tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39325777211662822112009-12-06T00:02:27.412-08:00"Living my life. So that you don't have to."Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.comBlogger812125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-25653266006548025362009-09-29T17:37:00.000-07:002009-09-29T17:50:47.695-07:00

I know something about panhandlers. For fifteen years, I’ve worked at Real Change, in Belltown. We’re across the street from DSHS, a few doors over from a residential program for low-income mentally ill people, and half a block from a convenience store that does a brisk trade in malt liquor and fortified wine. When I walk down the street, I get asked for change and cigarettes about every

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-60711322169576273672009-06-18T01:53:00.000-07:002009-06-18T02:03:34.921-07:00

Men walkin' long the railroad tracksGoin someplace there's no goin' backHighway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridgeHot soup on a campfire under the bridgeShelter line stretchin' round the cornerWelcome to the New World OrderFamilies sleepin' in their cars in the southwestNo home no job no peace no restThe highway is alive tonightBut nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goesI'm sittin' down

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-74430087115343936102009-06-11T22:16:00.000-07:002009-06-18T02:56:04.188-07:00

This one evolved over a week. After I got comfortable with the bass line and then got inside it to work my way out again the song began to happen. Once I put the lead in there, it became a thing to behold. This is supposed to move like a black 79 Buick Skylark with a body in the trunk, doing a steady, unobtrusive, 62 MPH.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-1542913818848084122009-06-01T23:36:00.000-07:002009-06-01T23:52:42.588-07:00

Here's a tight interview that ran today on America's Disappeared, a program of the Prisoners Education Network that airs monthly on KSER 90.7 FM in Everett. I go into the links between homelessness and incarceration, talk up the Initiative 100 campaign to stop Seattle's proposed new city jail, and describe what would happen if I were in charge.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-33327073972514251962009-05-29T23:30:00.000-07:002009-05-29T23:45:28.712-07:00

Tonight I found a cool groove on the Dylan classic that kind of takes it away from sixties folk dirge and makes it sound as though it was recorded maybe sometime in the past decade. The song is, after all, timeless. The photo is of General Peter Pace, Chairmen of the joint Chiefs of Staff. It links to an article about him saying homosexuality is "immoral." Dick.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-47207684138358144952009-05-14T22:40:00.000-07:002009-05-14T22:46:39.524-07:00

I've been staring down the piano I bought last December for awhile and got out my "You Can Play Piano" book about a month ago. The "Notes on the Keyboard" explanation on page 4 was very helpful. I haven't re-opened it since. A few days later, as I was absorbing the news of Michael Garcia's death the night before, I started playing with a minor key blues thing that became, in my mind, his song.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-90169049955766636542009-04-11T01:41:00.000-07:002009-04-12T22:40:12.674-07:00

I spent most of my drive time the last few days hitting repeat on this song off Nick Cave's Kicking Against The Pricks album. I'm pretty sure I've heard Bruce Springsteen do it as well. It's a goddamn metaphor for dislocation, desperation, and being swept away. After a few days, I got clear that this one's supposed to be hard, dark, and bluesy as hell. That's actually an acoustic guitar in

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-59295422951313847192009-04-08T23:41:00.001-07:002009-04-08T23:55:01.642-07:00

This is wrong on so many levels, but brilliant nonetheless. Take the best scene of the best horror movie of all time, make it into a sick musical, and then have some genius come along and do the whole damn thing in Legos. It's a cultural landmark by accretion. Amazing.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-6746600248100241012009-03-27T00:39:00.000-07:002009-03-27T01:00:01.316-07:00

One of these days this blog will get back to substance, and I'll again recommend coming here to friends, but for now, here's a picture of my new 70's era Sears brand Harmony electric guitar with its groovy surfer-dude pick-up and the 1970 Silvertone tube amp (also by Sears) that I got along with it. They have a sound of their own that I'm learning to love. The amp comes with a cool little foot

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-34555977315488828832009-03-17T22:26:00.000-07:002009-03-22T00:17:05.296-07:00

I got on this today by messing with the little E run that starts this song, and it kind of went from there. This is what burn out looks like. It's not pretty. Above is an image from a Bloomingdale window display. Below is one of those sophisticated sexy twenties proto-Mickey Mouse cartoons that I can't get enough of.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-42518009848654815232009-03-15T21:01:00.000-07:002009-03-15T21:11:36.061-07:00

This blog has gone to hell since I started playing guitar more, joined Facebook, and got busier and more stressed than I've been in my entire life. But I do find time to play. Here's Pablo Picasso, by me, influenced by the Modern Lovers, John Cale, and possibly The Stooges. My staccato sixteenth notes suck, but that's why they call it "Garageband." Below is John Cale in 1984, being very John

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-19997424444264873882009-03-11T02:15:00.000-07:002009-03-11T02:21:10.670-07:00

Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's Phaedra, by Tim and Revel. Don't ask me what this song is about. I don't know. But it's cool. Very cool.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-82935573631440702982009-03-06T09:04:00.000-08:002009-03-06T09:16:00.930-08:00

My interview with the Socialist Worker published yesterday, and was a rare opportunity to describe my notions of how homelessness and incarceration link as issues and the overall landscape of our times. They did a really nice job of going to the core of a very long interview and making me sound smart. I'm beginning to get past my innate bias against the silliness of the sectarian left and am

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-78535207985863661052009-03-05T22:11:00.000-08:002009-03-04T23:00:23.680-08:00

Tonight I went over to Interaction/Transition, an ex-offender re-entry program up in the CD, to hear Khalil Osiris, a man who earned two degrees from Boston University during his twenty years of incarceration in Ohio and went on to be one of the nations leading experts on prisoner re-entry and education. He's an amazing presence. A soul-driven soldier of the dispossessed. Brilliant,

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-5842508483327599082009-03-04T09:53:00.001-08:002009-03-04T10:40:59.431-08:00

This morning I was focusing on my core priorities, which meant catching up on email and deleting spam, when I came across a PSA for a new website, AdultADHDisreal.com. I immediately downloaded the PSAs, visited the website, smoked a cigarette and remembered to take my medication before going onto five other things, playing a little guitar, and eventually coming back to the email clearance

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-22874798601725144162009-03-03T22:33:00.000-08:002009-03-03T22:44:51.044-08:00

This week’s $30 billion federal gift to AIG exemplifies everything wrong with government by FIRE. The financial, insurance, and real estate sectors that, by virtue of having more money than god, have co-opted the democratic process, just dipped deep into our pockets to grope for another big wad of cash. By treating our economy as an enormous floating crap game, these sectors have enriched

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-22866843795187960302009-03-03T05:05:00.000-08:002009-03-03T06:25:55.444-08:00

I came across this on Facebook at 5 a.m. on a sleepless night and it ripped me open. Dayna Kurtz was a college housemate and friend back around the mid-80s that I'd lost track of until the miracle of social networking reunited us. She was a talent even then and played a bar here and there. Now, well, she's a hard working NY-based pro who's huge in Amsterdam and known throughout Europe. I had

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-12198357623337183282009-02-28T03:36:00.001-08:002009-02-28T03:39:00.065-08:00

I copied and pasted the last three months of Apesma into Wordie to see what would happen. Pretty cool. It's like a schematic of one part of my brain.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-39981447346934714982009-02-26T23:10:00.000-08:002009-02-26T23:20:02.235-08:00

I've been obsessing over this song this week and got to the heart of it this morning. You know when you've nailed it, and this feels right. Meanwhile, I came across this: Smokey Robinson, on Sesame Street, where the letter U is holding him tighter, tighter, tighter ...

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-67281170927886280852009-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:002009-02-22T09:38:29.532-08:00

This morning's 8 a.m. Garageband creation. I was doing my morning coffee and frozen waffles and picked up the guitar to do The Passenger in a single track, as opposed to recording guitar and vocals separately. More of an in the moment sort of an approach. I'm thinking I need to start playing bigger venues than my kitchen table. I may need to get dressed first.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-67441307736833703412009-02-21T20:37:00.000-08:002009-02-21T20:46:56.940-08:00

You know I'm way pressed when I drop back to posting once or twice a week. How busy is too busy? This is too busy. So, here's something I wrote today for the University of Massachusetts Amherst program in Social Thought and Political Economy newsletter, because the program director, who I adore, asked me to. I'm sure they won't mind being scooped.How does one meet the immediate survival needs

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-28531689721346505372009-02-20T20:56:00.000-08:002009-02-21T20:58:13.356-08:00

Revel turned me on to this one. I can't believe I've never seen it. Henry Rollins rocks my world.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-12559233164353447292009-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:002009-02-21T21:19:36.880-08:00

My voice keeps getting more loose, ruined, and expressive. Here's the reason I only got 2 hours sleep the night before the I-100 launch party. Picking up my guitar and opening Garageband at midnight is always a mistake, especially when I'm committed to being downtown at 6. Happily, I do well under pressure.

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-11782701344633842452009-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:002009-02-13T02:40:02.387-08:00

When I found myself asking the question, "Gil Kerlikowske? Obama "Drug Czar" appointee? WTF?," the first place I turned was the excellent Injustice in Seattle blog for an informed opinion. Here's a guy who allowed the raid of a medical marijuana clinic and opposed an initiative to make marijuana prosecution a low police priority, but has some center-liberal opinions about drug treatment being a

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-78829394838867415532009-02-10T22:39:00.000-08:002009-02-10T23:12:17.920-08:00

Speaking of institutional racism, today I spent five minutes on the sidewalk with one of our vendors, and my sense of outrage us up to around a 9.7 on a scale of 1-10. Donald Morehead, a poster child for the screwed, poor, and dark-skinned if ever there was, had the misfortune to be standing while Black last month in one of Seattle’s drug enforcement zones. The arresting officer grabbed him by

Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222themoonistoocold@hotmail.com3