On Blueberry Hill

The well-barbered man could have done better. He could have been on the flooded ground within hours. He could have been right there at the damn levee. But blaming George Bush for the looters? I can see where you're coming from, but look at the other side of the coin, that's all. There is always the other side, always. Are the American people so inherently lawless that they would quickly (three days, anyone?) yield to the pressure and opportunity to loot, pillage, even rape? Well, of course they are, dammit. They're humans. But that doesn't make the looters and the gangs any less responsible for their own actions. And it doesn't make GB any more or less responsible for them than he was the day before the hurricane pinwheeled New Orleans. The point I think is most disgusting is that many notable politicians, entertainers, bloggers, even (Daily Kos, I'm looking watchfully at you), are taking what should be an opportunity to help their neighbour and turning it into an opportunity to attack. Hopefully, this trend will decrease over the coming days and weeks, and people will use their anger and energy for positive ends, and not negative. Running George Bush down does nothing for New Orleans. It did nothing for the three thousand who died in the Twin Towers, it did nothing for the London deaths and deaths in Madrid, it's doing nothing for the millions of oppressed Sunnis, and it will do nothing for the thousands of people trapped in various superdomes across the USA. Luckily, I'm Canadian, and live so far and safely away from most everybody that I can afford to criticize the critics. Enough of them. Ignore Bush, too. What about the man standing in deep flood-water, the woman sleeping on an overpass, the nearly-dying elderly, the little children murdered? Forget about Bush. Forget about policy. Who cares about Republicans or Democrats? I hope Fats Domino is still alive. The old New Orleans saint said he was going to weather the storm in his house. And no more news. That part of the city is flooded, of course. It's only temporary. Blueberry Hill is going to outlast the Whitehouse, and it's going to wear out the haters and partisans, too. I hope Fats Domino is alright. I hope he's got some food, and a dry place, and a piano, maybe. And if he doesn't, and if everything is too late, the man died where he made his home, in the city where he made his music, a music that made the world, despite all manner of hurricanes, terrorists, tragedy and difficult change, a smoother and easier place to know. Because that's New Orleans, and that's Fats Domino. Leave the President be. We're apart, I see it, and hard times have come, hunger, and violence. But the world is still here, and one day you'll be easy and smooth again, and, if you aren't and it isn't, well, I know some good music to while away the day with, and you do, too. Let's say a prayer for Biloxi.

[Edit: Fats is alive!]

Listening: They've got the usual Broken Social Scene connections and they were just in town (that "just" happens to be two weeks ago in Edmonton, by the way), crafting some tunes down at The Starlite and opening for Pretty Girls Make Graves. I didn't go because that's what I do. Not going, that is. Sort of become my identity lately, if you know what I mean. If you don't, sorry, you must have a life. Lose it, hipster, if you want to be cool. Anyways, Robots posted them just a while ago (that "just" happens to be a week ago in Minneapolis), so I thought I would lay out a link or two of my own. The music is good, heavy on the indie, heavy on the pop, and I can't think of a single reason not to buy this CD. They've got the twee-est website ever, and they've "all realized just how big Canada is". Come on, you've gotta love it. "Where Cedar Nouns And Adverbs Walk" + The Most Serene Republic