression. Depression, like addiction or anorexia or any overtly mental obstacle, is bizarre because no one can see what goes on in that head. And no one can force a change but the individual themselves. All we can do as friends is be there.

Somewhere in writing the song, I pushed it more towards the metaphysical ideal, towards, you know, the notion that woman is going save the world. Because man isn't highly evolved enough to.

Um, like I said, probably the less said the better.

Miracle Hubcap

She had a miracle hubcap beneath a crown of gold
The proverbial roadmap to her tortured soul
And nobody seems to know that she's been
Out battling dragons and out saving the town
With a seven-barrel rainbow gatling
She's been mowing them demons down
While all of us are just happy
Every one of us is just happy
All of us are just happy to drown

She had a miracle hubcap, the likes I've never told
To hold all the spokes together while she's spinnin' that flax to gold
And nobody seems to know that she's been
Outsourcing the saviours and engraving the crowns
With a double-barrel neon buckshot
She's been mowing them suckers down
While all of us are just happy
Every one of us is just happy
All of us are just happy to drown

The balance of the gentry, the clergy and the sentries
Are all entrenched in lonesome little holes
Missing the chance to pass the gates of heaven, lest they contemplate
That everything she's written isn't wrong

She had a miracle hubcap beneath a crown of gold
And this miracle hubcap is the last trustworthy component
At a most peculiar moment
As the day concedes the gloaming she's still alone

Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006

The survey-killing Killer Survey!! Take for a spin.

Okay lovers, I've read hundreds of your surveys through bulletins and blogs, and I'm inviting you take my own "Survey to Slay All Prior Surveys Heretofore". It's deadly. It's provocative, and it will make you question everything critical... and love yourself a little more in the process. Take it for a spin, by which I mean, repost it so it profligates like a virus. Let's begin!


1. Do you remember that one time? Explain.


2. Aspartame or MSG?


3. Ever been in love with a celeb until you found out they were a Scientologist?


4. "Killer apps" or "killer abs"?


5. If you are a PC user, are you afraid of using Macs? If you are a Mac user, how smug do you feel about using Macs, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being ashamed and 10 being Steve Jobs?


6. Would you rather have iridescent skin or feathers? Why?


7. Would you rather huff new car, new shoe, or bacon grease? Why?


8. What are you waiting for?


9. Sausage ice cream or pork toothpaste? (If you had to.)


10. Grew up on Chutes and Ladders or Candyland?


11. Shrimp tempura or egg tempera?


12. Put an X next to the words you find most offensive.
[ ] turbid
[ ] torpid
[ ] tonsil
[ ] tassle
[ ] pasties
[ ] pastries
[ ] salami
[ ] birthday cake
[ ] i french kissed your mom.
[ ] i french kissed a photo of your mom.
[ ] pork toothpaste
[ ] vincent gallo


13. Gents; Martha Washington or Eleanor Roosevelt? Ladies; Neville Chamberlain or Spongebob Squarepants? ;)


14. Where you were last naked outdoors?


15. Do you hate your job? If so, what keeps you from changing? If not, what do you love most?


16. Do you freak on the dance floor?


17. Do you discriminate against fat kids?


18. What non-US city would you most like to live in?


19. Reebok or Roos? Bonus: British Knights or Kangol?


20. List three people you'd like to be on three consecutive days, as a study in historical lifestyle contrast.

F Posterity, issue 4: "A Paycheck Is All I Ask"

So while bad commercial music will never go away, it does come and go in cyclical waves. There really is a formula for mediocre business and bad art: someone has a hit in some new genre or unique style, and all the record companies rush out to get one. Nirvana spawned pop grunge. Dylan spawned a host of nasally singer-songwriters. "Girl from Ipanema" spawned an industry of elevator bossa nova. This trend stretches back to what foreign critics called the first truly American music, ragtime. Man, the ragtime music scene was just a mad scramble to rep the ragtimiest rag-rags around, until songs had lyrics like, "I got a ragtime baby and a ragtime dog and I rag around the city in my ragtime Ford."

Yes, with a ragtime wax on my ragtime 'stache.

The marketing onslaught of the late 'nineties and early 'aughts was the ubiquitous candygrams of girlie girls and boy bands. With each, it seemed that you couldn't part your hair without some new Frankenstein non-variation of the formula haunting the airwaves.

Particularly with female vocalists, there's history here. Consider the story of Mamie Smith, who around 1921 or 1922 sold close to a million copies of a song called "Crazy Blues". The record companies went nuts, telling producers, "We want one of those." Lots of bad music and half-composed artists ensued. In this rare case, however, the mandate caused producer Clarence Williams to discover Bessie Smith for Okeh Records.* She became one of the great jazz vocalists of the 20th century.

I don't know. You think Hilary Duff's stuff will stand up to Bessie Smith's? How about Jessica Simpson? Ashley Simpson? Lindsay Lohan. Donna Lewis. Britney? Christina? Paris has a record contract now ...?

I'll let you think on these things. This song is a little dated now, written in December 2002, but if I wait a bit, it'll become topical again. It's for all those pop-thrush songstresses who you love to hate and hate to love.

A Paycheck Is All I Ask

Poppy seeds will show up on a drug test
Like you always seem to show up on my doorstep
And I don't know much about opiates
But poppy seeds aren't causative
And man it's gettin' old when my doorstep turns up positive

Blonde and tall and young and lovely
She won't leave me alone
And all the songs she sings to me just drone, drone, drone
And I haven't read the fine print
But I hope there's some kind of warranty
'Cause man these factory showroom girls are boring me

But I can't sing the same old, same old
Good gal done me wrong
It's just a case of high maintenance
With a low-brow sing along

And a paycheck is all I ask
And it ain't too much to ask
She said a paycheck is all I ask for loving you

She never says much as such about the business half
She's a pretty face and a promise all in shrink wrap
I try in vain to explain myself
But she can't understand me
And all I can think is 'oh god, the humanity'

But I can't sing the same old, same old
Good gal done me wrong
It's just a case of high maintenance
With a low-brow sing along

And a paycheck is all I ask
And it ain't too much to ask
She said a paycheck is all I ask for loving you

Well I've been thinking everything through
And it's all coming down
To weighing out your pretty face
Against my cash accounts
I just want a girl to exist on this plane for real, now
And if you insist like this to keep on comin' round

And a paycheck is all I ask
And it ain't too much to ask
I said a paycheck is all I ask for loving you

Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006

Teaching new dogs obsolete tricks!!

This is about sex, because power is an aphrodesiac.

My peeps,

If we could talk about something really sexxy for just a second, I'd like to discuss ... public broadcasting. Yes, it's hot stuff; caliente. But please, read on. It gets even sexier.

Corporate media's goal is to get you to watch ads. That's a great motive to fund shows like the Simpsons, The Daily Show, The OC, but it's not great for news. Whichever way these networks lean politically, they all lean economically towards profit.

PBS and NPR are the only outlets in the media landscape that stand distinct from all other media outlets, which exist to make money. Public broadcasting exists to inform, educate, inspire and engage. The critical idea here is that PBS provides an essential alternative because America is a democracy. Without public broadcasting, all of America's airwaves are run by corporations.

Now hard enough to believe, the party of power in Congress is seeking to eliminate funding for public broadcasting, even after a public outcry stopped it last year. I'm not big on online petitions, but I'm big on keeping the media landscape level. If you care about keeping the media landscape even marginally democratic, please sign the petition at this link.

http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting
thank you,

rob

Also, read the Boston Globe story on the threat to NPR and PBS.

Also, the C.S. Monitor is a rare privately-funded media source that serves up reliable news.

Also, my band Analog Jetpack will be playing in DC this month and New York City next month.

F Posterity, issue 3: "Halfway"

This week's unproduced recording comes from a song I wrote a couple years ago and did nothing with. Occasionally songwriters spill an entire composition in one sitting and walk away from it, not really certain that it's something they're happy with. I've looked at this a few times since writing it one day in August 2004 and recently decided I like it. The other day I wrote one final chorus to vary the finish and recorded a demo today.

Strangely enough, it's the songs I write in half an hour that people seem to love. The ones I labor over for months, fasting and beating my chest with stones, are the ones people say, "Eh. Doesn't do much for me."

Maybe that makes sense.

The lyrics:

It's just a halfway position I'm posing on pedestals
Parasols spinning in timelessness
Weightless aspirations seeking an anchor
Like so many tankards topped off with ambrosia
And soldiered mimosas are flowing from open wounds
Doomed to be spilled upon battlefields sacred
All making it better and softer and easier
Stronger and poignant and guided by lasers

But it's just a halfway position I'm posing you
All along with me on grossly domestic
Convincing projections of fourth-quarter bliss
And I'm aching, I'm faking, I'm vacant, I'm taking you home

Me and the universe, you and the secular
Necking like prudes for the fix of a helix
Approaching another, embracing consecutives
Unlikely to be these end-over-empathies
Dastardly seek the approach of romantics
In frantic obsessions of endless semantics
All tethered to earth with the girth of a feather
And whether it weathers the term of eternity

It's just a halfway position I'm posing you
Nosing my way into fortunes I've no business
Zoning my heart for industrial growth
And condoning its breaking until I'll be taking you home

But it's just a halfway position I'm posing on pedestals
Parasols spinning in timelessness
Weightless aspirations seeking an anchor
Like so many tankards topped off with ambrosia
And soldiered mimosas are flowing from open wounds
Doomed to be spilled upon battlefields sacred
All making it better and softer and easier
Stronger and poignant and guided by lasers

And it's just a halfway position I'm posing
You don't need security clearance to hear this
It's only the loneliness closing in on me
And I'll meet you halfway and say I'll be taking you home

Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006

An Inconvenient Truthism

Tonight I saw the documentary of Al Gore's crusade to alert the world to global climate change, An Inconvenient Truth. And earlier this week, some workmen cut down a large tree in my backyard.

Don't worry, I'm not going to relate these in a predictable way.

Rather, I'm going to praise the movie and relate deep concerns about my own ability to focus on a dedicated career path.

The tree behind my house was big and beautiful, perhaps 50-100 years old. About 12 feet off the ground, it split into two dominant trunks instead of one central trunk, growing straight up. The bifurcation seemed to compromise the typical vertical stability of a tree, and it had developed an ungainly lean towards the house. Thus the owners elected to cut it down.

Similarly, my own dedicated interests pull me in compromising directions. I, like some friends I've discovered, have something of a creative myopia that causes me to put myself into whatever role I am most directly looking at. If I'm watching a great film, I consider my life in terms of filmmaker, scriptwriter, preeminent actor. If I'm walking the halls of the Supreme Court, I think to myself, "Yes, I'll totally be a Supreme Court Justice. I'd better look into the LSAT." And if I read Vasari, I quickly fix myself into the historical context of great artists.

It's fairly ridiculous, perhaps symptomatic of any democracy as de Tocqueville noted, and existentially ADD in a way that alternately could be praised as the fruit of an undying curiosity or derided as the side effect of a debilitating lack of focus.

Watching Gore's presentation makes it very clear that the world is at an environmental and cultural tipping point. Environmentally, wide scale reduction in CO2 omissions is urgently needed, while culturally, there is a demand for serious awareness and reevaluation of what macro lifestyles can be sustained by the earth. The film outlines Gore's career of drawing attention to this issue, and how the 2000 mis-election diverted his full focus back to it.

Watching the film has had a similar effect on me. Washington is, perhaps, the most political city in the world, and one can't avoid osmosizing a degree of it. Seeing Gore present his case should strike a chord with any viewer to seek considerable change in the nation's practices and policies (to say nothing of leadership).

So thoughts of how I can involve politics into my career are now enriching/clouding my pursuit. Perhaps this is good, perhaps I should banish the thoughts and focus on art/music/film/writing. But even a successful career in these pales without a dedicated component of service of some kind. Ongoing, lasting service, to mirror a substantial, lasting contribution to the arts.

That's all I want.

So coming right up, the next installment of the Analog Jetpack comic.

That's all I'm saying.