......sooooo, we had an interesting ol' time here in the lower Pioneer Valley between the hours of 4 and 9 last night; hadn't ever resorted to taking refuge in a basement but was down there with the New Siamese boy (not pictured) for 45 minutes after a 200-foot-wide beast, feeding off the Connecticut, crossed it, I-91 and tore through the South End of Springfield on its way toward Worcester, leaving considerable damage in its wake but, thankfully, very few fatalities/casualties as of now - still, a state of emergency has been declared and the tab has to be at least a quarter-billion in total, I would estimate from the footage so far viewed - not much happened up where I am in Hampshire County but still a very tense stretch all the same!

  I'd like to ask a favor of those who know me on OK Cupid and live in Massachusetts, that on Tuesday, November 2 they vote for JIM HENDERSON, who is running as an Independent candidate for Secretary Of The Commonwealth.

Please copy and paste the link provided into your browser window to watch a short video and hear from the man himself.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=looj0IYW31E&hd=1

The present and recurring occupant, Democrat William 'Bill' Galvin, has kept a very low profile in repeated elections for the better part of a decade, demonstrating an unacceptable degree of contempt for, and isolation from, many of the people he was elected by and perhaps even a sense of sheer entitlement to the office in question. In so doing, he has utterly failed to make any case to them for his continuing as Secretary Of The Commonwealth.

 

I haven't done any sort of work in the political arena for quite some time, but was inspired to volunteer my efforts for Jim, deciding as he did to run without party affiliation or financial support because he wanted NOTHING to compromise his ability to serve ALL the citizens of this state, to provide greater voice and choices, make Election Day much more relevant and vital than it may have been in years past.

Jim offers true reform of the electoral process through expanded online access, increased transparency and major innovations. Above all else, he will be COMPLETELY accountable and far more publicly visible, to every last one of his constituents. So please, do vote for him on November 2. Thank you.

.....as I've always loved so much of the Philadelphia International sound, including acts such as the O'Jays, The Spinners, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and The Stylistics, I did a little investigating of Amazon and Google, coming up with a 2004 book written about the label called 'A House On Fire: The Rise And Fall Of Philadelphia Soul' by John A. Jackson. Elated to find a  copy in mint condition for only about $10 with shipping, I snapped up and received it a week ago tomorrow.....didn't have a chance to start reading before my eyes landed on this bulletin from the Inquirer 3 days later and, well.....the TIMING is just kinda freakish.....

 

Officials: Philadelphia International fire was set

By Dan DeLuca

Inquirer Music Critic

Waterlogged gold records - Teddy Pendergrass' Heaven Only Knows, Lou Rawls' Unmistakably Lou - lay amid rubble in the offices of Philadelphia International Records yesterday while McFadden and Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" played on a boom box.

Fire officials ruled yesterday that the Sunday morning blaze, which started in a stockroom, had been set but declined to release any other information. The fire severely damaged the brick building on South Broad Street where the Sound of Philadelphia was born.

"We feel violated that someone would go into such a sacred place and create such havoc," said Kenny Gamble, who owns the building at 309 S. Broad St. along with his partner, Leon Huff, and songwriter and producer Thom Bell.

Gamble said yesterday that detectives from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives had shown him and Huff pictures of a person taken from the scene by authorities. "We kind of know who did it," he said, adding that it was not someone he or Huff recognized. "The bottom-line question is: Why?"

No one has been charged in connection with the fire.

The main casualties of the fire were memorabilia and merchandise to be sold in the PIR retail store on the ground floor of the building where Chubby Checker recorded "The Twist," when it housed the Cameo Parkway record label. That was before Gamble, Huff, and Bell bought the building in 1970. The building suffered structural and water damage, and about 40 gold records were harmed, as were irreplaceable photos, said Gamble's nephew Chuck Gamble, PIR's executive vice president, who estimated the damage "in the millions."

The recording studio where Candy & the Kisses cut "The 81" - Gamble and Huff's first songwriting collaboration, in 1964 - and where Gamble's ex-wife Dee Dee Sharp recorded "Mashed Potato Time" in 1962 went unharmed. No damage was done to any master tapes, Chuck Gamble said. Those are housed in an underground vault outside the city.

"The Almighty wrapped his arms around the studio," said Huff, of the storied third-floor recording facility where he has been working on his first solo album in three decades on a Yamaha grand piano that was unscathed by the blaze.

"It hurts," Kenny Gamble said. "There's so much water damage and smoke and fire damage that the whole place will be have to gutted. But we'll be back. Stronger than ever.

"Maybe we'll write a song about it. 'The Day They Burnt Philly International Down.' "

 

Only to go with the book which unwittingly foretold of it, Kenny - and BTW, I was 300 miles away at the time - honest!

 

 

.....as a few people on this site know, I take great pleasure in sharing some of the music which has great meaning to me - this weekend I've discovered a good number of YouTube clips, and there are two I'd like to praise in this journal post, the first of which is among my ALL-time favorite songs and both from a band called Rubicon (for you Eighties fans, where Jack Blades and Brad Gillis honed their skills not long before forming Night Ranger) featuring an absolutely phenomenal singer, the late, soulful Max Haskett. He compares very favorably to Peter Cetera's best work with Chicago and the band's sound stems in no small part from Sly & The Family Stone as the sax player, Jerry Martini, was in that combo; some very, VERY funky songs on their two albums - in addition to those two groups, both songs fall in with those of Ambrosia, Toto and fellow San Franciscans Tower Of Power.....please do let me know what you thought of them! From 1978 (NOTE: copy and paste the links; they aren't live)

 

"I'm Gonna Take Care Of Everything", with intro by 'Music Mike' (highest chart position: #28)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVniQ-lhP0k

"Far Away" (highest position: unknown)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZq3C60XwS8&NR=1

 

And a bonus, "Home And Dry", by the great Gerry Rafferty (of "Stuck In The Middle With You" and "Baker Street" fame; highest chart position: also #28, 1979)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOHiZACoYFI

 

 

Yesterday's passage of a referendum to overturn a gay-marriage law in Maine was, as with California's, hardly the finest hour for that state, one long recognized for a stubbornly independent streak (mostly for having elected one of the first governors unaligned with either major party) but also, like both Vermont and New Hampshire, populated with a significant percentage of xenophobes, some of whom haven't hesitated to loudly declare how much they love freedom - but only theirs, apparently.....following the vote count, people such as Scott Fish of the Stand For Marriage - Maine rhetorically - and disingenuously - asked, "what's the hurry?", knowing that this measure had effectively answered his question for the foreseeable future and making himself look very, VERY smug. Not that he likely cared much.....

There is only ONE way for such legislating of discrimination to stop forever, and that is for Washington to pass an all-encompassing law protecting the rights of gays, lesbians and transgendered people to marry outside of religious settings, without challenge.....problem being, the party in present power has been terrified of a backlash by its more pious members - especially after passing the Hate Crimes Act - and thinks nothing of spending billions to ram through an unarguably unconstitutional health insurance mandate (per an analysis by the Georgetown University Law School) which seriously calls into question its recognition of, and commitment to, personal freedoms.....above all, it's events like the one in Maine yesterday that make me extremely reluctant to ever refer to myself as a Christian in any shape or form again.....and I am not just saddened, but thoroughly sickened by this pyrrhic victory, that a vital right I have as a heterosexual has been inexplicably denied men and women that are every bit my equals.

While I never felt very invested in either of them, as a Sixties child, the one-two death punch of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, although neither all that unexpected, nonetheless shook me up - especially coupled with the passing of another such person, Bea(atrice) Arthur, a few weeks ago.....and still another looming in Patrick Swayze. Approaching 50 myself, I can begin to feel the angel of death's cold breath on the back of my own neck!

Like a lot of other teenagers, I did watch "Charlie's Angels" as an ABC show, but it won't ever compete with, say, "The Six Million Dollar Man" or "The Bionic Woman" for me in the ol' memory bank - I'll always remember FFM for her interesting role in the movie adaptation of "Logan's Run" and one of her earliest bit roles in a first season "Partridge Family" episode.....bizarre talk show appearances aside, she went on to become a very good, thoughtful actress that better reflected her true personality.....

As for MJ, I never was a big fan of his solo efforts, and so nothing he did after 1979 will ever compete with the infectious Jackson 5 songs I best know, as well as songs such as "Ben" (influencing as unlikely a person as Eddie Vedder in the PJ track "Blood") "Just A Little Bit Of You" (another Philadelphia International-influenced record, written by the legendary Holland brothers) "Off The Wall" and "Rock With You" - I've said it before and I'll say it again, without remorse: "Thriller" is one of the most overrated albums in music history, more a reflection of the mid-Eighties than anything else (and not an always-flattering one). Yes, it was expertly constructed and, in terms of showcasing Michael's dancing abilities, accomplished, but it hasn't aged well at all; both Billie Jean" and "Beat It" haven't held up to virtually infinite plays, "The Girl Is Mine" was dumber than a rock (no offense meant to Sir Paul) and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" remains one of the most thoroughly annoying songs ever produced, right up there with "I Wonder If I Take You Home" by Lisa Lisa and any number of inane hip hop numbers - in short, with the possible exception of "Human Nature", the record lacks the taut soul which burst from those Jackson 5 classics - I do like the title track a lot, though.....

Like Farrah, despite his notoriously eccentric behavior and scandals (he never should've been allowed NEAR the Beatles catalogue!) Michael Jackson was, at his core, a very caring, compassionate individual, although those personality traits sometimes were slightly twisted in their expression  - unlike FF, however, he was a fragile survivor of abuse bordering on torture, just like the similarly eccentric Brian Wilson, and it explains any possible deviations for which he was excoriated. If nothing else, MJ can, hopefully, be free of his demons now.....R.I.P.

 

 

 Like many of you, I am - have been - a progressive Democrat for quite some time and I've personally witnessed, am somewhat emboldened by, a respectable amount of critical thinking and questioning on these virtual pages. Conversely,  I am aware that this posting will nonetheless likely alienate a significant number of those on OKC.

But I must, MUST say this with every last ounce of conviction in me: the fast-progressing movement in Congress toward a national health insurance mandate, all too similar to the disastrous one in Massachusetts, is the most dangerous abuse of power in this nation's history - in fact, the biggest step toward martial law in our lifetimes through a door to further abuses. For any of you that truly value the preservation of freedom - everything that this country has stood for well over 200 years, the ability to make choices about our own health is THE most basic, sacred human right there is - it has long informed the abortion debate and right-to-die movement for that very reason. PLEASE, do NOT let them get away with it! Contact your representatives in Congress and TELL them they cannot be allowed to push through such a massive imposition on that right. It is TYRANNY, pure and simple - I just can't say it loudly enough. And to suggest that any reform won't succeed without such a provision is sheer demagoguery, fear-mongering of the sort we suffered through 2 consecutive terms of George W. Bush.

By all means, encourage them to improve access to health CARE, give us REAL alternatives to what presently exists - but loudly discourage them from crossing this unprecedented line. More is at stake than so many recognize.....and believe me,  we will regret it for the rest of our lives if they are successful.

And I know there are a few.....

Live video coverage of the 2009 Stoker Awards (for excellence in horror writing) in Burbank CA will be available this Saturday, June 13th at a dedicated website:

http://www.stokers2009.com/

The awards ceremony itself commences at 8:30 Pacific/11:30 Eastern; among the nominees is a best friend of 25 years, Corrine DeWinter, who is up for her 2nd Stoker in horror poetry. Also nominated is Stephen King (of course) and other horror luminaries.....check it out!

 

After 45 years in Western Massachusetts, I'm actively exploring a move to southwestern Connecticut by the end of May, focusing upon Naugatuck, Beacon Falls or Thomaston (the last less likely, given how far it is from the coast) as possible places to live, if they turn out to be comparable in key ways to where I'm now living in Easthampton MA (split a $650 rent and an average of about $350 a month in utilities.....) Have contacted several employment agencies in Fairfield County and will be sending them my resume in the next week or two. Also headed down to do some reconnaissance shortly.....

But I have some very big concerns.....this area where I am now, though not nearly as cosmopolitan, is very driven by academia and there isn't much work - permanent or otherwise; been temping most of the last 8 years and have zero desire to go back to school, what with 2 decades of diversified experience in administrative and customer service.....just finishing up one of the most fulfilling (and bittersweet; part of relocating one of the most well-known companies in the world from Springfield to AL) assignments I've ever had, a very communal, supportive workplace (so naturally it's being cut up and hauled away.....)

So I'm asking any of you that hail from around Naugatuck and Fairfield County: can someone seeking a more.....organic, adult workplace, and wants to avoid suffocatingly corporate environs, make a living down there? Are there some dynamic, open-minded and creative people I should meet that can readily appreciate someone that has a largely DIY ethic with respect to learning? My lifestyle is comparatively modest (I also worry that the average lifestyle down there is far too rich for my wallet or blood, so I don't know how easy it might be to meet compatible female partners or even just friends) but I suspect that, if there's anywhere in the country there'll be more opportunities for work in the short term, it's relatively closer to NYC. While there don't appear to be any long-term prospects up here, there are a few good friends and familiar things left but it's become clear to me that I need to instigate some really big changes in my life. I'm in serious flux - feels distinctly like a crossroads of sorts - but very worried about going from the proverbial frying pan into the fire, though!

Also, I have an 17.5-year-old Siamese and about 2 tons of stuff to move, not to mention a paraplegic mother back in Springfield - would prefer not to have to move again right away, either.....can any of you recommend places to live for around that money ($650) or know of anybody in need of a responsible roommate? Anybody of like mind, concerns and values that would like to converse in general please do contact me - thanks; much appreciated!

Admittedly one of my favorite bands for over 25 years, Marillion, the Aylesbury UK quintet that has pushed every conceivable envelope in independent music for over a decade (such is the devotion of their fans that they financed, in ADVANCE, 3 albums and underwrote an entire North American tour) now has made all 20 songs (actually, one bonus download, a reprise) on Happiness Is The Road, their newest to be released commercially October 20th, completely available for download - at a price to be determined on an individual basis. Upon signing up on the sponsoring site, MusicGlue, you'll be able to click on a dedicated link that will bring you to the band's page, and downloading any one or all of the tracks comprising 2 volumes, Essence and The Hard Shoulder, will bring up a brief video greeting from Marillion explaining why they decided to take this approach.....

While this isn't an entirely new tactic - Radiohead pioneered it by making their last effort In Rainbows available at a variable price as well - no artist has since provided every track from what is essentially a double album. I highly recommend that fans of Radiohead, Coldplay, Rush, Pink Floyd, Dream Theatre, Genesis, even the Beatles and Who check out Marillion at their earliest convenience for some of the best music they've never heard and what is arguably the UK's best-kept secret.

With songs such as "Kayleigh", "Incommunicado", "He Knows You Know", "Easter", The Uninvited Guest", "The Great Escape", "Beautiful", "These Chains", "Rich", "Between You And Me", "You're Gone", "Neverland", "Thank You Whoever You Are" and more, recognized masterpieces such as Misplaced Childhood, Brave, marbles and now Happiness - to say nothing of near ones such as Clutching At Straws, Season's End, Afraid Of Sunlight, This Strange Engine, marillion.com and anoraknophobia - this is a great opportunity to hear why us anoraks remain so loyal to the boys!

Here is the direct link to their MusicGlue page (and they are not paying me for this, either! but any contribution you can make to offset the cost of this generous gesture would be appreciated, as they will tell you....)

http://www.musicglue.com/marillion