Awesome Criterion sale at DeepDiscountDVD.com

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/studio.cfm?mainStudioid=2

For the second time this semester, my credit card is reeling. Purchases include Fanny and Alexander, Scenes From a Marriage, and Slacker. The collection grows and grows and grows. 

Gun giveaway?

This is completely insane. The UM College Libertarians are going to be giving away a free gun to make a point about the 2nd Amendment. From a post on the umstudents LiveJournal community:

On Monday, April 3, the University of Michigan College Libertarians will be holding a gun giveaway at 8:00 PM in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union. One lucky winner from the crowd will win a handgun for their own personal protection. The College Libertarians are sponsoring this event to promote the right to keep and bear arms and raise awareness of gunrights issues on the University of Michigan campus. Before the giveaway,Michael Thiede, President of Michigan Gun Owners, will be giving a speechon firearms ownership and the importance of safe gun handling.

The College Libertarians invites all interested community members to attend for their chance to win!

I don't see why a student in a town as safe as Ann Arbor could need a gun to protect themselves. Yes, there have been a few violent crimes recently, but I have to believe that the rate of incidence is incredibly low compared to that of most cities of similar size. And I think that because violent crime on campus is so uncommon, the incidents this year have received more attention than they would otherwise deserve. Most of the crimes here are simple breaking and entering. So are the Libertarians suggesting that you should take a gun to the bar on a Saturday night? Or do they think it's appropriate to pull a gun on someone who's poking around in your house because you neglected to lock the door? Obviously they are aiming for principle here, but you have to consider the practical dangers of giving a gun to an irresponsible kid in a relatively safe urban area where guns are likely few and far between.

Like I said, completely insane.

New issue of the Michigan Independent today

Today the March/April issue of the Michigan Independent was distributed on the Diag. It's one of the best issues we've produced yet (layout by yours truly and my partner Mollie). You can read individual articles here or download the entire issue in PDF format here. I'm going to have to advocate the latter so everyone can appreciate the lovely design.

The highlight of the issue, in my opinion, is James Manganello's terrific analysis of the ridiculously low level of debate that plagued the Kerry campaign filtered through the historical lens of William Lloyd Garrison.

But Kerry is not solely to blame for this sheepishness. Presidential candidates are surrounded by the police of right-saying: political speeches aim not to critically evaluate the state of the nation, but to be as inoffensive as possible to as many people as possible. Imagine the consequences if Kerry had, indeed, substituted for his lawn-sign tale Garrison’s insightful critique:

“The wealth [Strike One-rich Democratic donors], the enterprise [Strike Two-corporations and the American capitalist ethic], the literature [Strike Three-news media: see the fall of How­ard Dean], the politics [Strike Four-this is, after all, a man running for president], the religion of the land [Strike Five-re­member those four million Evangelicals? How about the 53% of Americans who believe “God created man exactly how the Bible describes it”?], are all com­bined…”

With such a statement, Kerry would have slaughtered, in one fell swoop, any hopes for the presidency he may have had.

Other important articles include Becca Rueble and Amy Gordon's investigation of Facebook and Adri Miller's primer on the SOLE (Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality) campaign for making Michigan merchandise SweatFree. SOLE is going to be a big deal on campus soon, so listen up.

More on Silver Jews

I meant to post this on Friday when I read it, but the Daily's Alexandra Jones wrote a nice preview of the concert. Of particular interest to me was this bit that must have come from an email interview with Berman:

"(Numbers) was the first album since the first album (1994's Starlite Walker) that did not seem like the final Silver Jews album," he said.

It looks like Berman has finally given up and embraced the fact that he is a musician. Before the release of Tanglewood Numbers, he seemed to reluctantly release albums at the prodding of friends and family. Perhaps now he has found a new calling? Again, from my experiences after the concert, there is no doubt in my mind that fronting Silver Jews is now a full-time endeavor for a man who heretofore clung obstinately to his title as a poet. Actual Air is near and dear to me, but not to the same degree as the Joos discography. I couldn't be more thrilled.

Silver Jews – Ann Arbor 3/25

Setlist:

Pet Politics
Getting Back Into Getting Back Into You
Slow Education
Animal Shapes
The Poor, the Fair, and the Good
Horseleg Swastikas
Trains Across the Sea
Inside the Golden Days of Missing You
Random Rules
How Can I Love You if You Won't Lie Down?
Dallas
Sleeping is the Only Love
Smith and Jones Forever
There is a Place
Black and Brown Blues
Punks in the Beerlight
Buckingham Rabbit
Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed

I can safely say that this was my favorite concert ever. Not the best, to be sure, but my favorite. In the weeks leading up to the tour, I was deeply concerned that even if the tour got off the ground without some sort of David Berman meltdown, the band was going to sound unrehearsed and sloppy. The tapes of the first two shows alleviated some of those fears – they actually sounded pretty solid. But the difference between the band that people in Athens and Atlanta saw and the band I saw last night is just huge. They sounded great. And it seems like DCB is getting more and more comfortable with playing shows. I love how he surrounded himself with his wife Cassie and old friends Bob Nostanovich and Steve West from Pavement. The whole concept of this tour is uplifiting. He's coming off some of the darkest years of his life, battling hard drugs and suicide, pulls himself out of it, records a great album, and hits the road with his loved ones to try to get his life back on track. It was really special to be a part of that, and the mood of the crowd reflected that. Nearly everyone was a devoted fan and knew every song. I got to the Blind Pig around 9, 30 minutes before doors opened, and there were easily over a hundred people already waiting in line.

The energy in the room leading up to the show was palpable, and after two solid opening songs, it just exploded during "Slow Education", which was the highlight of the show for me. It's a great song in any context, but the band just fucking nailed it last night, slide guitar and all. And given that "uplifting" atmosphere I was talking about, to have them play one of their most uplifting and reassuring songs early on was amazing. I'm pleased that they've been playing "Animal Shapes" lately, too. I think it's one of the strongest songs on Tanglewood Numbers. "Smith and Jones Forever" lived up to all of its potential to be a singalong anthem. "Black and Brown Blues", which is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs, was good to hear, even if DCB strangely chose to mumble incoherently rather than sing the last verse.

Only complaint: no "Rebel Jew", despite my screaming for it. I know they haven't been playing it, but a guy can hope, right?

After the show, we hit the merchandise table where I was faced with the choice of a small or XL red shirt, as opposed to the pink medium I wanted. I went with the small, which may have been a mistake, but such is life. The venue booted us after a few minutes of hanging around waiting to meet DCB. We moved outside, and after a while, Bob Nostanovich came out and started to talk to us. It was pretty amazing to talk about Pavement with him. Of note, he absolutely guaranteed that Pavement would be back together in 2-3 years. I guess Malk just had a kid and is about to get married and wants to take some time off. He also said that the Joos are going to keep touring indefinitely. There was a guy from Toronto talking with us and Bob assured him that there will be a Toronto show in a few months. He even asked the guy what venue they should play; he suggested the Horseshoe Tavern. We also learned that there will be occasional shows with Malkmus in the future, but that he will never join the tour. "It's like battle of the biggest egos when Malkmus and David are in the same room". Then he got distracted and started talking about the Kentucky Derby…

Finally, after about an hour, DCB came out. He was actually trying to figure out what the fuck Bob was doing, and luckily there were only a few diehard fans to accost him. I managed to get a picture with him.

Lofty expectations: fulfilled.

 

Bush 41 on atheists

Kevin Drum included this particularly eye-popping quote in a post today about America’s disdain for atheists:

Robert Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

George H.W. Bush: No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Apparently he said it in Chicago back in 1987. I can honestly say that this is one of the most shocking things I’ve ever heard of a modern president saying. I’ve always had a certain respect for Bush 41. Obviously I’m far to young to make any reasonable judgement about his presidency from experience, but anyone should be able to recognize that he was a brave politician. He compromised and gave up a second term in order to do the right thing and pave the way for the budget balancing in the 90s. But I just don’t know how much I can respect a man who says something as heinous as that.

Bandwagon activists

I found the end of the article about student activists in today’s Daily to be rather ridiculous.

Even individual activists are bound, at least to some degree, to swim with the current; students are only powerful in groups, and it’s much more effective to join existing campaigns than create new ones. When Brandvain arrived at the University, he was interested in social justice, and he knew about the benefits of fair trade. But why did he join the fair trade coffee movement, when tea farmers could also benefit from fair trade deals? A movement for coffee already existed. Why’d he choose to fight against Coke? Because “even though there are a thousand things wrong with Pepsi,” he realized there was already a movement against Coke: “It doesn’t make sense for me to splinter and work on my own thing. There’s value in working together.”

While I understand the logic, that basically plays right into the image of a clueless college liberal who just wants to be part of something bigger. Pretty fucking insulting if you ask me. The article effectively concludes that the visibility of activism on campus is derived from the horde mentality of kids who have just flown the coop. The fact that students, you know, genuinely care about the specific movments in which they participate is clearly of secondary concern.

Mary Sue Coleman on universal health care

I wish I would have known about this forum on health care reform last night. The article, from today’s Daily, is a little trite, and perpetuates some misconceptions about government funded health care being “free”, but it’s nice to know that the University is willing to throw its weight behind the reform movement. And of course, the dissent is always good for a laugh:

“Government has proven that they can’t handle the simplest things,” said Seymour Kroll, an Ann Arbor resident. “Now we’re talking about universal medical coverage.”

The best news I’ve heard in a long time

I just came across this New York Times article that says some new research is making an avian flu epidemic slightly less imminent.

The reason, the researchers propose, is that the cells bearing the type of receptor the avian virus is known to favor are clustered in the deepest branches of the human respiratory tract, keeping it from spreading by coughs and sneezes. Human flu viruses typically infect cells in the upper respiratory tract.

The avian virus would need to accumulate many mutations in its genetic material before it could become a pandemic strain, said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin.

According to a University of Wisconsin news release approved by Dr. Kawaoka, “The finding suggests that scientists and public health agencies worldwide may have more time to prepare for an eventual pandemic.”

I’ve been scaring the crap out of everyone I know lately with my bird flu fearmongering. I try to do it in a joking manner, but I’m not really joking. This makes me feel better, but it’s important to note that this is among the first research from respected institutions that suggests that a pandemic isn’t imminent. We still need to be prepared, because it’s still way, way more likely than, like, any other disaster we could possibly anticipate.

Courtesy of Caitlin, the University’s page on flu preparation.

What is UM doing to prepare for avian flu? Together, University Health Service, University Housing, UM Health System, other campus units and the Washtenaw County Health Department plan for contagious disease prevention and response, including pandemic influenza.

I, for one, feel safer knowing that some “planning” is going on.

An amazing photo to start things off

Things that made me laugh out loud today:

Does he look like he doesn’t want to be there or what?