Well, in the same way that video killed the radio star (and the internet killed the video star), Facebook has totally deep-sixed my need to blog. Ah, our world of instant gratification. Though it’s not as gratifying as it is instant. I certainly am not as addicted as some people I know (hi, honey!), but it does provide a gateway to an immediate audience of friends and family. And since I’m not roaming the third world anymore, my need for the blog format has been deflated. Many things last year have left me deflated…

However – it’s a new year! Congratulations on making it to 2012. You all win a cookie. BUT – I do have a resolution. That resolution is as follows: joy. I have to find it. Joy. Happiness. Peace. It’s out there somewhere. There are methods and programs and yoga positions and various illicit products that are meant to guide me. But I have to find it… or else my doctor says my heart will explode (he exaggerates). So that is the plan. And maybe even writing again will help bring this about. Stop focusing on the problems and look more toward the horizon. Toward light.

So, here is a final rundown of stuff Added to the iPod! I will only give you the new since most of what I added was either old vinyl, classics or magazine compilations. Ready?

Dropkick Murphys – “Going Out In Style” For the title track alone.
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – “Through the Devil Softly” Surprised it was there and very good.
Thievery Corp – “Culture Of Fear”
Gillian Welch – “The Harrow & The Harvest” All you have heard is true.
M83 – “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” Good stuff.
Tom Waits – “Bad As Me” God.
Low – “C’mon” Wildly underrated band.
The XX – “xx” Who would of thought someone would tap into the Young Marble Giants?
Femi Kuti – “Africa for Africa”
Ana Moura – “Coliseu” Live collection from a great fado singer.
Ha Ha Tonka – “Death of a Decade” Good rock album.
JuJu – “In Trance” World-fusion at its finest.

Let’s hook up again sometime. It is an election year after all. Something interesting may happen. Doubtful, but ya never know. But for now – at the beginnings of 2012 – Gorky signs off.

When you drive around your town or beyond, take a minute to notice the memorials. You’ll see them on trees, telephone poles and intersections. Some will be right in front of you and others off to the side – separate. Ribbons, pictures, flowers – to commemorate a loved one. They’ll come and go. A new one will pop up in a different place, though, as another fades away. They are abundant in June when high schools are graduating.

For the past month, we have been a one car family and – because of the circumstances – we do a lot of driving. A regular taxi service of sorts. So I have to pass a memorial nearly every day. Twice actually – going to and from to pick up Chris. It is at a tree in front of a white picket fence, which holds a large open field of green against a clear open sky. The tree is surrounded by flowers and little signs. In its branches are balloons. Colored chalk drawings of hearts and prayers decorate the street in front. At night sometimes one or two young men (or women) will be sitting by the fence, their cigarettes glowing in the dark. A silent vigil for a young man named Daniel who was 18. His accident happened just days after Christopher’s. He knew Daniel. One night he looked over at the tree and said “That could have been me”.

Which is something I know too well.

There are men lost in jail
Crowded fifty to a room
There’s too many rats in this cage of the world
And the women know their place
They sit home and write letters
And when they visit once a year
Well they both just sit there and stare
See how we are
Gotta keep bars in between us
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are

Now there are seven kinds of Coke
500 kinds of cigarettes
This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy
But in Acapulco
Well they don’t give a damn
About kids selling Chiclets with no shoes on their feet
See how we are
“Hey man, Whats in it for me?”
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are

Well this morning the alarm rang at noon
And I’m trying to write this letter to you
About how much I care and why I just can’t be there
To draw your bath and comb…and comb your hair
Last night in a nightspot
Where things aren’t so hot
My friend said, “I met a boy and I’m in love”
I said, “Oh really… What’s this one’s name?”
She said, “His first name is Homeboy”
I said “Could his last name be Trouble?”
See how we are
Hey girl – I wouldn’t trust you as far as I can throw you
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are

Now that highway’s coming through
So you all gotta move
This bottom rung ain’t no fun at all
Now fires and rockhouses and grape-flavored rat poison
Are the new trinity
For this so-called community
See how we are
Gotta keep bars on all of our windows
See how we are
We only sing about it once in every twenty years
See how we are
Oh see how we are
Yeah see how we are

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Just me and the dog here in the living room. My wife is at the hospital with my son. He was in another car accident yesterday, two blocks from the house. On his way to work. Just lost sight of the road and went a bit too fast. He didn’t walk away this time. He had to be pulled from a burning car a medi-vac’d to the hospital. He is bruised, battered and stitched – but physically fine… Last night was the last performance of the show I was doing. I was at the hospital, so hopefully the director took the part for me. That has never happened before in my entire life. But Life is fairly unpredictable… and has been for some time now.

I feel like the tree has already hit the house. And the storm has barely begun.

So – where is the Liberal “tea party”?

Why indeed?

Deficit spending is not new. There was Federal deficit spending – debt – as far back as 1840. Credit cards for individuals came into being in the 70s, but mortgages (long term debt for something you can’t afford) have been around for eons. When I was on council, every time we had to raise money for a road project or something that wasn’t in the budget, we bonded for it. This means we sold a bond and that was what we used as a loan. On Wall Street, Municipal bonds were(are) the closest thing to a sure bet you could find. Soooo – any idiot that says the government is spending beyond its means and should always have a balanced budget is a total moron and should be slapped. It not only will never happen, but there is no need for it.

Second – why are we in such a big deficit (besides Wall Street and the banks playing three-card monte with OUR money)? Bush cut taxes for the wealthy and then spent TRILLIONS over 8 years on wars, Homeland Security and corporate welfare. Cut income and increase spending. Doesn’t that seem fiscally sound? I keep trying to get my bosses to understand what a bad idea that is, but it never sinks in. Part of the deficit increase was when Obama came in a started adding the wars costs to the budget… which for some reason was never counted before.

But should we really care? The country is in debt – that’s true. But it seems EVERY country on the planet is deep in debt! The only two countries without this problem are China and Saudi Arabia. Are they REALLY holding promissory notes for every country on the planet? And if so – so what? China is having trouble managing their own country. Are they really going to take over the US and Europe? No. Actually every nation’s debt is probably owned by every other debtor nation. So nobody is in any position to win. Maybe we should just cancel all those loans and start clean.

Or maybe this is all just paper gymnastics anyway. Another political game that really has no meaning and no value except to get the middle class to pay for another large increase in somebody else’s dividends. “What if our ratings drop?” What is Moodys but a New York company started in 1909 and owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Standard’s and Poors was started in 1860 and owned by McGraw-Hill. They are just a couple of American corporations. As Bill Hick’s said – the “economy” is fake to begin with. A theory. A game. Nothing more.

So – musically – I been doin’ pretty well. Graham Parker, Garland Jeffreys, Godspeed You Black Emperor, P J Harvey, Southside Johnny and Little Steven in Asbury Park and now Paul. Coming up: X, Portishead and M83.

Also – I will be onstage again in August, doing my first Tennessee Williams, “Suddenly Last Summer”.

In Rockport, Maine – where I was staying on my road trip – the Ames Cemetery was just around the block. The majority of the dates were from the 1800s. There were a number of family plots, as well as certain groupings of three – a husband flanked by his two wives. I saw this grouping more than once and the wives usually died in their 20s (presumably in childbirth). It seemed strangely common. And of course there were a number of tombstones for very young children. Tough life in the 1800s.

The day I visited was by coincidence Memorial Day. Flag were respectfully placed at the tombstones of anyone who served this country in the military. And there were quite a few. Many who may have lost their lives in the Civil War. Some earlier (many of the older stones were without dates).

At the far side of the cemetery, set back in the shade of two evergreens, I saw a flag. It was posted next to a small, thin stone. It was so deliberately set apart from everything else.

The stone marked the grave of Julia F. Smith. She served in the US Navy. She was 22 years old and died in February 1985. If you can’t read it, the inscription says “One short sleep past, we wake eternally”.

As I said – it’s about the history. There were a lot of young people in that cemetery. There are a lot of young people who are giving their lives daily far from their country and their homes and the shade of an old evergreen. I’m glad this young woman found her place of peace. I wish all our military would find themselves safe and at peace back home.

Here is a photo of the honkytonks at night, with the Batman-like AT&T building in the background. Welcome to Nashville! I am here at another accountants convention – staying on another compound across the water from the city. However, this compound is near the Grande Ole Opry where we will be spending our final evening of software indoctrination and frivolity. Nashville’s Broadway area is all we got to see so far and it is nothing special. I plan on investigating further Thursday before I leave. Lord knows there has GOT to be a non-tourist area somewhere around here.

I also want to mention that yesterday was my 25th Anniversary with my lovely wife, Kerry. I think everyone who hits this mark should either get a prize or get divorced like Arnold and Maria. I’m hoping for the prize myself. I believe Kerry celebrated the evening with champagne. I had fried pickles and beer. THIS is how we stay together…

More music news –

My Limited Edition CD of Lamb‘s first recording in eight years (?) has arrived! They asked their fanbase to help by pre-ordering the record… so of course I did. Loved this band! Saw them twice in NYC – once at the Mercury lounge and the other time in Central Park. Drum ‘n bass but with Louise Rhodes beautiful vocals and lyrics riding over Andy Barlow’s beats and instrumentation. So those of us who pre-ordered (2800) get this cool package with two discs and photos and a poster with ALL OUR NAMES! AND the first 250 (I was 87) get another poster with all the lyrics signed by Lou. The album, called “5″, is really strong. Hopefully they will come back to the States soon.

Glad this whole Birther thing is over. Now we can really focus on Charlie Sheen.

What happened to Prince William’s hair?

Tripped over my dog this week. I think he broke my knee. It’s one thing when a small lap dog or cat hovers around your ankles. Another when it is 90 pounds of solid dog.

Bought a vinyl Album today. New one by Explosions In The Sky. A beautiful package: two-disc gatefold, fold out poster, large postcard, vinly etching. Very, very pretty….

I can’t stand that we are starting to get into “election” mode again. Haven’t we listened to them lie enough? And I hate that I will be forced to vote for Obama again. He has been an immense disappointment. But next to the gaggle of looney toons the Reps will be fielding – what choice is there?

Spring is here… and so is poison ivy. So let’s all be careful out there.

God, I’m old….

Anyway, the show was very good but not extraordinary. All of Ms. Harvey’s records are very different in tone and I had not heard the new one – “Let England Shake”. Luckily, the new record (and a few more) made up the first half of the concert. Backed by a low-key three piece, Ms. Harvey came out in a long, white cotton dress and a black headpiece – looking somewhat like a British wood nymph. She then – in her sweetest upper register – proceeded to sing rather short songs about a failing England, war, bloodshed and “the dark places”. The juxtaposition between the brightness of the music and the stark images that filled the songs was intense. Usually her songs are focused inward, but these – though not overtly political – are really drawing from a sadness that comes from looking around at the world and your country and seeing the mess we’re in. I thought it was great (of course). For the second half of the show, she dug into her previous seven albums (20 years worth of songs) and played more recognizable tunes for her fans. But the nature of this show was definitely more subdued than other performances I had read about over the years. Depending on the material, there can be a swagger and tension to her performances and since I had never seen her before, I kind of hoped I would get a glimpse of that. But, when it seemed obvious that she wasn’t going to open the throttle, I decided that 90 minutes was enough. So me and my weary knees limped off to catch the bus home.

Happy Easter and Passover to everyone!