The Wailers set to bring ‘Revolution’ to the Crystal this Tuesday
The Wailers were once synonymous with Bob Marley, their revolutionary leader for many years, and for good reason. Considering the enigmatic and invariably popular Marley, The Wailers’ talent and level of dedication to the movements in which they were part of were dwarfed by Marley with The Wailers aptly performing the role of backup to such a widely respected frontman.
After Marley’s demise, however, The Wailers have demonstrated that it wasn’t just their leader’s drive and talent that sold roughly 250 million albums worldwide. Playing alongside such reputable acts as Sting, Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, and the likes of reggae legends Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, who once played with the group before it was named as such, The Wailers have continuously demonstrated that they are a musical force in and of themselves. Indeed, as of today they estimate that they have played for 24 million people on innumerable tours carried out on their own.
If you’re counting, that’s a lot.
Currently the group is anchored by Aston “Family Man” Barrett, the last remaining member of the original Wailers. Barrett was a close friend to Marley and played on dozens of classic reggae hits throughout the seventies. Aside from keeping the band together, he is accurately titled as a family man, he maintains an old-school, authentic sound that harkens back to the classics put forth by the original group.
Things are inevitably bound to change, however, throughout the course of life and as a result, highly esteemed lyricist Koolant was brought on as the new frontman for the group. While he is widely known to be a steadfast enthusiast of the classic forms of reggae and roots-rock, Koolant brings a fresh and personal take on the material that The Wailers continue to produce. The combination of the more experienced Barrett with that of the traditionally oriented yet carefully innovative influence of Koolant has served to reinvigorate the entire group without detracting from the messages and goals that they have carried forth for such a long period of time. This message has carried over into their current worldwide “Revolution” tour in which the group has sent a resolute message that they are one of the voices of the 99%; that they embody all that the Occupy movement represents.
In “Family Man’s” words:
“I am eager to take the spirit of rebel music that I was able to bring forth with my bred’ren Bob Marley, out on the road and across America. These are the times Bob sang about when he said, It takes a revolution to make a solution. We want to show the people that the Wailers are the band of the 99 percent. We want our music to be part of the solution. I am a resolutionary.”
Making their only stop in the state of Oregon on their current tour, The Wailers are set to play The Crystal Ballroom next Tuesday, January 17th. The tour is based around a ‘themed-show’ similar to the of the Exodus-themed show of years ago that closely followed the groundbreaking album. Expect to see a great deal of old-school material combined with an arrangement of jams and fresh takes on the roots-roots rock reggae that has defined this talented group for so long.
Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 pm. All ages. $25 at the door. Advance tickets here.
Filed under heard
Paying twice for what should be free
Every week I seem to find articles that were buried off of the front page for some reason or another. More often than not these articles detail situations or events that either demonstrate the inefficacy of the government and/or the complete ineptitude of those we call ‘public servants’. Why these articles are buried is obvious. Why they are written in the first place is not. There is an underbelly, probably larger in number than anyone would think, of people who see what is happening. Who see how the reigns are being placed on the collective nozzle of our people. Who see how those who are supposed to be said ‘public servants’ are actually simple pawns in the chess game that is maintaining power in the ‘right’ hands.
This is not a conspiracy, this is how the world works. Understanding this is only going to make you more capable of dealing with it.
The article that I found was originally published in Berkeley, CA. At least those hippies are good for something other than dreads and tie-dyed recreations of Che and Bob. Written by Dr. Michael B. Eisen, who got a PhD from Harvard and now runs the Eisen Lab (AKA the Howard Hughes Medical Institute) at the University of California, Berkeley, this article has a unique point of view stemming from the vacuous confines of a laboratory, as opposed to that of a downtrodden office, or a coffee shop.
One of the major points that this piece illustrates is that of the monumental amount of research that is carried out each year in the scientific community using mostly taxpayer money. Because we pay for it, we should be able to see it, right? It should be public property akin to a park or a waterfront walkway. Yet a particularly insidious bill introduced by the House last week, titled the Research Works Act, threatens to shut down the means through which this can be accomplished. Instead of free access to something they’ve already paid for those who wish to see the results of this scientific research now will have to pay, per use, somewhere between $15 and $30. Here’s an excerpt from Eisen’s page at UCB:
My lab studies how the genomic sequences that control gene expression function and evolve. We are driven by a desire to understand the molecular basis of organismal diversity, and the belief that many differences in physiology, morphology and behavior arise from changes in gene regulation. Our ultimate goal is to be able to interpret the regulatory information encoded in genomic DNA, so that we can routinely identify regulatory sequences, discern their function, predict the consequences of their perturbation, and reconstruct how they evolved.
Now I am obviously no mathematical genius nor am I a world-renowned scientist. But even I can tell that this type of research is really f***ing important. The simple fact that there are mechanisms at play that want to restrict how much access and exposure we get to the results of scientific endeavors such as this should only make you want to see it more.
The real question becomes just why it is that research, the epitome of the human struggle for understanding, is even considered as a potential source of revenue, even under the auspices of that ever honorable practice of double-taxation. In writing this Eisen has demonstrated not only the types of processes that inevitably occur in a purely predatory economic situation* but also the means through which these practices are perpetuated, i.e. the smothering of the article to the back page of the website on which it is published. I maintain doubts as to whether his article would be more effective on the front page of a major newspaper, yet the effort to contain its message still remains clear.
What we face is nozzle for our brains. What we face is the inevitable dulling down of an entire system designed to keep us complacent. A system designed not to protect and engender that which is most beneficial for us as a species and thus, for us, but rather to make as much money as possible.
What we face is a double-taxation for the processes that are supposed to be the inherent processes of human evolution; paying double for the right to progress as a species. Now, one would think that research such as Eisen’s would be above the petty squabbling over money in view of the ultimate goal: knowledge. Yet this is not the case. The monetary interests that dictate the actions, and thus legislation, carried out by our ‘public servants’, are simply too strong. Thus, we see articles like those written by Eisen in the dregs of the internet or, as I like to call it, the underbelly of the internet.
Considering how amazingly irresponsible our mis-representatives are being in regards to this bill, maybe it’s time for a little indigestion.
*I am not denouncing capitalism. I am denouncing every just about every human that has ever held money in his/her hand.
Look at all the ______ I found.
Here are some of the more gripping pictures I have found this week. If pictures say 1,000 words, these write a book. I thought i’d share them with whomever sees this in the hopes of inspiring you as well.
And perhaps the most inspiring of all is this picture, taken of Pakistani children emulating the white dove of peace, ostensibly to ward off the predator drone attacks that have destroyed so many families over the course of this ‘War on Terror’.
Filed under random
Have some decency!
Earlier today the Supreme Court concluded a debate that spanned the definition of decency, how it applies to the modern forms of broadcast media that are attached to us by a vein, and the concurrent applications of filters on speech as applied to such media. Obviously, there was a great deal to debate, although not nearly as many words were uttered as there were words that are ‘closely monitored’, ‘filtered’ and/or ‘dubbed’ so that the virgin ears of our young population see the television as more reputable than their foul mouthed parents.
Who will think of the children?!
The central issue is that broadcast media such as the radio and those airwaves of television that have not been gnawed into meaninglessness by the big, bad cable providers are essentially the public domain. It is free to anyone who buys a radio or a cheap television. Many argue that as a result of this accessibility then children and young adults are disproportionately affected by the programming that is available on these various channels of broadcast media.
This, for lack of a better term, is bullshit.
Apparently, however, this is irrelevant bullshit considering the imminent demise of such forms of entertainment. According to Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. the spectrum of “Broadcast TV is living on borrowed time. It is not going to be long before it goes the way of vinyl records and eight-track tapes.” Wise counsel indeed, Alito.
The problem remains in the fact that such material continues to be available, however short-term, and thus deserves to be treated the same way as just about every other type of media out there. Questions rise like popcorn in a loosely assembled tin foil bag on the stove. What about the internet? Wouldn’t the same argument you are using to regulate broadcast media essentially shut down the internet, considering the type of material you can find on it? (Oh wait, they’re already trying to do that.) How do you determine what is decent and what is not? Haven’t we already seen what a worthless enterprise the FCC is?
CAN WE STILL WATCH TOTAL RECALL!?!?!??!?
Justice Elena Kagan offered a fairly succinct summary, stolen directly from this article, is that “The way that this policy seems to work,” she said, “it’s like nobody can use dirty words or nudity except for Steven Spielberg.”
So the answer is essentially that even the highest tier of supposed reasoning in the land that is supposedly the pinnacle of such enlightened thought and rationale cannot grow the balls to really give us an answer. Here is my succinct translation of Justice Kagan’s summary: “We don’t have the power or influence to do anything, so we’re going to let the people with money run the show.” Way to uphold the tenets of freedom, guys. I expected an effort that was a little more… lackadaisical? Wantonly negligent? Non-existent?
Ah, yes.
Decent.
Honey, I think the island is sinking…
It appears as if the global processes that may be happening are about to take their first victim.
The government and residents of the Maldives are currently pursuing what can be affectionately referred to as ‘Plan Sea’, as the entire nation struggles with rapidly rising ocean levels that encroach upon the islands and atolls that they reside upon. As the nation is officially the lowest in the world, with an average ground level of 1.5 meters and a high point of 2.3 meters, they are the first in line to deal with the rising sea levels that occur as the ice caps melt. Fourteen islands and atolls have already been abandoned due to these rising levels. The Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed, is already considering three nations–Australia, Sri Lanka and India–as destinations for the inevitable mass emigration that will ensue if water levels continue to rise.
The issue that the brings up is that of Global Warming. A hush falls over the crowd. This hotly debated issue, one that Al Gore thought was important enough to stop re-creating the Internet to pursue, has again become one that invites skeptics and critics the world over. Yet, entire nations are sinking.
I’ll go ahead and repeat that. Entire nations. Are sinking.
SINKING.
And this is not the first time this has happened. Little known nations Kiribati and Tuvalu, both being low-lying island chains located in the Pacific, have already begun the process of evacuations as slow as the rising tides.
And still, there remain skeptics. Just look at the troubles that the recently concluded Durban treaty, quasi-finished in Durban, South Africa last month, have brought up. Regional posturing. Political pissing contests. Economic leveraging. All in the face of the plight of the seven oceans that we all share and which, coincidentally, are resulting in some easily foreseen consequences such as nations that are sinking.
Sinking.
There is obviously no timetable for how long the 350,000 residents of the Maldives have until the oceans are angrily slapping at their ankles, but the fact remains the same. They are going to have to find somewhere to go, preferably not to the next victim to the wanton negligence of the majority of the advanced democracies and industrialized nations that control the majority of the world’s wealth.
Oh, by the way, that’s us. The same people who hotly debate the fact that every single one of our actions produces the effects that are currently making the oceans more voluminous and the polar ice caps cease to exist. Right now I’m in a third-floor apartment safe from the crushing tide and, while there may not be any sunshine for the next few months, I do not face the impacts of my actions and, moreover, neither do you.
In this bright ‘New Year’, maybe we should.
If you’re interested, check this out.
Filed under Uncategorized
