DEATH

I realize this has become the 'death blog'. Outside of Hugh Hopper (and a couple of others) every individual with a notable influence on progressive rock that has passed away in the past year has been profiled here.

That being said, the rash of celeb. deaths (Fawcett, McMahaon, Jackson, McNair, Klein) over the past couple of weeks has me...well, freaked out.

So, to those of you who are ill or are putting yourselves in precarious situations, please take care of yourself, at least for the next month or so. OK?

RIP Lars Hollmer (1948-2008)

I was really hoping this trend wouldn't continue but I received this as part of an email from Cuneiform/Wayside's Steve Feigenbaum earlier today...

"First of all, I am very, very sorry to inform his many fans and friends that after a nearly year-long struggle with cancer, Lars Hollmer died on Christmas day. He was a gifted and unique composer/accordionist/keyboardist and general musical hero to those on the 'wayside', including myself. I also got to know him a bit from working with him over the last 10 years and he was in addition to all these other attributes, a really good and funny person as well. Being a huge fan of his work over the many years and loving his music for (among many other qualities) its melodic wistfulness, I can not begin to convey how sadly appropriate I find his death on Christmas to be."

As someone who has only over the past few years started to explore and appreciate the music of Samla Mammas Manna and Lars Hollmer this was truly a shock. I had heard a few months ago that Lars was sick but hadn't heard anything about his condition at all for quite some time. RIP Lars...

My goodness. The losses that the music world has suffered this year are truly staggering.

The Worst Year Ever?

ESPN's Jim Caple reports on why, for some of us, this year has been particularly tough...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=seattle2008&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

RIP Pekka Pohjola (1952-2008)

I audibly gasped when first reading this news today. This completely slipped by me over the holiday weekend. Here's some more information from the english version of Helsingen Sanomat...

"Pekka Pohjola, widely regarded as the finest bass guitarist ever to come out of Finland, has died at the age of 56. His death was announced on Thursday on the online service of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. Pohjola, who was also a composer of some repute, was among the best known of Finnish artists on the international music scene, a true "musicians' musician".

Pohjola's musical output took influences from jazz, rock, folk music and traditional hymns. He initially studied classical music at the Sibelius Academy (piano & violin, and he came close to winning the Finnish nationals on the latter instrument), but switched over to rock, choosing the electric bass allegedly inspired by the example of The Beatles.

He began his professional career with Eero, Jussi and The Boys, and then moved to the highly influential Finnish progressive rock outfit Wigwam.

A solo career then followed, with a number of albums in a jazz fusion style somewhat reminiscent of the late Frank Zappa.

Always in demand as a session musician, Pohjola also toured with Tubular Bells composer Mike Oldfield in 1978.

He had come to the attention of the British music business slightly earlier, and two of his solo albums were released on the Virgin label at that time. Zappa, too, is said to have offered Pohjola a seat in his studio band at one stage.

Pekka Pohjola was born into a hugely musical family, with choirmaster Ensti Pohjola for a father and Erkki Pohjola, a well-known music pedagogue and long-serving conductor of the Tapiola Choir as his uncle.

His cousin is Sakari Oramo, the former Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and current Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.

Pekka's name is carried forward by two sons who have also gone into making music - Verneri (trumpet) and Ilmari (trombone) are both prominent Finnish jazz musicians, and they played alongside their father at the 2004 Pori Jazz Festival.

He also leaves to posterity a legacy of numerous excellent albums, most recently Views from 2001. "

RIP Jimmy Carl Black (1938-2008)

From Rollingstone.com:

Jimmy Carl Black, the original drummer for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, passed away this past weekend after a bout with lung cancer. He was 70. Black, the self-proclaimed “Indian of the group,” served with the Mothers from their acclaimed 1966 debut Freak Out! until Zappa’s 1970 album Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Black is also known for donning a dress on the cover of We’re Only In It For the Money. Black’s drumming also formed the heartbeat during the band’s chaotic live performances captured on albums like Uncle Meat and Burnt Weeny Sandwich. Black also played a noticeable role in the Zappa film 200 Motels, where he sang “Lonesome Cowboy Burt.” In his post-Mothers career, Black played in several bands, including a stint with Captain Beefheart, Geronimo Black (which Black fronted) and the Zappa tribute bands like the Grandmothers and the Muffin Men. A benefit for Black will be held November 9th at the Bridgehouse II in London.

October Blues...

No, not the name of a bad Hollywood-esque baseball movie (or even the lamentings of a fan whose baseball team fails repeatedly in the postseason) but the general sentiment that I always seem to experience around this time of year. Part of this is because of an association of this time of year with past events. Part of this is because the end of the baseball season (even if it's a season that I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to...like this one) seems to bring a finality to the joys of summer. Part of this is the routine that's been driving my life since early August really seems to take it's toll on me at this time of year. Everything is just kindof...blah...

In spite of all this moodiness things are, relatively speaking, going well, or at least as well as expected. School is school and, no matter what, it always seems to move forward. The freshman are plowing their way through the Middle Ages, complete with all the requisite discussions of the failings of the Crusades and the pus-filled boils associated with the Black Death. The sad thing is that I can already identify a good seven or eight students who will likely be out of the program by the end of the year, if not by the end of the semester. The juniors have hit the wall...as they always do this time of year. The IB reality has fully set in with massive amounts of work expected of them between now and the end of the semester. The esoteric ramblings of their TOK instructor combined with the vague and somewhat inane vernacular of the appropriate IB rubrics are sometimes just too much for them to handle. To make matters worse their attention (and mine) is being drawn to a variety of other co-curricular activities such as counselor visits, ACT and SAT testing, various community service responsibilities, etc., etc. There's no way that, as a high school student, I could've or would've done what they've undertaken.

In what might be viewed as more important matters, the Seahawks suck. A bad year looks to be getting worse by the week as injuries and a lack of execution have crippled the team. My hope then turns to the Oilers...but they've now lost five straight after starting the season an impressive 4-0. It amazes (yet does not surprise me) that this team simply cannot score goals. Chemistry doesn't happen overnight and all the new faces are still trying to mesh within the team. Watch any given shift throughout a game and you can tell that, while the strategy and scheme is there, the execution simply isn't. The familiarity with the tendencies of linemates just isn't there yet. The good news is that the current seven game road trip (which began last night with a dreadful 3-1 loss to Nashville...a team that shouldn't even exist) is their longest of the year. Let's hope the boys can get through this road trip and pull in enough points along the way to keep themselves in the Northwest division race. If they can, the seventeen home games in December and January might put them in a position to guarantee a postseason spot.

Still...even though hockey is back...blah...

Reaction to the First McCain-Obama Debate

Let me say, first of all, that I wasn't particularly impressed with either candidate this evening. I'm uncertain whether this has to do primarily with my expectations or the actual performance of the nominees but I was left feeling rather underwhelmed. I do, however, think that the new format worked successfully. It allowed for enough of the free exchange that so many previous presidential debates have lacked. Naturally this also led to some situations where the nominees interrupted each other and what might be perceived as awkward or, possibly, telling moments in the debate itself. Still, I enjoyed watching the debate (even if I wasn't overly impressed with either candidate) and I think the format might've had quite a bit to do with that.

My initial reaction to the debate is that McCain appeared, particularly early in the debate, to be more relaxed and comfortable than Obama. At times it appeared that Obama knew exactly what he intended to say but couldn't quite find the words. It also appeared to me that McCain's responses were expressed slightly more clearly and thoughtfully but, at times, I do think that Obama had a clear advantage in this area depending upon the issue. Both candidates, at times, also appeared to be visibly frustrated with each other either because of the responses of their opponent or because of the interruptions which were interspersed throughout the debate. In general, however, I don't think that either candidate could really claim a clear 'win' in terms of style points tonight. Each had their moments where they appeared very 'presidential' and each had their moments where they appeared somewhat petty or not as professional as they would probably like to be perceived.

Beyond the issue of style I don't think there was anything present within the debate regarding issues that would truly sway an undecided voter to make a decision on who to vote for. I think Obama satisfied his supporters with his responses and overall performance and I think McCain achieved the same level of success with his supporters. Given the general perception that McCain's strength is foreign policy, the fact that Obama appeared to hold his own in this area may be viewed by some as a zero-sum win for Obama. At the same time I think the same might also be said for McCain given his responses to the financial questions which were highlighted early in the debate. The key to me, however, is that undecided voters may have heard a few new ideas tonight but I don't believe these ideas may be the ones they care about nor substantially distinctive in a manner which would cause them to shift their support to either one of the candidates.

One of the potential implications of this is the possibility that the VP debate next Thursday might play a slightly larger role in the undecided voter sweepstakes than initially predicted and, perhaps, a larger role than the campaigns themselves had foreseen. If the undecideds are still searching for a candidate to support then many of them may turn to the VP candidates as potential reasons to finally make a decision on whom to vote for. If the general perception that the contrast between Biden and Palin is greater than the contrast between McCain and Obama holds true next Thursday, maybe this is where the undecideds finally begin to swing in significant numbers towards a particular nominee.