Are You Dave?

Hats off to Jerry Needel, a fellow PSU alum who lives here in Hoboken. In the wake of the awful scandal at Penn State this fall, he gave the world his vision of the largest alumni philanthropy in the world, in support of victims of abuse. More here. Support RAINN! I’ve ordered my shirt, have you?

As reported by NPR, the Chinese government wants certain “ostentatious” words removed from advertising. China is merely the latest nation with an ill-concieved plan to slap a band-aid over the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. Attention, People’s Republic of China: You can’t just take away the words that describe a problem. You must actually FIX the problem.

p.s. There’s a large island off of your coast. Some people call it Taiwan. Deal with it.

Remember this quote from Obama’s inauguration speech?

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is ‘yes,’ we intend to move forward. Where the answer is ‘no,’ programs will end. 

(Of course you remember it. You’ve memorized the thing by now, haven’t you?) Good stuff, right? Well, this morning on NPR’s Morning Edition, I heard the interviewer* asking a Republican lawmaker whether the whole “too big/too small” question had really been answered. I clenched my fists. Can NPR really be misquoting the President already? He didn’t say the question had been answered, you cretin, he said it was the wrong question. 

Argh.

And then the Republican went on to criticize the President for giving money to study Global Climate Change (people are still using the misnomer “Global Warming,” and they should please stop) when he said he’d be helping the economy. That’s like criticizing me for putting on my shoes when I said I’d be putting on my shirt. It’s all gotta get done, mac.

(Part of his criticism was that the CIA had already been given money to study the climate, to which I can only respond “HUH?” What’s next? The Parks Department studying campaign finance reform?)

It’s disheartening that the criticism and misquoting have hit full-force — on NPR, no less — on Day 3. We all knew that the mainstream media is a huge part of the problem with this country’s political system. I’m just very disappointed that my trusted NPR is in on it.

Dave

* I’ll look up the actual names later.

The following is not a Gig Diary. It’s a bit of a vent leading up to a Gig Diary. You may want to skip it.

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We’ve got to buy a P.A. That’s all there is to it. 

We’ve had a great summer, lots of outdoor shows all over Hoboken. The big wrap-up was at Church Square Park, smack in the middle of town, on Wednesday August 27. I’ll blog about the show itself in the next Gig Diary. But there was a lot of other stuff that went on that I’ll complain about here.

This show was Justin’s baby, he came to us in early May with the offer from the city and O’Nieals Bar & Restaurant to do one of the Wednesday night shows in the gazebo. The city would provide the location and the electricity, the bar would provide equipment and a meal, and we’d provide the music. “Heck yes,” said the Lemons. We were originally scheduled to play in early July. But some weather-related postponements pushed us back to August 27, and so the show became our summer swan song.

I don’t know all the behind-the-scenes things that Justin worked with O’Nieals, but I do know that Jesse (the manager) and her husband Jeff (the bouncer) are close friends with Justin and his wife (and Jeff plays drums for us at HEFC some Sunday mornings). When it turned out that O’Nieals wasn’t able to provide much in the way of equipment, I lay none of the blame on any of the parties mentioned above. I just wish we’d known in advance. Justin texted me at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday to say we had no P.A. gear for a Wednesday gig–not an auspicious way to prepare for a show!

It was frantic phone-call time. Justin tracked down a guy who could provide a P.A. for $325, but that would have eaten up our entire stipend from O’Nieals, and it would mean that we had to use that guy for sound, not our hero Dave Entwistle. I told Jay-Money to wait while I made another call.

Fortunately, my dear friends Stefanie and Marco of Blue Number Nine were able to help us out. A quick check of Facebook confirmed that they were home from their extensive midwestern tour, so I gave ‘em a shout. Lo and behold, they had a bunch of PA gear sitting in their basement and they were happy to share it. All they asked in return was that I put in a good word with Geri Fallo at City Hall. I’d LOVE to see Blue Number Nine play in Hoboken next summer! Geri are you listening?

Justin and I decided that the rest of the band didn’t need to be dragged into the equipment drama. It’s possible that some of the Lemons will read about it here for the first time. Hi guys! Some decisions require the whole band’s approval, but a fire-fighting situation like this would have just spread panic throughout the band, most likely (Dana thanked us the next day for not telling her that night). I’m pleased to say Justin and I handled it… though it was a close thing.

I woke up Wednesday thinking we were probably 90% covered, equipment-wise; close enough for a gazebo gig, right? Between Blue Number Nine’s gear, some stuff from O’Nieal’s, and our own gear borrowed from our rehearsal space, Justin and I figured we had assembled a pretty good Frankenstein’s Monster of a P.A.

But first we had to get the gear to the stage, hook it up and turn it on. Never as easy as it sounds.

The fun started when Dana drove us up the hill to Stefanie and Marco’s place, only to find an empty house. I almost gave up at that point, ringing their doorbell and re-dialing their phone. But Marco showed up only a few minutes later, toting a replacement bulb for his kitchen ceiling. We were back on the road with an SUV full of gear in no time, and in fact we were back in Hoboken before 5:00.

We unloaded quickly, and Dana and Justin headed off to our rehearsal space to grab the rest of our gear while I started assembling the PA. They were back quickly, and the rest of the band showed up, but by then the next problem had presented itself: No electricity. There are outlets in the gazebo, situated WAY high up near the ceiling, but they weren’t “hot.” Frantic calls to city hall turned up a park worker named Louie (thank you Louie!) who was more than happy to turn the lights and juice on for us.

Meanwhile, no one at O’Nieals had any inkling that they were supposed to be hooking us up with gear for a show that night. In fact one staffer said “No, the live music is on Tuesdays.”

At this point I was stunned. The gig had been on the calendar for months, yet no one seemed to have any clue whatsoever that a band was scheduled to perform in the park that night. Looking back, I have a theory. We showed up before 5:00 for a 7:00 show, and I just think no one was prepared. The proper folks were all happy to help us out, but they didn’t start arriving on the scene until after 6:00. Once Jessie and her helpful crew arrived, things just started rolling. She’s the kind of person who says “no problem!” to just about anything you could ask. Tape? Equipment? A basket of fries and chicken fingers? No problem! And of course Dave Entwistle showed up promptly at 5:30 and got right to work, which is always reassuring.

Ok, that’s the end of my rant and the beginning of the happy part. The official Gig Diary — you know, about the gig itself — will be in the next post.

While I don’t have Olympic Fever this year (you should have seen me 4 years ago, I was gonzo for Michael Phelps) it turns out I’ve got some stuff to say about it. (Hey, this is a blog, aren’t I supposed to be topical and stuff?)

I keep hearing that people are “boycotting” the Olympics. I feel that boycotting the event is a moronic, insipid and ultimately meaningless form of protest against China. You’re turning off your TV? Oooh, that’s got ‘em quaking in Shanghai. 

It would be a lot more meaningful if everyone boycotted, say, the millions of toys, clothing and appliances that come from China. Or better yet, write your congressperson and demand that your government take action (I’m pretty confident that the folks who are boycotting the Olympics are the folks who voted for Bill Clinton, who gave China “Most Favored Nation” status back in the wild-n-crazy ’90s). 

I’m thinking about a certain other Olympiad that took place in a questionable country: the Berlin games in Hitler’s Germany, where a young African-American runner named Jesse Owens won Olympic Gold in a shattering refutation of Hitler’s belief in the inferiority of non-whites. He became a folk hero, standing tall on the podium as the Fürher refused to acknowledge his presence.

Now we have a new crop of young (and not-so-young!) athletes in China, and suddenly we’re noticing that China has an outrageously bad human rights record, and we’re responding by turning off our TVs? Personally I think we should watch every event, every medal ceremony. The world’s next hero might be doing some warm-up stretches right now. 

Just a thought.

Oh, and Michael Phelps is still awesome.