Live On University!

There was an interesting article in today's Oklahoma Daily-the student newspaper for OU.  It was about Aubrey McClendon's donations to the Honors College.  Some of the students don't like his political affiliations and are protesting his ability to influence the college curriculum. I don't have an opinion formed about that specific issue but, the Dean of the Honors College made some very irresponsible remarks to the student reporter who wrote the article. 

Here is the disturbing response the reporter received from Dean Robert Con Davis-Undiano: "I would [make a statement], except that I don’t have a statement to make. I’m busy running the college and don’t know anything about these issues,”

It is a truly amazing comment. The Dean of the University of Oklahoma's Honors College doesn't know anything about the most important donation to his college by one of the most prominent citizens in Oklahoma?

Huh?

Someone commented online that the student who is running the petition this article is about is a black mark on the University for acting like this. What about the Dean? His comments could be seen as immature and damaging to OU's image as well.

I think that open debate and discussion should be promoted between students and the university. OU is a special place. We all come here to learn and grow. I wish the Dean had been more open, but it is our duty as students to voice our opinions and hopefully we will receive helpful, positive feedback from our Leaders.

Here is a link to the article.

Red Dirt, Green Country.

Woody Guthrie is the greatest musical/social/political person to ever come out of Oklahoma. He was the voice of a generation during the Dust Bowl, and spoke to the everyday hardships that working folks went through.  

The music he sang and wrote was a perfect representation of the best aspects of Oklahoma history.  He learned the blues from an old black man in Okemah, which, as everybody knows, is the only good way to learn the blues.  He had a strong political streak from the hotbed of populist socialism that formed Oklahoma's political landscape in the Territorial days to the depression. Most of all he was a man who straddled the economic and social classes of America and bridged the gap between intellectual east coasters and the middle American progressive farmers and union workers. 

Woody built upon the music and writings of those who came before him to create song about underdogs and hope. 

Dust Bowl Refugee

The Band: We Can Talk

The Band is a good description for this particular rock group.  They were Dylan's backing band on his infamous tour from Sept. 1965 to May 1966.  It was during this particular tour that Dylan first employed electric guitar, bass and drums to his stage performances.  

As Dylan got booed by uptight folk purists, The Band kept the steady-rootsy-Americana back beat alive and swinging. On one memorable night in the UK an audience member shouted out "Judas!" at Dylan, referring to his electric set up.  Dylan turned and shouted "I don't believe you, you're a liar!" He then yelled to The Band "Play it fucking loud!" Priceless! That is one of the greatest moments in Rock history. 

The Band went on to establish their own foothold in the pop music scene of the late 1960's.  Their first venture was titled "Music From Big Pink."  The Band wrote and rehearsed all of the cuts from the album in a huge pink house they rented in upstate New York. 

The results were stunning.  The Band perfectly displayed an uncanny ability to convey a very down home-rustic feel in their songs while still managing to keep their rhythm and blues prominently in the mix. At a time when many bands were veering into the stratosphere of experimentation with the sounds of the psychedelic era The Band kept a steady hand on the plow.  Their rhythms are as hard as a rock but at the same time breath with a subtle nuance.

My favorite track from the album: "We Can Talk" 

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Bob Dylan is so sick, not due to cold.  

He is one of the true bad asses of our age. Some call him a leader, but he has never taken to that title. He is an artist pure and simple. 

Dylan makes no apology for his art. He makes what he wants and lets the listener decide what to make of it all. He famously went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, an act which enraged some of his die-hard acoustic folk fans. 

 I enjoy his obscure lyrics and his ability to construct word collages evoking vague imagery and feelings.

Here is one of his first electric rock songs:

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Yes that is Allen Ginsberg in the background of the video.   

The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons?

Today our President called for the end of nuclear weapons saying they are "the most dangerous legacy of the cold war." 

Yes that was our president who made that call.  Amazing! Simply Amazing! 

Obama made the remarks in a speech he gave today in Prague. The speech comes just a day after North Korea test launched a missile of thier own. The BBC believes that there were at least 20,000 people who showed up to hear him speak. We haven't seen a president greeted like that in a foreign country since the days of Kennedy!  

International politics and finance is a messy, dirty affair and who knows what will come of this. But the fact that Obama is delivering this type of message to the rest of the world fills this writer with literal hope for human kind. We need leaders like this to shepherd us into an area of understanding and cooperation while still retaining national sovereignty for the United States. 

My hopes, prayers, and thoughts are with Barack and his family.  

Here is a link to a BBC story about today's event. 

Connections

Want to know how the western world came to be? Big question huh? BBC science correspondent James Burke has all the answers you could ever want.  

In the 70's Burke put together a massive ten part series called "Connections." In this groundbreaking documentary he chronicles the seemingly random events that transpired to transform the western world into what it is today. 

He is a witty British reporter with a knowledge of history can't be topped. 

check him out!

Connections

JJ Cale: Magnolia

JJ Cale is a great example of what my dad always called a "musician's musician." I didn't know what he was talking about for a long time.  After intensely listening to most of his albums over the past five months I finally understand.   

JJ wrote songs that make the listener feel intensely about what ever mood he is conjuring up.  He was the master of country-blues-rock nuance.  JJ has a laid back attitude that borderlines on laziness.  Thats what I love about his music.  Instead of his music strutting around town, it moseys, swaying gently in the breeze.  

JJ was indeed validated by his peers and critics all through his career.  He is most noted for writing "Cocaine" and "After Midnight" performed by Eric Clapton. He also wrote "They Call Me The Breeze" performed by Lynard Skynard. 

"Magnolia" is undeniably JJ's greatest ballad.  It is a warm, dusty, spring evening with an intense sunset and solitude. Room to breath and think.

Here is the link: "Magnolia"

New Track off "The Duct Tapes!"

Ok Kids, so here is the deal.  We are done with the production and mixing of our album "The Duct Tapes," and are waiting on a few other things to make it all complete. The whole album should be put up  for free download in the next two weeks. 

This is going to be a great album. There is not a single weak track.  They are literally all extremely well crafted and produced. For now here is a link to a track.

"Let It Be Known"

HoLLeR!

Hi-PoP!

Brother Ali and Wale-"2nd Time Around"

2nd Time Around is off of "The New Deal" mixtape presented by 10 Deep productions and DJ Benzi. It was released a few months ago but I still can't stop jamming out to it.

This song is truly a powerful statement and indictment of the current state of commercial rap.  Walé spits a pretty tame verse but Brother Ali goes off for like 32 bars.  He talks about Rapper's responsibilities to their neighborhoods and the people they represent. 

 He also describes an incident where Homeland Security froze his record company's assets and bank account because they were concerned about a wire transfer of money for an up-coming show from a promoter in Australia.  His verse is mainly a report card on the status of the hip hop community as it is today. He just spits that day to day real life rap. 

Brother Ali-"people are starvin and you talk about ballin?/can't think of nothing more important than that jargon/hundred different ways to describe diamonds sparklin." 

Walé: "Walé, I turn beef into mince meat/ your condescending ways, don't convince me/and i aint no what condescending meant till yesterday/So i through it in a rap so I'd remember that/yeah, it aint nothing to me/I play the background whole time, Mario 3.

Good Stuff. 

Here's the link.