Black lives matter. Of course Black lives matter. And if you are not able to bring yourself to say these words, sincerely, know that I do not think you're racist. Because you likely wear that title of Racist as a badge of honor, just as Steve Bannon declared just two years ago. No - you are inhumane. You are cruel and you have proven that in your willingness to subjugate a single type of person, you will be willing to subjugate ANY type of person. And you do not deserve to celebrate this Independence Day, the day our forefathers, many slave owners themselves, pronounced that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ALL MEN - AND WOMEN. Black lives matter.
"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." Malcolm X
Master of the mystery box, J.J. Abrams, is deep in make-nice
mode with every Star Wars fanboy, fangirl and fanthey in the world, presumably
at the mercy of the Disney powers-that-be knowing this is the make-or-break
moment for the franchise on which they spent a national economy.
After a screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences on Friday, (Vanity
Fair’s Anthony Breznican)
asked Abrams what he would say to those who are unhappy. Are they not getting
something? Is there a problem in the fandom? “No, I would say that they’re
right,” he answered quickly. “The people who love it more than anything are also
right.”
In other words, just see my movie and love it because The
Force and everything. The thing is, Abrams has nothing to apologize for. The Rise of Skywalker is pure Star Wars,
not only bringing to clarity so much of The
Force Awakens AND The Last Jedi, but also aligning perfectly with the
original troika of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
So, what’s with all the backlash and dismissive hate cast Skywalker’s way? Quite simply, people
seem to have lost track of what Star Wars was, is and will continue to be: an
outlandish, pulpy, sci-fi romp filled with humor and sadness, good and evil,
romance and despair. In other words…melodrama.
Majestical, epic melodrama at that.
I’ve seen Skywalker
twice now, and my enjoyment only increased on my second viewing – something I
can only say holds true for Episodes IV, V, VI and VII (you do the math). For
the record, I really like The Last Jedi
– a lot – but there are two major flaws with it:
There are wholesale scenes I would excise, the most
prominent being the entire setting of Las Vegas in the Stars, a.k.a. Canto
Bight. Be honest, that section plays more early-Harry Potter than Star Wars;
The movie does very little to drive the overall
Star Wars story along, plumbing deep into folklore and character, but leaving
our heroes and villains not too far afield from where they started, meaning
whatever Episode IX was going to be, it had a ton of heavy lifting to do.
So, what did that mean for the SW creative team? First, they
had to acknowledge that Colin Trevorrow, the original scribe/director hired to
close things out was a hack (aside from his first, very small, very quirky
flick Safety Not
Guaranteed) and politely jettison him in the first available escape pod.
That left three manageable routes: return to TLJ master Rian Johnson, return to TFA master Abrams or see how Ron Howard finesses the Han Solo
thingy to the finish line (oops). Back with J.J. it is!
With that Hollywood political dynamic taken care of, Abrams
and his co-screenwriter Chris Terrio could set out to bring a close to the
grand arc of the Skywalker clan and their merry band of friends and frenemies.
But, again, Johnson left LITERALLY EVERYTHING on the table to be resolved,
including a
lot of fan backlash of his own. Rey’s parents? Finn’s childhood origins?
Poe’s sexuality? Kylo’s/Ben’s anger management? 3PO’s relevance? Snoke? Hux?
The little kid with the broom?
Clearly, there needed to be a single Big Bad once again, and
Palpatine fit the bill. Evil – check.
One of the
biggest complaints about TLJ was
how our three heroes spent nearly every waking moment apart (which is not too
dissimilar from Empire when you think
about it), so why not leverage the incredible charisma of the three leads and
send them on a scavenger hunt across the galaxy with a super-crazy time limit
(16 hours? Why??? Because. OK.). Good – check.
What Abrams and team ultimately assemble is a raucous
adventure on par with Return of the Jedi,
ultimately the most watchable Star War despite the Ewoks. Skywalker has amazing moments of gasps (literally, gasps were
exclaimed by audiences both times I saw it), laughs (Ben Solo’s “Ow” is
classic), cheers (Rey’s jump to the Millennium Falcon is the Death Star rope swing of our age)
and jeers (Ian McDiarmid’s Palpatine is one of cinema’s all-time greatest
villains, PERIOD).
Does this plot-heavy adventure move at a breakneck pace? You
betcha! Does it help to have Star Wars coursing through your veins so you don’t
miss a beat? Yeah, probably. Is poor Rose marginalized to a bit player with
wooden lines? Without a doubt…. Do any of these things take Skywalker away from
its campy roots of Episode IV, V and VI? Hell no.
One of the biggest gripes about this final chapter is management
of Rey’s lineage and the departure from Rian Johnson’s TLJ narrative that anyone can be a Jedi. Skywalker deals with this without erasing Johnson’s story details,
making them stronger, if anything. But reflect back on the story of Luke and
his big paternal reveal in Empire.
That movie starts with brother and sister kissing and ends with him wrestling
with the notion that his long-lost father wants him dead. All the meanwhile,
the most intuitive beings of the galaxy, Vader and Palpatine, can’t seem to
locate him despite the fact he’s bumping around a planet with Imperial troops
for years with the last name of SKYWALKER! Despite that gaping plot hole, we
Star Wars fans forgave everything and often look to Empire as one of the greatest sequels of all time.
Is it great cinema? Yeah. Why not? It more than holds true
to the great melodramatic tradition set forth in the original trilogy, creating
fantastic worlds and fun characters (I want an entire movie with Naomi Ackie
and her Force-sensitive fellow
stormtrooper ex-pats doing some damage!). Go see it with the same expectations
and enthusiasm with which you saw Return
of the Jedi and you are sure to exit happy.
And, as J.J. said, “We knew starting this that any decision we made — a
design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision — would please
someone and infuriate someone else.”
The thing is, everybody isn’t right. Don’t
cede the high ground J.J.!
I support public schools because I have personally witnessed how powerful a public school can be in bringing together a diverse community over a common interest: the betterment and education of our children. This notion is lost in most private and some charter schools as they promote competition and elitism over community building. There are exceptions, such as the AZ Aspire Academy, that endeavor to meet special needs in ways that public schools simply cannot.
However, it's hard to get around the fact that as great as the public school system can be, it is also flawed, if not broken. Standardized testing is prioritized over critical thinking and learning. Purchasing packaged curricula is prioritized over teacher and staff pay. In the box programs are instituted over out of the box, customized approaches. School boards govern with political interest over student well-being.
The first step in overcoming this mentality is recognizing that the #RedforEd demands are valid and necessary in order to re-prioritize and advance education as a whole in Arizona.
No matter how strong the private school sector may be, the state will only be as strong as the public school system. That is what businesses identify when considering a corporate establishment or relocation.
But this is all being undermined by a conservative movement to privatize education and essentially eliminate the community buy-in that the public system cultivates. This movement is led by true-believers who feel this way is not only the right way to set America on its best course, but the only way. True-believer-ism is the single most dangerous approach to policy and societal development, especially in a republic like the United States, where our supposed democracy can be usurped by dark-of-night passages of laws and budgets that force our lives in directions we would never individually choose. The Koch Network epitomizes this, and the governor of Arizona is a member and advocate of this system.
Now is the time to be aware. Now is the time to speak up. Now is the time to vote. Now is the time to do something.
There is absolutely no way to overstate what a vital role music has had for me throughout 2017. As many of you know, the year began with my left forearm broken in half, banded back together with titanium only to rebrake mid-February, forcing a second surgery and prolonged rehab and physical therapy. Combine this with a frustrating year of politics and policy, uncertainty with my job (since abated, thank goodness!) and actually seeing a person die, the need for that "thing" to transport me away from the moment was essential.
In past years, my bike was my solace, taking me outside and allowing me to push my endurance and spiritual limits that would allow me to recenter. With that outlet removed due to recovery (at least through May), I found my peace with my turntable and the warmth of vinyl turning. My new happy place moved from my bike saddle to stretching out on my couch, listening to lots and lots of music. And, fortunately, there was lots of great music to hear this year. And with every great new release, there usually was a corresponding concert nearby, taking me from the personal confines of my living room to Phoenix's newest concert gem or Hollywood's most fabled cemetery to boogie and sway.
My greatest musical discovery this year was my reawakening to the beautiful age of bebop, hard bop and post bop jazz. I could not stop consuming artists like Cannonball Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Milt Jackson, Grant Green and many others beyond the usuals like Miles, Trane and Brubeck, brought to life on the thick black platters from Blue Note, Verve, Impulse, Columbia and Riverside. Unfortunately for you, this means another list will descend upon you shortly.
For now, here are my favorite records of 2017.
1. Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister, Planetarium
I'm convinced that nobody is pushing creativity right now quite like Sufjan Stevens. And he here collaborates with one of modern classical's greatest composers and one of rock's greatest guitarists to create a musical trip through our galaxy that never ceases to be rooted right here in the humanity of Earth, warts, flaws and all. This album is big, exploratory, wandering, lost, found, strange and brilliant.
2. The National, Sleep Well Beast
This album not only is the most straight guitar rock by The National in nearly 10 years, it also manages to wrap itself around you like a warm, electric blanket and let you peer into the personal relationships of Matt and the brothers Dessners and Devendorfs.
3. Spoon, Hot Thoughts
Like most every other record by Spoon, this one flat cooks. The difference this time is more keyboards. But the ability by this band to rule a stage was on full display when they split a bill with The Shins and they made The Shins feel like the warm-up act even though they closed. I've yet to hear a bad record by these guys.
4. Ron Miles, I Am a Man Ron Miles: I Am A Man from Derek O. Hanley on Vimeo.
This album gets its title from the sign carried by striking sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968. This set is jazz as its finest workings, with a collection of today's very top: Jason Moran, Bill Frissell, Brian Blade and Tom Morgan. This is grace.
5. Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins
The continued evolution of this group of Brooklynites, here with more pronounced drums, has more bounce and quirk than their previous sound.
6. San Fermin, Belong
I'm astonished how few know about this outfit. And that one of their lead singers, Charlene Kaye, comes from here in Phoenix.
7. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream
As far as comebacks go, this is as good as they come.
8. Sylvan Esso, What Now
You have to be crafty to write a song that skewers pop and radio and then become a hit on pop radio and far beyond. It's incredible to see two people put on the show that they do, too.
9. Beck, Colors
A step back for Beck is still so much better than most others. Can't see why he should be penalized when his songs are still so dang good.
10. Kamasi Washington, Harmony of Difference
It seems Kamasi Washington is most known for making the music on Kendrick Lamar's albums so good. Others go to his really long album from a couple of years ago, The Epic. This is Washington finding his real sound and making it tight while still exploratory. Good things look to be on the horizon for this still very young sax master.
And nine more because this year's sounds were just so good:
11. Portugal. The Man, Woodstock
12. Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds From Another Planet
13. Sharon Jones & the DapKings, Soul of a Woman
14. Mac Demarco, This Old Dog
15. The XX, I See You
16. Phoenix, Ti Amo
17. St. Vincent, Masseduction
18. Tennis, Yours Conditionally
19. Temples, Volcano
As for concerts, I have to call out the tremendous show by Iron & Wine at the Van Buren in October. It was simple and beautiful and funny and perfect. Sam's new album is one I have not had a chance to dive into yet, but I do love this track:
I hope you find a few new things in this list that move you as much as they have carried me this past year. Here's to a great 2018!
As a friend semi-sarcastically posted this morning, "I think we can all agree that the shooting was bad." We all have heavy hearts for those victims and their families in Las Vegas. We should be able to say, "That goes without saying," yet we all feel compelled and responsible to still say it.
But shouldn't we all also be sending condolences to the American people at large? We have had so many opportunities to curb this kind of incident through levels of control and legislation that would keep the weapons this man used out of the hands of people like this man. This is an incident where more guns would not have prevented this or made it any less tragic. This is an incident where this man could have been identified for amassing weapons and ammunition if proper registration and tracking processes were in place. This is an incident where this man could have possibly been identified if Donald Trump had not repealed a rule to block sales from people with certain mental illnesses.
No one, and I mean NO ONE, has ever come forward with legislation to revoke all guns from all people and repeal the Second Amendment. That has never happened, and it never will. But reasonable people want reasonable laws passed so that these tools of death and destruction (that is their sole purpose) can be regulated to minimize this kind of incident as much as possible. It is time for courageous people to stand up and make necessary laws to protect us as citizens.
So I send my condolences to those in Las Vegas, but I also send them to the rest of us across the United States of America, because unless something is done to curb this violent nonsense we will probably be next.
The following is an email I sent last night to my mom and brother, Wyatt, after my wife, Vicki, our kids and I said goodbye after a quick weekend getaway to Pine, AZ. Pine is the home of our summer retreat at the base of the Mogollon Rim, about 90 minutes north of Phoenix. As we were leaving, we saw a heard of elk, about 35 strong captained by a massive buck with stout antlers and a menacing yet protective expression. It was an awesome sight of nature and wildlife, yet looking back felt more like some kind of animalistic warning out of a Miyazaki movie.
Mom and Brother, Well, we finally just made it home, but
not without a great deal of drama. The short of it is that we are all
here, we are all safe. But, we actually saw a person die tonight. As
we went past Deer Creek, a couple of motorcycles whipped past us at way
beyond high speed, gripping the curving highway leaning their
motorbikes at 45 degrees or more. They weaved their way around cars and
disappeared around the bend that leads up the big climb through where
the roads get limited down to a single lane. As we made our way through
that area, with any trace of daylight now fully evaporating, we noticed
a third motorcycle cut right around us just as the left lane got pinched into the right.
We all got in line to make our way through this section when I saw the
other two waiting on the right, clearly looking for their other member
of their group. He revved to let them know he caught up and then once
the lanes opened up, all three bolted off around the bend of Mt. Ord and
into the darkness. We began the descent past the Sycamore
Creek turnoff when I noticed what looked like a red flare against the
median and quickly realized it was one of the bikes, so I started
scanning the road for a body. Vicki, who did an amazing job driving through this
incident, saw the body stretched across the left lane and dodged around
it as I saw a second bike on the ground on the right shoulder. Cars
began pulling over with people jumping out and heading up the hill to
see if the could find the bodies and, more importantly, signal to the
other cars streaking down the mountain to slow down. Vicki, among
several others, was on the phone to 911 letting them know of the
incident. We could hear the body in the highway get run over several
times and by the time we got to it, it was hardly human any longer. One
man dragged it out of the highway while a few of us looked among the
roadside for any sign of another person. The cars screaming around that
downhill bend and starting to stack up where we all pulled over were
absolutely terrifying. The other motorcyclist whose bike was in the
shoulder finally came walking back down the hill, clearly beyond shock
but uninjured. He was joined by the third rider who made his way back up
along the shoulder to find this devastation. It was amazing to see
these young men high on thrill become so instantly mortified and broken,
but their carelessness brought this upon themselves. It took
well over 20 minutes for the first emergency respondent to show up. I
returned to the car to be with the kids. Vicki finally made her way back
to us 10 minutes later. Amazingly, no other accidents occurred. Vicki
said that one of the men who was up the road with her remarked to his
wife just moments before the incident, "I wonder how long before one of
them gets scraped off the road." Little did he or any of us know. As
we were leaving Pine, we did come back across that heard of Elk, making
their way down Bradshaw to the meadow. I half joked to the kids once I
got back to the car on the side of the road after the accident that
those elk knew something and were trying to keep us from getting on the
road tonight. The entire incident still haunts me, even as I sit here in
my bed now. Yet I also thought of the 10-15 cars of people who
immediately and instinctively pulled over to assist in whatever way we
could. In a span of a few moments we saw how stupid, foolish and selfish
a few people can be while so many more are so good, so decent. It
was a hard remainder of a ride home, but here we are. We even stopped
at Target to get Lucas a few supplies for his first day (he is grinning
ear to ear in anticipation for tomorrow) and some yogurt so we could
have a sweet taste touch our tongue before truly calling it a night. Thank you for a wonderful yet quick weekend. I love you both. Be careful out there. Love, Jason
How does one go about making America great again? Apparently, you follow these five easy steps:
1) Instead of properly vetting qualified personnel to surround yourself
to navigate this new venture of Federal government, you hire a bunch of
self-centered, novice government and administrative sycophants (not to
mention all those family members) who you will end up firing within six
months.
2) Instead of working with leading experts to put together health care reform that can help all
those coal miners and blue collar workers you romanced to get elected,
you focus on imaginary voters and Russian conspiracy, contradicting
yourself endlessly at every step.
3) Instead of building stronger
foreign relations with your current allies and new relationships with
adversarial nations, you antagonize all your friends, focus on building a
see-through border wall to avoid flying bags of narcotics and hit on
the wife of the newly elected President of France.
4) Instead of
putting forward new economic stimulus and tax reform packages that will
push the national economy to tremendous new heights (believe me), you
ride the coat tails of the the previous administration's economic plan
that continues to generate a bull market and job growth but claim it as
your own.
5) Instead of leading, making sure the buck stops with you
and owning accountability for everything on your watch, you play the
greatest victim, pointing fingers everywhere but at yourself, blame fake
news (#sad), FBI investigators and your own political appointees for your own failures.
All things considered, I'm kind of glad America has sucked all this time.
