COMFEST REPORT - Friday (first of 4 sections - keep scrolling)

COMFEST 2005 has come and gone, and I survived and am recovering (I didn’t have any beer until Sunday; so, it’s not a hangover – the old man is just out of shape).

What a time!! Started Friday at the Live Arts Stage with the Drum Circle followed by Connie Harris’s sweet-voiced tunes. Then on to a four-hour shift with Sondra Hurwood, Treasurer of the local chapter, at the NION (Not In Our Name) Booth to spread the word about the Anti-War/Anti-Bush-Agenda Demo in Washington, Sept. 24 (let me know if you want on the e-mail info list).

Next came the jazz stage (I Wish You Jazz) for Circus of Cool hosted by the irrepressible Krista Williams (see the earlier posting for a copy of the rant). The crowd appreciated my efforts. I guess all the stiff-necked sky pilots were concentrating on preparations for Saturday’s Gay Pride Parade and weren’t available to picket.

Then it was on to The X-Rated Cowboys (including my pal and band-mate Bob Hite) on the Bozo Stage, and then Mas Bagua at the Live Arts Stage before leaving to rest and escape the searing sun.

COMFEST in the Park 

Sondra Groovin' with the Drum Circle 

Connie Harris @ The Live Arts Stage 

The Best Newspaper in Town (hi Bob!) 

The WCBE Crew!! 

Sarah @ the NION Booth 

CD 101 

Krista in the Center Ring!! 

Uke Man Speaks the Rant @ the C of C 

Andrew Davis at the Circus of Cool 

Circus of Cool Guys, JP & Nick 

X-Rated Cowboys rock the Bozo Stage 

Mas Bagua!! Dance!! 

Park Street 

Sondra Hurwood, Karen Greene, and Jon Dilgard at Retro 1 

Pals Trent Arnold and Jon Dilgard hanging out behind the Retro 1 Booth 

Revolutionary Books and the Avakian Biography 

Happy Marchers 

Gay Vets lead the Pride Parade 

Whoa Nellie 

and Whoa Nellie 

my friend Dan Dougan 

Dan, Tracy, and Declan 

Chris Barton & Nico 

Chief Johnny Lonesome !! 

Bob Sauls who knows I am a "crazy nut"!! 

Myke Rock toasts COMFEST! 

Ante-diluvian Gazebo 

COMFEST REPORT - Saturday - The Show

As we waited off-stage the sprinkles began. No one seemed offended – actually the little droplets and the increasing breeze were welcomed with smiles. It continued as we moved on stage hurriedly setting up (the stage was behind schedule – it’s a tradition – and we were asked to cut some of our 30-minute set – we moved fast).

Shortly, we cut loose with “Jesus Chrysler” and, in a sense, all hell broke loose. I felt like I was in a movie – Karen thought it was an opera. The winds took off, blowing our set lists away – at one point it almost blew my mic over (I had to stand on the base for a while).

The rain came in a downpour and, at times, nearly horizontally – I was Thor facing the raging elements with my uke-hammer. And the crowd!!!

It had been Sooooooo hot all day and the day before that the crowd embraced the deluge – even more joined the dancing – women doffed their tops – drunks gave the peace sign – youths jumped into the neighboring pond. It was insanely delicious, a wonderful and memorable convergence of delight which continued throughout the set.

When we stopped, the rain stopped – we loaded, and then it started up wilder than before!! Park Street and High Street flooded up over the curbs, everyone was drenched, the stage lost power and went dark.

It was time to dry out and bask in the wonder of it all.

The Band! 

And the band 

Dancers 

And Dancers!! 

Rich & Cathy & other stalwart fans 

Joy in the rain 

COMFEST REPORT - Sunday!

Sunday morning, 8:00 to 12:00 was my regular Recycling/Clean-up (trash) detail – hot and tiring for the old man, but COMFEST gives and we give back – and virtue is its own reward. Besides that, it’s a great treat to work with Bill Finzel!

This year, Sondra volunteered to help the aged Uke Man, and together - for four hours - we wrestled the results of glass-holes, trashifiers, and litter-ally unaware citizens. It was a tough fight, Mom, but we won!!!

By the end of our time filling the barrel, the Uke Man was a little dizzier than normal; so, it was time for beer!! I bought a Yellow COMFEST Mug (new color for my collection) and downed several mug-fulls sitting at Jon & Karen’s oasis, the Retro 1 Booth ( http://www.retro1.com/ ).

At last, and regretfully, it was time (and the joints were satisfactorily lubricated) to bid adieu, hobble to the car and start healing.

“Hi. My name is Uke Man, and for the coming year I’ll be a recovering COMFESTaholic, missing it one day at a time.”

My friend Bill Finzel instructing the troops 

Ah, Beer!!! 

Passed the baton to my pal Jeff Kinser before I left 

COMFEST Booth 

Ah, Comfest! 

See ya next year! 

Bye, COMFEST! 

COMFEST!!!!

Hey All,
Ukulele Man & his Prodigal Sons will be at Comfest Saturday in the Gazebo of Goodale Park at 7:00 P.M. !!

We’ve been together longer than the Beatles, and the old man is getting older (although also more manly). Better catch a show before senility puts an end to it all. AND this is THE show to see at THE venue at THE time!!

Ukulele Man will also deliver a delicious rant at 6:00 on Friday at the Circus of Cool show, in the “I Wish You Jazz” tent (accompanied by an outstanding jazz band).

COMFEST is the GREATEST FREE FESTIVAL in the world!! Even if you can’t make one of the Uke Man’s show-and-tells, get to the COMFEST sometime Friday, June 24 through Sunday, June 26.

FULL REPORT next week!

- Uke Man

Oops!! Correction!! 

Correction! New Info on Midnight Ukulele Disco

Hey Uke Fans!!

I just got word that tonight's Midnight Ukulele Disco has been moved to a different date and time and channel: Tuesday June 28th (next week), at the new time of 9:00 pm, on Channel 57. It will still be streamed simultaneously at: http://www.ukuleledisco.com/live

This is the result of scheduling changes at Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the Public Access authority.

I will edit the changes into the earlier posting for future reference.

I'm sorry for any disappointment and/or inconvenience.

- Uke Man

A Deeper Shade of Darkness 

President Beast !!!

Hey Folks!

Sometimes the Uke Man is on an X-minute delay. This morning I caught up with myself reading Anthony Lewis’s (“New York Times”*) and Georgie Ann Geyer’s (syndicated**) columns.

* http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/21/opinion/21lewis.html?th&emc=th
** http://www.uexpress.com/georgieannegeyer/

Bush is a beast – A BEAST!!! The talk of his being the figurative “Anti-Christ” might not be overblown.

Igor Cheney says Guantanamo’s prisoners were treated better than they would be "by virtually any other government on the face of the earth." An FBI agent says, "On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18, 24 hours or more." And that’s just the first in a LONG list of reported degradations.

Geyer says, “one wishes they [Bush & Co.] would hear the cries of genuine anger and revulsion at their actions and their rhetoric, not only around the world but certainly here at home.
We have enough to shame us: the sadism and masochism of the Americans in Abu Ghraib (for which only the lowest soldiers paid), the Koran mess at Guantanamo (the military keeps coming up with new figures on who abused the Koran, until it's almost grotesquely comical), and even the horrible beating to death of a clearly innocent Afghan at Bagram in Afghanistan (reports afterward said his legs were 'beaten to pulp' by American soldiers).”

Many more examples are presented in the two columns.

And all this from someone who “talks with god,” who has been “born again,” who pushes “faith-based initiatives.” If I were a Christian of ANY stripe, I wouldn’t want to be associated with someone whose Defense Department can, in the face of cruel, inhuman, degrading, and deadly treatment, say: "The Department of Defense remains committed to the unequivocal standard of humane treatment for all detainees." (I think that statement just might conflict with one or more of the items on those sacred stone tablets).

In regard to not closing down Guantanamo, Geyer asks, “is it just another of the obscene gestures of this administration toward not only the world, but toward the principles and institutions that historically have defined this country?”

Perhaps those "Christian" supporters of Bush and the war who like to call this a Christian country based on Christian principles should ask themselves how Dubya can serve god while ignoring "the principles and institutions that historically have defined this country?"

- Uke Man

Paul's Potpourri: Bush - not your father's Anti-Christ!

Ted & Jason on the Murray Space Shoe Stoop 

"Watch what you say and do" 

Nothing Ever Changes !

News item:

“WASHINGTON - The US Senate has formally apologized for having blocked decades of efforts to make lynching a federal crime as victims' descendants watched from the chamber gallery.

On a voice vote and without opposition, the Senate passed a resolution expressing its regrets to the nearly 5,000 Americans -- mostly black males -- who were documented as having been lynched from 1880 to 1960.

These deaths occurred mostly in the South, often with the knowledge of local officials who preached white supremacy, fanned racial hatred and allowed mob lynchings to become picture-taking, public spectacles.

During this period, nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, three of which passed the House of Representatives.

But despite the support of the legislation by seven U.S. presidents, the Senate prevented all the measures from becoming law, with much of the opposition coming from southern lawmakers who raised procedural roadblocks.

Such legislation would have made lynching a federal crime and allowed the U.S. government to prosecute those responsible, including local law enforcement officers.”
( http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=52670 )





Smarmy, self-righteous, white racists have managed for 125 years to talk and act as if they are not monsters. Today more (but not enough) people are recognizing them for what they are, but it’s a little late; don’t you think?

Now that it won’t (perhaps) make a difference, our “statesmen” can (carefully) mention their historic evil (it only took them 125 years - by comparison, the Pope took 500 years to apologize to Galileo).

As Andy Rooney might say: Have you ever wondered why people were so evil in the past, but now they are REALLY good? Boy, those dumb people back then who burned witches, killed Indians, supported slavery, kept women and property-less men from voting, lynched Blacks, murdered copper miners (and their wives and children), supported 16-hour work-days for kids, locked up WW I protestors (simply for SAYING they were against the war), interned Japanese-Americans during WW II, and ignored and/or exacerbated the plight of European Jews caught in the holocaust - boy were THEY dumb. Thank god we are a lot smarter, nicer, and more compassionate NOW !!!

We are a patriotic, upright, god-fearing, Christian nation. We would NEVER go on witch hunts, mistreat or swindle Native Americans, involve ourselves with sweatshop slavery, “keep women in their place,” hinder ANYONE from their precious access to the ballot box, drag a Black man behind our pick-up truck, hang a gay man on a fence to die, take extraordinary steps to avoid or bust a union, work children or illegal aliens excessive hours at WAL-MART and fast food establishments, warn people to watch what they say and do lest they be charged with treason or terrorism, lock people up without due process (much less torture them) for what they look like or for their national origin, or demonstrate ANY racism, especially anti-Semitism !!!

Well . . .

I guess we actually do - and will probably continue to do so (as we’ve always done) . . . but as long as we don’t tell anybody, we can pretend and strut and shoot off our mouths about how this is the greatest, kindest, and most honorable nation the world has ever known. We can even tell how our GOD thinks so too.

That is, as long as we can avoid having someone spill the beans.

Americans, watch what you do and say! We’re at war!

- Uke Man

Dunkle’s Digest: We say we do what we say, but we don’t. Shhhhhhh !!! it’s a secret!

Krista, Ring Mistress of "Circus of Cool" 

Left Behind

Ukulele Man & his Prodigal Sons will be performing at COMFEST (the Community Festival) at the Gazebo in Goodale Park at 7:00, Saturday, June 25 (more on that later).

On Friday, June 24, Uke Man will deliver a rant accompanied by a jazz band at 6:00 in the COMFEST “I Wish You Jazz” tent as part of the Circus of Cool.

The rant – minus the jazz and the raucous voice of the Uke Man – is presented below.


Left Behind

Waiting for the Rapture, reading Revelations, waiting to be “Left Behind” - earnestly anticipating Ned Flanders’ disappearance - mid-frame - along with all his annoying pals. Leaving their clothes and glasses and watches behind to float for an instant in the empty air – ball caps and bifocals; Rolexes and pacemakers; colostomy bags and surprised toupees mourning their absent pates; pairs of silicon balloons undulating pointlessly, vacant wooden legs standing at attention, and glass eyes (round like marbles) – floating as if painted by Dali - floating – floating - floating for an endless instant - until Newton notices and ends the unnatural levitation – the incongruous delegates falling at last - only to reconvene in piles upon their 7,000 year old, fossil-encrusted mother. Pulled there - this unexpected collection of inorganic human parts – by a predestined parlor trick of an Almighty god!!!

All the bright-eyed, smiling, fetus-waving, homo-hating, self-righteous, patriarchal zombies have vaporized into the clouds to join Jim Jones in holy oblivion or to wear their Nikes on Haley-Bop’s backside. They should be happy! They loved to harp on earth – NOW they can harp forever - and wear white past Labor Day! - Hosanna!!! Hosanna on high!!

We too rejoice!!! We homos, Christ-killers, socialists and punks – unionists, utopians, humanists, and Unitarians; temptresses, and tramps; skateboarders and bikers; liberals and lesbians; Darwinians and thespians; slackers, dopers, vegetarians and veterans against the war; gamblers, dancers, and drunks; godless communists and Log Cabin Republicans –
ALL of us on the bus to hell – WE are happy too!

For we are left behind and shall never see THOSE folks again – nor have them love the sinner and only hate our sin.

No! Flanders is gone! Left us here BEHIND! Gone to his reward - and to ours – for we won’t see him again – he and his crew have gone to HEAVEN - and can’t come back !!

We are left behind - but left alone at last!!

Left alone - at last!!

And although Hell may be warm - it’s safe !

You won’t find any Good folks THERE!!!!!

Order your Pope Cookies TODAY!!!! 

The Dark Lord 

Dean's "Outbursts"

What’s with all the crap criticizing Howard Dean for hating Republicans, saying they’ve never done a day’s work, and that the party consists largely of white Christians?

Actually, if Dean deserves criticism, it is for not saying a lot more. The truth of what is going on, what is being done to the mass of people here and around the world by this coven of blood-sucking Republican/Neo-Con vampires demands much more vitriol than Howard Dean has produced.

The Right rants and raves over Dean’s few statements while they heartlessly destroy the freedom, dignity, and security of working people here and around the world!
They deserve Dean’s hatred – and more of it.

And can we even take Dean seriously? Many of his fellow Democratic “leaders” have distanced themselves from his “outbursts.” Many of them are for “free trade,” the war, tax relief for the wealthy, bankruptcy “reform,” creationism, imperialism – whatever pays off with the big-money Robber Barons.

Even if one hopes and believes that Dean himself is legitimate, it is difficult to believe that his party is behind him.

Read the Paul Krugman link posted below. Read Greg Palast’s book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Check out what Bob Avakian has to say at http://rwor.org/a/1237/ba-pyramid2.htm .

Everything the Republicans are pushing so hard for can be understood only as an attempt to turn back the clock and demolish even the small gains regular people have eked out over the centuries. They burn to erase the hated 60’s, the Great Society, the New Deal, women’s independence, religious tolerance, intellectual and gender freedom, equal opportunity, and the Bill of Rights. Relentlessly they lie, steal, bully, and oppress; and, except for a few blunt comments by Howard Dean, the Democrats look on dumbly.

It’s clear that Republican “leaders” hate the people, even their own supporters whom they dupe by invoking god, homophobia, chauvinism, racism, “patriotism,” and a whole range of hypnotic bullshit.

It is not clear, however, that enough people – including Democratic “leaders" - are willing to admit the reality of the situation and return that hatred in spades.

It’s about time.

- Uke Man

Dunkle’s Digest: I want you to go to your window, open it, and shout, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!”

Check Out Paul Krugman's Article on the Politics of Greed!!

The truth about where we are being taken:

Click on Paul Krugman's New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/opinion/10krugman.html?th&emc=th

- Uke Man

Paul's Potpourri: Bush is a pig!!

No One Is Innocent

No one is innocent – except, maybe, children, but they do grow up; and a baby rattlesnake will kill you as quickly as its mom or dad!

Years ago, when I still attended church, I heard, “Good morning, fellow sinners” delivered from the pulpit; an honest Christian greeting – an honest Christian greeting that angered more than a few “good” Christians in the congregation. Some – the blatant hypocrites – were clearly insulted and let their feelings be known.

Well, sorry about that, but no one (“fellow sinners”) is innocent; and I’m not talking some gobbledygook about “original sin.” No, it’s more relevant than that.

Nowadays we ALL (except maybe some small bands of folks in the Amazon, Africa, or some backwater of Asia) are “civilized” and live in the belly of whatever beast our particular “civilization” has produced. As such we are inescapably guilty. Not one of us is innocent.

Every “civilization” exists for the furtherance and enhancement of the status quo; and every status quo – to this point in history – has been based upon the degradation of others, the debasement of the largest possible number of “others,” upon the manipulation of the masses for the benefit of the few; hence, the guilt.

Obviously the selfish, callused, flint-hearted monsters who benefit most from “civilization” and who calculatingly maintain their privileged position at the expense of others are in need of a serious thumping or worse. They KNOW what they are doing and don’t care! Moreover, they put their above-average intellect to work to guarantee that law, ethics, morality, “justice,” and taxes are ALL for “the little people.” No regular folks are “above the law” or ethics or god’s moral code or the “justice” system or taxes. Only the “elect” can make that claim.

The heads that rolled during the French Revolution were heads well-cut, and there are many more heads nowadays just begging for the return of the guillotine.

What’s more, THEY know it. The aristocrats in Louis’s France knew it. The Victorians in England knew it. The Czar and his ilk knew it. White Southerners during slavery and Jim Crow knew it. And bloodless, international Corporations know it today.

They know they deserve retribution - even a terrible and bloody, head-rolling retribution! And as always, in their secret hearts, they tremble, and feverishly plot to forestall it with ever-greater means of repression.

They know their guilt. It is thrust inexorably in their faces by the unjustifiable disparity of their place and privilege. No amount of rationalization, no amount of spin by their media lapdogs, neither appeals to god nor to prejudice and fear can hide their atrocities from themselves!

They know what they are doing, even if they do manage to keep the serfs in befuddled, obedient ignorance.

They are schooled in, as our benighted boy president would say, "disassembling" – both to us and to themselves. Consciously they recognize no guilt over their self-serving actions; but subconsciously the guilt is transformed to fear. Instinctively they know they deserve to be struck down; they know