Exam = Passed

While writing the previous post I got a call from my GPD/Committee chair congratulating me on passing the written portion of my major field exam. To say that it's a weight off my shoulders would be an understatement. She told me that I had good answers, appropriate in length, scope, and usefulness of sources. I feel like this deserves it's own separate posting because it's such a milestone. I don't envy anyone who has to undergo this process, and at my institution I'm not a fan of some of the particulars (ex: closed note), but it's a good feeling to have passed. Now it's just the matter of the oral component and on to dissertation! In the words of Nick Monterosso "hooray for me!"

A rare political piece

As an historian, my girlfriend often chides me about my total lack of regard for contemporary American politics. But what can I say? It's all the same posturing, nothing ever changes, and frankly it's not very interesting. However, last night on Leno I caught part of his interview with Republican candidate Ron Paul and I was impressed with what the guy had to say. Mainly, I enjoyed his strong adherence to republicanism (with a small "r"), that is, keeping government small and letting social and economic forces play out in a free market. This got me wondering about where we went wrong as a political nation. Clearly, I think it was the New Deal that created a government people needed and relied on. Of course, this was a matter of survival in the 30s and 40s. Then in the 50s it seems like the government started to exploit the system in a way that only worsened in the 60s and 70s. By that time, federal government was too big to reduce, and the coming of Reagan was the final straw. Today though, despite an economic recession, I think it's more important than ever to reduce the size of the national government and allot greater sovereignty to individual states. It just seems that the entire system is broke and needs to be fixed, and reducing the size of government is one feasible way and one that is in accordance with the principles this nation was founded upon. Furthermore, accountability would be restored on an individual and local level.

Since we're talking about a system overhaul, I think one area politicians need to look is the state of campaigning in this country. Yes, we are a large country with a population over 300 million, but that is no reason to have 1-2 year presidential campaigns. The British parliamentary system has is right. When the British form a new government they campaign for about a month and then have their elections. How pleasant would it be to simply have campaigns in October and then vote in November. There's less posturing, bullshit, and mudslinging that way and it is much more cost effective. By having less time to run a campaign it would be easier (theoretically) for individuals of more modest means to gain access to the American political system. If there is a more socially representative population in the house and the senate then there would be less need for PACs and other lobby groups. It just seems to me that solutions are simple, but that people don't want to have to deal with the whining and are unwilling to undergo a little hardship for the greater, long-term good. That myopic perspective is what got us here in the first place.

Toots and The Maytals, Chris Pierce, and the House of Blues

So last night my girlfriend and I went to go see Toots and The Maytals at the House of Blues here in Chicago. It was my first show at the main theatre at the HOB blues so I was looking forward to it. That, and when I was a Freshman in undergrad a co-worker saw Toots and raved about it. I've been meaning to see him ever since but never got around to it until yesterday. Toots put on a great show. He's got to be in his 60s and he's still the consummate entertainer. Seeing Toots also make me realize how unique Bob Marley was as an artist. While Toots' main focus seems to be entertaining, Marley had other motives. He was much more concerned with raising consciousness about injustice and inequality, but did so in a manner that remained entertaining. It goes to show that Marley really transcended the boundaries of performer, entertainer, evangelist, and activist.

One of the opening acts (yes, plural - more on that in a minute) was a guy named Chris Pierce. Being the music snob I am, I tend to be skeptical of opening acts but Chris and his band performed admirably. They had a nice balance of soul, gospel, blues, reggae, and rock. Really a pleasant listen. He reminded me a bit of Amos Lee. There were some sound issues with Chris' set, mainly the bass was too loud and completely washed out. However, the HOB let the band use their house Hammond B-3, which complemented their sound nicely. I had the pleasure of talking to the drummer after their set. A very nice guy (who played a really stripped down kit and made it work very well, I might add) who seconded my thoughts on the sound issue (The sound did improve for Toots' set).

Had the aforementioned acts contained the entirety of the show, it would have been a rousing success. However, in between these two highlights was one of the worst bands I've ever seen. First of all, this show was on a Tuesday night and didn't start until 9pm. Why on earth there needed to be more than one opening band is beyond me. This meant that Toots didn't go on until about 11:30pm, probably about the time he would have been finishing up had the second band not played. I would be much happier today if that had happened, my ears would feel better, I wouldn't be so tired, and Katie would have stayed for the whole show (having a REAL job gets in the way of late night concerts). The terrible sound (engineering-wise) continued with the Fear Nuttin' Band, and their music was so putrid that it just exacerbated the situation to the extreme. Chris Pierce offered a pleasant segue to Toots, I can see why they shared a bill. But this other band created a jarring fissure between the other two performances. They played what they called "Yardcore," a mixture of Jamaican music (hence the "Yard") and hardcore. The end result of this equation was basically a Linkin Park type of sound (one song sounded kind of like 311) but without any semblance of melody or songcraftsmanship. If the goal is to be loud and atonal they were certainly good at that. The singers were two Jamaicans who spat fast paced Jamaican patois at the audience and struggled mightily when a measure of (attempted) melody crept into their songs. The audience had to suffer through this wall of noise for a good 45 minutes. I feel sorry for audiences of Toots' upcoming shows on the East Coast as apparently these guys are opening for the next couple weeks. A shock to the system indeed. Needless to say, I'll do a bit more research before I go see another show at the House of Blues, especially in terms of concert start times and opening acts. Although I'd love to see Chris Pierce come back to Chicago and put on a full set.

Chicago Marathon = Disaster

I'm amazed at how poorly run this year's Chicago marathon was - and no, not by the actual runners. It's like as though the 90 degree heat was a surprise, which makes the lack of water and paramedics seem more like poor planning than anything else. I know a bunch of people who ran this year and last year and the difference was staggering. Granted the weather last year was better, but regardless the people who organize these events generally have an idea of what would be necessary to have a safe, successful run. Moving the start time up would have been one logical option. It just seems ridiculous that it took hundreds in the hospitalized and one dead to highlight the ineptitude of this year's marathon. Let's hope next year will see the return of a well-run marathon and a little more amicable running weather.