On the Mel Gibson controversy, and the current situation in the Middle East

This post by blorky raises some very interesting discussion about the weekend's events surrounding Mel Gibson's drunk driving arrest in California and several anti-Semitic comments he made to the arresting officers. The BBC article blorky linked to provides a good synopsis of the situation, and considerably more commentary can be found via The Huffington Post on this blog entry by Ari Manuel.

Recent events in Israel and Lebanon have made me think a great deal about what Israel does and doesn't have the right to do in Lebanon right now, and it's impossible not to consider anti-Semitism overall in that discussion. I'm generally pacifist, although not in all circumstances, and I generally think that violence begets more violence and that killing should be used as a last resort in any situation. But as un-nuanced as this may seem, I remain convinced that Israel continues to hold a valid trump card in the form of the Holocaust, which is still in the living memory of many people. I believe that this categorically gives Israel certain overarching rights with regards to protecting its sovereignty and its right to exist as a nation. I have no sympathy for Hamas, as an example, which holds the unconscionable position that Israel has no right to exist. I have no sympathy for this view even in light of any violence that Israel has committed against Palestine. It is my opinion that Israel has a very long way to go before it reaches a glimpse of the atrocities committed in the Holocaust.

Having said that, I think that Israel's response to terrorism in many forms could often be more measured; for any given suicide bomber attack, it's my anecdotal recollection that a severalfold increase in Palestinian deaths usually results from any given Israeli retaliation. The current conflict in Lebanon provides considerable more examples of this. From an outsider's perspective looking in, it's easy to criticize Israel's tactics for exacerbating the underlying tensions and therefore making the overall situation worse. Their current actions are not bloody helping anything, that's for sure, and no doubt some form of more emotionally evolved diplomacy must be able to be applied here to reach a less bloody end to this conflict. (Although I also know that this has been tried countless times in the past and failed, so I don't doubt that there's little patience left on either side for more discussion at the moment.)

But the preceding is just Monday morning quarterbacking on my part, and the fact still remains that Israel continues to have the right to defend itself as a sovereign nation against legitimate threats to its security. We can argue endlessly over the tactics deployed, but the incontrovertible fact remains that their right to defend themselves is sacrosanct. Particularly in light of the Holocaust. Yet at the same time, I'm very troubled by how many people have been displaced and killed in Lebanon so far. Can I support Israel in principle yet abhor its actual actions?

And now I'll stand down and let the flames come. Anyone wish to comment on this? On Mel or otherwise? I'm very interested to hear what people are thinking about it; particularly those who have friends or family in that region right now. I'm also curious to know more about Hizbollah and the nature of their involvement with Lebanon. I understand that they pose a direct threat to Israel, but how exactly are they linked to the Lebanese government, as well as to Syria and Iran? And are the current attacks by Israel on Lebanon really some sort of attack on Syria and Iran by proxy? Or a pre-emptive defense strike, as it were? The fact that thousands of Israeli reservists have recently been called up and placed into action makes me think that they're laying in for a pretty serious war over there right now. This is clearly set up to get worse before it gets any better.

jazz and funk mix tape

This is a new member intro I wrote to a new LJ comm I recently joined called thahookup, which specializes in friends-only posts that share music -- mainly rap and hip-hop -- with each other. It's awesome, and I've been listening to all kinds of stuff I've never heard before now through its membership.

I've been a member for a couple weeks now, but haven't had the time to put together a little mix to give you with my intro until now. Actually, to be more precise I haven't been able to pick a handful of tunes to send out because there's so much good shit on my hard drive... :)

My name is Dustin, and I'm a jive-ass white guy, a jazz tenor sax player and a serious hip-hop head, with interests that spill heavily into old soul, funk and R&B. I have a particular affinity for jazz and funk fusion, especially that heavy, heavy shit that Herbie Hancock and those cats put out in the 70s. I could go on and on about how heavy I think Herbie is and what a revolutionary impact he's had on the use of synthesizers in jazz and subsequently pop music, but I won't bore you with all that. I'll just include a couple tracks that I think illustrate that point in this mix.

My favourite artists right now are Danger Mouse (that Gnarls album is really sticking to my ribs these days), Mos Def, DJ Shadow, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, J5, The Roots, and lots of old funk heads like James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, The JB's, The Meters, Sly and The Family Stone, P-Funk, and so on. Being a jazz musician, I also have a huge jazz collection -- a thousand or so recordings mainly featuring Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, and more.

Let me know if any of these tracks speak to you, will ya? And thanks for letting me join you guys on here - I've been totally digging a bunch of the shit you've been upping and I look forward to participating more as time goes on.

http://megaupload.com/?d=AUM3PF72
or
http://temp.ulisten.net/i_am_om-intromix.zip

1. Oscar Peterson - C Jam Blues
A straight-ahead jazz track to get you warmed up. Classic Oscar Peterson Trio (piano, bass and drums), and this track swings so goddamned hard it hurts. Listen especially for the beautiful, soulful unaccompanied solo piano fills that Oscar plays in the breaks. This is practically as good as it gets, jazz-wise.

2. Jaco Pastorius - Come On, Come Over
A classic track that many of you may already have or have already heard, but this is a great showcase for Jaco's funkier than hell bass playing in addition to his awesome songwriting, arranging, and orchestration skills. Herbie's playing keyboards on this album, and the basslines that Jaco pulls out in the breaks are unstoppable on this track.

3. Herbie Hancock - No Means Yes
Don't be scared by the slightly flaming intro portion to this 1977 track, because the breakbeat at around the 1-minute mark will blow you down, muthafuckas.

4. S.N.T. (Live At Peacepipe)
I don't exactly know who this is, it just came from this CD mixtape I bought years ago called The Funky Precedent, and this sounds like a sample of some funk band from the 60s or something. I love this old-school funk shit, and the groove these guys get is beautiful.

5. Herbie Hancock - 4 A.M.
Another classic synth-infused Herbie funk track, this time with Jaco playing bass. This tune alternates between a sort of dated-sounding head section and an incredibly funky, complex break where Herbie solos on the Rhodes, I think it is. They go back and forth, back and forth, with the B section getting funkier and groovier and greasier with each run-through. Another great showcase for the heavy basslines and improv skills of Jaco Pastorius. This bassist blows my mind every time I hear him.

6. Prince - Lolita
This is from Prince's latest album, 3121, and while this record is pretty squeaky clean and bordering heavily on boring by his old standards, there's just something about the synth sound, bassline and beat on this track that I find totally infectious. Makes me get up and shake it almost every time I hear it. Pay attention to the lyrics on this track, too -- I've heard that Prince became a Jehovah's Witness and you can hear it in these clean lyrics that would have been dirty as hell ten years ago.

7. Divine Styler - Make It Plain
Another track from that Funky Precedent mixtape, this track has such a groovy synth sound and a cool, syncopated beat and boomin' kick drum that I can't help dancing to this one either. The grease will drip from your speakers when you play this track.

Dateline: Haifa

Per this post in israelnorthblog:

Telephone is ringing at the office. Branch manager picks up the phone. Stern female voice on the line:
- I'm a very sick person and I need medicine!
- No problem! We are open until five o’clock today with any interruptions. If it’s more convenient for you to come to our branch B – it’s open until one.
- You don’t understand me! I need medicine. I can not go to pharmacy NOW!
- Why?
- Are you stupid? Because they are bombing! I’m afraid! And I’m sick too!
- Hmmm. And how can I help you?
- Deliver the medicine to my home!
The branch manager tries to explain office rules to the customer ("but I’m at work" – "send someone to my house" – "we don’t have delivery service" – "you’re obliged and I’m afraid to go outside")
Finally, the branch manager loses his nerves:
- You know, we are also afraid to go outside. We are hiding in the pharmacy building. Come hide with us, it’s safe here.
For the next five minutes nobody could work in the office, everyone was laughing. A hundred of customers who got over their fears and came to the pharmacy were looking at the laughing pharmacists. They understood us.

This whole sitch is crazy. Forget what I wrote before -- it's all nuts.

Advice for authors, by Seth Godin

The following text, which I'm copying in its entirety, was snipped from this entry in Godin's blog:

Advice for authors
By Seth Godin

It happened again. There I was, meeting with someone who I thought had nothing to do with books or publishing, and it turns out his new book just came out.

With more than 75,000 books published every year (not counting ebooks or blogs), the odds are actually pretty good that you've either written a book, are writing a book or want to write one.

Hence this short list:

1. Lower your expectations. The happiest authors are the ones that don't expect much.
2. The best time to start promoting your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility and build the connections you'll need later.
3. Pay for an eidtor editor. Not just to fix the typos, but to actually make your ramblings into something that people will choose to read. I found someone I like working with at the EFA. One of the things traditional publishers used to do is provide really insightful, even brilliant editors (people like Fred Hills and Megan Casey), but alas, that doesn't happen very often. And hiring your own editor means you'll value the process more.
4. Understand that a non-fiction book is a souvenir, just a vessel for the ideas themselves. You don't want the ideas to get stuck in the book... you want them to spread. Which means that you shouldn't hoard the idea! The more you give away, the better you will do.
5. Don't try to sell your book to everyone. First, consider this: " 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school." Then, consider the fact that among people even willing to buy a book, yours is just a tiny little needle in a very big haystack. Far better to obsess about a little subset of the market--that subset that you have permission to talk with, that subset where you have credibility, and most important, that subset where people just can't live without your book.
6. Resist with all your might the temptation to hire a publicist to get you on Oprah. First, you won't get on Oprah (if you do, drop me a note and I'll mention you as the exception). Second, it's expensive. You're way better off spending the time and money to do #5 instead, going after the little micromarkets. There are some very talented publicists out there (thanks, Allison), but in general, see #1.
7. Think really hard before you spend a year trying to please one person in New York to get your book published by a 'real' publisher. You give up a lot of time. You give up a lot of the upside. You give up control over what your book reads like and feels like and how it's promoted. Of course, a contract from Knopf and a seat on Jon Stewart's couch are great things, but so is being the Queen of England. That doesn't mean it's going to happen to you. Far more likely is that you discover how to efficiently publish (either electronically or using POD or a small run press) a brilliant book that spreads like wildfire among a select group of people.
8. Your cover matters. Way more than you think. If it didn't, you wouldn't need a book... you could just email people the text.
9. If you have a 'real' publisher (#7), it's worth investing in a few things to help them do a better job for you. Like pre-editing the book before you submit it. Like putting the right to work on the cover with them in the contract. And most of all, getting the ability to buy hundreds of books at cost that you can use as samples and promotional pieces.
10. In case you skipped it, please check #2 again. That's the most important one, by far.
11. Blurbs are overrated, imho.
12. Blog mentions, on the other hand, matter a lot.
13. If you've got the patience, bookstore signings and talking to book clubs by phone are the two lowest-paid but most guaranteed to work methods you have for promoting a really really good book. If you do it 200 times a year, it will pay.
14. Consider the free PDF alternative. Some have gotten millions of downloads. No hassles, no time wasted, no trying to make a living on it. All the joy, in other words, without debating whether you should quit your day job (you shouldn't!)
15. If you want to reach people who don't normally buy books, show up in places where people who don't usually buy books are. Media places, virtual places and real places too.
16. Most books that sell by the truckload sell by the caseload. In other words, sell to organizations that buy on behalf of their members/employees.
17. Publishing a book is not the same as printing a book. Publishing is about marketing and sales and distribution and risk. If you don't want to be in that business, don't! Printing a book is trivially easy. Don't let anyone tell you it's not. You'll find plenty of printers who can match the look and feel of the bestselling book of your choice for just a few dollars a copy. That's not the hard part.
18. Bookstores, in general, are run by absolutely terrific people. Bookstores, in general, are really lousy businesses. They are often where books go to die. While some readers will discover your book in a store, it's way more likely they will discover the book before they get to the store, and the store is just there hoping to have the right book for the right person at the time she wants it. If the match isn't made, no sale.
19. Writing a book is a tremendous experience. It pays off intellectually. It clarifies your thinking. It builds credibility. It is a living engine of marketing and idea spreading, working every day to deliver your message with authority. You should write one.

WikiCars!

http://wikicars.org/en/Porsche_911

A complete history of the models of the Porsche 911, on the newish, comprehensive auto site WikiCars. How nice...