All the World is Mad

On the album Beggars, the band Thrice lays out on the first track a song exemplifying what one would think when looking at our world today. The song is entitled, All the World is Mad. Focus has been drawn in on the U.S. and for once, the turmoil is here. Older generations look back to the great depression, the birth of the counter culture, Vietnam and the emergence of civil rights protests noting the undercurrents of those events in our current society.


All the World is Mad
Tonight President Obama will speak about pulling our troops out of Iraq, a move that has drawn the usual scrutiny but received the overall approval of the American People. Although I agree with the removal of our troops from foreign soil, especially in places like the middle east that seem a lost cause, Many people fail to realize that we still are sending up to 60,000 more troops over to Afghanistan. So although Iraq is a good start, let us not begin the fanfare so quickly. The war in Afghanistan has gone on for now for 9 years and has been surrounded in controversy concerning clear objectives, the killing of American soldiers, civilians, and General Crystal’s recent relief of duty due to “poor judgment”. 12 days from now will mark the anniversary of September 11th a day that the U.S. will never forget and the event that sparked American occupation of Middle Eastern States.

Moving forward, tensions between the U.S. and Muslims is at an all time high, peaked by the pending building of an “Islamic Community Center” roughly three blocks from ground zero. Debate roars over the insensitivity of the founders versus the defense of the freedom of religion set out by the Constitution. Both parties have valid points, but the fact remains that the owner of the community center has stated that he is building in this specific location to make a point, to dispel social stigmas concerning Muslims and Terrorism. It has only thrown further gasoline atop the fire, and what has compounded the situation even more, are the President’s remarks concerning the issue. He need not have gotten involved, but now that he has backed the construction of the community center, many have regaled him from choosing political sides. He then rescinded some of his comments, back peddling due to criticism, and finally cleared up his comments taking a firm stand on the issue. Obama’s fence walking strategy has only made him appear weaker to the American people, with the Republicans now up on the polls for November’s congressional election. In a shocking poll, 1 of 5 American citizens believes that our President is Muslim. Wow.

American Politics have experienced one of the most tumultuous eras since their inception. The bi-party system has been rocked by a third, known as the tea party movement, backed by “average” American citizens unhappy with the current political system. Building upon the protests of old, The Tea party movement was started in January of 2009 when a financial trader Graham Makohoniuk posted a casual invitation on the financial message board market-ticker.org suggesting that American citizens send a tea bag to every congressman. The idea caught on like wildfire, as most good ideas do on the internet and thus the protest began. The consensus remains that everyone is dissatisfied with the current economic conditions to which President Obama has promised thoroughly he would fix. The problem is that he oversold himself during the election and no one feels the “Change”. Glen Beck held a tea-party rally in Washington this weekend and although the actual figures were not given, a number drawing close to 600,000 in attendance has been thrown around. Even if you do not agree with Mr. Beck’s politics, the fact remains that a large crowd gathered in the hope to jump start the American spirit again. In the upcoming election analysts predict that gridlock will be reached, with the GOP taking back control of congress and negating all forms of bill passing from Obama and his upper echelon cabinet. Whether this will help anything in American society remains to be seen, although those involved in the financial industry note that gridlock is good for the market. It will be interesting to see the emergence of the Presidential candidate from the Republican Party and the involvement between fragmented political factions in the upcoming election.

U.S. markets have taken a dive along with the faith of the American people in the financial system. Controversy surrounding big banks like Goldman Sachs has the average man hiding cash under the mattress for fear of being ripped off like the Greek government. The selling of toxic derivatives and the shorting of the investments later was brought to the table against GS, but I have yet to hear anything further. No one has been indicted yet. Whispers of government and big business collaboration are at an all time high as the U.S. government provides a $350 Billion bailout fund to banks, the auto industry and others. A financial overhaul bill has been attempted but due to deep pockets and heavy lobbying it has been watered down to a different beast than when it began. Confidence is crucial in our economy, and there isn’t much of it going around at the moment. Unemployment remains at 9.5% with figures noting on a daily basis, a slowed economic recovery with some prediciting a double dip recession. People of retirement age are working longer because their savings have been hammered by the decline in markets, leaving fewer jobs for college graduates and the inexperienced. A plethora of young adults underemployed or unemployed breeds revolution, believe it. The biggest issue right now for voters is the strength of our economy, and because it is lacking, disapproval of Mr. Obama is at an all time high. Fix the economy, win the election, this is his dilemma although easier said than done.

The outlook is bleak, we are very worried but the only thing to do is wait. When the elections roll around it will be important for everyone to vote and use the voice given to them by our country, otherwise it’s time to buckle up and bite the bullet.

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

The time is 1:30am, I am leaving a friend’s house in Hawthorne NJ for a 20 minute trip home. I know the way, so getting lost is not an issue. Flipping through my CD’s, the realization hits that I have grown tired of my own music. Rarely do I listen to the radio, for fear of incessant commercials and excessive talking about irrelevant topics, but at this hour there is probably something good on.


I scan to 101.9, RXP an alternative Rock station, a new find for me, making my recent pilgrimage from Florida. The car speakers play the beginnings of a folk rock song, a banjo is plucked beneath a distinctly British sound. The display reads: Mumford & Sons: Little Lion Man. The most shocking part of this scenario is the discovery of a song, by means of the radio. I love the song, and shockingly enough I have acquired the album. The radio has never thrown me a song that I had not previously heard, liked, and purchased. But that is the whole point of radio isn’t it?

Mumford and Sons came across the pond from London. Comprised of Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwayne, the band plays a variety of unique instruments from banjo, dobro, and mandolin. Rising from Britain’s Folk rock scene, the band built up momentum in Australia and in their home country. The album “Sigh No More” came out in October of 2009 in the UK and in February of 2010 in the U.S. I particularly love the lyrical depth, combined with my newly formed affinity for this type of music.

“Weep for yourself, my man,
you'll never be what is in your heart.
weep little lion man,
you're not as brave as you were at the start
rate yourself and rake yourself,
take all the courage you have left
wasted on fixing all the problems
that you made in your own head”



For the most part, adults my age find their music through friends, or the internet. A quick scan of news feeds on Facebook, Metacritic, or iTunes can land anyone neck deep in a pile of new albums spanning across all genres. The radio has lost its relevance and has become a promotional tool for advertisers and pop-musicians. Repetitive playlists and frequent commercials have driven younger generations away from classic FM radio to better mediums such as Pandora, Slacker Radio, Sirius, or just discovering music on their own. The solution here is become relevant again, get good, new bands on air, encourage the discovery process and finally, talk about topics that matter to people. Top 40 combined with Perez Hilton headlines just isn’t working anymore and if you want listeners to trudge on through the commercials, radio will need to switch its strategy, or sink.

Fat

You would think that a country so focused on the wonders of hollywood and self image, would be way more healthy, and weigh a lot less.  I don't even have to rattle off the statistics for you to know what I am talking about.  Just take a look a round.  We watch too much TV, eat too much fast food, and don't get enough exercise.  All of that equates to a population of overweight and out of shape lardos. 



Get up off your couch, and put the fork down.

Feeling the vibes of revolution from Oneonta

Lying two hours north of Bethel NY, the home of Woodstock, is SUNY Oneonta, a university labeled “stoneyonta” for its free spirited attendants and heavily “green” influenced culture.  I had the privilege of making the three and a half hour drive up with my cousin and a friend.  As our tiny car winds up and down paved roads through the mountainous woods of upstate New York, my mind wanders to the history of this region; particularly, the debacle at Max Yasgur’s 600 acre farm all those years ago. 

I am unable to forecast the level of partying approaching, but I assume that the atmosphere will most definitely be “anything goes”.  We stop by a friend’s house to check out his place where we are welcomed by a heftily packed bowl of ganja and scoop up another 20 piece for the rest of the night.  The bag doesn’t last long.  We push onward, gaining two new friends.  Our next destination is where we will be spending the remainder of the weekend.   Upon arrival we are greeted by two young gentlemen elbow deep in creating their first meal in a newly leased apartment.   On the menu is Chicken Alfredo and salad, of which they are more than happy to give us a plate of.  The mood is positive as this is the first weekend before the commencement of the fall semester.  Students are taking advantage of their last days of freedom before having to work and study for the remainder of the semester until winter break.  Just recently graduated, my memories are very fond of the first off campus move in.  I am happy for these students, wishing to relive the entire process. We proceed to sit down; I crack a beer while the others all enjoy further greenery.  A few more bodies come to the apartment to join in the festivities, the music cranks up and the beer pong begins to roll.  Rock, Reggae, Dub step and house music bump all night.  Surprisingly no hip-hop is queued, a shocking occurrence in my experience.  We party early into the morning, hoping to another house party featuring a fire and a drum circle.  

A few musical takeaways from the trip are: Three legged Fox, and Fake Blood.

These kids go hard; my only hope that at least a little studying goes on in these halls once school starts, most likely not though.  The next day is cool, overcast and somewhat dreary, not much is accomplished.  A little food shopping and town exploring occurs, but it’s mostly an inhale, couch, movie day.  The highlight of the trip, shockingly enough was a documentary about Hunter S. Thompson, one of my all time favorite writers.  Author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and published heavily by Rolling Stone, (another favorite publication of mine) Thompson is one of the most influential writers of our time.  The movie, entitled Gonzo, for Hunter’s signature style of participatory journalism was enlightening concerning the great author’s life and the tumultuous events that surrounded it.  The author’s recent suicide, in 2005, was a shock to the literary world and an unfortunate tragedy. 

In keeping with the theme of Hunter S. Thompson, Woodstock and the students of Oneonta, a conversation was struck about the counter culture movement and the similarities between what occurred in the seventies as they relate to current events.  In my eyes, the new civil rights movement that began with King is now for gay rights and abortion.  Afghanistan and Iraq, are the new Vietnam, we even have a fully stacked majority in the house, senate and presidential offices along with an economic downturn.  The only difference is now there are thousands more students and no draft to impede upon a revolution in the way we live, think and believe.  The beginnings of which could sprout here in the North East, and possibly even in the SUNY colleges, those West Coasters are far too entertained for protest.

But I digress, throughout the day, friends of the homeowners stop by to say hello, all of which are equally friendly and excited to chat.  Movies are continuously played well into the night.  Not much else is accomplished; we eat dinner, and play a few rounds of drinking games but all in all a mellow night due to the necessity of our early departure in the AM of the following morning.  Looking back my trip to Oneonta was enlightening, and fun.  I love the town, love the kids.  My ride back was traffic laden so I had quite a bit of time to review the weekend.  It was a wonderful time and I thank my new found friends for their hospitality and generosity.  I’ll be seeing you.