Category: Uncategorized

• Impersonal Problems.1: Thanissara

  We’re used to thinking of problems as a word that goes hand in hand with “personal.”  Of course, there are problems in our professional lives.  But when we struggle with things that happen or come from outside of that realm, we tend to look at them as personal.  I’ve been interested in several articles I…

  jhd123

  February 22, 2014

  Buddhism, Impersonal Problems, Mental Health, Music, Record Reviews, Series of posts, The Dharma, Uncategorized

  Andrew Cyrille, Buddhism, Colonialism, Dharmagiri, Empire, History, Music, New York Dolls, South Africa, Thanissara, The Dharma, The Necks

• Top 40 Over 40.15: Bill Callahan – Made For the Stage?

  One of the cliches about aging performers is that they usually have to navigate the decline of their sex appeal by finding other ways to make something happen onstage.  There are some who escape this fate.  Kris Kistofferson was called a sex symbol during an interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning news program well into in…

  jhd123

  January 29, 2014

  Music, Record Reviews, Top 40 Over 40, Uncategorized

  Bill Callahan, Billy Joe Shavers, Cynthia Dall, Dennis Callaci, domestic violence, Folk Implosion, Frank Tanana, John Darnielle, Kris Kristofferson, Lou Barlow, Mia Doi Todd, misogyny, Music, Nolan Ryan, Simon Joyner, Smog, Top 40 Over 40

• Are you ready for some futbol? History and the World Cup

  During the recently concluded qualifying rounds for next summer’s 2014 World Cup, I was reminded of Paraguay’s run at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  So much hope for a more equitable world seemed to mis/dis-placed onto the upsets Ghana and Paraguay scored to advance to the quarterfinals of that event. The tournament ultimately…

  jhd123

  November 24, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Book excerpts, Book Reviews, History, Sports, Uncategorized

  a, Argentina, Bank of London, Barack Obama, Brazil, Eduardo Galeano, Football in Sun and Shadow, Futbol, Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, Ghana, Huey Long, Hugo Chavez, Netherlands, Open Veins of Latin America, Paraguay, Spain, Standard Oil, War of the Triple Alliance, World Cup

• Top 40 Over 40.13: Weird Al’s “Party In the CIA”

  I can think of few more unlikely candidates for creative growth after 40 than Weird Al Yankovic.  Back when I was in grade school, he came on the pop culture radar with “Eat It,” his parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”  His string of similar Dr. Demento style hits willfully sucked all of the sexual…

  jhd123

  September 14, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Economics, Film, History, Music, Politics, Series of posts, Top 40 Over 40, Uncategorized

  Alias, american empire, Angelina Jolie, Argo, Barack Obama, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Capitalism, CIA, Donald S. Lopez, Films, History, Imperialism, Iran, Jennifer Garner, John Limbert, Juan Cole, Lockheed Martin, Michael Moore, Miley Cyrus, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Muhammed Sahimi, Party in the USA, Politics, Prisoners of Shangri La, profit margins, Record Reviews, Richard Gere, Saviors and Survivors, Sudan, TIbet, Top 40 Over 40, Weird Al Yankovic, William Hartung

• New LP/CD announced

  New LP/CD announced You can read a one page preview of my forthcoming album Spare Parts, and see a snap of the front cover, at the link above thanks to Nathan at Riot Act Media.

  jhd123

  August 13, 2013

  Music, Site News, Spare Parts, Uncategorized, Work In Progress

  Music, Spare Parts, Upcoming Projects

• Top 40 Over 40.11: Wurst is also Best!

  I cannot pretend to write an objective review of today’s entry into my Top 40 Over 40 countdown, Transcendental Youth by the Mountain Goats.  You see, I compete in an annual NFL pool with John Darnielle and Peter Hughes.  I’m indebted to Peter for running this pool and to John for keeping me out of…

  jhd123

  March 3, 2013

  Music, Record Reviews, Series of posts, Sports, Top 40 Over 40, Uncategorized

  John Darnielle, Jon Wurster, Mountain Goats, Music, Peter Hughes, Record Reviews, Sports, Top 40 Over 40

• Secrets of the Temple.1: More Than A Doorstop

  The operations of the Federal Reserve board are notoriously shrouded in mystery.  Technocratic decisions on monetary policy that supposedly need to be protected from the fickle pressures of politics are carried out by an appointed board of governors who like to operate behind closed doors.  William Grieder set out to demystify this institution in the…

  jhd123

  January 13, 2013

  Anti-Neoliberalism, Book Reviews, Debt, Economics, History, Politics, Series of posts, Uncategorized

  Book Reviews, Economics, History, USA, Washington Consensus, William Grieder

• Top 40 Over 40.9: Jandek….live?!?!

  I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on in the undie music scene during the aughts.  I listened to some things that were current, but mostly I was just writing lyrics on my own and listening to a lot of modern classical music.  When I started lending an ear indie-ward over the last…

  jhd123

  September 29, 2012

  Music, Record Reviews, Series of posts, Top 40 Over 40, Uncategorized

  Jandek, Music, Record Reviews, Top 40 Over 40

• “You should know from the kindness of a dog how a man should be” – Captain Beefheart

    From Faces and Masks: Trilogy of Fire volume 2 by Eduardo Galeano 1833: Arequipa “Happy creatures,” says Flora Tristan. Flora is travelling through Peru, her father’s country, and in the mountains discovers the only animal man has not been able to debase. The gentle llamas are more agile than mules and climb higher.  They…

  jhd123

  August 8, 2012

  Uncategorized

  Captain Beefheart, Maxims, Quotations

• I fought the law, and I won

    A former babysitter of mine just posted this as his profile picture on Facebook.  I’m waiting for a follow up picture of the seagull pooping on the sign a minute later.

  jhd123

  January 15, 2012

  Uncategorized