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I've been enjoying creating Vines with some of my students. The 7-second limitation reminds me of haiku. No profound statement with this first one, just a pun of sorts.

Tony Westcott - Lukulelady

Look, a brand new song from Tony!

The Zillionth Annual School for the Dead Halloween Party

It's at the Parlor Room in Northampton, MA and it's with special guests The Salvation Alley String Band. Best get your tickets now before it's too late: Get Tickets

The Living Rockumentary and School for the Dead

Tonight we are playing a show with Fountains of Wayne at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA.  Starts at 7:00.

All five members of School for the Dead will be playing, which is rare. I'm really looking forward to our brief set. It seems like forever since we played an SFTD gig. It has been. I just checked. It's been actually forever.  We've just all been so busy doing other projects.

Hey, but guess what?  Not only are we playing tonight (and we're about to announce our annual Halloween Show - this time at a different venue) but I am heading up to hopefully finish the first round of mixes on our upcoming album "The Bells on the Boats on the Bay"on Saturday. It's taking forever, we know. But, there you have it. That's just the way it is.

Look, the Living Rockumentary started over eleven years ago. We started it before you might have even heard the word blog, before Twitter and Facebook and iPhones.  We've written more than 5,000 posts here. It's time for a change.

And we have a big change in store. The biggest yet for this band. Stay tuned, friends. And, by the way, thank you for staying tuned.

End-of-year list part one

Every year in June, I like to compile and publish my list of books read and music that defined that last academic year (including the previous summer). I do this really for myself, kind of like a journal entry, but also just as one would with a blog, I share it with others as well. I’ll begin with the books read- and this is limited to only those that I read in their entirety, and excludes texts such as those multiple readings to the boys of Dr. Seuss or the “Parts” series, which are wonderful, by the way:  

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0140565337

Fiction (Novels):

Crime & Punishment- Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866) (translated from Russian by Jesse Coulson): A deliberately incongruous choice to bring on our family’s trip to Disney World last summer. Still, it certainly kept me riveted through the plane ride.

The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway (1926) (RR)

The Giver- Lois Lowry (1993) (RR)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian- Sherman Alexie (2007): I read this with a class of boys, 6^th and 7^th graders, last summer and they loved it. One kid laughed so hard at a certain section that he upchucked a little in the middle of class. Another kid read a section aloud in class, which wouldn’t seem to be such a big deal except that he was in the 4^th percentile for reading ability at the time and his educational consultant told me after observing our class that it was the first time he had ever volunteered to read aloud in school.

Strangers on a Train- Patricia Highsmith (1950): In my opinion, the movie version is generally inferior to the book. However, with Hitchcock films, the inverse can often be true. For instance, “Rear Window,” with the addition of the romantic storyline and the parallels with neighbors was more interesting than the short story it’s based on (“It Had To Be Murder”). And while the novel of “Strangers” still contains the brilliant premise, the characters are not as compelling as in the film plus the things that Hitchcock and his screenwriters added, subtracted or altered make for a much better film than book. For example, changing Guy from an architect to a tennis player allows for some nice visuals in the film, plus the symbolic aspect of the ‘opponent,’ first embodied by his faithless wife, then by the terrifying Bruno character.

Great Expectations- Charles Dickens (1861)

Gathering Blue- Lois Lowry (2000)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams (1980)

Demian- Herman Hesse (1925)

The Thirty-Nine Steps- John Buchan (1915)

As I Lay Dying- William Faulkner (1930): “The Sound and the Fury,” which I finally got around to reading (see below) is the more famous classic and I can see why but this one gets the edge for me. It’s easier to follow, certainly more fun (although it contains quite a few genuinely humorous moments, it also has some graphically tragic ones as well). In other words, unless I had to do it for a class or something, I don’t know that I would choose to ever re-read “Sound and Fury” but I look forward to pulling this one out ten years or so from now and enjoying it all over again.

Hatchet- Gary Paulsen (1987)

Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte (1847)

The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger (1951) (RR)

The Age of Innocence- Edith Wharton (1920): Edith at her best never fails to capture me. But rather than blather on about why, I’ll just note one cool detail to illustrate. I’m sure you are familiar with that phenomenon in which you are speaking with someone and you can’t come up with a quip to reply on the spot, but then it comes to you a minute later after the appropriate time has passed? In one of her magnificent turns of phrase, Edith describes that, through her Newland Archer character, as the “belated eloquence of the inarticulate.”

The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera (1984) (translated from Czech by Michael Henry Heim)

The Sound and the Fury- William Faulkner (1929)

Flowers for Algernon- Daniel Keyes (1966)

In Cold Blood- Truman Capote (1966)

The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini (2003) There really is something to be said for plot. I plowed through this 300+ page novel in just a few days, so utterly did its story pull me in, whereas Virginia Woolf’s brilliant but essentially plot-less “To The Lighthouse” took about three weeks of sustained attention to complete.

Old School- Tobias Wolff (2003)

To The Lighthouse- Virginia Woolf (1927)

Elijah of Buxton- Christopher Paul Curtis (2007): In everything I’ve read this year, nothing made me laugh so hard as Chapter Two of this book. I won’t give it away but it has to do with famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass and an infant. Maybe parents would find it funnier than the average person. This is another instance of a book that’s written for middle-schoolers but is eminently entertaining for adults too

This Is Where I Leave You- Jonathan Tropper (2009): Recommended highly by a handful of colleagues. Some parts of it I found rather contrived, especially towards the beginning, like the painfully perfect dialogue of the meet-cute scene at college between the main character and his wife, or the nephew flinging feces from his potty onto the dinner table. At the same time, there were scenes that really nailed me like the protagonist’s solitary wandering through the parking lot of a strip mall late at night, by the “Cheesecake Factory, Applebee’s, Rock & Bowl, the Szechaun Garden… all flashing and blinking, burning pink and red streaks into my eyelids when I close them. Generations of broken glass twinkle like glitter in the pavement… every few stoplights, traffic slows to a crawl, cars ejaculated out of the bottlenecks one by one, burning rubber just to make a point, since there’s really nowhere here worth rushing to.”

The Invention of Morel- Adolfo Bioy Casares (1964) (translated by Ruth Simms)

Fiction (Novellas)

The Pearl- John Steinbeck (1947) (RR)

The Call of the Wild- Jack London (1903)

Seize the Day- Saul Bellow (1956)

The Eye- Vladimir Nabokov (1930, English translation by Dmitri Nabokov, 1965)

The Lilies of the Field- William Barrett (1962)

The Crossing- Gary Paulsen (1987): This narrative about a young Mexican boy trying to cross the border into Texas and his intersection with an alcoholic U.S. Army sergeant is written for young adults but is deceptive in its simplicity, almost achieving a Hemingway-like brilliance.

Nightjohn- Gary Paulsen (1993)

The Red Pony- John Steinbeck (1933)

Fiction (Short Story Collections)

Ethan Frome (RR) & Selected Stories (1908-1916): I read “Ethan” aloud to my daughter Hannah, now eleven, over the course of a few weeks, in preparation for a visit to Wharton’s summer home, The Mount, out in Lenox. This collection also features “Xingu,” which is as sharp as Wharton can be and the funniest of her stories that I’ve read.

Tales of Men and Ghosts- Edith Wharton (1910): This collection is uneven to say the least, containing some meandering, forgettable stories alongside gems like “Afterward” and “The Eyes.” But even when she’s got a weak plot or premise, Wharton still delights with her turns of phrase. For instance, when describing a character living in a cheap hotel having to share soap and other bathing supplies with other residents, these objects are referred to as “promiscuous implements of ablution.” At another point, Wharton is describing a writer who is so successful and self-absorbed that he’s utterly bored by his situation in life, especially interactions with his adoring audience, so she begins a sentence/idea with, “When the thick broth of praise was strained through the author’s vanity…” Mmmm-mmm, I love that Edith.

Nine Stories- J.D. Salinger (1953) (RR)

Poirot Investigates- Agatha Christie (1925)

The Golden Ball & Other Stories- Agatha Christie (1924-1934)

Alfred Hitchcock’s Noose Report (1966)

Alfred Hitchcock’s More Stories My Mother Never Told Me (1963)

Drama:

I taught two drama classes this year: Reading Modern Drama and a Shakespeare course so I bulked up on reading plays more than usual. Interestingly, I ended up relying on plays I’ve read and taught before since a lot of these that were new to me didn’t do much for me. For instance, “The Children’s Hour” is well-written but its shock value has decreased with age. “Equus” and “Gamma Rays” also seem dated while “Angels In America” is not only much longer than it needs to be but is a jumbled mess at times, although the Roy Cohn character is fantastic, especially when interacting with his nurse. I just found myself not caring too much about some of the other principal characters. And I cannot see why “Our Town” has ever become a classic. Is it just because it’s so obviously (albeit uninterestingly) universally sentimental?

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?- Edward Albee (1962)

Blues For Mister Charlie- James Baldwin (1964)

The Boys in the Band- Mart Crowley (1968) (RR)

Alison’s House- Susan Glaspell (1930)

Trifles- Susan Glaspell (1916)

A Raisin in the Sun- Lorraine Hansberry (1959) (RR)

The Children’s Hour- Lillian Hellman (1934)

The Little Foxes- Lillian Hellman (1939)

An Enemy of the People- Henrik Ibsen (1882) (translated from Norwegian by Rolf Fjelde) (RR)

Angels in America- Tony Kushner (1993)

My Fair Lady- Alan Jay Lerner & George Bernard Shaw (1956)

The Belle of Amherst- William Luce (1976)

All My Sons- Arthur Miller (1947) (RR)

Long Day’s Journey Into Night- Eugene O’Neill (1956)

The Birthday Party- Harold Pinter (1958)

Equus- Peter Shaffer (1973)

Macbeth- William Shakespeare (RR)

Twelfth Night- William Shakespeare

The Taming of the Shrew- William Shakespeare (RR)

Hamlet- William Shakespeare (RR)

Romeo and Juliet- William Shakespeare (RR)

Pygmalion- George Bernard Shaw (1912) (RR)

Our Town- Thornton Wilder (1938)

A Streetcar Named Desire- Tennessee Williams (1947) (RR)

The Glass Menagerie- Tennessee Williams (1944) (RR)

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom- August Wilson (1984)

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds- Paul Zindel (1970)

Memoir:

Are You My Mother?- Alison Bechdel (2012)

Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo & Me- Ellen Forney (2012)

Heartache and Hope in Haiti: The Britney Gengel Story- Len & Cherylann Gengel (2013): Britney was a local college student who died in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Both of her younger brothers were former students of mine and their parents are known for being very gregarious and generous folks. They’ve just opened an orphanage in Haiti after years of fund-raising and construction. Len Gengel is a particularly inspiring guy who grew up in a relatively poor family, began a successful construction business from scratch and has now devoted himself to this orphanage project, following his simple but understandable three-stage progression through life, what he calls, “Learn, Earn, and Return.”

 www.belikebrit.org

When I Grow Up- Juliana Hatfield (2008): She’s kind of a whiner (although she herself would be the first to admit it) but I really enjoyed how easily I could relate to her descriptions of all these nightclubs and soundmen and dressing rooms and awfulness.

Non-Fiction:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking- Susan Cain (2012): This is one of those instances where you learn something about yourself that you always kind of knew already but it sharpens your perspective to the point where you feel like you can make an actual improvement in your own life. Reading about introversion (according to personality tests I’ve taken, I’m not only deep on the introvert side but of the sixteen Jung personality archetypes, mine is the smallest (2% of the population), tinier even for males, so that when you figure in my sex, only .5 % of the population shares my personality characteristics. Anyway, I urge you to check out Susan Cain’s TedTalk if you’re interested in the introvert/extrovert dynamic here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html

And while reading the book last summer, I arrived at a mini-epiphany while on vacation in Disney World, which can be read here:

https://www.ehs1.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=636610 

Teaching With Your Mouth Shut- Donald Finkel (2000)

A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future- Daniel H. Pink (2005)

What Teachers Make- Taylor Mali (2012)

Mindset- Carol Dweck (2003)

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book- The New Yorker/ Robert Mankoff (2008): One of my student’s mothers got me into this contest, but I’m sporadic in my submissions, to say the least. She, however, has won three times and has been nominated six. In fact, as I write this, she is yet again a finalist this month.

The Go-Betweens-David Nichols (2006)

Junk English- Ken Smith (2001)

Catch a Wave: the Rise, Fall, and Redemption of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson- Peter Ames Carlin (2006)

Miscellaneous:

The Gospel According to Matthew- King James Holy Bible (1952)

The Gospel According to Mark – King James Holy Bible (1952)

Individual Short Stories (of merit):

In A Bamboo Grove- Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1921) (translated from Japanese by Jay Rubin)

Rashomon- Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1915) (translated from Japanese by Jay Rubin)

The Kugelmass Episode- Woody Allen (1977)

Sophistication- Sherwood Anderson (1919)

Beach- Roberto Bolano (2011) (translated from Spanish by Natasha Wimmer)

The Clodhopper’s Halloween Ball- Rick Book (1999)

A Christmas Memory- Truman Capote (1956) (RR)

Peter’s Buddies- Michael Carson (1990)

Neighbor Rosicky- Willa Cather (1930): It took me just about an hour to read this while monitoring a dorm floor one afternoon. Sometimes I wonder about all the hours I spend engrossed in reading and whether it is worth it. This was worth it.

The Bet- Anton Chekhov (RR)

The Lottery Ticket- Anton Chekhov

The Story of an Hour- Kate Chopin (1894)

Wasps’ Nest- Agatha Christie (1925)

The Double Clue- Agatha Christie (1925)

The Case of the Distressed Lady- Agatha Christie (1932)

White Balloons- Judith Ortiz Cofer (1996)

The Secret Woman- Colette

The Most Dangerous Game- Richard Connell (1924)

Lamb to the Slaughter- Roald Dahl (1953)

The Magic Finger- Roald Dahl (1966)

Man from the South- Roald Dahl (1948) (RR)

Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” Part II- Jenny Diski

A Scandal in Bohemia- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1891)

The Speckled Band- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)

On Being Crazy- WEB Du Bois (1907)

A Poetics for Bullies- Stanley Elkin

Bernice Bobs Her Hair- F. Scott Fitzgerald (1920)

The Offshore Pirate- F. Scott Fitzgerald (1920)

The Lover of Horses- Tess Gallagher (1986)

Hills Like White Elephants- Ernest Hemingway (1927) (RR)

Selway- Pam Houston (1993)

Thank You Ma’am- Langston Hughes (1958)

The Scarlet Ibis- James Hurst (1960)

Sure Thing- David Ives (1988)

The Lottery- Shirley Jackson (1948) (RR)

First Sorrow- Franz Kafka (1922)

Children of the Corn- Stephen King (1977) (RR)

Brutal Interlude- Ron Koertge

A Lot to Learn- R.T. Kurosaka

Through The Tunnel- Doris Lessing (1957)

Pickman’s Model- H.P. Lovecraft (1927)

A Dill Pickle- Katherine Mansfield (1917)

Button, Button- Richard Matheson (1970) (RR)

Was it a Dream?- Guy de Maupassant

Blonde- Katherine Min

Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?- Tim O’Brien (1975)

A Good Man is Hard to Find- Flannery O’Connor (1953) (RR)

The Life You Save May Be Your Own- Flannery O’Connor (1955)

The Sniper- Liam O’Flaherty (1923)

The Black Cat- Edgar Allan Poe (1843) (RR)

The Murders in the Rue Morgue- Edgar Allan Poe (1841)

The Open Window- Saki (H.H. Munro) (1930) (RR)

The Girls in Their Summer Dresses- Irwin Shaw (1939)

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner- Alan Sillitoe (1959)

Mr. Raynor, the School-teacher- Alan Sillitoe (1959)

The Chrysanthemums- John Steinbeck (1938)

Something Old, Something New- Joyce Sweeney (2003)

A&P- John Updike (1961) (RR)

Who Am I This Time?- Kurt Vonnegut (1961)

Carl’s Outside- Brad Watson (2010)

Water Dog God- Brad Watson (2010)

Miss Mary Pask- Edith Wharton (1926) (RR)

Fetch!- Robb White (RR)

It Had To Be Murder- Cornell Woolrich (1942)

Hello, Friends.

Hey, it sure has been a long time since I wrote anything here.  The internet has changed since we started the Living Rockumentary.  Communication capsules keep getting wispier.  They're briefer and more fleeting.

SFTD has been still at it though when it comes to music.  We've finally begun mixing our upcoming album, "The Bells on the Boats on the Bay."  I won't estimate a completion date, don't want to jinx anything.  I don't believe in jinxes but I probably am jinking myself by just saying that.

We've been busy in extra-curricular activities as well.  

Brian has been playing and organizing a bunch of tribute shows; Jerry Garcia, Mike Nesmith, R.E.M., Robyn Hitchcock, and coming up next week the Band. He's also been drumming with the Claudia Malibu, the Heir of Mystery, and Mystics Anonymous.  He's also in the studio with the Figments as I write this.  That's all on top of his usual positions in the Fawns and SFTD.  Oh, did I mention he's also written the songs for a new album and is just about to start recording that?

Max has been playing with Spanish for Hitchhiking of course.  They've done a few shows backing up Frank Black or Black Francis, however you take your Pixies tea.  He's also been designing like crazy.  Shirts and posters for the aforementioned Black, and album covers for the Scud Mountain Boys and Mark Mulcahy.  Max and I went on a photoshoot the other day just for the fun of it.  He took pictures of me throwing a guitar as far as I could into the blue sky.

Tony..well, who knows about Tony.  He's a mystery.  He shows up for our gigs and somehow knows how to play our new songs.  I imagine he spends most of his time walking around and laughing to himself about funny words.

Ken has been all over the place as a key member of the Heather Maloney Band.  He's also often on the road with the Young at Heart Chorus, playing shows all over the world.  He also heads a group-sing at a local community center and has his weekly radio show on WMUA.  

Ken and Henning have also been playing a bunch in the Mark Mulcahy Band, a new trio.  They were in the U.K. in December for a week and have shows coming up in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Iowa and another jaunt over to England.  They'll be doing a number of radio appearance and festival shows during that time

Of course, a lot of us are playing as the Fawns, too.  Henning has done some solo shows and some duo shows with Lesa Bezo as well.

It seems like we are doing everything but playing School for the Dead shows.  Hmmm.  Well, that'll change, with the completion of this new record.  Oh and look out, we already have enough material for another record after that and another one as well.  

What should we do with these recordings do you think?  Vinyl?  CD?  Download only?  Help!

We've also created a new web presence for Rub Wrongways Records that you should check out and bookmark.  All of our events are listed the very clearly and you can easily listen to all of the music.  Go there now: www.rubwrongways.com

Thanks.

First Flower 2013

First Opened March 13, 2013
Well, well, well. Look at this! The Little Yellow One is back, baby!  Last year, The Little Purple One took first place in a major upset.  Yellow must have been training all winter because it burst through the finish line today with gusto.

First opened on March 11, 2012
There's been an upset in the flower world!  Our usual first flower, The Little Yellow One, has been beaten this year by a strong contender, The Little Purple One.  This guy came up yesterday while there's still no sign at all of the past champion.

First opened on March 20, 2011:
Well our annual first-flower came up later than usual this year  To tell you the truth, I'm surprised it came up at all.  It just didn't seem possible.  But, sure, enough, there it is and it's on the first day of spring at that.  Well done, little yellow flower.

First opened on March 8, 2010:
Each year this flower comes up a little bit earlier. Climate change? Impatience? Maturity? Coincidence? I don't know. All I know is, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Spring doesn't even seem possible, but this flower says, not only is it possible, it's unstoppable.

First opened on March 14, 2009: 
This one flower wins the race two years in a row. This year spring is starting sooner. Unless it sees its shadow and turns into Bill Murray.

First opened on March 24, 2008:
That's it. The first sign of Spring 2008. It's right here in our front lawn. We planted it there last fall.

The Great Mix-CD Mix-Up (disc 5)

Henning's Imaginary Robyn Hitchcock Song

A Message from R.W. Wrongway

Reconstruction of the Fables: A Tribute to R.E.M

On January 17th, there is a tribute to R.E.M. charity concert at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA

Reconstruction of the Fables: A Tribute to R.E.M

Featuring: 

Mark Mulcahy

Rusty Belle

Winterpills

Heather Maloney

Goldwater The Second

Golden Bloom

The Fawns

Rocky Roberts and Friends

Spanish For Hitchhiking

The Lonesome Brothers 

School for the Dead

Orange Crush

Now, R.E.M. were a huge influence on my life as a musician.  A lot of those songs were the first that I ever learned to play.  I can remember struggling through (Don't Go Back To) Rockville before I could properly play a B Major chord.  So, I'm pretty excited to take part in this and also to listen to everybody else's take on the songs.

The problem is that I want to play just about every song from the first five albums.  When we first learned of this event Brian and I went through a bunchy of songs off the top of our heads.  Max, Ken, and Tony pretty much just said they'd be happy to do whatever, which is good because we already had too many songs to narrow it down from.  We could only chose two.

Here are our initial thoughts:

Henning:
Gardening at Night
A Carnival of Sorts (Box cars)
Radio Free Europe
7 Chinese Brothers
Pretty Persuasion
I Believe
Harbortown
Moral Kiosk

Brian:
Pretty Persuasion
Life and How to Live It
World Leader Pretend
Cuyahoga

Then to make our lives more difficult, we put out a call on Facebook, asking which songs the  followers of the SFTD page thought we should do.  Here's what they said:

(Don't Go Back To) Rockville - Mylène Ouellet
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville - Nina Nowak
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville - Andy Churchill
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville - Kihm Randall Sanders
A Perfect Circle - Mylène Ouellet
Band Wagon - Andy Churchill
Belong - Nina Nowak
Carnival of Sorts (Box cars) - Steve Willard
Cuyahoga - Kihm Randall Sanders
End of the World as We Know It - Art Carey
Everybody Hurts - Steve Willard
Fall on Me - Jeanne Chisamore
Fall on Me - Nina Nowak
Fall on Me - Veronica Jessico Reed
Harborcoat - Aimee Richardson
I Believe - Han Wang
Laughing - Matthew Novak
Little America - Han Wang
Man on the Moon - Jeanne Chisamore
Moral Kiosk - Leslieanne Garziano
Moral Kisok - Matthew Novak
Near Wild Heaven - Miriam Lee
Nightswimming - M Freddy Stockwell
Nightswimming - Veronica Jessico Reed
Perfect Circle - Paul Gardikis
Pretty Persuasion - Art Carey
Sitting Still - Dan Haag
Superman - Nina Nowak
Texarcana - Nina Nowak
Wendell Gee - Leslieanne Garziano

Phew, that's a lot of awesome songs to select from!   Well, we have since narrowed it down and chosen our two songs.  Do you want to know them now or should it be a surprise?  I think it might be best if we just do them at the show and not say it here.  But I will if you want.  Even if just one person says I should.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your help.  I think it's going to be a real fun night.

Join us on Facebook

SFTD Group Sing

We had a nice recording session on Tuesday.  The album is coming along slowly but surely.  Here's Brian, Tony, and Ken along with special guests Lesa Bezo and Beth Savage Marchese doing a group sing for the song "Turn It Down".

I Voted. A Tale of Two Women.

I walk everywhere.  There are two reasons for that.  One is that I don't have a car.  The other is that I live within walking distance of most of what I need.  Today, I walked to the voting booth.  It was about 9:00 in the morning when I strolled up the bike path in Northampton, Massachusetts.  The temperature was in the low thirties and the yellow leaves fell slowly off the trees lining the way.  To my right was the Barrett Street Swamp. It is very visible now through the bare November trees.  The water below the reeds was not frozen but it wasn't far off.  It was silent and still and seemed thicker than summer water.

When I reached the Jackson Street overpass, I left the bike path and took to the sidewalk that lead to the Jackson Street School which has been my voting place for the last six years.  Inside, I passed the little bake sale table and entered the gymnasium.  When I used to go into gyms it was because I was about to run around.  Now it's to vote.  Everything in elementary schools is very small and makes me feel like a giant in my big, dumb leather jacket.

I entered the gym and saw a small line of people at a table that said Voter Sign-In.  I stood in the line for a moment and then the women in front of me said to nobody in particular, "I don't have time for this!".  No one responded.  She turned to look up at me.  I sized her up to be probably 35 or so, maybe younger.  She said to me, "My vote won't even count anyway."

I said, "There are only five people in front of you.  It won't take long. You came all this way."

She replied, "I'm voting for Mitt Romney.  Wouldn't you rather I left anyway? "

I said, "Of course not!"

The woman in front of her turned around and said, "You're voting for Romney?!".  She was gray but I would say only in her fifties or so. She looked nice, I was waiting for her to say something in a kidding humorous way similar to how one would normally talk to another human.  Instead, she rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust and turned back around.

The first woman looked up at me again, "I'm voting for Romney and republican straight down the line.  I'm not racist, I just like the other guy.  I don't hate woman, I just like the other guy."

"OK", I said.  Then I noticed I was in the wrong line and I walked off to the correct table for my precinct.  I gave my name and address and was handed my ballot sheets, I went to the booth, filled out the ballot, handed it in, checked out, and got my sticker.  Easy.

Back outside, I strolled again through the chilly autumn morning and mulled over the strange encounter with the two disrespectful woman. Eventually, I formulated what I wished I said.  I wished I said, so they both could hear me, "If you truly believe in a representative democracy and a popular vote, which everyone seems to claim they do, then you would never hope that another citizen doesn't vote.  Instead you would have faith that the majority would pick the best candidate in the election, regardless of who you preferred.  That's the whole point of having an election, faith that the majority knows best.  So, of course, I want you to vote, you silly Romney supporter, just like I want you to vote, you snotty Obama supporter.  By the way, thanks to both of you for so accurately displaying the common narratives about the personalities of the parties.  I thought it was all just made up on TV but you two stepped right in and confirmed everything in a thirty-second candid encounter. Now, both of you sign in, vote, and instantly nullify each others voice.  It's almost as though you don't exist."

My path to the polls. 

Rag Shag Parade 2012

We had a great time as always at our fourth annual Florence, MA Rag Shag Parade Concert.  Here's a photo I took from my perspective.  Terrifying.

Florence, MA Rag Shag Parade - School for the Dead Returns Again!

Today, Halloween, School for the Dead returns to the Rag Shag Parade in Florence, MA.  We'll be playing music starting at around 5:00 in Trinity Row Park in Florence, MA  What usually happens is we set up in an empty park, we start playing as people in all kinds of crazy costumes start to filter in, by the time we are finishing up an hour later, the park is FULL.  Then everyone leaves to go on a parade through town.  IT's very fun and surreal and I recommend stopping by.

Here's a shot from last year.

The Rub Wrongways Records Halloweekend Explosion

Henning Goes to the Bing

Announcing a new Henning concert.  This one is happening at the Bing Arts Center in Springfield, MA.  Friday October 12, 2012.  It starts at 8:00 and ends at about 10:00.

What has he got planned? Lots of songs for sure, maybe some new ones, probably some old ones, likely some from Henning Goes To The Movies, indubitably some School for the Dead songs but what about a classic famous crowd-fueled Madlib? Why not?! Little colored lights? I wouldn't say no. Banter. Yeah, I imagine they'll be banter.

Come on down, it's not often that Henning gets to take a whole show and make it his own. But it usually works out real well when he does.

The Adventures of Henning and Polaris

Photo by Cap Blackard

Last week, I played a show at the Orpheum in Los Angeles, California.  I was a member of the band Polaris and we were a feature at a Pete and Pete Reunion Show.  I explained it all in my last post.

I had a real nice time at the Orpheum, it's a beautiful old theater and it was full of an incredibly enthusiastic crowd.  They cheered at the beginning of each song.

We kicked off the night with the theme song to Pete and Pete "Hey Sandy".  That was followed by a panel with the actors, writers, and staff of the show. We then played a full set of the rest of the Polaris album.  The stage was decorated with astro turf and lawn accouterments.

Polaris with Rain Phoenix.
Photo by Lesa Bezo

We were joined for one song by Rain Phoenix who sang along with Mark on "Ashamed of the Story I Told".  Syd Straw also came up and did a song of her own.  I played guitar along with her in an unrehearsed impromptu kind of way.

There are a number of videos up on YouTube.  The best ones are those that were filmed by audience members.  They catch the spirit and the sound of the night.  There is also a long video of the whole concert but it is a board mix and it sounds sad and dead and flat.  Don't watch it.  Board mixes are the worst.  You can't hear the room so you can't feel the vibe. Here's a good one that I came across:


There are also a number of write-ups about the event out there on the web.  I recommend this one, it's touching and it contains a large selection of photos. Consequence of Sound.

Henning with Polaris in L.A.

Henning plays with Polaris at the Orpheum in Los Angeles, CA

On Tuesday August 28, Henning will be a member of the band Polaris at the Pete and Pete Reunion Show at the Orpheum in Los Angeles, CA.

Pete and Pete was a popular television show on Nickelodeon.  It's become a cult classic with a rabid fan-base do to its strangely edited surreal weirdness and its use of interesting cameo roles by folks like: Iggy Pop, Syd Straw, L.L. Cool J, Michael Stipe, Marshall Crenshaw, Janeane Garofalo, Luscious Jackson, Kate Pierson, Juliana Hatfield, Gordon Gano, adn Debbie Harry.

There's no telling who might show up at this crazy show which features a panel discussion with the actors and creators as well as two sets of music from Polaris.

Song on Woody Guthrie Tribute Album

I recently had the fortune of being asked to contribute a song to this new Woody Guthrie tribute record "Keep Hoping Machine Alive" (Spare the Rock Records).  

"The new album, whose title is drawn from Woody’s list of New Year’s resolutions for 1942, is timed to honor what would have been his 100th birthday.

Keep Hoping Machine Running represents the third release for Spare the Rock Records, following 2010′s Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti and Science Fair, released on July 3. Like both of those earlier releases, Hoping will benefit a good cause: 100 percent of the net proceeds from sales will go toward the Woody Guthrie Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to the care and administration of the Woody Guthrie Archives. 

More than 40 years after his death, Guthrie’s presence continues to be felt in American music — not only through his influence on the work of countless artists who followed in his steps, but through the way his songs have been so thoroughly absorbed by generations of listeners. Simple, powerful, strong, defiant, tender, and funny, Guthrie’s anthems of American living remain as rich and vibrant today as they were when he wrote them. 

The timeless power of Guthrie’s music is reflected in the story behind Keep Hoping Machine Running, which was hatched in a spur-of-the-moment meeting between executive producers Bill Childs and Dadnabbit and Popdose‘s Jeff Giles; the project was conceived on a Saturday afternoon, and by Monday morning, artists were already calling dibs on songs and sending in recordings for the album. 

In the spirit of Guthrie’s doggedly prolific work ethic and beautifully simple aesthetic, artists were told to keep their performances as natural — and to record them in as few takes — as possible. (As Dean Jones of Dog on Fleas put it in a letter of advice, “Laugh and make mistakes.”) The result is a collection that demonstrates the continued relevance of Guthrie’s work while preserving some of its inimitable spirit."

The song I chose to do is "Little Black Train: and you can find it here: iTunes, Amazon