American Idol.

I don't like American Idol. This is probably not surprising to most people who've exchanged more than two words with me. American Idol, while certainly featuring many talented vocalists, is to genuine, original music what paint-by-numbers "Dogs Playing Poker" is to the "Mona Lisa." It's an assembly line, masterminded by Music Business impresarios with dollar signs in their eyes, taking fresh-faced youth and untried (?) talent and adding a goodly dose of Hollywood hype, a dash of media orgy, a thin veneer of "competition" and mass-marketing interactivity, and injecting it into some over-produced mindless gem of a pop song laden with hearts-and-bunnies imagery designed to appeal to twelve-year-old girls....and I believe that it not only contributes to the growing soul-less-ness of Music These Days, but also contributes to the premature deaths of music careers that crash and burn before their time because of inflated expectations and the emptiness of a glorified karaoke contest. I don't believe Simon Cowell gives a good goddamn if the pretty people on stage can sing two notes in a row on-pitch, if he thinks they'll make him a buttload of money.

People wonder why I'm not flattered when people suggest I should audition.

So, last weekend, I was home visiting the family in the wilds of Michigan, and my dad starts telling me about this contestant on American Idol he's really impressed by - he plays the guitar (left handed even), sings well, does songs with interesting angles, isn't like the other singers on the show. And he mentions that the dude did a version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" that was just amazing and ass-kicking, making it so much more than a catchy dance tune. Of course, that was a familiar sentiment, since I'd had a similar reaction upon discovering Chris Cornell's awesome arrangement of that tune....which this guy was covering! Holy wow, that's not like anything I imagined could find its way to that show...maybe there's something to this dude, after all. Maybe there's something worthwhile involved in that clusterfuck of yuck.

With that in mind, I undertook to discover something about this David Cook who apparently won the whole contest. I tooled around the internets and found clips of most of the songs he sang on the show. And, well, not to put too fine a point on it...I'm actually impressed. I didn't hate what I heard. Actually, I really liked some of it, and was kind of pissed at the way they do abridged versions of songs on the show; I would've loved to hear him play with dynamics a little more in his version of Lionel Richie's "Hello." Not to mention, a full version of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" could've been ass-kicking. The guy plays with his vocal range in a way I love, flipping octaves to punch up the intensity (a trick I use myself, so I may be biased)...and he also seems to have a thing for taking a song out of its typical context and genre-bending arrangements. That is awesome!

I'm still working on finding his pre-AI musical stuff, mostly because I want to find out if he's as good a songwriter as he is a signer and arranger. That makes the total package for me....and I can't decide if I'd rather find that he's a sucky songwriter and have my poor opinion of American Idol restored....or if I'd be okay with his being the exception to the rule.

Either way, I've been listening to David Cook, American (fucking) Idol, all day long. And I don't think I'm ashamed of that. Weird.

Today's outrage.

I never really was all that hot for John Edwards as a presidential candidate (I've been a Hillary girl since, well, 1992?), but I always considered him as strong a candidate as either Obama or Clinton. And, since he's officially NOT running for veep (which totally makes me think of that truism from Lions for Lambs), I like what he's doing instead. Beefing up Head Start (of which I'm a beneficiary, by the by), Medicaid, SCHIP, and other programs that offer aid to low income families - especially children - is a great idea.

Disappointingly, though, it seems like corporate interests are running the show pretty much everywhere - first by maintaining a stranglehold on the intellectual property and patent system that keeps medicines only in the hands of those who can afford them (or profit by them) - second by destroying local food systems in favor of agribusiness that propagates GMO crops, enjoys significant government funding in the form of subsidies and grants for cleaning up their own unnecessary environmental messes, survives on the backs of underpaid and overworked labor, not to mention prioritizes profit over human life or environmental sustainability. With those powers at the wheel (and can anyone really argue that corporations aren't calling the shots here? how scary is it that drug companies are giving more to Democrats than Republicans?? REAL scary....and please note that Obama - he of the "no special interests" money position - got the largest number reported in that article...), it's a huge challenge to try and level the playing field for those living in poverty, in this country and around the globe.

In the context of my ongoing re-education about the geography and history of the planet, I found this article from The Independent really fascinating. Now, I hate bananas and don't eat them....but I know lots of people who do, and I think it would be a shame if there were no more bananas. Furthermore, I find it really fucking horrible how rich, white people seem to have swapped the cunning use of flags for equally unjust corporate takeovers, which trend this story illustrates nicely.

((Sidenote: I feel really disappointed in myself for not previously knowing the origin of the term "banana republic," which for some reason I thought was just a descriptor for countries in steamy equatorial regions that would be good for growing bananas. I had no idea it was such a blood-drenched term, and I'm furthermore very interested in following up this read with some digging about what countries currently embroiled in conflict of some sort might be suffering from this kind of corporate interference in their governments.))

I assume that most people think I'm a little crazy for thinking capitalism is evil and money is evil and corporations are evil and banks are evil and that most of the world's ills can be laid directly at the feet of one or more of those culprits. But this pattern is so clear to me, and so clearly WRONG. And killing people, and destroying the planet. Right now, I'm having trouble understanding how anyone can think money and banks and corporations and capitalism *aren't* evil.

FUotD: Maureen Dowd

Hey, Maureen Dowd: FUCK YOU!

The Month of Tari: Hair Update!

So, part of the Month of Tari was my plan to do something crazy with my hair. (Well, as crazy as I can get away with while working a corporate job, anyway - which, let's face it, ain't all that crazy.) I got up at 4:30 this morning to make that dream a reality.

(Now, 4:30 a.m. isn't all that unusual for me. I'm a morning person, to a degree that is almost freakish. I believe it's the Scandinavian farmfolk ancestry at work.)

So, in the wee hours, I gave myself a foil and a dye job. I am currenty sporting a reddish color with some blondish-reddish streaks. See:


((I recognize after uploading this snap that you can't actually really *see* the new dye job; but the picture is cute enough I'm leaving it up. Yes, I am just that enamored of myself.))

I've been cutting and coloring my own hair exclusively for many years now. I got very tired of spending craploads of money paying stylists to disregard my very clear, concise, specific instructions and give me the style they thought best suited my hair type and face shape. Or, in some cases, just to butcher it beyond recognition....like the time I asked for razored layers around my face and wound up with some weird kind of mullet (this resulted in my first pixie cut)....or the time I was recovering from a stint as a platinum blond and asked for something that would keep as much length as possible, but still clean up the dead and dying ends of overprocessed hair - and wound up with ragged non-sensical hair ranging from a half inch long to nine or ten inches, with no rhyme or reason, because apparently the stylist just cut the dead hair and left everything else untouched (this resulted in my second pixie cut).

Over the course of the years leading up to the second pixie cut, I'd cut my own hair a few times....mostly when struck by irresistible hair ennui in the middle of the night, or while getting ready for work. Sometimes I can't ignore the siren call of the scissors! And doing something different with my hair is a time-tested way I handle stress or life complications; it's easier than rearranging furniture, quieter than pounding on my guitar, and unlike gardening, doesn't depend on the weather. Plus, it's a great Zen experience, all about releasing attachment to the physical, recognizing the transitory nature of those sorts of superficial characteristics...because no matter how bad the botching of the hair, it will grow back (at least mine always has, anyway).

Since I just did the hair this morning, it's still spit-shiny and hard to tell if it turned out properly (I always think a dye job needs a few days to settle in)...but I like what I see so far, and I've had lots of commentary, AND not only did the dude who sold me my Vitamin Water flirt shamelessly, the dude who made my sandwich gave me free extra veggies. Either I'm dressed cuter than I think I am, the hair turned out, or I really AM just fucking fabulous. I mean, it's a fine line.

Amtrak rocks.

Attention, Democratic Presidential Nominee (whoever you wind up being!):

When you're sitting in the White House, contemplating how to pull out of Iraq and stop worldwide starvation and genocide...here's something to keep in mind when it comes to domestic policy. Nothing takes the sting out of crap gas prices like cheap train tickets....especially if the rail system is maintained well enough to get people from origin to destination in an efficient, timely manner.

A big part of my car-free, green lifestyle has been riding Amtrak as much as possible, when travelling outside the Chicago area. I've taken it to New York, St. Louis, and various destinations in Michigan. I have plans to someday hop the City of New Orleans (will I take my guitar and sing a Steve Goodman cover? you betcha!) and even do the rail vacay to Glacier National Park.

I love Amtrak, dear Democratic Nominee, and I know it's not properly funded. But doing so would be good for the environment, good for people's pocketbooks, and good for public opinion of the U.S. worldwide. Let's stop pandering to automakers, and start making rail service a real alternative form of transport!

Thanks bunches,
Tari
Loyal Amtrak Rider, car free since March 2001