There is so much I want to say about the @KakiKing show at World Cafe Live last night

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694 3 I became acquainted with this artist by means of a Synthopia post that featured Ms. King trying out the new Moog guitar.  I was impressed with the instrument and the artist’s unique approach – fingerpicking, percussive hits and ethereal phrasing and composition.  A little research revealed that Ms. King had a prior YouTube hit with “Playing With Pink Noise“.  This showed off her Michael Hedges-esque chops.  Having seen Hedges open up for Leo Kottke in the late 80’s and being rather surprised at his unorthodox approach, I found Pink Noise to be nothing too special.

But then I got to know King’s then (and still) current release, Junior.  This features electric compositions and full band treatment for King’s unique talents.  It’s a stupendous record and the first track even features audio samples from The Prisoner television series.  If you want to get me weak in the knees real fast, that’s a good strategy.

So, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to finally see Ms. King in concert last night at the World Cafe Live.  The opening act was Joe Robinson, who, at the tender age of 18, has achieved a prodigious mastery of the 6-string acoustic guitar.  Again, we were treated to a lot of the classic Michael Hedges approach.  This was a bit incongruous, since Robinson was merely six years of age when Hedges died in a car accident.  And, of course, Mr. Robinson was not even alive when I saw Hedges open for Kottke.  While Robinson’s haircut and tender good looks can’t help but make one think of Justin Bieber, his utter domination of his instrument was extraordinary to watch, but also off-putting.  So much of it was saying “look at mee!!  Look at all the amazing things I can do on guitar!”  The effect was generally intolerable.

Which brings us to the evening’s feature presentation.  I noted with disappointment that Ms. King would not be accompanied by a band for this concert.  After the grating annoyance of the opening act, I steeled myself for an additional let-down.  Fortunately, I could not have been more wrong.

What followed was one of the most introspective and heartfelt performances this side of a Frippertronics exhibition.  King, despite her monumental talent and commitment to her craft, did not echo her opening act’s bombastic dominion.  In fact, the only similarity between the two was that they both played a stringed, acoustic instrument.

By contrast, King interacted with her numerous guitars, seeming to search and find her compositions lurking within.  I was reminded (I swear to god) of the incomplete sculptures of Michelangelo, beautiful human forms emerging from jagged marble.  She sang only two songs for the entire performance and focused the remainder the evening on her searching and delicate compositions.  This is not an experience that could be approximated with a bootleg or a live album.  It was absolutely essential to be in the performance space to hear every scrape of the strings and to see the artist move silently into the trance of the moment.  King channeled her audience’s excitement and attentiveness into a very raw energy that was focused completely on her interaction with the instrument.  There was no dancing about, no clever asides or quotes contained within the music (an appalling strategy employed by too many virtuosos, including the opening act and, sadly, Mr. Hedges himself).

I felt honored to be part of King’s process last night.  In addition to her beloved Ovation Adamas, she showcased a variety of bizarre variations, including a miniature 12-string, a dobro/banjo combination, a harp guitar for her version of Hedges “Because It’s There” and a 7-string nylon with fanned frets, among others.  Between songs King claimed to be still familiarizing herself with the techniques required to manage these musical monstrosities.

So there we all were, in one space of quite contemplation and musical ecstasy where, as Fripp likes to say, the music begins to play the musician and life becomes most real.  It was an enormously effective and moving experience for me.

Bring Me The Head Of Lance Henriksen

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Untitled from Grizzly Peak Films on Vimeo.

I’m not sure if I would say that Tim Thomerson is a national treasure, but for someone my age (39), who grew up with cheap, straight-to-cable movies that showed after hours on Cinemax and Showtime, before the era of Sharktopus and Mad Men, there were certain performers who, despite the schlock they were working on, elevated the material with their talent and professionalism.  And we saw them again and again, in b-movie after b-movie.  They worked cheap, they worked hard, and they were pretty damn good actors.

A little research reveals that the two I saw most often, working in ten or more films a year during the late 80’s and early 90’s, (not to mention EVERY TV show in the 80’s, from Dukes of Hazzard to Matlock) were actually partners in crime off the set.  As much as I saw Thomerson’s tough-guy, leading man stuff, I probably saw Brion James‘ signature bad-guy even more.  And it turns out they were cooks together in a tank company of the national guard.

James went on to become an icon for his performance as Leon in Blade Runner.  If he had never done anything else, he would always be remembered for that role.  But there is no doubt in my mind that what makes Leon so special is the extra quality that James brought to the part.  Without his artistry the richness of that portrayal would not exist.  James didn’t really become a “big time movie star” after that (certainly not like Harrison Ford), but he enjoyed a new level of respect as he continued in his usual modus operandi until his untimely death in 1999.

Thomerson has never had that “one role” for which he will forever be remembered, perhaps until now.  “Bring Me The Head of Lance Henriksen” is a mockumentary in the style of Spinal Tap that uses comedy to highlight the ageism that extremely talented performers like Thomerson now face as they move into their 60’s and 70’s.  The premise is that all those leading man roles are going to Lance Henriksen and Thomerson can’t get any work as a result.  The indie project now appears to be fully funded, and, based on the trailer, looks delightful.

As very young viewer, I was really drawn to these quirky, low budget movies, featuring Brion James, Tim Thomerson, and yes, even Lance Henriksen.  It is only now that I realize why – the craft and talent of intensely committed professionals.  I am looking forward to a film that celebrates their legacy.

Want to be a Judge in Philadelphia Courts? Get in line to buy some votes!

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There are those who are jaded who will say that, “Of course, this thing happens all the time.”  And there are those who will say that Philadelphia and corruption go together like a bagel and cream cheese, but the practiced described herein is not illegal.  And now that I see some of my peers (Emily’s peers, actually) running for Judge, well, I just don’t know.  But, in the meantime, here’s some facts for you from today’s Inquirer:

“It’s ‘the process,’ ” said Ladov, among 45 candidates for 10 spots on Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court. The 10-year term comes with a $164,602 salary.

Eleven candidates are vying for one slot on Municipal Court, a job that lasts six years and pays $160,793.

“Either you fold your arms across your chest and say you don’t like the process and, therefore, ‘I am not going to be involved and not going to serve the people,’ ” Ladov said, “or you say, ‘This is the process. If I get elected, I can do good, and I can make a meaningful contribution.’ “

She chose the latter, and she is paying thousands of dollars to hire two “consultants,” including still-influential former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers, jailed in 1981 in the Abscam scandal, and a 30-year ward leader, John Sabatina, who works to persuade other ward leaders to back his judicial candidates.

“I’m working 24 hours a day trying to make sure these people get covered all over, from wards to churches to wherever there can be an asset to their candidacy,” said Sabatina, who also is helping three other would-be judges this year. For his work, they pay him $20,000 to $35,000 apiece.

Do the math or get the goat!

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I originally got this story from the wonderful WWW trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer, second book, which is WWW:Watch.  The idea is that you are on “Let’s Make A Deal” and you can pick from one of three doors.  Behind one door is a brand new car.  Behind each of the other two doors is a goat.  You make your choice (door No. 1, 2 or 3) and Monty Hall opens one of the other two doors to reveal – a goat.  Then he says you can change your mind or you can stay with your original choice.  What do you do?

Cancerninja posted this on her tumblr and I see that the scenario was discussed in another book, one I have not read, called The Curious Case of the Dog In The Night, by Mark Haddon.

The point is that every fiber of my being says it doesn’t matter if you change your mind about the remaining two doors.  But Marilyn vos Savant proved that your chances of getting the car go WAY up if you simply change your mind when confronted with the 50/50 proposition.

In WWW:Watch, Sawyer reasoned that the natural selection had not favored the trait of accurately evaluating probability because of the following scenario:  If proto man see a rustling in the bush and there is a 1 in 10 chance the rustling is a hungry tiger, and proto-man plays the odds, 1 in 10 times he will get eaten.  But if proto-man always thinks its a tiger, he will be wrong 9 out of ten times, but he will still be alive.

Anyway, here is vos Saavant’s proof, as reprinted in the Cancerninja post:

I have no idea what any of that means, but it looks awfully cool.  Would you have thought that changing your mind would have improved your odds of getting the car?

And remember, all of this starts with the basic assumption that you don’t want a goat.

The Facebook issue, once again, but this time with feeling!

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Perhaps I had a bit too much caffeine too late in the day, but here at 10:30PM at the end of an otherwise lovely weekend, I feel the need, once again, to address the “Facebook situation”.

But let’s talk about something else, like music.  That should make the conversation a little easier to understand.  There are nearly limitless choices for your listening pleasure out there.  Some of you may even prefer not to listen to any music at all.  And that is ALL good.

Now, it may come to pass that one day, a dear friend, like someone really important to you, might say, “Hey, friend!  Listen to this GREAT music.  I mean you REALLY have to listen to this music, because it is SO good and I love it so much!”  And the hope is that you and your friend will be able to enjoy this great music together and have this as a space where you can share your mutual affection.  The two of you can exist together enjoying this music together and it will be this really nice connection as you share something wonderful.  Sounds great, no?

Except, what happens if you listen to this music, which your good friend REALLY LOVES SO MUCH, and then, after really giving it a chance, you decide, you know what?  I’m afraid I just don’t like this music so much.  Does this mean that you can’t be friends?  Does this mean that you will never get to find out what’s going on in your friend’s life?  Because you don’t listen to the same music?  I mean, that’s REALLY crazy, right?

Except, that’s exactly what happens to people who don’t like Facebook.  It’s not that I don’t like the people on Facebook.  Hell, I’m related to a lot of them, and others are great and dear friends for many years.  But, for fuck’s sake, IT’S NOT THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, ALRIGHT?!?!?

There may not be as many choices for communication as there are choices for music.  A lot of people I know who use Facebook A LOT, don’t like Twitter.  And Tumblr is so wonderful, but no one is making a movie about that any time soon.  But you know what?  Email works pretty good, text messaging, Google Groups, WordPress, Posterous, Last.fm – I mean, this is just to name a few.  Also, there’s this thing called a telephone, if you really want to get technical.

But no – everyone uses Facebook because everyone else uses it.  DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID THAT IS?!?  DO YOU REALIZE THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE?!?

And it makes me feel like I am trapped in a room with Top 40 radio playing the SAME THREE SONGS over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…