This just in from Jack Black …

Perhaps you are unaware that one of the world’s most remarkable harmonica virtuosi is a young Canadian fellow with a yarmulke on his head. This Saturday, the amazing neo-klezmer band, Shtreiml, will be at the Radio Bean. I cannot recommend this band highly enough. Please, don’t miss seeing these world-class musicians play in a tiny room for donations. Oh, and some of the members of Inner Fire District will be playing an opening set. This will commence at 9:00 pm. Come, and tip generously! “Shtreiml”, by the way, is the word for those big, expensive fur hats that some Hasidim wear. Also, go see them at the Middle Earth Music hall in Bradford on the 15th.

This post is from Dear Old Dad, who had no idea he was blogging when he was talking to me on the phone the other day.

I was watching the news the other night, and all these republicans were explaining why Bush had to veto the child healthcare bill. They all sat in a row and said “… but it would be Government health care …” and each time they did they would wrinkle up their noses to indicate disgust. And, I thought, when did the notion of government become such a bad thing? Look around at countries without governments … look at Myanmar, look at the Darfur, look at Iraq, where we went in and ripped out the government. They are not doing so well. Live is not so good there. It is not such a bad thing to have a functioning government.

Well, there you have it. There are a number of ways you could go with this. You could take the Bradshaw approach and wonder about those government politicians who think government is a bad thing. Just what are they doing in the job then? They must hate themselves, must have wicked self-esteem issues. And you know where that leads …

Or you could go look at the constitution, which says (I checked) that “We the people” established the constitution to “promote the general welfare”, among other things.

General Welfare … Public Good … Hey guys, however you say it, the purpose of the government is to look out for us, provide a collective mechanism to do things we need that we cannot do individually.

Maybe these republicans are wrinkling their collective noses because they realize they are unable or unwilling to serve the public any more. Or maybe they just find it distasteful. All those common, needly little people grubbing about in their ordinary little lives.

Or I could just leave it alone, cause Dear Old Dad usually puts it pretty well.

I have been getting a lot of comments, questions about my bicycle. Yes, that is an extention on the back. No, I didn’t build it myself.

It is a kit put together by the folks at Extracycle. They call it a Sport Utility Bicycle, but in my mind, it is more like a station wagon.

Back before mini-vans, there were those old nine-seater wagons. My folks had one. Summers it would fill with tents and sleeping bags as they took three boys car camping our way across the US. During the school year, we would drive to the A&P and I would look back in the tailgate over what seemed like acres of brown paper grocery bags. Bench front seat, a lucky one could sit between Mom and Dad. Or read as we drove, hidden away in the ‘way back.’

I started cycling when I moved back to town a couple of years ago. Living right on the bikepath, a mile or two from town, I figured I could make it to work and back, or to the store. But, I would always be needing to carry something - the briefcase for work, have to stop at the store for supper, swim suits for the beach … And so I would grab the car keys instead. I needed that old nine-seater, or at least something along the lines of the modern granola-head Vermont equivalent, my Subary Legacy wagon.

I tried trikes, I tried trailers. Then, down at the Old Spokes Home, I tried one of these. Hardly noticed it was there. Plenty of room. No hitches to deal with. So I had them put one on.

It is great. Now I can treat my bike my car, throw my junk in the back. Stopping at the store, the beach, whatever, no problem. I can toss it back there and haul it. And it can hold quite a bit. Like, for example; a week’s worth of groceries, buckets of carrots in from the farm field, watermelons to the beach picnic, the daughter home from school (although she did ask that I meet her round the corner) and a cinematographer from Toronto, filming our local run of the world naked bike ride. here this summer.

Now, I ride. The thing hauls. And, finally, I have a place on my bike for bumper stickers.

Happy Riding!

This from Casey Rea over at Seven Days:

At Euro Gourmet, there’s Inner Fire District, a Gypsy-klezmer-Eastern European-styled act headed up by accordionist extraordinaire David Symons. Don’t expect any Gaelic lyrics at this St. Paddy’s party, however. “There will be no Irish music,” Symons writes in an email about the event.

I wandered in and was captivated. It has been a long time since I’ve heard a claranet singing like that, and, well … David’s work on the acccordian was breathtaking. Klezmer is intricate, but earthy, a combination hard to come by in any art.

The Euro Gourmet seems to be a happening place these days. Everything from gypsy music to poetry readings to Bloggers Bristro. Baruth gives a better description of the decor and apthmosphere than I could, but I can speak from personal experience that the expersso and pastries are very good.

Fitting venu for the Inner Fire District, hope to hear more of them.

“Got any spare change, man?” Too cold to even stick a hand out of a greasy parka sleeve, hunched against the wind. Snowing today, thick, piling down and Don is on his way to meet her, her simple ‘yes’ on the phone an hour ago in his mind like red manicured nails against a pale silk blouse, a perfect ripe raspberry on a dab of whipped creme. On his way and this aparation out of the alley, “I’m trying to get a hotel room for the night.”

Don doesn’t even bother to feel his pockets, he has just stopped at the ATM, knows he’s only got a twenty in his pocket, carefully extracted against a monthly budget that’s pretty well blown. He would, he might, he could, this guy looking like all the others, beard gone teeth gone, shivering, or maybe staggering, this guy looking just like he did back then could really use a hotel, something, the wind is brutal.

It is Valentine’s day and Don is not sure at all if Sandy was thinking of this when they were
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Moving the blog from typepad to here. Realized as I was going through the year-end dollar stuff that I’d paid quite a bit for using typepad, and I had this domain set up, and I am trying to save some money this year, and most of the good looking work I’ve seen lately has been wordpress, and …

Installed fairly easy. Gonna have to dance around a bit with the .httpaccess to get salient.nohomepress.com to point here. Ugg.

Next up, moving all the old posts.

Well that is enuf self-referential geeky for me. Ought be the last anyone should have to hear about site mechanics.