Lurker on the mountain top, Sam and Eric

[Sam Pawlett]

Hi Paula. "Sam and Eric" are characters from "Lord of the Flies", not that I'd
want to identify with anyone from that novel. Golding has no sense of humor and
his central thesis is questionable, given the absence of women on the island. I
like all kinds of music not just classical. Cooder is a genius, one of the great
ethnomusicologists of our time. I've only seen him once in duet with David
Lindley. A wonderful experience. His latest album with the Buena Vista Social
Club and his work with Ali Farka Toure are sublime.Bartok was also a great
ethnomusicologist. He was commissioned by an Indian band in Washington State(I
forget which one) to research their musical tradition. He accepted but died
before he could get started. You must be quite a guitar player to attend a
workshop with Cooder! Dunno much about Boz Scaggs other than he owns a good
blues club in 'Frisco called "Slim's". Is that the same Roy Buchanan, the blues
picker who died in jail? I suspect the reason that Cooder et.al. don't have any
"hits" is the lack of commercial airplay. Cooder stuff just gets played on
college and public radio stations.....kinda like classical music. Cooder strikes
me as modest guy who could care less about the Grammy awards. I think the reason
that  some artists go to hell once popular is their producers and once one has
tasted fame and fortune there is no turning back. I wouldn't know. The carrots
of capitalism are mighty seductive! The reason I posted on classical music was
that it has received little attention from leftists/populists. Most of our
culture theorists have fallen under the peculiar spell of Andrew Ross and are
forever babbling amongst themselves about the subversive nature of Madonna or
the "genius" of Disney and Eisner. I am a lifelong blue-collar worker,ex-logger
and started working in sawmills when i was 15 here in the Pacific Northwest and
am no snob.My current incarnation is line cook/sous chef. The price of one plate
of my Gnocchi costs twice as much as I earn in one hour. Never been to Atlanta
on my many Kerouacesque journeys in the U.S. The furthest  I made it in the
south was New Orleans.
Sam Pawlett.

pms wrote:


> >While I realize that not everybody on the LBO list is an avowed "marxist,"
> >> those who are "marxist" are having the same arguments about who is a
> >> "marxist" as their forbears one and two generations before them. They are
> >> citing the same texts, and preparing the same outrages for one another.
> >
> >No we're not. Global capitalism is a very, very, *very* different beast
> >
>
> Sorry, Lurker, can't find your post, and forgot your name(Daniel?)
>
> Anyway, hi, and welcome. While I agree with what Dennis has to say, I must
> admit that when I read your post, it reminded me of a few months ago, when
> I had just gotten here myself, and I spent hours reading a dense thread
> argueing Marxist theory.  It was great for me, since I had never read any
> of the stuff the guys were talking about.  But as I came to realize that
> some of this stuff had been argred about for decades, I thought it was
> kinda strange. It seemed like it had just taken some of Marx's ideas a long
> time to pan out, and establishment types had used this to try and discredit
> much more that it really implied. Course, I've forgotten much of what I
> read, anyway. But I assumed this is what you were talking about. That whole
> contridiction thing.
>
> Hope to; hear from you again.
>
> Hi Sam and Eric, nice to read ya.  You're not the same guy, I finally
> realized.  Do you know each other?
>
>
>
> Sam, your classical music post reminded me of the only time I let someone
> drag me to an opera.  I was determined to enjoy it, even though I don't
> like that kinda vocal.  Don't even like Joni Mitchell's voice.  But as soon
> as the lead guy (it was Tosca) took a bow in the middle of the action, it
> cracked me up, and the rest was a farce, in my eyes.
>
> But what you describe in classical music, happens in my kind of music too.
> Else why do the Eagles(don't llisten to commercial music, so I'm dated)
> have hits, and Ry Cooder, John Fahey and Roy Buchanan don't?  Why do people
> like Boz Scaggs and Bonnie Raitt, go staight to hell once they do start
> having hits?
>
> I imagine that with classical, it's harder to find the up side of this
> situation.  Like getting to go to a guitar workshop Cooder had at the MLK
> festivities, or seeing Fahey in this little place behind a small vintage
> instument shop.(And getting to talk with him, surrounded by cops and
> transvestites at the Majestic Diner on Pounce.  Supporting an orchestra is
> another ballgame. Cooder was there with his family, carrying his guitar,
> enjoying the event. Less overhead.
> Our symphony was on strike a couple of years ago.  Didn't follow it though,
> otherwise occupied.
>
> I have suspended myself from this list for the rest of the day due to
> general household chaos.
>
> toodles
> Paula