Frank Gutch Jr: Look What They’ve Done to my Country, Ma! (Thoughts inspired by Alistair Cooke, Header inspired by Melanie Safka); Plus Notes…..

Pardon me while I get serious for a moment.  My country seems intent upon flushing itself down the toilet and before it does I would like to share a few words with you about– Alistair Cooke?  But he is (or was) not even American!  True, but he is (or was) more American than many of the people who portray themselves as “patriots” (I put it in quotes to point out that the word has been cheapened and no longer holds value to me).  I too think it strange that I would look to a “foreigner” to make my case about The Unites States, but it seems natural.

Frank Gutch Jr: O Canada: A Nod to The Great White North— (and more of them goddamn notes)

 I am a lost Son of Canada.  I must be.  I love Canadian bacon, though bacon it not really be (except maybe technically).  I love Jennifer Dale, an actor who deserved much more than she has been afforded,  respect-wise (I reveled in her work on Canadian TV and film during Comcast’s all-too-short span of including CTV and CBC on their cable lineups in the ’80s).  I love Due South, one of the most creative and funny-on-so-many-levels series TV has ever created (the transition of Ray to Ray— David Marciano to Callum Keith Rennie— a work of pure writing craftmanship).

Frank Gutch Jr: Down Under Down Under: Band Picks By My Favorite Aussie Musicians

God, but I love Australia.  I love the openness and the freedom and the idealism.  I love their uniqueness— I mean, what other continents have such cool animals as the duck-billed platypus and kangaroo and koala.  What other continent has the history, much of it forgotten outside that country’s boundaries— the penal colonies (Did you know that England sent their undesirables to the soon-to-be United States before diverting them to Australia? Colonies were colonies to those inbred bastards back then, eh?), the rabbit roundups (The newsreel clips are pure science fiction! Check out the little video I found on Youtube which highlights the problems of invasive species down under), the flying doctors, the centralization of schools.  The Outback.  Uluru (Ayers Rock to those outside Australia), The Great Barrier Reef.

Frank Gutch Jr: Sacred Cows of Music, Indies You Don’t Want To Miss, Tom House, The Fire Tapes, A Reminder About Jon Gomm’s Upcoming Canadian Tour and Notes, Notes, Notes…..

I follow Jaimie Vernon on Facebook not because he has anything to say (kidding, Jaimie) but because he has a way of pushing buttons that bring out the worst in people.  When he’s pissed or maybe just  mischievous, he can bring out more of a knee-jerk reaction than an “I Love Obama” placard at a Tea Party convention.  And he did.  Last week.  I can’t quite remember what he posted originally, but I do remember the responses, many of which make me shake my head.  They weren’t pretty.  His response to those was a bit of an I-get-this-kind-of-asshole-response-every-time-I-post-something-not-glowing-about-the-(insert iconic idol here).  In other words, he, like myself, does not love The Beatles just because they were The Beatles and God forbid he make such a statement public.