Random notes:

1. This will sound blasphemous, but Uncle Bob was not in the greatest form last night. An hour into the concert, Pollard was already slurring his speech, staggering around on stage (and later, would forget the lyrics to “Don’t Stop Now” at the encore) — a result, perhaps, of the many Bud Lights and swigs of tequila (and a puff on a joint from an audience member). This didn’t keep him from the flying kicks though.

2. Though the band certainly was in fantastic form: tighter, louder, more aggressive — and as Pollard himself kept repeating throughout, “more professional.” (After all, Tommy Keene was playing lead guitar and keyboards, and Jon Wurster from Superchunk was behind the drums.)

3. I was also, unbelievably, falling asleep! (This may be a combination of 5 hours’ sleep plus various other things I won’t name.) This was in contrast, I think, to the 1-2-3 punch of Guided By Voices concerts of old, where the hits kept on coming; the set (which was over 2 hours) more or less meandered through From a Compound Eye. (The album itself is worth checking out, but the sheer quantity of songs has made it difficult to remember most of them; the excellent live versions of the 5-minute epic “Conqueror of the Moon” and “U.S. Mustard Company” made me want to listen to the originals again.)

4. The High Strung was excellent: melodic power-pop nuggets in longer twisty musical suite wrappers. (Sorry, I can’t think of another way to say it.) Plus a hilarious story about Arby’s-related diarrhea.

5. “We’re not playing ‘Echos Myron.’ No ‘Echos Myron.’ Fuck ‘Echos Myron’ fans. That’s right, boo me.”

6. “Did I say Liz Phair was an attractive woman?”

7. After long solos on (I think) “The Kingdom Within:” “That was our ‘jam.’ We did it because we’re in San Francisco.”

8. And so we finally got to the encore (“This is the GBV set,” Pollard said) which comprised, in no order: “Sad If I Lost It,” “Girls of Wild Strawberries,” “Get Under It” (I think), “Game of Pricks,” “My Kind of Soldier,” “The Brides Have Hit Glass” (a surprise), “Choking Tara,” “Little Lines,” “My Valuable Hunting Knife” and (best of all) “Gold Star for Robot Boy.”

9. The funniest part was one of the new T-shirts on sale, with a really cool Terry Gilliam-style image on the front. And on the back: “Gang of Four – $45 / The Pixies – $60 / Robert Pollard – priceless.”

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FORWARD WIDELY NOW!

To all community allies and supporters of the Filipino people:

From Baghdad to the Philippines…State of National Emergency and Daylight Curfews only means that people’s international resistance is growing around the world against repressive governments and U.S. military intervention and occupation. Join actions in the U.S today condemning Philippine president Gloria Arroyos’ Proclamation 1017–another desperate step to cling onto power through using increased political repression and state terror against the people.

RESIST GMA’S EMERGENCY POWERS WITH PEOPLE POWER! NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW! OUST GLORIA NOW!

BAYAN-USA Urgent Actions in the U.S. today!

SAN FRANCISCO
Oust GMA Rally and march to Philippine Consulate
4 pm Assemble Powell and Market in downtown San Francisco
March up Powell to Consulate on Sutter

NEW YORK
Join Filipino New Yorkers in condemning the fascist Arroyo regime!
5 pm – Friday February 24, 2006
Philippine Consulate in NY

LOS ANGELES
Condemn State of Emergency and Oust GMA
12 pm Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan USA Chapter declares overall failure and disgrace of the Arroyo government as the Real State of National Emergency which cannot stop third People Power ouster!

From across the ocean and within the borders of the U.S., BAYAN-USA proudly stands with with thousands of Filpinos in the streets of Ayala and EDSA yesterday on the 20th Anniversary of the first People Power ouster of Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. We condemn in fullest terms Gloria Arroyo’s Proclomation 1017 of a National State of Emergency which is short of declaring martial law and the first step towards authorizing warrantless arrests, media takeover, dispersal of people’s assemblies and systematic suppression of the Filipino people’s right to participate in collective actions that go against Arroyo’s wish to stay in power.

The Filipino peoople know that the real State of National Emergency started when GMA took office from the ousted Joseph Estrada in 2001. This latest crisis development reveals more than she can hide about her crisis-ridden and crumbling adminstration. GMA’s desperate measures come after a preventable mudslide which killed more than 1500 in Leyte last week. She is responsible for Human Rights Violations worse than the declared years of Martial Law under Marcos. She has orchestrated a full blown economic crisis burying the country in billions of dollars of foreign debt. Worst of all, she continues to cling to power, holding on to a presidency discredited with election fraud while escaping democratic impeachment.

Since she assumed the presidency, BAYAN-USA has participated in international actions called by the growing People Power 3 movement in the Philippines. Yesterday’s People Power anniversary and OUST actions are the result of escalating outrage from under poverty level wages, joblessness, homelessness, high gas prices, the burden of value added taxes on basic commodities and the failure to bring justice for the gang rape of a Filipina woman by U.S Marines. There is nothing spontaneous or surprising from the people’s louder voices of dissent which represent a courageous anti-fascist stand. We recognize the most powerful way to honor the People Power Anniversary is to continue the struggle against fascism in the brutal form of the Bush loyal GMA regime.

There will be no denying People Power 3! Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR), state sponsored terrorism and political killings in the Philippines, undeclared martial law and even arms and training by U.S. troops in the Philippines will never quell the people’s resistance and will for national liberation and democracy and a just and lasting peace. We call on the U.S and governments around the world to withdraw support to the Arroyo government which proved to be best in stealing, lying and cheating rather than governing the nation towards genuine progress and democracy.

OUST THE BRUTAL, FASCIST ARROYO REGIME
ARROYO IS STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN THE PHILIPPINES!
ESTABLISH THE TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL NOW!
NO U.S. TAX DOLLARS TO FUND UNDECLARED MARTIAL LAW AND POLITICAL REPRESSION!
PEOPLE POWER 3 LIVES!

For more information, contact Kawal Ulanday at 510-914-4461.

—-

Plus, a comparison of Macapagal-Arroyo’s and Marcos’s proclamations, 34 years apart.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez discusses the government’s principle of “declare martial law state of emergency, show the evidence later:”

“We will offer that at the proper time,” Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said when asked what proof Malacanang had to back Ms Arroyo’s allegation of an unholy alliance among her political opponents, soldiers and the communist New People’s Army.

Calibrated action

“This is no time for proving,” Gonzalez added. “Go to the Supreme Court. Question this and we will offer the proof.”

“What am I to prove to you? You are not the court,” he said in reply to an Inquirer question.

“Warrantless arrests.” “Illegal assembly.” “Inciting sedition.” And from Macapagal-Arroyo’s proclamation: “WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media…” — is this assertion what prompted this? Smells like 1972 to me.

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1. Nothing more chilling than the words “No survivors had been found.”

2. In the mail the other day: So how many teacher-bloggers out there can say they’ve held a book — an award-winning book, at that — written by one of their former students? Oh yes. That’ll be me.

3. How much it costs to bring entertainers to your school. Built To Spill (and Lisa Loeb) are relative bargains at $5-7.5K, Rilo Kiley is predictably more expensive at $15K, and then you move up to the big leagues (Kanye West at $150K, Dave Chappelle at a whopping $250K). But Smashmouth charges $65K? Third Eye Blind goes for $50-75K? David Spade is a full $50K more expensive than David Cross?

4. Also in the mail the other day: a Rival Crock Pot slow cooker. I can’t wait to use it.

5. And one of my favorite films of all time is finally out on DVD.

6. Speaking of films, tickets for the 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival will be going on sale tomorrow. Alas, I’m going to be in Atlanta for most of the filmfest (so will a whole bunch of my department colleagues), and so I’ll be missing some great-looking ones, like Samuel Fuller’s The Crimson Kimono, which will also feature Arthur Dong interviewing James Shigeta, and Richard Wong’s Colma: The Musical (confession: I’m seeing Belle & Sebastian and The New Pornographers that night). But I do have my eyes set on Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Cafe Lumiere (finally!) and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Linda Linda Linda.

7. Plus videos for a bunch of my favorite songs of last year:

- Kitchie Nadal’s “Wag Na Wag Mong Sasabihin”
- HALCALI’S “Strawberry Chips” (be sure to check out the videos for “Baby Blue” and “Giri Giri Safuraida” as well — they’re priceless)
- Sleater-Kinney’s “Jumpers”
- Teenage Fanclub’s “Ain’t That Enough”
- The Pillows’ “Hybrid Rainbow”
- Rilo Kiley’s “Portions for Foxes”
- Kanye West’s “Gold Digger”
- Ryan Adams’ “Come Pick Me Up”
- The Polyphonic Spree’s “Light and Day”

- and one of my favorite bands ever, the Eraserheads, with their video for “Para Sa Masa,” directed by my porn-lovin’ cousin.

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Favorite Release from Every Year Since 1970:

1970: The Beatles, Let It Be
1971: Pink Floyd, Meddle
1972: Stevie Wonder, Talking Book
1973: Paul Giovanni, The Wicker Man
1974: Tom Waits, The Heart of Saturday Night
1975: Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run
1976: Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life
1977: Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
1978: The Police, Outlandos d’Amour
1979: The Clash, London Calling
1980: The English Beat, I Just Can’t Stop It
1981: The Police, Ghost in the Machine
1982: Roxy Music, Avalon
1983: U2, War
1984: The Smiths, Hatful of Hollow
1985: The Cure, The Head on the Door
1986: Anita Baker, Rapture
1987: 10,000 Maniacs, In My Tribe
1988: Pixies, Surfer Rosa
1989: Pixies, Doolittle
1990: Yo La Tengo, Fakebook
1991: Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend
1992: My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
1993: Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville
1994: Guided by Voices, Bee Thousand
1995: Eraserheads, Cutterpillow
1996: Guided by Voices, Under the Bushes under the Stars
1997: Teenage Fanclub, Songs from Northern Britain
1998: Puffy, JET CD
1999: Tom Waits, Mule Variations
2000: Guided by Voices, Hold on Hope
2001: Gillian Welch, Time (The Revelator)
2002: Puffy, Nice.
2003: Dengue Fever, Dengue Fever
2004: Kanye West, The College Dropout
2005: Robert Pollard, Zoom

Notes:

1987 was hard, what with “The Joshua Tree,” “Sign o’ the Times,” Alex Chilton’s “High Priest,” “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me” and “Franks Wild Years” being released that year as well.

1989 also saw “3 Feet High and Rising” and “Cosmic Thing.”

1992: an easy choice, but “Slanted and Enchanted,” Bettie Serveert’s “Palomine,” Guided By Voices’ “Propeller” and Luna’s “Lunapark” came out that year too. What a year.

1993: narrowly beating out “Rid of Me,” “Frosting on the Beater” and Yo La Tengo’s “Painful.” Another amazing year.

1994: same year as “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” and “Fumbling towards Ecstasy.”

1995: same year as “Alien Lanes” and “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”

1997: easy pick again, but it meant “I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One,” “Ok Computer” and “Mag Earwhig” had to fall by the wayside.

I usually listen to music way after the critics have picked them on top 10 lists and so on, so 2005 will probably change.

I should also add that these albums aren’t necessarily my favorites from their respective artists; “The Unforgettable Fire” (U2) and “Reggatta de Blanc” (The Police) are my favorites, but both were released during years crowded with talent.

Also, interestingly, only 14 of the 35 albums above were listened to by me the same year they came out. Obviously I wasn’t listening to Pink Floyd when I was a year old, but the majority of the list are belated discoveries. Exactly three were purchased the day they were released (Waits, West and Pollard).

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(I’m giving myself exactly ten minutes to do this, then it’s back to work.)

Favorite songs, with titles beginning with each letter of the alphabet:

A – “Alapaap,” Eraserheads
B – “Barnaby, Hardly Working,” Yo La Tengo
C – “Crazy for You,” Madonna
D – “Desperado,” The Langley Schools Music Project
E – “Echos Myron,” Guided By Voices
F – “Fourth of July,” Galaxie 500
G – “Girlfriend,” Matthew Sweet
H – “Here Comes The Sun,” The Beatles
I – “In My Life,” The Beatles
J – “Jockey Full of Bourbon,” Tom Waits
K – “Kid Charlemagne,” Steely Dan
L – “LONG BEACH NIGHTMARE,” PUFFY
M – “More Than This,” Roxy Music
N – “Never Let Me Down Again,” Depeche Mode
O – “Ooo Baby Baby,” Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
P – “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” The Smiths
Q – “Queen of Cans and Jars,” Guided By Voices
R – “Regret,” New Order
S – “September Gurls,” Big Star
T – “Thunder Road,” Bruce Springsteen
U – “Under the Surface,” Bettie Serveert
V – “Valentine’s Day,” Bruce Springsteen
W – “Wonderwall,” Oasis
X – “XXX,” Helium
Y – “You’re The Best Thing,” Style Council
Z – “Ziphim,” Masada

Whew!

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