06/28/2022

It's a jarring thing: You go to sleep in one world and wake up in another.   Not that we didn't see this coming, but the actual arrival of the Supreme Court's decision striking down Roe v. Wade landed like a neutron bomb in the sociopolitical life of this fraught union. In the course of two days the court has struck down longstanding limitations on guns in public places and ensured that American women born after 1973 will have fewer rights than their mothers did. All this even as the mind-boggling spectacle of the January 6 congressional hearings has unfolded, laying bare the moral corruption and insanity of the 45th president and his cabal of misfits, nut jobs and sycophants. This is an extraordinary time in the history of this nation and concerns about the future of democracy in America seem more real and pressing than ever. Not moving forward is one thing, but going hard in reverse is another altogether.
03/29/2022

It has been a long time, Gentle Reader(s)—longer than I care to reflect—since I last posted any ruminations regarding whatever the heck has gotten stuck in my thinky-thing. Perhaps the reason for this hiatus, or at least part of the reason, is that there’s just so much… stuff. Personally and otherwise. Another day, another challenge, another outrage to decency, common sense, humanity—whatever. Where does one begin?    Personally and otherwise, I have been stunned and horrified by Russia’s brutal and inhuman invasion of Ukraine. Of course it’s not extraordinary to see suffering, suppression, oppression and horror in this world—there’s more than enough to go around. But being who I am, with all of the innate socio-cultural baggage that being Me entails, I find my response to a land war in Europe to be particularly visceral. I’ll admit: When the horror is taking place in Africa or Asia or Latin America or wherever it’s easier for me to maintain some sort of intellectual and emotional distance from it all. It’s sort of a ‘Oh my God, that’s so awful, but…’ response. The ’but…’ being that my prejudice, to some degree, is that the people being murdered in Ukraine look more like me. I’m not proud of that. I know it’s not an excuse, but I’m just trying to be truthful here. I do what I can with the resources available to me to try and make the world a slightly better place. I could certainly do more. We could all do more.   Having said that, why in the world would I be moved to write something about the spectacle that unfolded at the 94th Academy Awards last night? The reason might be because of the immediacy of it. Because I saw it right there in my living room on the ol’ Sony idiot box—live, give or take nine seconds. Like a lot of folks—including people right there in the Dolby Theater—at first I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Was this a scripted ‘bit’? Will Smith—the smiling, perpetual good guy, mainstream feature film actor—smacking the shit out of Chris Rock?? That can’t be real, right? 
08/30/2021

Can you believe that it's been over a year since I started working on this series? Hard to believe on the one hand, but not so hard on the other, I guess. There's been a few... distractions, shall we say, Humble Reader(s), along the line but all good things come to those to wait. Or perhaps to those who have nothing better to do? I know that YOU, of all people, have better things to do, but as for myself... well, I'm not so sure. This might be the best thing I can do, so it's a damn good thing that I'm finally getting it done.   Now, I know this is at cross-purposes of a sort, but one of the distractions that I've been dealing with is the previously mentioned exhibition of my dad's work at the Historic New Orleans Collection in my benighted hometown (which is, at this very moment, having its collective ass kicked by hurricane Ida). As part of that exhibition I created a 22-minute film which I have to say I'm fairly proud of. If you've got 22 minutes that you've nothing better to do with (see above) I hope you might find that if you watch my cinematic offering you might not despair of having squandered those precious minutes too carelessly. One hopes. So here's the link to my dad's website and its News page where the film is embedded, via the good graces of YouTube. I hope that you enjoy: https://johnclemmer.com/news   In the meantime, the show must go on and so here it is: The final installment of The Shows that Mattered. Hopefully the future will offer more Shows That Matter and one day there will be a part The Quatre, but let us not get ahead of ourselves.
07/26/2021

This July finds Your Humble Narrator back in his steamy ancestral stomping grounds of New Orleans, attending to activities relative to the opening of a long-awaited exhibition of work by his late, great father, the highly regarded painter and sculptor, John Clemmer. Over five years in the planning and accompanied by a lovely exhibition catalogue, you can find all the relevant info by following the link over to the News page at johnclemmer.com.   But, monumental and earth shaking though this news is, that is not why I have gathered us all here together on this auspicious occasion. No, Gentle Reader(s), today we are convened for a different matter entirely: The announcement of a singular discovery of High Import in the worlds of Biology, Evolutionary Theory and Batture Studies. I am here today to announce to the world a newly identified species of critter: The Louisiana Batture Dingo. ‘What?’ you say? ‘How is this possible? How can this be??’ Well, I can assure you, Gentle Reader(s), that it be. I shite thee not.
10/11/2020

Here, as promised, Gentle Reader(s), is the long awaited, much anticipated, second installment of the compilation of performances that have withstood the test of time and stand out as watershed musical events in the estimation of Your Humble Narrator. It's quite the eclectic mix, ranging from the outer limits of avant grade jazz to the body slam of American hardcore in its bareknuckle heyday. And, praise be on high, it's not over yet. There is sufficient material for a Part the Troisiéme, lawd hep us all, so stay tuned for the final installment in the days/weeks/months to come. Wilco, Saccharine Trust, Gang of Four, Lucinda Williams, Yo La Tengo and more are yet to have their day.   But for now, I give to you the Shows that Mattered, Part the Deux:
07/21/2020

And now, Gentle Reader(s), for something perhaps not completely different, but somewhat different nonetheless. I have been ruminating upon the concerts that I have attended in the ebb and flow of my approximately 21,000 Days on Earth and have decided to give you a breakdown of the ones that had the most impact on me in terms of my enjoyment, enlightenment, and overall significance. My presence at some of these events was carefully planned in advance and in others instances the result of spontaneous decisions or pure happenstance. Some of these shows took place in arenas and vast halls and others were in tiny venues with a bare handful of people in attendance. One way or the other, these are the shows that made a significant impression at the time and have stuck with me over the many years. It’s a pretty wildly diverse collection of performances but that’s the way Your Humble Narrator rolls, yo.   I give you The Shows That Mattered, Part the First:
06/15/2020

What a couple of weeks it has been, Gentle Reader(s), since the last DJ Inky playlist. In Santa Fe and in cities and towns all over the world the people—and I mean EVERY kind of people we got—have taken to the streets and they continue to do so on a daily basis, keeping the momentum going and the outrage over the killing of George Floyd alive. There has been a lot of speculation in the press regarding the extraordinary energy of this movement, about what has made the response to this tragedy different from the many that have preceded it. It's hard to know with certainty, but my take is that we have arrived at a crossroads of a sort, precipitated by a unique combination of circumstances. The pressure built up from months of coronavirus quarantine (and the Orange Goblin's disastrously bungled response to the pandemic), the heightened political environment of a momentously significant election year, the cumulative rage from yet another brutal video of a black man dying senselessly on the street, and the Orange Goblin administration's relentless assault on democracy and decency have all come together at this moment. Maybe, just maybe, enough is finally enough.
06/03/2020

Gentle Reader(s), I greet you once again from Lockdown atop Chango Hill in La Ciudad Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis. Greetings & peace.   It's a bit hard to comprehend the degree to which an already fraught and anxious situation has become exponentially more so over the course of just one week. The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has once again pushed the inequities and violence of America against people of color to the forefront of the national conversation (if there actually is anything resembling a 'national conversation' these days) and protestors have once again taken to the streets to exercise their civic right—their civic duty—to stand up and speak out. In the unprecedented context of a global pandemic, months of quarantine, a starkly divided country, and an election year the murder of yet another unarmed black man in plain view of the world might just prove to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. The murder of George Floyd comes hard on the heels of the revelations regarding the vigilante murder of Ahmaud Arbrey in Brunswick, Georgia, back in February and it seems that across the country, and across the world, people in ever greater numbers are turning out to make it clear that enough is enough is enough. Again.
05/08/2020

Welcome back, Gentle Reader(s), to my ongoing offerings of plague-themed playlists, scientifically attuned to the anxious tenor of the times (and if you've ever spent time with any anxious tenors, you know what I mean).   As of this writing we ('we' being those of us lucky enough to be quarantined in the Land of Entrapment) have been in Lockdown since approximately mid-March—over a month and a half of social distancing, carry-out dining and grocery store corona-dancing and dodging. Out on the byways of the City Indifferent most folks are being pretty assiduous regarding distancing, although encounters on the narrow sidewalks of the east side typically require one party (most often Your Humble Narrator) to step out into the not-so-tender mercies of the carriageway to allow for the prescribed six-foot exclusion zone. Face masks are not presently required for outdoor activities but I'd estimate that at least 50% of those on the streets are employing them. In the stores it's more like 75% or 80%. When heading out for my daily constitutional I typically carry a mask (just in case) as well as a precious small bottle of hand sanitizer should it happen that I come into manual contact with anything other than my own personage and possessions. Otherwise, spring is springing in all of its characteristic blustery glory and the diminished vehicular traffic seems to have rendered the typically untainted Santa Fe air even more pristine.
04/20/2020

Welcome back, Gentle Reader(s), to yet another offering of tuneful temperings calculated to swing a bit of distractive sanity your way in these trying times. Over a month into the New Normal and things are getting a bit weird Out There, and In Here as well. There's no end of fine lines to be walked between getting out and staying in, keeping informed and getting overwhelmed, staying chill and devolving into a blob, remaining productive and becoming obsessive, safety and paranoia, etc etc. Is there any end in sight? Hard to tell. Depends on who you decide to believe. And it truly is a decision. Anyone who tells you they're absolutely right is almost certainly absolutely wrong. As far as what the future holds, nobody knows anything to a certainty—of that you can be sure.