tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39325777211662822112012-01-31T05:30:56.782-08:00Apesma's Lament"Living my life. So that you don't have to."Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.comBlogger8121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-25653266006548025362009-09-29T17:37:00.000-07:002009-09-29T17:50:47.695-07:00Tim Burgess' Class WarI 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com90tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-60711322169576273672009-06-18T01:53:00.000-07:002009-06-18T02:03:34.921-07:00The Ghost of Tom JoadMen 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' downTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-74430087115343936102009-06-11T22:16:00.000-07:002009-06-18T02:56:04.188-07:00State TrooperThis 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-1542913818848084122009-06-01T23:36:00.000-07:002009-06-01T23:52:42.588-07:00If I Were King ...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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-33327073972514251962009-05-29T23:30:00.000-07:002009-05-29T23:45:28.712-07:00Masters of WarTonight 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-47207684138358144952009-05-14T22:40:00.000-07:002009-05-14T22:46:39.524-07:00Blues for Michael GarciaI'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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-90169049955766636542009-04-11T01:41:00.000-07:002009-04-12T22:40:12.674-07:00Muddy WatersI 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-59295422951313847192009-04-08T23:41:00.001-07:002009-04-08T23:55:01.642-07:00Sick But AwesomeThis 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-6746600248100241012009-03-27T00:39:00.000-07:002009-03-27T01:00:01.316-07:00My Shiny New Retro Sears GuitarOne 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-34555977315488828832009-03-17T22:26:00.000-07:002009-03-22T00:17:05.296-07:00Little Red Riding HoodI 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-42518009848654815232009-03-15T21:01:00.000-07:002009-03-15T21:11:36.061-07:00Pablo Picasso, Or The Further Devolution of MeThis 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-19997424444264873882009-03-11T02:15:00.000-07:002009-03-11T02:21:10.670-07:00PhaedraLee 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-82935573631440702982009-03-06T09:04:00.000-08:002009-03-06T09:16:00.930-08:00I Embrace SocialismMy 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-78535207985863661052009-03-05T22:11:00.000-08:002009-03-04T23:00:23.680-08:00Khalil OsirisTonight 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-5842508483327599082009-03-04T09:53:00.001-08:002009-03-04T10:40:59.431-08:00Public Service AnnouncementThis 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-22874798601725144162009-03-03T22:33:00.000-08:002009-03-03T22:44:51.044-08:00Government By FIREThis 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-22866843795187960302009-03-03T05:05:00.000-08:002009-03-03T06:25:55.444-08:00Crush RevivedI 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-12198357623337183282009-02-28T03:36:00.001-08:002009-02-28T03:39:00.065-08:00My WordcloudI 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-39981447346934714982009-02-26T23:10:00.000-08:002009-02-26T23:20:02.235-08:00U Really Got A Hold On MeI'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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-67281170927886280852009-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:002009-02-22T09:38:29.532-08:00Let's Take A Ride ...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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-67441307736833703412009-02-21T20:37:00.000-08:002009-02-21T20:46:56.940-08:00For The Alma MaterYou 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 needsTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-28531689721346505372009-02-20T20:56:00.000-08:002009-02-21T20:58:13.356-08:00LiarRevel 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-12559233164353447292009-02-19T21:07:00.000-08:002009-02-21T21:19:36.880-08:00The PassengerMy 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-11782701344633842452009-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:002009-02-13T02:40:02.387-08:00Gil Kerlikowske? Drug Czar?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 aTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-78829394838867415532009-02-10T22:39:00.000-08:002009-02-10T23:12:17.920-08:00The Seattle Crime Of Standing While BlackSpeaking 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/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-92102395394126071562009-02-09T21:35:00.000-08:002009-02-09T21:58:31.308-08:00Wish You Were Here, LiveI keep playing this thing, and it keeps getting faster, harder, and further away from it's origins. Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here is about life in the checked out zone, where the peaks and valleys are slow and even and everything is safe. It's about illusions, loneliness, and the kind of narcotic comfort that never satisfies. This is a beautifully bitter song, and I'm trying to do it justice.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-69795656053838143632009-02-05T23:13:00.000-08:002009-02-06T08:41:29.060-08:00Stuff, Stuff, And More StuffTonight I went to my cross-class dialogue group, a pretty cool bunch of folks trying to wrap their heads around who they are and where they fit in relation to others. Class is the subject we don't know how to talk about. It's just not polite. So we gather in each other's homes once a month and politely transgress. Tonight's postprandial discussion centered on this, The Story of Stuff. A lot Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-15229376563460017692009-02-04T20:25:00.000-08:002009-02-04T21:56:33.781-08:00The Stranger: My Dad With A Nose Ring?Today The Stranger ran their article on the filing of Initiative 100, Jailbreak: Activists fight jail, but do they stand a chance? As you might tell from the headline, it was a little disappointing. Reporter Jonah Spangenthal-Lee did some of the earliest and most critical reporting on Seattle's proposed new jail, so I had high hopes for something decent. Instead, his article focused on the Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-39681011391900366972009-02-03T21:03:00.000-08:002009-02-03T21:50:49.607-08:00Living In The Burning Light ...If I don't start writing more than once or twice a week soon, I'm afraid I'm going to lose all credibility as an obsessive-compulsive attention-seeker. I should at least be able to find an amusing 70s hair band video for you all. I'm not even trying.An initiative campaign launched last week to shine a little light on the City's freight train approach to building a new jail in Seattle. It's theTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-34425292859522719592009-01-29T20:00:00.000-08:002009-01-29T21:17:00.650-08:00Seattle's Slimy Underbelly Gets A Good LickingYou know things have been crazy busy for me when I go nearly a week without posting anything at all. The stakes at work and home have been unusually high lately. Added to that is the recent notion that regular sleep, or at least making the attempt, may lead to higher productivity. I have not, however, been without ideas.Last Friday, for instance. I was in my favorite coffee shop talking to myTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-19390724316119415692009-01-23T22:06:00.000-08:002009-02-03T21:45:38.192-08:00Warning: I-100 Filed, Democracy May Ensue.When I called Ari Kohn of the Post-Prison Education Project Thursday to say our initiative, run by a group of community activists known as Citizens for Efficiency and Fairness in Public Safety, was about to be filed with the City Clerk, he insisted on capturing the great moment for posterity. So here it is: Real Change organizers Danina Garcia and Natalie Novak, at the City Clerk window, with Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-83009021966343222482009-01-22T05:30:00.000-08:002009-01-22T11:32:52.892-08:00Ding Dong The Witch Is DeadHere's Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen backed by beautiful gospel singers at the Obama Inaugural celebration, doing This Land Is Your Land. Watch Pete's eyes gleam when he does the private property verse. A moment worth watching again and again. Looking at that gorgeous crowd, I'm feeling something like, what, can it be ... hope! Definitely hope.As for Obama's speech speech? Perfect pitch.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-77262252990717512242009-01-21T00:05:00.000-08:002009-01-22T04:57:41.713-08:00Is Nickels Running This Town As A Police State?Yesterday, as we are all aware, was ObamaDay. Unicorns with rainbows shooting out their asses grazed on the Whitehouse lawn to herald the new dawn. OK, I'm being facetious. I'm happy. Very, very happy. But my sense of elation is balanced by an competing sense of doom.Tuesday morning, as I drove to Trinity United Methodist to join my friend Rich's flock in catching the festivities on TV, a Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-25313322630845736632009-01-20T16:44:00.000-08:002009-01-20T16:49:17.596-08:00See A Show. Support Real Change. Febuary 7.KEXP is doing a bunch of on-air PSAs for Real Change this month and a big benefit show on February 7. They tell me the line-up kicks ass. I wouldn't know. I'm old. But I believe them. I'll be there. Hope you can make it.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-64180746363426394002009-01-19T19:43:00.000-08:002009-01-19T19:52:29.067-08:00Homelessness, Incarceration, and the FutureFor more than two decades, I’ve struggled with creating an approach to homeless advocacy and organizing that does the issue justice. Over this time, there are four truths that have become more than obvious.One: Homelessness is about the problem of surplus people in a global economy. The collapse and overseas exportation of most American manufacturing has hit the market for less educated and Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-39039014175477949272009-01-17T19:16:00.000-08:002009-01-19T08:58:55.827-08:00HeroinTonight I decided to do Lou Reed's anthem to opiate abuse. Having known about 500 junkies in my life and ingested just enough poppy tea to get a good idea of the attraction (think Ray Charles), this song has always hit deep for me. I think I nailed it. The first time I listened to the playback I had tears running down my face. But then, a few days ago I was crying over Charlotte's Web too. Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-60924852365520382182009-01-16T23:17:00.001-08:002009-01-16T23:23:26.585-08:00Mr. NaturalMy friend Revel suggested today that the last two songs I uploaded would sound better without any Garageband effects. It turns out she was right. Here's Juggler and Midnight Jam, unplugged.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-1356391527737559112009-01-15T12:52:00.000-08:002009-01-15T13:12:58.043-08:00Find And Use Your RageHenry Rollins pleads with an Israeli audience to stop the war. Amazing, moving, and ballsy as hell. "Go through the ashes," he says, "find that jewel of rage, and use it for the civic good."Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-25962420412643042392009-01-15T12:15:00.000-08:002009-01-15T12:19:59.051-08:00Rollins on America, "Coolness," and ComplacencyWord.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-44011057121319420722009-01-15T11:28:00.000-08:002009-01-15T11:31:09.958-08:00Henry Rollins Is My MentorDating. After a few decades, it feels kind of weird. So I'm looking for advice and think I've found my mentor. Mister Henry Rollins comes through with some solid advice.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-91845723997195948402009-01-15T00:58:00.000-08:002009-01-15T12:32:02.284-08:00Up Too Damn Late AgainI called this one midnight jam, for obvious reasons. I am not in control.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-23463329558869469612009-01-14T20:18:00.000-08:002009-01-22T07:05:55.473-08:00The Revolution Will Not Be InauguratedThis week brings the Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Over the past few months, I’ve seen a great deal of angst among my progressive friends. Obama’s cabinet appointments reflect political reality, and this, apparently, comes as somewhat of a disappointment.Let’s take a moment to reflect on where we are. The past thirty years have been defined by conservative Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-66284624080185563952009-01-13T20:48:00.000-08:002009-01-15T12:28:10.754-08:00Just Fucking Because, OK?Were I to follow conventional wisdom, I'd be running about three different blogs now. One on homelessness and politics, another to document my personal musings along with my cartoon obsession and favorite music videos, and finally, a third to post the little music projects that no one wants to listen to. The thing is, three blogs would be intolerably geeky. And I don't mean geek-chic. I mean Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-30933212927391074542009-01-12T07:12:00.000-08:002009-01-12T07:33:53.093-08:00America Must Not Be A Nation of OnlookersThis morning's inspiration came in the form of an email from my friend and kindred spirit in outrage in action, Ari Kohn of the Post-Prison Education Project. As the Washington State Legislature kicks off the next 115 days of work — work that will either increase or mitigate the misery of those who suffer the most during hard economic times — he has asked us to remember the lessons of history onTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-30431657427513599122009-01-08T21:08:00.000-08:002009-01-08T22:08:37.431-08:00A Coffee Chat On ClassFelice Yeskel — a co-founder of United for a Fair Economy and long-time educator and organizer on issues of class — is in town this week conducting a training on classism. We had a chance to get to know each other a bit this morning and then sat down for the Real Change interview.When an hour-long interview gets edited down to 1,800 words or so for the paper, questions get cut to a few sentencesTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-41705609902661407582009-01-07T22:25:00.000-08:002009-01-07T22:28:31.582-08:00Real Change Is Hiring. Pass It On.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-7362239214024898452009-01-06T04:12:00.000-08:002009-01-16T19:34:32.177-08:00Porky Pig Gets Very SurrealThe surrealist 1938 Porky in Wackyland, with its Dali-esque landscapes and opium dream inspired humor and storyline, has become my new favorite cartoon of all time. Porky Pig flies to darkest Africa in pursuit of a four sextillion dollar bounty on the last dodo bird and encounters along the way a black duck doing an Al Jolson impersonation, a freakish Three Stooges monster, and a dodo — who Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-17084789542166476232009-01-05T22:00:00.000-08:002009-01-05T22:58:59.952-08:00Inspiring Bravery vs. Just Mailing It InBeing one of those no-TV people, I'd managed to miss this footage until I went looking. Three things, for me, are striking. The first is Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi's amazing aim. The first throw was dead on, and the second, performed under extreme duress, was a little less forceful but largely on target as well. It looks to me that velocity was slightly sacrificed on the second throw Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-20444961968934917852009-01-04T23:29:00.000-08:002009-01-03T23:30:37.993-08:00You Talkin' Ta Me?Obviously, I have too much time on my hands.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-43527288637053093802009-01-04T21:07:00.000-08:002009-01-03T21:27:44.001-08:00Countrified Tom and JerryPecos Pest, the 96th Tom and Jerry, made in 1953 and released in theaters two years later, was the last of this cartoon to be produced by MGM's Fred Quimby before his retirement. The singer is Shug Fisher, an Okie who was born in 1907 and enjoyed a long career as a comedian and country musician before turning to the screen in the 60s, appearing in Ripcord, Gunsmoke, and as "Shorty Kellums," a Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-90722880805953935752009-01-03T08:54:00.000-08:002009-01-03T19:24:05.117-08:00Great Program Threatened by Ugly RealityQ13 did a strong piece on the Post-prison Education Program, one of my favorite organizations, run by the fiery Ari Kohn. One day, this mild-mannered man is going to explode, and I along with him. Ari received the Change Agent of the Year Award at the 2008 Real Change annual breakfast. One of the reasons I admire prisoners advocates so much is that they almost never win, but the whole time, Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-84131509225040893342009-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:002009-01-05T19:06:27.919-08:0028 Years Of Right-Wing Hegemony ExplainedUnderdog, which began, strangely, as part of a promo scheme to sell cereal for General Mills, is clearly one of the best things to come out of the 60s. The show always came in four parts, the third beginning with the epic Underdog theme song, which occasionally gets the alternate verse:When criminals in this world appear,And break the laws that they should fear,And frighten all who see or hear,Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-77629695413990415262009-01-01T21:06:00.000-08:002009-01-01T21:21:30.050-08:00The Invention of BoredomWatching cartoons with the girls today I looked for the stuff that did it for my dad when I was a kid: Bullwinkle and Rocky, The Underdog Show, Dudley Dooright, Peabody and Sherman, and Fractured Fairy Tales. They were all from the early sixties and ran for longer in syndication. They're all great, but Fractured Fairy Tales stands a cut above in terms of the cool early 60s mod art and clearly Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-7954395172048629122008-12-31T21:28:00.000-08:002009-01-01T21:45:21.024-08:00Real Change Rock Rock OnToday, a close friend called to say their family was sending Real Change $1,000. It's been a tough year for them, but they're doing it anyway. I've been hearing that a lot lately. It's inspiring. It's also a lot of responsibility. This year, more than a thousand people valued our work enough to send a check, and lots of them stretched to do it. It's an enormous honor to be supported in thisTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-1962155512303158672008-12-30T11:21:00.000-08:002008-12-30T22:46:42.910-08:00The Sweeps Campaign. Time to Reassess.One year after launching a campaign to oppose and reverse the city’s zero-tolerance policy of public camping, how does the landscape look? What has changed? How should the Real Change Organizing Project's strategy adapt over the coming year to current realities? Your feedback is welcome. Anonymity, if that's necessary, is OK and understood.Over the course of our campaign, we have Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-66092529763067720922008-12-29T19:22:00.000-08:002008-12-29T19:41:05.914-08:00Power Grows From The Pages Of Your CheckbookOver the years, I’ve come to appreciate the golden rule of grassroots fundraising: If you tell the truth, take the risks that the times demand, and operate from a place of integrity, the money will follow. But only if you ask. We asked, and you came through.Today’s mail brought another $2,925 in support for our work, bringing the total raised in donations since November 1 to $219,046.54. Our Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-25874182332625090172008-12-28T10:08:00.000-08:002008-12-28T10:28:30.408-08:00A Bad Month For Aging Sex PotsBettie Page and Eartha Kitt are both gone. Page died at 85 earlier this month, and Kitt passed on Christmas Day at 81. Still, their revered lives have inspired millions of orgasms, and are a testament to the clear link between extreme sexiness and longevity. Here's to the hope that, one day, we'll meet in heaven,Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-32232237831678704912008-12-27T00:11:00.000-08:002008-12-28T10:45:50.715-08:00Upon The My O MyFrom time to time, someone will ask what that Apesma thing is all about. It's from a Captain Beefheart spoken word bit on the Shiny Beast album, one of my top five favorite recordings of all time. You can hear it by scrolling all the way down to the footer and clicking on what you find there. I hid it at the bottom for no good reason. It's been my little secret.Beefheart's genre-defying Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-39190779951848622862008-12-26T16:53:00.000-08:002008-12-27T08:37:51.183-08:00Covering Up Homelessness, CEO-Style.One of the ways in which the people that are ending homelessness like to pretend they're succeeding is to talk about opening and closing front and back doors, a image that, to me, always brings to mind a very large, crowded and windy hallway, probably with florescent lighting and substandard ventilation.What they mean by this is that institutions that deal with poor people — mental health centersTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-68417830401441034852008-12-26T07:34:00.001-08:002008-12-26T07:43:46.905-08:00Night of MercyLast week, Real Change held our fourth campout at City Hall to protest the homeless sweeps. I wasn't there this time. Being sick and hanging out in twenty degree weather overnight in the rain and snow didn't seem like such a great idea. Some, however, don't have the luxury of this choice. Real Change put out the word that we need survival gear to replace that which the city routinely steals, Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-79990659491658299182008-12-26T02:00:00.000-08:002008-12-26T07:49:04.839-08:00Song of a Queen BeeI've was reading E.B. White's The Second Tree From The Corner when I ran across Song of a Queen Bee, first published in The New Yorker in 1945. I tried to do it justice by altering my reading of the main poem to approximate my notion of a "ravishing, rollicking, young queen bee." White, by the way, was fired from the Seattle Times in 1923, after working there just 11 months. By 1927, he had Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-3241358023691338962008-12-25T13:54:00.000-08:002008-12-26T16:25:04.674-08:00How To Drive In The SnowMayor Greg Nickels recently gave the City of Seattle a "B" for their response to our recent unrelenting snow. Room for improvement, he says, but basically "outstanding." Outstanding? Who is he kidding? No one.This is classic Nickels. No matter how stupid, unthinking, or craven your actual policies or performance is, say everything is fine. At least then, no responsibility is owned for the Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-2926160922693397002008-12-24T10:53:00.000-08:002008-12-26T09:55:27.447-08:00Santa's Factory Labor SystemThis 1932 Disney Silly Symphony cartoon is remarkable in that the elves in Santa's workshop are happily employed in a fully Taylorized factory labor system, with each task broken down to its simplest elements, making for utterly replaceable elves. No need for a union here. It's all happy and magical, "bringing joy to a million homes" through efficient production and quality control.Given the Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-91637092266240383792008-12-23T17:40:00.000-08:002008-12-23T18:27:55.223-08:00World's Most Appropriate Christmas CardToday one of my favorite people in the world handed me this Christmas card as she carefully stuffed $31 into my sweatshirt pocket. We hugged and I almost cried. Over the years, I've come to regard this woman as a manifestation of the Buddha.She's a smallish African immigrant who sells Real Change. Her life has never been easy, but her wisdom and cheer have been a major inspiration, especially Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-79278175110098100612008-12-21T22:09:00.000-08:002008-12-23T17:06:59.224-08:00The Cat Who Hated PeopleI spent the entire weekend snowed in with the girls, with one of them sick and me coming down with a cold myself. There was lots of imaginative play, where I accepted whatever roles I was assigned, some tossing and rolling of balls, lots of book reading, and endless time at Starfall, with a focus on building the five year old girl, her room ,and her elephant chasing jumping kitty. On the more Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-54776617957375087752008-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:002008-12-20T21:45:56.707-08:00Bugs Bunny Does The SouthThe girls have broadened their tastes from Chilly Willy and Roadrunner to Tom and Jerry (161 episodes between 1940 and 1967) and the Merrie Melodies ouvre, which includes Bugs Bunny. I'm finding myself seriously getting into these. Tonight we hit on a few that were notable in their disdain for the South. Not exactly PC, but pretty damn funny nonetheless. There's a bit a few minutes into the Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-61502326468857917662008-12-19T23:13:00.000-08:002008-12-20T00:35:28.043-08:00The Christmas PresentI'm feeling a little like Homer Simpson in the episode where he buys Marge a bowling ball, drilled for his own finger size, for her birthday. Why? Because tomorrow morning, a piano mover will arrive with my five year-olds' main Christmas present: a Baldwin Hamilton studio piano, which I was fortunate enough to score at Deseret Industries this week for a mere $75. I'm so excited I just had toTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-52209388575351151602008-12-18T19:14:00.000-08:002008-12-18T21:05:31.517-08:00Who Wouldn't Want To Sleep Here?Casey McNerthney at the Seattle PI called me last night after being driven around around a bit by Sgt. Gracy to get today's story on homeless people refusing shelter. I like Casey. He's a good reporter who's done right by the homeless more than once. For some reason, however, my rather clear explanation of why people avoid shelter didn't really get into his story, although I do appreciate the Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-80273801026730211382008-12-17T18:45:00.000-08:002008-12-17T19:29:31.720-08:00Masters of WarThe antiwar song to end all antiwar songs. Bob Dylan's Masters of War. Tonight was a Garageband first. I listened to the finished song and made myself cry. Click on the photo to see the rest of David Leeson's extraordinary Iraq War photos.Come you masters of warYou that build the big gunsYou that build the death planesYou that build all the bombsYou that hide behind wallsYou that hide behind Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-57796180288181317082008-12-16T23:05:00.000-08:002008-12-17T11:04:03.818-08:00I Thought Journalism Meant Asking Questions?Tonight I was looking for coverage of Real Change's fourth protest encampment at City in the last year, and found this odd story on KOMO. "The City of Seattle says that police and social workers will be out tonight helping the homeless find a warm place to stay, but some of the homeless are protesting. Bryan? Why the protest?"Bizarrely, tonight the KOMO story transcription renders this on Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-61169552243497202952008-12-15T21:13:00.000-08:002008-12-16T10:28:23.578-08:00It's A Wonderful LifeMy 92 Corolla broke down rather spectacularly last week. I was on I-5, crawling home in heavy traffic, when the front end of my car began to resemble a dry ice fog at a KISS concert. The temperature gauge climbed into the red. I was in trouble. My inner Boston driver kicked in as I fought my way, lane by lane, to the right. I could feel the life drain from the car. "It's been 189,000 Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-8237453860723639922008-12-14T22:18:00.000-08:002008-12-14T22:54:13.962-08:00Please Suh, May I Have Two Please?This is a world class city? Brad Wong's PI article, City Helps To Warm Homeless, makes me want to scream, or cry, or perhaps curl into a little ball and sleep for a very long time. My favorite quote came from Union Gospel Mission communications staff Sharon Thomas-Hearns, who said the agency helped 100 people with blankets, hot chocolate, and other warm things over Saturday and Sunday."People Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-11148768826054034342008-12-13T00:02:00.000-08:002008-12-12T21:20:06.315-08:00One Froggy EveningEvery once in a while, watching cartoons on YouTube with my kids, I'll stumble on something really special. Steven Spielberg calls this Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies short from 1955 "the Citizen Kane of animated film." Actually, I like this better.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-57765079942489007032008-12-12T00:05:00.000-08:002008-12-11T23:24:01.437-08:00What's Good For General Motors …Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-75635743770880469292008-12-11T00:02:00.000-08:002008-12-11T01:14:36.152-08:00Harold ArnettAnother song from Spoon River Anthology. This one about suicide. The last about spiritual emptiness. Masters is a laugh-riot.I leaned against the mantel, sick, sick,Thinking of my failure, looking into the abysm,Weak from the noon-day heat.A churchbell sounded mournfully far away,I heard the cry of a baby.And the coughing of John YarnellBedridden, feverish, feverish, dying.Then the violent Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-87140854163252901582008-12-10T00:06:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:36:00.597-08:00From the Department of Desperate StrategiesSo, I'm screwed. My wife's parents are paying for her lawyer and my parents are poor. I guess marrying up can blow back on you. My pay was attached in the preliminary court order to take 43% of my income out before I see it, and her lawyer got the court to order a parenting eval to decide custody that I can't afford but have to pay for anyway if I want fair treatment. Oh, and I have no money Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-66267463945560201012008-12-09T00:08:00.000-08:002008-12-10T07:47:48.135-08:00The Best Fundraising Pitch EverI wrote this as a hybrid editorial/fund drive ask for Real Change this week, and think I'll submit it to The Society of Professional Journalists this year just to see if it's possible to get an editorial writing award for a fundraising pitch. That would be so cool.Hard, Hard TimesReal Change offers direct opportunity while we push for structural change. Don’t make us choose. Support the WinterTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-44666057706734171822008-12-08T00:58:00.000-08:002008-12-10T02:10:12.799-08:00Dreaming Big With ObamaThe Western Regional Advocacy Project, of which Real Change is a proud member, sent this off recently to the Obama transition team. My capacity for hope is still tempered by twenty-eight years of well-earned political cynicism, so I'm not holding my breath. Still, it's good to ask. It all seems pretty reasonable to me.WRAP is an organization of seven West Coast community groups with, on Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-70765271036660009942008-12-05T01:40:00.000-08:002008-12-05T10:09:43.930-08:00John BallardI decided to do something from Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology, and decided upon John Ballard, a poem about how God is love, but first, you have to love. Setting something from Spoon River to music is inspired by Richard Buckner's The Hill, a brilliant album if ever there was. He can make the free verse work against the music while he sings. I'm not that smart or talented, so this isTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-67323884143249357592008-12-04T02:10:00.000-08:002008-12-04T11:52:01.323-08:00Nothing Is MeaninglessI dropped by Nickelsville today hoping to get Aaron Stephen Beaucage reading Nothing Is Meaningless, the spoken word piece he did at the Nickelsville benefit last month, on video. Needless to say, things worked out. He recited the thing from memory, fast. Apparently he's been practicing. Sadly, slam poets and social critics are notoriously underappreciated and underpaid. Afterwards, we went Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-23765385232673242212008-12-03T07:26:00.000-08:002008-12-03T07:47:30.127-08:00Proof I'm A RedHere I am at last month's Real Change fundraising breakfast. I was saying something about the importance of protest politics, and how people need to stir shit up if anything's ever going to change, when suddenly, my fist, seemingly of it's own volition, rose unexpectedly into the air in front of 450 friends and friends of friends. The fist reached its ten o'clock apogee before I became Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-18916377434830599932008-12-01T19:59:00.000-08:002008-12-01T20:13:34.157-08:00Bad Art RohrschockA friend recently sent me to the 50 Worst Album Covers of all time site. They're bad. Personally, I'd like to see this contest reopened as an American Idol meets Antiques Roadshow kind of reality TV show, complete with Where Are They Now segment. I chose the one in ten that made me laugh out loud in ways that others might find disconcerting. Apparently, I have a very dark sense of humor.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-11516677189984930322008-12-01T08:03:00.000-08:002008-12-01T20:16:10.703-08:00Timmy WebeloIt's been roughly five years since I gave up on reading ancient Greek. The girls came along, something had to give, and teaching myself an arcane and dead language seemed like a good place to start. Last night I pulled my workbooks off the library shelf, and this was tucked into Reading Greek. It's one of the very few photos I have of myself as a kid. This was around fifth or sixth grade. I Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-21726504462571919982008-11-27T00:44:00.000-08:002008-11-27T11:52:09.745-08:00Brenden Foster Made It Simple.Yesterday my blog had 1,333 visitors. It was a bizarre spike. I'm usually more like 200. Brenden Foster, the homeless-supporting dying eleven year-old with leukemia, died. There was a resurgence of international media attention, and my blog entry on Brenden, now considerably further down on the Google listing, caught just part of the wave.I was going to write about Brenden and the dozens of Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-50399076988878825852008-11-26T23:29:00.000-08:002008-11-27T06:17:44.988-08:00I Am Dwight FryeAs part of my ongoing campaign to drive away every regular reader of this blog forever, I've recorded yet another version of Alice Cooper's Ballad of Dwight Frye, a song that has fascinated me since childhood. This one uses a live performance effect on the rhythm and vocals track and something called "British Invasion" on the lead. I get lost for awhile and just go with it. As a result, it's Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-64236449862759141672008-11-26T00:05:00.000-08:002008-11-26T00:02:28.700-08:00Wednesday's PinkI think I've posted three previous recordings of this song, but I can't stop. If I play this a hundred more times, it'll eventually have some kind of Pink Floyd peak experience, where the laser lights go off in my head and I finally get what's on the dark side of the moon. When you've liked a song since you were fifteen, you kind of get inside the thing. Another seven minute song. Guess I Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-48469390120344844232008-11-25T21:11:00.000-08:002008-11-25T23:43:03.919-08:00Tuesday's BluesThese blues actually started Sunday, but today they were done. I recorded them, added a lead, and blew my own mind. I think I'm just going to retire and become a rock god. I don't know shit about music theory, but that cool melody on the rhythm is all about the pinky, man. Tonight I played two leads against it and used the second one all the way through except about the last twenty seconds. Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-10661581400491200212008-11-21T19:14:00.000-08:002008-11-21T19:26:52.542-08:00Art WarfareI don't know why, but "Man Tries To Pay Bill With Spider Drawing" really does it for me.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-60995177528215099802008-11-20T22:52:00.000-08:002008-11-21T08:23:46.390-08:00C.R. Douglas Gets ItC.R. Douglas at Seattle Inside/Out has been following the sweeps issue for a long time, and he's getting a little pissed off. Early last summer he made me giddy by pressing then Human Services Director Patricia McInturff on where homeless people are supposed to go until she started to twitch. More recently, During Douglas' monthly Ask the Mayor show, Nickels claimed that the people staying at Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-62288679609906719432008-11-19T22:37:00.000-08:002008-11-19T23:18:39.818-08:00I Like Pink LiveI Like Pink, loose and very blue. Q Cafe Nickelsville Benefit, Nov. 15, 2008. Performance recorded by Mr. Doug McKeehanTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-33294472295273445182008-11-19T22:30:00.000-08:002008-11-19T23:12:03.558-08:00Have Mercy LiveI can't really quite believe I pulled this off in front of an audience. I forgot the bridge and didn't repeat the first two verses at the end, but it's just as well. My fifteen minute set ended at 14:30. Q Cafe, Nickelsville Benefit, Nov. 15, 2008Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-18067674968921958162008-11-19T22:20:00.000-08:002008-11-19T23:28:53.279-08:00Dancing Barefoot LiveRevel and I opened the set with this. I started out kind of nervous, but lost myself in the song midway through and recovered. Q Cafe Nickelsville Benefit, Nov. 15, 2008Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-67372802817153237532008-11-18T06:53:00.000-08:002008-11-18T10:05:52.429-08:00Rising WatersI attended a secret meeting on homelessness last Friday. Many members of the inner cabal were in attendance. I didn't even have to crash the thing. The press was not invited, as there were delicate matters under discussion. How screwed are homeless people? Who is screwing them? And so forth.Therefore, I can only discuss this meeting by cloaking the proceedings in extreme allegory. I have Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-60455343420363660052008-11-18T01:11:00.000-08:002008-11-18T01:25:47.526-08:00I'll Sleep When I'm DeadSigh. Another night up til 1:30 or 2:00. I'm so screwed. This song, however, keeps evolving. Over the past week, as I prepared to play live, it became an obsession. I love the slide up to hit the harmonics on the way down and that little slide back up. It seems like there's around 300 ways that can happen, and each one surprises me just a little. I added some American Clean effect to the Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-90280556669851721402008-11-17T15:51:00.000-08:002008-11-17T17:32:32.054-08:00Nickelsville: The MusicalHere's a slide show/movie with song accompaniment that Revel made for Saturday's Nickelsville Benefit at Q Cafe. Contributors include Tajuan Treamalle, Richard White, Revel, Patricia Gray, Alex Becker, and others. The event raised more than $2,500 for the cause. Kudos to Dustin Cross for organizing a fine event.Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-8373201476073251652008-11-16T20:35:00.000-08:002008-11-16T21:34:23.341-08:00Dancing BarefootLast night I played in front of "people" for the first time in about twenty years. When I did it then, I sucked. That was a Street Magazine party, organized as a talent show. I made up some Devo-ish thing about art school people. They were an easy target. People dug it, and some guy asked me to play his cafe. I had one song I was good at at, and a handful of others that sucked. I Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-85269499434347153512008-11-14T23:25:00.000-08:002008-11-15T00:02:12.306-08:00Do You Think You Can Tell?I've been playing a bit compulsively lately and revisited this one tonight. The voice kind of gives away a few times, but overall, it's a nice, slow, take on a song that never stops being relevant. Wish You Were Here got burned into my brain during a time when a bong and an 8-track tape deck were standard automotive equipment. Someday I'll get ambitious and learn the slidey high part that's Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-64796111704746718042008-11-14T09:11:00.000-08:002008-11-14T10:20:15.870-08:00I Smell ToastAn article in Crosscut this morning describes Wednesday's Real Change Annual Breakfast as "a rally to dump Mayor Greg Nickels and, for that matter, much of the Seattle City Council." I didn't think we were being that obvious.We got some good laughs with a video of the mayor lying, and called for support of the Nick Licata sponsored bond issue proviso that will slow down Seattle's new jail long Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-9557817778311749822008-11-13T20:54:00.000-08:002008-11-16T22:38:45.284-08:00Ode To Pumpkin PieTonight the girls came home from Kindergarten singing a new song. I remembered it as my first feat of lyrical memorization. I was going to be the last kid in second grade to get it. Then, on the playground, while picking those little red berries that spit seed in a weapon-like manner when you squeeze them, Pat Lambert let me in on the secret. You can sing and it sticks. I was amazed. Twin B Tim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3932577721166282211.post-30755511120515900362008-11-12T17:25:00.000-08:002008-11-13T23:29:12.076-08:00Why Protest Politics Matters.Today was the Real Change breakfast. The slide show above ran at the beginning and close, and is by Revel with music by me. Sherman ran a lovely and funny extended metaphor that drew upon his ever deepening life as a frequent flyer. John Bayly, the Real Change vendor who made the pitch, did the best job I've ever seen, anywhere. We had about 450 people there and raised at least $71,500. We'reTim Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18124332071493906222noreply@blogger.com0