smCOLUMN 104, APRIL 1, 2004
(Copyright © 2004 The Blacklisted Journalist)
SECTION NINE
EMAIL PAGE SEVEN
sm
COLUMN
104,
APRIL 1, 2004
(Copyright © 2004 The Blacklisted Journalist)
FROM THE HILL TO THE VALLEY
Subject: Article (hopefully positive)
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 12:39:02 -0500
From: dey21 dey21@optonline.net
To: Al Aronowitz info@blacklistedjournalist.com
Dear Al,
Unfortunately, America has begun its gradual descent from the city on the hill to the city in the valley. Ever since the assassination of JFK, and the dropping of the A-bomb on the Asians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we have become imbued with our unprecedented power. That misuse (in my humble opinion) of power by dropping the A-bomb was the beginning of the end of this empire. The assassination of JFK also aided greatly, in the descent of our power and the slipping into the valley in which we find ourselves. It was evident to me, as a Vietnam veteran, that that war was to mark the end of our prestige. The present war would carry a lot of weight for us IF the American people would have only been apprised of the facts that it hid, for some reason. Thus, our distrust of anything that smacks of government "help? to other people. I have not been the same since the Vietnam War, which not only was undeclared, but for which we had no plan. And those that fail to plan plan to fail. I was "fortunate? in that I was there in the beginning of that immoral and unwinnable war'the spring of 1965, to be exact. JFK was going to pull this nation out of that war 'to the last helicopter pilot? in his words. However, that all changed with the election of LBJ who promised there would be peace during a reign of what turned out to be terror. Now, we are faced with the election of god knows what. Time will tell, and time is running out. Sad, so sad.
Dick Dettrey
40 Hospital Road
Tuxedo, NY 10987
(845) 351-4254 ##
* * *
LUNCH IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
Subject: Re: from AL
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 23:22:47 EST
From: Peter7618879@aol.com
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com
In a message dated 11/28/2003 10:50:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, KhunRum writes:
NJ where my Dad owned a restaurant next to City Hall
Buddy, I loved that story you told twenty something years ago how your father would occasionally bait the basement of the restaurant with rat poison. There would be a lunchtime crowd chowing down when a dying, chemically deranged rat would emerge from downstairs and stagger around the dining area sending screaming terrified customers out onto the
street,hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Well Dude, it was actually in 1968 or 1969 which makes it 34 or 35 years ago, not
twenty something years ago, believe it or not. Let that mind blower sink in for a
minute, eh? Thirty-fucking-five years since we first burned a joint or two or ten
together.
But you're right, our restaurant was right smack in the middle between City Hall,
police HQ, the Federal Post Office and the J. Peter Rodino Federal Building on Federal Square and Franklin St. in beautiful downtown Newark, NJ. My Dad owned it
through the Carlin administration (Jewish), the Hughie Addonizio administration (Italian of course) and the Kenneth Gibson administration (Black) and my old man
paid off every one of those Mayors and often, to get the contract to feed the prisoners
in the jails and other shit. I got my summer college job for 3 years working on the
garbage trucks for the City of Newark because Pops paid off the Commissioner of Sanitation, Willie Tedesco, with a free meal and a free cigar every day.
But all of Newark had big fucking rats. Hey the Meadowlands which is a nice name
for swamp or marshlands, starts in the Ironbound section of Newark, and which natives called "Down Neck" Newark. As a restaurant with a basement in downtown
we had our share of rats for sure. I used to go in to open up the restaurant on
Saturday morning's just to feed the boys from the Post Office breakfast and feed the
prisoners in HQ and the First precinct. When I'd open up I'd have to throw a pot
behind the counter to chase the rats into the kitchen then do the same in the kitchen
to chase them downstairs. We had a few times where we would discover a rat in one
of the garbage cans behind the counter right in the middle of a business day lunch
rush. But we served a great Pastrami or Corned Beef on Rye and I never hesitated to
eat the food. We eventually sold out to a Portuguese restaurant and several years
later I went there for lunch at 2:30PM but they were through serving lunch. I was
dying for some seafood with Salsa Verde and told the owner, 'Hey my Dad sold you
this place, the least you could do is let me get some lunch." He says, "Well I own it
now and lunch is over."
LOL
Peter Stolz ##
* * *
WHAT POEM DID OLIVIA READ?
Subject: olivia harrison
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 01:15:09 -0800 (PST)
From: kitty rourke kittay@sbcglobal.net
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com
I am trying to find the name of the poet Olivia Harrison read on the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" when George was inducted 3/21. I believe the person was of
India descent with the name sounding like "Tukiora". Are you able to point me in
a direction so I made find this poem? It was extremely beautiful. Thank you and
blessings.
Kitty Rourke
kittay@sbcglobal.net ##
* * *
THE MUSIC BUSINESS!
Subject: Fwd: Let's See Action
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 11:36:58 EDT
From: RalphBkWf@aol.com
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com
This is a good wrap up of the music biz...
Best Regards,
Ralph Jaccodine
Ralph Jaccodine Management
PO Box 381982
Cambridge, Ma. 02238
U.S.A.
Ellis Paul & Flynn Management
Black Wolf Records
Black Wolf Press
Moody Street Pictures
RalphBkWf@aol.com
Subject: Let's See Action
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 05:20:13 EDT
From: Lefsetz@aol.com
Have you seen this Pink video?
Pink's the great white hope. A talent NONPAREIL! Look at all those fucking ALBUMS she sold!
If this is the best we can offer, no WONDER people are refusing to buy and have moved on.
Pink is a no-talent big mouth who's a poster girl for faux rebellion.
I mean how fucking dangerous is this woman really? She might use the wrong fork at dinner. God, might lose control and be rude to a
WAITER!
Whew! I'm afraid.
But her fucking video is all over MTV.
Have you seen it?
Oh, it OOZES of money. That's what we've become. Attitude and money. Music? Music is for chumps. That's what the playas say.
The fucks in charge of the major corporations. I mean how fucking base can you be
when you're giving away JEWELRY to sell albums. And Universal wants us to recoil in fear because
(supposedly) child porn is being distributed on KaZaA? True intellectuals over there. Didn't ANYBODY at Universal go to college?
Doesn't ANYBODY over there have any self-respect? Or is it just a gang war and the last man standing
is king??
Anyway, you've got to see this Pink video. Because the song SUCKS! ANYBODY could tell you this.
They spent all that marketing money. Got all that publicity. For THIS??
And PINK'S song is fucking GOOD VIBRATIONS compared to Britney's.
ENOUGH with the Britney. She's an uneducated cracker with a boob job. Musical talent less than zero, as Declan McManus would say.
If you can find the melody in "Me Against The Music" then YOU'RE truly entitled to that ice
Universal is giving away.
Make no mistake. The public isn't STEALING the music business, the executives are SETTING FIRE TO IT! As if to say IF WE CAN'T
HAVE OUR MILLIONS, FUCK YOU!
The goal used to be to be a MUSICIAN! A TALENTED MUSICIAN!
Now the goal is to save up enough money for tooth veneers and plastic surgery. Take a look at the English bands of the
seventies...did they fit that paradigm? How about the ALLMAN BROTHERS?
Duane Allman/Pink. You decide.
Better yet, ten times the recording cost of "Fillmore East" for the COMMERCIAL!
Yup, we don't sell videos. Not in any financially meaningful way. But, we spend MORE ON THEM than we do on the recording. If Pink's
"Trouble" video didn't cost more than her whole album, then the A&R staff at
Arista should be fired. For overspending.
And what IS this million dollar clip?
Oh, it's a STORY video. With an intro and everything.
And what is the STORY??
Pink is a bad-ass.
This takes high concept to a new low. Even a FIVE YEAR OLD could tell you there's no story.
Or what about that Britney/Madonna video. That's what music is about, shaking your
tits?
And, how come NOBODY CAN BLOW THE WHISTLE ON MADONNA? She gets a LIFETIME
PASS? Doesn't she have enough MONEY??
Madonna's talent wasn't musical to BEGIN WITH!
And SHE'S so fucking dangerous. What's she gonna do NEXT? Go braless to her daughter's
P.T.A. meeting?
I mean that kiss. The fawning media, plumped with access and shrimp, repeated the story ad infinitum. But did Madonna's RECORD
sell?
Shit, you can see more risque stuff down at the corner bar on Saturday night. Hell, a WEEKNIGHT!
There's a MAJOR disconnect between the establishment and the people.
Even if the major labels succeed in stamping out free trading of THEIR material they're STILL gonna be history. Because they're OUT
OF TOUCH!
We're in a war. The economy sucks. And they're selling us PINK?
Do me a fucking favor. Enroll Pink in the army. Send her to Iraq. Shoot video of THAT. I'll pay twenty bucks for THAT! A little
honesty, a little reality. But only if Pink DOESN'T SING! Because if you've ever seen her live,
you know she can't carry a tune.
The people have left the building.
The major labels think everybody's on THEIR SIDE! NOBODY'S on their side. Not even Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs just wants to sell iPods.
The artists are like slaves on a plantation. Just waiting for a few brave souls to break ranks, run away, show them they can do it, and
then slavery will be OVER!
Congresspeople...they just want to stay in office. They've got no allegiance to ANYBODY but
THEMSELVES!
There's no sympathy for the major label execs and their agenda. The major label execs are the fucking BERLIN WALL!
People have been kicking and chopping at it for YEARS!
Just like Russia and Eastern Germany...people were allowed to leave. Oh, not legally, it's just that no one STOPPED THEM! Like with
file-trading. The REST of the public was emboldened. And then, in essentially
a day, the Berlin Wall came down.
You know how far we've fallen when you listen to classic rock.
Tonight I heard Pete Townshend's "Let's See Action".
Pete Townshend wouldn't even be able to get SIGNED today. He wasn't selling what the corporations think people WANT! He's not a CARTOON!
He was a THINKING man. Wanting to make a STATEMENT!
And what did Pete say in "Let's See Action"?
"Let's see action. Let's see people. Let's see freedom. In the air. Let's see action. Let's see people.Let's be free. Let's see who cares."
We're seeing action. Of that there's no doubt. Because MILLIONS of people are file-trading as I write this.
They want the freedom to have their music as unrestricted computer files. They're willing to pay, but not the exorbitant prices the
labels want.
They want freedom. They're passionate. They CARE about music.
The people running the major labels don't.
All they're talking about is CUTBACKS! MERGERS! Whereas they should be reading Clayton Christensen's new book, "The Innovator's
Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth". Instead of carping about
their dire straits, why don't the major labels DO something about their condition.Take some ACTION!
Lowering CD prices and advertising on TV is not taking innovative action. Innovative action is about seeing what the UPSTARTS are doing
and forming a new division of your company to compete.
What does this MEAN?
Starting a new label, with fifty/fifty splits. Low advances.
Oh, you'll lose money at first. But one day, you'll go NUCLEAR!
Like Toyota in the U.S. Cheap Japanese cars one day, the next everybody believes they're BETTER!
Get in the pit with the entrepreneurs, ALLOW file-trading, only sign acts that can work on the road, are NOT phony, that are following
their muse, and ROLL THE DICE!
But the major corporations ONLY care about the bottom line. There's NO risk, NO investment. It's only SELL BABY!
The major labels would have told Steve Jobs to STOP innovating.
There would have been no iPod, no iTunes Music Store, no new notebooks, no Panther. Hell, Microsoft has delayed Longhorn for almost
three years! Why compete? Why spend on innovation? Protect the bottom line!
The reason you don't do this, is one day, in the not too distant future, the game turns and you sink. It's over.
Like with Sun.
Like with the major labels.
You're doing swimmingly. Then sales fall off a cliff.
Better music or death. That's it.
I ain't bowing at the altar of Pink and Britney. And I've got to tell you, almost nobody else is EITHER!
##
* * *
RON WHITEHEAD WEDDING
Subject: justice of the peace wedding tomorrow 3pm
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 21:37:08 -0800 (PST)
From: Ron Whitehead tmopinsight@yahoo.com
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com
later today friday february 27th, 2004 Sarah & Ron yes us gonna get hitched by
justice of the peace at City Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. yes this will make already wed legal. two witnesses will be Ron's brother Brad & his longtime
friend, doctor, & bluegrass bass player Nanine Henderson. please send all monetary gifts for Ron and Sarah's China/Tibet/Mt.Everest trip to
Sarah Whitehead
p.o. box 4602
louisville, kentucky
40204
Thank You!
believe me we'll be raising multitudinous toasts to ALL of You our family, friends,
our loved ones!!! glory be. lordy. help us. all. yes. we gonna do it despite all the
armies who/that have risen up against us. we love you: family friends allies guides angels enemies debtors we love you
moment by moment we have choice: fear or love, we choose love. amen awomen apeoples my peoples!
Ron
Ronnie Paige Whitehead
february 27, 2004
www.tappingmyownphone.com
http://www.insomniacathon.org
* * *
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