What If The World Worked Like It Was Supposed To?

When I was growing up, I had this crazy notion that adults were reasonable, knowledgeable, and pretty much had it all figured out. As I've gotten older, I realized that that was just my parents. They may have been perfect role models, but they weren't necessarily indicative of the reality of the situation. I don't know if I thought that the change to wisdom was instant or gradual, but I did assume that most adults were like my parents, that they were capable of clear, logical thinking and patience and empathy.

Boy, oh boy, was I wrong.

Sometimes, in the morning, I will turn on the TV to watch the news. Yikes. Not only do 90% of the stories make me question humanity, but the presentation of the stories is almost as depressing.

I know that there is a huge market out there for a news station that simple reports the news. I know there are countless other people out there who want to just find out the news and not watch people analyze it. I wish there was a news channel that was like the Weather Channel. Well, there are two Weather Channels. There's the one with all the storm chasers and stuff but then there is the static channel which just constantly runs a local forecast. I wish there was a news channel like that. Couldn't there just be a feed from the AP wire or something?

Then I start to wonder if it is, in fact, at all possible to present a news story without any bias. I mean if you listen to any two people tell one story, you'll hear the difference right off. A photograph can be just as misleading.

Maybe we need a news channel that's sort of like Metacritic. At Metacritic you see all the reviews of a particular movie so you can make a judgement or take an average. Is there a news source like that? What if you combine Fox, MSNBC, CNN, and BBC? What do you end you with? Is it anything like the truth?

When I was growing up, I assumed that the people in suits on the TV were smart and telling the truth. Now I know that they are just like me, not really knowledgeable of anything much.

Wouldn't the world be amazing if politics existed like they clearly make sense in a child's eyes? The wisest person in each town becomes the mayor. The wisest person in each state becomes the governor. The wisest person in the country becomes the president. Wouldn't that be something?

Video of MadLib - Caravan of Stars - Montague, MA

This video comes courtesy of Sarah Gagne. The MadLib was created throughout the evening with words supplied by the audience.

The Caravan of Stars at the Montague Bookmill - Recap and Pictures

There are some pictures up on my flickr page from the Rub Wrongways Caravan of Stars show at the Montague Bookmill that happened on Saturday. The photos are by Greg Saulman and Brian Akey.

Also, there is a video of our MadLib finale on Facebook by Sarah Gagne. If it makes it to youtube, I'll link to it here. It's pretty funny.



The night was really fun. It was quite hot in the room, but the sound of the rushing water outside the windows helped keep things from feeling claustrophobic. Both Michael Metivier and Dennis Crommett had excellent sets and their acoustic guitars and gentle voices sat real well with the book covered walls. Dennis was joined on his last tune byt Dave Hower and Brian Akey. It was a like a little surprise Spanish for Winterpills reunion.

The audience was real nice and attentive and polite. I think we made some new friends.

The Rub Wrongways Caravan of Stars Goes to Montague.

This Saturday, The Rub Wrongways Caravan of Stars heads up to sleepy Montague, Massachusetts. 

"Books you don't need in a place you can't find" is the motto of The Montague Bookmill (pictured here). What you don't see in that picture is the cafe with awesome meals, snacks, and beverages.  Nutella Sandwich anyone?  You also don't see the cascading water fall in the river that the bookmill abuts.  Here's a little text taken from their website:

The Montague Mill is also home to Rick Dodge’s antique shop, Louise Minks ’ art studio,  and the newest outpost of the Turn It Up! music and movie empire.  You can dine at the extraordinary Night Kitchen and you can get food and drink all day deep into the night at the astonishing Lady Killigrew Cafe.

We have a weekly movie night in the winter, and concerts and performances the rest of the year. The Bookmill is unique, a lovely place where you can happily be lost for hours. We've been lost for years now.

Recent Articles: The Boston Globe, The New York Times

 The Caravan will set up and play in an intimate room walled with books and strewn with folding chairs and comfortable couches.  The room is just at the end of that covered bridge in that photo up there.  Jason, Ryan, Brian, Max, Lesa, and I will have all of our gear set up for a mostly quiet show.  We've added some new numbers to our repertoire for this show and we are excited to play them for you.

We also plan on doing a crowd-fueled MadLib.  I think we'll also have programs printed up so you can follow along with the show.

But wait, there's more.  We've also invited two other performers to play.

We'll have performances by Dennis Crommett (Winterpills, Spanish for Hitchhiking) (http://www.denniscrommett.com) and Michael Metivier (http://www.myspace.com/oweihops).



The show starts at 8:00, but I suggest showing up for dinner.  We'll be there mulling about for sure, setting stuff up and sitting back to enjoy the warm summer evening.

More details: http://www.montaguebookmill.com.

Hope you can make it.  Please spread the word.  If you are on Facebook and would like to RSVP or follow along or invite friends here is the Event Listing:  The Rub Wrongways Caravan Eats A Nutella Sandwich

Here's the poster:

Guitar Fixing Lessons

Last night, our friend Rick from Group DeVille came over and gave Lesa and me a lesson in guitar maintenance. Even though I have been playing the things for years, I had never learned to make any of the tiny adjustments that sometimes need to be made. We learned how to fix the intonation on our electrics and how to adjust the truss rod. He even showed me a better way to change strings.

I always feel guilty about how little of the technical side of things I know. I only ever seem to learn the bare minimum of what I need to learn at the moment. For example, I can drive a car but I certainly can't fix one. This is embarrassing to me. I feel like I should know how to do these things. The problem is that I am just not at all compelled to learn them.

Lots of people assume that I know how to do things that I don't. I think it is because of my glasses.

Miranda Brown on Jimmy Fallon Show

Our good friend Miranda Brown was on the Jimmy Fallon show on Wednesday playing with The New Pornographers.  Here's the clip.




You might remember Miranda from way back when she made an album here in Northampton, MA by singing songs written by a group of different songwriters.  She sang a song of mine which, at the time, was untitled, so she called it Henning's Song. Anyway, she's about to tour all over as part of the New Pornographers and we couldn't be more proud of her.

A Check-Room Romance

If you are able to, I highly recommend that you go to this show tonight in New York. It's free and I've seen it. It's great!

A Check-Room Romance
Music: Mark Mulcahy
Words and Drawings: Ben Katchor
Thu, May 6, 2010 at 8:30 PM
David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
Target Free Thursdays

In this new musical tragicomedy, one man's casual obsession with the architecture and culture of coat checkrooms ensnares him in a desperate struggle between employment agents, maitre 'd’s, lovesick podiatrists, low-budget contractors, and paraphilic playboys. A Check-Room Romance is the third theater collaboration between cartoonist Ben Katchor (Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, and The Jew of New York) and composer Mark Mulcahy (Miracle Legion), following The Rosenbach Company, and The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, and features musicians and singers surrounded by Katchor's projected drawings and animations.

Musicians and Singers:
Mark Mulcahy
Dave Trenholm
Ken Maiuri
Flora Reed
Sound design: Dan Richardson

A Check-Room Romance was commissioned by The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers

Review of The Wrong Tree

This review just came in for The Wrong Tree by Sitting Next To Brian.  It was published in the Valley Advocate - Massachusetts.

Sitting Next to Brian
The Wrong Tree EP
(Rub Wrongways)

Back again at the helm of his mystic, swirling ship, Brian Marchese sometimes seems adrift in the doldrums of identity on his latest, The Wrong Tree. Remaining are his psychedelic Brit-pop and California surf influences, but SNTB also now occasionally turns the ship's bow into hooves—and its sails into reins—with a twist of country and Western. The usual stable of lovable misfits from the Rub Wrongways co-op (including Henning Ohlenbusch, Jason Bourgeois, Thane Thomsen and Lesa Bezo) provides the sugary icing for Marchese's honest if oddball offerings, and the use of 12-string guitars and Farfisa organs keeps most of the production value still in the realm where The Byrds or The Zombies do dwell. The last track, "Imaginary Audience" is a bit of a rocker, and hence my personal fave on the release.  —Tom Sturm

Road Trip to Truck America

On Saturday, Lesa and I went on a road trip to Big Indian New York to attend Truck America, a music festival at The Full Moon Resort.  We got up very early and made the three hour journey through the greenest day of the year so far.  The road was lined with new things.  There were new trees, new flowers, new grasses, and new critters.

The venue was tucked into a beautiful mountain valley and included a large outdoor tent, a road house stage, a dining tent, a camping area, a mountain river, and some vast green fields.  We saw a number of acts perform, highlights included Spouse, Mike and Ruthie, and Gary Louris.  It was a long day in the hot sun, but I found the whole event to be incredibly relaxing.  We sat in the shade, we strolled around, we watched some music, we ate some quite good food, and we just let the day do whatever it was doing.

After night had fallen we watched about half of the Mercury Rev set and decided that instead of staying over at a friend's house, we'd just make the trek back right them.  Three hours later we were in our own home on the strangely unseasonable hot and humid evening.  The whole day felt somewhat like a dream.