Thoughts on culture, politics, music and stuff by Eric Olsen, Marty Thau and Mike Crooker, who are among other things, producers.

 
Cool Tunes

Please join me for my Cool Tunes radio show tonight (and every Saturday) from 10PM to Midnight (Eastern) through the airwaves (91.3) in the Cleveland/Akron area; or for the rest of the world, via the WAPS web site. I play modern rock, punk, electronica, jazz, reggae, ska, roots rock, Americana, blues, world, funk, hip hop, avant garde, and a fair amount of whatever (see last week’s playlist here). Put the Olympics on the TV, turn down the sound, and listen to the computer.

It is the greatest pleasure to have a radio home where my eccentricities are not only tolerated but appreciated. PD Bill Gruber is one of the last of the real radio men in an era of soulless, formulaic programming by vast media corporations that have sucked the imagination and individuality out of commercial radio, rendering the national airwaves into a monolithic, homogenized cloud of conformity.

Though greatly facilitated by FCC deregulation over the last 10 years, the process has been under way since the mid-’70s when someone realized that money was to be made from the static-free, stereo, music-friendly FM bandwidth. A perfect synecdoche of this entire process is Cleveland’s own WMMS. The legendary “Buzzard” has evolved from a free-form “progressive” station in the early-’70s, through various forward-looking rock-oriented formats, scandals, and revolutions, living off a reputation for breaking new music matched progressively less and less by reality, arriving at the cookie cutter ACDC-Metallica-Linkin Park agg-rock mess that it is today. Adding insult to injury, the station is only manned by local (utterly generic) jocks from 3PM to 6AM, relying on syndicated Clear Channel ciphers for the key morning and afternoon slots.

This from the station whose reputation and clout (along with free lakefront property from the city) literally brought the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. When you ask someone why the Rock Hall should be in Cleveland, they mutter something about Alan Freed inventing rock and roll radio on WJW here in the early-’50s (his Moondog Coronation Ball in ‘52 is believed to be the first rock and roll concert), but of course Freed came to real prominence (and eventually shame, degradation, and death) after moving to WINS in New York (establishing a pattern of chronic talent drain that is the area’s bane to this
day), which they don’t mention. They also mention WMMS’ importance in breaking Bruce Springsteen out of his NY-area stronghold, giving David Bowie a foothold in the US, before they finally mention something about Cleveland historically having higher-than-average record sales figures. They attribute this last dubious claim even more dubiously to WMMS’ reputation for breaking new talent, helping establish the Cleveland public’s “voracious” hunger for new and adventuresome music.

Even these weak claims to rock and roll importance are crap - the last major bands Cleveland help break in the US were probably Roxy Music and Queen in the EARLY-FREAKING-’70s, talk about living on faded glory; I won’t even go into the
scandal involving ‘MMS stuffing the ballot box in the Rolling Stone radio poll every year they won it. Cleveland’s “voracious” appetite for new music is better reflected by the fact that it didn’t even have a commercial modern/alternative rock station -
WENZ “The End” - until 1992. My grandmother had an alt rock station before that.

The defenders of the Rock Hall in Cleveland don’t bother to claim that Cleveland is a spawning ground of major artists. Other than Freed, no one inducted into the Rock Hall has any strong connection to Cleveland unless you include Joe Walsh
as a member of the Eagles. Walsh isn’t
even from Cleveland, he’s from New Jersey. He went to Kent State and formed the James Gang there. He didn’t even join the Eagles until they were already established - he was basically brought in as a hired guitar gun for Hotel California.

In fact, it can be argued that Cleveland is abnormally devoid of important musical talent. Hometown Heroes include Nine Inch Nails James Gang, Raspberries, Michael Stanley, Devo, Pere Ubu, Dead Boys (can be found on the Straight Outta Cleveland collection I put
together in 1995 which is now outta print - email me to get a free copy), Levert, Bone Thuggs n Harmony - all well and good, but this is the best you can do?? Current connections include Macy Gray and Marilyn Manson, but neither made it until they went elsewhere, and they’re both from Canton, 60 miles south of Cleveland. Cleveland is, in fact, among the very least important major cities in pop/rock history. You could do an It’s a Wonderful Life, wipe Cleveland from the history of the world, and music history would look about the same.

Imagine popular music without New York, Nashville, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Memphis, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Miami, Austin, Chapel Hill, Athens (Georgia), the Mississippi Delta, and on and on. Cleveland isn’t even the most important musical city in OHIO. Godforsaken Cincinnati is more important than Cleveland, if only for Syd Nathan’s
King Records. Cleveland didn’t get the Rock Hall because it is the home of great artists, great fans, or great radio (it was good in the ‘70s); it got the Rock Hall because it wanted it the most as a centerpiece of a rebuilt downtown (mission accomplished with new Indians and Browns stadiums; Cavs arena; three entertainment areas in the Flats, Warehouse District, and Playhouse Square; Science Center) and demonstrated it with precious free land right on Lake Erie. The rest is smoke screen.

So anyway, back to radio: it sucks, so it is really great to have a place where I can do my thing, have a great time, and be appreciated for it. Check out the show tonight, why don’t you.
posted by Anonymous at 2:30 PM

 
Callow Advice From a Neophyte

I have only been blogging for a few days and I already have some advice. Do
not compose your blog in the open “Post to Blog” box. If Blogger goes down
(which it did at least three times yesterday) you lose everything you have written.
I had a big, long, shockingly eloquent entry about Large Topics evaporate into
cyberpiss, not once but twice yesterday.

Compose on a word processing program, then paste into the Post to Blog box
and add your links - pray the bastard doesn’t go down while you are inserting
links, but if it does at least you don’t lose the text (It just happened again, but all I
lost were the links because I followed my own advice - a dividend of age. I just pasted this back in and then back-clicked on through the sites to collect the URL's again). Another advantage is you can spell check in your word processor program - free Blogger
doesn’t have spell check yet.

Blogger is an amazing thing - free, easy to use, spontaneous - but it appears to
be a victim of its own success. The media is jumping on the bandwidthwagon as
in here and here. A vast clusterfuck of bloggers and readers alike bogs, then crashes the system with dismaying regularity. If you are considering a blog of your own, please absorb the perspicacious advice of my new blog friend Steven Den Beste, a remarkable polymath whose width and breadth of knowledge and
interest causes my nads to shrivel.
posted by Anonymous at 9:32 AM

 
More Meaning of Life Entries

I take a scientific approach to philosophy. Please consider this outline of my
work.

We perceive: reality exists, deal with it, move on. When we chose, we can note
that we are part of a larger universe. It is our task to determine our part in the
larger whole, how the larger whole works, and how we can alter our surroundings
to our benefit.

Reality exists: four categories of objects. When we perceive, we can note that
objects in the larger universe fall into four categories. Simple objects are physical
in nature. Living objects channel energy. Thinking objects change habits to better
channel energy. Balancing objects balance time between living and thinking to
maximize quality of life.

Simple Objects: thoughtless existence. All mass is subject to forces such as
electricity and gravity. These forces are thoughtless; lightning strikes don't kill
people because they are cruel and vindictive; lightning strikes don't have the
ability to care. Likewise, flash floods don't care that they destroy homes. Instead,
one can predict what simple objects will do by studying inherent energies; people
that know how much electrical charge clouds have can predict lightning; people
that know about snowpacks and coming temperatures can predict flash floods.

Living Objects: scouring for energy. Some massive objects, plants and animals,
are specially organized to seek out and capture sources of energy. Plants
capture sunlight and transfer the captured energy into such things as growth.
Some animals, herbivores, eat plants and channel that energy into (among other
things) stronger muscles. Other animals, carnivores, catch, kill, and eat other
animals for their energy. At the microscopic level, plants and animals live a
thoughtless existence. In the broader context, biology explains plants and
animals better than physics does.

Thinking animals: changing habits. Some living objects examine their universe
and change habits. People and animals both have had the habits of picking wild
berries for sustenance. Some people thought, though, and decided to cultivate
and protect their crops; others process the harvest. These changing habits make
people better able to enjoy fruity goodness.

Balancing objects: living the good life. Balancing objects spend just enough time
living and just enough time thinking. As a living object, a balancing object seeks
to obtain food with the same unchanging paradigm. As a thinking object, a
balancing object seeks to obtain new sources of food. One needs to do both.
One obviously cannot do without actual food. Nor should one always rely on the
same sources of food; such sources may disappear; more so, living by rote is
boring. Balancing objects maximize the quality of life by not overthinking or
underthinking.

Bottom line: the meaning of life. The meaning of life is that we must find balance.
Live for today (be a living object) with an eye on tomorrow (be a thinking object).
The first theorem: seek knowledge (proof: we want pleasant surroundings; we
can affect our surroundings with well executed well conceived plans; good
execution and good conception both require knowledge). An application of the
first theorem: be kind to critics; good critics give us knowledge that we need to
change the habits most in need of change.

Or perhaps I am saying that there is no meaning of life, per se. At some level, I
don't really care, I have better things to do. But I begin to repeat myself.
Alan


I believe that we are here to make other lives be fulfilled. Just think, if your best
friend did not exist, where would you be today? If you didn’t exist, where would
your brother or sister be today? If Kordell Stewart didn’t exist, where would
Steelers be today? Who knows. All I am saying is that without the influence of
close friends and family that make up our lives, our "life" could be meaningless.
Mindy


be happy and be nice
Anon.


The Meaning of Life is to love as best we can. To strive for health and
happiness. To laugh. To cry. To sing and dance. To celebrate.
Stacey


The meaning of life is Dale Beaverman.
Jeb


The fullest living of life is to love. Love everything, love unconditionally, love with
an appreciation of the sidelong vaguest sense and of the details, of the warts
and pain and beauty and banality and all. Humor helps. And, if I'm living it right,
one of the keys to life is empathy. If you are altruistic, try to understand, and give
credence to, selfishness and cruelty. If you find yourself, appreciate those who
grow. That's the only way the world makes sense to me.
Jessica


All I care about is love.
Kramer


Life is learning to accept fate.
Will
posted by Anonymous at 9:23 PM

 
America.com:On September 11

Couldn't sleep last night past 4AM out of excitement roiling in my brain over new blog and new book. Marty Thau and I were thrilled to have our proposal for America.com accepted by the Fifi Oscard Agency and encourage all publishers to contact them immediately armed with large coin. They describe the book thusly: it "examines the events and elements of the 11th through various forms of computer communication including online chats, e-mails, bulletin boards, websites and weblogs, providing both the raw electricity of the communications themselves and thorough background into the issues raised in those communications." Right on.
posted by Anonymous at 10:41 AM

 
Let the Games Begin
Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit is tremendously informative, prolific, logical and right much of the time. However, he doesn't like the Olympics - he couldn't be more wrong if he stabbed himself in the eye with a ski pole.

Regardless of organizational problems - and clearly the organization is freighted with the same problems as any other multi-national body - what counts is the competition itself and the atmosphere the competition generates.

I have attended every Summer Games since LA in '84 - it is a family ritual in highest standing - and never come away with anything other than profound memories, many of which bring a tear to my eye to this day. While "professionalism" and commercialism may taint the air, especially on TV, only the top 10% of the athletes can in any way be deemed professionals, and only about 1% receive anything more than subsistence funds to allow them to pursue their dream. The vast majority of the athletes are there out of undying love of their sport, a pride in their nation - or at least what their nation could be if it lived up to its ideals, and if not that then at least the people of the nation - and an absolute determination to do their best in front of the world. A tiny percentage have even a hope of winning a medal, appearing on TV (other than perhaps cable in their own land at 3AM), or cashing in in any way. Regardless, they are filled with joy (I have interviewed many formally and informally) at the opportunity to compete at the highest level, to commune with their fellow athletes in a nonpolitical setting (the athlete's quarters in the Olympic village is always the hottest, wildest, most joyous place to be), and simply to take part in the pageantry. This is the highlight of most of their lives and that energy charges every competition from the most obscure qualifying heat to the most gaudy final.

The competition is real - drugs are a real issue regarding the fairness of the competition but genuine efforts are under way to keep the filed as level as is reasonable, far better than in the past, especially the Iron Curtain years - and nothing outside of the competition matters once the starting bell, gun, horn, or cry of "play ball" is sounded. Why do virtually all athletes describe the Olympics as the highlight or their competitive lives (and often lives period). Because it's true - because of what I've told you. Grizzled major league veterans like Pat Borders, who won a World Series MVP for God's sake, call winning a gold medal the thrill of a lifetime. You can't imagine the atmosphere when underdog USA beat the Cubans in '96: Australians and Americans in the crowd alike about lost their minds. We sat right behind several members of the US swim team at the baseball finals - impossibly young, fresh-faced kids having the times of their lives, shit-faced on a couple of beers because they hadn't touched a drop of alcohol in months due to their training regimens. Their youth, pride, enthusiasm, untroubled faces, makes you proud not just to be American, but to be a human being, for athletes from all countries bear these same qualities.

I can go on and on about specific memories or specific competitions: a teenaged English diver impossibly making the finals in Atlanta only to have reality set in and spiral to the bottom of the pack while her proud, emotionally pummeled parents alternated between defiant cheers, furtive tears, elation, dwindling hope, resignation, and back to beaming pride in the seats right next to us. There's nothing like sitting by the parents, or even the children, of competitors. Or, Greg Louganis in Seoul, defying fate and an inhumanly perfect Chinese diver to come back after hitting his head on the concrete platform - have you ever landed on your head on concrete? - to perform the very next day under the most exquisite pressure, brilliantly, flawlessly, but with something more than technical perfection, an utterly palpable SPIRIT radiating from his every pore, filling the aquatic center to the rafters where we sat that day - I am crying now as I relive it, I shit you not - piercing the surface of the water as if it willingly parted before him to an audible intake of air by the collective audience, emerging from the water to a thunderous, unanimous, empathetic convulsion of appreciation, admiration, shared joy and respect. His later revelations about a hellish personal life only deepen the poignancy of the moment and an appreciation of his courage and grace under fire.

These moments and many, many others great and small are the Olympics - not the TV coverage, not the commercial tawdryness, the venality, the politicization, the machinations of bitter, crabbed men and women - but the athletes, their families, the international crowds, the volunteers whose duty may prevent them from ever getting near an actual event but whose joy in participating is diminished not a jot - this is the Olympics. The Olympic Spirit is real, undiminished, and beats eternally strong in the hearts of any who have felt it in person, in any capacity.

Therefore, let us toast today's opening of yet another Games, wish those performing and attending all the best (especially my father, son, neice, and entourage), pray against any non-peaceful incidents, give the Mormons the benefit of the doubt, and allow the Olympic Spirit to work its magic.
posted by Anonymous at 10:07 AM

 
Below are the first responses to The Meaning of Life Project. Join us won't you?
posted by Anonymous at 7:06 PM

 
Alphomism - a metaphysical belief system, without god or religion, a universe
theory which generates a moral code, explains the supernatural and tells the
meaning of life. My meaning of life is that this is merely a temporary existence
where my goal is to attain as much knowledge as possible and to seek out Truth.
Amen
Julie


These are my random thoughts. Let's hope they don't seem too odd:
to seek who you are, to find things you like and people to love, to labor at what
gives you fulfillment, to procreate and/or care for children, to make the world a
better place then you found it, to smile, laugh, frown, cry..., all things that foster
growth and eventual happiness, to care for others, to expire.
John


Random thoughts about the meaning of life.....
If I believe that life is an adventure and that everything happens for a reason --
then the meaning of life must be within those two. Life is a gift. This gift is filled
with adventures, with each action occurring for a reason and our goal is to take
each action that comes to us and learn from it. Often we will not know the true
reason behind something and while we struggle to find a reason we learn along
the way.

One should take each opportunity that you are given and make the best of it.
Live the life that you are given to the fullest. While living this life we involve
others around us and help them grow.
In living a life to the fullest we:
Enhance the lives of those around us.
Give back to those who have given to us.
Respect the life we are given.
Strive to make it a good life.
So -- what do I think the meaning of life is?? Respecting the life we are given as
a gift, something that can be taken from us at anytime, and doing everything
possible to make that life a positive experience for myself and those around me.
My brain is tired -- too much deep thinking!
Michele


To me Life was created by God in each living plant and animal on Earth for these
reasons:
Life means to be all that we can be as his children together in one world. To
Grow in Spirit, Physical Being (Stature), State of Mind (Mentally), Financial, As
Parents, Friends, in Peace, Love and Harmony with the rest of the world... from
the day we are born until the day we die.
Ron


My Answers: Ones life is judged by how many people he/she affects during that
lifetime -- affects in terms of good will, assistance to others, generosity,
contribution to family, friends and society.
Marty


For me, the meaning of life has been the pursuit of those joys & wisdoms which
are non-categorizeable, unscientific, and life-affirming. If you can put it on paper,
then that isn't it. Pursuit of the intransitive feelings that make one feel like he/she
is part of a greater whole without losing his/her individuality.
Anon.


There is no one meaning to life, just as there is no one meaning to any
reasonably complex book, poem, or painting. That said, I view life as an
exquisitely improbable accident that probably occurs only at hugely separated
intervals in a largely empty universe. With life has come human consciousness,
and thus the ability to ponder questions like this one, as well as many other
questions having to do with the nature and origins of life and consciousness.
That this is possible for us only compounds the astonishing quality of the
accident.

We all have an intuition that something phenomenally rare and complex--and
conscious--must, for those reasons alone, be in some sense precious. I have
no wish to challenge that intuition. Indeed, I find it almost impossible to imagine
how it could be wrong. I find it doubly impossible to doubt that intuition when I
consider my own children and how precious they seem to me. Therefore, I can
only conclude that it is precious and that we must therefore strive to nurture and
protect life, and to prolong its enjoyment and existence on this planet.

I mention "enjoyment" because otherwise, what's the point? If it were a
burden and a curse to live and to be conscious and to ponder these
questions, life wouldn't be terribly valuable. But luckily enough, most of
us appear to enjoy thinking about and living life, so long as we remain
healthy. I also give enjoyment pride of place because striving to make it
possible for all people to enjoy their lives implies a great many acts of
morality and altruism--not mere hedonism. It implies that the mass of
humanity is allowed to progress from subsistence living to a state in which
there is time and opportunity for leisure, art, friendship, and physical
exercise.

Human life will not exist forever, and there is no God to give it meaning,
narrative, or resolution. Therefore, I sometimes conceive of the human
project as an attempt to paint, on a small canvass limited by space and
time, the most harmonious and beautiful painting we can--one that
demonstrates to ourselves (for there is no other viewer) our profound
respect for the rarity and preciousness of life. Our history is that
painting. Regrettably, we have often painted a barbaric and hideous
picture. I believe that evolution has left us with many tendencies that
result in genocide and oppression. That is why we cannot look to "nature"
to determine life's meaning. To paint the best possible painting will
require that we distill the better instincts from our nature and suppress
the frightening and awful ones. The surprise is that we have been equipped
with a moral compass that usually tells us which is which. Thus, we often
see that wrongdoers and their sympathizers deny responsibility for their
worst acts or beliefs---see how Osama and his supporters ludicrously
attempted to blame the Mossad for the WTC bombings, or how neo-Nazis are
often Holocaust deniers. The moral compass is there, even in some of the
most blind and corrupted humans. It's the will to follow the compass that
must be cultivated.

There is not one original thought here. You can find it in the existentialists, or
even in Marx's vision of utopia ("fish in the morning, write poems in the
afternoon"), and, I'm certain, in many other sources that I'm not sufficiently
erudite to identify. But you asked, so I answered.
Anon.



The meaning of life is putting God, family and health before status and wealth.
It's also making a positive difference in the lives of others while you're alive, so
people TRULY mourn for you when you're dead.
Janette


The meaning of life is my daughter learning, my daughter smiling, her learning
new things. It's love. It's family. It's work that matters, soul work.
Carlo


What is it that makes life worth living? Love, books, realizing that we're indebted,
literally to thousands of people every day who we may never get to meet or
know, yet they make our day. Without them we would be like native Americans
were and feed and clothes ourselves with and from what nature provides. We
are no good without others.

Since we don't know what is in store for us after life, then everything makes life
worth living. That we have a brain and our five senses to enjoy everything around
us is a marvel. Like Albert Einstein once said: "Do not grow old, no matter how
long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great
Mystery into which we are born."

What is the best use of a life? To gain as much knowledge as possible - to have
an open mind and be a good listener Learn to live with others. Enjoy the natural
resources we are born into - and be of use to our fellow man. What ever you do,
do it to the best of your ability, and, love what you're doing. Learn early that life is
very short. Hope this is helpful.
Bob


As a doctor, I find the meaning of life in its dissection.
Paul


The highest meaning of human life is to give meaning to life beyond its ordinary
meaning. The ordinary meaning of human and other forms of life is to continue
life.
Daniel


The meaning of life is to glorify God in all that we say and do and think.
Christopher


Have recently read an interesting essay on same from philosophical point of view
(http://wwics.si.edu/outreach/wq/WQSELECT/KINGWELL.HTM) that says the
meaning of life is the search for meaning. This is one point. Another is found in
Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig) which says it is the pursuit of
"quality" - in essence doing things as well as they can be done. This is a good
point also. If you are Christian, it is leading a "Christ-like" life and achieving
salvation through believing in Him as the Savior, and forgiveness of sins. I see it
as a combination of all these things.
Eric
posted by Anonymous at 7:01 PM

 
The Meaning of Life Project

Dear Friends,

We are asking for your help in a simple, yet profound dual project. The
events of September 11 and its aftermath have shaken many of us out of the
tunnel vision of our daily routines and have been an impetus for us to take
stock of our priorities and core beliefs, to reflect deeply on meaning in
our lives. We want to know your sincere opinion on the meaning of life.

As mentioned, the project has a dual nature: Eric Olsen and Marty Thau are
working on a book called "America.com: On September 11," which uses
computer communication (chats, email, web sites, weblogs, bulletin boards)
as an organizing principle through which to examine the events and themes
of September 11 and its aftermath. We are very interested in the viral
nature of the Internet and will be following the path this email takes and
the responses we receive from a systemic perspective for use in the book.
In addition, we are deeply interested in the answers themselves and will be
compiling them into some kind of master "meaning of life" list. The results
will be discussed in the "America.com" book, displayed on the
http://tres_producers.blogspot.com web site (which will debut February 12),
and may be compiled into a book of their own.

YOU MAY INDENTIFY YOURSELF OR REMAIN ANONYMOUS AS YOU SEE FIT.
NO INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL OR CONTACT INFORMATION WILL BE MADE
AVAILABLE TO ANYONE FOR ANY REASON.

Sound interesting?

To participate, you have only to do this:

1) jot down the meaning of life.
2) answer the following for demographic purposes:
a) gender
b) age
c) zip code or country
d) name (if you choose)

COPY 1 AND 2 ABOVE AND RETURN VIA EMAIL TO ericolsen@compuserve.com
That's all you have to do. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SEND THIS TO ANYONE YOU
THINK MAY BE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE PROJECT.

Thank you and Best Wishes,

Dawn Olsen
Eric Olsen


posted by tofu at 6:08 PM