Muse and Whirled Retort Archives 2007
The Muse and Whirled Retort - APRIL, 2007
Sunday, April 1, 2007
April 1, 2007
Volume VIII Issue vi
Washington, DC
T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.
****************************
T.A.B.L.E. .O.F. .C.O.N.T.E.N.T.S.
*********************
****************************
I am looking for a new musical partner. Someone who can provide both a musical backdrop and strong stage presence. At present I am enjoying performing an exciting solo show with my guitar, recorded backdrops and film, but in truth I would rather work with someone who can be an appropriate counterpoint to my little ramblings.
Guitar or piano players/ singers, DJs or even just a very good singer. Please drop me a line.
******************************
BRAND NEW for 2007:
NEW CD, AMERICAN STORYTELLER VOLS. III & IV!!
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrischandler10
We have created another double CD with fabulous special guests, bonus features, and of course including all the new material from the past year or so as well as a few most-requested favorites!
Click here to order a copy: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrischandler10
I have put up one of the new songs on myspace.
I have just gotten the CD and thank you to those of you who have ordered advance copies " I will get those in the mail ASAP sorry " I've been incredibly busy and sometimes I get a little behind.
**********************
Biggest news this month:
The new CD! Is here! Though I think they are sold out at CD Baby but should have some real soon.
I am booking the summer and I need your help. I am looking at a route from Washington DC through Louisville, St Louis and Oklahoma to Kerrville, TX " then through New Orleans, Atlanta for the World Social Forum through NC and Virginia.
Then I will fly to Oregon pick updates from there to SF and back up through to Seattle Vancouver and Victoria and back down to Portland
If you can help out with a house concert or know of a venue " please drop me a line
Enough of the crass commercial announcements. Lets get to the news.
*********************
T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.
The Muse and Whirled Retort
April 1, 2007
Volume VIII Issue vi
Washington, DC
Thirty four percent of the American people believe that chapter nine verse eleven of the Koran predicts the 9/11 attack by referring to the awakening of a fierce eagle." Thirty nine percent believe Elvis is still alive. Eighty Seven percent believe that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was responsible for 9-11. Seventy two percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
The truth is, I can't tell you how many people believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction or was responsible for 9-11. I just know there are a lot of them. And who can blame them really? The lie was told so often.
Many people, especially among the cynical left, have grown "wise" to duplicity in the media and they take the cop-out approach " "Well, the answer lies some where in the middle."
But the truth of the matter is, "Truth is infinite."
Infinity has no middle.
What is half of infinity?
What if the answer is "grapefruit?"
Is that somewhere in the middle?
Saying the answer is in the middle can lead to cutting babies in half " just ask King Solomon.
Joseph Goebbels said that people are more likely to believe a big lie than a smaller one. For example --
On St Patrick's Day here in DC, we had another large antiwar demonstration. The Post reported of a hundred arrests at the White House of people ummm praying without a permit. It was true " they were planned arrests. The folks arrived in buses and were all arrested. The reporters saw it; had their story and, it was off to the presses. Thing is, the protestors arrived in waves, and only the first wave got reported on. The reporters never saw the next buses arrive, or the next.
I don't know if that was bad reporting or outright lying. But, I do know that if you tell a lie often enough people will believe it. They have been telling that lie for a long time. Continuing to downplay the size and scope of this antiwar movement only continues to perpetuate the big lie.
I remember back to Oil War One ®, back with George Bush One (remember him?) In that war, George gave us a kick off time. "A line in the sand." (and we wonder where little George gets his panache for western movie slogans.) We had camped out in Lafayette Park for weeks before kick off, protesting the invasion. At night there were only a handful of us. However, during the day we got hundreds and each day closer to kickoff we got exponentially more people tailgating the oncoming war. By the time the pre-game festivities were over and the cheerleaders cheered and the drill team drilled and the marching band finished the last John Phillips Sousa march, we had thousands.
A spontaneous march formed through the streets. It was one of the most magical synergies between class, race and age I had ever seen. The old hippies were still singing "Give peace a Chance." While Hip-Hop bucket brigades of drummers chanted "Hell no we won't go " we won't die for Texaco " SEND NEIL!"
As the march left the park " the void we created was filled with counter-demonstrators in Lafayette Park. We snaked through the city calling for people to join us. Residents left their porches and joined us as the march snowballed into a battalion as it returned to the White House. By that time a line of cops on horses met our column. The cavaliers maneuvered in 360 degree dressage pirouettes of equine crowd containment forcing us back into the park that was filled with counter-demonstrators. Fights broke out. Bottles were thrown. It turned very violent " but still the cops continued pushing the two forces together.
I saw it. Clearly the cops had started, and finished the violence. I was so young and naive I that was actually shocked the next day. In the newspaper, below the fold, below the banner headlines announcing that the war had started was an article saying, "several dozen protestors hobbled down the street pelting cops with bottles and rocks."
The answer was not somewhere in the middle. It was an outright lie.
I cried. Goebbels would be proud. He would have made the perfect Madison Avenue hatchet man. Even he couldn't come up with some of our current ad campaigns. You tell a big enough lie
Burger King has one featuring tiny animated lovable employees called the Stackers' Union ®. They wear hard hats and work gloves, happily operating cranes to "construct" Whoppers ® and French Fries ®. They are very very happy with their job. They just love working for the Burger King Corporation " because when they get a break " they get Whoppers ® (Boy do they!)
They belong to a make-believe union representing cartoon character workers who make pretend money while they serve imitation food to phony consumers. It is a brilliant campaign. BK must have hired the Swift Boat Captains for Truth® folks.
"I've seen the greatest minds of my generation writing ad copy."
It is interesting that this Union was chartered exactly the time Congress was talking about raising the minimum wage in the hopes of attracting more workers from Bangladesh.
But, if they say it " it must be so
In this technological age " people like me who still use pen and paper are known as Luddites. It is meant as a derogatory term. And when you ask someone why " they love to mix stories which are variations on a theme: The Luddites were French cobblers who threw their handmade wooden shoes into the machines " to "clog" up the machinery. The word "Sabotage" comes from the French "Sabot" for wooden shoes.
Being the Luddite that I am and knowing they wouldn't say it if it weren't so, I went to Wikipedia.
Truth is, the Luddites were disgruntled textile workers in Nottingham, England (not France) in the early 1800s who protested against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which threatened their livelihood. It was a labor issue, not a technological one. They did destroy machinery " not too dissimilar from what eco-terrorists do.
The movement was named after a mythical leader, Ned Ludd " a made up word " like Exxon or Kleenex. The leader's name was a nom de plume - like Deep Throat " made up to assure the anonymity of the radical.
The movement, as labor movements often are " was so strong that it clashed in battles with the British Army, and won. Their principle objection was the loss of jobs " not technology itself.
The word sabotage " by the way " does come from the French word Sabot " but it refers to railroad ties (or wooden shoe) that were cut by the French in World War One (remember that one?) It was a century after the Luddites.
People throwing wooden shows into the gears of machines turns out to be as factual as the Nigerian Yellow Cake.
But in a way these things are true " because they make such great stories people will rally around them " fight and die for them.
That, my friends is more true than truth.
I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. It is in the telling of the tale that makes it so. A true story has a way of sticking around for a while. Even if it is a story.
Christ was killed by a horrific form of capital punishment (as opposed to the humane ones we use today) and rose from the dead. His followers formed a great church that would change the world. Otherwise he might have ended up being as famous as Michael Servetus. You've heard of him right? See what I mean.
In 1533 he was burned at the stake for professing that worship was a matter of personal choice. He did not rise from the dead literally but in a sense he did. His ideas were the basis for a great church that may one day change the world: The Unitarian Universalists.
Because the Jews are much better storytellers than the Unitarians not many people know about Michael Servetus.
But on the other hand, there was never a Unitarian Inquisition.
The Rapture is not an exit strategy.
I wouldn't say it if it weren't so.
***********************
Announcements
Thank you to all of you who dropped me a line this month. It has been a very difficult month. Between my former music partner quitting, my mother in the hospital, and then having my email list stolen and outrageous allegations being hurled, it has been tough. So thank you all very much for your love and friendship. I received well over a thousand e-mails on the subject I simply refer to as "The Unpleasantness of Late."
Many people whose opinions I deeply respect have told me the allegations were so very serious they require further comment from me. Since I did not take the allegations seriously, I did not think anyone else would. I was wrong. If you would like a further explanation you may click here:
https://chrischandler.org/index.php?page=notes&display=374&category=
I will leave this posted for about a week. I don't want to fill this newsletter or use this mailing list for that kind of thing.
Again thank you all sooo much for your responses.
*********************
My former music partner HAS downloaded my email list and is now capable of sending out further messages. However they can not come from chrischandler.org. My trusting nature and lack of computer skills allowed this to happen. I am sorry that I didn't change my password sooner, and I sincerely hope you are not bothered further.
*******************
I am working on three film projects.
1) A twenty minute piece on the Paterson Silk Strike. I will show and perform it on May 1st. It is coming along and I am most excited about it.
2) A concert DVD for Dave Lippman and George Shrub (Americas only known singing CIA agent www.davelippman.com
3) A music video showing the seriousness of global warming for political singer/songwriter/activist George Mann
www.georgemann.home.att.net/
If you are interested in me putting together a short film or music video for you let me know. I am good and cheap. Or at least imaginative and affordable.
*********************
I am looking for dates from San Francisco to Vancouver from July 16 through August 16.
*******************
T.H.A.N.K. .Y.O.U.
Anne Feeney, Karen Kilroy, Jim Infantino, The Great Wendini, Fishman, Scotty, Spotty, Dixie, Bandit, Shirley, Owl, Shakey Bean, Oli, All of those from the Krew of Woo Hoo " witnesses, strangers, friends and acquaintances " that chimed in with your important perspective during this difficult time, Dave Lippman, Jenny and Joe, Atmo, Pat Barnes, Barry Bachrach, Nick Annis, Henry Cross, Dave Rovics, George Mann, Frank, Kevin, Karen, Mom, all of those who have volunteered their musical services and K8T-mae.
*********************
D.A. .D.A.T.E.S.
This section is in a bit of shambles at the moment
I am booking stuff on the west coast for this summer
As things start to take shape " this will fill in with the usual number of dates.
https://chrischandler.org/index.php?page=booking
Volume VIII Issue vi
Washington, DC
T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.
****************************
T.A.B.L.E. .O.F. .C.O.N.T.E.N.T.S.
*********************
- Quick news and stuff for April
- How to get stuff
- Greetings and quick run down of recent past and the near future
- The Muse and Whirled Retort
- Announcements
- "Thank You!"
- Dates
****************************
I am looking for a new musical partner. Someone who can provide both a musical backdrop and strong stage presence. At present I am enjoying performing an exciting solo show with my guitar, recorded backdrops and film, but in truth I would rather work with someone who can be an appropriate counterpoint to my little ramblings.Guitar or piano players/ singers, DJs or even just a very good singer. Please drop me a line.
******************************
BRAND NEW for 2007:
NEW CD, AMERICAN STORYTELLER VOLS. III & IV!!
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrischandler10
We have created another double CD with fabulous special guests, bonus features, and of course including all the new material from the past year or so as well as a few most-requested favorites!
Click here to order a copy: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrischandler10
I have put up one of the new songs on myspace.
I have just gotten the CD and thank you to those of you who have ordered advance copies " I will get those in the mail ASAP sorry " I've been incredibly busy and sometimes I get a little behind.
**********************
- Welcome to the news letter - It's that time of the month again...
Biggest news this month:
The new CD! Is here! Though I think they are sold out at CD Baby but should have some real soon.
I am booking the summer and I need your help. I am looking at a route from Washington DC through Louisville, St Louis and Oklahoma to Kerrville, TX " then through New Orleans, Atlanta for the World Social Forum through NC and Virginia.
Then I will fly to Oregon pick updates from there to SF and back up through to Seattle Vancouver and Victoria and back down to Portland
If you can help out with a house concert or know of a venue " please drop me a line
Enough of the crass commercial announcements. Lets get to the news.
*********************
- And now...
T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.
The Muse and Whirled Retort
April 1, 2007
Volume VIII Issue vi
Washington, DC
Thirty four percent of the American people believe that chapter nine verse eleven of the Koran predicts the 9/11 attack by referring to the awakening of a fierce eagle." Thirty nine percent believe Elvis is still alive. Eighty Seven percent believe that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was responsible for 9-11. Seventy two percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
The truth is, I can't tell you how many people believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction or was responsible for 9-11. I just know there are a lot of them. And who can blame them really? The lie was told so often.
Many people, especially among the cynical left, have grown "wise" to duplicity in the media and they take the cop-out approach " "Well, the answer lies some where in the middle."
But the truth of the matter is, "Truth is infinite."
Infinity has no middle.
What is half of infinity?
What if the answer is "grapefruit?"
Is that somewhere in the middle?
Saying the answer is in the middle can lead to cutting babies in half " just ask King Solomon.
Joseph Goebbels said that people are more likely to believe a big lie than a smaller one. For example --
On St Patrick's Day here in DC, we had another large antiwar demonstration. The Post reported of a hundred arrests at the White House of people ummm praying without a permit. It was true " they were planned arrests. The folks arrived in buses and were all arrested. The reporters saw it; had their story and, it was off to the presses. Thing is, the protestors arrived in waves, and only the first wave got reported on. The reporters never saw the next buses arrive, or the next.
I don't know if that was bad reporting or outright lying. But, I do know that if you tell a lie often enough people will believe it. They have been telling that lie for a long time. Continuing to downplay the size and scope of this antiwar movement only continues to perpetuate the big lie.
I remember back to Oil War One ®, back with George Bush One (remember him?) In that war, George gave us a kick off time. "A line in the sand." (and we wonder where little George gets his panache for western movie slogans.) We had camped out in Lafayette Park for weeks before kick off, protesting the invasion. At night there were only a handful of us. However, during the day we got hundreds and each day closer to kickoff we got exponentially more people tailgating the oncoming war. By the time the pre-game festivities were over and the cheerleaders cheered and the drill team drilled and the marching band finished the last John Phillips Sousa march, we had thousands.
A spontaneous march formed through the streets. It was one of the most magical synergies between class, race and age I had ever seen. The old hippies were still singing "Give peace a Chance." While Hip-Hop bucket brigades of drummers chanted "Hell no we won't go " we won't die for Texaco " SEND NEIL!"
As the march left the park " the void we created was filled with counter-demonstrators in Lafayette Park. We snaked through the city calling for people to join us. Residents left their porches and joined us as the march snowballed into a battalion as it returned to the White House. By that time a line of cops on horses met our column. The cavaliers maneuvered in 360 degree dressage pirouettes of equine crowd containment forcing us back into the park that was filled with counter-demonstrators. Fights broke out. Bottles were thrown. It turned very violent " but still the cops continued pushing the two forces together.
I saw it. Clearly the cops had started, and finished the violence. I was so young and naive I that was actually shocked the next day. In the newspaper, below the fold, below the banner headlines announcing that the war had started was an article saying, "several dozen protestors hobbled down the street pelting cops with bottles and rocks."
The answer was not somewhere in the middle. It was an outright lie.
I cried. Goebbels would be proud. He would have made the perfect Madison Avenue hatchet man. Even he couldn't come up with some of our current ad campaigns. You tell a big enough lie
Burger King has one featuring tiny animated lovable employees called the Stackers' Union ®. They wear hard hats and work gloves, happily operating cranes to "construct" Whoppers ® and French Fries ®. They are very very happy with their job. They just love working for the Burger King Corporation " because when they get a break " they get Whoppers ® (Boy do they!)
They belong to a make-believe union representing cartoon character workers who make pretend money while they serve imitation food to phony consumers. It is a brilliant campaign. BK must have hired the Swift Boat Captains for Truth® folks.
"I've seen the greatest minds of my generation writing ad copy."
It is interesting that this Union was chartered exactly the time Congress was talking about raising the minimum wage in the hopes of attracting more workers from Bangladesh.
But, if they say it " it must be so
In this technological age " people like me who still use pen and paper are known as Luddites. It is meant as a derogatory term. And when you ask someone why " they love to mix stories which are variations on a theme: The Luddites were French cobblers who threw their handmade wooden shoes into the machines " to "clog" up the machinery. The word "Sabotage" comes from the French "Sabot" for wooden shoes.
Being the Luddite that I am and knowing they wouldn't say it if it weren't so, I went to Wikipedia.
Truth is, the Luddites were disgruntled textile workers in Nottingham, England (not France) in the early 1800s who protested against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which threatened their livelihood. It was a labor issue, not a technological one. They did destroy machinery " not too dissimilar from what eco-terrorists do.
The movement was named after a mythical leader, Ned Ludd " a made up word " like Exxon or Kleenex. The leader's name was a nom de plume - like Deep Throat " made up to assure the anonymity of the radical.
The movement, as labor movements often are " was so strong that it clashed in battles with the British Army, and won. Their principle objection was the loss of jobs " not technology itself.
The word sabotage " by the way " does come from the French word Sabot " but it refers to railroad ties (or wooden shoe) that were cut by the French in World War One (remember that one?) It was a century after the Luddites.
People throwing wooden shows into the gears of machines turns out to be as factual as the Nigerian Yellow Cake.
But in a way these things are true " because they make such great stories people will rally around them " fight and die for them.
That, my friends is more true than truth.
I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. It is in the telling of the tale that makes it so. A true story has a way of sticking around for a while. Even if it is a story.
Christ was killed by a horrific form of capital punishment (as opposed to the humane ones we use today) and rose from the dead. His followers formed a great church that would change the world. Otherwise he might have ended up being as famous as Michael Servetus. You've heard of him right? See what I mean.
In 1533 he was burned at the stake for professing that worship was a matter of personal choice. He did not rise from the dead literally but in a sense he did. His ideas were the basis for a great church that may one day change the world: The Unitarian Universalists.
Because the Jews are much better storytellers than the Unitarians not many people know about Michael Servetus.
But on the other hand, there was never a Unitarian Inquisition.
The Rapture is not an exit strategy.
I wouldn't say it if it weren't so.
***********************
Announcements
Thank you to all of you who dropped me a line this month. It has been a very difficult month. Between my former music partner quitting, my mother in the hospital, and then having my email list stolen and outrageous allegations being hurled, it has been tough. So thank you all very much for your love and friendship. I received well over a thousand e-mails on the subject I simply refer to as "The Unpleasantness of Late."
Many people whose opinions I deeply respect have told me the allegations were so very serious they require further comment from me. Since I did not take the allegations seriously, I did not think anyone else would. I was wrong. If you would like a further explanation you may click here:
https://chrischandler.org/index.php?page=notes&display=374&category=
I will leave this posted for about a week. I don't want to fill this newsletter or use this mailing list for that kind of thing.
Again thank you all sooo much for your responses.
*********************
My former music partner HAS downloaded my email list and is now capable of sending out further messages. However they can not come from chrischandler.org. My trusting nature and lack of computer skills allowed this to happen. I am sorry that I didn't change my password sooner, and I sincerely hope you are not bothered further.
*******************
I am working on three film projects.
1) A twenty minute piece on the Paterson Silk Strike. I will show and perform it on May 1st. It is coming along and I am most excited about it.
2) A concert DVD for Dave Lippman and George Shrub (Americas only known singing CIA agent www.davelippman.com
3) A music video showing the seriousness of global warming for political singer/songwriter/activist George Mann
www.georgemann.home.att.net/
If you are interested in me putting together a short film or music video for you let me know. I am good and cheap. Or at least imaginative and affordable.
*********************
I am looking for dates from San Francisco to Vancouver from July 16 through August 16.
*******************
T.H.A.N.K. .Y.O.U.
Anne Feeney, Karen Kilroy, Jim Infantino, The Great Wendini, Fishman, Scotty, Spotty, Dixie, Bandit, Shirley, Owl, Shakey Bean, Oli, All of those from the Krew of Woo Hoo " witnesses, strangers, friends and acquaintances " that chimed in with your important perspective during this difficult time, Dave Lippman, Jenny and Joe, Atmo, Pat Barnes, Barry Bachrach, Nick Annis, Henry Cross, Dave Rovics, George Mann, Frank, Kevin, Karen, Mom, all of those who have volunteered their musical services and K8T-mae.
*********************
D.A. .D.A.T.E.S.
This section is in a bit of shambles at the moment
I am booking stuff on the west coast for this summer
As things start to take shape " this will fill in with the usual number of dates.
https://chrischandler.org/index.php?page=booking