Protest Songs

People wonder why, with an escalating war with no end, with as intelligent and committed a cohort of youth as our nation has ever had, the protest movement hasn't really taken to the streets.

If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention, goes the bumper sticker. Lot of truth in that. It's easy to ignore when people don't have a personal stake in what's going on. A recent Washington Post article about the lack of street protests pointed to the lack of a draft as the reason for the quietude. Without the draft it is too easy for people to sit on the sidelines. That's only one of the reasons why I support the draft. George Washington addressed the Continental Congress about another reason for the draft:

"We are now, as it were, upon the eve of another dissolution of our Army. The remembrance of the difficulties which happened upon that occasion last year, and the consequences which might have followed had advantages been taken by the Enemy, added to the present temper and situation of the troops, reflect but a very gloomy prospect upon the appearance of things now, and satisfy me, beyond the possibility of doubt, that unless some speedy and effectual measures are adopted by Congress, our cause will be lost.

"It is in vain to expect that any (or more than a trifling) part of this Army will again engage in the service on the encouragement offered by Congress ... When men are irritated and the passions inflamed, they fly hastily and cheerfully to arms. But after the first emotions are over, to expect among such people as compose the bulk of an army, that they are influenced by any other principles than those of self-interest, is to look for what never did, and I fear never will happen. The Congress will deceive themselves, therefore, if they expect it."

That's why we need to know our history, there is nothing new under the sun. History repeats first as tragedy, then as farce.

My favorite protest song of recent years is Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame with "When Presidents Talk to God." Here he is on Leno:

The Price of Paradise

Santa Barbara County, paradise to some, has seen a dramatic escalation in the cost of housing, thus displacing the community's critical workforce. The experiences of those workers and the impacts to families, community and employers provide insight and an understanding of the need for affordable workforce housing. The 42-minute documentary features interviews, artistic cinematography and a percussionist soundtrack.

*Production still by Brooks Smothers.

Locals Michael Anderson and Austen Collins of Extra Mile Productions, and Lisa Snider of these pages and a few others, worked for about 10 months on this project and are proud of the film's acceptance into the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Screenings will take place on Friday, January 26, 7:00 p.m. at the Marjorie Luke Theater and Monday, January 29, 10:00 a.m. at Victoria Hall. At each screening, The Price of Paradise is the 2nd film on the schedule and audience Q&A with the filmmakers will follow. Purchase tickets here.

Trailers:




For the story behind the story, read Nao Braverman's article in the OVN on Wednesday and check-out Thursday's VC Reporter and the VC Star. In the meantime, read a Q&A with one of my favorite quirky local sites, Edhat.com.

The Price of Paradise, winner of the Oxnard Film Festival award for Best Documentary Feature.

La Buona Tavola/The art of cooking

Next time you have guests over, serve this salad as a side dish.

Insalata di arance, barbabietole rosse e parmigiano reggiano
Orange, beet and parmigiano Reggiano salad

Ingredients:

I pound beets cooked and sliced,
3 oranges peeled and sliced,
1/3 cup walnuts
3 tablespoons orange juice,
1 teaspoon lemon juice,
3 tablespoons walnut or olive oil,
¼ teaspoon of salt

Esequzione/preparation

Pat beets dry. Arrange beets and orange slices in an attractive, overlapping pattern on a large serving platter or on individual plates. Toast the walnuts in a preheated 350 F oven until light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Chop finely and sprinkle over the beets and oranges. Whisk orange juice, lemon juice and salt together in a small bowl. Add oil in a thin, steady stream, whisking constantly. Pour dressing over the salad.
Make ½ cup of thin slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano with a vegetable peeler. Scatter over the salad. Season with freshly ground pepper and serve immediately.
Buon appetito

Pitchfork Media

If you live for music, want to be the first to hear the new singles, find about tour dates, buy tickets, listen to MP3 streams, be the cool music nerd on the block, then you should bookmark Pitchforkmedia.com. They cover a wide range of music, from indie to hip-hop to arena rock.

Pitchfork has introduced me to many of what has become my favorite bands in the past 3 years or so: The Decemberists, Will Oldham of Bonnie Prince Billy, Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Glasgewian powerhouse popsters Camera Obscura and The Delgados, Califone, Postal Service, Devendra Banhart, and a long list of others.

Here's a prerelease video of Camera Obscura's new single, "If Looks Could Kill."

Freezing - Depends on Your Perspective

I just got back from Phoenix, where my husband and I were in the Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon. He ran, I walked. As you've probably read here and there from me, I have been training for this. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the sub-freezing temperatures a so-called arctic blast has hurled upon the sunbelt states.

When we were dropped at the starting line yesterday, it was 7:30 a.m. and TWENTY NINE DEGREES. We were supposed to start at 8:30, but that was delayed. I immediately ran to the port-a-potty line thinking I would hide out in one and get warm. That line was 30 minutes long, though, and once inside, I quickly discovered, not a place I would want to stay long.

As I approached the starting line, I found a filthy sweatshirt on the ground dropped by an earlier marathon runner and put it on. I was already wearing 4 layers, 2 hats, 2 pairs of gloves and 2 pairs of socks. I couldn't feel my toes. By the time I crossed the starting line at 9:30, I had already cried 3 times. I don't do well in cold weather. Fortunately, my husband was in a different starting group and was not subjected to my melt-downs.

Long story short, I made it. I was sure I would never walk again, but even though I'm a little sore today, my recovery has been pretty good. Bill, on the other hand, did great. Cold weather doesn't seem to bother him - he routinely trains at the crack of dawn when it's high 30's to low 40's.

As I read the LA Times article today about the deep freeze's effects on Jim Churchill's Ojai farm, I realized that while I was grumbling and whining my way from downtown Phoenix to Sun Devil stadium in Tempe, this man was fighting to save his crops. He's lost 5 acres in avocados alone and I hate to think what's become of the Pixies, my absolute favorite fruit. It put it all in perspective.

Man with the Golden Ear

It took 38 years for Brian Wilson to finish "SMiLE." It was well worth the wait.

This collaboration between two legends, Wilson and lyricist, or in this case, librettist, Van Dyke Parks, could well have been the first and most ambitious rock opera, a soaring tribute to the American landscape. The story goes that the Beatles were visiting the Beach Boys in Hawthorne in 1966 and Wilson showed McCartney and Lennon some early tapes of SMiLE. Six months later, the Beatles came out with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and Wilson believed the Liverpool boys stole his concept.

Though mostly deaf in his right ear, Wilson's pitch-perfect harmonies and instrumentation are unrivaled. Leonard Bernstein himself that Wilson's left ear should be in the Smithsonian Institution, it is such a perfect instrument.

Here's a recent performance of Good Vibrations:

Bluebird of Happiness

Saw a documentary recently on Brian Wilson, he of the gifted ear. After battling crippling depression for years, Brian has finally found some equilibrium in his life. Each morning, he sits down at the piano and randomly plinks out tunes - no fingering exercises, no scales to a metronome. After he finished talking about his routine, he looked right at the camera and said, "You know, it's hard work being happy."

How profound. It really is hard work. At least for exquisitely sensitive people like Brian.

Gretchen Rubin is in the process of writing a book about happiness, its pursuit and obstacles, and is chronicling her efforts in her blog. I highly recommend it. Gretchen was a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who I know slightly from my days in the Gila River Valley. Her blog is a lot of fun, but also very earnest and achingly honest. I highly recommend you check it out.

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/

La Buona Tavola/The art of cooking

Fusilli with shrimp, tomatoes and arugula
Ingredient:
1 pound of Italian pasta
1 pound. medium shrimp, cleaned and deveined,
3 cups ripe, cherry tomatoes cut in half,
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced,
3 table spoon of olive oil,
1 bunch fresh, washed arugola, torn into pieces,
salt, pepper and red pepper flakes as neded.

Preparation:
While waiting for the pasta water to boil, (ensure you have enough water), heat the oil in a heavy frying pan and then add the shrimp. Cook for a couple minutes, or just until the shrimp turn pink. Add the garlic, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and tomatoes, and mix well. Cook only for an other minute or two and then turn off the heat, Cook the pasta until it is al dente, drain it reserving a small cup of the pasta watere, and return the pasta to the pot. Add the shrimp mixture and arugula, and cook for a minute or two over high heat until is piping hot and the arugula is wilted. If the mixture seems a little dry, add a spoonful of the pasta water. Serve and Buon Appetito.

Let me know if you like it

For Devoted Readers

For all the 60,000 books published each year in this country, it seems like the pool of books that enters the public sphere is very small. There's a reason for that - the gatekeepers.

Used to be every metropolitan daily in this country worth its low-rub ink had a book review section each Sunday. Those ranks have dwindled down to an elite few - including The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and perhaps the LA Times Book Review. Therefore, it gets harder and harder for great books to catch on, and easier for mediocre books to get outsized influence.

Alternatives exist. Here's two:

Maud Newton's literary blog: http://maudnewton.com/blog/index.php

She referees a rousing roundtable of and about writing and writers, including signings, events, parsing reviews, book club notes, etcetera. An excellent clearing house for all things in the book world.

And my new favorite - Foxed Quarterly: http://www.foxedquarterly.com/

From its mission statement:
Slightly Foxed aims to strike a blow for lasting quality – for the small and individual against the corporate and the mass produced. Why not join us, and enjoy some excellent company too?

Jami Sieber's Tour Comes to Ojai

When Jami Sieber, acclaimed electric cellist, contacted me recently to tell me she was coming to town, I couldn't help but wonder about her back-up band. Her press kit made mention a number of times about the Thai Elephant Orchestra, but I thought that was the name of a band. A few emails back and forth and finally it sank into my thick skull: it turns out it is the name of the band, and the band is entirely comprised of elephants!

Jami went to Thailand a few years ago to work on a film score and ended up playing music with the elephants, who have mastered a variety of instruments including the xylophone, cymbals, drums and gongs. She felt a powerful connection and decided to start composing new music with them, which soon led to the release of her latest CD, Hidden Sky.

From her press kit: "Jami has been a vibrant member of the west coast music scene since 1984. Her playing style grew out of her childhood classical training and expanded over the years embracing ambient, folk, rock, improvisational and world styles. Her compositions are evocative and mesmerizing, richly textured and innovative."

On January 12 at 7:30, Jami will make her Ojai debut in a solo concert at Sacred Space. She will share her beautiful "soul-stirring" music, incredible film with the elephants, and still images with the community. Tickets are $15 and $12 in advance and for seniors and students and are available in advance at Ojai Creates! and at the door the evening of the performance.

I listened to her CD and found it deeply contemplative and sweetly sorrowful. Enjoy the title track from Jami's critically acclaimed CD Hidden Sky at Radio Ojai.

Vampires Rock!

Bauhaus was one of the earliest and greatest goth rock bands of all time, paving the way for Siouxsie and the Banshees (which I saw play live at the Trolley Stop in Cambridge several times) and Sisters of Mercy, (for which a friend of mine once auditioned to play guitar. He didn't get the gig.)

Their first single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead," was used to open the 1983 film "The Hunger," with David Bowie and Susan Sarandon. Very arty, provocative film, which the Bauhaus opening score sets up perfectly.

Many of you probably know that Daniel Ash lives at least part-time in Ojai. He and co-founder Peter Murphy grew up together in England. Ash scored another big success with his followup band, Love and Rockets, which recorded seven albums before breaking up in the late 1990s. I am no indiscriminate fanboy, but definitely one of the great things about Ojai is that so many talented people choose to live here.

Here's an early '80s video from Bauhaus, "She's In Parties." Enjoy.



Bauhaus played a "Resurrection Tour" in 1998, and again last year at the Coachella Valley Festival, where they were reportedly huge hits.

Magic Tricks

Illusions, prestidigitation and legerdemain has such a great history, going to back more than 250 years to the great Jacob Philadelphia and others.

The key to magic is secrecy. In fact, once you find out how the tricks are done, it seems so banal and simple. I remember a television special about six or seven years ago, called "Magic Tricks Revealed," which unveiled a lot of illusions. It seemed like the magic was gone from, well, magic.

After a long drought in the magic world - we haven't really had a great showman since Copperfield, and he was a little too Vegas-y even before he went to Vegas - we now have Cris Angel, the rock-and-roll magic man. Watch this trick and get grossed out and fascinated all at once:

Bush Declares Tues. Jan. 2 Day of Mourning for Ford

Courtesy of Reuters via Yahoo News:

Bush declares January 2 day of mourning for Ford
Thu Dec 28, 5:12 PM ET

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) -

President Bush on Thursday declared January 2 a "National Day of Mourning" for former President Gerald Ford who died this week.

The declaration means that federal offices will be closed on Tuesday.

"I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President Ford," Bush said in a proclamation.

Ford's body will be flown to Washington on Saturday and his casket will lie in state at the Capitol. A service will be held at the National Cathedral on Tuesday at which Bush will speak, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Bush will return to Washington on Monday from spending the holiday week at his ranch in Texas and with his wife, Laura, go to the Capitol to pay respects to Ford, Stanzel said.

Resolution Revolution

I’m not big on resolutions. I don’t even think I’ve actually ever made one. It’s not out of fear of keeping one, I just don’t agree with the idea that we get to binge ourselves silly until 12/31 only to make ourselves start the violent purge on 1/1. I guess you could say I have resolved not to.

But I do believe in reflection and goal setting. Now is a good time to reflect on all the things we accomplished this year, and then decide what we want to tackle over the next 12 months.

Jason Womack of www.FitAndEffective.com talked to me recently on Radio Ojai about this timely topic. He offers some keen insight, including how a 3 x 5 card can help you set goals you will actually implement.

What’s your take on New Year’s Resolutions? If you have a resolution, please share it here. And how do you plan to ring in 2007? I’m always looking for a better way to celebrate the countdown, but that’s another story!

Relentless east winds

How did the wind and power outage affect you?

Mix and Party CDs

Mix tapes, or rather mix CDs or DVDs are great gifts. I received several this year, and predict, or at least hope, that this trend will continue.

When someone takes the time and trouble to burn you a CD, and even have the playlist etched on the cover, like Yoga Matt had done, you know they either have sincere regard for you, or are shamelessly sucking up. Either way, it's most appreciated. It is a very personal gift of time and attention.

Here's a video from one of my favorite songs, "Take Your Mama," by the dancehall sensations Scissor Sisters, from a mix recording I got:

What's the big 2006 story?

Which Ojai story affected you the most in 2006 and why? Consider the deaths of June Allyson, Otis Chandler, Maynard Ferguson or our own Bud Furillo; Escalating gang activity; The arrest of Cathy Elliot Jones; The City Council election; The city's financial stabilization; The Opening of Jersey Mike's; The closing of the O-Hi Frostie or Ojai Ford. Are there others?

Happy Festivus!

Technically, I'm 2 days late, but that's the beauty of Festivus; you can celebrate it whenever you want.

Festivus was popularized by Seinfeld nearly a decade ago, but it's been around much longer than that. According to Wikipedia, the episode surrounding the Costanza family celebration was inspired by Dan O'Keefe, who claims to have invented the holiday in 1966.

The non-denominational holiday calls for several traditions, even though it's intent is to scoff at tradition. First is the Festivus Pole, which must not be decorated and serves as the only adornment to mark the holiday. There is a company in Milwaukee selling the poles. Last year they sold 250. This year they expect to ship over 600. I'm not kidding.

The Festivus meal concludes with the Airing of Grievances. Family members, one at a time, are invited to share with the others all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year. When I told my friend about this, touting the many benefits of being the airer, she said, "What's so great about that? I do that all year long!"

And no Festivus can end until the head of the household is pinned in a wrestling match. Yes, the Feats of Strength is the most celebrated of all Festivus rituals. My husband loves this, but sadly his attempts to pin me have yet to succeed.

Let's not forget the greatest part of Festivus, the Festivus Miracle. My research is a little fuzzy on this, but I think you're allowed to declare a Festivus Miracle for pretty much anything that surprises you or is unusual. This year, when grass finally sprouted on my lawn (my husband is in the irrigation business), I shouted, "Good gawd, it's a Festivus Miracle!"

How do you celebrate Festivus?

Madrigali Performs Tonight at the Inn

From the current issue of the Ojai Valley Vistors Guide:

FINDING OJAI: Madrigali singers in tune with holiday spirit

I remember my first holiday season in Ojai, thinking that because the nearest mall is more than 25 miles away, I’d have to do all of my Christmas shopping “in town” or on the Internet. On a lark, and mostly because I had an unfinished shopping list and time was not on my side, I ventured into Ojai's village center. I was struck by all of the festive decorations, the sophisticated shops, the slight chill in the air, the dusting of snow on the Topa Topas and the sound of Christmas filling the air.

I strolled down the Arcade to find where the sound was coming from. There were no instruments, just lovely voices singing ancient sounds that reminded me of Dickens. I don’t know why, because who knows what sort of soundtrack would accompany Dickens, but if it did, it would sound like this. Warm and lilting and charming and lovely. And from another time. It felt nostalgic.

I found my way to a breezeway off the arcade where a small crowd had gathered into a circle. In the center was a group of carolers in full Renaissance regalia, trumpeting a capella. The breezeway offered the perfect acoustics for their harmony. The costumes were fancy; ladies in full-length velvet and cinched corsets and gentlemen in knickers and fancy feathered hats. They were animated and jolly and having as much fun as their audience.

Soon we were on the move, making our way down the Arcade, stopping every now and then. Along the way, I picked up a set of painted coasters at Kindred Spirit, a soft scarf with matching gloves at Rains and scented monogrammed soaps at Kava Gifts. With my Christmas gift list almost complete, the last stop took us to Rainbow Bridge for a hot cup of soup and more carols; a perfect end to a relaxing and entertaining afternoon of Christmas shopping free from the hectic pace and frantic crowds of the mall.

The Madrigali Renaissance Voices have been entertaining Ojaians and visitors alike since 1989. Jaye Hersh came to Ojai from Lubbock, Texas, and founded the group when she became involved with the Ojai Shakespeare Festival her first summer here.

Originally meant to entertain the audience during festival intermissions, the group quickly gained in popularity and was soon getting gigs left and right. And then people started calling them to sing holiday carols.

"We only sing music written before 1650," says Hersh, who was a music major in college. Through her work with the Shakespeare Festival, she recalls, "I ended up becoming the de facto specialist in Shakespeare music."

Much of Madrigali's music is based on song texts from Shakespeare's plays. "We have no idea what it actually sounded like, " says Hersh, explaining that all notated music of that era was written exclusively for the church. Secular music that was created for pure entertainment typically deviated from the church's music and was therefore considered sacrilegious. Because it wasn't notated, this music was essentially lost during the Baroque period and buried for about 300 years until choir directors in the 20's and 30's brought it back, then in the 60's it developed a following.

Hersh wanted to bring the music to life, so she sat with a colleague at a piano to come up with melodies to accompany Shakespeare's song texts. Now they have more than 100 songs in their repertoire, all sung in the madrigal style - a term for polyphonic vocal music.

"Madrigali music is incredibly satisfying to the singers," because, Hersh explains, the music was created in the "spirit of discovery and play, without expecation or requirement."

After 17 years, Madrigali is 13 members strong, and all are local residents living throughout Ventura County. They have traveled as far as Barcelona, Spain and Sienna, Italy, to perform as a group. In the beginning, their costumes were mostly borrowed and haphazardly put together. Hersh remembers thinking, "We need to get a look going on!" Now most of their costumes are handmade with strict adherence to complying with the Renaissance period.

During the holiday season, Madrigali typically performs on a for-hire basis for private audiences, but often they will end up in the Arcade after a show to entertain passersby. This year they are performing at the Ojai Valley Inn on Christmas Eve for guests and restaurant patrons.

For more information or to hire Madrigali, contact Hersh at 640-MUSE.

Guitarmaggedon Averted

For those about to rock, the city of Ojai salutes you.
“There is no city ordinance against playing air guitar in (Ojai) parks,” explained director of Public Works, Doug Breeze.
It’s a good thing, too — people were getting confused. Early last week, the city avoided what comic commentator Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report,” called, albeit in a different context, “Guitarmageddon” by tearing down a sign in Cluff Vista Park. The sign stated the simple rules of the park: No skating, no bicycling, no skateboarding, and ... no air guitar.
Kriston Rucker, co-founder of the annual U.S. Air Guitar Championships, said he was glad the city lifted its ban-by-signage. “Parks are public places,” said Rucker, whose organization is dedicated to bringing air guitar into the public eye, if not ear. “Air guitar couldn’t possibly be construed as a public nuisance, like, for instance, jogging. It’s much less dangerous to the public than Frisbee … Air guitar is not a crime.”
Breeze said that the sign — which listed air guitar as one of the banned activities in Cluff Vista Park — was removed because it was “inappropriate. We have no logic, other than that’s not the sign we ordered.”
But signmaker Allen Quigg of Woodcrafter Signs says he has a perfectly logical explanation for adding “air guitar” to the list of prohibitions. The previous sign, made out of foam by another signmaker, was torn down by vandals just weeks after its installation.
So Quigg decided to give the new sign a little extra security.
“My inspiration to do this was two-fold,” said Quigg. “One, to protect the sign from vandalism. I thought, if I put something up there that has some element of unique notoriety to it, then maybe locals would be more interested in protecting it. And two, to have it show that the city has a pretty unique sense of humor and knows how to get a good laugh.”
But there were few laughs around city hall after one city council member noticed the sign and complained to public works, Breeze said, so his employees pulled down the sign pending a final decision on whether or not to reinstall it.
Joe DeVito, another city council member, said he would not support a ban on air guitar, much to the relief of air guitarists across the valley.
“This is the first time I have ever heard of air guitar,” said DeVito, “but if anyone wants to sit around, anywhere, playing air guitar, I can’t imagine anyone denying them that right.”